yellow door

On the [-]th, a banquet for hundreds of officials.

At noon of the New Year's Eve, it has become a custom for the emperor to celebrate with all officials. This not only symbolizes the prosperity of the country and the stability of the world, but also represents the joy of the emperor and the people, benevolence and love.After the luncheon, the officials began a seven-day rest for the New Year's Eve, until the eighth day began to return to daily life, and on the fourteenth day of the first lunar month, there was another seven-day rest for the Lantern Festival.During the entire first month, half of the court was on holiday.

On New Year's Eve, when it was almost Haishi, the young eunuch Yun He, who was guarding the gate in front of Qiantai Palace, leaned on the gate and yawned casually.According to the usual practice, the sage will stay with the empress tonight in the Laiyi Hall to watch the new year. The Laiyi Hall was originally the place where the emperor and the empress got married, but the current emperor Wen Sheng ascended the treasure after getting married. Come in handy, in the past two years, it has become a place for the emperor and empress to watch the year together.The empress's New Year's Eve vigil is also one of the majesty and honors that the empress enjoys as the mother of the world and in charge of the harem, unlike other concubines in the harem.

Since Yunhe entered the palace, this was the first time he was on duty on New Year's Eve. He couldn't help but feel a little resentful when he thought that everyone else was gathering around to celebrate New Year's Eve, and he was alone guarding an empty room. It's not that he didn't curry favor with Zhou Fuquan, the chief eunuch who was in charge. He couldn't get his turn for this ghostly errand on New Year's Eve!

Yunhe was secretly cursing the eunuch who assigned him the task in his heart, when he heard footsteps in the distance, he hurriedly pulled himself together and stood up straight, only to see a bright yellow figure rushing over, before he could When he came back to his senses, the figure had already blown past him like a gust of wind.

"My maidservant pays respects to the emperor!" After he realized it, Yun He knelt down on the ground in fright.Afterwards, Li Jibao, the former imperial eunuch behind the emperor, also hurried in, but just before entering, he still gave Yunhe a cross-eyed look.

Yunhe felt a little puzzled, and wondered why the sage came back at this hour today.It is extremely rare for a sage not to be with the empress on New Year's Eve—the empress might offend Longyan, right?

Thinking wildly like this, Yunhe's thoughts suddenly turned to Zhou Fu's body who was still cursing in his heart just now—it was not a good job to be on duty on New Year's Eve. .Who would have imagined that this saint would be so tempered this year, that he violated the rules of previous years. If Zhou Fuquan hadn't arranged a good job, he would have encountered this incident?

Thinking of the glance that Li Jibao gave him when he entered the door just now, Yunhe couldn't help feeling a little tingly in his scalp. Mrs. Li was probably blaming himself for being distracted and not opening the door in advance.Why did I bump into this strict husband?

Yunhe was muttering in his heart, when he heard a cough suddenly, he looked up, but it was Dagong Li standing in the door and looking at him with a tense expression on his face.

He was startled at first, then hurriedly nodded and ran to Li Jibao, and was about to speak, but Li Jibao grabbed his ears and said: "You are on duty in the Saint's Palace, you dare to be half-hearted and want to eat the board, right? "

Although Li Jibao spoke with anger, his voice was not loud. Yun Hezhi couldn't startle the sage inside, so even though he was in pain, he didn't dare to yell loudly, he just begged for forgiveness in a low voice: "Don't dare...don't dare again I beg my father-in-law to let go, otherwise the board won't touch it, and my little ear will be gone."

"At least the people here look like ghosts, and next time, be careful that our family exposes your skin!"

Yun Heping was also working in Qiantai Palace on weekdays, and he and Li Jibao were more or less familiar. When Li Jibao heard him begging for mercy, he twisted his ear hard, and then let go: "I don't need you here tonight. I'm on duty, go and call Xiao Tangzi to replace you!"

Yunhe was taken aback when he heard this, he naturally knew that Xiaotangzi was a young eunuch who just entered the palace this year, and he rarely served saints, but he didn't know why Grandpa Li only asked him to be on duty tonight.

Yunhe was still in a daze, and Li Jibao next to him was impatient, so he just pushed him and said, "What are you doing here? You are stupid, don't hurry up!"

Being pushed and staggered, Yunhe didn't dare to think about it any more, so he just ran out in a hurry.

Li Jibao stood in front of the door for a while, then saw Yunhe leading a thin and small figure hurried over.When the two came to him, he waved his hand and said to Yunhe: "You go down first, you don't need to wait on me tonight."

When Yunhe saw him, he didn't dare to stay longer, so he turned around and left in a hurry.

After Yunhe walked away, Li Jibao bowed his head and said to the little Tangzi who was only in his teens: "The sage is in a bad mood today, you can be smarter for me, go in later, and wait carefully."

Seeing that Xiaotangzi nodded tremblingly, he turned around and headed into the hall, and that little Tangzi followed behind him without making a sound.Not long after, he was seen leaving the palace gate alone.

Li Jibao didn't leave after he came out, he just leaned against the door of the hall expressionlessly and stood there. He pursed his lips slightly when he heard some noise from the hall, then closed his eyes again, and didn't look around again.

On New Year's Eve, the emperor, empress, other high-ranking concubines, and all the princes and princesses gathered at the Huayang Palace of the Empress Dowager for a New Year's banquet.

Concubine Xiao said before that Wen Mu favored Chang Xiu too much, and Chang Xiu had recorded her name with the Empress Dowager again, and he knew that Chang Xiu was afraid of the cold in winter nights, so the New Year's Eve dinner would have to last until Xushi.Therefore, when going out, Wen Mu casually pointed to the little eunuch Ru Hai and followed him to Huayang Palace, leaving only Chang Xiu to look at the palace.

All the people who were not on duty in Zhaoyang Hall gathered together to play, and Chang Xiu waited for Wen Mu to come back, so she only sat guarding the gate in the main hall.After waiting for a long time, thinking that his master would not come back for a while, he couldn't help but gradually relax, and actually leaned against the table and fell asleep.Just when he was drowsy, he suddenly heard a sound at the door, he opened his eyes slightly, but it was the fifth prince who pushed the door and walked in.

Because she was still sleepy, Chang Xiu just stood up in a dazed habit, then walked up to Wen Mu and stretched out her hand to untie the cloak on him.Unexpectedly, the cloak was not hooked, but he only felt his forehead wet for a while, as if something stuck to his brow.

Didn't react for a while, Chang Xiu just stared blankly at Wen Mu's face that was getting far away, until Wen Mu lightly tapped the red mole on the tip of his eyebrows with his hand, then slowly revealed a smile of interest and looked at Wen Mu. He, he just came to his senses - he was actually kissed by the Fifth Prince just now.

As a result, Chang Xiu's cheeks turned red immediately, then his forehead, then his neck, and when he was able to speak, he had become a real little red man.

"Master... you... I... saw... other people..."

Chang Xiu was incoherent, but she didn't know whether it was because she was frightened or ashamed, and she couldn't utter a complete sentence for a long time.Finding that the fifth prince was only looking at him with a smile, he wished he could imitate the mouse and find a hole in the ground to burrow down. Even if he couldn't find a place to hide, he just lowered his head almost to the level of his chest, and didn't dare to look up at his master again. .

Chang Xiu's actions only made Wen Mu very interesting, and the look in his eyes became more and more interested.

"I only know now that my personal valet is actually a stutterer." Seeing Chang Xiu standing like a red wooden figure, Wen Mu knew that he would not be able to calm down for a while, so he took off the cloak on his own Put it aside.

"It's Chinese New Year, master is here to tease Hanxiu again!" After being stunned for a long time, Chang Xiu was finally able to speak, but the voice was not much louder than a mosquito.

Wen Mu lowered his head and leaned close to Chang Xiu's head, trying to hear what he was saying, but made him jump back, afraid that this little ancestor would do something out of the ordinary again.

Because he drank some wine tonight and was a little excited, when he came back, Wen Mu's behavior was unavoidable.Although he knew that his previous actions were a bit excessive, seeing Chang Xiu's appearance, Wen Mu couldn't help curling his lips, saying: "I won't eat you, why did you run so far?"

Chang Xiu was not fooled, he had been following him for a long time, he knew that the fifth prince always did things unexpectedly, and sometimes, he could even be said to be a little reckless.After the fifth prince's actions just now, he absolutely didn't dare to step forward casually now, so he just stood there, raised his head, widened his eyes, but looked at Wen Mu cautiously.

Seeing Chang Xiu's appearance, Wen Mu knew that he would not dare to approach him now, so he walked to the chair beside him and sat down.Seeing that the little servant still didn't move, he asked: "Do you want to know why your master came back so early tonight, and why you are so happy?"

It was only then that Chang Xiu remembered that Wen Mu's return at this time was indeed different from previous years. Last year's New Year's Eve banquet, but it ended after the time of Haishi.He tilted his head and thought for a while before asking, "Is the saint going to leave?"

Because she put her mind on other things, Chang Xiu's tense body finally relaxed slowly, and she was no longer as stiff as before, and her originally flushed face gradually became whiter as she thought about it.But he didn't dare to get close, he just stood there and looked at Wen Mu.

However, Wen Mu showed a very strange smile, and then said: "At noon today, the emperor made a big fuss at the Baiguan Banquet, sweeping all the courtiers down until they couldn't lift up. In the beginning, those who were related or not were all criticized, even the Empress, who didn't save her face. At night, in the Huayang Palace of the Empress Dowager, the father not only broke up the banquet in advance, but finally ignored the Empress. Empress, just take Li Jibao away alone."

When Chang Xiu heard this, she was surprised. It's a big Chinese New Year, what could make the saint so angry?At this banquet of hundreds of officials, the only person in the harem who can be seated is the empress. The empress's mother honors the world, no matter how angry the saint is, but it is rare to go too far to prevent the empress from stepping down in public.What's more, on the festive days of the Chinese New Year, even if something happens, most people in the world don't want to get angry and break their taboos. In this way, it becomes more and more obvious that the sage has a violent outburst.

Chang Xiu didn't know much about the current emperor, but the deepest impression of the emperor was that when he ascended the throne, he slaughtered several of his brothers and implicated many court officials, and their Liu family was here in.

Since he entered the palace, except for the half a year of training before, although he has been with the fifth prince since then, when the fifth prince went to see the emperor, most of the time he didn't want him to accompany him. Waiting outside the gate.Therefore, although he is the prince's close servant, up to now, he has never even seen the face of the emperor, at most he has only seen the bright yellow figure of the emperor from a distance.Besides, even in front of the emperor, which of these servants would not bow down and dare not raise their heads?

In fact, it is impossible to say that everyone in the palace has seen the emperor.Who can serve the emperor by his side on weekdays, which one has not been carefully selected and slowly come out?It is not surprising that a palace official has never seen the emperor in his life.

But after all, Chang Xiu is the one who waits by the prince's side. She has been in the palace for so long and has never seen the emperor. It is somewhat strange to say it, even Liu Sui'er, who often teases him about it , Said that his little follower was extremely incompetent.

In this way, Chang Xiu usually only listened to the imperial concubine and the fifth prince mentioning some things about the emperor, and guessed some of the emperor's temperament from it, and there were gossip about the emperor in private in the palace.It's just that he stays with the fifth prince most of the time, and after all, he has less time to communicate with the surrounding palace people.Besides, what he served was not the emperor, and according to his temperament, he naturally cared less about things that had nothing to do with him.Hearing what the master said at this moment, he really couldn't figure out what happened to the emperor tonight.

Wen Mu saw Chang Xiu's little head tilted, with a rare confused look, and felt happy. He wanted to continue to tease him, but saw him blinking his eyes. Although he didn't ask, the pair of eyes looking at him The bright eyes are full of curiosity and inquiry.

Facing these eyes, Wen Mu couldn't help softening no matter how much he thought about it, so he said: "Father has just spoken today, saying that the frontier has not been determined, and we are not allowed to mention the matter of establishing a reserve until now." Criticizing those ministers to shame, even the queen who was helping to solve the problem, was also angered. The father left after being angry, but the people below were so shocked that they didn't dare to say anything , if you are on the spot, you will definitely be amused by the faces of those people."

It turned out that at the banquet at noon today, Du Hui'an, the right servant, brought up the issue of the establishment of the crown prince again. Then, a group of ministers first fought over the candidate for the crown prince at the banquet, and they couldn't agree with each other, and then they quarreled in front of the emperor again It turns out that there is a great chance that he will compete for the posture of being ugly and acting bad at the banquet.

The emperor Wen Shengben was impatient with the ministers who saw that Tianli was talking about the reserve position at the court, and now seeing that they were so presumptuous at the palace banquet, he was naturally furious, and all the ministers who spoke but did not speak After approving it, he left in a huff, only the people below either sneered or glared, but they never dared to argue with each other.

Chang Xiu saw that Mu laughed heartily, but knew that her master would never be happy to look like this just because of the faces of the ministers, but it would be wrong to say that she was happy because the empress was angered.

After serving Wen Mu for a long time, Chang Xiu naturally knew that although the imperial concubine had great hostility towards the people in the Central Palace and the North Palace, the Fifth Prince Wen Mu was far less resentful than she was.

Although the Fifth Prince was not close to those two sides, he was not so gloating about his misfortune.Besides, this kind of trivial matter is not worth being happy with. Even if the emperor insults the queen's empress face in public, it will not ruin the palace for such a trivial matter!

Wen Mu saw that the doubt in Chang Xiu's eyes did not dissipate, he just looked at himself waiting for the next words. Guessing what you enjoy doesn't stop there.

After thinking about it, Wen Mu felt that it was time for the servant beside him to understand something, so he said again: "Since the fourth brother was recorded under the name of the Zhonggong, there have been more and more secret tricks in this palace. There will be more fuss afterwards."

When Chang Xiu heard this, she was even more puzzled: "Since that's the case, the sage established a reserve earlier, saving disputes, and the palace will be at peace, isn't it?"

Wen Mu shook his head, and said: "That's because you don't know my father, who has always been strong, and now in order to save the position, all parties are making moves, and there is a strong intention of persecution, I am afraid that he is already very unhappy, besides , there are so many behind the prince..."

Having said that, he suddenly stopped talking.

Chang Xiu just understood a little bit, but she still doesn't know what good the emperor's anger will do to her master.

Seeing that he was still puzzled, Wen Mu said again: "In terms of status, among these princes, only the elder brother, the fourth brother, and I have the best chance, but both of them are older than me, and the fourth brother is not the only one who has the best chance." Said, the eldest brother will be sixteen years old, and the princes at this age can ask the emperor to let him go out to do things. If he is really allowed to do something big first, there will be a virtuous concubine in front of the father. If we win over more ministers, our situation may become even more difficult in the future."

Seeing the serious expression on Chang Xiu's small face, and suppressing the urge to squeeze, Wen Mu continued: "It's the fourth brother, although he is not yet old, but the second The elder brother is the one who helps him the most. The second elder brother and the elder brother are of the same age. If the second elder brother also goes out and makes achievements, it will be difficult for him to deal with it if he has an extra helper. I have suffered at a young age, but now my father will I don't know how long the time has been pushed back, which at least gave me time to prepare."

Chang Xiu has served Wen Mu for such a long time, even though he knew that his master was always quick-witted, he didn't know that he had hidden these things in his heart.On weekdays, it was the imperial concubine who urged the little master, but she didn't seem to care about him, and she still acted casually.

Now after hearing these words, Chang Xiu just realized that this master who used to laugh and amuse with her in the past, is probably hiding a lot of secret things in her heart.