The Favorite of the Court of Joy

"Who has something to ask the king?"

Xiaoyue and Xiaoju who were standing at the door hurriedly raised the heavy curtain to let Zhao Minghan in.Zhao Minghan was dressed in court clothes of the princely level, with a crown inlaid with gold and gemstones pinned on his head, and walked in majestically.

Everyone in the room, except Zhang Xiaoqian, bowed and saluted, "Slaves/concubines, see the prince."

Standing there, Zhang Xiaoqian winked at him, smiled faintly, and said, "I've seen the prince."

"Everyone get up." Zhao Minghan strode forward and said as he walked, "I heard the noise inside from outside, what happened?"

Zhang Xiaoqian sat back on the rug again, snorted, and turned his face away from him.Zhao Minghan saw that he was angry.He sat in the original position of Concubine Hua, Xiao Hua immediately served hot tea, and Xiao Cheng handed the stove to the prince.

Xiaoyue also moved a stool for Concubine Hua to sit at the head of the prince.The stool is covered with fur, so it won't be cold.But according to her title, she is a side concubine, Zhang Xiaoqian should vacate the seat for her, he is only worthy to be a stool.She looked at Zhang Xiaoqian, Zhang Xiaoqian was unmoved, and Concubine Hua didn't want to get angry because of this, so she had to wrong herself to sit on the stool first.

Zhao Minghan looked at Zhang Xiaoqian and said, "How are you today? How is the child?"

The prince's voice was extremely gentle, Concubine Hua had never heard the prince speak to her in this way, and felt uncomfortable in her heart.Thinking about it, the prince didn't look at her from the moment he entered the door, and his eyes were all on Zhang Xiaoqian, which made her feel aggrieved.Now the prince asked him how he was again?How is the child?This made her feel even more indignant.She worked hard last night on New Year's Eve, and today she got up early to greet the new year, and she also has a prince's child in her belly, so why can't the prince ask how she is?

Zhang Xiaoqian glanced at Concubine Hua and said, "No, I'm very bad today."

Zhao Minghan turned his head and glanced at Concubine Hua, and said, "Concubine Hua, what did you do to offend him today?"

Concubine Hua's heart sank, her heart was full of chills, even if the prince cared about Zhang Xiaoqian again, shouldn't he first ask why she was here instead of directly making a conclusion that she offended him.

Since she is at a disadvantage, she can only pretend to be pitiful and sympathetic.Concubine Hua took out her handkerchief, covered her nose, and looked like she was going to cry or not, and said, "My lord, the concubine is incompetent and failed to adjust the conflict between Sister Lu and Young Master Qian. Both sides are concubines. Angry. The concubine was in a hurry, argued a few words, and was even more angry with Mr. Qian, so he became anxious and yelled at the concubine."

Zhang Xiaoqian opened his mouth to listen to Concubine Hua's words.I sighed in my heart, Concubine Hua is really a capable person who can speak.In a word, first admit that she is incompetent, and lower the prince's harshness towards her.Secondly, to highlight the core of the matter is the conflict between him and Mrs. Lu, and to separate himself.Furthermore, he yelled at her, highlighting his overbearing and unreasonable.What a side concubine Hua, her mind is so gloomy.

"What conflict happened between him and Mrs. Bu?" Zhao Minghan continued to ask.

Concubine Hua was about to speak when Zhang Xiaoqian said, "My lord, let Xiaocheng tell you, she is the one involved."

Zhao Minghan frowned slightly, and said, "Xiaocheng, tell me what's going on?"

"Reporting to the lord, the matter is like this..." Xiaocheng knelt in front of the lord and told the whole story in a concise but focused manner.

"Okay, the king understands, you get up first."

"Yes, my lord." Xiaocheng stood beside Zhang Xiaoqian.

"Concubine Hua, is that what Xiaocheng said?"

Under such circumstances, Concubine Hua would never dare to lie, she nodded and replied: "Yes, my lord."

Then she said: "Sister Lu was slapped by her, and half of her face turned red. She cried and ran to find my concubine, asking her to be her master. Since the prince has delegated the authority to let this concubine take care of the palace, this concubine must do it." You have to be convincing, and you must give Sister Lu an explanation. So I came to Yimeiyuan to understand the situation. The situation is just as Xiaocheng said. After all, Xiaocheng is a maid, and there is no reason for a maid to beat her master. If she is not punished From now on, the maids will not be allowed to climb over the heads of the masters. I know that Master Qian loves Xiaocheng and loves Xiaocheng, and I don’t want to see her punished. I have no intention of punishing her, so I just let her go to the Luzhu Pavilion Sister Lu apologized. But Young Master Qian refused to let her go, and said that Xiaocheng only belonged to her maid, not the maid of the palace." Concubine Hua said emphatically that she "cherishes" and "loves" Xiaocheng, wishing to say that they The two had an affair, but looking at the prince's face, he didn't seem to be angry, and he didn't know if he heard the main point of what she said.

Zhao Ming gave him a cold look, and said, "Concubine Hua, you have overstepped."

Concubine Hua was stunned for a moment, not understanding what the prince meant by this?Does it mean that she shouldn't take care of Yimeiyuan?

"This king didn't ask you to take care of various matters in the palace. This king felt that during the Chinese New Year season, the mansion was busy with chores, and Steward Wu couldn't come to greet him alone, so I asked you to help me. I didn't expect you to put more thought into it." Zhao Minghan said again, "Xiaoqian is right. The maids in the Yimei Garden do not belong to the palace, but his maids, who only obey his orders. No one can go past him to punish his maids. If his maids do something wrong If something happens, it should be handled by their masters, not by you. Do you understand?"

Zhao Minghan's few words were like pouring a basin of cold water on Concubine Hua, making her feel wet and cold all over, and her face immediately lost color. "The concubine understands."

"Bushi is a fool, why are you becoming stupid too, where is your previous cleverness?" Zhao Minghan continued, "From this king's point of view, Concubine Hua deserves to be beaten, and Xiaocheng deserves to be beaten. Hit. The two collided unintentionally at the same time, and Xiaocheng immediately knelt down and apologized, saying that it was her fault. Bu's slaps him instead of letting others go. That's wrong for her Be reasonable and bully slaves with the airs of masters. If all masters are unreasonable, whoever dares to come to the palace to be a slave, who will serve her, you, and the king. When no one serves, you will be alone Just treat yourself as a servant girl and handle everything by yourself. She is stupid, and you still meddle along. If you have time to come here to make trouble, you might as well spend more time in Ningxiang Pavilion to "pregnancy."

Concubine Hua's face turned pale, she knelt on the ground, and said weakly: "Yes, what the lord taught me is that this concubine is confused and stupid. I will go back to the yard to "raise the baby."

"Go."

Concubine Hua saluted, turned and left, her hands were placed on her chest, the handkerchief in her hand was almost torn apart by her, but she controlled the strength, knowing that even if she wanted to vent her anger, she must not be here.

After she left, Zhao Minghan asked Zhang Xiaoqian; "I'm in a good mood now."

Zhang Xiaoqian smiled and said, "It's much better." Then he touched his belly and added another sentence. "The child is fine too."

"Has the prince been busy with a lot of things since last night? Are you tired? Do you want to lie down and rest?"

Speaking of being tired, Zhao Minghan yawned unconsciously, he really felt tired and sleepy.He said to Xiao Huang: "Go to Ximei, you two are good at cooking, and a distinguished guest will come tonight." Then, he took Zhang Xiaoqian's little hand and accompanied him to bed to show and rest.

After a while, Zhao Minghan fell asleep.But Zhang Xiaoqian didn't fall asleep, lying on the bed, he was wondering who the so-called distinguished guest would be?Is it Wan Zi's lover of the emperor?If it was him, Wan Zi would be very happy.

As night fell, it was pitch black outside, and crackling firecrackers sounded for a long time.This is the custom here. From the first day to the tenth day of the lunar new year, before dinner, firecrackers are set off to drive away evil spirits and bring good luck.

When more than twenty dishes were placed on the table, the distinguished guests outside the door also arrived.

He was wearing a black mink fur cloak, a silver crown inlaid with sapphires on his head, a padded jacket robe with ice blue silk on his body, and a black belt with jade around his waist. Noble temperament, although he is still young, but reveals sharpness, as if he can see everything.

"Brother Bai!" Wan Zi couldn't help calling out when she saw the person who was thinking about it day and night, and then thought of Zhang Xiaoqian saying that this person is not an ordinary person, but the current emperor.He was such a lofty, untouchable emperor that it would be rude of him to call him casually.Wan Zi suddenly knelt down and said, "Cao Min sees the Emperor."

Except for Zhao Minghan and Zhang Xiaoqian, everyone else was greatly surprised. Seeing this, they all immediately knelt down and said: "The grass people see the emperor."

"Get up quickly." Zhao Yunxuan strode over and helped Wan Zi up himself. "It's really a private visit, you don't need to be too polite, just treat me as a normal guest."

Xiaocheng and the others showed embarrassment. They all knew that this person was the most expensive emperor, so how could they treat him as an ordinary guest.I can only tell myself to be extremely careful when serving this master, otherwise ten lives are not enough to kill.

Zhao Minghan said: "No one is allowed to disclose the fact that the emperor came to rely on the plum garden, do you understand?"

"Yes, my lord."

"Uncle Nine Emperors, don't be so dignified. Today is the first day of the Lunar New Year, so you should be kind." Zhao Yunxuan said with a smile, then looked at the dishes on the table, and said, "There are so many dishes, they are not waiting for me. alone."

"That's right, I'm just waiting for you, we are already hungry." Zhang Xiaoqian didn't want to be respectful to him.In his opinion, the emperor who has three thousand beauties in the harem must not be a good guy. Although he saved Wan Zi, he must have tricked Wan Zi into dedicating himself with his rhetoric.

Zhao Minghan glanced at him, and Zhang Xiaoqian immediately said, "I can't tell you what to look at? I'm just hungry. Not only me, but also your child in my belly, and Wanzi's child are all hungry."

Zhao Minghan let out a "tsk", and wanted to get angry, but he couldn't say it when facing Zhang Xiaoqian, so he had no choice but to give up.He sighed, then took a piece of braised lion head and put it in his bowl, "Eat it quickly, don't starve my son." Then, Zhao Minghan made him another bowl of pork rib soup made with ginseng, put it before his eyes.

Zhao Yunxuan was a little dumbfounded. Is this still his arrogant and ruthless Uncle Nine Emperors?As his own nephew, when eating with him, he had never scooped up soup for him.Thinking of Wan Zi who was waiting for him to cook with a child beside him, he felt a little guilty, and asked Wan Zi: "What do you want to eat, I will make it for you."

Wan Zi was overwhelmed with flattery, how could he work a man of gold and gold to serve him vegetables, "No need, Your Majesty, the grass people can do it themselves."

Zhao Yunxuan was slightly displeased, but he knew that after Wan Zi knew his identity, he would definitely restrain himself. "This is outside the palace, you should call me Big Brother Bai, or call me by my name, my name is Zhao Yunxuan."

Zhao Yunxuan didn't wait for him to say what he came up with, and automatically picked up a piece of goose meat and put it in his bowl, "Eat it quickly, the child must be hungry too."

"Your Majesty, I..." Wan Zi was very nervous.I used to think that he was just a rich man with money and status. At that time, I felt that I was not worthy of him. Now that I know that he is the emperor, I don't know how to face him.He is a favorite, will it have a bad influence on him?Or should he just hide under the ground for the rest of his life and not be exposed?

"What's the matter, don't you like goose meat?"

Wan Zi shook her head and said, "No, I like to eat." Wan Zi calmed down, thinking about these unintentional things, the most important thing is to fill his stomach first and not let the child starve.

Following Zhao Minghan's example, Zhao Yunxuan also served Wan Zi a bowl of pork rib soup, and blew on it for fear that he would burn himself.

"Why are you standing up? Sit down and eat." Zhang Xiaoqian was not used to seeing Ximei, Xiaocheng and the others standing. In the past, they were masters and servants eating together. "If you cook so many dishes, if you don't eat them together, it won't be a waste."

Xiaocheng and the others all showed embarrassment.The emperor who is ninety-five years old and Prince Rui who is all-hands are present at the table, how dare their little servants dare to sit on the seat, how can they be worthy of it.

"Your Majesty, Your Highness..." Zhang Xiaoqian looked at the two big men.

Zhao Minghan didn't look at him, he had a sense of superiority and inferiority in his heart, and he didn't agree with the maids also serving the table.

Wan Zi looked at Zhao Yunxuan, and said softly: "They all take good care of me, and Xiaoqian and I have never treated them as slaves, and we always eat together. This sumptuous meal is made by Ximei and Xiaoqian Made by Huang, do you think it's delicious, Your Majesty?"

Zhao Yunxuan took a few more dishes from different plates, nodded repeatedly, and then said: "It's very well done, on par with the imperial chefs in the palace, but your cooking is a little more flavorful than the imperial chefs. I will reward you for sharing Take a seat and dine."

Ximei, Xiaocheng and others were disturbed and surprised.

"Hurry up and thank you." Zhang Xiaoqian said happily.

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your kindness." After Ximei, Xiaocheng and the others saluted, they all sat down nervously, doing it very solemnly, looking down at the bowl, and being even more careful when eating the vegetables.

Then Zhang Xiaoqian said: "Your Majesty, you are still very close to the people. Unlike some people who like to play tricks on their master."

Zhao Minghan knew that he was talking about himself again, and his face showed anger, but he didn't get angry. He picked up two sauced pork knuckles, put them in Zhang Xiaoqian's bowl, and said unkindly: "Eating your pig's trotters, why are there so many nonsense."

Zhang Xiaoqian made a face at him, and then said: "Hey, hey, just eat it. I'm very rare for this pig's trotter."

This was the first time Zhao Yunxuan saw Uncle Nine Emperor's helplessness, he felt very funny in his heart, and felt that Zhang Xiaoqian was really a capable person.He is probably the only one in the world who can cure Uncle Nine Emperors.By the way, Uncle Jiuhuang once said that he would be given the position of side concubine, so why is it that a woman from the Hua family is the one who got the jade certificate?