There is no phoenix

After the two young eunuchs left, Mother Jia asked Yuanyang to present the gift from Yuanchun, and she couldn't help feeling a little puzzled.Logically, at least Mrs. Wang should have a share, but the two eunuchs just now clearly said that it was for themselves alone.

Jia Mu first opened the four boxes of tonics, and seeing that there were two ginseng and two boxes of angelica, she hurriedly smiled and asked Yuanyang to put them away.He also ordered the girl Amber to take out some pears from Yuanchun, wash them and peel them for Youshi and Li Wan to eat.

Hu Po picked out five or six pears to wash outside, but saw Baoyu and Jia Huan and Jia Lan came in to greet Jia Mu, saying that today Mr. Jiaxue knew that Jia's mansion had guests, so he dismissed school earlier and asked Baoyu and Jia Huan to return. Jalan came back to the banquet.

Seeing that Amber had brought out several pears to wash, Baoyu hurriedly took a smile and said, "I just eat this, and I don't need to wash mine."

After Baoyu finished speaking, he took the pear and went in.

Baoyu wiped the pear in his hand, and after greeting Jia Mu, he opened his mouth to eat the pear, but he didn't expect that a piece of pear would fall off soon.

Baoyu asked suspiciously, "Why is this pear rotten?"

After hearing this, Jia's mother hurriedly said, "Why? These are fresh pears just sent from the palace by the empress. She also said that they were paid tribute from outside. They were originally for me to eat. Baoyu, you are lucky. I'm afraid it's gone."

Baoyu looked at the pear in his hand, still a little surprised, so he turned the pear and took a closer look, and found that the underside of the pear was obviously cut with a knife.Baoyu buckled it with his fingers and found a piece of silk cloth hidden inside.

Baoyu sat down quickly in amazement, and carefully opened the silk cloth, only to see Yuan Chun's handwriting on it, and wrote a poem: "My hometown is high and the road is far away, and I have been looking for each other in my dreams. It is hard to be poor since ancient times. Man, it's too early for Tianlun to step back and withdraw."

Baoyu hurriedly asked Jia's mother, "Old lady, did the eldest sister say that she gave you a special pear? Look, there is this in this pear."

Mother Jia was shocked when she heard this, and hurriedly took the cloth strip that Baoyu handed over, looked at it, and asked Baoyu to pass the pear over, looked at it carefully, and was so shocked that she just stared blankly.

Seeing that Jiamu was in a daze and couldn't guess what was going on, Li Wan and Youshi couldn't help asking: "Old lady, I don't know what the imperial concubine is talking about?"

When Jia Mu came back to her senses, she hurriedly asked Baoyu, "Baoyu, you are good at writing poems. What do you mean by your empress writing this poem? Does your empress have something to do in the palace?"

After Jia Mu finished speaking, she handed the poem to Li Wanyou.

Li Wan looked at it, thought for a while and said seriously: "If there is something wrong with the imperial concubine, how can you send someone out of the palace to deliver things? Old lady, in my opinion, it is estimated that the empress heard that there may be something bad in our house. Or if it’s not good, let’s make plans to regress.”

When Jia Mu heard this, she saw that Baoyu was in a daze for a while, and said hurriedly, "Baoyu, what do you think?"

Then Baoyu came back to his senses and said seriously: "Old lady, I think sister-in-law is right."

After hearing this, Jia's mother hurriedly asked You Shi: "Brother Zhen and daughter-in-law, are you okay with Brother Zhen and Rong'er?"

You Shi hurriedly said: "They should be fine. Rong'er is much better now, but she goes out on duty every day and only comes back at night."

Mother Jia thought for a while, and said to Baoyu, Li Wanyou and others: "Remember, don't tell the outside world about the fact that your mother borrowed pears to send letters today. There are many guests at the Grand Master's side today. We will wait until today. We must have a good discussion and think about why the empress in the palace suddenly sent such a poem. The empress is due to give birth soon, and I heard from the two father-in-laws that the emperor values ​​empress so much, and there will be nothing wrong with our house right now. But, The empress must have heard something bad happened in our house, that's why she took so much effort to send such words."

You Shi said: "Old lady, could it be that the empress is in a bad mood and only reminded us to be careful because she was worried?"

Jia Mu said: "If this is the case, you can rest assured. I am worried that there is something bad about our house. If it spreads to the palace, especially to the ears of the emperor, it will not be a trivial matter."

After Jia's mother finished speaking, she said to Baoyu, "Baoyu, you have to live up to your spirits. You know, your mother is not safe in the palace, and your wife and I cannot live in peace in the mansion. Now our mansion has been prosperous for nearly a hundred years. Yes, but except for the father of the fourth girl in the East Mansion, who was born in the imperial examination with real skills, none of the men in our two mansions, civil or military, has made meritorious deeds. Although the hereditary inheritance of the ancestors is still there, it is really not a long-term solution. "

After Baoyu heard this, he had to sigh: "Old lady, I know, I will pay attention."

Jia Mu said again: "Baoyu, you can't just rely on words, you have to show it. Kaichunbao girl is about to have a baby, and you have already married, so you have to be cruel to start a business. Congwu, you and Lan'er No, Congwen now depends on you and Huaner Laner. As long as you put your heart into it, I believe that the three of you will not be difficult to get a job. You are smart, it depends on me and your wife, Bao girl For the sake of it, you have to work hard to be more energetic."

Baoyu just nodded melancholy, and said to Jiamu: "I understand the truth of what the old lady said. It's late now. Lan'er and I are going to the elder's first."

When Jia Mu heard this, she waved her hand and sighed, "Go, we will go there soon."

Perhaps because she was going to the banquet at Jia Amnesty's, Jia's mother didn't think about the profound meaning of life's angelica supplements.On the other hand, Li Wan, because he was a widow, couldn't go to the banquet, so he only told Jia Lan not to drink too much wine, and then brought the girl Suyun back to Daoxiang Village in the Grand View Garden.

Back in her own room, the little girl had already prepared lunch, Li Wan always ate and talked, after eating, he hurriedly said to Suyun: "Suyun, go to the box in the cupboard and see how much cash we have in total now ? You will count everything in a while, and pack those valuable things in a special box."

Su Yun was a little puzzled.Li Wan sighed: "Suyun, you have been with me for so many years. You know all about my life here, and you also know the current situation in the mansion. Now only we and Brother Bao live in the Grand View Garden. Our family has been living in the past two years. It's hard to live in this Grand View Garden because of financial constraints. You pack up those money, I have a reason."

After hearing this, Suyun had no choice but to clean up.

It turns out that Li Wan's family currently has only one widowed aunt living with her nephew in the capital.Aunt Widow's two daughters, Li Wen and Li Qi, are married, and her nephew is also married.This widowed aunt is as old-fashioned and kind as Li Wan, but she often has contacts with Li Wan and lives not far away.

Li Wan and Suyun cleaned up for two full days, and packed two boxes of valuables, together with the original dowry jewelry, and nearly 3 taels of silver in cash.After Li Wan and Suyun sorted out all these, they asked people to hire a car quietly, and personally and Suyun took the two boxes and the money to the widow's aunt for storage.

Li Wan's widowed aunt was a little puzzled when she saw Li Wan rushing to store things, but she couldn't ask.Li Wan knew about Aunt Widow's doubts, and said tearfully to Aunt Widow: "Auntie, you know that I am a poor person. When my husband left, Lan'er was not yet five years old. Now my parents have passed away, and there is only Auntie in the capital, you are me." My dearest person. Laner is 15 years old. We have been orphans and widows for so many years. Although the past has been stable, who knows what will happen in the future? I just hope that for the sake of my orphans and widows, please help me. I Leave the things here with my aunt for the time being, if things go wrong in the future, these will be the only thing Lan'er and I can rely on in the future; if there is nothing to do in the mansion before Lan'er gets married, then I will bring these things in, and I just ask my aunt to help me .”

Aunt Li felt sad when she heard this.Knowing that Li Wan was a widow before he was 20 years old, although he didn't know why Li Wan entrusted himself like this all of a sudden, he readily agreed, "Just don't worry, you call me auntie, now entrusting such an important matter to me, I'll take care of you." If you don't help me, you won't be worthy of your uncle!"

But at this time, Li Gong'e had already moved in to Fengzao Palace, and Yuan Chun asked her to live in the room next to Baoqin, which was also closely connected to Yuan Chun's bedroom.The imperial physician asked Yuan Chun for pulse every day, saying that in half a month, Yuan Chun might give birth.It is already the eighth day of November, so Shui Ruoyang asked the midwife in the palace to move to Fengzao Palace from November [-]th.

The newly moved Li Gong'e is very diligent and dedicated to Yuan Chun. She often tells Baoqin Yuan Chun that the Xiande Concubine is her only benefactor in the palace, so Yuan Chun has nothing to say to Li Gong'e.

At dusk, Shui Ruoyang came to Fengzao Palace, and saw a very handsome young maid under the eaves making medicine.Seeing Shui Ruoyang coming in, Baoqin hurriedly stepped forward to salute.After hearing this, the maid hurriedly put down the things in her hands and went forward to salute, "My servant Li Gongren has seen the emperor!"

Shui Ruoyang took a look at Li Gongren who was kneeling and bowing his head to salute him, and hurriedly said, "You are Li Gong'e? Get up."

Li Gongren hurriedly said: "Thank you, Your Majesty!" After finishing speaking, he stood up, looked at Shui Ruoyang, and turned back to make medicine.

The moment the court lady raised her head, Shui Ruoyang's eyes could not help but light up: This is a very beautiful woman, just like the beautiful face of her biological mother who melted in water, but the super-dusty coldness on her face was like ice, as if Also like Miaoyu and Daiyu.

Seeing that Shui Ruoyang just looked at Li Gong'e in a daze, Yuan Chun understood something in his heart, so he hurriedly said to Bao Qin: "Bao Qin, go make medicine and let Li Gong'e come in to serve you."

After hearing this, Baoqin hurried over to call Li Gong'e.

Yuan Chun helped Shui Ruoyang into the room, and said with a smile: "Your Majesty, you don't know Li Gong'e, although she is a maid in charge of medicine, she is not only beautiful, she can do everything, and she is very careful. Good chess, even the concubines have never beaten her."

When Shui Ruoyang came here today, he thought of a pile of memorials to report on Jia's mansion, and he was unhappy at first, but he thought of the child in Yuanchun's belly who was about to be ready, so he still came to have a look.Now seeing Yuan Chun's enthusiasm that he didn't know at all, he had no choice but to smile lightly and said, "The concubine is Li Gong'e's bole. In this case, I haven't played chess for a long time, let Li Gong'e accompany me to the next game, let me see Look at the chess master hidden in this palace!"

At this time Li Gong'e just came in, Yuan Chun smiled and said: "Ru Bing, come here, the emperor wants to play chess, you play a game with the emperor."

Li Rubing stepped forward and poured tea for Shui Ruoyang Yuanchun and Dai Quan, then played chess, and said to Shui Ruoyang indifferently: "Your Majesty, although this servant and maid can play chess, they are not proficient in it. If you don't play well after a while, your Majesty, please don't play chess." Damn it!"

Shui Ruoyang saw that although Li Rubing didn't smile, he was very calm and magnanimous, without a trace of nervousness, which made Shui Ruoyang even more impressed.

Shui Ruoyang sat down, and said to Li Rubing who was standing: "Sit down, you are a woman, you go first!"

After hearing this, Li Rubing didn't shirk, and made a move first.

Seeing that Shui Ruoyang looked at Li Rubing carefully from time to time, Yuan Chun hurriedly got up and said, "The emperor can play chess at ease, and my concubine will take a walk in the yard."

Shui Ruoyang didn't raise his head and said: "Then my concubine, be careful."

Yuan Chun turned around and said to the maids who were waiting outside: "Go and tidy up the big room next to it, maybe the emperor wants to rest here."

The maids listened, and naturally obeyed, and went to work together.

Here, Shui Ruoyang played chess for a while, only to realize that this court lady named Li Rubing is indeed not simple, and her chess skills seem to be better than Daiyu Miaoyu, so she couldn't help asking: "I don't know who is Miss Li's chess master?"

Li Rubing replied calmly: "I was taught by my father and brother when I was a child, and later by my master."

Shui Ruoyang said again: "I think your father, brother and master are not simple. I don't know where Miss Li is from?"

Li Rubing said: "Back to the emperor, the slaves and servants before entering the palace are from Henan."

After hearing this, Shui Ruoyang couldn't help but stop the chess pieces in his hand, looked at Li Rubing and asked, "Could it be that Ms. Li lived in several places?"

Li Rubing said: "Going back to the emperor, due to the family accident of the servants, they were forced to leave the hometown where they were born and raised. Later, they grew up wandering with the master and stayed in Henan for a long time. The servants entered the palace also to repay the kindness of the master for taking care of them. "

After hearing this, Shui Ruoyang was even more surprised and asked: "You entered the palace to repay your kindness? Then why did your master let you enter the palace?"

After hearing this, Li Rubing quickly got up and knelt down and said, "I dare not lie to the emperor, because the daughter of one of Master's benefactors was named for the draft, and that girl is unwilling to enter the palace because she has someone she likes, but they dare not say so." , so the servant's master asked the servant to come. The servant deserves to die, and I ask the emperor to forgive me and stop pursuing those things in the past!"

After hearing this, Shui Ruoyang was amazed at the courage of the palace man, and hurriedly said: "I heard that you have been in the palace for three years, it has been so long, what is there to pursue. Get up, let's continue playing chess."

After Shui Ruoyang finished speaking, he got up and held Li Rubing's hand, only felt that the little hand was as soft as jade, and looking at Li Rubing's face, it was already slightly reddish like a peach blossom, and he couldn't help but feel a surge in his heart.

Although Shui Ruoyang had many women around him, he was already over half a century old, and now he had the urge to see the first queen when he was young.The beauty in front of him is not only beautiful, but also has a calmness and coolness that no other woman in the palace has. She also has the shyness of a young girl when she is in love, her unfathomable chess skills, and her fearless straightforwardness, which makes Shui Ruoyang fall into silence. Years of heart, seems to suddenly young.

The chess pieces fell quietly, but the hearts of the two chess players were not as peaceful as they appeared on the surface.

Shui Ruoyang saw that the opponent's chess moves were pressing, he didn't dare to neglect, and didn't speak any more.After a while, Shui Ruoyang found that he seemed to have nowhere to go.

"Your Majesty, you still have a place to go."

After hearing this, Shui Ruoyang looked at Li Rubing, and saw that the other party's beautiful eyes were as clear as water, so pure that it seemed that he could see through Shui Ruoyang's heart.Shui Ruoyang looked at the chess game and sighed: "I am old and lost. Miss Li, how about you help me with this move?"

Li Rubing suddenly smiled and said, "Your Majesty, it's not that you're getting old, it's that you're distracted. Look, if you play this place, wouldn't your chess moves be alive?"

Shui Ruoyang looked down and saw that it was indeed so, he hurriedly said with a smile: "Miss Li's chess skills are really unpredictable, it opened my eyes."

At this time Yuan Chungan just came in, looked at Shui Ruoyang and said with a smile: "Your Majesty, my concubine has ordered some extra dishes, why don't we just eat here?"

Shui Ruoyang was in a good mood at this time, nodded and smiled and said: "That's okay, Miss Li is good at chess, but I lost. Concubine, you are the one who knows talent, Miss Li is really good!"

Yuan Chun said with a smile: "In this case, the concubine asked Li Gong'e to accompany the emperor to drink a glass of wine and have a meal together, what does the emperor think?"

Shui Ruoyang smiled and said: "Aifei is still considerate, you sit down and let them do the work."

When the food and drink were ready, Yuan Chun really asked Li Rubing to sit down and have a meal together. Li Rubing hurriedly said: "Your majesty, empress, I know that you value my servants, but I dare not violate the rules in the palace! You can serve while standing!"

Shui Ruoyang said: "It's okay, Miss Li, sit down, you are a master at chess, you beat me, come on, you help me pour a glass of wine, and I will respect you too, I want to ask you more chess skills when I have time."

After hearing this, Li Rubing had to sit down, poured a glass of wine for Shui Ruoyang, and poured half a glass for himself, then raised the glass and said to Shui Ruoyang: "Your Majesty, this servant is a servant, because the emperor and the empress value it, and the servant is afraid of it." Drinking is a waste of time, so I only offer half a glass of wine to the emperor, please don't be offended by the emperor!"