Kite falling into red dust

"Choose a concubine?"

"Concubine Zhen and concubine Shu are not blessed. They cannot give birth to dragon heirs for His Majesty. Naturally, we must choose some more concubines to enter the palace to continue the heirs for His Majesty." Shangguan Xuerui said to a maidservant next to her. With a wink, the maid handed the booklet she was holding to her with both hands.

"The youngest daughter of Master Qiao, Minister of the Ministry of War, is 16 years old this year," she said while flipping through the booklet. Murong Mingyu moved in front of his eyes.

It turned out to be a picture book, with a beautiful woman painted on every page.And the girl on the page that Shangguan Xuerui turned to specially has a petite figure and a small face. Maybe it's because the artist's skill is limited, and the facial features are not very detailed, but she also has almond eyes and cherry lips, which makes people look very comfortable. appearance.

Murong Mingyu glanced hastily, and said: "Only 16 years old? Is it a little younger." Shangguan Xuerui said: "16 years old is not too young, the daughter of Mr. Wei, Shangshu of the Ministry of Industry, was married at only 14 years old. But it doesn’t matter if the king doesn’t like it, the concubine and the queen mother selected a lot of good-looking women of the right age, and asked the painter to draw portraits, the king can take a look at it slowly.”

He picked up his handkerchief and wiped his mouth, and said: "Look, I will talk about the selection of concubines in the future. Last year, many cities and counties across the country suffered from floods. Now that the national treasury is in a tight situation, how can there be spare money to do such a waste of money?" thing?"

"But the Queen Mother said..."

"The empress dowager is going to tell you." He suddenly stood up, his face became extremely gloomy, "I still have a memorial to be approved, so I will go to the imperial study first, the queen will take it easy."

Shangguan Xuerui didn't say anything to persuade him to stay, but just stared at his leaving back, lost his mind for a while.Then he ordered the maid to remove the dishes, and he got up and went out, and came to a room that Murong Mingxuan had never been near.

Through the open window, a woman can be seen sitting in front of the window, holding a needle and thread in her hand, bowing her head and embroidering something intently.While embroidering, she hummed a little song.The voice is mellow and clear, very pleasant to hear.

Shangguan Xuerui stopped to watch for a while, and then suddenly said: "You are in a good mood, what are you embroidering?" The woman was startled, and looked up at her, with a faint smile on her bright and beautiful face—— But it was Luo Hongdie who stayed by the queen's side incognito.

Luo Hongdie put down her sewing, and opened the door for her personally, "Shouldn't the queen be having lunch with the king now? Why come to me when you have time?" Shangguan Xuerui sat down, "Of course the king has already Only when I leave, can I come to see you."

Luo Hongdie picked up the half-embroidered embroidery and continued to embroider, "How are the preparations for the election of the concubine?" , "The king said that the national treasury is tight, so I won't choose."

Luo Hongdie said: "Shouldn't this be a good thing for the queen? Why does the queen look so unhappy?" Shangguan Xuerui showed a wry smile, "What a good thing! Even if no newcomers enter the palace, the palace will It’s just a queen in name only.” She looked at the silk handkerchief embroidered with mandarin ducks playing in the water in her hand, sighed, and said: “Ever since I learned that the king likes men, I have long since given up hope to be his wife. The person in my heart. But after all, this palace is his personal queen, and I just want to have a child with him. Is this request too much?"

Luo Hongdie buried her head in embroidering, while echoing perfunctorily: "Not too much, not at all." Shangguan Xuerui continued to say to herself: "It doesn't matter if you are a dragon son or not, or if you can inherit the throne, as long as you are filial , sensible, and able to grow up safely, isn’t that what a woman’s life is all about?” Luo Hongdie raised her head, and saw the 22-year-old queen staring into the distance, eyes full of vicissitudes and helplessness , couldn't help chuckling, and said: "The queen said it as if she had suffered a lot of grievances. You must know that the queen can enjoy the glory and wealth as soon as she is born, but many people can't get it in their lifetime."