Self-cultivation of a geisha

Yuan'er stomped her feet, looked at the man who was getting thinner, and complained to the other palace people: "It's just a favor to let me serve a half-dead man all day long. I thought I was favored, but now it seems that it is just a pastime for His Highness."

She didn't speak very loudly, but the little eunuch covered her mouth, turned her head to look at the person painting behind the desk with some fear, and warned her in a very low voice: "Sister Yuan'er, don't talk nonsense, Master Xu!" But he is an elegant person, and he has known His Majesty for some time, even though His Majesty doesn't care about his face, he still told us to take good care of him, so don't neglect him, sister, let's not say such things in the future."

Yuan'er rolled her eyes, very disapproving, but she didn't say anything more, and hid aside to do something.

Xu Yan was writing an inscription on a fan. After half an hour passed, the white fan was still blank. He looked a little tired, he was a little tired, and his energy was getting worse. He put down his pen and simply lay down on the couch and took a nap Come on.

Since the last apology, Rong Su and him have never seen each other again, and in the huge palace, the two of them rarely meet each other. As a result, they haven't seen each other for more than a month, and he doesn't think much about him, just idle A lot of things from the past would flash in his mind. After a long time, he felt more and more empty. He suddenly didn't understand why he came back to this palace. Is it just to appease that person's heart, like that person's mean?I'm afraid not all, he still expects that person to treat him as usual.

Rong Su gave him a way out, spared his life and kept him by his side, but not seeing him, was undoubtedly the greatest torture for him.

He gradually fell asleep, and dimly felt that someone was calling him, each sound became clearer and clearer, and he stretched out his hand, trying to grab something.

"Father! Father..." Xu Yan cried and opened his eyes suddenly, and grabbed someone's hand in panic.

Rong Su looked at the tear-stained man with a face as heavy as water. This was the first time he saw him weeping. An imperceptible distress flashed in his eyes, his throat moved, but he didn't say a word.

Xu Yan didn't expect it to be him, and after a long pause, he lowered his head in embarrassment and let go of his fingers one by one, retracting the hand that still had the warmth of that person into his sleeve, and clenched it tightly.

"Are you ready for the ceremony of offering sacrifices to heaven in half a month?" Rong Su stared at him with a pair of dark eyes, and asked expressionlessly.

"Don't worry, Your Majesty." He wiped his face, and when he looked up again, he gave a faint smile, which was clear and elegant, but his brows could not be stretched, as if there was an indelible sadness.

He saw Rong Su leaning down / slowly approaching him, leaning close to his ear and saying ambiguously: "Every time I see you smiling like this, I can't help it."

Xu Yan's heart skipped a beat, before he could utter the words of refusal, Rong Su had turned on the bed and pressed him under him, looking at the man with humiliation, his eyes full of resistance.

However, Rong Su insisted on not letting him have a good time, and tormented him even harder than before.

By the end he was so groggy that he could barely move a finger.

Half-opening his eyes, he watched Rong Su tidy up his clothes, and left without looking back.

He found that Rong Su's hatred for him was deepening day by day, and he was afraid that he came to him only to relieve his desire/desire.

He raised his hands to cover his face, the fingers were slightly moist...

The ceremony of offering sacrifices to heaven arrived as scheduled, and Xu Yan stood on a reading platform as tall as one person. His body was unusually thin, his back was straight, his eyebrows were extremely light, and a bright red satin was hanging on his left ear, and he wore plain gold trimmed with dark gold. The official robes, black hair tied up high, the summer breeze blowing, the whole person looks extraordinarily elegant, his brows are slightly frowned, and when he raises his eyes, he has a charming and seductive style.

He heard him shouting: "The emperor is here!"

All the ministers fell to the ground and shouted: "Long live my emperor!"

Wearing a nine-clawed dragon robe, the emperor walked steadily and had an extraordinary bearing. He vaguely glanced at the stage, his thin lips curled into a smile that was not a smile.

Without squinting, Xu Yan continued, "Minister, pray for blessings!"

A minister got up and said: "Philippe the exhibition to send off the dragon instrument, and Ning'an wears the fox white. I wish to sing the drum and pay homage to Duan Su's book. Zhu Yuying in the Xia Dynasty, and yellow clothes in the Lanjiu. The jade plan is honest, and the fairy wears it Go to the station. Fragrance enters Xiumen, auspicious clouds come out of rocks. Sincerity will inspire, and great blessings will come to the grid. In the air, there will be divine words, and the emperor will live forever."

"The ceremony begins! Burning incense!"

The emperor knelt on the futon and worshiped three times, took the incense handed by Eunuch Gao and put it on the incense stand in front of the altar.

"Kowtow!"

……

"Two kowtows!"

……

"Three kowtows!"

……

"The ceremony is complete!"

All the ministers got up and exited the Suzaku Gate one after another.

Xu Yan was sweating all over, and he started coughing after getting off the stage. The little eunuch at the side hurriedly helped him up. The low-pitched voice became more and more unreal.

His figure swayed, and a strong arm wrapped around him.

"Master Xu, be careful."

Xu Yan followed the prestige and saw Rong Jue looking at him with a smile.

"Thank you, Prince Rong."

"Master Xu, it's better not to overestimate your ability."

Xu Yan pursed his lips and said nothing, nodded slightly, walked around him at a staggered pace, and after walking a few steps, he heard him say again: "The emperor is ruthless, don't entrust the wrong heart, in a month or so, it will be the empress ceremony ..."

He was far away, and he didn't hear his last sigh clearly. Xu Yan walked in a hurry, and he didn't even hear Rong Qing calling him.

He didn't know that the emperor was ruthless, everything was done voluntarily by him, just like what Rong Su said before, if love happens voluntarily, there will be no regrets.

It's just that it's uncomfortable to be reminded like this, as if that person had a similar experience with him.

Rong Qing trotted to keep up with him with great difficulty, grabbed his robe and stopped him: "Master Xu! Xu Yan! Teacher!"

Xu Yan turned around in a daze, only to calm down when she saw Rong Qing: "What's the matter, princess?"

Rong Qing didn't speak, pulled him to a secluded corner, and said: "Teacher, when did you return to the palace? But the emperor forced you to come back?"

After so many days, she also heard some gossip, especially the rumor that the emperor had sex with the teacher in front of all the palace people that day. She began to believe him, but he was still her teacher. The teacher who is kind, patient, and intelligent did not feel the slightest disgust towards him, but instead had some sympathy and intolerance for his situation.

"I……"

Xu Yan was cut off by Rong Qing before he finished speaking: "You suddenly resigned before, this time the emperor must have forced you, right? Don't worry, teacher, I will beg the emperor to let you go!"

As he said that, he wanted to run towards the Yangju Hall. Xu Yan pulled her back in a hurry, and Rong Qing staggered. Seeing that he was about to fall, he grabbed her wrist and pulled her into his arms in desperation. With some force, Rong Qing's head hit his chest heavily, and he couldn't bear to cover his mouth and cough.

Looking intently, Rong Qing lowered his head, his earlobe was slightly red, and looked up at him with sparkling eyes: "Teacher..."

Xu Yan raised his face suddenly, and said loudly: "Your Majesty!"

Surprised, Rong Qing quickly turned around and bowed his head to salute: "Your Majesty."

After waiting for a while without any movement, she raised her head and saw no one in sight. When she turned her head again, Xu Yan had disappeared without a trace. Her ears were still red. She knew that Xu Yan would deliberately dodge her in the future, so she couldn't help feeling a little Lost.

Xu Yan stepped quickly, with a calm expression on his face, turned to the imperial tea room, went in and drank two mouthfuls of water. From the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of a little eunuch who was about to go out with a food table, and called him: "Wait wait."

The little eunuch turned around and asked with lowered eyebrows, "What are your orders?"

Xu Yan opened the tea lotus, stirred it with a teaspoon and asked, "Where should this tea be sent?"

"Send it to the Queen Mother."

"The Empress Dowager likes Pu'er and green mandarin oranges. If you serve them like this, the Empress Dowager will definitely find it bitter."

The little eunuch smiled happily, and hurriedly took the things to send to others.

When I came back, I only said that the Empress Dowager announced that Mr. Xu would go to learn the art of tea.

When Xu Yan came to Changle Palace, there was no one around the Empress Dowager to wait on him, so he stepped forward to salute: "Empress Dowager Jin'an."

During the mourning period of the first emperor, the Empress Dowager Su wore plain clothes without any hairpin ornaments, her temples were a little gray, but she looked much more energetic than before.

"The Ai family never drinks tea mixed with green citrus, what does Master Xu mean by that?"

Xu Yan's face was solemn, and he said softly: "This minister has the courage to tell the empress that the palace may not be peaceful, and someone deliberately played a trick in the tea."

Empress Dowager Su's pupils shrank, and after thinking about it, she smiled again: "Damn it? It's ridiculous! Who would be so bold as to murder the royal family under the eyes of the emperor?" She narrowed her eyes slightly and pointed her finger, her majesty remained the same as before. , and slowly said: "It seems to the Ai family that you are the thief shouting "Stop the thief!"

When Xu Yan saw that the Queen Mother wanted to call someone to take him down, he knelt on the ground and kowtowed heavily, and said in a hurry: "I hope the Queen Mother's overall situation is the most important thing. I don't know if this tea will be sent to Weiyang Palace, if the empress dowager doesn't believe me, give me some time to prove my innocence..."

Empress Dowager Su stared at him for a long time and asked, "How do you know that the tea has been poisoned?"

"Before, I noticed that the empress likes to drink raw tea, which is dark green in color and has a strong tea flavor, but this time it is reddish-brown cooked tea."

The queen mother sneered: "Ai's family is getting old, so what's wrong with drinking cooked tea?"

Xu Yan had no expression on his face: "There is nothing wrong with drinking cooked tea, it's just that the fragrance, can you smell it carefully?"

Empress Dowager Su was startled: "What?"

"The fragrance is rich and strong, not like the fragrance of tea."

"But Ai's drink is no different from the past." Queen Mother Su said with some uncertainty, but she became afraid in her heart.

"If Gu wants to survive in the body, there must be something warm and nourishing. It must have been mixed into the tea. Dare I ask the empress, did you ever order the imperial tea room to change the tea?"

"Never."

"Then, can you tell me about this matter in detail?" Xu Yan's voice gradually slowed down. He knew that the Queen Mother Su must be terrified at this moment, and he intended to comfort her, "My minister is not talented. I have been in Lianyou since I was a child." Growing up in the villa, he didn't learn the way of a doctor at all, he didn't even know a few herbs, because he had a brother who loved to treat strange things, he had a little understanding of this Gu."

When mentioning his senior brother, Xu Yan smiled vaguely, as if thinking of something interesting.

"Then do you have a solution?"

Xu Yan showed embarrassment, "To live up to my mother's expectations, I have to trouble my senior brother to make a trip..."

Empress Dowager Su thought of something, woke him up, and said to him: "The emperor often has headaches recently, may it be related to this Gu poison?"

He frowned and thought for a while, then said: "I also ask the empress to send the emperor away at Xushi today, so that I can go find out a thing or two."

Empress Dowager Su said strangely: "You can go directly to inform the emperor about this matter. Why is it so troublesome?"

After hearing this, he paused, and an imperceptible bitterness appeared in the corner of his mouth.

The emperor probably doesn't want to see me now.

Thinking about it like this, his voice was very steady: "Your Majesty is involved, so be careful."

Empress Dowager Su thought about it, so she allowed him to go.

After staying in Changle Palace for another half an hour, he left.