The Fate of the Red Chamber

Daiyu led the three servant girls close to her out of the imperial study, and let out a long breath. This emperor is not easy to deal with, and it is better to avoid entering the palace in the future. I really don't want to come here, and I have to attract a lot of people's jealousy when I go back.Why bother.

Although she wanted to leave the palace as soon as possible, she had to meet with Yuanchun, otherwise there would be some ugly gossip. Today, a large group of female relatives watched her being summoned by the emperor.

"Princess, we've been tired for so long, should we find a place to rest first?" Bai Hui supported Daiyu and asked softly, she could tell the girl's intentions at a glance, and she didn't want to go back to deal with those interrogators this time.

"Forget it, people in the inner courtyard of the palace, we don't want to walk around casually, just go out of the palace if you want to show your face, so as not to cause trouble." Daiyu smoothed the broken hair by her ears, and helped the big phoenix hairpin with beads, her voice was graceful.

The eunuch sent by Xiao Dezi to see Daiyu saw it, he bowed and smiled and asked, "If the Princess is tired, I will bring you a soft sedan chair. There is still a long way to go to Fengzao Palace."

Daiyu really felt a little tired, she had spent a meal when she came here just now, if she had to walk back, she would have to be exhausted to pieces.But in the palace, who would dare to sit in a sedan chair privately without the special order of the empress dowager?He shook his head and said, "No need, it won't do you any good if you startle people."

Who is that fool in the palace? The little eunuch dared to suggest that because he knew that Daiyu was favored. It was not certain that the emperor would reward him heavily when he was so sensible.Just as he was about to say more, a group of young eunuchs caught up behind him, carrying a soft sedan chair.

The first one was Xiao Mingzi, the eunuch in charge of Xiao Dezi, who rushed to catch up, saluted Daiyu, and then said with a smile: "The emperor's order is to ask the princess to go to the concubine Xian in a sedan chair. Originally, the emperor The one who wants to use the dragon to send the princess off happens to be in Prince Liu's sedan chair, so the princess will be wronged."

There is a small episode here.Xiao Dezi went back to the emperor and said that the princess would go to Fengzao Palace first, but the emperor didn't say anything to him, so Prince Liu just mentioned that the princess is weak and might not be able to go far.The emperor wanted someone to send her in his dragon immediately, but Liu Xuan was worried that everyone would be jealous of Daiyu, so he tried to dissuade her, and finally brought her here in his sedan chair.

Seeing this, Daiyu no longer refuses, and gets into the small sedan chair, with Qingning and Qingyue guarding both sides.

After walking for about a quarter of an hour, not far away is the magnificent Fengzao Palace, and next to it is a dense bamboo forest. It is cold winter, and there is a sense of loneliness as the wind blows and the bamboo leaves are rustling. step.

But from nowhere came an extremely frightened "meow", and a fat big white cat rushed towards Daiyu directly, facing Daiyu's face with its two sharp claws.The little eunuch who was carrying the sedan chair in front was shocked, his feet were unsteady, he tilted forward, and the sedan chair fell forward along with him.As a result, even if Daiyu was lucky enough not to be caught by the cat's claws, she could not escape the fate of falling to the ground.

The change was so sudden that Daiyu didn't have time to react, she was frightened into a cold sweat by the oncoming cat, and she couldn't stabilize herself in the sedan chair, thinking that this catastrophe was inevitable.

Qingyue suddenly turned around and grabbed in front of Daiyu, barely catching Daiyu who fell, and both of them fell to the ground together.Seeing that there was no weapon on his body, Qing Ning pulled out the purple jade tassel hairpin on his head in a hurry, aimed at the white cat's abdomen and flew over, hitting the white cat's vital part.The white cat screamed miserably a few times, struggled in the air and slowly fell to the ground, convulsed into a ball, and soon became silent.

Bai Hui rushed forward anxiously, and helped Daiyu up in a hurry, because everyone wore a lot of clothes in winter, only Qingyue's wrist was scratched a little.Daiyu was still in shock, her feet were weak, she leaned against Baihui's arms, and Fengchai was crooked.

"Girl, girl, how are you? Hurry up and announce the imperial physician." Bai Hui reluctantly supported Daiyu, she was so frightened that she couldn't speak easily. Injuried.

The rest of the maids and eunuchs were a little stunned by this scare. If something happened to the princess, their heads would not be enough to cut off.Xiao Mingzi was the one who had been on duty for the longest time, so he was a little calmer. After hearing Bai Hui's exclamation, he came back to his senses and ordered people to report to the Queen Mother and the Emperor.

Daiyu has gradually regained her senses at this time, knowing that there is nothing serious about her, she hurriedly tried to stop her, but the little eunuch had already run away, so she had to let it go.

The other eunuchs and maids just kowtowed and begged for mercy.

Daiyu regained her composure, and seeing the bright red blood on the white cat, felt sick for a while, turned her head quickly, and said in a deep voice: "Get up, it's none of your business. Baihui, let's go to Fengzao Palace first." , Qingyue's hands need to be bandaged."

"Girl, can you go like this?" Qing Ning held Daiyu's arm, the girl was spoiled and spoiled, she had never been frightened like this before, she probably wouldn't dare to sit in a sedan chair.

Daiyu forced herself to stand up straight, and smiled: "Am I not doing well? Thanks to you and Qingyue, otherwise it would not be so easy to escape this catastrophe, but the white cat is a little pitiful."

"Girl, that cat seems weird. Its eyes are blood red. Do you want to take it away with you?" When Qing Ning sent out the hairpin to the white cat, she realized that there was something wrong with the white cat. It might have been possible if she had not been greatly frightened. He was injured, otherwise the blue sky and broad daylight would not suddenly rush out to attack Daiyu.

"Oh? Ask someone to take it with you. The Queen Mother will take care of what happens in the palace. We can't take care of it." Daiyu held Baihui's hand tightly, and her knuckles were a little white. She was surprised, maybe otherwise. There is something tricky, and this matter has to be guarded against.

Bai Hui Qingning carefully supported Daiyu and walked towards Fengzao Palace, fortunately it was not far away.When they reached the door, Daiyu suddenly remembered something, whispered in Baihui's ear, "Take a medicine for me."

Bai Hui was taken aback for a moment, but immediately understood, taking advantage of no one's attention, she took out a pill from her purse, fed it to Daiyu's lips, and pretended to wipe the corners of Daiyu's mouth with a handkerchief.Daiyu swallowed it quickly, and slowed down, looking weak, but her mind was in a hurry.

The maids in front of the door were startled when they saw this situation, some rushed in to report the news, and some ran out to greet her.

Yuan Chun led the other girls and grandmas to greet her quickly. Seeing Daiyu's appearance, they were all surprised or worried. They didn't bother to ask in detail, and first approached Daiyu to the hall, and Yuanchun ordered someone to bring a chair for her. she sits.

"Sister Lin, what happened? Is there any doctor Xuan?" Yuan Chun held the piano with one hand and his waist with the other, with a worried expression on his face.

Everyone knew that she was sent away by the emperor, and they thought that she had offended the emperor, so they came back in such a state of embarrassment.Tanchun Xichun couldn't care too much, and waited anxiously for her reply.

There was no time to speak here, the queen mother and the emperor rushed over with people.Daiyu and the others walked over slowly, so it took a long time, not faster than the empress dowager.Behind him was a large group of imperial wives who were talking with the Queen Mother in the Palace of Compassion and Peace, and Liu Xuanshuirong.

The emperor held the hand of the queen mother and walked in quickly, and everyone knelt down to salute.

"Hurry up and help the princess up, you bastard, how do you serve him?" The emperor couldn't help but leave the queen mother behind, and sternly yelled at the people who were serving at the side.

"Let's get back together. Hanxiang, the little eunuchs can't tell what's going on." The queen mother glanced away, Lin Daiyu seemed to be frightened, her face was pale, and Yuan Chun knew how to handle things.

Daiyu stood weakly holding Bai Hui's hand, her body was like a weak willow Fufeng would fall down at any moment.

Seeing this, the queen mother ordered: "Everyone sit down." Everyone sat down according to their identities.

Daiyu recounted the whole story in detail, neither adding nor concealing, not even complaining or adding her own subjective emotions.The Empress Dowager nodded secretly, she wasn't such a frivolous girl, she didn't take advantage of the situation to cry out to win special treatment.

The emperor became more and more angry when he heard it, and he shouted dissatisfiedly: "All the servants will go down to get fifty boards. If the princess has something good or bad, you can all be buried with him." In his heart, the life of a slave has always been despicable. It's already a great deal of face that I didn't give death directly when I made a mistake.If you go down fifty boards, you will lose half your life if you don't die.

"The emperor is angry. Don't blame them for this matter. It happened suddenly. Now that the concubine Xian is pregnant with dragon descendants, it is time to accumulate blessings for the little prince. Let's avoid the bloody incident. Besides, my sister is fine. If you make the empress dowager and the emperor angry again, then it's your sister's fault." Daiyu didn't expect the emperor to be so violent, and half his life would be killed if he didn't say anything. Not their fault.He stood up and begged for mercy.

"I think the words of the princess are justified, why not punish the princess with a big punishment, and fulfill the compassion of the princess." It was Liu Xuan who spoke, and everyone did not expect that the normally indifferent prince would stand up and echo Daiyu at this time The words, only Concubine Liu's eyes flashed, and the cold light passed by.

The Empress Dowager was more and more sure that Liu Xuan had a very close relationship with the Lin family, but she was also a little puzzled. Liu Xuan tried to hide himself all these years. Even if he had a good relationship with the Lin family, he would not stand out for such a trivial matter. This is really not his character. .But right now, she is not willing to punish the palace servants for Daiyu's sake, as that would make her and the emperor's intentions too obvious.

"Emperor, since the princess is asking for mercy, let them go this time, and each will be fined half a year's salary."

The emperor bowed his head and said yes, no more words.

Doctor Zhang from the Imperial Hospital was waiting outside to be summoned, and the Queen Mother ordered someone to pass it on quickly.Physician Zhang usually only examines the pulse of the empress dowager, but today he came to examine Daiyu's pulse, which seems to be the intention of the empress dowager.However, his medical skills are not the best in the Imperial Hospital. The most powerful person in the Imperial Hospital is Imperial Physician Hua. Because he is the late emperor's confidant, he has never been trusted by the Empress Dowager. It is not a disease that cannot be cured by others. The Empress Dowager generally does not call he.

"Doctor Zhang, please take a look at the situation of the princess."

The Empress Dowager's tone was kind and urgent, but it was different to Doctor Zhang's ears. He knew the Empress Dowager's mind best, and knew that the Empress Dowager was implying that he should pay attention.He bowed to answer, and began to check Daiyu's pulse. After a full cup of tea, he released Daiyu's hand, bowed his head and replied to the queen mother: "Go back to the queen mother, long live. Ordinary people are worse and are very prone to diseases. After several years of recuperation, although they have improved a lot, they still have the root cause of weakness and cowardice, and it will take another three to five years to completely heal. Steady, you need to calm the liver and calm the qi, rest your mind and mind, nothing serious."

The queen mother has been wondering whether there is really something wrong with Daiyu's body, thinking that this is a cover-up of the Lin family, and deliberately ordering her confidant doctor to go to the doctor for consultation, it is not good to be too direct.Therefore, he took this opportunity to scare Daiyu, but to find out about her condition.Fortunately, Daiyu made preparations in advance, took the medicine of Imperial Physician Hua, and was secretly relieved after hearing the words of Imperial Physician Zhang.

"That's good, you go down and prescribe."

The queen mother comforted Daiyu with a few words of kindness, and asked her to go back and have a good rest.

But one person muttered in a low voice: "It's so good, how could there be a cat in the palace?" Everyone heard this, but they didn't know who said it.

When the emperor was reminded, his face changed quietly, and he flew into a rage: "Where's the cat? Go down and skin it and stretch its tendons."

"If you go back to Lord Long Live, the cat, the cat is already dead." Xiao Mingzi knelt on the ground with a plop, trembling, the emperor was in a fit of anger, and the cat was dead and he couldn't vent his anger, so it was bad luck for him.

"Dead? Bring it up and let me have a look." The emperor was stuck in his heart, and he was a little bit desperate for the Yellow River.

Xiao Mingzi didn't dare not to listen, so he went out quickly, and after a while he was leading a little eunuch, who was holding a tray about one foot long, inside was a dead cat, the white hair was drooping, and there was a faint look of dryness. blood.

The female relatives were so frightened that they turned their backs and didn't dare to look any more, trying not to let out a cry.

"Ah..." A shrill cry came from the crowd, and everyone couldn't help but look at the source of the sound. A beautiful lady in palace attire fell down slowly. Fortunately, the maids picked it up quickly.

Zhou Guiren seemed to be talking to himself: "Isn't this Zhang Xiuyi's Xue'er?"

Everyone was taken aback for a moment, and then realized that this was Zhang Xiuyi's favorite cat, no wonder she fainted.

"Wake up your master." The Empress Dowager's tone was unusual, with hints of anger.

The maid trembled in fright, and called Zhang Xiuyi softly. It took Zhang Xiuyi to wake up, and ran to the white cat a few steps, sobbing softly: "Xue'er? Xue'er?"

"Zhang Xiuyi, is this your cat?" The Empress Dowager's voice became more ruthless, and Zhang Xiuyi raised her head in shock, her eyes full of fear.Her cat frightened Princess Hanxiang, and almost ruined the princess's appearance. In the past, this may not be a big deal. The emperor has always loved her, but it is different today. She is the princess of Hanxiang. Everyone has rumored that the emperor Now that my heart is on her, is this a crime to punish her?

In the year when the emperor first came to Dabao, there was an audition, and she had just turned 13, and she was selected.Because she was petite and exquisite, with a graceful figure, and a temperament like a Jiangnan woman's gentleness, and her singing voice was unrivaled, she soon won the emperor's favor.

Although their Zhang family is a well-known and prominent family in the south of the Yangtze River, her father is only the son of a concubine in the family.Furthermore, the Empress Dowager didn't seem to like her, and often blocked the emperor's rewards for her, so even if she was favored, she was only a third-rank concubine and could not be compared with first-rank concubines like Wu Guifei and Xiande Concubine.

"Go back to the empress dowager, it, it is the concubine's cat." There was obvious fear in her voice.

The Empress Dowager raised her eyebrows, her fair face was extremely majestic, and she sternly shouted: "Zhang Xiuyi, you are so brave, you even let your cat run into the nobles in the palace. It seems that the emperor loves you too much."

Who is the queen mother, she thought clearly about the barriers inside in an instant, obviously Yuan Chun wanted to take the opportunity to ruin Daiyu's appearance, and then put the blame on Zhang Xiuyi, who was favored, to get rid of the two confidantes in one fell swoop.But she didn't like Zhang Xiuyi in the first place, she was very satisfied with the gift from Yuan Chun, and immediately entered the play.

The emperor looked at the panicked and pitiful Zhang Xiuyi, and felt a little bit reluctant, but he didn't want to chill Daiyu's heart at this moment. Although Zhang Xiuyi was good, she was not as beautiful as Lin Daiyu.

Daiyu hasn't figured out the twists and turns inside, but she believes that Zhang Xiuyi won't harm her.Firstly, with Zhang Xiuyi's current status, she would not get any benefits without Daiyu; secondly, Zhang Xiuyi should have heard about the friendship between the Lin family and the Zhang family, so she would not be so stupid as to harm her own people; moreover, this Zhang Xiuyi, see He doesn't look like that kind of cruel person.She didn't want to be too showy, and she didn't want to see innocent people suffer for her.

"Empress Dowager, the cat belongs to Empress Xiuyi, but she can't look at it all the time, let alone think that the cat will go out and cause trouble. According to Hanxiang, it's better to forget it."

The emperor nodded repeatedly when he heard it, and then said: "Queen Mother, the princess is right, what does a beast have to do with people?"

"Your Majesty, that's not what you said. The concubine is not targeting Zhang Xiuyi, but just discussing the matter. Since it is something she raises, it should be taken care of. Fortunately, no major disasters have been caused today. Otherwise, what should I do? If everyone follows him in the future Zhang Xiuyi has followed suit, so the harem is not messed up." Yuan Chun still had a steady smile on his face, but he wanted to treat Zhang Xiuyi wholeheartedly, so he had to arouse the suspicion of others.

Yuan Chun's words left the emperor speechless, so he could only act according to the empress dowager's face.

The queen mother waved her hand with a firm expression: "Hanxiang, you are pure and kind, and you don't want to blame others, but this is the rule in the palace. She must be punished if she violates the palace rules, otherwise there are no rules and etiquette in the whole palace."

It was not for Daiyu to intervene when the queen mother talked about this, she was just a princess, and she was not qualified to interfere in the affairs of the harem, so she could only look at Zhang Xiuyi sympathetically.

A young prince wearing the prince's uniform who had been sitting at the bottom of Liu Xuan suddenly stood up and bowed his hands to the queen mother and the emperor: "The queen mother, the emperor, I have something to say. I looked over from this side, just right You can see the cat's front right paw, and there is a very small embroidery needle inserted between its two paws. If I guessed correctly, the cat must have suffered a sudden pain before it went mad. Should I check How did Chamao get injured, does it have anything to do with Zhang Xiuyi?"

He is the king of Beijing, Shui Rong, the head of the four major county princes' mansions, and he is also the youngest county prince besides Mo Han.He has always liked poetry and poetry, but under the pressure of the queen mother, he faded out of the court, and would not easily interfere in the affairs of the court, so he was at ease.I don't know why this time, I accepted the emperor's appointment to take charge of disaster relief together with Liu Xuan and Mo Han.

He is different from Mo Han's calm determination, Liu Xuan's indifference, and Bao Yu's gentleness and consideration, but he has a refreshing and playful combination of contradictions.Sometimes feminine and sometimes heroic, people can't touch the real him.

Yuan Chun's originally delicate face was a little pale, not because of her carelessness, but because she didn't expect that a trivial matter would provoke two nosy princes to come forward together, otherwise the cat would be left with nothing but a pile of ashes .Lin Daiyu was not as simple as she thought, she actually brought the cat instead of leaving it where it was.However, this matter still will not involve her.

The queen mother was a little surprised, squinting her phoenix eyes, and slowly glanced around King Beijing, and told the eunuchs beside her: "Go, see if what Prince Beijing said is true?"

Soon, the little eunuch had pulled out an embroidery needle from the cat's right paw, and what King Jing said was true.

"Mother, it seems that Xue'er reacted too much because she was stimulated, and she didn't want to scare the princess. No wonder sister Zhang." Since the queen mother came in, Wu Guifei, who has been serving the queen mother, finally spoke.Even if Zhang Xiuyi is not her person, she is willing to protect her. This is a good pawn to go to Yuanchun's favor.

In fact, the queen mother wanted to put all the blame on Zhang Xiuyi, creating a situation where Zhang Xiuyi designed to frame Daiyu, and then dealt with Zhang Xiuyi in a legitimate manner, and made the Zhang family unable to say anything against it because of Daiyu's face.But she doesn't have the self-confidence of Yuan Chun, and she doesn't know if Yuan Chun's method is reliable, don't shoot herself in the end, and make Yuan Chun feel embarrassed, it's better to use this step to get down.

The queen mother gave Zhang Xiuyi a warning look, smiled and patted Concubine Wu Guifei's hand and said, "You are right, Ai's family is impatient. The embroidery needle will not stab the cat for no reason, and we will continue to investigate this matter. Xuejiao , your elder concubine concubine is pregnant and has limited mobility, I will leave this matter to you, and within three days, you must give Aijia a satisfactory answer."

If it is too suspicious to directly say that there is no investigation now, the investigation still needs to be investigated, and it cannot be brought to the table.Concubine Wu Gui is not the kind of person who waits for nothing. Even if she finds out something, she is a smart person and knows what to say and what not to say.With such a small matter, Yuan Chun can't be brought down, Wu Xuejiao will not take risks, she will only help to get over it.Of course, she won't find out about Zhang Xiuyi, who would be so stupid to use her own things to frame others, I'm afraid not many people will believe it.

Zhang Xiuyi was so frightened that she knelt on the ground and trembled. He kowtowed to express his gratitude after listening to the Queen Mother's words. He glanced at Daiyu and the others gratefully. After staying in the palace for these years, he could see the truth about some things, but he couldn't explain them.

It just so happened that the medicine arrived from the Imperial Hospital, under the watchful eyes of everyone, Daiyu had no choice but to take it, but luckily it was just a dose of medicine to soothe the nerves and refresh the mind, so there was nothing serious about it.

The Laba palace banquet broke up unhappy like this.