On this day, Queen Meng kept Sheng Weiqiao until the palace door was about to be locked, and she made a joke before leaving: "I almost forgot! Mi Zhen is my nephew, you are his fiancée, and that's me." My nephew-in-law-to-be! You still call me 'Qinglang', that's really rude! Hurry up, call me 'aunt' to hear it!"
Sheng Weiqiao smiled and scolded: "I won't shout! You are only two months older than me, and Mi Zhen is older than you. You are still 'aunt', so you are not afraid of calling you old?"
The Queen said: "It's okay, I'm only sixteen, why are you afraid of growing old? Shout out!"
"Don't shout!" Sheng Weiqiao laughed at her, "After all, there's no point in shouting now!"
"Look at how snobbish you are!" Queen Meng pretended to be sulky, "I'll ask someone to make a purse inlaid with gold and jade, and put some stones in it. When you get married, I'll come to the palace to pay my respects, and I'll give it to you as a favor! When the time comes, you hold the pebbles and think they are gold and silver, and then you happily go back and open them, huh!"
Sheng Weiqiao smiled and said: "This man is really stupid. They are all purses inlaid with gold and jade. Isn't this advantage a purse? If the pebbles are thrown away, wouldn't it be enough to leave a purse?"
Those who said these words were covered in snickers.
Empress Meng pointed at the palace door uncontrollably: "Come on, go on, you annoying little girl... Otherwise, we will have to stay here after the palace door is locked. I don't care, but Brother He outside has to wait." Got it!"
"What!" Sheng Weiqiao saw that she was teasing him about the joke she had just heard, and became a little anxious. He stamped his feet and snorted, "You are the Queen, you must be dignified and reserved! It is the role of the middle palace to bully me like this. Does it look like it?!"
Empress Meng said seriously: "I have always been a mother to the world, and it is obvious to all! County Master Kangzhao, do you think you can slander me with your empty words?!"
"... You guys!" Sheng Weiqiao couldn't help but laugh or cry, "Forget it, considering it's late... I'm really leaving. I'll see you again in two days!"
After watching her disappear on the palace road, the smile on the queen's lips gradually faded, and she turned back to the palace, closing the door behind her.
This time the queen did not enter the main hall, but went to the warm pavilion next to it. Chunlai came in and said: "The agarwood drink that the empress always likes to drink has just been made in the small kitchen. Do you want to bring it over now?"
When she asked for instructions like this, she was already ready to ask the little palace maid to do it.
"We'll talk about that later!" Queen Meng waved her hand, glanced at the waiters outside Chun Lai, and waited until they all resigned and left, then whispered, "Go through the corner door and tell the guards outside..."
She frowned, hesitated for a while, and then said, "Let Shengxi come to Nuange to meet me at night!"
When Chun Lai heard this, she was immediately shocked: "Empress! This...?"
"Where are you thinking?" Queen Meng asked hurriedly, "I heard some words from Kang Zhao today, and I have something serious to ask him... am I that kind of person?!"
Chun Lai said in fear: "But Shengxi is not a chamberlain. In the middle of the night... the Shu sisters have many eyes and ears. What if it happens? Madam, if you can trust me, you should let me pass on the message?"
"I ask you, who is Shengxi?" Empress Meng pinched her eyebrows and coaxed patiently, "Although he is now a guard of our Wangchun Palace, in the final analysis, he came from the presence of Prince Mi Zhen. Right?! Then even if I was caught by the Shu sisters when I met with him, we can just put the responsibility on him and say that he sneaked into Wangchun Palace in the middle of the night with evil intentions! In this way, Meng will definitely be watching Prince Mi Zhen refuses to let him go, and the Shu sisters are thinking of adopting Mi Zhen as their own child, so how can they not speak up for him? They are so afraid that they might not be able to cover it up in time!"
This sounds reasonable, but Chunlai is still worried: "Madam, is what you want to say important? If it's not really urgent, can we talk about it tomorrow?"
She was anxious and wise, "Tomorrow is broad daylight, we can also find an excuse to call the Shengxi guards into the palace to talk! Although it is more eye-catching during the day, it is because the Lord of Kangzhao County has only come to the palace to see you today. We At that time, we will tell the public that the county master brought something and told him to give it to Guard Shengxi. Since the county master left too late today, we didn't have time to hand it over, so we asked Guard Shengxi to pick it up during the day... This way Doesn’t it harm the queen’s reputation?”
Empress Meng wanted to summon Gongsun Xi overnight, but she was actually impulsive. Now she persuaded her, and she thought it would be okay.
Then he nodded: "Then you go and do it tomorrow... remember not to let anyone else know!"
Chun Lai secretly breathed a sigh of relief, knelt down and said, "I obey my command!"
... In the blink of an eye, the next day came around noon. As expected, Chunlai led Gongsun Xi to the side hall: "Yesterday, the Lord of Kangzhao County came to the palace to see the Empress. He brought you something and a few words, because the County Lord and the Empress Chang said that the palace door was about to be locked before he left. My wife was tired, so she didn't summon you."
Gongsun Xi said expressionlessly: "I have Lady Lao and Miss Chunlai."
Hearing this, Chun Lai glanced at him sideways. Gongsun Xi's appearance was not as beautiful as Rong Suihe's, nor was it as elegant as Li Shengxu's delicate androgynous appearance, nor was he as majestic as Meng Guiyu's. He was that kind of person. The delicate and fair skin of the neighbor next door, this seemingly harmless but handsome appearance is originally the easiest to gain favor and make people trust.
But perhaps because of his long years of silence, the gloom between his eyebrows shrouded his whole person in a lifeless or even gloomy temperament, so that after seeing it, ordinary people would subconsciously avoid it even if they didn't think much about it. drive him.
This man is currently wearing the uniform uniform of the guards of Wangchun Palace, a mysterious plain robe with fine scale armor, a leather belt around his waist, a ceremonial knife at an angle, and a soap towel wrapped around his head. This outfit was supposed to be majestic and serious, but he suddenly revealed a sinister and cold look.
"Isn't it possible that the empress will fall in love with such a person?" Chunlai muttered in his heart, "Probably not... Even if the empress was not proud when she was in the Meng family, she had no chance of being favored after entering the palace, but after all, she had met Mi Zhen County How could Wang Yiqian, a truly handsome and elegant man, fall in love with him?"
Chun Lai half-surprised and comforted herself by thinking, "I guess the Lord of Kangzhao County conveyed something important to Prince Mi Zhen yesterday, so the empress had to convey it to him alone."
Even so, the queen, who was only twenty-eight years old and had been a widow since her wedding, suddenly had to summon a young and unmarried guard. As a confidant of the palace, she really had to think too much.
Spring came, and Gongsun Xi felt very heavy and led Gongsun Xi into the side hall. This side hall was divided into two rooms, the inside and the outside. The layout outside was similar to that of an ordinary people's hall, except that there was a phoenix seat on top to represent the queen's status, and there was a screen behind the phoenix seat. , a pair of vases as tall as one person, and other decorations are used to entertain guests and receive ordinary greetings; if you turn around the screen, you can see a small door on the wall behind, and you can enter the inner room.
The space here is not big, just the size of an ordinary boudoir room. It is equipped with a couch, a dressing table, and toiletries. A relatively narrow soft couch is placed near the window, with a small table on it and a shelf on it. There is a jade pot and spring vase, with two newly folded wintersweets inserted in the vase, dyeing the entire room with a light cold fragrance.
When Gongsun Xi stepped outside, he could not see Queen Meng and thought that the queen had not arrived yet.
Unwanted Chunlai pointed behind the screen and said calmly: "Go in by yourself, I want to talk to you alone."
Seeing Gongsun Xi's clear expression, she raised her lips without a smile and said, "It must have been entrusted by the Lord of Kangzhao County... You'll know when you get in."
"That's where the empress rests." However, after hearing this, Gongsun Xi did not move, but looked at her, "I dare not step in alone."
He said this not necessarily because he had much respect for the palace rules, nor because he was in awe of Queen Meng, but because he was used to frame-up tricks when he was on Tortoiseshell Island, and he was worried that Meng or the Queen had set a trap for him. , as soon as you enter, you will be charged with a bunch of charges, making it difficult for Sleeping Crane... After all, who knows what is inside
What if it was a disheveled palace maid or something
Chunlai didn't think so much, and thought he was a stickler for rules, so he had a better impression of him, and said, "Don't worry, this is your Majesty's order, because what I want to say is very important, so I left you to guard me outside. "
But seeing that Gongsun Xi still didn't move, he had no choice but to say, "Forget it, I'll take him in and then come out."
So he was led inside. In the clearly visible inner room, it turned out that Queen Meng was sitting on a narrow couch under the window, holding her forehead. Although there was a window in this room, there was no door leading to the outside room. To get in and out, the only way to go in and out was through the main door of the side hall.
Gongsun Xi felt a little relieved now, because Meng had finally made Meng Bijun the queen, and it was impossible for him to spare Meng Bijun just to frame a little bodyguard of his.
After Chun Lai quietly retreated, he bowed and saluted according to the rules: "I wonder what the Queen's orders are when she summons the humble minister?"
Queen Meng adjusted her sitting posture when they came in. She held her chin up and stared at him with a complicated expression for a while before saying, "No courtesy."
After Gongsun Xi straightened up and stood with his eyebrows lowered and his eyes lowered, she was silent for a while, and then asked quietly, "How should I call you?"
Gongsun Xi was confused: "What do you mean by this?"
"Is it Sheng Xi, the guard of Wangchun Palace?" Empress Meng continued faintly, "Or... the little prince living outside, your biological mother, Xiao Wenshi, gave you the nickname Xi'er?"
Gongsun Xi's pupils suddenly shrank, and after a while, he said calmly: "Empress, I can't understand what you are saying. Beizi comes from a humble background, what can I say to the young prince? Even the young master has never done anything."
"I know you may not be willing to admit it!" Empress Meng pinched her forehead a little distractedly and said, "The reason why I called you over is to remind you of one thing: a few days ago, when you entered Xiao Wen's family at night, To worship at the palace where I lived... The Meng family has already known about this!"