The originally bustling palace was suddenly unbelievably quiet. Tang Zhuozhuo saw that Emperor Qiong Yuan's eyes were getting darker and darker, and his heart was both anxious and depressed.
She could even imagine the disappointed expression on the empress dowager's face later.
Concubine Yan was sitting at the lower seat of Emperor Qiong Yuan, only one step away from the empress's position. At this moment, her pretty face was dotted with sadness and tension, and she said softly: "Your Majesty, the prince's filial piety is touching. A piece of handkerchief must have a different meaning, please listen to the prince first."
In fact, she was also nervous, this seemingly stupid method was actually the most effective, in front of so many ministers, no matter how much Emperor Qiong Yuan loved Huo Qiu, he would have to reprimand him a few words.
And these few sentences are a rare opportunity for my emperor's son, at least he can breathe a little bit, so that he won't be pushed so hard.
These people and ministers are all things that are exalted and trampled on, and they are used to seeing the emperor's face.
But if they were exposed, it would be a fatal blow to them.
Even if it is not discovered, Emperor Qiong Yuan must have some concerns in his heart, and it is inevitable that there will be seeds of suspicion. It is not easy to eliminate the suspicion of the emperor!
Concubine Yan moved her body a little, seeing the undisguised smiles on the faces of her son and Mrs. Liu, her heart felt even colder.
I don't know if it's worth it or not!
Sure enough, Emperor Qiong Yuan looked over with deep meaning, Concubine Yan felt uneasy, but she still returned a gentle smile without changing her face.
"My father, the emperor's grandmother's birthday, was celebrated all over the world. My son and minister were overjoyed but also deeply terrified. They ordered someone to invite the best embroidered lady in Suzhou. They rushed for more than ten days, day and night, before sending it to the emperor's grandmother on her birthday. .”
Huo Qiu's voice was cold, and he spoke in a leisurely manner, with neither the eagerness to ask for credit nor the anger of being framed, in his expression, except for those darker pupils, his whole person was the same as usual.
Tang Zhuozhuo suddenly loosened her lower lip, and a big stone fell from her heart. She could only see Huo Qiu's tall and straight back, but she could outline his moon-like cold face in her heart.
Since he said so, he can naturally get over it.
The eyes of the sixth prince flickered wildly for a while, and then he sneered softly: "Brother Huang, don't be fooled. Although Brother Huang is not as knowledgeable as Brother Huang, I still haven't heard that it takes more than ten days for a small handkerchief."
There was a burst of whispering in the ministers' seats below.
Emperor Qiongyuan cast a cold look, then moved his lips: "Fourth brother, tell me."
Huo Qiu didn't change his face, and unfolded the handkerchief with great care and attention. The stitches on the snow-white silk handkerchief were fine and smooth, and it looked as smooth as silk.
The empress dowager just saw the patterns on it clearly, she straightened up with a dazed look on her face.
Seeing this, Huo Qi exchanged glances with Concubine Yan, suppressed the uneasiness in his heart, and forced himself to listen to Huo Qiu's continuation.
"Sixth brother doesn't know something. Gu will naturally follow what the imperial grandfather said."
As soon as these words came out, there was an uproar in the audience.
The grandfather that Huo Qiu talked about was undoubtedly the late emperor, this small piece of veil, could it possibly involve the late emperor
"When Erchen was young, the emperor's grandfather often taught him how to ride and shoot. In his spare time, he always talked with him about how he met the emperor's grandmother in his early years."
Having said that, Huo Qiu raised his head, looked at the empress dowager with red eyes, and said in a slow voice: "The grandson would like to follow the advice of the emperor's grandfather, and embroider the ancient house with curling smoke on the best snow handkerchief in Suzhou. The gurgling mountains and clear springs are always accompanied by green mountains and green waters.”
"On such an auspicious day as today, I hope to make grandma smile for grandpa."
The nuns beside the queen mother walked up to Huo Qiu, took up the square handkerchief, and presented it to the queen mother's desk.
Emperor Qiong Yuan squinted his eyes, then looked at the panic-stricken sixth son, and laughed inexplicably: "It's rare for the fourth son to think like this."
Huo Qi couldn't laugh anymore, he was so angry that his heart ached when he heard the compliments from all the ministers, if it wasn't for Concubine Yan's warning gaze, he really wanted to question him without hesitation.
It's just such a piece of rag, he can say whatever he wants, why didn't he hear the late emperor say one more word
But he steadfastly held back, and there was no need to ask any more questions. Seeing the Empress Dowager's expression, everything had already been answered.
What Huo Qiu said was true.
But obviously his people have exchanged this handkerchief for an ordinary maid handkerchief!
The anger in Huo Qi's mind burned his rationality, and he felt that the replaced handkerchief hidden in his sleeve became a bright joke.
So far, he can only think of one explanation.
Huo Qiu had already noticed his little movements, and then let them go as if he didn't notice them, just to wait for him and his concubine mother to move their faces up to be slapped severely by him.
They did not hesitate to play tricks under the eyes of the emperor, but they won the praise of Huo Qiu from the civil and military courts of the whole court.
Tang Zhuozhuo was more surprised than him. Her hands on her knees were still trembling slightly, but her eyes were fixed on Huo Qiu's straight back, and she couldn't help admiring his impromptu response.
Such a dead situation can be completely escaped, as expected, he is worthy of a generation of emperors through the ages, calm and resourceful, much better than Huo Qi and others.
She didn't think about it that much, she just thought that Huo Qiu made up the handkerchief on the spot after reading the veil, and it just happened to hit the Empress Dowager's heart.
The empress dowager held the handkerchief and caressed it for a while, the corners of her eyes were wet, she said to Emperor Qiong Yuan who was at the side: "This is a picture drawn by your father himself, the Ai family thought he was joking, but they didn't want to take it seriously .”
Emperor Qiong Yuan leaned over to take a few glances, and then smiled: "Everyone knows the affection of the father and mother for the mother."
"This matter, the fourth child has worked hard, and the Ai family is very happy."
Huo Qiu lowered his eyelids, and there was an icy chill in his deep pupils. He retreated to his seat without any surprise, and looked directly at Tang Zhuozhuo's bright eyes that hid Xinghai.
What a fool.
As soon as Huo Qiu sat down, he took a sip of the wine in the glass calmly. The mellow and lingering aroma was lingering, and a strong black purple glowed from the tiger's mouth of his left hand resting on his lap. He frowned faintly, and took another sip of the wine to suppress excruciating pain.
Unexpectedly, a delicate little hand came over and tugged at his cuff lightly. Huo Qiu's expression changed, his entire left palm was numb with pain, but he clearly felt the temperature on that hand, sweet and warm.
"Your Highness, did you know that they would tamper with the birthday ceremony?" Tang Zhuozhuo asked in a low voice, holding a small jade cup and covering his face with a wide cuff.
A piercing pain spread from the tiger's mouth to the whole arm, Huo Qiu's face was as gloomy as water, he caught a glimpse of her pinching the small finger bones on the jade cup, and said, "Yes."
Tang Zhuozhuo suddenly breathed a sigh of relief, since he knew, he would naturally plan to give Huo Qi and Concubine Yan a head-on blow.
She squinted her eyes with a smile, and was about to drink the wine in the glass when she was pinched by a slender hand.
Tang Zhuozhuo tilted his head, the man's face was extremely cold, his thin lips were lightly parted with the cold air wantonly: "You can't drink."
Tang Zhuozhuo was silent for a while, and put down the small wine glass from the good side, looking cute.
"Okay, listen to Your Highness."
Huo Qiu's palms trembled slightly, and he closed his eyes heavily. At this moment, it was the sixth prince Huo Qi's turn to offer his birthday gift.
Huo Qicai broke free from the anger of being played by Huo Qiu, and put on a decent smile. He was very proud of his birthday gift, and even walked a little briskly.
Concubine Yan felt uneasy in her heart, she could hardly maintain the smile on her face, she cast a dark glance at Huo Qiu who was standing still, and gritted her teeth with hatred.
What followed was a deep depression.
Her emperor was too eager for quick success, if he didn't point out a thing or two, almost everything would go wrong.
At this time, she complained about Emperor Qiong Yuan again, if he treated her equally and taught the way of emperor to her six emperors, why would their mothers behave like this
Tang Zhuozhuo also stared intently at the things in Huo Qi's hands, with some interest flashing in his eyes.
She didn't know how much Huo Qiu knew about this matter before, but now that she got his approval letter, she was more and more eager to watch a good show.
According to Huo Qiu's cold and stern temperament, he must have returned with an eye for an eye.
Huo Qi lifted the black cloth to reveal the bamboo slips inside, and a faint smell of blood permeated the air.
Tang Zhuozhuo frowned, and glanced sideways at Huo Qiu, only to find that the man's forehead was dripping with sweat, his eyes were closed tightly, and others seemed to be resting with his eyes closed, but Tang Zhuozhuo's heart trembled.
For a while, she ignored Huo Qi's birthday gift, moved her body closer to Huo Qiu, and deliberately lowered her voice and asked: "Your Highness, are you feeling unwell?"
Huo Qiu slowly opened his eyes, moved his stiff thumb, and said, "It's nothing."
Tang Zhuozhuo lowered his eyes, looked at the man and closed his eyes again, his face was full of gentleness, but his slender hand boldly lifted the clothes on his lap, and held the wide palm precisely.
Huo Qiu opened his eyes abruptly, as if there were two endless deep pools in his eyes, he couldn't use his palms, and he didn't want her to see him in a mess, so he ordered in a cold voice: "Let go."
Tang Zhuozhuo was not afraid of him now, his slight force made her fingers turn white, and she used the other hand to break off his cold fingers one by one, predicting that he would not bear to exert force on her.
Huo Qiu stared at her pink face for a long time, then twitched the corners of her mouth and smiled indifferently, let her see such an ugly thing if she wanted to.
Left and right just hate him a little more.
Tang Zhuozhuo pulled the man's palm to her lap, but he didn't dare to make too much movement. He only took a quick glance from the corner of his eye, and was startled by what he saw.
A large area of purple-black is like a strange flower, occupying the position from the tiger's mouth to the palm of his left hand, and the color becomes darker at a speed visible to the naked eye, and finally freezes on the deep black.
The smile on Tang Zhuozhuo's peachy face collapsed layer by layer, and she bit her lips a few times, but she couldn't say anything.
Her eyes were a little red, but at least she restrained herself from shedding tears in public, but the decent smile on her face could no longer be maintained.
Southern border Gu worm.
How did Huo Qiu get infested by Gu insects? It hurts so much and doesn't make a sound, how long has he been a Gu
Tang Zhuozhuo's heart trembled, too many questions were left unanswered, and her heart was twisted and twisted, so she couldn't say a word.
Huo Qiu felt that her slender palms began to sweat, and thought she was frightened, the sharp pain in the palms gradually subsided, he moved his fingertips, and withdrew his hand.
Don't even dare to look into her eyes.
Huo Qi in the hall looked complacently, spreading out the bamboo slips layer by layer, the bloody lowercase letters were densely packed, and the faint fishy smell was mixed in the fragrance in the hall.