On the night of August 14th, it rained suddenly in the sky, thin and cold with a cold temperature, sweeping across the entire capital. In addition, as soon as the news of Emperor Qiong Yuan's great trip came out, the former court and the harem were even more turbulent, and no matter what thoughts were in his heart, there was a sad look on his face, which made people feel depressed.
Later, Tang Zhuozhuo entered the Qianqing Palace, and the formerly shining palace was covered with white cloth, as if covered with a hazy layer of mist and dust.
The people who arrived earlier than her knelt according to their ranks, with solemn and sad faces, Tang Zhuozhuo knelt down calmly, looked up, and saw a man not far in front of him with a straight body, black hair and plain clothes. The collision was particularly strong. With just one glance, she actually felt a mountain of coercion and sadness, like an ancient painting with clear colors and dark waves.
On the side of the female relatives, the Guan family was the first to kneel, but the strange thing is that Concubine Yan did not show up from the beginning, and even the sixth prince Huo Qi did not come.
Tang Zhuozhuo was puzzled, he only knew that Huo Qiu suppressed Huo Qi especially during this period, but the centipede is dead but not stiff, and the sixth prince has worked hard for many years, it is impossible for him to be suppressed by such an overnight beating.
What's more, Emperor Qiongyuan loved this prince more during his lifetime.
Thinking of this, Tang Zhuozhuo felt a little uneasy.
She lowered her head, her crescent-like black eyebrows furrowed invisibly, and she couldn't help raising her head to glance at Huo Qiu's back. He was tall and straight, and the back alone exuded a deep chill.
Forget it, for a person like him, naturally, she doesn't need to worry about anything, lest she get close to her to be sentimental and ruin the prince's good deeds.
Through a small window, the dark clouds outside were pressing on the roof of the palace. Tang Zhuozhuo suddenly felt a little tight in the chest and short of breath, and took a few deep breaths while clutching the handkerchief.
The nonsensical dispute that day seemed to be the crown prince's unilateral anger, but in fact she didn't participate in it
Since His Royal Highness wants to be angry, she will naturally accompany her to the end. If she keeps holding back this unknown fire that has been brewing in her heart for a long time, something will definitely happen.
In the middle of the night, all the princes, nobles and high-ranking ministers came together. The chief eunuch who was most relied on by Emperor Qiongyuan during his lifetime looked sad and solemn, and came with a scroll of bright yellow imperial edict.
When everyone saw this, they knew it in their hearts.
This imperial decree will determine who gets the throne.
All the princes and concubines are here, only the Sixth Prince's family and Concubine Yan are missing. Those ministers are watching their eyes and their hearts are watching their hearts, and none of them dare to ask questions.
The faction of the six princes has already been imprisoned by the crown prince, right
At this point, the curtain of the struggle for the throne has quietly fallen, and according to the edict left by Emperor Qiongyuan, the Crown Prince Huo Qiu will succeed to the throne.
Tang Zhuozhuo stayed in Qianqing Palace for two nights. When An Xia helped her to rest in the side hall, she felt her legs were trembling, so she recovered some strength sitting on the bed, and she turned her head and asked, "Empress Empress?" where now?"
While kneading her calves and knees, Zihuan replied humbly: "Your Majesty came out a little earlier than us, and it's time to go back to Changchun Palace."
Because Emperor Qiongyuan's funeral has not yet been completed, the Guan family also temporarily lives in Changchun Palace.
Tang Zhuozhao's eyes flickered a few times, and then he put his face in front of the ice basin and took a deep breath, feeling a chill go deep into his bones, and even his spirit was lifted.
"Come on, let's go take a look."
When they arrived at the gate of the Changchun Palace, they saw several low-ranking concubines who had their doors shut and left in disgrace.
Tang Zhuozhuo acted as if he hadn't seen him, a decent smile appeared on his delicate face without makeup, and before he wanted to speak, the maid who guarded the gate squatted down and bowed, saying: "Your Majesty has already ordered, if the Crown Prince The concubine is here, just go inside."
Tang Zhuozhuo nodded with a smile, and looked back before stepping into the vermilion gate. The departing concubine was supported by a little maid, and the corners of her white clothes were tremblingly wet from the rain and blown up by the wind.
Keeping in the deep palace is always like this. If there are no heirs, these concubines may either live a miserable life in the Qingdeng Ancient Buddha or be buried with the emperor, and they will not get a single word in the history books until they die.
After entering the Changchun Palace and walking through a gravel road, An Xia put away her umbrella, and Tang Zhuozhuo heard from the maid that Guan was resting on the bed because of being tired for several days.
She walked in with light steps, the inner hall was a little dark, only a few candles were lit, the bed curtain was partly opened, fluttering slightly with the wind. The temple is smoked with plain sandalwood, which seems to be different from ordinary sandalwood, which is more peaceful and soothing.
Seeing her coming, Mrs. Guan put down a white flower she was holding in her hand. The flower bloomed just right, but it rolled along the side of the bed to Tang Zhuozhao's feet. She was slightly taken aback, and then bent down to pick it up.
Guan Shi leaned on the soft cushion, smiled softly, waved to her, and said, "Jiaojiao, come over to Auntie."
Tang Zhuozhuo's ears were a little red, and Guan was in a high position, but he treated her very affectionately every time, and it wasn't for superficiality, but genuine joy.
She had just walked to the edge of the bed when she was caught by Guan. The latter had a natural smile on his face. Apart from his pale face, he couldn't see anything else, not even a trace of sadness or grief.
Tang Zhuozhao pursed his lips, not knowing how to speak for a moment.
"A while ago, I followed your method to polish my lips, but the color was not right." Guan Shi smiled and mentioned this matter, but she didn't know what to think of. She patted her hand and said, "Wait for the matter of the late emperor. After that, let’s talk together again.”
For some reason, Tang Zhuozhuo suddenly breathed a sigh of relief when he heard this. At least in this life, the Guan family no longer had the idea of going to the temple for a long-term companion.
"It just so happens that my Highness Yang found a kind of jade flower seeds a while ago, and planted them in my garden. After a few months, the flowers will bloom and be ground into juice to make lip balm." Tang Zhuozhuo blinked, his slender The eyelashes flickered like a small fan, and the more Guan looked at him, the more he felt that this child was really a juicy one, good-looking, and sweet-talking, no wonder that kid Huo Qiu was pampered like a treasure.
"The prince is very busy these days. Jiaojiao comes to accompany my aunt when she has nothing to do. This Changchun Palace is very deserted." Guan sighed slightly and said with emotion.
Tang Zhuozhao naturally responded, and affectionately took Guan's arm and acted like a baby.
When he finally walked out of the Changchun Palace, Tang Zhuozhuo looked at the dripping water droplets under the glazed brick and tile eaves forming a bead curtain, and felt a little sad for some reason.
Guan should also be sad, right? Although there is no clue from the outside.
She is holding an oil-paper umbrella by herself, on which is painted a woman who is quietly dancing and walking around. The big raindrops hit it, as if playing a piece of music, making the characters on it more vivid.
In the Changchun Palace, Guan Shi watched her go out, smiled straight at the mother beside her: "The princess is a good one, the Tang family is well educated, if it is time to add a son and a half daughter to the emperor, I will The heart can be regarded as letting go."
After all, she waved her hand to make people retreat, and the huge palace suddenly seemed empty. She had been down for half a day with a faint smile on her face, but now that everyone had gone out, she only felt her face stiff.
That person... just disappeared
Guan raised his head slightly, the tip of his nose was a little sore, his eyes were fixed on the bed curtain in front of him, but the words that the man said before he left still clearly emerged in his mind.
Between them, it shouldn't be like this!
Guan frowned fiercely, a tear fell on the quilt unexpectedly after all. She is no longer the naive and ignorant Second Miss Guan more than ten years ago. After living in the harem for so many years, her heart has already hardened beyond belief.
She obviously felt that life in the palace was too hard to survive, but after the man left completely, she felt a little bit of interest.
For more than ten years, it was like a dream, but she still remembered very clearly that at the inauguration ceremony that day, Emperor Qiong Yuan was dressed in a bright red dragon robe, and the corners of his eyes and brows were full of joy. His hands trembled a little at the time, and anyone with a discerning eye could see the feeling of apprehension.
It's not that she hasn't been tempted before, but her sister is too important to her, she has to tell herself repeatedly that entering the palace is to protect the blood left by her sister to protect the adult, and the rest of her thoughts are all rotten in her stomach.
What's more, the wrong things she did will not be repaid even in a lifetime.
So there was the story later, in the wedding night in the bridal chamber, the emperor who was more than ten thousand people lay on the outside of the wedding bed, leaving all the places inside to her, but said something to her in a hoarse voice.
In the palace, don't be afraid.
He didn't touch her.
As if like this, the relationship between them is still as innocent as before.
Guan calmly wiped away the moisture from the corners of his eyes with his fingertips, and accidentally knocked over the flower basket by his elbow, and the white flowers that were just picked in it were scattered all over the ground, stained with a little dust. The ground trembled a few times and returned to calm.
She closed her eyes suddenly, and said in a very low voice: "Sister, I have never betrayed you after all these years."
He also really failed himself.
What happened next was beyond everyone's expectations. The Sixth Prince's family and Concubine Yan Gui got the news two or three days before Emperor Qiong Yuan's death, and quietly left the capital overnight. Appeared in the Huainan area, proclaimed himself king, nicknamed Yuwang.
Tang Zhuozhuo had already lived in the Changchun Palace at that time, and Huo Qiu couldn't get out because of successive incidents, but she herself was happy to be at leisure, either enjoying flowers and making tea or going to the Palace of Compassion and Ning to accompany the two empress dowagers all day long.
It is worth mentioning that, apart from the empress Tang Zhuozhuo, none of the elders in the East Palace is a high-ranking concubine. She originally thought that Zhong Yuxi would get the title of Zhaoyi, at least she would be a Shuyi. Just a concubine.
The remaining four or five people are Jieyu and Ronghua, and there is even one person who has only won the title of nobleman.
Tang Zhuozhao looked at the roster in the middle of the night and frowned, not knowing what the man was thinking.
During this period, Tang Zhuozhuo never met Huo Qiu, it was really like the cold war between the two after they quarreled when she first entered the East Palace.
Over time, Guan Shi also noticed that something was wrong.
At the beginning of October, just after the hottest time of the year, Tang Zhuozhao brought some home-brewed osmanthus wine to the Palace of Compassionate Ning early in the morning.
The Guan family who has become the queen mother is still the same old. People you don’t want to see can be knocked on the door even if you don’t want to see them. You can be happy for a long time when you meet people you like. .
As soon as the wine jar was opened, a strong fragrance came to the face, it didn't smell like wine, but it was like standing under a osmanthus tree full of flowers, counting the fragrance.
Guan's beautiful eyes were full of smiles, and he nodded Tang Zhuozhuo's eyebrows, and said: "Where did you come to deliver wine? This is obviously the honey from your palace, right?"
The coral bracelet on Tang Zhuozhuo's wrist touched the corner of the wine jar, making a crisp sound, and the wine inside also swayed. She smiled and rolled up her soft sleeves, revealing a large area of white and delicate skin on the back of her hand.
"The emperor is here!"
With a sudden high-pitched voice like sand and glass rubbing together, Tang Zhuozhao's body stiffened immediately, and after a while he exhaled slowly, and then frowned slightly.
She hadn't seen this man for more than a month.
Huo Qi proclaimed himself king, Huainan area was originally a rich land, now the court has lost contact with the officials there, one can guess his plan without even thinking about it.
Because of this matter, Huo Qiu, who had just ascended to the throne of God, turned upside down day and night. In addition, he was so irritated by Tang Zhuozhuo's words that the rain and dew were all covered. In the past two months, he didn't even say that the rain and dew were all covered, and he didn't even step into the harem.
Absolutely pure and ascetic.
Fortunately, it is still in the mourning period of the first emperor, and the new emperor is so filial, so he does not allow others to make irresponsible remarks.
Those ministers didn't have the guts to fall on Tang Zhuozhuo's head.
Tang Zhuozhao was naturally happy to be at leisure.
It's really strange, two months ago, they were still inseparable, and they didn't even know each other, and he could calm down one by one when she played a petty temper unscrupulously, why did the quarrel suddenly become so stiff this time
When Tang Zhuozhao thought of it by chance, he felt very uncomfortable all over his body, and he couldn't tell the specific feeling, but every time he thought of it, he always felt uncomfortable, and accidentally smashed a few objects that he brought over earlier. .
In one or two months, although the Changchun Palace was exquisite and appropriate, almost the same as the layout in the East Palace, but those exquisite little objects sent by Huo Qiu earlier were hidden at the bottom of the box, and of course, there were not many details left. .
That's why I feel out of sight and out of mind.
Guan narrowed his eyes with a smile, and said to the man in a bright yellow dragon robe who was as cold and noble as a god: "Is the emperor free today?"
Tang Zhuozhuo turned his head away, and saluted him with a natural smile, as if the person who frowned earlier was not her, and said, "Your Majesty, Wanan."
The woman's voice couldn't be softer. After nearly two months, Huo Qiu once again looked at her intently.
The warm halo rippled and dissipated on her body, and she stood quietly beside Guan Shi, Ting Ting, a coquettish and pretty one, her exposed skin seemed to be coated with a layer of enamel, The luster surged, she seemed to be dazzled by the sun, and the sparkling light was cruising on the eyelids.
It's so beautiful that it makes people's hearts tremble.
No matter how hard Huo Qiu tried to endure, he still paused slightly, his Adam's apple rolled up and down a few times, his deep eyes couldn't tell whether it was anger or something else, and he asked coldly, "The queen is here too? "
Tang Zhuozhuo nodded lightly, took a step back, and answered obediently, with a natural face: "The concubine has nothing to do in the palace, so I came to talk to the queen mother."
Seeing her retreating movement, Huo Qiu's long and narrow phoenix eyes flashed with fire, he forced himself to nod his head, and didn't want to speak for a while.
These days, he was looking forward to this woman's appearance, thinking about it so much that his heart ached, and he put his pen down to think deeply at night, why is she angry with him
It's just a woman who doesn't know the so-called. He was raised in the Eastern Palace and has never touched her fingers. How can she deserve her so much attention? Even in the back, Zhong Yuxi only got the position of a concubine, but she didn't seem to be able to see it. The Changchun Palace was extremely quiet from the beginning to the end.
Huo Qiu didn't know what was going on in this woman's head at all, and every time he thought about it, he wished he could tie her up and ask her clearly, but in the end he couldn't help but walk up to her by himself, but seeing that she was so evasive Actions.
Tang Zhuozhuo didn't dare to meet Huo Qiuruying's eyes, turned his head to glance at the jar of wine, tightened the handkerchief in his hand and pursed his lips in silence.
Once Emperor Chongjian really got angry, she couldn't help feeling a little apprehensive in her heart.
Seeing the situation of the two of them, Guan shook the exquisite palace fan in his hand and choked impolitely: "If Jiaojiao is not here in this palace, the emperor will find her here?"
These words were too blatant, and Tang Zhuozhuo couldn't stop his ears from turning red in front of the elders.
Huo Qiu didn't speak, his eyes were bottomless and gloomy, he didn't comment on Guan's words.
"That's all, I don't want to get involved with young people's affairs." Guan Shi had watched enough of the show, but because of Huo Qiu's cold eyes, she got up from the couch and entered the hall, leaving only Xia Youyou's laughing voice reached the ears of the two, "The emperor, don't bully this palace's Jiaojiao."
Huo Qiu took a deep breath, it was clearly his Jiaojiao!
Almost as soon as Mrs. Guan left, Tang Zhuozhuo became a little timid. Her eyelashes trembled a few times, covering the clouds and mist well, and she said in a soft voice: "Then go down and have a chat with the queen mother, my concubine." There are still some things in the palace..."
Huo Qiu's voice was as cold as the night wind from Saibei, and he approached her a few steps in front of the crowd, "I will go with you."
It couldn't be more obvious that this man came to look for her.
On the palace road of Yangchang, Tang Zhuozhuo and Huo Qiu walked back and forth. In the distance is the glazed brick palace wall. In front is the noble and shady Emperor Chongjian. A group of people behind them dare not make a sound , Tang Zhuozhao only felt very depressed.
It's like reaching a dead end.
The Changchun Palace and the Compassionate Ning Palace are really not far away, so how come today's walk is endless and there is no end in sight
She walked more and more slowly, Huo Qiu frowned and stopped to wait for her, but she didn't look at the road at all, and directly plunged into his chest, the pain was so painful that he covered his forehead with tears streaming down his face.
After two months, the nephrite jade Wenxiang was in his arms again, Huo Qiu squinted his eyes, and heard the sound of his own heartbeat, which became faster and faster.
"Hiss..." She gasped, and she could only see the golden dragon with its teeth and claws in front of his chest. Huo Qiu grabbed her fidgeting hand and asked in a deep voice, "You don't even look at the one in front of you when you walk?"
Tang Zhuozhuo's teary eyes were dim, and she wanted to refute back with tears in her eyes, when she saw his fingertips rubbing her forehead, with unquestionable firmness and warmth, her heart trembled suddenly, and the words on her lips Going around and swallowing it back.
"It hurts..." Her voice was extremely aggrieved, and she easily touched the chord called reason in Huo Qiu's heart.
Just such a heartless and squeamish person, just one face-to-face knocked him out of his armor, his city was completely lost, and he couldn't have any resentment anymore, he just wished he could praise her to the bone.
Tang Zhuozhuo didn't know the twists and turns in the man's heart, it would be easy to slow down a little bit, and then felt that so many people were red-eyed in front of them and it was shameless, so he took a few steps back, staring at himself embroidered with peonies and gold The upper of the line does not speak.
Looking at the situation, do you really want to reconcile? But at the beginning, the crown prince flung his things and left, but now he wants to expose the matter with a cold face
Where in the world is there such a good thing
She has a big temper and is hard to coax.
Huo Qiu withdrew his index finger, there was still the soft and delicate fragrance of the woman on it, and the remaining warmth made him move his finger slightly.
"Why did Your Majesty stop suddenly?" Tang Zhuozhuo seemed angry or resentful, his eyes like blue waves sparkled with a faint smile of glaze color, a peach blossom face full of affection captivated people's hearts.
The long-simmering anger in Huo Qiu's heart was extinguished by her soft tone, and even struggling seemed powerless.
"Come here." He stretched out his hand, his slightly callused fingers were long and slender, his whole body was against the light, and the cold air behind him pushed back the warmth of the sun.
Tang Zhuozhuo pondered for a moment, then took a few steps forward and placed his hand in his gentle palm. The two of them were very close to each other. The man's aura was stronger than before.
Her fingertips were a little white, she rubbed his little finger with her fingertips, her eyes were clear and her expression was calm, she licked her lips and said: "Actually, His Majesty won't come today, and this concubine is going to find His Majesty."
Huo Qiu's heart warmed, and he finally felt that this soft suit was not too embarrassing.
Tang Zhuozhuo saw that the man's complexion softened slightly, his eyes were bent into two crescent moons, and seeing that the fire was almost ready, he continued: "When I woke up this morning, the sisters all mentioned a little bit, it is the next year's spring draft, I am thinking about it There are not many concubines in the harem, it is time to add more sisters, so I want to discuss with His Majesty."
Speaking of this, she didn't dare to look at the man's dark face, swallowed, and said calmly: "If the emperor agrees, this matter can also be put on the agenda."
Huo Qiu took a deep breath, and couldn't help but tighten her hand, his face was terribly gloomy.
Li Desheng shrank his neck behind him, and looked up at the dazzling sun. It was obviously a hot day, so why did he feel cool all over