Although Mu Huai was asking her, but with her status, she didn't have the guts and qualifications to say no.
Rong Xi had her own plan in mind, she thought, after a few more years, Mu Huai would be crowned king and noble by the emperor, and then he would build a mansion and leave the palace.
She will also be appointed by the Holy Majesty to marry another noble daughter from an aristocratic family as the princess, and may have two concubines in the next few years.
At that time, Mu Huai will have a virtuous and gentle wife to take care of him, and several beautiful beauties to serve him. Since ancient times, it is hard for a man to get rid of the grace of a beauty, maybe Mu Huai's temperament will become less violent.
Moreover, servants are the most indispensable thing in the Forbidden City of Yongxi. If she reaches the age to leave the palace, Mu Huai will always meet a more suitable maid or eunuch to serve her.
She has been hiding her appearance, and in Mu Huai's eyes, she is just an ordinary-looking court lady, so he won't be obsessed with her.
At that time, she can still beg Mu Huai's concubine, anyway, there will be plenty of opportunities to leave the palace.
The autumn wind was getting colder and colder. After Rong Xi thought clearly about her future, she looked into Mu Huai's eyes and said firmly, "I am willing, I am willing to stay by His Highness's side and serve His Highness all the time."
—"Okay, then continue to work with me from that day on. If you do well, I will never treat you badly."
Mu Huai's tone was light, and then he let go of Rong Xi's jaw.
Her complexion was as white as fresh snow, and even though Mu Huai's strength was not heavy, he still left a red fingerprint on her chin.
Mu Huai twisted his thumb and index finger imperceptibly, feeling the tenderness of the girl's skin between the two fingers.
Ever since Rong Xi followed him, he had been feeling puzzled.
Except for that face, everything about Rong Xi was extremely beautiful.
This creator is also interesting, making her look beautiful everywhere, but not giving her a beautiful face.
Thinking of this, Mu Huai smiled lightly.
There were many beauties in the palace, and he was tired of seeing them, but the little palace lady in front of him seemed quite pleasing to his eyes.
He even felt that the faint little spots on her cheeks were actually a little cute.
*****
The pale moon dissolves slightly in the accumulated rain on the eaves, and the sound of dripping from the copper pot spreads far and wide.
In the main hall of Jihua Palace, the incense burner is burning precious spices, and the smoke is curling up.
Concubine Li Gui is not yet forty years old, because of proper maintenance, even though she has given birth to two heirs for Emperor Zhuang, her delicate face still looks like a beautiful woman in her twenties.
She was wearing a bright crimson long-sleeved Zhai gown, with Dongzhu and Jiucui hairpins on her temples, and she was sitting on the pear wood armchair in the main hall.
Dressed up so well, he was waiting for Emperor Zhuang to come here.
Concubine Li Gui looked out of the house from time to time, with an earnest look of thinking about you and looking forward to you.
The court lady Qiu Ju presented her with a bird's nest soup. After Li Guifei took it, she scooped up the sweet and greasy soup in the porcelain cup with a carved silver spoon.
The treasure-encrusted armor on her little finger is slightly raised, and her demeanor shows the grace of a noble concubine.
After Li Guifei took a few sips, she called Qiuju to take down the bird's nest soup with a slightly lonely expression. Seeing that it was getting late, she urged the eunuchs stationed outside the palace, "Why hasn't the emperor come here tonight? You, Go out of the palace to see if there is anything wrong with the emperor."
The eunuch outside the palace should be behind, Li Guifei thought of Mu Qian's swollen hands from Mu Ji's beating, and her brows showed a bit of anger.
Then he said to Qiu Ju: "Although Qian'er's hands have improved after taking the medicine, her daughter's skin is delicate after all, and she still can't write with a pen. Maybe she feels ashamed. These days, why? Said that she would not go to the Hanlin Academy to study again. The fourth prince is really... so vicious to his own sister, and he doesn't know how to pity her. "
Qiu Ju complied with Concubine Li Gui's words, but her heart was like a bright mirror.
The hand injury of the second princess is actually not a big problem, she refused to go to the Hanlin Academy recently, it was just an excuse to be lazy and snooze.
After a while, the little eunuch who went out to inquire turned back.
Concubine Li Gui called him into the palace to answer, her eyes were a little anxious, she asked: "The emperor was late in approving the papers, you have agreed to come to my palace tonight."
The inquiring eunuch looked up at Concubine Li Gui's expression, and immediately bowed his head.
Concubine Li Gui's expression was quite calm now, but after he finished his reply, it was not necessarily so.
But when the master asked questions, he always wanted to return, so he respectfully said: "The emperor... the emperor passed by the old palace of Concubine Yin Xian... He went in and said that he would stay overnight. It happened that the little one went over to inquire, and the father-in-law who was waiting by the emperor's side came Tell the little one to come back directly and tell the empress that he won't be coming tonight..."
After finishing speaking, Concubine Li Gui immediately raised her sleeves, and all the cups placed on the tall table beside her were swept to the ground.
"Get off!"
The eunuch made mental preparations early in the morning, and immediately retreated when he saw Concubine Li Gui being angry.
The floor of Jihua Palace is covered with a luxurious velvet carpet embroidered with big red patterns, and it is now a mess.
Qiu Ju called the palace maid to clean up, and comforted Concubine Li Gui: "Your Majesty, please calm down, the memorial day for Concubine Yin Xian is approaching, and it is normal for the Emperor to miss her at this time... The person the Emperor cares most about is Your Majesty."
Concubine Li Gui glanced at Qiu Ju, then snorted coldly, and said, "You don't need to coax me, the old man in the palace knows who he cares most about."
After Concubine Li got up from the armchair, Qiu Ju followed her out of the hall.
The bright moon was in the sky, and fiery red octagonal palace lanterns hung high from the corners of the eaves.
Concubine Li Gui looked up, counted the ridge beasts on the double eaves of her bedroom, and said to Qiu Ju in a quiet tone: "There are seven ridge beasts on the eaves of Muhuai's Quyun Palace, two more than the ones in my palace. , Qiuju, do you know why?"
Qiu Ju opened her mouth, not knowing what to reply.
Concubine Li Gui's voice was a little colder, and she said again: "You know, the location of Muhuai Palace is the closest to Jiazheng Palace, and it can be reached by walking dozens of steps outside the palace."
Qiu Ju stammered and replied, "Your servant...I don't know."
Concubine Li Gui entered the hall again, waved away all the servants, Qiu Ju knew that she had something to say to her alone, so she closed the doors and windows tightly.
— "Muhuai's Quyun Palace was originally built according to the ritual system of the Eastern Palace."
Li Guifei's voice was full of indignation.
Qiu Ju was shocked when she heard this, and hurriedly persuaded: "Your Majesty, don't say that, no matter who in this palace is appointed as the crown prince, it will not be the fourth prince's turn... The fourth prince is... a cripple."
Yes, how can a cripple be the emperor of Daqi
Mu Huai should be regarded as an abandoned son, and he can be granted the throne at will in the future, but Mu Zhen has not yet established a heir.
Her Ji'er has long passed the age of being crowned, and Mu Zhen hasn't even given him a throne until now.
The more Li Guifei thought about it, the more angry she felt in her heart, and her eyes were full of resentment.
She came from a noble family, and her father was the head of the privy history, in charge of the military power of Daqi.
The father of Mu Huai's biological mother, Concubine Yin Xian, was only a captain of the city gate, and he guarded the Baokang Gate in the southwest of Bianjing during his lifetime. Just a guard general.
Concubine Xian can't compare to her in anything, but the emperor loves her the most.
Thinking of this, Concubine Li Gui took a deep breath, and her expression had returned to her usual calm.
She may not be Mu Zhen's favorite concubine, but her son must not be aggrieved in front of a cripple.
Mu Huai was too domineering and defiant, so he dared to bully her children in the Hanlin Academy.
She always had to teach him a lesson.
*****
After Shunfu passed away, the responsibilities on Rong Xi suddenly increased. Before Shunfu not only took care of Mu Huai closely, but also took care of all the affairs of Quyun Palace, managing dozens of people in the palace. .
Rong Xi discovered that Quyun Palace used to have a few rough envoys and maids, they never entered the palace to serve, they were only responsible for sweeping the courtyard and pruning the branches and leaves.
Mu Huai likes to be alone, and the maids and eunuchs only dared to tidy up the bedroom according to Shunfu's instructions when he went to the Hanlin Academy every day.
Before Mu Huai came back, he had to hurry out of the palace and hide in a place where he could not see.
Mu Huai didn't say it clearly, but Rong Xi knew that what Shunfu had to do before, she had to do now.
But she doesn't feel unfamiliar with doing these things, after all, when she was working at Yu Zhaorong's place before, she was also in charge of the trivial matters of the palace.
It's just that Mu Huai's Quyun Palace is much larger than Yu Zhaorong's Fuqu Palace, and she has to manage a lot more maids and eunuchs than before.
But the guards who were always inseparable from Mu Huai only listened to Mu Huai's orders, and Rong Xi and their responsibilities were divided without interfering with each other.
Today is Emperor Zhuang's birthday, Concubine Li Gui personally arranged for Emperor Zhuang's birthday banquet, Mu Huai didn't usually attend the banquet, but as a prince he had to prepare congratulatory gifts for Emperor Zhuang's birthday and attend the banquet in person.
Mu Huai handed over the key to the Quyun Palace warehouse to Rong Xi before, and asked her to collect the money. From this, Rong Xi saw Mu Huai's financial resources, and couldn't help but be dumbfounded.
The warehouse area is huge, there are hundreds of large and small mahogany boxes, and there are countless pearls, jade, gold and silver in them. There were many precious calligraphy and paintings from the previous dynasty randomly placed on the paulownia antique shelf, Rong Xi saw that there was some dust on it, it seemed that Mu Huai hadn't sent anyone to clean it for a long time.
Emperor Zhuang is in the supreme position, and he lacks everything, so it would be too frustrating to give ordinary gold, silver and jade.
When she was grinding ink for Mu Huai in the study the night before, Mu Huai mentioned the birthday gift, Rong Xi suggested that Mu Huai personally write a picture of a hundred years of life with sprinkled gold paper, and present it to Emperor Zhuang at the banquet.
Mu Huai had doubts about this, so he asked Rong Xi: "A picture of a hundred longevity? There are a hundred ways to write this character for longevity?"
Rong Xi nodded at Mu Huai, and replied: "Before I entered the palace, I knew a painter, and there were a hundred ways to write the picture of a hundred years of life that he made. Your Highness can send someone to look for the painter's paintings outside the palace, and then Follow the words of the painting to copy."
The corners of Mu Huai's lips curled up slightly. He felt that Rong Xi probably couldn't write, so he played a joke and said, "Since you mentioned this picture of a hundred longevity, you have to write a few different longevity characters in front of me. Otherwise , is lying to me."
After finishing speaking, he handed the sandalwood wolf brush to Rong Xi.
"This… "
Rong Xi hesitated for a moment, but respectfully took the pen with both hands, and after spreading out the golden paper, under Mu Huai's watchful eye, he wrote the character "Shou" with his slender hands.
As Rong Xi wrote more and more birthday characters, Mu Huai Yingjun's eyebrows frowned.
I didn't expect this girl to have two tricks.
After Rong Xi filled the paper, she counted the characters for longevity on it. No matter how good her memory was, she could only remember seven or forty-nine characters for longevity written in different ways.
Then he said to Mu Huai: "Servant... this servant can only remember these longevity characters at most. If His Highness really wants to paint with a picture of a hundred longevity, I am afraid that he will have to send someone out of the palace to find the painter."
She is not fully recovered, and her nasal voice is still a bit thick, but because her voice has always been soft and waxy, this ordinary reply sounds a little sweet.
Mu Huai felt that the movement made his forehead numb, so he glanced at Rong Xi's handwriting with heavy eyes.
I saw that the handwriting was beautiful and fresh, quite interesting.
This handwriting requires years of hard work to practice.
Shunfu had checked Rong Xi's details before, and Mu Huai knew that she had worked as a maid for several years before entering the palace. It is really puzzling when she practiced her good calligraphy.
When I looked at Rong Xi again, I saw that her face was flushed from suffocation, her hand was covering her throat, and she looked pitiful as if she couldn't breathe.
Mu Huai asked coldly, "What's wrong?"
Rong Xi tried her best to suppress her desire to cough, and shook her head.
Mu Huai's voice sank a bit: "If I ask you, I'll reply quickly."
Hearing his stern urging, Rong Xi finally replied: "Servant...servant wants to cough, for fear of disturbing His Highness..."
Mu Huai narrowed his eyes, seeing that she was so afraid of him that she dared not even cough, and couldn't tell what it was like in her heart.
Anyway, it's not a good taste.
The servants are all afraid of him, so he should take it for granted.
But Rong Xi was so afraid of him, but he felt extremely irritable.
Then he still got angry and said to the little girl in front of him: "I will go to the Hanlin Academy and the palace banquet in the next two days, and you are not allowed to follow. Go back to your room and lie down to recuperate. If you are sick, I will kick you out."