The hunting grounds were only two hours away from the imperial city by fast horse, but it took a whole day to move such a large group of people. On this day, Emperor Jingren and the Empress hardly got out of the carriage, and they rested in the carriage. In order to make time for autumn hunting, Emperor Jingren worked overtime these days and was very tired. The Empress was so tired that she even stopped his morning exercises, just to let Emperor Jingren sleep a little longer.
There were still dark circles under Emperor Jingren's eyes, so the Queen simply let him lie down with his head resting on her thighs so that he could have a good sleep on the way.
Emperor Jingren untied his hair and lay down, only to find that the Queen’s legs were really… thick and hard!
Fortunately, Emperor Jingren had no problem with his cervical spine, otherwise his neck would definitely be sore again with such a high knee pillow.
Although the pillow was a little uncomfortable, the Queen put her hand on Emperor Jingren's head and gently massaged it. I don't know what method the Queen used, but Emperor Jingren felt a stream of air circling around his head, which made him feel very comfortable. In order to go hunting in autumn, everyone set out before dawn today, and Emperor Jingren had almost no sleep. Now lying on the soft bed, with the Queen's knee pillow as a pillow, he still felt very comfortable despite the bumpy carriage, and gradually fell asleep.
There was almost no scent on the Queen's body, but rather a dry, fresh scent after a bath. Yes, the Queen would bathe after her morning exercises every day, and her body always smelled of grass, which was better than any incense.
The concubines in the palace all liked to use incense, and the smells were all similar. He could smell the same fragrance in every palace he visited, except for the Queen's. He had never smelled any special fragrance in the Queen's palace...
fragrant…
Emperor Jingren suddenly opened his eyes in his sleep.
"What's wrong, Your Majesty?" the Queen asked with concern, "Are you possessed by a nightmare?"
Emperor Jingren shook his head silently, grabbed the queen's wide sleeve, put it under his nose and sniffed it, it smelled very clean like soapberry. The queen didn't like to use incense on her clothes, they were usually smelled like soapberry when washing clothes.
The queen also smelled it herself and asked, "Your Majesty, would you like me to fumigate you?"
"No," Emperor Jingren shook his head slowly while thinking, "I just feel that... I seem to have only smelled one kind of fragrance in this palace in the past."
He didn't say much. He sat up and thought for a while, then lay back down and closed his eyes.
But the queen was an expert in martial arts and knew people's breathing best. No matter how much a person pretended to be asleep or awake, there would be a difference in their breathing.
Emperor Jingren was not asleep, he became suspicious of the incense.
In fact, the queen had long felt that this kind of fragrance could not be relied upon. It was impossible to gain a person's true heart by relying solely on external things. Sincerity could only be exchanged with true heart.
Emperor Jingren was a thoughtful and grateful person. He could tell who was good to him and who was false to him at a glance, and he would not be deceived at all. Such a person, using incense to create a dream that seemed real and illusory, would only make the user farther and farther away from him.
The queen took back the incense from everyone in the palace, firstly as a warning to others, and secondly out of pity for the young emperor who was only 22 years old.
He thought he was in control of the world, but it was all an illusion. He thought he was loved by everyone, but it was all false.
The queen knew that it was unnecessary for her to feel sorry for the emperor who lived a serious life and worked hard for the people, but people all have feelings, and how could they remain hard-hearted after being in contact for a long time? So she took back everyone's incense, hoping that if someone really succeeded one day, it would not be because of this false dream, but because of true heart for true heart.
Her palm touched the Emperor Jingren's hair. His hair was very long and beautiful. When it was spread out, it was like a waterfall, straight and smooth. The Queen always wanted to touch the Emperor Jingren's hair, but it was too intimate. The Emperor had shown an unusual interest in her. She did not intend to play with the little Emperor's feelings, so she tried to avoid intimate actions. But now, thinking that the Emperor might be in a bad mood, the Queen once again broke her own principles and gently comforted the Emperor.
Her hands were big and reassuring, and she didn't have the familiar scent of incense. Emperor Jingren gradually let down his guard and fell asleep.
But he did not forget this incident. After arriving at the palace, he immediately asked people to bring all the incense in the palace and the ones brought by the concubines. He smelled them one by one himself. He kept sneezing until he could no longer distinguish the smell, and then he stopped.
The queen didn't say anything, but just watched him silently.
"Jinyi," Emperor Jingren said solemnly, "Since I hit my head three months ago, almost everything has not been affected. I just feel that everything around me is vaguely wrong. I thought I was a little confused after hitting my head, but now it seems that this is not the case."
"I remember the smell of that fragrance." Emperor Jingren continued, "The four concubines were conferred together when Jinyi and I got married, but the first one to be favored was Concubine De, three months after the wedding. At that time, Jinyi and I were in love with each other and had no intention of visiting other concubines. However, Jinyi was still not pregnant three months after the wedding. The Queen Mother advised me, and the ministers advised me based on the ancestral heritage, so I agreed. That night, I remember that I smelled a very nice fragrance, and I asked Concubine De a question specifically."
"After a few days, I also smelled it at Concubine Shu's place. I asked Concubine Shu, this fragrance is very similar to that of Concubine De's place, very special. Concubine Shu replied that she knew I liked this smell, so she asked Concubine De for some."
"From then on, no matter which palace I went to, I would only smell this fragrance, except for the Queen's place." Emperor Jingren recalled slowly.
"But later, I smelled this smell again in another place. It was just that the smell was too faint at that time, and I was only thinking about the new policy, so I didn't pay attention to it. If it was another smell, I would probably forget it quickly, but I am too familiar with this smell, so I still have some impression of it." Emperor Jingren said, his face became very serious.
The queen held his hand and said nothing.
"When I smell that scent in the concubine's palace, I will spend the night with the concubine. When I smell the same scent on Lin Boyuan's memorial, I dream of having sex with Lin Boyuan at night. Is this really just a coincidence?" Emperor Jingren picked up another piece of incense and smelled it, shaking his head and said, "There is no such incense here."
"I discovered that kind of incense three months ago, and then I searched it out from all the palaces and destroyed it all." The queen knew she could not remain silent any longer, so she replied.
"Does the Queen know what this is?" asked Emperor Jingren.
The Queen thought for a moment and said half-truthfully, "I just heard that all the palaces were using this kind of incense. I asked around and heard that it can help with sexual intercourse. Most drugs and spices used to help with sexual intercourse are bad for the body and are not conducive to having children. Although it is a means for the harem to compete for favor, it cannot be left alone. So I destroyed all the incense. Now there is no more in the palace. I didn't expect that Lin Boyuan still had some. It seems that it came from outside the palace."
"I see." Emperor Jingren nodded. "That night, the Empress asked the Ministry of Public Administration to rewrite the memorial, and she kept hinting that I should not mind having erotic dreams. I guess she must have noticed something wrong with the memorial."
"Yes. I knew about it but did not report it. I am guilty." The Queen knelt down slowly, waiting for Emperor Jingren's decision.
"What crime have you committed?" Emperor Jingren sighed, and quickly helped the queen up, saying, "It has always been the case that the harem uses some special means to liven up the mood. You destroyed them as soon as you found them and didn't make them public. You have already taken the dignity of the royal family into consideration. As for Lin Boyuan... I thought he was a gentleman, but he turned out to be a scheming man. If the queen hadn't come to persuade me to rest that night, Concubine Lin would have met me by chance. Concubine Lin's own incense was confiscated by the queen, and she took great pains not to alert the queen to this kind of incense."
Queen: “…”
"After we return to the palace, find a reason to demote Concubine Lin to an ordinary concubine. As for Lin Boyuan, I still want to use him. Let's see how he implements the new policy. If it doesn't work... I can replace him at will!"
The rules for the new left and right policies have been basically perfected. As long as we choose someone who is responsible and loyal to the emperor, anyone can do this job well, and there will be no need for a villain like Lin Boyuan.
As an emperor, Emperor Jingren was very good at doing things like getting rid of the donkey after it has served its purpose.
Queen: “…”