Emperor Jingren walked out of Jiaolan Hall, intending to go back to Chengqian Hall to sleep alone for the night. He was not a person who indulged himself in lust. Sometimes he would stay overnight in the concubines' palaces just to chat under the quilt. He adhered to some inexplicable principles like a moralist. He would never sleep in the bed of A in the first half of the night, and then go to make love with B in the second half of the night when he was in the mood.
But Concubine Shu's strange dance was too overbearing, and the music played by Green Lake and Cui Lake was also very refreshing. It was originally a very noisy piece of music, but for some reason, the melody kept echoing in Emperor Jingren's mind along the way, as if it was a magic sound. In ancient times, there was immortal music lingering in the ears for three days. Emperor Jingren once lamented that he could not hear those legendary music in ancient times. Unexpectedly, today he understood why there is a folk saying that "the higher the Tao, the higher the devil". Concubine Shu's magic music is no longer lingering in the ears for three days, it is actually thirty days!
As the melody replayed in his mind, Concubine Shu's dancing posture appeared in front of Emperor Jingren again and again, and he couldn't get rid of it. Emperor Jingren sighed, and felt that if he was alone tonight, he would not be able to fall asleep. He probably needed something to distract himself and stop thinking about this song.
So his steps involuntarily walked towards the Queen's Qifeng Palace. For some reason, he always felt that the Queen's appearance had the demeanor of the two famous door gods in the Tang Dynasty, and could drive away evil spirits.
Emperor Jingren suddenly felt embarrassed when he thought of this. He had been following the teachings of the sages and not judging people by their appearance, but today he was obsessed with their appearance.
However, no matter what Emperor Jingren thought, his feet still walked uncontrollably towards the Queen.
After he left, the secret guard who was ordered to monitor Concubine Shu faithfully recorded Concubine Shu's words "Is square dancing so scary?" and would present it directly to the emperor tomorrow.
The Emperor suddenly came to Qifeng Palace. All the palace maids in the Empress's palace were delighted. Only the Empress was waiting with a half-smile in her clothes. When she saw Emperor Jingren, she wanted to kowtow. Emperor Jingren quickly stepped forward to support her and said, "You and I are married, and we should respect each other. Except for important sacrifices in the Ministry of Rites, the Empress does not need to be polite in front of me."
The Queen smiled, which was more sincere than her fake smile just now. She said, "Thank you, Your Majesty. Didn't Your Majesty turn over the name of Concubine Shu today and stay in Jiaolan Palace tonight?"
It would have been fine if I hadn't mentioned Concubine Shu. As soon as I mentioned her, the magic song I had just forgotten came back to my mind. Emperor Jingren shook his head frivolously and said, "Concubine Shu is not feeling well. I just want to find someone to chat with."
Looking up into the Queen's eyes, Emperor Jingren repeated what he had just said in his mind: Well, it's just a chat.
"It is my honor to have a candlelit night talk with Your Majesty." The empress half welcomed and half led Emperor Jingren into her room, only to see that the bed was tidy, and there was an open book on the table with a burning candle.
"The Queen hasn't gone to bed yet?" asked Emperor Jingren.
Most people go to bed early at night. At this time, except for the suffering Concubine Shu, most of the nobles in the palaces have also gone to bed. After all, embroidering or reading under candlelight is very harmful to the eyes. Anyway, it is summer and the days are long, so it is better to read during the day.
The queen smiled and said, "It's hot and restless during the day, and I can't calm down. But it's cool at night. I'll turn the page while my mind is calm."
Emperor Jingren was very interested in the book the empress was reading, so he reached out and took it. Seeing an exquisite hollow gold bookmark between the pages, which would not affect the empress's reading, he closed the book and looked at the title - "The Art of War".
Emperor Jingren: “…”
He took a deep breath, put the book back calmly, looked at the dim candlelight, and said, "I remember that last year, foreign envoys from Southeast Asia sent two glass lamps, which made the night seem like day. I use one in my study. Since the Queen likes to read at night, I will send the other one to the Queen tomorrow. In addition, there is ice in each palace in summer. The Queen feels hot during the day. Is it because there is not enough ice? The Queen does not have to stick to the quota. If you feel too hot, just order someone to bring more."
Facing the emperor's favor, the queen said calmly: "Thank you, Your Majesty, for your kindness. But there is no need for ice. I like to practice martial arts outside during the day, so no amount of ice will help."
Dancing with a spear… Emperor Jingren nodded stiffly and praised: "The queen is the daughter of a general, she is truly a heroine."
For some reason, after saying this, Emperor Jingren felt the air pressure around him lighten. The aura that had been suppressing him since he entered the room disappeared, making his breathing smoother.
The Queen stared at Emperor Jingren and said, "Since the Emperor loves me so much, I will dare to speak my mind. Actually, when I first came to the palace, I was reluctant. Others are greedy for money, but I don't have such an idea, and I don't want to compete with a group of people for jealousy. It's just that my family is looking forward to it, so I have to come."
This was quite rude, and it could even be said that it trampled on Emperor Jingren's face. But Emperor Jingren always felt that the Queen's words were more than what they seemed.
"But now I don't think so." The queen stood up, walked to Emperor Jingren, and placed her hands on the two armrests of the chair, as if she was holding Emperor Jingren in her arms.
Emperor Jingren felt somewhat uncomfortable in this restrained position, but he couldn't struggle in front of a woman, especially his wife, so he could only look back at the Queen with the same vigor.
But he didn't expect to see sincerity in the queen's eyes.
"A gentleman will die for his friend. I swear that as long as I remain in this world, I will do my best to protect your safety. I will not allow anyone to hurt you regardless of your wishes or do anything you don't want to do." The queen promised seriously.
After saying this, she knelt on one knee like a military general, took Emperor Jingren's hand, and kissed the back of his hand.
Her palms were so strong, as if they could control everything. Her shoulders were so broad, as if they could support the world for Emperor Jingren.
However, Emperor Jingren just twitched his lips, pulled back his hand, patted the Queen on the shoulder and said: "My safety is protected by 100,000 imperial guards. Not only my safety, but also the Queen's safety. I don't need the Queen to 'die for the one who understands me', the Queen only needs 'a woman to dress herself up for the one who pleases her'. As long as I am alive, no matter whether the Queen has any children or not, you are the Queen. Second to one man, above ten thousand people."
After saying that, he stood up and said, "It's late at night, help me change my clothes."
The queen smiled and ordered the palace maid to make the bed. She helped Emperor Jingren take off the stylish but somewhat tiring dragon robe and changed into bright yellow underwear before she went to change her clothes herself.
When changing clothes, the queen took out a box from the closet, took out a piece of incense from the box, put it to her nose and smelled it. Xia He brought the incense burner, and the queen was about to put the incense in it, but suddenly changed her mind and put the incense back into the box.
"Forget it, we will just fight back when the enemy comes and block the water with earth." The queen smiled, put the box back, and went to see Emperor Jingren wearing only her inner clothes.
She had thought it didn't matter if she was discovered, but when she returned to the room, she saw Emperor Jingren already asleep on the bed with a slightly frown on his face, as if he was feeling a little uncomfortable.
The queen stretched out her finger and touched the center of Emperor Jingren's brow, smoothing his frown and whispering, "Sleep peacefully."
After saying that, he also lay down on the bed. The two of them covered themselves with quilts and fell asleep. They spent the night peacefully.