New Year's Eve is here.
Not only are the folk lanterns decorated, but the palace is also lively.
Lanterns were hung on the treetops. There were fat lanterns made of red paper, and there were hexagonal palace lanterns with pictures of talents and beauties. The sound of firecrackers sounded. Several palace maids and eunuchs put down the lanterns in their hands and covered their ears.
Yong Cong in the Queen's arms followed suit and covered his ears with his chubby little hands. The queen looked at him lovingly and said to Wei Yingluo beside her, "Yingluo, have the next year's meal and the silver reward in the New Year's Eve palace this year been allocated?"
"Yes, when the servants went to ask, Concubine Xian made the arrangements early in the morning. Everyone in the palace has a share. Because the Ministry of Internal Affairs has a lot of income this year, it is also 10% higher than in previous years. Everyone is very happy." Yingluo looked at her. I am also very happy.
What she was worried about did not happen. After giving birth, the queen's body did not weaken because of this. On the contrary, it seemed that because of Yong Cong's company, her complexion was getting better and better. .
Compared with the sick queen, Wei Yingluo thinks that the fat queen looks better.
All this is thanks to Yong Cong. Wei Yingluo's eyes warmed, and she was about to tease Yong Cong in the empress's arms, when a eunuch suddenly came outside, and after saluting, said, "Empress Empress, news has come from the Wei family that Miss Yingluo's father fell seriously and injured his horse, and he wants to ask the empress to show mercy. Let her go back to visit."
Wei Yingluo's face stiffened.
The queen nodded: "Yingluo, you have taken this palace's warrant, go out of the palace immediately."
"No." Wei Yingluo said firmly, "I won't go."
The queen was stunned: "What are you doing here?"
Wei Yingluo gritted her teeth and said, "He can even use his own daughter as a bargaining chip for his position as a leader in the district. I don't need such a father!"
"Don't talk nonsense! Filial piety is greater than heaven. If you don't go today, you will be criticized in the future. How can you stand in the palace?" The queen shook her head and did not allow her to blemish on this matter, and immediately decided for her, " Listen to Ben Gong's words and leave immediately."
Wei Yingluo was helpless, so she reluctantly answered yes.
Then the queen laughed and said softly to her, "Go, Ben Gong is waiting for you to come back."
Wei Yingluo walked out of the palace and turned back three times. After the eunuch finished speaking, she also left the palace, but did not return to the Internal Affairs Office, but looked around for a while and hurried to Zhongcui Palace.
Compared with its happy Changchun Palace, Chengqian Palace seems a little tense.
Concubine Xian was lying prone on the beauty's couch, with her fragrant shoulders half exposed. A tattoo artist carefully observed the old scar on her shoulder. After weighing it again and again, she cautiously said, "Madame, it's better to pierce a lotus flower. The lotus, which comes out of the mud, Not stained, clean and not demonic, it is the purest flower in the world, and it is in line with the character of the empress."
"It comes out of the mud without being stained, and it is clear and clean without being a demon?" Concubine Xian was stunned at first, and then burst into laughter. Because the laughter was too violent, the hairpin was messy, and even the veil covering her body fell off. , "Wonderful, really wonderful!"
The tattoo artist knelt on the ground, not daring to look up at her at all, his forehead was covered in sweat, not knowing what he had just said wrong.
"Get up." Until Zhen'er reminded, "The niangniang agreed, you can do it!"
"Yes." The tattoo master wiped his sweat and stood up. It took a few minutes to stabilize his mood before he stopped the trembling of his hands and steadily picked up the needle.
The silver needle was dipped in dye and gently landed on Concubine Xian's shoulder.
With each needle, Concubine Xian's body trembled slightly, and it didn't take long for a large amount of sweat to come out, making her feel as if she had just been pulled out of the water.
In order to prevent the dye from smudging, Zhener kept wiping the sweat off her body with a handkerchief, and said with some distress: "Miss, doesn't it make the emperor feel more pity for having this scar?"
"What do you know?" Concubine Xian sighed, her eyes cold and stern, "After a long time, pity and guilt become disgust. Even if the emperor doesn't say it, this palace must have self-knowledge."
A cyan lotus flower slowly bloomed on Concubine Xian's shoulders, and her expression became colder and colder, but at this moment, there was a knock on the door, and Zhen'er got up and went out for a while. After returning, she leaned into Concubine Xian's ear and said: "Niangniang, Wei Yingluo has left the palace."
"Really?" Concubine Xian slowly opened her eyes, "Then what are you waiting for, pass this news to Concubine Chun."
"Yes." Zhen Er led the order out of the palace.
After she left, Concubine Xiangui didn't say a word, lying on the couch calmly, with her arms folded, her head resting on her arms, her eyes closed and dozing until Zhener came back again.
At this time, the lotus flower had been embroidered, and the tattoo artist packed up the tools, bowed out, and watched him leave. Zhen'er then said, "Madame, will Concubine Chung really take action?"
"Not enough people." Concubine Xiangui smiled without opening her eyes, "In the beginning, she only wanted a child, and when she really becomes a mother, she will want more, and she will give birth to what she wants. The birth of the first son is a dream bubble... Who!"
The curtain shook suddenly, and the people behind didn't have the courage to come out at all.
Zhener walked over quickly and pulled the curtain back, revealing the trembling tattoo artist behind her.
The tattoo artist's face was snow-white, and his lips trembled as he said, "Niangniang, the servant missed a needle..."
Concubine Xian smiled slightly, and did not embarrass him, she only asked him to take Zhen and leave quickly.
Jane was about to speak, but before she could speak, she suddenly heard a scream behind her, and when she looked back, she saw blood on the curtain. Concubine Xian waved her hand without raising her head, the curtain shook for a moment, and there was the sound of heavy objects being dragged away from the ground. After a while, the sound disappeared without a trace.
"We used to be good friends and killed each other for the battle of the crown prince." Concubine Xiangui slowly pulled her clothes over her shoulders, covered the lotus flower, and smiled softly: "This big show, this palace has been waiting for a long time!"
bang-
Inside the Changchun Palace, the queen frowned as she looked at the porcelain bowl that was broken into several pieces on the ground.
A few palace maids came to clean up immediately, and Mingyu handed over a porcelain bowl of the same type again. The bowl contained half a bowl of Bimi Soup, the color of which was green and the most refreshing. The queen likes to eat this on weekdays, so Wei Yingluo is best at making this.
Now that without her company, the queen always feels that something is missing, even the bowl of biscotti in front of her has lost its flavor, she moved a few spoonfuls and put it down, sighing: "Today's taste is weak, I have no appetite, you take it Go and divide."
The dishes on the table were not touched at all, and the maids happily took them down and shared the food. The queen went to see Yong Cong in the Nuan Pavilion. After coaxing him to sleep, it was getting late. The queen yawned and went back to the bedroom, asking Mingyu to remove the hairpin for her, ready to go to bed to rest. I heard a loud shout from outside the hall: "Come on, the warm pavilion is gone!"
Warm Pavilion, Yong Cong's current residence.
The queen was so shocked that she jumped up and said, "Yong Cong!!"
There were no stars and no moon in the sky, but the warm pavilion burned into a sea of fire, and the flames rose into the sky, burning half of the sky to red, like a pen dipped in blood, outlining a blood moon in the sky.
"Yong Cong! Yong Cong!" The queen was pulled by a few palace maids, otherwise she would have already rushed into the sea of fire.
Several palace maids and eunuchs rushed to the huge "auspicious tank" at the entrance of the palace, trying to fetch water to put out the fire, but when they opened the cover of the tank, the water in the tank was completely frozen and could not be taken out at all.
"How could this be?" Mingyu looked at the ice cubes inside, her voice was bitter, she turned her head and shouted to the palace people, "Call the people from the fire squad to put out the fire! Go to the backyard, well water! Well water!"
One person rushed out of the palace gate to report the news, and the others rushed to the backyard to fetch water.
After disposing of everything, Mingyu looked left and right, and suddenly her face turned pale: "Where's your maiden?"
A group of people only focused on finding water to put out the fire, but no one was left to take care of the queen. When they came back to their senses, they found that the queen had disappeared. Mingyu looked at the door of the warm pavilion that had been opened at an unknown time. : "The Queen Mother!"
She rushed towards the gate desperately, but was forced back by the oncoming heat wave, choked a few times, and just when she was at a loss, the eunuch who had gone to report the letter earlier led the people from the fire squad to arrive.
"Quick, save the Empress!" Mingyu pointed at the door that was burned red by the flames, and cried to them, "The Empress is inside!"
Everyone was shocked, and the people in the fire team hurriedly put out the fire with shock barrels, but the fire was too big to be put out for a while. At the end of the fire, the glazed tile ridges broke one after another and fell, and the warm pavilion was about to collapse.
"Niangniang!" Mingyu had no choice but to grit his teeth and tore off the cotton robe from a eunuch, wet it with water, put a hood on himself, and rush into the sea of fire.
The people beside her hurriedly stopped her, Mingyu struggled and said, "Let go of me, I'm going to save the goddess... My goddess! Look, it's my goddess!"
Everyone followed her gaze and saw a staggering figure rushing out of the warm pavilion. It was too late to be happy, Mingyu had already shouted anxiously: "Call the imperial doctor, hurry, hurry!"
The queen was burned all over, the injuries were extremely horrific, and the hair on her clothes was still on fire. Several eunuchs and palace maids rushed over, took off her clothes, and extinguished the sparks on her body.
Seeing her look so miserable, Mingyu's tears burst out all of a sudden, and she rushed over and said, "Niangniang, are you alright... Is seventh brother alright?"
After she finished speaking, she looked down at the swaddling clothes tightly held in the Queen's arms, and her eyes suddenly froze.
"He's fine." The queen's voice was hoarse and her eyes were dull. "He's fine, he's fine..."
The swaddle was burned to black, and it was silent inside, there was no crying, and there was no… not even the slightest breathing.