Soon, the longevity celebration officially began.
In the back lake of Yuanmingyuan, the clear lake water is like a flawless emerald, and the lake and mountains are reflected on it, like patterns in emeralds. Hongli stood in a small pavilion by the lake. With a wave of his hand, several eunuchs came over carrying two large iron cages, which were filled with all kinds of birds, or Shu Ling displayed their feathers, or sang aloud.
Hongli: "Please release the queen mother."
The empress dowager walked forward with a smile, brushed her hand over the iron cage lightly, and said, "Let's go."
The eunuch stepped forward to open the iron cage, and all the birds fluttered their wings and flew to the sky, covering the sky in an instant.
Everyone snorted in unison.
The release ceremony is held every year, but unlike in the past, countless pairs of wings fell from the sky, and the group of released birds actually went back and forth, falling back into the iron cage again.
The concubines could not help but talk about it.
"What's wrong with this bird, it's so good, why did it all fly back?"
"In the previous release ceremony, such a thing has never happened!"
"It's really weird."
Several eunuchs stepped forward to shout, but after shouting for a long time, the birds didn't leave, half flew around the cage, and the other half got into the cage again.
The empress dowager is well-informed, and it is the first time she has seen such a spectacle. She stepped forward with the hand of the palace maid, circled the birds in the cage a few times, and asked curiously, "Who is raising the birds?"
The crowd separated, Wei Yingluo walked out from inside and saluted: "The servants greet the empress dowager, emperor, queen, and masters. Before these birds are released, servants are responsible for raising and training them."
Empress Dowager: "Tell me, these birds should have been released into the sky, why did they suddenly turn around and refuse to leave?"
Wei Yingluo said in an orderly manner: "On the day of the queen mother's longevity, open the example of life, God has the virtue of good life, although animals are livestock, they are also grateful and rewarded. Leaving. It must be the return of God's kindness to you, and it is also an auspicious omen on the longevity day."
The queen mother burst out laughing, and the others laughed too. Whether it's true or not, everyone loves to hear such auspicious words, and the Queen Mother laughed, so why don't the others laugh
In this piece of laughter, Concubine Chun's sigh seemed extremely abrupt.
"The Empress is kind and tolerant of others. But in order to please everyone, this palace maid made up absurd reasons and deliberately fooled the Queen Mother. It was obviously flattering." Concubine Chungui walked over with the hand of the jade pot and sighed. , "If everyone in the palace learns from her, wouldn't it be a big mess?"
Wei Yingluo turned her head to look at her: "The slaves don't know what the mother means."
"The Queen Mother." Concubine Chungui didn't even look at her, she just smiled at the Queen Mother, "People say that a bird that has been trained can fly when it is allowed to fly, and stop when it stops, isn't it the same as training a horse? This palace maid, I bought a batch of carefully trained birds in advance, and deliberately let them go and return, deliberately trying to please you, and eager to receive the reward!"
Yuhu next to him continued, "Wei Yingluo, you are so courageous, how dare you lie that birds know how to repay your kindness, and deliberately deceive the queen mother and the emperor, do you know that this is the crime of deceiving the king!"
The queen mother smiled without saying a word, neither said right nor wrong, she just glanced at Hongli lightly, apparently letting him call the shots.
Not seeing Wei Yingluo for so many years does not mean that Hongli has forgotten Wei Yingluo. On the contrary, he recognized the goddamn palace maid at a glance. The relationship between the two is also strange. But in front of her, for some reason, it ignites at one point... even if it doesn't! His face sank: "Pull Wei... pull this palace maid down!"
Wei Yingluo glared at him secretly, and then quickly knelt down: "Please finish the story!"
The two eunuchs were already one on the left and one on the right, grabbing one of her arms respectively, but they didn't make the next move, because the queen mother suddenly said, "They all said that you deliberately fooled me, how do you explain?"
Wei Yingluo knelt on the ground and slowly raised her head to look at her: "The Queen Mother, only slaves can prove themselves."
Concubine Chungui smiled lightly: "Are you looking for trained animals to release them?"
Another concubine opened her mouth, but it was Nalan Chunxue who used to be with Concubine Huigui: "The queen mother, don't fall for her again, so many people are fooled by a palace maid, isn't it a big joke in the world! The concubine said, pull it out now, beat it 80 times, and see if she tells the truth!"
Wei Yingluo glanced at her, and based on her words and the timing of her opening, she could guess that this person was mostly relying on the new master, and the new master was not someone else, but the pure noble concubine who seemed to be out of this world.
The rest of the concubines either had nothing to do with themselves, or they gave Chungui Concubine face and blamed Wei Yingluo together. Among so many people, only one Lu Wanwan had a conscience and said for her: "The Queen Mother, This palace maid is also to make you happy, concubine and concubine are bold, please deal with it lightly."
This person's temperament is still the same as in the past. At that time, she and Nalan Chunxue entered the palace together as a beautiful girl. Lu Yu's domineering show girl bullied the new palace girl. Nalan Chunxue stood by and watched, but Lu Wanwan couldn't bear it and came forward to say something .
But the result was the same as in the past. She was weak and her status was low. The words she said immediately fell into the sea and disappeared.
With the help of everyone's conversation, Wei Yingluo briefly examined the veins of the harem, and then she said, "The servant dares to ask, people in the world often talk about training birds, but have they ever mentioned training fish?"
Everyone said for a while, you look at me, I look at you, and finally the queen mother smiled and said: "I have lived for so many years, but I have never heard of such a thing as training fish, why?"
"There are a lot of koi in the goldfish pond in Yuanmingyuan, and the servants are bold. Please try the queen mother with these koi." Wei Yingluo said respectfully, "Let's see if it is God's will or the servant is lying."
"Your Majesty." The queen mother was moved by what she said, and looked at Hongli, "This is the first time I have encountered such an interesting scene on the longevity day. I want to give it a try. I can see whether it is my kindness that moved heaven, or this palace maid. In order to deceive rewards, deliberately deceive."
Hongli didn't agree immediately, and just kept staring at Wei Yingluo.
"Wei Yingluo." He suddenly shouted, "Are you... really confident?"
I called her the palace maid before, but now I call her Wei Yingluo.
Wei Yingluo glanced at him strangely. She couldn't understand this man. He sometimes resisted her abnormally, and sometimes worried about her. Why was he so contradictory
Shaking her head in her heart, she felt that she was still too young to understand the thoughts of men.
"Yingluo's sentence is true, I don't dare to deceive each other." Wei Yingluo bowed her head and said, "If there is a half-truth, I would rather sink into the lake to feed the fish."
She had nothing else to do, and could only take her own life as a bet.
Out of the corner of her eyes, she swept to Concubine Chungui's face, and she couldn't help but sneer in her heart when she saw her expression of emotion. Wei Yingluo knew that she wanted her own life, so she would not say anything to stop her.
But soon, the corner of his eye swept to Hongli's face again... Why does he have this expression? Do you want to stop it
"If the emperor really wants to experiment, he can have fun, but..." Concubine Chungui thought about it, and finally said, "However, this koi can't be chosen by her, it's better to let the courtiers and concubines lead people to choose, this way Come on, it's fair and just."
She wanted Wei Yingluo's life with all her heart, just in case, she personally chose a bucket of koi, carried by several eunuchs together, and returned to the small pavilion.
The queen mother walked to the edge of the barrel, stroked the edge of the barrel as usual, and said, "Let it go!"
Thumping, thousands of koi poured into the lake along the rim of the barrel, instantly dyeing the lake water colorful.
The crowd gathered around the lake, without a breath, staring at the koi in the lake.
Concubine Chun suddenly laughed: "They are all gone."
The koi swam in all directions, and the colorful lake water returned to its blue color. Concubine Chun turned her head and said, "There are still people in the world who dare to fool the Queen Mother in public. One time is not enough, and the second time is not enough. This is really daring, Your Majesty, it should be Heavy punishment, no flattery!"
Hongli frowned and looked at Yingluo without saying a word.
But Yingluo stared at the rippling surface of the lake, her expression focused and deaf.
Concubine Chungui was afraid that Hongli would change his mind again, and said, "Someone!"
The guard stepped forward and was about to take Wei Yingluo away when the Queen Mother raised a finger in the distance: "Wait... Look."
The sound of water rushing from far to near, I saw the five-color silk gathered from all directions to the small pavilion. If you look closely, it is not five-color silk, but five-color koi.
Amid the exclamations of the crowd, the koi suddenly lined up neatly and nodded in the direction of the small pavilion, like a courtier bowing to the Queen Mother to thank him.
If it is said that the pilgrimage of a hundred birds is not seen in the previous life, the thousands of fish bowing their heads will hardly be seen in the rest of their lives.
Yingluo suddenly knelt down and said loudly: "The queen mother is released for a long life, and she is moved by the sky, and then there will be a miracle of the birds circling and the fish kowtow. This is the kindness of God rewarding the queen mother, and it is Ji Rui on the day of longevity! Blessed by God, the longevity of immortals will surely be long, and the blessings of the sky will be equal to the sky!"
Everyone's attention fell on her, on the koi in the lake, and no one noticed Hongli.
Hongli suddenly winked at Li Yu who was beside him, Li Yu understood, and said hello to the eunuchs and palace maids beside him, a group of people knelt down to the queen mother: "Heaven descends auspicious, congratulations to the queen mother, congratulations to the queen mother! Congratulations to the Queen Mother! Congrats to the Queen Mother!"
In an instant, the sound of congratulations filled the garden.
The queen mother couldn't help laughing: "Okay, good, good! On the day of my longevity, the heavens descended on auspiciousness, which proves that I have devoted myself to the Buddha for many years, and my merits have not been in vain! You are also a good boy, what reward do you want?"
Wei Yingluo hesitated for a long time: "The Queen Mother, the servant misses the Forbidden City very much and wants to go back..."
Seeing her thinking about it for so long, the queen mother thought she wanted something extraordinary, and finally it was such a trivial matter, she couldn't help but startled: "This is it?"
Wei Yingluo gave her a careful look: "The Queen Mother's grace, touched the heavens, the servants are shameless, willing to serve the Queen Mother..."
Before she could finish speaking, Hongli said decisively, "No way!"
The queen mother looked at Hongli and said, "I like this girl very much, and I want her to serve at Shoukang Palace. Why not?"
Hongli glared at Wei Yingluo angrily, suspecting that she was scheming, and wanted to borrow the Queen Mother to take the position: "The Queen Mother, this girl is slick and very cunning."
The queen mother glanced at him: "I'm here to serve me, not to serve you. I'm good at speaking and making people happy. I still feel that life is too boring!"
"Yingluo thanks the empress dowager for her kindness..." Hongli was anxious when he saw Wei Yingluo was about to bow down and thank her.
Rather than putting this scourge by the Queen Mother's side, it's better to watch it by her side, and suddenly made up her mind, Hongli hurriedly rushed in front of her and said: "The Queen Mother, it's not that I don't want to, but... I want to seal her as a promise!"
Empress Dowager: "Promise?"
Hongli gritted his teeth and said, "Yes, she, Wei Yingluo, is just a palace girl, born as a servant of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. I canonize a promise, which is already a compliment."
The queen mother looked at Hongli, then at Yingluo, saw some clues, and couldn't help laughing: "This child tried his best to make me happy during the Longevity Festival, and it was also out of filial piety. In my opinion, it's just right to be named a noble!"
Before Hongli could speak, Yingluo had already kowtowed to thank her: "My servant thanks the Queen Mother for her grace!"
Hongli gritted his teeth and looked at Yingluo who was following the donkey downhill.
Empress Dowager: "Wei Guiren, come here!"
Yingluo stepped forward, the queen mother held her hand, took off the beads from her wrist and put it on her: "You are a smart child, and there will be good news in the future!"
Yingluo: "Yingluo is bold, there is one more request."
Hongli: "Wei Yingluo, don't take an inch!"
Yingluo didn't speak, but the queen mother looked at her nervously and cautiously, and said with a smile: "It's okay, let her talk about it!"
Yingluo turned around and bowed to Concubine Chung: "Concubine Concubine, the servant and Mingyu are serving in the Changchun Palace together. The relationship is so deep that it is difficult to separate. Please be gracious and allow Mingyu to accompany the servant!"
Hong Li was afraid that Wei Yingluo would continue to make further progress, so he quickly said, "It's just a palace maid, she can give it to her if she wants!"
Although Concubine Chun was unwilling, when Hongli Jin opened his mouth, he could only frown: "Yes."
Yingluo smiled and said, "Slave... No, concubine thanks the emperor for his grace."
At the end of the celebration, everyone left in high spirits. There were so many things happening at the celebration, which were enough for them to talk about for ten days and eight months. One by one, they hurried back to share with their relatives and friends.
In the palace's residence, Mingyu had been assigned to Wei Yingluo as a maid, so she naturally stayed behind to clean up for her.
"Yingluo." She hesitated, "Are you doing it for me..."
Before he could finish speaking, the door suddenly opened, and the rain was about to come. Yuan Chunwang stood in front of the door with a gloomy expression, like a cloud of rain rolling into the door, and suddenly turned to Mingyu and said, "Go out."
Mingyu glanced at Wei Yingluo, Wei Yingluo said, "Mingyu, go out first."
Looking at her, then at Yuan Chunwang, Mingyu put down her unfinished clothes, pushed out the door, and closed the door with her backhand.
The four eyes were facing each other for a long time, and Yuan Chunwang asked each word, "Why?"