"In order to celebrate the emperor's recovery, this palace is going to give him a gift." After returning from the Hall of Mental Cultivation, the queen called Wei Yingluo and other maids to the front, "Choose one for this palace, which one do you think is better? ?"
In front of the crowd are two paintings, a landscape map, the shadow of a lonely sail is full of blue sky, and only the Yangtze River can be seen in the sky. The other is a picture of Luoshen, Lingbo microsteps, Luo socks dust.
Mingyu said first: "Of course, this landscape is good, and the things sent by Fucha's guards are the best..."
There is absolutely no comment on the pros and cons between the two paintings in this remark.
The person she wanted to please was not yet in front of her eyes, so the queen glanced at her lightly, then turned her eyes to Wei Yingluo: "How about you?"
"Go back to Niangniang." Wei Yingluo thought for a while and said, "If Yingluo is asked to choose, she will definitely send Luoshen pictures."
"Why?" the Queen asked.
"Because this Luoshen looks like a three-pointed queen." Wei Yingluo smiled, "Whenever the emperor sees this painting, he will think of the person who painted it, isn't it?"
She is actually trying to please her. Unlike Mingyu, she is sincere between the lines, and the person to please is right in front of her.
Finally, the queen decided to present the "Luo Shen Tu".
Because of this, there was a rift between Mingyu and Wei Yingluo, but it was not as good as before. Wei Yingluo had replaced her as the most favored maid in Changchun Palace. The queen even taught Wei Yingluo to read and write. The name is master and servant, but in fact there is already a friendship of half a teacher, and the affection is so deep that it is unusual. Mingyu can't even make it difficult for her to make trouble with her, and she can't even ridicule her face to face.
So the two beautiful girls who came to Changchun Palace to visit the queen suffered disaster.
"The Empress is resting and has no time to receive her." Mingyu said coldly to the two little masters in front of her, "Please come back."
If Wei Yingluo was here, she would definitely be able to recognize that these two little masters were none other than the two most outstanding girls in the draft that day. Lan Chunxue, the other is Lu Wanwan, who is timid and afraid of things, but has the appearance of a Xizi.
Nalan Chunxue has never been treated so slowly before, and Nalan Chunxue's complexion changed, and she quietly stuffed a piece of silver into her sleeve: "Miss Mingyu, I specially asked someone to bring blood swallows from Fujian, and I want to present them to the Empress. Please go in and tell me."
Mingyu flipped the weight of the silver, then threw it back into Nalan Chunxue's arms in disdain, and glanced at him with contempt: "Changchun Palace is deeply loved by Long En, what precious things don't exist, it's just bloody swallows, and who doesn't Have you seen it?"
"You..." Even Lu Wanwan, who has always been good-natured, got a little angry.
Nalan Chunxue took her arm and shook her head gently: "Understood, then we will come again another day to greet the Empress."
On the way back, Lu Wanwan couldn't help complaining: "I clearly heard a voice in the main hall, but Mingyu insisted that the queen was not here. How could she despise and humiliate us so much?"
Nalan Chunxue sneered: "Changchun Palace doesn't leave us, don't we have another place to go? Go, go to Chuxiu Palace!"
It was night, and the two figures flashed into the Chuxiu Palace. The lights were dim, and the three figures sitting and talking were reflected on the window paper. Except for the candles on the table, no one knew what the three of them discussed.
Mingyu wouldn't even know what kind of trouble she had accidentally made.
She was still complaining about herself, hating Wei Yingluo for taking her favor, and hating the Queen for being fond of the new and disliking the old. She was always thinking about how to regain her favor and status.
I couldn't think of a way, I couldn't find an opportunity, until a few days later, a banquet was held in the main hall of the Qianqing Palace, and all the concubines and concubines of the harem presented gifts to celebrate the emperor's good health.
The banquet was very lively, and the most eye-catching one was always Concubine Huigui. This one seemed to be naturally adapted to such an occasion and knew how to focus everyone's attention on herself. I saw her clapping her hands lightly, and the yellow curtain from both sides. Pull up, revealing a team of eunuchs holding Western musical instruments.
Cello, violin, clarinet, flute, organ and other exotic instruments played at the same time, with a huge momentum, and immediately compared the Queen's "Luo Shen Tu".
Hongli looked at these instruments and listened to the tunes played by the instruments, he was stunned, as if he had fallen into the memories of the past and could not get out.
—These are Western musical instruments collected by his father, Emperor Yongzheng. When Hongli was young, the two of them learned from missionaries together for a while. The crooked sound of the violin and flute is still his best memory.
"The imperial concubine has a heart." Hongli sighed.
Everyone can see that this banquet is only afraid that Concubine Huigui will come out on top and be the most favored by the emperor. It is difficult for others to fight with her if they do not fight with her. What surprises everyone is that she, who has always been domineering, is uncharacteristically and actively Hongli recommended a woman and let her share Longen in her body.
"Your Majesty, not only are your concubines and concubines working hard for your birthday gift, but Shu Guiren is also doing her best." Concubine Hui asked the woman behind her birth, "Would you like to see her gift?"
"Shu Guiren?" There were too many women in the harem, and Hongli obviously couldn't know each of them. He just nodded to each other just to see her face.
Mingyu saw her, but her heart was stunned.
She recognized the other party, wasn't it the beautiful girl who was kicked out of Changchun Palace by her cynicism a few days ago? How did you take refuge with Concubine Huigui
What Nalan Chunxue presented was a glazed pagoda. The glazed pagoda was not unusual. What was unusual was a relic on the top. It is said to be the most precious one among the more than 700 relics after the death of the eminent monk Xi in the Song Dynasty. It is called the Lotus of Buddha by later generations.
"Your Majesty." Concubine Hui Gui took the opportunity to say, "Isn't the Queen Mother always looking for the Lotus of Buddha?"
Although this thing is not liked by Hongli, it will definitely be liked by the queen mother.
Seeing that the person who was being treated slowly by him was about to soar into the sky, Mingyu felt even more restless in her heart.
"You also have a heart." Hongli nodded, turned to the Queen and said, "Queen, in addition to this glazed pagoda, you will select a few novel and interesting gifts from other gifts and present them to the Queen Mother."
"Yes." The queen said humbly, hiding sadly in her heart.
Compared with Western bands, compared with Buddhist pagodas and relics, her Luoshen picture is so ordinary, Hongli just glanced at it, and then left it behind. He didn't see that the person in the painting was three-pointed to her, and Maybe it's because I've watched her for a long time and don't care anymore.
"Yingluo." Conquering her sad thoughts, the queen whispered, "Keep the glazed pagoda."
"Yes, Niangniang." Yingluo glanced at her with pity, hugged the glazed pagoda, and went out with the palace maids and eunuchs who were also in charge of the matter, to the east room where the gifts were stored.
Mingyu rolled her eyes and followed silently.
There are many gifts, the first thing Wei Yingluo has to do is not to choose, but to make a register first.
"A pair of longevity pattern lanterns in the 10,000-character brocade."
Wei Yingluo picked up a pen and dipped it in ink and wrote it down on the paper.
"A pair of crane and deer immortal green vases."
Wei Yingluo just wrote the immortal characters, and suddenly a hand stretched out beside her and snatched the booklet.
Frowning slightly, Wei Yingluo turned her head and asked her, "Mingyu, what are you doing?"
"Registering books and keeping treasures has always been my job, I don't need you to do it!" Mingyu was holding the booklet, and anyone with a discerning eye could see that she was going to take this job by force.
Wei Yingluo stared at her: "It was the Empress who ordered me to register."
Mingyu had already made a good excuse and blurted out: "Didn't you hear the emperor's order, you need to choose two or three items that the queen mother likes first. Do you know what the queen mother likes?"
Seeing that Wei Yingluo didn't say a word, Mingyu breathed a sigh of relief and chased after the victory: "Since you don't know anything, don't stand here and get in the way! Pearl, go on!"
The little palace maid who was in charge of reading the name looked at Wei Yingluo at a loss.
Based on everyone's understanding of Wei Yingluo, they thought that she would fight to the end, after all, this is a master who even the emperor dared to scold, but unexpectedly she suddenly smiled: "I have only been in the palace for a short time, and I don't know what the queen mother likes, and I don't know what to do. I have to trouble you, Mingyu, to carefully register and select them one by one."
"Wait!" Mingyu shouted at the back of her leaving, she clearly stole the other party's errand, but she pretended to be alms and said, "You don't have to go, there are still many things to deal with, you can Stay and help me."
"No need." This time, Wei Yingluo didn't receive her alms and walked out without turning her head, "You are so brave, I naturally won't be able to take credit, don't worry, I will report to the Empress, all credit goes to yours!"
"And me." Wei Yingluo walked out of the door, looking at the sky full of stars and the deep palace, thinking to herself, "I can just take this opportunity to do something I've always wanted to do."
The palace maid had nothing to do without leaving the palace, so without the Queen's orders, she would have been tied to death in the Changchun Palace from morning to night, and it was hard to get the chance to go to the palaces of other masters, let alone the Qianqing Palace.
"If someone went from the Qianqing Palace to the Imperial Garden on the night of my sister's death, how long would it take to go back and forth, and would they be able to avoid the patrol?" Wei Yingluo stood at the entrance of the main hall and took a foot towards the Imperial Garden, thinking silently, " One step, two steps, three steps…”
She left the Qianqing Palace step by step, changed the cup, left the dim lights behind, and walked into the imperial garden alone with only a lonely slender shadow.
"Three hundred steps, three hundred and one step, three hundred... ah!" A hand suddenly grabbed her foot and pulled her off the road where she joined the road.
This sudden pull almost didn't scare Wei Yingluo's soul away, especially after this hand ripped her off, she hugged her from behind in an unruly manner, and clasped her arms strongly around her waist.
Without thinking about it, Wei Yingluo stomped her heel hard and stomped on the opponent's foot.
"Someone—" She was about to call out with a high-pitched voice, and a voice soft as the moonlight whispered softly beside her ear: "The night is hidden in the depths of the stone beams, and the fog and dew are tired to protect the moonlight. I caught Yu Yixuan and let go. , the famous flowers fly out of the sleeves."
Wei Yingluo stopped struggling, leaned into the other's arms, and said in a low voice, "Young master, you suddenly grabbed my foot, which frightened me."
Her young master is only one person.
Fu Heng stood in the tiger cave with his arms around her. The strange rocks beside him were rugged. On the gray-white stones were clumps of emerald green creepers. The shadows of the trees swayed, casting mottled shadows on them.
"After all, I am the guard of the Forbidden City." Fu Heng said with a smile, "I saw an unruly little palace maid who actually walked to the imperial road at night, so I naturally pulled her down."
Wei Yingluo snorted, and seemed to be very dissatisfied with his explanation: "So, if other little palace maids pass by here, you will also pull her into your arms?"
"In this Forbidden City, there is no other such bold maid." Fu Heng sighed.
Wei Yingluo pursed her lips and smiled at him.
"Let me guess, you came here in the middle of the night, definitely not for the wind, presumably... to re-walk the road from the Qianqing Palace to the Imperial Garden." Fu Heng knew her best, and immediately guessed that she wanted to Why, he said helplessly, "You don't have to do this, haven't I checked it out for you, and no one left the banquet that night."
"There were 400 people that night, and there was always one or two mistakes." Wei Yingluo refused to give up the only clue, "Maybe some people leave quietly, and it won't take more than half an hour!"
Fu Heng disagreed: "I have walked this road many times, and the whole journey is completed very quickly, but it is impossible to avoid the patrolling guards."
Wei Yingluo bit her lip, and raised another possibility: "If the other party is of noble birth, what about the guards hiding it for him?"
Fu Heng shook his head: "The guards are loyal to the emperor, and only listen to him alone. How can the mere clan follow him?"
Wei Yingluo stared at him for a while, then smiled, "That's not necessarily true. Didn't that Prince Yi listen to Jiabi's instigation and deliberately embarrass me?"
And Qingxi... She is more careful and cautious on weekdays, but she can't resist the temptation of glory and wealth, so she easily sells her.
Fu Heng was about to say something when suddenly there was a loud rumbling from the top of his head, like the sky and the earth cracking, like thunder, and Wei Yingluo hugged Fu Heng's waist with both hands: "What sound?"
She always looks strong, loves to do everything by herself, and does everything by herself. The little girl's attitude that she rarely shows makes Fu Heng feel fresh and infatuated. He can't help but forget about many things and just look at her. He only hugged her and smiled, "You look up."
Wei Yingluo raised her head suspiciously.
At that moment, fireworks bloomed in the sky above the Forbidden City, red and yellow, green and purple, thousands of brilliance like rain, falling on her face.
"Dongfeng night puts flowers and thousands of trees, and the stars are like rain." Fu Heng recited poetry in her ear again. She didn't like to listen to this kind of text, but she liked to listen to his voice and from his mouth. Every poem, every word, every trace of truth spoken.
"... The jade pot turned light, the fish and dragon danced all night, the moths and snow willows were golden, and the laughter was full of fragrance." Fu Heng slowly lowered his head, thousands of fireworks above his head, but he couldn't resist his affectionate attention at the moment, he said to her, "The crowd searched for him thousands of times, and suddenly I looked back... The man was there, where the lights were dim."
Wei Yingluo didn't know how she got back to Dongcijian.
All I know is that my feet are soft, like stepping on a cloud, and when I close my eyes, it is his voice and the face he comes from with his eyes closed.
He hurriedly patted his cheeks with both hands, and said to himself, "Don't be seen as abnormal, just say... It's a headache from the wind blowing, and your cheeks are red."
She was going to use this poor excuse to get away with it, otherwise it would be difficult to explain why her face was so red.
But she soon discovered that the other party might not need her explanation.
"You bastard!" The applause came from within the Dongcijian, and it was Mingyu's angry voice with horror, "I told you to look at Dongcijian, but you sneaked out to watch the fireworks, how do you explain to the emperor and queen now! "
"I, I didn't know Hui was like this!" Pearl's cry continued, "Besides, didn't you go out to watch the fireworks too, only the state officials are allowed to set fires and the people are not allowed to light the lights?"
Mingyu was in a hurry, raised her right hand, and wanted to slap her again, but was caught by Wei Yingluo from behind.
"It's good that you're back." Mingyu saw her and hurriedly said, "Look at how much trouble she has gotten into!"
Wei Yingluo followed her gaze, then froze. I saw that the glazed golden pagoda presented by Nalan Chunxue was completely empty, and the stupa relic was missing.