The next day, Duan Changchuan woke up on time at Yinshi again.
The sun hadn't risen outside and the sky was dark.
Under the window, a woman was lying on a couch, sleeping peacefully. The air was filled with a faint scent of peony, which even overshadowed the ambergris that was lit every day in the palace.
He touched his neck, and two small blood scabs fell off with the slightest touch.
The bite area should have healed.
"Your Majesty, are you awake?"
When Changle saw him coming out of the bedroom, she immediately asked someone to bring him hot water and a towel.
This time the young eunuch had learned his lesson. Knowing that the queen had not yet gotten up, he did not dare to look inside. He just focused on helping him wash his hands and clean his face.
"Your Majesty, it's just past the middle of the Yin hour. Would you like to read for a while or go out for a walk?"
"Let's go to the horse farm. I saw Xiuxiu yesterday. She was very attached to me. I guess I've been too busy with government affairs and haven't visited her for a long time. She must be missing me. I'll go and see her when I'm not busy these few days."
Xiuxiu is the horse that Duan Changchuan has raised since he was a child. He first came into contact with horse riding and archery at the age of 6 and chose it himself at the stable.
The emperor's illness was severe back then, and he was still competing with others in the hunting grounds a month ago. He smiled and asked him, "Does our Xi'er want to learn to ride a horse? When we return to the palace, your father will take you to the Imperial Horse Administration to choose a strong pony."
A month later, the previous emperor passed away suddenly, leaving the young him to hastily ascend the throne.
From then on, no one ever called him by the small character in his name again, and the two characters "Qingxi" became a royal taboo in this palace city*.
On the day of horse selection, he fell in love with Xiuxiu at first sight. It was a small brown horse with a tuft of eye-catching white hair on its forehead and hooves.
Xiao Ma just turned 5 years old, about the same age and height as him.
Two big watery eyes looked at him... Duan Changchuan inexplicably thought of himself who had lost his father.
"I'll take it. Hmm, it looks like... clouds come out of the mountains in the morning, and go with the wind without returning. Why not, let's call it Xiuxiu."
He said that day.
In a blink of an eye, more than ten years have passed.
He grew up, and Xiuxiu grew up too.
-
Because it was morning, Duan Changchuan did not disturb anyone and was only accompanied by Changle.
When the two men arrived at the stable, the horses had already woken up and the steward was adding millet and wheat straw to the trough.
Seeing them coming, he knelt down nervously.
"I don't know the emperor's presence..."
Duan Changchuan waved his hand and said, "Get up. I have nothing to do today. I came here to take a look. No need to be polite or wait on me."
The servant gathered up his robe and said, "Yes."
Then I continued to feed the horses.
The horses outside are all provided for training of the chief guards, princes, etc. Duan Changchuan's horse is further inside, in a special stable, and is carefully raised by the manager.
The two of them walked into the stables one by one.
Just when I was halfway there, I heard the girl crying and saying:
"Miss, I know I was wrong. You can hit me or scold me, but please don't ignore me..."
They seem to be a master and servant.
Duan Changchuan looked in the direction of the voice and saw two girls standing outside the next row of stables.
The lady, dressed in luxurious yellow silk, was stroking the horse grazing in the shed without saying a word. She was probably the "young lady" mentioned by the maid just now.
Her maid stood behind her, at a loss as to what to do.
"Miss... could you please say something..."
"Slave, slave kneels down for you..."
As he said this, he bent his knees and was about to kneel down.
"Why are you kneeling again? I've told you so many times not to kneel at every turn. Hey... our Central Plains has a good sky and a good land, but this is the only thing that's not good."
The "young lady" said this and quickly turned around to support the maid before she knelt down.
When she turned around, Duan Changchuan saw her appearance clearly: it was the princess he had just met yesterday, Duan Qinxue.
"Miss...are you willing to talk to me?"
"Yes, yes, you know what I'm most afraid of, but you still do it. I see, I'm not a lady, you are the one."
The maid immediately bowed in fear: "I dare not! Miss, please don't embarrass me... Miss, you are a princess, but you are a rich woman, how can you allow those people to gossip about you. These old women and eunuchs can gossip about a little thing for a long time, you should have taken care of it a long time ago."
"Well, what's the point of being a rich woman? Don't we all have one mouth and two eyes? It's their own mouth, they say their own words, and you want to slap them in the face just because you don't like what they say. That's a bit overbearing."
…
It turned out that the master and the servant were gossiping.
Duan Changchuan had no intention of eavesdropping, so he gestured to Changle and prepared to take another route.
Unexpectedly, I heard it first and it was related to me.
"Ah... Your Majesty is the same. The lady invited him to ride a horse yesterday, but he refused and ran to ask the queen to shoot arrows... Otherwise, there would not be so many things."
"Muge!"
"I'm sorry, miss... I was wrong."
"you… "
It’s embarrassing enough to accidentally overhear someone talking, and it’s even more embarrassing to hear someone misunderstand your words…
Duan Changchuan didn't know for a moment whether he should stand up.
Although he really didn't want to have too much contact with Duan Qinxue, after all, she was Uncle Wang's daughter. But yesterday, he really just saw Bai Su's arrows miss the target, and he was distracted and forgot about her...
Listening to their conversation, it seemed as if my unintentional actions had caused others to gossip about me behind my back.
It's also helpless.
"Ahem..." He coughed awkwardly and then stood up.
The master and servant turned around and knelt in greeting.
There is also visible panic.
Duan Changchuan touched his nose: Very good, I am not the only one who is embarrassed.
"Well, yesterday I... didn't mean to ignore you. Prime Minister Bai and I were a little drunk, so I acted a little biased." He said, turned around and ordered: "Changle, let the subordinates find out who is gossiping, and all..."
I wanted to say, give them all a beating. But thinking of what Duan Qinxue and Mu Ge had just said, I hesitated and changed my words.
"Just give them reward money. Anyone who gossips will not be allowed to receive rewards from the masters of the palaces for half a year. After you investigate, write a list of names for the heads of various departments and the masters they serve. If you get rewards in the future, remember not to give them to these people."
"Yes, I'll let Yiman do it."
"Well, Yiman is not a kid anymore, it's time for him to gain some experience. If he does a good job, there will be a reward."
"Hey, I am accepting your Majesty's grace on behalf of your disciple!"
-
After handing over the matter to Changle, Duan Changchuan looked at Duan Qinxue again: "Everything has been handled. This matter was caused by me, and I should settle it."
The girl immediately curved her eyebrows and nodded repeatedly: "Your Majesty, this trick is really powerful! It doesn't hurt people's self-esteem, and it can also make them remember it! Did you see it, Mu Ge? When managing people, you must treat them as human beings, but also grasp their weak points, this is the best way to work."
Mu Ge quickly bowed her head and saluted: "I understand. I am an illiterate maid. How dare I compare myself with Your Majesty? Miss, you are embarrassing me."
The girl who was "complained" did not feel the slightest bit disliked. Instead, she pulled Duan Changchuan's sleeve with a smile and asked, "Your Majesty, what are you doing here at the Imperial Stables today?"
The young man lowered his eyes, looking at the slender hand on his sleeve, a little at a loss, and said, "Come and feed Xiuxiu, and take it out for a few laps. Do you... want to join us?"
"Great! The horses in the palace are really well-bred. I want to go for a run, too!"
-
Duan Changchuan led Xiuxiu out and walked all the way to the riding field.
A girl in riding clothes had just finished a lap and came over holding the reins.
"Your Majesty, you are here! I saw that the cavalry in the army can shoot arrows while riding. My uncle said that you must first learn to control the horse's belly with your legs before you can practice that skill. Unfortunately, I am too weak and have never been able to learn it. My uncle said that Your Majesty can do it at the age of 14. Can Qinxue watch?"
The young man jumped onto his horse and reached out to the guard.
The latter quickly presented the bow and arrow with both hands.
He clamped his legs around the horse's belly and shouted, "Go!"
Suddenly, the horse's hooves raised dust and ran towards the center of the racecourse.
It was the beginning of the Mao hour, the sky in the east was already turning pale, and the young man was wearing a gold-embroidered satin robe, which looked as if his entire body was coated with light.
The moment he passed by the target, he drew out the arrow behind him, bent the bow and put the arrow in one go. The next second, an arrow was already firmly stuck in the center of the bull's eye.
There was cheering all around.
Bai Su came over yawning, just in time to see the young man sitting on his horse with a bow drawn and a proud smile on his face.
The girl riding a white horse was running towards him with the whip in hand.
"Your Majesty is very skilled!"
"Slightly inferior to the men in the army."
"Where did you get that? Your Majesty, have you ever competed with the guards? Qin Xue has seen that Your Majesty is far superior to the men in the army. We'll know who's better if we bring them out for a competition!"
The young man laughed in a whisper: "When I was fourteen, I was already invincible in Shengjing. If I had challenged them when they were four, I could have achieved it ten years earlier."
The girl was startled, and then her clear laughter spread throughout the training ground.
They are truly a match made in heaven.
The perfect match is dazzling.
Tsk, some people marry the queen and still have affairs with other women outside.
Some people travel alone, silently waiting for the onset of widowhood syndrome, and then waiting to die.
This was the first time Bai Su felt hurt since she came to this world.
She always thought that she had a wife. Her wife was not the young emperor Duan Changchuan here, but an Omega in another time and space, an Omega who was tied to her because of a business marriage but was extremely dependent on her.
But when I saw the boy getting so close to other girls and smiling so happily, I realized... she was not as free and easy as I imagined.
Very jealous, and sad.
There is a feeling that someone who belongs to me has been snatched away by someone else.
[This Alpha is damn possessive. ]
Bai Su touched the gland on the back of her neck that had begun to secrete pheromones, turned around and prepared to leave, out of sight, out of mind.
I heard a disdainful voice from the side: "No matter how beautifully a chicken is dressed, or how high a position it is placed in, it is still a chicken after all. It will never become a phoenix, and no one will regard it as a phoenix."
Turning around, I saw a maid dressed in a maid's uniform.
He raised the corner of his mouth and looked at her with contempt.
Bai Su: …
Is this the legendary palace fight
Bai Su's first reaction was: Even if it's a palace fight, at least there would be a concubine or a lady from a wealthy family. Why would a maid want to fight with the queen
The second reaction was: Duan Changchuan has been controlled by the Regent to that extent, and it is unknown how long he can sit on the throne, yet there are actually people who are so desperate to rush for it
"You're so jealous, could you be the emperor's maid?" she blurted out.
After saying this, even I was stunned.
As soon as she came through, she was already sitting in the wedding sedan, and Duan Changchuan was getting married for the first time. She always felt that he must have had no woman in the past 18 years.
I just remembered today that the emperors and princes of this era basically started sleeping with palace maids when they were in their teens.
Duan Changchuan is eighteen years old this year.
Bai Su, who originally intended to stab someone:…
Maybe this is the case of hurting the enemy by 1,000 but losing 30,000 of your own.
The author has something to say:
I won't tell you who is jealous.
Note: In the morning, clouds come out of the mountains and go with the wind without returning.
—Xin Qiji, "Huanxisha·Fuqingxu"