In the banquet room, the brazier with silver frost charcoal was burning warmly. Nangong Yue leaned on the Arhat bed, flipping through the gift lists from various prefectures presented by Baihui.
This year, the gifts sent by the various prefectures are a bit richer than before. Nangong Yue thought that it might be because the Jin Yiwei came to search last time but let it go lightly. So I deliberately took advantage of the Chinese New Year to make some friendships.
People in the officialdom can't be vulgar and directly send silver notes, but there are quite a lot of pearls, jade, ornaments and so on. The pearls alone are as big as the head of a thumb, white and round. There are also some precious medicinal materials, whole furs, and even some mansions that took great pains to present Liangju swords...
The person who gave the gift was very obedient, although the gift was expensive, he managed it well, so Nangong Yue accepted it.
As Xiao Yi's proton identity, being too "clean and honest" is a big taboo.
Nangong Yue handed the gift list back to Baihui, and said with a smile: "Take some pearls for the big girl to wear as a mask."
Baihui responded, and jokingly said: "Concubine Shizi, recently opened a new Jinyu Pavilion in the capital. It is said that it is from Jiangnan, and there are many new styles from Jiangnan. Do you want to buy a set, Concubine Shizi? "
Jiangnan's style is very delicate and more fashionable, and has always been the favorite of girls and wives.
"That's good. Then sister Fei and I will be the same." Nangong Yue was in a good mood, "You let their master come to the palace tomorrow, and I will pick and choose. By the way, I will help Yimei fight with your cousin A dowry."
Both Yimei and Baihe decided to get married in the next year. Originally, Nangong Yue meant to be married before the year, but this year has a lot of things. If Baihe gets married, she will be even more busy, so she can only wrong them and set the date. After the Lantern Festival, Yimei and Baihe get married together.
Lily, who was waiting on the side, was not shy at all when she heard about the dowry, but said cheerfully, "Thank you, my servant."
Baihui couldn't help but glared at her, thinking: This girl doesn't look like a girl at all!
Seeing this, Nangong Yue couldn't help joking and said: "Don't stare at her, the younger sisters are all married, and you are the older sister, I have to make a fuss for you."
Baihui's face turned red all of a sudden, and she hurriedly said, "... slave girl goes down first."
Nangong Yue stopped teasing her, and said with a smile: "Go quickly. By the way, go to Zhu Xing's place and see if Shizi has a letter back."
"yes… "
Baihui hurriedly responded, and retreated as if fleeing. As soon as she opened the door, she saw Xiao Fei standing outside the door and Que'er who was about to report.
Now there is no need to report, Nangong Yue waved to her and said, "Sister Fei, come in."
Xiao Fei entered the room, and said suspiciously: "Baihui's face is so red..." She didn't think too much about it, and after paying her respects, she shyly said to Nangong Yue: "Sister-in-law, please show me the acupuncture method " As she spoke, she hesitantly handed over a handkerchief.
Nangong Yue took a closer look, and the corner of her mouth curled up.
Xiao Fei's personality is undoubtedly reflected in her stitches. Every stitch is neat and neat, as if measured with a ruler. The length and spacing are almost exactly the same. In Yue's eyes, she found it extremely interesting. Anyway, the girls in the palace don't need to rely on female celebrities to live, they have learned enough, and after they get married, it is enough to make purse liners for their husbands and sons-in-law.
Seeing Nangong Yue smiling, Baihe couldn't help but leaned over to take a look, and couldn't help laughing. After being together for a long time, I also think that the eldest girl is very funny.
Seeing Xiao Fei's awkward demeanor, Nangong Yue hurriedly said: "Sister Fei, your needlework is very good. Next, how about I teach you how to embroider some simple patterns?"
Xiao Fei was startled, a little surprised: "Sister-in-law, didn't you say that there are twenty kinds of embroidery stitches that are commonly used?" She only learned five or six kinds in the past few days.
Nangong Yue patiently explained to Xiao Fei: "Sister Fei, although there are many stitches, it's just like we learn calligraphy. If you haven't practiced regular characters well, you have to practice wild cursive. Although I taught you these days It’s just the most basic stitches, but it’s almost enough to embroider some of the simplest flowers and plants.”
Xiao Fei nodded thoughtfully.
Nangong Yue took out a pre-drawn drawing from the rattan frame, then pointed to the three white plum blossoms on it and asked Xiao Fei: "Sister Fei, please choose a kind of thread for this white plum first."
Xiao Fei blinked her eyes and said, "Sister-in-law, isn't it just the white line?" Then do you still need to choose
Baihui hurriedly sent the basket of embroidery thread to Xiao Fei. Xiao Fei was dumbfounded when she saw it, and counted it stupidly: "One, two, three... five! Five kinds of white?" There are actually five whites. kind!
Nangong Yue explained from the side: "It's not too much. This is the embroidery thread I bought in the Yuxiu Pavilion in Wangdu. If it is in the south of the Yangtze River, the ladies there like to use the embroidery thread from the Liufang Pavilion in the south of the Yangtze River. There are as many as nine kinds of white!"
Xiao Fei was speechless when she heard it, and it took her a while to come back to her senses thoughtfully, and said: "That's right, if it wasn't so, why would the ancients say: 'Meixu is less white than snow', this white is naturally divided into several points. planted!"
Nangong Yue nodded with a smile, Xiao Fei was talented and intelligent, but she was a little repulsed by female celebrities before, but now once her mentality changes, she can easily understand.
Xiao Fei thought of something, and her eyes fell on the embroidery shed that Nangong Yue was embroidering. It was a men's robe that had already been made. Nangong Yue was embroidering bamboo leaves on the corner of the robe. The shape of those bamboo leaves obviously matched the purse from the previous few days.
Xiao Fei reached out and picked up the embroidery shed, and after a closer look, she found that it was exactly as she thought—before, she thought it was just two bamboo leaves with slightly different colors, but now she found that each bamboo leaf had There are subtle natural color gradients, detailed to the veins.
"Sister-in-law, your embroidery skills are really ingenious." Xiao Fei was full of praise.
Que'er also came into the house at some point, heard the words, and said with a smile: "That's natural. The concubine's embroidery skills are learned from our second wife, and the second wife's embroidery skills are all from the master craftsman in Liufang Pavilion in the south of the Yangtze River. I came here to teach, and the acupuncture techniques are self-contained..."
Xiao Fei looked at Nangong Yue with a hint of envy in his eyes.
It turns out that my sister-in-law learned her embroidery skills from her mother. At that time, Aunt Nangong must have patiently explained and demonstrated stitch by stitch just like how my sister-in-law taught herself now...
A warm picture of a loving mother and goddaughter appeared in Xiao Fei's mind.
But her mother has never taught herself these things, whether it is a female celebrity, a housekeeper, or even piano, chess, calligraphy and painting, it is her mother who invited her husband to teach her...
It's not just me, what did my mother teach my second brother Xiao Luan? The second brother is already at this age, and if he can't learn martial arts, he knows how to get into the fat pile all day long!
There was a ray of sadness on Xiao Fei's face.
At that time, what was the mother doing? Was she busy killing the eldest brother
"Sister Fei..."
Nangong Yue looked thoughtfully at Xiao Fei, the Shining God, and Xiao Fei came back to her senses and said: "Sister-in-law, there are so many whites, I really don't know which one to choose, why don't I take the embroidery thread and go outside Compare it with the white plums on the plum tree."
This idea is really dead. Lily's eyes lit up, and she hurriedly said: "Miss, servant girl, let's go with you."
After saying that, Xiao Fei really went out of the house with Bai He, and couldn't stop laughing at Nangong Yue.
Although it is still cold winter, the people in Fufeng Courtyard are laughing and laughing, as if even the cold wind has been dispelled a lot...
Xiao Fei stayed with her until dinner, and it was very cold outside, Nangong Yue specially asked Que'er to bring her the hand stove that had just been fired, and sent her back to the yard. And Nangong Yue leaned on the Arhat bed, continuing to embroider the new robe. The Chinese New Year is almost here, and there are a lot of miscellaneous things recently, so there is still some time in the evening.
Seeing that another bamboo leaf was about to be embroidered, Baihui came back from the front yard and reported happily: "Concubine Shizi, Master Shizi has sent a letter."
Nangong Yue was overjoyed, and hurriedly put down the embroidery shed in her hand, and took the letter.
After reading the letter, the smile on her face deepened, and she said, "Ah Yi will be back soon. He should be able to catch up with the Lantern Festival."
The maids in the house were also happy. My girl has been married for two years, and every year she celebrates the New Year alone, even they feel a little wronged for her. Finally, this year, the son of the prince will be able to have a reunion dinner with the concubine for the Lantern Festival.
Xiao Yi's letter babbled a lot, most of it was about his daily food, clothing, housing, and transportation, everything was detailed, Nangong Yue didn't feel bored at all, her lips were always filled with warmth smile.
Although Xiao Yi's letter did not mention Baiyue, since he is going to come back, it must be the end of Baiyue...
Nangong Yue thought of the Baiyue envoys who were living in the Wuyi Pavilion. It seems that these Baiyue envoys who are stirring up troubles in Dayu will not have a good year... They should receive the news soon Bar
Just as Nangong Yue expected, early the next morning, a confidential letter was sent to the Wuyi Pavilion where the Baiyue envoys temporarily stayed.
There are only a few words in the secret letter, but people are shocked--
The second, third and fifth princes died, the king of Baiyue passed away, and the fourth prince Nuhar ascended the throne!
How is this possible!? A Dachi looked at the secret report in his hand, and couldn't believe his eyes. His feet went limp, and he collapsed on the chair, and the secret report in his hand slipped down.
Another short and fat envoy hurriedly picked up the secret report on the ground. Seeing this, his feet were almost limp, and he blurted out in disbelief: "Impossible?"
A Dachi murmured: "With the second prince and sixth prince here, how is this possible?"
It would be a lie to say that A Dachi was never worried that the second prince might have dissent after taking power. But he was in Dayu, so he could only comfort himself by saying that the second and sixth princes are the same mother emperor of the first prince, and their relationship with the first prince was unusual after all.
A Dachi thought that the second prince might ascend the throne, and worried that the third prince might force the palace to seize power... But how could he be the fourth prince who is the most incompetent and powerless? And in the process, the fourth prince murdered the three princes!
What happened to Baiyue to bring things to this point
The more A Dachi thought about it, the more flustered he became, almost restless.
The envoys that came to Dayu this time belonged to the eldest prince Kui Lang's party, so all peace talks were based on the premise of returning Kui Lang.
But now that the fourth prince, Nuhar, is on the throne, where should the eldest prince be?! What if the new king... no, the false king sent a new delegation of envoys, then what are they?!
A Dachi collected himself, and said to himself, Emperor Dayu must not know the news now, and he must act as soon as possible.
If the peace talks can be concluded before Emperor Dayu learns the news, and then let the eldest prince return to Baiyue as soon as possible, with the power and influence of the eldest prince in Baiyue, everything is hard to say...
It's a pity that the third prince's mansion has been sealed by the emperor, so there must be no hope for Baiyi.
Now the only option is to go straight to the palace and go directly to the palace to see Emperor Dayu!
After making up his mind, A Dachi immediately set off from the Wuyi Pavilion and went to the palace to see the emperor.
The emperor also wanted to see what tricks Baiyue could play after he imprisoned Xiaosan, so he didn't leave Ah Dachi alone, and immediately met him in the imperial study.
After A Dachi respectfully performed Baiyue's long salute, he cut straight to the point and stated the purpose of coming: "His Majesty Dayu Emperor, I would like to ask to see His Royal Highness, the First Prince of Baiyue, and I beg Your Majesty to be merciful."
According to the emperor's previous order, envoys from Baiyue could see Kui Lang on the first and fifteenth day of each month, but today is neither the first day nor the fifteenth day. Even, on December 15th, they couldn't see Kui Lang.
The emperor's long silence made A Dachi grit his teeth. He already knew that Emperor Dayu might not agree to his request so easily, and he was mentally prepared that he had to pay a price for it... Now his time Not much more, this is the moment that must be fought against day and night!
A Dachi took a deep breath, and resolutely said: "As long as Your Majesty allows me to meet His Royal Highness, I Baiyue can agree to any peace negotiation conditions."
A Dachi bowed his head respectfully, waiting for the emperor's answer, but he didn't see a gleam in the eyes of the emperor behind the case.
Earlier, An Yihou Guan Yubai had said that something might have gone wrong in Baiyue's country recently, so Baiyue was anxious to settle peace talks and bring Kui Lang back to Baiyue to quell the civil strife, which caused those troubles. Now it seems that it is true. Even Baiyue became more impatient than before... What happened to Baiyue
Counting the time, Uncle Xuan Ping has also arrived in Baiyue, and there will be news soon.
There was silence in the imperial study room, and the emperor still didn't speak for a long time, which made A Dachi feel more and more nervous. He had already stepped up. If the emperor refused to agree, what should he do
It's just the snap of the fingers, A Dachi is already sweating profusely, holding his breath.
The emperor pondered for a while, and said lightly: "Okay, I will allow you to go to the prison of the Ministry of Criminal Justice to meet Kui Lang." The tone was flat, and no emotion could be heard.
A Dachi didn't bother to speculate on the emperor's mind, he just felt relieved and hurriedly thanked him. After that, he retreated under the guidance of the little servant.
Half an hour later, A Dachi finally entered the prison of the Ministry of Criminal Justice.
Although Kui Lang hadn't seen the sun for a long time in the prison, he always knew the time. On the fifteenth day, A Dachi didn't come, so he felt something was wrong, but today he came suddenly... Could it be something important no
After patiently waiting for the jailer to walk away, Kui Lang asked anxiously, "What happened?!"
A Dachi hurriedly reported to Kui Lang the content of the secret security letter from Baiyue... and also told him what conditions he had paid to be able to enter the prison of the Ministry of Criminal Justice. Finally, he also reported the recent changes in the Dayu court Also report one by one, especially the matter of the third prince's mansion being sealed and the third prince's imprisonment.
Kui Lang is not the proud son of heaven who has had smooth sailing since he was a child. When the favorite concubine of Baiyue King was in power, he, the eldest prince, also suffered all kinds of humiliation. , not only took charge of the regime of Baiyue, but also emptied the king of Baiyue. But at this moment, even Kui Lang, who thought he had seen countless storms, couldn't help but change his face drastically.
How did that happen?!
Now I am really suffering from internal and external troubles, and I am alone and helpless!
This series of bad news made his face turn pale.
But he was still much calmer than A Dachi, and after he collected himself, he first praised: "A Dachi, you are doing the right thing! No matter what price you have to pay at this time, you must first win the peace talks!" He must reply as soon as possible Baiyue! This is the most important point.
Kui Lang's eyes were dark and deep, but extremely firm.
A Dachi breathed a sigh of relief, as long as His Highness doesn't blame him for making good ideas.
Kui Lang said again: "A Dachi, did the sixth imperial brother be mentioned in the secret report?"
A Dachi was stunned. He was shocked by the news in the secret report before, and even forgot about His Royal Highness the Sixth Prince.
Adachi shook his head.
Kui Lang's face was gloomy. Since the Sixth Brother was not mentioned in the secret report, the Sixth Brother must have survived, so why didn't he stop Nuhar from ascending the throne? Could it be that...
Kui Lang felt a storm in his heart.
He needs time, he has to go back to Baiyue as soon as possible to turn the tide.
Baiyue is his, and he must not allow Baiyue to fall into the hands of others!
…
After he came out of the prison of the Ministry of Justice, A Dachi went to see the emperor again, hoping to speed up the process of peace talks, and even proposed that Baiyue could agree to the terms set by Marquis An Yi last time, and the only condition was to return the eldest prince Kui Lang. He also mentioned that if Dayu needed a proton, the First Prince was willing to send Dayu with his eldest son as a proton.
Such conditions are considered to be very superior.
If it was before, the emperor would probably agree immediately, but now...
The emperor didn't think much about it, so he refused on the grounds that the Chinese New Year was coming soon, and he had to seal the pen and seal the treasure according to the rules.
The conditions were not negotiated, and A Dachi went back to the Wuyi Pavilion in a daze. He could only comfort himself by saying that the emperor did not disagree, but that the Chinese New Year was coming...
On the one hand, the emperor was indeed perfunctory. Although from A Dachi's reaction, he was almost sure that something serious happened in Baiyue, but he still had to wait for the definite news from Uncle Changping before deciding how to proceed with the peace talks. One of his sons was already in their hands, and he was really unwilling to let Baiyue go lightly.
On the other hand, it is also a rule to seal the pen and seal the treasure during the New Year.
In this way, on December 29th, after the ceremony of sealing treasures and pens, the whole court was instantly relieved, not only the imperial pens could rest for seven days, but also they who had worked hard for a year, especially this year The last two or so months of my life were really uneasy, and I can finally take advantage of the Chinese New Year to breathe a sigh of relief.
Last year, Nangong Yue spent the New Year alone, but this year, although Xiao Yi is still not there, Xiao Fei is still with her in the palace, some people are talking and laughing, and there is still a lot of New Year's atmosphere.
On New Year's Eve, red lanterns were hung in Zhennan Wangfu, and deafening firecrackers sounded one after another in the streets and neighborhoods.
Nangong Yue took Xiao Fei and sat down on the grand teacher's chair in the Martial Shoutout Hall. The stewards and maidservants in the palace stepped forward to salute one after another. Lily and Que'er enthusiastically took charge of the rewards and handed out two baskets of copper coins . After receiving a generous reward, the servants were naturally beaming, chatting, laughing, kowtowing, thanking and firecrackers outside intertwined for a while, even the usually empty and deserted Martial Arts Hall was much more lively.
Then, the New Year's Eve dinner began to be served one by one, full of beautiful things in eyes and fragrant.
In addition to the common dishes, a plate of white and fat dumplings was placed in front of the two of them. The dumplings just out of the pan were steaming hot, making people move their index fingers when they saw it.
This is different from Southern Xinjiang. Xiao Fei blinked in surprise.
Lily, who was laying dishes beside her, explained with a smile: "Miss, we in the north are different from yours in the south, we must eat dumplings during the Chinese New Year."
Nangong Yue warned: "Sister Fei, you must eat these dumplings slowly!"
Xiao Fei blinked suspiciously, then nodded obediently.
Seeing Nangong Yue chewing and swallowing slowly, although Xiao Fei didn't know what happened, she was also affected and ate slowly and patiently... Baihui and Baihe who were serving at the table exchanged a secret look.
When she was eating the fourth dumpling, Xiao Fei just took a bite when she heard a crunch in her mouth, her eyes almost popped out, her lips moved a few times, and finally spit out a yellow-orange copper coin.
Nangong Yue, Baihui and the others laughed out loud, and Baihui explained with a smile: "Miss, among the two plates of dumplings you and Shizifei had, only this dumpling had copper coins in it, and whoever eats it will be the best at home Blessed."
Xiao Fei looked at the people around her, and instantly understood that this copper coin was intentionally placed in her plate of dumplings. A smile spread across her face.
After having a lively dinner, the two went to set off fireworks together. These boxes of fireworks in Zhennan Wangfu were made by the most famous shop in the capital. Chrysanthemums bloom in the dark night sky, eclipsing the stars and silver moon.
It was almost midnight when the new year was handed over from the old year, and when the new year came, the whole capital was boiling, the sound of firecrackers was endless, the night sky was full of fireworks, and even the people around were screaming. Cheers:
"New Year's Eve! New Year's Eve!"
A sound is more joyful than a sound, and a sound is more lively than a sound!
Baihui and Baihe, who accompanied Nangong Yue and Xiao Fei to watch the new year, took the lead in paying New Year's greetings to the two masters, followed by Xiao Fei, also paying New Year's greetings to Nangong Yue, and got a red envelope.
"Sister Fei, this is lucky money!"
Nangong Yue looked at Xiao Fei with a smile, Xiao Fei showed a shy face, but accepted it disrespectfully. Although her father and mother also gave her New Year's money during the Chinese New Year in previous years, the eldest brother and the second brother never had it.
The sister-in-law is not a few years older than herself, but she is so thoughtful.
Xiao Fei thought of something, and suddenly said: "Sister-in-law, are you going to pass this year?"
Nangong Yue nodded, with a hint of embarrassment that Xiao Fei couldn't understand on her face: "I'll be ready by June this year..."
At the age of fifteen, a girl will hold a Jiji ceremony, which means that the girl has come of age.
When my sister-in-law's birthday comes, I will definitely give her a present, but this time...
Xiao Fei took out a plum red purse from her bosom with some embarrassment, the workmanship was only neat, and the three white plum blossoms on the corner were barely embroidered to catch the eye, but this was already the best she could do!
"Thank you, Sister Fei!" Nangong Yue took it with a smile, and praised, "Sister Fei has made great progress." Just by looking at it like this, Nangong Yue knew that it must have taken a lot of effort for Xiao Fei to be able to embroider like this .
Xiao Fei smiled shyly, and hurriedly said: "Sister-in-law, you should go and rest. You have to go to the palace to attend the court ceremony tomorrow morning, if you don't sleep, I'm afraid you won't be able to sleep."
In fact, Nangong Yue couldn't sleep for a few hours, and she had to get up when the first cock crow sounded.
On the early morning of the first day of the Lunar New Year, Nangong Yue went to the palace to congratulate her as usual;
On the second day of the Lunar New Year, she brought Xiao Fei back to Nangong Mansion...
Because of Xiao Yi's absence, the Zhennan Prince's Mansion closed its doors to thank guests, which made her feel much more at ease.
In this way, on the fifth day of the Lunar New Year, Nangong Yue and Xiao Fei went to the stove party at the residence of Princess Yongyang.
According to what Fu Yunyan said, Princess Yongyang wanted to take this opportunity to formally introduce Wen Yu, her long-lost grandson, to the various houses of the royal capital...