In the dormitory, Chu Ning took the soup that Liu Kang had sent from the Feishhuang Palace and drank it in one go.
Cui He took the empty porcelain bowl and immediately put the candied fruit in the food box into her mouth.
The sweet taste spread and gradually suppressed the bitterness. Chu Ning leaned on the couch with his head half-supported, and there was a comfortable tinge of red in the corners of his eyes.
"Superintendent Liu is very thoughtful." Cui He put away the food box again, and her mood relaxed after seeing her lazy appearance.
"In the end, it's the person in front of the royal family. He has been able to be exquisite in the palace for so many years without relying on his back and front. He is naturally a person." Chu Ning simply folded his arms and leaned on the soft pillow, allowing the somewhat soft waist to stretch for a moment. , "I heard that he had some relationship with the saint's biological mother Wei Cairen many years ago, so he was appointed by the saint to be the chief supervisor of the Zhongyu."
It is precisely this kind of person who is thoughtful, thoughtful, and knows how to handle things, so he can grasp Xiao Kezhi's eccentric temperament.
She closed her eyes slightly, thinking about what happened in the soup pool just now, and felt that in addition to being tired, she also made herself comfortable.
Xiao Kezhi's reaction on this matter was completely opposite to his usual cold face. While energetic, he was also very enthusiastic and arrogant. This should be regarded as a benefit - she saves her thoughts of flattering and ingratiating herself, as long as he lets him play with it, you will be able to appreciate the beauty of it.
For some reason, even though she had to work hard to figure out the other person's mind, she felt that being with Xiao Kezhi was more comfortable than being with Xiao Yu.
Cui He saw that she was lying softly on the couch, and was about to sit down and rub her waist when someone said, "Your Highness, Madam Lu Guo is here."
Chu Ning was stunned for a moment and glanced at the sky. Although she didn't know what Madam Xu was doing, she came here so late, there should be something urgent.
She asked Cui He to pick up some clothes and put it on, wipe her wet hair, and then went to the front hall.
"His Royal Highness!" Although Madam Xu only waited for a moment, she was already a little uneasy. When she saw her coming out, she hurried up to greet her, "His Royal Highness forgives my sins, I shouldn't have come to disturb you at night, there is something wrong. beg… "
Chu Ning poured her a cup of tea by himself, motioned her to sit down and said slowly, "I know that Madam is not such an unreasonable person, she must come here only if there is something important, so don't worry, just take a sip of tea and speak slowly. "
Mrs. Xu glanced at Chu Ning's wet hair and blushing cheeks, as well as the robe that she hastily put on. It was obvious that she was just out of the bath, and her face could not help but feel embarrassed and regretful.
But she was anxious, and without being ashamed and embarrassed, she told the matter again.
It turned out to be Guo'er's child. He was a little uncomfortable when he arrived at the Hot Spring Palace because he was on the road during the day.
Duke Lu originally wanted to take the sign and ask Feng Yu to take a look at it for his daughter, but it was already night. Except for the Emperor, Donggong, the Queen Mother, and others, ordinary relatives and nobles were not allowed to invite anyone else.
Madam Xu thought about it, for fear that the sage was still busy with other things, and she did not dare to work the sage without authorization, so she came to the Crown Princess and begged the Crown Princess to come forward and invite the imperial concubine.
This is a reasonable thing, Chu Ning immediately took the token of the Crown Princess and asked someone to invite Feng Yu.
"I came at an untimely time to disturb His Highness's soup." Madam Xu's heart dropped a little, and she glanced at her with a blushing face, as if she was amazed, and muttered, "Your Highness is really a gift from God. Beauty, it doesn't need to be groomed to be so beautiful..."
Chu Ning pursed her lips and smiled. She didn't hear the next half of the sentence. She only said, "The timing of Madam's arrival is just right, neither too soon nor too late."
If you come early, you will meet Xiao Kezhi. If you come late and delay Guo'er's illness, this is indeed the best time.
Mrs. Xu didn't understand the deep meaning of her words, so she only echoed it awkwardly. After Feng Yu arrived, she thanked her again and hurried back.
…
Since Qi Mu left the Feishhuang Palace, the anger that has been suppressed has never subsided.
On the one hand, he wanted to find an opportunity to give Xiao Ke some warnings, so that he could understand the influence of the Qi family in the court, but on the other hand, he couldn't help but think of Xiao Kezhi's cold and sharp eyes, and the gray wolf he had witnessed before. The picture of biting people's neck in public.
After thinking about it, he finally went to Yichun soup after the court meeting on the second day to meet the Queen Mother Qi.
In the Buddhist hall, Queen Mother Qi just finished reciting today's scriptures, and she was being led back to the sleeping hall by Qi Chenxiang. When she saw him coming, she lifted her eyelids and dialed the Buddha beads in a deep voice: "Sit down. Dizzy."
She obviously knew about his trespassing into the Feishhuang Palace last night.
Qi Mu's face was a little ugly. Facing the elder sister's slight accusations, he didn't dare to refute, and only let his daughter go out with a sullen face.
Qi Chenxiang was always respectful, and was about to retreat after salute, but was stopped by the Queen Mother Qi: "Liu Niang stays, what your father wants to say must be related to the saint, you should also listen to it."
Qi Chenxiang stopped, stood beside her again, and listened quietly with her eyes down.
Qi Mu moved his eyelids, rejected Xiao Kezhi from the list pushed by the Ministry of Officials, repeated his words one by one, and said angrily: "His Royal Highness, the saint acted like this, as if he did not put me in the Qi family, or even The other humerus ministers of Great Liang are in the eye!"
Empress Dowager Qi ignored him, but patted Qi Chenxiang next to him: "Go, pour a cup of tea for your father to reduce the anger."
"His Royal Highness!" Qi Mu heard the Queen Mother's disapproval, and was a little impatient for a while. He took the tea from his daughter and put it back on the case without drinking a sip.
"What are you in a hurry? I think the sage is right. In the past few years, you have forgotten that the emperor of Great Liang's surname is Xiao." Empress Dowager Qi glanced at him, drank tea slowly, and continued to move the beads in her hand. Like a kind and peaceful Buddha statue.
Qi Mu was speechless and blushed for a while before he said, "Your Highness, are you in a hurry? Earlier, the minister listened to His Highness's instructions, and did not have any conflict with the saint in the court, and he gave in everything, but now the saint is walking every step of the way. Pressing, obviously doesn't take us seriously. Can't Your Highness see the meaning of the saint? This is to force us a few noble families to have no place to stand!"
"Urgent?" Empress Dowager Qi slowly closed her eyes, clasped her hands on her chest, and her voice was calm and gentle, "He is also my concubine, as long as I am here, are you afraid that there will be no place for the Qi family? The ability to turn the sky depends on what I mean. I gave him the throne arbitrarily, and he will naturally be able to take it back in the future. Great Liang belongs to him, and also belongs to several big families. He is young and vigorous, if he keeps making trouble , there will come a day when others will not be able to bear it. What you should think about as a 'foreign relative' is who will you replace him when the time comes."
Qi Mu didn't respond immediately, his eyes moved slightly when he heard the word "foreign relatives".
That's right, the Qi family's existence today is all because of the presence of the Queen Mother, whether the late emperor or today's saints are the concubines of the Queen Mother, they must respect their parents. If one day, the saint provokes public anger, the queen mother can abolish the emperor with a single decree - this is not unheard of in the previous dynasties.
However, they had to find a suitable successor first, and this successor had better come from the Qi family.
He glanced at his low-browded daughter, and suddenly understood the Queen Mother's intention.
When the prince Xiao Yu proposed to marry, the queen mother also had the idea of marrying the Qi family girl to the East Palace, but she gave up because of the prince's resistance and his father's objection, but now he is a little awake.
"My minister understands that after the New Year's Day, I will slander the saints. Please act as the harem as soon as possible, and give birth to children to consolidate the country's roots."
"That's how it should be." Empress Dowager Qi eased her face, put down her hands that were folded in front of her chest, wrapped the Buddha beads around her wrists, let Qi Chenxiang sit down, and pushed a plate of snacks over, "Take two bites, you are a good boy, I got up early in the morning to accompany me to recite Buddha, it is difficult for you to calm down, you should be hungry now."
Qi Chenxiang smiled and thanked her, sat down, and took out a snack to use, but she was a little hesitant.
She heard the words of Fang Cai's father and the queen mother clearly. It turned out that they wanted her to marry a saint, not because they sincerely found a satisfactory marriage for her, but because they wanted her to be the queen and continue to maintain the status of the Qi family. Not only that, they even have plans to pull the saint down from the throne!
That being the case, why do you always tell her that marrying into the court is the best chance in her life
She put these doubts in her heart, and it became heavier and heavier. Finally, after Qi Mu left, she asked the queen mother.
Empress Dowager Qi looked at her and shook her head gently, her eyes were a little dim, I don't know if it was because of pity or something else: "I told you last time, people, you have to take a long-term view, if you have power in your hands, you will do nothing. Don't be afraid. Among your brothers and sisters in your family, I value you the most. You are the youngest, but you are the most sensible and submissive one. You have always behaved in a proper manner, generous and humble. I look forward to your coming to my position in the future. Come up. Your days are still long, take your time, understand?"
"Aunt, I—" Qi Chenxiang stared at her blankly, opened her mouth to say something, but couldn't say anything.
She wanted to ask her aunt if she had lived well in the Taiji Palace these years, and if she regretted marrying Emperor Gaozong.
Everyone knows that Emperor Gaozong fell in love with the Queen Mother at first sight, and after marrying her back to the palace, she has been in love for more than 20 years. It is precisely because of this feeling in his heart that Emperor Gaozong could tolerate the Empress Dowager removing the other concubines from the harem one by one in his later years, and then demoting or expelling his children, leaving only the cowardly eldest son Xiao Lian to inherit the throne. .
But she always felt that all of this seemed to be fabricated by others. If the friendship was really deep, how could the husband and wife have come to that point
Such a day was not what she was looking forward to, but in the face of her aunt's loving and stern eyes, she couldn't say anything to refute.
…
That day, Feng Yu saw Guo'er's illness and confirmed that there was no serious problem. It was just that the little lady was weak before, and suddenly changed places and didn't get used to it.
Seeing that the New Year's Day is almost a day, people's hearts are also floating. It's just that Mount Li is no different than the bustling and prosperous Chang'an City. People can't go to the restaurants and markets to play, so they have to go to the village market at the foot of the mountain, the manor pavilion near the Hot Spring Palace, and the horse farm in the countryside at the foot of the mountain.
Among them, there are a lot of people on the racecourse. Apart from the young man, there are also many young and beautiful noble girls. There is no other reason. Many people have heard that the saint loves to ride and shoot. Muscles and bones, practice skills, and sometimes bring envoys and many dear children who come to the New Year banquet.
On this day, seeing that the heavy snow that fell a few days ago had almost melted away, Chu Ning took the now-recovered Guo'er and went down the mountain to the horse farm in the countryside.