After the queen left, she didn't show up until she turned on the lamp. During this period, Yun Fenghuang drank a lot of water and slept for an hour. The effects of the drug were gone, and he became more energetic as he watched dusk fall.
So he invited Nian Xuan to come over and asked him about the whole story, especially if there was any news about Gong Xiangxiao or Qi Jiulu
But Nianxuan shook her head and said that in the past two days, everyone had been surrounding the two concubines and did not care about other people. Moreover, she leaned next to Yun Fenghuang's ear and whispered: "My queen, have you forgotten? The prince and the others are accompanying them. Your Majesty is going far away, and is not in the valley at all. At this moment, I am probably accompanying Your Majesty on his way back."
"..." Yun Fenghuang pursed his lips. On the day when the emperor was going to a distant place, Gong Xiangxiao and others were indeed accompanying him. After all, these people could only live a good life and come here under the scorching sun. , just to accompany the emperor on hunting expeditions.
Except for the two accompanying concubines who were left behind in the villa because they were female relatives and were not as convenient as men when going out, so part of the imperial army was left to guard them, the others all followed - even if some people wanted to retreat when things were about to happen. Maybe, once the emperor leaves, there will be only two concubines left in Chunban Villa. What do you want to do if you stay
It's just that Gong Xiangxiao and Qi Jiulu had ulterior motives, and they didn't know what excuse they found to come back and cause trouble...
Her heart sank. Chunjia seemed gentle, but was actually delicate. The fire in the valley caused the Chunban Villa to be destroyed. It was impossible for him not to doubt Gong Xiangxiao, who left midway.
After all, this was the eldest son of the regent. Even if the regent really wanted to establish a younger son, it would be impossible to hand over the eldest son to the emperor for punishment.
Especially when the uncle and nephew of the royal family are in a period of deep love, neither one wants to fall out with the other - so if the emperor finds out something, the regent will definitely find a scapegoat.
For example, Qi Jiulu.
Yun Fenghuang lowered his eyes and thought for a while, then said softly: "What can the Queen tell you these two days?"
Nianxuan said: "The Queen only asked about your physical condition after she came."
After thinking for a while, he said, "Also, when you were asleep just now, the Queen sent someone to ask about our expenses."
These were all trivial matters, and nothing could be inferred. Yun Fenghuang was anxious but had no choice but to let her go down to rest.
Nian Xuan didn't trust her after all, so she temporarily appointed a second-class palace maid named Han Lu to keep vigil in her place.
Han Lu served her master alone for the first time, and she was very frightened. Pian Yun Fenghuang didn't sleep well that night, tossing and turning almost non-stop. She was worried but didn't dare to say anything. She thought about many terrible endings tremblingly, and almost died. Cried on the spot. In the morning Nianxuan finally came over to change shifts, and she almost cried with joy.
It's just that Yun Fenghuang asked Nianxuan to dress him up, but Nianxuan had no choice but to let her continue to do it.
"Empress, from the Queen's side just now, Your Majesty should arrive before noon and is asking people to prepare lunch." Nianxuan whispered while cleaning up Yun Fenghuang, "Mrs. Yaoning's side I called the imperial doctor again before dawn, and I don’t know what’s going on.”
She said this, but there was clear doubt on her face. When Gu Zhen heard that the emperor was coming, he pretended to be sick in order to win the emperor's pity.
Yun Fenghuang heard it, but just said "hmm" and said: "Then wait and see if we have any suitable places for visiting patients, and send some over there. It will be considered as my sister's kindness." ”
As for visiting her in person, forget it. Firstly, Gu Zhen is annoyed when he sees her now. Going to visit her in person would be like personally causing trouble for her. Secondly, she has not settled a lawsuit on her head, so how can she have time to play with Gu Zhen
It is extremely cumbersome and time-consuming to dress up a palace concubine. Especially Yun Fenghuang's most powerful Xi Le does not know whether he is alive or dead. He has only Nian Xuan as a valet next to him. Han Lu and other second-class palace maids are inexperienced, so even if they do it, they are in a hurry. . After some tidying up, I was finally neatly dressed and made up. A report came from outside, saying that the emperor and his entourage were already five miles away. However, their mounts were not strong enough after galloping all the way, so they could only take a short rest and they would arrive later.
Empress Ji then notified the two concubines and asked them if they could go together to meet the Holy Master outside the temporary camp.
Of course Yun Fenghuang wanted to go, but Gu Zhen complained, saying that he twisted his foot when he was leaving the villa, and he couldn't move right now for fear of losing etiquette in front of the emperor.
So the two concubines put on their curtain hats and went to wait at the entrance of the camp. When they arrived at the door, Yun Fenghuang saw the current valley through the gauze dropped by the curtain hat, and couldn't help but feel slightly lost.
The valley is now so devastated that it is beyond recognition, and there is no trace of the beautiful mountains and waters that looked like a picture scroll before.
Everything you see is scorched black, with uneven thicknesses of ashes far and near, and even the water not far away looks like a landscape painting where the water has maliciously and vigorously smeared many unorganized ink balls. It completely ruins the artistic conception and beauty.
Although many medicines were scattered around the camp, and the incense used to ward off evil was still burning in a copper stove not far away. A gust of mountain wind still brought with it a bit of the fishy smell of birds and animals that had not been burned away after being burned.
"I don't know how sad your Majesty will be when you see this later." As if aware of Yun Fenghuang's thoughts, Empress Ji, who was standing slightly in front, said slowly, "Chun Ban Villa was built by the empress dowager in her private residence. Everything was done according to His Majesty's preferences, and the result was that a good village was gone."
After being reminded by her, it took Yun Fenghuang some effort to confirm that the hillside diagonally opposite was the ruins of Chunban Villa - yes, it could only be the ruins, because the villa had been completely burned down.
This is not surprising, after all, there are lush vegetation around here, but no bricks or stones are produced.
Empress Dowager Yuan originally wanted to surprise the emperor, so she kept the news secret and had people rush to work. Of course, it was convenient to use local materials and build it purely with wood.
Therefore, there was nothing in Chunban Villa that could ignite the fire. In this fire that swept through most of the valley and was barely controlled with the help of water barriers and desperate rescue efforts by the Imperial Army, not a single tile remained.
"Fortunately, Your Majesty was not in the villa before." Yun Fenghuang stared at the ruins for a while, slightly curled his lips, but there was no smile in his eyes, and said lightly, "Otherwise, seeing the villa collapse in the fire with your own eyes would be called a cone. Heart. After all, if you are not here, you can just deal with the bad news afterward. If you are in the middle of it, watching the little bit of things you care about burn in the fire, but you are helpless and helpless, wouldn't you be desperate? "
Empress Ji didn't seem to hear the euphemism in her words. She chuckled but said nothing more.
The concubine waited silently. After two sticks of incense, she finally saw a group of people speeding towards the end of the ashes.
The one at the head was the emperor. From a distance, his face and expression could not be seen clearly. I could only feel that he was wearing a ginger-red silk tapestry with golden arrows, which stood out in the field behind the fire. The arrow jacket is much more slim-fitting than the regular clothes, making Chunjia's shoulders wider and slimmer, and her figure more graceful.
The horse he rides on is a magnificent horse. It is completely black without a trace of color. When it runs, its muscles slide like a piece of shiny satin.
As the distance got closer, one could see that the emperor, who had always shown himself to be gentle and generous, had his eyes narrowed and his face was stern, without a trace of a smile.
This made Yun Fenghuang twist his handkerchief subconsciously, because he didn't know if the emperor knew, or how much he knew.
"Thank you, Queen." The emperor reined in his horse and dismounted ten steps away from the concubine, but he still raised a cloud of ashes, covering his face without saying a word, and even the concubine was hit.
The queen and Yun Fenghuang both wore curtain hats, and the veils reached down to their waists. The palace maids helped pat the skirts.
The emperor was completely covered with dirt, but he didn't care. He raised his sleeves and wiped his face. When he came to greet her, he raised his hands and asked, "Where is Yaoning? Why aren't you here?"
"Your Majesty, don't worry. Sister Yaoning is fine. She just sprained her foot." The queen handed him her handkerchief and said softly, "It's true that Mao Jieyu frightened me this time, and the people around her were panicked." I was so confused that I took the wrong soothing soup..."
As he spoke, he accompanied the emperor into the queen's tent.
Yun Fenghuang took the last chance to look outside the camp quickly: the people who had accompanied the emperor on the hunt had now returned. Following closely behind the emperor was still Gong Xiangxiao.
He was accompanied by Qi Jiulu, all dressed in hunting attire, with bows and arrows and small prey hanging on their saddles. Even though they were far apart, some light-colored robes seemed to be stained with the blood and stains of the prey.
Although they did not do much playful behavior due to the fire in the valley, it was obvious that they were not nervous or panicked. It was thought that the emperor's hunting trip went very smoothly.
Both Gong Xiangxiao and Qi Jiulu were as natural as if nothing had happened during this period.
Qi Jiulu didn't even look in Yun Fenghuang's direction.
Yun Fenghuang paused for a moment and then entered the tent. Inside, the queen was already waiting for the emperor to wash his face, and was persuading him to take off his robe and change into another one: "... The fire started so suddenly that it was impossible to save it when it was discovered. That's why Everyone in the villa could only protect the two sisters and escape first. As for the things, they really didn’t care how much they took. I grabbed one of the boxes you left in the villa. I came over and looked at them. They seemed to be all pen and ink. Paper and inkstone, so I asked someone to go to the palace overnight to get some commonly used things."
The emperor praised the queen's thoughtfulness and attentiveness, and then asked about the cause of the fire: "The vegetation around the villa is lush, and now it is the time when the seedlings are growing strong, so it is not easy for water to escape, let alone the puddles and running water vapor in the valley. So abundant, how could such a disaster happen?”
"I also feel that I can't figure it out." Empress Ji looked puzzled and embarrassed, "The person in front of me rushed over after receiving the news, and asked the people below, but a group of people hesitated and couldn't understand... I So I personally went to the place where the fire first started yesterday and saw that the soil and ashes there were a little different. People there said it seemed like oil had been poured on it, but no oil was visible."
"There are Forbidden Army guards all around the villa, how come you didn't even find such tricks?" The emperor chuckled, "Fortunately, there is nothing important in the villa, otherwise..."
He frowned and asked the queen, "That's it, call the leader of the forbidden army here and me."
This means that he has to personally trace the source of the fire. Yun Fenghuang is worried. Seeing that the queen ordered the maid to call someone, he hid behind the screen, bit his lip, and then moved to follow. Unexpectedly, he had never looked at her before. The emperor suddenly said "tsk": "What's wrong with my beloved concubine today? Why do you see that she is so preoccupied... that she doesn't have her usual escape?"
Yun Fenghuang was startled and looked at him subconsciously, and saw Chunjia looking at him with a half-smile, his eyes seemed particularly meaningful.
"Maybe she was scared." She hesitated for a moment, but Empress Ji had already answered on her behalf, sighing, "Your Majesty, you don't know, because it was midnight when the water was discovered, and the two sisters hurriedly avoided the disaster. Sister Yaoning was certainly injured. Feet, Mao Jieyu’s personal attendant Xile is even missing…”
"Really?" Before the queen finished speaking, the emperor slightly raised the corner of his mouth and showed a strange smile, "That's a coincidence. On my way back just now, I happened to meet a man who was completely covered with burns and was beyond recognition. He claimed to be My dearest concubine, I have Xile at my side."
One empress and one concubine could hardly control their expressions and screamed in surprise!