The place where the Empress Dowager currently lives is also the residence of the former Empress Ji Lingzi during the last period of her life. It is a small independent courtyard surrounded by vegetation.
Perhaps it was because there was a stream passing by the side of the courtyard. The plants and trees were extraordinarily lush, and the vines of various colors were particularly dense. The red-lacquered copper-ringed courtyard door was covered solidly, making it look like a cave.
Unlike the lush greenery outside, the courtyard is very simple inside.
The green bricks everywhere had been swept spotlessly, and there was no grass in sight. Only a ginkgo tree towered into the clouds in the southeast corner, covering the yard covering an area of about an acre. The brick floor was covered with layers of moss. It feels thick and soft when stepped on.
When the Empress Dowager travels, there are many waiters, but not many are left in the courtyard.
When Yun Fenghuang walked in, he saw six or seven palace people guarding the corridor. Two of them stood with their hands down, waiting with bated breath for the call inside.
The other older ones wanted to relax a little, get some needlework and the like, and sit on the beauty's back, doing whatever they wanted to do, occasionally whispering a few gossips.
When he noticed the imperial concubine entering, he glanced at her but said nothing or moved.
Yun Fenghuang didn't pay attention to them, and was led inside by the young chamberlain who had delivered the message before.
Crossing the threshold, you are faced with a huanghuali screen inlaid with mica and tapestry, painted with Laozi riding a green ox. Each corner is inlaid with a luminous pearl the size of a dove egg, which exudes a faint glow in the slightly dim room.
Behind the screen, the floor is paved with azure-patterned mats, and the furnishings are similar to those of ordinary wealthy homes, except that the colors are colder and plainer. Upon closer inspection, you can see that everything is exquisite and has a profound heritage.
The young chamberlain signaled Yun Fenghuang to wait here, and he walked towards the carved moon cave door on the side. There was a bead curtain hanging on the door. The pearls were all glowing with light pink and soft light. They were not big, but the luster was the same size and even. The little chamberlain opened the curtain and went in. After a while, he came out and whispered: "The Empress Dowager will come out in a moment."
After a while, the four maids came out under the curtain with the Empress Dowager, and sat down under the 20-fold huanghuali cassette beauty screen at the top. Yun Fenghuang then stepped forward to say hello, and took advantage of the opportunity to raise his head and take a look.
The Empress Dowager is not very haggard these days, but her expression is much colder.
Although she had never been enthusiastic towards people like Yun Fenghuang in the past, she was more condescending and careless at that time, unlike now, coldly like she doesn't care about anything, and like she cares about everything.
"Get up." The Empress Dowager didn't look at Yun Fenghuang and called lightly, then asked directly, "Why did the Queen suddenly change you? Is it because you think the Ai family is difficult to take care of?"
"Returning to the Empress Dowager, the Queen Mother definitely has no such intention, but I think that the Queen Mother, Concubine Wan, Madam Roukun, and Xuan Zhaoyi have been serving you these days, and I feel uneasy, and I also want to come over and serve you for a few days. ." Yun Fenghuang said softly, "I would like to ask the Queen Mother to come and replace me, and I also ask the Empress Dowager not to dislike me for being stupid."
The Empress Dowager said softly: "What's the use of hating or not hating you? You all have your own ideas now. The queen has left, but you have come. The Ai family said they don't want you. You can go back and change the queen." Come?"
This is not an easy answer. It is neither appropriate to say yes nor no.
If not, what if the Empress Dowager follows the stick and asks her to go back immediately to become the Queen
If you say yes, you will be ready to be caught for being disrespectful to the Empress Dowager.
Yun Fenghuang pretended not to hear, and said with a smile: "I haven't seen you for a few days, but now I see that you are in much better spirits. It's no wonder, the water and soil of this place are good at raising people. This is my first time here. , I feel a little regretful. If I had known, I would have come here two years ago."
"If you want to stay, just find a place to rest by yourself." The Empress Dowager said calmly, "Don't come to the Ai family if you have nothing to do. The Ai family doesn't really want to see you."
"What the Empress Dowager said made me sad. I came here just to serve you." Yun Fenghuang said softly, "If you don't want me to come to you..."
Everyone probably thought that she would talk about what the purpose of her coming here was, but Yun Fenghuang said, "Then I will choose a place where you can't see me to serve you!"
"..." The Empress Dowager turned her head sideways, waved her hand, and signaled the palace servants to lead the person out, without even bothering to say a word to her.
Yun Fenghuang left the house and asked Qingdu to find the Taoist nun in the Taoist temple: "The Empress Dowager has promised me to stay, and asked them to prepare a place for me. They must be closer to the Empress Dowager to avoid delays. Please show your filial piety to me."
However, the villa that was finally arranged was four or five miles away from the Queen Mother's side via a mountain road.
The Taoist temple's explanation is that although there are indeed closer ones, they have not been inhabited for many years. Even if they are cleared out in a while, it is not easy to move in because the cold air over the years can easily hurt people.
"I remember that Mrs. Roukun's residence is also very far away." Yun Fenghuang asked the Taoist nun who responded, "But I don't know whose residence is closest? I would like to change with her."
The Taoist girl lowered her eyes and said, "If you want to return to the imperial concubine, the closest place is yours now."
"Did the Queen live far away before?" Yun Fenghuang was a little surprised, "How can you serve the Queen Mother when you live so far away?"
"I heard that this is the intention of the Empress Dowager. Xiaoguan only provides other courtyards and does not care about these."
Yun Fenghuang thought for a while and said: "That's fine. By the way, I dare to ask, how long have you been a Taoist?"
The Taoist nun modestly said that she had only cultivated a few superficial skills and did not dare to pretend to be a Taoist: "I have been practicing meditation since I was a child, and it has been more than twenty years now."
"Then the Taoist priest was also here when the former queen came to practice?" Yun Fenghuang asked with a smile, "I wonder what the former queen was like here when she was alive?"
... After a while, the Taoist nun left, and Qingdu muttered: "This female crown keeps saying that she is a native of Shanyuan Guan, but she doesn't know anything about it when asked. She is so arrogant!"
Yun Fenghuang smiled meaningfully: "Shan Yuan Temple has a close relationship with the royal family. The friendship between the three generations of Phoenix Masters of the Ji family has been established. If I tell you everything when I ask, that will be looked down upon. However, , even if she doesn’t say it, I should know it in my heart.”
Qingdu said "Ah" and said, "Have you discovered anything? Is there something wrong with the former Queen?"
"There is no proof yet whether there is any problem with the former empress, but there must be problems with the empress dowager staying!" Yun Fenghuang said with a smile, "What did the empress say to Xuan Zhaoyi and Mrs. Roukun before? Because the former empress and Kang After Jieyu passed away, the Empress Dowager was in a bad mood. Not only did she insist on staying in the Taoist temple despite her Majesty's repeated persuasion, but she was also very picky about the empress and others who took the initiative to come to attend to her illness... I was just at Mrs. Roukun's place and heard that the Empress Dowager had summoned her. , including ourselves, who doesn’t think that the Empress Dowager knows that I’m here and wants to show off her power? I was fully prepared to be made difficult when I first entered, but what’s the result?”
She slightly raised her lips and said, "The Empress Dowager did not allow me to come to her!"
"Yes, I am not the kind of person who accepts everything. If the Empress Dowager treats me the same as she treats the empresses, I will definitely make her unhappy!"
"But considering the background and status of the Empress Dowager, even if she knew that I was not someone to be trifled with, would she put down her arrogance and avoid fighting with me?"
Yun Fenghuang breathed out slowly and said affirmatively, "Before I came here, I just wanted to see what kind of things can be done here at Shanyuan Temple. Now it seems that Shanyuan Temple has its own merits! It's not that the Empress Dowager doesn't want to She left me here to point fingers and look for trouble, but she was worried that my being by her side would hinder her purpose of staying!"
"Look again, whether it's the Queen, the others, or me, everyone who comes to attend to the illness is arranged to stay far away..."
She sneered a few times, and after asking Chen Jing about the manpower accompanying him this time, she told him: "You will go out when it gets dark later, and bring two people with good skills, reliability and dexterity to attack other nearby courtyards." We've figured it all out, and then... go to the Taoist temple and set a fire! Just be careful, don't hurt anyone yet."
Chen Jing was shocked when he heard this and said, "Your Majesty, I will be staying here tonight. What if Fengzhu's fire really breaks down?"
This chief steward was much more talkative than his predecessor, Chen Zhuhui. He obviously felt that Shan Yuan Guan was closely related to the royal family and did not dare to do such a thing, but he spoke out of concern for his master.
Yun Fenghuang glanced at him with a smile but not a smile, and said, "Why are you so anxious? There are a lot of streams nearby. If it doesn't work, are you afraid that there will be no place to escape?"
In a place with water like this, she can hit eight of them!
No more fear!
After arranging the person who set the fire, the imperial concubine asked Qingdu to find someone else to guard the Empress Dowager: "Don't disturb the people inside, and let's see if they do anything unusual after discovering the fire?"
She was planning to ask for directions, but that night, just after she fell asleep lazily, Qingdu hurriedly came in and asked her to move somewhere else: "Mother, there's a fire! And it looks like the fire is coming towards us!"
"How did Chen Jing do what he did?" Yun Fenghuang was startled. As he stood up and put on his clothes, he scolded Chen Jing for being a loser. "Didn't I say that it was just a show, so there was no need to make a big fuss!"
Chen Jing usually does things well, so Qingdu was willing to give him a few words: "We just arrived yesterday after all. Maybe he is not familiar with the terrain and wind direction here... In short, please leave as soon as possible, we have to leave immediately!"
Fortunately, since Yun Fenghuang planned to let his own people set the fire, he was also prepared for the eventuality.
After leaving the courtyard, people immediately gathered around her and went to a nearby hillside. They said that there happened to be a living spring here, forming a small pool to avoid fire. Not only did this hillside itself not be in the line of fire, on the march.
After stopping here, Yun Fenghuang had time to look back at the place where the fire started.
Because there are few people in the mountains and it is surrounded by unclaimed land, and Shanyuan Temple is a famous temple closely related to the royal family. It has received a group of the most distinguished female relatives in the world, and even many holy priests from past generations have come here. Although the Taoist temple itself is luxurious and low-key, the other courtyards are very spacious.
Almost all the remaining veins of a section of the mountain were occupied.
The mountains are also lush with vegetation and there are no tall buildings among them, so it doesn't look obvious from the outside. In fact, there are many other courtyards in this area. At this moment, in the dark night filled with shadows, there are only a few stars. Lanterns are lit here and there, people are taking refuge or watching.
They saw that the fire was in a side hall of the Taoist temple. Yun Fenghuang had never been in when he came, and he didn't know what it was for. In short, the flames jumped among the thick smoke, dyeing most of the sky red, mixed with The shouts of people putting out the fire seemed particularly chaotic.
Looking at the direction of the wind, the fire was slowly moving towards the other courtyard where Yun Fenghuang lived.
It's just that when I came down in the middle of the night, it didn't really burn anywhere. Instead, I was chased and poured out in the middle of the night.
This is not the point. The point is that Chen Jing, who had hidden his whereabouts in the middle of the night, led two guards up a hillside and knelt on the ground to plead guilty to Yun Fenghuang: "Your Majesty, I am incompetent. I, with my talents, touched it." A fire broke out near the side hall. The servant hid beside it and watched for a long time, but she couldn't find the person who set the fire!"
"Didn't you set the fire?" Yun Fenghuang was shocked. Who is this person? He is so in tune with him!
... Could it be Chunjia
There was no reason why Chunjia couldn't see the problems that he could see as soon as he arrived.
The reason why they didn't set fire to the palace before was because the empress and their palace could easily be deceived by the empress dowager even if they were to alert the enemy.
But it's different here... Well, wait, if this was Chunjia's doing, knowing that she was here and setting the fire without telling him, she would have to have sex with him when she went back!
After thinking about it fiercely, Yun Fenghuang said in a deep voice, "Since we haven't found anyone, let's let this matter go for now. Let's go and find out what the explanation is for this cheating?"
Chen Jing said quickly: "My slave overheard on the way and said that the incense candles enshrined in the side hall were knocked over by the civet cat that jumped in. The little Taoist nun who was watching the night was young and fell asleep, so she did not notice that the hall was burning in time."
Who are you kidding with this reason? Not to mention that Shanyuan Temple, a Taoist temple that has always dealt with the royal family, will be short of manpower for night watch? If one little Taoist nun falls asleep, we won't arrange a few more, so that all the Taoist nuns won't fall asleep.
Moreover, Shan Yuan Guan had never heard of walking on the water before. Why did he not walk on the water earlier and later on
Yun Fenghuang chuckled and asked: "How is the Empress Dowager doing?"
"My Lady, should we persuade the Empress Dowager to go back to the palace now?" Xuan Zhaoyi, who rushed over at dawn, didn't look good. After all, how many people could sleep after there was such a big movement last night
She asked Yun Fenghuang in a requesting tone, "After all, something like this just happened. I'm afraid the Empress Dowager will be shocked."
The late Concubine Wan also meant the same thing. Madam Roukun was probably still angry with Yun Fenghuang, but she didn't show up.
"Let's go greet the Empress Dowager later and see what she means." Yun Fenghuang knew what they were thinking. If there was a fire in the Taoist temple, even if there was no danger, logically he should persuade such a noble person as the Empress Dowager. The elders left and headed to a safer palace.
However, these concubines have been ridiculed by the Empress Dowager during this period. They are afraid of talking to the Empress Dowager and hope that she will step on the thunder.
However, Yun Fenghuang was thinking about finding out the details of the Empress Dowager. He did not refuse after hearing the words, and said, "If you are busy, I can go alone."
Xuan Zhaoyi immediately said: "I caught a cold last night, but I'm afraid that I'll give it to the Empress Dowager if I get over it."
Concubine Wan was slow to take a step and the reason that came to her lips could only be swallowed and she could find another one: "I came in a hurry and my appearance was not neat. It is an eyesore. I dare not come in front of the Empress Dowager."
So the second concubine successfully declined and watched Yun Fenghuang go alone to pay his respects to the Empress Dowager.
After meeting each other, the Empress Dowager made a preemptive strike: "The Ai family has been treated very well here. The imperial concubine has been distracted as soon as she arrived. It seems that the imperial concubine has no fate with the Tao. It is better to go back to the palace and stay there. Don't burden the Ai family so much." There is no purity of scenery!”