Because there were two heavy snowfalls a while ago, although the day was still covered with snow and ice, the sun was excellent. The entire palace is carved out of snow and ice in the bright sunlight.

Before dawn, Liu Hui entered the palace in the prince's costume. Because according to the custom, he has to participate in the sacrificial ceremony of the Taimiao with the emperor, the queen, the queen mother, and the masters in the palace.

Such a ceremony was cumbersome and hard, and he was naturally reluctant to let Hua Liyue participate. Of course, Liu Hui treats her as a concubine, but after all, her identity is embarrassing, and her name is not right, and it is really difficult to participate in such a solemn sacrifice event.

It was busy until the end of the day, and the tedious sacrificial ceremony was completed. Hua Lianyue also entered the palace from Donghua Gate with some nobles who were also qualified to participate in the family banquet because of their outstanding merits, as well as some shameful concubines and family members.

So the atmosphere in the palace gradually began to liven, and the concubines and their families naturally went to the palaces to see their relatives first, and the nobles accompanied the emperor and the queen mother to enjoy the scenery and eat tea.

The queen also received distinguished guests in the palace, but she saw not her mother's family, but Zhang Jiao, who had just returned to Beijing, and the next person to accompany her was the serious princess.

"I've seen the queen's mother, I've seen the crown princess!" Zhang Jiao's meek and humble curtsy salute made the queen very satisfied, and said: "Poor see, it's only been a long time, and the narcissus-like people have become haggard like this, and I don't know how the sage prince takes care of people." Hurry up, you don't need to be so polite. At this moment, she is like an ordinary elder in the family, kind and caring.

The palace maid got the signal and hurriedly stepped forward to help Zhang Jiao up. He brought an embroidered pier for her to sit on, and served some tea.

Zhang Jiao did not sit down, but respectfully knelt down and kowtowed to the princess, and then said timidly: "It was the courtiers who were incompetent, and they did not protect a few girls, so that they suffered disasters one after another, please punish the mother." Zhang Jiao knew that they would have some explicit hints, so she simply made them clear first.

The smile on the crown princess's face froze, so she raised her eyes to look at Queen Xie at the top. Empress Xie, who has always been shrewd, was also a little confused about what she meant, and after hearing that the people who gave it to Zhang Jiao had been killed one after another, they became suspicious of Zhang Jiao's intentions.

It's just that the secret agents around Zhang Jiao didn't send back abnormal news, and the day before yesterday, the emperor received a complaint from the Zhang family, so he lost his temper in front of many people, and not only punished him for half a year, but also asked him to go to Zhang's house in person to make amends.

Liu Hui naturally firmly refused, so the emperor asked him to kneel outside the Qianqing Palace for three hours. Of course, it is not excluded that the emperor took the opportunity to teach this disobedient son a lesson and give Liu Ling his anger.

Seeing Zhang Jiao herself today, Queen Xie found that behind her ears, there were also a few more abrasions on the corners of her forehead. Although it is covered by fat powder, it cannot be completely concealed. It must be known that women pay the most attention to their appearance, even if they have some scheming, they will never let their appearance be damaged.

But these abrasions on Zhang Jiao's face are extremely obvious, and if you don't get it right, you will leave a lifetime of scars. Such a bitter trick that outweighs the losses is almost impossible for those palace concubines who cherish their appearance as if they cherish their lives. In this way, they believed Zhang Jiao's account of being in distress.

The crown princess hurriedly stood up and helped Zhang Jiao, and said angrily: "It's because their lives are bad that they will encounter those accidents, what can you do if you are a weak woman and you are alone." Besides, you yourself are injured like this, so why are we willing to blame you. As she spoke, she also raised her hand to brush the biggest wound on Zhang Jiao's forehead.

Her hands were quite heavy, and Zhang Jiao screamed in pain with an "oops". She suddenly withdrew her hand and said apologetically: "But it's hurt? It's just that this time, Zhang Jiao's wound that had just scabbed out was bloodshot again.

Finding out that the wound was not disguised, the crown princess and Empress Xie exchanged glances.

The Zhang family has risen too fast in recent years, and the influence of the court and China has become more and more impossible to ignore, especially their allegiance to Liu Hui, which made Empress Xie very dissatisfied, so she came up with the intention of destroying. However, if you want a huge family to fall, it is definitely not something that can be done in three years and five years, especially since they are cautious and have not made big mistakes. So the best way is to let it start to differentiate from the inside.

In the eyes of the queen, since someone in the Zhang family sued Liu Hui for Zhang Jiao, it means that there is a rift in the relationship between some of the Zhang family and Liu Hui, and it is no longer as united as it appears on the surface.

And the most important thing for her at the moment is to tear this rift open. In this way, Zhang Jiao has become the most critical figure.

Zhang Jiao endured the pain at the wound and said softly: "Niangniang doesn't need to blame herself, the courtiers don't hurt at all." ”

"It's not easy for you!" The crown princess sighed slightly, patted the back of her hand lightly, and said with pity on her face: "This trip has had accidents three or four times, fortunately, you are blessed, otherwise you will ......."

She paused, as if she couldn't bear to continue, and said as if she was holding an injustice: "Xianwang Pingsu looks steady, but I don't know why he was poured into ecstasy-soul medicine by the girl of the Liu family, and he didn't respect such a good concubine, but he regarded that wild girl as a heart and liver baby, and he didn't even want a physique."

No, a few days ago, the imperial doctor concluded that she was pregnant, and what did King Xian look like with his baby, he didn't even come out of the gate for a few days, and even dared to disobey his father's summons.

If you want me to say, the girl of the Liu family grew up in the mountains and wilderness, and she really doesn't know how to be polite. At this time, she should have come forward to persuade King Xian, but she was pampered and arrogant, not only did she not know how to persuade her, but she followed King Xian to mess around. In the future, after you marry Prince Xian, you must teach her what etiquette is. ”

Looking at Zhang Jiao's face with a somewhat embarrassed stiffness, Empress Xie secretly sneered, but scolded softly: "Okay, what are you talking about." After all, the girl of the Liu family is pregnant with the first child of the virtuous prince, so she will naturally be valued by him, and she should be pampered. Even the emperor didn't say anything about this, so what kind of judge are you acting as here. ”

The crown princess hurriedly stopped talking and said with a smile: "Look at my mouth, today is the Chinese New Year's Eve, let's not talk about these unhappy things." ”

She asked the palace maid to bring a plate of delicate snacks to Zhang Jiao, and said with a smile: "Don't be restrained, come and taste this rich peony cake, which is made in the small kitchen in the mother's harem, and you can't eat it outside." ”

Zhang Jiao hurriedly thanked her, reached out and took a piece of shortbread and ate it slowly. Empress Xie looked at her with a smile, turned her head and said to the palace maid beside her, "Go and take out the New Year's gift prepared by the palace for Miss Zhang." ”

The palace maid brought two pieces of makeup satin, two pieces of woven gold satin, two pieces of smoke yarn, a string of thumb-sized red coral beads, a string of colorful ornaments decorated with tassels, and a box of various colors of crystal jade pendants pressed on the corners of the skirt. The New Year's gift is not very valuable, but not everyone has it, and it represents a rare dignity.

Zhang Jiao hurriedly got up and thanked him respectfully, and her face also showed joy. After a few more small talks, it took two cups of tea before reluctantly getting up and saying goodbye.

"Queen Mother, what do you think in her heart?" the crown princess watched Zhang Jiao and Tingting leave, and then asked in confusion.

Previously, she had been provoking openly and secretly for a long time, but this Miss Zhang family was embarrassed on her face, but she never spit out half a word of complaint. But she was a little unsure whether her efforts had made a difference.

Empress Xie hooked her lips and sneered, her fingers gently stroked the tea cup in front of her, and said slowly: "Biting dogs don't bark, the more she endures it like this, the more uneven her heart will be, wait! This Miss Zhang is not easy to get along with, and she will definitely sing a good show for us in the future." ”

......

Zhang Jiao walked out of the queen's bedroom and walked on the winding path of the imperial garden. I remember the last time I came, the garden was full of flowers and butterflies. Today, the grass and trees are sparse and white.

Presumably, the palace people were busy entertaining guests in the various palaces, and the whole garden was silent, and from time to time snow slipped from the high branches of the trees and fell on the muddy ground. The splash of snow foamed the hem of her cloak, but her steps were not affected in the slightest because she was thinking about something.

"Be careful!"

Suddenly, a man's light voice sounded in his ears, and Zhang Jiao was already spinning before he could react. When she came back to her senses, she found herself in a wide embrace with the cold smell of ice and snow.

Zhang Jiao hurriedly raised her face, but saw that it was a young and handsome strange man holding her. He wore an eggplant purple four-clawed dragon brocade robe, a golden crown of hair on his head, a hollow white jade belt of mountains and rivers tied around his waist, and a delicate purse, Yingluo and two pieces of crystal jade.

The man let go of her, and saw that she was standing still and did not come back to his senses, so he frowned and asked patiently, "But if you are injured, do you need to call the imperial doctor?"

Hearing this, Zhang Jiao subconsciously glanced sideways, but saw that where she was standing, there was a large tuft of snow that had just fallen from the tree.

If this large snow falls on her head, even if she can't be hurt, it will make her embarrassed. The most important etiquette rules in the palace, and now she is a topic of discussion in secret for others. Although she is the one who is sympathized, if she loses her honor in front of the palace, others are afraid that she will mistakenly think that she is not willing to give up for the sake of the virtuous king, and she will become the biggest joke in the entire capital.

Zhang Jiao secretly said that she was glad, and hurriedly curtsied, and said, "The courtiers thank the five princes for their help." ”

Liu Shou raised his eyebrows and said with interest: "You know me?"

Zhang Jiaoying smiled lightly and said: "The courtiers have the honor to enter the palace to the queen, the queen mother to say goodbye, and I have seen the true faces of the prince, the third prince, and the fourth prince from afar. Today, I saw that Your Excellency was wearing a four-clawed python robe, and there were only five adult princes in the palace, so the courtiers dared to guess that you must be the five princes who were rumored in the palace to come and go like idle clouds and wild cranes. ”

It should be a self-depraved and inaction-inaction-inaction-minded chuckle on Liu Shou's lips, which did not break her small compliment. But the light of her eyes fell from her charming face to the hideous bruise on the corner of her forehead.

Zhang Jiao calmly accepted his curious gaze, and did not show any shame and anger because of the rudeness of his eyes. After a pause, Liu Shoucai withdrew his eyes and chuckled: "Since you have guessed my identity, it is better for me to guess yours too." Seeing that although the girl was thin and rouge, she couldn't hide the haggard in her eyes, and you claimed to have seen the third and fourth brothers of the prince, but you never mentioned the second brother, only sure that I was the fifth prince...... You must be Miss Zhang's family, who only returned to Beijing two days ago. ”

Zhang Jiaowan smiled, clapped her palms lightly, and said, "The fifth prince has good eyesight, and the courtiers have an axe in front of you." ”

Liu Shou smiled, looked up at the direction she came, and said slowly, "Miss Zhang is from the queen's side?"

"Not bad!" Zhang Jiao didn't hide it at all, she also looked back at the winding path when she looked, and said: "The queen mother is kind and generous, and the courtiers have been summoned to the palace by her, and it is really a great honor to listen to the teachings of the mother." ”

Zhang Jiao's words made Liu Shou's heart move, he knew that Liu Hui was reprimanded by the emperor for treating her poorly, and he also knelt in front of everyone in the harem for a few hours.

When the queen announced that Zhang Jiao had entered the palace at this time, could it be that she was provoking again? He gave up on himself and wandered outside the government alone, but it did not mean that he could not see through these tricks in the palace.

The north wind blew her autumn green skirt and swayed like water waves, but she stood tall and elegant like a green pine that was not afraid of the cold. mentioned the queen's summons, she seemed to be very calm, and her words did not shy away from revealing the queen's intention to woo her. Is she demonstrating to Liu Hui, or is she showing her open-mindedness?

Liu Shou became interested in the enigmatic woman in front of him.

......

The boots creaked softly in the snow, and in the soft sedan chair, Hua Lianyue was shaken and drowsy, but she still had to stare at her eyes widely, lest she really accidentally fall asleep, and lose her body and lose Liu Hui's face.

Before entering the palace, Xiaoxiao was afraid that she would not be able to eat enough if there were many rules, so she made steamed pork in the kitchen, steamed crucian carp, diced peach kernel chicken, vegetarian fried double bamboo shoots, and fried two more meals.

She hugged the gilded hollow entwined lotus in her arms a little tighter, in fact, she didn't want to participate in such a royal banquet that represented honor and wealth, nor did she want to deal with those nobles from various palaces who were not familiar with it at all.

It's a beautiful thing to clear after the snow, so you should stay in a warm room and enjoy the snow outside with a warm futon. Instead of being forced to brave the cold wind to intrigue with those nobles who clearly have their own hearts, but their faces are harmonious. Now she wants to lean on her warm soft floor, or help her father make an extra insole, or fight with Xiaoxiao. Or read a few pages of a notebook, that's comfortable.

Thinking of Xiaoxiao, Hua Lianyue remembered that she had looked at her coldly in the past two days, and there seemed to be something strange between this girl and Feng Wu. Several times, she saw Feng Wu looking at Xiaoxiao's back and stopping to speak, while Xiaoxiao looked at his figure when he was not paying attention. When she turned around and met Hua Lianyue's peeping eyes, she blushed and stomped her feet and ran away quickly.

Hua Lianyue inevitably touched her fed round belly depressedly, and began to think that it was time to prepare a dowry, and when the child in her belly was born safely, she would marry Xiaoxiao, a silly girl. It's just that she remembered that she hadn't seen Zhang Yuanyang above after returning to Beijing, and secretly wondered that it was obviously him who had a good chance, why did Feng Wu, who was not good at words, win the favor of the beautiful woman first?

Just thinking about these things and not, I suddenly heard a sharp question from a eunuch outside: "Which noble person is in the soft sedan chair?