At this moment, Liu Hui opened the curtain and walked in. He was holding a sword upside down in his hand, and a thin layer of sweat appeared on Junyi's forehead, obviously just returning from practice.

Hua Lianyue got off the bed neatly, took the sword in his hand, and said with a smile: "How long have you been up, why haven't I noticed it at all?"

Liu Hui smiled: "It's only half an hour!"

Hua Lianyue inserted the sword back into the scabbard and placed it on the long table, but muttered secretly: "No wonder there are so many flowers and butterflies in the yard." ”

"Flower butterfly, what flower butterfly?" Liu Hui said in surprise: "In this kind of weather, even if there are butterflies, they will freeze to death, you must be dazzled by the mistake." ”

Hua Lianyue was stunned for a moment, and then smiled at Qingying. But he teased in his mouth: "I don't have dazzle, there are indeed a lot of flowers and butterflies." However, as King Chengxian said, I am afraid that this will be almost frozen. ”

Liu Hui didn't know why, so he could only laugh dryly. Had a simple breakfast. Liu Hui changed into a bright yellow four-clawed python robe that represented his identity, with a hollow carved jade belt tied around his waist, a gold crown inlaid with velvet flowers on his head, and a pair of black cowhide boots under his feet.

Hua Lianyue is not a serious princess, so naturally she doesn't have a commanding suit, but she is also dressed very formally. A large red brocade coat with a silver fox jacket on the outside. At the bottom are eight long dresses embroidered with peacock motifs, decorated with multicolored silk silk. There are jade tricks, purses, coral skewers and other ornaments hanging around the waist.

The black hair was combed into a delicate ingots, and a double phoenix bead golden wing was inserted in the center, and the golden tassel hung down in front of her snow-white forehead. Next to her ears is a pair of colorful pearl pendants, swaying gently with her movements, so that she, who has always been smart and lively, has a bit more graceful and quiet temperament.

After leaving the Xianwang Mansion and boarding the carriage, the two of them went straight to the palace. Before entering the palace gate, Liu Hui was stopped by the little eunuch who was serving by the emperor, saying that the emperor had been waiting in the imperial study for a long time. However, the imperial study is a place to discuss state affairs and review the folds, even the favored concubines cannot step in. With an identity like Hua Lianyue, it is even more impossible to break in rashly.

Liu Hui wanted to take her to see Concubine Shu first, after all, she was his own mother. As a result, the plan was interrupted. He didn't worry about Hua Lianyue, but Hua Lianyue smiled and said: "It's okay, I also lived here for a month back then, but now it's just a revisit, and you're afraid that I will be lost." ”

Liu Hui hesitated for a moment and said, "Yue'er, my mother has lived in the deep palace for many years, and her temperament has become a little extreme. Plus there's a lot I haven't had time to tell her, and I guess she's misleading about you at the moment. If she says anything nasty, I hope you don't take it to heart, and whatever the misunderstanding is, I can explain it clearly when I get back. ”

Liu Hui knew that Concubine Shu had always regarded Zhang Jiao as a serious daughter-in-law, and he was afraid that she would be more mean to Hua Lianyue in words, so he would remind her in advance.

Hua Lianyue naturally understood his concerns, so she nodded without thinking and said, "Don't worry! I'm not confused, I know the seriousness of the matter." ”

Liu Hui wanted to say more, but the little eunuch couldn't help but remind: "Lord, the emperor is still waiting in the imperial study, but he can't delay it for too long." ”

Hua Lianyue stretched out her hand to straighten out the golden tassels hanging on both sides of the golden crown, and said with a smile: "Go quickly! It's not good to make the emperor wait for a long time." As the saying goes, don't hit the smiling face when you reach out, no matter what, I went to visit on purpose, and your mother is not good for me. If there's any misunderstanding, I'll wait for you to come back. ”

Liu Hui knew that it was useless to worry about it, Hua Lianyue was going to pass this level after all, so he nodded, and specially found a passing palace maid to lead Hua Lianyue, and he followed the little eunuch to the imperial study to see the emperor step by step.

The location of the Fuxi Palace, where the concubine lived, was very remote, some distance from the Empress Dowager's Cining Palace, and even farther away from the Emperor's Qianqing Palace, which was basically marginalized. The palace maid walked in the long mezzanine with Hua Lianyue, lined with high vermilion walls, and there was not even a eunuch in front and back. In addition to the whistling wind passing through the hall, they were accompanied only by the clatter sound of them stepping on the bluestone floor.

Hua Lianyue couldn't help but ask, "This girl, how long will it take to reach Fuxi Palace?"

The palace maid smiled: "Madame, don't worry, get out of this road, turn to the right, and pass a small garden." ”

Hua Lianyue was stunned, and the palace maid looked back at her in surprise and said, "Why doesn't Madame leave?"

Hua Lianyue covered her stomach and said with a sad face: "I just drank two more bowls of tea, and now I am in a hurry to go to the toilet." I wonder where the girl can find a latrine nearby?"

The palace maid's eyebrows were slightly twisted, revealing a look of embarrassment. saw Hua Lianyue covering her stomach and hunching her waist, and she looked very anxious. She had to point ahead and say, "Don't worry, madam, there will be a clean room out of the mezzanine." ”

Hua Lianyue hurriedly said: "Then bother the girl to take a few steps." After saying that, she actually quickened her pace, and the palace maid trotted all the way to barely keep up with her steps. Soon, the two of them walked out of the middle road one after the other, and Hua Lianyue hurried away in the direction of the clean room pointed by the palace maid.

The palace maid thought that the clean room smelled, and estimated that it would not take long for her to come out. So he didn't follow, but waited at the intersection where he had to go. After a while, she didn't see Hua Lianyue come out, and she couldn't help muttering in surprise: "I'm afraid it's a bad stomach, it's really troublesome!"

After a short while, it was still quiet, and the palace maid felt that something was wrong, and hurriedly ran in the direction of the clean room. But seeing that the door of the clean room was closed, the palace maid hurriedly raised her voice and called inside: "Madam, Madam, are you inside?"

Quietly, no one answered her.

The palace maid was in a hurry, and hurriedly stepped forward to push open the door of the clean room, but found that it was empty and there was no one. "What about the people, why are they gone?" the palace maid was in a hurry, and hurriedly raised her voice and called: "Madam, Madame......"

At this moment, Hua Liyue had already embarked on another road alone, how could she hear her call.

The palace maid searched around, but she didn't even find a veil, so she knew that she had been deceived by Hua Lianyue. Even though she was unwilling, she didn't dare to delay any longer, so she carried the hem of her skirt and ran in the direction she had pointed out to Hua Lianyue before.

There is no palace on the right, but there is a large pond, and it is said that the water in it is living water, which is brought in from the canal outside through a culvert. In summer, the pond is infinitely green with lotus leaves, and the lotus flowers are different from red. It's a pity that it's winter at the moment, and the lotus flowers on the water have long been gone, and only the pond is full of dead stems and fallen leaves.

Hua Lianyue lived in the Empress Dowager's Cining Palace for a month when she was young, and when she was bored, she played around in the inner palace alone, and had a general understanding of the environment in the inner palace. Although more than ten years have passed, there may be some changes in the details, but the overall pattern will definitely not change.

So when she heard the palace maid say that if she turned right and could reach the Fuxi Palace, she chuckled in her heart and immediately became alert. This harem is really frightening, traps everywhere! Hua Lianyue walked alone in a peach forest, but secretly thought in her heart. Although she didn't know what the purpose of the palace maid was, she knew that it would not be a good thing.

The peach forest in front of you is huge, and you can imagine that when a large number of peach blossoms are in full bloom in spring, they must be steaming clouds and clouds, and they are extremely beautiful. Unfortunately, this is not the season for peach trees, and even the thick green leaves have become mottled and yellow and brittle. The leaves of the trees looked particularly decadent, as if they were about to die.

Stepping on the fallen leaves like broken gold all over the ground, Hua Lianyue walked alone for a long time, but she didn't see a palace maid and eunuch. Presumably, this peach forest is also desolate, so no one will think of coming and walking. Soon she came to an intersection, and after thinking about it, Hua Lianyue tentatively stepped on a tree-lined path on the left with her childhood memories.

After walking a few steps, Hua Lianyue suddenly felt a flower in front of her, and a white shadow rushed in front of her like lightning. She was startled, and hurriedly stood up to look at it, but it was a white cat with long hair almost hanging to the ground.

This long-haired white cat has sky-blue eyes and dense and thick hair, looking very soft and luxurious, like a cute doll.

It looked up at Hua Liyue, its ice-blue eyes shining with arrogance. If it weren't for the fact that it still had a colorful half-dead parrot in its mouth, Hua Liyue felt like an elegant and proud princess.

The white cat stared at Hua Liyue vigilantly for a while, and saw that she didn't seem to have any intention of approaching her to grab food, so she put down the parrot in her mouth, flicked its wings with a thick meat pad, and meowed a few times.

The parrot flapped its wings with difficulty, but because the injury was too severe, it had no way to fly at all, so it could only spin in place. But the white cat bit half of its wings with a mouthful, and then burrowed into the bushes not far away, leaving only two bright feathers and a few drops of blood under the roots.

It's not strange that cats eat birds, but looking at the appearance of the long-haired white cat, the parrot seems to be a toy rather than a food to it. Hua Lianyue looked curiously a few times, but saw that the cat and parrot had disappeared in front of her, so she turned around and continued to walk forward.

After walking not far, I saw a little palace maid holding an ordinary yellow civet cat walking towards me. Hua Lianyue was worried that she didn't know if this road was right, and finally saw someone coming, so she hurriedly raised her voice and said, "This girl, do you know how to go to Fuxi Palace?"

The little palace maid flashed her big eyes and asked rhetorically, "This lady is from the Xianwang Mansion?"

Hua Lianyue nodded and said, "Exactly!"

The little palace maid hurriedly bent her knees and blessed her, and said: "I have seen Madame, the slave maid is the palace maid Luoxia of Fuxi Palace, and she came to greet King Xian and Mrs. ”

Hua Lianyue couldn't help but be overjoyed, and hurriedly said: "King Xian was called by the emperor to go to the imperial study for questioning, I will go with you to see Concubine Shuniang first." ”

"That's it!" Luo Xia hesitated for a moment, then smiled: "Then please ask Madame to come with me." ”

Hua Lianyue happily followed her, but her eyes fell curiously on the yellow civet cat in her arms. Luo Xia smiled and said: "Don't blame Madam, just after leaving the palace gate, the slave maid found that it had been following behind." The slave was afraid that sending it back would delay the hour, so she came with her in her arms. ”

Hua Lianyue shook her head with a smile and said, "It's okay. Then he asked curiously: "Is this cat raised by the lady concubine?"

Luo Xia was about to talk, but she heard noisy footsteps from behind, and Hua Lianyue naturally heard it, so Qi Qi looked back, but saw several little eunuchs holding a bamboo pole to catch birds, and they were hurrying over.

When one of the eunuchs saw Luoxia, he hurriedly asked in a loud voice: "Luoxia, did you see the parrot raised by the Queen Mother?"

Luo Xia shook her head and replied, "I didn't see it!"

Hua Lianyue's heart moved, and she immediately remembered the parrot that was played with by the white cat before, but she didn't expect it to be raised by the Queen Mother. Looking at the anxious appearance of these eunuchs, presumably that parrot is the queen mother's treasure. Hua Liyue remembered that although the parrot had been bitten, it didn't seem to be hurt, and it should have survived if it had been treated in time.

She hurriedly pointed to the base of the tree where the white cat had stayed before, and said, "I saw a long-haired white cat holding a colorful parrot in its mouth, playing under the root of the tree. I don't know if it's what you're looking for. But I saw that the parrot seemed to have been bitten on its wing, and probably couldn't fly. Follow the drop of blood and you should be able to find it. ”

The eunuch slapped his thigh and said bitterly: "It's too bad, it's taken by a cat, how can you still live." Quickly look for the bloodstains, hoping to pick up a life. Otherwise, under the anger of the Queen Mother, we will all be beaten. ”

"Yes, yes, go!"

Seeing these eunuchs rushing back, Hua Lianyue stuck out the tip of her tongue, but when she turned around, she saw that Luoxia was also quietly sticking out her tongue. The two looked at each other and smiled, and continued to walk in the direction of Fuxi Palace.

After walking for a short while, Luo Xia pointed to a vermilion-walled glazed tile palace at the end of the trail in front of her, and said with a smile: "Madam, the front is the Fuxi Palace." ”

Hua Lianyue raised her eyes and looked over, the palace was much shabby compared to the Cining Palace where she lived. But it made her feel a little nervous inexplicably, could it be that the ugly daughter-in-law was about to meet her in-laws!

Just as she was thinking about it, there was a noisy and rapid footsteps behind her, and Hua Lianyue didn't need to look back to know that it must be those eunuchs looking for parrots again. Could it be that the long-haired white cat had gone elsewhere with the parrot in its mouth?But what did all this have to do with her, she was now thinking about how she would behave when she saw the lady.

It's a pity that she feels that it has nothing to do with herself, but others don't think so. The eunuchs hurried to catch up, and couldn't help but say that they blocked Hua Lianyue and Luoxia's way. Hua Lianyue raised her head, but saw that a eunuch in the center was holding the parrot that was originally held by a long-haired white cat, but at this moment it was motionless with its little head hanging down, and its original colorful feathers were fluffy and messy, and it was stained with blood, obviously dead.

Hua Lianyue was taken aback, she didn't expect that the seemingly noble and elegant long-haired white cat was so ruthless, and the loss of a young but fresh life still made her feel a little regretful in her heart. But the next words of the eunuch blocking the road made her eyes widen instantly.

I saw the eunuch carrying the dead parrot, staring at Luo Xia with an arrogant face, and pointed to the yellow civet cat in her arms who was sleepy with her eyes closed, and shouted: "Luo Xia, the animals raised in your palace have bitten the baby of the Queen Mother to death, do you want to leave so casually? Go, you go with me to see the Queen Mother." There is also this little brute, who must pay for the life of the Queen Mother's heart. ”