In the study room on the west side of Xihe Palace, a wrong color carved gold toad incense burner was replaced on the table. Thin green smoke slowly dispersed from the surroundings of the hollowed-out furnace, ethereal like clouds, and every qiē in the hall seemed to become hazy.

Emperor Jianzhao's face was flushed, coughing and wheezing, and the fat on his cheeks trembled.

In these years, he has seen the most fussy imperial doctors, occasionally feeling slightly ill, such as a slight dizziness, they will describe it as if he has a terminal illness. The maintenance methods implemented by those quacks are extremely cumbersome, and they have to take countless bitter medicines every day, and they often do not heal for a long time, so how can he endure it? Later, someone invited a few alchemists from the people, and their recipes were very effective, and they always made the emperor feel that he had returned to his youth.

"Zhou Liang, am I seriously ill?"

The chief attendant knelt on the ground, his body trembling slightly: "The emperor is blessed by heaven, and his longevity is boundless......"

The Emperor smiled bitterly: "You are right, Lingdie has just brought me a beautiful woman, and I have not yet accepted the gift of the Heavenly Mother." ”

Zhou Liang said: "Immortal Master Wang and Immortal Master Fu are almost here, don't worry about the emperor, you must be a little tired today." ”

It didn't take long for the two gray-robed Daoists to enter one after the other. As soon as the emperor saw them, he stood up excitedly, stumbled and pounced on the Taoist priest who was walking in front, and shook violently with both hands holding his wide sleeves: "Immortal Master Wang!" You're finally here, come and see, what's wrong with me? I smashed the incense burner you gave me at noon today, and I immediately regretted it...... Look, look, isn't it on the spot again! As long as you can cure my illness, I will be rewarded! Jewelry, mansions, beauties, what do you want? I am the Son of Heaven, I have everything, I will give you everything...... I feel so uncomfortable, I don't want to die yet......"

Where have the two Taoist priests seen the king of a country look so crazy, I saw that his eyes were red, and his neck was all scarlet, and he was panting when he spoke, and he actually had the potential to vent. The two of them were really a little scared, Wang Xianshi stabilized his position, and comforted him for the time being: "Don't be anxious, don't be anxious, wait for the two of you to take a look." ”

After speaking, he put his four fingers on the emperor's meridians, put his left hand, and then put his right hand, with a puzzled expression. And the Fu Immortal Master was on the side, and when he saw this, he shook the golden bell, hummed the scriptures in his mouth, and suddenly his eyebrows were tightly locked, and suddenly his brows were stretched, as if he was fighting with some invisible ghost.

Wang Xianshi finished taking the pulse, and then clicked on several acupuncture points of the emperor. Emperor Jianzhao has trusted the two of them very much over the years, so he let them take a closer look. Immortal Master Wang nodded and asked, "Does the emperor have pain?" The Emperor shook his head. He nodded again and asked, but the emperor still shook his head.

Wang Xianshi secretly screamed badly, but he pretended to be relaxed and said: "The emperor is fine, there are many demons in spring, this is a common thing." When the two of us subdue it, the emperor will be able to rest easy. ”

At this time, the Fu Immortal Master finished the method, and took out a white porcelain bottle from his arms, poured out two golden pills with the size of an apricot kernel from the bottle, and respectfully presented it: "This is the elixir that the two poor Dao have just refined, with red lead as the guide, supplemented by cinnabar, **, autumn stone and other raw materials, refined for nine hundred and eighty-one days, the most important elixir to nourish the essence and solid yuan." ”

The so-called red lead is nothing more than menstrual blood at the beginning of menarche, and most people will feel extremely disgusted when they hear it. However, the emperor cared most about the man's spirit, and he had repeatedly tasted the magical effect of the elixir, so he was convinced of these immortal masters and gladly accepted them.

After the two of them finished their work, they left the Xihe Palace, and the evening breeze in the early spring twilight came with a chill, which went straight to the bones. They shivered, and then they realized that their backs were soaked in cold sweat. It wasn't until they walked out of the Xihe Hall that one of them whispered: "I think, the emperor may not be able to do it this time." ”

The other nodded almost invisibly, with hurried steps.

"Shall we go and tell the queen mother?"

The man sighed, "Even though I had expected it for a long time, it was still ...... But at this point, only the queen can save our lives. ”

"The Queen's Mother......" he shook his head helplessly, "it would be best if we could accommodate our family as promised." As for you and me, hehe...... I'm afraid that there is money to be made, but there is no life to enjoy. ”

The two of them were silent again, and after a while they were engulfed in the night.

Luanqing Palace, at this moment, it is the long-lost lights. The lanterns of Changming Palace stretch along the vermilion palace wall, and all kinds of flowers are placed on both sides of the long street, which attracts the palace people to talk a lot.

A lowest-ranking rough envoy palace maid was about to be promoted to a concubine overnight, and she also lived in the palace where she once respected the imperial concubine. The azalea attracted the emperor's spirit butterfly, and such a strange story has long spread throughout the six palaces. People are sighing that they haven't seen this scene in Luanqing Palace for more than ten years. Although it is not as grand as the grand scene of the imperial concubine when she was alive, it is enough to make people stagger. Even today's most favored palaces of Mu Guifei and Concubine Yu are not as lively and prosperous as here.

Luanqing Palace has a main hall, and there are also east and west side halls on both sides, which are connected to each other by copying hand verandahs. The palace people and low-ranking concubines who heard the news were all crowded in the courtyard or the front porch of the hall in a noisy manner at this time, or chatting with each other, or looking at each other, all of them wanted to be able to take a look at this lucky person who was favored by the spirit butterfly before the canonization, and see his beauty. It's a pity that the dormitory is heavily guarded, and only a few aunts are allowed to serve in close quarters, and everyone can only speculate on the beauty of the palace maid in each other's depictions.

The people in the palace outside the palace were busy, and Shi Quan and the new attendants were busy taking care of everything. After Ruan Jia finished bathing, she put on a rose-red twig makeup satin skirt, draped in a golden colorful cloud pattern, and her hair was carefully curled into a weeping cloud bun, and four butterflies were inserted into the blue color. This kind of dress is everywhere to win the favor of the man who is over fifty years old.

Mu Ran, the girl in the warm pavilion, looked at herself in the bronze mirror and was at the mercy of others, drew the moon eyebrows, and pasted the peach blossom dian. The aunt sent by the Ministry of Internal Affairs praised her for her lack of makeup and jade skin, and still inevitably painted her with complicated and grand makeup. It's just that such heavy makeup can't completely hide her childishness that hasn't faded yet.

When the time came, the chamberlain had not yet come to deliver the message.

The palace people began to be a little anxious, and they successively sent people to Xihe Hall to inquire, but the palace door was closed, and no matter who went, they found nothing.

Seeing that it was about to arrive, there was still no news from the Xihe Palace.

"Where's Mr. Zhou?" The aunt in charge asked.

"There are a lot of guards guarding the palace, and I can't see Grandpa Zhou's face at all!"

The people outside talked a lot, and they became a pot of porridge. Ruan Jia sat on the edge of the bed, and his mood was also uncertain. The words of the palace people faintly came into her ears, and she probably understood that the emperor did not come to Luanqing Hall as promised, and the palace people could not inquire about the emperor's traces. Does that mean she can get away with it? A glimmer of hope rose in her heart, and even if it was slim, it would accompany her through the long night of the day.

The next morning, Nguyen Gia felt that the temple was empty. In accordance with Aunt Jiaoxi's instructions, she sat motionless in the warm pavilion, like a puppet with a broken string. It was dawn, and the emperor had not yet arrived. She wanted to sleep, but she didn't dare to sleep; I want to be more sober, but I'm afraid it's just a dream after all. The man, who was older than her father, may have had too many women, and forgot about her for a while, and when he remembered it, she couldn't escape such a fate after all.

"Sister Ruan, Sister Ruan." The familiar voice came from outside the pavilion, thin and soft, small stones.

"Are they all gone?" Ruan Jia held the silver hairpin in his hand tightly, and when he had no way to retreat, it was a big deal to disfigure himself.

Shi Quan lifted the glass bead curtain and came in, and when he saw that she was safe and sound, a big stone finally fell in his heart. Seeing her resolute expression last night, he was worried that she would not be able to think about it. But he didn't understand that people like Ruan Jia would always look forward to the last bit of hope in despair. She is like a flower, but as long as there is still a trace of support, she will desperately climb towards the warmest place.

Shi Quan had a strange look on his face, and said in a low voice: "It's all gone, guess what's going on outside?" ”

Ruan Jia didn't know why, and shook his head blankly.

He glanced around and made sure that there was no one around, and then he said mysteriously: "Something big has happened in Xihe Palace!" I'm afraid the emperor won't be here for two days! ”

Ruan Jia's waist weakened and she collapsed on the edge of the bed, her heartstrings that had been tense all night finally loosened at this moment. Those layers of brocade robes are tied to the body, which only makes people feel extremely dull. She simply tore open the curtain woven by gold thread, obviously laughing, but she didn't feel crying.

Shi Quan said: "Those people outside can't wait for the emperor, and most of them have already left." When I arrived, a father-in-law came in front of me and said a few words to the aunt in charge. I listened carefully, and it seemed to be...... It seems that the emperor is seriously ill! ”

Ruan Jia's eyes lit up, she waved away the tears on her eyelashes casually, and said hurriedly: "What kind of serious illness?" Will he be okay? After asking this, he was so frightened that he immediately covered his mouth.

Shi Quan scratched his head: "It's not good, I only heard them say that the queen mother stayed in Xihe Hall all night, and no one was allowed to enter." When it was almost dawn, I secretly took a look, and there was a group of concubines and princesses kneeling in the dark outside the hall. Then I thought, I'm afraid it's not a trivial matter! ”

The two chatted for a while in the warm pavilion. Because they all had sleepless nights, Luan Qinggong was silent as usual, one person was lying on the bed, one person leaned on the edge of the bed, and it didn't take long for him to fall asleep.

I don't know how long they slept, but when they opened their eyes again, it was already night, and they were awakened by the sound of a terrible cry outside. The cry came one after another, and swept in, like a stormy wave, loud but not sad. The two looked at each other, and they had already guessed seven or eight points in their hearts.

Shi Quan sorted out his clothes, hurriedly walked out of the main hall, and was about to open the palace gate, when a white-clothed eunuch happened to stop outside the door, holding two sets of plain white linen clothes in his hands.

The eunuch's eyes were red and swollen, and he sobbed: "The Ministry of Internal Service has prepared mourning clothes and asked the palaces to change them." Honglu Temple ordered, the emperor died, and the palaces cried like a ritual, you ......" He glanced at the glazed palace lamp on the palace gate that had not yet had time to be removed, and sighed, "Do it yourself." ”