Xiao Dezi walked briskly in front of him, and Ruan Jia followed closely behind.

The back garden of Yuntai Palace is not big, but it is a unique cave. Walking on the cobblestone-paved road, the stone path is shaded by patches of phoenix tail bamboos on both sides. Passing through the bamboo forest, there is a small pond of two or three acres square. Walking along the edge of the pond, you can see a bamboo bridge erected on the pond, and a small bamboo pavilion is built in the center of the bridge. The night was deep, Ruan Jia couldn't see the inscription on the plaque on the pavilion clearly, only felt that the cold moon and Hsinchu were reflected in the Qingtan, just like the beautiful scenery of the south of the Yangtze River - compared to the mountains stacked in the distance, it was like a world away.

The night breeze was slightly cool, and the bamboo leaves rustled, and she wrapped herself in a cloak. Xu is serious illness has not recovered, and the swaying branches on the stone path make her a little dizzy. The pebbles were mossy again, and they were slightly slippery, and Ruan Jia almost fell down without paying attention.

Xiao Dezi heard the sound, turned around and hurriedly helped him and said, "Girl, take your steps carefully." ”

Ruan Jia let out an "um" and bent down to pull up the hem of her skirt, the corner of her eyes swept across the pond. On the edge of that piece of phoenix-tailed bamboo, several palace lights flickered, and a faint figure swayed.

As if sensing the movement on the other side, the bright yellow stopped, stopped and glanced in the direction where Ruan Jia was. The woman next to him leaned over, grabbed his arm, and asked softly, "What is the emperor looking at?" ”

It was about that he rarely saw Concubine Lan take the initiative to be so intimate with him, and Jing Zhen's eyes were as bright as night stars, overflowing with warmth: "It's okay, let's go." ”

"A few days ago, Xiao Dezi picked up a white civet cat near the Imperial Garden, and it looked strange and pitiful, so he stayed and raised it." She bent her knees and bowed down, "Unexpectedly, I disturbed the holy driver, and asked the emperor to forgive me." ”

Jing Zhen helped her up with both hands, and sighed, "You really don't need to talk to me like this. ”

Concubine Lan just smiled, noncommittal, only took his arm and walked leisurely along the winding stone path.

On the other side, Ruan Jia hid behind the rockery and was secretly frightened, and she didn't know if the emperor saw her. Thinking that the emperor didn't know him, he followed Xiao Dezi to the west hall after palpitations.

There was nothing to do all night, only a few cat meows were heard, and the Yuntai Palace was very quiet.

Ruan Jia didn't want to cause trouble to Concubine Lan, so she locked herself in the west hall all day long and never went out. When Concubine Lan is free, she will talk to Rushuang to talk to her, and she doesn't feel too boring.

However, the sisters didn't have much time to chat, because for seven days in a row, the emperor came to Yuntai Palace. Sometimes I just came to eat and left, and sometimes I stayed here for the night. Although Ruan Jia didn't know what the harem pattern of Emperor Yuan Feng was, he also knew that the emperors of Dafan were all three palaces and six courtyards, with countless beauties. Concubine Lan can get this exclusive favor, presumably because of the strong sainthood.

But she looked at Concubine Lan, but she was not happy because of it. Sometimes even if you smile, there is a surging sorrow in your eyes.

On the eighth day, the first day of the fifth month, the emperor was required to eat and sleep with the empress. Concubine Lan was rarely idle, and after going to the middle palace to greet her as usual, she came back to the west hall early to visit Ruan Jia.

At that time, Ruan Jia was leaning under the window, flipping through a copy of Yan Jidao's "Xiaoshan Ci", the pages of which were slightly yellowed.

Concubine Lan smiled and asked, "Why is Ah Ruan so serious in reading?" ”

Ruan Jia put down the book, got up and said, "Let my sister smile, but Rushuang is afraid that I will be bored, so I took some idle books, and I don't understand them very well." ”

"Ah Ruan is not very old, but he is also puzzled?" She smiled and picked up "Xiaoshan Ci", and turned it over, it was the page of "Linjiang Immortal" that Ruan Jiashi had just read:

I remember the first time Apple saw her, and she was very angry. The lutea strings say acacia. At that time, the bright moon was there, and it was back from the clouds.

Concubine Lan seemed to be a little moved, Ruan Jia looked at her, and said casually: "I just see that the paper on this roll is a little yellow, I think it must be my sister's favorite reading on weekdays, it should be a good word." ”

She closed the book, and her tone was as calm as autumn water: "It's a good word, but most of Yan Jidao's words lament that time is easy to move, the situation is unreal, and it is too lonely." At your age, it is of no benefit. ”

Ruan Jia asked rhetorically: "What my sister said is true, but my sister is only two years older than me, and she is happy with the emperor, why do you prefer these sentimental words of old dreams?" ”

Concubine Lan was stunned for a moment, and said, "It's just to pass some time, where will you care, isn't Ah Ruan also idle to turn it over?" ”

Ruan Jia smiled: "That's true. Suddenly saw an autumn-colored notebook on the ground, which was originally dropped from "Xiaoshan Ci", she was about to bend down to pick it up, but was picked up by Concubine Lan first. But at a glance, Ruan Jia saw a line of fly-headed small letters on the Huanhua note: "Change my heart, for your heart, I know each other deeply." At the end, there is also a signature of the word "Wei", which is not like the handwriting of ordinary women.

Ruan Jia asked casually: "Which sister in the palace is surnamed Wei?" ”

A trace of panic flashed in Concubine Lan's eyes, and she hid the flower note tightly in her hand, and only said: "Ah Ruan is wrong, it is not 'Wei' (Wei), it is 'Heng'." ”

Yang Muzhi's small character "Mu Heng", and she learned calligraphy since she was a child, and she can write well. However, although her pen is clear and beautiful, she is confined to her tracks, far from being as elegant and flying as the lines on the paper.

Ruan Jia pretended not to know, and responded lightly, and had vaguely guessed seven or eight points in his heart.

The sister she knew before, although she was quiet and quiet, was not as depressed as she was all day long. At first, Ruan Jia only thought she was alone in the palace, and it was inevitable that she would have a hard time. But in the past few days, it seems that the emperor has a preference for Concubine Lan, and it is not an exaggeration to say that she favors the six palaces. Rao is like this, Concubine Lan is still sad, maybe she still has a past feeling in her heart......

The concubine of the heavenly palace, but secretly loves others, if it is known by others, it will only invite death! Thinking of this, Ruan Jia couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat, and didn't dare to ask any further.

After noon, Xiao Dezi came in with two large food boxes. Each of the food boxes has five layers, embedded with a hundred treasures of flowers and birds, which is quite pleasing to look at. It's just Ruan Jia's meal alone, where can he use such a big food box?

Rushuang happened to bring in a package, and when she saw her puzzled look, she smiled and said, "This is not for you to eat, don't be so happy that you can't close your mouth." ”

Concubine Lan smiled: "Ah Ruan thinks it's good, it's okay to eat a few." ”

Xiao Dezi lifted the top lid of the food box, and there was a burst of fragrance of leaves and glutinous rice, and it turned out to be full of water chestnut dumplings of different sizes. Concubine Lan said again: "In a few days, it will be the Duanyang Festival, and the palace will set up a dumpling banquet as usual." It's just that this year has just passed the mourning period, and the imperial dining room has not entered the newcomers a few days ago, so I'm afraid that there are not enough people. Whether it is the Baisuo dumplings given to the hundred officials in previous years, or the nine son-in-law dumplings that the sea rewards the emperor's concubines, they are quite time-consuming. The queen mother mentioned the nine dumplings used in the family banquet and asked each palace to make it themselves. ”

In the cloth bag brought by frost, there are nine kinds of silk threads such as red, green, yellow, white, black, green, purple, red and cyan, which are bright and shiny.

She picked out two bunches and hung them on her wrist, walked to Concubine Lan and handed them to her, and said with a smile: "They are all good silk threads from Yuezhou, and let Coral and Nan'er soak them in drugs such as realgar, wormwood, Chuanxiong, and licorice for a long time, one can drive away evil and avoid poison, and the other is fragrant." It's also good that we can make some long-lived wisps and hang them in the palace by ourselves. ”

Concubine Lan took the silk thread and said, "If Ah Ruan is not too tired, how about making zongzi with us?" ”

Ruan Jia nodded happily, she has loved to tie some ropes since she was a child, and these knotted ropes are naturally not a problem. "Baisuo zong" is to combine the five-color silk threads into one, and tightly wrap them around the outside of the rice dumplings. And the "nine dumplings" are even more novel and beautiful, to arrange the nine zongzi of different sizes into a row, and then tie up with nine-colored silk respectively, and then connect into a string. Jiuzi zongzi is not only beautiful in appearance, but also has the meaning of "many sons and many blessings", no wonder people at the time said that "four o'clock flowers are ingenious, and nine children are striving for new".

The three of them were busy until late at night, and then they all formed a series of nine rice dumplings in the two food boxes. Except for a few zongzi that were broken at the beginning, the rest were packed into a food box and asked Xiao Dezi to send them to the small kitchen to be stored with ice cubes for cooking the day before the Duanyang Festival.

Before, the sisters were talking and laughing, and at the same time, they tied silk and tied zongzi, so that they didn't feel tired. At this time, Concubine Lan and Rushuang were gone, and Ruan Jia realized that he was indeed weak, and he fell asleep soon after a freshening up.

Sleeping until the middle of the night, Ruan Jia vaguely felt that his skin was a little hot. At first, she thought it was because the bedding was thick, so she casually lifted the mattress, but unexpectedly felt hotter. Half-asleep, she heard some "snort" sounds, and when she opened her eyes, she saw in horror that half of the warm pavilion was wrapped in fire!

Just because Concubine Lan yearns for the south of the Yangtze River, the buildings of this Yuntai Palace are mostly made of bamboo, and the veils are hung everywhere in the room, which is very easy to ignite. In a few moments, the west side of the hall was blazing, and the bamboo furniture was sizzling, accompanied by the crisp sound of explosion from time to time.

Ruan Jia heard someone outside exclaiming, but the fire was rising rapidly, and he was afraid that he couldn't wait for someone to rescue him. In a hurry, she had to wrap the bedding around her body, stand up to the billowing smoke, bury her head and rush out. It wasn't until she ran out of the temple gate that she was able to catch her breath, but she choked on the ashes and coughed a few times.

In order to prevent fire, there are copper tanks for storing water in front of various halls in order to prevent fire, in case of emergency. Ruan Jia sparked in her hair and skirt at this moment, and hurriedly rushed to the water tank, scooping up water with both hands and pouring it on her body. It wasn't until she was completely soaked from head to toe that she collapsed to the ground in exhaustion.

I heard a person not far away shouting, "Oh no! The west side of the hall is out of the water! Go and sue Concubine Lan! ”

Previously, Concubine Lan explicitly ordered that except for Xiao Dezi, Cai Wei and Cai Fu, the rest of the palace was not allowed to enter the □□. At this time, the fire was lit, so that the palace maid in the vestibule saw it, and she didn't dare to get too close, so she had to go and inform Concubine Lan who was still asleep first.

Concubine Lan hurried over with Rushuang soon, she looked at Rushuang immediately, and walked quickly to Ruan Jia, who was squatting on the edge of the copper cylinder. At this moment, the futon had been thrown aside and burned to ashes, and Ruan Jia was only wearing his bedclothes, all soaked in water, curled up there shivering. Rushuang covered Ruan Jia with a moon-white trimmed satin cloak, helped her up without saying a word, and then hid her into the dark road between the bamboo forests in the back garden.

Ruan Jia unconsciously glanced back at Concubine Lan, who was as bright as day by the firelight. Among the busy figures of the palace people, Concubine Lan was independent, looking at the fire indifferently, as if the world around her had nothing to do with her.

At that moment, under the raging fire, Ruan Jia noticed a shadow under the palace walls. There seemed to be a man standing in the shadows, staring at her for a moment, sneering faintly on the other side of this dazzling sea of fire.

"Miss Cousin, what are you looking at?" Rushuang asked in a low voice.

Ruan Jia hesitated to stop, and for a moment thought that he should not let the palace people in the front hall notice him, and hurriedly replied: "It's nothing. ”

The fire of Yuntai Palace burned half of the sky, and when the emperor heard about it, he also rushed from the queen's Chengqing Palace overnight. It didn't take long for the people of the Water Dragon Bureau to come to put out the fire, and with the efforts of everyone, the fire gradually weakened.

When Jing Zhen arrived, she saw that Concubine Lan was calmly placed in front of the sea of fire, her soft white skin was a little blackened by the smoke. Seeing him coming, he just curtsied, with a detached respect on his face.

"It's fine if you're okay."

He reached out and took her into his arms, gently wiping the scorch marks from her face with a handkerchief. Concubine Lan let him be softly appeased, but her color was like frost and she refused to say a word. Jingzhen originally left Queen Chun Yushi and rushed to come eagerly, but she still refused to give up, and her enthusiasm had already cooled down for the most part.

The two walked back to the dormitory silently, Jingzhen seemed to suddenly remember something, and asked, "I heard that when the west hall was on fire, there were still people inside?" I remember, the side hall of your Yuntai Palace has never been inhabited. ”

Concubine Lan condensed slightly, and had to say: "It's a palace maid in the concubine's palace, she had a pox a few days ago and couldn't live with others, so she was temporarily placed in the west side hall." ”

Jing Zhen frowned: "Pox? Acne is infectious, not to mention just a palace maid, how can she stay by your side to recuperate? ”

Concubine Lan said gently: "The concubine also sees her as pitiful, if she is sent out like this, I am afraid that it will be difficult to survive." As the saying goes, it is better to save one person than to do a hundred good deeds, and the concubines are also accumulating blessings for the emperor. ”

"You ......" The emperor looked at her affectionately and sighed, "Go back and let the imperial doctor take a look, if it's okay, it's fine." If the imperial doctor also says that it is not appropriate, then this person will not be able to stay. ”

Concubine Lan saw that his tone was a little relaxed, and while saying yes, she thought about Imperial Doctor Xing's side, I was afraid that she would have to bother him to go again.