In the blink of an eye, in early April, the provincial team of the eldest princess of Huayang had arrived in Beijing. That night, the emperor and queen held a feast in the Yiyuan Hall to entertain the eldest princess who had not returned for a long time, Qiyu.

Prior to this, the emperor stayed in Yuntai Palace for several days, causing an uproar in the harem. Such a grand favor and grace is exactly the same as that of the noble concubine Yang back then! And Ah Yuan rarely goes out the rest of the time except to go to the middle palace every day to ask for peace, and he will not go to the queen mother by himself. On this day, the family banquet in the palace can no longer be avoided. She picked out plain clothes at random and put them on, and went to Yiyuan Palace.

There are two banquet tables on the main seat of the main hall, in order to show respect for the eldest princess of Huayang, she is specially allowed to sit on the left seat with the queen mother, and the emperor and queen on the other side occupy the right seat. They talked warmly and laughed at each other, as if the arrival of the eldest princess of Huayang had temporarily disappeared the wall of power between the emperor and the queen mother, leaving only the mother-son relationship that did not know the depths.

Ah Yuan sat next to Pei Jieyu and Ying Guiren in order, silently drinking and tasting food alone, not wanting to attract the attention of the Queen Mother in any way today. She is not afraid of the Queen Mother, but it is difficult for a woman like the Queen Mother to hide anything in front of her. Some things, after all, are not good for anyone.

The singing and dancing were leveled, and the banquet was more than halfway, but Rong Concubine said not far away: "Look, is there one less person at this banquet?" ”

Hearing this, Ah Yuan raised his head and glanced at the opposite seat, from top to bottom, they were the dressed Yu Guifei, Prince Xun, the fifth eldest princess, and a few unfamiliar faces should be the relatives brought by the eldest princess of Huayang from Longxi.

"Really." Ying Guiren took over, "It is said that Prince Ke is the only brother of the eldest princess of Huayang, why don't you see him on such an important occasion?" ”

Pei Jieyu glanced at her coldly: "If you don't appreciate such good singing and dancing, you don't need delicacies, what do you care about a prince doing?" ”

Concubine Rong squeezed out a cold snort from her throat: "It's just that you Han clan, who have never seen the world, will stare at what song and dance." Where do you understand that this royal feast is full of learning, and you must be careful in everything, and you don't know if you do something wrong or say the wrong thing. ”

Ah Yuan didn't want to pay attention to them, but when he heard this, he couldn't help but smile and said: "I see, no wonder my sister has been in the concubine position for many years, but it is indeed my sisters who are stupid." ”

Although Concubine Rong was an old person who had followed the emperor from the palace, she had never been promoted to a position in recent years, and when she heard the irony in Ah Yuan's words, she couldn't help but sneer: "Wasn't the noble Yuan the maid of Prince Ke in the past?" At this time, he climbed up the branch and became a phoenix, why, don't you want to know the whereabouts of the old master? ”

Ah Yuan withdrew his smile, and just wanted to reply to her, but saw a person in white clothes and wide sleeves, striding in from the main entrance of the main hall. He walked straight to the emperor, bowed, and then faced the queen mother's seat, smiling like the morning light: "Eldest sister, I'm late." ”

The person who came was Prince Ke, Jingyu.

Although Jingyu has repeatedly visited the Qianshan Emperor's Mausoleum over the years, Ah Yuan has been avoiding it, not knowing that he has already recovered his consciousness as usual. Just like when he gave her a wood carving that night, she was gentle and peaceful, and she was as beautiful as jade.

"Shiro!" I saw Qi Yu couldn't help but get up with joy, regardless of the long saro shawl that slipped to the ground, "Shiro has grown up, and now he is Prince Ke." When you left the palace, you were only thirteen years old, and now you have grown so tall...... "She is just a beautiful woman in her early thirties, because she is in the bitter cold of the northwest all the year round, when she is excited, there are even fine lines under her eyes.

Jingyu took out a lotus leaf bag from his arms, handed it to her and said: "Eldest sister, this is our favorite snow steamed cream when we were children, but unfortunately the master of the imperial dining room has long left the palace, and I have been looking for him for a long time to find him, so I delayed some time." Eldest sister, try it while it's hot, isn't it the same taste as before? “

Qiyu was busy wiping away tears, and then bowed deeply to the emperor, and her words of gratitude came from the bottom of her heart: "Shiro was deposed from the palace at the age of thirteen, and he never heard from him until the year when the concubine got married. Thank you to the emperor, I actually found Shiro for the concubine. ”

Jing Zhen smiled faintly: "The fourth brother is also my brother, but I have done my duty." ”

Qiyu turned around and glanced at Jingyu: "Why don't you hurry up and thank you?" ”

Unexpectedly, Jingyu's face was slightly gloomy, and he didn't seem to want to face the emperor, so he was forced by Qiyu's eager gaze to reluctantly say: "Minister, thank the emperor for his kindness." ”

Jing Zhen pretended not to see his hesitation, and said lightly: "The fourth brother has not seen the eldest sister for many years, sit down and catch up with her, and there is no need to be polite to me." ”

Qi Yu looked at his brother very much, and didn't see anything wrong between the two of them, so he only dragged Jingyu all the time. Jing Zhen looked coldly at the Queen Mother and their sister and brother, and her face became more and more uneasy.

Empress Chunyu took a glass of wine and looked at him with a smile: "The palace is reunited, and the concubines will give the emperor a glass." ”

Jingzhen seemed to be deaf to her for a long time, but just raised her hand and pressed her wine glass.

Chun Yu Leyi's eyes flashed with fleeting disappointment, and then he returned to normal, and said softly: "The emperor is a little tired?" The concubine asked Concubine Mei and the nobles to serve you for dinner? ”

Jing Zhen snorted lightly: "The food has been pushed to them, so what is the queen going to do?" ”

Chun Yu Leyi said very softly: "The emperor doesn't like the concubines to be bored, so the concubines can naturally make them virtuous." ”

Jing Zhen's face became more and more gloomy: "Okay, the queen has always been virtuous and generous, but she ended up relaxed." ”

The queen left the table gloomily, she tried her best to do her duty as a queen, but she never entered that person's heart, and no matter how much she bothered, it was in vain. Ah Yuan and Mei Xueshen were summoned to the emperor's side by the inner attendants, serving on the left and on the right. For a while, the spring is beautiful, and the clouds are singing and dancing, all of which are intoxicated.

After three rounds of drinking, I suddenly saw a white shadow on the left seat get up, and said loudly: "Respect the emperor and the queen with a glass!" His face was slightly drunk, and when he looked at it again, it turned out that the emperor was not surrounded by the queen, but two concubines, so he pretended to hesitate and said: "This is Concubine Mei, but this is ......."

Jing Zhen smiled calmly: "This is a noble person who has just entered the palace, and the fourth brother shouldn't know her." ”

"It looks familiar, but I don't remember the things of the time when I was sick." Jingyu seemed to be talking to himself, and suddenly turned to say solemnly: "Congratulations to the emperor for getting a beautiful woman again!" ”

Jingzhen raised his glass to greet him: "Fourth brother is polite." ”

He was still unwilling, and said with the strength of the wine: "The minister respects Concubine Mei and the noble people with a glass of wine, you have to serve the emperor well, don't let him down......"

"Shiro, you've drunk too much." Qi Yu clutched the hem of his robe tightly and whispered, "Sit down." ”

The Queen Mother also frowned: "Red Calyx, go and bring Prince Ke a cup of sobering tea." The red calyx responded, and the Queen Mother said to Jingzhen again: "When did the emperor accept a new nobleman, he didn't even know the mourning family." ”

Jing Zhen smiled at each other: "Where is the queen mother, the concubine is just an ordinary trivial matter, and the son did not deliberately hide it." ”

The Queen Mother snorted coldly: "A trivial matter? Bringing back a woman from the imperial tomb casually, she was made a nobleman, and she was also given the title of the lord of the palace, which is also a trivial matter? ”

Jing Zhen's expression was indistinguishable: "It seems that the matter of the harem, the son does not need to report it, and the queen mother can also know it well." ”

The Queen Mother was extremely displeased, and it was not good to have a fight with the emperor, so she asked Ah Yuan: "Since the noble Yuan has been back to the palace for so long, why has he never seen you, and he went to Changning Palace to see the old woman of the mourning family?" ”

Ah Yuan's heart trembled, and he hurriedly got up to reply, but was interrupted by Jing Zhen: "Ah Yuan, she just came back, and she is still quite unfamiliar with everything in the palace. Therefore, I meant to let her learn the etiquette first, and then go to see the queen mother. So as not to be polite and make you unhappy, it will be bad. ”

The Queen Mother smiled and said, "The emperor is still thoughtful." ”

Jing Zhen held her arm and pulled her to sit down, with a vague smile on the corner of her lips: "Don't you respect the Queen Mother and make amends to her?" ”

Ah Yuan understood, raised the lotus rhino horn cup filled with wine, and said respectfully: "The concubine doesn't know the etiquette, so she couldn't go to see the Queen Mother, and I hope the Queen Mother will forgive." After speaking, I drank it all. The wine was a little strong, and she drank it too quickly, choking on it and coughing slightly.

Jing Zhen hurriedly stroked her back and said: "Your sincerity has been seen by the Queen Mother, why drink so quickly!" ”

Ah Yuan blushed, knowing that the Queen Mother would indeed not embarrass her in front of the emperor, but she was also unwilling to play with the emperor like this in front of Jingyu, so she pretended to hold her forehead and said: "The concubine seems to feel a little dizzy, can you go out and breathe for a while?" ”

Jing Zhen also understood her embarrassment, so she said, "You go, let the people around you follow, be careful." ”

Ah Yuan just nodded carelessly, and then left the place of right and wrong in small steps. Qifang followed her, also silent.

The breeze outside the hall was breezy, although it was not as bright as the spring in that room, but it was extraordinarily sober. Ah Yuan took a big breath of fresh air, only to feel that it was extremely smooth, and the dull feeling of depression was also gone, replaced by the sourness that gradually surfaced in his heart.

His stupidity is really pretended! He said that he didn't remember the people and things in the past, and those words were probably used to deceive people...... How many secrets does she still have that she doesn't know about Jingyu? Ah Yuan didn't know, but the untimely glass of wine made her understand that she had failed this person after all.

"Does the little lord need a cup of sobering tea?" Qi Fang asked in a low voice.

Ah Yuan waved her hand, and she saw more clearly than ever that she could not turn back on this road.

A light breeze blows, and a paulownia flower falls at his feet. She leaned down to pick it up carefully, looking at the light purple petals with light white petals, and the tip of her nose was fragrant, only to realize that outside the Yiyuan Palace, it turned out that there was already a flourishing tree. Every time the wind passes, the tung flowers fall again, like a beautiful thing that can't be saved, falling from the fingertips.

"When the tung flowers are half falling, the road is lovesick."

That's what he was thinking? Ah Yuan turned his head suddenly, only to see Jingyu standing under the paulownia tree, looking at her fixedly, his blurry drunken eyes full of irrepressible affection.

Ah Yuan lowered his eyes, took a deep breath, and then gave a salute in an impeccable posture: "Concubine Harem Yuan nobleman, I have seen Prince Ke." ”