"You're really considerate......"

The emperor said this affectionately, and his tone was so gentle that it seemed to be dripping water, but somehow, Tassel felt a little chill on his back.

If she hadn't seen the emperor's eyes staring at the plate of duck blood just now, maybe she would have thought that the emperor was really praising Concubine Yuan Shu, but now, the emperor just looked as if he wanted to pick up the duck blood and throw it on someone's face, that kind of look, in anger, seemed to be mixed with pain, and it seemed that there was something else, in short, it was so complicated that the tassel couldn't understand it, and only felt scared.

Is there anything wrong with this plate of duck blood? Tassel thought a little dazed. But Concubine Yuan Shu obviously said that this is the emperor's favorite food, could it be that Concubine Yuan Shu made a mistake and made the emperor angry?

Before she could figure it out, Concubine Yuan Shu had already said, "You all go down." ”

Every time the emperor came to Concubine Yuan Shu, he didn't like to have palace people around, and most of the time he would retire from the palace and only be served by Concubine Yuan, which was one of the reasons why the queen was particularly jealous of Concubine Yuan Shu. It's just that in the past, it was the emperor who spoke, but today it was Yuan Shufei who took the initiative to let people retreat.

But since it is customary, whoever speaks is ordered by the master, and the tassel didn't particularly care, bowed his head and bowed, and withdrew with everyone.

Not letting you serve next to you doesn't mean that you can go and be at ease, everyone just changed the waiting position from inside the temple to outside the hall.

The tassel is a close-fitting palace maid, so she naturally stands on the edge of the palace door, listens to the movement in the house, and is ready to go in and serve at any time.

It's not as simple as it seems. First of all, the masters let you come out, because there are some things that you don't want you to hear, so if you desperately stretch out your ears and hear every word, then what's the point of asking you to come out? But if you don't listen to anything like a fool, and you don't know when the master asks you to go in and serve you, then you should be beaten again.

Therefore, the tassel's current situation is that it seems to be heard, as long as the voice of the person in it is higher, she can hear it, and if it is lower, she can't hear it clearly. So she vaguely heard what Concubine Yuan Shu said, but she didn't hear it clearly, she only felt that the tone seemed to be very sad, as if she was begging for something, and like asking for sin.

Why is this so? Tassel cautiously looked at Gonggong Du who was standing opposite the door, but saw that he was half-closed as if an old monk was in a trance, and he didn't know if he heard the movement inside, in short, there was no clue on his face.

However, Tassel immediately heard the emperor's voice: "This golden pearl is said to be not a clam pearl, but from a rare conch, although these two are not big, but the color is good, and it is rare that the shape is similar, just to make a pair of step shake ......"

Is this talking about appreciating jewelry again? Tassel breathed a sigh of relief. Listening to the emperor's tone, it was quite relaxed, and besides, if such a rare thing was rewarded to the mother, it should be fine. So, she really heard it wrong, right?

If the tassel could see what was going on in the house now, he wouldn't be so relieved. It's a pity that this is snooping on the master, and it is absolutely not allowed, so she doesn't know anything.

In the house, Concubine Yuan Shu had already knelt down again: "The emperor forgives the sin." ”

The emperor sat down at the table, his fingers sliding over several plates one by one: "Mutton from the northwest, frozen tofu, duck blood, these are all my favorite foods, how can there be no pot without these?" The palace said that these blood and miscellaneous things are cheap things, and they can't be eaten, although I love to eat them, I haven't eaten them a few times. ”

When Concubine Yuan heard the words "cheap things", although she knew that it was blood, she still felt as if she had been slapped in the face, instinctively shrunk, and said in a trembling voice: "It's the concubine who has overstepped, and the emperor forgives the sin." ”

The emperor didn't seem to hear her pleading, and he didn't let her get up from the hard floor tiles, but just smiled and said, "You are a caring person, I have never eaten these things at your place, you all know my preferences, and you are really careful and considerate." ”

He praised Yuan Shufei sentence by sentence, but Yuan Shufei's body shrank more and more, and when she shrank to the tightest, she was like a bowstring that suddenly broke, she bounced up suddenly, and walked to the emperor's side on her knees in a few steps, and her knees even touched the voice on the ground: "Your Majesty, let the concubine keep this child!" ”

"It's nature." The emperor still smiled, "If you give birth to the emperor's eldest son, even the queen will give you three points." ”

"No, no, no!" Concubine Yuan Shu stretched out her hand to hug the emperor's leg, but she didn't dare, "The concubine knows that her status is low, and she will never dare to compete with the queen!" ”

"Really?" The smile on the emperor's face remained unchanged, "I remember that you have always been an ambitious person and good at judging the situation, and the queen and the queen mother also like you very much, so I think I must believe in your loyalty." ”

"Your Majesty—" Concubine Yuan Shufei involuntarily raised her voice, making a voice similar to a sad cry, and quickly suppressed herself in the emperor's suddenly cold gaze, "The emperor is—got it?" ”

"Know what?" The emperor's gaze was only cold, and then he softened again, and even reached out to help Concubine Yuan Shu in person, "You are pregnant, how can you kneel on such a cold ground, get up quickly." It's cold, the food is cold fast, and you can't eat cold rice with my flesh and bones. Why don't you sit down and eat, otherwise you will starve the little prince in your belly, and I won't be able to rely on it. The words were gentle, as if she had just been found kneeling.

Concubine Yuan Shufei was forced to sit down on a chair by the emperor, only to feel a cold air coming up from her knees, freezing her whole body into ice.

These words of the Emperor were familiar to her, and when she was pregnant with her first two children, the Emperor used to speak to her so softly. I don't know if it's a special coincidence, her three children are all pregnant in winter, so the emperor almost always says the same thing, and the result is the same - within a few months, she will have a miscarriage.

Two miscarriages almost hollowed out her body, and now she is thirty years old, if this child can't be saved, Yuan Shufei knows that she will never have a child again. So she asked for this pot today, and even used the little secrets she heard from others about the emperor's diet, just to please the emperor, and then begged the emperor to save her child.

If she had such ambitions when she was pregnant with her first child, then today, she really only wants a child, not even a prince - if it is a princess, then it will be safer, although the princess still has to marry when she grows up, and she can't always be by her side, but at least the princess is easier to grow up well, just like the eldest princess is so weak, isn't it still safe and sound until now.

It's a pity that she poured out her heart and lungs to say the words, but what she got was the emperor's same words as before. These words sound so considerate and gentle, as if the earth dragon in this house can warm people's hearts, but when you hear it a third time, you will feel that no matter how hot the charcoal fire below is, the floor tiles are always floor tiles, stones, and they are not hot.

"Does the emperor know......" Concubine Yuan Shu felt that her tongue was a little disobedient. This sentence obviously can't be said, and she understands it better than anyone else. But at this moment, there is an impulse that comes from nowhere, forcing her to burst out the secret, even if it is a death after saying it, she just wants to die to understand.

A pair of toothed chopsticks carried a piece of glutinous rice cake and put it on her plate. The glutinous rice cake is as white as jade, and the inside is filled with rose sauce, but the color is bright red. Naturally, the chef brought the best-cut ones, red and white, and not messy at all. However, this thing is soft, and when it is clamped by the emperor's chopsticks, the rose sauce in it is squeezed out, like half-coagulated blood, which is shocking.

Concubine Yuan shuddled violently, and her tongue froze as if she had been suddenly splashed with ice water. The Emperor ignored her stiffness, and pushed the plate in front of her: "You like to eat these snacks the most, eat a piece quickly." ”

The concubines in the palace all love sweets, especially the taste of these roses and osmanthus, but in order to maintain her figure, Concubine Yuan rarely eats them. And she doesn't really like floral sauces, but prefers jams made of plums and apricots. But now that the emperor brought her the dim sum, she could only mechanically pick up the chopsticks and put the glutinous rice cake into her mouth and eat it one bite at a time.

The glutinous rice cake is naturally freshly steamed, sweet, soft and lukewarm, but Yuan Shufei only feels that the glutinous rice cake she swallows is blocked in her chest and can't go down at all.

The emperor kept giving her food for a meal, and by the time he finally wanted to leave, Concubine Yuan Shu already felt that her stomach was so swollen that she couldn't stand up. Reluctantly got up and saw off the emperor, the tassel hurriedly came in to help her, and even called the little maid to make consumption tea, her eyes fell on the table, and she said happily: "Niangniang, the emperor really likes duck blood, and it has been used up." ”

It is important to know that there are some cumbersome rules for eating in the palace, such as not eating too much of a dish, which is one of them. Today, the emperor has eaten up a plate of duck blood, which shows that he really loves to eat it.

But before the tassel finished speaking, Yuan Shufei turned her head abruptly and spit it out. That plate of duck blood emperor didn't eat at all, he fed it all to her! The sweetness of the glutinous rice cake was mixed with the smell of duck blood, and she couldn't suppress the churning in her chest just thinking about it now.

Tassel was frightened by her, and while patting her on the back, she wanted to call someone to pass on the imperial doctor, but was grabbed by Yuan Shufei: "Don't go!" ”

"Niangniang, you are-" Tassel also knew that it was not easy for Concubine Yuan Shu to be pregnant, this child was a baby, seeing her vomit like this, how dare she not pass on the imperial doctor.

"It's just morning sickness." Concubine Yuan Shu's face turned pale, "As soon as the emperor left, he called the imperial doctor, what did it look like." "Do you want the emperor to know that she has a ghost in her heart? Now she was suddenly scared again—if she had said it on the spur of the moment, what would she be like now? No, no, no, this secret is still rotten in her heart, and she must not say it!

When the emperor walked out of Zhongxiu Palace, it was already late at night. There was a snowfall yesterday, and today it is very cold, and the air sucked into the chest seems to freeze people. The emperor took a few deep breaths, lifted the clothes on his body and shook them, and said in a disgusted tone: "The smell of this pot is too big, and it won't go away when it is dyed on the body!" ”

Du's father-in-law hurriedly came up to pull his cloak for him: "Your Majesty, this wind is strong, but don't sweat." ”

The emperor sneered, stood on the tuyere and did not move: "It's good to let the wind blow, at least it will disperse the smell." ”

Du's father-in-law was so anxious: "Your Majesty, just go back and change your clothes, but you can't blow it like this." ”

He persuaded left and right, and the emperor finally took a step and asked lightly: "Is there any news from the northwest?" ”

"It's coming, it's coming." Gonggong Du followed closely behind the emperor, "The princess of the county has finished planting pox in Duzhou City, and now Yanzhou City is ready to plant pox." Those people in the northwest are in a hurry, and they are afraid that they will not break their heads when the time comes. ”

A faint smile curled into the corner of the emperor's lips, and he suddenly said, "How is Jiang Baolin doing?" ”

"It's still like that." Gonggong Du didn't know why the emperor's topic changed so quickly, but he still replied immediately, "I talk and laugh with Wang Chongrong in the Qunxiang Hall every day, and sometimes do some needlework. ”

"If it's like her, that's fine." The Emperor smiled slightly, "Better than her sister." ”

Du's father-in-law didn't dare to answer. The emperor raised his head and looked in one direction: "It's northwest over there, right?" ”

"The slave doesn't know...... Du Gonggong also looked up, with a look of shame, "The slave and maid can't tell the ......"

"Actually, I don't know very well." The Emperor sighed, "King Anjun can discern the direction at a glance. He said that when marching to fight, you must have the ability to do this. ”

Gonggong Du didn't understand why the emperor mentioned King Anjun again, wasn't he still talking about Jiang Baolin just now? Therefore, he could only carefully follow the emperor: "King Anjun has been learning the art of war with the Marquis of Dingbei since he was a child, and he should understand this." ”

The Emperor smiled: "Yes." That's what he wants to learn, otherwise what else will he learn, is it the way to govern the country, the art of balance, and the way of forbearance? ”

Du's father-in-law was so shocked when he heard it that he didn't dare to speak. Fortunately, the emperor didn't ask him to answer, and after a pause, he continued: "He is more comfortable than me." She is also comfortable with it, at least she can do what she wants. ”

Du's father-in-law thought for a while, and then he made the distinction between "him" and "her" clear, and after thinking about it again, he felt that it was impossible not to speak, so he said: "If the princess of the county is done, the merit will be in the world." ”

"yes." The emperor sighed leisurely, "So she is different from the Xia family, and she should be allowed to make some merits for the world." ”

"Your Majesty." Du's father-in-law followed without hesitation, but made the emperor laugh: "You sloppy thing-"

Du's father-in-law also laughed: "The slave is just telling the truth." ”

The emperor smiled and raised his foot to kick him, and sighed again: "That's it, let's go back to the Mingguang Palace." "Originally, tonight's plan was not like this, he was going to stay in Zhongxiu Palace, but because of that plate of duck blood......

Du's father-in-law hurriedly beckoned the warm sedan chair behind him to come over: "The emperor still sits in a sedan chair." If you hurt the dragon's body for those things, it's really not worth it. ”

The emperor smiled lightly: "Not bad. His voice seemed to be frozen in the night, and it was also cold, "It's not worth it for those things." He bent down and got into the sedan chair and threw out a sentence, "You star, I want to see if I can catch them this time." ”

Gonggong Du respectfully agreed, and glanced back in the direction of Zhongxiu Palace when the warm sedan chair walked. Everyone says that Concubine Yuan Shu's holy favor is not declining, but if she really has a holy favor, how can she have miscarriages one after another? Maybe only the queen, who has been staring at Zhong Xiugong all these years, has always really regarded her as an opponent.

However, this is also self-inflicted. Du's father-in-law retracted his gaze and bent slightly to follow the warm sedan chair in front of him. Isn't there an old saying about this person--it's not that if you don't report it, the time has not yet come. Don't think that there is really an impermeable wall in the world, don't say that the wind can't stop it, it's that wall, don't you almost say that you broke the old things now? It's a pity, it's still useful for the emperor to keep her, that is, if she wants to say, the emperor also has a way to make her unable to say it.

In fact, if you think about it this way, this palace really doesn't make much sense. Du Gonggong looked up at the sky, the inky night sky was not stained, and there was no moon tonight, the more the stars seemed to be bright and far away in the sky. The place enclosed by the walls of this high palace is not small, but if it is compared to the heaven and earth outside, it is like a cage. The cage is gold and jade, and the birds in the cage are also wrapped in gold and jade, but like Princess Anjun, she probably won't like it.

What happened in the inner hall of Zhongxiu Palace, even the tassel was not very clear, and of course the queen did not know. All she knew was that the emperor rewarded a lot of things first, and then went to Zhongxiu Palace for dinner. It is said that this meal lasted for an hour, and the emperor reluctantly left Zhongxiu Palace, and did not call other concubines, so he went back to Mingguang Palace to rest.

If it weren't for the fact that Concubine Yuan Shu was pregnant and couldn't sleep, I'm afraid that she would have to stay in Zhongxiu Palace, right?

The queen tightly squeezed a string of rosewood beads in her hand. This Buddha bead was given to her by the Queen Mother, so that when she was irritable, she recited the scriptures and calmed her mind. But now that the Buddha beads are in his hand, even though he has recited Nan Wu Guanyin Bodhisattva one hundred and eighty times, his heart still seems to be burning like a fire.

This fire is not the same as the one that Zhao Chongyi burned when she was pregnant. At that time, she was more afraid of the Zhao family, afraid that they would start to support Zhao Chongyi and compete with her for power. But now what occupies her heart is jealousy, jealous that Concubine Yuan Shu is thirty years old and can still be pregnant, and she can still occupy the emperor's favor, and although she is a middle palace, she has never gotten the emperor's sincerity!

The henchmen who were waiting next to him looked at the queen's fingers that were getting tighter and tighter, and the knuckles were white due to force, as if they were going to pinch the Buddha beads into powder, and they only felt their hearts beating. She was hesitating to step forward to persuade her, but she saw that the queen's fingers suddenly loosened, and her voice was actually very calm: "The girl who returned the letter, you go to her tomorrow." ”

The confidant palace people were stunned for a moment, and they didn't react for a while: "Niangniang, which one is it......" There are thousands of palace maids in the palace, which one reported the news?

The queen didn't get angry, but glanced at her: "It's from the Niangniang Palace." ”

The only one who can call the queen "Niangniang" is the queen mother. The confidant palace man suddenly realized: "The slave and maid are confused, and they don't even remember." It's just that what is the mother looking for her to do? ”

"Hongu wants that medicine."

After the henchman palace was stunned for a moment, his face changed greatly: "Niangniang, no!" "That medicine is the Queen Mother's.

"Why not?" The queen's voice was terrifyingly calm, even more frightening than a normal tantrum.

"The Queen Mother has her own considerations...... "The confidant palace people tried to comfort them as tactfully, "Maybe the Queen Mother will call someone ......"

"Not anymore." The queen said lightly, "In my aunt's opinion, the Yuan family is not a climate, even if she gives birth to a prince, my aunt will not take it seriously." What's more, the Zhao family gave birth to a deformed fetus before, which has damaged the royal face, and this time the aunt does not want to have another accident. Besides, the emperor should also add a prince, otherwise the fingers of outsiders will poke the back of the palace. ”

Isn't it all very clear? If you understand it so well, why do you need that medicine again? The confidant palace people couldn't figure it out, so they had to say: "Niang Niang Shengming, then this medicine is actually ...... Moreover, Concubine Yuan Shu may not be able to give birth to a prince, and she doesn't look like she has that blessing. ”

"This palace can't let her give birth to a child for the emperor!" The queen said coldly, "No matter if she gives birth to a boy or a girl, even if she gives birth to a dog, this palace will not allow it!" "Why did the Xia family die, but the Yuan family was favored, is the emperor looking for the shadow of the Xia family in her? On the contrary, she, the queen, has not gained anything from the beginning.

"Niangniang-" The confidant palace man was frightened, "But, you can't say that...... "Is it really a dog?"

The queen glanced at her coldly: "As long as it's not the Yuan family, anyone can be born, and the palace will be hugged to her side, and she will be the child born to the palace!" ”

Who can believe this? If you can do it, there will already be a prince in the palace, right?

The confidant palace people couldn't help muttering in their hearts, but they didn't dare to say more, so they could only rack their brains and say: "Niangniang, but the queen mother is ......" The relationship between the queen and the queen mother has become weaker and weaker in recent years, and the palace people are a little anxious.

The queen impatiently threw the rosewood Buddha beads in her hand: "What, do you want to go to Shouxian Palace to serve?" "Yes, the Queen Mother has done a lot of things for her, but the Queen Mother can never understand her obsession with Concubine Yuan Shu. Because the Queen Mother has never really had any affection for the first emperor, she just did her duty as a wife.

But she is different, she has been in love with the emperor since she was unveiled by the emperor on the wedding night, but the emperor's ten years of coldness have made her fall deeper and deeper and unable to extricate herself. She would rather tolerate Zhao Chongyi giving birth to a prince than let the Yuan family have a son and a half daughter!

The henchman was so frightened that he knelt down: "The slave doesn't dare." The slave maid is dedicated to the mother...... "If the queen is suspicious of her, it is impossible to let her go to Shouxian Palace." In this palace, although the queen has a lot of unsatisfactory things, it is still easy to kill a palace person.

The queen looked at her for a while, then stretched out her hand and pulled the person up: "Knowing that you are loyal, go." ”

The palace people were stunned for a long time, and finally bowed their heads and said, "Yes, the slave will go tomorrow." ”