The emperor was puzzled: "Ai Concubine, what are you thinking?" ”

Concubine Xi's eyes looked forward to the streamer, reflecting the good memories of the past, "The concubine remembered that the peach blossoms were burning in ten miles that year, and on the third day when the concubine first entered the palace, she was alone in the peach garden when she suddenly met her majesty. From then on, the concubine only waited in the same place and at the same hour for His Majesty to pass by. And His Majesty summoned the concubine a month later, and when he asked His Majesty, he didn't remember the encounter with the concubine that day. ”

As soon as she said this, Shen Shuzhao suddenly understood, if Shen Zhuangzhao also wore a similar costume to her that day tonight, wouldn't it add more memories to her sensational words? With Shen Zhuangzhao's voice and posture, reciting the scene of meeting Concubine Xi at the beginning, this is really an insult to any woman! Shen Shuzhao looked around the hall, and sure enough, none of the concubines were dressed like Concubine Xi, and their clothes and jewelry were like a peach blossom fairy, and it seemed that everyone's news was the same.

The past touched the emperor's heart, and in the face of this concubine who loved him the most, he was not angry: "The past is the past, and I can see the concubine as many times as she wants." ”

"It's the concubine who thinks about it too much. Miss Shen's excellent piano skills aroused the concubine's heart, so Fang Cai suddenly lost control, and the Queen Mother and His Majesty please forgive the concubine. Concubine Xi got up softly and gracefully.

"I don't blame you."

The Queen Mother saw that the emperor favored Concubine Xi to the point of frowning, "Okay, today is the Qianqiu Festival of the mourning family, such a happy atmosphere, how can there be any reason to blame people casually." ”

She said that the atmosphere at the banquet was joyful, but Concubine Xi was so sad that she meant that she had stiffened the atmosphere. Concubine Xi turned a deaf ear, only smiled and bowed: "Thank you Queen Mother." "She just needs to achieve her goal here with the emperor.

The Queen Mother only glanced at the food on her table: "But the food is not appetizing?" The mourners saw that you only picked some sour fruits to eat. ”

Concubine Xi smiled: "The concubine's body has been unhappy many times recently, thanks to the empress dowager's pity." ”

"Be careful." The Queen Mother also stopped talking to her.

Shen Zhuangzhao hugged the guqin and exited, and the emperor was more impressed by her, but at the same time, it also evoked the feelings of him and Concubine Xi in the past. Shen Zhuangzhao sat back in her seat and hung her head in frustration, where did she want to make wedding dresses for others? She didn't feel that there was anything that she couldn't be moved by her beauty before, but after entering the palace, she found that things were not always so smooth.

On that day, she accompanied the Queen Mother to meet the emperor in the imperial garden, and the two walked together for a long time, chatting a lot about their respective preferences and poems, did he really forget?

Seeing Shen Zhuangzhao frowning in the distant mountains, and the fairy jade color was hidden in the candlelight, the queen couldn't help but secretly raise the corners of her lips, she casually picked up the fruit and put it into Zhu Yingjiang's lips, and laughed at Shen Zhuangzhao's depression in her heart while tasting it slowly - for a harem with 3,000 fandels and an ambitious son who still has the world in his heart, no woman can tie him up with beauty alone.

Self-born love, but self-inflicted.

For this qiē, Shen Shuzhao took it all in, she knew that the eldest sister would be overshadowed, this girl entered the palace with the idea of truly falling in love with the young son of heaven and becoming a palace concubine in the eyes of all people, today she should understand that the latter can be realized, and the former is still a little lacking in effort.

The banquet continued peacefully, and finally the Queen Mother spoke: "Emperor, the mourning family is very relieved to see all the concubines gathered together today, this harem is full, and it is what the mourning family is happy to see." It's just that the emperor has been on the throne for two years, but the harem has not been able to give birth to a prince, except for the late Luo Meiren's birth of Princess Nianrou and the jade concubine Princess Changxuan, there is nothing else, and the mourning family is deeply worried about this. The concubine's duty is to give birth to an heir for the emperor, but she has not been seen for two years, and the mourning family wants to be able to go around the knees of their children and grandchildren, but they are afraid that their time is not short, and they can't wait for the day when they hold their grandson. ”

The emperor immediately panicked and said: "The queen mother's words are serious, and the sons also hope that the prince can let the queen mother enjoy the joy of her grandson, but the sons feel that the matter of the heirs should be fateful." ”

Queen Mother: "Although it is fate, but since this is the case, why not add more imperial concubines to enrich the harem?" She looked at Shen Zhuangzhao, who was still beautiful, and looked at her compassionately, "The eldest niece of the mourning family is sixteen years old this year, and she has not yet been married to someone, what do you think of the emperor?" ”

The emperor looked at Shen Zhuangzhao appreciatively, and Shen Zhuangzhao hung his head shyly. "My cousin is very good," said the emperor, "There are very few people in the Wei Dynasty who can compare with my cousin's appearance, and I will naturally be happy if I can get this beautiful woman." ”

As soon as he said this, Shen Shuzhao, who was watching the play, was amused and smiled bitterly. When she entered the palace in her previous life, the emperor also said this in front of everyone, and it seems that the emperor is a person who changes soup but not medicine - as long as it is the young lady of the Shen family, he will say so. both expressed praise and pulled hatred for her.

There is no conspiracy of the Xiao family to pour dirty water and slander their reputation;

did not lose power in the court and was estranged from the emperor and was isolated;

Shen Shuzhao took advantage of his special status in the harem and the imperial court to attract potential allies for the Queen Mother, although there was only calculation between them, but everyone in the power trick was just taking their own thing.

The queen mother established a good reputation, won support, and sold the face of the emperor's courtiers, so in this life, the Shen family entered the palace not a worthless concubine, but a concubine, a beautiful concubine.

Shen Shuzhao watched the emperor and the queen mother on the stage settle the matter with a single word, and a strange feeling floated in her heart. As if the déjà vu in front of her was like a big dream, Shen Zhuangzhao finally replaced herself as a concubine, she was free, she would no longer be a caged bird, a fish and meat to be slaughtered on the board. In the future, maybe the woman who won the highest power in the harem will not be her, and the woman who loses and kneels in the rain and kowtows to admit her mistakes will not be her again.

She breathed a sigh of relief. In short, she was completely free.

All the concubines began to say hello to the Queen Mother and the eldest sister, Shen Zhuangzhao was the queen mother, and the queen mother promised to secretly promote the position of the supporter of her, and the queen mother promised to permanently shelter these good daughters-in-law, so this joy was mostly for herself, and even the title of "Miss Shen" was changed to "sister".

At the moment of Daoxi, when Shen Zhuangzhao's position was still to be further decided, he suddenly saw a loud noise behind him. Shen Shuzhao subconsciously looked in the direction of Concubine Xi, and sure enough, Concubine Xi was half-kneeling on the ground, and at the same time accidentally touched many dishes, she took out Juan Pa to cover her stomach, and was frowning very uncomfortably.

Shen Shuzhao raised her eyebrows, finally here?

The emperor looked at the palace maids around her with solemn eyebrows, and asked sternly, "What's going on?" ”

Concubine Xi's eldest palace maid hurriedly knelt down, stood for a long time, and was about to say something, when Concubine Xi turned back and scolded her: "Don't say it!" ”

"Aifei, what's wrong with you?"

The palace maid looked at the emperor tremblingly, looking like she wanted to speak and stopped.

The emperor put his hands behind his back, his face was incomprehensible, but his tone was gentle: "You say, I don't blame you." ”

The palace maid began to kowtow constantly, "The slave and maid dare not say this important thing at will." ”

Concubine Xi said angrily: "This matter is not conclusive at all, how can you sue your majesty at will?" ”

"After all these years, is there anything I have to hide? I don't blame you, you say. ”

The palace maid said: "Concubine Xi has been vomiting from time to time since the past month, and she just wants to eat something sour, so the slaves and maids feel ...... The mother may have ...... The prince has always wanted Niangniang to ask the imperial doctor, but Niangniang's health has not been good for many months, and Niangniang said that she would ask the imperial doctor for diagnosis in a few days...... That's why it's ......."

As soon as these words came out, they were shocked.

Concubine Xi is happy?

Shen Shuzhao didn't expect that she had never heard of such a big thing in her previous life! Even if she had a miscarriage, she would not mention it at all in the doctor's records, which made her doubt the authenticity of Concubine Qixi's pregnancy.

But this did not stop the emperor from stepping forward and helping Concubine Xi with a happy face, with a happy face of a new father, "Really? Aifei, you finally have a child with me-" Concubine Xi pushed: "There is nothing that has not been confirmed, and the concubine will never dare to take this heavy responsibility!" ”

"Call the Imperial Doctor."

From behind came the gloomy voice of the Queen Mother.

"Who's on duty at the clinic tonight?" She asked coldly.

"Back to the Queen Mother, it seems to be Li Township." Gao Dezhong was also flustered by Concubine Xi's hand, and his expression was unnatural.

The Queen Mother said: "Imperial Doctor Li is getting older, and the mourning family thinks that Imperial Doctor Liu is more cautious in diagnosis, so you might as well invite him to come." ”

"No need," the emperor turned his back to everyone and said lightly: "Imperial Doctor Liu is still going out to consult on the outskirts of the capital at this time, and it was too disturbing for him in the past, so it is better to summon the Li family directly." ”

The Queen Mother was stunned: "But ......"

"Go ahead." The emperor didn't wait for her to finish, but said to his cronies and eunuchs, and the man nodded and left in a hurry.

"Let Concubine Xi return to the palace. Queen Mother, since the banquet has ended, the sons implore the queen mother to allow the sons to accompany Concubine Xi back to the palace. ”

Shen Zhuangzhao looked at the emperor she was thinking of in a daze and hugged other women, and felt a pain in her heart, and couldn't help but think that it was a stupid thing for her to feel happy about the family's arrangement to be the imperial concubine just because she saw the emperor when she was the crown prince. How could she possibly get the heart of a person?

And the queen mother was speechless for a long time, she looked at the emperor, and the emperor's eyes were so firm when he looked at her.

She leaned back on the phoenix seat in distraction, "Okay...... Good. There you go. ”

The banquet dispersed, and in a shrouded haze, everyone's complexion was not very good. The Queen Mother waved everyone back, Shen Shuzhao and Wei Yang bowed their heads and followed her, and after walking out of Ganquan Palace, the Queen Mother turned her head and said to Shen Zhuangzhao, who wanted to come over, "You go back first." ”

Shen Zhuangzhao never expected the Queen Mother to say this, she felt that it was because she wanted to be brilliant today but disappointed the Queen Mother, so she held back the grievances that lingered in her heart: "Yes, courtier...... Congratulations to the Queen Mother. ”

The Queen Mother asked her to go back earlier, and then took Shen Shuzhao Weiyang to another road. The people in Ganquan Palace dispersed, and the candlelight was extinguished, leaving Shen Zhuangzhao who was lonely in the dark shadow.

Walking to the path where no one was, it was silent, so silent that it seemed to freeze a scene, and the Queen Mother suddenly said with a sad expression: "The emperor...... Why do you want to be so sad about the mourning family? ”

Shen Shuzhao was stunned by the Queen Mother's rare vulnerability, "What's wrong with the Queen Mother?" ”

The Queen Mother still said to herself: "Why do you want to be so ...... to the mourning family?"

Shen Shuzhao turned her head to look at Wei Yang, but Wei Yang frowned slightly, lowered her head and pondered, her expression was very distressing......

What's going on?

She desperately wanted to understand.

Walking to a pavilion, the Queen Mother sat down with the support of the female imperial chief, the moonlight was softly sprinkled on her and Wei Yang's bodies, and the Queen Mother lowered her eyes: "Alas...... The mourning family thought that over the years, they had tried their best to be a mother, but they didn't expect it...... The Son of Heaven is still unfathomably wary of the mourning family. ”

Shen Shuzhao said cautiously: "Queen Mother, you must not fall." The position of the eldest sister has not yet been decided, and it cannot be delayed because of the extra incident of Concubine Xi. ”

The Queen Mother silently looked up at the missing moon: "Shuzhao...... Do you know that Concubine Xi is fundamental, it is impossible for her to be pregnant. ”

"What?" Shen Shuzhao frowned. It is true that she has never seen Concubine Xi pregnant in her previous life, but what is the reason for this, she only thinks that this woman is favored but not blessed, and now it seems that things are not simple.

The Queen Mother continued: "She will not be pregnant at all. Because...... The emperor will not let her conceive a dragon fetus. ”

After a pause, she said again: "This is a secret that the emperor and the mourning family know, in Concubine Xi's usual clothing, food, housing and transportation, there are things that will not make her pregnant." But today...... The emperor knew that she was fake pregnant, but he still accompanied her in this scene. Since she dared to announce that she was pregnant, she must have taken care of it well, and the mourning family wanted to replace her own imperial doctor to expose her conspiracy, but ...... The emperor ...... And don't let the mourners do that. ”

This sentence made Shen Shuzhao suddenly think of the emperor's appearance when he turned around to see Concubine Xi with her back to everyone. It turned out that the emperor was clear.

"Why did he do this, he was going to ...... Betrayal of the mourning family? The queen mother's nails were embedded in the railing, "Why do you want to do this, the mourning family treats him as their own, and makes him change from a humble concubine to a prince, isn't that enough?" What does the mourning family have to pay to become a real mother in his heart? ”

Shen Shuzhao was silent.

The waning moon shrouded in clouds, and the surroundings were so quiet that even breathing could be heard clearly. The Queen Mother's eyes were gloomy, "The mourning family doesn't know whether it's good or bad to let your eldest sister enter the palace as a concubine now." But the Xiao family chose her, so there was no way back. The mourning family is only afraid that the emperor's estrangement of the mourning family has affected her, although she is a palace concubine, she is also a lifelong husband, who wants her husband to treat her with vigilance and worries? Alas, what the mourning family says today cannot be told to your eldest sister. ”

Shen Shuzhao lowered his head slowly: "Yes...... When the courtiers knew, they would never tell her about these things. ”

The Queen Mother nodded. This place is so remote and quiet that even the air flows with indescribable sadness, and everyone's feelings are dyed with bad sorrow by this soft moon. The Queen Mother finally said that if you want to go back to Changle Palace, go first, she wants to be quiet alone. So Shen Shuzhao went back with Wei Yang, and the two of them walked side by side on the secluded path under the beautiful moonlight, without saying anything all the way.

The moonlight was hazy, and the sound of insects echoed, rippling on the sunken lake. Shen Shuzhao looked at Wei Yang beside him who was under the moon, and he didn't know how to speak in this atmosphere. It's so quiet that the beauty is shattered when you say it.

Wei Yang walked halfway and suddenly said to her, "I'm lonely, don't go yet." ”

Shen Shuzhao nodded: "Okay, where is Your Highness going, the courtiers will accompany you." ”

"Right here." Wei Yang stopped, and she sighed on this quiet path, and her sigh was scattered and crumpled with the breeze, and it was soft and soft in the moonlight. This woman, who has always been cold and arrogant, seems to have emitted a lonely sigh in the years.

"Don't feel bad, what's the ...... You can talk to the courtiers. Shen Shuzhao said nervously.

"The queen mother and the royal brother...... They make Lone feel so tired. Wei Yang turned sideways and hugged Shen Shuzhao, his eyes were full of concern, "Lone has never felt what true family affection is, only that there are always countless plots in the harem, between husband and wife, mother and son, it is so cold that there seems to be no human touch." Shuzhao, shouldn't this be a lonely home? Why did it end up like this......

Shen Shuzhao leaned quietly in her arms and hugged Wei Yang with her backhand, "Life is so long, there are always helpless things that can't be solved, and when you can't change it, it's better to accept it calmly." The courtiers were born in a family that was not taken seriously, and good things always fell on the outstanding sisters, and only when something happened did the courtiers take over. But the courtiers don't feel sorry for themselves, and they still take the initiative to fight for it every time. Because there is no one in this world who can really rely on anyone except the courtiers themselves. My mother is already old, and the courtiers are no longer young and ignorant, so we should protect her well, so that she can live more face-saving and confident in the Shen Mansion. Although the princess's courtiers have no solution, the courtiers are willing to accompany you at any time. Wei Yang ...... Can I call you Weiyang? ”

"Yes." Wei Yang whispered in her ear.

"Actually, I've wanted to call you by your name for a long time, because it's really good." She rubbed softly in her arms, "Just like your beautiful name." Changle Weiyang, the Queen Mother should hope that you will be happy forever. ”

Wei Yang's eyebrows moved slightly: "...... This may also mean that Lone has to keep repeating endlessly until the end. ”

"Repeat?"

She didn't speak, but hugged Shen Shuzhao even tighter.

A few dragonflies passed by in the water, and the reflection of the two embracing each other became blurred on the water, but they became more integrated. The breeze blew, and suddenly all the fireflies rose all around, and under the moonlight, the starry fireflies flew slowly, and they did not disperse for a long time.

"The courtiers will hum a song for you."

"Huh?"

"When I was a child, the courtiers were always reprimanded by the eldest lady, so I often had nightmares late at night, and my mother couldn't live with the courtiers, and only rarely got the permission of the eldest lady to accompany the courtiers to sleep, and after the courtiers had nightmares, the grandmother hummed a simple song for the courtiers next to her, and the courtiers felt relieved and fell asleep peacefully."

"Okay, you can sing."

Shen Shuzhao said with a smile: "I think it's just my mother humming at will, don't laugh at the courtiers after listening to it." ”

After speaking, she gently hummed a mother's chant when she coaxed her daughter to sleep, her voice was soft, humming in a low voice, without a word of lyrics, accompanied by fireflies in the sky, giving the moonlight to sleep movingly. In this silent world, the girl sang a soothing song for her beloved girl by the lake. For example, the palm of a woman's delicate hand is gently placed on the position of the heart, gently smoothing the wound of the lover.

The soft chant slowly spread far away with the wind, and finally disappeared into the sky, so beautiful that the breath had to be still. Unlike the two people here who almost melted the moon to the brim, the eldest sister Shen Zhuangzhao stood alone at the gate of Ganquan Palace at this time, and the moonlight was like cold ice, paved with white on every step she took. The reflection on her body made her feel that the moonlight was so cold.

Today should have been a happy event for her.

But the emperor hurried to accompany Concubine Xi.

In a word, her life's events were decided.

Shen Zhuangzhao still couldn't believe that she had become an imperial concubine at this time, was this what she imagined? Definitely not.

She walked on the way back to Changle Palace without belonging, and the palace maids also saw that she was in a bad mood, so they only walked behind her carefully.

At a corner, Shen Zhuangzhao met a group of concubines who had just come out of the fork in the road next to Ganquan Palace. It was too late to go back to find the sedan chair, she wanted to dodge, but there was only one road here, so she had to bow her head and squat down to make way for the nobles coming in front of her.

The footsteps were getting closer, but when the road came to the front, a pair of white jade tassel peony embroidered shoes stopped in front of her, and she didn't walk over. Shen Zhuangzhao's heart sank, not good.

"Look up." A cold female voice said.

Shen Zhuangzhao was so nervous that he clenched his skirt, and heard the young woman say again: "Are you still afraid that this palace will eat you?" These words made her finally raise her face timidly, and the moonlight fell on her face because of Shen Zhuangzhao's head-up, if the world really took a word to describe her, it must be shocking.

Just because of her peach blossoms under the moon, she has already been in love; Looking forward to the brilliance, it is enough to provoke people's hearts.

The queen's heart suddenly retracted, looking at Shen Zhuangzhao's appearance, and secretly marveled at how much Yang Virtue Shen Mansion had cultivated to become such a great beauty. But what's the use of being beautiful? She finally looked at her coldly, and it was not that the person who should be kept could not be kept.

The moonlight made the queen's face look white and cold, and the queen glanced at the person in front of her, and said in a clear tone: "This is the Juan Pa you dropped?" ”

Shen Zhuangzhao looked at the queen in a bit of a daze, but saw that she was expressionless. Then she looked at the things in her hand, the white handkerchief was embroidered with the familiar lonely and arrogant snow red plum, and then she realized that something was missing in her hand, and quickly nodded.

The queen held the embroidered handkerchief in her palm and stretched forward: "Take it." ”

Shen Zhuang Zhao took it in a daze, and only remembered after a while and said, "The courtier thanked the queen." ”

"You are the one who wants to be a concubine, and it is too inappropriate to use courtiers." The queen said indifferently.

Shen Zhuangzhao knew the queen's attitude towards her, so he lowered his head and didn't say much.

Ling Concubine Yingsheng behind the queen asked, "Why are you walking alone?" Not with the Queen Mother? ”

"Queen Mother...... I want to go to visit Concubine Xi and leave first, and the courtiers ...... Concubine...... So the courtiers went back alone. Shen Zhuangzhao was a little stuttered by what the queen just said.

"Don't take a sedan chair back to Changle Palace alone?" The queen glanced at the direction where Shen Zhuangzhao was going, the Changle Palace that fell on the high place was still very far away, and the corners of her lips raised: "Miss Shen is so slow." ”

Shen Zhuangzhao: "......"

She knew that everything she said and did in front of the queen was wrong, but they would all serve the same king in the future, and no one would be happy about Concubine Xi's pregnancy today, so why should she sneer at the desolation of walking on the road?

"The palace is just at the gate of the Ganquan Palace to find this juanpa, the embroidered silk is rare and high-grade, and the corners of the self-written poems, I think it should be an important thing on the master, I thought it was the most loving Tao beauty around the palace, but I didn't expect it to be yours." The queen said.

Shen Zhuangzhao knelt down quietly and listened, she was thinking about how to get out of the queen, and when the concubines and others would continue to make things difficult for her, the queen's cold voice came: "Take it, go back." ”

She looked at the queen in amazement, and the moonlight sprinkled thinly on the queen, softening every inch of her creamy jade skin, especially the slightly raised peach blossom eyes, which were very good-looking. Who said that the queen's appearance can't suppress the three thousand beauties of the harem?

A group of fireflies flew from afar, and then stayed among the flowers near them, the sparks were immortal in the dark, and one of them actually stopped on the queen's shoulders mischievously, flapping its wings, reflecting every step under Shen Zhuangzhao's feet.

The concubine behind the queen was angry and wanted to say something about letting Shen Zhuangzhao go, but the queen didn't say a word, and she had to endure it. Shen Zhuangzhao stood up, bowed his head and took a few steps back respectfully before finally turning around and leaving.

It was a long time before she dared to turn back.

When she looked to the end of the road, the building was empty. Only fireflies still danced up and down in the air, as if to remind her that this place was ...... There was once a noble woman with a firefly on her shoulder. They met.

Holding the handkerchief given to her by the queen, Shen Zhuang Zhao stood in place for a long time and looked back in that direction, until the fireflies finally all dissipated and went to the next uncertain direction...... She finally turned her head and left alone.

On the queen's side, after the group of them were transported to the gate of Changxin Palace, the queen asked Concubine Ling and Concubine Yan to go back.

As soon as Concubine Yan left the queen, she immediately said angrily: "Today is cheaper than that little hoof!" pushed Hongu into the water, but he didn't punish her at all! ”

Concubine Ling said: "It's shameful for you to be calculated by a young lady who has lived in the house for a long time." ”

"What did you say!" Concubine Yan stepped forward, "Do you think I'm ashamed?" ”

So Concubine Ling had to say in a good voice: "Okay, don't be angry." ”

Concubine Yan bit her red lip lightly and said viciously: "In the future, the palace must let her pay back more!" With that, she immediately sneezed.

"That pool is so cold! ……”

When she muttered in a low voice, her shoulders were covered with a soft blue satin pinched placket coat, Concubine Yan blinked her eyes and raised her head, and after the concubine put on her own coat, she still looked into the distance with the same expression: "Your body is already weak, you must have caught a cold after falling into the water, so let's go back early." ”

Concubine Yan was stunned on both sides: "Fly...... Feiyan, you ......"

"What's wrong with me?"

"Nothing." Concubine Yan finally gathered the clothes draped on her back and replied softly.

"Let's go back." Concubine Ling walked with her in the direction of the car, and Concubine Yan glanced up at the sky before getting into the concubine's sedan chair. The lack of a moon with a hazy beauty hanging in the dark night is really beautiful......

It was a night that seemed to touch everyone's heart.