She pursed her lips, swallowed the annoyance in her heart, and focused on the concubines and palace maids on the stage as if she was angry. The dancing girls in front of them are full of grace, and the sound of the piano girls lingers, they are like the beauties carved on the mural, and the figure and timbre shuttle back and forth between them, so that it is not dazzling. The square corners, the yellow satin droops, slowly blocking the field of vision from the top of the wood brown, I don't know if the phoenix curtain is blinded, or if it is indeed moved to the heart, Shen Zhuangzhao gradually feels that they are filled with a layer of hazy beauty. And this beauty should be able to attract the emperor.

Thinking of this, she suddenly felt a trace of curiosity, it was rumored outside the palace that the queen was an extremely arrogant woman, but when she faced the low-ranking person to charm her husband, she still had to maintain her elegant female virtue, if she was really as ruthless as the Shen family said, how could she endure the anger in her heart at this time, and watch their flattery as if nothing happened?

Can...... Fang Cai didn't notice anything unusual about the queen?

In the emperor's absence, the queen still looked normal, if she really didn't care, or her scheming was too deep, like a water plant secretly killing people at the bottom of a lake out of sight. Shen Zhuangzhao felt a cold sweat when she thought about it, and the Shen family and the Queen Mother often reminded her, "Queen, you should be cautious; should be more careful and never show flaws in front of her", so she felt a little nervous at the moment, so she had to remind herself to pay attention to her manners, words and deeds, and not to lose the face of the Shen family in front of Xiao Mengru.

At this time, the queen was staring at her, with a little bit of a smile, what kind of meaning it was, the palace maid next to her had no way of knowing. The body of the untrained girl exuded a self-pity that was dissatisfied with the present world, and the frowning expression of the concubine was not like being completely immersed in the vision, so immature, as if the soft cotton that could be pinched in the hand had not yet been dyed into a thorny rose after the blood rain. In front of the queen, she was always just an ignorant little girl.

The hour flickered past half a pillar of incense, and the slanting sun reflected in the Jiaofang Palace. The stage was empty, but the queen didn't leave, as if waiting for someone. Sure enough, Shen Zhuangzhao saw a weak and thin figure coming from the direction of the long steps, even the backlight and shadow of the face made her see very clearly who the person in front of her was - she suddenly felt that someone in her heart was suddenly stabbed into the dagger, and she couldn't breathe.

"Shen Shuzhao, you came at the right time." The Queen's slow voice sounded in the empty hall.

Shen Shuzhao, who had just entered the Jiaofang Palace, replied unhurriedly: "The courtiers meet the queen, and I wish the queen a thousand years old." Today, Qinglian Pavilion has to be summoned by the queen, how dare the courtiers be lazy? ”

Then, she glanced at them sitting at the head of the ceremony, under the cover of the curtains, the figure of the concubine Shen Zhuangzhao was still clearly visible, she was next to the queen, and the two sat peacefully together. Shen Shuzhao felt that there was a cold light in front of her like a sharp arrow, so she quickly lowered her head modestly, the queen mother really ate Shen Zhuangzhao's temperament, and wanted to watch a good show of sisters, it seems that she heard their conversation more or less that day.

"This palace summoned you for the palace banquet."

Several palace maids were shaking gold-embroidered peony fans behind the queen, but Shen Shuzhao couldn't feel a trace of warmth in the stuffy weather, but the wind fanned her heart.

"Courtiers listen."

"You are the niece favored by the Queen Mother, the cousin of the emperor, it is understandable to present a song and a dance to the old man at the Queen Mother's private banquet, since the Queen Mother has made a statement, the palace does not say much else, so do you want to think about what to perform?"

"The courtiers thought about it the day before yesterday, and the courtiers wanted to ...... Play and sing a song. ”

"Ho Qu?"

"Complaint."

"Huh?" The queen hummed meaningfully, but after a moment her incomprehensible gaze gradually hidden, as if there had never been a ripple, and she asked aloud, "Is it the princess's one?" ”

"Yes." She said.

The queen was also a lover of poetry, and sure enough, she quickly understood what she had chosen. So for the queen's next inquiry, Shen Shuzhao was also prepared.

"Why did you choose this one?"

Shen Shuzhao replied: "This song is often sung by the ministers and daughters of the grandmother in the house, so I chose this song for safety." ”

"But you know that the meaning of this is not true, right?"

"The mother's courtiers only sing a few words, most of them are mainly playing the piano, the queen mother, please rest assured, the courtiers have their own measure."

As soon as these words came out, the queen also relied on her, and the palace maids quickly took out the guqin played by the concubines before and placed it in front of her, Shen Shuzhao saw it and said: "Queen Qiyu, the courtier's voice is not very comfortable today, so I only play it to look at it, and I hope that the mother will understand." ”

The queen nodded in agreement, and Shen Shuzhao began to play. The piano skills are decent, the rhythm falls accurately on the point, but there is always a feeling of just going through the motions, it is hard to imagine that this is a city woman who voted for the emperor's favor, the queen listened to a few paragraphs, and then her eyes dimmed, not as amazing as she expected, maybe Shen Shuzhao is in the mood to play a song is a problem......

But the queen still spoke like this, her voice was soft, and only those who were close to her could hear it: "This palace finally understands the reason why the emperor loves her." ”

What the?

Shen Zhuangzhao turned back incredulously.

The emperor looked focused, "Although it is difficult for this palace to accept, I have to admit that she has slender fingers, and she is even more elegant with the guqin." Unlike the concubines of the Six Palaces in the past, who used the piano to set off their flamboyance, she seemed to be born to play the piano, and she naturally blended with the sound of the piano. The emperor is a person who likes to sing, dance, and poetry, so it's no wonder that he likes her jasper's pitiful temperament that is different from the atmosphere. It's amazing. ”

Born for the piano?

Amazing?

Shen Zhuangzhao was stunned in the seat next to her after hearing this, she hadn't listened carefully since Shen Shuzhao started playing listlessly, and now after she listened carefully, she didn't necessarily know how good Shen Shuzhao's piano skills were, and even her own three points were not as good, she suddenly didn't know whether to cry or laugh - the queen mother was really praising her?

The queen looked at the stage levelly, her face was expressionless, and her eyes only showed a faint appreciation, as if she had told Shen Zhuangzhao with her words and deeds - she was really serious.

……

Shen Zhuangzhao couldn't bear to look at it carefully, if this kind of Cheng dù was good, if the queen mother heard her own music, she couldn't praise the reincarnation of an immortal? There were two "extraordinary" encounters today, Shen Zhuangzhao had suddenly had a helpless idea about the queen, she was afraid of her before the meeting, and she didn't understand her after the meeting.

The sound of the piano is still playing, and at the same time, there are still a few broken notes occasionally, which is too hairy for the queen and Shen Zhuangzhao, who are used to listening to the palace music.

After finishing the song, Shen Shuzhao bowed forward slightly, "The queen mother, the concubine mother, the courtiers are finished." ”

"Good." The queen squeezed out two words from her teeth for a long time, and she felt a little headache, "It sounds very unique, no matter how hard you practice, there shouldn't be much difference on the day of the palace banquet." ”

"Thank you, Queen Mother, appreciation."

"Stand down...... the queen cupped her forehead.

"Yes." Shen Shuzhao's joy jumped in front of her, as if this praise was really heard in her heart. She knelt down and got up, then quickly retreated. The two rows of palace maids standing in the hall looked at each other, and they all wondered how the young lady of the Shen family could be so confident when she played like this? Shen Shuzhao ignored the strangeness of others and walked straight out. As soon as she left the Jiaofang Palace, she immediately changed the decadent atmosphere when she played the piano, and immediately felt relaxed physically and mentally, and no longer felt depressed - in fact, for this palace banquet performance, she didn't have the heart to surprise the emperor at all, because the emperor didn't need her to curry favor, so in order to deal with the queen's affairs, she played a perfunctory song. The queen must have thought that she would think of a perfect performance to win the jackpot, but in fact, she was completely wrong, she would not leave her any opportunity to take the opportunity to sow discord, didn't the queen just want to take the opportunity to find out that they were incompatible in the flower garden last time, and use her brilliant performance to fight the unfavored eldest sister? She would never let such a shoddy trick happen to her.

If the queen really said something like breathtaking...... Then Shen Shuzhao felt that there was only one possibility, it must be because the queen was blind.

And - speaking with a clear conscience has also reached a certain point.

What Shen Shuzhao didn't know after leaving was that there was a deathly silence in the Jiaofang Hall behind her.

The queen didn't say a word for a long time.

Yuan Concubine Shen Zhuangzhao is too.

Finally, only the two of them were left in the main hall.

Darkness, silence, meditation.

Shen Zhuangzhao has been thinking about this thing, she expressed her unbelievable praise for the queen to give Shen Shuzhao, if the queen wants to use the second sister to suppress herself, it is too unreasonable. And the queen mother had a cold face, still with that unapproachable aura, and after a while, she said coldly: "Concubine Yuan, you can step down." ”

"The concubine sends off the queen." Shen Zhuangzhao knelt on the hard ground in a regular manner, she could finally get rid of her boredom and return to the palace now.

"Today's concubines' performances are so rich, presumably the palace banquet will not disappoint the queen mother and the emperor."

"The concubine thinks so." - Just by Shen Shuzhao? As soon as she thought of the broken sound played by her second sister, she felt embarrassed on her face, and hoped that the queen would not think that this was the normal level of their Miss Shen Mansion.

"Tomorrow, you will still come to the Jiaofang Palace."

"Queen Mother......" Shen Zhuang Zhao was slightly surprised, "Shouldn't it be Concubine Xian coming over tomorrow?" ”

"Concubine Xian will be the main food in the catering bureau tomorrow, and she won't come over. Don't be late tomorrow. The queen put aside a light sentence, put the heavy burden on Shen Zhuangzhao again, and then hurried away very indifferently, as if she had suffered a particularly great disappointment. After she walked away, Shen Zhuang Zhao got up angrily, she deeply understood that this was the queen's suppression and inaction, and her free days for no reason were gone, but she couldn't vent openly, so she had to stomp a foot secretly, and sighed with indignation on her face: The queen mother-this is to rely on herself!