For several days, Zhu Qiming waited for the summons of the Queen Mother and the ensuing reprimand, but this day was delayed, and after a while, Zhu Qiming gradually forgot about Zhou Xiaodie's rude troubles in the courtyard.

The weather is so hot that the dancers no longer come to dance, and only the female musicians occasionally visit the courtyard to perform songs, and whenever the female musicians play, the sound of bamboo and the breeze wafting from the small pond can barely accompany the owner of the courtyard to cool off.

Lu Xiyu will enter the palace every three or five days, bringing Zhu Qiming the latest legends in the court, most of which are about him, the king of Yue, frolicking and frolicking. Later, there were fewer and fewer rumors about him, so that the young King Yue, who was famous in the capital, seemed to have faded out of people's sight.

Every time Lu Xiyu patronizes, it has almost become a grand event in the courtyard, and Zhu Qiming will always put aside all the frolicking and fun, and return to the world of poetry and songs, piano, chess, calligraphy and painting, so that his soul can temporarily leave the mundane dust and place it in the cloud he yearns for.

Of course, he will never disappoint the rumor-bearers. In the days when there was no Lu Xiyu, he was either having fun or falling asleep, occasionally drinking and getting drunk. If it weren't for Mama Cui saying that he was young, he must not get drunk frequently and do everything possible to stop him, he might fall into a drunken country every day.

At lunch on this day, Qu Qing set up a meal table in the shade of the corridor, Yin'er clothed vegetables, and Cui Mama brought a small pot of wine, and hesitated for a long time before reluctantly putting it on the table.

Zhu Qiming glanced at the wine jug, shook it in his hand, opened his mouth and began to complain: "Eh, Mama Cui, this wine jug is too small, and it only contains half a pot of wine, and it is not enough to pour the third jue, this king is difficult to enjoy!" ”

Mama Cui bowed slightly, with good etiquette, but she seemed to be very disgraceful to Zhu Qiming when she spoke. "Your Highness was drunk the night before yesterday, and today you should only taste it."

Zhu Qiming was accustomed to Mama Cui's control, and had never lost his temper at her, and the same was true today, so he immediately pouted slightly unwillingly, and glanced at the three dishes on the table.

Cui Mama approached and said: "Your Highness, I heard from the person who delivered the meal in Xianxi Palace that a total of eight prefectures in Nanzhili, Jiangxi, and Huguang were affected by disasters this year, and the emperor ordered the palace to reduce the amount of money and raise some silver for disaster relief, and even the emperor reduced the amount by fifty percent." So from today's Xianxi Palace, there are only two vegetables, one meat and three dishes. ”

Yin'er poured a full jue of wine, handed it to Zhu Qiming with both hands, Zhu Qiming took a sip, and then put down the wine. "The emperor is benevolent. Now that the treasury is insufficient, the emperor will make a fuss about the use of the royal family, and the royal family can take the lead in setting an example, and presumably the world's wealthy families will respond. ”

He has lived a hard life for many years, and he is not particular about food and clothing, even if he drinks porridge with pickles, he will not feel how bitter, and now the only luxury is only in the wine, I heard that the number of mansions suffered, and even this little wine Xing immediately faded a lot.

Qu Qing took a small plate and raised a spoon to fetch food for him.

"The king will come by himself." Zhu Qiming took the chopsticks in Qu Qing's hand, turned to Cui Mama and said, "Hasn't the Queen Mother sent someone to summon her?" ”

Mama Cui shook her head, "The weather is hot, and the Queen Mother is probably afraid of her Highness." Oh, the queen mother passed through the courtyard twice, and coincidentally caught up with His Royal Highness to get drunk, and the queen mother vigorously asked the old maid to wait for His Royal Highness, not to let His Royal Highness get drunk and hurt his body, and also ordered the old maid to remind His Royal Highness to study and practice martial arts every day. ”

Studying and practicing martial arts? Zhu Qiming was in a trance for a moment, and after thinking about playing and having fun by himself for less than a month, he felt that it was a long time ago to study and practice martial arts!

Over there, Mama Cui opened her mouth again: "Your Royal Highness may have misunderstood the second miss of the Zhou family, and I heard the queen mother say that after the second miss of the Zhou family returned to Xianxi Palace that day, she said that she did not practice etiquette, and made a lot of jokes in the courtyard, so she asked the queen mother to let her go home to learn etiquette, and then enter the palace to listen to the instructions of the queen mother after the etiquette was completed, and the queen mother was very happy and approved her request." The queen mother praised the second lady of the Zhou family for being sensible. ”

Zhou Xiaodie? In this way, how much more can I thank her for being reprimanded by the Queen Mother? Zhu Qiming was incredulous, gritted his teeth and said, "She just knows how to do it!" ”

Mama Cui took Yin'er and Qu Qing away, and personally served Zhu Qiming for dinner, "Your Highness, it seems that the Queen Mother is a little dissatisfied with Miss Lu, saying that since Lord Lu is no longer lecturing His Highness, then his daughter will memorize a companion name, and she doesn't have to enter the palace often, just come over occasionally to make a show." ”

It must be Zhou's lawsuit against Diao! Zhu Qiming suppressed his anger and drank it all, "Does Sister Xiyu know about this?" ”

"Miss Lui is so smart! Even if others don't tell her, she can detect it. Alas, don't look at Miss Lu's quiet and gentle appearance, I'm afraid that there is a stubbornness in my heart, even if Xianxi Palace doesn't want to see her, I haven't seen her come to the other courtyard these days. It's a pity that she doesn't persuade Her Highness to learn now, and she actually said to Yin'er and Quqing that the prince is just an ordinary thing to get drunk and have fun, and it is not out of line. ”

Sister Xi Song is really a flower of interpretation! Zhu Qiming smiled heartily, and lifted the wine jug and poured a full jug of wine.

Suddenly, I heard a sound of footsteps floating in the distance, turned my head to look, and saw Jin Ying leading two chamberlains along the road towards this side. The two chamberlains each carried a food box.

"Alas, finally a close attendant from the emperor's side came to the courtyard to hang out!" Mama Cui sighed and walked to the end of the corridor to greet her.

"See His Royal Highness King Yue." Jin Ying came over to salute and waved at the two attendants behind him, who put down the food box, took out several plates of dishes and a bowl of soup, and laid them on the dining table.

"The emperor ordered the Sprinkle family to come over to deliver meals to His Royal Highness, salty drum mustard lamb tripe plate, five-flavor steamed chicken, two-cooked fried fresh fish, mutton crystal horns, plus an agate cake soup. These emperors are usually reluctant to enjoy it. ”

Zhu Qiming got up and saluted back, "Isn't the emperor cutting back on food and clothing?" Why is the royal food so abundant today? ”

Jin Ying glanced at Zhu Qiming with a little deep meaning, "Your Highness doesn't know anything, the Wara envoy entered Beijing, the emperor gave a banquet, ordered Guanglu Temple to prepare a meal, and set up a banquet in Yongsu Hall to entertain the Wara envoys." If it were a normal day, there would be such a sumptuous dish! ”

Suffering from his stomach and treating the Warat people so generously, Warat may not buy it! Zhu Qiming was unhappy in his heart, and said lightly: "Why did the emperor remember this king?" ”

"Speaking of the Sprinkle family is also very surprised, the Wara envoy actually asked His Royal Highness several times during the banquet, the emperor couldn't stand their long question, I wanted to pass His Royal Highness to the Yongsu Palace, I don't know what the Ministry of Rites, the celebrant said in the emperor's ear, the emperor no longer summoned people, only ordered the Sprinkle family to come over to deliver food."

The Warats asked me how I was doing? Zhu Qiming pondered for a long time, and still couldn't understand what kind of medicine was sold in the Vara people's gourd.

Jin Ying waved off the two chamberlains, and said something that seemed to be quite incompatible with his temperament before saying goodbye: "At the beginning, His Royal Highness triumphed, and the feats of His Royal Highness were rumored everywhere in the harem, but since then, many rumors that have been unfavorable to His Highness have been spread to the people one after another, but whether it is said or reversed, it has become a thing of the past, and now no one mentions His Royal Highness in the internal and external officials, everyone seems to have forgotten you, the king of Yue, and even the emperor only remembered His Royal Highness after being asked by the envoys of Wara." Alas, it's only been a few months, and it's like two lifetimes! ”

Zhu Qiming smiled indifferently, "As long as the world is peaceful, what's the harm if the world doesn't hear the name of King Yue?" This king can't ask for it! ”

"Say goodbye."

Mama Cui sent Jin Ying and his party away, and when she returned to Zhu Qiming's side, she said happily: "Since the emperor ordered someone to deliver food to His Highness in front of the envoys of Wara, it means that the emperor still remembers His Highness's great achievements!" ”

Thinking that most of the masters and servants in the world have a relationship of prosperity and loss, so Mama Cui only listened to a few key words from Jin Ying's mouth from a distance, and she could very sensitively think that he, the prince, was treated well by the Son of Heaven, and was overjoyed because of this.

"Mama Cui, these dishes are too rich, this king can't use them up alone, you and Yin'er and Quqing share some of them."

Mama Cui shook her head again and again, "Absolutely not, this is a reward from the emperor to His Royal Highness!" ”

"There is no kitchen in the other courtyard, and the three of you have to do it yourself, which is inconvenient. Now that the weather is hot and the dishes are not served, since there are ready-made ones, why bother to refuse? Divide it quickly, lest you spoil the food! ”

Mama Cui couldn't refuse, so she had to call Yin'er and Quqing. Zhu Qiming instructed them to take away the whole plate of salty drum mustard lamb tripe plate, five-flavor steamed chicken, and took away more than half of the mutton crystal horn and agate cake soup, but Yin'er and Qu Qing did not move a single chopstick on the plate of double-cooked fried fresh fish, leaving it all to Zhu Qiming.

Zhu Qiming looked at Mama Cui with a smile, "There is too little wine today, and it is difficult for this king to enjoy himself." ”

Mama Cui's face immediately stretched out, "It's not appropriate to get drunk at noon." "After all, she eats people with a short mouth and a soft hand, and she is just pretending to be a gesture, and in a blink of an eye, she clears her mouth," fill up the wine jug. ”

Qu Qing answered, picked up the jug and went to the dining room, and after a while, he sent a full jug of wine to the table.

Zhu Qiming poured himself a drink, only felt that the days were extremely leisurely, as if there was a lot of time to squander, and he felt comfortable, and occasionally raised his eyes to look into the distance, and saw that under the dazzling sunlight, there were strange lights and shadows on the top of the palace, gently rippling like water lines.

The wine in the pot is exhausted, and the person is slightly drunk. He hastily ate a few mouthfuls of fragrant rice, gave up the dining table, chose a chair at the tuyere, and half-lay there to enjoy the coolness.

The breeze came, he was drowsy, squinted at Yin'er and Quqing, and saw that they were well-dressed and could not tolerate the heat, and they were each shaking a fan and standing beside him, the fan was half facing themselves and half facing him, and from time to time a cool breeze fell on Zhu Qiming.

"Go to dinner." Zhu Qiming muttered with half-closed eyes.

Qu Qing, who was usually silent, suddenly muttered: "Your Highness, we are like a cold palace here, if Miss Lu doesn't come, then there will be no outsiders in the other courtyard!" ”

"It's hot, and I guess the female music won't come again." Yin'er chimed in.

"Nonsense! Hasn't the Queen Mother been here a few times? ”

Mama Cui glanced at Yin'er and Qu Qing, and she didn't dare to shout and reprimand, let alone say more, for fear of arguing with Zhu Qiming.

She cautiously turned her head to look at Zhu Qiming, but saw that he had fallen asleep, with a peaceful smile on his face.