When Qiuhe was fifteen years old, the queen made her a member of the middle palace, specializing in the queen's hair and makeup. Previously, Miao Zhaorong had told the queen Qiuhe to persuade her not to buy jewelry, and the queen sighed: "I only know that she loves to read national history, but I didn't expect that she would take care of people's livelihood." Among the six palaces, there are very few women with such insight as her. So there was a sense of promotion.

"Qiu and this girl, there will definitely be a future in the future." Miao Zhaorong concluded.

When the princess heard this, she asked her mother, "Is my sister saying that Qiu He may succeed Chu Shangfu in the future and lead the affairs of Shangfu?" ”

Miao Zhaorong smiled and did not say anything.

I vaguely guessed what Miao Zhaorong meant by "having a future", but I felt that it might not be Qiuhe's wish.

Since that time I sent her back, she has treated me like a brother and sister, and I have become a little closer, and I have gradually spoken more and more. If she comes to Yifeng Pavilion, I will still send her out.

On the day she learned that she was moved to the middle palace, the people in Yifeng Pavilion all congratulated her, she just smiled, and there was no particularly happy expression.

When I sent her out, she seemed to have something on her mind, lowered her head, and walked under the locust trees planted on both sides of the palace wall, in a trance. I couldn't help but ask her, "Qiuhe, do you have something to worry about?" ”

"Oh, no." She replied and continued walking, walking slowly, as if she were afraid of alarming the falling flowers in the place. After a long while, he hesitated to stop and turned to me and asked, "Huaiji, do you have a wish?" ”

I was stunned, silent for a moment, and then replied, "Watching the princess grow up carefree...... If that's a wish. ”

The answer may have been unexpected, but she stared at me for a long time, and then smiled softly: "Of course, you can always be by her side." ”

Seeing her mention her wish, I recalled the promise I made today, so I also asked Qiuhe, "Then what is your wish?" ”

"After last year's Qixi Festival, many people asked me, but I never answered." Qiu He smiled lightly. I immediately felt like I was troubled, why bother asking her such intimate questions. I don't want her to say to me, "But I can tell you...... Out of the palace, one day, I will ask the official family to ask him to allow me to leave the palace. ”

I asked her blankly, "You don't like to stay in the palace?" So why don't you tell the officials now? ”

Qiu He didn't answer, and stood silently in the rain of acacia flowers blown down by the breeze. Suddenly, looking up, half-squinting, looking at the blue sky through the spikes of flowers on the top of her head, a layer of yellow, yellow, white and white petals floated down from her lacquered crown.

I saw that she was attentive, and I looked up, but I saw geese flying over Miyagi in the sky.

"Huaiji, Cui Gongzi...... Are you still in Kyochu? She asked in a slurred manner, and when she finished speaking, she lowered her head and lowered her eyes, and her face was flushed.

I immediately understood that her wish was related to Cui Bai.

I told her frankly that since I was transferred to Houxing, I had few opportunities to contact people from the art academy, and I really didn't know about Cui Bai's current situation, so she asked me if I could inquire on my behalf. I said yes and asked her, "Do you have anything to tell him?" ”

She subconsciously wrung the corner of her sleeve, and her voice was as soft as a mosquito: "The painting he gave me last time...... That picture of Akiura Rongbin...... The wild geese on it...... Please help me ask him...... The wild goose ......"

Seeing her like this, and then recalling the details on the picture of Qiupu Rongbin, I thought that the wild goose is called "German bird", monogamy, and the spouse is like one of them, and he will never marry again. "Etiquette and Ritual Ceremony" said: "The evening ceremony is issued, and the goose is adopted." "Take the meaning of its fidelity and righteousness to the spouse, in order to ask for the auspicious omen of yin and yang, the woman follows the husband, so the marriage customs of the national dynasty are still used as a token of the goose. Cui Bai has a double goose on the painting, judging from his sparse and free temperament, giving this painting to Qiu He may not have hinted at the intention of the marriage contract, at least, it also shows his intention for her.

Cui Bai is handsome and has a lot of talent, so it is not surprising that young women fall in love with him. Now Guanqiu and his attitude, obviously has a deep roots in his affection, both to inquire about Cui Bai's whereabouts, should be to find him to ask his mind, if he does have the heart to ask for marriage, she can invite herself out of the palace and be a couple with him.

Thinking about this meaning, I immediately said to Qiuhe: "I'll go and ask someone, and I'll tell you as soon as I have news." ”

I first went to the painting academy to find out the address of Cui Bai in Beijing, and asked Zhang Chengzhao to find the former provincial servant who could go out of the palace to purchase items, but unfortunately the response brought by Zhang Chengzhao was not good: Cui Bai had already left Beijing, saying that he was going to travel around the world's famous mountains and rivers to sketch and paint, and no one knew when he would return.

I told Qiu He about the result, she was naturally disappointed, so I hurriedly promised her that I would contact Cui Bai as soon as he came back, Qiu He said it didn't matter, "It's okay to stay in the palace now, I like to fiddle with these flowers and spices, if you go out of the palace, where can I find so much?" ”

This is not an excuse, it can be seen that Qiu He really loves to do the work of the decoration, we think it is tedious and boring, but she can enjoy herself. It also makes her wait seem less boring and long, I think optimistically. Do what she wants to do in the palace for a few years, and then walk out of the imperial city, marry a wishful husband, and spend the rest of her life in a husband and godson, a kind girl like Qiuhe should have such a perfect career.

In the seventh year of Qingli, the thirteenth group practiced with Gao Taotao girl in the sixteenth year, and now talked to the queen about the marriage contract of the two children, taking into account that he has no children, he is very emotional, so he proposed that the official family is thirteen, and the queen is the main marriage, so that the marriage will be married. So the people in the palace began to prepare for this great joy of "the son of heaven marries a woman, and the queen marries a daughter".

Miss Gao had not yet performed the ceremony, and after the marriage had been negotiated, she was scheduled to perform the ceremony on the day before the cold food of the year. On that day, the queen led the deacon palace concubines to the Gao Mansion to watch the ceremony, and the princess also wanted to go, but she had a cold before, so she had to stay in the pavilion to recuperate, and she had nothing to do, and she was very bored.

In the afternoon, the palace people in the pavilion took jujube noodles as cakes according to customs, skewered them with willow branches, and inserted them on the lintel, and the princess saw that she wanted to insert them, but she was stopped by Miao Zhaorong, and the princess lay down sullenly, looking very pitiful.

Han suggested to Miao Zhaorong to invite Miss Fan to come over and play with the princess, Miao Zhaorong said that the queen went to watch Miss Gao's ceremony today, and Miss Fan should also go with her, but Han shook his head and said: "I heard that Miss Fan is not very convenient these days, and she can't watch the ceremony." ”

Miao Zhaorong raised his eyebrows when he heard this: "Kwai Shui? ”

Han said yes, Miao Zhaorong was a little surprised: "She's not ...... yet."

Han said with a smile: "The lady looks at it every day, so I don't think it's big, in fact, Miss Fan is four years older than the princess, and she is fourteen years old this year." ”

"Alas, unconsciously, these little girls have grown up, and it can be seen that we are also old." Miao Zhaorong sighed, and then called me over and instructed: "You go and ask Miss Fan to see if she is willing to come over and talk to the princess." ”

I received the order, and then went to the middle palace to find Miss Fan.

On this day, because the queen traveled, a large number of attendants followed, so there were not many palace people left behind in the Rouyi Palace, and it seemed deserted. I went to Miss Fan's Pavilion, but I didn't see her, and her maid pointed to the main hall of the Rouyi Palace, saying that she had added incense medicine to it, and I walked towards the main hall again.

There wasn't even a waiter on duty in front of the main hall, and I vaguely felt a little inappropriate, but I walked in slowly.

There doesn't seem to be anyone in the hall. The brocade curtain hangs low, the four walls are silent, the seer is the two golden beasts in the Qibao imperial couch sandwich, the two beasts are tall and tall, a few wisps of light smoke from the beast's mouth leisurely escape, flying fragrant.

Since tomorrow's cold eclipse, the fire will be broken in Beijing for three days, so today is the last time to burn incense before the festival, the amount is more than usual, in addition to the two golden beasts, the hall painting beam hangs down two walls of gilt silver incense balls, the sphere is hollow and finely carved, the middle can be opened and closed, the built-in incense, the lower part of the sphere has charcoal, hung by the fine silver chain, in front of the brocade curtain on both sides densely hung a layer, Ambilight, like a bead curtain.

The warm fragrance wafts out from the gilt and silver incense balls without a trace, and it is the high-grade Lingshui fragrance, which is full of flowers and charming, lingering in this silent space. I have been to the Rouyi Hall many times, but I have never felt such a strange atmosphere, so I am like a Gu in the middle of the Gu, slowly moving in this warm incense place, and continue to move forward silently.

Suddenly, the curtain on the left moved, and several silver incense balls collided with each other, emitting a fine silver bell, which was as pleasant as music. I turned slightly to the source of the sound and peeked in.

There were many shadows in the silver ball bead curtain, and there were vague two people, and I looked intently and first identified Miss Fan's figure. She held a box of incense in one hand and a silver spoon in the other, and a silver incense ball was open beside her, waiting for her to add incense to it.

But she didn't have time to do it at the moment.

A man was gently wrapping his arms around her waist and bowing his head to kiss her.

The silver bell of Shicai must have been caused by this sudden incident, and it happened abruptly when Miss Fan added incense with a spoon, so she almost kept her previous movements.

The man first pecked her lips little by little, and Miss Fan's body trembled slightly, probably a little frightened, but she didn't push him away after all, so the man began to kiss her deeply.

They were hidden behind the curtain, facing me sideways, and I was still some distance away from them, and I hadn't made any noise before, so they weren't aware of my presence.

This scene frightened me so much that I just wanted to flee quickly. I've never seen anything like this, let alone ...... How much more so are they.

To avoid being discovered by them, I slowly retreated, silently, lest they hear my restless heartbeat. It was easy to get to the door, and then he suddenly turned around and went out and ran out in a hurry.

Just ran out of the gate of the main hall, suddenly saw the front of the sarong leading, embroidered fan double cover, two columns of palace people hugging a step to meet the face, vaguely the guard of honor of the middle palace. The more I wanted to run away, I didn't want to turn around and hear someone yelling: "Bold! When the queen arrived, she didn't see the courtesy! ”

I had to stop and salute the queen.

The queen was talking and laughing with the palace commander who was following the line, and when she saw that my face had not changed at this faux pas, she was still smiling, got down from the chariot, and asked, "Huaiji, why are you in such a hurry?" Are you in a hurry to go back? ”

I unconsciously replied yes, and then I felt that it was wrong, and quickly changed my words to say no, and for a while I couldn't think of how to explain, my face was too hot and my ears were sweating.

Seeing this, the queen also felt different, and asked me with her eyes: "Did you come out of the Rouyi Palace?" ”

I said yes, and the queen asked, "Who is in there?" ”

I hesitated for a moment, then only said, "Miss Fan." ”

"Guanyin?" The queen asked. "Guanyin" is Miss Fan's small character.

I say yes again, I don't dare to spit out a single word.

The queen was silent. After a while, he asked again, "Who else is inside?" ”

I was speechless, even though I knew that it would be disrespectful not to answer the queen's question, but I did not dare to speak again.

The queen had already guessed at this time: "Official? ”

I bowed my head.

I don't know what the queen's expression is, all I can perceive is the corner of her clothes. The people around were also silent, and this time seemed to be frozen, except that the birds on the acacia in the meadow were still chirping.

There was a drop of water that fell on the ground in front of the queen. Is it raining? I was still thinking about it, but I saw the queen's skirt spin slightly, drifting away from my sight.

"I heard that the flowers in the back garden are blooming, so ......," the queen said as she walked out, her voice still steady, but there were many pauses.

Si Gongling hurriedly followed, and continued: "Yes, the peach blossoms and plum blossoms, the golden moth and jade are all blooming, Niangniang might as well go and take a look." ”

The two columns of palace people passed in front of me one by one in silence, and followed the queen to the back garden. Finally, one of them stopped in front of me.

I looked up and saw Autumn and tearful eyes.

"Huaiji," she whispered to me, "go quickly to Mr. Zhang Maoze, and ask him to come to the back garden." ”

I promise. Qiu He wiped the corners of his eyes and quickly followed the queue of the queen's attendants.

I ran towards the Inner East Gate. Before leaving, he looked at the traces of water droplets on the ground that had seeped into the floor tiles, and then looked up at the sky...... The sky is clear and there is no rain.

When I found Mr. Zhang, I told him what had happened very briefly, and when I mentioned the matter of the Rouyi Palace, I only said that "the official family and Miss Fan are in the palace", and he understood everything, and before I finished speaking, he immediately stood up and strode towards the back garden.

I hesitated a little, but eventually followed him. When I arrived in the back garden, I saw that the queen was wandering among the flowers and shadows, her eyes wandering on the flowers and leaves, but her eyes were empty, and she obviously ignored the garden.

Mr. Zhang walked up to her and bowed and called softly: "Niangniang." ”

"Oh, Pingfu......" The queen saw that it was him, and her voice trembled a little. It reminded me of the princess. She was sometimes wronged by Miao Zhaorong, and she would often be angry and not speak, but if I went to persuade him, she would call my name with a crying voice, and then it was often a bitter cry.

"Niangniang, in the month of Meng Chun, the seeds of the six palaces dedicated to the official family have grown green seedlings, why don't you go to the Guanjia Hall to have a look?" Mr. Zhang suggested, with a gentle tone.

The queen stared at him apprehensively, and finally smiled slightly after a moment: "Okay, go to the Guanjia Palace." ”

A corner of the back garden is built with the Guanjia Palace, every year Meng Chun, the queen will lead the six palace concubines to select the seeds of the nine grains and barley to the emperor, the emperor then personally ploughs the field in the Guanjia Palace, and the seedlings grow, you can watch it in the palace.

The queen slowly ascended to the viewing hall, and I didn't follow her, but only quietly stood in a corner of the rice field and looked at her from a distance.

There is a special person to serve in the garden, at this time the seedlings are lush and green, the growth is gratifying, if you look down from the palace, the new seedling scene must be as the attendant of the minister said, "the color of the fragrant Ran, the smoke of the oil and the acres of smoke", I think, the queen saw, how much will be a little happy in the heart.

The queen stood in the middle of the main hall, dressed in a red robe, Zhai Wen was red, and white jade was double-dressed. She looked down at the green grass under her feet, and her demeanor gradually calmed down as usual, still so solemn and peaceful. The wind blew, puffing up her dark blue sleeves, she leaned back slightly, and the twelve jewelry flowers on the crown of the four phoenixes of the Nine Dragons trembled gently. Closing her eyes, she smiled faintly.

And Mr. Zhang had been hiding on the side of the pillar behind her, staring at her quietly, silent and motionless for a long time.

He was dressed in a soap-colored robe, and he looked like a long shadow.