The Jinghe Hall in the White Jade Palace is the residence of Qiao Feng, the Empress Dowager of the Song Kingdom. Empress Dowager Qiao doesn't like luxury, but she likes to be lively. Set up a family banquet every month, invite two beauties in the palace and some royal and powerful ladies to dine with her, and sometimes invite the king of Song to come. Most of these ladies felt that Empress Dowager Qiao was friendly, but only her biological son Liu Ying, the king of Song, knew that his mother was just collecting news from the government and the opposition and all over the harem on the grounds of eating. The Qiao family, the family of the Song Kingdom, since Qiao Feng entered the palace as a concubine, the family surnamed Qiao has accumulated a lot of money, and at this time it is already a family with power leaning towards the government and the opposition. Liu Ying knew what her mother had paid for Qiao's family, and she also knew that her mother's power far surpassed her own.

After lunch, the ladies dispersed, leaving only Liu Ying and the two beauties. Empress Dowager Qiao drank the osmanthus fragrant tea she was accustomed to, leaned on the bamboo chair, and said to one of the beauties with a smile: "In a few days, it will be Jing'er's third birthday banquet, and you should hold a grand ceremony in Huiren Palace." ”

Qiao Meiren of Huiren Palace is the distant niece of Empress Dowager Qiao, named Qiao Jing, who has been loved by Empress Dowager Qiao since she was a child, and is the first daughter-in-law selected by Empress Dowager Qiao for Liu Ying. Her son, Liu Jing, was the only son of the New Song King. Empress Dowager Qiao has always wanted to set up Qiao Mei as the queen, but she also scruples about Qiao's power leaning towards the government and the opposition, if Qiao's daughter is set up as the queen, the Song Kingdom may have complaints, so it has not been established for a long time.

Qiao Meiren smiled: "Auntie, don't spoil Jing'er too much, he is only three years old, what is not grand." I thought, just like last year and the year before that, I invited my aunt, the king, and my sister, and we were a family of five to have a casual meal. ”

The "sister" that Qiao Meiren said was another beauty in the harem of the Song Kingdom, Lin Long, the ninth princess of the Chu Kingdom. She married into the Song Kingdom two years ago, and was originally the crown princess of the King of Chu dedicated to the then crown prince of the Song Kingdom and Liu Ying's brother, but Liu Ying's brother unfortunately died on the battlefield, and Lin Long, who had already entered the Song Kingdom, was sent to the Jade Capital and married Liu Ying, who had just ascended the throne. Although Lin Long has never met Liu Ying's brother, Liu Ying always faintly feels that she is a sister-in-law rather than her own concubine, so she has always respected her. Feng Qimei is on an equal footing with Qiao Jing, who grew up with her since childhood, but because she is the princess of Chu State.

Lin Long smiled but said nothing. She had never been interested in the White Jade Palace. She thought that she could marry the rumored prince of the Song Kingdom, the famous general Liu Jue in Kyushu, who was worthy of her self-sacrifice for the country, but she married a new Song king who had just recovered from a serious illness and had no achievements. Although Liu Ying was gentle and polite to her, she never felt that Liu Ying had any interest in her, and he never took the initiative to go to her dormitory. She even wondered if Liu Ying was not close to women at all. Qiao Meiren, who was supposed to be loved by thousands of people, even complained to Lin Long in private, saying that it was fortunate that Lin Long was married and spent her days with her, otherwise she would have suffocated to death in Jing'an Palace, and she would have to hold back her problems in the White Jade Palace. Lin Long listened to Qiao Meiren's complaints all day long, and actually sympathized with her.

Empress Dowager Qiao saw that the two beauties were not very interested, and wanted to provoke them, which made the already sparsely populated harem a little angry: "Wang'er, you have been on the throne for nearly a year, it is better to choose a group of girls to enter the palace when you ascend the throne for a year, enrich the harem, and let Jing'er have brothers and sisters early." ”

Liu Ying laughed at herself: "Doesn't the queen mother know that the child has been weak and sick since childhood? Now he is working on state affairs and adding brothers and sisters to Jing'er...... The child is really powerless. ”

Empress Dowager Qiao waved her hand and slapped Liu Ying lightly, and said with a smile: "I know that the nonsense is not at all your father's serious appearance!" Then he said to Lin Long: "Ninth Princess, you have been married for two years, and it is good to have no quarrel with the world, but there are some things that you should fight for yourself." ”

Lin Long said: "What the queen mother said. ”

Empress Dowager Qiao squinted her eyes and asked Liu Ying: "Wang'er, I heard that you have added a maid to serve tea in your palace, but is there such a thing?" ”

Liu Ying had expected that the queen mother would call him to dinner, and Bacheng heard about it and wanted to inquire clearly, so he pretended to make a gesture and waved his hand and said: "I asked Antai to arrange such small things as adding maidservants, and I didn't care if there was one or two." ”

Empress Dowager Qiao said meaningfully: "You are now the King of Song, and whoever you like will give her a position, and the harem can be slowly enriched." But a woman with a low family background will never be able to cross the position of Jing'er and the Ninth Princess. ”

Liu Ying smiled and quipped: "The queen mother's words mean that if the family is higher than Qiao Meiren and Lin Meiren, the child can make her the queen?" ”

Empress Dowager Qiao glared at him and said, "Stubborn! Now looking at the Kyushu countries, can you find a girl who is taller than the two of them? ”

Liu Ying smiled bitterly: "I really can't find it." He knew that the queen mother would not let him marry a princess who had died in the country. If the queen mother heard that the princess of Qi was still alive, she might have killed her, just like when her father ordered the execution of all the princes and princesses of Wei and Qi. So he hoped that the queen mother would never find out the identity of the tea maid beside him.

******

Xiao Yi assumed the alias Zhu'er and served as an inconspicuous tea-serving maid in the Yongtai Hall where the Song King criticized the chapter day and night. There were already six palace maids in Yongtai Palace, and in order to keep Xiao Yi by his side unconsciously, King Song specially added two tea maids, one was Zhen'er and the other was Zhu'er, and outsiders sounded like they were a pair of sisters. A pair of sisters entered the Yongtai Palace, and the King of Song suddenly became diligent in his administration, and he had not summoned the two beauties in the palace for a month, nor had he gone to their bedroom. Lin Meiren usually didn't have much communication with King Song, and she didn't notice the changes in King Song, but Qiao Meiren was the mother of King Song's eldest son, Liu Jing, and King Song should come to see his son even if he didn't come to see her.

One day, Qiao Meiren took Jing'er to Yongtai Palace, and saw that King Song was concentrating on reviewing the recital in front of the case, and his doubts in recent days were suddenly reduced by half, and it seemed that the king was really entangled in state affairs. Qiao Jing walked to Liu Ying's case with a smile and saluted: "The king hasn't come to see Jing'er for a long time, and Jing'er will recite a few new poems." ”

Liu Ying put down the recital, Jing'er ran over with a smile, and her childish voice shouted sweetly: "Father! ”

Liu Ying smiled and pinched Jing'er's white and chubby face, and asked: "You don't have to memorize the poems now, you can't understand them all anyway, you can't remember them when you grow up, when the weather is good, go out to catch rabbits, fight, and train your body well." ”

At this time, Xiao Yi was coming in with a cup of tea, and when he saw the scene in the hall, he couldn't help but shake his hands, and he didn't realize that the tea was red. Since the two were in love, she never asked about his harem wife and children, and he never mentioned it. She felt that his days were numbered, and he didn't want to mention those things to add to her troubles, and he also knew what was on her mind, and he kept putting it off, not wanting to mention other women to her. He wanted to find an opportunity to tell her, but every time he saw her gentle eyes, he couldn't bear to hurt her in the slightest, for fear that she would leave decisively, leaving him alone in the White Jade Palace, where she had also lived and where they had lived together.

Xiao Yi saw the happy scene of a family of three in front of him, and his heart ached. Thinking that the man he fell in love with willfully had a wife and children a long time ago, he couldn't help but feel a little jealous. But listening to him tell his son that the body is the most important, he can't help but feel sad for the incurable poison she gave him. She was stunned and forgot to salute Qiao Meiren.

Qiao Meiren never stepped into the Yongtai Hall without reporting in advance, and Liu Ying naturally felt that she would not come without permission, but she didn't expect that she not only came by herself, but also brought Jing'er with her. Liu Ying saw Xiao Yi who was stunned in place, and her heart ached, but she was afraid that Qiao Meiren would see the clues, so she lowered her head to look at the concerto.

Qiao Jing noticed that there was someone behind her, turned around and saw that it was a pretty new face, and said with a smile: "It turns out that the queen mother specially asked the king about the new tea maid that day, and she is so beautiful!" No wonder the queen mother was curious. ”

Xiao Yi hurriedly saluted Qiao Meiren, but she was speechless for a while, not knowing how to answer.

Qiao Jing approached to take a look and said with a smile: "Tsk, where did the king get the beautiful woman, why have you never seen it in the harem?" is so full of eyebrows and eyes, looking forward to life, shadows, and graceful posture. What is your name? ”

Xiao Yi lowered his head, took a few steps back, and whispered, "Hui Yumei, my name is ...... Pearls. ”

Qiao Jing asked, "Where are you from?" ”

Liu Ying put down the concerto, picked up Jing'er, put him next to Qiao Meiren, and said in a slightly majestic voice: "This is Yongtai Palace, not a place for chatting." This king still has state affairs to deal with, so go down first. ”

Qiao Jing took Jing'er to salute and leave, and Xiao Yi also saluted with tea and retreated. Liu Ying said: "Tea stays." Xiao Yi had to go to the front of the desk to put tea, and Qiao Jing had already led Jing'er to retreat.

Xiao Yi put down the tea, didn't raise her eyes to look at Liu Ying, lowered her head to leave, Liu Ying grabbed her hand, and was grabbing the place where she was burned by the tea, she gasped in pain, Liu Ying went to see her hand, it was already red.

"Yi'er, are you burned?" Liu Ying looked at Xiao Yi nervously.

Xiao Yi still lowered his head and didn't say a word.

Liu Ying took her hand, sat down in front of the case, and said, "Don't be angry, do you want to listen to my explanation first, or do you want to give medicine to your hand first?" ”

Xiao Yi still didn't speak.

Liu Ying raised her hand, gently kissed the burned part, and said softly: "Compared with the heart, the heart hurts more seriously." Let me explain it first. Gently pulled Xiao Yi into his arms and said, "Qiao Jing is my distant cousin, and if the queen mother wants to consolidate the position of the Qiao family in the court, she must find a woman surnamed Qiao to marry me." Jing'er is my child, the grandson of my mother. There is also a princess Lin Long of Chu in the harem, who was originally going to marry my brother, but my brother encountered an accident, and Chu sent a princess to marry, so naturally she couldn't return it, so she gave it to me. Qiao Jing's entry into the palace is the meaning of the queen mother, I can't disobey, Lin Long's entry into the palace is the marriage of Song and Chu, and I can't disobey either. The only thing I can disobey is that I have never recruited any new people, nor have I established a successor. In the future, Liu Ying will be the successor of Xiao Yi, and we will also have our own children. I, Liu Ying, will live my whole life, and I only want to be with you Xiao Yi alone, and grow old together. ”

Xiao Yi raised his head and said with teary eyes: "I'm a little angry, but I'm not angry with you. Half of it is angry with itself, and the other half is angry with fate. I'm angry at myself for why I poisoned you, why I know that your life is short, but I can't help but give you my heart uncontrollably. If I hadn't waited until I had practiced that set of swordsmanship, and gambled that I could get out of the way after the assassination, I wouldn't have seen your children grow up to the age of reciting poems a few years earlier. ”

Liu Ying hugged Xiao Yi, "Yi'er, since we can't change the past, don't worry about it." I'm more troubled by how to make you my queen, and ......"

"What else?" Xiao Yi was curious.

Liu Ying said seriously: "Also, how to have our own children. ”

Xiao Yixiao punched him, then turned cold again, and said, "Maybe we shouldn't have children." ”

Liu Ying asked, "Why?" ”

Xiao Yi said: "There is no cure for Acacia Gu, when you died young, it was also the day I lost my life. If I have a child, I can't do it, I don't want the child to die with us, and I don't want him to be alone in this world. ”

Liu Ying said with a smile: "I don't think this Acacia Gu is as powerful as rumored. Look at me, how can I have a trace of poisoning? Maybe when we have a child, when he grows up, marries a wife and has children, will my lovesick Gu poison attack? Don't you want to have children then? ”

Xiao Yi choked up and said: "Acacia Gu poison, no matter how strong a person is, he can't survive a year." These yearnings only add to the sadness. ”

Liu Ying Zhengse asked: "Yi'er, if I can live for many, many years, until our children marry wives and have children, and live until our grandchildren can memorize poems and practice martial arts, are you willing to grow old with me?" ”

Xiao Yi wept and said, "Naturally, I am willing." ”

Liu Ying whispered: "If we have a long, long life, if I do something wrong, how many times will you be willing to forgive me in this life?" ”

Xiao Yi tilted his head and thought for a while, and said, "Once, only spare you once." ”

Liu Ying breathed a sigh of relief and said, "One time is enough." I've done a bad thing once in my life, and I did it to you. I don't ask you for forgiveness, but I ask me to make it up to you with the rest of my life. ”

Xiao Yi looked at him puzzled, not knowing what bad things he had done. Liu Ying smiled: "I'll tell you tonight, now I'll go to the medicine first." ”

Xiao Yixiao slapped him, feeling that he was laughing again.