The sun was shining brightly outside, and the golden sunlight shone through the palace surrounded by vermilion walls.

Zhaoyun was dressed in a bean-green embroidered crane pattern gown, a smoke-blue horse-faced skirt, and took Mingcui and the blue conch that had just risen from the third-class girl, and walked along the stone path to the Imperial Garden.

As soon as I turned around a rockery with strange rocks, I heard two excited female voices from behind another rockery not far away.

I wanted to continue walking, but from their mouths, Zhaoyun heard a familiar name, and hurriedly motioned for Mingcui and the others to stop.

"I heard that last night, there was a burglar in the imperial study." A bright voice rang out.

"Really? Did the thief catch it? Another voice asked curiously.

The thief was not caught, but the Wang guard, who was in charge of the imperial study, took the initiative to admit to the emperor the crime of dereliction of duty. Guess what happened? ”

''What?'' Oh, sister, don't sell it. Another voice asked eagerly.

"As a result, the emperor thoroughly checked the imperial study and found that nothing was lost. Isn't it funny, you say? As soon as he finished speaking, a silver bell-like laughter came.

"Is that Wang Dahua who is on duty in the imperial study stupid, he actually sent it to the knife edge by himself."

"Not really! This kind of person is a tendon. However, this is very strange. The bright voice was tricky again.

"I heard that last night, Wang Dahua fell to the ground while standing, and he didn't even feel it at all. When I woke up, I found that the door of the study had been knocked open by thieves. Isn't that strange, you think? ”

"It's really weird."

"What's even stranger is that the thief went to such great lengths to steal nothing. That's the most incredible thing. ”

"Perhaps, what did the thief steal that even the emperor didn't know?"

As soon as the words fell, they were denied by another voice. "How can there be something in this huge imperial study that the emperor doesn't know?"

Zhaoyun thought to himself, it seems that Luo Ye really didn't know the existence of those letters. Why did my father hide those letters in such a hidden place? And what exactly is written in the letter that makes Su Ziwei want to know so much?

The two little girls behind them looked at each other, and they both saw a touch of curiosity in each other's eyes.

"I heard that Duke Zhaoyun has mainly gone to the Western Wu Kingdom with his relatives, and he is really envious of others." The three of them heard the two maidens start whispering and talking.

"Yes, I had the privilege of meeting the messenger of Nasivu once, and he was as handsome as the legend says. I heard that recently, many famous ladies and nobles have sent people to wander in front of the post station where he lives, rushing to send worship posts, just to get the son to take care of it. ”

"Such a Zhilan jade tree-like character, it is said that he is humble and polite, not to mention that he is still the prince of the Western Wu Kingdom, if it were me, I would also like to make up for it."

Hearing this, Zhaoyun couldn't help but clench the five fingers in his sleeve, put his left hand into a fist in front of his lips, and coughed heavily.

The sound of discussion stopped abruptly, and the two figures turned out from behind the rockery in a panic. When he looked up, he saw the three people staring at them, and hurriedly saluted one after the other.

I saw that these two palace maids who chewed the root of their tongues were wearing pale pink palace clothes, and they looked very raw.

The taller palace maid on the left has a goose egg face, willow eyebrows, and good facial features. The palace maid on the right has a round face and a mediocre appearance, but she is full of excitement.

"Which palace are you from?" Zhaoyun looked at it and asked.

The palace maid with a round face bowed her head and replied, "We are the palace maids of Zhong Cui Palace. ”

After that flower-viewing banquet, Guo Yun'er, the daughter of the central waiter, and Murong Ruo, the daughter of the Hubu Shangshu, were both named concubines. If I remember correctly, Zhong Cui Palace was given to Guo Yun'er. Zhaoyun thought to himself.

"Then let me ask you, do you know what happened to the royal guard of the imperial study?" Zhaoyun looked at the round-faced palace maid and asked.

The palace maid thought for a moment, bowed and replied, "Listen to the little eunuch in the imperial study, the king guard was removed from his post on the same day, and he was punished with twenty rods, and it is said that he was transferred out of the palace." ”

After listening, Zhaoyun felt a little guilty and emotional in his heart. It's just that the city gate is on fire, and the fish in the pond are affected.

"You look like palace maids who have just entered the palace, didn't your teaching grandmother tell you the reason to say less and do more in the palace?" Zhaoyun admonished.

The two maidens buried their heads lower.

"Oh, my sister is really good at teaching people, so I got engaged, and it's really very different from before." Just then, a familiar but snarky voice remembered.

Everyone looked back and saw that the originally empty path was now full of people. And the one who just spoke out was An Zhi, who was walking in front, wearing a lilac-colored carved silk silk silk skirt and holding a Luo fan.

Walking behind was Murong Ruo, who was wearing a goose-yellow cardigan dress, followed by two women in palace clothes, who looked quite faced, presumably a new nobleman. Not far away, there were also a few palace maids with food boxes.

Zhaoyun glanced at it, smiled and saluted sideways.

"My sister is really joking, I just told these two palace maids a few words, and I can't talk about any lessons."

"Alright, I don't care if you're teaching them a lesson or not." An Zhi looked at the palace maid who was kneeling, shook the Luo fan in her hand casually, and said casually.

"According to me, these people who love to chew the root of their tongues should have their tongues chopped off, and then they should be speechless."

The two palace maids of the Zhongcui Palace immediately knelt down and looked at the ground with low eyebrows.

An Zhi took two steps forward, looked down at the tall palace maid kneeling on the ground, and spoke to her arrogantly.

"Lift my head up."

The palace maid slowly raised her head, revealing a beautiful face.

An Zhi bent down, stretched out her slender jade fingers coated with Kodan, pinched the palace maid's chin heavily, and sighed.

"Look at this pitiful beautiful face, it looks like a fox. I heard that a woman with this kind of skin is the most seductive to others, just like someone. As he spoke, he glanced at Zhaoyun with a squint.

Listening to this yin and yang weird words, pointing at Sang and scolding Huai, Zhaoyun frowned slightly.

I heard An Zhi then say in a strange manner, "I don't know what kind of heart Guo Guifei has, and she has such a palace maid by her side." ”

The speaker is intentional, and the listener is more intentional. When they heard this, they each had a little more of their own calculations in their hearts. Murong Ruo, who was dressed in a goose yellow palace suit, lowered his head and pulled the handkerchief in his hand slightly.

Zhaoyun secretly observed everyone's small movements, and smiled and said out loud.

"The dough is given by God, is it a sin to be good-looking? In my opinion, character is much more important than face. ”

After speaking, Zhaoyun said coldly to the two palace maids who were kneeling, "You have been lazy for so long to steal, why don't you hurry back?" If you delay your master's business, it is not so easy to be scolded. ”

As soon as the two palace maids of Zhongcui Palace heard that someone was relieving the siege, they hurriedly saluted and left in a hurry.

Looking at the two distant backs, An Zhi played with the slender five fingers painted with Kodan and sneered.

"Sister Zhaoyun is really kind-hearted. In my opinion, such a servant girl who can chew the root of her tongue behind her back and may flatter the lord should have her face cut, or simply expelled from the palace, so as not to be an eyesore. Mu Guifei, do you think what I said is right? ”

Murong Ruo, who was named, was stunned for a moment, and then hurriedly nodded in response.

An Zhi immediately smiled, using a persistent double-sided embroidered peony fan, lightly covering her upturned red lips, and looking at Zhaoyun Dao.

"It seems that Sister Zhaoyun also went to the Imperial Garden, which is really a coincidence. Now that the sun is just right, I heard that the peonies over there are blooming very well, why don't we go and enjoy the flowers together? ”

Zhao Yun agreed with a smile, but from An Zhi's apricot eyes exposed outside, he sensed a hint of calculation.

It's not easy to calculate her. Zhaoyun smiled secretly in his heart, and took Mingcui and Biluo to the imperial garden with everyone.

Behind the group, the roses on both sides of the path clinging to the flower wall and the gate quietly bloomed, and the flowers grew in clusters on the branches, but formed a scenery of "dense leaves and green hooves, pus flowers and red brocade".

"Look at how brilliant the roses on both sides of this road are, Sister Zhaoyun, do you think these are like beautiful faces that are proud of the spring breeze?"

Angel stepped forward and was about to pluck a blooming rose from the cyan vine.

The people who followed behind were about to speak out to dissuade them, when they heard An Zhi's soft shout.

"Who told people to plant this thorny flower here, and tomorrow I will have to get rid of it." An Zhi held the finger that had just been pricked and bloodied, and said hatefully.

Zhaoyun heard it, but he thought it was a little funny. These roses themselves have spikes, and they grow so well here that An Zhi has to touch them. How innocent this rose is.

The words came to his lips and turned around, and Zhaoyun stepped forward with a smile.

"What my sister said is, I don't like roses very much, and now I actually hurt my sister's jade body, it's really hateful. Although the flowers are beautiful, the vines are covered with thorns, so they can only be viewed from a distance and not blasphemed. It's better for my sister to send someone to remove these flowers in the afternoon. ”

"Really? Then I still think it's better to keep them. An Zhi glanced at the rose, turned around and walked straight away.

Zhaoyun, who followed behind, showed a triumphant smile on the corner of his mouth.

An Zhi has loved to disagree with herself since she was a child, and whenever she likes it, An Zhi will compete with her. This was true when I was a child, and it was the same when I grew up.

The group walked past a trellis full of roses, turned a hand-copying verandah and several rockeries, and arrived at the imperial garden full of peonies.

From a distance, peonies one by one compete for beauty. The jade smile is fragrant, graceful and luxurious, and the show is colorful. Everyone admired the flowers that were blooming brightly.

Zhaoyun lowered his head, stared at a delicate and full peony with overlapping petals, and frowned slightly.

The words that Qiu's mother once said came to her mind unconsciously. It was the chrysanthemums that were once planted in this imperial garden, so that when she fell to the ground, her mother would be told to the world?

The flowers are similar every year, but the people are different every year. Everyone only knows that the flowers are beautiful, but they don't know that the flowers are buried with the souls of the past.

Zhaoyun stretched out his hand and stroked a delicate peony, feeling the tender texture on the petals with his fingertips, looking at its water-cutting autumn pupils, but there was a faint sadness.

"I like this Wei Zi Peony very much." Zhaoyun's fluttering thoughts were instantly interrupted by An Zhi's voice.

A slender hand stretched out from behind him, and broke off the stem of the peony that was blooming brightly, and twisted it on the fingertips coated with Kodan.

"I heard the grandmother in the palace mention that Sister Zhaoyun's biological mother, Yun Guifei, loved this garden the most when she was alive, and when she was pregnant with her sister, she especially loved to come here to enjoy the flowers." An Zhi sniffed the Wei Zi peony she was playing with and mentioned it inadvertently.

Zhaoyun's five fingers hidden in his sleeve gradually closed, and his hidden nails pierced deeply into his palm. But her delicate face was not visible, and she smiled slightly.

"Really? I don't know very well, I guess I don't know as much as my sister. ”

The words are deliberately ambiguous, but there is something in the words.

As soon as the words fell, An Zhi's smiling face instantly became a little stiff, and she used peony to hide the weakness in her heart.

"Sister, look, the peonies not far away are blooming better than here, why don't we go there and take a look?" After An Zhisheng tore a petal off the persistent peony, she casually pointed over there.

Zhaoyun looked in the direction she pointed, and the small patch of peonies swayed in the wind. Wei Zi is already a top-grade peony, with layers of petals, and the blooming is huge and delicate. can be better than Wei Zi, that is really a few.

The peony An Zhi pointed to was planted on the edge of Qin Lake, and there was a row of weeping willows around it. Weeping willows blow the embankment, and in the distance, there are a few mandarin ducks in the water at the mouth of the arched bridge, stirring up ripples one after another.

Zhaoyun nodded and followed the crowd. Murong Ruo, who was walking aside, had a tangled and complicated look in his eyes.

Everyone stood on the embankment of the lake made of gravel, beside them the fragrant peonies, and in the distance the floating water surface was quite charming.

"Sister Zhaoyun, look at how happy those mandarin ducks are playing in the water, why don't we go in and take a look?" An Zhi pointed to the mandarin duck that was dragging the water not far away.

Looking in the direction she was pointing, Zhaoyun nodded, and the corners of his mouth curved slightly with a smile. The feather eyelashes drooped, hiding the coldness that flashed in her eyes.

She followed An Zhi and the others to the embankment not far from the arch bridge.

Everyone stood together, only to see the mandarin ducks sometimes leisurely leading their necks to hit the water, chasing and playing, and sometimes combing each other's gorgeous feathers with their beaks.

Zhaoyun stood on the outer edge, although he was following everyone to look at the mandarin ducks in the bridge cave, but Yu Guang kept paying attention to the surroundings.

"Look, the mandarin duck has buried its head in the water." The new nobleman wearing a peach-colored palace dress next to him exclaimed with a smile.

In the midst of laughter, An Zhi, who was not far away, quietly glanced at Murong Ruo, who was standing beside Zhaoyun.

Murong Ruo nodded slightly, and stretched out his right foot towards where Zhaoyun was standing, wanting to trip her. Unexpectedly, not only did he not hear the expected sound of falling water, but a sudden unbearable pain came from his ankle.

She hurriedly withdrew her right foot, but she didn't want to retract it too quickly, and she didn't stand firm and threw herself directly into Qinshui Lake. The consciousness in my brain was instantly overwhelmed by the surging water, and only a blank space remained.

The people who were watching the mandarin ducks only heard a "poof", and a goose-yellow figure fell into the lake in an instant, and the laughter stopped abruptly.

。