The faint sunlight sifted in through the translucent emerald green curtain, and the brilliance was less bright and scorching, and more elegant and fresh. In the courtyard, the shiny leaves of several newly planted pomegranate trees cast shadows on the walls of the house through the window screens, and the blooming pomegranate flowers are exuding a curling fragrance, slowly filling the room with a soft warm breeze. I stared in amazement at the jar of simple apricot blossoms on the table, composed of five crystal-like petals, which bloomed silently on the branches, never showing off their beauty to the world.

Bai Ge sat in front of the small couch while embroidering on the handkerchief, shuttling back and forth between the silver needles and the glorious threads, and asked me in a low voice: "Little master, do you really mean that Concubine Yu Niangniang is coming over at this time?" After a while, he asked suspiciously: "Concubine Yu Niangniang doesn't want to win over the little master?" ”

I yawned and said, "Well...... I'm not sure, it's just my speculation," I turned my face and looked at the silver needle and color line in the white singer with interest, "Anyway, whether she comes or not doesn't matter to me, I've been wasting my time in the town." ”

Bai Ge said with a smile: "Recently, it is about to enter the middle of summer, the weather is very good, warm but not arrogant, the slave maid is trying to take advantage of the good time to do more needlework work, otherwise once it is in the middle of summer, it will be too late to do these jobs." ”

I asked, "Why?" ”

Bai Ge paused, raised her face and smiled at me and said, "The little master thinks that these jobs are for what they are for, all of them are to make thin summer clothes for the little master," she said, she lowered her eyes and gently stroked the half-embroidered patterns with her hand, "These patterns can't be a little sloppy, otherwise the queen mother will definitely use the topic to ridicule Jingren Palace." ”

I smiled, "whatever she does," and added, "I have enough summer clothes to wear at all, so I don't need to bother making any new ones." ”

Bai Ge hurriedly said: "That's not possible, this is the first year that the little master has just entered the palace, and he must not lower himself to others, otherwise the people in the palace will not pay attention to the little master." ”

I smiled and shook my head, "Then it's up to you," I thought about it, "eh", and asked curiously, "Isn't all the clothing and tailoring in the palace under the responsibility of the Department of Broadcasting and Storage of the Ministry of Internal Affairs?" ”

Bai Ge sighed: "The good little master of the slave and maid, the people in the House of Internal Affairs are naturally always stammering Lafayette and the concubine of the Emperor Dunyi, where is the good place to get our Jingren Palace first, and the mind will not be towards the little master at all, the clothes sent to Jingren Palace The slave and maid have also looked at it carefully, just because they don't make mistakes, if you want to think that the embroidery on the clothes is beautiful and meticulous, slightly better than others, in the end, the slave and maid have to do it themselves." ”

I said lightly: "You don't have to be superior, just look at it." ”

Bai Ge slowly stroked the complicated embroidery threads on his wrist, "No matter how you say it, the little master is also a concubine, and he is so favored by the emperor, he can't be too plain, otherwise, wouldn't he be faceless to the emperor in front of people?" ”

I lowered my head and stroked the shiny white jade bracelet on my wrist, thought for a while, and sighed lightly: "Your words are not unreasonable, even if I don't care about these façade things, but after all, I am also a person around the emperor, and I have to take care of the emperor's face when I go out." "Generally speaking, don't men pay the most attention to whether the dress of the women around them can add luster to themselves, Bai Ge's words reminded me firmly, besides, a middle-aged woman like Cixi, who likes to be extravagant about big things, maybe one day when she happens to see my simple and simple dress, she will think that I am deliberately taking the opportunity to be sarcastic to her, in this way, she will not hate me even more in her heart. The future will not be easy, so don't block yourself anymore.

Just thinking about it, I suddenly heard Gao Wanzhi outside whispering: "Little master, Niangniang is here." ”

I glanced at Bai Ge, she put down her work and got up to open the door, only to hear the door "squeak" softly, flashed in a woman wearing a brown and black cloak, long to the ground, with a purple brocade belt inlaid with jade around her waist, she gently lifted the hat on her head, revealing a Qibao coral hairpin inserted in her hair, a face is sickly, only her eyes are like water, but with a faint coldness, as if she can see through everything in the world.

I put up my shoes, slowly got up and saluted, and said with a smile: "Concubine Yu really kept the promise." ”

She smiled lightly: "I haven't been out of Chuxiu Palace for a long time, and I have walked more than half a day from the West Sixth Palace, and my body is really useless." ”

I waved my hand at Bai Ge and motioned for her to stay outside for a long time. Bai Ge understood, only came over to serve a cup of tea to Concubine Yu and quietly retreated. I was busy and let Concubine Yu sit again, "Niangniang's health is not good, she should be recuperating, but the slave inadvertently disturbed Niangniang's purity, and the slave should really be beaten." ”

Concubine Yu took a sip of the teacup, turned her head and looked me up and down, and said with a chuckle: "Since I saw Concubine Zhen in front of Chuxiu Palace yesterday, I know that Concubine Zhen is smart, and she is different from others, which suggests that Concubine Zhen wants to meet today," looked at me with a smile and continued, "What I saw today, this palace really didn't see the wrong person, and her vision has not regressed." ”

I said: "The slave is just speculating, Niangniang said that there will be a lot of rain, and the slave wants to appreciate the plum flower, the slave listens to the words and feels very strange in his heart, the plum flower is neither enchanting nor luxurious, the flower color has always been light, compared with many flowers and plants in the imperial garden, there is no value, and these days have been sunny sky, how can Niangniang know that there will be more rain recently, so the slave boldly guessed that Niangniang is to the twenty-four solar terms in the four rains corresponding to the three plum flowers to imply that the slave is going to visit at the time of a cycle, Therefore, the slave will sit quietly and wait for the mother today. ”

Concubine Yu smiled lightly and said, "I think Concubine Zhen should be even more worried about everything she saw in front of Chuxiu Palace yesterday, right?" ”

I shook my head and said with a smile: "The slave doesn't care, because the slave knows that Niangniang came today to inform the slave." ”

Concubine Yu asked, "What if the palace doesn't come today?" ”

I laughed, "That minion is supposed to have seen nothing yesterday." ”

Concubine Yu nodded, pursed her lips and said nothing, gently put down the tea cup in her hand, and slowly took out another rosewood box from her sleeve, which looked no different from the one I dug out under the wall of Chuxiu Palace yesterday, and handed it to me: "You take a look at this first." ”

I frowned and took it, looked at it a few times in the light, and hurriedly turned around and said, "Isn't this the one I dug under the wall yesterday?" After thinking about it, he slowly shook his head and said, "This is impossible, wasn't that side broken by Bai Ge?" ”

Concubine Yu smiled and said, "This is not the side that Concubine Zhen dug under the wall yesterday. ”

I became more and more confused, and my eyes were fixed on the wooden box in my hand, "Then this is ......"

Concubine Yu's eyes fell lightly on the wooden box, and she said in a light tone: "This is a gift from Empress Xiao Zheyi to this palace when she first entered the palace. ”

I was surprised, "What? ”

Concubine Yu's eyes lit up, "Originally, there was a night pearl in it, and at that time, Empress Xiao Zheyi said that it was a gift for the harem concubines, and the palace also accepted it with several others," After a while, Concubine Yu smiled helplessly, and said, "Actually, there are many such wooden boxes in the Chuxiu Palace of the palace, but they have all contained musk, and it is inconvenient to bring them over to the concubine today." ”

I listened more and more confused, "A lot? What's going on here? ”

Concubine Yu sighed softly, "Those wooden boxes...... Honguyahara was also the same as Concubine Zhen, and he was inadvertently dug out of the ground out of curiosity. ”

I pondered silently for a moment, and was so shocked that I felt that even maintaining a smile had become a difficult task, and I couldn't help but whisper, "How can there be such a large amount of musk in the Forbidden City?" ”

Concubine Yu's fingertips gently rubbed the embroidered patterns on the tablecloth, and said indifferently: "It's nothing to say, it's just a means of competing for favor in the harem." ”