In the imperial garden, Yuan Xu wore civilian clothes, tied a feather crown, and commanded Liu Teng to arrange the banquet. Just because Pan Wailian said casually that day, I don't know what kind of mood it is to dine in the imperial garden, blowing the breeze, smelling the fragrance, and tasting the freshest mandarin fish. Yuan Xu wrote it down carefully, and early in the morning, he instructed Liu Teng to decorate the lake pavilion in the imperial garden with green curtains, supplemented by pearl decorations, surrounded by potted jasmine, peonies, and peonies.

The stone table in the pavilion is covered with a golden silk and purple forging tablecloth, and there are four dishes, there are fresh steamed mandarin fish, white jade and mandarin fish balls, these two dishes are just ordinary dishes, but one of the golden bright shrimp is fried with shrimp wrapped in mandarin fish roe, and there is a sweet soup of peach blossom lips drunk acacia, which is actually the peach blossom petals collected in March and April, and the pomegranate wine left in the next year is boiled mandarin fish lips. A soup is the lips of dozens of fish, and Pan Wailian is also particular about the fatness of the fish lips, and it can only be made by hundreds of fish to meet her requirements for a dish. Yuan Xu can be said to have worked hard to meet her needs, but it was even more extravagant, because the Empress Dowager Hu advocated frugality, so Liu Teng deliberately crossed the imperial dining room and opened a private passage to transport it into the palace. Arrange the general Xu, and saw Pan Wai come from afar, Yuan Xu happily helped his feather crown, and asked Liu Tengdao, "Gonggong Liu, what do you think of me today?" ”

Liu Teng said with a flattering smile, "The emperor's posture is dragon and phoenix, and his virtue is impeccable." ”

Yuan Xu smiled and said, "Father-in-law, you can know that the sages are incomparable, and now that the queen mother is the auxiliary government, I have no political achievements, how dare I talk about Yao Shun, but my father-in-law is a second." ”

Liu Teng pandered, "Yes, yes, the emperor reprimanded him." When the nobleman came, the old slave retreated, and the emperor called the slave when he ordered it. ”

Yuan Xu waved his hand to signal him to step back, then thought about it for a while, and ordered, "You go to the Jiafu Hall to wait, and by the way, send a fish to the queen mother, so that she can also taste fresh." ”

Liu Teng hurriedly said, "Your Majesty, this fish was privately obtained by the slave who crossed the imperial dining room, not to mention that the Queen Mother recently ate fasting and recited Buddha, that is, the Yellow River flood a while ago, the Queen Mother ordered the palace to be streamlined, and the slave can't afford to bear this crime." ”

Yuan Xu was about to answer, but he didn't expect Pan Wailian, who came over, to answer, "Your Majesty, what Gonggong Liu said is that the Queen Mother has always disliked Pian'er, if she knew that the emperor arranged it for Pian'er, wouldn't she punish Pian'er again." After speaking, he pretended to wipe away tears with a handkerchief.

Zi Xin hurriedly said, "Miss, you have been in poor health recently, and the imperial doctor told you not to be sad." ”

These words made Yuan Xu's heart ache, and he held his hand and comforted, "Why don't you tell me when you are sick, I will go to see you." You always like to think too much, and this disease comes from your overthinking. The queen mother is just because I am playing with you, and I am afraid that I will be frolicking in my studies, but it is not that she does not like you. ”

Pan Wai burst into tears and smiled, "The emperor will coax Pian'er, which makes Li'er's heart feel much better." ”

Liu Teng saw that the love between the two was getting stronger, so he lowered his head and waved his hand to let the left and right and Zixin retreat together, and waited fifty meters outside the pavilion.

Yuan Xu pulled Pan Wailian into the pavilion and pointed to the table full of dishes, "That day, you and I said that we would only eat in the room every day, but it was boring, and I was very envious of the deliciousness of mandarin fish. Today, I will let my private chef prepare your favorite for you, firstly, the Queen Mother has assigned too much homework recently, and I am a little flawless, and I have neglected you a little, and secondly, it can be regarded as a celebration for you to be my wife soon. ”

Pan Wai sighed quietly, "It is a blessing for Li'er to be able to marry the emperor, but in the future, the emperor will no longer be Li'er's alone, the emperor still has a queen, and there are so many concubines." In the future, grace is not even wet with rain and dew. If you want to look at the emperor by leaning on the door every day, you can't get out of the palace at this time, but you will keep the beauty of these days, and you will be lonely for the rest of your life. ”

Yuan Xu hurriedly held her shoulders tightly with both hands, his eyes were full of nervousness, and he said with a little urgency: "I won't let you out of the palace anyway, I don't love them, I only have you alone in my heart." It is a political marriage that the queen mother wants, not what I want, if you leave the palace, I will go with you, how can I let you die alone, I don't allow you to think cranky, what if you are sick again. ”

Pan Wai leaned into Yuan Xu's arms stupidly, and she lightly tapped Yuan Xu's lips with her fingers, "The emperor's mind is that Lian'er understands, but Lian'er is just worried that her family background is not good, and she doesn't have a father who is a pillar of talent, so she can only be bullied for her life, so she is sad." ”

Yuan Xu heard Pan Wailian say that he was bullied, but he didn't follow it, "You tell me that whoever dares to bully you in this palace will be dealt with by myself." ”

When Pan Wailian heard that the emperor was going to call the shots for her, she became even more coquettish, "Who else can there be, naturally it is Erzhu Ying'e, the daughter of the general of Qihu, who just met in the garden, and Li'er took the initiative to salute her, but she sneered and said that in the future, this feudal position will be above Li'er, and she turned around and left." After speaking, he began to sobble again, "Or is it because of Li'er's low family background, will there be a place in this palace in the future?" ”

Yuan Xu thought for a long time, and slowly remembered that he seemed to have seen this name on the roster, "I know, rest assured that I will make decisions for you, and let her go back when the time comes." ”

Pan Wailian nodded with satisfaction, stopped complaining, turned to a tender face, smiled and fed a piece of fish meat into Yuan Xu's mouth, Yuan Xu said while eating, "When you finish eating, I will take you to the lake to row a boat to pick lotus roots, and I saw that the little eunuchs dug a lot that day, which was very fun." ”

Although Pan Wailian didn't like to work and didn't want the sludge to stain his dress, he didn't want to go against his will when he saw Yuan Xu's excitement, so he pretended to be happy and expectant.

Ying'e had just returned to her dormitory when she saw a woman in the hall who was about thirty years old and looked like a peach blossom. She is wearing a goose yellow skirt, the skirt is embroidered with apricot blossoms, a light green ribbon around the waist is embellished with a few pearls, combing the clouds near the fragrant bun, the hair bun is obliquely inserted with an apricot blossom jasper hairpin, wearing a pair of tassel pearl earrings, when standing quietly, if the noble of the cold plum, the action is like the flow of the nebula, although there is no fragrant jade face, but it is also a peerless independent Yiren. Seeing Ying'e enter the door, she smiled kindly, and half-squatted, "Miss Erzhu, the Queen Mother sent a slave to invite you to the Jiafu Hall for dinner." ”

Ying'e asked tentatively, "Are you Aunt Yuling?" ”

The woman nodded and smiled, "The slave maid is Yu Ling, whether Miss Erzhu is going with the slave maid now, or do you want to dress up, the slave maid can go back to report to the Queen Mother first." ”

Ying'e hurriedly waved her hand and said hurriedly, "But I don't dare to let the Queen Mother wait for a long time, I am still familiar with the etiquette in the palace, but I don't know if the current appearance is okay, if not, bother Aunt Lao to give me some advice." ”

Yu Ling said with a smile, "The Queen Mother ordered that this time it was just a family affair with the nobles, but it didn't need to be too grand, for fear of detaining the nobles." Miss Erzhu's body is excellent, casual and naturally unpretentious, and the Queen Mother also loved to dress like this when she was young. ”

Ying'e breathed a sigh of relief when she heard this, "My father said that Aunt Yuling has been with the Queen Mother for a long time, and what she said is all good words, and my aunt praised Ying'e like this, Ying'e is not afraid." Sai Wan, go and bring the hundred-year-old white ginseng in the drawer next to my pillow, and we will go with my aunt, I wonder if my aunt will inform the other sisters. ”

Yu Ling replied with a smile, "Today, the Changqiu Palace only called the young lady, and the young lady set off with the slave maid." ”

Sai Wan carefully held the ginseng and followed Yu Ling and Ying'e to the Jiafu Palace, Yu Ling looked at Ying'e's slight nervousness, comforted her all the way, and told her little by little about the Queen Mother's leniency, and gradually Ying'e's palms no longer sweated.

Jiafu Hall is in the northeast corner of the palace, the location is not where the main palace is, and it is far away from the Anle Hall where the Empress Dowager Feng lived, but it is quietly hidden in the north corner of the palace in a group of gold lacquer vermilion tiles carved with dragons and phoenixes. The queen mother, who had just entered the palace that year, was jealous of Gao Ying, so she arranged to live in the furthest dormitory from the Xuanwu Emperor Yuan Ke Yong'an Palace. After Empress Dowager Hu was favored and pregnant, Yuan Ke specially built a new palace Pujia Palace to protect the safety of mother and child to give birth. The Jiafu Hall was renovated, and the peach and plum in the hall were replaced by proud peonies to show the respect of the Queen Mother.

Under the guidance of Yu Ling, Ying'e entered the main hall where Empress Dowager Hu lived, and through a screen of Luo Shenfu, she saw a woman like Luo Shen walking towards her with a smile on her face, and Ying'e was stunned by the beauty of this woman. But I saw that her green silk was bundled into a bun of smoke hibiscus, with six pearl white jade peach blossom hairpins inserted behind her, and she wore a turquoise gilt white crane title fairy grass hairpin in the bun, wearing a light purple skirt that dragged the floor, obliquely draped with a layer of butterfly wearing flower tassel yarn, the waist was tied with a palace silk phoenix-shaped white jade ring, and the white wrist was a string of ten thousand Buddha clams. Yu Ling took the lead in saluting the woman, "Back to the Queen Mother, Er Zhu Ying'e came to meet the Queen Mother." ”

Ying'e was stunned and couldn't turn her eyes from the beauty of the Empress Dowager Hu, her eyebrows were like distant mountains and stars in her eyes, her skin was like a snow lotus with spring in her lips, her wrists were goose fat and light yarn, and she stepped out of the mortal dust with a slender step.

Seeing that she was distracted, Sai Wan called softly, "Miss, salute quickly." ”

Ying'e woke up from a trance, knelt on the ground with a bang, completely forgot the court etiquette, and actually performed a Buddhist salute to the Empress Dowager Hu, which made the Empress Dowager Hu laugh, and ordered Yu Ling to help her up, beckoned her to come to her side, took her hand and asked softly, "Does this knee hurt?" The mourning family is not Guanyin, how can you afford the gift of your little girl to visit the Buddha? ”

Ying'e listened to the voice of the Empress Dowager Hu's eyebrows, and couldn't help but add a little bit of love for beauty in her heart, she knew her gaffe just now, and explained generously, "When Ying'e saw the Queen Mother, she suddenly forgot that she was in the palace, and the Queen Mother's demeanor was like a god, which made Ying'e feel that this was not a mortal, this is the century-old white ginseng that my father asked me to bring to the Queen Mother, which was dug by my father himself." After speaking, he took the ginseng from the Sai Wan hand and held it to the Queen Mother with both hands.

When the Queen Mother heard her say this, she covered her mouth and pointed at Ying'e and smiled at Yu Ling, "This girl's clever mouth is for the use of the mourning family, the mourning family is more than thirty people, where is there still a fairy-like demeanor, but an old woman, quickly accept this ginseng, it just happens that the mourning family has been unwell for a few days, and the imperial doctor said that it should be more nourishing." ”

Yu Ling instructed the palace maid to take the ginseng while taking the ginseng road, "Often we say that you don't believe it, that we are used to pandering to this horse, but now a little girl who doesn't know the world has told the truth, but you still don't believe it, it's really getting harder and harder to serve." ”

The Queen Mother smiled, "Okay, but don't make people laugh anymore, Yu Ling, let Fanyi and Mingxiang come over after the dishes are finished." ”

The Queen Mother took Ying'e's hand and asked her to sit on her right side, and greeted Ying'e while waiting for someone, "Your father is good, how is your mother's health, you enter the palace alone, what is not used to it, if you need it, let Yuling help you add it." Ying'e replied one by one, courteous and polite.

After a while, two little girls who were also about ten years old came in from outside the door, one on the left was like a full moon, and the other was dignified, and the one on the right was slightly immature, shy and weak, and the two saluted the Queen Mother, and the Queen Mother said to Ying'e, "The one on the left is Hu Fanyi, the niece of the mourning family, and the niece of the same clan of the mourning family, Hu Mingxiang, is now living in the Jiafu Hall with the mourning family, and it is also a comfort for the mourning family to not go home for so long, and they don't feel lonely when they look at their relatives." ”

Ying'e hurriedly stood up and saluted them, because she knew that this Hu Fanyi was the queen chosen by the Queen Mother, and Hu Mingxiang's position would not be too low.

After the two returned the gift to Ying'e, Hu Fanyi said to the Queen Mother, "Yesterday, I knew that the Queen Mother was going to banquet Sister Erzhu, Fanyi thought about it for a long time and wanted to add Sister Erzhu a gift, and there was no shortage of ordinary objects for my sister, so I made up a silk and gave it to my sister to hang a ring on." After speaking, he took out a palace silk from his sleeve and handed it to Ying'e in person.

Ying'e hurriedly got up to thank her, annoyed that she was not thoughtful, "Thank you sister, Ying'e didn't know that she would see her sister today, she didn't bring it with her, and she will send it in person tomorrow." ”

The Queen Mother was happy to see the two talking with each other, look at the silent Hu Mingxiang, I only heard the clansmen say that this girl is outside the Huizhong, but after entering the palace, she is so afraid of life, the Queen Mother does not dare to expect her to assist Fanyi, and she thinks for a long time that Ying'e is the best candidate among these nobles to be sealed, so she gathers for this banquet. The Queen Mother scooped a spoonful of each of the three of them in the recent Jinyu Mantang, but she didn't eat it, and looked at the three children with a smile.

After the meal was over, the Queen Mother wanted to leave the three children to talk. The chamberlain Bai Cheng came to report that Qinghe Wang Yuanyi had an important matter to meet the Queen Mother, Ying'e and others got up to say goodbye, and when they went out of the gate of Jiafu Palace, they saw a handsome man in court clothes in the cloister with a tall posture and elegant steps, I used to think that my father's appearance was rare in the world, but I didn't expect to see a more handsome man than my father today, Ying'e couldn't help but say to Sai Xuan, "I saw King Qinghe today, and I can't see other men anymore." Sai Wan didn't answer, only glanced at Yuan Yi in a hurry, then lowered her head and continued to follow Ying'e to Changqiu Palace.