Qingcheng calmed down and went to the warm pavilion to greet the Queen Mother. The Queen Mother was crooked on the kang smoking hookah, and the noble concubine took off her cloak and knelt in front of the pedal to serve, whispering interesting things, which caused the Queen Mother to laugh repeatedly. The ground was covered with a thick vermilion longevity boundless embroidered carpet, and the fire dragon was burning hot, as warm as late spring.

Qingcheng knelt down and bowed, and said, "The concubine asks the queen mother for peace." ”

The room was bright, the pale white smoke was wafting away, and the smile on the face of the Queen Mother was still unfinished, and she said, "Get up." ”

Qingcheng stood respectfully on the side, and the Queen Mother did not give her a seat, so she stood quietly. I only heard the noble concubine Ying's voice say: "The concubine used madder and Ziqing to make two kinds of rouge, I originally wanted to make it for fun, but I didn't want the color to be excellent." He wrung out the juice again, washed it all, and steamed it into a paste with flower dew. Today, I picked a little bit of a hairpin and put it on my cheeks, which was ruddy and clear, and it was better than the tribute outside. ”

She smiled happily: "The concubine thought of the Queen Mother in her heart, so she brought a box. As he spoke, he opened the porcelain jar with agate pastel peony pattern and presented the crystal clear magenta paste inside to the Queen Mother.

The Queen Mother straightened up, put down the copper phoenix hookah, picked a little with her index finger, wiped it evenly on the back of her hand, and said with a smile: "It's really bright and moist, but it's a pity that the mourning family is old, and they are not happy to be pink from time to time." ”

The noble concubine said coquettishly: "The queen mother is well maintained, and her hands are more tender than the concubines..."

The Queen Mother was happy to hear this, and said with a smile: "You little mouth, you can really coax people." ”

Qingcheng listened to them talk and laugh, talking about homely gossip, and her thoughts flew very far. When she was a child, she lived at her uncle's house temporarily, and sometimes served her grandmother in the backyard wing room to eat shisha. The room was cold and dark, with a faint smell of moss. The mother sat on the kang and beat her grandmother's back, talking about some trivial things between the concubines, and the small and fragmented voices, she listened to them and fell asleep. The flower branches were blown by the wind outside the window, and the mother's voice seemed to come from the mountains and rivers, rippling leisurely, as if in a dream.

After more than half an hour, the Queen Mother seemed to think of Qingcheng, she finished smoking the hookah, she felt very tired, and said: "Su Guiren." ”

Qingcheng hurriedly agreed, and the Queen Mother said again: "The mourning family is tired, you can go back." ”

Qingcheng knelt down and bowed, retreated and went out, and saw the noble concubine get up in the afterglow, and another palace person stepped forward to help him. When she reached the threshold, she turned and walked down the stairs.

Hai'an was already frozen and stiff, and when she saw Qingcheng coming out, she hurriedly shook off her cloak and tied it for her. The dark clouds were deep, gloomy and dull to hide the sun, Qingcheng looked at the roof of the imperial city, and said, "God can become really fast." ”

Hai An said: "Yes, it is estimated that it will snow again at night." ”

The two of them helped out of Shoukang Gate, walked along the Yongdao for a while, and then turned into the sandwich road, and went straight to Gong Street.

The emperor returned to the Yangxin Palace, approved the recitals, practiced martial arts in the cloth storeroom, bathed and changed clothes, and then went to the Hongde Hall to speak. Because it was the time of the New Year, the court affairs were a little leisurely, and the ministers were also tired. At the beginning of the day, he went to Xinuan Pavilion to change his clothes, and he was about to eat a snack. He was tired from wrestling with his courtiers in the afternoon, and was very hungry, and when he saw that there were many pastries on the table, he asked, "Do you have any porridge from last night?" ”

Wu Shulai buzzed in his head, and he didn't care about being scolded, so he stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, last night's red bean stalk rice porridge was not made in the imperial dining room. After a pause, he didn't dare to look at the emperor's face, buried his head lower, and said in fear: "It was sent by Su Guiren." ”