Early the next morning, Hai Changzai, who was in the same hospital, came over to invite Qingcheng to the main hall and greet Concubine Lu, the lord of Zhongcui Palace.

Cai You hurriedly waited for Qingcheng to dress carefully, and advised: "Little master, you and Master Lu used to be submersible, and they didn't have to be humble, so she couldn't care about anything. And now, she is a concubine and is in charge of the affairs of Zhong Cui Palace, you can look at your face more, don't be sullen and don't speak, so that people think that you don't want to see her. ”

Qingcheng pursed his lips and smiled, like a rose that bloomed in early summer, red and fragrant, and said, "Lu Gege is very well alike." ”

Cai You pursed his lips and said, "You forgot again, you are not allowed to call Lu Gege anymore, you have to be called Lu Concubine Niangniang." After a pause, he said: "Speaking in front of the master, there are many doorways, the little master should be careful and ponder, don't open your mouth and make mistakes." ”

Listening to her pure teaching, Qingcheng's heart was moved, and he said, "You can rest assured." After speaking, he put a new turquoise placket on his middle coat at the beginning of this year, put on flowerpot shoes, helped Ling Rong, and walked to the palace street with Hai Chang laughing.

After turning the half-length passage, I turned into the small yellow door and saw two little eunuchs waiting at the bottom of the steps.

Hai Chang said with a smile: "Su Chang and I came over to say hello to Concubine Lu's mother, and my father-in-law was tired of passing it on." ”

The little eunuch nodded and said: "The little master is unlucky, Master Lu went to Changchun Palace to ask the queen mother, I'm afraid it won't be until the time to return to the palace." Su Qingcheng secretly breathed a sigh of relief, and was about to turn back, but heard Hai Chang say: "Anyway, I'm out of the house, and the weather is good, it's better to go to the Imperial Garden, it's really boring to stay in the house." ”

The two of them went west, crossed the palace street, but more than 100 steps, they saw the eaves and pavilions hidden in the overlapping flowers and shadows, the summer breeze was warm, and the birds were singing and crying, which made people feel lazy and tired.

Hai Chang was leaning on the fake stone on his back, gently pinching a fan of colorful silk thread embroidered lady with a lacquer handle, covering half of his face, and his eyebrows and eyes were crooked: "I heard that Su Changzai's painting is good, I don't know if you can paint one for me when you are free?" ”

Qingcheng smiled slightly, "Hai Chang is joking, it's just a boudoir thing, and it can't be elegant, it's just a time to kill." ”

Hai Changzai put the fan on his chest and fluttered gently, and said with a smile: "You are also more modest, most of the women in the palace are illiterate, let alone poetry and painting, sometimes the emperor says something, we can't understand it." After a pause, a pair of bright eyes looked at Qingcheng, and said: "If you are not a Han flag coat, your family background is in front of you, and you will definitely be able to please the emperor." ”

While the two were talking, suddenly an attendant came with a high-five, and galloped away.

Qingcheng was frightened, and said in fear: "The holy car is coming, let's avoid it." ”

Hai Chang was smiling and said: "Seeing that you are afraid of being like this, it seems that you are going to worry when you bump into the emperor." We also have a grade, and if we bump into it, we will bump into it, and there is no need to avoid it. In this way, he looked from afar and searched for the trace of the holy car.

After a while, dozens of palace maids and eunuchs came from afar around a shoulder, and Qingcheng hurriedly lowered his eyebrows and lowered his eyes to avoid under the tree, bending his knees and waiting. The sound of boots came from far to near, and from near to far, but instead of coming this way, they turned into the bluestone path on the side and went all the way to the other side of the river.

Qingcheng straightened up, heard Hai Chang sighing, and said: "I can't see the emperor two or three times a year, and I finally bumped into him once, and I passed by." She glanced at Qingcheng and said, "You can hold your breath..."

It looked as if the orange had caused her not to see the emperor, and she went away angrily.

Back in the courtyard, Cai You was moving potted flowers under the porch, Ling Rong wanted to help, but Cai You said: "You don't care about this, first go and fetch water to wash the little master's face and change his clothes." Ling Rong scolded and said: "The people in the Internal Affairs Office are also too arrogant, they just threw the flower pots, and ran away without setting them up, and let us pick them up by ourselves every time." ”

Seeing that she didn't have a taboo, Cai You scolded lightly: "You speak carefully!" ”

Ling Rong shook her face and went down to fetch water.

Qingcheng entered the back room, changed his clothes, put on soft silk shoes, and saw that the lotus flower in the Jingdezhen pastel peony pattern long-necked bottle was still yesterday's, so he asked through the window: "Didn't you go to fold the lotus today?" ”

Cai You carried a pot of red and bright pomegranates in his hand, moved to the corner of the wall, and panted and said: "The emperor suddenly set up the imperial pool, and no one is allowed to approach, if the little master is in a hurry, the slave and maid will call someone to go at night." ”

Qingcheng groaned slightly, and said: "In the evening, I will personally go to fold it, enjoy the lotus flowers, and then pick some lotus pods by the way, and make a few pots of lotus seed tea to drink." ”

Cai You replied and asked, "Is the little master hungry, do you want the slave to go to the kitchen to get dinner first?" ”

Qingcheng took out the sewing box from the cabinet, took the colored threads in his hand and compared the warp and weft, and said casually: "If you are done, go ahead." For a while, Ling Rong fetched warm water, waited for Qingcheng to wash her hands and face, and after dinner, the three of them sat under the window and embroidered their purses with the soles of their shoes.

When it is time to hold the lamp, the sky is overflowing with a few rays of colorful glow at the end of the curtain, clear pink, purple and blue, like a dream. Gradually, even the last glimmer of light was hidden, the moon white hung over the cornices, and the stars in the sky were shining. The palace rules have always been strict, and every day at the end of the day, each palace and hall will be locked, and no palace people are allowed to move. Qingcheng didn't want people to know that she had gone to the Imperial Garden, so she acted extremely carefully, and she went to the secluded corner gate with Caiyou, and then ordered the little eunuch who was guarding the door, and Fang hurried to the Imperial Pool.

The summer breeze blows, the blue waves ripple, and the lotus flowers are still quiet and quiet under the translucent moonlight.

Cai You said: "Little master, you just have to watch from the shore, and the slave and maid can go and fold it alone." ”

Qingcheng nodded and said, "Be careful, you don't have to fold too much." ”

She looked at Cai You holding the boat canopy and hiding in the lotus leaves, and saw that there was no sound around, only the sound of frogs and insects, and remembered that when she was a child in her hometown in Suzhou, she had to enjoy the lotus flower with her father a few times every summer, and followed her mother to make lotus seed snacks a few times, and sometimes she would personally hold the penny as a lotus girl. Thinking of this, I couldn't help but recall the lotus picking song that my grandmother taught when she was a child, so I picked the lotus flowers near the shore while humming softly:

The little sister held the boat around the green lotus, and the elder brother sang the lotus song. A mood is heart-to-heart, and the mandarin ducks playing in the water are transparent and blue. ”

The pale white glow shrouded the green orange thinly, as if it had been covered with a light veil. She wore a plain white loose robe, because she had washed her hair in the evening, it was wet, even her hair was not curled, and her head was covered with green silk over her shoulders, like silk and forging, and it was as long as her waist. Her voice is soft and graceful, and it is a unique low chant and shallow singing of Suzhou Jiangnan women. She picked three or two pink lotus, held it in her arms and buried her face and sniffed deeply, the fragrance was fragrant, and she was intoxicated by the smell.

Suddenly, she heard footsteps coming, and before she could think about it, she instinctively turned her head to look, and the wind blew, and her hair fluttered all over her face. Sure enough, a man in a long robe stood in the moonlight and raised his voice and asked, "Who are you and what are you doing here?" ”