When the emperor stepped down the steps, he saw the eldest princess sleeping sweetly on Wei Wan'er, her figure was lonely, and she suddenly felt endless pity in her heart. He asked, "When did the eldest princess come?" Wu Shulai replied respectfully: "Long live Lord Qiyu, the eldest princess came with Wei in the morning, and she has been waiting for a day. The emperor bowed his head slightly and said, "Let the two of them go to the pavilion to meet them." ”

Wu Shulai said: "It's getting late, long live the Lord is tired for a day, you should go to bed early, it's better to be tomorrow..."

The emperor didn't bother to pay attention to him, and he didn't even have the heart to reprimand, so he walked away. Wu Shulai was stunned, swallowed the remaining half of the words into his stomach, glanced at the little eunuch beside him, and shouted in a low voice: "Can you hear the words of the Long Live Lord?" ”

The little eunuch said stupidly and bluntly: "I heard it." ”

Wu Shulai raised his hand and waved, bared his teeth and grinned: "Little rabbit cub, since you heard it, why don't you pass it on quickly?" The little eunuch came back to his senses, said "yes" a few times, and crawled to the side hall to invite someone.

The pavilion is paved with gold bricks that are more than a foot wide, cold and bright, and the candlelight fireworks are shining. In the middle of the night, all the ice in it had melted away and turned into ice water for Qinglingling. The emperor changed his bedclothes behind the screen, and was washing his face and hands, when he heard a little eunuch say under the corridor: "Long live the eldest princess and Wei agreed to see you." ”

The emperor stretched out his hand, and his own palace people took a soft towel to wipe the water for him, and quietly retreated. Wu Shulai gestured outside, and the palace people passed down the corridor layer by layer, and a eunuch led the eldest princess and Wei Wan'er in. The emperor was already sitting firmly on the kang and said to the two: "No need to salute, Min Yue, you sit next to Huang Ama." ”

Min Yue is the name of the eldest princess, and after Queen Daxing fell ill, she never heard anyone call again. At this time, the emperor said mildly, and his heart, which was originally throbbing and resentful, immediately calmed down.

She timidly walked up to the emperor and bent her knees and shouted softly: "Emperor Ama is auspicious." ”

When the emperor saw that she knew etiquette and observance, he remembered more and more that it was rare for Empress Daxing, who was a child raised by everyone's ladies, and could remain dignified and cautious at all times. The emperor said softly, "I heard that you are sick? ”

The eldest princess lowered her face and shook her head, and said, "My daughter is fine, Huang Ama doesn't have to worry." She was so sensible that the emperor felt more and more guilty, so he said: "It's the emperor who is not good, the court is too busy, and he didn't take good care of you." The eldest princess said: "Huang Ama is a holy monarch who benefits the people of the world, and her daughter is the eldest princess of the Qing Dynasty, so she doesn't dare to complain." She pursed her lips, hesitated for a moment, and said: "These days, Wei promised to take care of her daughter in Changchun Palace, and with her by her side, her daughter is very good." ”

Only then did the emperor glance at Wei Wan'er, she was standing under the lamp, her face was pale, and her dress was very simple. She deliberately didn't dress up carefully, only a layer of light powder was smeared on her face, and the palace robe was also the old clothes from last year, and her face was soft and frightened.

She said: "It is a blessing for a slave to be able to take care of the eldest princess." ”

The emperor just saw her taking a nap with the eldest princess, and he already had a good impression, so he said, "Flat." Wei Wan'er thanked her, stood quietly on one side, and said nothing more. The emperor and the eldest princess talked for a while, and at the end of the child's time, the eldest princess knelt down and retired. The next day, the Ministry of Internal Affairs passed on the holy decree, Jin Wei promised to be Wei Changzai, and gave the word "Ling", which was taken from "Rugui Ruzhang, Lingwen Lingwang" in the "Book of Songs, Daya", which means "beautiful and kind as jade".

When the queen heard the news, she felt worried in her heart, and she was furious and smashed several pieces of porcelain in the dormitory. Thanks to Concubine Shun's soft words of relief for most of the day, Fang gradually breathed a sigh of relief. When the matter reached Qingcheng's ears, she was stunned at first, and then thought that the emperor did not come to Yikun Palace last night, and said that there was a territory urgent, thinking that the emperor deliberately hid her, so she sulked and was unhappy all day.

When the lamp was in charge, the emperor dispersed, so he didn't have to talk about it, and he didn't even use dinner. Staying by Qingcheng's side is the most comfortable and leisurely for him, and when he left the Heart Cultivation Palace, he came straight to Qingyunzhai. Qingcheng fiddled with a pot of Junzi orchid under the lamp, and the emperor tiptoed behind her, wrapped his arms around her waist, rested his chin on her shoulder, and said affectionately: "What to eat later, I am very hungry." ”

Qingcheng held a delicate enamel watering can in his hand, and while pouring water into the basin, he said: "Yesterday, Wei Chang was here... No... Sleeping in the waiter? The emperor swayed from side to side, seemingly careless, but in fact he understood very well. He said: "Ling Chang has a merit in taking care of the eldest princess, and I will reward her as a show of favor." Why, you're going to be jealous too? Qingcheng didn't give up, and said, "What are you jealous of?" I'm not jealous. Since it is only "to show grace", why is it still given a name? ”

If you want to talk about poetry and discourse, she also knows it very well.

The emperor smiled, tilted his face to kiss her earlobe, and said, "What eyes?" But I just turned to that page..."Qingcheng threw away the small watering can, turned around and said, "I don't care, I don't like her anyway, you are not allowed to lift her sign." The emperor smiled and said, "I'm starting to be jealous again." Qingcheng said: "I'm not jealous, which Chang Zai in the palace is famous, and Ling Chang Zai can be regarded as the first one." The emperor said: "I am worried about her low status, and I want to take care of the eldest princess, but I have more than enough heart but not enough strength." He pinched Qingcheng's cheek again, and still smiled: "I see that the older you get, the more you want to dominate me, and you will not be forgiving at all." ”

Qingcheng twisted his brows and said: "You are the emperor of Yongzhang Yongjiao'er, and you are my reliance in the next life, I don't care, anyway, I just don't like Ling Changzai, I don't like anyone, and you are not allowed to like it." ”

The emperor half-hugged her, rubbed her shoulder, and coaxed: "Okay, okay, if you don't like it, I don't like it, okay." Qingcheng smiled slightly and said, "Okay, don't regret it." The emperor stretched out his long arms, hugged her in his arms, rubbed the top of her head, and said, "No repentance, no repentance." After a pause, he jokingly asked, "Can you eat late now?" ”

When Wu Shu came to enter Yikun Palace, he told Er Qi about preparing early and late. Er Qi was right, and before the emperor's words were finished, she stood outside the curtain and asked: "Master, it has been prepared later, should you set the table immediately, or wait a while?" The emperor was so hungry that his chest was pressed against his back, and when he heard the word "late", he couldn't hold it back, and said, "Pass the meal." ”

Erqi agreed, and sent a stack of orders to the kitchen.

After a little late, the emperor was full of food and drink, and when he heard Qingcheng say that he wanted to bathe, he had to wash his dead face together. The palace people prepared two wooden barrels of hot water for the bathhouse, and Qingcheng loosened the emperor's clothes, wanting to wait for him to wash first, and then wash himself. But the emperor refused, and poured her wet, and turned her into his bath.

There were partitions at both ends of the bathtub, and the two sat on the partitions facing each other, and the surroundings were steaming, and the emperor had long feet, stretched out his feet and teased Qingcheng. Qingcheng refused to do so, and played and made trouble like a child, but fortunately it was hot in summer and did not feel cold. Tossing and turning, they were still hugged by the emperor, and the two gnawed their lips and made a sound.

The emperor's movements in the water were deeply interesting, and he became more and more interested, and the more he exerted himself. Qingcheng knelt on the horizontal board on both knees, only to feel that the tip of his heart was about to be swept out by the emperor.

Wei Wan'er was rewarded, and the next day she went to the Heart Cultivation Hall to thank her, but the emperor had a lot of affairs and did not summon him.

She went to Jingren Palace to greet the step-queen again, and the step-queen smiled coldly, gritted her teeth and said: "Don't think that I don't know the idea you played, and if you want to fight with me, you are still far away." What you said to the eldest princess, I can guess it, you must have said that you want to seek revenge on me, so she is willing to help you. But don't be wrong, the eldest princess will get married soon, and at that time, see who can speak for you. You—can't escape my palm! ”

Wei Wan'er trembled, as if she was extremely scared, she said: "Queen Mingjian, the slave didn't think about anything, and didn't say anything to the eldest princess, but she happened to have an opportunity yesterday and won the emperor's favor." It was the slave maid who gave the queen of Daxing ecstasy, how dare the slave and maid talk about this with the eldest princess? It's just that he took care of the old friendship between master and servant, so he took care of the eldest princess, and the emperor also thought of this, so he was promoted to the position of slave and maid. If you don't believe me, you can go and ask the worship room, the slave didn't even have a bed yesterday. ”

She said it with a reasoned and well-founded message, and people had to believe it.

Concubine Shun glanced at Empress Ji and said, "This is not a lie, I asked Li Yu." ”

Empress Ji eased her tone and said to Wei Wan'er: "I have remembered all the things you have done for me in the past, and I have always wanted to recommend you to the emperor, but I don't have a good time." Wei Wan'er pushed the boat down the river and said: "Let the queen mother bother, the slave and maid are grateful to Dade, and only the queen mother is the head of the horse for eternity." The step-queen did not believe her words, but said: "This is very good, I will not forget your benefits." He said, "Okay, I'm tired, you kneel down." ”

Wei Wan'er didn't even dare to raise her head, knelt down, but retreated.

Yongzhang had free time that day, so he called the eldest brother, the fourth elder brother, the fifth elder brother, and the sixth elder brother to visit the eldest princess in Changchun Palace together. Several brothers and sisters live together in the Forbidden City, but they haven't been together for many years. Changchun Palace is rarely lively, and the eldest princess is also happy, so she ordered the kitchen to prepare a large table of meals and drink happily. She raised her glass to Yongzhang and Yongying in a dignified manner, and said: "I was too naïve that year, thinking that I could win the love of Huang Ama by biting Jiao'er's dimple, it was a big mistake, I sincerely apologize to you, as well as Jiao'er, and Chun Niangniang." In the past, Chun Niangniang treated me very well, and she was separated from me for this matter. ”

Yongying got up and said generously: "Let the past pass, you know it's wrong, it's okay, Yongying will still call you eldest sister in the future." The eldest prince took the initiative to act, tears flowed, crying and laughing: "Okay, good, good, the little fart of Yikun Palace, Yongying, has grown up." She did it all, revealing the arrogance of the Manchu children, and even Yongzhang drank a cup with her. The six brothers and sisters played, and they were as close as they were when they were children, running around the banquet, you pushed me to drink, and finally released the suspicions.

As soon as Empress Daxing's mourning period passed, the emperor instructed Fu Heng to choose a husband for the eldest princess. Fu Heng cherished the eldest princess in his heart, and since he inquired from all sides, he studied everything carefully, and carefully selected it from the character, appearance, and family background, but he had not yet made up his mind. Fortunately, the eldest princess is still young and not too anxious. The queen mother was in the heat, had a headache and chest tightness, and after the queen was pregnant and couldn't serve in front of her, the emperor asked Qingcheng to live in Shoukang Palace for a few days to fulfill her filial piety.

Qingcheng was still very scared at first, but after two days, she felt that there was not much difference between the queen mother and the old lady next to her, it was nothing more than that the shelf was a little bigger, there were more rules, and she didn't pay much attention to food and clothing.

Yongzhang Yongying's daily greetings were changed to Shoukang Palace.

The Queen Mother was very happy when she saw her grandson, holding the hands of the two of them and talking for a long time, even eating was more fragrant. In less than half a month, the queen mother's illness was cured, and the emperor came to pick up Qingcheng and return to Yikun Palace. The Queen Mother is sitting in the pavilion eating Er Qi's special tribute rose cheese, which is obviously the same ingredient, but the taste made by the chef of Yikun Palace is different. Qingcheng secretly asked Erqi: "What kind of method did you use?" I think the Queen Mother likes it very much. ”

Er Qi said in a low voice: "There is no trick, the Queen Mother likes sweets, I asked the cook to put half a spoonful of rock candy." ”

The emperor greeted the queen mother and said with a smile: "Does the emperor have a good appetite today?" ”

The grandmother beside the Queen Mother smiled and said: "Okay, thanks to the pure master, everything prepared is in line with the Queen Mother's wishes." The emperor felt that he was listening, and said with a smile: "It's not that I praise her, in the harem, only Qingcheng is the most attentive to the meal, and the most ingenious." "The Queen Mother didn't treat herself very well in the first place, so she was so self-selling and boasting, wouldn't it make people more and more annoying? Qingcheng glanced at the emperor lightly, and said: "The queen mother was bored just now, so the emperor might as well accompany her to play the Huizi finch card." ”

The emperor hurriedly said: "Huang Eniang, let's play the finch card, okay?" ”

The Queen Mother said: "How can the three of us fight?" Qingcheng smiled and said, "The eldest princess hasn't come to Shoukang Palace for a long time to ask for peace, right?" I remember she could play finch cards, and although her skills were not good, we were just trying to have fun, whether we won or lost. The emperor knew that Qingcheng deliberately wanted to carry the eldest princess in front of the queen mother, so he glanced at her with a smile, took her hand, and said, "You think very well." ”

The two of them are affectionate, the queen mother knows, otherwise the emperor would not have specially arranged for the pure concubine to serve the sick, so he didn't do anything, and said with a smile: "Then go and pick up the eldest princess, the mourning family may not have seen her for a long time." ”

The little eunuch received the order and slipped away, but after half a pillar of incense, the eldest princess came to Shoukang Palace.

She bowed respectfully, obviously her own Huang Ama and Huang Grandma, but she was as if she was a stranger, cramped and uneasy. Qingcheng patted her hand and said, "Did you bring a silver horn?" The eldest princess was startled, her black eyes were as frightened as an injured little mouse, and she said, "What, do you still want to bring silver horns?" I'll go back and get it..."

The emperor had already ordered someone to go to the Heart Cultivation Hall to get half a purse, grabbed a handful of it, and said, "If you don't bring it, it's the same if you take Huang Ama." The eldest princess took it with both hands, and wanted to bend her knees to thank her, Qingcheng said: "Even if you have fun with the Queen Mother, you can also let go." ”

The eldest princess glanced at Qingcheng and nodded, but in fact she was still very restrained.

The emperor sat in the queen mother's hand, Qingcheng sat in the emperor's hand, and the eldest princess sat next to Qingcheng, four people at a table, but there was some joy and harmony. It's just to embarrass the emperor, one will let the queen mother, one will let the green orange, he is not a card, purely to accompany the play.

Near noon, the Queen Mother was tired and withdrew from the table. There weren't many silver horns left in the emperor's purse, and they all appreciated the palace people who were waiting in front of him. On the contrary, the eldest princess won a lot, and the queen mother praised her for being smart, and pulled her to ask questions, and kept her for dinner.

The eldest princess was flattered, how could there be any reason to refuse.

The emperor wanted to take Qingcheng back, and said with a smile: "The emperor's illness is cured, and I am relieved." The Queen Mother is a clear-eyed person, and she helped her grandmother to walk into the bedroom, while saying: "You are also hungry, go back." Qingcheng knelt down, the emperor helped her onto her shoulder, and the two returned to Yikun Palace together.

After entering Qingyunzhai, Qingcheng waited for the emperor to change his clothes, and complained: "You took me back in such a hurry, as if I was not willing to serve, and I don't know what the Queen Mother thinks." The emperor smiled at her, held her face, and said, "You have lived in Shoukang Palace for half a month, and I can't talk to you much, I miss you." Because I thought about it, I was in a hurry to take her back to Qingyunzhai, and even regretted that Qingcheng shouldn't be allowed to serve.

Hai'an's head hung low, and he didn't hear what he was doing.

Qingcheng unscrewed the gold buttons for him, smoothed the folds of the cuffs at the corners of his robe, and said angrily: "I have met every day, what is there to think about?" The emperor wrapped his fingertips around her and said with a smile: "Even if we meet every day, I still want to." ”

The two talked about themselves, and Erqi had already set the table and invited the two to dinner. After the meal, the little eunuch of the Hongde Hall came to ask for a ride, and the emperor didn't even have time to sleep in the afternoon, so he went in to speak.

In order to avoid the loneliness of the eldest princess, the emperor made a decree to let Ling Changzai move into the courtyard of Changchun Palace to accompany him. The emperor was interested in the eldest princess, and every few days when he passed by the Changchun Palace, he would go in specially to sit down. Ling Changzai is very good at seizing opportunities, and from time to time he will invite the eldest princess to talk and take care of food and clothing. The emperor saw her intentions, and it didn't take long for him to make her a nobleman.

made the nobleman coerce the eldest princess as a backer, and it turned out to be prosperous. Following the queen's approaching enemy, she worries day and night that Wei Wan'er will one day turn her hands into clouds and her hands into rain. Then he announced Concubine Shun and plotted in the dormitory, how to get rid of it quickly.

The emperor planned to take Qingcheng to Chengde Palace for summer vacation, but Yongzhang Yongying did not bring it, the emperor thought that the two brothers were arguing, and he didn't want to delay their homework. Emperor Jiao'er didn't want to take it, Jiao'er would cry at night, as soon as she cried, Qingcheng couldn't sleep well, and she had to get up to see it two or three times a night. Qingcheng didn't agree, she said: "Jiao'er is young, I can't rest assured that I will put her in the palace." ”

When there is a disagreement, the emperor will listen to Qingcheng.

Although the palace has everything, it is a major event of the country to go out on patrol, and the internal affairs office and the military aircraft department must also have to take more than ten days to guard inside and out. Before leaving the palace, a small incident happened. The emperor summoned the Confucian scholars who participated in the imperial examination this year but failed to make the list, and asked them to write an article and submit it, and if they wrote well, they could be entrusted with official appointments. Regardless of whether the collection is good or bad, there is a clever Confucian who thinks that the pure concubine is a Han girl, but she is very favored by the emperor, and the emperor regards the Manchu and Han families as a big mind and great wisdom and praises it.

By the way, he also wrote hundreds of words about how the pure concubine was simple and virtuous, how she personally raised the two princes, and how talented and intelligent the two princes were. The emperor was so happy that he asked the minister to copy more than a dozen copies of the article and circulate it in the imperial court, and then publicized it in the official newspaper, making it known to everyone.

compared the step-queen to the queen.

The queen was angry, she was pregnant, her temper was already big, and she was not as calm as usual, so she went to Shoukang Palace to complain to the queen mother, and said: "It is said that the pure imperial concubine is how good, and even there are rumors in the court, I am the mother of the middle palace, no matter how much the emperor loves the pure concubine, he should leave me three points of thin noodles." ”

The Queen Mother took a deep breath of hookah, spit out a thick white mist, and said, "What do you care about what you do, what do you say, can you still say that your position is gone?" After a pause, he said: "The pure concubine in front of the mourning family is sick, her clothes are not untied, and she never leaves. Even if the mourning family scolded her unsatisfactorily, they never saw her gossip in front of the emperor, but helped our mother and son to be harmonious. Since you are in the middle palace, you should have the bearing of the middle palace, and the mourning family can still guarantee you for a lifetime? You have to call yourself the heart of the emperor! ”

After hearing the queen mother's words, she was biased towards a pure concubine, and she didn't dare to say it again, for fear it would backfire.

When she returned to Jingren Palace, her chest seemed to be burning with flames, and her whole body was painful. Luo Qing was nervous about the prince in her belly, and hurriedly ordered the imperial doctor to ask for a pulse, and cooked a refreshing soup, and presented it into the house and said, "The master drink some lotus seed soup to dissipate the anger." ”

The queen frowned and reprimanded: "Get out." Bluffing Luo Qing hurriedly retreated.

When it was time to hold the lamp, Shu Concubine came to say goodbye, and the queen herself was in a bad mood, so she sprinkled her anger on Shu Concubine. When Concubine Shu was in Jingren Palace, she could still endure not arguing, and when she returned to Xianfu Palace, she couldn't help but slap Xiang'er. Xiang'er's cheeks suddenly swollen and high, red, and hot.

Shu Concubine was angry, and took the medicine to apply it to Xiang'er herself, and said, "It's me who is not good, does it still hurt?" Xiang'er held back her tears and said with a smile: "The master is unhappy, it is within the scope of the slave to share your worries for you, and the master does not have to blame himself." Shu Concubine rubbed Xiang'er's face and said, "Don't worry, this slap on you today, I will get it back from the queen in the future." ”

Xiang'er didn't know what Concubine Shu meant, and she didn't ask each other.

Qingcheng also read the article written by the Confucian student, smiled amusedly, and said: "What kind of thing, sycophancy, you still show off." The emperor gave her a blank look, grabbed her shoulder, and said: "This is called power art, I have always wanted to promote the theory of the former emperor's "Manchu and Han family", but there has not been much progress in these years. I read this... After the bullshit article, I thought it would be a good opportunity. ”

He paused for a moment and then said, "Besides, I also want the people of the Great Qing Dynasty to know about the pure concubines in the harem. ”

Qingcheng smiled: "Where is this talking about me?" Avalokiteshvara is nothing more than that. ”

The emperor was happy and said, "Isn't Guanyin Bodhisattva just right?" In the future... In the future, if there is a chance, I still want to..."I still want to make you the queen, and he didn't say anything in the second half. He was the emperor, but he was afraid that he would not be able to do it.

Qingcheng understood in his heart, but pretended not to know, laughed, and said: "What is there to think, you still want to think about when to start the patrol, I have everything ready, just wait for your order." ”

The emperor said: "Don't worry, I want to stay with you in the palace until the New Year, and the Internal Affairs Office will also reserve items for the winter." ”