The water surface is sparkling and turbulent, and the lights are reflected in it, trembling and towering like duckweed drifting with the waves, and it is difficult to be stable. The two leaned lightly on the jade railing, listening to the voices of the ladies between the curtains and pavilions.

"Concubine Jia is really exquisite, you look at the surrounding layout, the water pavilion hangs the curtains, the golden Ling dingdong, the singing and dancing looming in the shadows, it is really beautiful like a fairyland."

"Yes, the Queen Mother must be very satisfied."

"Ah, look, is that Princess Huaiying? Is she going to dance for the Queen Mother? ”

When Gongsun Lan heard the words 'Princess Huaiying', she couldn't help but look at the place where everyone's eyes converged. I saw a woman wearing a Qiluo light gauze dance dress, got up from the banquet, and walked slowly towards the Lan Pavilion, her figure was slender and petite, her gait was light, and the corners of her water-sleeved skirt flew up with the wind, lining her pale complexion like congealed cream, like a colorful cloud arching moon.

Fang Qingxue had only been in Da'an for a short time, and she didn't know much about the personnel in Kyoto, and when she heard everyone's slightly surprised discussions, she couldn't help but approach Gongsun Lan and asked softly, "Is there anything special about this Princess Huaiying?" ”

"Princess Huaiying, like other unfavored princesses, has hardly received any attention from the monarch since she was a child, if there is any difference, it is her biological mother, the personal palace maid of the former queen Empress Wenqin."

Fang Qingxue was surprised: "Looking at her age, it seems that she is much younger than the third princess, I'm afraid that when she was born, Queen Wenqin had already passed away, right?" ”

"Hmm." A thoughtful look flashed in Gongsun Lan's eyes, and she said: "Empress Wenqin died of illness when the third princess was four years old, and Princess Huaiying was born the following year. ”

Fang Qingxue was stunned: "This ...... Presumably, this palace maid will not end well. "This kind of scandal, even if it is the fault of Kitayama Xiaoze, in the end, it is the palace maid who will take the blame.

"That's natural, especially when she is still the confidant of Empress Wenqin, but when her master is newly mourned, she seduces the king and tries to fly on the branches, and she will definitely be pointed out by thousands of people. So after she gave birth to Princess Huaiying, her death was extremely tragic, and she was punished by the division of five horses......"

"Huh?" Fang Qingxue couldn't help but exclaim.

There are thousands of women in the palace, who doesn't want to fly on the branches, whether it is coincidental or deliberate, there are countless such things. But those who succeed in their plans but have no heirs, and even if they have children, they are not favored because of their low status, will eventually be forgotten in a corner. And Princess Huaiying's situation is undoubtedly rare.

It stands to reason that such a slight "shameful" life experience is destined to be more miserable than those who are forgotten.

But in fact, Huaiying was forgiven and sheltered by the third princess.

A year after Empress Wenqin's death, the king ordained a new queen, and the third princess was also sent to Queen Wang to be raised. In order to show her generosity and virtuousness, Queen Wang treated the three princesses with great care, which was comparable to her own life. And the third princess has a pure temperament, ice and snow is smart, and was once praised by the monarch Although she is a woman, she has no lack of gentlemanly style. For a time, the drama of mother's love and daughter's filial piety was often staged in front of people. ”

Fang Qingxue said: "But no matter how smart she is, after all, she is still a woman, and she lost her biological mother and sent someone under the fence." Presumably, many things behind the scenes are unknown, and there will be no less competition with the queen and queen. ”

Gongsun Lan agreed: "That's natural, especially after Queen Wang gave birth to the crown prince, the third princess was suppressed in the limelight. ”

Her gaze moved away from Huaiying, who was singing and dancing in the Orchid Pavilion, and fell on Miao Zhen in the distance, and said, "However, with the temperament of the third princess, of course she will not sit still. When she was eleven years old, she rescued Princess Huaiying, who was bullied by the palace people, and the reputation of the Bodhisattva's heart spread. After that, Princess Huaiying became the tail of the third princess. In the future, whenever Huaiying has any gratifying changes, the third princess will be noticed and praised for her heart and mind. ”

Fang Qingxue couldn't help but exclaim: "With such a clear use, outsiders can believe it, doesn't Princess Huaiying know about it?" ”

"What if you know? Does she still think about the days when she was beaten and scolded at will, eating and drinking as a child? ”

Fang Qingxue was silent, with this entanglement between them, cause and effect are entangled, and it is common sense to hate each other. But everyone has their own choice, and there is nothing wrong with Princess Huaiying choosing to rely on the third princess to ensure that she has a worry-free life. After all, the palace is a place to eat people, and Huaiying is afraid that she understands it thoroughly.

"Look at it, Princess Huaiying's dancing is really extraordinary." There was a sound of admiration during the banquet, which attracted everyone's attention.

I saw that in the orchid pavilion where the wind lanterns were swaying, Princess Huaiying, who was surrounded by more than a dozen dancing girls between the heavy veils, leaned forward slightly, held her hands up to the sky, and stretched out her right foot straight up to the side, pulling away the large skirt, revealing the golden peacock tail feathers, shining in the dim light.

"This dance costume is so exquisite, it's the first time I've seen it!"

"Yes, I heard that Princess Miao Zhen specially ordered the embroidery girls to tailor it for her for this dance!"

"Princess Huaiying is really blessed, Princess Miao Zhen's identity is so caring for her."

"Yes, even Princess Huaiying's master who practiced dancing was personally invited by Princess Miao Zhen. You also know that Yu Jingxian, the first dancer in Kyoto, is not taught by everyone! ”

The curtains were separated, but they couldn't stop the whispering of the nobles from reaching Gongsun Lan's ears, and everyone obviously knew a lot about Princess Huaiying's affairs, and they also appreciated the righteousness of the third princess. "But no, Princess Huaiying has been taken care of by Princess Miao Zhen all these years, if it weren't for Princess Miao Zhen, Princess Huaiying wouldn't know what a miserable end she would have ended up now."

In amazement, Huaiying lightly relaxed her sleeves, her toes slowly received in front of her, and her slender fingertips emerged from her sleeves and folded into orchids.

Just when everyone thought that she was going to end the momentum, the sound of the piano of "Zheng" turned sharply and gradually became high-pitched, and the water sleeve in Huaiying's hand shook off suddenly, jumped up among the women, and spun up indulgently, the water sleeve set off layers of waves, and with the sound of the piano gathered and dispersed, the golden and brilliant peacock tail feathers loomed, and the sound of surprise was endless for a while.

"It's beautiful!" Even a woman like Fang Qingxue couldn't help but be overwhelmed by the other party's dancing: "It's a pity that she is from such a background, as usual, she should choose a donkey." ”

But her background is even more prohibitive than that of an ordinary unfavored princess.

Gongsun Lan said: "Princess Huaiying must also be very aware of the difficulties in her family affairs, so she is firmly attached to the third princess, presumably also wanting to take advantage of the other party's power to find a way out for herself." ”

"But the princess's family affairs should be in the hands of the queen, even if Princess Miao Zhen is favored by the king, in the end she is also a girl who has not been out of the cabinet, how to beak her sister's family affairs?"

"Since Princess Miao Zhen can manipulate her own family affairs, she naturally has a way to control Princess Huaiying's family affairs."

The age of marriage between men and women in the Jing Dynasty was relatively early, just like the crown prince, who already had a main concubine and two side concubines at the age of seventeen, although there were special reasons in it, but it was not too much. And Gongsun Tu is twenty-nine years old, and the Jiang family is already anxious and worried every day.

But the third princess is a special case among everyone, she is now in her twenties, but she still has no marriage, according to the customs of Yasukuni, she can be regarded as an old girl. But in fact, those who want to be the concubines of the third princess can definitely line up at the city gate.

Fang Qingxue said curiously: "I don't know what method she used to persuade the king, so that she is still in the boudoir?" ”

Gongsun Lan shook his head: "I don't know, but I think Princess Huaiying's family affair is about to be settled." ”

"You're saying that Princess Miao Zhen will use her as a pawn?"

"At this time, it is the time for the court to employ people, but there are not many people who can be trusted...... In particular, several generals who hold military power are suspicious by nature, and it is impossible to completely let them go. Marriage is a common method of the royal family, which is nothing more than co-optation or surveillance. ”

Fang Qingxue suddenly understood what Gongsun Lan meant, and suddenly understood how powerful Princess Miao Zhen's method of casting a long line to catch big fish was. She has been tying Princess Huaiying to her since so many years ago.

Princess Huaiying is like a silk loa, and she has always been attached to the tree of Princess Miao Zhen to survive.

Because of the cultivation and help of Princess Miao Zhen, Huaiying is outstanding among the princesses who can be "sacrificed". Not surprisingly, the king will "reuse" her.

While speaking, Princess Huaiying had already returned from the Lanting Pavilion to the banquet, and was surrounded by maids and came to the Queen Mother's side. Everyone was attracted by the dance clothes on her body, and their eyes followed Princess Huaiying closely. She seemed to be quite embarrassed, and kept hanging her head slightly.

Because they were far away in the pavilion, and there was a light veil to obstruct the line of sight, it was difficult to see Princess Huaiying's appearance clearly. At this time, she approached, so that everyone could see her face clearly. Fang Qingxue looked at Princess Huaiying, and whispered in Gongsun Lan's ear: "The people of the Beishan clan are all tall, and her petite figure is afraid that she followed her biological mother, I don't know what happened to that Gong'e and the monarch at the beginning, I am really a little curious." ”

Princess Huaiying's face is very well-behaved and beautiful, her small chin is round and cute, and her cheeks are a little baby fat, which is completely different from the atmosphere and delicacy of the Beishan royal family. She walked up to the Queen Mother and bowed down, her voice was slightly vibrato, and she seemed to be a little nervous, she said: "Huaiying wishes the Queen Mother a long life and good health, and a long spring." ”

"Good boy, get up, you have a heart." The Queen Mother still has that kind look, if you don't understand the various powerful methods of the Queen Mother in the harem in the past, it is really easy to treat her as an old lady with a bodhisattva heart. "This song and dance is really amazing, in order to surprise the mourning family, a lot of effort has been wasted."

Princess Miao Zhen called her grandmother affectionately on the side, and then said with a smile: "Don't you know, in order to practice this dance well, the fourth sister has almost reached the point of forgetting to sleep and eat, and grandmother will definitely reward the fourth sister well." ”

The Queen Mother looked at Huaiying with a smile, and a girlish cunning flashed in her expression, and said, "That's nature!" As a grandmother, how can she treat her good granddaughter badly. ”