Winter in the north is fast and violent, and even though winter has just begun, the snowflakes are falling.

Yi Xiangxiang nested in Moxiang Pavilion with Liu Fangfei and Yi Ruonan, and she didn't go out of the door all day long, and she was quite lazy and comfortable.

Moxi carried the food box into the Moxiang Pavilion, and said to Yi Xiangxiang and the others: "The freshly baked dim sum from Xile Building, come and try it!" ”

Liu Fangfei was the first to rush over and hug the food box, grab it and put it on the table to open it.

Yi Xiangxiang walked over and looked at the delicate snacks in the food box, and was also surprised: "This is plum blossom cake?" Just after the first snowfall, the plum blossoms have bloomed? ”

Moxi closed the door and said: "It's not, this north is really different from the south, if it is in Tongzhou, where will the plum blossoms come from here!" ”

Yi Ruonan picked up a piece of plum blossom cake and took a bite and said: "Well, the plum fragrance is fragrant, and the craftsmanship of Xile Building is really unstoppable!" I have to taste more, otherwise I will not have such a good taste when I go back to King An's mansion. ”

When Liu Fangfei heard this, she raised her head from the pastry and asked puzzledly, "Why?" If you want to eat at that time, just let people go to Xile Building to get it, are you still worried that Yi Xiangxiang is so stingy that you can't eat? ”

"You're right, although the eighth sister is stingy, she won't be so stingy! But don't I have a princess over here? If I had been eating from the Joy House all day long, I would inevitably have gossiped that I was dissatisfied with the Princess, or that the Princess's mistreatment of me would come out. Now in Kyoto, more is better than less. Yi Ruonan replied.

Yi Xiangxiang glanced at the two of them when she heard this, it really can't hurt her for a day, right? But she still said: "It's easy, just bring a cook back." ”

There is nothing else in the Joy Building, but there are many cooks! Moreover, Yi Xiangxiang attaches the most importance to talent training, and it is based on Xile Building, and now even the little brother who helps the chef is a superb cook.

Yi Ruonan was overjoyed when she heard this: "Really? ”

"It's all trifle!" Yi Xiangxiang patted her chest very proudly.

When Liu Fangfei heard this, she also asked to bring a few cooks back to Xiaodongguo: "Although there are also good restaurants in Xiaodongguo, the things made are indeed not as delicious as Xile Building!" I don't care, you have to send a few people with me. ”

Yi Xiangxiang waved her hand when she heard the words and said, "You just wait, you haven't gone back so soon!" ”

"And when can I go back? It's so boring to stay here! I can't get out of the door every day, I'm almost suffocated! It's better for you to show up directly, just enough to take me to the palace for two laps! Liu Fangfei excitedly proposed.

"It's going to be soon, I'll let you have enough fun in the palace in a few days!" Yi Xiangxiang said soothingly.

So, in the noise of day after day, time passed quietly, and in the blink of an eye, another year of Chinese New Year's Eve was approaching.

Because the empress was not in the middle palace, the holy lord Zhao Ziqian adopted the proposal of the Ministry of Ceremonies and announced that this year's Chinese New Year's Eve banquet would be presided over by the empress dowager of the two palaces, assisted by the noble concubines Lin Zhimeng and Kang Ling.

Inside the main hall of Ci'an Palace......

Zhao Ziqian took the lead, Lin Zhimeng and Kang Ling were flanked behind him, and then there were the concubines of the Six Palaces, and everyone asked for peace to the Empress Dowager Xiao'an, the lord of Ci'an Palace.

"Get up, all of you, and sit down." The Empress Dowager Xiao'an sat on top and said to the people below.

Zhao Ziqian nodded slightly when he heard this, and then walked to the treasure chair beside the Empress Dowager Xiao'an and sat down. And Lin Zhimeng and other concubines also sat down in turn in the rosewood circle chair below.

"The Holy Lord's government affairs are busy, so there is no need to come here to say hello in this winter." The Empress Dowager Xiao'an said.

In front of so many outsiders, Xiao'an naturally did not call his son affectionately, so he also called Zhao Ziqian Shengshang with respect.

Zhao Ziqian's face was expressionless: "This is what Erchen should do." ”

Yes, both of them are very polite.

Xiao'an was not embarrassed by the cold face, she knows exactly what kind of virtue her son has! Not to mention that he used to be unsmiling, since he became the emperor, it is even more serious.

"The mourning family heard that Concubine De is reluctant to return to Kyoto? Do you want to mourn your family and send a letter to persuade you? After all, now that King An is back, she is far away in Tongzhou alone, and if the people below her are sluggish, it will be strange for people to worry. The Empress Dowager Xiao'an said with a twisted eyebrow.

She and the Empress Dowager Xiaoduan and Concubine De are enemies who have fought each other for most of their lives. And now, as the years slowly pass, there is a sense of sympathy.

"Erchen once personally went to invite the concubine, and the concubine said that Tongzhou has beautiful mountains and rivers, and there is also a unique elegance between the mountains and rivers, so she is unwilling to return to Beijing. As for the subordinates, Erchen and King An have arranged for people to restrain them, there should be no problem, and the mother concubine should not worry. Zhao Ziqian replied.

Concubine De had stayed in Tongzhou before, and she had a special complex there, and it was understandable that she was reluctant to return to Beijing.

Xiao An sighed when he heard this: "That's fine." ”

As a result, the hall was relatively silent, and the scene was a little embarrassing for a while.

The Empress Dowager Xiao'an sighed again.

It was also these days that she found out that there was Yi Xiangxiang, the queen, taking the lead, and every time she asked for peace, she could arouse the topic in a few words. Let's talk about what flowers are blooming in the garden today, and what's new in Kyoto tomorrow...... Anyway, as long as the queen opens her mouth, she will be very enthusiastic and can discuss it.

Now it's good, all of them have become wooden stakes.

Xiao'an looked left and right, and the concubine Lin Zhimeng pulled a gentle smile, and her quiet appearance was not as interesting as Yi Xiangxiang of Sanba.

(Yi Xiangxiang: ??? ）

Xiao'an looked at Kang Ling again, her niece didn't know what was going on these days, she was always frowning, and she had to ask if something had happened.

The atmosphere continues to be awkward......

Xiao'an really misses Yi Xiangxiang a little, and I don't know if she is really recuperating in the other garden as her son said. This little girl's family, it's quite pitiful to recuperate alone.

She continued to sigh, thinking that if nothing was going on, she told them to step back, out of sight and out of mind.

She was just about to speak, but the gentle Lin Zhimeng opened her mouth: "This winter seems to be colder than in previous years, and the Queen Mother should pay more attention to her body." ”

"It doesn't matter, there are dragons burning in this hall and braziers, and they can't freeze the mourning family." The Empress Dowager Xiao'an also said gently.

Stretching out his hand not to hit the smiling person, although Xiao'an didn't know why Lin Zhimeng suddenly said such a sentence, he still answered.

And at this time, Lin Zhi said with a smile: "Sister Lin Guifei is concerned about the body of the Queen Mother, in fact, if you don't go out, it is indeed cold, but this Chinese New Year's Eve banquet is coming, and the Queen Mother must not work too hard." ”

Lin Zhimeng smiled and nodded: "My sister is right......" After she greeted Lin Zhixin, she raised her head and said to Xiao'an: "The concubine has no other meaning, she is indeed worried about the body of the queen mother." The matter of the palace banquet is trivial, and the people in Ci'an Palace come and go, which is inevitably mixed with cold wind and snow, and the concubines are worried that the queen mother will catch a cold. ”

Xiao'an nodded and smiled: "Concubine Lin has a heart, if the queen is as considerate and sensible as you, instead of being lazy in the other garden, the mourning family doesn't have to work hard!" ”

As she spoke, she held up the tea cup on the desk, only to see her brush away the few tea leaves floating on the top with the lid of the cup, take a sip and put it down.

Eh, she is not a person who is greedy for power, this palace banquet is indeed cumbersome, she really doesn't want to care.

But now that her son is the emperor after all, what can she do? Naturally, you have to manage.

The Empress Dowager Xiao'an just mentioned it casually, but the concubines below sat up straight, because this was the first time that anyone mentioned her since the queen was announced to be recuperating in the other garden.

The words of the Empress Dowager Xiao'an, although she blamed the queen mother for being ignorant, but when everyone listened to it, they felt that the queen mother's attitude towards the queen was a little different.

If it was in the past, the queen mother should have wanted the queen not to return to the palace, so that she could let her niece take the throne, how could she look like she wanted the queen to be in the palace this time?

The people present were Lin Zhimeng, who had the highest EQ, and she heard the clue from Xiao'an's words for the first time.

What's the clue? Naturally, it is a hint of favoring the queen.

This is the same as their own children quarreling with other children, as an elder, they will always teach their own children to be ignorant first, and let other children praise them. Although Xiao'an's words now have some blame for Yi Xiangxiang, it is obvious that between her and Yi Xiangxiang, he is biased towards Yi Xiangxiang.

Besides, the queen's recuperation in the other garden is just a side of the saint's own words, and in most people's hearts, they actually think that the queen is very likely to have died. But now that the Empress Dowager Xiao'an is sure that the queen is lazy in the other garden, doesn't it also prove that she is on the queen's side?

Lin Zhimeng frowned, she didn't expect Xiao'an to say this.

After Zhao Ziqian heard the words of his mother, he rarely hooked the corners of his mouth: "The queen is still young, and she has suffered a big crime this time, and she will not be able to return to the palace for a while." The affairs in this palace really have to be done by the concubine. ”

The etiquette and harem rules of the Rite Dynasty are the main palace first, because when the previous emperor was in power, the Empress Dowager Xiaoduan was the queen, and the Empress Dowager of the two palaces was still honored by Xiaoduan. And the Empress Dowager Xiao'an was originally Concubine Rong, but because of Zhao Ziqian's relationship, she was named the Empress Dowager, so even if she is now the same as Xiaoduan, Zhao Ziqian still needs to follow the old practice of calling the Empress Dowager Xiaoduan the queen mother and calling the Empress Dowager Xiao'an the mother concubine.

This is also why, all palace concubines covet the position of the main palace, because this determines whether your son wants to call someone else's queen mother.

Of course, although it is nominally honored by the Empress Dowager Xiaoduan of Cining Palace, after all, the saint is the son and son of the Empress Dowager Xiao'an of Ci'an Palace, and there must be more people to please the latter than the former.

Xiao'an originally just said it casually, but he didn't expect to get a good face from his son, which was also an unexpected joy.

"Okay, okay, you don't have to cover it up for her, if it weren't for her playfulness, she wouldn't give the villains a chance to do evil. However, she has also made a contribution to this treasure, and she will be rewarded when she looks back and mourns her family. The Empress Dowager Xiao'an said angrily.

She really couldn't figure out why her son would fall in love with Yi Xiangxiang.

Zhao Ziqian raised his eyebrows when he heard this, and he didn't talk back to Xiao'an: "The first queen of the minister there thanked the mother concubine." ”

His own queen is a master of the door, and she will definitely be happy to be rewarded! Zhao Ziqian thought so.

Seeing this, Lin Zhimeng asked Zhao Ziqian at the right time: "Holy Lord, the concubine dared to ask, I don't know where the queen is recuperating now?" The concubine should also send someone to visit. ”

She knew that Yi Xiangxiang was not in any other garden, but she deliberately pretended to care.

"You just need to assist the queen mother in managing the affairs of the harem, and the queen doesn't need you to visit." Zhao Ziqian withdrew his smile and said expressionlessly.

Lin Zhimeng frowned when she heard this, she always felt that after Zhao Ziqian came back this time, his attitude towards her was not as good as before. Not only did he rarely answer her words on weekdays, but he even turned away the soup she sent, and he didn't even set foot in Chongren Palace for half a step. Although he didn't turn over anyone's sign in the harem during this period, she always felt that Zhao Ziqian was very indifferent to her.

Lin Zhixin didn't care about Lin Zhimeng's frowns, but excitedly used Zhao Ziqian's words to say the lines that Lin Zhimeng had prepared for her in advance:

"Sister, what the saint said is that the queen has palace people to take care of her, so there is no need to pay a special visit. On the contrary, now that the palace banquet is imminent, you have been ordered to assist the two queen mothers, and you should do your best to organize the palace banquet. Speaking of which, now that the wind and snow are blowing, my sister is also worried about the two queen mothers who are working hard and getting cold! ”

She furrowed her brows as she spoke, and finally said excitedly: "Hey, didn't my sister also assist the queen in holding a palace banquet during the palace banquet last year, and this has experience...... It's better to let your sister run the palace banquet, but it can save the hard work of the queen mothers. ”

After Yang Meiren on the side heard Lin Zhixin's words, she drew an intriguing smile, and then she withdrew her smile and continued to sit quietly.

Seeing this, Kang Ling sneered, it turned out that Lin Zhimeng was going to compete for the host of the Chinese New Year's Eve banquet?

In the rules of the ceremonial dynasty, the Chinese New Year's Eve palace banquet has always been hosted by the empress, which represents the noble status of the lord of the empress's six palaces. Even if the queen is not in the palace now, the proposal put forward by the Ministry of Rites is presided over by the queen mother of the two palaces, and the concubines assist.

Although the Chinese New Year's Eve palace banquet is not as important as the royal sacrifice incense, but now the outside world is constantly discussing the queen's whereabouts, if Lin Zhimeng is allowed to host the Chinese New Year's Eve palace banquet, it will make people think that this is a signal after the establishment.

"Lin Jieyu is really bold, the saint has already said that the queen mother of the two palaces will preside over the palace banquet, and the queen mother has also agreed, what is your intention to do more than the trick here?" Kang Ling asked sharply.

Although everyone knew that Lin Zhixin's proposal was inappropriate, it was difficult to say because of Lin Zhimeng's relationship. Besides, no one knows what the saint thinks, in case people really want Lin Guifei to preside, then wouldn't it be clear that they would stop it and send it to be cannon fodder!

The gun shoots the first bird, and everyone is not stupid.

However, no one expected Concubine Kang to be so direct.

Lin Zhimeng smiled slightly: "Concubine Kang misunderstood, Lin Jieyu is just afraid that the Queen Mother will work too hard." ”

In fact, after the Queen Mother said the queen's lazy words, she knew that what she planned today would be difficult to achieve. However, Lin Zhi's heart came out too quickly, and she didn't have time to stop it.

Kang Lingpi said with a smile: "It's best to be like this, otherwise I don't know and think that you Lin Guifei covets the queen's position!" Sister Lin should pay attention, now the real culprit behind the assassination of the queen is still under interrogation, if there are any rumors that accidentally come out, your reputation of being dignified and virtuous will be wasted. ”

Lin Zhimeng frowned, is Kang Ling crazy? What do you do with biting yourself at this time?

Could it be that the rumors that went down a while ago angered her? Lin Zhimeng thought secretly.

"Concubine Kang is too worried, how to gossip outside, this palace doesn't care, as long as this palace has a clear conscience." Lin Zhimeng said.

Kang Ling continued to sneer, although she didn't know the cause and effect, but the last time she saw her brother Kang Rui, she listened to his words and told her to stay away from Lin Zhimeng, so she also guessed that Yi Xiangxiang's disappearance was inseparable from Lin Zhimeng.

She finally knew why she didn't get angry even if she knew that her cousin cared about Yi Xiangxiang so much, because compared to Lin Zhimeng, Yi Xiangxiang was really much cuter!

If you want to be bad, you are really bad, she was unhappy when she saw her cousin only favor Li Jieyu, the latter was unruly, she was angry and said that assassination would be assassinated! If you want to be good, you are really good, if Lin Zhimeng is gentle and kind to the selflessness of the duke, she will also accept it! But you're so bad that you can't do it, and you're pretending! It's annoying!

"Concubine Lin has a clear conscience!" Kang Ling snorted coldly.

The atmosphere instantly condensed.

Seeing this, the Empress Dowager Xiao'an said leisurely: "Okay, you don't have to quarrel." If you are tired of mourning, go down. ”

Zhao Ziqian stood up first when he heard this: "The concubine has a good rest, and the sons will retire first." ”

So, the group also saluted and prepared to retreat.

Kang Ling also walked to leave, and Xiao'an stopped her: "Ling'er stay, your mother handed me some side dishes she made a few days ago, you can take some back to Jinghua Palace." ”

Mrs. Kang sent something to the Queen Mother, so how could it be her daughter's share? Everyone also knew that the Empress Dowager Xiao'an wanted to leave Concubine Kang to speak, so they also knew each other and left first.

When everyone left, the Empress Dowager Xiao'an asked Kang Ling: "What's wrong with you today?" So excited? ”

Kang Ling is also considered to have grown up in front of her aunt since she was a child, so she doesn't pretend to be: "I just can't get used to her fake look!" ”

She said angrily.

Xiao'an sighed: "If you can't get used to it, you have to endure it, so as not to be talked about!" If you think about what you just said, it really looks like you want to eat her! ”

Kang Ling pouted when she heard this, thinking that if it weren't for the relationship between the Lin family, she really wanted to solve the previous Li Jieyu, and ended up with this annoying Lin Zhimeng!

But even if Xiao'an is her aunt, she can't say it directly.

"Auntie has learned a lesson, Ling'er wrote it down, and she will pay attention next time." She sincerely admits her mistakes.

"The mourning family is not blaming you, and now what is going on on the queen's side, the mourning family doesn't know very well. If the queen is really ...... You and Concubine Lin must have someone who wants to enter the Middle Palace. ”

When Kang Ling heard this, he thought of what his brother said not to covet the queen's position again, and he hesitated for a while. She wanted to tell her aunt that the queen might not really be dead, but she swallowed the words again.

In the end, Kang Ling just nodded: "Okay, Ling'er will pay attention." ”