In the dark and silent night, two black figures crossed the long street, jumped over the high wall and entered the courtyard of the Zhongbohou Mansion. And the timing of the choice coincided that Lin Chengde was summoned by the emperor to enter the palace to face the saint, and Lin Qingzhi was not in the mansion when he went out.

It was the end of the hour when Lin Qingzhi returned home, Rongyue was so sleepy that she yawned, and after holding the lamp, Lin Qingzhi's face became solemn, and let Rongyue call Ah Fu and the two of them to check that no one was guarding the door, and she went to the inner room of the dormitory, and after opening the secret compartment under the bed to check that things were in order, she relaxed and walked out, and wanted to go directly to her father, but thinking that the emperor summoned her father in the evening, thinking that there was something important to talk about, I was afraid that she would not be able to come back so early, so she gave up.

The night was weaving, the wind blew the treetops and whined like a cry, until I heard the sound of the husband beating the watch, I realized that it was already two and ten minutes, the moonlight shone into a corner of the house through the window, but Lin Qingzhi was not sleepy, only stared at the swaying branches outside the window in a daze, until Rongyue was afraid that the night breeze would cool the master's body and forcibly close the window to pull Lin Qingzhi's thoughts back.

Early in the morning of the second day, Lin Qingzhi got up early, walked to her father's room after washing, and waited for almost a tea time in the main hall before Father Lin came, his eyes were slightly tired in gray clothes, and his face was slightly solemn.

After Lin Qingzhi got up and saluted, she asked with concern, "I see that my father is tired, but is there something to worry about?" ”

"Yesterday, the emperor summoned his father into the palace, the palace was full of people arranged by the queen, the emperor withdrew everyone and left me alone to talk next to the dragon couch, but I was afraid that someone outside the door would eavesdrop, and only said loudly that I would be able to assist the prince and explain some of the aftermath, but I wrote the word King Ning in my hand, but when I came out, a little eunuch pretended to accidentally wet my clothes with water, and wanted to take advantage of my changing clothes to see if the emperor gave me a secret edict or something, it seems that the emperor's Zhaoyang Hall has also been covered with the queen's eyeliner, And when I returned home, I found that there were traces of search in the study and bedroom, although it was not easy to detect, but I had always had my own habit of putting things aside, and it was obvious that someone had touched it. Zhi'er, did you hear anything last night? ”

Lin Qingji also traveled to Hangzhou a few days ago, saying that there are many cold and snowy days this winter, and it is only by taking a look at the remnants of the broken bridge that the snow can be regarded as living up to the beautiful scenery. The eldest son of the Lin family is an idle son, unlike his father's great achievements in the battlefield, Lin Qingji is not familiar with court affairs, and he does not like intrigue, although Lin Chengde sometimes shows a sad look for this son, but he does not interfere too much. After all, after experiencing the bloody battles on the battlefield, he has already seen through the glory of life and death, and his children can be safe and healthy, and they don't have to be like themselves anymore to do what they want to do. Lin Chengde wanted to get up early and call Lin Qingzhi to ask, but Lin Qingzhi came over early in the morning and obviously discovered the situation.

"The daughter also found that someone broke into the traces of the turn before she came to her father to show it, the eldest brother is not there, and can only discuss with the father, yesterday evening I was not in the house, fortunately after returning to find that no important things were lost, I went out of the house and King Ning to meet the two old couples who went to Beijing to sue the son of the uncle, at this time should have been sent to the Ministry of Servants Langjiang Mansion." Lin Qingzhi took the breakfast brought by the maidservant, handed it to Father Lin, and said slowly.

"Zhi'er, you did a very good job, but at this point in time, most of the courtiers in the court have already chosen their camp, although Jiang Nengyi has always been known for his fairness, but it is also possible that he has already joined the prince's camp, in order to be foolproof, the two witnesses still have to arrange people to protect them." Lin Chengde arranged, although Lin Qingzhi thought about it many times, thinking that sending it to Lord Jiang's mansion was also a kind of protection, if something really happened in Lord Jiang's mansion, then Lord Jiang would be to blame, but after all, he was not in the court, and he did not have a complete grasp of the hearts of the people in the court.

"In addition, the queen is approaching the end of the year, misses her loved ones, and summons her younger sister and children to Beijing for reunion, I am afraid that there are ulterior motives for entering Beijing at this time, we must be careful to deal with it, in addition, your eldest brother went to Hangzhou, and he should be able to come back in two days." Lin Chengde's eyes wandered out the door, as if he was thinking.

"Father, there is one more thing, neither of us was in the mansion yesterday, but why did we choose to enter the mansion at this time so coincidentally?" Lin Qingzhi's index finger lightly buckled the woven brocade tablecloth and said slowly.

"You mean there is an internal response in the house?" Lin Chengde was already suspicious, and Lin Qingzhi's words confirmed his thoughts even more.

"Well, but my daughter thinks it might be useful to keep this in the future." Lin Qingzhi's eyes were slightly condensed, showing a more beautiful appearance.

"Zhi'er, I know that you are doing all this for him, but the road to imperial power is difficult and abnormal, and if you are not careful, you will attract death, and success can accompany him, but the road to the harem is even more thorny and difficult to walk, not to mention that the power of the Wang family's relatives should not be underestimated, have you really thought about it?" Lin Chengde's eyes were fixed on his daughter's beautiful face, and in addition to the distressed look in his eyes, there was also a trace of imperceptible complexity.

"My daughter only wishes him well, and I will be fine with everything." Lin Qingzhi's eyes spread across the sunlight outside the door, and there was a trace of stubborn firmness in her eyes.

The days passed quickly, and two days passed in a blink of an eye, and Lin Qingji also rushed back from Hangzhou, and brought his daughter Hong, who had been sealed on the altar for ten years, jokingly saying that he would wait for Lin Qingzhi to get married one day before he could drink.

The twenty-third day of the lunar month, also known as Chinese New Year's Eve, is the day of worship to the god Vesta, since the current emperor ascended the throne has stipulated that the government and the people celebrate this day together, this year the empress claimed that the emperor's dragon body was in danger and wanted to hold a banquet to pray for the emperor's blessings and joy, and after the emperor's permission, the young sons and ladies of the kings and nobles of the capital were invited to enter the palace together.

On this day, Lin Qingzhi got up early and finished dressing up, and went to Nanyuan with Rongyue to find Lin Qingji to enter the palace together, and when she saw her sister wearing a moon-white embroidered palace dress, a elegant jade face that was not powdered but more beautiful, she was captivating the country and the city, with jet-black hair hanging down her waist, and an amethyst moon-missing magnolia hairpin inserted in her light and slow cloud temples, and she couldn't help but smile evilly after losing her mind a little: "Royal banquet, other girls can't wait to dress up for three days, in order to find which Houmen prince favors, My little sister is dressed so plainly, but it is really unusual, but also, with the appearance of my Ah Zhi's captivating city, without powder, it can cover those vulgar powders a thousand times, which is comparable to them. ”

After saying that, he stretched out his hand and prepared to touch the top of Lin Qingzhi's head, but before he could touch it, Lin Qingzhi pretended to be disgusted and turned around lightly to dodge. Lin Qingji was also wearing a white robe, and her jade face was even more handsome, and the two laughed and got into the carriage together and drove towards the palace gate.

The carriage slowly drove through the long street, the rising morning sun covered the surroundings with golden light, drove through the Guanghua Gate and entered the palace range, from time to time there were neat and energetic guards patrolling by, this is a familiar road, Lin Qingzhi walked no less than 100 times, when she was a child, her mother also took her and her eldest brother into the palace to see the grandmother of the Queen Mother, at that time the mother and grandmother chatted, she and her brother ran to the palace to play with Brother Mu and Brother Lin, the spring, summer, autumn and winter scenery of the imperial garden have been seen, and the past scenes flashed in front of her eyes.

I saw that the palaces were lined up one after another, and the golden glazed tiles were shining in the morning sun, which looked very solemn and luxurious, showing the royal authority.

Lin Qingzhi brothers and sisters first went to the Wanshou Palace where the Queen Mother lived to greet the Queen Mother, and stepped into the courtyard of the Wanshou Palace, planting plum blossoms of various colors and categories, just like in the spring, the flowers are full of flowers, competing for beauty, and the mother also likes plum blossoms, saying that the plum blossoms are not afraid of the cold and open, and they are the most iron-clad and arrogant.

Maybe it is the pearl of the palm of the deceased, every winter the queen mother will order someone to transplant plum blossoms to the courtyard, when the brother and sister go to the longevity palace, the queen mother is still in the Buddhist hall, the palace people sit quietly on the tea and the two of them meditate on a cup of tea, a dressed in dark purple clothes, gray hair and a kind old woman walked in with the support of two aunts, although it has passed the age of the sixtieth year, but the spirit is strong, see their brother and sister suddenly smiled and stretched, after the head sat down, he beckoned the two to her side, touched the hands of the two and stroked carefully.

"Zhi'er, I haven't been to my grandmother for a while, how do you feel that you have lost weight recently, is someone bullying you recently, speak up, your grandmother will make the decision for you." The Queen Mother took Lin Qingzhi's hand and said lovingly. On the side, Aunt Mei, who was over forty years old, took pastries and melon seeds, and the three of them sat and talked.

"My grandmother is eccentric, so I know that I care about Ah Zhi, and I am also thin, and my grandmother doesn't ask me." Lin Qingji pretended to be angry.

"Ji'er plays around every day, what can I worry about, but Zhi'er, like your mother, has been in poor health since childhood, and is the most worrying, seeing that one of you has grown into a handsome son, and the other is slim, if your mother is still there, it will be very gratifying, but it's a pity... The Queen Mother stroked the golden silk armor and let out a soft sigh.

The three ancestors and grandchildren were talking about homely things, Xiao Mufeng walked in from outside the door, and saw Xiao Mufeng wearing an azure robe, the collar and cuffs of the robe were inlaid with silver silk edge and cloud pattern piping, and a cyan auspicious cloud wide-edged brocade belt was tied around the waist, the whole person looked plump and handsome, and his cold face added to the noble atmosphere.

"Grandson greets the imperial grandmother." Xiao Mufeng saluted.

"The wind is coming, sit down." Xiao Mufeng took the Jindun handed over by Huamei and sat next to Lin Qingzhi, and Lin Qingji on the side squeezed his eyebrows at him.

About half an hour later, the queen was tired, most of the banquet was young people, and the queen mother did not want to participate, so several people got up and said goodbye and walked to the Yixia Pavilion where the banquet was located.