On December 19 of the eighth year of Yong'an, Yongshou Palace, which had been closed for a month, finally opened its vermilion palace door to the concubines of the harem.

Early in the morning of December 20, the eighth year of Yong'an, as soon as the sky was bright, Lingxi got up to bathe, and then dressed up under the skillful hands of lotus leaves and Qiaozhu.

Under the permission of Lingxi, the lotus leaf wore a hot color on her, and used colorful silk threads mixed with gold threads to embroider phoenix flowers with a waist placket palace dress. On the head of the head is tied with a high bun with clouds, and on the right side of the bun is a hairpin with ruby, sapphire for stamens, and gold for the leaf beads. On the right side of the bun, the hairpin is a five-tailed phoenix hairpin.

The five tails of the phoenix hairpin are shaped with a gold base, and a total of 28 red and green gems the size of fingernails are inlaid on them. The body of the phoenix is also made of gold, with the outline of its wings set with tiny blue crushed stones. The phoenix eye is made of two sparkling black gemstones, just like the real thing. In the mouth of the phoenix, there is a string of tassels made of crystals with purple gemstones as pendants. The tassel hung from the phoenix's mouth, and the pendant of the purple gem fell right beside the ear. Moved slightly, touched the ear, and gave birth to a slight coolness.

She wore a pair of red gold peony earrings on her ears and a necklace made of pink jade beads of the same color on her neck.

When dressed properly, Lingxi looked at the person in the water mirror who was full of brilliance, and lightly opened his lips, "Is this still me?" ”

Lotus Ye stood at Lingxi's side and nodded in surprise, "This is Niangniang." ”

"It is said that people rely on clothes, and Buddha depends on gold." Qiaozhu put the hairpin hairpin of the grade of the second-grade concubine on Lingxi's bun, and said with a smile, "Niangniang is dressed as a stop, even if she doesn't speak, she has three points of momentum, which makes people dare not underestimate it." ”

"Niangniang is now a concubine, on a par with Concubine Rou, so naturally no one will look down on her. It's just," Lotus Ye looked at the spirit rhino in the water mirror, and said cautiously, "Niangniang, is it appropriate to dress up like this?" Will the Empress Dowager think that you are too much, too ......?"

"Is it too arrogant?" Lingxi picked up the snail Dai from the dresser and drew his eyebrows slightly up, increasing the three-point sharpness between the eyebrows and eyes.

Lotus Ye nodded again and again, and said, "As soon as the Empress Dowager and her old man came back, she grounded you because of your residence in Deyang Palace, and I think that's what it means......"

"Then look at me......" Lingxi put down the eyebrow pencil in his hand, opened his hands and turned lightly in front of the lotus leaf, raised his eyebrows and asked, "As a concubine, am I arrogant like this?" ”

Lotus Ye shook her head, "Now that there is no queen in the harem, the position of the mother is the highest, and there is nothing wrong with such a dress." ”

Qiaozhu spoke out at the right time and said to Lotus Leaf, "Lotus Leaf, we are used to seeing Niangniang's dress on weekdays." Look at Concubine Rou, which one is not a pearl cui. Today I went to say hello to the Empress Dowager and her old man, and she must not be too simple in dressing, otherwise she will fall into the shoes of others in the eyes of others. ”

Lotus Ye lowered her head and thought about it, then raised her head and smiled at Lingxi, "It's such a reason, Niangniang, the slave is stupid." ”

"You're right to be so cautious, it's just that this time is different from ,......the past," Lingxi raised the corners of his mouth and smiled, took a pale green jade bracelet from the jewelry box and put it on Hao's wrist. I saw an aqua blue jade ring, and picked it up and put it on the middle finger of my right hand.

There was a crisp sound of 'ding' from the incense bell in the hall.

Lotus Ye glanced back and smiled at Lingxi, "Niangniang, it's a moment." ”

Lingxi nodded, held the hand of the lotus leaf and slowly walked to the inner hall, sat on the low kang and drank the warm porridge on the table to his stomach.

Because he got up early in the morning and dressed up carefully, Lingxi no longer had time to sit down and have breakfast slowly, so he could only eat some simple cushions to cushion his stomach.

When the incense bell sounded again, Lingxi stood up. Qiaozhu hurriedly made a piece of water-pink brocade, rolled a fox fur-edged cloak and draped it on Lingxi's shoulders.

When Qiaozhu tied the strap of the cloak, Lingxi couldn't help but urge, "Hurry up, the Empress Dowager should have just finished breakfast at this time." ”

With Qiaozhu humming, a wishful buckle has been laid.

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Yongle Palace is not far from Yongshou Palace, and it is time to take a tea chariot. When Lingxi got off the sedan chair in front of the Yongshou Palace, it was only three quarters of the hour.

Holding the hand of the lotus leaf into the courtyard of the Changle Palace, Lingxi saw Zhou An standing on the corridor of the Changle Hall from a distance.

Zhou An saw that it was Lingxi coming, and hurriedly walked down the corridor, and said with a smile after greeting Lingxi, "Concubine Yingniang, the Empress Dowager is waiting for you inside." ”

"The Empress Dowager is waiting for me?" The spirit rhino body paused, and the tassel swayed back and forth on the side of the ear.

Zhou An replied with a smile on his face, "Exactly." The Empress Dowager has been chanting since the early Qing Dynasty, 'Ling'er girl is the first to come', and she has been waiting for you inside for a while. ”

Lingxi's heart was warm, and a smile appeared on his face.

Holding the hand of the lotus leaf into the outer hall, Lingxi took off the cloak and handed it to the lotus leaf, and walked to the inner hall by himself.

Xiao and the Empress Dowager sat on a low kang, wearing a dark red plain palace dress on it, and the gray hair on the head was combed in a bun, except for a few hairpins that fixed the bun, they did not wear any beads.

At this time, the Empress Dowager Xiaohe leaned forward slightly, holding a plain silver hairpin to pull out the burning incense burner. With the fiddling of filial piety and the empress dowager, the sandalwood fragrance in the hall became more and more intense.

Lingxi walked in front of Xiaohe and the Empress Dowager, performed the palace salute in a regular manner, and said with a smile, "The slave maid greets the Empress Dowager." ”

The Empress Dowager Xiaohe raised her head, looked at Lingxi and smiled, "Get up, get up quickly......" said to Zhiqiu, who was standing on the side and asked Lingxi to say goodbye, "The mourning family remembers that she is willing to eat date cakes, you go and get some of them." ”

After Zhiqiu went down, the Empress Dowager Xiaohe put down the plain silver hairpin in her hand and stretched out her hand to Lingxi. Lingxi hurriedly stepped forward to catch it, and Ren Xiao and the Empress Dowager pulled her to look left and right.

After a while, the Empress Dowager Xiaohe smiled, "This dress is good, and you will not lose your current identity." ”

Like a child offering a treasure to an adult, Lingxi lowered his head and said shyly, "The slave is afraid of losing her mother's face." ”

The Empress Dowager Xiaohe shook her head and said, "No, this is not right." ”

Lingxi looked up in surprise, not knowing what was wrong.

Xiao and the Empress Dowager held hands and let Lingxi sit on the low kang, looked at Lingxi and said, "You have a different identity now, and you can't always talk about 'slave' and 'slave'." In front of outsiders, you have to call yourself a 'concubine'. ”

Lingxi nodded, lowered her eyes, and obediently responded to Xiaohe and the Empress Dowager, "The concubine knows." ”

The Empress Dowager Xiaohe looked at Lingxi's lowered eyes and asked again, "Then can you call me the Imperial Grandmother now?" ”

Lingxi was surprised, raised his head and looked at Xiaohe and the Empress Dowager in confusion, suspecting that his ears had heard it wrong.

The Empress Dowager Xiaohe saw the Mu Na with Lingxi's face, straightened her face, and pretended to be angry, "I raised you as a granddaughter since I was a child, and I haven't even heard a word from my grandmother until now, my old woman is really at a loss." ”

After hearing this, Lingxi became at a loss, and all kinds of emotions came to her heart, and she couldn't taste what it was like.

Tears appeared in his eyes, and before the tears fell, Lingxi cautiously asked, "Is it okay?" ”

The Empress Dowager Xiaohe stretched out her hand and hugged Lingxi in her arms, and said with a doting smile, "You stupid child, how did you grow up stupid from a young age?" It's stupid and can't be done without feeling distressed. ”

Lingxi stretched out his hands to wrap around the back of Xiao and the Empress Dowager, who was no longer straight, and barked like a kitten, "Imperial grandmother." ”

The Empress Dowager Xiaohe looked at the golden phoenix hairpin on Lingxi's hair bun and sighed, then gently patted Lingxi's shoulder, and said with a smile, "Okay, okay, all of you are mothers, if you let your five princesses and five princes see it, how can you laugh at you." ”

Lingxi got up from the arms of Xiao and the Empress Dowager, wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes with a handkerchief, and laughed.

Zhiqiu came in from outside at the right time, took a plate of date cake and a cup of almond tea in his hand, put it on the coffee table and said to Lingxi, "Concubine Yingniang, the Empress Dowager said early in the morning, you must have come early, I'm afraid the breakfast is not used, this is the Empress Dowager specially ordered to prepare." ”

Turning around, he said to Xiaohe and the Empress Dowager, "Empress Dowager, Concubine Rou is here, and Zhou An has already led her to the outer hall to sit down." ”

The Empress Dowager Xiaohe hummed and said, "Let her sit down, and we'll go out when we've had enough." ”

Zhiqiu blessed his body and retreated.

Xiaohe and the Empress Dowager smiled at Lingxi, "Ling'er, you pad some first, don't go back at lunchtime, and accompany the mourning family to use it." ”

Lingxi stood up, saluted in gratitude, and sat down again.

Lingxi's moderate demeanor is in line with the intentions of filial piety and the empress dowager.

One of the things that the Empress Dowager Xiaohe has always liked is that she always obeys the rules. So looking at Lingxi's gaze, he was reluctant to be more satisfied.

After Lingxi sat down, he ate a piece of date cake at the urging of Xiao and the Empress Dowager, and drank the almond tea. After eating, Lingxi wiped the corners of his mouth with a handkerchief, smiled shyly at Xiao and the Empress Dowager, and said, "Ancestor, the concubine is full." ”

When eating that piece of jujube cake, Lingxi secretly thought in his heart how to call Xiaohe the Empress Dowager in the future. She always felt that it was inappropriate to call her 'Imperial Grandmother' in private. After all, she is a concubine, and it stands to reason that she is only the concubine of Emperor Yong'an. is not a wife, how can he call Xiaohe the Empress Dowager the imperial grandmother like Emperor Yong'an.

But if it is called 'Queen Mother' or 'Niangniang', it will invisibly pull the relationship between the two people farther.

Xiao and the Empress Dowager won't say anything, but Lingxi always feels that she has suffered a loss. After thinking about it, Lingxi felt that it was most appropriate to use the word 'old ancestor'.

First, where is the generation of filial piety and the empress dowager, she can afford this ancestor. The second is that this title can also be called out in front of outsiders, and it shows that he has a close relationship with Xiao and the Empress Dowager.

The Empress Dowager Xiaohe smiled after hearing this, pointed at Lingxi and smiled, "Little monkey, you are still clever!" ”

Lingxi lowered his head, his eyes were full of smiles.

Zhiqiu walked in from outside, greeted Xiao and the Empress Dowager, and said, "The Empress Dowager, everyone has arrived." ”

Seeing that Xiao and the Empress Dowager wanted to get up, Lingxi hurriedly got up first and held the left arm of the Empress Dowager Xiao He.

After Xiao and the Empress Dowager stood firm, she sighed and said in a lofty manner, "Change clothes, the mourning family is going out to meet this group of cows, ghosts, snakes and gods, and see how capable they are, and they can make this harem into a miasma." ”