The outer hall was extremely quiet, and there was a "pop" sound of silver charcoal in the smoker, and everyone was terrified and sweated. There was a slight moan from the inner hall, and Shang Meiren was lying on the bed, her forehead was full of fine beads of sweat, and there was only the little girl who was not very common on weekdays on her side, and she felt even more disheartened.

She really couldn't exert her strength, so she asked angrily: "What about the official family?" ”

The little girl was a little righteous, and when she saw Lindong wake up, she wrung a hot towel to help her wipe her sweat, and said softly: "The official family is asking the imperial doctor outside, the beauty and rest at ease, there will be long days in the future, and it is important to take care of your body." ”

Lin Dong closed his eyes, tears fell into his sideburns, and he said mournfully: "I want to see the official family." ”

The little girl said: "Niangniang rests first, and the official family will naturally come to see you." ”

While speaking, Zhao Zhen had already entered the inner hall, Lin Dong looked at the vermilion figure, his heart was soft and tactful, and he whispered: "Official, concubine ......" was finally speechless, just silently weeping.

Zhao Zhen stood in front of the bed, his eyes were like ice, and he said, "Imperial Doctor Xu said that you have used the Aromatic Muscle Pill, but is there such a thing?" ”

Lin Dong's face was bloodless, and he trembled and said: "The concubine was confused for a while, so she listened to what the imperial doctor said and used that pill to maintain her appearance. He raised his head again and wept, "The concubines have been set into a trap, and they are jealous of my favor and have devised ways to poison me." ”

Zhao Zhen's face became more and more devoid, and when he thought that everyone in the harem didn't know how many means he used to calculate himself, he felt bored in his heart. Lin Dongren burst into tears and sobbed: "The concubine wants to come now, it's all a trick made by Dong Zhaoyi, and she deliberately revealed the recipe of the fragrant muscle pill to me, and said that only Imperial Doctor Xu would develop it in the palace." At first, the concubine didn't know that musk and other things would hurt the muscles and bones, but later she realized that it was too late, so please ask the official family to call the shots for the concubine! ”

Zhao Zhen said: "I naturally want to be the master, I want to see who is making waves in this palace." ”

Immediately announced that Dong Zhaoyi and others entered the inner hall to confront each other, Dong Zhaoyi naturally did not admit it, she knelt in front of Zhao Zhen, and said: "Shangmei is afraid of falling out of favor, so she found a home remedy to use, what do you have to do with your concubines?" The concubine also took pity on her for the loss of her beloved son, and treated her sincerely, not wanting to be bitten by her, which was really chilling. ”

Imperial Physician Xu also said: "The official family, Weichen and Shangmei have no grievances, so why do you want to harm her?" The courtier's family has been a doctor for generations, how can they put people in danger and ignore it? Please be aware of the authorities. ”

Zhao Zhen was even more furious when he saw that none of them would give in, and each of them had their own reasons. So he summoned the imperial doctors, medical women, and palace people related to the Imperial Pharmacy, and carefully checked the drug collection records, the imperial medicine prescription records, and the imperial doctor's harem entry and exit records, etc., only to find that Imperial Doctor Xu really used a lot of musk, Korean ginseng, deer antler velvet and other precious medicines without authorization, and he couldn't say where they were used.

The palace people had never seen the officials make such a big move, and they were all frightened.

When Concubine De heard this, she didn't even have time to change her clothes, she wore a homely apricot embroidered brocade dress and a blue gray horse-faced skirt, and hurried to Huifu Garden. Walking to the door of the weeping flowers, it was already drenched in sweat, blown by the wind, and shivering.

The hall was full of people kneeling outside the hall, and Concubine De walked to Zhao Zhen, bowed down and said, "The official family is blessed." ”

Zhao Zhen put the scroll in his hand on the ground and said, "Do you know that such a calculation happened in the palace?" ”

Seeing that Zhao Zhen was furious, Concubine De said cautiously: "It's the concubine's negligence." ”

A palace person picked up the volume and handed it to Concubine De, who took a few glances and knew the ins and outs of the matter, and she didn't dare to talk nonsense, just waiting for the official family to show her.

Zhao Zhen leaned on the stool, his eyes were as calm as the surface of a lake without waves, and asked, "Dong Zhaoyi, what else do you have to say?" ”

Dong Zhaoyi kowtowed to the ground, knowing that it was concealed, so she had to say: "The concubine is really speechless, although there was a recipe to tell Shang Meiren Xiang Muscle Pill that day, but there was no intention of murdering the prince, it was Shang Meiren who said that she had red bumps on her face, and asked the concubine if there was any good way to make her muscles like clotted fat, and the concubine said so casually." But she didn't want to, she took it to heart, but now she blames the concubine. As he spoke, he began to cry again.

The harem is fighting openly and secretly, Zhao Zhen has seen it from childhood to adulthood, and sometimes he knows it in his heart and just thinks he doesn't know, but this time, it was too much, so he had to be ruthless and rectify such a bad trend.

He pondered for a long time, and then said: "Dong's Zhaoyi and Shang's beauties are not good at conduct, and they are not enough to be exemplary women in the world, so they are demoted to concubines and expelled from the court." ”

When Dong Zhaoyi heard this, it was as if she had fallen into the abyss, her eyes were pitch black, and she kowtowed to the ground again and again: "Official, spare the concubine, the concubine will never dare again......"

On the contrary, it was Shang Lindong, struggling to kneel on the bed, not crying or making trouble, and said, "Thank you for the grace of the official family." ”

Zhao Zhen also stopped looking at them, brushed his sleeves away, and left everything to Concubine De to dispose of.

Concubine De was afraid that the official family would be condemned for her negligence in the matter of Xiang Mu Pills, so she tried her best to score three points more than before, and cleared the Dong family and the Shang family out of the court in less than two days, leaving no trace of it, and even the imperial doctor Xu was also punished with a cane for twenty years, and he would never be hired again.

The palace suddenly suffered such a change, causing an uproar.

Although Zhao Zhen has many concubines, there are few heirs, this time Shang Mei was pregnant, and her expectations were very high, and she was even more sad to have such an ending. He never stepped into the harem for half a month, and he dealt with state affairs in the Funing Hall every day, and he didn't even go to the Ruyi Courtyard.

It is spring, day by day warmer and warmer, under the corridor with black glaze jar placed a few slips of peony, the flower bones bloom in time, extremely rich. Yan Wenying had just been promoted to the chief eunuch of Si Tianjian Zhangyin, and was about to play a majestic role, when he saw Xia Zhi standing under the corridor in a daze, he reprimanded him repeatedly: "Yo, the official family is about to rise, what are you still doing here, don't you hurry up and prepare tea, is it difficult to let the official family wait for you?" ”

Although Xia Zhi's grade is not as good as Yan Wenying, she is much older than him in terms of qualifications, and the palace concubines are polite when they see her, but Yan Wenying is always arrogant and very disgusting.

Xia Zhi said angrily: "When the official family wakes up, I will go and bring the tea, but I don't bother the eunuch to mention it." After saying that, he twisted his body and went to the pantry. Yan Wenying lost face, and he didn't dare to do anything, so he had to take the palace maid who swept under the corridor out of anger and scolded indiscriminately.

After Zhao Zhen took a nap, Xia Zhi took the newly brewed rose tea, which had the faint fragrance of flowers and looked good. Zhao Zhen had just woken up, a little dazed, and gently skimmed the curly petals with the tea lid, but he didn't drink it. It was out of his mind that he suddenly heard an attendant under the corridor say: "The official, the slave has something to say." ”

Zhao Zhen put down the tea lid in his hand and said, "Come in." ”

The chamberlain bowed into the hall, knelt down in the hall, and said with a happy face: "The servant has said good to the official family, just now the imperial doctor of the Imperial Pharmacy sent someone to say that the Lanmei people are happy." ”

The waiter spoke quickly and urgently, and Zhao Zhen still had a hint of fatigue on his face, as if he hadn't heard clearly.

Yan Wenying also knelt down on one side, and said with a smile: "The official family is overjoyed." ”

Zhao Zhen suddenly realized, and the ecstasy in his heart was irrepressible, as if he was about to explode, and even the tiredness was gone, so he suddenly got up and walked out quickly.

When I arrived at Ruyi Courtyard, I saw Mo Lan lying under the porch on a sapphire blue and white silk brocade quilt basking in the sun, and the waiter wanted to come forward to say goodbye, but was stopped by Zhao Zhen. All the plum blossoms in the courtyard have been moved, and hundreds of pots of pomegranate flowers have been planted in Jingdelan porcelain jars, one by one, one by one, and they are as red as fire.

He tiptoed close to her, and saw that her eyes were slightly closed, her eyelashes were thick and curly on her face, the corners of her lips seemed to be smiling, and her translucent skin seemed to reflect soft light in the sun.

She tilted her head to one side, revealing her delicate neck, Zhao Zhen was afraid that she would be cold, so she gently lifted the quilt up, but she woke up and opened her eyes worriedly.

Zhao Zhen smiled lightly: "Although the sunshine is good, it is not good to sleep outside, and it is easy to attract wind." So saying, he picked her up with the quilt and went to the temple. He put her on the bed and said softly, "You are two people now, are you hungry, what do you want to eat?" ”

Mo Lan broke free from the quilt, a few strands of hair hung down on his face, and he was about to brush it, but Zhao Zhen stretched out his hand and tenderly brushed it back on her bun, and said, "I ate the lily cake made by the Si Diet Division a few days ago, it tastes good, do you want to eat it?" Before Mo Lan could speak, he hurriedly said: "No, no, you are pregnant now, you should like to eat some sour things, I will make some sour plum cakes, how about it?" ”

Moran said: "I didn't want to eat sour things, and I wasn't hungry at this time, but it was you who disturbed my sleep." ”

Zhao Zhen let out an "ah", his face was full of guilt, and said, "Then you sleep, you sleep." As he spoke, he really stepped forward to tuck the quilt for her. Moran was amused by him and said, "I'm awake, how can I still sleep." She had a smile on her face, her neat white teeth, her eyebrows and eyes crooked, and her soft voice, which made him feel intoxicated.

He stretched out his hand and held her tightly in his arms, as if he refused to believe all this in front of him, for fear that it was just a dream, and only by holding her in his arms could he feel at ease.

He whispered in her ear, "Moran, I'm so happy. I promise you that I will give you whatever you want, and I only want you. Holding her face again, he said slowly face to face: "I love you very much, I hope you can understand." ”

They were almost face to face, breathing wringing.

Mo Lan looked at the man in front of him, there was nothing else in his eyes like a clear pool, listening to his love words in his ears, he unconsciously touched the softest place in his heart, her smile overflowed from the bottom of her heart, extending to the corners of her eyebrows and eyes, and she felt that her whole body was stretched, and every part of her body was happy.

Her face was crimson, her eyelids lowered and she said, "I have a covenant with Qing for three lifetimes, life and death go hand in hand, and we will never lose each other." ”

When Zhao Zhen heard this, he saw her shy and embarrassed appearance, and felt even more pity, as if she could give birth to a shining brilliance, so that he couldn't bear to take his eyes off it.

The next day, the emperor issued a holy decree, and Lanmei was pregnant and meritorious, and was promoted to the second grade Zhaoyi.

In the blink of an eye, in April, because of the rain that had just fallen, the distant mountains were undulating like flowing water, and the thin mist was thick on the top of the mountain, and the air was cool and quiet.

Qingqiu was instructing the palace people to clean up the red flowing water all over the courtyard when suddenly an attendant came to tell him, saying: "Qingqiu Lady hurry up and prepare, the royal driver has arrived at the gate of Luanming Palace." With that, he turned around and went again.

Qingqiu hurriedly entered the inner hall, and saw Mo Lan take off his soft silk embroidered shoes, shrunk his feet and read on the mahogany sour branch collapsed chair, and said softly: "Niangniang, the holy driver is already outside the courtyard gate." ”

Seeing her put down the book, Qingqiu hurriedly squatted over to serve and put on her shoes, and reached out to help her, but she smiled and said, "How can it be so delicate." So saying, he got up and went out.

It was the cold season of spring, Mo Lan was dressed tightly, a duck egg green peony large-sleeved skirt covered with a stone blue weaving tuan flower gown, but he couldn't see the slightly bulging belly. She only stood under the porch in front of the house, and did not leave the door.

The official family had already issued an order, saying that it had been windy recently, and he was afraid that Mo Lan would hurt his head, so no matter who came to Ruyi Courtyard, he would just greet him in the house.

Zhao Zhen was hugged by the palace maids, he did not wear a dragon robe today, but it was rare to wear an armor uniform. He strode over with a smile on his eyebrows, and before Moranford could get down, his hands had already been held by him, and he smiled: "Is your body comfortable today?" He looked at her stomach with a smile and asked, "Did he trouble you?" ”

Moran led him inside and said, "He's still young, where can he make trouble." ”

The two entered the inner hall, Qingqiu brought tea, but Zhao Zhen did not sit, stood up in the hall, and asked, "Mo Lan, I look good in this uniform?" ”

He is already tall, and he loves to ride and shoot and bow on weekdays, although he is not as brave and burly as Su and Shen, but he also has broad shoulders and a long body.

There are a few peonies on the desk, and the purple-red petals are stacked on top of each other, swaying slightly with the movement in the room.

Moran said: "It's very beautiful. ”

Zhao Zhen laughed like a child, opened his arms, carefully looked at the armor on his body, and said proudly: "The treasury allocated two taels of silver to the old man of the Privy Council to make a new uniform, so I also made a set." ”

Moran said: "Liulang looks good in a military uniform, but I hope you don't wear it for the rest of your life." ”

Zhao Zhen was stunned for a moment and asked, "Why?" You don't like it? ”

Mo Lan shook his head and said, "I just thought, if it has reached the point where all officials have to wear armor, then what kind of unbearable situation should Da Song fall into!" ”

When Zhao Zhen heard this, his face changed color, and he sat on the stool and was silent.

Qingqiu thought that Mo Lan had said the wrong thing, and he was so frightened that he stood at the curtain of the door in fear, and he didn't dare to move. After a long time, Zhao Zhen glanced at Mo Lan, and saw that she was sitting under the window reading a book, pretending to cough a few times, and said, "Why did it rain and it got hot." He looked at Moran again and said, "I want to change the green shirt I wear on weekdays." ”

Mo Lan calmly put down the book, took the clothes Qingqiu took from him, and personally helped Zhao Zhen change them, just as if nothing had happened just now, and asked, "Can Liulang have dinner in Ruyi Courtyard?" ”

Zhao Zhen was about to speak, when a waiter suddenly announced under the corridor: "Official, Lord Liu is already waiting in Funing Palace." ”

When Zhao Zhen heard this, he smiled and said, "I will go back to the Funing Hall first, and then come over for dinner in the evening." When he reached the gate of the courtyard, he turned around, took her hand, and said, "If I am late, don't wait, be careful if you are hungry and hurt your stomach." After a pause, he was about to say something, but he saw Mo Lan stomp his foot lightly and said, "In the past, I was even more verbose than me." ”

Zhao Zhen saw her with coquettish anger, her eyes flowed, and she smiled slightly, and said, "Then I am gone." ”

Mo Lan knew that he was reluctant to give up on himself, so he felt sweet in his heart, tiptoed and kissed him lightly on the chin, and said with a smile: "Now you can go with peace of mind." When the palace people who were accompanying them on the left and right saw such a scene, they all quietly turned their backs with interest.

Zhao Zhen pinched Mo Lan's cheek and said, "You narrow ......" and kissed her deeply on the lips before turning around and leaving.

Since the queen mother, the status of the Liu family is not guaranteed, and Congguang has also restrained his expression in front of the official family, and he no longer dares to be presumptuous. Because he was seriously ill last year, he was no longer appointed in the court, and he only took on an idle job, staying at home every day to recuperate. This time, Zhao Zhen suddenly announced the summons, which also made him sincerely afraid, and he did not dare to slack off at all.

He was sitting in the outer hall, his expression was still calm, he heard the sound of footsteps, he quickly stood up, and heard Zhao Zhen smile from a distance: "Wait a long time." ”

Congguang knelt down, saluted, and replied: "It's a bad luck for the minister." ”

Zhao Zhen sat down and said straight to the point: "Have you heard of the fact that the Tongjian Pavilion was razed to the ground?" ”

There was a rumble from Guang's brain, and he couldn't help but show his usual arrogant momentum and said, "When did it happen?" ”

Zhao Zhen didn't mind, seeing that he was surprised, he hurriedly explained: "During the Lantern Festival, I ran out of water and almost burned all the manuscripts. Fortunately, a palace maid ran into the fire regardless of her life, and only then did she save Xiao Banlai. After a pause, he added, "I know that the manuscript is your painstaking effort, and now you are the most suitable person to rebuild it." ”

When Congguang first entered the palace to repair the history books, he was also forced to be helpless, and at this time, he was even more afraid of involving the partisan dispute in the court and causing trouble to the Liu family, so he said lightly: "The minister's health has not been good, but I am afraid that it will be difficult to take on the important task." ”

But where did Zhao Zhen find someone to discuss, just for the sake of face, he didn't make a holy decree, and he said leisurely: "Don't shirk this matter, the Liu family also needs someone to come out and take on the important task now." His tone was neither light nor serious, and his face was also smiling, but there was a few hints of coldness in his eyes, which made Congguang shudder.

Outside the window, there is spring light obliquely entering, shining on the faces of the two people, both of them are water chestnuts with distinct angles and faces like crowned jade.

The two confronted each other quietly, no one refused to back down, if there were others, they would definitely feel uncomfortable, and the atmosphere seemed like a fight was about to start at any time. If they were children, the two would have met with fists long ago, and there were no kings and ministers at that time, just cousins.

There was silence for a long time, but Zhao Zhen spoke first: "Do you know who the palace maid who came out of the fire pit with the manuscript and blinded her eyes?" ”

Congguang was faintly a little uneasy, but he didn't know where this uneasiness came from, he said: "I want to come and have nothing to do with the minister." ”

Zhao Zhen took a sip of tea and said, "You also know, it's Old Man Lu's niece, named Lu Zifei." ”

When he heard this, he was frightened, his hands were clenched into fists, and he couldn't wait to go to Renming Hall to find out. Zhao Zhen looked at his face, and simply picked it out: "I also happened to hear about the affairs between you and the people in that palace, and you also know what a big crime it is to covet the people in the harem!" You are nothing, you are a relative of the emperor, I always have to look at the face of the queen mother. She is different, she is in the palace, and her life is like grass. ”

Hearing the word Caokan, Congguang was shocked, and saw Zhao Zhen's eyes sharp, full of the majesty of the official family, and hurriedly knelt down and said: "The minister covets the people in the harem, the crime deserves death, and it has nothing to do with others, please check the official family." ”

Zhao Zhen let him kneel, but said with a smile: "It's nothing, there are so many women in the harem, I can't all be included as concubines, if you really like it, it will be given to you, and it will be fine." After a pause, he said, "Even for the sake of the palace maid desperately rescuing the manuscript, you should go back to the Tongjian Pavilion." ”

Congguang had nothing to say, and kowtowed: "The minister respectfully obeys the emperor's orders." ”

Zhao Zhen also smiled and said, "That's it, you get up quickly, your body is not as good as before, if you kneel again, it's not mine." As he spoke, he left his seat and personally helped Congguang up, smiling.

The new Tongjian Hall was built very quickly, and it was almost exactly the same as the previous one on the original site, and all the palace maids who had previously served in the Tongjian Museum were also repatriated to their original positions.

Zifei's eyes are good and bad, and there is nothing unusual during the day, but when it gets dark, he can't see anything, even if he lights the lamp, he walks in the dark. Fortunately, with Mo Lan taking care of her, and with Lu'er by her side, others treated her politely, but she was fine.

The official only said that he would send the minister over to repair the book, but did not say who it was.

On the day of the reopening, the official family banquet invited all the courtiers to celebrate in the vertical arch hall, and only when it was time for the new person in charge to return to the Tongjian Museum. The sky was gradually darkening, and Zi Fei's eyes were blurry, only a few bits of light and shadow. The Shang Gong of Renming Hall led everyone to wait in front of the hall, and the night wind was cold, blowing on people, shivering. The palace people waited left and right and couldn't see the ministers coming, and they couldn't help but be a little bored, and they gossiped about each other.

Lu'er knew that Zi Fei's eyes were not good, so she deliberately mentioned the four-corner palace lamp to stand beside her, but Zi Fei didn't know it at all, and she still couldn't see anything in front of her.

Lu'er said softly: "It's better to explain to Shanggong Niangniang, I'll help you go back to the house first." ”

Zifei smiled and said, "I'm fine, we always take leave, and Shanggong Niangniang is also embarrassed." The dumb person is here, and you remind me. I think I can only go through the motions today, there is nothing important, and when it is all gone, it is not too late for you to help me go back. ”

As he was talking, an attendant hurriedly came and said, "It's coming, it's coming." ”

Everyone was busy holding their expressions and bowing down one after another, although Zi Fei couldn't see it, there was Lu'er whispering by his side, and it was not a big mistake. The ministers had just gone to the banquet, full of wine and smiling.

Although Zifei couldn't see, he listened with pointed ears, trying to find Congguang's voice.

But after listening to it for a long time, there was no sound from him. After a while, Lu'er took her hand again and led her forward, she didn't know where to go, the surroundings were suddenly very quiet, only the sound of boots and shoes. Vaguely entering the main hall, a minister began to talk about the scene, and everyone also agreed. It was a long time before they were about to disperse.

I don't know when, Lu'er let go of Zifei's hand, Shang Gong said that when everyone retreated, Zifei seemed to be standing in the black field, unable to see anything, she could only walk forward with the push of others, she wanted to call people, but there was silence around, even the footsteps were nothing, she didn't dare to make a sound, and she couldn't help but be anxious.

She took a few steps forward, stumbled on the threshold, and fell down hard.