I wiped it for her uneasily, but I didn't dare to alarm others, so I had to whisper: "Little master, little master, are you having a nightmare?" ”

Ruyi clenched her hand tightly and said in a dumb voice: "It's not a nightmare, but my nightmare should wake up." She looked up at the water-stained walls, the mossy corners, the ever-wet and greasy dirt floors, the cold in winter and hot in summer. Enough is enough, really enough is enough!

He held her hand knowingly, nodded knowingly, and only said: "Haiguiren is not in the palace, and it is not easy to get paper money or something, so we have to fold a little bit at will and do our best." ”

It has rained in the Old Summer Palace for several days, and it is more refreshing and cool. The queen sat in the warm pavilion of "Heaven and Earth One Spring", looking at the newly opened bowls of lotus in the celadon vat under the corridor, one by one, the pink color was like peach blossoms and rain, and it was dripping. The queen admired the bowl lotus, teased a colorful feather parrot on the copper wire shelf at hand, and asked, "Did the emperor really let Concubine Hui move into Shaojingxuan alone?" ”

Zhao Yitai bowed his body and said respectfully: "Isn't it?" The emperor lives in the Le'an and Hall of Qingyan in Kyushu, surrounded by the pine and willows of Shaojingxuan of Hui Guifei, the scenery is excellent, not to mention, and the emperor's Le'an and Hall are opposite each other, but the nearest is not. On the contrary, the queen mother and other small lords live in the world of Qingyan in Kyushu, which is crowded and noisy, and separated from the emperor's things, so it is really inconvenient to come and go. ”

The queen took a hosta and teased the parrot with a smile: "Then according to your meaning, what should the palace do?" ”

"The queen mother is the master of the harem, and she should be closest to the emperor, so she has to live quietly. And you ......" Zhao Yitai smiled and looked up at the queen's face, "You should also add a little prince as soon as possible." Otherwise, Concubine Hui is now so favored, even the emperor's new favorites Qing Changzai and Shen Guiren have been left behind. You're not afraid that she'll have a prince before you......"

The queen glanced at him coldly, and then her calm and gentle face was calm: "Since entering the Old Summer Palace, several of the emperor's new favorites have been trying their best to dominate the emperor. Hui Guifei's poems and books are agile, it is a good thing to be able to regain the emperor's love, what is this palace going to do to ask for this suspicion? As long as the emperor doesn't favor those young foxes, that's it. She raised her eyebrows slightly, touched her wrist, which was as white as jade, and said with a sneer: "As long as Concubine Hui has the blessing of having a prince." ”

Zhao Yitai hurriedly said: "Niangniang Shengming." ”

The queen smiled gracefully: "It's not the Shengming of the palace, the queen mother let us enter the Old Summer Palace, just hoping that so many concubines can serve the emperor well and add a man and a half woman to the emperor, how can the palace interfere?" It's better to be a quiet and virtuous queen, and let them compete for the wind and be jealous. Very literary"

Zhao Yitai took the white jade lotus hairpin in the queen's hand, put it on the plump Baoyue bun for the queen, and said with a smile: "The slave understands." No wonder the queen never disdained to show off the flowers and branches like those little masters, it turned out to be the meaning of this faint pole to know that the flowers are more colorful. The emperor is tired of their tricks, so he will naturally return to the queen. ”

The queen smiled faintly: "You just said that Amarnapur of Ulanara Ruyi is dead?" ”

Zhao Yitai hurriedly said: "Yes." The news I just got was unfortunate and not an important person, so the news came in slowly. ”

The queen let out an "oh", held her sideburns like cicada wings, and said softly: "Although it is a little slower, it is something that matters." It is also the pity of the Ulanala clan, the family is in decline, and Amma is gone again. You can find a way to ask someone to send her some paper money and spiritual vessels, and let her burn some for her Amma to do her best. ”

Zhao Yitai was stunned: "But the palace rules strictly order, and these things are not allowed to be burned in the palace......"

The queen's smile was gentle, and she flicked the parrot's bright red beak: "The palace rules are palace rules, and it is difficult for her to be filial in the cold palace." Go ahead and do it. ”

This night, the moon falls and cries, which coincides with the Zhongyuan Ghost Festival on July 15, and it is the first seven days of Ruyi Ama. The sun set before it was dark, and the slanting sun had a terrible blood-red color, as if someone had splashed a whole bucket of blood on the sky, and let it overflow and slide down, and gradually the sky darkened, and the blood became a dry bloodstain, black and red sticking to the sky. The forest in the palace is lush and lush, and countless palace crows and black feathers are surging, like dark clouds covering the moonlight, swirling in the sky, reflecting this dim sky, as if blending into this endless darkness, only the "ahhhh

At the moment of the day, I could hear the sound of drums and cymbals from afar, and the Buddha horn was noisy, and Ruyi knew that it was the ceremony of the Zhongyuan Water Saving Land Dojo in the palace to release flames. Because the Queen Mother believed in Buddhism, the palace invited the monks of Fayuan Temple, the Taoist of Baiyun Temple and the lamas of Miaoying Temple to hold a dharma to do a dojo, showing caution and chasing the distance, remembering the meaning of the deceased, in order to calm the soul of the dead, and pray for peace in the palace. Not only the concubines in the palace, but also the people in the palace can participate. Just yesterday, Ruyi folded a stack of paper lotus flowers, and gave it to Ling Yunche when he was on duty to burn the souls of his relatives, and Yun Che was also very grateful.

At this time in previous years, Ruyi would also put lotus lanterns among the concubines to express the remembrance of the deceased. Now, she can only secretly burn a little paper under the porch of the courtyard and send it to her father, who died early under Jiuquan. Most of the people in the cold palace are crazy, or they have already been confused, and they live far away on weekdays, and no one pays attention to them. However, when Concubine Ji came to get food, she saw it, sneered and said, "Sure enough, I was tired of it, and I secretly found paper money to burn." Now that the old witch of the Queen Mother is alone in the palace, she is the most taboo about these. You can be careful. He ignored it and walked away.

Ruyi squatted beside the pile of burning papers, and the firelight was warmly smoked on her, only to feel warmer, unlike the days when her father had just been there, she always felt cold.

He said in his heart: "These paper money were finally sent in, saying that it was the meaning of the Hai nobles, and they expressed a little sorrow to the little master." ”

Ruyi nodded: "It's embarrassing for her, she was sent in the door of the food delivery, and she didn't know it." ”

He said in his heart: "Don't worry, little master." The concubines are not in the palace, the queen mother must have gone to see the matter, no one will notice. ”

Before the words fell, I could only hear a sharp sneer outside: "Is no one really noticing?" You are too bold and lawless! ”

Ruyi suddenly heard the voice, and all the paper Huo Di in her hand fell into the fire, and the fire became higher and higher, almost burning the corner of her clothes. Before he could react, the door of the cold palace opened, and he saw Cheng Han's father-in-law next to the Queen Mother leading in, and said arrogantly: "It's really a group of lifeless things, it is strictly forbidden to burn incense and burn paper money in the palace, and you dare to hide in the harem and secretly burn paper money!" What a sin deserves death! ”

Ruyi and Xinxin suddenly saw Cheng's father-in-law come in, and their faces changed in fright, so they only knew how to kneel aside and remain silent.

Cheng Gong scolded fairly, only to hear a female voice say kindly: "The cold palace is a forbidden place in the palace, it is not right for them to burn paper money, but Cheng Han, you are noisy in the cold palace, and you are too ignorant of the rules." ”

When Cheng Han heard this, he was so frightened that he bent over and guarded the side of the road, stretched out his hand to hold a well-maintained hand wearing various jewelry rings, and said with sincere fear: "The cold palace is filthy, the queen mother carefully stepped." ”

The Empress Dowager held his hand and slowly walked in, and said with a faint smile: "I think that when I was young, I didn't come to the cold palace, so I just revisited the old place." Her eyes glanced at her: "Someone in the palace reported to the mourning family that on the Ghost Festival in the Middle Yuan, someone dared to burn paper money in the harem without authorization, which is really bold." ”

Ruyi and Xinxin haven't seen the Queen Mother for a long time, but they feel that her complexion is getting better and better, and she is wearing a green gauze embroidered dragon peony gold tuanshou inlaid with a collar gauze with a head full of red gold and Hetian jade, which makes her even more energetic.

Ruyi saw the Queen Mother, the fear had not yet faded from her face, but her eyes were full of tears, as if the lonely soul who had not seen the people suddenly saw the old man, a pair of eyes only fell on the Queen Mother's face, bowed her head and kowtowed three times, and said: "When the slave maid was locked up in the cold palace for a long time, the Queen Mother was the first person to come to see the slave maid." Although the slave and maid knew that they would be punished by the Queen Mother, but seeing that the Queen Mother was in good spirits and everything was fine, the slave and maid were willing to accept any punishment. ”

Seeing that she was so sincere, the Queen Mother couldn't help but feel a little emotional: "You child, you are still so worried about the mourning family in the cold palace." ”

I bowed down to Ruyi's side and said boldly: "Back to the Queen Mother, although the little master of my family is in the cold palace, he is always thinking about the Queen Mother in his heart, and he will pray at the window every day, praying for the Queen Mother's health and longevity." ”

The Queen Mother froze slightly, a trace of emotion flashed in her eyes, and then she looked around and said, "The mourning family thought that you were staying here in peace." With this intention, how dare you violate the taboo in the palace and burn paper money here so unlucky. ”

He was frightened and hurriedly said: "The Queen Mother is angry, the Queen Mother is angry." The little lord's Amma, the lord of the Ulanala family, passed away, and it is the first seven of today, and the little lord has no intention of offending the palace rules. Please also ask the Queen Mother to be considerate of the little master's filial piety. ”

The Queen Mother's expression didn't show any clues, as if the surface of a calm lake was unfazed: "Filial piety is private, and the palace rules are public." How can justice be disregarded for the sake of selfishness? Cheng Han, according to the palace rules, what should be done? ”

Cheng Han raised the corners of his mouth, and said with a smile: "Burning paper money without authorization violates the palace rules, and you should be rewarded with the punishment of Red Lotus." ”

The Queen Mother slowly pulled the red gold inlay Hetian jade armor in her hand, and said in a deep voice: "The palace rules are as big as the sky, then reward it!" ”

The so-called step-by-step red lotus is to take a ruler to draw the long iron thistle terrestris to the center of the foot, and beat it down, and there is no good meat in the center of the foot and instep, and the muscles and bones are fully visible. The tortured person's feet have since been useless, and when he was lifted up to walk, his bones touched the ground, and he stepped on blood-red marks, like a red lotus blooming, which was one of the 72 tortures of the Shen Penal Division.

When Ruyi heard this, she couldn't help but sweat trickling down, which instantly spread to her neck and wet her collar.

I almost didn't faint, and I was busy kowtowing desperately: "Queen Mother, Queen Mother, please spare the little master, spare the little master." ”

The Queen Mother shook her head slightly, and said indifferently: "Once everything is done, you must bear the consequences." You just accept it. ”