"Senior sister, this is the refreshing tea that Qingping taught me to cook, which is made with a small amount of rose, mint, dried autumn chrysanthemum, and green tea, and the cooking is also particular. The first time I learned it, I thought I did a pretty good job. I just drank some and I really feel a lot clearer! After doing it successfully, I was anxious to give my sister a taste. ”

Huo Xiaoyan said, put the tray on the table, poured a cup of tea herself, and happily handed it to Rong Yunxi with both hands.

Rong Yunxi took it, just sniffed it, and said with a smile: "Hmm...... It's really good tea! It's been a long time since I've smelled such a fresh aroma of tea. ”

"Really?" After receiving Rong Yunxi's praise, Huo Xiaoyan was so happy that she almost jumped up, clapped her hands, and said with a smile: "I know that I am the smartest, and I can learn anything!" ”

Rong Yunxi saw that she had become as lively as she was in the rivers and lakes again, and naturally she was happy to get along with her easily, so she joked and said perfunctorily: "Okay, good, you are the smartest, no one is as smart as you!" When the monkey sees you, they all run around! ”

"Senior sister......" Huo Xiaoyan stomped her feet coquettishly, "You laugh at me again!" ”

"No, I'm praising you!" Rong Yunxi said it seriously.

"Hmph", Huo Xiaoyan "hummed", made an angry appearance and didn't care about Rong Yunxi, poured two more cups of tea, and handed them to Chuxia and Zhiqiu one by one. smiled: "Come, you two try it too!" If you think it's delicious, don't forget to compliment me! ”

Chu Xia hurriedly saluted respectfully: "Thank you for your care." It's just that the slave and maid have been sleepy at night recently, and they can't sleep without refreshing, so they really don't dare to drink this tea. I hope that Mrs. Mo is strange. ”

Although he did it very respectfully, not like he ignored her before, he was also very distant. is close to Huo Xiaoyan's obvious set, and I don't buy it at all.

Huo Xiaoyan didn't seem to see the deliberate alienation of early summer at all, and smiled and brought the hand holding the teacup to his mouth, and said, "Then I can't hurt you!" When I first came to the house, I was not used to changing to a new place, and I could only sleep after night for a while, and it was very uncomfortable! ”

"Zhiqiu, she doesn't have a mouthful, you drink!" Seeing that Zhiqiu was embarrassed and didn't know whether to take it, Huo Xiaoyan handed her hand in front of Zhiqiu again.

Seeing that he didn't drink it in early summer, Zhiqiu didn't want to continue. But Huo Xiaoyan followed closely like this, so that she couldn't think of any powerful words of refusal for a while. I had to say with the early summer: "Madame, forgive me, the slave and maid can't sleep at night today, I really don't dare to drink this tea." I'm afraid that if I drink it, I will be sober until tomorrow morning! ”

Where could Huo Xiaoyan really not see that Chu Xia and Zhiqiu were looking at her face? It's just that even if you know, you still have to pretend that you don't see it. He withdrew his hand regretfully and said, "You two are really miserable, forget it, only I drank it myself!" I couldn't sleep tonight anyway. ”

Rong Yunxi smiled: "Don't drink too much, you won't be able to sleep until tomorrow night." It's just these two cups, just drink it, right? ”

"No, it's just a little refreshing, and it's not a panacea. I guess if you don't sleep at night tomorrow, I have to drink three pots together! ”

Rong Yunxi smiled and drank two more glasses. Huo Xiaoyan asked about some things to pay attention to at night, and then asked who this concubine Shen was? It sounds like she's just an ordinary concubine, why do you want to make such a big battle? Or are all the concubines in the palace dead, and they have to let the wives of the palace and the official family cry for the spirits?

Rong Yunxi said with a smile: "If it's just the concubine in the palace who died, naturally there would be no really big battle." This Concubine Shen, before last night, had been the queen of the middle palace in Weiyang Palace. Because of his poor behavior, he annoyed the emperor, so he was demoted to Concubine Shen, and she may not be able to think about it for a while, so she hanged herself last night. Let the princess and wife of the palace cry as a daughter-in-law, and only the queen has the treatment......"

"But if it's the queen, not only the princesses and ladies of the palace, but also all the princes and princesses of this dynasty, crying in turn, crying for three nights. If it is a queen, it is not just this one night, but also to take turns to keep the vigil for seven nights......"

"Now because Concubine Shen is a person who has been a queen, and she gave birth to the emperor's eldest son, King Yong, the imperial concubine has expedient the ceremony, and still gave Concubine Shen Niangniang the gift of crying and guarding the spirit, but she has made some changes in the selection and time. If it was just a concubine, even if it was an imperial concubine, there would not be such extravagant crying and guarding ceremonies, but their children, slaves and servants in the palace cried and guarded. ”

After listening to Rong Yunxi's detailed explanation, Huo Xiaoyan nodded knowingly and said, "I see...... Ay...... There are so many rules in the palace! Even if it's a queen, those princes and princesses, not all of them were born to the queen, and it's not sincere to cry for her, how awkward! Why do you have all this hypocrisy after death? It's better to be simpler and just use your own children to be careful. ”

Rong Yunxi smiled: "It's this reason, I often think like this." It's just that the queen is the honor of the middle palace, and many places are different from ordinary concubines, this is a etiquette system, not what people who are queens can do what they want. The royal family set this ritual in order to show the dignity of the queen, but in fact, it is a chaotic rule that makes people unable to live in peace even if they go. ”

"Yes! When His Royal Highness ascends the throne and becomes the emperor, the senior sister will naturally be the queen, and at that time, the rules of this Laoshizi must be changed. Huo Xiaoyan smiled happily, as if she was looking forward to Rong Yunxi being the queen from the bottom of her heart.

The two chatted a few more words, and Rong Yunxi sent her back to prepare for dinner. said that after dinner, he entered the palace. We are people from the imperial concubine's side, so we must be positive.

……

King Chen got the reward of Zhuo Jiu, so he hurried into the palace and went straight to Yilan Palace. In the Yilan Palace, the head of the prison and the Dali Siqing were talking. King Chen heard what the little father-in-law said outside, so he didn't go in, but waited outside. It means that the emperor will wait until he finishes his business. Although the two people in the room are smart, when facing each other, even a small look can make the father suspicious, so it's better not to go in and cause trouble for yourself.

didn't let the little eunuch pass it on, and when he came in, it wasn't a big stomping sound, he was standing quietly outside at this time, and his father probably didn't hear him coming, so he didn't let people summon him.

After a short time, these two people came out of the Yilan Palace, and from their expressions they were fine, it seemed that the father did not blame them much, but the two of them lamented at the same time, as if they had died of sympathy for something.

These two people are old fritters, and if there are ten layers of meaning in the above sentence, they will definitely be able to understand nine and a half layers. So at this time, he just gave King Chen a salute and said "His Royal Highness the Prince", and didn't say anything.

King Chen saw the two of them leaving the Yilan Palace, so he gave the little father-in-law at the door a look and asked him to pass it on.

The little father-in-law raised his voice slightly: "Your Majesty, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince asks to see you." ”

Li Zhonggui's voice immediately came from inside: "Pass." ”

As soon as King Chen stepped into the threshold, his steps became hurried. When he arrived at the emperor's bedside, he hurriedly gave a salute, but he didn't finish the number of courtesies, and he called out a little anxiously: "Father." ”

"What's the matter?" Although the emperor only asked briefly, his voice was already a little trembling and full of pain.

"Father...... Emperor Chen" King Chen pretended to hesitate for a moment before saying, "Big brother, he ...... Committed suicide in the prison. When Zhuojiu, a little servant in the courtier's house, wandered around the market, he saw a woman holding her eldest brother's ...... The corpse walked towards Weiyang Palace. hurriedly came back to report to Erchen, Erchen hurriedly went to look, and saw that what the woman was holding was indeed the body of the eldest brother. That woman is the new concubine that the eldest brother brought to Mengshan to hunt......"

"It's a deep feeling, and I went with my eldest brother. The retainers could only send the eldest brother back to the Yongwang Mansion to settle down first. Someone happened to report it, and only then did I know that it was the concubine who took someone to rob the prison and robbed the eldest brother. Erchen looked, the eldest brother had been gone for a while, and it shouldn't have been the woman's doing. ”

The emperor held on to his calmness and frowned: "You are too anxious, if you listen to their detailed reports, it will not be difficult to know what happened...... I let you supervise the country, naturally everything is handled by you, how did you order it? How do you get them to find me? ”

"Erchen is guilty...... King Chen kowtowed heavily and said, "Erchen has just gone to the court on the first day today, and he has not yet sent the edict to Dali Temple...... Father's forgiveness! The son lied to his father! ”

Before King Chen's first sentence fell, he kowtowed his head again and said, "Actually, Erchen has already issued an order to Dali Temple and the prison cell, so that if they have anything...... It is necessary to report to the father and emperor first, and the sons and ministers are second. Because it's the eldest brother who is being imprisoned over there...... Erchen thought that if there was something on the side of Dali Temple, it must be the eldest brother who wanted to admit his mistake, but he didn't expect it to be a prison robbery. The ministers didn't find the concubine on Mengshan, and thought that she had escaped by herself in order to survive, but I didn't expect a woman to be able to do such a thing. ”

"It's all the negligence of the sons, I implore my father to punish him!" King Chen's words were earnest.

The emperor looked at him with a wide range of eyes...... Said slowly: "If your eldest brother admits his mistake to me, do you think he will really forgive him?" ”

King Chen was silent for a long time, and affirmed: "I won't forgive him, but I will definitely save my eldest brother's life." Erchen felt that what his father originally wanted was to put him under house arrest for the rest of his life. ”

The emperor's eyes staring at King Chen became heavier...... After a long while, he said, "Third child, in front of me, you are becoming more and more unabashedly smart. You're right...... In my rage, I did think of killing him. But the tiger poison does not eat children, and I can't bear it in the end. So even though the order was given to behead him, he was still given a three-day chance...... Third brother, you and your eldest brother interceded with me, afraid that your eldest brother would live, didn't you? ”

The emperor's words were quite serious, so frightened that the imperial concubine standing at the head of the bed hurriedly knelt on the ground, and could only kowtow heavily, but she didn't dare to say a word. Because he was afraid that if he said something wrong, he would bring death to his son.

King Chen's head knocked on the ground, and he did not dare to raise his head. But he did not hide his coldness because of his father's words, and said in a deep voice, painfully, but slowly and resolutely: "The son doesn't understand what his father means by this. It's just that the reason why Erchen feels that his father has no intention of killing his eldest brother is not because he is speculating, but because Erchen believes that for our sons, our father and emperor love him......"

"It's also because my father said that tiger poison doesn't eat children. Erchen didn't think that his father could do such a thing. In the hearts of the sons, although the father is stern and seemingly ruthless, he will never really be able to kill his son. ”