After conveying the emperor's will, the people of the Qianqing Palace left in a hurry, Lan Qi instructed the palace maid to add another pot of charcoal, but Concubine Rong smiled: "Do you feel cold?" I listened to it all over my body, and I thought I could spend a month in leisure, those serious things always have rules that are not afraid of being difficult to deal with, now it's okay, the emperor pushed over such a thing, he can bring whatever he wants, why bother us again. ”

Lan Qi drank tea quietly, waiting for the palace maid to bring another pot of charcoal, Huanchun sent the eunuch who came to pass the word, walked in the door and smiled: "Enter the garden in the first month, wait for the spring flowers to bloom, the scenery is beautiful, Concubine Rong didn't go back last time, how should I go to see the freshness this time." ”

Concubine Rong said with a smile: "Now there are a few of us left in charge, the emperor can't do without your master, she is bound to go, I will go with me, what should I do in the palace?" ”

"The garden is very spacious, and it has been repaired and built in many places since the last time, and the sisters in the palace are not afraid of not being able to stay, at most, the emperor will hide in the garden for nothing." Lan Qi closed the lid of the tea bowl, looked at Concubine Rong with a deep smile and said, "The emperor didn't say who to bring or not, it's better to take the holy grace once, let's go to the six palaces and ask, if you want to go to the garden, come to my sister or me to say, if you don't want to go, just say you don't want to go, and we don't need to draw up this list, let them choose for themselves." ”

Concubine Rong waved her hand and said with a smile: "No, you are messing around, this is not the time to move the entire Forbidden City, how many people want to follow, if you let it go, the threshold of both of us will be trampled on." ”

Lan Qi approached her and laughed softly: "While letting the words go out like this, on the other hand, let people say that Long Live Lord wants to deal with the affairs of the court in a clean place, if you are considerate of the emperor, don't make trouble." ”

Concubine Rong blinked and asked with a smile, "What is this saying?" ”

Lan Qi smiled solemnly: "If we call the shots, they will be embarrassed to warm up in private, and then the threshold will be trampled on." Now let them make their own decisions, one by one, you look at me and I look at you, as long as one person wants to go, just spread some sarcastic words in the palace, this one has no face, and he will not dare to come in a grand manner. Let's draw up a quota in private, and pick someone the emperor likes to follow him, and when the time comes, they will talk about it themselves, and they will understand it in their hearts. ”

Concubine Rong sighed: "You look gentle and close, why are there so many fancy intestines in your stomach, how many bends does this matter take?" ”

Lan Qi said nonchalantly: "It's been more than ten years, I haven't been arranged by people outside one day, they taught me every year, and now I just give them back." ”

"But don't think too pretty, what if you have the cheekiness to follow?" Concubine Rong was not very relieved, and said worriedly, "When the time comes, so many people will follow in a hurry, and the emperor should complain about us in his heart." ”

Lan Qi smiled: "It's all the people who serve him, what does he complain about us?" If my sister thinks it's inappropriate, I'll listen to you, but if you don't have a good way to do it, you might as well give it a try. Besides, we are not emperors, so we can't count Chrysostom, and when the time comes, it will really make trouble for all six palaces, so it would be good to change our minds. Anyway, if they don't listen, they have to listen, otherwise what kind of status will they have, and why should they order us to assist in the six palaces, this is the beauty of power. ”

Concubine Rong stretched out her finger and nodded at Lan Qi's forehead, and said with a smile: "Ghost goblin, I really didn't see it before." But as soon as he thought about it, he said softly: "Speaking of the matter of the assistant six palaces, in the past, even if there was only the imperial concubine, she was the one who had the final say in the Fengyin, although we have the power in our hands now, in the end it is just an errand, and there must be a serious person in the palace, but unfortunately the one in the Xianfu Palace is no longer the one." The four of us are equal, which one should we serve? ”

Lan Qi bowed: "The Empress Dowager of Ningshou Palace also told me about this a few days ago, she doesn't want to be too involved in the affairs of the palace, she doesn't have that spirit." ”

"What does the emperor mean?" Concubine Rong asked, and said unceremoniously, "Don't blame me for being too careful, who in the palace doesn't know, Long Live Lord can tell you the truth." ”

Lan Qi smiled modestly: "The emperor and I are really not as good as my sister thought." He added, "The emperor never told me, but the queen mother mentioned that although the queen mother is gone, her own sister is still there, the same background and the same dignity, but she is younger." ”

Concubine Rong suddenly remembered Concubine Tong in Chuxiu Palace, and sighed: "It's too low-key, you see I forgot about her." ”

Lan Qi said slowly: "What the queen mother means, when she is a few years older, she will find a name and give her a position, the concubine position is not enough and she can't let go, it is estimated that she will be directly promoted to the concubine, and the phoenix seal is still held by the two sisters." ”

Concubine Rong agreed, but she just glanced at Lan Qi meaningfully, remembering that day she was scattered in front of the gate of Chengqian Palace, and Concubine Hui asked: "If there will be a queen in the future, will it be her?" At this moment, I couldn't help but tremble in my heart, and said casually, "Don't you think about yourself?" ”

Lan Qi knew what Concubine Rong was thinking, and said lightly: "What do you think, my sister and I are the same, if you want to, you should think about those two." ”

Concubine Rong couldn't help but sneer: "Those two don't think about it." ”

In this way, the affairs of the Sixth Palace are spread out with the Changchun Garden, and because the end of the month is the death day of the Empress Dowager, every time it has been busy for the past two years, Concubine Rong and Concubine De can't find anyone every day, and those concubines who are wandering outside Jingyang Palace and Yonghe Palace can't find a chance to speak, and there are a lot of sour words in the palace, and this matter really becomes embarrassing. On the other hand, the sisters had privately drawn up a list and sent it to the emperor, and Xuan Ye deleted and added some more, Concubine Rong wanted to stay and take care of the six palaces, so he specially added Concubine Rong again.

And because of the busy past few days, Lan Qi forgot what Yuan promised for a while, and when Huanchun mentioned it to her, she remembered the crazy little promise that night, but Huanchun told her that in recent days, Liang's father-in-law sent someone to watch, and Yuan promised to see him day by day, and there was no crying in the courtyard, and Pinggui didn't trouble them at all.

"What we ask for is peace, it is a good thing to be at peace in two places, the emperor doesn't like the nobles, but he has been good to her recently, there is always a reason, it is no good to provoke her, and he can't make trouble for the emperor." Lan Qi had a spectrum in his heart, and even instructed Huanchun, "Don't ask Wang Chang to be too careful with them, don't ask their imperial doctor, I estimate that the imperial doctor is bribed, and this account will be slowly calculated when it enters the garden." ”

After that, Chinese New Year's Eve and New Year's Day passed in a blink of an eye, and the first three days of the first month, the emperor and the six palaces served the empress dowager to stay in Changchun Garden, and the day of returning to the palace was not set for a while, for the courtiers it was just a change of place to do business, and no one objected, but no one expected that this wave of movement into the garden would actually bury mustard between the emperor and the prince.

On this day, the holy car entered the garden, the queen mother lived in the Ningchun Hall where the former queen mother lived, except for the vacant Jifeng Xuan of Empress Xiaoyi, all those who had come to live in the same place, Lan Qi was still in Ruijingxuan, Concubine Rong lived next to her, and Concubine Yi lived closest to the emperor's Qingxi Study. As for Concubine Hui, for some reason, she fell ill since the death day of the Empress Dowager, Concubine Rong went to see her in person, and she was very sick.

At this time, after the concubines found their respective residences, they all came to Ningchun Hall to ask the Queen Mother to say goodbye, to listen to the Queen Mother say some rules in the garden, but they were still waiting in front of the door of Ningchun Hall, and wanted to wait for Concubine De and Concubine Yi to enter together, but they saw a few little eunuchs running in a panic, and when they inquired, it was Wang Chang who hanged a palace maid in the bedroom of Ruizhu Courtyard where he lived.

If this matter needs to be asked in detail, the concubines have already gathered in front of the Queen Mother. There is no shortage of self-refereed palace maids and eunuchs in the palace, and for various reasons, most of them are just being bullied or abused. Everyone was frightened and didn't think too much, but when the words came from Ruizhu Academy, it was said that this palace maid was originally on an errand in Wuyizhai and was the person in front of the prince, and the queen mother immediately changed her face, and Lan Qi was also stunned.

The messenger was soon taken down by the mother mother next to the queen mother to speak, the queen mother coughed lightly, and the concubines quieted down one after another, only to hear the queen mother's rare majesty, and said heavily: "The things in the garden, like the things in the palace, can't be said to the outside world, let alone be suspicious and chew the root of the tongue in private, the mourning family doesn't want to hear someone in the garden talking about this matter, otherwise, if you enter the door of Changchun Garden, don't think about going out in this life." ”

Kind people are rare to show their might, very calm, the women got up one after another, bent their knees and said yes, Lan Qi also followed, until they all dispersed, leaving her in front of the Queen Mother, the Queen Mother softened her face at this time, and said to Lan Qi worriedly: "Isn't everything good before entering the garden, how can such a thing happen, this palace maid is on an errand in Wuyi Zhai, how can she go to Ruizhu Courtyard to hang herself?" ”

Lan Qi hurriedly appeased: "Don't worry, this matter involves the crown prince, so we shouldn't take care of it, the concubine thinks that the emperor will have an idea, and the concubine will take good care of the people in the garden and prevent them from spreading it everywhere." I heard that the rules of Wuyizhai are the same as those of Yuqing Palace, but I am afraid that nothing will be passed on in the future, and the important thing is that the prince is good. ”

The Queen Mother was very uneasy, and instructed Lan Qi: "The brothers are scattered by the lake, and they must send someone to take good care of them, so don't make any mistakes." The emperor too, he didn't let them come in the past, but now he doesn't let him live with his mother. It's not as good as the high walls in the palace, and they're all bigger, haven't there been ugly things between the eldest brother and the palace maid who is easy to agree to? Now the third elder brother and the fourth elder brother are not small, you have to pay attention. ”

Lan Qi listened to the words of the Queen Mother at that time, and felt that something was wrong, until two days later, the emperor came to Ruijingxuan in the evening, and did not say a word from the moment she entered the door to sit down, she quietly accompanied the side, and was waiting in a daze, when she suddenly heard Xuan Ye say: "The dead palace maid is pregnant in her belly." ”

She was suddenly shocked in her heart, and suddenly understood what she was worried about in Ning Chun Tang that day, could it be that the child in the womb of this palace maid was the prince's?

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