The scorching heat passed with the lotus flowers in front of the pure concubine's door, and the fire flowed in July, the sun no longer baked the earth viciously, and there were many plants and trees in the Old Summer Palace, which was cooler than usual. The concubines were stuffy in the house all summer, and now the garden can often be seen shaking, but it is also lively.

But regardless of the cold or heat, the guards in the palace in the garden can not be ignored, the guards have not seen Concubine Xian Niangniang wandering around this summer, thinking about whether the weather is too hot People are afraid of sunburn like snowy skin, but now it is cooler, often meet what nobles promised, but the figure of Concubine Xian Niangniang never appeared again.

Among the six palaces, the emperor can be regarded as rain and dew this summer, and no one has been left out in the cold, even the concubines have met a few days, not to mention the concubines who were favored in the past. But this person is too deep and simple, even Concubine Chun often leads the third elder brother to Changchun Immortal Hall or Ningchun Hall to ask for peace, Concubine Xian has been shirking the heatstroke, hiding in the house and not seeing anyone, two months have passed in a flash.

On the seventh day of July, the first emperor began to preside over the beautiful scenery in Xifeng every year, and it was only a lively family banquet for the royal family members of the clan, and they had to return to the palace before August 15, and they would serve several concubines and concubines to spend the festival together.

Today, the sixth palace to the Changchun Immortal Pavilion to ask for peace, the queen is going to talk about the family banquet, the concubine is on the seat, the position of the only concubine is vacant, the queen can't help asking: "Concubine Xian's body, is it still not very good?" ”

They lived in Qingyan, Kyushu, and they were supposed to take care of each other, but Concubine Xian almost didn't interact with anyone, and no one could answer the queen's question. If it was the concubine who asked, the Hai nobleman could still say something, but the concubine was sitting on the side at the moment, and even she didn't know what was going on with the concubine.

The queen's face was uncertain, and she instructed Hongyan: "You go to Kyushu Qingyan for a trip, ask Concubine Xian, if she is fine, ask her to come and have a cup of tea together." If you are sick, please ask the doctor to come back to me after seeing it. ”

Hongyan received the order, owed to the ladies and mothers, and left with the two little eunuchs.

In the blink of an eye, Hongyan has been in the palace for almost a year, and most of the time has been with the queen, she is now more and more experienced, although she is young, but due to the different circumstances brought by different status, she is no longer the little palace maid who is trembling and doesn't know anything.

Hongyan avoided the ladies and stepped back from the back of the seat, while the concubine happened to sit opposite, and saw her words and deeds clearly. She has been thinking about this little palace maid since May, but after she came to get the mung bean cake last time, she hadn't seen her for a month or two, and when she saw it again today, it seemed that her tanned skin had been whitened, and her body was getting more and more pumped, and her slender body quickly shook in front of her, but people still had to care about her beautiful face.

The concubine secretly thought in her heart, looking at the people around the harem concubines, they are either old or mediocre, who would put a water spirit by her side, aren't you afraid that the emperor will be attracted by the palace maid when he comes, isn't Jia Concubine the emperor who was seduced in Xier by virtue of her appearance?

She raised her eyes to look at the queen, and had to admire, the queen was so graceful and stunning, and she had a broad heart, and in the eyes of others, it was indeed worthless.

Hongyan went all the way to Qingyan in Kyushu, met Fucha Fu Heng on the way, and the guards came from the fork in the road, Hongyan deliberately stopped and waited, and said in front of him: "I haven't seen adults for many days, are you going back to the garden as an errand now?" ”

Fu Heng was really happy when she saw her face at first glance, and she still had the heart to wait for her to speak. This summer, he was very busy, the fine-skinned and tender flesh of the son-in-law tanned wheat-colored skin, swarthy but more manly, when he saw the red face, he was full of joy, even the not very pleasant topics to say, but also a little less resentful, he said: "Today is here to hand over, I will no longer walk around in the garden in the future, after the emperor and the queen return to the Forbidden City, I will not enter the inner palace." ”

Hongyan was a little pity, but what she said was: "In the future, it will not be easy for the mother and the princess to see the adult, and the princess will be unhappy when she knows." ”

"Then you ......" Fu Heng wanted to ask Hongyan if he wanted to see him, but after so long, they were already able to speak easily and familiarly, but they still hadn't taken that step. When I saw my sister last time, my sister also sighed: "Hongyan's mind is too simple, she just wants to serve me well." ”

"What do you want to say?" The red face and smile are like flowers, and the fair skin seems to shine in the sun, Fu Heng was dazzled, and he didn't dare to stare at others, slightly avoiding his eyes, and said vaguely, "In the future, please ask the girl to take care of the queen mother more." ”

"That's the duty of the slave and the maid, but the adult's mind, the slave and the maid understand." Hongyan smiled and agreed.

Purpose? Fu Heng was a little excited, but reason quickly told him to calm down, what kind of mind is nothing more than to take care of the queen's words.

"The slave will do her best to serve the mother, just rest assured." Sure enough, Hongyan's mind was very easy to guess, and she blessed her body and said, "The adults continue to be busy, and the slave maid is going to invite Concubine Xian Niangniang." ”

A guard behind him said, "Girl, look, it's over there, but Concubine Xian?" ”

Everyone looked over from a distance, a palace maid with an umbrella to support the young beauty to walk this way, at this moment several ladies are in the Changchun Immortal Pavilion, the person who came must be a concubine, Hongyan immediately turned around to meet it.

But before they saw Concubine Xian, Concubine Xian had already seen the person here, the way Fu Heng and Hongyan talked, Concubine Xian looked like a world away, but that person refused to come even in a dream, in the two months of the scorching summer, how did he live in the Orkun River?

"Slaves and maids see Concubine Niangniang." Hongyan brought the little eunuch to salute, saying that the queen wanted her to greet Concubine Xian and invite her to the Changchun Immortal Pavilion for a cup of tea.

"Just when I saw that my sisters were here, I came too." Concubine Xian said, "You get up, go and say hello to the mother." ”

Hongyan stood up and looked at Concubine Xian with a smile, but Concubine Xian's eyes lit up, and she blurted out: "What a beautiful little girl, I haven't seen you for a long time, you have grown up again." ”

"Mother, you ...... Don't make fun of slaves. Hongyan was embarrassed, lowered his head embarrassedly, turned sideways to get out of the way, and raised his hand to ask, "Niangniang, you go this way." ”

Concubine Xian was here, the other guards avoided it, but Fu Heng still stepped forward to salute, Concubine Xian looked at his figure, the more Fu Heng grew up and the more he looked like his brother, the more it aroused thousands of emotions in her heart, and her body couldn't help shaking, Hua Rong hurriedly supported her, and asked softly: "Master, are you okay?" ”

Hongyan saw that Concubine Xian's face was not good, Hua Rong wanted to play an umbrella and hold it, so she took the initiative to step forward to play an umbrella for Concubine Xian, and after Hua Rong was grateful, she pushed her mother and left here. Hongyan followed with an umbrella, suddenly remembered Lord Fucha, glanced back at him, and smiled slightly as a farewell, but this smile stunned Fu Heng.

When she came to the Changchun Immortal Pavilion, the queen saw that Concubine Xian's face was pale, and she couldn't help reproaching Hongyan: "I said that if the mother is sick, don't leave, let the imperial doctor take a look, why did you still invite people?" ”

Hongyan can't defend herself, this is the rule of serving the master, she doesn't care about the queen's misunderstanding, but the concubine has a heart, and said with a faint smile: "The concubine met Hongyan halfway, and she just saw that the sisters came to ask the mother for peace, and the concubine couldn't sit still." ”

The queen looked at the concubine, the famous sick beauty is now stronger than the concubine, and she couldn't help but say: "It's important to take care of your body." ”

After talking about the Qixi family banquet, after the tea was on the water twice, everyone dispersed, and Hongyan went back to the inner hall with the mother to tear down the heavy Tianzi, while telling her: "The slave maid met Lord Fucha on the road, and the adult said that he would not be on an errand in the garden in the future, and he would not enter the inner palace when he returned to the Forbidden City." ”

The queen first breathed a sigh of relief: "He walked in the inner palace, and I was not sure in my heart." But thinking of Hongyan, he asked heartily, "What else did the adult say to you?" ”

Hongyan didn't know that there was another deep meaning in Niangniang's words, so she carefully coiled up her hair and said: "I didn't say anything, my lord asked the slave to serve you well, and then I met Concubine Xianniang." After she said this, she heard the queen sigh softly, and couldn't help asking, "Niangniang, did the slave say something wrong?" ”

The queen looked at her with a smile, shook her head and said, "It's nothing, it's too early to say now, it's really not in a hurry." She thought in her heart, I hope that Fu Heng will become a general from now on, and he can break through all obstacles and marry a little palace maid as his wife.

Outside the Changchun Immortal Pavilion, after the concubines dispersed, or someone went for a walk in the garden, or went back to Kyushu Qingyan together, Jia Concubine hurriedly went to Ningchun Hall to pick up the fourth elder brother, and the Hai nobles were accompanied by the concubine, and after everyone else came to salute and walked away, she whispered to the concubine: "Niangniang has been staring at the red face next to the queen, don't you recognize the red face?" ”

"How can you not recognize it, it's just ......" The concubine looked around and asked the sea nobleman, "Do you notice that the emperor has something on his mind recently?" ”

Hai Guiren smiled bitterly: "All summer, the concubine served tea once, and before she could say two or three words, she asked Jia Concubine to leave, where could she still notice anything on her mind." But she has a delicate heart, and if the concubine doesn't think there's something strange, she won't say it easily.

The concubine really said: "The little girl next to Niangniang, the longer she looks, the better she looks, and with Niangniang, her temperament is different." ”

Hai Guiren was silent, and the concubine continued: "The emperor has been paying more and more attention to Han ministers recently, and the day before yesterday I heard that after returning to the palace, he would summon the Manchu and Han ministers in the Qianqing Palace to speak widely, and he also named a Gongsheng from Jiangsu as the supervisor of the country. ”

"Niangniang, this matter of government affairs, the concubines don't understand it very well." Hai Guiren implicitly guarded her proportions.

The concubine smiled: "I want to say, maybe in the future, there will be more and more concubines of the Han family in the palace, and Concubine Chun and I will no longer be criticized." ”

Hai Guiren's expression was slightly gloomy, and he said softly: "In the end, there are many Han people, where are they like our grassland." ”

The concubine hurriedly grabbed her hand and said, "It's only when you mention it that you say this, what's the difference between our sisters if you don't mention it?" What is the Han grassland, I will not let anyone bully you if I have a good day. That's not what I'm talking about, I want the emperor to say it, he has a very important matter and hasn't told anyone, I'm afraid that if I say it, it will cause a big storm. Hopefully, I'm overthinking, and we'll have to be careful. ”

Seeing her vague words, Hai Guiren knew that there would be no result in asking carefully, so he had to agree: "I will listen to you." ”

After everyone returned to Qingyan in Kyushu, the queen sent the imperial doctor to diagnose Concubine Xian's pulse, but when she returned to the Changchun Immortal Pavilion, she said that Concubine Xian's health was fine. But her complexion is poor and her spirit is not good, everyone also sees it, the queen can only tell the imperial doctor to take care of it carefully, and then even the queen mother asked, she only said that she was afraid of heat in the summer, and only the concubine herself understood that she was just suffering from lovesickness.

A few days passed in a hurry, to Qixi begging, the emperor served the queen mother to hold a banquet in the west peak, this is the custom of the Han people, but since the first emperor has attached importance to Qixi Festival, it is naturally to reflect the Manchu and Han families. Because Qixi Festival is also known as the Daughter's Day, in addition to receiving rewards from the Queen Mother, the princesses and princesses will gather together to thread needles and light lanterns and pray for blessings.

There is only one princess in the palace, and there are many county lords of the same age in the clan, but the elder brother who is born to the concubine and concubine loves to take care of them, not to mention these cousins, she has the arrogance of the middle palace in her bones, but in front of the elders, she will not show it easily. I also had a good time with my cousins today, but in the middle of the banquet, she pulled Hongyan to avoid the crowd and went to the back mountain.

Hongyan was going to clean up the clothes that the mother had changed, but she was taken away by the princess, thinking that the princess was playful, but when she arrived at the back mountain, He Jing said seriously: "It's a good festival, I have to get together with them, I still want to pray for Eniang devoutly, Hongyan, you guard it for me, don't call anyone to disturb me." ”

I heard that it was to pray for the queen, Hongyan immediately came to the spirit, and stayed in the place where someone would come, so that the princess could pray, she vaguely heard the words of health and safety, knowing that the princess cared about her mother the most, and prayed silently in her heart, hoping that the mother would be healthy and could get another prince.

She read softly in her mouth, and suddenly someone patted her, and the princess had finished her salute, and ran out to see Hongyan meditating, and smiled: "Are you begging the Weaver Girl to give you a good husband?" ”

Hongyan waved his hand again and again: "No, princess, where do you want to go?" ”

He Jing smiled evilly, pushed her and said: "Don't think I don't know, I saw with my own eyes that time, you gave a handkerchief to my little uncle, do you really don't understand or pretend to be stupid, how can a girl give a handkerchief to a man?" ”

The princess is not very old but very mature, she is with the grandmothers all day long, listening to their gossip, she has never eaten pork and has seen pigs run, this time the son smiled and said: "You are good-looking, and you are very good with my uncle, but you are just a palace maid, and you can probably only be a concubine for him." ”

"Princess, you misunderstood." Hongyan was not in a hurry, and said with a smile, "That handkerchief is the time we went to catch tadpoles, didn't we get soaked all over the game?" It was given to the slave by an adult, but the slave and the maid only returned the original thing that day. ”

"So?" And Jing didn't expect it.

"My lord is your uncle, the emperor's uncle, how can a slave be worthy of such a noble background." Hongyan said seriously, "Fortunately, you are talking to the slave and maid today, if you tell others, don't say anything about causing trouble to adults, it will make people feel that the slave and maid are restless." Princess, the slave and maid are palace maids, if you have such selfishness, it is a big sin. ”

He Jing was a child in the end, and his face tightened and asked, "Really?" Then I won't say any more. ”

Hongyan's heart was relieved, and when she was happy, she smelled a smell of burnt paste, and she turned around to see that the place where the princess had just come out was blazing.