The queen drank the sobering soup in the side hall, and poured some powder, and saw that the flush that was steaming from the wine gradually faded, and then she was ready to return to the banquet, and was telling Qianya to replace the wine in her wine pot with white water, Wang Gui said that Fu Heng had arrived.

"I thought he wasn't coming." The queen looked indifferent, hugged the furnace from Qianya's hand, and saw her younger brother outside the door.

Fu Heng respectfully saluted and greeted him, and the queen said, "Let's go outside and talk, it's better to be generous." ”

The sister and brother walked slowly along the corridor, a gust of wind blew on their faces, the stars melted coldly on their faces, the queen looked up at the night sky, and read: "It's snowing?" In the blink of an eye, Yonglian has been gone for more than a year, and if the Ministry of Etiquette is still worried about the mourning behind Prince Duanhui, the palace would have forgotten him a long time ago. ”

When Fu Heng heard this, his breath softened a little, and he lowered his head and said, "Please take care of your mother." ”

"Fu Heng, do you hate me in your heart, hate me for not asking the emperor for giving you a red face in time?" The queen can't confess to her brother what she has done, that is her promise to Hongli, Hongli tried her best to cover everything, if she said it again, it would be another failure to live up to her husband.

Fu Heng said coldly: "I'm afraid that Niangniang thinks now that it is the best not to say it, since the emperor has long liked the red face, if the mother is superior, you and the ministers will be rejected by the emperor." ”

The queen looked at her younger brother anxiously: "Fu Heng, don't be hostile to the emperor, don't hate him, even if you think he's sorry for me, it's irrelevant to you." He can give you everything and he can ruin everything for you, you can hate your sister, don't hate him. ”

Fu Heng's face was colder than frost, and he only nodded.

The queen said again: "You haven't seen her for a long time, Fu Heng, you forget her, since everything can't be changed, you can only be relieved if you forget her." ”

Fu Heng stared at his sister, she was not a poor person, standing at the highest place in the world, bearing the wind, frost, rain and snow that ordinary people could not imagine, he didn't know that his sister personally sent Hongyan to the dragon couch, and he was full of thought that the emperor was moved, and he saw the clues in the Old Summer Palace, and now he doesn't need to explain. But the emperor still failed his sister so much, how could he be good to Hongyan, if he was good to Hongyan, what kind of life is Hongyan living now.

"Fu Heng ......"

"Sister, I can't forget the red face." Fu Heng did not hide his heart, and every word was soaked with his affection for the past year, "I will do a good job by the emperor's side, be his minister, and create more glory for the Fucha family, I want to stand at the top of the court." Only then will I be able to protect her and help her when she needs me. ”

"If you have a little ambiguity, you will die without a place to be buried." The queen frowned, and reached out to grasp her brother's sleeve.

"Don't worry, I won't do anything that will hurt her." Fu Heng removed his sister's hand, his expression resolute, "It's only me, it's all about me, I used to be useless." ”

"Is it worth it, Fu Heng, you are just a momentary mood now, and you will forget it sooner or later, when you have a wife and children and a family." The queen shook her head and said, "My sister will not allow you to have any more dealings with her." ”

"It's worth it or not, I just need to understand it myself, so why do I have to explain it to anyone?" Fu Hengchao took half a step back, bowed and said, "Niangniang has been away from the banquet for a long time, but I am afraid that it will be inappropriate, let the minister escort you back to the banquet." ”

"Fu Heng, you still hate me in your heart, don't you?" The queen stretched out her hand to pull her younger brother, but Fu Heng stepped aside and silently asked the queen to go first.

The queen's heart ached, this was her own sin, and as a result, all the turmoil passed, only Hongli was willing to tolerate her and never give up, but at that time, she put Hongli on the opposite side. But now, her most beloved brother will never stand side by side with her again.

At this moment, in Shoukang Palace, Hongyan is staying alone in the house, her house has a charcoal stove, she is not afraid of the ice and snow outside, everything in Shoukang Palace is abundant, Yuzhi Mama said that everything was fine in the past, but this year somehow suddenly became better, Mama had something to say, but Hongyan didn't care.

At this moment, she opened the clay pot in front of her, and a sweet fragrance came to her nose, which was the sweetness that penetrated into her heart, which would make people can't help but smile, in the amber honey, a little osmanthus petals flashed with gold leaf, Hongyan swallowed her saliva, and dipped her fingers in a little honey on the lid, just this little bit was intoxicatingly sweet. The doors and windows in the house were closed, and it didn't take long for the house to be full of incense, and Hongyan was afraid that his clothes and bedding would be contaminated with the fragrance, so he hurriedly sealed it.

And thinking of the words of the little father-in-law just now, she couldn't help frowning and looking at this clay pot, this jar of osmanthus nectar, can she really accept it? Why did the emperor secretly send himself a jar of osmanthus nectar, she refused to ask for it just now, and the little eunuch cried, saying that if she didn't take it back, she would be punished by General Manager Wu, and she almost kowtowed to Hongyan, and Hongyan took it down. And she really likes the sweetness of this osmanthus flower, and her lips and teeth are fragrant in her mouth, and she hooks her appetite for a while.

At this time, there was movement outside the door, Hongyan hurriedly put the clay pot, came out to take a look, thought it was the concubines and the ladies came back, but only the concubine Mi came back.

In October this year, Prince Zhuang Yunlu and Prince Li Honghui, the case of forming a party for personal gain was officially concluded, and the emperor has always treated the first emperor's siblings well, but this time there was no leniency. dismissed the Minister of Yunlu and the Secretary of the Imperial Court, and imprisoned Prince Li Honghui, together with Baylor Hongchang and other reforms, suspension and so on, and there were constant turmoil in October. At that time, Hongyan was thinking about the first anniversary of the death of the second elder brother, but all the discussions in Shoukang Palace were about Prince Zhuang and Prince Li, and Hongyan once thought that he didn't know if there were any other places to mourn the second elder brother.

As the biological mother of Prince Zhuang, Concubine Mi committed something wrong, even if she was not implicated, she had to care about the eyes of others. At today's banquet, she sat down and left, watching the other clansmen and children alive, how could she not be sad about the downfall of her son's family, and when she came back at this moment, she also looked faint and had no spirit.

"On such a cold day, where does the fragrance of osmanthus come from" Seeing Hongyan come forward to salute, Concubine Mi's eyes suddenly lit up, and she looked at Hongyan and said, "Is it the fragrance on your body?" ”

"Yes, the slave maid tasted some osmanthus nectar just now, and dyed it with a fragrance." Hongyan responded, she hoped that Concubine Mi would not ask where she got the osmanthus nectar, she didn't know whether to lie, or tell the truth, sure enough, the existence of the emperor would only cause her trouble, no matter how sweet the osmanthus nectar was, she only wanted to live in peace.

"There is a kind of tiaotou cake in my hometown, where sweet red bean paste is rolled under the soft glutinous rice skin, and a layer of osmanthus nectar is poured on a plate, and I haven't seen it for many years." Concubine Mi suddenly looked forward to the distant era, she was originally a woman of the Han family, but after leaving Jiangnan and entering the palace, she had not seen the scenery of Jiangnan for decades.

And Hongyan is also a member of the Han family, but she has lived in the capital with her father since she was a child, and her living habits are completely different from Concubine Mi from Jiangnan.

She knew that Concubine Mi had been frowning recently, and Concubine Shouqi had been talking in front of her, saying that it was easy to get through the ups and downs of the year, but her sons had trouble in this peaceful and prosperous world. Hongyan once heard her family mention the turmoil in the last years of Kangxi, and the elder brothers under Concubine Mi's knees were not involved in the storm back then, but she didn't expect that now, she deceived the new monarch and did something evil. Now he is suffering the consequences, but it is the concubine who is sad, and the innocent family members who are suffering.

The concubine said leisurely: "There are also snacks made of osmanthus nectar in the palace, which is not the same smell, and the fragrance on your body reminds me of it." She smiled faintly, and helped her maid away.

Hongyan didn't have to follow to serve Concubine Mi, and when she left, she went back to her house, and as soon as she entered the door, she smelled the sweet smell, she turned the clay pot out again, and felt that it was not interesting to keep this thing, so she found a piece of furoshi, wrapped the clay pot, and quietly left the Shoukang Palace, walked a few steps, and came to the small courtyard of her father-in-law.

As the night deepened, it was a family banquet for young and middle-aged people, and it was lively and lively. The Empress Dowager has been in a very good mood recently, she is happy and everyone is happy, and on Chinese New Year's Eve, the emperor wants to entertain a hundred officials and receive foreign envoys, everyone behaves in a good manner, far from being as good as today, the emperor sees that the empress dowager is happy, seems to have forgotten the troubles in September, and he is finally relieved.

Everyone dispersed from Ningshou Palace, although the emperor was going to Changchun Palace, but the emperor and queen divided the warm sedan chair and walked, Hongli sat in the warm sedan chair, stretched out the tired muscles and bones that sat for a long time, and heard the chief manager Wu say by the window: "Your Majesty, the osmanthus nectar has been delivered, and it has been accepted over there." ”

Hongli smiled slightly: "Very good." ”

This osmanthus nectar, is made of the osmanthus on the tree that met with Hongyan when the day was in the Old Summer Palace, in the autumn when the osmanthus in the Old Summer Palace was fragrant, Mr. Wu asked a few times whether to send the osmanthus to the Changchun Palace, for Hongli, the person who likes the osmanthus is not in the Changchun Palace, so why bother. asked Mr. Wu to find the best cook to make osmanthus nectar and give it to Hongyan when the time came. But in Shoukang Palace, there are also many inconveniences, and today I learned that Hongyan will not come to the banquet, and the timing is just right.

For the emperor, being so sneaky is just that he doesn't want to cause a storm, he has long thought that he can't put Hongyan in Shoukang Palace for a lifetime, and after next spring's draft, he will arrange a good place for Hongyan to live, and no longer let her continue to serve people. In the past, he still felt that being tempted by Hongyan was hurting the queen, and he never thought of really having it, but now that the queen herself sent her, Hongyan has become her own woman, and this guilt has disappeared, since she is already her own woman, the more he scruples, the more Hongyan suffers.

Two days later, this morning, Shoukang Palace set up breakfast everywhere, Concubine Mi originally intended to Xing Yanshan had no appetite, but was aroused by a familiar sweetness, her eyes were looking for dozens of dishes on the table, and the palace people who were close to her body smiled and sent a plate of crystal clear noodles and cakes, and said: "Look at it, is it like this?" ”

Concubine Mi's eyes were hot, and she remembered a casual sentence that day, and asked, "That kid did it?" ”