Chunman Palace

Chapter 8

In Ganquan Hall of Jianzhang Palace, Empress Liu Xunyan came to visit with the Empress Dowager's oral order. Tibetan incense was burning in the hall, and the smell was very strong. The Empress Dowager sat on a chair and closed her eyes to rest her mind.

Yu Dai, who was serving the Queen Mother, brought tea and stepped aside.

The queen sat down as she said, but suddenly her throat was itchy due to the aroma, she hurriedly raised the handkerchief to cover her nose, pointed to the incense burner on the table and said: "The queen's health has not been well, why is such a strong incense still used in the palace, Yu Dai, take the incense Dial some out."

The Empress Dowager stopped immediately: "Wait a minute, don't be in a hurry."

"This..." The queen was confused for a while, and looked at the queen mother in puzzlement.

Twisting the ruby ​​bracelet in her hand, the queen mother said slowly: "With these incense offerings to the gods and Buddhas, the Ai family will feel calm after smelling them. If the queen feels choked up, she doesn't have to come here to listen to my teachings."

The queen looked earnest: "The concubine just thinks that the incense smell is too strong, and is worried about the queen mother's health."

"If you were worried about my health, you would have come earlier." The queen mother coughed lightly, and Yu Dai offered tea when she saw this, but she waved her hand and refused.

The empress was confused for a while, the empress dowager's illness was not getting better at all, if the emperor found out that her illness became more serious after visiting, I'm afraid it would be called unfilial.

She said with a sneer: "It's my concubine's fault..."

"The queen understands the principle that things must go against each other. Light fragrance can calm the mind, but strong fragrance will cause physical discomfort, so you have to find a way to control the concentration, which is also your duty as a queen." The queen mother's words mean the balance of the harem.

Her eyes caught the string of red jade beads in the queen mother's hand, which she had never seen before. She understood something in her heart, and then she raised her lips and praised: "The string of red jade beads in the queen mother's hand is of excellent quality. The output is very small, and such a top grade is even rarer.”

The queen mother opened her eyes slightly, and smiled slightly at the red jade beads in her hand: "Your Ning is filial, besides this beads, there is also an auspicious cloud red jade Ruyi, which is very good."

The queen echoed: "Things in the palace are complicated, and the concubines can't visit the queen mother often. This noble lady Ning is a rare beauty, and she is so filial. I think it will be more considerate to be by the emperor's side."

"En." The queen mother winked at Yu Dai, immediately poured the incense burner, picked up the cup, opened the lid of the tea and blew: "What is the queen's plan?"

The queen smiled knowingly, and opened her lips and said: "I heard that Chang Guiren's father made great contributions in controlling floods in Yizhou. The Dragon Boat Festival is coming soon. The emperor will invite all the ministers to have fun together. At that time, the concubines will let Chang Guiren perform singing and dancing. .”

These words sound like they are taking the initiative to help Chang Guiren, but in fact they are just following the flow of favors.Not to mention that there are only two days left before the Dragon Boat Festival, whether Mr. Chang Gui is well-prepared, and what dance music can be practiced well in such a short time.

To put it bluntly, after all, it still depends on Chang Guiren's own ability, and more importantly, it depends on the emperor's own wishes.

The Empress Dowager didn't tell the truth, she just said lightly: "You make up your own mind." She drank tea lightly.

On the eve of the Dragon Boat Festival, Lin Qingyu specially ordered people to prepare traditional Chinese medicines such as mugwort leaves, calamus, angelica, magnolia, etc., and picked out good ones to make five poison sachets. It happened that Mu Pingting also sent Huayue to deliver things, so she put the herbs in her hand over. Check.

Seeing a young eunuch holding two jars stuffed with red lids on a plate, Huayue explained at the side: "This is the best realgar wine, it can dispel cold and warm the body, and drinking it is also good for the body."

"Tell Sister Mu for me, please remember." Lin Qingyu smiled happily, turned her head and ordered Lingqiao to bring the few sachets she had made, and then said to Huayue: "I made sachets with five-color thread. Thinking of sending it to Sister Mu and Sister Chang, I will let Lingqiao carry it back with you."

Not long after, Lingqiao came over with some five-du incense bags.

When Huayue saw those five-poison sachets, her eyes lit up immediately, and she praised: "Master Lin's hands are so skillful, these sachets are very exquisite and novel, my little master will definitely like them, and I will help you with Chang Guiren's share." She took it."

Lin Qingyu smiled softly: "Then it's hard work to draw the moon girl."

Huayue didn't expect that Lin promised to be so polite, she was startled when she heard the words, and hurriedly said: "How could it be, Lin Xiaozhu has broken your servant." She took something from Lingqiao's hand, and bowed in a proper manner. just left.

Lin Qingyu looked back at Lingqiao again, and said, "Finish the rest of the sachet, hang up all the corners when the time comes, and then hang the fresh wormwood brought from the Ministry of Internal Affairs to the palace gate."

Lingqiao nodded: "Yes, Xiao Xizi and Xiao Lezi have already hung up those fresh wormwood, after finishing these sachets, let them hang some five-color thread."

It was the time of the year when Lin Qingyu finished making these sachets. He had some lily soup and red bean paste dumplings for dinner, and sat by the bed to read a book by lighting the lamp.

The sound of cicadas was loud, the breeze warmed the orchids in the courtyard, and the sky was full of stars outside the window. It seemed that there were fluorescent lights flying among the black leaves, and the emerald jade spots were mottled, which aroused Lin Qingyu's interest.

He just said: "Lingqiao, Mo'er, come out with me to catch Liuying."

It was rare that the young master of the family became lively, so both of them agreed, held up the lanterns and followed Lin Qingyu to the yard.

The cinnabar orchids bloom outside the courtyard very well, clusters are connected together, as bright as an ink-splashed skirt through the moon and stars, the fragrance is very pleasing to the nose.

Lin Qingyu picked two flowers in a row, put one on each of Lingqiao and Mo'er's head, and praised how beautiful they were.

At this time, Mo'er reminded: "The little master wants to catch Liuying, but he can't do it without a sarong for catching insects. I'll ask Xiaoxizi to make one."

"You're still thoughtful." Lin Qingyu boasted, and continued to enjoy the scenery with Lingqiao.

Going forward, she saw a dwarf tree with leaves like short willows, gray-green branches, and full of large pink flowers. Feeling novelty, she stepped forward to pick it up, but suddenly her eyes froze, and she took a few steps back.

This is the phlox, which blooms in midsummer too.

Lingqiao stepped forward in a hurry, and said with concern: "My lord, what's the matter?"

Lin Qing said calmly: "It's nothing, it's just that this thing is poisonous, and I didn't see it clearly for a while."

She is not afraid of this, but she has lived in Yaohua Pavilion for so long, but she has not found this oleander, and now it seems to have appeared out of nowhere, so she was shocked.

After hearing this, Lingqiao stretched out her hand to protect her and backed away, her voice was a bit surprised: "What? This thing is poisonous? Then I'll ask Xiao Xizi to dig it up, so as not to hurt the young master."

This oleander is also available in her hometown, so she knows that although it is poisonous, as long as its juice does not touch the wound or take it, it will be fine.

"That's all, since it's been opened and dug well, let's not mess with it."

"But my lord, I'm still a little worried." Lingqiao continued to persuade.

Seeing her cowering, Lin Qingyu was really scared, and comforted her: "Don't worry, as long as you don't take it or get its juice on it, it's harmless. If you're afraid, we'll go to the Imperial Garden to catch Liuying."

Lingqiao laughed immediately: "Okay, there are more fireflies in the imperial garden, I will accompany the young master to catch more."

Lin Qingyu was afraid that Mo'er would not be found later, so she specially ordered the maid to inform her.

The imperial garden was sparsely populated, and the flowers were colorful and complicated, but it was not as pleasing to the eye as a piece of pure color. Lin Qingyu was a little disappointed. The two walked around for a while, and found that the place where there were many fireflies was actually a field of evening primroses with no buds.

At this moment, Mo'er also came with a sarong net and a thin fan. While fanning Lin Qingyu, she gave the sarong to her, "This sarong is troublesome, so I only have time to make this one. After catching it, I should go back to rest earlier."

Lin Qingyu felt that the sarong was a bit ugly, so she took the thin fan embroidered with lotus koi and asked Lingqiao to put it in a sarong.

Those emerald light spots shuttled among the branches and vines, and the more joyful they were, the small fan in his hand lightly patted the air, and when the light spots rolled down on the leaves, he carefully pushed them into the palm of his hand with the ball of his finger, and blew on the sarong. went in.

Lingqiao and Mo'er pointed aside where there were bigger fireflies, the three of them were lively and chatting happily.

The sky is full of stars, and the night view of Xu Yu Garden is seductive. In the dim distance, a man's voice suddenly came out: "His Royal Highness, the bead curtain, the fireflies fly back and forth. I thought that the fireflies at night were a rare beauty, but I didn't expect this beauty to hold a fan to catch fireflies , is even more exciting.”

When the three of them heard this, they all stopped their movements.

The voice sounded clear and loud, and he looked like a young man, so he couldn't be a eunuch, but the guards in the palace didn't dare to walk around in the harem blatantly.

Then only...

As the footsteps approached, Lin Qingyu hurriedly covered her face with a round fan, brought Lingqiao and Mo'er together to salute, and said timidly: "My concubine sees the emperor."

(End of this chapter)