Zhurou

Chapter 6 The Brass Key

The maid who was accompanying the attendant stood up quickly and said: "This servant waited on His Majesty to change his clothes, and asked to take the medicine. Because I fell asleep when it was almost midnight, I really dare not wake it up without authorization."

The woman lowered her eyebrows and bowed her hands when she spoke, looking very well-behaved.

Zhao Mingzhi glanced over and felt that something was wrong, so he stood still and looked at the person's appearance carefully.

Oval face, handsome features, a pair of red phoenix eyes, about twenty.

It seems a little familiar.

"What's your name, and why are you here?" she asked.

The palace maid hurriedly replied in a low voice: "The maidservant, Chun Lu, was originally served by Concubine Li. The concubine saw that the maidservant was diligent and careful, so she asked her to follow her to serve His Majesty at night."

Zhao Mingzhi nodded, and then asked, "Where is Concubine Li?"

Chun Lu hurriedly replied: "The concubine is going to decoct the medicine."

Since I just took the medicine, what kind of medicine should I cook?

Zhao Mingzhi frowned, not only didn't point it out, but also nodded and said: "The concubine has worked hard."

She glanced at the inscription in the corner, and said: "It's already this hour, how can I ask the empress to cook the medicine herself."

After speaking, he took another look at Yushuang who was following behind.

Yushuang said: "Your maidservant will go back to rest for your mother."

Chun Lu who was on the side of the bed immediately stood up, and hurriedly said: "It's cold and windy, why should His Highness worry about it, and I'll just go and take over the empress myself."

She didn't wait for Zhao Mingzhi's reply, she saluted hurriedly and walked out.

Yushuang winked at the maid at the side, who followed quietly.

Zhao Mingzhi didn't pay any attention to this matter, but ordered the palace staff to pull up the curtain, and opened a small window to ventilate, before he asked, "Where does the incense come from?"

A court lady replied: "The tranquilizing incense sent by Concubine Li is said to be able to calm the mind and help sleep..."

The cold wind penetrated, and the sweet fragrance in the room was immediately washed away. Although the air was cold, it made people's breathing much easier.

Seeing that Zhao Hong's brows relaxed a little, Zhao Mingzhi turned to look at the incense burner.

The white smoke in the furnace keeps curling up, and as soon as you approach it, the fragrance is thick and sweet, with a sense of warmth.

When she was young, she was also keen on the way of incense. Although she quickly put her hands away, she felt that she had a little understanding of it. However, she sniffed closely and couldn't tell the origin and type of incense in the furnace. Suspicions arose in her heart for a while. .

The court ladies are messy here, Zhao Mingzhi didn't want to make a big noise, pointed to a small corner of the spices, and whispered to Yushuang: "Clean it up quietly, and ask Doctor Liu to come over and take a look later."

Yushuang understood, and found a reason to send the maids in a room around. Taking advantage of people's unpreparedness, she found a jade box and put away the remaining spices, and deliberately put out a lot of incense ash.

It was obviously only a few steps away, but it was not until the ugly time that Concubine Li brought the two little girls over in a hurry.

The sleepiness in her eyes was still there, the corners of her clothes were messy, her belt was tied crookedly, and her hair was simply combed into a bun, which was quite different from her well-dressed appearance in the past.

"Is Your Majesty having a nightmare again?" As soon as she entered the door, Concubine Li's tears fell, "If I had known this, I wouldn't have served that concoction! Eat it every day, feed it every day, but it didn't seem to work. Please trouble the third princess to come here again..."

As she spoke, she took small steps and leaned over to look at Zhao Hong.

Seeing someone approaching, Zhao Mingzhi backed away involuntarily.

She has a very keen sense of smell, and immediately recognized the miscellaneous fragrance on the other party's body.

It is the smell of ambergris mixed with agarwood, and there is also a faint smell of quince and after-bath balm commonly used in the palace, but there is no smell of medicine or wood smoke.

Concubine Li probably went back to rest directly.

He obviously didn't care about Zhao Hong's body, why did he act so considerate?
On the way to flee south, my younger brother's health deteriorated day by day, and the imperial physician couldn't find any specific reason at all.

And I didn't even doubt Li Taifei who was in charge of taking care of her.

Thinking of this, Zhao Mingzhi's heart hurts with regret.

It's just a fork in the road, no matter how hard and far you go, what's the use?

She used to only think about buying people's hearts, accumulating support for her younger brother, and adding a little possibility for the two of them to live in troubled times.

But save and save, when the city is broken, how much of the so-called "good materials" that have been saved can be used?

Not to mention sending charcoal in the snow, as long as it doesn't make trouble, she can take a high look at him.

The Supreme Emperor himself has such virtues. It is not surprising that the courtiers have eaten his food and cultivated the same kind.Besides, when it comes to life and death, it is natural that one's own life and wealth are more important.

To study literary and martial arts, and to be with the emperor's family, no one has ever said that the emperor must be surnamed Zhao.

During the Battle of Guandu, there were so many vacillating officials in the Wei army camp. Cao Mengde was such a hero, and he and his younger brother were such bears. Why should they ask others to sacrifice their lives?

Zhao Mingzhi is not that kind of arrogant person.

What could not be done in the past, can it be done again?
Of course not necessarily.

Just always try.

It is said that near the vermilion is red.

As long as there are one or two backbones in the court, and the civil officials are not spared, and the military officials are spared their lives, even if they end up in the same end, they will always have a clear conscience.

Compared with her younger brother's health and other urgent matters, Zhao Mingzhi didn't have the time to find out what Concubine Li was planning, but she knew that the most time-saving and labor-saving way was to directly separate people.

She stretched out her hand, stopped in front of the other party, and said in a low voice: "Your Majesty is resting, there is nothing serious, the concubine should go back to rest too."

Concubine Li forced a smile and said: "Your Majesty looks like this, how can I rest assured, I'd better stay here and guard - the princess has a lot of things to do every day, it's better to go back to sleep earlier."

Zhao Mingzhi shook his head and said, "It's okay, I'll trouble the concubine to come and take care of me tomorrow."

Concubine Li still had something to say, but she didn't dare to go against Zhao Mingzhi's intentions. Hearing that she said that she would use her tomorrow, she was not sure if there was something wrong, so she couldn't help but look at the bedside, and then walked away.

The candlelight in the room was dim, reflecting shadows in the tent.

Just now a group of people were waiting to come in and out, and Concubine Li was talking to that Chunlu again. With Zhao Hong's habit of light sleep in the past, he should have woken up long ago, but at this moment he was still in a dream, but his eyebrows were slightly wrinkled, and his chest heaved and heaved. Fu was very fast, obviously not sleeping very comfortably.

Zhao Mingzhi weighed things up and down, and didn't dare to wake him up for a moment. After a while, Yushuang led a middle-aged man with a short beard into the room, and said in a low voice, "Your Highness, Dr. Liu is here."

"Third princess..." The other party bowed his head and was about to salute.

She quickly got up and gave up her seat, and said: "There is no need to be too polite, it is important to diagnose His Majesty's pulse."

Sure enough, the man stopped talking. After checking his pulse, he looked at Zhao Hong's complexion, and finally gave Zhao Mingzhi a difficult look, and said, "Your Highness... why don't you take a step to speak?"

The two went out of the room.

Doctor Liu refused to take his seat, but said: "Don't dare to hide the truth from the princess. Your Majesty seems to be weak due to yang deficiency. Because of the frightening evil wind entering his body, he is holding back in his heart and lungs. He can only recuperate slowly..."

After finishing speaking, he hesitated and said: "I'm not quite sure, why don't you ask the accompanying medical officers to consult before making a decision?"

Zhao Mingzhi said: "There are a lot of people in the garden, and the medical officials are afraid that your majesty is young, so they don't dare to make a medical case. It's not good to procrastinate. Only Doctor Liu, you have watched our two brothers and sisters since childhood." As we grow up, please be more careful this time, as for the reward, I dare not talk about the future at this time, but by looking at what my parents have done in the past, you will know what happened to my siblings."

After finishing speaking, he got up and saluted.

How could Dr. Liu dare to accept it, he jumped and didn't say anything, and couldn't hide, so he had to kneel on the ground in a hurry.

Zhao Mingzhi said: "These days, I have to work harder for you."

After finishing speaking, only Yushuang was left behind, and he went back to the inner room by himself.

But Yushuang took out the jade box she left just now, and whispered to Dr. Liu for a while.

Dr. Liu took the jade box, with a bitter expression on his face, but after gathering the things into his sleeves, he slowly turned around, and thought to himself: "Forget it, King Dejia and Concubine Ze have been trapped for more than ten years, today they should be together." repaid.

Thinking about what Zhao Mingzhi did and said just now, he felt more stable.

This princess has inherited her parents' moral will since she was a child, and she only protects people and never harms them. Even if she can't get rich, she won't lose her old life under her hands.

Just do your best.

When he stepped out of the house again, there was no emotion on his face, he only covered the jade box more tightly.

***
Besides, when Zhao Mingzhi returned to the bedroom, he could hear the silence inside, the maids were on duty, and with a little peace of mind, he went to the bedside and lifted a corner of the curtain to see what was going on inside.

But in the hanging curtain, under the dim candlelight, younger brother Zhao Hong did not fall asleep, but lay on his side with his red eyes wide open, gritted his teeth and wept heavily.

Zhao Mingzhi was so startled that his heart missed a beat, and he quickly asked, "What's wrong? Is there something wrong?"

When Zhao Hong saw it was her, he just reached out to wipe away his tears and asked, "Sister, am I... am I going to die?"

After finishing speaking, he stretched out a clenched fist in his left hand and slowly opened it.

Zhao Mingzhi looked down, and saw a small copper key lying impressively in that fist.

Zhao Hong was choked with crying, but he didn't forget to stuff the key into her arms, and cried again: "Sister...I...I'm going to die, leave me alone, run away..."

Again vaguely do not know what to cry.

Zhao Mingzhi was so anxious that he hurriedly supported the person on his back to let him breathe, but he saw a small copper box under the thin quilt, which was protected by Zhao Hong's side.

The box was open, inside there were a few big pearls, a small golden melon seed, and a few small picture scrolls of insects and fish, but I made it with my younger brother's hands when I was in the domain, and it was originally prepared for my mother's birthday. After painting, he hid it like a treasure.

After her parents passed away, she never saw them again.

Zhao Mingzhi was overwhelmed for a moment, and when he looked up again, Zhao Hong didn't stop crying, but he covered the box, locked the lock, pushed the key again, and said in a low voice, "Sister."

I don't know what I'm asking for.

(End of this chapter)