Gel makeup

Chapter 30
After the death of Shen Huanhua, Shen Jiangdong was always depressed and reticent. He fell ill again in the first month and did not recover until the beginning of spring.It was nearly March of the fireworks, so Xiao Yi sent him to the south to run an errand, and asked him to relax by the way.

Before Shen Jiangdong left Beijing, he and Jiang Feng went to visit the Shen family's farm outside the city. On the way back, Shen Jiangdong said: "Since the accident in Fuzhou, there are strange things everywhere in the imperial capital. After I leave Beijing, you must be more careful."

Jiang Feng said: "You said that everything is weird, that's not true. It's just that you don't know who will kill me before I return to Beijing, who will follow me after I enter Beijing, and who will enter the mansion to assassinate me when we get married. Oh, yes, and Chen Nanfei Where did he go, who is he, and whose person is he?"

Shen Jiangdong asked: "Before you were suspicious, I thought it was you who were supercilious. But now the more I think about it, the more I feel that Ye Xiufeng's death is so strange. It was such a coincidence? When the lawsuit couldn't be resolved, he died, and Huan Huan was also implicated. painting."

When Jiang Feng heard him mention Shen Huanhua, he quickly changed the subject and said, "I still think that...Meng...Meng Guangshi's death is strange."

Shen Jiangdong was silent, "That Meng Guangshi, actually he..."

"You don't have to say it," Jiang Feng interrupted, "I don't want to know about him. Let's talk about Ye Xiufeng. I'm afraid that if he doesn't die, Prince Duan won't let the Queen enter the palace."

"Speaking of the queen," Shen Jiangdong pondered for a moment, "His Royal Highness has been very close to you recently, you should be careful and stay away from her." Ever since Si Qing told Jiang Feng about her life experience, there were many banquets in the first month, and Jiang Feng always went in and out. During the prison, Siqing often talked about the past with Jiang Feng, and the two agreed.When Shen Jiangdong saw that the two of them were originally sparse, they suddenly warmed up, so he couldn't help being suspicious.

Jiang Feng smiled: "In conclusion, the Shen and Ye families are related by marriage, why are you still so afraid of the queen?"

"Isn't she worthy of fear?" Shen Jiangdong stroked his temples, "There is a problem with being courteous to you for nothing."

"What do you think is the problem?" Jiang Feng asked.

Shen Jiangdong said: "I don't know what the problem is, but the queen is really hard to see through. When the empress dowager passed away, she could immediately control the situation in the forbidden area, but if she refused to accept it, she would kill her, but people were looking for her." There are no flaws. I used to look at her coldly, she and Ye Xiufeng didn't deal with each other, and she didn't have the same temperament. But looking at it now, she is Ye Xiufengming's biological daughter after all, so decisive, the first queen..."

"What's wrong with the first queen?" Jiang Feng glanced at him, "I don't understand why everyone is so taboo about mentioning the first queen He?"

"Hush—" Shen Jiangdong regretted his slip of the tongue, "Don't say it, just don't mention it, I don't really understand what's going on, just don't mention it."

"I see," Jiang Feng smiled, "Then let's not talk about this, let's talk about the previous thing—have you found out something recently, suspecting that the assassins who assassinated me before entering Beijing were all guards of the government army."

Shen Jiangdong approached Jiang Feng: "Don't you know that apart from me and Your Majesty, the only people who can command the guards of the government army are the imperial concubine at that time and the current empress."

"That's not right, the Queen took over the Twelve Guards, it should be after Meng Guangshi's accident."

"In this dynasty, since the chaos of Emperor Taizong's imperial capital, the queen of the upper twelve guards invited the three guards, which are the left and right rear guards of the government army."

"So? Did you forget about Chen Nanfei? Wasn't Chen Nanfei, who almost killed the queen earlier, the commander of the army's guard?"

Jiang Feng suddenly pulled out a dagger from the bottom of his sleeve and threw it to Shen Jiangdong. Shen Jiangdong was stunned, "By the way, this sword looks familiar. I wanted to ask you about it before."

Jiang Feng asked, "How familiar?"

"I...I can't remember..."

"His Royal Highness also has a sword in her hand, which is a pair with mine." Jiang Feng took the sword back and said.

Shen Jiangdong's mind quickly flashed the scene of Xining's 13th year when Siqing fought against the foreign monk of Duan Wangfu, and suddenly realized, "Yes! The queen also has a handle!" He was shocked, "What's going on, you guys Could it be an old acquaintance? Who gave you this sword?"

Jiang Feng smiled slightly, "You are such a high-ranking official, don't panic."

Shen Jiangdong said: "Don't be tricky, what's going on?"

"The queen and I are not old acquaintances." Jiang Feng put the sword back under his sleeve, "I don't ask you about Meng Guangshi, and you don't ask me about this sword now. But I want to tell you that this is the reason why the queen got close recently. My reason."

"Earlier, the queen was neither far nor close to you. Once Ye Xiufeng died, the queen began to get close to you... I guess the reason why the queen was trapped in Ye Mansion and couldn't go south was because Ye Xiufeng said that he had the handle of the queen's adoptive father in his hand, so he wouldn't let the queen Find her adoptive father. So this sword should be related to the queen's adoptive father, right?" Shen Jiangdong stared at Jiang Feng and asked.

Jiang Feng suddenly smiled, "You are really talented in the imperial capital, extremely smart, talented—"

Shen Jiangdong has something to look forward to.

"It's a pity that I only guessed half right." Jiang Feng raised his eyebrows.

"Okay, I won't ask." Shen Jiangdong was discouraged.

"It's useless for you to ask. The queen won't let me tell you. I told you, and it won't do you any good."

"Then you have to be on guard against the queen. God knows if the queen is using this sword as a cover to have other thoughts about you?"

Jiang Feng turned his head and thought for a while, "Why do you sound so awkward? Apart from the Fuzhou case, I have nothing else worth calculating."

"The Fuzhou case is gone. Everyone is looking for the two documents from the Fuzhou guard." Shen Jiangdong reminded.

Jiang Feng asked back: "The empress is extremely busy now, so you need to spend so much time on what to do to find the book?"

Shen Jiangdong said: "You're crazy again, Ye Xiufeng is dead now, the queen doesn't want to see Ye Xiufeng anymore, he is also the backbone of her mother's family. If she wants to live in peace, she will naturally take action to get He Shizhi down. If you want to get He Shizhi In short, the two remains of Fuzhou guards testifying against He Shizhi are the best evidence."

Jiang Feng asked back: "If you get He Shizhi out, the Queen and King Duan will confront each other head-on? If you keep He Shizhi, He Shizhi and King Duan will be entangled. What's the matter, you won't think that He Shizhi has the ability to persuade you?" Duan Wang, together with Duan Wang and the empress do not deal with?"

"How is that possible?" Shen Jiangdong said, "How can He Shizhi control Duan Wang's temperament? Besides, it's not so much that Duan Wang and the Queen are at odds, it's better to say that he and Ye Xiufeng are at odds."

Jiang Feng smiled, "That's it. You've been in the game for a long time, and it's hard to see through them."

When the two returned to the mansion, Shen Jiangdong asked, "Where's Uncle Wu? Are you still in Beijing?"

Jiang Feng said: "He went back to Yongtong."

Shen Jiangdong suddenly remembered something, and asked: "That Mr. Gu, the one who gave you the dowry, has he been following Uncle Wu's family?"

Jiang Feng thought for a while and said, "It seems that he went south to sell goods. The last time he sent old man Wu out of Beijing, he was not here. Why did you think of asking him?"

Shen Jiangdong said: "I just remembered that he seemed to have a good deal with Lan before, but I didn't see him at the Ye family's funeral last year."

The next day, Shen Jiangdong set off for the south, but Jiang Feng did not go to see him out of the city.

Not long after Shen Jiangdong left Jingnan, several relatives and dignitaries in the imperial capital elected several beauties to serve in the palace.Concubine Zhou Rong presided over the matter, and in the end there were two left behind, one was the daughter of Dingnan Wangfu Chief Shi, and the other was the niece of the Minister of Zongzheng Temple.Concubine Zhou Rong said that the two were gentle and well-educated, but Siqing felt that it was wrong, so she discussed with Xiao Yi at night to give the daughter of the governor of Dingnan Prince Shi to Prince Duan as his second concubine, and the niece of the minister of Zongzheng Temple to Prince Anping As the second concubine, let Xiao Yi choose another one.

Xiao Yi only said: "It's all up to you, I don't want to read it. I don't want any of them. If there are too many people, right and wrong will arise."

Si Qing said happily: "It's all up to me, you have to listen to me if you want it or not."

Later, Siqing summoned Concubine Rong, and after discussing with each other, they chose a daughter of Youqian to be named a talented person, and a daughter of He Shizhi's clan to be named a beauty.Siqing entrusted the newcomers to the palace and other matters to Concubine Rong Zhou, and took care of her illness to live in Zhiyuan, Nanshan. The document left by Xiufeng only said that he lived in Nanyuan.

Siqing took Yunchu to Nanshan, leaving Lingzhen and Xiachu to help Concubine Rong manage the council.Farewell to Siqing and told Lingzhen many things.Ling Zhen responded one by one, and then smiled: "Concubine Zhou Rong has good eyesight, the servant girl saw that Prince Duan's new side concubine looked like a braised lion's head, so I gave her a dark red trousers just now; Prince Pingjun's looks like a money belly soaked in oil. , and she was dressed in a dark yellow dress."

Siqing quickly reprimanded: "Go, you don't have to talk nonsense and fall into the mouth." On the contrary, the palace officials who came to see Siqing later laughed.

Ling Zhen smiled and said, "Your Highness is getting stricter, you can't even joke around."

Siqing sighed and said: "Anyway, I am also a person who will go to Abi Hell, so I simply stopped pretending to be a good person and became stricter, good sister, what can you do to me?"

Ling Zhen said: "What nonsense are you talking about? What Abi Hell?"

Si Qing said: "The people who pushed me into the fire pit all those years ago are almost dead. Now that I'm in another place, I'm also starting to push the good girls from other people's families into the fire pit."

Ling Zhen said softly: "Didn't Your Majesty originally say..."

Siqing said lightly, "I did this out of selfishness, hoping that my situation would be better."

Ling Zhen sighed and said, "Don't take everything on yourself, okay?"

Siqing said: "Okay, then I will live in Zhiyuan and never come back to get involved in these disputes, how about it?"

Ling Zhen said helplessly: "Yes, you should not say anything."

Siqing has been busy in Nanshan Zhiyuan for more than half a month, and checked all Ye Xiufeng's letters, except for finding a bunch of miscellaneous bad debts and deficits in the mansion, there was not a single word related to Fu Linchuan.

Xiao Yi went up the mountain to see her, and Si Qing was annoyed: "I let the old man deceive me."

Xiao Yi smiled and said: "When Yu Yunhe's case happened back then, Ye Xiufeng didn't have the foresight to know who you were raising for, and it's normal if you didn't leave anything behind. Don't look, let's go for a walk, and I'll take you to a place. "

The two went out of the city in micro-clothes, and the willows and flowers in the suburbs were full of tourists.The spring breeze blows on the face, which is very fresh and comfortable.People laugh, people sing, and the grassland is full of apricot blossoms.There are four seasons of the year, preferably Jichun.

The two found an old pear tree in the valley. It was cold in the mountain, but the pear blossoms were still blooming.It's not just who wrote Lu Fangweng's poem and hung the manuscript on the branch:

The pear blossoms are pale white and the willows are green in color, and the catkins are flying all over the city.

I am melancholy about the two snow plants in the east column, and my life is so clear.

Siqing smiled and said, "I love Changchun Master's "No Worldly Thoughts" the most." She chanted:
"Spring outing is mighty, it is year after year, cold food pear blossom season. The white brocade has no traces and is fragrant, and the snow of Yushu Qiongpa is piled up.

The quiet night is heavy, floating light and misty, cold and melting into the moon.In the sky on earth, the rotten silver glow shines through.It looks like a real person in Gushe, with a beautiful appearance and a noble spirit.Whoever believes in the unevenness of Wanhua is not in the same rank as Qunfang.The heroic spirit is pure and heroic, the immortal talent is outstanding, and it is difficult to distinguish between the earth and the earth.Going back to Yaotai, Dongtianfang can see clearly. "

Xiao Yi smiled and said: "So you have read the words of Changchun Immortal. Let's go to Baiyun Watch next year for Yanjiu Festival."

"I just thought of my sister-in-law. She is very beautiful in white." Speaking of Shen Huanhua, both of them were silent for a while.

"I heard from Sister Zhou that the empress dowager once lived in seclusion in Xishan Que'er nunnery. Third brother wants to pay homage to the empress today?" Siqing asked.

Xiao Yi nodded, "At that time, Chaoli had a lot of criticisms about my uncle, and my mother died here after staying in the mountains for a long time."

"Today?" Siqing became suspicious, thinking that the anniversary of Empress Dowager Renkang's death was at the end of autumn, how did it turn into spring?

Xiao Yi said: "Yes, it's today. The emperor's grandmother didn't tell it until autumn."

The two of them walked along the col and walked into a secluded valley in the West Mountain. The flowing water in the mountain was murmuring, and the sound of autumn was endless.

There is a dilapidated nunnery between the mountains, the gate of the courtyard is locked, and the word "queer nunnery" can be vaguely discerned on the plaque.There is a stream of water flowing down from the mountain stream on the left side of the nunnery, forming a deep pool.

Xiao Yi asked Siqing: "Have you read "Que'er Temple" by Feng Youjing of Cixi?"

"I've read it.'The peaks go back to the mountains, and I enter the green forest. There are no traces of people, and I don't move the bird's mind. The ancient stone clouds lie high, and the springs and trees make noise. Sit and watch the day go, and the mountains in the misty valley are shaded.' "Siqing said.

Xiao Yi smiled faintly: "'Sit and watch a hundred days go', how leisurely and indifferent."

She tilted her head slightly and folded her sleeves and said, "'Don't move the bird's mind' can only be in a place where there is no one. The world is turbid, and the so-called sigh is nothing but sigh."

Xiao Yi said: "That's right, 'Life is unsatisfactory, ten out of ten are always eighty-nine. The so-called more serious things will be lamented later', Yang Gong's words are very true."

The two walked to the front of the nunnery, but saw that there were no traces of burning scriptures on the ground.Xiao Yi looked around, but he didn't see anyone else, so he couldn't help feeling suspicious.He took out a brocade bag from his girdle, took out the key from the brocade bag, and opened the locked door of the nunnery.

Xiao Yi stepped into the nunnery first, and Siqing followed.

In the main hall of the nunnery, there is a statue of Peacock King Ming, with four arms holding Juyuan fruit, auspicious fruit, lotus flower and peacock tail, riding a golden peacock, sitting on a blue lotus flower, with a kind face.

Under the dusty treasure, the two of them didn't say a word, they just stood quietly.Xiao Yi's eyes finally emerged from the emptiness with a complicated expression, and the expression became deeper and deeper.Then Xiao Yi led Siqing to the back hall of the nunnery. There was plain paper on the wall, and Xiao Yi slowly opened the scroll hanging and rolled up on the wall behind the plain paper.

The women in the palace costumes in the painting are well-faced, wearing gowns with large sleeves and crowns of three dragons and two phoenixes.Although the painting is slightly faded, the workmanship is excellent and the appearance is lifelike.

Siqing asked: "Is this the empress mother?"

Xiao Yi sighed, "It doesn't look like a painting."

The two saluted the shadow of Empress Dowager Renkang, and Xiao Yi burned the scriptures he brought with him in front of the shadow.

After the worship, Xiao Yi rolled up the good shadow and covered it with new plain paper.The two turned to the statue of King Peacock Ming, and Xiao Yi said: "I heard that "The Sutra of King Peacock Ming" mainly eliminates ghosts, poisons and diseases. Now ghosts and ghosts are floating around, lingering, the torment is unknown, and the disease has not been cured."

Siqing said: "This remark can be compared to the situation of the country and the court."

The two of them didn't stay longer, they locked the door of the nunnery and left.

(End of this chapter)