box of hearts

Chapter 257 Looking at My Hometown (1)
1.
The end of the year is coming again.

Everywhere in the deep and magnificent Forbidden City has a new look. The eaves of the carved railings are covered with ribbons of various colors, large yellow satin umbrellas are erected on the square, ancient bronze drum chimes are placed in the main hall, and a full set of bronze ritual vessels are displayed in the courtyard.On the morning of New Year's Eve, the young emperor Qi Hong, who had lived in seclusion in Xiyuan for a long time, appeared in the Huangji Hall, wearing a six-color robe with a black background, with the sun and the moon on his shoulders, the stars behind him, two long sleeves, a jade belt across his waist, and a crown on his head. There are seven-colored jade pendants hanging down, and six-colored jade pendants leading to Zhu Ying, and two jade stones are filled with ears and hang directly from the ears.Uncle Prince Regent also wore silk black lacquer crown with golden ring and gold rim on his head. It was richly decorated and piled up with precious jade. He was at the forefront of the worship team to congratulate the emperor.The relatives and noble officials behind him shouted "Long live, long live, long live", and as they kowtowed, they had a common premonition: it won't be long before the sick young man on the golden platform will be killed. The heavy clothes on his body were crushed into dust that would disperse in a handful of blows, and the tall and strong middle-aged man would step up to the golden platform step by step. After all, the distance between the two of them was only ten steps at most.Ten steps, even for a person with a disabled leg, is easy and easy.

But who would have thought that after January and February of the new year, until the prosperous season of spring in March, there is no sound of changing the sky and the sun, only the soft wind, nymphs and butterflies, and clouds and smoke.Nantai Island, which faces Huangchenggen across the South China Sea, also has a peaceful beauty of red Polygonum and white apples, but the palace behind the beautiful scenery is another scene.

The furniture was covered with dust and dust, there were fallen leaves on the ground, there was a rancid black soup in the tea bowl on the table, and on the kang was Qi Hong, who had the same rancid smell.His eyes were dimmed, his cheeks were sunken, he coughed twice and sat up with his hands up.A little eunuch basking in the sun at the corner of the window rolled his eyes, and Emperor Ren dragged himself out of the house.Along the way, there were two more eunuchs sitting idle chattering, both of them turning a blind eye.Qi Hong staggered alone, the tail of a plain velvet robe was ragged and torn by weeds and stones.He walked all the way to the end of the island, and then stared blankly at the suspended wooden bridge leading to the Xiyuan Gate, the green water of Haizi under the bridge, and the ever-layered guards on the other side of the water. He knelt down and hugged his head.The empty water's edge is a pair of shrugging, crisp and thin back.

Qi Hong was not the only one who shed tears of poverty for this spring.

In the Palace of Compassion and Ning, where the door is closed in the deep courtyard, Qi Hong's biological mother, Empress Dowager Xihe, is holding a handkerchief in the shape of falling flowers and flowing water. The hand full of muscles has no ring or armor, only a string of thin bracelets. It's made of teardrops.It has been a full seven years since she left in the Qianqing Palace, and she has never seen her son again, only in her dreams. In the dreams, he became thinner and thinner each time.With this in mind, some pain is like a knife cutting the heart, and some hatred is like burning the liver and intestines.This one handkerchief is full of tears, so I need another one.The one handing the handkerchief was a hand with taut skin and sharp knuckles, but at the end of the hand was a soft and handsome face; Qiao Yun bent his face forward and chattered something to Xi He.

Through layers of round masks, the eunuch Quan Fu was lying on the bottom of the kang digging ashes.A pointed fox face has become slack, and the swollen eyeballs are more bulging, and the two eyeballs are turned around, peeking into the inside.He saw that the Empress Dowager's complexion gradually improved under the persuasion of the favored slave, and finally she broke into a "poof" smile.Quan Fu turned his face away in response, feeling sore and bitter in his heart.After the death of master Zhao Sheng, he took the place of master next to the Empress Dowager, and became the "man" that this noble and lonely woman relied on and trusted the most during the long years of house arrest—if you have seen those scenes of spring wind and autumn rain At night, Quan Fu leaned over the face of the Empress Dowager Xi and pulled out a sad white hair for her, and listened to her mournful sighs silently. You would never say that this was not a night for a woman and a man.But since "Grandpa Qiao" fell from the sky last spring, everything has changed. Compared with a talented champion in Zijian and a beautiful man in Sai Pan'an, Quan Fu is just a fool from the countryside.Since then, the mother never said a word to Quan Fu again, she would only say "Quan Fu go out, you are not allowed to enter without a summons", and then stayed in the room with that Eunuch Qiao for most of the day, which always made Quan Fu Fu recalled the scene of the tryst between the hostess and the regent many years ago.Quan Fu was full of inexplicable resentment towards Qiao Yun, just like a concubine who fell out of favor feels resentment towards an enemy who robbed the emperor of his favor.And this hatred—no matter how Quan Fu waved the brown broom in his hand—he just couldn't shake it off.He walked out of the hall angrily, spurning endlessly: "Bah, fuck your dog champion!"

The Ciqing Palace in the east is generally deep and cold, with the bead curtains not rolled up.Behind the curtain, the Eastern Empress Dowager Wang was wearing a soft silver light robe and leaning on the edge of the sill, her long hair was casually scattered behind her back, as if she was carrying a grudge on her shoulders.If a little light flickers in her gray pupils occasionally, it is not because of the spring in the garden, but because of the past that flashes before her eyes: her father, her brothers, the power and glory she once had, her A brilliant family... like a swallow passing by Wang Xietang.That Yan'er has already fallen into the homes of ordinary people, but Wang's eyes don't know where to fall in this lonely and cold palace. Everywhere is Zhulan, Yingbi, and wall. Even time is imprisoned in these four corners. In the square cage, one cannot move.She took a long breath, "Wu Ran, pretend to be a cigarette!" Then she remembered that Wu Ran died last year. He was tortured by the Zhen Fusi, and all his family members were wiped out. Only his adopted son Wu Yi The world evaporates.A court lady came on tiptoe, holding a hookah.Wang took a deep breath, staring at the invisible smoke.She only hoped that if she could not evaporate like Wu Yi when she was alive, at least she could turn into a wisp of green smoke after death, free and without a trace.

However, not everyone's spring is a backwater.

There is a peach blossom pond thousands of feet deep in the pair of bright eyes in front of her, looking at herself and him with sweetness.

"I'm back." Qingtian stared at him in the mirror and smiled, his cheeks flushed with fragrance and brilliance.

Qi Shefu was stunned when he entered the dressing room. He saw Qing Tian wearing a silk-wrapped jacket, a thin tooth-colored brocade skirt, and a long Ning silk vest for combing his hair. His hair was loose like black satin, sitting in the mirror. Remove evening make-up before the stage.It is just a homely old scene, but it exudes a stunning beauty, as if a wick is burning in the internal organs of a person, illuminating the whole skin and bones, from the inside to the outside, it is just light, just dazzling.

Not only Qingtian, but also the four servant girls Yingzhi, Qinhua, Qinmeng and Qinsu who surrounded her were smiling and dimpled.When they saw him, they respectively put down the golden oil box, wide-tooth tooth comb, small treasure box and white jade pot in their hands, looked at each other, and bowed their knees together, "The prince is overjoyed."

Qi She was greatly astonished, and caressing the gold-reducing twisted ribbon around her waist, she also frowned and laughed, "What am I happy about?"

The maids looked at each other and smiled, like a few larks chirping together, and the aftertaste was tactful: "Your Majesty is happy!"

"No, do I like it or she likes it?" After speaking, Qi She suddenly realized, his face was shaken, "You, what are you talking about?" He asked Yingzhi and the others, but turned his face to Qingtian himself.

She was sitting beside Qingluan Baoyun's carved lacquer dressing table, smiling, she glanced at him, and lowered her eyes again.

For the first time in his life, Qi She felt that joy was a tangible thing, huge and magical, walking towards him accompanied by golden bells and Dharma drums.He couldn't help walking towards Qingtian, bowed his waist to support her, "Really?"

She is still smiling, peaches and plums don't say a word, and the next step is her own.

Stepping on the beautiful road paved with clouds and flowers, Qi She could barely speak in front of the rich spring flowers and autumn fruits, "You, you are not, not..."

"Yes," Qingtian smiled softly, "I have drank that stuff for many years, and it is impossible to grow it in my whole life. The imperial doctor said, maybe it is because I have been pampered and well-maintained all these years, and the previous It was a period of tonic and recuperation for a few months, so I made the Qi and blood strong, and I got pregnant and ended up with a stable fetus, and it has been more than a month."

Qi She looked at Qingtian steadily and steadily, and suddenly laughed, and directly hugged her, picked her up and turned around with her feet off the ground.Qing Tian laughed and screamed, the maids also laughed and yelled anxiously while laughing: "Master, you can take it easy!"

"Oh yes yes yes, take it easy, take it easy." Qi She hurriedly put Qingtian down, holding her face and stroking her hair happily, not knowing what to do.It took a while to realize that I had lost my composure, my face was flushed with embarrassment, and I waved my hands at the maidservants, "You four will each be rewarded with a bag of golden melon seeds, go and receive the reward."

Yingzhi and Sanqin walked out with smiles and knocks. The doors opened and closed, and the clothes fluttered gently. A gust of warm wind lifted the thin jade bells in the porch, blowing the peach-patterned silk curtains.Behind the tent, Qingtian smiled and covered the brocade burden on the makeup mirror, and slid his five fingers across the Hunan embroidered magpie climbing plum, his face was beautiful and glowing, "Look at you, you are so happy."

"Of course I'm happy, I really didn't expect it, I never thought about it——, Xiaonan, I, I'm so happy!" Qi She felt that his chest was full of surprises that were about to explode, and couldn't hold back, and turned Qingtian Circle He held her up in the air, leaned up and kissed her fiercely.

With a shimmering smile in his eyes, Qing Tian pulled Qi She's mustache on his upper lip, and twisted his body slightly, "Put me down, I have something to tell you."

"Hey." Carefully, he put her on the couch like a female Bodhisattva in a shrine, and listened carefully.

(End of this chapter)