Chaos in the Chu Palace

Chapter 93: Winter Wind (2)
Ouyang Ruo looked at her calmly, with an indistinguishable look in her big dark eyes: "Go, close the palace gate, if it's someone from 'Yunxiang Palace' or the eunuch delivering the decree, let it in, if not, block everything .”

Xiang Ye retreated in surprise.Xiao Linxiang was already over three years old, and her mind was a little open. Seeing Ouyang Ruo's smile was closer and weirder than before, she didn't make any noise, and just leaned against her chest quietly.

Ouyang Ruo patted her up and down, and suddenly said with a smile: "My son, Lin Xiang, your mother and concubine are really useless, I can't accompany you, let's see what kind of husband and wife my son will marry in the end, mother and concubine... Concubine mother is really useless." She murmured, tears rolled down and fell on Lin Xiang's small face.

Xiao Linxiang was startled, and quickly wiped away her tears with her small hands, and said in a childish voice: "My concubine doesn't cry, does it hurt from the fall..." She was young, and she only cried when she fell and cried.

Ouyang Ruo's tears fell more and more urgently, and she laughed while crying: "Yes, my concubine really fell hard this time, and it hurts..." Her eyes were smiling, but her tears seemed to be disobedient fell down.

At this moment, the nurse came over with Xiao Yingzhou in her arms. Seeing Ouyang Ruo like this, she was too frightened to go forward.Ouyang Ruo wiped away tears, stepped forward to take Xiao Yingzhou, looked at it carefully, and then asked Xiao Linxiang, "This is your younger brother, will you take good care of her for mother and concubine in the future?"

Xiao Linxiang couldn't understand, but she also vaguely knew the concubine's entrustment, and giggled: "Okay, I won't grab things from him in the future."

Hearing her immature words, Ouyang Ruo's heart ached like a knife.The two children were so innocent, but they could no longer watch them grow up, and the grief in her heart almost destroyed her.

She staggered into the inner hall, with a child in each hand, just sat on the couch and looked at their little faces, tears seemed to be opened and could no longer be contained.

Xiao Linxiang writhed uneasily, and Ouyang Ruo didn't bother her, just watched her playing.Little Yingzhou was sleeping soundly, and the cigarette smoke in the cauldron was lingering, making it hazy.

After an unknown amount of time, the palace door was suddenly opened, and a few servants rushed in. They went straight to the inner hall alone, and did not kneel when they saw Ouyang Ruo, but said: "Your Majesty Rou Jieyu offended, the emperor has orders , carry the third prince to the 'Manna Palace'."

Ouyang Ruo held Xiao Yingzhou in his arms, and was just dazed. The servant who broke in impatiently yelled again. The sudden yelling made Xiao Yingzhou jump, and couldn't help crying in anger.

Ouyang Ruo came back to his senses, softly coaxed the child in his arms, turned his head and said with a sneer: "Eunuch, what are you doing in such a hurry, even if I am guilty, I will not allow you to act wildly and scare the third prince. , you don’t even have enough heads to cut off.”

Seeing that her smile was as cold as a plum, but she had an indescribable majesty, the leading servant couldn't help but think of the news he had received before, and became tough again: "Rou Jieyu should hurry up and hand over the third prince, servant girl." We are late, and no one can afford it."

Ouyang Ruo stood up slowly, glanced at the little Yingzhou in his arms, and then looked at the faces of the few of them who seemed to be swallowing people like wolves and tigers, and sneered: "Leave it to you? Naturally, I will give it, but it's not On your dirty hands, Sister Li."

She called the third prince's wet nurse, put the third prince in her hand, and said to her softly: "The third prince will ask Nanny Li. You go with them, the emperor will not make things difficult for you."

Nanny Li agreed with tears in her eyes, hugged the third prince and wanted to go with them.

Suddenly crying sounded from the palace gate, Wan Hui stumbled in, perhaps in a hurry, even her usually meticulous hair bun was tilted to one side, her complexion was pale, and there were red and swollen spots on it.

Seeing that the servants were about to take the third prince away, she hurriedly stopped her: "No! Madam, how can you let them take the third prince away? No! Madam... Madam!"

She cried so hard that she couldn't breathe, Xiangye and Xiangling at the gate of the hall were frightened and just hugged each other.

Ouyang Ruo stood coldly by the door of the palace, watching Wan Hui come forward to stop her, how could those servants let her get close, stretched out her foot, and kicked her aside.Only then did Xiangye Xiangling come to his senses, and hurried forward to help.

Wan Hui was kicked away by them, unwilling to stop her again, the servants had already taken advantage of the chaos and left.

Wan Hui sat on the ground, crying too much for herself, she looked up and saw Ouyang Ruoyi by the door, she didn't say anything, she didn't cry, she rushed forward, grabbed her skirt and cried: "Mother, you Go talk to the emperor and say that you are wronged. The jade was used by the empress to ask General Su to find the little emperor. All the goddamn rumors are all made up. Who is the son and grandson who created this jade? Wait for the rumors to come? She will die..."

Ouyang Ruo just didn't move, letting her tug and shake her, without saying a word.

Wan Hui just cried and cursed, but Ouyang Ruo was unmoved.

After a while, Ouyang Ruo suddenly chuckled and said, "Auntie, why are you crying? I guess someone has heard your words. If you don't keep your mouth shut, even I will protect you."

Wan Hui was surprised, and turned around, only to see the empress with a livid face, being helped in by someone.

Ouyang Ruo smiled softly, pulled Wan Hui's hand away, and looked at the person coming.

The queen's eyes flashed with complacency and a trace of ecstasy, she looked at Ouyang Ruo with yellowish and muddy eyes and suddenly smiled and said, "What's wrong with Rou Jieyu here? I'm here to see the third prince, why is it so messy. well…"

She frowned deliberately and sighed, the palace people on both sides rushed in and hurriedly prepared soft chairs for her.The queen sat down slowly, and then looked at Ouyang Ruo with a half-smile.

Ouyang Ruo said with a smile: "The empress came a step late, the third prince had just been taken away by someone sent by the emperor. Could it be that the empress didn't know? The concubine is really sorry for alarming the empress' Fengjia for such a trivial matter."

The queen's face changed slightly, and finally showed a trace of anger: "The emperor really still protects you bitch! How..."

She stopped talking, looked at the faint smile on Ouyang Ruo's face, and the resentment that had been accumulated in the past suddenly burst out: "Seeing that you are usually obedient, I didn't expect you to be such a shameless person! Come on! Drag her away." Go down and hit it hard! I want to see if this vixen is different in the end, the emperor is fascinated by it!"

Ouyang Ruo just stood quietly by the door, her long hair trailing behind her, a pair of cold beautiful eyes mockingly looked at the empress's distraught face, the palace servants on both sides stepped forward hesitantly, wanting to drag her down to the ground for execution.

Seeing that the momentum was wrong, Wan Hui hurriedly hugged Ouyang Ruo, and yelled at the palace servants: "My mother did nothing wrong, why did you beat her? If the emperor knows, be careful with each of you!..."

Before she finished speaking, the queen laughed, and stared at Ouyang Ruo's unparalleled face with vicious eyes like poisonous snakes: "The emperor?! Now the emperor wishes you to die, so as to preserve the dignity of the royal family. Today, I will let you come and go alone." How about nothing to worry about?" The more she talked, the more ferocious the expression on her thin face became.

Only now did Ouyang Ruo realize how deep her jealousy towards him was, and all the dignity and humility of the past were gone, and when the mask of hypocrisy was removed, what was revealed was this face of wanting her to die.

She suddenly smiled slightly, and said to the queen: "The emperor wants the minister to die, and the minister has to die. I only hope that the empress will not regret it in the future." She walked forward step by step as she spoke.Wan Hui couldn't hold her back, and felt even more anxious.

The queen gritted her teeth and looked at her calm and breezy expression, wishing that she could go up and grab her severely. She came this time to take away the third prince and exterminate them, but Chu Huotian did it first. She took a step and took it.All her wishful thinking was in vain, not to mention holding back resentment in her heart.

"Come here! Pull the criminal concubine Ouyang down and beat him!" The queen gave an order, and the palace people did not dare to hesitate any longer. They rushed forward and pressed Ouyang Ruo to the ground. Good sticks swung high...

Ouyang Ruo closed her eyes lightly, there was something she couldn't forget.

It was the day Huagong was breached by the Chu army, she stood alone among thousands of people kneeling down, looking at him with great grief and unwillingness.The nose is full of the smell of blood; it was he who did whatever he wanted on her that night with a strong smell of alcohol, making her eyes full of despair and filth; it was he who stroked her temples and smiled at her Fei smiled and said, "Maybe, I fell in love with you?"

...

She finally shed a tear, followed by overwhelming pain and Wanhui's screams, let everything end.She is so tired...

...

...

Qian Yancui walked out of the palace gate, she looked back frequently in a daze, in her hands were the gold, silver and cloth that the empress forced to give her.She almost forgot to ask the maid who accompanied her to hold it, and she carried it all the way in a daze.

Accompanying the two sides were the palace servants beside the empress, one was the eldest palace maid Ziye, and the other was Nanny Wu.They kept saying compliments that sounded too good to be true to her.

Qian Yancui was a little dazed as she recalled everything she had just done in the queen's bedroom "Yilan Palace".

Early in the morning, she was ordered to enter the palace by the queen. The queen smiled and said to her: "Don't worry, Mrs. Su, the woman General Su likes has already said that she and General Su only knew each other when they were young. Keep her in your heart, she is now a married woman with a son, so never mention this matter again."

Qian Yancui felt relieved, and smiled at the queen, "That's because my husband is too infatuated. Dare I ask the queen, who is that woman?"

The queen wondered: "This...he is a member of another family now. How can we let Mrs. Su know his identity? After all, it is extremely honorable. Madam Su can rest assured. But the emperor also knows a thing or two, and is very concerned. When the emperor asks, you should tell the truth. You can answer whatever the emperor asks. I will also say a lot of good things in the future."

Qian Yancui hesitated: "Empress, this is not good, this matter is going to the emperor's side, will my husband..."

The queen seemed to know her thoughts, and said with a smile: "Where would it be? I have already said that the emperor treats General Su differently. It is not an exaggeration to say that he is both a father and a friend. Otherwise, why would he personally choose a wife for General Su? Woolen cloth?"

Qian Yancui's doubts were dispelled by what the queen said.

...

Later, the emperor really came, but his face was ashen, and he only asked a few words from beginning to end, "Is this jade pendant really fell from Zixuan?" His voice was cold, containing great anger. Yan Cui was so frightened that she trembled, and it took a long time before she replied: "Yes...it was when my husband was drunk, and the concubine left it when he was changing his clothes."

The emperor swayed and asked again after a while: "The empress said that when he was drunk, he read a person's name. What is that person's name?"

Qian Yancui was wondering why the queen had told the emperor such details, and just as she was thinking, the emperor suddenly slapped the dragon case with a palm, and even the inkstone and pen holder on the dragon case jumped up, which was very scary.

When had Qian Yancui ever seen such a scene, she was so frightened that she cried: "My husband... my husband read that name... seems to be a woman, he called her... Ruo'er..."

With just this sentence, the emperor sat down slumped, and did not say a word for a long time.

Qian Yancui waited for a long time before being pulled down by Eunuch Li.

She tugged at Eunuch Li's sleeve tremblingly, sobbing, "Eunuch, did I say something wrong? Why is the emperor so angry? Will...will he kill my head..."

Li Jingcai watched her face turn pale from crying, sighed in his heart, and comforted him: "You go back to the mansion first, this matter...is troublesome..." He looked at the gate of the confinement palace, only to feel that his head was as big as a bucket.

Qian Yancui followed the palace servants sent by the queen, received the reward in a daze, and was dragged through several palace gates by them.

Seeing the vermilion palace gate like a monster with its mouth wide open, she suddenly remembered something, turned her head and asked Ziye, "Sister, tell me why the emperor is so angry? Am I wrong? What…"

There was a look of pity in Ziye's eyes, taking advantage of Mama Wu behind her not paying attention, she thought for a while, and finally couldn't help sighing: "Do you know the name of the emperor's most beloved Rou Jieyu?"

Qian Yancui shook her head blankly. In Chu State, women's boudoir names are rarely mentioned. Only when they get married, the matchmaker will go to the daughter's house, let alone the concubine in the harem?Where can she know?

Ziye sighed, and said softly: "Rou Jieyu's surname is Ouyang again, and the single name is Ruo."

Ziye's low voice whispered in her ear, each word, like the heaviest stone hitting her heart one by one.Qian Yancui stopped immediately, and just stared blankly at her eyes full of pity.It's like looking at the poorest and most stupid people.

Qian Yancui turned her head mechanically, looked at the "Yilan Hall" hidden under the heavy eaves, and suddenly screamed: "No! Your Majesty, the concubine is wrong...it's not like that...no!" She went crazy He rushed in, and the cloth, gold and silver in his hand fell to the ground.

Ziye and Nanny Wu were taken aback, and hurriedly pulled her back. Nanny Wu is a smart person, seeing her, she knew the truth, and pinched Ziye angrily: "I'm going to die!" Little hooves, if something happens, tell the queen to beat you to death!" She said as she pushed Qian Yancui out, the palace gate was right in front of her eyes, as long as she went out of the palace gate, it was up to her to make trouble It's over, and it has nothing to do with them being servants.

Ziye also hurriedly stepped forward to help, the two of them dragged the crazy Qian Yancui out of the palace gate, and asked the guards to stop her from coming in again, then wiped off the cold sweat and walked back.

In the distance, Qian Yancui's unwilling cries could still be heard.

Wu Mama stared at Ziye fiercely, and "little hooves" kept cursing in her mouth: "I told you to die and tell her, it's good now, she knows, if the empress's business is ruined, call you I can't eat and walk around!"

Ziye timidly said: "Your maidservant is wrong, good mother-in-law, don't tell the queen, the emperor will believe it anyway... It's okay. Good mother-in-law... Your servant is wrong..."

Seeing her begging for mercy, Grandma Wu also sighed in her heart, and pressed her head heavily with her hands: "You are soft-hearted, I really don't know what the empress thinks about you, it's not like you haven't seen the methods of the empress on weekdays. This powerful woman died at the hands of the queen for no apparent reason... Forget it, I won't talk about it today, and you should be more careful in the future. Alas... Poor Mrs. Su, she is so beautiful, why is she so empty-headed and nonsensical? just came out..."

She shook her head and walked away with a sigh. Ziye turned her head and saw Qian Yancui who was still struggling to break in. She couldn't help but feel sorry for her. Rou Jieyu, even a first-class general would be beheaded.You know, this is the crime of bullying the king!

Alas...women should not be too naive, being sold, and counting money for them...

Ziye shivered, and hurriedly followed in Wumao's footsteps.

Qian Yancui was crying and struggling at the gate of the palace, her bun was all loose, when the servants of the general's mansion who were waiting far away at the gate of the palace saw her, they hurried forward to drag her back.

Qian Yancui cried until the sky was dark, and the servants hurriedly stuffed her into the carriage and hurried back home.Why is it that General Su is not normal recently, he goes out every day to look for jade pendants, and why does this always steady Mrs. Su act like a crazy woman.

The servant who drove the car sighed, it has changed, is it going to change today.

(End of this chapter)