in spring

Chapter 73 News from the Palace

Spring blossoms in March.

Chunying was wearing a newly made willow-green thick silk dress, walking briskly on the path.She was holding a basket in one hand and a bunch of fresh flowers in the other, humming relaxedly.

There were two maids walking towards each other, Chunying recognized them as people from the wife's house, so she hurriedly stopped and stood on the side of the road, lowering her head to let them go first.One of them seems to be Yulan, and she took a special look at her, and asked kindly: "Aren't you Chun'er from Huanhuaxuan? Why are you here?" The other is Lilac, who is in front of his wife, and his attitude is not so cordial. : "Where did you pick these flowers? Don't you know that the flowers and plants in the garden are not allowed to be picked privately?!"

Chunying felt a little disapproving, the person in charge of the garden naturally said so, but which girl didn't pick it?Those women who take care of flowers and plants, how dare they do anything to big girls?The little girl in the wife's room also spoils a lot of flowers and plants every day.She glanced at the flowers on Lilac's head, and said lightly: "I didn't pick them off for myself. It was the third young master who said that he was going to sit in Zhumengshan residence in the near future and told me to tidy up, but the people there The furnishings are very old, I was afraid that the third young master would find it disgusting, so I thought, picking a few flowers might be a bit wild. Sister Dingxiang, I am not picking them privately."

Ding Xiang choked and had nothing to say, but her complexion was not very good-looking, Yulan smiled and pushed her, and said to Chunying: "She was just joking, go get busy." Chunying smiled at her , saluted, and walked past them.

Not far away, Ding Xiang complained to Yulan: "Why are you always like this! The little girls are about to bully you! Who will listen to you in the future?!" Yulan was not angry: " They are all like you, everyone is scared away, who else is doing the work? She did nothing wrong, what are you scolding her for?" "Why is it wrong? These little girls just owe a lesson..."

Chunying didn't listen, and walked faster and faster, and got into the bamboo forest after a while.

Sanqing was not in front of the house, but she vaguely heard the sound of hoeing behind the house.Recently, Zhou Nian intends to plant some flowers and plants in the open space around the house, presumably San Qing is doing this, right?Chunying walked into the house with a basket, and just called out: "The dim sum is freshly baked, it's hot..." Then she stopped and opened her eyes wide.

Li You was sitting on the newly added armchair in the house, and looked up at her lazily: "No wonder Qianer Manru told me that Mung Dou always complains that there is nothing in the small kitchen, so you are filling your own pocket!"

"Third Young Master, you can't spray people with blood!" Chunying said angrily, "How can this be called self-inflicted? I make dim sum, and Mung Bean knows it! God knows who stole the missing things!" After saying that, he changed his smile , Turning to Zhou Nian: "Brother Nian, how about I take out a plate for you to eat? The porridge is not ready this morning. I saw that you only ate half a bowl. Are you hungry?"

Zhou Nian smiled and nodded: "I'm so tired, let's make two more cups of tea."

Chunying agreed, turned around and walked behind the curtain.A small compartment was partitioned there a few months ago, and a cabinet and a tea stove were placed there to make a simple tea room.

The conversation between Li You and Zhou Nian came from behind: "I can't believe that you pamper her like this! You will spoil her!"

"These words are a bit harsh. She is your girl, so should I yell at her? What's more, she does a good job. Didn't you see that my house is clean everywhere? Even the beds are neatly made. I'm not afraid of your jokes, when I was at home, the girls couldn't fold the quilt so neatly."

Chunying secretly laughed. Facts have proved that the training she has received is still useful. Although she hasn't practiced for a long time, after a few tries, she has returned to her previous level.She put the basket away, walked briskly to the water tank behind the house to fetch clean water, and took out the teapot and tea caddy from the cabinet, ready to boil water for tea.

After hearing Zhou Nian's words, Li You raised his eyebrows: "I haven't seen her do this before, so she is still useful? So it's not a bad thing for me to send her here."

"Of course it's not a bad thing." Zhou Nian laughed dumbfounded, and tried to bring the topic back to the original place, "What is the good news in the palace that you just mentioned? Don't be fooled."

Only then did Li You remember the topic interrupted by Chunying, and said with a smile: "This is the news from my eldest brother-in-law. I heard it from my father and mother. It is said that the queen has been pregnant for five months. The imperial physician After a diagnosis and treatment, it is said that it is very likely to be a boy, and the body is healthy. Now the palace is full of joy! We are going to have a prince soon!"

Zhou Nian's expression relaxed: "That's good..." He lowered his head and thought for a while, with a slight smile on his face: "The emperor has been enthroned for more than five years, and there has been no good news in the harem, after all, it makes people feel uneasy. Now the emperor Now that the heir is settled, the emperor's throne will be more stable."

Li You sneered and said: "I heard that the Empress Dowager Liu mentioned to the emperor at the beginning of the year that if there were no more princes, for the sake of the country and the country, it would be better to adopt a child from a close clan. It's really funny, the emperor just turned double ten this year, and they What's the rush?! I don't know what benefits the Ke Palace and the Liang family have given to the Liu family, but they can actually persuade the queen mother to say this to the emperor!"

Zhou Nian said indifferently: "Even though the Empress Dowager Liu is the successor of the first emperor, she has no children, and she is not very close to the emperor. Maybe she is panicking? But this matter must be guarded against. If they really let them succeed, the clan and the emperor will be in a hurry. Prince Jing has only one son in the nearest palaces, and King Fu of Chu is far away, so there are only a few little princes from Prince Ke’s mansion to choose from. This trick is not stupid, I wonder who came up with it?"

"There are many insidious and cunning people in the Liang family. What's so surprising about coming up with such a sinister method?!" Li You snorted, "If the son of King Ke is really established, I am afraid that the emperor's heir will just be established. There is going to be an unexpected event, when King Ke will take charge of the government in the name of the father of the emperor's heir, and Grand Master Liang will suppress the officials, who can go against them?! What a good plan!"

"Brother You." Zhou Nian gave him a disapproving look, "It's better not to say something clearly."

"What are you afraid of? There are no outsiders here. That girl Chun'er also knows how to behave." Li You glanced in Chunying's direction, hesitated for a moment, but still didn't continue.

Chunying didn't look back, just poured boiling water into the pot carefully, watching the tender green tea leaves tumbling in the water, the fresh aroma overflowed immediately.Seeing the color of the tea gradually changing, she hurriedly poured two cups, took out the plated snacks, put them in front of the two young masters, and retreated quietly with a wink.

Even if it is very face-saving in front of them, there are some occasions where you should not get a foot in.Chunying has already realized this.Of course, this does not prevent her from forming her own opinion in her heart after listening to it.

The harem of every dynasty is inseparable from the political struggles of the outer court...

Seeing Chunying retreat, Li You smiled again and said to Zhou Nian: "Speaking of which, the idea you came up with a few years ago, now it seems that it has really made a difference! No one thought that the Liang family would use the niece as a beauty." She was sent to the palace, and she swallowed her anger and worked as a servant girl for several months. After the emperor favored her, she revealed her identity and forced the emperor to confer her title. If someone from the Liang family is really made a noble concubine, not only the queen's status will be difficult to protect, but even the emperor's heirs will be threatened. It's in their hands!"

Zhou Nian smiled: "When outsiders heard that she was Grand Master Liang's niece, they looked up to her first. In fact, her father was just an official suspected of corruption. If he hadn't died early, he might have been convicted. Still qualified to enter the palace? Now it’s a good time to be a servant.”

"So what about choosing a servant?" Li You was a little discouraged, "The emperor doesn't want to see her, but the queen mother always favors her a bit. I heard that she even made the queen angry for her!"

Zhou Nian glanced at him amusedly: "Brother You, I suddenly feel... You must have heard too many things in the house of Master Hou and his wife. This is not good."

Li You frowned: "So what? I am no longer a child, I understand all these things! Besides, I want to know more news, so I can tell you? My father must also know, since the last time you came out Now that he has made up his mind, when he talks about these things with his mother, he will no longer avoid me!"

Zhou Nian smiled, and then thoughtfully: "It's a pity that people on our side can't speak in front of Ma Xuanshi, otherwise it would be better to remind her a few words. I always feel that there is something wrong with her father's case. It’s really timely, you must know that there are more than ten or eight officials of the Liang faction involved in that case.”

Li You clapped his hands lightly: "That's true! If Ma Xuanshi knows that the Liang family is actually her enemy, it will be really fun!" After thinking about it, he sighed secretly: "Unfortunately, her mother still Living in the Liang family, I'm afraid she won't dare to turn to the light."

"It depends on whether others can persuade her." Zhou Nianyi said something allusive, and immediately changed the subject, "It's a beautiful spring today, why don't you go out for a stroll, but come to chat with me instead?"

Li You said depressedly: "Don't mention it, today my mother invited several orders to drink tea, and brought seven or eight young ladies with her, including my second and third sisters, they crowded the whole room chattering, how can I bear it?" I had to find an excuse to get out early, and I didn’t even dare to go to my grandmother, so I had to come to you.”

Zhou Nian was amused when he heard this: "I've become your boredom. If you're really bored, you might as well go to Prince Jing's Mansion. It's already half a month ago when you went back."

Li You waved his hand: "Eldest sister has to go to the palace to talk with the queen on the first and fifteenth day of the lunar new year. Recently, the queen is pregnant, so she stays with her for a longer period of time, and sometimes even stays in the palace. The eldest brother-in-law is busy with business again. I'll go I can only play with my little nephew, but he is still so young, crying all day long, and almost peed on me last time, how dare I come to the door?!"

Zhou Nian had no choice but to talk to him for a while longer. Li You couldn't help but ran around the room after chatting.After not coming for a long time, he suddenly found that the Zhumeng Mountain residence had changed. The original interesting collections of poems and anthologies were gone, leaving only orthodox classics such as the Four Books and Five Classics, or legal cases and other books, and he felt a little boring: "Anyway. Also leave a few poetry books on the shelf, so I can relieve my boredom when I come."

Zhou Nian reluctantly responded: "I'll ask Chun'er to put it on later. You should go back earlier, be careful that your wife will say you if she finds out."

"It's okay." Li You waved his hands nonchalantly, "I have my father backing me up!" But he looked at the sky and felt that it was time to go back, "Maybe all the ladies have gone back?"

After chatting for a few more words, Li You said goodbye and left, and called Chunying to go with him.Chunying secretly slandered that she still had work to do, so she had no choice but to continue after lunch, then hurriedly dropped the broom, said hello to Zhou Nian, and left with him.

Walking on the road, Li You asked Chun Ying a few questions about Zhou Nian's diet and daily life. She heard that she suspected that Zhou Nian often didn't go to bed until midnight, so she darkened her face, sighed after a long time, and didn't speak again.She carefully looked at him a few times, and followed him two meters away with a submissive expression.

After returning to the entrance of Huanhuaxuan, they saw Mei Xiang standing on the door, with a look of impatience and worry on her face, and immediately ran over when they saw them: "Third young master, it's not good, just now Prince Jing's mansion sent a Someone sent a message, saying that our empress has been imprisoned in the palace."

"What did you say?!" Li You was stunned, and then shouted, "What's going on?!"

"I heard that Ma Xuan, the servant in the palace, was diagnosed with a dragon fetus, and was knocked down. Because the concubine was present, the queen mother detained her." Mei Xiang's eyes were red, and her voice trembled, "Three Young master, what should we do? The old lady and the wife are panicking! Auntie, grandma... will she be okay?!"

(I'll try my best to get it sooner...)
(End of this chapter)