Golden branches and jade leaves

Chapter 36
Spring rain is as expensive as oil. The sun just showed its head in the morning, and it was hidden behind the clouds. Soon the sky became dark, and the raindrops fell from the sky. The pavilions, towers and pavilions make the dull and solemn palace become extraordinarily bright and fresh, glowing with rare vitality.

Su Mi opened the oil-paper umbrella painted with light-colored lotus flowers, walked through the corridor under Caiwei Palace, and saw a group of beautiful girls standing in the open space at the gate of Xuanhe Palace from a distance.

Because of this sudden drizzle, the originally neat queue scattered, those girls were like a flock of frightened birds in spring, and they didn't know which one led them, laughing and ran to the eaves, corridors, etc. To avoid the rain, the people behind immediately swarmed in.

Several young eunuchs who were in charge of guiding the whole team chased after them, and at the same time yelled sadly: "Don't run, are there any rules? Are there any rules? After a while, Director He will come over to check the roster in person. , you just ran away..."

There are at least 80 or [-] beautiful girls arranged here in the Xuanhe Palace, all of them are dressed up and dressed up, dazzling with pearls. This group of energetic girls are all noble ladies of the Daqi, who are pampered at home. No one would pay attention to the shrill voice. They stood in the corridor pointing and laughing unscrupulously, which made the little eunuchs jump their feet in anger.

At most, they are only fifteen or sixteen years old. These beautiful and graceful young girls are like flowers blooming suddenly in the palace, reflecting the new green clusters and the transparent raindrops falling from the sky. Extraordinarily delicate and charming.

For a moment, it seemed that the entire court was full of vitality and novelty.

Su Mi strolled forward, Mi Qing followed behind her holding a silver plate, tea and pastries.

Walking through the alleyway under the corridor of Xuanhe Palace, the hustle and bustle gradually stopped. These beautiful girls who were waiting to be selected no longer looked at the little eunuchs who were yelled at by them angrily, but turned their eyes to Su Mi who was gradually approaching. .

Today's Su Mi is wearing a smoky double-breasted palace dress, with intricate and delicate embroidery patterns shining brightly, and bright pearls and jade dotted on it.Underneath is a moon-white satin tube top and long skirt, which open and close lightly as she walks gracefully, as if standing on a white cloud, with magpie climbing plum hairpins carved from red agate and amber stones on the side of her bun, The magpie holds a string of tassels in the shape of small plum blossoms carved from jasper in its mouth, and it sways gently as the owner walks.

Three or five of the show girls clustered together, looking at Su Mi's clothing and appearance with novel eyes, secretly pointing and muttering, this is the first palace concubine they have ever seen.

Su Mi felt that she was being stared at by these big eyes full of curiosity and envy.Most of these eyes are pure and fresh, not the most common jealousy and resentment in the palace, but how long can such simple and innocent eyes last?Among these girls, how many pairs of bright eyes will become dirty and sinister in a short time?
Seeing Su Mi passing by, several young eunuchs hurried forward to greet Qian'er and greeted him with smiles all over their faces.

Su Mi responded with a smile, and asked casually, "Is this this year's show girl?"

"Yeah, I'm arguing with you, master. They are all wild girls who don't know the rules. These are arranged at the Xuanhe Palace. There are 60 people in total, and they are waiting for Manager He to come. Check the roster and prepare to arrange the palace selection." A young eunuch reported back.

It has been half a month since Xiu Nu entered the palace, and she has just completed the inspection and physical examination.

The reading and body examination are done by respected and trustworthy old ladies in the palace. They inspect the body of Xiunu to see if there are body odors, scars, disabilities, etc., and then check whether they are still intact.

Afterwards, the emperor and queen will personally conduct the palace selection, and select the desired talents according to their appearance, talents, family background, words and deeds, etc.

"Has Manager He not come yet?"

"Master is currently waiting at the empress's place, he will be here soon." The little eunuch replied.

"Let them shelter from the rain under the eaves, there is no need to form a queue," Su Mi looked up at the sky, "They are all new nobles, if they get sick from the cold, your master will not be able to explain it."

"Yes, master, you are considerate and thoughtful," the little eunuch replied with a flattering smile.

Su Mi nodded, and continued to walk forward. Suddenly, a meaningful sight was projected towards her. Even in this refreshing rainy day, she felt extraordinarily hot. She couldn't help turning her head and glanced at The group of show girls took a look.

Intuitively, she met a pair of shining red and phoenix beautiful eyes, it was a girl with a slender and elegant figure.

Seeing Su Mi's gaze, she dodged slightly, hid behind the beautiful girl beside her and disappeared, only the corners of her cherry red Tianluo dress were raised up, slightly blown by the wind.

"It's so beautiful," Su Mi couldn't help but secretly sighed, she didn't even have time to fully see the man's appearance in the blink of an eye, but it was the charm in the blink of an eye that made Su Mi understand that the other party must be peerless beautiful woman.

Su Mi's footsteps couldn't help slowing down. At this moment, she heard a faint and imperceptible cold hum. Su Mi was a little surprised, and turned her eyes to the source of the sound.

It was a beautiful girl standing at the front, leaning against the vermilion pillars in the corridor, in terms of the luxurious and dazzling clothes, she was probably the top one among this group of beautiful girls.The appearance is also a first-class talent, the red lips are light, revealing a kind of charm in the delicate and pretty, the pearl and jade hairpin ring on the head is radiant, which adds a lot to the appearance.It's just that the look on his face was arrogant and domineering, and he looked sideways at Su Mi, as if he knew Su Mi's identity.The beautiful appearance made Su Mi feel familiar.

She was wearing a well-tailored pink Shu brocade long dress, which was radiant and dazzling. The hem of the skirt reveals a faint luster like gold and jade. Su Mi recognized at a glance that it was the most expensive and rarest gold silk brocade among the Shu brocades. .This kind of brocade is extremely difficult to weave, and the embroiderer must complete it in one go, and the thread cannot be broken or twisted once in the middle, otherwise the whole piece of fabric will be damaged.It is rumored that only specially trained and experienced embroiderers in Sichuan can successfully weave such complicated fabrics, and even the most skilled embroiderers spend a year working hard to weave only five or six feet.It is an extremely precious item among the tributes in central Shu.Now in Su Mi's room there are also two bolts of this kind of cloth that Qi Long rewarded, but Su Mi has never been fond of such jewel-like materials, so she didn't use them.

The beautiful girl in front of her was wearing a dress made of such a material, so she must have come from a powerful and powerful family.

Seeing Su Mi staring at her clothes, the girl smiled proudly.

The corners of Su Mi's lips could not help but rise slightly, remembering who this girl looked like, the oval face and high nose were almost the same as the queen's, no wonder the queen was so anxious to attack herself.

As soon as she turned around, she put all these behind her and continued to walk forward.

When he arrived at Qianqing Palace, Qi Long was throwing aside the memorial he had just received, and stretched his waist: "Oh, the more qualified these old ministers are, the more they like to rely on their elders to sell their elders, which gives me a headache for nothing."

"Your Majesty has worked hard, what troubles His Majesty so much?" Su Mi smiled gently, put down her snacks, and walked behind Qi Long to give him massage.

While enjoying Su Mi's service, Qi Long said, "It's not just those clichés, it's all because there are too few talents available around me."

"The concubine saw that the emperor will soon be surrounded by 'talents'." Su Mi covered her mouth with a coquettish smile.

"A lot of talents?" Qi Taki asked suspiciously.

"The concubine passed by the Xuanhe Palace just now, but saw the palace full of 'talented people'." Su Mi laughed.

Only then did Qi Long realize that what Su Mi was talking about was a show girl to be selected.These days, the palace is busy with affairs, and he doesn't pay much attention to these court chores. If it wasn't for Su Mi's reminder, he would almost forget that the palace election day is coming soon.

"You don't need to look to know, there must be no such caring person." Qi Long smiled and pulled Su Mi into his arms.

"How do you know if you don't take a look? The emperor can't talk too much. When the concubine just came here, I saw all the beautiful women who entered the palace this year. It must be dazzling." Su Mi laughed: "Especially there are a few peerless beauties, let the concubines feel ashamed at a glance, and feel ashamed of themselves."

"Uh, Mi'er, don't make nonsense, where is there such a celestial figure?" Qi Long also became interested, and asked, "Which one is it? Let's hear it."

"Buddha said, don't say it." Su Mi smiled mischievously: "Anyway, the emperor will know in a few days. Wouldn't it be better to see for yourself."

"Bold girl, dare to bully the king!" Qi Long jokingly hugged Su Mi and was about to squeak.

Su Mi fled away with a smile, and said: "The emperor spares the concubine, can't the concubine be recruited honestly?" As she spoke, she brushed her hair, and said with a smile: "How dare Mi'er bully the emperor like this? Seeing a beautiful girl with a slender figure, especially that long dress of Sichuan brocade and gold silk, the eyes of the concubines are dazzled."

A gold dress?Qi Long looked suspicious, he also knew the value of Shu brocade, and now he heard that some of the beautiful women were wearing such clothes, he couldn't help being surprised: "Which family of beautiful women has such a style."

"I heard that Wang Ningshuang is the cousin of the empress, but she is a beautiful woman." Su Mi laughed.

"These members of the Wang family have always been arrogant and extravagant." A trace of disgust flashed across Qi Long's eyebrows.

"But judging by her appearance, she is one of the best talents." Su Mi said with a smile: "It is more elegant and luxurious to wear such clothes, and the concubine is far behind."

"I've seen her before, but that's all." Qi Long said dismissively: "Mi'er thinks it's because your clothes are always plain, if you wear that long skirt with gold and silver threads, She must have been compared to her long ago."

Su Mi smiled and remained silent.

Qi Long was not very interested in the new show girl, so he stopped asking after a few words, and suddenly changed the subject and asked: "By the way, is that the name of the Chen Lie next to you? Is there such a blessing?" Yuan, was favored by Zen Master Kuye and accepted as his disciple."

"Ah... that's him... and the blessing of the emperor." Hearing that Qi Long suddenly mentioned Chen Lie, Su Mi was taken aback for a moment.Of course, the fact that Chen Lie was left in the mountains cannot be concealed from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and the reason for staying in the mountains to study art is justified.

"Well," Qi Taki accepted such an explanation unceremoniously. In his heart, he always thought that Zen Master Kuye accepted Chen Lie as his disciple because of course he had a fancy to Chen Lie's own talent, but more for the sake of He, the emperor of Daqi, thought about it.The last time when Dongliang came to assassinate, the two most powerful inner eunuchs around him were killed by the sword of the assassin. Now the people who have been promoted are far worse in martial arts. Although there are many masters among the guards, But after all, it is not convenient to enter and exit the palace, and it is impossible to protect him personally at all times.Now Zen Master Kuye accepts Chen Lie as his apprentice, naturally for the sake of his safety.

"When he has completed his studies, I will make him the head of the internal supervisor. It is better to have the protection of the master's disciples than to run around with a large group of guards." Qi Long laughed.

Su Mi said softly behind him: "The concubine will first thank the emperor for his kindness."

From Su Mi's point of view, she hoped that Chen Lie would never have to come back, that she would not have to set foot in this filthy palace, and just spend her life outside peacefully and leisurely, but there was always a kind of expectation in her heart, that she was alone It was too lonely and dangerous here, especially now that she had turned against the queen again, she really couldn't do without his protection and assistance.

Forget it, it is not certain when Chen Lie will be successful in his studies, so why worry about it now?Su Mi put this matter behind her.

"One more thing." Qi Long reached out to pick up a booklet again. Looking at the red cover, he knew that it was from the concubine of the harem. Before Su Mi could ask, Qi Long had already explained: "This is the booklet that the queen just presented. The memorial said that it was for you to find your family members as a reward."

Su Mi's heart sank. It seems that the queen still hasn't given up. Fortunately, she has secretly contacted Ge Chengming's subordinates to cover up the lie for her. However, because Chen Lie stayed in Hanshan Temple, she and the palace The contact outside has become much looser, and no news has come back so far.

She smiled and said: "The family members of the concubine have already passed away. Between the concubine and the concubine, the state affairs are busy now, why use such manpower for these trivial matters."

"It's okay, just now Prince Yu came to report the matter, so I entrusted this task to him by the way." Qi Long said with a smile: "Anyway, he has always been leisurely."

Prince Yu? !

Su Mi's smile faltered, and every time she thought of the unpredictable prince, she couldn't help but feel guilty. She had very few chances to get in touch with Prince Yu, and only met twice on the night of the night banquet in Bibochi and Tianxiang Garden. That's it, I haven't even exchanged a single sentence, but I have always had some scruples about this person in my heart. Is it because his eyes were too sharp when we first met?Or was it because his martial arts were too fierce the last time we met?Su Mi herself couldn't explain clearly.

It seems that I have to ask Mr. Ge to make a plan for me so that I can hide it.Su Mi sighed secretly.

(End of this chapter)