Chapter 16 Chapter 16 Pond Fish

Chang'an Palace was not too far from Tangli Palace, and they drove all the way with Xuan Ling in a chariot, and from a distance, they saw that the entire Chang'an Palace was brightly lit, like daytime.Feng Shuyi, the head of Chang'an Palace, got the news early, and brought the concubines and palace servants to wait outside the gate of Yi.Seeing Yu Jia, he knelt down to pay his respects.Xuan Ling said "Get up", and Fang asked, "How is it?" Feng Shuyi replied: "The imperial doctor has already rushed to treat her inside, Concubine Hui has not yet woken up." After a pause, she said: "The concubine has sent someone back to the empress."

"Well. At this time, the queen should be asleep, and then send someone to tell the queen not to come over." "Yes." Feng Shuyi responded, and the eunuch hurriedly retreated quietly to reply. Xuan Ling said to the concubines: "Since the imperial physician has arrived, it's not good for such a swarm of people to go in. You go and rest first. Shuyi and Concubine Guan go in with me." The main hall of Chang'an Palace is the residence of Feng Shuyi, and the Cunju Hall in Meizhuang is on the west side of the main hall.Seeing the emperor coming, the imperial physicians hurriedly knelt all over the room.Xuan Ling waved his hand and ordered them to stand up, I couldn't hold back anymore, and asked anxiously: "How is the situation of Sister Hui Concubine?"

The leading doctor Jiang replied: "Returning to the words of the emperor and the young concubine Guan, the young concubine Hui is fine, but she was frightened by choking on the water, so she hasn't woken up for a while." Hearing what the imperial doctor said, we With a sigh of relief, the fists that had been tightly clenched all the way were loosened at this time, the clenched so tightly that the knuckles were slightly white. Physician Jiang saw Xuan Ling's "huh", and then continued: "I have already drawn up a prescription, and the concubine Hui should recover quickly according to the prescription. It's just..." Physician Jiang hesitated for a moment.

"Just what..." the emperor said, "Don't hesitate to speak." Physician Jiang agreed: "Yes. Yes. It's just that the young master is quite frightened, and I'm afraid it will take a period of recuperation before he can fully recover." "In this way, you have to pay more attention to serving, and don't be careless." All the imperial physicians were obedient, seeing that Xuan Ling would not speak again, they backed away. After entering the inner hall, Caiyue and Bailing, Meizhuang's personal maids, still had tears on their faces, half kneeling beside the bed, busy tidying up the wet clothes that Meizhuang had changed, and wiping their foreheads with hot water.Seeing us come in, he hurriedly saluted.

The three stood by the bed.Xuan Ling and Feng Shuyi were fine, I couldn't help leaning over to look at Mei Zhuang. Mei Zhuang had already changed his clothes, his hair was still wet, and there was a dark and messy water stain on the scented bombshell soft pillow under his neck.His complexion was pale and bloodless, and against the purple-red bead curtain and brocade quilt, he had a strange bluish-white complexion.Because the whole person is unconscious, even the blue and white is vain, like a veil covering the face, erratic.A drop of water slipped from the bangs on her forehead, and went straight across the cheeks on the gold beads hanging on the end of the earrings. They only swayed slightly and did not fall off. Trembling and trembling, her eyebrows became more and more like a dead leaf froze on a beautiful bed. time, lifeless.

The tip of the nose is sour, and the eye sockets are already wet.Feng Shuyi has always been dignified and self-reliant, seeing Meizhuang's state of mind could not help being touched, she picked up a silk cloth and gently wiped away her tears.Xuan Ling didn't speak, but just looked coldly at the servants serving in the inner hall, and glanced over one by one.Wherever they looked, the palace people all involuntarily shuddered, and hurriedly lowered their heads. Xuan Ling withdrew his gaze and didn't look at them again, and said, "How do you serve the young master?" His tone was as calm as usual, and there was no harsh words, but the palace people knelt down on the ground.

Fearing that Xuan Ling would get angry, Feng Shuyi hurriedly turned her head to the palace man on the ground and said, "Quickly tell me what's going on! How could Concubine Hui drown when she was fine?" Caiyue and an inner eunuch named Xiao Shi trembled in fright, kneeled up to Xuan Ling and cried, "The servants don't know either." Feng Shuyi heard that the answer was wrong, so she couldn't help but glance at Xuan Ling. Seeing Xuan Ling nodded slightly to signal her to continue asking, there was anger in her words: "This is so stupid! The young master has such a big thing, so there is someone close to her." The slaves don't know the truth!"

Feng Shuyi has always been generous to the palace people, seeing her angry now, and the emperor is here, Xiao Shi was frightened and softened, and hurriedly kowtowed: "I am wronged. I really don't know. At night, the slave and Miss Caiyue accompanied the young master." Went to the Mixiu Palace of Concubine Hua to talk. When I came back, I passed the Thousand Carp Pond. Because the little master had to feed the fish every time he passed the Thousand Carp Pond, the servant went to get the fish food. Who would have thought that the servant heard the yelling when he walked halfway? Said that the little master fell into the water."

"What about Caiyue?" Caiyue sobbed and replied: "Xia'er in Concubine Hua's palace said that there are some good inks for the young master, but just forgot to give them, and let the servants get them." "So, when Concubine Hui fell into the water, neither of you was by your side?" Feng Shuyi asked, then quietly raised her head to look at Xuan Ling, Xuan Ling's eyes froze, and Feng Shuyi hurriedly lowered her head. Just as he was about to continue asking, someone outside the hall informed that Concubine Hua had arrived.It's no wonder that the Thousand Carp Pond where Meizhuang drowned is only a hundred or two hundred steps away from her Mixiu Palace, and it's still within the jurisdiction of her palace.She is also the most respected concubine under the empress, and she is in charge of the sixth palace, so she naturally has to come to visit her.

When Concubine Hua saw Xuan Ling was there, she smiled sweetly and saluted gently.Xuan Ling said: "It's late at night outside, why are you still here?" Concubine Hua looked sad, and said: "The concubine heard that Hui concubine's sister was drowning, so she hurried over here. Is Hui concubine feeling better?" Xuan Ling pointed at the couch: "Go and have a look." Concubine Hua took a closer look and sobbed, "How good is this? Ruhuasiyu suffers like this alone." Feng Shuyi persuaded: "Sister Hua, don't be too sad. The imperial doctor said it's okay when you wake up."

Concubine Hua wiped her nose with a silk cloth, turned her head to Caiyue and Xiao Shi, and said, "Stupid things! How could you serve your little master and cause such a catastrophe, which makes the emperor worry." Xuan Ling glanced coldly at Caiyue and Xiao Shi, and slowly uttered a few words: "It's not useful." Concubine Hua heard what she said, and hurriedly said: "How can such a slave stay by Concubine Hui's side to serve him well, I'm afraid there will be three disasters and eight disasters in the future. The concubine thinks, it's better to send him to the 'violent room'." Taking a deep breath, the palace people who entered the "violent room" endured all kinds of hard labor, life would be worse than death, within three to five months, they would either be tortured to death or commit suicide, and very few of them came out alive.It was Concubine Hua who spoke again, and Caiyue and Xiao Shi decided that there was no reason for them to survive. The words of Caiyue and Xiao Shi made me feel a chaotic doubt in my heart.That's all for Xiao Shi, Caiyue is Meizhuang's family girl, she has been brought into the palace all the time, like a confidant.It would be a big loss to lose her.Now that Concubine Hua said this, she always felt that there was something wrong, and she didn't have time to think about it, so she stopped her and said: "No." Xuan Ling, Concubine Hua, and Feng Shuyi looked at me together, and for a while they had to search for a reason to reply, "Although Caiyue and Xiao Shi are inappropriate to serve sister, they can't be blamed for the accident. Instead of punishing them People, why don't they tell them to pay for their merits and wait for my sister to wake up." Concubine Hua looked at me and smiled lightly: "Why does Sister Wan think that crimes should not be punished and merit should not be rewarded? If you treat these two slaves lightly, it will inevitably cause gossip in the harem, thinking that if you make a mistake, you only need to pay the crime. There is no need to be punished." I slowly said: "The rewards and punishments should be appropriate. It's just that my sister thinks that Caiyue and Xiao Shi have been serving Sister Hui, and Caiyue was brought into the palace by Sister Hui from the mansion. If they are punished at this time Going to the 'violence room', I'm afraid my sister will not have any capable people around me for a while, and I don't know how to take good care of my sister, which will not help my sister recover from her illness." Concubine Hua sneered: "Such slaves can't even take good care of Concubine Hui, how can we let them continue to serve, Concubine Wan is too relieved." After finishing speaking, she said coldly: "Not to mention the thousand carp ponds for my concubine. Xiugong is only a hundred paces away, how can I let things happen around the palace of my palace?" The more I heard it, the more inappropriate it became, and I started to think about it in my heart, "It's only natural that the rewards and punishments should be appropriate, but if the empress kills them, people who don't know will think that the matter happened near Mixiu Palace and the empress's majesty is hindered, so they are so angry. Concubine Hui is drowning. Taking the lives of two slaves is a small matter, but hurting the empress's reputation is a serious matter. I hope the empress will think twice." Concubine Hua's eyes brightened, and she gritted her teeth slightly in thought. After I finished speaking, I just looked at Xuan Ling, if he didn't make a sound, these words would be in vain.Sure enough, he said: "Concubine Guan's words are also reasonable. Let them both go first, and if Concubine Hui doesn't wake up, it won't be too late to send them to the 'violent room'." After Xuan Ling spoke, Concubine Hua couldn't argue anymore.Caiyue and Xiao Shi were so frightened when they heard me arguing with Concubine Hua that they were dumbfounded.Feng Shuyi urged her twice before she recovered and thanked her.I let out a sigh of relief, okay. Seeing that Concubine Hua still had resentment on her face.After thinking about it, isn't Concubine Hua going to kill us, then, why not use her own way and do it to her.I approached Xuan Ling and said softly: "I don't know if I should say something or not?" "you say." "The reason why Concubine Hui fell into the water is still unknown, but it must be because the guards couldn't save her enough time to rescue her, so she choked on too much water and became unconscious. According to my concubine, it's better to replace the guards of Mixiu Palace and replace them with another group. Otherwise, this time it's Hui Sister concubine, what should I do if I accidentally hurt Concubine Hua next time?" Concubine Hua heard what I said, and immediately said: "Didn't Concubine Wan just say that she wanted to take credit for her merits? Why do you want to change the guards of my palace now? Isn't the reward and punishment too biased? There is a suspicion of protecting weaknesses." I smiled and said: "Concubine Hua is worrying too much. I am also thinking about my mother. The emperor has always loved his mother, how can he let such a careless and lazy servant guard his mother's palace and put her in danger? Besides, it is just a change of batch. Guards are not considered punishment." Turning to Xuan Ling, he said, "My concubine's humble opinion, the emperor should not laugh at my concubine's short-sightedness." Xuan Ling said: "What you said is very true. I almost ignored this layer. Let Li Chang change a group of capable guards to guard Mixiu Palace tomorrow." Concubine Hua's complexion was not good, and she tried her best not to look at me anymore. She also knew that there was no turning point, and the guards around her must be replaced, so she stopped fighting.He changed his smiling face and said to Xuan Ling: "Thank you, the emperor, for caring about my concubine." Then he said: "The concubine brought two high-quality wild ginseng, which is the best way to make up for the shock. Ask someone to stew it for concubine Hui Nourishment is." Xuan Ling nodded, "Hua Qing, you've been thinking about the affairs of the Sixth Palace all day long, and you still have to worry about it so late, so go back and rest early." Concubine Hua smiled gently and said: "The emperor will go to court tomorrow, so don't work too hard. When the concubine came out, I asked someone to cook a pot of purple ginseng and pheasant. I'm afraid it will be ready now. The emperor will use some time to rest. .” Xuan Ling smiled and said, "You're still careful. I'm a little hungry too." Turning to look at me, "Guanqing, you also go and use some. The food in Huaqing Palace is the best in this palace." Concubine Hua only smiled lightly: "The emperor really shamed Shilan by saying that. My sister should go too." Where does he really want me to go, it's just to save Xuan Ling's face.Xuanling will probably stay in Concubine Hua's Palace to rest when he goes, how could I be so ignorant.What's more, I really don't feel at ease here at Meizhuang, I must be with her.Then he smiled and said: "How can the concubine have such a good taste, why not use the concubine's portion as well, so as to relieve the emperor's pain of lovesickness." Concubine Hua said with a smile: "Look at the emperor's habit of concubine Guan, you don't blush when you say that." Xuan Ling said: "How dare I get used to her, she's always like this. If I get used to her, I'll go to heaven." I said with a smile: "What the concubine said, so the emperor has long been displeased with the concubine. The emperor, go quickly, it will be bad if the pheasant is overcooked. The concubine wants to take care of the concubine Hui here, but I really can't." went." Xuan Ling said: "Okay. Take care of yourself, don't get tired." Concubine Hua smiled and said, "Then there will be Concubine Lao Guan and Shuyi." After finishing speaking, she followed Xuan Ling and went out lightly. It was late at night.I saw Feng Shuyi's tired face, I knew she was tired too, so I advised her to go back to the palace to rest.I used some supper alone to stay at the bedside of Meizhuang. There was a cold bitterness in my heart.Just now, the concubines and concubines lived together in such a harmonious way, as if the concubine Hua and I had never had any disputes before, so harmonious.The corners of her mouth curled up slightly. Concubine Hua really came prepared for the pheasant and purple ginseng soup. There was cold sweat on Meizhuang's forehead, and I took a towel to wipe it off for her.Mei Zhuang, this happened so suddenly, I didn't have time to go through it in my heart and sort it out.Now that the night is quiet, it is just time to slowly think clearly. Mei Zhuang was still awake, so naturally he couldn't ask any questions.If Mei Zhuang does not wake up for a long time, there is no reason to stop Concubine Hua from punishing Cai Yue and Xiao Shi again. I called Caiyue in and asked, "Caiyue. You have been with your lady for so many years, you should know that my friendship with your lady is extraordinary." Caiyue hadn't recovered from the shock just now, she was about to kneel down when she heard what I said, so I hurriedly grabbed her.She whimpered and said, "Your servant knows. If it wasn't for this, how could the young master Wan be willing to fight for the servant and Hua's master, if it wasn't for the young master, the servant would have lost his life." I sighed and said, "Do you know why Concubine Hua punished you so severely? In fact, you and Xiao Shi are not worthy of death, so why bother to send you to the 'violence room'? " Caiyue murmured and shook her head, and I said slowly: "If you want to kill people in the palace, you have to be careful. They don't kill people for no reason. If they really want to kill, they will probably silence them." I looked at her, intentionally Taking a sip of tea, this moment of silence created a little fear in her heart, and Fang said: "Think about it carefully, when your miss fell into the water, you saw something you shouldn't have seen, which forced her to kill her." You." This is my speculation, without any basis, but Meizhuang doesn't understand water, so naturally he won't get too close to the water, so how could he carelessly fall into the water?There must be something strange about this. Caiyue's face became paler and paler, as if trying to remember something.I didn't look at her, and gently wiped Meizhuang's cold sweat, "Your mistress has become like this now, if you miss something and don't say anything, even I can't keep you. But we have become fools together, I don't even know who will die at the hands of me." After saying that, he sighed endlessly and raised his sleeves to wipe away tears. Seeing that I was sad, Caiyue hurriedly grabbed my sleeve and said: "Your maidservant knows that the matter is important. And... moreover, your maidservant doesn't see the truth, so I don't dare to talk nonsense." "I just want to know what's in my heart. Let's talk and listen." "My servant... When my servant came back after taking the ink, it seemed...as if I saw the figure of an inner eunuch running past Qian Lichi. Since it was dark, I am afraid that this servant may be dazzled." I nodded, "No one else knows about this, right?" Cai Yue hurriedly said: "I really dare not mention it to others." I said: "That's good, you must remember not to tell others. Otherwise, you may lose your life, you know?" Caiyue was startled and frightened, and nodded in a panic. I said kindly: "You are quite scared today, go and have a break. Just ask Bai Ling to accompany me to watch your young lady." Cai Yue retreated nonchalantly.I stared at Mei Zhuang's gloomy face under the candlelight, and said softly: "I thought the mountain rain was about to come, but I didn't expect this mountain rain to come so soon. Mei Zhuang, you must not have anything to do, otherwise, the momentum of this mountain rain How can I resist on my own?" The night outside Cunju Hall is so dark, like black ink, it is suffocating.Even the big red palace lanterns hanging outside are erratic like phosphorous fire, the eyes of ghosts who refuse to rest in peace.I looked at Meizhuang silently, how did it take so long for the sky to gradually turn pale like a fish maw. Ling Rong came to see Mei Zhuang early in the morning, and saw that she was just lethargic, so I stayed with her for a long time before I persuaded her to go back. It wasn't until the afternoon that Meizhuang gradually woke up.It's just that she is not in a good mood, so she took some light bird's nest porridge and fed it to her, but she only took a few mouthfuls before pushing it away. Seeing her calm down slowly, there were only two of us left in the room, so I asked her, "What's going on?" Mei Zhuang's face was flushed unhealthily, he clutched the corner of the quilt with both hands, tried his best to hold back tears and said: "Huan'er, tell the emperor quickly, someone wants my life!" As expected, I said: "Caiyue said that when you were drowning, you saw a small eunuch running past from a distance. I thought it was dizziness, but according to what you said, it seems that someone really wanted you to drown in the Thousand Carp Pond on purpose. middle." I patted her on the back lightly and asked, "Do you see who it is?" She was stunned and shook her head, "Pushed me into the water from behind, I didn't see his face clearly." It was also a question in vain, since the intention was to kill Mei Zhuang, it was naturally arranged properly, how could it be easy to show his traces. I held Mei Zhuang's cold hand and looked directly at her, "Since you want to tell the emperor, you have to tell me first, who did it?" Mei Zhuang frowned, pondered for a moment, and said slowly: "You know that I rarely offend anyone. The most discordant with me is the deposed Yu Changyi, not to mention that she is too busy to take care of herself now, how can she come here?" Deal with me." She thought about it, "Even though nobleman Tian, ​​Qin Fangyi and the others are at odds with each other, they wouldn't be so vicious as to take my life. Really... I can't think of it." "Then, the only one who is most discordant with you is..." I didn't say any more, Mei Zhuang's hand shook slightly, and I knew she understood what I meant. Mei Zhuang forced himself to be calm, and instead grabbed my sleeve, "Thousand Carp Pond is not far from her Mixiu Palace... If she wants to deal with me, she won't be in her own place. She should always avoid suspicion, how could it be?" Asking for trouble?!" I snorted softly, "Bringing myself into trouble? I don't think there is any trouble at all. The emperor stayed at her place last night." Mei Zhuang's face became more and more ugly, and he was about to hold his breath.I comforted me: "She didn't take advantage of everything. Even if she didn't want to hurt you, your drowning and coma must have something to do with the inability of the guards in the palace to rescue her. Therefore, the emperor has ordered the replacement of the guards guarding Mixiu Palace. People who have been with her for a long time are always some confidantes, and if they are all sent away for a while, it is enough for her to have a headache." Mei Zhuang just breathed a sigh of relief.I sighed softly, and fed her bird's nest porridge spoonful by spoonful again, "Eat something first, then you will have the energy to talk to you slowly." I explained in detail how Concubine Hua came to Tanmei Village and wanted to punish Caiyue and Xiao Shi, and said again: "You just left Mixiu Palace, and you drowned in the Thousand Carp Pond within a hundred steps. Looking at the present In the palace, who would dare to act wildly on her territory like this. Only one person would dare—that is herself, and others would not easily think that she would get herself into trouble, even if she thought about it, who would believe that Concubine Hua would so stupid?" "She's not stupid at all, that's why others won't suspect her." A cold smile floated on Mei Zhuang's face, "I just didn't agree with her words, she is so vicious!" "In today's situation, others will think that even if Concubine Hua wants to deal with it, it will be me instead of you. It is because of this layer of blindness that Concubine Hua dares to take such a cruel hand. In fact, you and I..." I hesitated and said: "It's Huan'er who's sorry for my sister, and hurt her." I couldn't bear the guilt in my patience, tears rolled down, and hit the back of my hand drop by drop, "The city gate caught fire, which brought disaster to the fish in the pond. Sister, you are completely troubled by me. Concubine Hua is afraid that the two of us will be difficult to control when our wings grow stronger, so I want to get rid of you and make me stand alone, with a broken arm, and it is difficult to compete with her." Mei Zhuang stood there motionless, and she shed tears after a long while, her expression was much more normal than before, she slowly said: "It's none of your business. As early as when I was first favored, she had already treated me like that." The choked bone, I wanted to get rid of it quickly, but it was hindering the emperor's favor, and I was tolerant and avoiding her everywhere, so she didn't do anything. Now..." Mei Zhuang gently lifted my bangs that were stuck to my eyes from crying, "It's just that I am not as submissive and tolerant to her as before, and the emperor has no time to worry about me, so he took revenge. It really has nothing to do with you..." I knew that Mei Zhuang was just comforting me, so I cried for a while before trying to stop my tears and said: "Then what will my sister say to the emperor?" Mei Zhuang said indifferently: "What else can I say? How can I slander the throne of the inner court without any evidence, but startle the snake. I will tell the emperor that I accidentally fell into the water." I nodded, that's the only solution for now. "We must also seal Caiyue's mouth tightly, so that she is not allowed to mention a single word of last night to others." It happened that Bai Ling came in with the wild ginseng given by Concubine Hua, and said pleasantly, "My lord has woken up! This servant is going to call the imperial doctor. This is given to me by Concubine Hua to make up for my body. Concubine Hua really cares about lord, so Fortunately, wild ginseng is really hard to come by..." Mei Zhuang said coldly, "Pick it up and go out." Bai Ling didn't understand, so I hurriedly said: "Your young master is not feeling well and needs to rest, please don't disturb her." Bai Ling retreated hurriedly. Meizhuang looked at the box of ginseng in disgust and said, "Replenishing the body?! It's almost the same as the reminder. Huan'er, throw it out for me." "Just don't need it. Why bother to throw it out so conspicuously." Mei Zhuang's eyes were cold and terrifying, and he said bitterly: "I, Shen Mei Zhuang, can't do anything to her now, maybe I can't do anything to her in this life. Since my life is spared, let's settle the score slowly!" Mei Zhuang has always been calm and gentle, but now that he said this, it seems that he hated Concubine Hua to the bone.The lips are dead and the teeth are cold, not to mention my sister-in-law who is close to me.How can I not hate, life and death hang in the hands of others, now it is Meizhuang, I don't know when it will be me.Now I can still rely on Xuan Ling's favor, but judging from last night, Xuan Ling's affection for Concubine Hua, the old love, may not be as good as my new favorite, not to mention that Concubine Hua has been with him for a long time, which is beyond my comparison.Looking at the bright spring scenery outside the window, I vaguely feel that behind this splendid spring scenery, there is a dull and dark bloody breath wrapping around me...