Chapter 27 Chapter Twenty-Seven

After dinner, it was already dark, the evening wind was blowing, the sky was full of stars, and the fragrance of lotus was pleasant.The lakeside is covered with luxuriant wild grass, Polygonum rubra, Reed Grass and calamus, rustling in the wind, and a few waterfowl and white cranes play in it.The night wind blows slowly, with a light coolness. The road to Yuruntang is not far away, so I didn't bring many attendants with me.Xuanling and I walked hand in hand in the veranda by the water, folded flowers and fish in the wind, talked and laughed. Just after entering the courtyard, I heard Yingying and Yanyan in a room, which was very lively.Yili took two steps back and followed Xuan Ling in.The Empress, Concubine Hua, Concubine Kui, Concubine Xingui, Cao Jieyu and others were all present, talking to Meizhuang, when they saw Xuanling coming, they hurriedly got up to greet him.

Xuan Ling hurriedly held down the eyebrows that were about to get up, and said, "I told you not to salute." He helped the queen with one hand, "Get up." He said with a smile, "It's a coincidence that the queen and all the concubines are here today. " The queen smiled and said: "Shen Ronghua is pregnant, as the head of the harem, the concubine should be more caring and considerate, and fulfill her duties as a queen." The concubines also said: "The courtiers and concubines also follow the queen." Xuan Ling nodded in satisfaction. Except me, Concubine Hua and Cao Jieyu, everyone else has not seen Sheng Jia for a few days.Seeing Xuan Ling suddenly, it is inevitable that all eyes are focused on him.

Concubine Hua glanced at me, and said with a coquettish smile, "Has the emperor eaten yet? There is a new Xiyue chef in the concubine's palace, and he can cook very well." Xuan Ling said casually: "I just had dinner at Yifu Hall. Let's try another day." Concubine Hua smiled lightly: "There must be a good cook in Jieyu's Palace, that's why he was able to keep the emperor." Mei Zhuang nodded to me; the empress still looked dignified and amiable; Cao Jieyu didn't seem to have heard of it; the faces of the rest of the people were already faintly unhappy.

Concubine Hua really refuses to be idle, she wants to push me in front of everyone! I smiled warmly: "The purple ginseng and pheasant soup in Concubine Hua's palace has already made the emperor never forget, and now there is a good cook again, doesn't it make the emperor dream of the empress?" Sure enough, as soon as these words came out, everyone's attention immediately turned to Concubine Hua, and they ignored me.What's the point of having a dinner together, the emperor cared about who the concubines in the harem really cared about and were jealous of. Concubine Hua's cheeks flushed slightly, and she laughed with a "heck": "Yueyu doesn't chat with Jieyu, Jieyu is as articulate as ever."

She lowered her head slightly, looked at Xuan Ling tactfully, and said to him Yan Ran: "Your Majesty's demeanor is still the same as before." Concubine Hua was about to speak again.Xuan Ling smiled indifferently at Concubine Hua, but his eyes were as cold as the ice sculptures placed in the palace, sweeping across Concubine Hua's beautiful face: "Nizi is smart and witty, and loves to joke when she is young, Concubine Hua also wants to fight with her? " Concubine Hua couldn't help being terrified when she saw Xuan Ling's gaze, and she quickly smiled and said: "The concubine also likes Jieyu's cleverness, so I love to joke with her."

Xuan Ling glanced at her, and said calmly: "Concubine Hua has been with me for many years, and understands what I'm thinking." During the conversation, the maids of Yurun Hall had already brought melons and fruits, and everyone tasted the melons and fruits for a while, and chatted for a long time. It was Ye Xuanling who was in a very good mood, seeing the empress courteous and tactful by his side, he couldn't bear to brush her off.In addition, with all the concubines sitting around, it would be inappropriate to go to my Yifu Hall, so I said to go to the Queen's Guangfeng Jiyue Hall.

Since the emperor opened his mouth and went to the queen's main palace, naturally no one dared to criticize.They sent the emperor and empress off together. Just after leaving the entrance of the main hall of Yurun Hall, suddenly there was a figure flashing behind a thousand poles of bamboo repairing. Concubine Xin Gui's eyes were sharp, and she already yelled "Aiyo".Xuan Ling heard the sound and looked over, shouted: "Who is sneaking in there?!" Immediately, a servant rushed over, pulled the man out, and looked at the lantern, but it was a little maid named Fuling beside Meizhuang.She had never seen this battle before, she was trembling with fright, she loosened her hands, and the bag she held in her arms fell down, spreading out the luxurious clothes all over the place, looking familiar, as if they belonged to Mei Zhuang.

Xuan Ling raised his head, and Li Chang walked up knowingly. Li Chang bent down and flipped his hand, his expression changed, he pointed at Fu Ling and scolded: "What is this, stealing the little master's things and trying to escape privately?" As he spoke, two powerful servants had already grabbed Fu Ling. Fu Ling's face was pale, but she tightly shut her mouth and did not speak.Mei Zhuang has always been proud and arrogant, seeing such a shameful incident in his palace, he was angry and anxious, and said repeatedly: "Such a worthless slave, drag me out!" Xuan Ling held her up, and said, "You have a body, why are you so angry!"

Kneeling on the ground, Fu Ling cried, "My lord! My lord, save me!" Seeing that everyone was looking at him, Mei Zhuang waved his hands in embarrassment, "How can I tolerate you for doing such a thing!" Stamped his feet and urged: "Go! Go!" Cao Jieyu suddenly let out a "Huh", took a palace lantern from the servant, stepped forward to carefully look through the bundle, picked up a pair of silk trousers and asked curiously, "What are these?" Qin Fangyi also went up to take a closer look, covered her nose and frowned and said, "Oh, there's blood on these pants!"

Could it be murder for money?Turning around in my heart for a few times, I turned my head to see that everyone's faces were full of surprise, and Mei Zhuang was even more panicked.I was even more suspicious in my heart, since I stole how could I not steal valuable jewelry and only took a few pieces of clothing, and they were all pants, skirts and even a jacket. Xuan Ling said: "This matter is very strange. How can anyone who steals not valuables but only takes some trousers and skirts, and it is filthy?" The queen repeatedly said "yes".He said again: "These things look like Shen Ronghua's, but how could they be stained with blood?"

Concubine Xingui whispered: "Could it be that you met Hong?" Although the sound was small, it was heard by several people nearby.For a moment, everyone looked nervously at Mei Zhuang.Mei Zhuang was even more confused: "No—" Before she finished speaking, Concubine Hua said: "You help Shen Ronghua go in to rest." Then she said to Xuan Ling: "Your Majesty, this girl is very weird. I think it's better to order someone to take her to the Punishment Department for interrogation." Because his own people lost face in front of the empress, Mei Zhuang got angry early and said angrily: "Hands and claws are so unclean, drag them down and torture them!" The Punishment Department is the place where the court ladies are tortured when they make mistakes. It is chilling to hear that the criminal law is harsh.Fuling almost fainted when she heard "Ah".Suddenly shouted: "Little master, this servant will destroy the evidence for you, but I didn't expect you to abandon this servant to death so cruelly, why should this servant be loyal to you!" After finishing speaking, she fell down at Xuan Ling's feet, and kowtowed repeatedly. : "Now that the servants dare not lie to the emperor anymore, the young master is not pregnant. These clothes are not stolen by the servants, but the young master stained the clothes and trousers a few days ago and asked the servants to discard them. These clothes are irrefutable evidence!" Mei Zhuang's face was as white as paper, terrified, almost fainted, Caiyue and Bai Ling beside him shouted urgently: "My lord, my lord..." Mei Zhuang turned to Xuan Ling tremblingly and said, "Your Majesty—she! She! This lowly servant girl slandered my concubine!" Everyone looked at each other in blank dismay when they heard Fu Ling's words, I was so shocked that I couldn't speak, this happened so suddenly, even I felt like I was in a fog, I didn't know what to do. Xuan Ling didn't speak when he heard the words, but just stared at Fu Ling coldly, only daring not to lift her head up, and said in a low voice: "Shen Ronghua was frightened, go and invite the imperial physician." Mei Zhuang seemed slightly relieved when he heard that, Said: "Eunuch Li, please go and ask the doctor Liu who is protecting my fetus. I just wonder if he is on duty tonight." Li Changying said "Yes" and said, "Doctor Liu is not on duty tonight." Xuan Ling said: "It doesn't matter if you're not here. Then please ask the Tai Hospital to mention Zhang Mi." Mei Zhuang said: "But the concubine's concubine has always been delivered by Imperial Physician Liu..." "It's okay. They are all the same imperial physicians." I heard him say this, and knew that he was going to ask the imperial doctor to verify the authenticity.For some reason, his body suddenly felt cold, and under the light moonlight, his brows were as pale as paper. The doctor will be here soon.Mei Zhuang sat reclined on the chair and let him feel his pulse.Zhang Mi tilted his head and focused on his pulse for a long time, his lips were tightened, his goatee trembled slightly, and beads of sweat the size of soybeans had already appeared on his forehead. Seeing this, the queen hurriedly said: "Doctor Zhang, what is the situation? Could it be that the fetus was startled?" Doctor Zhang hurriedly knelt down and said: "The emperor and queen forgive the sin." He raised his sleeves to wipe the sweat on his forehead, stammered: "I am incompetent. Young Master Ronghua, she, she, she—" said three times in a row "She", Fang uttered the second half of the sentence: "There is no fetal image!" As soon as the words came out, all four were shocked. My heart suddenly felt cold, I saw Mei Zhuang pressed his lower abdomen with one hand and pointed at Zhang Mi in shock and said sharply: "You are talking nonsense! How can a good child have no fetal image!" I grabbed Mei Zhuang and said: "Sister, don't be impatient, maybe the imperial doctor's diagnosis may be wrong." Zhang Mi kowtowed and said: "Wei Chen is not a master of Qianjin Yike. To be cautious, you can ask Jiang Mu Yang Jiang Imperial Physician to review it together. It's just that Jiang Imperial Physician is in Ding Youzhong..." Xuan Ling's face was as stiff as iron, and he spit out two words coldly: "Please." Seeing this, everyone knew that they were angry, and they didn't dare to vent their anger.The hall was silent, and the air was so gelled that it seemed like latex that could not be melted.Mei Zhuang is pregnant, and has always been the most generous according to the rule.Even the ice provided in the cloisonné basin in the palace for keeping cool is carved into auspicious and wishful patterns.The warmth and warmth of the crowd melted those finely carved patterns into fragments, leaving only a few shapeless pieces of transparency, tiny drops of water slid down and landed on the plate, Ding Dong made a crisp sound, and the entire Yurun Hall was shaken. Because of this drop of tranquility, an inexplicable coolness permeates. Seeing Jiang Muyang coming in, Mei Zhuang looked pale.Jiang Muyang also nodded slightly. Jiang Muyang took the pulse and said in surprise: "My lord is not pregnant, I don't know which imperial doctor diagnosed and treated her and said she is pregnant." Mei Zhuang's face was already bloody, but when he heard him say this, his body suddenly softened and almost collapsed on the chair, and he slipped and fell to the ground, bowing his head and kneeling. Now that the matter has come to this point, Mei Zhuang is obviously not pregnant, but she doesn't know if this is her own plan or if she is being framed.I know that Mei Zhuang is really eager to have a child, so it's possible that she made such a bad plan in order to win favor.If this is the case, I can't help but feel sad, Meizhuang, Meizhuang, you are not extremely confused! Caiyue behind Meizhuang anxiously said: "This is wrong. Miss Mingyue can't believe it, she vomits and eats sour, doesn't she look like she is pregnant?!" Jiang Muyang frowned slightly, and said with a calm expression: "Really? But according to Yichen's humble opinion, the young master should have had a monthly letter a few days ago, but the irregular monthly letter showed signs of being late. It should be due to taking medicine. Because of it." Then he said: "More than a month ago, the young master Rong Hua asked the minister for a prescription to postpone the monthly letter, saying that it was often inaccurate and difficult to conceive. Although the minister knew it was wrong, the young master He kept saying that it was for the sake of the royal heirs, so the minister had no choice but to give her the prescription. As for the vomiting and food-loving minister, I don’t know." The implication is that Meizhuang pretended to be pregnant. Mei Zhuang was startled and angry, no matter how restrained he was, he cried to Xuan Ling: "The concubine once asked the imperial doctor Jiang for a prescription in private, but this prescription can help the pregnancy, not to delay the monthly letter. The concubine is really wronged what." Xuan Ling had no expression on his face, just looked at her and said, "Where is Fang Zi, you can tell clearly just by looking at the black and white paper." Mei Zhuang said to Bai Ling: "Go to my bedroom and bring the prescription from the bottom of the dowry box on the dressing table." Then he said to Xuan Ling: "My concubine understands that it is against the palace rules to give and receive things in private. I also ask the emperor to forgive me." Concubine Hua didn't take it seriously, took a sip of tea and said slowly: "That's right. The crime of giving and receiving in private is much less than that of fake pregnancy and competing for favor." Mei Zhuang fell on the ground, not daring to argue, so he could only swallow his anger for now. After a while, Bai Ling came back in a hurry, her panic could not be suppressed, and she said in a broken voice: "Miss, no!" She took out the dowry box together. Mei Zhuang trembled slightly, grabbed the dowry box, opened it with a "snap", shook his hand, the jewels in the box were scattered and rolled down, glittering and translucent, sprinkled all over the floor, piercing the eyes Can't open it.Mei Zhuang was terrified, frantically flipping through the pages, but there was no sign of a piece of paper anywhere. The veins on Xuan Ling's forehead popped up, his lips were tightly pursed into a line, and he shouted: "Don't look for it!" Without turning his head, he said to Li Chang: "Go and find Liu Fan. If he dares to delay and resist, he will be tied up immediately. !" Li Chang was already drenched in cold sweat, and said softly: "When I went to invite Imperial Physician Jiang just now, I also ordered someone to invite Imperial Physician Liu along the way, but the house of Imperial Physician Liu has long been empty." Xuan Ling was furious, "Good! Good! Go to Loukong!" Turning his head to Meizhuang, he said, "Is he from your hometown?! He was recommended by you to serve, right?!" Mei Zhuang had never seen Xuan Ling speak so harshly, he was so frightened that he couldn't speak. I closed my eyes slightly, and sighed in my heart, Mei Zhuang was framed! It's fine if it's anything else, but I've seen this recipe before.Not to mention whether this prescription delays the monthly letter or helps pregnancy, but its disappearance can only let me know that Meizhuang is innocent.In addition, at this time, Liu Wei also disappeared.All the piles point to Meizhuang. Besides her, I was the only one who had ever seen that prescription. As soon as I bent my knees, I was about to kneel down and speak for Mei Zhuang. Now only I have seen that prescription, and I can prove that Mei Zhuang was framed by someone and she is innocent. I knelt side by side with Mei Zhuang, and I just called out "Your Majesty—" Xuan Ling stared at me intently, and his tone was as cold as ice: "Whoever dares to intercede for Mrs. Chen will be treated as the same crime." Mei Zhuang's favor had aroused everyone's attention before, and it was too late to gloat over her misfortune. Now that Xuan Ling said this, no one was willing to intercede.I saw her panicked look, how could I hold back, just about to say again, the hands in the sleeves were already covered by the wide skirt of Meizhuang, her hands were cold and slippery, and she desperately pressed my hand under the skirt.I know, she doesn't want me to talk anymore.Besides, it would only implicate himself, and he would lose even the chance to save her in the future. Qin Fangyi glanced at me and said: "Your Majesty, Zhen Jieyu has always been friends with Shen Ronghua, I don't know what happened today..." Xuan Ling shouted violently, and glared at her angrily: "Shut up!" Qin Fangyi was so frightened that she immediately fell silent and dared not speak again. He is also a confused person, and if he wanted to add insult to injury under such circumstances, he would only add fuel to the flames and make Xuan Ling vent his anger on her. Seeing this, everyone hurriedly knelt down and begged Xuan Ling to calm down. I saw his nose opening and closing slightly, his eyes fell on the hair of Meizhuang.Can't help looking sideways, the hall is bright as day, the hairpin on Meizhuang's bun is exactly the red gold and ruyi hairpin bestowed by the Empress Dowager, it is even more dazzling under the candlelight. It was too late for Mei Zhuang to take off his hairpin and plead guilty.Xuan Ling had already reached out and pulled out the red gold and wishful hairpin and threw it on the ground. The hairpin "Dingling" fell on the gold brick floor, shining cold and dazzling light under the candlelight.Xuan Ling said: "To deceive me and the Queen Mother, you still dare to wear this hairpin to show off!" The movement was extremely fast, and Meizhuang couldn't dodge it, and he didn't dare to dodge it. Her snow-white pretty face was as stiff as a corpse. The queen tried her best to persuade her: "If the emperor wants to get angry with Shen Ronghua, he will not dare to argue, and please take care of the dragon's body." Xuanling calmed down, and said to Meizhuang: "I have always valued your prudence, but who knows that you are so unbearable, and you are so determined to compete for favor with a fake pregnancy, I am extremely disappointed." Mei Zhuang didn't dare to defend himself, and only repeatedly kowtowed and said "wronged" with tears in his eyes. I can't bear it anymore, being wronged is a minor matter, in case Xuanling gets angry, he will kill Meizhuang.No!I can't just watch Meizhuang die. I rushed in front of Meizhuang, weeping and crying: "The emperor does not allow concubines to beg for love, and concubines dare not disobey the emperor's wishes. I just ask the emperor to think twice, even if Shen Ronghua made a big mistake, and ask the emperor to serve the emperor with all his heart as Ronghua did in the past. The minister and concubine entered the palace on the same day as Rong Hua, and Rong Hua is very clear about what kind of concubine he is. Even if Rong Hua had something wrong today, I ask the emperor to give Rong Hua a chance to reform. Besides, although Shen Ronghua is making the emperor angry now, but If one day the emperor thinks of Rong Hua's little good, but there is no chance to see each other again, how can the emperor feel so bad!" After saying that, he stuck his forehead on the cold brick floor and refused to look up. The queen also sighed and said: "Zhen Jieyu's words are also reasonable. Shen Ronghua has had it today, but he is too eager to have an heir. I hope the emperor will remember the old love." I don't know if Xuan Ling was moved by the words of the queen and me. He was silent for a while, before he said: "Mr. Ronghua Shen, who has no words or deeds, has been reduced to a permanent presence. She is confined in Yuruntang. No one is allowed to visit without my order." I let out a sigh of relief, it's okay, as long as my life is still there, there must be a day of recovery. Li Chang tentatively asked: "Please show me, Liu Duan and that court lady named Fu Ling..." "To hunt down Liu Huan, I want to live. That court lady..." His eyes froze, and he said: "Kill."