Chapter 10 Chapter Ten Cold Garden

Ruyi sat alone in the hall, looking at her own face in the brass mirror, she was already so haggard.Most of the people in the Palace of Yanxi Palace were removed, and even the cigarettes in the incense burner were cold, and no one came to replace them.There was only a handful of cold ashes left, just like her heart, shattered into powder, and when a gust of wind came, it disappeared without a trace. Hai Lan walked in quietly, fixed her loose hair bun, straightened the scattered hairpins, and said in a slow voice: "Sister, don't be disheartened, the emperor just lowered her to be a noble person, so it can be seen that there is still something in her heart." Sister. Although this matter seems to be well-documented, it is not without any doubts. When the emperor thinks it through, he will restore his sister status and let her go out."

Ruyi shook her head slowly: "It's useless." It is indeed useless.The so-called witness, Xiao Luzi, is already dead, and his death is more likely to be caused by her persecution.And the only living and most powerful witness is A Ruo. Hai Lan was about to speak: "Then Ah Ruo..." Ruyi smiled sadly: "Do you also think that A Ruo can be persuaded to turn around? Today she was able to say those words so sharply and calmly in the Changchun Palace, and she spoke so impeccably, I already knew that A Ruo would kill me A dose of arsenic. How can you turn arsenic into a good medicine? And now that she is walking and serving in the Hall of Mental Cultivation, it will not be easy for anyone to get close to her."

Hailan hesitated and said: "But now, there is indeed only A Ruo as a witness. I guess the emperor meant that he didn't want her to die suddenly like Xiao Luzi, so he stayed in the Hall of Mental Cultivation." Ruyi disheartened and said: "Everything is fine. This girl has always been proud and arrogant, but I didn't know that she still had such a skill, and she colluded with others to do such a good thing in a place where I couldn't see !" Hai Lan saw that the surroundings were deserted, and there was no one else waiting by her side, so she said, "Sister, who do you think Ah Ruo is colluding with?"

Ruyi pondered and said: "The empress has a prince and a princess, and she is in charge of the sixth palace. It stands to reason that there is no need to get rid of these two children." "However, nobleman Mei loves her very much, and nobleman Yi's child is considered to be the child of great nobleman, so we have to guard against it." "Concubine Hui has always been at odds with Concubine Mei, and it is possible that she harmed Concubine Mei. However, Concubine Yi and Concubine Hui have never had any conflicts." Hailan pondered and said, "But if the death of the two dragon fetuses is used to hit my sister, Concubine Hui will definitely do it. And Mrs. Jia's favor has always been equal to that of my sister and Concubine Hui. Even after Concubine Hui is neglected by the emperor, she can It is not easy for the nobleman to turn the emperor's anger into joy because he and his elder sister have an equal share of spring and beauty, and today it is just right to mention that he is pregnant."

Ruyi smiled self-deprecatingly: "Who is easy to survive in the palace? It is because I am not as skilled as others that I am subject to this calculation." Hai Lan said anxiously: "Then there is Xiao Fuzi, he is Xiao Luzi's younger brother, doesn't it mean he doesn't know anything?" Ruyi said: "The Department of Punishment has checked and asked, but there is indeed nothing to ask." She looked at the courtyard, and the peach blossoms in the courtyard were blooming happily, as brilliant as a rosy glow, blooming scatteredly day by day.A gust of wind blows, even the breath that blows is sweet.The courtyard was sunny and full of spring. At such a good time, but the palace gate was closed, she could only watch the dusk approaching from a distance unstoppably, and there was nowhere to escape.

There were very soft human voices outside, it was the palace servants of Yiguiren Palace who were moving out of Yanxi Palace, she looked at Hailan and said, "Are you moving away too?" Hai Lan said: "I begged the emperor to temporarily stay in Yanxi Palace to accompany my sister." Ruyi looked miserable, held her hand and said, "Why bother? This time it's no different than being grounded, you can still go out. Living here with me is equivalent to being imprisoned with me and ruining yourself." Hailan's eyes were full of tears, but she just sat in front of her and said sincerely: "My sister is stupid, and she doesn't know how to deal with it. Even if she can go out, she's just letting others bully her. She'd rather guard her sister."

Ruyi held Hai Lan's cold hand, unable to speak a word while choking up.Suddenly, there was a sound under the curtain, and Ruyi turned her face away, only to see Mrs. Yi, dressed in plain clothes, with only a plain silver ruyi hairpin and a few snow-white pearl flowers pinned to her head, standing under the curtain, as thin as A thin willow frail in the cold February wind.The flesh on her face was almost completely dried out, her cheeks were deeply sunken, and only a pair of dry eyes were so dark that it made people feel scared. She approached slowly step by step, her voice was as soft as a ghost: "Master Xian, seeing you and Sister Hailan are so friendly and friendly, I think of the time when you took care of me, you really treated me Very good, very good. But Mr. Xiangui, why are you being so hypocritical, you will never let my child go! If you don't like me being favored, just tell me, why do you want to harm my child!"

She approached step by step, and the sternness in her words became more and more intense, and finally when she approached Ruyi, she stretched out her hand and strangled her neck fiercely.Hailan didn't guard against her for a while, and immediately stretched out her hand to grab her, and shouted: "Come on! Come on!" I don't want Yigui to be so thin and weak, but with great strength, Hailan can't pull it away at all.Ruyi only felt that her throat was throbbing with pain and tightness, and she was almost out of breath.She desperately stretched out her hand to break off Yigui's fingers. Finally, together with Hailan, she forcefully opened one of her hands, only to see Yigui pull out the silver hairpin from her head and stab her fiercely.One end of the silver hairpin was sharpened, it was obvious that Mrs. Yigui had come prepared, seeing that the sharp point of the silver hairpin was unavoidable, stabbing down towards Ruyi's front door, Hai Lan stretched out her hand to block the hairpin pointed, and stretched his arms across it.

With a dull cry of pain, bright red blood burst out instantly and fell on Ruyi's face, warm and fragrant. Mrs. Yigui seemed to be frightened by the blood, she moved a little sluggishly for a while, and was pulled away by the rushing palace people.Ruyi hurriedly grabbed Hailan's arm and looked closely, and saw a deep bloodstain running down from the elbow to the wrist on the snow-white arm. Ruyi shouted in a panic: "Call to the imperial physician, quickly pass on to the imperial physician!" Mrs. Yigui was dragged out by the swarming crowd, she was still muttering to herself, cursing and crying unceasingly.Bright red blood dripped continuously from Hailan's arm, and Xin hurriedly held up the gauze, Ruyi said anxiously: "I don't know when the imperial doctor will come, I'll wrap it up for you to stop the bleeding."

Tears welled up in Hai Lan's eyes from the pain, but she tried her best to endure and said: "Sister, don't be afraid, it's just a little flesh injury. But sister, you are not scared by Yigui, are you?" Ruyi said distressedly: "You are like this, can I be more afraid than this?" Hai Lan forced a smile and said comfortingly: "It's okay, it's just a little flesh injury, as long as there is no injury to the muscles and bones." Ruyi's tears fell drop by drop, staining on the gauze, against the continuous oozing blood, it seemed that small plum blossoms bloomed: "But the wound is so deep, it will definitely leave a scar."

Hailan endured the pain and said with a smile: "Even if there is a scar, it's more worthwhile than hurting my sister's life, isn't it?" Ruyi's throat still had the pain from being strangled by Yigui, but at this moment, it was filled with deeper and heavier emotions.Yes, the turmoil in the past few days has made her physically and mentally exhausted, and she is powerless to resist, but there is still Hailan.Fortunately, there is also Hailan, who allows her to depend on each other and rely on each other in the miserable palace. Yigui died three days later. Because of excessive depression and the incomplete removal of the remains of the child in her womb, the residual safflower and achyranthes soup from excessive labor induction made her body unable to bear it anymore, and she let go. It is said that when she died, she didn't even close her eyes, but looked at the sky speechlessly with bloodshot eyes. Her death caused the harem, which had been a little calm, to boil again. When the news reached the Hall of Mental Cultivation, the emperor was reviewing the memorial.A Ruo changed into the costumes of the palace maids in front of the imperial court. Although they were not more luxurious than when they were in Yanxi Palace, there was a faint charm of serving in front of the imperial court. Seeing that the emperor was just writing quickly, Ah Ruo brought in a small plate of snacks and tea, and pouted at Li Yu calmly.Li Yu knew that the emperor looked at her differently after serving in front of the imperial court, and he didn't know what Ruyi's situation was like, so he didn't dare to act rashly for a while, so he retreated outside the palace. A Ruo carefully placed the refreshments in front of the emperor, and silently began to grind the ink for the emperor. Her gestures were very light, and her wrist was strong, so that the ink was polished to the right thickness, and not a single drop of water splashed out.The emperor dipped in the ink and said with a smile: "No wonder the ancients said that the ink should be rubbed by young girls. It is a pleasure to add fragrance to the red sleeves, but only you can use moderate force to grind out glossy ink that is neither harsh nor dry. " A Ruo smiled: "The emperor praised you. The servant is just for the concubine Xian... No, it's just for the noble lady Xian, and practice makes perfect." She regretted her slip of the tongue, and looked at the emperor with some fear: "The slave has slipped. .” The emperor just smiled: "Really? I like listening to you talk, and I like your practice makes perfect." A Ruo smiled shyly: "This servant is stupid, I'm afraid that if I say something wrong, the emperor will be upset." There was a light smile in the corner of the emperor's eyes, which was a thin peach color, as bright as the spring scenery outside the window: "Why? I like everything you say." There was a red cloud on A Ruo's face, but she couldn't help but said: "The emperor said that, but because he loves the house and the crow?" The emperor was slightly taken aback: "What loves the house?" A Ruo twisted her fingers, and said in a low voice: "The emperor loves the noble lady Xian, and is not willing to bear heavy responsibilities. Because he loves the noble lady Xian, even the little crow who used to serve by her side, that is, the servant girl, also received some pity." The emperor's smile faded slightly: "After you spoke uprightly that day, will anyone in the palace regard you as a little crow next to Mr. Xian? You are you, and the Ulanara family is the Ulanara family. They have long been irrelevant. .” A Ruo lowered her head and said, "Yes. Doesn't the Emperor think that slaves are people who betray the Lord and abandon their trust?" There was deep ink in the emperor's eyes, and he could almost see people's hearts: "As long as you speak out with righteousness and don't violate your heart, no one will think that you have betrayed the Lord and abandoned your faith." A Ruo secretly breathed a sigh of relief, and showed a very bright smile to the emperor.She was looking at the emperor, when Li Yu came in and said, "Your Majesty." The emperor detected a hint of panic from his face, and said in a deep voice, "What's the matter?" Li Yu tremblingly said: "Jingyang Palace came to report that Mrs. Yigui lost her balance after childbirth, and the residual poison of the stillbirth has not been cleared, so she died just now." The emperor's expression changed again and again, and at the end tears welled up from the corners of his eyes, and he sighed: "What a pity. Go and tell the queen that Mrs. Yigui will posthumously confer the title of concubine Yi, and all funeral ceremonies will be arranged according to the concubine's position. Let the queen take care of it." Li Yu agreed to go, A Ruo hurriedly handed the tea to the emperor's hand and said: "Miss Yipin is really pitiful. After the child is gone, she is still so emotional. She wanted to run and kill the noble lady, but she was tired and died young. It's really pathetic." The emperor said indifferently: "The Uranala family deserves to be blamed, and the Hai nobleman was also injured because of his exhaustion." A Ruo said obediently: "Your Majesty, don't be angry. Fortunately, Jiagui is also pregnant, and she is well raised in the Zhenxiang Hall. The Emperor can rest assured." The emperor sneered: "You always think about others, but what about yourself?" A Ruo smiled idiotically, turned away and said: "The emperor is making fun of your servants, what do you have to worry about?" The emperor took a bite of the pastry she brought: "It's so sweet." A Ruo hurriedly said: "My servant remembers that the emperor likes to eat water chestnut cake steamed with rose petal sugar, so I specially cooked a plate of it. I wonder if the emperor likes it or not?" The emperor looked at her with a smile, grabbed her hand and said: "You still said that you don't miss it, you even remember what I like to eat." A Ruo blushed with shame, hurriedly lowered her head and said timidly: "Your Majesty..." The emperor kissed her lightly on the hand and said with a smile, "It's so sweet." A Ruo became more and more embarrassed, only feeling her heart beating and almost dizzy.She has been looking forward to it for so long, longing for it for so long, and it turns out that she can reach it with a little effort.The fragrance of flowers outside the hall penetrated through every opening, with a sweet and intoxicating smell, lingering on the body relentlessly.The emperor kissed her ear, and said in a low voice: "Your ama is now under Gao Bin's command, and you are quite promising with him. Not only is the flood control excellent, but the magistrate is also very impressive. I don't want to wrong you in the palace... ...I plan to seal you as a permanent residence, and live in the Qixiang Palace of the concubine Jia. The title...is Shen." Ah Ruo was overwhelmed by flattery, and felt that all the strength in her body was being taken away bit by bit, but she was paralyzed in the emperor's embrace weakly, with her hands climbing up his neck bit by bit, as if she was looking for the last support : "With the emperor's favor, the concubine is not wronged at all." When the imperial decree was spread throughout the Six Palaces, it was said that because the nobleman was pregnant, she was promoted to be a concubine.Because of her meritorious service in taking care of her concubine in the Hall of Mental Cultivation, and her ability to serve her compliantly, Ah Ruo was granted the title of Shen Chang. The queen just smiled when she saw the imperial decree, and said to Concubine Hui who was sitting beside her admiring the flowers: "I don't think this girl is so promising." Concubine Hui was a little displeased: "The canonization of the ancestral court ladies starts with official girls, but she is lucky, she has reached the sky in one step." "Isn't it necessary to be praised by my younger sister?" The queen folded a dark red daphne flower and pinned it on the skirt, "Ah Ruo's Ama works under the command of her younger sister's father. Can you not be exceptionally clever? One mistake, he was transferred to the imperial court by the emperor to serve him. He might fly in front of the emperor with his arms outstretched and his wings fluttering. The ancestral system was also established by the former emperor, and the current emperor has changed it. , it’s nothing special.” Concubine Hui straightened the Ruixiang flower on the skirt of the queen for the queen, and pinched off an extra flower leaf: "No matter how fluttering, she is just a permanent presence. I don't believe that she can fly into the sky. Really want to She doesn't know good and bad, how to put the wings on, how to take them off for her." The queen smiled slightly, took a piece of auspicious incense and handed it to Concubine Hui, and said with a smile: "the ancient saying, Yunruixiang flower, originated from a bhikkhu who slept on a rock in the daytime. He smelled the strong fragrance of flowers in his dreams, and felt that he wanted it, which is called auspiciousness in flowers." , hence the name Ruixiang. With such an auspicious flower in hand, my sister is already sure of winning, so there is no need to worry about it. Let's put some effort into taking care of Concubine Yi's funeral, so that the emperor can comfort her a little." When meeting the Empress Dowager the next day, the Empress described everything that happened before and after Yipin's death in detail.The Empress Dowager was leaning on the couch in the Nuan Pavilion, reaching out her hand to caress a few sprigs of pink and purple lilacs in the celadon beauty cup: "Look, Empress, how about this pot of lilacs that Fu Jia planted for Ai's family?" The queen was reporting the matters in the palace, when she heard the queen mother's words, she hurriedly smiled and said, "Aunt Fu has served the queen mother for many years, and she knows the queen mother's wishes very well. This pot of lilacs must be very suitable for the queen mother's wishes." The Queen Mother shook her head slightly, and said lightly, "Fu Jia, bring the scissors." Fu Jia presented the silver scissors, and the queen mother cut off a few extra branches, saying: "It looks much more refreshing now." The queen hurriedly said: "My son's eyesight is far inferior to that of the queen mother, so I can't see that those few flower branches are redundant." The queen mother smiled lightly: "Queen, do you know why I like this pot of lilacs? The plantains don't show their lilac knots, and each of them is worried about the spring breeze. The lilacs bloom in two colors, one is purple and the other is white, just like someone in the palace is happy. Then someone fell into disfavor and was sad. This time, Lady Mei lost her fetus, and Concubine Yi, mother and child both died, and even Lady Xian was punished and imprisoned in the Palace of Yanxi Palace. But this side is heartbroken, and Shen Chang is there. When you go to the Dragon Gate, you will be favored once. The concubine is also pregnant with the dragon seed and is highly respected. But the queen, have you ever thought that in this way, the palace will lose the way of balance." The queen bowed hurriedly and said: "My son respectfully listen to the emperor's mother's lesson." The Empress Dowager said kindly, "It's natural to be happy when a concubine is happy, and it's really sad that nobleman Mei lost her son. Although nobleman Xian was imprisoned, Concubine Hui has never been favored by the emperor and has been neglected by the emperor. The way of balance in this, the empress You have to weigh it carefully." Ling Bo moved slightly in the Queen's eyes, and said: "My ministers will suggest to the emperor that the honored concubine Mei be granted a little comfort for Concubine Mei. As for Concubine Hui, she has a high status and it is not appropriate for her to be entrusted again immediately. My ministers will arrange for Concubine Hui to be concubine Mei." Serve in bed again, lest the concubine be pregnant and inconvenient to serve, and make the emperor feel lonely." The queen mother smiled and said: "The empress can do this, the Ai family is very pleased." She changed the subject suddenly: "But the nobleman Hai is imprisoned with the nobleman Xian, and the nobleman Xian has committed a lot of crimes. It is really a shame for the Aijia to be punished like this." It's a pity for the two grandsons who died in vain. Empress, you can tell the emperor these words on behalf of Aijia." The queen showed a slightly embarrassed look, and said: "Reporting to the emperor's mother, it's not that the concubines dare not tell the emperor, but I'm afraid that the emperor's heart will soften for a while, and he will miss the old love..." The Empress Dowager's tone was cold, which did not match the bright and beautiful spring outside. She only said: "Although the emperor cares about the old love, the grandson of the mourning family should not die in vain. Then spread the will of the mourning family, and the nobleman Ulanara murdered the emperor. Heir, the crime is unforgivable, she was deposed as a commoner, and lived in seclusion in the cold palace all her life. The Ai family wants to see, the Ai family wants her life to be worse than death, who would dare to stop her!" The queen shivered slightly, and hurriedly said: "The empress dowager obeys the order, and the concubine obeys." When the queen went to ask for orders, Shen Chang was on the sidelines adding fragrance to the red sleeves, entertaining and entertaining.Concubine Chun and Hailan also stood by and accompanied them. When they saw the queen coming, they hurriedly left the emperor and greeted Ann respectfully, not daring to be arrogant.The empress reported back what the empress dowager said one by one, and the emperor did not disagree with anything, but when it came to the matter of Ruyi, the emperor smiled coldly: "It's the empress's mother who made the decision. I have not made up my mind. Since the empress mother said so, it is naturally good." He raised his voice and called out, "Li Yu, pass on the decree according to what the queen said." The queen said: "Then big brother..." The emperor frowned slightly: "Brother, leave it to Concubine Chun. Concubine Chun has given birth to children, so she should be able to discipline him." Hearing this, Concubine Chun got up quickly and thanked him. The queen quickly said: "Yes, the concubine is going to go down, and tomorrow will move the Ulanala family to live in the cold palace. It's just..." A Ruo lightly patted the emperor's shoulders, and said softly, "That's fine too. It's clear what's out of sight, so that the emperor won't get angry when he thinks about it." The queen twirled the silk and said: "It's just... Although the Wulanala family made a mistake, the emperor will release my sister after a few days of confinement, and let her stay at ease for a few days to think about her mistakes." The emperor glanced at the queen, and said calmly: "How many days? If there is no order from me, the Ulanara family will not be able to leave the cold palace for a lifetime." As soon as the emperor finished speaking, Hailan's face turned pale, and she almost fainted.Ye Xin, who was beside Hailan, was clever and supported Hailan. Hailan couldn't help but knelt down, walked forward on her knees, kowtowed and said: "The emperor is gracious, please read that when my sister is in the hidden residence, I will serve the emperor with all my heart, and I don't dare to slack off, please don't drive my sister away." Let's go to the cold palace." The pure concubine also said: "Yes. Even if the emperor wants to punish Yueyin and beat him, it is better than leaving Wulanara there alone for the rest of his life." The emperor didn't even look at the pure concubines, he just said indifferently: "There are many concubines who followed me from the hidden mansion, if they are as arrogant and reckless as the Ulanala family, and dare to deliberately murder others, how will I manage the harem and the front court in the future. If you ask again, you will be imprisoned together with her. When Yongzhang will not be taken care of by Er Niang, don't blame me for being cruel." The pure concubine was so frightened that she was sweating coldly, knelt on the ground and dared not speak.Hailan wanted to say more, but the pure concubine quickly grabbed her and shook her head. The queen bowed her body, and said calmly: "The emperor thinks twice, sister Ruyi has been with the emperor for many years, and there is no merit but hard work." The emperor glanced at the empress carelessly, and said with a smile: "Ulanara should be punished for his crimes, and it was the empress who proposed to me. Now the empress has also spoken, but the empress wants me to forgive her. The empress is virtuous, but she is too contradictory. It’s hard to convince people.” The empress looked shocked, and quickly knelt down: "The concubine is confused, and I ask the emperor to forgive me." "Get up," said the emperor. The queen didn't dare to say much, Wei Wei restrained her face and was about to retreat when she heard a child's voice outside the hall, but she was reciting a poem. "The deer walks in the wilderness and the strong man chases after him. The frogs sound like a purple man. How violent is the uplifting of the mountains and the prosperity of the tripod? The toothed sword is not moving. The world does not hear the songs, but the tents only see Yuxi. Where are the three households in the hometown? ? For thousands of years, the Wujiang River will not wash away its sorrow." The child's voice sounded repeatedly, but he just recited the poem. The queen listened carefully, and said, "It seems to be the voice of the elder brother, reciting the emperor's imperial poem." The emperor's eyebrows twitched slightly, he turned his face and said displeasedly: "Yong Huang recited this imperial poem to me a few days ago, and I even praised him a few words. Now he knows how to play tricks." The queen hurriedly said: "Children, how can there be such scheming. The emperor must not blame him." The emperor listened for a while, and finally couldn't bear to say: "Let him come in." Yong Huang was quite obedient, and when he came in, he kowtowed and said, "Greetings to Huang Ama, greetings to Huang Erniang, and greetings to Shen Changzai." According to the rules, the prince and the princess address concubine mothers other than the empress and biological mother as "Niang Niang". Now they only call Shen Chang's position instead of "Shen Niang Niang". It's just a title. The emperor showed a bit of hesitation, and said: "There are more and more rules." A Ruo forced a smile and said: "The concubine was originally a court lady who served the elder brother's adoptive mother. It is understandable that the elder brother refused to address him according to the rules." The emperor pointed to Yonghuang and said: "This appearance is exactly the same as that of Ulanara. I really regret that I entrusted you to her to raise you." The elder brother held back his tears and said stubbornly: "The son is brought up by the mother, and the mother teaches the son in every possible way just to let the son learn well, and has never taught the son badly. I don't know where the emperor Ama came from. The imperial poem that the son recited today is The mother taught by herself, how could the mother always keep Huang Ama in her heart and love her son, how could she harm Huang Ama's other heirs. There must be grievances in it, please Huang Ama be aware of it." The emperor sneered again and again: "Reverse! It's really rebellious! Even my own son was bewitched by her, and he kept talking to her!" A Ruo hurriedly knelt down and said, "The emperor calm down. When Eldest Brother was raised in Yanxi Palace, the Wulanara family tried to please him in every possible way. In fact, it was not because he really loved Eldest Brother, but to take the opportunity to invite pets, and it was for her own selfishness." , want to 'recruit younger brother'." "Recruiting younger brother?" The queen asked in surprise, "What is recruiting younger brother?" "It's just folk rumors that after adopting a boy, she will conceive and give birth to a boy soon." The queen was surprised and said: "You mean, it is because of this that the Ulanara clan competed with Concubine Hui that day, and intentionally wanted to raise Eldest Brother?" The emperor reached out and waved the tea on the table, and said angrily: "This is the mother you kept begging for mercy. From now on, you don't have to follow her, and pure concubine will take care of you. I tell you, and everyone, listen, From now on, I will not allow anyone to intercede for Ulanara, if there is any disobedience, then go to the cold palace with her to stay."