Chapter 28 Chapter 28 Grace (Part 2)

Ah Ruo, barefoot, knelt on the edge of the collapse.The emperor's bedroom was originally made of gold bricks. The floor tiles are as oily as jade, bright as a mirror, dense in texture and brittle as gold and stone. Little by little it hurts the nerves. The emperor looked at her idly, and said casually: "I have always kept you by my side. Giving you such a high honor and favor has the effect of keeping you. But don't lose your sense of proportion, you will always be Concubine Xian's." Slaves, my servants, you must clearly distinguish between the former and the latter."

At the beginning, such words made A Ruo feel ashamed to death, but after these years, she gradually got used to it, and just said numbly: "I know." Just as the emperor was about to turn around, he suddenly noticed the redness and swelling on her face, and asked, "Who beat you?" A Ruo said in a daze: "The emperor dotes on the servants, but the concubine Jia was upset and beat the servants." The emperor yawned: "If you beat him, you will beat him. How can a slave not be beaten by his master? If you are willing to receive these favors, you must be willing to suffer these crimes."

Inside the curtains of the emperor's bed net hung three or five gold-painted and engraved silver smoked balls.The smoked ball is engraved with complicated and beautiful patterns, exquisitely carved, and the patterns of twining branches are clearly identifiable.The ball is filled with benzoin, and the lingering fragrance is fragrant and spews out musk, leisurely disappearing on the painted beams and brocades, as if her future has also been dispersed in such a silent manner.A Ruo was stunned for a moment, and suddenly gave birth to a faint smile, and finally couldn't help saying: "The emperor, please let this servant understand. Since you have favored this servant, you have also given this servant the envy of others, why did you recite it?" Do you want to treat your servant like this? Are you a cat, and being a servant is a lowly mouse to play with? Your Majesty!"

The emperor turned around, stretched out his hand to hook her chin, and said with a sneer, "I have already fulfilled you, what else do you want? Do you remember the title I gave you? Shen, I want you to be cautious. After so many years, you After going to bed like this, why can't you hold your breath today?" A Ruo was covered with a thin blanket, trembling all over, a stern gleam flashed in his eyes, he kowtowed and said, "Your Majesty, please let this servant understand, since you don't like this servant, why do you treat this servant like this?" The emperor smiled coldly: "If you don't treat you like this, who knows what you will do again? You also think about me, okay, if I didn't spoil you like this, you would have fallen into someone's hands and you wouldn't know."

A Ruo gritted her teeth, and said with a pale face: "Is it because of the matter of Concubine Xian, the emperor thinks that the slave has wronged her? So he wants to torture the slave to vent her anger?" The emperor's voice gradually became languid: "Exhaust? Who wants to vent his anger and go out by himself, I don't bother to care." He turned over: "Okay. I'm tired. If you have anything to say, let's talk about it later." Ah Ruo knelt there, watching the emperor fall into a deep sleep, breathing evenly.The clapper outside was passed over with a sound of far and close, and she collapsed on the ground, crying silently.

Kneeling like this is the middle of the night.The eunuch who picked her up arrived at 2:00 am. According to the rules, he clapped her hands three times outside the emperor's bedroom, and said in a low voice, "It's time." The enclosure at the back of the palace was dressed neatly, and was carried back to her own palace in a small sedan chair. Ah Ruo endured a whole night of tossing, even when she returned to her own palace, she didn't feel sleepy at all.Xinyan came up with a bowl of soothing tea and said: "Young Master, I am tired in the middle of the night, so drink the soothing tea and go to sleep."

A Ruo sneered with tears in her eyes: "Serving the bed? I'm really tired." She turned her head to look at the furnishings in the palace, and suddenly said angrily: "This palace is already a Shen concubine sealed by the emperor himself, why is this palace?" The furnishings in the palace are still based on the status of nobles? Why is the House of Internal Affairs so tired and ignorant?" Xinyan wondered: "Just now, people from the Ministry of Internal Affairs have come and said that the emperor and queen are trying to be frugal, and the young masters on the right and left have not performed the canonization ceremony, so the things that the concubine should use are not on display."

"Canonization ceremony?" Ah Ruo smiled bitterly, and said, "When did the emperor say that he would give me a canonization ceremony? It turns out that it was just a false name for me." After she finished speaking, Huo De got up and took it from the shelf The glazed vases were smashed down, and when the smashing was over, all the bottles and jars that could be seen on the table were smashed to pieces.Xinyan's fright was no small matter, she hurriedly stopped her and said, "My lord, my lord, what's the matter with you? Today is the day when you just became a concubine, how can you get angry? If this spreads, others will But I don't know what to say about you?"

A Ruo smashed things like crazy, tears streaming down his face: "What am I afraid of? What else am I afraid of? Is it okay to be trampled on like this, smashing a few things? I am Concubine Shen, I am Concubine Shen, these few things Can’t afford to smash it? If I smash it, who can do anything to me?” After finishing speaking, she raised a sapphire altar and was about to smash it down. Xinyan was frightened out of her wits, and hurriedly stopped her and said, "My lord, my lord, don't be confused. This Buddhist altar cannot be smashed, it was rewarded by the emperor when you became a nobleman. My lord, if you want to get angry, just Hit the servants a few times, but don't hit this, let alone hurt yourself in anger."

A Ruo's face was full of tears, she fell on the bed and wept, "Your Majesty? Is there anyone else in your eyes? I'm just a toy, if I smash it, I'll just smash it. I'm just letting others abuse me." Ah Ruo cried bitterly. After crying for a long time, she was also tired and fell asleep.Xinyan looked at the mess on the ground, sighed, and tiptoedly tidied it up. Taking advantage of Ah Ruo's exhaustion, Xinyan went to Concubine Hui's palace early in the morning.Concubine Hui was dressing up, and let the maid dipped in the sweet-scented osmanthus water, and brushed her hair bit by bit. After hearing Xinyan's words, she was a little puzzled: "She was just appointed as a concubine last night, and she was summoned again. It's a time of pride." , why can't you hold your breath and come back to make trouble like this?"

Xinyan didn't know anything, so she just shook her head and said: "I don't know, I just served Concubine Shen for a few years, I just feel that her temper is getting more and more irritable. Slave, does the emperor really dote on her?" "Does the emperor really dote on her?" Concubine Hui turned her head suspiciously, "Since Concubine Xian entered the cold palace, she has received a lot of favor. Now even if Concubine Xian comes out, her favor is not fading, what else do you want?" ?” While pulling Concubine Hui's hair in a bun, Mo Xin said: "Although the Emperor dotes on her, he still looks down on her. At the Lidong family banquet yesterday, one mouthful of each master and servant clearly looked down on Concubine Shen's background. Concubine Xian was wronged..." She flicked the comb suddenly, pulling Concubine Hui's hair, and was so frightened that she knelt down. Concubine Hui turned her head, gave Mo Xin a displeased look, and said angrily, "What are you doing? Your claws are getting worse and worse?" Mo Xin was so frightened that she shuddered: "My lord, please forgive me, my lord, please forgive me. This servant just thought that the emperor said that Concubine Xian was wronged, and whether he would look into the events of the year and implicate us." Concubine Hui pouted angrily, and signaled her to stand up and continue combing her hair. Fang lazily said: "Now that Concubine Xian is released, the emperor will naturally find an excuse to say that she was wronged, otherwise how can people be convinced. Besides, if you really want to After careful research, anyway, we were not the ones who insisted that Concubine Xian poisoned us." Mo Xin was still a little scared: "The young master is right, but won't Concubine Shen bite us out?" Concubine Hui looked at her own golden phoenix slanting hairpin in the mirror, with the temples partly tilted, and the emerald tinsel scattered, she took an openwork jade comb with double phoenix patterns and inserted it obliquely on the blue hair at the back of her head, she was satisfied with the look, and said: "Her After all, Ma is working under Ben Gong's father. How much courage does she have to hurt her family? Besides, she can even betray her own master. An Zhi dare not wrong us. Well, Xinyan, you can go back and take good care of us. Concubine Shen has any movement, remember to report back at any time." Xinyan agreed and withdrew.Concubine Hui glanced at Mo Xin, put on a pair of emerald green drop earrings, and said calmly, "Do you have something to say?" Mo Xin said: "This servant just can't get used to Concubine Shen, that's all for being so favored for a while, even the young master has passed by, and for a while she loses her temper like this, and doesn't know how to behave." Concubine Hui curled her lips contemptuously: "It's no wonder she, Concubine Xian comes out, she will naturally be afraid." Mo Xin said: "Actually, the slaves have always been worried. At first, the young master punished her to kneel in the rain, how could she be willing to be used by us later? And these years, even the empress has praised her so much." Concubine Hui smiled sweetly, full of charm: "At the beginning, the Empress personally went to win her over, and then transferred her Ama to my father's command as a threat, so she could serve her loyally for so many years. But from the beginning, Changchun Palace and us The meanings are the same. Ah Ruo is just a chess piece that can be discarded at any time. Because she can be discarded at any time, I don't care how she gets favored." Mo Xin said with a smile all over her face: "The little master has a great vision, but the servants are really not as good as me." Concubine Hui raised a smug smile on her lips, but quickly restrained herself, and sighed: "All visions are those of the empress. What is this palace? Even if the emperor raises the flag and relies heavily on his father, this palace It will never be washed away." Concubine Hui said sadly: "Besides, I have been favored by the palace for many years, you can smell the smell of the birth control medicine in the palace, which is so strong that it can't go away. I can't conceive a son and a half." "But the second elder brother born to the empress is also dead, not much better than the young master." "Second Elder Brother died, and he was posthumously crowned Prince. The empress had given birth anyway, and at least there was the third princess. It's not like Bengong. Bengong's stomach is empty, and the child hasn't been here for a day." Concubine Hui became more and more anxious as she spoke, unconsciously, Mo Xin was most afraid that she would think of the child, and she would be sad for a long time when she thought of it, so she hurriedly persuaded her: "My lord is too impatient, so I can't conceive a child. As long as my lord relaxes , the emperor comes here often again, and when that kind of luck arrives, I naturally think about it. My lord, it's getting late, and it's time for us to pay our respects to the empress. Isn't my lord the most diligent and punctual person to go to Changchun Palace?" Concubine Hui looked at the sky, nodded and said: "It's time to go. No matter how gentle and modest the empress is, she is from a noble background. No matter how high the position in this palace is, I have to rely on her, so that I can stand more firmly in the palace. ,go further." On this day, the concubines gathered in the empress's palace to pay their respects. The empress looked at Ruyi's wrist with a gentle smile like spring water and blue waves: "I remember that in the past, I rewarded Concubine Xian with a string of emerald beads wrapped with red gold lotus bracelets wrapped in silk. Why are you doing this?" I haven't seen my sister wearing it for a long time, but is it not satisfactory?" Ruyi's heart trembled, as if a sharp thorn had been pierced deeply by someone, and then pulled out with a whistling sound, she maintained a light and appropriate smile on her face: "The red gold thread on the lotus bracelet is a little loose, so I have to scream when I have time." It would be better for people to wring it." The queen nodded and said: "No, it was originally a pair, and I left it to you and Concubine Hui alone. If someone twists it, you have to wear it all the time. This is the unusual love for our Qiandi sisters." Minute." Concubine Hui said with a smile: "The empress is so loving, the concubines wear it on their bodies every day, and they don't dare to relax in the slightest." Ruyi couldn't help but sneered in her heart, but she heard the queen say: "The emperor was so happy that he suddenly thought of letting Concubine Xian's younger sister out of the cold palace, and even this empress in this palace only learned about it after the fact. It can be seen how much the emperor misses his sister these days. " Concubine Hui interjected: "It's just strange to say, since the emperor loves Concubine Xian so much, why hasn't the Emperor called you to sleep with Concubine Xian in the few days since she came out, on the contrary, sister Concubine Shen has been serving her more." Ruyi just smiled lightly, not being surprised by favor or insult: "If the companionship of the body is the treasure of love, then why should the world care about love?" Concubine Chun said with a smile: "I haven't seen Concubine Xian for several years, but my words are becoming more and more Zen-like." Ruyi greeted her with gentle eyes, and said: "Sister Chunfei doesn't know something. The cold palace is quiet, so it's easy to see through her mind. I just think it's rare to see the light of day again with the emperor's care, so why bother to be close to the body." She turned around. He stared at the queen with his eyes: "What's more, even if a husband and wife stay together every day, sharing the same bed and dreaming differently, they are pleasing on the surface, but doing things that the other party doesn't like in private, what's the point?" The queen didn't take it seriously at all: "Concubine Xian's words are very pleasant to my ears. The emperor is the king of a country, and even the husband of everyone in the harem. As long as the emperor has you in his heart, why bother to fight for favor and insist on fighting for a moment's favor? Concubine Xian is generally indifferent, but in fact she is doing more." Concubine Jia laughed and said: "Of course we can't compare to Concubine Xian's ability, even the people who served by Concubine Xian's side in the past have become so powerful that they are holding on to the emperor." The concubine Jia always wanted to be strong, but the queen didn't care, she just said that she wanted to practice calligraphy with the third princess, so she told everyone to leave.Ruyi helped Xinyan's hand before stepping out of the courtyard of the Changchun Palace, but when she heard a call from behind, "Concubine Xian", she turned her head and saw A Ruo hurried forward holding Xinyan's hand, blocking her He said: "Concubine Xian, please stop. I have a word, and you must ask your empress to understand." He sincerely and respectfully blessed her, and abided by the etiquette of slaves meeting their young masters.A smirk flashed across Ah Ruo's face.Ruyi didn't want to waste time with her, so she asked, "What's the matter?" A Ruo took a step closer: "I heard that Concubine Xian was poisoned in the cold palace, the emperor went to visit, and after leaving the cold palace, the emperor saw you again, did you say something to the emperor?" Ruyi lifted it up and said proudly: "What do you think I said?" A Ruo's face was a little distorted, and he said anxiously: "Did you tell the emperor that I gave you arsenic? Did you tell the emperor that I framed you and wronged you?" Ruyi smiled brightly, stared at her and said, "Is it important what I said? I have met the emperor a few times, and you have met the emperor a few times. You have often been by the emperor's side these years. Did you meet?" You don’t have as many words as Bengong? You still need to care about what Bengong said? The emperor favors you, so he will naturally believe you. What do you have to be afraid of?” A Ruo's complexion was pale, which didn't match her bright pink coral and amethyst dress. She staggered back a step, and forced herself to say: "What do I have to be afraid of? Of course I'm not afraid of anything. " Ruyi's eyes flicked past her, as if she was transparent and nothing like a mass of air: "It's good that you can be so confident and innocent. As for people, suspicion is easy to breed dark ghosts, so just be open-minded, and naturally you won't be taken away." Bring the ghosts in your heart to the emperor. But if you bring the ghosts in your own heart to the emperor, then no one else needs to say anything, and the emperor will naturally suspect you." After finishing speaking, Ruyi saw Concubine Chun coming out and waved to her, then walked forward with a smile, and walked away with Concubine Chun.Concubine Chun laughed loudly and said: "You too. What's the point of talking to her, have you forgotten how she hurt you back then?" Ruyi smiled slightly: "I haven't forgotten, so naturally she can't forget." Concubine Chun affectionately put her arms around her and said with a smile: "Eldest brother has been raised in my palace, but I miss you. If you are free, you can go to my palace and have a look. Not doing your best?" Ruyi hurriedly said: "Sister said this to embarrass me. Eldest elder brother is raised in sister's palace, so he is sister's child. Naturally, there is no lack of dedication. I just ran away, what is it?" Concubine Chun smiled and said: "It's just because my sister was wronged, so the elder brother is temporarily raised in my palace. Now that the younger sister is out, sooner or later she will return to the younger sister's palace. In this way, the concubine Jia has a fourth elder brother, and I have a third elder brother." Brother and younger sister also have elder brothers, so it would be better if everyone is the same." Seeing that she was speaking half-truths and half-false words, Ruyi didn't dare to respond for a while, so she could only smile and said, "What is Sister Chunfei talking about? After all, you gave birth to the third elder brother, so naturally you are better at raising children than me, no It looks like I have hands and feet. And my sister doesn't know, my sister just saw the way Ah Ruo treated me just now, even if I come out, I'm afraid I will be stared at by others, I can't take care of myself, how can I take care of my elder brother!" Concubine Chun said to her a lot: "What does that sister mean... Eldest brother has been raised in my palace?" Ruyi smiled modestly, and said with confidence: "I am not the eldest brother's own mother-in-law. Now that my sister has raised the eldest brother so well, how dare I ask the eldest brother to go with a shy face? Even the emperor would not agree to it." what!" Concubine Chun breathed out calmly, patted her hand and said with concern: "Now my younger sister takes good care of her body first. Concubine Shen's charming son has seduced the emperor for many years, and she is defiant. You must take good care of her when you have time, so that younger sister can look after her." Out of the bad breath back then." Ruyi smiled and said: "With my sister's kindness, I feel at ease." After several days in succession, Ah Ruo claimed to be sick and never went out.Ruyi called Jiang and Bin to ask him, and he knew that Ah Ruo was really sick because of his shortness of breath.The cause of the illness was unknown, but it always caused people to speculate. The medicines from the Tai Hospital were brought in one after another, and Ah Ruo did not necessarily get well. People who saw it only said that people were getting thinner and thinner, because they were seriously ill. Ruyi only flicked her nails lightly when she learned that she had only been out of the cold palace for a few days, and A Ruo was made sick by herself, and fell into the tongue of others. It was her idea to inject arsenic.Taking advantage of Ah Ruo being so sick, I couldn't hold back my heart, so I said to Ruyi in private: "If the young master doesn't want to, let the slaves do the dirty work. Anyway, the young master was hurt back then. The real person is Ah Ruo, and even if we harm her once, we will repay our wrong and our revenge." Ruyi sipped Biqing's tea lightly, and said, "Then what do you do?" Yan Xin bit her lips, but there was no fear in her eyes: "It's just looking for Jiang Yubin and giving her something nice." Ruyi took a fragrant cherry on the table, slowly swallowed and said: "No. After listening to Ah Ruo's tone a few days ago, I felt more and more that the emperor did not treat her as we saw. Since the emperor It's not as good as it seems on the surface, and it must be reasonable to say that I have been wronged and should not degrade her status, but raise her status. At this time, it is inconvenient for us to start." Seeing that Ruyi has made up her mind, Xin Xin couldn't persuade her anymore.On the contrary, when Jiang Yubin came to ask for pulse, Ruyi secretly told her, "Since Ah Ruo's illness is a heart disease, don't cure her, and don't cure her." Jiang Yubin raised his eyebrows and smiled, as if he was absolutely sure: "My lord's orders have been received by the entire imperial hospital. Every imperial doctor knows it well." Ruyi closed her eyes for a moment, smelling the faint fragrance of plum blossoms outside the palace, her nose was cold: "Is it the emperor?" "The emperor, and the queen." Ruyi's thoughts were not on Ah Ruo, and she asked, "There is one more thing that I can't figure out. I saw Concubine Hui recently, and she looked much worse than she did three years ago. Concubine Hui is the same as me. The Empress’s bracelets are mixed with Linglingxiang, why would someone go so far as to give her medicines that make her sicker, are they afraid that Linglingxiang’s medicinal power will not be enough?” Jiang Yubin murmured, "Maybe someone is more wary of the noble concubine Hui than the young master. Or maybe someone coincides with the empress." Ruyi pondered slightly, took out the jade bracelet with broken beads hidden in the brocade box, and handed it to Jiang Yubin: "Go, find someone you can trust outside, and take out the Lingling Fragrant Pills inside, and I will put on the jade bracelet as usual. So that the queen can feel at ease." Jiang Yubin received it, his eyes were full of affection, he glanced at him and said in his heart: "Your lord's order, I should do my best." Ruyi nodded: "I will never forget those who helped me and those who were loyal to me, and I will repay them one by one. By the way, Ling Yunche..." "My lord, don't worry. According to my lord's order, Ling Yunche has been called out. Now, he is already the guard guarding Kunning Palace." The Kunning Palace, which was supposed to be the residence of the emperors and queens for their weddings, has become a place for shamans to worship gods since the Shunzhi Dynasty. It is both noble and quiet, and it is indeed a good place. Ruyi raised her head, looked at the clear blue sky outside the window, and thought to herself, this could be regarded as a good way out for Ling Yunche.Of course, what happens in the future is still up to him. Everyone can only walk this path by themselves, without exception.