Chapter 44 Section 44

Every year, during the rare seven or eight days of freedom, the emperor always wandered around aimlessly, spending time with the little eunuch, but this year was different and became quieter.When I got up early in the morning, I first went to the Empress Dowager Cixi's Palace to greet her, and then went to the Empress Dowager Ci'an's place, and stayed there. There was a tacit understanding between the top and bottom of the Suishou Palace, and when the emperor came, Gui Lian was sent to work as an errand, and it was her errand even to grind ink and serve the emperor's writing and reading.

"Today I'm going to make a poem." The emperor said old-fashionedly, "Master has left two topics, and I have to hand in the papers at the beginning of the new year." It was the first time Guilian saw the emperor making poems, and he didn't know how to make poems and how to serve him?Then he smiled and asked, "What should I get for the Long Live Lord?" "Bring me my schoolbag first!" So Guilian brought the emperor's yellow satin embroidered dragon schoolbag, put it on the desk, and opened it.The emperor took out a "Poetry Draft" book with a yellow satin face and a red silk inscription, opened the first page, and read it softly to himself, shaking his head, quite proud of himself.

"Look!" He pointed to a line of writing and said, "Master Li circled it." Then he recited the first poem he wrote, which was the first of five unique poems, and the title of the poem was "Shan Mei". Playing the tight circle is naturally a good homework, Guilian said: "Then I have to congratulate the Long Live Lord!" As she spoke, she knelt down to pay her respects.A handkerchief made of moon-white embroidered silk in his hand was naturally raised, exuding a very strong fragrance. "Smells so good!" The emperor was a little distracted, "What's the scent on your handkerchief?"

"It's a perfume from a foreign country." Guilian replied, "I gave it a big reward, and said it can't be used more. Da Gege said that she broke a bottle this summer, and it still smells good in the house." The emperor was surprised: "Da Gege has come to the palace? How sooner or later, why didn't I know?" "It's been seven or eight days. I came at noon that day. Lord Long Live is in the study." "Did you cry?" "Why don't you cry? The forehead is seriously ill again!" Gui Lian said with a frown. "What about the queen mother, what should I say to her?"

"The Queen Mother didn't say anything, she just shed tears with Da Gege." "Ah!" The emperor's expression was extremely unhappy, "Stop talking!" Gui Lian was very disturbed and deeply regretful that he should not have talked about Da Gege and wiped out the emperor's good interest.So he asked timidly, "Long Live Lord, isn't he angry with a slave?" "Why am I mad at you?" "Then..." Guilian pointed to the poem manuscript and said, "Long Live Lord, let's compose poems happily!" This made the emperor laugh: "It's easy for you to say! Then you can be happy if you want to be happy, and write poetry if you want to do it?"

Gui Lian pursed his lips and remained silent. He also felt a little uncomfortable, so he accosted and went to poke the fire in the charcoal basin, added two pieces of "silver bone charcoal" on top, and gently blew with his mouth, trying to blow the fire away. Be prosperous. "Don't do that!" the emperor warned her, "you'll have a sore throat later." This was the emperor's thoughtfulness, and she had never seen him say such words to other court ladies, she couldn't help but feel infinite gratitude in her heart, stood up, glanced over, with that indescribable and flattered expression.

The emperor was most fascinated by her eyes, just for a moment, he could make him think for a long time, and every time he couldn't help but want to hold her hand and sit together and talk in a low voice.Helpless, although Xiao Li and the others were not in the house, they were on the porch, and their every move was watched quietly, so he couldn't be free from scruples. Settle down and write poetry!He said to himself, and then shouted: "Xiao Li! Get the Shiyun brand. " "Cha!" Xiao Li agreed like this, but couldn't think of where there was such a thing? "Go!" urged the emperor.

"Go!" The emperor urged loudly. "Cha!" Xiao Li replied loudly, and raised his chest high, but did not move his feet. This means that there is a hindrance to doing the will.The emperor knew very well that if he continued to reprimand and urge him, Xiao Li would find a way to prevaricate. Those weird prevarications can teach people to suffer, but they can't scold him, they can only throw things in anger.Therefore, the most affordable solution is to first ask him what difficulties he has? This of course does not come with nice words.The emperor tilted his head, frowned, and asked in a heavy voice expressing impatience: "What's the matter?"

Xiao Li was waiting for his question, and replied calmly: "The slave is thinking, it won't work if you go quickly! The slave only has two legs, so no matter how fast you run, the distance is far away, you still can't go fast, I'm afraid long live The master is getting annoyed by the wait, so the slave is thinking, where is there nearby? It’s decided to grab it.” "Thinking about that time? You just want to be lazy and have nothing to say. Hurry up! Go to the Hall of Mental Cultivation." The emperor warned, "Don't make a mistake. If you want a 'flat voice', look at the 'one east, two winter', 'One first, two Xiao' is."

"Cha!" Xiao Li had no choice but to move. "Wait!" It was Gui Lian's voice. Because it was so crisp and clear, everyone paid attention indoors and outdoors. When Xiao Li stood still and looked back, she was asking the emperor with gestures: "Is it that big and tall?" There are many small drawers in the small cabinet, and the words engraved on it, what about 'Yidong, Erdong, Sanjiang, Siyang'?" "By the way!" The emperor was overjoyed and couldn't help raising his voice, "However, it's not the 'four suns', it's the 'seven suns'."

"The servant can't tell whether it's Siyang or Qiyang? Anyway, I remember Yidong and Erdong quite clearly." Gui Lian replied, "I have seen this thing in the warehouse." "That's good! You take Xiao Li and ask Yuzi to ask for it." Not long after, I fetched two small rosewood cabinets, each with fifteen small drawers, and each drawer has a rhyme "Shangping" from "Yidong" to "Fifteen Delete", and "Xiaping" from " "One first" to "fifteen salty", all are engraved on the drawer. "Is this it?" Guilian asked calmly. "That's it." The emperor said, "You open the 'Eleven Truth'." Open the eleventh drawer of the cabinet in Shangping, and there are many neatly stacked tooth cards in it.Gui Lian picked up a piece and looked at it, and it was the word "true", and another piece, and looked at it, it was the word "Yin". "What's this for?" she asked. "You don't understand this!" the emperor said proudly, "I can't explain it to you. Take out all the cards and let me see them." Gui Lianjin blinked, took out the cards one by one, and looked at them one by one. His hands and feet were very slow. The emperor was impatient and pulled the drawer. With a "crash", all the cards were dumped on the table. "Come on! They've been captured!" As he spoke, he stretched out his hand to take care of it first, so Guilian naturally wanted to do it even more.The four hands are sorting the cards together, and it is unavoidable to meet them. The first two times were okay, but after the sorting, the emperor deliberately messed up the stacked cards in front of her, and took advantage of the situation to touch and pinch Guilian's hand. As soon as he hit it, he was still yelling: "Hurry up! Get the words right!" and looked out of the window from time to time, afraid that Xiao Li and other eunuchs would pay attention to his movements. Of course they were paying attention outside the window, but they pretended not to see it, avoiding his eyes all the time.This made the emperor feel a little more relaxed. He took her hand and smelled it, and seeing that she didn't express anything, he took advantage of the moment Xiao Li turned around outside the window, and quickly reached out to touch her face. This touch made Guilian's face turn red, and he remembered what Yuzi had told him: to persuade the emperor to study more.Then he said: "Isn't Long Live Master going to make poetry?" "Mm, um, make poetry, make poetry!" The emperor seemed to have done something unconscionable, and he felt a little shy. Seeing that the emperor had calmed down, Gui Lian's heart also settled down, and he arranged the cards by himself. She is very smart, and within a short period of time, she has already realized the usefulness of the name cards. She put the characters she recognized in the "Eleven Truths" in the front, as if she had seen them but didn't recognize them, and put them in the middle, and the last ones were those she recognized. The "strange characters" in my mind: 忞, 歅, 紃, 奫 and so on. This arrangement is quite satisfactory, and the emperor had a small, unexpected surprise, "Guilian!" He pointed to the common words in front and asked, "How did you know I was going to use these words?" Guilian wanted to say, those "strange characters" must not be recognized by Long Live Lord, so he left them behind.But if this is said, it may be a catastrophe.So he smiled sweetly and said, "The slave is guessing nonsense. I guessed the mind of Long Live Lord unexpectedly." This reminded the emperor of the drama in "Si Lang Visits His Mother", and immediately said: "Okay, just guess what I'm thinking right now?" "The servant can't guess!" "It doesn't matter if you can't guess." "Then, I'm just guessing nonsense." Gui Lian tilted his head, looked up sideways, and gently twisted her own earlobe with two fingers with a smile. This posture was extremely beautiful in the eyes of the emperor.What's especially touching is that she blinked divinely because of deep thinking, and her long eyelashes are like countless little elves, constantly jumping and flashing. "My servant guesses Long Live, what I'm thinking at the moment is," she smiled mischievously, "I want to reward this servant with a gemstone ring." It was a bit unbelievable to guess, but the emperor was very happy.Really, why not reward Guilian with something? "You guessed right!" he said, looking out of the window as if to call someone. He really took it seriously, but Gui Lian was uneasy again, "No!" She hurriedly stopped, "I'm guessing nonsense, I'm making fun of the Long Live Lord, I dare not ask the Long Live Lord for a reward." The emperor also woke up. If it was said that Xiao Li took the gemstone ring to reward Guilian, the respect room must "record the file", so that everyone would know about it. How boring is it?So I stopped calling Xiao Li, and thought for a while and asked: "Which kind of gemstone do you like? I will quietly find one for you!" Guilian, who was already in love, could hear the word "Quietie" very clearly. After reading it several times in his heart, he felt an indescribably sweet and intoxicating taste, so he replied shyly: "My slave likes blue. of." "Okay, I'll give you one during the Chinese New Year." The emperor stopped writing poems that day, and the emperor went to see the eldest princess in the Palace of Concubine Ligui.The delicate and naive eldest princess is the best with the emperor. When talking with sisters and brothers, they often skip the etiquette, so she said when they met: "Hey! Rare guest." "Don't talk to the emperor like that!" Dowager Ligui scolded her daughter. Concubine Ligui was only in her early thirties, but she was already emaciated. During Wen Zong's first two years in Bintian, she shed tears almost day and night, partly because she missed the late emperor, and partly because she was angry with Empress Dowager Cixi.In the past few years, it seems that I have thought about it, but in fact, my heart is like a tree, and I only use it for Buddha to read scriptures to pass the day.If there is still something that can't let go of her mind, it is a charming girl in front of her knees. Because of this, although the eldest princess assigned Fu Zhen, the descendant of Taizong's ten-headed son-in-law Huisai, she quietly asked the Empress Dowager Ci'an , I hope to keep my daughter by my side for two more years.The Empress Dowager Ci'an has always taken good care of her, so she naturally agreed, but the Empress Dowager Cixi didn't care about it at all, so Da Gege surrendered a long time ago, and the princess's wedding will be held that year?But no one ever mentioned it. However, unlike his biological mother, the emperor respected Concubine Ligui very much, and this concubine also attached great importance to him.She often thinks: the queen mother of the two palaces will listen to the government behind the curtain, and there will always be a day when the emperor becomes an adult and can take charge of everything, then she will have a few more comfortable days for the rest of her life.Moreover, the son-in-law and daughter also depend on the emperor's grace.Because of this kind of thinking, although she didn't deliberately win over the emperor, she always tried to get him to like him everywhere. She was even very polite to the people around the emperor, such as Zhang Wenliang, Xiao Li, etc., and every time she asked the maid to bring tea, Take refreshments.There are also often rewards - it is said that Concubine Ligui has a lot of things in her hand because Wenzong was favored in Japan. However, when the emperor met the concubines of the previous dynasty, they should have been estranged in their deeds, so after a few questions and answers as usual, Dowager Ligui told the eldest princess: "Talk with the emperor well, don't be unruly." That is, return to your own house. Only then did the emperor explain his intention: "I want something from you, will you give it?" "What do you want? If I don't have one, I can't!" "Of course you have it. I'll ask you for a jeweled ring." "Why do you use it?" asked the eldest princess, "I really don't understand, what does the emperor want my ring for?" "I don't want you if you are stingy." "Who's being stingy?" The eldest princess raised her voice, "I'm just..." "Don't yell!" The emperor quickly shook his hand and said, "I'm just kidding with you, so you're in a hurry." "Of course I have to be anxious! I hate people saying I'm stingy. Does the emperor think I'm stingy?" The eldest princess was so generous, she quickly took out her jewelry box, opened the lid, and pushed it in front of the emperor. "Your dowry is quite a lot!" The emperor laughed, "Don't feel bad, I only want a sapphire." "It doesn't matter whether it's blue or red, just choose according to your temperament!" "Don't choose, anyway, they are all good, you can give me one that is not too big or small." The eldest princess was a little angry, so she picked the biggest one and sent it to the emperor: the ring face was as big as a broad bean, and its color was extremely pure. It was called "Lan Guiyu", which was a variety of jadeite. "I will take it, but there is a word, can you agree? If you don't agree, I don't want it." The emperor went on to say: "I asked you for this ring. Don't tell anyone. If you see someone If you wear it on your hand, just pretend you didn’t see it, and don’t tell anyone about it.” "Okay!" The eldest princess answered very crisply, but there was one condition: "The emperor must tell me, who is this ring for?" The emperor hesitated for a moment, nodded and said: "You stretch out your hand!" When the eldest princess opened her palm, he wrote the word "Guilian". "I guess it's her too." The emperor smiled and left.The next day, she went to the Suishou Palace again, and found a chance to give the ring to Gui Lian. She greeted him and thanked him, playing with that precious ornament, with a smile on her face all the time.The emperor saw it in his eyes, and felt an indescribable sense of ease and comfort in his heart. But Guilian's smile finally disappeared, and there was a faint look of melancholy in his eyes.At this time, the emperor paid attention to her every frown and smile, wondering why she was unhappy?He wanted to ask her, but he seemed to be in the way, so his face became gloomy. Gui Lian was very vigilant, knowing it was for his own sake, he immediately smiled again, and asked softly, "Why is Lord Long Live unhappy again?" The emperor was thinking of an appropriate sentence, and he wanted to ask her why she was unhappy?I saw Xiao Li hurriedly appearing at the door, bent one leg, and said loudly: "Long Live Qi Zuo, the Holy Mother and Empress Dowager are looking for you!" This is not a common occurrence, and seeing Xiao Li's panicked face, he couldn't help feeling a little panicked, stood up and left, and heard Guilian shout: "Long live! Hat!" He stood still, and saw Gui Lian walking over with his mink cap in one hand, so he lowered his head and asked Gui Lian to put it on for him, and hurriedly got into the soft sedan chair, with Xiao Li supporting the sedan chair , carried to Yikun Palace. "What's going on?" The emperor couldn't help asking. "I don't know why the Empress Dowager lost her temper?" Xiao Li replied in a low voice, "I dropped all the teacups!" This said, the emperor became more and more worried. When he arrived at Yikun Palace, he found that Empress Dowager Cixi's face seemed to be covered with a layer of frost. The Empress Dowager Cixi was silent, she was picking her nails, leaning her body sideways, looked at the emperor from top to bottom, and then said with a sneer, "Hmph! When you go to the study, you can still see people. If you don't go to the study, even Yinger It's all out of sight." The emperor didn't dare to make a sound, and kept his head down, only drawing circles on the carpet with his toes. "What does it look like? Do you have any dignity? How many times have I told you that you have to work hard, learn the rules, and walk there like an emperor. Anyway, you didn't listen to a word, wandering around, talking to the outside world. What's the difference, wild child?" The word "wild child" hurt the emperor's self-esteem too much. Although he didn't dare to argue, he turned his head away. "Look at you! I'm talking to you, you are just like me!" Empress Dowager Cixi patted the kang, "You should understand in your heart, don't think that someone is protecting you, so you dare to climb on top of me!" "Master, why should you be angry with Lord Long Live?" An Dehai suddenly appeared out of nowhere, "Okay, okay! Lord Long Live, please make an apology and say, 'Don't dare next time.'" Then he came to help the emperor body, meaning to turn his body around and kowtow to the Empress Dowager Cixi.