Chapter 47 Section VIII

After the morning bell rang, Chang'an City woke up. As soon as the common people walked onto the street in twos and threes, they were dumbfounded to see a white steed with no one riding it, passing by the long street like the wind. Wherever Shenjun passed by, thousands of gates and ravines opened one after another.He ran all the way to the Danfeng Gate, and Taxue Cong stopped, turned around in a majestic manner, raised his head and neighed. It is used to the Danfeng gate where the emperor comes and goes, so it only recognizes this gate and goes straight to this gate. Everyone witnessed the miraculous return of Ta Xuecong, but only a few people saw the scene when it left, and Du Qiuniang was among them.

When Pei Xuanjing rode out of the Daming Palace on a snow-treading horse, Du Qiuniang clearly saw the figure in white clothes on the horse's back, although it was only a glimpse.She couldn't believe her eyes, Pei Xuanjing really left just like that - what an incredible plan, it actually came to fruition! Du Qiuniang wept with joy, and Zheng Qiong'e accompanied her silently.A red candle has not yet been lit, reflecting two beautiful faces, each with their own worries, sorrows and joys. No one mentioned the name Pei Xuanjing again, as if she had never appeared in Daming Palace. The apple blossoms by the Taiye Pool are old, and the autumn colors in Daming Palace are getting darker.

Du Qiuniang was still dressing, and the emperor would call her after another half an hour as usual, so she dawdled and was not in a hurry, and after a long time picked among the golden pots brought by Zheng Qiong'e, she finally found a bunch of white four-leaf flowers. . "Hey, isn't this Apple Blossom?" Zheng Qiong'e hurriedly said: "They picked it for themselves to play with, why did they put it in the golden basin?" As she spoke, she wanted to pick out the apple blossoms. Du Qiuniang stopped her and asked: "I saw a large apple blossom beside the Taiye Pond. I heard that the emperor ordered it to be planted?"

"yes." "Why?" "Princess Puning, the most beloved daughter of the Holy Majesty, likes apple blossoms. Unfortunately, the princess passed away at the age of seventeen. The Majesty was very sad, and later ordered someone to plant a large piece of white apples by the Taiye Pond. I think, It’s about expressing nostalgia.” "Oh, so that's how it is..." Du Qiuniang nodded thoughtfully, raised Pinghua to her temples, and said in the mirror, "It's not bad, do you think it looks good?" "Absolutely not." Zheng Qiong'e persuaded, "We in the Tang Dynasty advocate wealth and luxury. No matter how beautiful the apple blossoms by the water are, they are rootless and humble. How can we go to see the emperor?"

"No, you didn't just say that Apple Blossoms are the favorite of Princess Puning. And these days I saw His Majesty looking through Liu Zihou's collection of poems, and there is a line in it that says 'If you want to pick apple blossoms, you are not free'. His Majesty often recites it, and it seems that he likes it very much. Woolen cloth." "Really not." Zheng Qiong'e still wanted to dissuade her, but the palace maid came in: "Your Majesty ordered my lady to go quickly." Du Qiuniang said in shock: "It's so early!" She panicked for a while, what happened?Facing the mirror, she hurriedly straightened her sideburns, and put the bunch of apple blossoms on her bun, but seeing that against the background of the beautiful flowers, the person in the mirror looked more and more like autumn pupils, and her face was as vivid as a hibiscus emerging from water.Du Qiuniang gave Zheng Qiong'e a sideways look, and walked away with her head held high.

As soon as she entered the palace, she heard the emperor's anxious voice: "Where's the key? Have you seen my key?" "What key?" "The key to the golden chamber!" "Oh." These days, she always saw the emperor holding a small pure gold key, turning behind the mica screen alone, and opening a golden chamber placed on the long case.Every time he did this, he carried a unique solemn expression and tension all over his body, as if there was something vital to life in the golden chamber.Du Qiuniang really wanted to go up and take a look, but she really didn't have the guts.She also found that every time after watching the Golden Chamber, the emperor would be silent for a long time.During that time, he was neither like the mysterious and romantic Mr. Li who visited Pingkangfang, nor the emperor who ruled the world in the Daming Palace, but more like a man who was in awe of destiny, but refused to accept his fate easily , Contradictory ordinary people.Du Qiuniang didn't dare to disturb him, so she could only wait quietly beside him, waiting for him to return to normal.

"Is it this?" She took out a golden key from the corner of the imperial couch. "Yes!" The emperor rushed over, "Why are you here?" He glanced at Du Qiuniang again, "Oh, I must have been negligent." He turned around and walked behind the screen. Du Qiuniang had to sit down and wait again.She fiddled with the red sandalwood pipa bestowed by the emperor in boredom, but was careful not to make any sound.He has never asked her to play this pipa for him. Suddenly, there was a loud "bang" sound from behind the screen. Du Qiuniang jumped up in fright, ran to the screen and stopped again, calling in cautiously: "Everyone..."

The emperor appeared in front of her, with a happy and sad expression on his face that she had never seen before. "It's changed." His voice was also extraordinarily fragile. "Changed? What changed?" "It's really changed! The second elephant is back to normal!" "What... the second elephant?" Du Qiuniang seemed to be in a fog. "The gods are clear..." The emperor suddenly choked up.Looking at the tears in his eyes, Du Qiuniang was so panicked that she didn't know what to do, so she was caught off guard and pulled into his arms forcefully.

"You are my lucky star, my lucky star!" The emperor murmured in her ear, hugging her tightly with both arms. Du Qiuniang was almost out of breath, but she was in a trance, a sense of happiness that she had never felt before filled her whole body. "Wait." The emperor let go of her again, "You play a piece first, and I will go to see it again after playing." Du Qiuniang had no choice but to pick up the pipa as ordered, and played "Golden Thread Clothes".She had never played so absent-mindedly in her whole life, and a piece of music she knew so well was unexpectedly out of tune. Fortunately, the emperor was more absent-minded than her, so he didn't hear anything unusual.

This song is really indescribable.Finally the song stopped, and the emperor went behind the screen again.After waiting for a while, Du Qiuniang couldn't help but get up quietly, and tiptoed to the screen, peeking inside under the curtain. what did she see ! The emperor prostrated himself on the ground, and was kneeling to the head of the golden cabinet on the case. Ever since Du Qiuniang entered the palace, she had only seen people bowing down to the emperor, but she had never seen the emperor bowing down before.This shock was no small matter, she quickly retreated to the couch quietly and sat down, her heart still beating endlessly.

After a while, the emperor reappeared, but his expression was very calm. "come here." Du Qiuniang obediently sat beside him. "I will make you a concubine." He started talking about this topic casually, like a husband talking to his wife, "I don't have a queen, and only one wife, Guo Shi, can be named a noble concubine. From now on, you will be my autumn." Concubine, how are you doing?" "Then... okay." It was so unexpected that Du Qiuniang was a little dazed. Seeing the emperor's smile, she remembered that she should thank you. Just as she was about to stand up, he pressed her gently, "I will thank you when the edict is issued. Besides, I have to change your name." "Renamed? Why?" "Since you are going to be my autumn concubine, how can you still be called Qiuniang. Besides, I don't like the word "autumn" which means chilling." "Then what should I be called?" "It's called Zhongyang. What I just thought of for you, Zhongyang, means returning to the earth in spring. From now on, you will be called Du Zhongyang." "Du Zhongyang." She couldn't help laughing, "It sounds good, but I'm not used to it." "Get used to it slowly." The emperor also smiled, "What more do you want? I am in a very good mood today, you can make one more request." "I want..." She thought about it seriously, "I want a special pet." "Special pet? What do you mean?" "It's just that in the entire harem, everyone can only love me from now on." The emperor was dumbfounded: "You can also make such a request?" "Hmph! I shouldn't expect the emperor to be single-minded!" Du Qiuniang blushed immediately and said angrily, "I'm still too stupid, just pretend I didn't say anything!" "Maybe... I can consider it?" The emperor laughed, "Maybe I have an autumn concubine, is that enough? It's enough." Du Qiuniang lost her temper immediately, leaning on the emperor's shoulder, she said coquettishly, "I have one more request." "You still have to push your feet? Tell me." "Winter is coming soon. Can everyone order someone to remove the ice from the temple?" Du Qiuniang said softly, "I'm afraid of the cold." "Afraid of the cold, why don't you wear more?" "It's too bloated if you wear too much, it doesn't look good..." The emperor was silent for a moment, and raised his hand to stroke her hair: "Well, what kind of flower is this?" "Apple Blossom." The emperor frowned: "Why hairpin it?" "I thought you liked..." "No, I don't like it." The emperor took the apple blossom from her bun and threw it on the ground. "What flowers do you like?" She was a little flustered. But he hugged her tighter and said in a low voice, "Do I need to ask? Of course it's Peony." Surrounded by ambergris, Du Qiuniang couldn't help closing her eyes, and the scene of last night resurfaced in her mind—— She should have acted sooner.Pei Xuanjing made it very clear: Once she is not in the Daming Palace, no matter whether she is dead or gone, Du Qiuniang must immediately act according to the plan. But Du Qiuniang waited for several nights, the emperor's sleep was too poor, and the slightest movement would wake him up, and finally she had no choice but to follow Pei Xuanjing's instructions and add a little bit of Cui Miao's ecstasy powder to the ambergris . After the emperor fell asleep, Du Qiuniang opened the golden chamber with a key and took out the second image of "Tui Bei Tu" placed on the top. Although she had practiced it many times, her hands still shook violently when she applied the pre-mixed orpiment juice to the scarlet letters.Thankfully, from the second image plus the thirty-third image, there are only four words that need to be changed.The orpiment juice was prepared by Song Ruolun himself.The orpiment juice that Song Ruohua used when proofreading books in Persimmon Forest Academy, after Song Ruoyin's ingenious preparation, has been able to achieve the effect of removing the original handwriting without leaving any traces.If the words are rewritten on it, as long as the handwriting is properly mastered, almost no one will be able to see that it has been modified.Only the sisters of the Song family in the Persimmon Forest Court mastered this unique skill of altering ancient books.The night before Song Ruozhao disappeared, he specifically told Song Ruolun that if something happened to him, Song Ruolun would completely trust Pei Xuanjing and tell her this unique skill without reservation.So Pei Xuanjing obtained orpiment juice from Song Ruolun and handed it over to Du Qiuniang for practice.She not only had to practice the seamless correction, but also practiced re-writing black letters on top of the erased scarlet letters that looked like real ones.Du Qiuniang quietly practiced over and over again, and now she is still afraid when she thinks about it, she really doesn't know where she got the courage last night. Fortunately, all this is over.Next, she will help the emperor get rid of the golden elixir, and she is full of confidence in this. Now she is even glad that Cui Miao was able to find herself at Huanhuaxitou a few months ago. Du Zhongyang is looking forward to the future, just like the new name he just got: spring back to the earth.