Chapter 6 Chapter Six

The corners of Ruyi's eyes suddenly became wet, as if the wind had inadvertently penetrated into her eyes, blowing away the hazy scene in front of her eyes.As she pondered deeply, a sharp fear gripped her heart deeply. Will she be like the queen mother in the future, unable to protect her own children? She dared not, nor could she tolerate such pessimistic and hopeless thoughts.What interrupted her thoughts was the emperor's hoarse and low voice.The emperor looked sad: "Ruyi, don't you think I'm too disregarding family affection?" In this case, how could she answer.If it is said that the emperor disregards family affection, it is certainly an offense to Longyan.If it is said that the emperor cares about family affection, then what is Duanshu?If it's your Jingsi's turn in the future, then what's the matter?She went back and forth in her chest, and finally could only say: "In the emperor's heart, the overall situation is more important than personal relationships. If it is in an ordinary family, it is true that there is a dilemma between brother and sister love and the overall situation, but when born in a heavenly family, everyone has My own last resort. I hope that from now on, the emperor will never have such a last resort."

The emperor sighed sadly, and took Ruyi's shoulders: "I know what you are worried about. When Xu Duanshu remarried that day, I had already thought about it. This is the last time, the last time in the Qing Dynasty, and there will be no more distant marriages." princess." Since then, the Empress Dowager stayed quietly in the Palace of Compassion and Ning, not going out for half a step, only offering incense to the Buddha, praying day and night for Princess Duanshu.All the affairs in the palace are in Ruyi's hands, and the concubines also pay attention to them day and night, and Yikun's palace is full of laughter and fragrance of clothes all the time.

At this moment, Ruyi hugged Yongzheng in her arms, listening to the concubines sitting down and chatting, she just smiled slightly.Because the third elder brother Yongzhang is not as shameless in front of the emperor as he used to be, and he is a little more cheerful than before, flattering Ruyi: "Speaking of which, Concubine Jia and fourth elder brother are too greedy. The emperor slightly If you raise it a bit more, you will have to stare at Shu, staring at things that she shouldn't think about, and she doesn't deserve to think about it." She handed over a golden mandarin orange and teased Yong Xin with a smile: "Now there is the twelfth elder brother born to the empress, and she will do it too. Such a dream came."

Ruyi said with a slight smile: "This dynasty does not insist on establishing a heir. Taizu Gao Emperor Nurhachi had many concubines, the Yuan concubine Tong Jia gave birth to Chu Ying and Dai Shan, and the second concubine Fucha gave birth to Manggu Ertai and Dege, the last concubine, Ulanara, gave birth to Azig, Dorgon and Duoduo. But the last one to succeed to the throne was Emperor Taizong, who was born to the side concubine Yehenala. Taiji. In the early years, Taizu was just a common son. So in my opinion, as long as he has talent and learning, and can contribute to the country, he is a good son of the emperor. We don’t care about the sons and daughters, we only talk about the virtuous and capable.”

Hearing these words, Luyun was completely convinced.Hailan Yirou smiled slowly: "Apart from Concubine Jia, there are the most pure noble concubines and princes, and the third elder brother is the eldest son, and he is also a role model for other princes. Yong Qi always tells me when she comes back, the third elder brother is No matter how calm you are, with the third elder brother here, he has a backbone in doing things." These words are humble, and they made Lu Yun smile, she was overjoyed: "Yong Qi's words are the most sensible, it's true that they are all good brothers, unlike the children taught by Concubine Jia, they don't have a good face to others." After she finished speaking, she turned serious and raised her two fingers, "It's just that the elder brother of the concubine, no matter whether he is good or not, the concubine will swear here. The concubine's children only know how to be loyal to the Qing Dynasty, the emperor, and the future master. There is absolutely no delusion about seizing the heir."

Ruyi seemed very surprised, so she calmed down and said, "It's fine, why are you saying such things?" Luyun shook her head very solemnly, and slowly scanned the surrounding people: "The concubine has two princes, the third elder brother and the sixth elder brother. It is inevitable that some people will speculate that the concubine will rely on her sons to disrespect the queen. Today, the concubine is simply here Let me be clear here. The sisters here may have children, or they will give birth to emperors in the future. It is better to make it clear today, so as not to cause disputes in the future, making people think that our harem has lost the upper and lower ranks, and messed up the descendants. It's the rules."

After she finished speaking, Hailan also bowed solemnly: "Sister Chungui has been in the palace for a long time, and she understands what is going on. The concubine follows Chungui, but the empress is the only one who follows her lead. She has no intention of seizing the birth and causing chaos. Take the courtiers and concubines and go all over the house." When she said this, Heren still dared not get up, so he understood everything. Ruyi listened to everyone swearing together, Fang motioned Rong Pei to help the leader Lu Yun to get up, and said with a warm smile: "Pure Concubine and Concubine Yu are good at teaching their children, even this palace envies me when they look at it." She looked at the sitting The next group of young concubines paid special attention to Concubine Xin and Concubine Ying and said, "You are all young and you are loved by the Emperor, so you should do your best to add a few princes to the Emperor."

Concubine Xin and Concubine Ying hurriedly stood up to thank them.Sitting behind Hailan, Yan Wan listened to the concubines chattering and laughing endlessly, and said every word about the children, she couldn't help feeling sour and a little unhappy.And even though she is favored, she has never been ashamed in front of Ruyi, she is just sad. Seeing Yan Wan sitting alone among the ostentatious concubines, Ruyi changed the topic: "Concubine Ling, today is your birthday, the emperor ordered the Ministry of Internal Affairs to prepare silver noodles and send them to your palace yesterday. There are other rewards. Let us also congratulate you on your birthday."

Yan Wan suddenly heard Ruyi mentioning her own birthday, and hurriedly put on a smile: "I thank the empress for her concern." Ruyi glanced at her with a calm expression, "The emperor will go back to your palace tonight, so please take good care of her." Yan Wan listened to Ruyi's tone of voice when she spoke to herself, it was exactly like the tone of a headed wife to a humble concubine.Thinking that Ruyi is only from a concubine to a later position, her heart seemed to be tightly grasped and rubbed by a hand, and she was so sore that she couldn't breathe, but no matter what, she couldn't let the smile fade a little bit on her face .

Concubine Xin and Concubine Ying were both in favor with Yan Wan. They were young and energetic, so they were not willing to give in. They congratulated on their birthdays, but smiled lightly on their faces.In this way, everyone chatted and laughed for a while, and then dispersed. In the afternoon, the emperor sent the little eunuch Jinzhong to pass the decree, and asked Yan Wan to prepare for the night to pick him up.Jinzhong smiled and said: "The emperor misses the inula soup and pine yellow cakes made by the young master himself during lunch, which shows how much the emperor misses the young master."

Chunchan deliberately joked and laughed: "Inula soup is easy to get. You can cook it with inula, xinjiang and madder, but this pine yellow cake is not easy to make. In spring, pine flower yellow is made into a cake shape with honey. Made with fresh honey from pine flowers in March, where can I get it now?" Jin Zhong's eyes were glued to Yan Wan's body, and he pulled Yan Wan's sleeves with a straight face and said, "My lord, Sister Chunchan is used to coaxing people to play. The emperor misses your concubine, so there is no lord who can't do it." Arrived. Otherwise, why would the emperor think about it day and night?" Unaware of Yan Wan's thoughts, Chunchan hurriedly pulled Jinzhong's hand and waved it away, saying, "My lord, you see Jin Zhong's slippery appearance is something I'm used to." Yan Wan took a pair of jade bracelets inlaid with pearls and put them on her jade arms, and said with a smile: "I am willing to be used to Jinzhong, that is something worthy of being used to Jinzhong. Jinzhong, don't you think so?" Jin Zhong hurriedly hit Qian'er and said: "Slave, thank you for your appreciation." Yan Wan tried the bracelet, facing the bright sun outside the window, the emeralds on the bracelet were calm and transparent, like a pool of green water, and the pearls were even smoother and glistening under the sunlight.Yan Wan shook her head, took the bracelet out and put it in Jinzhong's hand: "It's the same how the queen appreciated your master Li Yu back then, and this palace appreciates you. It's the same. Your master's today is yours." Day, don’t feel inferior to others.” Jinzhong hurriedly kowtowed and said: "Your master's teachings, I never fail to remember them in my heart. Back then, my slave's family was short of envoys, and my monthly money was not enough. It was my master who helped my slave's family over and over again. Well, the servant will never forget until death." Yan Wan smiled lightly, like a tender flower just blooming: "You can survive for a while by relying on others, but you can't live forever. If you want to never be short of money in the future, and don't ask for help, you have to strive for yourself. Go, go to the emperor and work hard , it’s good to have you.” Jinzhong clutched the bracelet tightly, and went out with gratitude. Chunchan glanced at Jin Zhong, seeing him walking away, just then spat hard and said: "Things that have no roots dare to tease the young master. The young master didn't look into his eyes, just stared at you Don't let it go. Don't even look at what you are!" Yan Wan looked coldly at the sleeves that had been pulled by Jin Zhong: "Accompany Ben Gong to change clothes, this dress has been cut, I don't want to wear it anymore." Chunchan immediately agreed, and helped Yanwan in. The night is clear and dustless, and the moonlight is like silver.The half-curved moon hangs on the top of the willow tree, reflecting the interior of the hall through the window screen of Xiaying, hazy, as if covered with a layer of milky white mist.There are several pots of Baozhu camellias under the window of the bedroom. The flowers with large bowl mouths exude fragrance. Among them, the Chiba red one is especially gorgeous. It is paired with red candles and has a sweet and intoxicating fragrance. There are several delicate side dishes on the rosewood Wufu holding birthday table, and there is still a lingering fragrance from the wine residue. The two people sitting opposite each other have spring eyebrows, full of love. Yan Wan is only wearing a homely red pipa lapel with a milky white peach pattern and a red pipa lapel, with gold thread beaded trim, which reveals lightness in its gorgeousness.Below is a purple tulle dress with fine pleats and begonia twigs, long willow-colored silk ribbons fluttering and curling, and an acacia embroidered sachet adorned with a mandarin duck and double happiness jade pendant.She is wearing a fluffy cloud bun, inserting a jade comb, and the hairpin is decorated with silver and pearls. There are pearls, corals and emeralds in between her eyebrows, her eyebrows are drooping, and her skin is whiter than snow. The graceful eyebrows and eyes were adorned with peach blossom makeup, like pink peach blossoms flying slanted, and cast a stern glance at the emperor: "The emperor said that my concubine has a thin waist and limbs and looks best in a long skirt with narrow shoulders, so this concubine dared to try it." With flying eyes, she spat in a low voice: "The emperor said that the Han family is full of the family, and they are all from the emperor." After she finished speaking, she bowed her head and plucked the strings, and played the zither. That Qin Zheng's tone was originally cool and strong, the strings were high and fast, and the zither was natural, but when it came to Yan Wan's fingers, it added a bit of charm and softness, with a thousand twists and turns. She sang softly and slowly, it was a song. "The king looks like a bright pearl, holding it high in his hand all day long. It is better than the Han flying in Zhaoyang. But it is the emerald nest in the jade tower, and the mandarin ducks are locked in the golden palace. The official family is reluctant to part with it for a moment, and their heart is on it. Hold on to the love field, occupy Duan Rouxiang, and be sweet and sweet can't write a romantic account. Sitting side by side, it is full of joy and love, and wins the moonlight night flower court to enjoy together. " There has never been a singing of Qin Zheng accompanied by Kunqu Opera. Yan Wan is so unconventional, but she also has an ingenuity.The emperor was holding a suet white jade cup, the cup was made of white jade, and the wine was clear and clear amber.He seems to be intoxicated in the clear voice of singing, one after another, drinking happily. The sound of the zither is melodious, like flowing clouds and waves, smooth and without stagnation, sometimes it is like clouds and mist lingering on the snow peak, sometimes it is like autumn water gurgling in the mountains.Yan Wan caresses the strings of the zither, her plain wrists are like jade, but the effect of her eyes follows the graceful ups and downs of the jade neck, swirling to the side of the emperor.After a while, the zither sound gradually softened, and the flutter was soothing, like a girl whispering under a fluffy tree, but the libretto was innumerably romantic and graceful, accompanied by mellow glances and smiles, overflowing and lingering. The song is over.The emperor closed his eyes, clapped his hands and chanted slowly: "The mourning zither plays the Xiangjiang song, and the sound is full of Xiangbo green. The thirteen strings are slender, and the deep hatred is conveyed. When the feast is slow, the jade pillars fly geese. When he was heartbroken, Chunshan's eyebrows were low." He opened his eyes, and there were smiles blooming in his eyes, "Concubine Ling, you always come up with new ideas like this, which surprises me." Yan Wan's eyes lingered on the emperor like soft silk, and he refused to let go for a moment. He said coquettishly: "If all the concubines are the same as others, the emperor will not like them. And the emperor likes concubines, others may not like them." I just like it." She seemed angry and resentful, exhaling like blue, "How many people hate concubines behind their backs, saying that concubines have entered the house with evil flowers." The emperor's breath has a strong aroma of wine, like red roses blooming in a big canopy under the night, and only this kind of precious foreign wine tributed by foreign countries can have such a strong and beautiful fragrance.He couldn't stop laughing: "Evil? How evil?" The graceful figure was like a willow swaying in the wind, gently rippling towards the emperor, and then dodged away like a dragonfly.Her winking eyes were like stars, and she said: "Just say that the concubine is so evil to attract the emperor, and to keep the emperor." "Are you still trying to seduce me?" The emperor pinched her face, pretending to think, "Then there is that sentence, wait and see if the evil is overwhelming?" Yan Wan turned her back, Jiao Didi said: "The emperor knows, the emperor declares." The emperor hugged her on his lap, and said with a loud smile, "I just like you to be evil, how about it? The evil is inside, but you can be serious to those who love prudishness. You are evil inside and right outside." Scarlet, with the smell of sweet wine when approaching her, "That's why I like you, and I will remember your birthday to visit you during the Junggar war." It is true that things like this can make a man extremely ambitious, but it is the real ease and ease to smile at this flowery smile and turn tenderness." Yan Wan laughed until the flowers trembled, and fell into the emperor's arms.The emperor hugged her, raised his head and poured the wine down his throat.His lips were as bright as vermilion, obviously very drunk, and he chanted loudly: "I have long loved the green and dry shadows, when the hibiscus and autumn waters are blooming. My face is blushing and condensed like dew, and I like to cry. The rosy cup is smoky and glamorous, and the cloud bun is slender and slender." After the emperor groaned, he just stared at her, as if he wanted to find a trace of evidence from her face. There was a trace of embarrassment quietly passing under the eyes, Yan Wan lowered her head and said: "What the emperor said, the concubines don't quite understand." She showed a bit of sadness, a bit of tenderness, "The emperor Do you despise the concubines who are ignorant and can only play a zither and sing a song?" The emperor smiled and pinched her cheek: "You don't need to understand, because this phrase refers to a beauty like you. You already are, why bother to understand?" Yan Wan smiled leisurely, with dimples on her lips, her smile was like a scorching peach blossom, it was so bright that people couldn't open their eyes, but in the bottom of her heart, there was clearly a cold spring-like sound that froze.She endured and endured, taking advantage of the time when the emperor was drunk and rubbing his ears and temples together, she finally couldn't help asking: "Your Majesty, my concubine has served you for so many years, what do you like about my concubine?" The emperor leaned his heavy forehead on her shoulders, and the soft texture of silk made people feel comfortable all over: "You have a gentle temperament like silk, you are considerate, you are good at cooking, and you can sing Kunqu opera. Every time I listen to your Kunqu opera, I feel as if I am in a sea of ​​flowers in March, and my body and mind are comfortable." Yan Wan's heart relaxed slightly: "But the concubines are not getting any younger soon. Concubines Ying, Concubine Xin, Concubine Jin, and Concubines Qing in the palace are all younger and more beautiful than the concubines. Why doesn't the Emperor go to accompany them more?" The emperor was deeply intoxicated, and spoke vaguely and slowly: "They are beautiful, but beauty is different from beauty. Concubine Ying is the northern rouge, concubine Xin is the beauty of the south, concubine Jin is the lady of a family, concubine Qing is the jade of a small family. And you, Lingfei, you..." He stretched out his hand to caress Yan Wan's moonlight-like face, "You really look like Ruyi when you were young. Sometimes when I look at you, I think it's Ruyi who was young by my side. never left." Yan Wan seemed to have received a heavy slap in the face, and she was caught off guard, making her dizzy and dizzy.She only felt that her cheeks were burning hot, which made her ache, and she almost wanted to shed tears.She bit her lip hard.It hurts so much, as if only in this way can she resist the huge humiliation brought to her by the emperor's words.Yan Wan knew that she looked a little like Ruyi, but she never thought that was the biggest or even the only reason why she was favored.She knows her own good, she knows.But she never imagined that he would be so unscrupulous and say it directly in front of her face. He didn't care at all, didn't care about her embarrassment, her humiliation, and her pain when the truth was revealed. There was a night breeze knocking on the window lattice, and her thoughts could not be restrained from thinking about another man.The man who once really regarded her as a treasure in his palm, and only saw her good in his heart, was easily let down by her after all. But the person in front of her, the man who has a skin-to-skin relationship with her and wants to look up to her for life, only attaches all her good things to the appearance of being dependent on another person. Looking at the drunk emperor, she couldn't help but sneer from the bottom of her heart.Ruyi?That's how he called the queen by her boudoir name.He called Concubine Ying, Concubine Xin, Concubine Qing, Concubine Jin, and himself, Concubine Ling, all by their titles and titles, completely forgetting that they also had names, which were composed of words as soft as dewy petals. It turned out that they were in his heart, but that was all.People are different after all. She took a deep breath to calm down her turbulent mood.She raised her glass, poured one silently, and drank it with her head raised.Although the wine has a spicy and sweet taste, it is cool at the moment of entrance.She poured another cup, looking at the white jade wine cup as exquisite as ice and as clear as snow, and the amber wine, even the favored concubine Xin and Concubine Ying couldn't see it.Only she, accompanied by the king, can enter the throat at will. Thinking of this, her chest didn't feel as uncomfortable as before.The emperor was only drunk in the wine, and he didn't notice anything strange about her.Yan Wan thought, maybe after years of ups and downs in the deep palace, she had learned to endure, and she didn't feel anything unusual except the corners of her lips that were sour from a smile. The emperor looked at her lovingly: "I look at you, just like I looked at Ruyi back then. But your temperament is much softer than Yi. Ruyi, Ruyi, even when she is gentle, she still wears a clear and firm face." Angry." On the night of October 23rd, it was already sparsely cold, and the huge and bright red flower plate of the precious camellia in the temple was languidly about to fall, so red that it almost dripped blood.The petals of each flower are as complicated as silk piles, and the beautiful face is as pale as blood. Yan Wan watched the emperor leave suddenly, and after the crowd of people dispersed, there was only the lonely whistling of the wind.She wanted to call for something, but she knew it was useless, so she had to hold back.The weakness as if she had exhausted her strength quickly enveloped her, and beside Chunchan, two tears fell silently: "The emperor despises me, I don't even understand the poems the emperor reads." Chunchan hurriedly persuaded: "Young master, don't worry, how many young masters in the palace understand these Han poems? Except for the empress, it is the dead Concubine Shu and Huang Guifei." Yan Wan wept silently: "I also want to have a better background, and I also want to have a husband to teach poetry and calligraphy. But my Ama has no time to take care of these when he is here. He only has a son in his heart, not a daughter. When Ama passes away I don’t have such an opportunity anymore. Whenever I see the emperor and the empress talking about poetry and books, I always feel envious in my heart. Why did the first half of my life just pass by in such a sloppy manner.” Chunchan added some strength to her hands, firmly supporting Yan Wan's light figure like a flying swallow in her palm: "It doesn't matter if the first half of your life is over, my lord, what matters to us is the second half of your life." Tears flashed like stars in Yan Wan's eyes, and soon disappeared.Yan Wan stood up straight, and her voice was as cold as ice in an instant: "Yes. Let's just look at the future!" She paused, "Chunchan, do the faces of Ben Gong and the Empress look alike?" Chunchan watched carefully for a long time, then timidly said: "It's just a little bit, it's really not very similar." The mellow laughter sounded Lingling in the night wind, and it was as cold as jade and stone: "Even if the face is similar, my heart will definitely not be the same as hers!" Yan Wan's voice was scattered in the wind, and the only response to her was a few barks from afar.An unconcealable disgust flashed across Yan Wan's face, and she said annoyedly: "Annoying people, dogs are also annoying!" Chunchan hastily persuaded: "The young master hates it, nothing else! Anyway, many cats and dogs died of illness." The mind whirled like lightning, and Yan Wan's dull heart was instantly illuminated, she smiled and said nothing.