Quick Wear: The paranoid beauty grabs the waist and spoils her

After the rain, the June wind, carrying the moist scent of grass and trees, blew over the palace walls.

In the Hibiscus Garden on the west side of the Cining Palace, hibiscus flowers bloomed one after another, some as white as frost, some as light red as clouds, and clusters of them were adorned on the branches.

Amid the swaying shadows of flowers, Ji Qingyan, wearing a plain green long dress with wide sleeves, sat alone in front of a stone table. She held a kettle in her bare hands and poured boiling water into a purple clay cup. Tea smoke curled up, blurring the sparseness that had accumulated over the years between her brows.

"The Queen Mother is in a very elegant mood."

A clear voice came from the garden gate.

Pei Qing was leaning against a vermilion lacquered corridor pillar. His red official robe made him look elegant and suave. The jade pendant on his waist swayed slightly with his steps. A smile appeared at the corner of his lips, but there was a hint of cautious restraint in his eyes.

Ji Qingyan did not raise his eyes, but pushed another cup of tea to the other side of the stone table:

"Since the Grand Master is here, why not have a cup of the newly-tributed Mengding nectar?"

Pei Qing lifted his robe and sat down, stroking the rim of the cup with his fingertips, and suddenly chuckled:

"This tea tastes bitter, and it reminds me of the hibiscus forest on the back hill of Pengcheng - the flowers are gorgeous as brocade when they bloom, but they turn into mud when they wither. I have to stay there year after year, which is really foolish."

Ji Qingyan's hand holding the cup paused slightly.

The hibiscus in Pengcheng is the old place where she and Pei Qing played the zither and flute together six years ago.

At that time, she had just given birth to Mingyu and was drowsy all day long. When she was awake occasionally, she always saw Pei Qing leaning against the window pounding medicine, or playing a song "Yilan" on his zither to calm her down.

She had thought that if she didn't touch or recall those fragments, she wouldn't miss them, but now, with his casual words, they suddenly came alive.

"If you miss the old times, you can go back to your ancestral land to enjoy the flowers when you have some free time from government affairs."

She lowered her eyes and sipped her tea, her tone as light as smoke.

Pei Qing's eyes suddenly brightened, but he quickly concealed the turmoil in his eyes, raised his head and drank the tea: "I obey your order."

When he stood up, his sleeves brushed the edge of the table, and a hibiscus petal quietly fell into the teacup, creating ripples.

When the dusk penetrated the palace eaves, Xiao Mingyu stepped into the Cining Palace under the golden sunset.

The young emperor took off his court robes and wore a moon-white robe. His eyebrows and eyes were as cold as a painting, but the moment he saw Ji Qingyan, he became as excited as a child:

"Mother! This is a new lesson I learned. The Grand Tutor and the Prime Minister both praised me!"

Ji Qingyan looked at the happy Xiao Mingyu and wiped the sweat off his forehead with a smile: "The emperor is awesome, but he just wants to call himself "I"."

Xiao Mingyu lowered his head and said "Oh" softly, then handed his homework to Ji Qingyan: "Mother, take a look!"

Looking at Xiao Mingyu's expectant eyes, Ji Qingyan naturally would not refuse.

Her son Yu'er is already six years old and is about to become the Son of Heaven, be a good emperor, and shoulder the responsibility of ruling the country.

To be honest, she felt very distressed and guilty.

She had not been in the palace for the previous five years. She fell into a coma after giving birth to Yuer due to excessive worry, and slept for a year. Fortunately, with Yanzhi's careful care, she woke up, but she still could not run around or work hard, so she stayed in the Ji family's ancestral home in Pengcheng to recuperate for the remaining four years.

During this period, Qing Chen would also bring Yu'er to see her, but the mother and son did not have much time to spend together.

But Yuer is very sensible. He never complains about the hardships of study and life, and only shares happy things with her.

Thinking of this, Ji Qingyan carefully read the homework Xiao Mingyu presented to her. The three words "quickly praise me" were written on her seemingly cold and noble face. Ji Qingyan smiled again, put the homework on the table, raised her hand and touched Xiao Mingyu's head:

"Yu'er is awesome! Very smart, maybe he has the talent of a spirit bead."

Ji Qingyan praised his son generously.

Xiao Mingyu's eyes were almost filled with smiles when he received the compliment.

He sat down and poured himself a cup of tea. He watched his mother's face from the corner of his eye, only to find that there was a hint of sadness between her brows.

This is not right. Ever since his heartless father abdicated half a year ago, his mother's complexion has been getting better and better. Moreover, under the care of Uncle Pei over the years, her health has recovered quickly and her sadness has disappeared. Why is it here again now?

So Xiao Mingyu asked: "Mother, is there anything bothering you?"

Ji Qingyan paused as she stroked the teacup, looking out the window with a bit of melancholy at the hibiscus flowers that were blooming bright pink like clouds but were also falling gently:

"If the relationship changes, can you really stand up to the worldly disturbances?"

Ji Qingyan sounded like she was muttering to herself when she said this, and she was not prepared to let Xiao Mingyu help her solve the problem.

But he had been extremely intelligent since he was four years old, so he naturally knew what his mother was talking about.

So that's how it is. He wondered in his mind whether his mother and Uncle Pei could finally take another step forward.

I remember that he was the one who passed the message between my uncle and my beautiful sister through the red thread.

Then Xiao Mingyu suddenly grabbed her sleeve, with a sly look in his eyes:

"My uncle once said that the best wife to marry is like him and my aunt, and only when the two hearts are in harmony can it be considered perfect. Mother -"

He lowered his voice, and said like a spoiled child, "You should learn from your uncle and not let Master Pei become an old tree stump."

Ji Qingyan's fingertips trembled and the teacup almost tipped over.

Xiao Mingyu had already stepped back half a step, and said with a serious expression:

"What I, your son, need to learn is how to be a king, and what your mother, your mother, needs to learn is to make the most of her youth."

After saying this, he bowed and left, leaving only the lingering fragrance of hibiscus on the ground.

……

Three days later, Concubine Wan knocked on the door of the Cining Palace with a pot of magnolia.

The woman had gentle features and her skirt was stained with flower mud, but she did not look embarrassed at all:

"I have just planted a white magnolia, and I am presenting it to the Queen Mother for her enjoyment."

Ji Qingyan ordered someone to serve tea, and Concubine Wan smiled and sat down. But she shook her head and chuckled:

"Give flowers to the destined ones, and say words to the intimate ones. Queen Mother, do you know that magnolia hates strong sunlight? It needs a place with half shade and half sunshine, so that it can bloom for a long time."

She stroked the white petals with her fingertips, sighing and reminiscing, "When I was young, I admired a childhood sweetheart, but he was afraid of the power of my Ye family, so he married another poor girl. Now I think about it, if I had dared to take a step forward back then, maybe..."

The unfinished words turned into a sigh. Ji Qingyan stared at the hibiscus outside the window in a daze, and suddenly felt the ice in her heart quietly crack.

Although Concubine Wan gave some advice, Ji Qingyan didn't know how to start every time she looked at Pei Qing. They went to court every day and assisted Xiao Mingyu in handling government affairs. They didn't talk about any other private matters during this time. This went on for two months and slowly arrived at the Mid-Autumn Festival.

At the Mid-Autumn Festival banquet, hundreds of assassins suddenly emerged from the darkness, their blades as sharp as lightning. In the chaos, a feather arrow broke through the air and pierced Ji Qingyan's heart!

"Sister Qingyan!"

Pei Qing pounced forward and blocked the arrow with his sword, but his left arm was cut by the blade, leaving a bloody mark.

He ignored it completely and protected Ji Qingyan behind him. Violence surged in his usually cynical eyes, and wherever the sword flashed, all the assassins were killed.

"Pass on the Imperial Physician!"

Xiao Mingyu was a smart little boy. He walked forward quickly but gave Pei Qing a secret look.

Pei Qing understood, staggered and held onto the table, blood soaking half of his sleeves.

Ji Qingyan no longer cared about her manners and bandaged him with her own hands.

Pei Qing leaned on the couch, looked at her frowning face, and suddenly laughed softly:

"This injury is worth it."

It was later discovered that the assassin was from the Blood Crow Alliance.

Finally, after two months of hard work, thanks to Pei Qing's efforts, the largest assassination and intelligence organization in the Daqian martial arts world was destroyed by people from the imperial court. People in the martial arts world became even more cautious when dealing with the imperial court.

……

In June of the following year, the ancestral home of the Ji family in Pengcheng.

The hibiscus trees on the back hills were in full bloom, stretching like clouds. Ji Qingyan sat under the flowers in a dark purple dress, her fingertips stroking the strings of the zither, while Pei Qing stood beside her, holding a jade flute.

The sound of the zither is as clear as a mountain spring, and the sound of the flute is as lingering as wind catkins. The song "Hibiscus Ballad" expresses all the unspoken feelings of more than ten years.

At the end of the song, Pei Qing took out a wooden hairpin from his bosom. The head of the hairpin was carved with twin hibiscus flowers:

"I have sworn that if I can accompany Sister Qing Yan to see the hibiscus flowers bloom one more time in this life, I will die without regrets."

Ji Qingyan took the wooden hairpin and shed tears silently.

In the distance, Ji Qingchen and Nan Xiang smiled at each other, and Xiao Mingyu secretly stuffed the wedding wine into Pei Qing's hands.

When dusk falls, the hibiscus trees all over the mountain bear witness: Wherever life ends, there will be a friend to return to.

Pei Qing resigned from the position of Taifu in the tenth year of Emperor Qianhuiwu's reign and lived in the ancestral home of the Ji family under the guise of a traveling doctor.

When the hibiscus flowers bloom, the sound of piano and flute can be heard everywhere in the mountain courtyard.

According to historical records, "Pei Shi Qilang never married, and was close to Ji Shi's sister and brother."

However, according to unofficial legends, there was always an old hairpin carved with hibiscus hidden at the bottom of Doctor Pei's medicine box.