Empress and concubine

Because Zhao Yi, Chu Yao and Chu Yao talked for a long time inside, they just started to take a serious bath, so there was a slight delay, but it didn't hinder anything, and Zi Yan led the palace servants to speed up, so they could make up for it.

Because after a while, there is no need to go out to do anything, and it is a family banquet, and there are only four masters, and there is no elder or anything.Zi Yan only brought the homely clothes and jewelry.

Zhao Yi was dressed in a black uniform embroidered with phoenix patterns. It didn't look very ostentatious, but it was low-key luxurious, and the orthodox color added a bit of solemnity and nobility.Another lady combed her hair in a bun. Although she didn't wear many hairs, they were all exquisite, with tassels and hanging hanging. Chu Yao also held a pen and dotted peonies on Zhao Yi's forehead. Tin made Zhao Yi's temperament even more beautiful.

Chu Yao was dressed in indigo blue, embroidered with geese piercing the sky, and wearing a lily bun. She used Huasheng in her heart, lit sapphires and crystal stones, and looked very clever.

Chu Yao looked at herself in the mirror and couldn't help laughing.Zhao Yi used to like to dress up Chu Yao as immature, so Xia Yunjing made Xia Yunjing think that Chu Yao was still young, and Xia Yunjing gradually developed the idea of ​​raising Chu Yao as a younger sister and daughter.Just like what he joked just now that Chu Yao and Wen Yuan were similar, it didn't just make Xia Yunjing feel unhappy.

When Zhao Yi and Chu Yao went out, a maid came over and replied, saying that the sage ordered the rice to be placed in the yard.Hearing the words, several people kept their feet on the ground, but changed the direction of their steps.

After entering the arch, the two of Chu Yao saw Xia Yunjing sitting in a pavilion in the courtyard. The pavilion was surrounded by white brocade for more than half, leaving only a leeward opening for people to enter and exit.Zhao Yi first raised his foot and walked towards Xia Yunjing, but Chu Yao looked around for a while, and found Wen Yuan's clothes corner behind a clump of flowers.

Chu Yao stopped everyone from wanting to follow, instead she walked towards Wen Yuan's place as if she didn't know anything, and said to the servant who was standing about two steps away from Wen Yuan's hiding place, "Where did your Highness go?"

The poor servant is not very old, and when he is being questioned now, he dare not say that His Highness the Crown Prince is by his side. He wants to play hide and seek with you, Concubine Shu, but he blushes, which makes Chu Yao can't help but laugh.

At this time, Chu Yao was getting closer and closer, Wen Yuan finally couldn't help it, and came out from behind the flowers and threw himself into Chu Yao's arms, "Wow..." Wen Yuan tried his best to come out with a terrifying look, but he The small face is white and tender, and it is delicate, trying to make such an appearance is just amused.

Chu Yao already knew what Wen Yuan wanted to do, so she cooperated with all her strength and whispered, "Ahhh," she squatted down again, hugged Wen Yuan into her arms, and tapped Wen Yuan's nose, "You like to play?" hide and seek."

Because of Chu Yao's intimate gesture, Wen Yuan couldn't help laughing, hugged Chu Yao tightly with both hands, and called out, "Ma'am," while asking Chu Yao to hug him and go into the flowers, Chu Yao I don't know why, but Wen Yuan jumped down in two or three steps, ran to a servant, searched for a while, and then his eyes lit up, picked a few beautiful rhododendrons and came back, and gave a branch to Chu Yao, "Ma'am .”

Chu Yao took the flowers with a smile, picked Wen Yuan up again, and walked towards Xia Yunjing and Zhao Yi, teasing Wen Yuan in a low voice as she walked, "Who are these flowers for?"

"I want to give it to my father and my mother," Wen Yuan said loudly, and then he leaned closer to Chu Yao's ear and whispered, "My lady, Wen Yuan has listened to you, please make my father and queen mother happy, let's go out together next time Bar."

Chu Yao was startled, "Isn't it good to follow Father?"

Wen Yuan frowned, "Father is very good, but it's not as good as being with your empress before. You stay together all day and you have to practice calligraphy, so you can't call your empress a mother."

"You," Chu Yao sighed, "Your mother is Zhao Yi, so remember."

"That's not it," Wen Yuan muttered, "My mother has already said that you are my mother." As he spoke, the hand holding Chu Yao tightened again.

Chu Yao was a little surprised when she heard the words, and when she was about to ask again, she had already walked outside the pavilion, so she didn't speak any more, but put on a look of joy.

Chu Yao put Wen Yuan down at the bottom of the stairs. Seeing Wen Yuan staggering a little, he ran to Zhao Yi's side in three or two steps, handed a rhododendron to Xia Yunjing, and gave Xia Yunjing another one. For the next branch, Wen Yuan thought for a while and called someone over, "Send it to the emperor's grandmother." After finishing speaking, he looked at Xia Yunjing and said, "Father, when will the emperor's grandmother recover from her illness? It's a pity that the emperor's grandmother can't come out to watch the show."

Seeing that Xia Yunjing's expression darkened, Chu Yao hugged Wen Yuan into her arms very happily, and said softly, "Then Wen Yuan can often choose a few branches to send to the emperor's grandmother to relieve boredom, but you must remember that your body Weak, don't go to see the emperor's grandmother, do you understand?"

"Well, you can save it, baby," Wen Yuan nodded vigorously, as if he had already remembered Xia Yunjing's words in his heart.

Xia Yunjing was very satisfied, and said to Chu Yao, "You taught Wen Yuan very well."

Hearing this, Chu Yao only said, "Wen Yuan is smart and did a good job." Chu Yao thought for a while, and then said, "If Wen Yuan hadn't reminded me, there is one thing I forgot to tell you."

"Oh? What's the matter," Xia Yunjing said.

"This morning, the concubine saw the beautiful scenery on the lake, so she thought about holding a banquet on the island when Xiahe bloomed and could make wine. Just now, the concubine was at the Empress Dowager's place. When the empress asked, the concubine told the truth, The empress was invited to have fun together, and the empress agreed. The empress was afraid that the concubine had never presided over such an important event, and she would not be able to do it, so she pointed out a deputy to the concubine." Chu Yao usually said that he wanted to hold a banquet Well, the Queen Mother knew about it and was willing to come.The other half said that the Empress Dowager called someone over to be a deputy.

Xia Yunjing frowned, "But who is it?"

"The queen mother didn't say it clearly," Zhao Yi said, "only said that she would send someone over in two days."

Xia Yun nodded, and did not doubt Zhao Yi's words, and objected to Chu Yao, "If you want to hold a banquet, you can do it yourself, but the queen mother has already said that you want to come, so you can't be young, it is good to have a deputy," and He said to Zhao Yi, "Although it is Yao'er who wants to do it, you can't completely throw it away. The deputy, I guess, is to be found from the mother's stepmother's family. Since there is no shortage of manpower, I also ordered to invite the close wife of the princess to come. , just in time for you to gradually become family members."

When Zhao Yi and Chu Yao heard the last sentence, they both became happy, and hurriedly got up to say thank you, and Xia Yunjing waved him to sit down.

Someone came to ask for a while, but Xia Yunjing agreed to set up a meal. Taking advantage of this moment, Xia Yunjing joked to Chu Yao again, "This time I have to hold the banquet well, after all, it is your last banquet as Concubine Shu. , Wait for the Mid-Autumn Festival, then she will be a noble concubine, but it can't be equated."

Later, Xia Yunjing had some other matters, so he didn't leave Wen Yuan here, so he went back together. It happened that there was a lawsuit on Zhao Yi's side, and Chu Yao also came back to Yi Palace.

After three or five days, the queen mother sent Aunt Wan over, saying that the deputy the queen mother had pointed out had entered the palace, and because the queen mother was not feeling well, she told Chu Yao not to go there, and only the deputy came to the Palace of Yi to pay a visit.

After Chu Yao got the letter, she hurriedly called someone to refresh her attire. After all, there were outsiders coming and she couldn't meet people according to her usual preferences. Therefore, it was rare for Chu Yao to change into a royal blue luxurious palace attire. The mountain eyebrows were combed with double knives, and various gold and jade ornaments were worn, especially the phoenix tail that had always been exquisitely crafted and swayed in the hair, and Danko was replaced on the fingers.After everything was done, Chu Yao tidied up in front of the mirror, but she always felt a little weird and familiar, just like the person in the mirror was not herself, but she couldn't see it, and she only needed a quick kick to know who it was.

Still, Yi Niang said, "In the past, the empress always dressed plainly or lively, but now it's rare to dress up, but it's rare to be a lot more mature and radiant. If the empress sees it, she may love her so much." Woolen cloth."

After hearing this, Chu Yao became dazed. That's right, this kind of dress is more and more similar to the concubine Yuan of the past, just like the delicate flowers shining in the water, bright and beautiful.It's probably because she hasn't dressed like this for a long time, and she's not used to it for a while.Chu Yao said with a smile, "I just felt that something was wrong, so you told me that it was this kind of dress that made me grow old. If it wasn't for the wrong time today, I would never have done such a dress Yes, you don’t have to put yourself in a cover and pile it up, it’s very restrictive.”

This sentence did not mention Yi Niang's praise of her good-looking appearance, but only made a fuss about her maturity. After Chu Yao finished speaking, she asked someone to pick up a pen, opened the end of the phoenix eye, and smiled. Said, "In this way, Fang is very glamorous, rich and gorgeous."

Yi Niang was worried that she had said the wrong thing at first, but now that she saw Chu Yao's actions, she was relieved.

Chu Yao put down her pen, and said to Yi Niang, "Go tell the empress, and tell her that I will sleep with her tonight."

When Yi Niang heard this, she nodded without any surprise and agreed.Chu Yao's order was not out of sheer pleasure. Xia Yunjing has cultivated a lot of self-cultivation, and rarely enters the harem. Even if he comes a few times, he will only sit and eat once or twice, and will never stay overnight. Chu Yao can get Xia Yunjing once in a while He said that he would allow her to be with Zhao Yi often, and that if it was late at night, she would not have to go back to her own residence. Xia Yunjing naturally agreed, and Chu Yao would go to accompany Zhao Yi from time to time. The purpose is to sleep together.

This side had just finished dressing up, when someone came, saying that it was Miss Qin Ning asking to see her, Chu Yao smiled, "As expected," she added, "Miss Qin Ning, please sit down for a while."

"Yes," the man agreed, and went down to deliver the message.

So when Chu Yao arrived, Miss Qin Ning had already been sitting for a while, and Miss Qin Ning got up to salute Chu Yao, but Chu Yao didn't call out immediately, but sat down firmly before calling her up.

When Chu Yao saw Miss Qin Ning, she couldn't help praising her in her heart. She was indeed the girl the Queen Mother liked. She was wearing a water-blue dress, with a slender waist, her skin was whiter than snow, and her eyebrows were affectionate. She was a rare and charming girl.But Chu Yao sighed inwardly, it's a pity that Xia Yunjing doesn't like such a weak beauty.After all, she has been on the battlefield and is used to Wei Di's daughter Lang. Even the weakest concubine Yun has a strong heart in her bones. She is so weak and weak... Chu Yao is hard to get along with.

Xu Shi felt that they couldn't get along from the very beginning, and Chu Yao and this Miss Qin Ning didn't say much, but said, "I heard that Miss Qin Ning has a good name, and today I met her, she really deserves her reputation."

"Ms. Concubine Shu is absurdly praised," Miss Qin Ning said, "Your Majesty is a first-class beauty, making my servants feel ashamed."

Chu Yao smiled when she heard the words, but it was just some superficial words, as long as she was sincerely praising herself, but Chu Yao didn't want to talk nonsense, so she asked, "You came from the empress dowager, is the empress better? I didn't go to see you in the past two days, so I hope you don't blame me."

Miss Qin Ning lowered her eyes and said, "The empress dowager is still in good spirits. When the servants came over, she promised to reassure the concubine Shu and hold the lotus banquet well. It's okay to not have to visit these days."

Chu Yao nodded indifferently, "Then the palace will definitely prepare the lotus feast well. At that time, making the queen mother happy is also a merit of the palace." After speaking, before Miss Qin Ning took over Then, he said, "The empress dowager can give you some pointers. Which affairs should you be in charge of?"

Miss Qin Ning cupped her hands and said, "The Empress Dowager never gave orders, she only told the servants to obey the arrangements of the Empress Shu."

Chu Yao nodded, she understood, "I heard that Ms. Qin Ning is the best at piano art, and she knows music theory very well. Why don't you organize two programs and make the empress dowager and the sage happy after watching it."

Miss Qin Ning was a little surprised when she heard the words. This show is a good job. If it is done well, it will save face. I think it is because I don’t believe that Chu Yao just let her have two vacancies, but at this time Chu Yao said nothing. Exit, she naturally would not push it out, so she complied.

Seeing that she agreed, Chu Yao assigned some chores to her. She simply took the sweet dates, and naturally she had to take responsibility. Wan Zhong, Aunt Wan and others around him could see clearly, so it would be good to go back to Xia Yunjing.Therefore, apart from the banquet and some programs at the banquet, the rest, such as manpower deployment, were all pushed to Miss Qinning to take care of.

After assigning the affairs, Chu Yao became impatient to deal with Miss Qin Ning, and only asked her where she lived, and told her to go down.It’s just that the Cuiyu Palace that Miss Qin Ning answered made Chu Yao feel funny for a while. In the palace of the low-ranking concubine who was favored because of her singing in the year, that concubine, although honored and favored for a while, died early, and made a concubine Li.And the so-called Cui Yu is just a bird. I really don't know whether the Queen Mother likes Miss Qin Ning or is hurting her.Even if the Empress Dowager is not in good health and is afraid of getting sick, isn't there still a lot of empty rooms in the Empress Dowager's palace...

Chu Yao shook her head and left him alone. It was simply the Empress Dowager's actions. The more confused the Empress Dowager, the more Xia Yunjing liked her. As for Miss Qin Ning...it depends on whether she can hold on.

"Your Majesty, Miss Qin Ning has gone far," a palace maid reported.

Chu Yao nodded, and Shi Shiran got up, "Let's go, see if the dim sum in Fengyi Palace is ready, I'm just hungry."