In the setting sun, a group of people walked slowly.
Half a quarter of an hour later, Kangxi got off the chariot in front of the gate of Zhongcui Palace.
Although Zhongcui Palace is "closed", the entrance looks no different from other palaces, and no one is on duty.
After all, this is the Sixth Palace in the West, and it is difficult for the guards to get in and out.
Under the emperor's order, no one is guarding it, and no one dares to come and go at will.
Before Zhongcui Palace was "sealed", Kangxi not only came frequently, but also came once or twice a year.
Looking back now, everything in front of me is gray.
Kangxi signaled Liang Jiugong to knock on the door.
Liang Jiugong raised the knocker and knocked on the door. The concierge eunuch raised his voice and said: "Who is outside..."
Liang Jiugong said: "The emperor is here, open the door quickly!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the closed door opened immediately, and the two concierges and eunuchs knelt down tremblingly.
This is the palace, no one dares to pretend to be the emperor.
Kangxi entered the Zhongcui Gate, turned around the screen wall, and looked up at the Zhongcui Palace.
Only the west side of the main hall was lit, and the windows in other rooms were darkened.
In the entire Zhongcui Palace, there is now only one master, Concubine Rong, and the rest are the eunuchs, maids and nuns under her name.
There was no one in the courtyard, so no one noticed the Holy Driver's arrival.
This palace is uninhabitable and is rapidly dilapidated, making it look old and shabby.
Kangxi went directly to Zhongcui Palace and went to Xishao Room.
This is the small Buddhist hall.
He thought that just like last time, Concubine Rong was worshiping in front of the Buddha, but he saw Concubine Rong sitting behind a few desks, concentrating on copying scriptures.
Kangxi slowed down his steps, but Concubine Rong didn't notice at all.
Kangxi stood still behind her chair and looked at Juanxiu's handwriting.
Concubine Rong was illiterate when she entered the palace to wait for the new year.
It was Kangxi who taught me step by step, and the copybooks for practicing calligraphy were also dug out from the palace collection by Kangxi.
There were no other scriptures on the desk, and Kangxi was surprised.
Concubine Rong is meditating on the sutra.
He read two lines of scripture and recognized it as the Diamond Sutra, and a smile appeared on his face.
When Concubine Rong celebrated her first Wanshou Festival in the palace, she didn't know what birthday gift to prepare for herself, so she copied a copy of the Diamond Sutra by hand.
The crooked font was unsightly, but for Concubine Rong, who had just learned calligraphy, it took her half a month to copy it.
Thinking of his two young children, Kangxi fell into memories.
No one knows how much panic he felt at that time.
The place was unstable, the clans of the Lower Five Banners were powerful, and the four major ministers of the Upper Three Banners were becoming increasingly arrogant.
He sniffed and noticed something was wrong with the smell, a faint fishy smell, so he went to look at the inkstone.
The color of the ink in the inkstone is wrong, it's not black, it's maroon.
Looking at Concubine Rong's hands again, it turns out that the index finger of her left hand is bandaged.
"Ji Nai!"
Kangxi frowned and said, "What are you doing?"
Concubine Rong was startled, and a drop of black and red ink fell on the paper.
She raised her head and looked at Kangxi, a little dazed: "Your Majesty..."
Only then did Kangxi see clearly the face of Concubine Rong. There was no powder on her face, but her eyebrows and eyes were still the same as before.
"snort!"
Kangxi pointed at the Mo Dao: "Is this how I teach you to copy the scriptures? Isn't it too idle and a waste of energy to meditate on the scriptures?"
Concubine Rong looked like a kid who had been caught. Her lips trembled and she was speechless for a moment.
Seeing her panic, Kangxi calmed down the anger on his face and said: "It is both a silent menstruation and a blood menstruation. When have I ever cared about these weak ones?"
Concubine Rong looked at the page of scripture that was ruined by ink, and also at the inkstone, without any excuse.
This sutra has nothing to do with the emperor.
Kangxi was stunned when he saw her reaction. Thinking about the desolation of Zhongcui Palace, he became more and more intolerable.
He took a breath and said: "When it gets warm in February, I will ask people to repair Zhongcui Palace. You go to Jing... go to the front hall of Qixiang Palace to stay for a while, and then come back when the repairs are completed..."
Concubine Rong looked at Kangxi and said, "Your Majesty, are you really here?"
Kangxi remembered clearly that the last time he saw Concubine Rong, her temples were only gray, and now her hair was half white.
The little girl who cried because she was homesick has now been a grandmother for many years.
Kangxi looked at Concubine Rong and said: "Ji Nai, be fine, don't let me worry..."
Concubine Rong bit her lip, tears falling drop by drop.
Kangxi looked at it, feeling a little sour in his heart.
It's just that he doesn't want to mention the prince, nor does he want to mention whether Queen Yuan took action or not.
The emperor and his concubine left the desk and sat on the kang.
He mentioned the third elder brother and said: "The third elder brother is not bad. Now he is working in the Ministry of Rites. He is someone who can calm down and study."
Concubine Rong lowered her head to wipe her tears and said: "I remember that when I was a child, my third elder brother was like a hairy monkey. He couldn't sit still. Later, the emperor tried to find ways to discipline him, so he learned honestly."
Kangxi recalled the situation when the third elder brother just returned to the palace, and said: "I didn't develop good habits outside the palace, so I loved eating so much that my teeth were broken. I felt sleepy after eating too much, so I slept in the study room.
, I asked the eunuch in charge of him not to get him bread from the pastry room for half a month..."
??????55.??????
When Concubine Rong mentioned her son, her face became more loving and she said, "She is not as sensible as his sister, and she is not very clever."
But he was his biological son, and he was the only one among the five sons who stood firm. Besides being an eyeball, what else could he do?
Thinking of this, Concubine Rong looked at Kangxi, feeling not only resentful but also a little grateful.
Fortunately, the emperor made the decision and sent the third elder brother out of the palace to be raised. Otherwise, if he had been left in the palace, he would have suffered the same fate as his brothers.
Kangxi thought of his third elder brother, shook his head and said: "He is smart on the face, but others are naive on the outside but cunning on the inside. He is good, cunning on the outside but stupid on the inside, he is confused!"
If he hadn't been confused, he wouldn't have been unable to handle household chores and lost his eldest daughter in vain.
Concubine Rong said with a bit of embarrassment: "I am stupid, I am not as smart as the other sisters, and the third brother I gave birth to is not as good as the other brothers..."
People outside said that the fifth elder brother was not very smart when he was a child. He usually spoke Mongolian and could not speak Mandarin or Chinese. Not many people knew that the third elder brother could not even speak well at that time and was not a smart child.
Kangxi said: "It doesn't count at that time. Children need to be taught to learn. I was negligent at that time and did not arrange for anyone to teach the third elder brother."
Concubine Rong said: "The Emperor didn't do it on purpose. At that time, the Three Feudatories were in rebellion, the Yellow River was flooding, and many military and national events were waiting for the Emperor..."
It was because the emperor was too busy to take care of the prince that he took Concubine Rong to Qianqing Palace to take care of the prince.
"Yes, I was really at a loss at that time..."
Kangxi also thought of those crisis-ridden years.
When he was living in Qianqing Palace, he didn't even dare to rest in Xinuang Pavilion, so he rested in the attic.
Except for the people in front of the emperor, no one knows where he will be placed in the attic, and he has to change it every night.
The thing to guard against is that there are spies in the palace and they get into the Qianqing Palace.
It's so far away, it seems like it was a lifetime ago.
Kangxi looked at Concubine Rong, his eyes fixed on her white hair, and said: "Tomorrow I will ask Liang Jiugong to send you black hair plaster, tidy it up well, don't let the third elder brother worry, wait for the third elder brother's birthday, He will also kowtow to you..."
Concubine Rong looked at Kangxi with disbelief on her face.
Kangxi had previously said that he wanted to repair Zhongcui Palace, but Concubine Rong was not moved because she thought that repairing the palace was to continue sealing the palace later.
As a result, Kangxi wanted the third elder brother to pay her respects...
Does this mean that the palace seal will be lifted?
"Your Majesty, this...this, can the third elder brother really come?"
Concubine Rong said with a bit of timidity.
Kangxi nodded and said: "You can come, I said so..."
Speaking of this, he remembered something and said: "The concubine Gao of Yikun Palace gave birth to the 20th elder brother. Now he is in Zhaoxiang Palace. After the renovation of Zhongcui Palace is completed, the concubine Gao and the 20th elder brother will be moved to the back. Your Majesty, when the time comes, you can raise your 20th elder brother!"
"emperor……"
Concubine Rong made a sound in surprise.
Kangxi said: "Teach me well, and the third elder brother will have many close brothers in the future. The second princess is too far away from the capital..."
*
As soon as the Holy Emperor moved, the news did not spread outside the palace, but everyone in the palace who was well-informed knew it.
*
In Yikun Palace, in the east room of the main hall.
Concubine Yi is accompanying her eighteenth brother, helping him pack his New Year's bag.
Those from the imperial court, those given by Ningshou Palace, those given by brothers, those sent in by my sister-in-law, and those included in the annual gifts by the four princesses.
Altogether, there is a box of gold ingots of various colors.
"To my empress..."
The eighteenth elder brother is very proud and has a clean look.
After hearing this, Concubine Yi couldn't help but smile and said: "Give it to me, and you won't have it anymore. What will you do when you grow up and want to buy something?"
"Not buying!"
The eighteenth elder brother said without thinking: "There is no shortage, Khan Ama and the empress gave it..."
He was still young. In the past few years, he often followed Concubine Yi in the garden and saw Kangxi more often than others.
Concubine Yi touched his forehead and said: "Then I will help you keep it. When you are old enough to leave the palace, and you have something you want to buy, you can tell me..."
The eighteenth prince looked at Yifei's hair. It was often decorated with velvet flowers in winter, and on it were delicate purple-red magnolia flowers.
He said: "When my son comes out of the palace, I will buy velvet flowers for the empress..."
Looking at the familiar facial features and listening to the familiar children's words, Yi Fei's eyes were filled with heat. She held her young son in her arms and said, "Okay, okay, I'll just wait for my brother's velvet flowers..."
It's time to light the lamp.
The children had rested early, so Concubine Yi asked her mother-in-law to take her eighteenth brother and put him there.
Peilan then stepped forward and reported in a low voice: "The emperor has gone to Zhongcui Palace..."
Yifei was sitting in front of the dressing table picking her hair. When she heard the news, she was really not surprised.
The emperor misses old love.
For senior ladies like them, this is a good thing...