It was a big mistake at noon. It was supposed to be a nap time. Because I got up late, I was not sleepy yet. Ruan Yuyi took the ruler he had rewarded before and sewed some small clothes casually, planning to wait until Chonghua Palace was ready.
Yes, send it over.
The silver needle guides the thin thread and moves flexibly between the fabrics, as if it is straightening a fish or breaking through the clouds and sky.
Mu Xiang brought up the wishful cake she had made. She couldn't help but stare at it for a while, and then said, "Why haven't I seen people from the imperial kitchen bringing pastries recently? The small kitchen has also run out of white noodles."
She tied a knot and used small gold scissors to cut off the thread. While wearing a thin thread of another color, she said, "I just said that I wanted to reduce the cost, but why did I forget about it? It's normal not to give it away. The white noodles are gone."
, when the people from the imperial dining room come, I will give you an explanation."
After hearing this, Mu Xiang felt relieved and started chatting with her about other things, for fear that she would become depressed once she was free.
While we were chatting casually, we vaguely heard the sound of a piano, which seemed to come from outside the palace, drifting into the palace.
"Miss, did you hear anything?"
Ruan Yuyi stopped what she was doing and looked at it carefully. Sure enough, she heard a slight sound. If she didn't listen carefully, she might have ignored it.
She put down the acupuncture she had done partially and took advantage of the excitement to leave. However, she was stopped by the guards at the gate of the courtyard, and she did not continue walking.
Without the barrier of the Zhumen, the sound of the piano is much clearer. Sometimes it is like pearls falling on a jade plate, sometimes like a stream flowing through a mountain stream. It is gentle, soft and continuous. But if you listen carefully, every sound falls to the ground, as if there is a proud character.
.
She could only think of one person with such aura.
She asked the guard, "How long has the musician outside been playing?"
"I was there when the Chang'an Palace was closed, and I arrived at sunrise every day, and I didn't leave with my piano until dark, without any interruption."
She was slightly startled, and raised her eyes to look outside the palace wall. From here, she could only see the sky framed by pillars, and a few jasmine trees peeking in from the outside. She seemed to hear something else from the music.
What.
She ordered the guards to inform her and asked Xuanrao to pack up and rest.
The guard said, "The younger one came over, but he refused to say anything."
The sound of the piano was still going on, but the previous song was finished and a new one was played, which she always liked. She sighed, knowing that he might have heard her leaving the palace.
She went out with someone to bring some tea, no longer lingering outside, turned around and walked inside. Behind her, the spring flowers were blooming and falling.
.
She originally thought that after she kissed him, Xuanrao would not come again, but she didn't expect that the music of the piano persisted. The songs he played were all gentle and suitable for sleeping. Over time, it actually became a habit.
Ruan Yuyi was sitting under the window, embroidering a small piece of clothing on her hands. On the lotus root pink brocade, the green lotus and the red carp were so lifelike in her hands that people couldn't help but admire them.
Suddenly her eyes felt a little dry. When she asked the time, it was almost time to take a nap. She stopped her movements and pinned the needle into the thread.
Mu Xiang waited and put down the curtain, and was about to close the window when she heard her say from behind:
"Just leave it on."
After saying that, Mu Xiang nodded and retreated.
The sound of the piano was like running water, gurgling in from the gap in the window. She pulled the brocade quilt over her chin, and soon she fell asleep, breathing shallow and steady. At some point, the sound of the piano outside the window also stopped, as if she had guessed that she would take a nap.
hour.
.
During dinner, as usual, someone from the palace brought food, but this time it was different.
There were three or two jade plates with richly decorated patterns, but they were either boiled vegetable leaves or white tofu that had been poured out of the mold. There was no trace of meat and not even a few grains of oil.
Ruan Yuyi frowned slightly and noticed something was wrong.
These days, the meals delivered to Chang'an Palace seem to be becoming more and more perfunctory, and the original weight has been reduced little by little. Even if the cost needs to be reduced, it will not be like this.
After quietly going out to watch the lanterns that night, she rarely left the palace. She didn't know what was going on outside. But she knew that this group of palace people who acted according to the circumstances gradually began to despise her in the palace.
She frowned, no longer in a hurry to use chopsticks, and called to the palace servant who brought the meal, "Why is this the dinner today?"
The palace man bowed hastily and said, "Go back to your Majesty, this is all I have."
Mu Xiang couldn't stand someone bullying the young lady. She murmured, but she still couldn't hold it back, "Did those royal chefs break their hands? How could they make such crazy things?" Looking at the vegetable leaves, Danfan controlled the heat.
, it won’t become so soft.
The palace man curled his lips and said, "Everyone in the world says that the empress is kind, but when there is trouble in the palace and you need to reduce expenses, why are you unwilling to cooperate? Could it be that everything before was just an act?"
If it hadn't really happened, Ruan Yuyi might not have believed that the people who had given her the crown would one day turn it into spikes with the intention of binding her and regulating her.
As long as her behavior is not in line with their wishes, they will use these words to suppress her.
But the palace people miscalculated her. She never cared about these false reputations.
Her fingertips tapped on the tables, once, once. It was clearly a small sound, but it made the palace people slightly frightened.
The palace servant's arrogance dropped a bit, but he still said, "If the empress is not used to eating it, I can just take it back." As for making new ones, there is no way.
As she said that, she was about to take away the food. When Mu Xiang saw it, she frowned and wanted to scold him, but she stopped her.
She lightly opened her red lips and said, "If you're not afraid, just do it." Whether it's to please Jiang Huaiyang or there's someone else behind her, after all, she didn't really do anything wrong to be grounded, and they wouldn't get their wish.
The palace servant's fingertips flinched when he was about to take away the jade plate. After calming down, he placed the slightly moving dishes on the tray.
.
After all, it was impossible not to eat anything like this. Ruan Yuyi took some pastries, tea, fruits and the like for now, while sending Qing Luo to the Yangxin Palace to report the situation here.
The sky was getting darker inch by inch, as if someone had pulled away the light, and the shadow under her feet was lengthened, and finally disappeared into the darkness. She just sat like this, holding a book in her hand to pass the time, and did not let anyone light a candle.
lamp.
The entire Chang'an Palace fell into silence. The music outside the palace had stopped, and Xuanrao had probably left.
Through the moonlight, Mu Xiang's figure was vaguely discernible. She thought Ruan Yuyi was reading a book, but she was afraid that she might hurt her eyes, so she asked tentatively, "Miss, why don't you light a lamp?"
She clasped the book back on her knees, her eyebrows twitching, and answered the question inappropriately, "Why don't you think Qingluo still doesn't come back?" Logically speaking, a round trip of half an hour is enough.
"I don't know." Mu Xiang also felt something was wrong, and looked worriedly at the half-closed window.
They didn't wait for Qingluo, but they waited for the news that the new emperor was looking for a new man. It was said that someone accidentally saw him near the Huxin Pavilion. Although he couldn't see his face, he could tell by the slender neck alone.