His voice was firm, and Mo'er was ecstatic in her heart. Could this person he mentioned be her?
Suppressing the excitement in his heart, he heard the emperor say: "Who does Brother Qi want?"
Ye Hen's eyes were still lowered, but his voice was full of tenacity: "A woman."
The emperor laughed, stroking a night-glow pearl with a gold carving base and a white jade frame on the case, and said, "I thought Seventh Brother didn't like women, so this is very good."
"Thank you, Your Majesty."
They talked about some court affairs. Mo'er stood aside and had no intention of listening. The less she knew about such things, the better. She was now thinking about what Ye Hen said just now. If he solved the siege of Saibei
, will he really take him away?
The emperor has already made a eloquent promise, and there will be absolutely no reason to go back on it.
However, when I heard that he was going to lead troops to fight, I couldn't help but feel a lot of worry in my heart. I couldn't help but glance at him secretly. His eyes happened to move this way, and when their eyes met, they seemed to have a thousand words.
Mo'er quickly averted her eyes and lowered her gaze to her feet.
"Your Majesty, if there is no other matter, I will retire first."
"Yunqian (qiān), send it to the Seventh Prince."
The palace door was pushed open. Yun Qian, the famous man in front of the emperor, had just returned from doing business. When he heard the message, he immediately walked in, saluted in front of Ye Hen and said: "Your Majesty, please."
Lin Jinfeng also walked out and waited for orders outside the door.
Just as Mo'er was about to leave, the emperor suddenly asked: "Can Mo'er know how to study ink?"
She had no choice but to take back her steps and responded: "I'm just afraid it's not done well."
"A person who studies ink must be careful and sincere, so what's wrong with grinding it?" He glanced sideways at the inkstone on the table, and Mo'er immediately walked over and picked up the ink stick on the table.
The emperor took the pile of memorials and began to review them without saying a word.
Mo'er had been standing quietly by his side. After rubbing the ink, she stood still. The candlelight flickered, casting a faint silhouette of her on the wall, like mist or smoke.
Even if the emperor didn't say he was sleepy, she didn't dare to, even though her eyelids were already a bit closed.
Yunqian brought some preserved fruits for tea. Mo'er didn't realize it just now, but suddenly she felt hungry. She glanced at the tea but kept silent.
The emperor's eyes stopped on the memorial, but his slender hand reached out and picked up a piece of almond cake. Mo'er saw it and was about to take it for him, but his hand was handed to her, "Are you hungry?"
She was stunned for a moment, then took it rather awkwardly, "Thank you, Your Majesty, for the reward."
After she finished eating the almond cake, her sleepiness seemed to be gone.
She saw the emperor spreading out a piece of rice paper on the case, holding a pen and writing something on it, when he suddenly turned his head and asked her, "Does Mo'er know my name?"
When Mo'er heard this, he hurriedly knelt down and said, "Mo'er doesn't dare."
Since ancient times, the emperor's name has been the most taboo. All civil and military officials have to raise their hands in respect when the word "emperor" is mentioned, let alone the emperor's name.
The emperor took her hand and said with a smile: "Can you write?"
Mo'er nodded.
"Then Mo'er might as well write down my name."
There was no other meaning in his brows, he was just smiling. Mo'er didn't know why he had such interest, but she still bit her lip and walked to the desk bravely.
Picking up a brush full of ink, he wrote the emperor's name ------ Ye Xiao on the paper stroke by stroke.
"Mo'er actually writes well." He picked up the rice paper and praised.
"The emperor praised me."
He looked at it for a while before putting it away and preached: "Yun Qian."
Yun Qian bowed and came in, "My servant is here."
"Frame this calligraphy and hang it in my Weiyang Palace."
Weiyang Palace is Ye Xiao's bedroom, but he wants to hang his words there.
Mo'er was shocked and confused for a moment and could only stand aside and watch.
"Let Jin Feng take Zhaoyi back to the palace to rest." Ye Xiao sat back in front of the case again and began to review the memorial again.
"Mo'er excuses himself."
Mo'er had always refused to call herself a concubine, but Ye Xiao didn't blame her and allowed her to do as she pleased.
It was already midnight when she went back, Lin Jinfeng was guarding her, dressed in black brocade clothes, with a precious sword inlaid with gems hanging sideways. His eyes accidentally glanced at her face, the moonlight was boundless, and she was as bright as a piece of jade.
Shining, his heart moved slightly, and he quickly looked away uncomfortably.
"Master Lin, the Tianmang Palace is just ahead of you. There is no need to see you off," Mo'er said, stopping.
It was inconvenient for Lin Jinfeng to go in and out of the concubine's palace, but he was worried, so he said, "We are here to see the empress off."
Just as he finished speaking, he suddenly heard a scream from the front, "Help."
Lin Jinfeng moved and flew past.
Behind the bushes, two guards were seen desecrating a woman dressed as a palace maid.
"Stop." A loud shout frightened the two guards and immediately fell to their knees: "Master Lin."
"How dare you do such a despicable and shameless thing, you slave." He kicked one of them over, and with a flash of light, the tip of the knife was close to his throat.
"Mr. Lin, please spare your life, Mr. Lin, please spare your life." The two men hurriedly fell to the ground.
"Our imperial army has always maintained strict military discipline, and we will never allow you to wait for a scum like this to get mixed up with others."
Several men in black immediately walked out of the jungle not far away, cupping their fists and saying, "Sir."
"Send these two people to the Ministry of Punishment and punish them severely."
"Yes, sir."
Mo'er walked quickly and saw a young girl lying on the ground. Her clothes were disheveled and her hair was messy. She frowned and took off her cloak to cover her body.
With tears in her eyes, the woman crawled up to her and cried, "Thank you so much, ma'am."
Mo'er smiled: "How do you know I am the empress?"
The woman said: "Looking at the empress's dress, she looks elegant and luxurious. She is definitely not an ordinary palace maid or female official. She looks so beautiful, she must be the empress."
Lin Jinfeng said: "This girl has sharp eyes and a sharp mouth."
The woman quickly nodded: "Qianqian doesn't dare."
"So your name is Qian Qian." Mo'er looked at Lin Jinfeng and said, "Mr. Lin, I will leave this woman to you."
"Yes, empress."
When Qian Qian heard this, tears immediately filled her eyes. She grabbed the skirt of Mo'er's skirt and begged: "Mother, Qian Qian is a country girl. She has only been in this palace for a few days. Those people see that Qian Qian is easy to bully.
I am forcing you to beg me to accept Qian Qian as a maid, and I will treat Qian Qian as a cow or a horse, to express my gratitude to you for your great kindness."
As she spoke, she kowtowed to Mo'er.
Mo'er smiled bitterly: This girl thought that by following her, she would suffer less, but little did she know that her future was also worrying and her fate was uncertain.
He stretched out his hand to support her and said, "If you don't mind it, then go to my Tianmang Palace and be a cleaning maid."
Qian Qian showed surprise and kowtowed three times: "Thank you for your great kindness."
Then he turned to Lin Jinfeng: "Thank you, sir, for saving my life."
"Your name is Qianqian?" Axiu found a new set of clothes for her.
"Sister Axiu, is this for me?" Qian Qian happily took it.
"Your Majesty gave this to you, why don't you thank me?"
Qian Qian quickly knelt down in front of Mo'er: "Thank you for the reward."
Mo'er helped her up and said with a smile: "In Tianmang Palace, there are no such rules about kneeling back and forth. We won't have to do that in the future."
Qian Qian blinked her big eyes and smiled happily, "My wife is so kind."