Qi Kuan was afraid of being overheard, so he quickly covered Jinping's mouth and whispered softly: "What's wrong with him? That's the emperor. I know you are unhappy, but you must never forget this, otherwise you may be killed."
.”
"I know." Jinping pulled his hand away and responded angrily.
As for Hongli's side, he didn't let anyone pass the news and walked straight in. When Xianyue heard the sound of the door opening, she said without raising her head: "I told you to be alone for a while, so get out immediately!
"
Hongli was startled, then chuckled and said, "Who is so bold as to dare to make our queen angry?"
Hearing this voice, Xianyue was startled and suddenly raised her head. After seeing Hongli clearly, she immediately got up and wrote, "I didn't know it was the emperor who arrived. Please forgive me!"
"It doesn't matter." Hongli helped her up and said with a smile: "But you, why do you look so worried and still stay here alone? Could it be that someone really made you angry?"
Looking at Hongli's concerned eyes, Xianyue couldn't tell her feelings. She could only forcefully smile and said: "It's nothing, it's just that the weather is getting hotter, and I feel a little uncomfortable."
Upon hearing this, Hongli quickly said: "Where do you feel uncomfortable? Has an imperial doctor seen it? Is it okay?"
"I'm fine, I just have a little tightness in my chest. I'm fine now." Seeing her say this, Hongli nodded and said, "It's fine. It's spring and summer, and it's the most vulnerable time to get sick. If you feel uncomfortable again,
, just send it to the imperial doctor to see, don’t be careless.”
"I know." After Xianyue agreed, Hongli said with a smile: "The imperial chef who was sent to Yangzhou to learn how to cook Yangzhou cuisine has returned. I tasted the Yangzhou cuisine he cooked at noon. The taste was very authentic, so I let him
I made some more tonight and brought them to taste with you."
Without waiting for his instructions, Huang Ying had already taken out one plate after another of exquisite dishes from the food box. Every time she took one, she announced the name of the dish, namely: Wensi Tofu, Diao Wang Drunken Chicken, Yuqian Shrimp, and
Teapot Dongpo Pork, among the several dishes, the latter is the most interesting. It is served in a small purple clay teapot, which is filled with special seasonings. The Dongpo Pork is tied with a straw rope and soaked in it.
At this time, Qi Kuan and Qiaoyu also came in according to Hongli's instructions. Together with several dishes brought by Hongli, they set a full table. Hongli personally took a chopstick of drunken chicken and placed it in the Xianyue bowl.
In the middle, he said: "Before bringing this dish, I chilled it for a while. In addition to the aroma of wine and the crispy and tender skin of the chicken, it also has a refreshing feeling."
"Thank you, Your Majesty." As she said this, Xianyue did not move her chopsticks. She really had no intention of eating at the moment. Seeing this, Hongli thought it was not to her liking, so he took another chopstick of shrimps and said, "This
It is stir-fried with river shrimp unique to the Jiangsu and Zhejiang areas mixed with freshly picked Yuqian Longjing. It tastes faintly of tea. When I was on a tour in the south, I saw this dish was your favorite."
Xianyue twitched the corners of her lips, lowered her eyes and said, "Your Majesty is interested, but I'm not hungry yet, so you can still use it."
Seeing that she didn't even move her favorite Longjing shrimp, Hongli held her hand and asked in a serious voice: "What's wrong? Are you still feeling unwell?"
There was an indescribable feeling of discomfort when Hongli held her hand, which made Xianyue couldn't help but pull out her hand, stood up and said: "No, I just have no appetite. Your Majesty, please use it first."
Hongli was a little surprised by Xiayue's behavior. After a while, he said: "Xiangyue, what's wrong with you? If you have anything, you can tell me."
Xia Yue looked at him steadily, her eyes were indescribably complicated. After a long time, she said: "Is there anything the emperor is hiding from my concubine?"
Hongli was startled and said, "Why do you ask so suddenly?"
Xianyue did not answer his words, only said: "Please answer the emperor's concubine, do you have it or not?"
The matter of Yong Cun flashed through Hongli's mind. The next moment, he smiled and said: "I can hide anything from you, of course I don't!"
His answer disappointed Xianyue. At this time, Hongli still concealed it without any intention of telling her. She took a deep breath and said: "I have been free to read the daily notes these days.
It is recorded above that the emperor has left the palace four times in the past two months, but my concubine did not know anything about it, let alone heard the emperor mention it."
Hongli's heart skipped a beat, and he pretended to be casual: "It turns out that the queen meant this. Yes, I left the palace several times to discuss matters with Lao Wu and have a drink, and then simply rested in his house. Speaking of which, since I ascended the throne
After that, I never had such a casual chat with Lao Wu, which is really nostalgic." After a moment of pause, he said: "Because this is not an important matter, I have never mentioned it to the queen."
"Is the emperor really looking for Prince He?" Faced with Xianyue's question, Hongli smiled and said: "Otherwise, what else could it be? The queen would not think that I was visiting a brothel, right?"
"Of course the emperor is not going to visit the brothels, because the emperor has been resting in Guangxiu Garden for the past four nights!" After holding back for a long time, he finally couldn't help but say it.
Upon hearing the words "Guangxiu Garden", Hongli's face changed drastically and he blurted out: "How did you know?"
"If you want people to know, you have to do nothing!" Xianyue said with a sarcastic look: "How did the emperor tell me that you would never accept Wei Xiuyan as your concubine? Did you forget it so quickly?"
What Hongli was most afraid of was that Xianyue knew about this matter, so he strictly ordered Xiaowu and Huang Ying, who knew about it, not to reveal anything. Unexpectedly, only two months later, Xianyue knew about Wei Xiuyan's existence. He said with a gloomy face:
"Who told you? Xiaowu or Huang Ying?"
Hearing Hongli mentioning herself, Huang Ying hurriedly knelt down and said in fear: "The emperor has said that servants are not allowed to mention the matter of Madam Wei to anyone. I will never dare to violate it. It is definitely not a servant who told the Queen about this matter."
Yes, please ask the emperor
Mingjian!" Seeing that Hongli didn't speak, he crawled to Xianyue's feet again and said eagerly: "Empress, please tell the emperor that this matter has nothing to do with the slave. The slave is innocent." He only focused on defending himself and did not do anything.
Talking about Xiao Wu.
Xianyue lowered her head and glanced at him and said, "Your Majesty, there is no need to embarrass them. I did not know about this from their mouths."
Hongli's face was ashen and he said: "Who is that?!" There was a strong murderous intention in his words. As long as Xianyue named the person, he was afraid that he would immediately issue an order to kill him.
Xianyue met his gloomy gaze and said, "Even if no one tells me this time, I will know next time. Or does the emperor think he can hide it from me for the rest of his life?"
Hongli gritted his teeth and said nothing. In fact, he really didn't know how to explain Wei Xiuyan's matter to Xianyue!
"The emperor kept saying that he had nothing to hide from me. Even when I asked you where you were going when you left the palace, you lied to me and said you were with the prince. Why did you lie to me like this?"