"Have you come into contact with that Fan Jin?" At the cost of saving Dai Jia's life, Xia Qing asked him everything, including the chess piece Fan Jin.
Xiao Shouzi lowered his head and said: "Not yet, I will leave the palace again tomorrow to see if I can contact Fan Jin."
While they were talking, a palace servant came in and said, "Master, Aunt Zhichun is outside asking for an audience."
"Send her to come in." Following Xia Qing's words, Zhichun walked in with the palace servants, bowed respectfully and said: "My slave, please pay your respects to the imperial concubine. May your concubine be blessed."
"No courtesy." Xia Qing said gently: "You came to see me, but what's the matter?"
"This servant came here specifically to express my gratitude to the empress." Zhichun said gratefully: "The people in the tailoring workshop told the servant that it was the empress who urged them to make the cotton-padded clothes for Zhong Cui Palace as soon as possible, so that the palace servants of Zhong Cui Palace could wear them.
Wear cotton-padded clothes to keep out the cold and have a winter that’s not too cold.”
Xia Qing smiled and said: "I thought it was something, but it turned out to be this. It's just a little effort, it's nothing."
Zhichun said with a serious face: "For the empress, it is just a little effort, but for the slave, it is a big deal to save people from danger. If I don't come to express my gratitude to the empress in person, I will feel really sorry." After a moment, she said again: "Slave.
I knew that today was my queen’s birthday and I had nothing to give, so I made a sachet with my own hands and gave it to my queen, and asked her to accept it.”
Xia Qing took the sachet she handed her, looked at it carefully, put it to the tip of her nose and sniffed it, nodded and said, "Well, the embroidery is exquisite, the fragrance is fresh and refreshing, it's very good."
Her approval made Zhichun very happy, and he said with a smile: "It's good if I don't dislike it, my queen."
Xia Qing said: "You and I are destined to be together. If you encounter any difficulties in the future, just come and tell me. As long as I can do whatever I can, I will definitely help you."
Zhichun was moved and said: "Your Majesty treats me so kindly, and I really don't know how to repay you."
Xia Qing shook the sachet in her hand and chuckled: "If you really want to repay me, make a few more sachets for me."
Zhichun nodded repeatedly, "There are some remaining spices there. I will make them as soon as I get back. It should be the day after tomorrow... No, I can send them to you tomorrow."
Xia Qing said with some humor: "There's no need to be in such a hurry. I'm not waiting to ask for it. Besides, as the New Year is approaching, Zhong Cuigong should be busy with a lot of things. Please take care of your own affairs first."
Zhichun lowered his head and said nothing. Seeing this, Xia Qing asked doubtfully: "But what other embarrassing things are there?"
Zhichun said calmly: "It's nothing, it's just that the new palace maids have not been trained well, and Qi Kuan came yesterday to convey the queen's order, saying that on New Year's Eve, the Qianqing Palace was short of manpower, and these new palace maids had to be
If they are transferred to work, I am worried that something will happen to them."
"Not enough manpower?" Xia Qing asked doubtfully: "That shouldn't be the case. Yesterday, I asked the Queen about the New Year's Eve family banquet. Zheng Jiu was there at the time. He said that there were enough manpower. How could there be not enough manpower in the blink of an eye?
Woolen cloth?"
Zhichun's face turned pale, and then he said sarcastically: "Whether it's enough or not is all decided by the Queen. Qi Kuan must have gone back and told her about me, so she deliberately wanted to embarrass me."
Xia Qing sighed and said: "I only thought the queen was selfish, but I didn't expect her to be so small-minded."
"Selfish?" Zhichun said in confusion: "Why did the empress say this?"
"I just said it casually, it's nothing." After perfunctory, Xia Qing said: "While there are still a few days before New Year's Eve, you can go back and train those palace people. As for the queen, I will try to help you.
Let’s make some suggestions and see if we can avoid calling in the new batch of people entering the palace.”
Zhichun was surprised and happy, and agreed repeatedly, "Your Majesty is so kind to me, I really don't know..."
"You don't know how to repay me, do you?" Xia Qing said with a smile: "Okay, stop saying these disrespectful words, and go back quickly."
"Yes, I will leave." When Zhichun left, Cuizhu came back. After calming down her slightly hurried breath, she said: "Master, Concubine Ying returned directly to Changchun Palace after leaving, and did not
Stay somewhere else.”
"So, the queen didn't send her to test me?" Xia Qing's murmur was heard by Cuizhu, who said in surprise: "Master, you think the queen has begun to doubt us?"
Xia Qing thought for a moment, shook her head and said: "Probably not, but you must be more careful in the future and don't be careless."
After agreeing with Xiao Shouzi, Cuizhu added: "When I came back, I met several palace servants from Yangxin Palace. While talking, I learned that the emperor left the palace immediately after the court, and I don't know where he went."
Xia Qing sneered: "Where else can we go, of course it's Guangxiu Garden. In ten or twenty days, Wei Xiuyan will give birth. The emperor naturally cares about her in every possible way, and he only wishes he could guard her every day."
My belly, what a pity..."
Winter nights always come very early, and it's already dark before it's past midnight. Hongli did as he said. As soon as he returned to the Forbidden City, he came to Yonghe Palace to celebrate Xia Qing's birthday in person.
After drinking for three rounds, Hongli said: "Are the things I asked Xiao Wu to send me today to my concubine's liking?"
"As long as it is something sent by the emperor, I like it all." Because of drinking, Xia Qing's face turned red, and her expression was particularly attractive under the bright candlelight.
Hongli personally poured a glass of wine for Xia Qing and raised his glass: "I hope that my beloved concubine will be free from illness and pain every year, and be safe. I will celebrate every birthday with you in the future."
Xia Qing smiled shyly, then turned away and said, "Your Majesty, what you said is nice now, I'm afraid that in the future, when I become old and lose my beauty, I won't want to see my concubine again."
Hongli raised his head and smiled and said: "In that case, I would like to add that I hope that my concubine will stay young forever, so that you don't have to worry about old age."
Xia Qing smiled and said: "The emperor will make me happy." As she said, she raised her wine glass and said: "I also wish the emperor good health, long live long live!"
After the two drank the wine together, Hongli took her hand and said, "Come with me, I have another gift for you."
"There is more?" Xia Qing said in surprise: "There is also a gift, what is it?"
"You'll know when you get there." Following Hongli's words, Xia Qing followed him to the Imperial Garden. There were palace people waiting there, the lights were as bright as day, and a huge Kongming Lantern was placed in the middle.
Xia Qing said in surprise: "The emperor brought his concubines to light the Kongming lanterns?"
Without saying a word, Hongli pulled her all the way to the Kongming Lantern. As he got closer, he discovered that one side of the Kongming Lantern was full of words. After looking at it carefully, Xia Qing already had tears in her eyelashes. The words written on it
, is a long poem expressing grief. It can be seen that the person who wrote it had extremely deep feelings for the deceased.