Chapter 90 The dead peony flower hides a conspiracy
After Liang Jing left, everyone in the Furong Palace gathered around the two pots of peonies that the queen admired.
There is a pot of Zhao Fen and a pot of Bean Green. Each pot has several flowers as big as a bowl, and there are hundreds of remaining flower buds, all planted in large purple sand pots.
"These flowers are so beautiful. They will bloom even more on your birthday."
"Nothing in the world is more graceful and luxurious than peonies. It is a true national color."
"I'm afraid these two pots of flowers would cost several hundred taels of silver outside the palace. I'm afraid there's no place to buy them."
Everyone gathered around the two pots of flowers and admired them.
Concubine Fu looked at it and said, "This is the Queen's wish. You must not neglect it.
Find someone who is careful and take good care of it. On my birthday, everyone who comes will definitely appreciate this flower."
Wei Zhong asked the palace maid Fangdian to take care of these two pots of flowers.
Fangdian has always been careful and conscientious, so she was assigned here as soon as she entered the palace, and it has been more than four years.
Because her home was originally a flower garden, she was asked to take care of the flowers and plants in the yard.
Over the years, the flowers and trees in Furong Palace have been better maintained than anywhere else, and it is inseparable from her contribution.
Xue Hengzhao, in addition to teaching Concubine Fu an hour's spread every day, also had to draw patterns before breakfast and after lunch.
With her dexterous mind, she quickly drew more than a dozen different patterns, each of which looked beautiful.
"It's really unique and novel. I have never seen anything similar to it in the palace for so many years." You Zhu loved the new bamboo clump covering the moon in Xue Heng's photo the most. "This one just fits my name, no one can steal it from me."
."
"What is this? A large piece, how can it look good when embroidered?" Danyue picked up one of the patterns and asked.
"You can't see anything about this now, but you need to use several kinds of silk threads to embroider it, and it will be like a cloud of flowers. It's colorful and beautiful!" Xue Hengzhao said.
These palace maids were imprisoned in red walls and lived cautiously every day.
Only when they are together in private can they feel at ease for a moment.
It's just that this time doesn't last long, and soon we have to disperse and everyone goes to do their own things.
That day before breakfast, several people gathered together again to watch Xue Heng take photos of her embroidery.
When Concubine Fu first got up, there were only two people around her to serve her, and the rest were not allowed to come in without calling her.
At this time, what Xue Hengzhao showed off was the cloud of flowers. After matching the colors, it was so beautiful that people couldn't take their eyes away.
"Sister Hengzhao, please embroider this and give it to me," Danyue begged.
"Sister Fangdian said she wants this," Xue Hengzhao said with a smile on his face as he moved the stitches, "You can't help me, you have to discuss it with her."
"Where did that girl from Fangdian go? Why can't she be seen?" Danyue looked everywhere.
"She must have gone to see the flowers, right?" someone said, "She has to go and see the two pots of peonies first every morning when she gets up."
Then Fangdian came in, and Danyue discussed it with her.
Fangdian didn't argue, he just said: "If you like it, I'll give it to you!"
Then it was time for them to have breakfast, and everyone dispersed. Only Fangdian was sitting there, seemingly absent-minded.
Xue Hengzhao also felt a little sore in her neck, so she put down her needle and thread and asked her: "What's wrong with my sister today? She seems to have something on her mind."
"I don't think it's quite right." Fangdian spoke hesitantly, "I don't know why the two pots of peonies were wilting when I woke up this morning.
The soil in the pot is wet. I just watered it yesterday, so it shouldn't be a lack of water."
"Is that because it's been too sunny these days? It's still quite hot at noon on the porch." Xue Hengzhao said.
She knows that peonies should not be exposed to the sun.
"I also pay attention to this. I cover it with gauze every day when it is almost noon. Is it still not possible?" Fangdian murmured, "How about I go back and ask the empress for permission, and then move to a cooler place."<
/p>
However, in the evening of this day, the flowers became more and more wilted, and Fangdian was completely panicked.
She first found the manager, Wei Zhong, who was anxious when he heard it and hurriedly came over to take a look.
"What can I do? Can I still be saved?" Wei Zhongyu didn't know anything about flower cultivation. "Weren't you fine a few days ago? How could this happen?"
"I don't know what's going on. I'm very careful every day." Fangdian was about to cry. "I have raised peonies before, and they were all well. I don't know what happened to these two pots."<
/p>
"What should we do? It will be our empress's birthday in a few days. If these two pots of flowers die, the empress will definitely be angry.
Even if you don't say it, you still blame us for being careless. What's more important is that if you are angry with our empress, it will be terrible." Wei Zhong knew that these two pots of flowers were not just two pots of flowers, they represented the queen's.
Face.
Fangdian burst into tears as soon as he heard this: "Chief Health Officer, what should I do? I have caused a big disaster."
"I hope this flower is wilting only temporarily, and you can find a way to save it." Wei Zhong said, "Don't let the news leak out yet. I'll ask two people to carry this flower to the house over there!" p>
Fangdian was so worried that he didn't go back to his room that night, but stayed in that room guarding the two pots of flowers.
But contrary to expectations, on the second day, the leaves of the two potted flowers gradually withered and the flower buds all drooped.
No matter how much Fangdian deceives himself, he still knows that this flower will not survive.
Wei Zhong was also thinking about this, so he rushed over to take a look and gasped.
"No, we have to tell our queen about this." Wei Zhong said, "Don't be afraid, our queen has always been generous, and you didn't deliberately spoil the flowers."
After Concubine Fu had finished her meal, Wei Zhong led Fangdian in to report.
It happened that Xue Hengzhao was there at this time, preparing to ask Concubine Fu to order tea.
"Wei Zhong, what's the matter with you?" Concubine Fu asked Wei Zhong when she saw him coming.
"I have something to report, but..." Wei Zhong hesitated and glanced at Xue Hengzhao.
Of course Xue Hengzhao understood what he meant and stood up to go out.
"You just stand." Concubine Fu said calmly, "I have nothing to be ashamed of here."
Xue Hengzhao had no choice but to stay here.
Wei Zhong then said: "Your Majesty, the two pots of peonies that the Queen gave us a few days ago are half dead for some reason."
Concubine Fu was surprised when she heard this and frowned slightly: "How could this happen? Have you found out the reason?"
"It's not caused by drought, nor is it caused by the sun. It doesn't look injured from the outside." Fangdian knelt down and said.
"Have you checked the flower roots?" Concubine Fu asked.
"I don't dare to touch my roots." Fangdian told the truth.
"There is no hope of saving, so what's the harm in taking a look? Even if the flower dies, we still have to figure out what's going on, right?" Fu Fei said.
"My slave, let's go and see it now." Fangdian said and hurried out.
After a while, she came back in a hurry: "Mother, I've seen it. The roots of the flowers are peeling and rotten. Someone must have poured hot water into the flowerpot."
"Are you sure that the flowers were scalded to death by boiling water?" Concubine Fu asked.
If this is the case, then someone did it deliberately.