In February, the days were gradually getting longer. I had nothing to do, so I served in the Queen Mother's palace and copied Buddhist scriptures for her. The winter cold had not yet receded, and there was thick residual snow on the branches of the trees outside the palace, and I could often hear the sound.
The slight sound of branches breaking.
The cold snowy light shines through the drawn curtains, revealing a very light cyan color, like the thin glaze of fine Jun kiln porcelain, or like the moonlight of the 17th or 18th century. Although it is good, it is imperfect.
The clear snow light shines through the large windows made of bright paper, and falls on the ground like white traces of moonlight. Although it is a cold and lonely color, it reflects that the inside of the palace is much brighter than outside.
Maybe it was because of Xuan Ling that the Queen Mother was very kind to me, but she was always quiet and didn't like to talk. I was by her side and didn't dare to say more easily.
The streamer is always silent.
Many times, the Queen Mother just knelt down in the inner hall and recited scriptures silently. I copied word for word behind her, which was actually boring Sanskrit to me. There was sandalwood burning in the Boshan stove on the desk, and the smoke from the stove was silent.
Silence lingered faintly, her expression was as calm as if she were outside the country, and the space between her brows was like the light wisps of the mountains, as misty as nothing.
I asked softly: "Does the Queen Mother also like sandalwood?"
She said: "People who believe in Buddhism all use sandalwood. I can't say whether I like it or not." She raised her eyes slightly and looked at me. "The concubines in the harem rarely use this incense. How come you know it?"
"I, my concubine, use it sometimes to calm your mind. It's better than benzoin."
The Queen Mother smiled: "That's right. Unfortunate things will inevitably happen in life, as long as you know how to deal with them."
The Queen Mother's eyesight is not very good, and the small characters in Buddhist scriptures often make it difficult for her to read them. So I made the fonts square and large, which really pleased her.
However, perhaps because of the Queen Mother's calm temperament, she only liked her lightly. Occasionally, she looked through my handwriting and smiled lightly: "The handwriting is pretty, but it lacks a bit of grandeur. But it's still pretty good.
, after all, it’s because I’m still younger.” But after a few words, my face turned red and I was very embarrassed. I have always been quite self-conscious about my writing, and I once wrote a book about Qin Guan with Xuan Ling.
"Magpie Bridge Immortal". His whispering breath felt crisp and itchy in his ears: "The characters of Huan Huan are like a flower-arranging dancer, holding up a hibiscus; another is like a beautiful woman on the stage, the fairy is making shadows; and is like a red lotus reflecting in the water.
, Bimarsh floating clouds." 1
I turned my head away and chuckled: "How can it be so good? The queen can write with both hands at the same time. Huanhuan is ashamed of herself."
He was in a daze, and just smiled and said, "The queen's handwriting is good, but it's just that it's too correct and it loses its charm."
So she smiled and said to the Queen Mother: "The Queen's calligraphy is very good. You can write with both hands."
The Queen Mother just smiled indifferently, quietly looking at the wintersweet blooming alone in the corner of the palace, twisting the Buddhist beads one by one in her hand, and said slowly: "The fragrance of plum blossoms comes from the bitter cold. No matter how good your calligraphy is, you have to work hard and practice it slowly.
Coming out is definitely not achieved overnight. The queen puts in a lot of effort in practicing calligraphy every day."
I suddenly recalled that when I went to pay my respects to the Queen, her desk was piled with a thick stack of written rice papers. I was just surprised: "There are so many, how long did it take the Queen to write?"
Jian Qiu said: "I haven't written much these days. I spent three days writing this."
I was secretly surprised and said nothing. The queen was not favored by Xuan Ling. It seemed that she had been quiet for a long time and was just passing the time by practicing calligraphy.
The Queen Mother said: "Zhen Jieyu has a good foundation." She opened her slightly closed eyes and said with a half-smile, "It's just that she has rarely written since she became a favor."
My face turned red and my voice was as low as a mosquito's, "I'm ashamed of myself."
However, the Queen Mother smiled gently and said, "How could you be calm enough to write well when you were young? The emperor loves you and will inevitably like your company. It doesn't matter if you neglect your writing. Whether the emperor likes it or not does not care about whether the handwriting is good or not.
."
The Queen Mother treats me well, but these words make me more in awe of the Queen Mother. Sometimes Xuan Ling comes to stay in my palace, and I also choose an opportunity to gently persuade him to visit the Queen more often, but he just laughs in amazement, "My
Huanhuan is so generous."
I had no choice but to say: "The Queen is the mother of a country, and the Emperor cannot be too indifferent."
The weather is gradually getting warmer, and people are no longer timid and lazy, and are willing to walk around. I got up early this morning to pay greetings to the queen. As soon as I entered the palace, I heard laughter and noise in the palace, which seemed to be very lively.
Harmony.
When the queen saw me coming in, she smiled and waved, "You're here too, you're talking lively."
I laughed hurriedly and said, "No, that's not true. The sisters laughed happily, but they invited my concubine from afar."
I saw Concubine Hua sitting on the east seat under the queen's seat, Feng Shuyi on the west seat, and a row of concubines sitting on each side. The mausoleum seemed to have lost weight again, and was lost in the many splendid concubines.
I raised my eyes. I walked to her side and asked with concern: "You haven't been in good health lately. Are you feeling energetic today?"
Lingrong said: "Thank you for your concern, sister. It's much better -" Before he could finish his words, he coughed twice, turned his face and blew his nose. Fang said with an embarrassed smile: "It's just a joke to my sister.
The wind and cold have been delayed for so long and have not gotten better." Her voice was quite nasal when she spoke, and her voice was no longer as clear and sweet as before.
Because of the cold, Lingrong had not slept with Xuan Ling for more than half a month, but Chun'er, with her outspoken simplicity, attracted a lot of attention from Xuan Ling.
Chun'er said with a smile: "Sister Zhen only cares about Sister An and ignores me. I am also your sister."
I couldn't help but smile and said, "Yes. Of course you are my sister. We are all sisters here. Good sister, please forgive me for this." This sentence made everyone laugh.
Chun'er pulled her sleeves to show me, and said, "I've gained weight recently. Look, sister, the cuffs of the clothes I made just for the New Year are now tight."
I suppressed laughter, clasped my fingers and said, "Yes. Breakfast is two bowls of red rice porridge and three caramel sugar packets; lunch is stewed fat chicken and duck; and it's not eaten again before dinner.
Snacks; if I hadn't held you back during dinner, I'm afraid that bowl of ham and stewed elbow would have gone into your stomach. Even so, you still complained that you were hungry and ate midnight snacks." I tried my best to hold back my cheeks that were sore from laughing.
, said: "It's not that you can't afford to eat, it's just that your belly is getting more round."
Chun'er was still listening in a daze at first, but when I counted her food one by one, she finally came to her senses, blushed and stamped her feet, saying, "Sister, she loves to laugh at me more and more." She lowered her head and looked at the magenta dress on her body shyly.
The gold-colored brocade robe said: "But what my sister said is that I can't eat like this anymore. The emperor said that my clothes must be made new every two months. I'm either taller or fatter. I'm really envious.
Sister An always looks thin."
The queen smiled and said: "What does it matter if you are fatter? The emperor just likes you. I'm afraid your sister An is still envious of you for being able to eat." Then she looked at Lingrong and said: "It's not good to be so thin. I usually eat
You should also pay attention to conditioning when taking medicine.”
As he was talking, Tian Guiren, who was listening with a smile, frowned, turned his head, covered his mouth with a handkerchief and retched a few times. Everyone was stunned, and the queen hurriedly asked: "What's the matter? But we have breakfast."
Did you get something dirty? Or are you feeling very unwell?"
Tian Guiren hurriedly stood up, but his face turned red before he spoke. The palace maid next to Tian Guiren replied with a smile: "Your Majesty, it's not that you have eaten something bad, but you are happy..."
Before he finished speaking, Tian Guiren hurriedly scolded with a smile: "Don't talk nonsense!"
My heart sank suddenly, and I was just stunned. I heard this so unexpectedly, and looked back at the queen. The queen was also surprised, and then she smiled and said: "Okay, okay! This is a great event, and it's time to congratulate the emperor."
My heart was shocked, and in an instant I stood up calmly, with a happy face, and said, "I also wish to congratulate the Queen." I turned around and smiled at Mr. Tian and said, "Sister Tian is very happy."
My words seemed to wake everyone up, and they had to stand up to say congratulations. Everyone congratulated each other. However, in the sudden laughter, everyone couldn't help but think about their own thoughts.
The silent concubine suddenly said: "But are you serious? Has the imperial doctor seen it?"
Tian Guiren was slightly shocked. He knew it was because of the visit to Meizhuang last time. He nodded shyly and said, "Both doctors from the imperial hospital have come to see me." He paused briefly and said with a cold smile, "Sister.
He is not that person who does whatever it takes to win favor. If there is something, there is something, and if there is nothing, there is nothing. How can the emperor's affairs be faked?" Then he turned to me and said, "Sister Jieyu, don't you think so?"
I was very upset, knowing that she was sarcastic about Meizhuang because she was a pregnant woman and her status was not what it used to be, so I could only endure it and said with a slight smile: "Indeed. My sister is indeed very lucky, but she is only three or five years old."
There will be joy in the daytime."
Chun'er next to him smiled "chi", and others also noticed it. There were many people who were jealous of Tian Guiren's pregnancy. After hearing this, they all realized that Xuan Ling had very little affection for Tian Guiren, although when he first entered the palace,
She was favored by Xuan Ling, but Tian Guiren's demands for favor were too much, and she even had repeated disputes with Liu Liangyuan, who entered the palace at the same time. Therefore, she fell out of favor in just over a month, and her position has always been in the position of the noble. Since she fell out of favor,
After that, Xuan Ling only called her five or six times in total.
However, I feel sad because she got pregnant just five or six times like this, and I have received a lot of favors, but there has been no movement until now. I can't help but say that it is a bad fate.
After leaving the palace, the cold sunlight poured down from the sky, and fell thickly or lightly on the remaining snow on the ground. However, it did not melt it, but instead seemed to slowly condense a layer of crystals on the snow. Suddenly, from the warmth of the palace,
When I came out of the pavilion, the cold wind hit my face, as if I was being blown by a knife. The collar of the jacket I was wearing was inlaid with a circle of soft wind hair. When the wind blew, the long silver-gray hair slightly fluttered on my cheeks.
, I usually feel warm and soft, but now I just feel itchy and unbearable.
Jinxi held my hand and was about to get on the sedan chair. Behind her, Cao Jieyu smiled softly, like the scorching sun in July, bright but also vaguely burning, "Sister is stupid. I have something to ask my sister."
."
I knew it was hard for her to say anything nice, but I had to patiently say, "Sister, just ask."
Cao Jieyu's body was faintly scented with the fragrance of honey, and her movements were gentle and elegant. She asked with a gentle breath: "Sister, I really feel sorry for my sister. The emperor loves my sister so much, and my sister has to bear the most rain and dew. How can I still do it today?"
There is no news of pregnancy?" She lowered her eyebrows and said softly: "Tiangui is pregnant. I am afraid that the emperor will pay more attention to her in the future. My sister should take care of herself when she has time."
I felt a chill in my chest and felt hatred in my heart. In a blink of an eye, I saw Concubine Hua standing next to Cao Jieyu with a sarcastic smile on her face. I was startled for a moment. I originally thought that Concubine Hua and Cao Jieyu had a relationship because of Emperor Wen Yi.
There was no resentment, but now it looks like there is no resentment at all, which I can't understand.
Before she had time to sort out the entanglement between them, her self-esteem had been stabbed, and she said coldly: "It is reasonable for the emperor to care about Tian Guiren. My sister can take care of herself when she has time, and she must take good care of Emperor Wen Yi's body.
Yes, the emperor's daughter's body cannot let anything go wrong." After saying that, he looked back at Concubine Hua, bowed respectfully and said: "Cao Jieyu just offended the empress with her words. I will apologize to the empress on behalf of my sister. It's best for the empress not to take offense.
ah."
Concubine Hua was stunned, "What?"
I smiled and said solemnly: "Sister Cao just said that concubines bear the most rain and dew but are not pregnant. Isn't this using my sister's affairs to hurt the empress? Among the concubines, after all, the empress has the most rain and dew over the years.
So I apologize to the empress."
Cao Jieyu was frightened and realized that she had lost her words. She couldn't help but look at Concubine Hua in horror, and forced herself to smile calmly. Concubine Hua changed her color slightly, but remained patiently silent. She only sneered twice, as if she was asking herself or me,
"Isn't this palace pregnant?"
When Cao Jieyu heard Concubine Hua's bad tone, she reached out to pull her sleeves. Concubine Hua shook her hand hard and said loudly: "So what if I'm pregnant, what if I'm not pregnant? If fate takes care of me, it will be given to me."
I have a son. If fate doesn’t favor me, I’ll just have a daughter, which is better than nothing.” As he spoke, his eyes swept across Cao Jieyu’s face.
Cao Jieyu's face turned red and white, but she finally said nothing.
I said quietly: "Your Majesty is right. Whether you have a son or not, you will be favored after all. Even if the mother is more valuable than the son, it still depends on whether the child is in line with the emperor's wishes." After saying this, I didn't want to talk to them anymore and walked away.
go.
The next day, Xuan Ling was delighted and ordered Du, a noble lady from Jin Tian, to become Liangdi of the fifth rank and hold a banquet in the palace to celebrate.
Du Liangdi's pregnancy did not bring much auspiciousness to the palace. In the early spring, a serious epidemic spread in the palace. The disease started due to a sense of unhealthy energy. It initially started among the low-level palace maids who were serving as handymen.
At first, it was just a headache and fever, then the neck swelled, and the body became blocked. The disease of one person spread to one room, and the disease of one room spread to one palace. The palace began to burn mugwort leaves to drive away the epidemic, and for a while everyone was in danger.
Note:
1 Wei Xu’s praise of Mrs. Wei’s book in the Tang Dynasty