Xu Qinghuan was brought into the main hall by the female officer, where the Queen Mother was sitting on the couch near the window arranging flowers.
Xu Qinghuan stepped forward to salute and kowtow.
"Get up," the Queen Mother turned around and glanced at Xu Qinghuan, "come and help the Ai family to see where to plant this branch."
There are freshly cut peonies inserted in the dendrobium, and the branch in the Queen Mother's hand is a peony.
Peonies were very valuable in this dynasty. Xu Qinghuan guessed that the Queen Mother originally planned to insert this peony in the middle of the dendrobium, surrounded by peonies, making it look prosperous and luxurious.
But now there is a golden peony in the middle of the dendrobium. If you want to insert this peony, you have to take out the peony.
Xu Qinghuan thought that the palace attendants had come to urge her, "Miss Xu, the Queen Mother is waiting for you."
Xu Qinghuan stepped forward and took the flower from the hands of the Queen Mother in a polite manner, "There must be other dendrobiums in the Queen Mother's palace, why not find a place for this peony."
The Queen Mother raised her eyes, and there was no emotion or anger on her face. "Why is this? The Ai family asked people to pick peonies just to match this peony."
Xu Qinghuan said respectfully, "Now that the Queen Mother has this golden peony branch, the dendrobium flowers already look very beautiful. If we add the peonies, the two flowers will inevitably have to compete for power. It is said that competing for beauty is the best, but these flower branches are meant to entertain people.
Coexistence and symbiosis adds more to the scenery, but putting them all here would seem crowded."
The Queen Mother's face was calm, making it difficult to tell whether she was happy or angry. "What a clever mouth. The Aijia just asked you to arrange flowers, but you said such a truth."
"I don't dare," Xu Qinghuan hurriedly bowed his head and saluted, "I'm too talkative. Please ask the Queen Mother to atone for my sins."
The Queen Mother was helped to sit down, "You must have thought that the Aijia asked you to arrange flowers to test you. The golden peony and the peony had something different to say, so you just said something indisputable, right?"
The Empress Dowager openly lectured her, leaving her unable to excuse herself. Many things in the palace could not be explained clearly, just like the wishful reward the Empress Dowager gave her. If it was said that it was meaningful, it would be meaningful, and if it was not said, it would naturally not be there.
This is the way you fight with me. Keep everything secret. Even if it is exposed, it will not be true.
Xu Qinghuan had seen this in his previous life. At the palace banquet, they just talked about common things. After coming out of the palace, some people felt like they were in danger. Some people even committed suicide without saying a word.
The methods in the palace are cruel, but they can also kill people invisible.
The Queen Mother twisted the Buddhist beads in her hand and said calmly, "At such a young age, I don't know where the thoughts came from. I started to figure out the intentions of the Ai family before I was done."
Although these words were not harsh, they were enough to make people break out in a cold sweat.
Xu Qinghuan was not impatient, "Since I have to serve the Queen Mother in arranging flowers, I naturally have to consider the Queen Mother's preferences. However, I rarely came to the palace in the past and did not see the Queen Mother a few times. Even if I wanted to figure out the Queen Mother's feelings, I would only
Even if I'm afraid, there's no place to start.
The ones who really understand the Empress Dowager's thoughts are the female officials of Cining Palace, not the ministers, the ministers just follow the trend."
"Oh?" The Queen Mother raised her eyes slightly and said in a deep voice, "How do you say this? What news did they convey to you?"
Xu Qinghuan nodded, "I don't dare to deceive the Queen Mother, that's right."
The expressions on the faces of several female officials suddenly changed, and they all stepped forward and said, "Slaves don't dare, and I don't know why Miss Xu came to accuse me unjustly."
The Queen Mother saw the young girl standing in the palace. There was no fear or panic on her face. Instead, her eyebrows were relaxed and she was very magnanimous and calm. "When the court lady was brought in, she happened to see a female official going to the side room holding a dendrobium flower. My court lady
After a quick glance, I saw that the flowers painted on the dendrobium looked like roses, with pink calyxes and a few flowers blooming on the branches. There were no large areas of color dyeing. They looked somewhat elegant, just like the ones in the hands of the Queen Mother.
Matching peonies.
Therefore, I guessed that the female official saw that the Queen Mother was having a hard time making a choice, so she was ready to advise her to use another dendrobium to place the peony. The female official had been by the Queen Mother's side for a long time, so she naturally knew the Queen Mother's thoughts. When she came, she felt that this arrangement was
It is indeed appropriate, and secondly, I also want to cater to the empress’s preferences.”
There was a somewhat surprised look in the female officer's eyes. It turned out that Miss Xu meant this.
The Queen Mother looked over and said, "You have indeed prepared dendrobium?"
The female officer then said, "I just asked people to get them and prepare them. If the empress needs it, I will bring them out immediately. I didn't expect Miss Xu to see it. But how did Miss Xu know that the dendrobium was prepared for peonies? Maybe it was just for display."
In the side room."
Xu Qinghuan said, "When the Queen Mother called me to arrange flowers, the palace attendant holding dendrobium flowers came out of the side room, but after looking at the female officer, he stepped back. Seeing this scene, I made a decision in my heart.
Speculation.
Many times we can’t get the exact answer, so we can only make speculations and then corroborate them with the facts we see..."
The Queen Mother heard this and asked, "Is this how you helped the Yamen solve the case?"
"Exactly," Xu Qinghuan raised his head, "those cases are too complicated and there is no more evidence at the moment. If we want to make progress, we have to broaden our thinking first."
The Queen Mother said, "So your suspicion that those Japanese people brought firearms to Beijing is also based on your conjecture?"
Xu Qinghuan nodded, "However, those conjectures are not without basis, and for such a major matter as firearms, being careful will always be beneficial and harmless."
The Queen Mother looked at Xu Qinghuan silently, closed her eyes for a long time and said, "It's a good thing with no harm at all. It's indeed your contribution that this case can be found out, so the Aijia will give you a handle."
At this point, Xu Qinghuan should step forward to express her gratitude. She lifted up her skirt and knelt down upright, "I would like to express my gratitude to the Queen Mother for her grace, but... I feel uneasy because of the preciousness of my wishes."
The Queen Mother suddenly felt a little interested, "Oh, why do you feel ashamed?"
Xu Qinghuan raised his head, his eyes clear, "Because the case has not been fully investigated, and there is still someone hiding in the dark to control the overall situation. Although the plan in front of him has been exposed, maybe he has other plans, just waiting for us to relax our vigilance and commit another crime again."
The Queen Mother already knew the ins and outs of the entire case and immediately thought of Wang Yun: "You mean Wang Yun?"
Xu Qinghuan said, "I firmly believe that Wang Yun did not do this case alone. Wang Yun is in prison. It will not be of any benefit to him to deal with the Zhang family and the Anyi House. If he wants to find out everything, he must find the person who can really benefit from it."
man of."
The Queen Mother seemed to have thought of something, her eyes darkened slightly, "Do you want to continue investigating?"
Xu Qinghuan said decisively, "I just want the truth. As long as I am spied on by that person, I will not be able to live in peace for a day."
The Queen Mother didn't know why she remembered that when she was young, she seemed to be so decisive.
It's been a long time since the Zhang family had such an outstanding descendant. If Zhang Jingshu was like this, she would try her best to support her mother in the world. Not all the glory in this world can belong to one person or one family.
"Get up," the Queen Mother said, her expression much softer. "When you mentioned the case, the Ai family also remembered something. I wonder if you dare to inquire about it. This matter concerns King Jian, and I'm afraid it will involve a lot."
