"Represented by Mrs. Qing'er... there are four other people, all with new faces."
"Come with Qing'er?"
"...Shui Xinyuan?"
The maid opened the door and Qing'er poked her head in.
"Just now I saw Zhuyan and Yaoer leaving in a menacing manner, can we come in?"
"come in!"
Shui Xinyuan looked back and found four young women standing behind Qing'er.
These four people were completely different from the guests who had come to greet Shui Xinyuan so far. They were dressed more plainly than Shui Xinyuan, and they did not have a arrogant attitude. Everyone shrank and looked up at Shui Xinyuan uneasily.
"Well……?"
Shui Xinyuan looked at Qing'er and the women in turn, Qing'er shrugged.
"They said that they wanted to greet you at the last festival, but in the end they didn't have the courage. I told them that as long as they apply for an audience, you can meet them at any time. They didn't seem to believe that they could meet the empress so easily, and they didn't dare to come.
"
"……oh?"
Chunxiang quietly handed the visitor list to Shui Xinyuan and whispered that they were not nobles.
"Mr. Guo, a doctor in the field of the Ministry of Industry, Mr. Zhongban, a doctor in the Ministry of Household Affairs, Mr. Shi, the supervisory censor, Mr. Jiang's wife..."
"..."
They are all ordinary officials' wives.
Qing'er pushed the four of them in.
"Well, um...thank you, the Queen, for taking the time for us."
"Ah, oh, no, no."
Seeing the four people suddenly bowing to him, Shui Xinyuan forgot that this was normal etiquette, and couldn't help but return the bow to them... Only then did Shui Xinyuan realize that although non-noble officials accounted for the overwhelming majority,
Almost all the people who entered the palace to look for her were princes and nobles, and no one had ever bowed to her so respectfully.
Qing'er chuckled.
"Don't worry, they are not here to say bad things about you."
The four people shook their heads in panic.
"When I gave birth to my child last year, I received a congratulatory letter from the Queen..."
"I also received a letter from my empress..."
"Like the empress, I was married to the capital from Liuzhou."
"Ah... I used to be a housemaid, and the Queen's dance at the banquet was so beautiful..."
The officials' wives lowered their heads and started talking one after another, their voices a little nervous.
...Qing'er is Shui Xinyuan's old friend for many years, and she also has a group of court actress friends.
The maids here are like family members. Although Shui Xinyuan is not used to getting along with those noble ladies, he cannot ignore them.
Shui Xinyuan never wanted others to be formal because she was a queen.
However, she had never thought before that among those close to her and those who rejected her, there were also those who recognized her as the queen and respected her.
"You raise your heads..."
The news of Shui Xinyuan's pregnancy will be announced tomorrow.
Will the child who is about to be born receive the blessings of these people?
...She believes that she can receive blessings, and she will definitely receive blessings.
Several officials' wives raised their heads tremblingly, and Shui Xinyuan smiled in response.
"Would you like to sit down and chat? I'll make tea."
"Well……"
"I always make tea for the emperor and his guests."
"You personally...?"
"yes."
The four people froze in place in surprise, then breathed a sigh of relief and showed cheerful expressions.
The maids brought chairs and new teacups, and Qing'er immediately sat down.
"Shui Xinyuan, what kind of tea is today?"
"What I just made was lychee tea. Can I make the same tea?...Ah, please sit down, you're welcome!"
The wives of the four officials finally sat down in fear. They must have felt that the queen in front of them was different from what they had imagined.
...but this is the real me...
I hope to remain as I am, as Lu Fusu chose me to be, and to become the queen of this country.
Shui Xinyuan said in his heart.
She poured tea into six teacups, and the aroma immediately wafted away, causing the youngest lady to let out a soft exclamation.
Qing'er held her cheek and looked happily at their wide-eyed expressions.
“The tea here tastes great because the Queen is very good at making tea.”
"The Queen even made tea herself..."
One of them couldn't help but said, but hurriedly covered his mouth with his hand, and Shui Xinyuan laughed.
"Yes, although I am a queen...but I am good at making tea."
…
The next year, Qing'er gave birth to a son, and a month later, at the end of winter, Shui Xinyuan also gave birth to a son.
The news of the birth of the prince made the whole country rejoice. Although no one took the lead and no permission was obtained, all the celebrations were celebrated for more than three days. In the end, the local government had to stop the celebrations.
The plum blossoms fell silently, and the red drowned the green water.
Shui Xinyuan placed his sleeping son next to the Zhuge family sons who came to visit with his mother, and let them sleep quietly.
"...His Royal Highness the Crown Prince finally fell asleep?"
"Hmm... How come Xiaohu won't be woken up?"
"My son loves to sleep. I almost doubt that sleeping is his hobby. Last time the maid broke the tea cup in the next room, he didn't wake up at all."
"You really have the air of a general..."
Shui Xinyuan and Qing'er stood by the railing of the crib, admiring the sleeping faces of the two children, then turned and walked away.
Two maids sat watching over the baby.
"Don't you think Xiaohu looks a lot like Zhuge Qing?"
"Does it really look like him? I've always felt so..."
Although the weather was still a bit cold, they sat close to the corridor to avoid waking up the children.
Shui Xinyuan made tea as usual, and Qing'er put the snacks he brought on the plate.
"His Royal Highness the Crown Prince must also look like the Emperor."
"I think so too. Because when I was pregnant, I kept telling my belly that I must, absolutely, look like the emperor."
"What kind of spell is this...?"
...Because if I see the emperor loving a son who looks like me, I will definitely feel very unwilling... Shui Xinyuan thought.
While they were drinking tea slowly, they saw Fu Bo appearing at the other end of the pool.
Qing'er silently waved to Uncle Fu, who noticed them and walked towards them.
A young man followed behind Forbes.
"The empress and madam are both here..."
"Uncle Fu, good afternoon."
Shui Xinyuan and Qing'er poked their heads out by the railing, and Fu Bo and the young man bowed to them.
"How are your Highness and Your Majesty?"
"Good, they're sleeping, so..."
"Oh...Okay, okay."
Ifu smiled and nodded twice.
"Then let me introduce you two in a low voice... His name is Li Chengjian, and he is my new assistant. Li Chengjian, this is the wife of the empress and the minister of Zhuge Zhongshu."
"The helper...oh, replaced the big-mouthed man."
The big-mouthed man in Qing'er's mouth is, of course, Ziwei.
Although he was used by the nobles, it was ultimately caused by his nonsense.
After the Chunhua Street incident, he was fired and kicked out of the palace... In fact, before that, Ziwei cried and asked to resign.
"I...my name is Li Chengjian. Well, the garden here is very beautiful...I will definitely work hard to take care of the flowers and trees..."
He bent his tall body and bowed again and again, showing a kind of simple cuteness.
"He is from Heihu, Youzhou. He used to cultivate fruit saplings at home and make a living by selling saplings. Although he is very young, his skills are very good. I can finally rest assured in the future."
"Really? That's great."
"...The Black Lake in Youzhou?"
Shui Xinyuan tilted his head and thought for a moment. He had heard this name before. Youzhou is in the south.
"Ah, Yun Shang."
"What?"
"I remember Yun Shang said that her hometown is Heihu Lake in Youzhou..."
"Yunshang?"
Li Chengjian suddenly straightened up and shouted. Shui Xinyuan and Qing'er couldn't help but look back at the house.
"Small...please keep your voice down, His Royal Highness is sleeping."
"ah……"
Li Chengjian blushed, covered his mouth with his hands, and bowed silently.
There was no crying in the house.
"...It seems okay?"
"Didn't wake them up..."
Li Chengjian covered his mouth and breathed a sigh of relief.
"Do you know Yun Shang?"
"Yes...yes, we used to play together often...Excuse me, why does your Majesty..."
Li Chengjian whispered again: "Didn't she sell herself to human traffickers?"
"Because Yunshang has helped me before."
Li Chengjian shrank his body and slowly raised his face to look at Shui Xinyuan.
"...can you help me?"
"right."
"She...Yunshang...has always been very enthusiastic about helping others."
From this point of view, the Yun Shang that Li Chengjian knew must be the same person as Lu Huan who once saved me.
Shui Xinyuan smiled and nodded to Li Chengjian.
"Because of this fate, I recommended her to become a court actress. Now she is working hard to practice dancing here. If you have a chance, go and see her!"
"Okay, okay..."
Li Chengjian bowed deeply, his head almost touching the ground.
He followed Uncle Fu out of the garden. Uncle Fu should also introduce the palace concubines of the Jiaofang to Li Chengjian.
Qing'er leaned on the railing, looked at Li Chengjian's slightly uneasy back, and laughed softly.
"Spring is coming soon..."
"It's almost spring."
After they returned to the room, Chunxiang walked in from the next room slightly nervously.
"The Queen...Mrs. Lian Mei is here to pay her respects to you..."
"Ah, Your Highness, have they arrived?"
Qing'er, who was about to sit down on the chair, looked back at Shui Xinyuan.
"I heard the name Lian Mei from my father-in-law. She is the only one among the maids in Qinghe Palace who accompanies His Highness Prince Lu Wuxian..."
"Yes, today is the day when His Highness the Prince leaves Ranshui Pavilion. From now on, he will teach archery at the Ministry of War. Before the construction of the official residence is completed, he will temporarily live in Chunying Palace, so Lian Mei..."
"What...how can this be done?"
Qing'er forgot that the child was sleeping and had to keep quiet, so she grabbed Shui Xinyuan's arm.
"Want to live here? That person? Didn't His Highness the Prince once try to assassinate the Emperor? Anyway, doesn't it matter if he lets him live here?"
"Although they live together in Chunying Palace, they will live in another building and will have people under surveillance."
"Too careless..."
"Don't worry, Sister Lian is here."
Shui Xinyuan patted Qing'er's shoulder and asked Chunxiang to invite Lian Mei in.
After a while, a woman in simple clothes and no makeup walked in quietly, her head lowered.
She looks no different from the ordinary people on the street, because she has been a maid for many years, and her movements have a kind of casual elegance.
"My name is Jiang Lianmei, and I am meeting the Queen for the first time. I am very grateful for the Queen's thoughtful care."
"No way……"
Qing'er always felt that the women around Lu Wuxian were all wearing heavy makeup and flaunting their beauty. Seeing Lian Mei's attitude, she couldn't help but blurt out her feelings.
"Yes! This is really the first time we meet."
Shui Xinyuan stepped forward to greet him, and Lian Mei lowered her eyes and bowed deeply.
"I would like to express my gratitude to my empress for often writing to my little servant...because I was busy sorting it out and did not express my congratulations in time. Congratulations on the birth of His Royal Highness."
"Thank you." Shui Xinyuan nodded.
Because the prince was born, Lu Wuxian was pardoned and he was able to leave Ranshui Pavilion.
"By the way, didn't His Highness Lu Wuxian come with you?"
"Your Highness and I left Ranshui Pavilion together, but..."
The usually calm Lian Mei showed a rare change in expression and showed a confused expression.
"He... sometimes acts like a disobedient child... finally left Ranshui Pavilion, but he said he doesn't want to come to pay respects to the Emperor and Queen yet..."
Qing'er seemed to finally understand the situation in front of her and said "Oh...".
"Queen, please forgive Your Highness for being rude. I will definitely bring Your Highness here..."
"Your room hasn't been tidied up yet? Let's wait until it settles down. Sister Lian, you can also come here to have tea with me yourself."
"Thank you for your trouble, ma'am."
Lian Mei lowered her head and said calmly.
"Thanks to His Majesty's love, we are finally able to leave Ranshui Pavilion...but His Highness's sins have not been eliminated. If we appear around the Queen, talkative people who don't know what to say may cause trouble to the Emperor and the Queen."
"..."
Shui Xinyuan and Qing'er couldn't help but look at each other.
"I was just a maid, and Lu Wuxian is no longer a prince, but a minister. Thank you for your thoughtfulness, we will stay here for the time being, but we will try to minimize the trouble for the emperor and your Majesty..."
"I am also a minister."
Qing'er interrupted Lian Mei's words firmly, and Lian Mei suddenly raised her head.
Qing'er bent down and looked into Lian Mei's eyes.
"My name is Zhang Qing'er. I am the wife of Zhuge Qing, the assistant minister of Zhongshu. My mother-in-law runs an oil business in the capital. I am Shui Xinyuan's friend when she was a court lady. Please take good care of me!"
"Nice...nice to meet you..."
"What a surprise. I didn't expect you to be so polite and follow that prince... I'm really curious about you. I must have a cup of tea before I leave!"
"..."
The confusion on Lian Mei's face turned into surprise, and she looked at Shui Xinyuan asking for help. Shui Xinyuan smiled at her and said, "I'm actually very curious too."
"You're really curious! Come, come, come here."
"This...I..."
Shui Xinyuan and Qing'er held Lian Mei's hands from both sides and pressed her on the chair, but she still shook her head desperately.
"Please wait a moment, I am just a minister..."
"me too!"
"..."
Lian Mei was at a loss and almost cried, but Ailing and Qing'er pretended to turn a blind eye and neatly placed the snacks in front of her.
"Shui Xinyuan, I also want a cup of tea."
"good."
"me……"
Before Lian Mei could say anything, Chunxiang had already cleverly brought a new tea cup.
"The Queen likes to make tea for her friends herself and let the guests enjoy it. This is the current etiquette of Chunying Palace."
"yes……"
Seeing Chunxiang's serious expression as she spoke and Lianmei blinking desperately, Shui Xinyuan and Qing'er laughed at the same time, and the cry of a baby was immediately heard from deep in the room.
"Oops, I woke up His Highness..."
"...Huh? It seems that he is not my son, but Xiaohu."
"My son?"
Qing'er hurriedly stood up. At this time, the crying volume doubled.
Both seemed to be awake.
"Oh, it's really not peaceful."
"Fengxia, Caiju, please, bring them here."
"Uh...I'd better go back..."
"You can't leave yet!"
"yes……"
Shui Xinyuan and Qing'er took the son brought by the maid and laughed again.
Lian Mei finally narrowed her eyes.
In the evening, Lian Mei apologized repeatedly for disturbing her for so long and went back to the room she shared with Lu Wuxian. Lu Wuxian must have been impatient with waiting and was about to get into trouble again.
Zhuge Qing, also accompanied by Li Yuezhen, came to take Qing'er and Xiaohu home.
"Excuse me for reporting this so late. The details of the Queen's proposal have already been decided... The Queen is really too ascetic."
Zhuge Qing said in a tone that sounded both surprised and admirable, and Li Yuezhen handed the report to Shui Xinyuan.
"All currently legal flower streets will undergo necessary renovations that best suit the location. It may take a while because the situation in different places is different."
"Please."
Part of the territory confiscated by the nobles involved in the Chunhua Street incident now belongs to the queen. Although only part of it, the queen's private property has doubled. Shui Xinyuan hopes that Lu Fusu will use the increased part to rectify the chaotic Flower Street.
"Leaving aside the issue of lack of desire, why do you think of rectifying the Flower Street?"
Wasn't the empress chased in Chunhua Street not long ago... Qing'er looked at the little tiger in her arms and asked.
"Well... because I saw that those people were all very sick, and thought that I might have been sold there, and that my fellow villagers might be in the Flower Street somewhere now..."
"Except for the empress, no one would use the inner treasury in such a place."
Zhuge Qing smiled bitterly and scratched the back of his neck.
"Even in legal flower streets, in many places the sanitation can be improved as long as the wells and waterways are repaired."
Li Yuezhen took a few steps back and saluted Shui Xinyuan.
"I will leave for Weizhou tomorrow and will not be able to come to pay my respects to the Queen for the time being. I wish the Queen and the Prince good health."
"Master Li, you should also take care of yourself..."
"I'll take my leave first."
Shui Xinyuan looked back at Chunxiang, who was waiting in the corner of the room.
"Can you send Mr. Li off for me?"
"Yes...obey..."
"After sending it off, you should go and rest first!"
Zhuge Qing and Qing'er looked at Chunxiang with smiles. Chunxiang blushed, opened the door, and followed Li Yuezhen out.
"Mother, you are very considerate!"
"They haven't been seen for a while."
"Then let's be more sensible. It's almost time to resign."
Zhuge Qing took the little tiger from Qing'er's hand and nodded goodbye to Shui Xinyuan.
"Excuse me. The Emperor will return to the palace soon."
"Shui Xinyuan, see you another day."
"See you later."
Shui Xinyuan sent the Zhuge family and his wife to the corridor and then returned to the room and heard the sound of his son crying.
She picked her son up from the bed, and after a while, the warm baby in her arms fell asleep quietly.
Shui Xinyuan let his son sleep next door and let the maid take care of him. He boiled water, selected tea leaves, and started preparing tea cups.
Transparent vermilion shone into the room, staining the chairs and floor red.
...I want to live here...
Whether it's an ordinary and stable life or something else happens, this is my home and an important destination.
The sound of hurried footsteps could be heard from the corridor opposite the garden where plum blossoms were falling.
The emperor is about to return to the palace.
The aroma of perfectly brewed tea fills the entire room.
When Shui Xinyuan turned around, the door just opened.
"Your Majesty, you are back."
"Shui Xinyuan, I'm back."
They kissed lightly... Lu Fusu looked around warily.
"...Where's Xiaolong?"
"Sleep next door."
"It's so rare. Every time I come back, he cries..."
Shui Xinyuan burst into laughter.
"He wants his father to play with him."
"No, he definitely wants to cause destruction. He knows that when I come back, he will take away his mother."
Because he is my son... Although Lu Fusu complained, he seemed to know very well that Xiaolong looked like him.
"He slept soundly today."
Shui Xinyuan put her index finger on her lips and whispered, and Lu Fusu's brows relaxed.
"Okay, let's go see him after he wakes up."
Lu Fusu quietly pulled up a chair and sat down. Shui Xinyuan poured hot tea for him.
Shui Xinyuan quietly placed the teacup in front of Lu Fusu, who smiled gently at her.
Shui Xinyuan returned the smile and leaned beside Lu Fusu.
Lu Fusu hugged her, and she leaned on Lu Fusu's warm arm and held the hand that was touching her cheek.
"I……"
"Um?"
"I will... always be here."
...I will be by your side for thousands of nights in the future...
The soft whisper of "I love you" rang in my ears.
Shui Xinyuan gently closed her eyes and waited for his kiss.
At this moment, the wind with the breath of spring blew the branches, and the red plum blossom petals fell.