Chapter 23

Feicui nodded and promised solemnly: "Miss, rest assured. I will keep an eye on all directions, but I will definitely focus on you. Only when you are safe can I pay more attention to Miss Bai."

Feng Huanhuan chuckled: "You are the only one who can talk."

Feicui raised her head and said, "Of course, young lady is the apple of my eye. But... why hasn't Miss Bai come yet?" As she spoke, she stood on tiptoe and looked into the distance, but still couldn't find her.

"Maybe something has delayed her. Anyway, she will go to the palace later. Take a look at the invitation from Concubine Cihe. How could Sister Bai not come?"

Even if Sister Bai didn't want to come, Prime Minister Bai would definitely force her to come. She wasn't afraid of any accidents, because she had a soft-hearted god protecting her body. As long as she said his name, he would appear. Thinking of this, she actually broke out in a sweat in this cold weather. Feicui saw the young lady smiling with her head down for no reason, her cheeks blushing, and knew that she must be thinking about Mr. Han, so she couldn't help but mutter, "Miss, I didn't give you red bean porridge this morning."

Feng Huanhuan glared at her sideways, and gently pinched the ticklish spot on Feicui's plump waist and abdomen, "You dare to tease me, young lady!"

The two were having a great time, laughing and chasing each other, when suddenly an inopportune voice was heard:

"Hey, isn't this Miss Feng?"

Feng Huanhuan and Feicui suddenly stopped and fixed their eyes on Liu Qinqin, the daughter of Liu Huaide, the director of the Imperial Medical Bureau, who was getting closer and closer to them.

She was wearing a green gown with a red rabbit fur edge around her skirt. Her earrings also had two round red rabbit fur balls, which made her horse face look even longer. She had a huge round egg-shaped bun on her head, with pearls and treasures piled on top, so as not to leave any gaps. Every step she took was accompanied by the rustling of gold, silver and bronze utensils.

Liu Qinqin looks like his father, who has a horse face, big eyes, protruding mouth and a stubby face. But his father is self-aware and knows that he is ugly. He said that he was looking for a beautiful woman so that his child would be more beautiful. Ordinary people can do it, prostitutes in brothels can do it, and beauties from farm families can do it. Now, he really found a beautiful woman. It is said that she is the daughter of a poor scholar in the surrounding area. She can read a little. Feng Huanhuan saw her once when she was a child. She is indeed a beauty, but... she has no taste at all. She wants to carry all the gold hairpins and jewelry on her body.

Liu Huaide had a good plan, but his genetics were too strong. Not only did Liu Qinqin have his horse face, but his two sons were also cut from the same mold as Liu Huaide. Liu Huaide was furious, so when Liu Qinqin was six years old, he took a concubine from a brothel into his house. But the daughter born by the concubine looked like a twin sister of Liu Qinqin, and it was hard to tell them apart. This incident is still a joke.

Feng Huanhuan looked at Liu Qinqin's big eyes, which were cracking like cramps, and her cheekbones were so thin that there was no trace of human flesh, as if she had been hungry for more than a month. She really couldn't understand it. Not only was her face like her father's, but her figure was also like his, like a dry wood that would break at the slightest bend.

After looking at the twisted Liu Qinqin for a while, Feng Huanhuan also withdrew her gaze and did not intend to pay attention to her. Unexpectedly, Liu Qinqin was not happy about it. She stepped forward to block Feng Huanhuan's sight and said angrily: "Hey, Feng Huanhuan, why are you ignoring me?"

Feng Huanhuan was puzzled and asked with a smile: "Why should I care about you?"

"You! I am the future concubine who will enter the palace. You are so disrespectful to me. Be careful or I will make things difficult for you in the future!"

"You? Then you should enter the palace first. Then I will wear big shoes for you to see."

Feng Huanhuan didn't even look at her, and Liu Qinqin couldn't stand it. She was so angry that her chest heaved up and down, and she paced back and forth with her hands on her hips. Every time she took a step, the things above her head collided with a clanging sound, which was really irritating. She kept saying "you you you" for a long time, and finally said a complete sentence with a huge threat: "Just wait, when I become a concubine, I will kill you first! You disrespect me like this! You will cry when the time comes!"

Feng Huanhuan laughed dryly: "You want me to respect you? Then let your father get promoted, and I can consider respecting you."

Feng Huanhuan really didn't want to get entangled with her any more. According to her brother, this woman was probably born with a brain injury. Otherwise, how could she think of becoming the emperor's concubine? This matter was known to the whole capital. Liu Qinqin's lover was actually the emperor who was older than his father. If it weren't for his father's superb medical skills, the emperor probably wouldn't have been able to bear this.

Being favored by such a woman is probably a man's nightmare. Feng Huanhuan couldn't help it. Seeing that the palace gate was open, she rolled her eyes and left only her back.

When the person walked away, Liu Qinqin bit her back teeth hard, stared at him with hatred, and said "Pah" loudly on the ground. As if it was not enough, she stomped her feet a few more times. I thought she would stop there, but soon, she squeezed out a weird smile from the corner of her mouth, "Feng Huanhuan, you provoked me first."

This scene was seen by the young ladies who were watching the show from afar. They frowned and shook their heads, and no one dared to tell Feng Huanhuan about it. Provoking Liu Qinqin might be more terrible than provoking ten Feng Huanhuans.

It was past the hour of Si now, and the warm sun was shining brightly, making the snow beneath the palace walls look like it was coated with a layer of gold foil. Entering the palace gate, a row of eunuchs in dark blue robes stood, each with their brows lowered, checking the engagement letters, and bowing to welcome the young ladies into the palace.

After passing the first palace gate, the elite guards were very tight. Perhaps because they were afraid of alarming the young ladies, the guards usually stood outside the palace gate, but now they hid under the inner wall. It was almost spring, and the warm sun should have warmed her body, but Feicui held Feng Huanhuan's arm and felt a chill on her back as she walked. She shivered several times, so she asked worriedly: "Miss, have you noticed that Liu Qinqin is becoming more and more abnormal?"

"She has been abnormal since she was young, so how could she be becoming more and more abnormal?" Feng Huanhuan said.

"I just feel like she's possessed by something dirty. Her speech and behavior were abnormal before, but now she's crazy. I feel like she can do something earth-shattering at any time." Feicui recalled Liu Qinqin's look just now, and shuddered again. "Miss, let's stay away from her. Next time she comes to talk to you, just ignore her."

Feng Huanhuan nodded in response. Thinking about it, she was really a little horrified. "You know what, I also felt that she was a little weird this time. How could a mere head of the Imperial Hospital give birth to such a girl? Didn't he realize that Liu Qinqin was seriously ill?"

"Forget it. I'm not interested in their affairs."

Can't I just hide from her when I see her in the future, Feng Huanhuan muttered to herself.

The deep red palace walls on both sides were so tall and strict that they blocked out the warm sunlight. The cold wind blew, and the snow under the corners rolled up small waves. The bone-piercing coldness scraped their faces, which meant that they had entered the deep palace. For the palace road, today was crowded with people. On the long brick road, people were bustling and walking in an orderly manner, just like the emperor's selection of concubines.

The young ladies from various families were curious, dignified, excited, and worried. Each of them came with a different purpose. Feng Huanhuan walked and looked around. She was very familiar with the imperial palace. The location of today's poetry appreciation meeting was the Xuemei Garden, not far from the Imperial Garden.

The jade branches fall in the cold and the snow gives birth to red plums.

Qingnv seeks Kunling to end her fate in this life.

Snow is the soul, ice is the bones, and the red petals bloom in the bitter cold. Her most beautiful appearance will remain forever in the winter of that year. Every winter, the wintersweets in the Snow Plum Garden are a unique beauty in the palace. In the garden, the golden plum surrounded by blue bricks is said to be planted by the founding emperor of Qingzhao for his queen. The golden plum is wrapped by layers of red plums. From a distance, the entire Snow Plum Garden looks like a blooming wintersweets, and the golden plum in the middle is the pistil. Romance lasts until death. It is rumored that the founding emperor and queen in the imperial mausoleum have empty coffins, and the real bones are under the golden plum.

"Miss, this golden wintersweet is so beautiful. It's so golden that it doesn't feel cold in this cold winter." Feicui looked up and exclaimed, "This is the first time I've seen such a tall wintersweet tree."

"Maybe this is the nourishment of love." Feng Huanhuan also tilted her head back with a faint smile on her lips. At this moment, her heart was very warm, and the golden plum seemed to have tremendous power that could soothe people's souls.

"Leave a piece of wintersweet, continue the longing for each other, bury the love under the roots of the tree, for thousands of years, the prosperity blooms and withers, just like his love for her is immortal. Snow plum always ends the relationship of this life in the most beautiful way. In the next life, I will still look for you in the most beautiful way."

It was strangely quiet, so quiet that the sound of snow branches rustling could be heard everywhere. Feicui stared blankly at the golden plum blossom and said absentmindedly, "I hope that Miss can find a man like the founding emperor. Even if I return to the earth, I will bury the love between him and her with my own hands."

It's hard to describe the feeling. Feicui no longer looks silly as usual, but looks like an old man with great wisdom. Feng Huanhuan doesn't like this atmosphere, it's too heavy. If it weren't for the laughter coming from behind, pulling the two back to their thoughts, Feicui would probably be depressed for a while.

The laughter was getting closer and closer, and more and more. She was able to get there before the other girls because she had been to this snow plum garden when she was a child with her father. The story of the founding emperor was also told to her by her father when she was still a child. At this time, she wanted to avoid the crowd, so she said to Feicui, "Let's go and find Sister Bai first."

As I was walking, I heard a whisper:

——"I heard that the golden plum tree is a love tree planted by the founding emperor. I'll go there and make a wish. Maybe it will be more effective than the one sitting in the temple."

——"Just based on your thoughts, I guess if the gods and Buddhas heard them, they would immediately stand up and run away."

This caused a burst of female laughter. Feng Huanhuan did not stop and deliberately quickened her pace. However, she was still faced with two people walking towards her one after the other. They were Liu Qinqin and Yang Huizhu.

Yang Huizhu was stunned for a moment, but soon calmed down and said in a gentle tone: "Miss Feng? It's been a long time since we last met. Are you here to appreciate poetry as well?"

The question was full of veiled threats. Feng Huanhuan glanced at him and said, "Why? The wives of you, a rear-rank official, can come. The wives of the Shangshu Mansion are not worthy to come."

"you!"

Feng Huanhuan interrupted Yang Huizhu and said, "Move aside. I am not a hypocritical person. I will never put on airs. Don't blame me for not reminding you in advance."

Yang Huizhu has strong facial features and a plump figure. She only needs a little light makeup to lift her spirit. Today, she wears a rose-red wide-sleeved jacket with white wintersweet flowers on the cuffs. She has a cross-bun on her head with a ruby in the middle. There are gold tassels hanging from the ruby to the bun on her forehead. She is dressed up.

Feng Huanhuan's cherry-like mouth suddenly tilted up, with a slightly cold look. She straightened her body, looked at Liu Qinqin who had been rolling her eyes, and said, "Sister Huizhu is as graceful as a lotus. She looks very noble, don't you think?"