...
Sitianjian.
There was something strange in the sky last night. The officials of the Imperial Astronomical Bureau observed the sky and found that a phoenix was flying in the sky in the south and auspicious clouds were lingering around. It seemed to be the star of the emperor. But this star sign was really strange.
Since ancient times, the star of the emperor has almost always been the blue dragon, but the star in the night sky is actually the phoenix star. Even the experienced Sitianjian officials found it difficult to understand, and could only ask for help from the knowledgeable Zhang Hean.
Zhang Hean's family had served as officials in the Imperial Observatory for generations. He had been proficient in divination since childhood, but he did not follow in his father's footsteps. Instead, he chose to enter the officialdom through the imperial examination in spring and became a disciple of Prime Minister Li.
At a time when the court was looking for people to serve, Zhang Hean was a skilled political figure who was good at playing tricks. The officials in the court knew that Zhang Hean would most likely be made a marquis and become a prime minister in the future.
After receiving the invitation from the Imperial Astronomical Bureau, Zhang Hean came to the Imperial Astronomical Bureau in the dark. He activated the star disk and moved the armillary sphere. After some calculations, he said calmly, "The star disk is damaged, and the calculations are wrong. The south is Yelang Country, and there is no Phoenix Star."
He made his final conclusion, and although the other officials of the Imperial Observatory had doubts, they did not dare to refute it.
The matter ended hastily.
At night, Zhang Hean walked away under the moonlight, walked outside the palace wall, and looked southwards towards the Qing Palace. He saw meteorites falling from the sky, tiles being smashed, and flames rising.
Zhang Hean asked the guards to put out the fire.
The guard found a palm-sized object from the fire. It was silvery and looked very strange. Zhang Hean looked at the strange object and then looked up at the starry sky.
"How strange." Interest showed up on Zhang Hean's cold face. He put the palm-sized silver ball into his pocket and turned to leave.
...
...
In the morning, Li Qingxun dragged his body in severe pain and walked out of Qiuliang Palace with difficulty.
The palace road was winding and she felt headache, footache and pain everywhere. She missed the walker in the institute very much, which made it convenient for her to walk everywhere.
Passing by a burnt palace wall.
Several eunuchs were busy picking up the broken bricks on the ground. Li Qing asked Yuan'er: "Why is the palace wall burnt?"
Yuan Er shook her head: "I don't know, there are often fires in the harem, maybe it was burned accidentally. Princess, the front is the imperial garden, we can't go any closer."
Li Qingxun paused.
It was a warm April day, and the Imperial Garden was full of beautiful scenery. From afar, you could see a group of beautiful ladies strolling among the flowers.
Li Qingxun had good eyesight. Relying on the vague memory in her mind, she could barely identify the people in the imperial garden based on their clothes and appearance. They were the Queen, Concubine Xie, the Seventh Princess Qionghua, and five or six noble families of the Yue envoys.
The envoys from the Kingdom of Yue came to visit in the past few days, intending to promote peace between the two countries. The emperor received the envoys in the front court, while the empress and Concubine Xie received the women of the Kingdom of Yue in the harem.
Originally, the Queen was the only one who could receive the foreign women. However, Concubine Xie was favored by the Queen and was equally powerful as the Queen, so in the end, the Concubine and the Queen jointly received the foreign women.
In the Imperial Garden.
"The peonies in Qing are so beautiful. We in Yue don't have such beautiful peonies." The women of Yue praised.
The queen pointed at the peony with a proud look on her face and said, "This is the peony that Qing Ling planted when she had nothing to do. I don't know why, but it blooms more beautifully than other peonies."
Concubine Xie curled her lips in disdain.
The women of Yue praised her appropriately: "It is not easy for a peony to bloom. It needs careful care to bloom. I think the Seventh Princess must be a kind and thoughtful girl."
The seventh princess, Li Qingling, followed beside the queen, lowering her head shyly, her face rosy and more beautiful than the peonies in the yard.
When Concubine Xie saw this, she felt even more disdainful.
The group continued to admire the flowers. At this time, they heard a eunuch shouting not far away: "Who's there?"
Upon hearing this, all the female relatives looked over.
I saw a little girl in shabby clothes lying on the side of the pond in the imperial garden, fishing something out of the pond. Hearing the eunuch's scolding, the little girl trembled with fear.
The little girl was trembling with fear, and couldn't even stand steadily: "I, I just want to get the steamed buns... Don't hit me."
The queen took a look from afar and recognized the skinny girl as the sixth princess Li Qingxun.
The queen was unhappy.
Today, when receiving the nobles of Yue, we must show the prosperity of Qing and the peace of the harem. But Li Qingxun showed up. If the people of Yue saw it, they would think that the harem of Qing was not fair, which would damage the reputation of Qing and even the Queen.
The queen winked at the eunuchs, asking them to drag Li Qingxun away. As long as the people of Southern Chu didn't know that she was the Sixth Princess, it wouldn't hurt the reputation of the Qing Kingdom.
The eunuchs came over aggressively, and Li Qingxun immediately called Yuan'er. Yuan'er was also a smart maid, and had received Li Qingxun's hint early on, so she knelt down and kowtowed courageously: "Queen, please forgive me, Imperial Concubine, please forgive me, Seventh Princess, please forgive me, my princess was just too hungry, and she disturbed the nobles, and she really deserves death!"
The queen's face turned cold.
Concubine Xie usually loved to make trouble for the Queen. Seeing this, she pretended to be surprised: "Oh, that little girl is actually the Sixth Princess? I haven't seen her for a long time. She is as thin as a bag of bones. Someone, please bring Little Six over."
The old nanny beside Concubine Xie understood what she meant and quickly helped the fallen Li Qingxun up and brought him to the nobles.
Li Qingxun was obviously frightened, his face was pale and shaking like a sieve.
She was like a child who had never seen the world. She tightly grasped the steamed bun soaked in water in her hand, and was so scared that tears welled up in her eyes: "Sorry... Queen, Qingxun just wanted to pick up the steamed buns in the water. I was too hungry..."
She is shockingly thin.
Her hands were so thin that only a layer of skin remained, and there were many unhealed whip marks on her arms. Her face was black and looked very thin and ugly. She seemed to be afraid that her steamed bun would be taken away from her, so she held it in her arms in fear.
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