Miao Xi subconsciously looked at his master, Jin Yang, who had just accepted the official's instructions to prepare to boil the pear syrup into sugar water. He did not look at Miao Xi.
Miao Xi then carefully placed the small wooden box in her hand onto the embroidered stool beside the bed.
"Get out." Pei Yuanhui waved his hand, clearly not wanting to see Miao Xi in front of him anymore.
But he wasn't angry. His words sounded serious, but his tone was quite ordinary.
So Miao Xi and Jin Yang both left.
All that remained were Pei Yuanhui, a box containing love knots, and an empty box.
Pei Yuanhui slowly lay down, his hand aimlessly reaching towards the edge of the bed.
His knuckles bumped into some box, and he didn't know which box was knocked to the ground. In the end, all he had in his hand was a letter.
This time, he could tell who wrote the letter just by looking at a corner of it.
Consort Cheng and Xiao Huo were both clever and resourceful, and only the two of them sent the gifts at this time.
However, compared to Consort Cheng's gentle and considerate words, Xiao Huo's feelings were more like those of a young girl.
Judging from how much Huo rambled on in this letter, even bringing up the story of her taking medicine when she was a child, does she think of him as a child too?
He didn't say much about caring, but he talked a lot about other things, especially describing the taste of the pear syrup candy very clearly.
Pei Yuanhui held the letter in his hand, and vaguely smelled a floral fragrance.
It was because the letter was brought close to his nose that Pei Yuanhui hadn't smelled any fragrance before.
This must be another one of Huo's youngest daughter's thoughts.
Pei Yuanhui twitched the corners of his mouth as if he were smiling.
With so many scheming people in the palace, Pei Yuanhui wasn't too concerned about how much of Huo's little schemes were genuine or not.
But he did remember Xiao Huo's kindness.
...
After He Yunzhong delivered the items to Funing Palace, Huo Qinghe had a rare moment of leisure to trim the two pots of peonies that resembled Yang Guifei after her bath. Huo Qinghe had never seriously learned incense burning and flower arranging before.
However, there aren't many rules for pruning flower branches. As long as you don't kill the flower, it's fine. As for whether it looks good or not, that's a matter of opinion.
These peonies were originally carefully tended by He Yunzhong, so they are naturally in excellent condition these days.
At this moment, Huo Qinghe, an amateur, only needed to trim some of the visible dead branches.
It's just a way to pass the time; it's definitely not something that cultivates one's character.
"Others deliver soup and other things to Funing Palace during the day, but our lady has more ideas and chose this time to deliver the things to Funing Palace."
These words were naturally spoken by Lüyun, but she didn't really understand why her mistress wanted the imperial kitchen to make a pear syrup candy. She wanted to figure out how it was related to the emperor's illness.
However, Green Cloud has become much smarter now. She guesses that only the lady and the emperor know about this pear syrup candy. Although she wants to flatter the lady and make her happy, she naturally can't flatter the wrong person.
Huo Qinghe slowly cut off a section of branches and leaves, the sound of the scissors striking each other was particularly crisp.
Her expression didn't change much when she heard Green Cloud's voice.
"There might be others who share my good intentions. But this level of good intentions isn't enough. I wonder how many days it will take for His Majesty to fully recover from his cold."
Her voice was somewhat soft. She was not a royal physician and could not attend to the emperor's illness, so naturally she knew nothing about it.
The girls couldn't help but speculate.
"Your Majesty's cold came on suddenly. Your health is of utmost importance. Even a common person would take several days to recover from a cold. I imagine Your Majesty will need to rest for a longer period of time."
"Since I entered the palace, I have rarely heard of His Majesty being sick. Everyone says that illness comes like a landslide. In this weather, it must be very uncomfortable for him to catch a cold."
Huo Qinghe didn't say anything. No matter how badly the emperor was suffering from a cold, there were always countless people trying to curry favor with him.
She waited for the maids to finish speaking before slowly putting down the scissors in her hand.
Huo Qinghe admired the peony in front of her for a moment, but in the end she still clicked her tongue in disdain.
"Green's figure is similar to mine. Tomorrow, bring one of your clothes and pick out some fabric from the storeroom to make a garment. You both have some; whether you want summer clothes or summer clothes, you can choose the fabric and make your own arrangements."
The maids inside bowed and thanked her, saying, "Thank you for your kindness, Madam."
The maids were delighted, but didn't ask any further questions.
Having served their wives for several months, they now know the rules and regulations in front of their wives quite well.
They simply followed their mistress's instructions.
...
When the Emperor fell ill, the news naturally reached outside the palace.
The court officials had assumed that the morning court session the following day would be canceled, but to their surprise, they did not receive any news from the emperor the next morning.
So the court officials arrived at the Zichen Palace early in the morning as usual.
Because the Emperor was ill, even through the curtains, everyone could hear his coughing as he answered questions.
As a result, the officials of the Censorate spoke much more softly and gently when they impeached him today.
Besides impeaching court officials, there were also remonstrating officials who, just like the previous two days, said things like the emperor was ignoring veteran officials and chilling their hearts.
The official had barely finished speaking when he suddenly heard a "thump" from above.
Immediately following was the exclamation of the young eunuchs.
Miao Xi's voice was the clearest: "Something terrible has happened! His Majesty has fainted! His Majesty has fainted!"
Within half an hour, news of the Emperor fainting during the morning court session in the Zichen Hall spread throughout the six palaces, both east and west.
I fear that if it had been any later, news of the Emperor's illness would have reached outside the palace.
Huo Qinghe was finally able to go to Funing Palace, but the sun was blazing, so the palace concubines stood guard in the corridor.
Although she arrived at the Funing Palace, she did not see the Emperor even once.
"The court officials are constantly impeaching him. I heard that after the Emperor fainted during the morning court session this morning, not a single one of them dared to utter a sound... His Majesty is the Son of Heaven, and they dare to question the Son of Heaven, it's truly..."
These words were naturally spoken by Lady Meng.
Huo Qinghe had overheard some rumors when she arrived, but she hadn't heard them clearly. Now, after hearing what Meng Meiren said, she had a look of sudden realization.
"Thanks to my sister for telling me. But it's best if you don't say such things. However, His Majesty is dragging his ailing body to court, I'm afraid his illness will only get worse."
Compared to the affairs of the previous dynasty, Huo Qinghe was more concerned about the Emperor's health.
"His Majesty is ill. The Empress came to keep watch for half a day, but she seemed quite weak. According to the Consort, the concubines will have to take turns attending to His Majesty for the next few days. It will be several days before it's our turn, and by then His Majesty will probably be fully recovered."
Consort Meng's words were amusing; it was as if she hoped the Emperor's illness would reach the point where she could attend to him.
Huo Qinghe pursed her lips and changed to a nicer way of saying it: "After all, it is you who cares about the Emperor."
It wasn't their turn to attend to the sick today. The two of them stayed under the eaves for a while, about 15 minutes, before returning to their respective residences.
Today, Consort Chi and Consort Zhuang will be attending to the ailing patient during the day, and Consort Lin and Consort Yi will be attending to him at night.
Tonight is certainly not the right time to take any action.
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