Chapter 278 Wei Yanwan 18
"Right now, I'm in the Old Summer Palace. Concubine Chun isn't here, and I'm really conspicuous. If I reveal my pregnancy now, I'm afraid the mistakes of Concubine Mei and Concubine Yi will become a lesson for me."
Wei Yanwan persuaded Chunlei to stop and turned to look at the emperor's Jiuzhou Qingyan. These days, he had been favoring Hailan the most, followed by A Ruo. It probably wouldn't be long before it was his turn.
But she was not worried. It would not be long before the Queen's uncle Ma Qi and Ruyi's father Narbu died one after another. The Emperor would have to comfort the Queen first and then talk to Hai Lan. In this way, her days of serving the Emperor in the emperor's bedchamber would be limited until the Ghost Festival.
Sure enough, not long after Hai Lan had been in the emperor's bedchamber for a few days, the emperor hurried to comfort the empress who had lost another major supporter.
Wei Yanwan thought that perhaps she really had some of the same arrangements as Zhen Huan in her previous life in this life, and this time she was arranged to stay in the Bitong Academy in the Old Summer Palace.
The place is surrounded by mountains on all sides, and the academy is surrounded by plane trees. There are many books inside, and it is decorated in a very quiet and elegant manner.
Since she was certain the emperor wasn't in a good mood recently, she decided to entertain herself. She asked Chunlei to find a zither, and when she had nothing to do, she would play the zither, read, and brew tea under the sycamore tree, looking quite carefree like a hermit.
Six months passed in a flash, and she was already four months pregnant. Relying on the knowledge accumulated in her past lives, she used a prescription to conceal her pulse, and even the imperial physician was unable to diagnose her.
That day she was leaning on the couch reading a book when she saw Jinzhong being led in by Chunlei.
"Hey, what brings Eunuch Jinzhong here?"
Chunlei had already left, and now they were the only two left in the room. Wei Yanwan was too lazy to move, still leaning on the couch, looking at him with squinted eyes.
Jinzhong saw the redness at the corners of her eyes, thinking she had just woken up from a nap. He also heard the mixture of joy and anger in her voice, mixed with her deliberately drawn-out tone, which made half of Jinzhong's body numb. He quickly took two steps and knelt on one knee on the footstool:
"Master Wei, your words are truly humiliating to me."
Seeing him slumped on her couch like a dog with a bone, Wei Yanwan scolded him with a smile, "You're such a loser! If others see you fawning over me like this, you'll be humiliated as a eunuch in front of the emperor."
"How can I have the dignity to be with you? I only ask you not to be angry with me."
Jinzhong simply knelt down completely, raised his head and moved closer, with only less than two fingers' distance between them.
"You're really brave now." Wei Yanwan stretched out a finger and poked Jinzhong's chest, pushing him out. Jinzhong took advantage of the situation and grabbed her index finger, but Yanwan easily pulled it away. After hearing her words, Jinzhong smiled nonchalantly:
"The Emperor has ordered me to fetch Chang. Please pack up and follow me."
"Isn't Concubine Mei accompanying you today? Why did you suddenly call me over?"
Wei Yanwan did not refuse Jinzhong's hand to support her. She stood up with his help and leaned forward with a puzzled look on her face. The two of them seemed to be half hugging each other unconsciously, but neither of them seemed to notice.
"I don't know what happened. I just heard Meipin playing her pipa. I don't know what they were talking about. Then the master came out and told me to call you over."
Jinzhong said as he helped Wei Yanwan sit in front of the dressing mirror. He seemed to be in a good mood. "But it shouldn't be a bad thing. Relax and dress up. I will wait for you outside."
As he spoke, he pulled a hairpin from his sleeve. It was a trumpet creeper hairpin made of carnelian. Wei Yanwan watched him hold it in her hand and hesitated for a moment. She couldn't help but laugh, "I've never seen you so polite before. Are you letting me wear it myself?"
As he spoke, he turned his head slightly. Jinzhong hurriedly and carefully inserted the hairpin. The two of them looked at each other in the bronze mirror. Wei Yanwan stroked her hair, glanced at him, and nodded modestly: "You are so thoughtful, go away."
"I'll be waiting for you outside."
Jinzhong was scolded, and his smile became even brighter. Even Chunlei, who had just come in, was surprised and asked, "Master, what reward did you give to Eunuch Jinzhong that made him so happy?"
"Give him a good scolding," Wei Yanwan rolled her eyes as she sat in front of the stage. Chunlei didn't care. She quickly went forward to discuss the clothes with her master, and quickly packed them up. The master and servant were led by Jinzhong to Jiuzhou Qingyan.
As soon as she walked through the door, she heard a burst of sensual music, as if a beautiful woman was sobbing and complaining to her husband. As soon as Wei Yanwan entered, she saw that it was indeed Concubine Mei, holding her phoenix-necked pipa and exchanging glances with Hongli.
The sound of her approaching footsteps caught the attention of both men. Meipin glanced at her and continued playing the pipa as if she hadn't noticed. However, Hongli reached out and pulled Yanwan, who had just finished paying her respects, to his side.
Seeing this, Meipin couldn't ignore it anymore, so she stopped and casually said hello.
"Why did the Emperor summon me here at this time?"
"Why? You don't want to?"
"I dare not, but the Emperor and his beautiful lady are beside me, and I am afraid of disturbing the pleasure of you and Concubine Mei."
Wei Yanwan's words were completely flawless, and she was also very humble towards Meipin. Bai Ruiji finally gave her a straight look and said with a half-smile, "Sister, you've come at the perfect time. The Emperor heard that you've been learning the qin lately, so he specially summoned you to play a piece with me."
"I was just playing it casually..."
"What's the big deal? There are no outsiders here, so I won't punish you if you don't play well."
Hongli seemed to be enjoying the fun and followed Meipin's words to force the issue. Wei Yanwan had no choice but to ask someone to get her zither.
When the two of them saw the zither, Meipin was the first to laugh: "Sister, why did you find such an ordinary one? Haven't you heard that if you want to do your work well, you must first sharpen your tools?"
"I'm sorry to have embarrassed you, sister. I'm afraid that the crude sound would be a disservice to the good piano."
As Wei Yanwan spoke, she washed her hands first and placed the zither horizontally in front of her. She took a deep breath, exhaled slowly, and plucked the music a few times in a discordant manner with her hands.
Meipin was about to laugh at her, but Hongli had already closed his eyes.
A faint sound of piano music, like the hazy rain curtain in the south of the Yangtze River, permeates the heart. The sad but not mournful melody seems to tell of young love, and also seems to lament the subtle longing.
Just by listening, a smile appeared on Hongli's lips, and his whole temperament became gentle, as if he was immersed in some beautiful memories, and he didn't even notice when the music had stopped.
In the end, it was Meipin's reluctant praise that woke him up from that beautiful state. Hongli followed Meipin's words and looked at Yanwan, his eyes full of surprise:
"The spring water is bluer than the sky, I sleep in a painted boat listening to the rain. The woman beside the wine shop is like the moon, her white wrists are like frost and snow. When Yanwan plays this song, she has already played out the whole of Jiangnan."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com