For the first time, Yuwen Lan realized that someone knew his secret.
He looked up at the seemingly inconspicuous woman in the corner far away.
Who was she?
Not long after, the concubines discovered that the emperor's eyes seemed to always be looking in one direction.
Looking in the direction, they saw a long table near the palace door, with two women sitting there, one plain as a palace maid, and the other dressed to rival Concubine Zhou, Concubine Ning and others.
Everyone began to speculate in their hearts.
Ren Dong also whispered to Yan Shu, "Master, why do I see His Majesty always looking at you?"
Yan Shu didn't take it seriously at all, and just said casually, "No way, maybe he is looking at Zhang Cairen, she is so conspicuous!"
Then she tasted the newly served West Lake vinegar fish. Hmm, the fish meat is tender, sour and sweet, and it even has a hint of crab flavor. It is indeed extraordinary.
The voices of the two were heard aside, and Zhang Cairen became more and more certain of her guess.
Ever since the arrival of the empress dowager, the emperor has been looking here intentionally or unintentionally. She thinks that it must be the effect of her dress today.
This brocade silk worth a thousand golds a foot and a gem hairpin worth ten thousand golds are indeed the finishing touch.
But the distance is still a bit far, she still has to find a way to make the emperor remember her, and must not miss this great opportunity in vain.
So she called Chun'e, a maidservant, to fetch the pipa, picked it up and walked to the palace, saying, "On this beautiful day, I would like to sing a song for your majesty and the queen mother, wishing you both good health and happiness."
Not to mention, the pipa was inlaid with mother-of-pearl gems, which complemented her eye-catching outfit.
Concubine Zhou, Concubine Ning, Concubine Li and others were slightly angry, with all kinds of jealousy and resentment in their hearts.
Yuwen Lan said absent-mindedly, "Okay."
The palace maids hurriedly brought a round stool, and Concubine Zhang sat down with the zither, plucked the strings with her slender fingers, and began to sing with a soft voice.
"A piece of purple bamboo is straight and slender, and I give it to my husband to make a flute..."
If you don't listen, you won't know that Zhang Cairen is actually playing and singing a Jiangnan tune. The tune is gentle and the lyrics are soft and charming. It is also sung in Suzhou dialect, which is really impressive.
When the song ended, everyone couldn't help but applaud.
The empress dowager also asked specifically, "Are you from Jiangnan?"
Hu An, the chief eunuch of the Imperial Household Department, introduced, "Your Majesty, Zhang Cairen's father is the textile envoy of the capital, and their whole family are from the capital."
Zhang Cairen also smiled and said, "I heard that the empress dowager likes Suzhou tanci, so I learned one or two songs on purpose. I'm sorry I can't sing them well." The empress
dowager nodded and said, "Thank you for your thoughtfulness."
While speaking, she glanced at the emperor, but saw that he just picked up the teacup and took a sip of tea. His expression was indifferent, and he still didn't show any emotion.
Suddenly, Concubine Ning said to Lipin beside her, "This song is indeed beautiful, but the lyrics are a little hard to understand. By the way, Lipin, your hometown is Jiangnan, please tell us what the song just now means?"
Lipin looked embarrassed, looked around, and said, "This... In an occasion like tonight, I'm afraid it's not easy to say." As
soon as she said this, everyone present couldn't help but become curious -
tsk, it's not easy to say? What exactly did Zhang Cairen sing in her song?
Concubine Ning laughed, "What else can I not say? Could it be a word of treason?"
Concubine Zhang's face changed, and she immediately shook her head and said, "How dare I?"
Concubine Li smiled and covered her lips, "That's not the case. Concubine Ning is joking. This song is just country slang, talking about love. Something like 'A piece of purple bamboo is straight and slender. I gave it to Ye Wulang to make a flute. The flute is facing the mouth, and the mouth is facing the flute. The little carp's tail is swinging, like my sister's rosy cheeks. My little darling..."
"Oh!"
Before Lipin finished her words, she was interrupted by Ning Fei, who covered her ears and scolded, "Lipin, you too, how can you say such words in such an occasion? How can you pollute the ears of His Majesty and the Queen Mother?"
Hearing this, Lipin hurriedly stood up and bowed to the seat in panic, "Please forgive me, Your Majesty and the Queen Mother, I lost my sense of propriety..."
Tsk, it was she who relayed these words, so it was naturally not her who was to blame, so the Queen Mother and the Emperor did not say anything, but everyone turned their eyes to Zhang Cairen.
Only Yan Shu was holding the fish soup that had just been served, drinking it, and shaking her head in her heart -
the so-called first bird to be shot hits the head, how capable is it, and it is better to come out and mess around, isn't it?
It would be great if she could do an honest job like her!
Well, this fish soup is sour and spicy, really delicious.
Not far away, Zhang Cairen was like sitting on pins and needles, unable to get off a tiger. The pride she had just felt vanished, and she had to kneel down hurriedly and said, "Your Majesty, the Queen Mother, please forgive me. I also learned this from the people in the Jiaofang Bureau. I am not from Jiangnan. At the beginning, I also tried hard to learn this tune in order to sing well. I don't know what this song means..."
Concubine Ning and Concubine Li stopped talking and watched coldly with others.
After a while, it was the Queen Mother's female official Zhu Shu who came out to smooth things over, "I guess most folk songs are like this, and Zhang Cairen didn't mean it."
After the voice fell, the Queen Mother raised her hand, "Forget it, it's a big festival, everyone go back to your seats."
Zhang Cairen agreed, and then dared to stand up, holding the pipa and went down in shame.
Lipin also sat back down, and when no one was paying attention, she exchanged a glance with Ningfei, and their eyes were full of tacit understanding.
The palace maids who served the banquet brought in new dishes, and Ningfei, Zhou Guifei and others continued to compete to talk to the empress dowager, while Yuwen Lan's face showed no joy or anger from beginning to end.
While the empress dowager was dealing with everyone, she looked to the distant corner again, and couldn't help but smack her tongue in her heart, could it be that the emperor was attracted to the one who had been eating silently?
It was really... a unique look.
~~
Watching the cold dishes, hot dishes, snacks and soups one after another, just when Yan Shu was about to eat, the New Year's Eve banquet finally came to an end. The empress dowager
stood up and left the table, and everyone stood up and saluted to see her off.
Yuwen Lan also stood up from his seat, and watched the Queen Mother walk out of the palace gate and get on the sedan chair, trying to find out what the girl was thinking.
But he heard her burping and smacking her lips secretly, "Everything is delicious tonight, it would be perfect if it could be more spicy. Let's calculate, today is the eighth day of the first lunar month, when is the next one? Little New Year? Mom, I have to wait for half a month...】
Yuwen Lan, "???"
Why is it all food?
She was heard sighing in her heart again, [Since we are here, we should make the best of it. It is good to have a good appetite even if we don’t have sexual happiness.]
Yuwen Lan, “???”
What does this mean?
What is “sexual happiness”?
Why is this woman’s voice so... weird?
Yuwen Lan almost stopped.
However, if he did so, he would probably make a fuss.
He endured it again and again, and then pretended nothing happened and walked out of the palace door and left.
~~
Fu Hai, the former general manager of Yu, could feel that His Majesty was a little different tonight.
After coming out of the Rouyi Palace, although he went to Yu’s study to read the memorials as usual, he did not pick up the pen to comment for a long time, as if he was distracted.
Fu Hai was just thinking about it when he heard the king ask, "Who is sitting at the end tonight?"
After all, he had been with the king for many years, so Fu Hai hurriedly replied, "Your Majesty, the one who just came out to sing at the banquet was Zhang Cairen, the daughter of Zhang Tong, the director of the Beijing Textile Bureau."
After he finished speaking, the king did not respond.
He hurriedly added, "The one sitting next to Zhang Cairen is Li Meiren from Yongning Palace."
After saying this, the king finally opened his mouth again, "Where is she from?"
Fu Hai knew that he had guessed correctly, and hurriedly replied, "I remember that Li Meiren was born in Ande County, Qingzhou Prefecture, and entered the palace three years ago."
Qingzhou...
Yuwen Lan thought to himself, it is hundreds of miles away from the capital, how could she know about my business?
However, Fu Hai sighed in his heart, [Hey, it seems that this Concubine Li is going to be promoted. Who would have thought that the first person in the harem who caught the emperor's eye would be a little beauty? ]
Yuwen Lan was disturbed by this inner voice and came back to his senses. He raised his hand and said, "Go down."
"Yes."
Fu Hai bowed and stepped back, thinking in his heart, [What's going on? Since you like her, why don't you ask someone to sleep with you? It's getting late, a night of spring is worth a thousand gold, my majesty! ] Just when he thought
of this, he felt a cold light suddenly shot from the top of his head. Fu Hai shuddered, and he couldn't figure out where he touched his scales, so he had to quickly speed up his pace and retreat out of the palace.
Finally, his ears were quiet. Yuwen Lan rubbed his forehead tiredly, thought for a moment, and called again, "Someone come."
This time, the one who came in was the Jinyiwei wearing a flying fish suit.
"Go to Ande County, Qingzhou, and check the selection of talents that year."
The Jinyiwei agreed and went out immediately.
Yuwen Lan picked up the memorial on the table again, but his mind still couldn't come back completely.
He kept thinking about the woman at the banquet.
_——Three years ago, he fainted due to a thunder on his way back to Beijing. After waking up, he gained the ability to read minds, but gradually lost the functions that men should have...
Over the years, he has secretly sent people to inquire and seek medical treatment everywhere, but it has been ineffective.
This is a taboo, especially for him as an emperor. He had been keeping this secret strictly guarded, even his confidants and eunuchs close to him didn't know.
So, how did that woman know?
Who is she?
What went wrong?
His mind became more and more confused, so he simply put down the memorial and summoned a young eunuch in a round-necked robe.
"Monitor the Yongning Palace, no matter how big or small, I want to know."
The author has something to say:
Emperor: Woman, you have successfully attracted my attention.
Author: Boy, this opening is really too LOW.
Emperor: Woman, you know too much.
Author: ? ? ?