Entering the palace
"I order you not to investigate this matter!"
"I obey your order."
Outside the Xuanzheng Hall, one could faintly hear the conversation between the emperor and his ministers.
The young eunuch waited with the lamp on, not daring to breathe. He saw his master carrying the chessboard in and coming out covered in sweat. He was about to ask in a low voice, but was stopped by a gust of wind. Did he not want his head anymore?
This was clearly what the master meant in his eyes.
Warm tea in the hall.
The emperor held the chess piece in one hand, his phoenix eyes faintly smiling, which made the inquiry look much less intrusive.
"It's good that Sister Gui didn't come. Since I was assassinated, my right hand has been immobilized, and no one has played chess with me for a long time."
"Your Majesty, please do not address me like that in the palace."
Ren Beixi's voice was light.
The chessboard in front of him was clear, but there was some dust on it. The man paused for a moment before slowly placing the white piece.
This is a game of chess.
The outcome was decided within ten rounds.
He raised his eyes, his dark eyes were calm.
He is a good player at testing the opponent's strength, neither hastily nor slowly but well prepared. It can be said that he is worthy of being General Ren, as he is ruthless enough to leave no room for giving in or admitting defeat.
The emperor picked up the chess piece and put it back into the chess box.
The tone of voice suddenly changed.
"Are you ready for tonight?"
——"No, no, I'm not ready yet!"
Guiyao's almond-shaped eyes trembled.
She held her aunt's arm, her expression seemed to be complaining and crying, but she didn't expect that as soon as she reached the Imperial Hospital, her aunt would pinch the back of the neck and take her away. When she raised her head, she found herself in front of this luxurious palace.
What’s the difference between being suddenly told that you want to see His Majesty and being suddenly told that you want to see the Queen?
When she shook her head, the lotus-colored headband on her bun expressed rejection.
Think about it carefully.
But it’s too early to think about it!
After entering the palace, Gui Yao kept hearing the palace ladies' voices along the way. She felt really offended and asked the system to block them for her.
The system is a good cat.
Guiyao is becoming more and more satisfied with it. Being able to turn on and off the inner voice at any time has greatly improved her sleep quality in the past few days. She no longer has headaches or heart palpitations.
For example, at this moment, she can finally return her mind to the world of the little animals' thoughts.
It would be nice if I just didn't have to meet anyone.
Seeing that Guiyao hadn't acted like this for a long time, her aunt smiled and patted her hand: "When Yaoyao was a child, she jumped over mud puddles with Jiaojiao and even pulled her clothes to prevent her from returning to Beijing."
"Jiaojiao?" Guiyao blinked.
It sounded familiar, where had she heard it before... Before she had time to think, a pair of slender hands suddenly leaned against the gate of the palace in front of her.
Those ignorant eyes, the facial features are almost identical to those in the painting.
It's hard to predict that this is the queen.
"Qingqing..." Her voice was soft.
Are you calling your aunt by her maiden name?
Gui Yao felt that the best friend who had invited her aunt to Beijing must be the empress. However, in terms of kinship, they seemed too distant; in terms of age, the empress should be a junior to her aunt, just as she herself was raised by her aunt.
Thinking of this, Gui Yao couldn't help but think of the three years she had known her aunt, and she had spent the longest time with her aunt since she traveled through time.
My aunt’s surname is Xu and her name is Xu Qing.
Although he grew up in a noble family in the capital, he was not competitive and was sincere and unpretentious. He devoted himself to studying medicine and coroner's work.
I saw you on Huanhua Creek, with bright eyes and light eyebrows.
The Queen stared at Gui Yao, her fair cheeks and beautiful eyes, without blinking. She paused for a moment before emerging from the palace, clutching a face-covering fan, the jewels on it no less elaborate than the embroidery on her robes.
She slowly moved in front of Xu Qing.
"Sister Guiyao..."
The sunlight swayed slightly. The summer heat in the capital was blown away by a recent rain. However, on a windless day, one could not help sweating after staying outside the palace for a long time.
Only then did Gui Yao remember to bow slightly.
"Greetings to the Queen."
The queen's eyes curved instantly, and she smiled like a shy girl next door: "Qingqing, please bring my sister in."
Hey. Everyone shouts their own words.
Gui Yao walked into the palace holding on to the wall, not knowing where to look. She thought that the Forbidden City, which she had never visited in her previous life, might be similar to this one, which would make up for her regret.
Her aunt seemed to notice her curiosity. She stood on tiptoe and touched her head. She blinked her gentle eyes and said softly, "Don't be afraid. Just treat it as your own home."
Gui Yao's almond-shaped eyes widened slightly, and she reluctantly sat down on the long couch in the hall, with steam rising from the covered bowl of tea.
She raised her eyes.
The father-in-law who brought her here was still standing outside the hall.
There were not many maids in the palace, so she did not ask too many questions. She just drank her tea obediently and listened to her aunt and the queen chatting about family matters.
Aunt: "After General Ren took up his post in the capital, my wife and I considered returning to the capital to live permanently."
Queen: “Yes.”
Aunt: "The capital is short of coroners, so it would be convenient for me to make a living then. Yaoyao is still young after all, so I am worried."
Queen: “Okay.”
Guiyao blinked furtively, but accidentally opened the lid of the teacup. With a "bang", the lid shattered to the ground. She was slightly startled and suddenly gave her aunt a look.
My aunt suddenly realized.
"Eunuch Liu, please go to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and get a set of tea sets. They were made in Xianyu City a few years ago, and they have a lotus pedestal pattern."
After saying this, Eunuch Liu responded softly.
When he turned around and left, he closed the door for the three of them.
Gui Yao picked up the broken porcelain pieces with her bare hands, and in a blink of an eye she saw the queen wiping the floor with a handkerchief. She also took off her slightly heavy outer garment, leaving only a thin shoulder. Her light blue jacket made her face look particularly fair and translucent.
She was momentarily blinded.
What lingers in my mind is the painting of the graceful pair of feet washing.
oops.
I'm a bit of a fangirl, Guiyao.
But when their eyes met, it was the Queen who blushed first. The Queen avoided his gaze, tugged at Xu Qing's sleeve, and then spoke slowly.
"I heard that Sister Guiyao had finally woken from her dream, and I sent several letters home to Xianyu City. However, they never reached you, and I'm truly sorry. After you married my brother, I asked Your Majesty to send you some fireworks. Are they beautiful?"
Once the conversation became smooth, I felt relieved of most of my tension.
She then continued, word by word, "If Sister Guiyao doesn't remember me, that's fine. Just think of our fleeting encounters in our childhood as a way to reunite today."
"My name is Li Jiao."
"The moonlight is bright and clear."
The river and the sky are one color without a speck of dust, and a single bright moon hangs in the sky.
Li Jiao liked Guiyao when she was a child. At that time, she took her mute sister to run around in Xianyu City, holding her hand and running from Xiaohe Village to the mountains.
Haven't seen you for many years.
She seems to like Guiyao now as well.
Guiyao's expression when she listened to her carefully was completely different from the little wild flower she was back then.
In the blink of an eye, she had not left the capital for three years.
"Sister, just call me Jiaojiao when you are in private. My seniority doesn't count."
Li Jiao poured another half-cup of tea, tilting the teapot into Gui Niang's uncovered tea bowl beside him. Finally, with his eyes squinting, he recounted to her word for word the past between him and Xu Qing.
But we can only talk about it behind closed doors.
Coincidentally, the palace door was tightly closed at this moment.
Li Jiao also had a family of relatives by marriage.
She called Li Yuqing her cousin, but she was born in the Li family in the capital. Her father was a fourth-rank official and her mother died early. As far as she could remember, she had always followed her aunt, but she always pulled her skirt and cried secretly.
When her aunt asked her why she was crying, she bit her lip and didn't say anything.
At that time, one of his father's men died unexpectedly, so the Li family went to invite the Xu family, the most famous coroners in the capital.
It was at this time that Xu Qing arrived.
"Back then, your aunt and I would just wave our hands, and those kids would be so scared they would tell the truth. If I touched them again, they would promise not to bully Jiaojiao anymore."
My aunt blew on the tea.
"I remember clearly the people in this world who knew I was a coroner but weren't afraid of me the first time they saw me."
Gui Yao raised her hand: "So the engagement is."
Li Jiao blushed a little, and after a long pause, he shook his head: "It's already a thing of the past, I won't talk about it any more."
Xu Qing frowned and pretended to be angry when he heard this.
"It's not a past matter. Since I have accepted you as my daughter-in-law, you will be my daughter-in-law for life."
"Even though my son had already died in that plague."
Only wet marks were left on the ground.
"He wasn't the only one who died back then. It's better if he's a child; he'll suffer less." Xu Qing sighed, "Many of the deaths and injuries in recent years have been caused by the aftereffects."
Gui Yao was slightly stunned.
Many times, she always felt that there was a thread that connected all the people she knew, whether it was a mind-reading notebook, a system task, or... a natural disaster or man-made disaster.
But that epidemic was buried several years ago.
Perhaps there are only a few strokes in history.
Gui Yao pushed open the door with both hands and paused slightly. It was not as heavy as she thought. She lowered her eyes to look at the pulley under the door, and suddenly raised her hand to touch the marks on the door that were worn away by something.
"Aunt." She followed behind her and looked back in confusion, "Sister Jiaojiao isn't going with us?"
A flash of sadness flashed across Xu Qing's eyes.
"Your Majesty, to Jiaojiao... well, there's a banquet tonight, and your aunt has something to ask of you."
Guiyao opened her eyes slightly, and her ears turned slightly red.
After a while, she bit her lip and nodded.
When leaving the Pepper Room, the system in my mind appeared faintly: "Host, how do you feel about entering the palace for the first time?"
"Not very good." She shook her head.
The pale sky at the edge of the sky slowly sank into the starry night. At nightfall, the palace was quite dark, and for some reason it felt as if there was a layer of fog surrounding it.
She always felt that the palace was too quiet.
The system asked her: "After this is done, do you have any plans?"
The young lady holding the lantern was suddenly startled. Her aunt in front of her mistakenly thought that she was nervous. She touched her hand and took the long wooden stick that was wet in her palm. The wick was shaking slightly.
Guiyao frowned.
"Don't say too much, just announce the main quest first."
"Host, don't be anxious. The main quest will only be released after exploration."
At the bottom of the steps leading to the palace, the guards were searching people. Seeing that they were the two ladies, they let them pass first.
Guiyao's dagger was unlocked.
She paused, placed the cloth bag wrapped around the dagger steadily on the edge of the table, lowered her eyes, and did not see the scabbard that Ren Beixi was wearing.
In front of me, palace maids were holding glass lanterns, lighting the steps.
No animal's voice could be heard here. The entire palace would have been dead, if it weren't for the guests waiting outside the hall to be seated and the voices heard coming and going. Gui Yao frowned and stood aside with her aunt, when she suddenly saw Ren Beixi walking towards her.
She waved gracefully.
Ren Beixi leaned forward slightly, his tall figure casting inquiring glances behind him. He tilted his ear and whispered, "How was the chat with my aunt?"
Guiyao looked back and saw her aunt blinking and following the other guests.
She had no choice but to let Ren Beixi hold her hand, walk around the guests, and enter the hall with him, sitting on the right side of the dragon throne.
"What else do I need to do later?"
Guiyao propped up her face curiously.
Ren Beixi's gaze seemed to be soothing, and his voice was deep: "After the banquet begins, I will assassinate Your Majesty."
……what are you up to? ?
Gui Yao stood up and suddenly touched her neck with her free hand.
Like he was saying goodbye.
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