Chapter 48: Pampering Ronghua
Many cemeteries employ gravekeepers, but a lonely grave in the wilderness like this one naturally wouldn't always have someone guarding it.
But this blank stone tablet is very clean.
The moss and vines that grew wildly around here seemed to be blocked by some kind of barrier. The marble stele was quiet and peaceful, but it was blank.
Is it because they were afraid that the people from Yongning Marquis Mansion would find it, or is it because the person who erected the monument didn't know what name to write?
Usually, only baby girls who died prematurely were considered unlucky and could not be buried in the ancestral hall or ancestral tomb. Instead, they were buried in the suburbs with a blank tombstone.
Because of the heavy resentment and the lack of any valuable burial objects, tomb robbers will avoid them when they see them.
Mother should not have been disturbed in the past few years.
But if there is no inscription, how did the emperor find this place? Besides the person who erected the monument, who else could know who was in the tomb?
Qingzan just regained a glimmer of reason, and without asking anyone, the emperor took a cowhide bag from his horse's back and handed it to her.
"Go up, I'll stay here to protect you."
"Okay..." Tears made her eyes feel sore and hot, Qingzan quickly turned around and walked up the mountain.
She lit incense and paper money in front of the tombstone, and using the flames to pick two wild flowers nearby. Then, not caring if it would stain her skirt, she sat down beside the tombstone and gently leaned against it.
She muttered a lot to herself until the candle burned out.
It's just like an ordinary mother and daughter chatting around the fire.
Mother must have been very annoyed by her tonight, right?
Will she frown or smile? What will she say when you annoy her?
How lucky it would be if we could really be together normally.
"I thought you didn't want to come down." The emperor never urged her, but there was some impatience in his words.
"How could it be?" Qingzan opened her mouth, but she could no longer hold back her tears. She could only purse her lips and keep shaking her head at the emperor.
Xiao Fang finally realized what it meant that "women are made of water."
He wiped her face twice with the back of his finger. The more he wiped, the more tears came out, so he had to stop. "Why are you crying again?"
"Happy." Qingzan had just collected the ashes from the burnt candles and put them in the original cowhide bag. When she was about to hand it back to the emperor, she realized something was wrong.
How could she let the emperor take out her trash?
But the emperor just chuckled and took it.
The deserted mountain was deserted and deserted, and even though the surprised "hmm" sound was swallowed back by Qingzan just as it came out of his throat, the emperor still heard it.
Qing Zan hurriedly said, "I know that Your Majesty is taking pity on me."
The emperor was using his sword to clear the way for her at this moment, and in his other hand he was holding something she had used. He also thought that he would personally ride his horse to take her back and forth.
Suddenly, I felt that her seemingly grateful words were a bit ungrateful.
He could not help but retort, "Which night did I not pity you?"
But as soon as the words were spoken, both of them fell silent.
Xiao Fang asked himself, he had no intention of teasing anyone. He would never do such a thing in the middle of the night in front of the grave of someone's deceased loved one.
Qing Zan said softly, "I didn't misunderstand."
Xiao Fang chuckled softly, "Well, tell me about your mother?"
Qing Zan didn't know what he wanted to hear, so she said, "I'm afraid Your Majesty knows more than I do."
Once the emperor wants to investigate something, it is as easy as turning over the palm of his hand. All the people in the world are his subjects, and no one can hide anything from him.
But it was as difficult as climbing to the sky for her to find out even a little bit.
"How can I be so idle as to check your family affairs every day?"
Qing Zan thought about it and dug out the few memories she had: "I only remember that she was very gentle, and she taught me to be kind, to help others, to study, and to..."
Xiao Fang: "No wonder."
The wind outside the palace is really different from the wind inside. Even though the moon is setting in the east and a murderous black wind is blowing, it will not chill your heart or your face.
Qingzan doesn't want to be a bad person at all, if her mother were still alive.
Mounting her horse, she sighed, "I don't know when I'll come next time."
Xiao Fang had already made arrangements: "I will send people to guard this place. As long as you are in the palace, your mother's tomb will be safe."
Having said that, the feeling of being out of control was actually alleviated a lot.
She can't care about too many things, but there must be a few.
Qing Zan thought about it and shook her head: "My mother probably won't like being kept under guard. Your Majesty should remember to send someone to clean up from time to time."
The emperor didn't know what he was thinking about, and said coldly: "Someone will clean it."
Qingzan didn't dare to say anything for a moment because she thought of someone.
Apart from that person, only the aunt who had taken care of her mother and her still had any ability. But Qingzan's memory of her was even fainter than her mother's. Not only did she not know whether she was alive or dead, or where she was, she was afraid that even if someone stood in front of her, she would not recognize them.
But if it was Lord Chen, since the emperor had investigated and looked for Lord Chen, did he really not notice anything about the meeting arranged by Concubine Hui?
Why did that number one scholar... prepare a coffin and bury her mother, but never mentioned it to her?
Xiao Fang saw the woman in his arms, her head lowered in deep thought, oblivious to the jolting of the horse's back. He sniffed her hair and said, "Whatever you want to ask, ask now and I'll tell you. If you ask next time, it'll be hard to say."
Qingzan could fully imagine what would happen. She asked him proactively, and then he caught her and asked her back. She could only lie again and again out of guilt.
Seeing her panic and embarrassment, he was happy!
Qing Zan immediately said, "I don't want to ask."
Even if she wanted to know, she could find a chance to ask Chen Shaoling.
The emperor drove faster. The wind whistled in his ears, trying to drown out all other sounds. Qingzan almost didn't hear the emperor say:
"Then let me ask, are there more advantages than disadvantages to being my concubine?"
Qing Zan smiled and said, "Yes."
Emperor: "Do you like it more?"
“…”
It's like, not joy.
He had a thousand ways to make her speechless, panic-stricken and embarrassed.
Qingzan originally wanted to deny it outright, but her heart had always been immersed in hatred, just like a spicy Hu pancake. Even if double the amount of malt sugar was put in it, it would be extremely difficult to taste the sweetness. But, is there really no sweetness?
If I say yes, I am deceiving him; if I say no, I am deceiving myself.
Just continue to be confused between having and not having.
Qing Zan cleverly threw the question back to him: "I don't know either. What do you think, Your Majesty?"
Xiao Fang frowned and sneered, "Who did you learn this from?"
Qing Zan: "Your Majesty, isn't it clear about my master?"
When light finally appeared in her field of vision, Qingzan suddenly looked up and looked at the illuminated paths and village houses, but it was obvious that she had never been here before. It looked like it was somewhere even further out in the suburbs of Beijing.
I'll have to ask Chen Shaoling then.
She had to know where her mother was buried.
Only when you wake up from a dream at midnight can you know where you are, and you will miss and call out to the silent yellow earth.
*
At the gate of the hunting palace, Concubine Zhen had been waiting, wrapped in her cloak. Tonight, the emperor had taken Concubine Ying out, and everyone had seen it. When Concubine Zhen realized that she had rejected the emperor's kindness, her drunken mind immediately cleared up.
She had done something good.
But after waiting for so long, she was as sleepy as if her head was filled with water. Still, the palace maid shook her desperately: "I'm coming, I'm coming."
When Concubine Zhen saw the emperor, she immediately smiled brightly and came forward in the dust of the horse: "Your Majesty!"
The emperor reined in his horse and said, "You're making trouble again."
Concubine Zhen took it as a friendly rebuke, which made it seem as if the emperor was more doting and easygoing with her than with others. Therefore, even after eating the dust, she was not annoyed, but smiled even more brightly, like a peach blossom in the spring breeze:
"I'm sorry about what happened tonight..."
The emperor did not stop: "I will not bother with you."
After saying that, he walked away.
Concubine Zhen's heart skipped a beat and sank to the bottom of the dark pond.
He seemed to still be tolerant and kind to her, but in fact, he didn't even have the patience to let her finish her words.
Only then could Concubine Zhen no longer ignore the woman in his arms.
Although she was jealous and had the temper of a spoiled little girl in the past, she always knew that the emperor was the emperor, not someone's lover, so no matter how proud she was of herself, she never thought that she would be the woman the emperor truly loved.
Anyway, where she can't stand, no one else can stand.
But now, she increasingly felt that there was someone who could do it.
Green hairpin.
What was so superior about her that made the emperor change his ways and make exceptions for her? Why did he even look at others with disdain for her?
The guards at the palace gate held halberds as tall as their own, standing so solemnly and accurately that one wondered if they maintained that posture all night without even moving their eyes.
But Concubine Zhen knew that they had all heard and seen it.
More people will hear and see it in the future.
If the emperor has the utmost favor and love for someone, how could it not be known to the whole world?
This was the first time she truly experienced what it felt like to be powerless to change something, to be driven mad by jealousy, and to allow the darkness within her heart to grow as rapidly as a world-destroying plague. She was helpless, and in immense pain.
*
After the Mid-Autumn Festival, the autumn hunting trip will come to an end. As the joy of the Mid-Autumn Festival fades, the shadow of death weighs on everyone's hearts.
Especially the concubines who entered the palace this year. The ones who were killed were their companions who were selected and entered the palace together and learned etiquette together. There were two losses in total.
Until the day before returning to the palace, the emperor's will was known to everyone.
In this autumn hunting, anyone who participated in the competition and whose rank was below that of a concubine could be promoted one level as an exception. This was meant to dispel disasters and attract good luck with this auspicious event.
So, when the former Cairen Ying died, new Cairen Zhou and Cairen Xie were promoted; Xianshi Yuan was left in the Buddhist temple of the hunting palace, and Xianshi Miao also took her place.
The beauty of this palace always recurs in this cycle. Although no flower lasts forever, each flower has its own unique beauty. If someone lives in the dark, others will have already lost themselves in the beauty of flowers.
No one thought about speaking for Concubine Ying who died tragically in an accident, or Concubine Yuan who had to spend her life in seclusion at such a young age.
However, the decree for Qingzan's promotion was the only one that was written separately and handed over by the emperor himself.
She didn't have to kneel down to receive it, nor did she have the eunuchs read it to her.
Qingzan was directing several palace maids to pack their luggage, so he took it in his hand without rushing to look at it.
The emperor originally wanted to read the memorial calmly for a while and wait for her to come.
Unexpectedly, she was even calmer than him, as steady as a rock, holding the bright yellow scroll, and had no intention of unfolding it.
He had to squint and remind her, "Why don't you open it?"
Qing Zan turned around and said, "I already know what's written. It's nothing more than praising my virtuous character and my unrivaled virtue. You can read it secretly later."
The emperor narrowed his eyes deeply.
Qing Zan then realized something was amiss. She lowered her head and read through the edict, only to see that, in addition to the extravagant, official-sounding compliments, it also praised her bravery in winning first place.
Before Qingzan finished reading, a palace maid who had just returned from outside, unaware that the emperor was also here, rashly opened the autumn curtain and rushed over, with a smile on her face:
"This servant congratulates Master Ronghua. Once you are Ronghua, you will be Ronghua for the rest of your life!"
The palace maid was stunned, and Qingzan was also stunned.
Everyone outside knew about it, but she was still kept in the dark.
It turned out that the position he gave her was not concubine, but Ronghua, which was two levels higher than hers, and she was also the only Ronghua in the palace.
Was it because others had also been promoted, and they wanted to highlight her difference as a reward for her outstanding performance in the autumn hunt?
Xiao Fang finally saw the look of surprise and doubt on the person's face as he wished.
He smiled slightly and said, "I don't mean anything else, I just want to pamper you."
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