"May I ask what the Empress Dowager wants to decide?" Gu Yanfei stared into Empress Dowager Yuan's eyes with a smile on her face.
Empress Dowager Yuan looked at Gu Yanfei intently, a graceful and dignified smile appeared on her face, but her eyes were cold.
Her right hand was gently stroking a small gilded hand warmer. Her fair and delicate fingers were well-maintained, as delicate and flawless as those of an eighteen-year-old girl.
After a long silence, Empress Dowager Yuan finally opened her mouth and said, "Then...how about you calculate the emperor's dragon body?"
Her voice was neither light nor heavy, neither angry nor resentful, and it was impossible to tell whether she was happy or angry.
After this sentence was spoken, everyone fell silent.
The atmosphere suddenly became tense, and even the breathing seemed to have become quieter.
Wei Jiaoniang and Lu Qin frowned and exchanged glances with each other.
This is undoubtedly a pitfall.
Everyone in the capital knew that the emperor was frail and sickly. He would fall ill every three to five days. From time to time, he would call in the imperial physician to take his pulse. The smell of medicine in his bedroom was lingering. It was no exaggeration to say that he was like a medicine jar.
But if Gu Yanfei really answered like that, what would it have to do with whether she could tell fortunes or not! As you can imagine, the Queen Mother would definitely not be satisfied, and she could also take the opportunity to accuse Gu Yanfei of playing tricks on the Queen Mother.
"Let me calculate..." Gu Yanfei calmly raised his right hand and pinched his knuckles twice.
This simple action, when performed by her, carries with it a certain mysterious flavor.
When her thumb pressed against the knuckle of her middle finger, the careless smile on her lips froze slightly...
Everyone's eyes were on her beautiful, slender fingers, and no one noticed her momentary loss of composure.
Gu Yanfei withdrew his hand, and his wide sleeves fell like flying butterfly wings. A light flashed quickly in his eyes, and his face was full of smiles.
She turned her head to Empress Dowager Yuan who was lying on the kang and smiled brightly, saying with satisfaction: "May God bless me, the sun, the moon, the mountains and the rivers will be forever."
"Your Majesty is in good health."
“……”Empress Dowager Yuan’s smile froze.
Not only Empress Dowager Yuan, but everyone else around her did not expect Gu Yanfei to answer like this and was shocked again.
The surroundings became even quieter, with only the rustling sound of snow and wind hitting the glass windows outside echoing in everyone's ears.
After a brief moment of astonishment, Empress Dowager Yuan smiled again, but the smile did not reach her eyes and her back remained straight.
She raised her chin slightly and said condescendingly, "Second Miss Gu, do you know that talking nonsense in front of me is a crime of deceiving the emperor?"
Empress Dowager Yuan spoke slowly, with an invisible pressure between every word, which was the pressure of being a superior.
These few words were like putting a knife high on Gu Yanfei's neck. Even if he didn't want her life, he could at least cut off a piece of her flesh.
Yu Chaoyun gracefully stroked her sleeves, and the aromatherapy ball hidden in her sleeves emitted a faint fragrance, filling her sleeves.
When she received the empress dowager's oral instructions, her aunt analyzed the empress dowager's intentions with her in detail and gave her some advice.
The eldest aunt said that the Queen Mother summoned them into the palace in order to choose a wife for the eldest prince.
The eldest aunt also said that she was asked to come to the capital from Yuzhou for the position of the eldest prince's consort, and told her to be neither humble nor arrogant in front of the empress dowager. The empress dowager did not only look at the person when choosing the eldest prince's consort...
Thinking of this, Yu Chaoyun turned her gaze and looked at Gu Yanfei who was sitting diagonally opposite her. Her eyes were like a deep spring, very cold.
There is no doubt that the eldest prince looks at Gu Yanfei differently.
And I absolutely cannot be the prince's concubine! Yu Chaoyun's fingers gently stroked the aromatherapy ball hidden in her sleeve, and the burning spices in the aromatherapy ball warmed her cold fingertips little by little.
Although Gu Yanfei seems straightforward, he is actually very scheming.
The Queen Mother represented King Kang, and it was absolutely impossible for her to coexist peacefully with the Emperor and his son.
Gu Yanfei is now stirring up trouble for no reason, clearly doing it on purpose to please the emperor! Yu Chaoyun pursed his lips, his expression calm, and sat in silence.
In just a few breaths, the atmosphere in the warm room became increasingly tense. The temperature, which was originally as warm as spring, suddenly dropped sharply, and a cold wind like a knife blew in through the cracks in the window.
Facing Empress Dowager Yuan's intimidating gaze, Gu Yanfei smiled, eyes as clear as water, and asked lightly, "Don't you believe it, Empress Dowager?"
Empress Dowager Yuan's face darkened. When did she ever say she didn't believe it?
"It's simple." Gu Yanfei snapped his fingers neatly and suggested kindly, "If the Queen Mother doesn't believe it, you can call the imperial physician to ask."
Gu Yanfei was all smiles.
The graceful face of Empress Dowager Yuan suddenly sank.
This girl took her down in just a few words. If she really summoned the imperial physician to ask about the emperor's health now, it would mean that she "did not believe" that the emperor was in good health.
"..." Empress Dowager Yuan's eyes were uncertain and the veins on her forehead were throbbing, but she still sat upright, emitting an extremely fierce aura, which shocked the several palace maids serving beside her and made them lower their heads timidly.
Lu Qin secretly gave Gu Yanfei a thumbs up.
Gu Yanfei calmly took the teacup, drank the tea, and had the leisure to look at the scenery outside the window. With his sharp eyes, he saw a black cat chasing a white cat in the snow and leaping over the wall. The cat's movements were agile and fast, and it flashed by in a flash.
Ever since she received the second merit from Heaven years ago, her eyes have become sharper and more sensitive than those of ordinary people. Otherwise, she would not be able to see the two cats clearly.
The corners of Gu Yanfei's lips curved up, and he was in a good mood.
All the sounds in the warm room disappeared, and silence spread silently.
Empress Dowager Yuan silently picked up the teacup and sipped the boiling hot tea. She looked calm on the outside, but the fingers that were holding the tea lid were slightly exerting force, and her fingertips were turning white.
Now that things have come to this, if she were to hold Gu Yanfei accountable regardless of the consequences, it would seem that she, the empress dowager, is determined to pick a fight with a subject girl.
Moreover, once the news got out, outsiders would not care whether Gu Yanfei's calculations were accurate or not, but would only speculate and criticize her, saying that the Queen Mother was hoping that the Emperor would be ill! This girl from the Gu family was simply a traitor! !
Thinking of the last time at Prince Jing's Mansion when Gu Yanfei used her to get rid of her engagement with Fang Mingfeng, Empress Dowager Yuan felt even more disgusted with Gu Yanfei.
The cat outside the window disappeared, so Gu Yanfei withdrew his gaze, pretending that he had not been distracted just now, and asked casually: "I wonder if the Queen Mother thinks that my calculations are accurate?"
No one expected Gu Yanfei to say such a thing. Empress Dowager Yuan placed the teacup on the tea table. The sound of the teacup hitting the tea table was not loud, but it made everyone feel frightened and all eyes were focused on her.
Empress Dowager Yuan smiled again.
Only this time, her smile seemed a little fake.
"That's accurate."
Empress Dowager Yuan slowly squeezed out three words from between her teeth.
The maid in charge beside her swallowed silently and could clearly feel the empress dowager's suppressed rage.
The last time the empress dowager was so angry was the day the eldest prince returned to the capital. Shou'an Palace was shrouded in dark clouds for several days.
The maid in charge calmed herself down and when she looked at Gu Yanfei again, her eyes became more complicated.
Was this Miss Gu just trying to win a momentary accusation, or was she trying to force the Queen Mother to admit that she was right, so that she wouldn't settle the score with her later? There was another moment of silence in the warm room, and the atmosphere was filled with an indescribable awkwardness, causing several girls to become uneasy.
Empress Dowager Yuan looked unhappy. Even though she was smiling, she was no longer in a good mood. She asked Lu Qin in a perfunctory tone, "Ah Qin, I remember your grandmother said that you were a good chess player and often played chess with your grandfather."
Lu Qin wiped the corners of her mouth with a handkerchief, and with a straight face, she replied politely: "Empress Dowager, your grandmother is too kind. I am just accompanying your grandfather to entertain him."
"You are a very modest child," said Empress Dowager Yuan calmly.
After that, there was no more trouble.
Empress Dowager Yuan asked a few girls about their preferences and then dismissed them casually: "I am tired, Liuxia, take them to the Imperial Garden for a walk."
Liuxia was the palace maid in charge, and she bowed quickly to respond.
After a while, the girls stood up and left. They walked out in twos and threes, around a six-panel screen, chatting and laughing.
Without these young girls in their prime, the warm room suddenly seemed a lot more spacious.
Empress Dowager Yuan stared at Gu Yanfei's back. After a long while, she lowered her voice and asked, "Did the eldest prince order the sedan chair?"
"Yes." The old lady replied in a low voice.
“……”Empress Dowager Yuan was just asking casually.
This is so obvious that there is no need to guess.
Empress Dowager Yuan couldn't help but recall what her son had said to her half a month ago...
At first, she was also skeptical, thinking how could the eldest prince be interested in such a wild girl. After more than ten years of wandering outside, she had neither amazing talent nor the knowledge of how to deal with people. The Gu family was not like the Duke of Weiguo's Mansion, who had an ancestor to support the family. After all, the Dingyuan Marquis Mansion was no longer the same as when the first Dingyuan Marquis Gu Ce was still there...
But judging from how much Chu Yi cared about this girl today, what his son said was true.
Empress Dowager Yuan raised the corner of her lip, and said in a tone that was neither sighing nor mocking, "Is this the only vision of our eldest prince?"
As she spoke, she narrowed her eyes, and a cold light flashed across them.
Both of them were fascinated by the girl from the Gu family! The old nanny had been with Empress Dowager Yuan for decades, so she could naturally hear the hidden meaning in her words. She pretended not to know and smiled apologetically, "I think if you are just a concubine, it's enough for you to be pretty."
There was a moment of silence around, the laughter of the girls in front gradually faded away, and only the faint scent of sandalwood lingered in the room.
"That's right." Empress Dowager Yuan chuckled, her fingertips stroking her cuffs softened a little, and her little finger curled slightly.
Indeed, Gu Yanfei has an outstanding appearance, and his face is one of the most beautiful in the capital.
What a pity, she only has such a pretty face.
A concubine? (End of this chapter)
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