Chapter 86: Domineering White Moonlight 5 Who was Ah Li talking to just now? ...
Because of what the Empress Dowager said to her that day, Ali went to Shou'an Palace more frequently recently.
I had finally moved out of there and could make my own decisions, but I didn't expect that I still couldn't escape the Queen Mother's clutches.
When Ali came back from paying her respects that day, the sun had just risen. If the Queen Mother had not been leaving the palace to go to the Wanfo Temple today, she would have had to accompany her to finish the morning Buddha worship.
Ali sat crookedly in the sedan chair, feeling so sleepy that he almost fell off. Fortunately, he finally returned to Qingluan Palace safely.
Ali got off the chariot and wanted to go straight to his bedroom, but he found that many people had come to Qingluan Palace and there were dozens of boxes on the ground.
She forced herself to open her dazed eyes and found Lan Xin inside: "What happened?"
When Lan Xin saw that it was her, she quickly bowed and told her the key points of the whole process.
It turned out that Xie Jingchuan had ordered people to deliver several large boxes of silks, satins, jades and jewelry. Today happened to be the day when the Inner Court Office delivered the quota of clothing materials to each palace. The two groups of people gathered together, which made the place look messy.
Lan Xin kept apologizing, fearing that A Li would drag her away and punish her with a stick if she got upset. "Princess, please forgive me! I will take care of this matter right away and will not disturb your peace!"
In the past, several aunts and sisters with seniority had suffered because of the princess's fickle temper. Although she had stayed longer than the previous ones, she still did not dare to slack off in the slightest.
Lan Xin was kneeling on the ground and trembling, but Ali's attention was already attracted by the treasure in front of him.
She walked over and opened one of them. Inside was a box full of precious silks, which shimmered subtly in the slanting sunlight.
Seeing this, Lan Xin walked up behind A Li and softly introduced them to her, "These boxes over here are from the Jiangnan weaving factory, and those over there are tributes from foreign countries. They all arrived in the capital a few days ago, and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince sent the best ones here."
Ali looked up and saw a palace servant opening the copper lock on a box that was being counted and registered.
Snow blue, wormwood green, blue sky and water, soft blue, honey, frosty white...all light colors of water.
If it is made into clothes and worn, it will surely make people look as elegant as a fairy or as gentle as water.
"His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is so thoughtful. He always keeps the princess in mind in everything." Lan Xin said from the side.
Ali unconsciously twisted the silk ribbon around his waist around his fingers, loosening and tightening it, and laughed: "Isn't he always like this?"
Seeing the things sent from the Inner Court Office piled up on the other side, Ali turned around, and the lilac-colored hem of her skirt brushed against the boxes piled at her feet.
The things sent by the Inner Court Office were not many, and compared with those sent by the Eastern Palace, they were even pitifully few. However, Ali took a piece of crabapple red satin with gold embroidery in his hand with great interest.
"Is this a new style in the palace?"
A palace attendant from the inner court hurried forward and said, "My lord, the items sent to Qingluan Palace are all the latest styles."
Ali nodded, looking quite satisfied.
Although Lan Xin was puzzled, she still stuffed a purse of silver into the palace maid's pocket and said with a smile, "Thank you for your hard work, sisters. Our princess will treat you sisters to tea."
Chen Liu was stunned for a moment, then bowed to A Li again and happily accepted it.
Ever since she entered the palace, she had heard that Princess Wangshu of Qingluan Palace was the most picky. She would find several faults in the fabrics sent to her in the past, and the people who sent the clothes could only stand there and listen to her lecture.
Finally, Princess Wangshu would simply return all the fabrics and have the inner court send them back to be remade.
Therefore, everyone tries to avoid the task of Qingluan Palace if possible.
Chen Liu had just entered the palace this year, so this difficult task naturally fell on her.
She was very nervous before coming here, but she didn't expect that the princess would let them go today and give them so much reward money. It was really a blessing from the Bodhisattva!
Perhaps it was the bag of silver from Ali that worked, and Chen Liu started talking. While helping Lan Xin count the silver and putting it into the warehouse, he talked about a strange thing that happened in the palace recently.
Like previous dynasties, there was also a cold palace in the Jin Dynasty palace, which was used to house concubines and palace maids who had made mistakes.
Things had always been peaceful, but recently, for some unknown reason, several young palace maids escaped from the cold palace. The person in charge searched every corner but could not find any trace of them.
Ming Shuang was also helping out, and after hearing this she asked, "Could it be possible that he hid in a water truck or some other freight truck and escaped?"
"The manager also thought of this, but after interrogating them, no one found out they had seen those people. An arrest warrant was posted outside the palace, but there has been no news yet." Shen Liu said.
Lan Xin distractedly replied, "That's strange. I've never heard of anyone escaping from the palace without anyone noticing."
Ali was sitting in the corridor. He saw several thrushes jumping up and down in the cage. His hands started to itch unconsciously. He simply stood up and reached out to tease them, which scared them so much that they fluttered around in the cage even more.
The low conversation between the first few people also came to an end.
Chen Liu wiped the sweat from his forehead and said, "A slave in the palace escaping is a serious crime that will implicate the entire clan. In addition, those people have not been caught yet, and the stewards have not reported it. Few people in the palace know about this news yet."
"Just listen to this, sisters, but don't tell anyone."
Lan Xin and Ming Shuang smiled and said, "Of course."
*
After lunch, Ali was walking around in the palace to digest his food. Mo Wen, a palace maid beside Xie Jingchuan, brought him a message, asking Ali to wait for him in front of the palace gate, and he would arrive within half an hour.
Although Xie Jingchuan has not yet reached adulthood, he has entered the court to participate in government affairs early. These days, Ali has been busy accompanying the empress dowager, and he has not been idle either. He is detained in the Qinzheng Hall every day to discuss government affairs with the emperor and ministers.
Half a month ago, Ali heard that there was a rouge shop outside the palace, and the "Tanxin" rouge it made was all the rage in the capital.
Unfortunately, Lady Rouge was a person with a strange temper. She only made five boxes in a month, and they were sold out in a blink of an eye. She was also unwilling to bow to wealth and fame, and many powerful and famous people had their eyes turned on her.
Ali coveted the "Tanxin" rouge, so he begged Xie Jingchuan to take him out of the palace. He didn't believe that when the rouge lady saw them, she would still refuse to change her attitude of being rich and powerful and unable to indulge in debauchery, and insisted that she make a lot of rouge for him.
The day they agreed on is today.
Originally, seeing that there was no news from Xie Jingchuan for a long time, Ali thought that he had forgotten about it. However, after hearing what Mo Wen said, she immediately became alert and asked Lan Xin to help her dress and make up. A quarter of an hour later, they arrived at the palace gate.
It was afternoon and there were not many people at the palace gate. Mingshuang led the palace maids to set up chairs under a towering ancient tree nearby. Ali stood by, holding the hand of a palace maid who was fanning him.
Suddenly, a tall figure walked out from the direction of Qinzheng Hall, and from a distance he looked a bit like Xie Jingchuan.
Ali walked forward a few steps and saw the man in a dark red official robe, walking slowly on the bluestone official road. The jade belt around his waist shone with a warm luster in the sunlight, and his robe fluttered with his steps.
Not Xie Jingchuan.
Ali lowered his eyes in disappointment and sat back.
Soon, the man approached, seemingly unaware of Ali's identity, and bowed slightly: "This is..."
Mingshuang was about to answer when Ah Li stopped her and, without even looking at the man, said casually, "When asking someone's name, shouldn't you first state your own?"
A trace of obvious surprise crossed the man's handsome face. After a pause, he said, "I am Chen Yizhi, the captain of the Imperial Guard. This is my first time entering the palace to answer questions. If I have offended you, I hope you will forgive me."
Ah Li fanned herself without stopping, her red lips parted as she asked, "Who are you, Chen Danzhi?"
Chen Yizi raised his eyes and looked at her curiously: "Does your Excellency know my sister?"
"Of course I recognize her." Ali raised his eyebrow slightly, and Mingshuang said at the right moment: "This is Princess Wangshu."
Chen Yizhi looked as if he had suddenly realized something and saluted, "So it's the princess. I apologize for my rudeness."
It seems that he doesn't know what happened at the flower viewing banquet that day.
Ah Li looked at him, his eyes sweeping across his official uniform: "Your father is a civil servant, how did you enter the court through the military examination?"
Chen Yizhi noticed her gaze and answered truthfully, "When I was young, I was in poor health. A Taoist priest who traveled here once said that I would not live long. Although my parents didn't completely believe it, they were very concerned about me day and night. When I was seven years old, they sent me to practice martial arts to strengthen my body."
Ali nodded.
In the original book, just one year later, Chen Yizi died while saving the heroine Fu Youzhi. He was less than nineteen years old when he died, and he indeed died young.
Chen Yizi has always been a careless person, but at this moment he noticed the pity in Ali's eyes.
mercy?
He came from a prominent family and entered officialdom at a young age, which was a time of glory for him. Why did the princess, who met him for the first time, feel pity for him?
With such doubts, Chen Yizi opened his mouth: "Princess..." Before he could finish the rest of the words, he took a step forward and stretched out his hand to block above Ali's head.
Ali was startled and was about to get angry. He put his clenched hands behind his back, took a few steps back, and lowered his head.
His appearance actually aroused Ali's curiosity: "What's that in your hand?"
Chen Yizhi hesitated for a moment and shook his head: "It is better for the princess not to look at the insects that fell from the tree."
His sister was always afraid of these insects, and he was so used to helping her catch them that he forgot for a moment that they were in the palace.
Ali frowned, dissatisfied: "It's just a little bug, what's wrong with looking at it?"
Seeing her insistence, Chen Yizi slowly walked forward and opened his hand. A fat big green caterpillar was lying in his palm.
When Ali saw it, he lost interest: "It's so ugly, throw it away."
Chen Yizhi didn't follow her advice, but withdrew his hand and stood still: "Are you waiting for someone here, Princess?"
Hearing this, Ali looked behind him. The official road was still empty, with no one in sight. She suppressed her unhappiness and asked, "What does it have to do with you?"
"Just asking, don't be angry, Princess." Chen Yizi smiled indifferently, his eyebrows slanted and his eyes curved into crescent shapes.
Ah Li turned away and was too lazy to talk anymore.
Chen Yizi twisted his curled fingers and looked straight at her depressed face. "If the princess wants to leave the palace in the future, I am willing to accompany you. There is no place in this capital that I am not familiar with."
This statement really caught Ali's attention. She looked him over and asked, "Are you serious?"
Chen Yizi raised his eyebrows, looking very confident and confident: "Of course!"
Ali thought for a few moments and agreed.
"Then it's a deal!" Chen Yizi looked even happier than her, his eyes as clear as stars.
Ali nodded reservedly, chin slightly raised: "Okay, you can go now."
Chen Yizi clasped his fists again, his expression bright and cheerful: "Yes! I'll take my leave!"
As he spoke, he strode towards the palace gate, looking back at Ali every few steps, as if reminding her not to forget the agreement they had just made.
Ali suppressed his impatience and waved at him perfunctorily.
Ming Shuang chuckled softly, "This Mr. Chen is quite different. He looks handsome, but his words and actions are a bit straightforward and foolish."
Ali took another look and said, "Yes, it's a bit stupid." Like a big stupid dog.
As the master and servant were talking, a very familiar voice came from behind them.
"Ali."
Ali turned around and saw Xie Jingchuan walking out from the swaying shadows of the trees. In the flickering light and shadow, it was impossible to see the expression on his face.
He had a gentle smile on his lips and slowly came closer to her. His deep and calm eyes could easily draw people in. "Who was Ali talking to just now?"
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