Chapter 085 Chapter 85
[Chapter 85]
Ruan Yun's well-behaved and blessed body leaves nothing to be desired:
"To the Empress Dowager."
The Queen Mother's eyebrows moved slightly indifferently, and she glanced at the ministers standing beside her and said:
"She is good-looking, indeed a beauty."
Ruan Yun didn't dare to raise her head after hearing the Queen Mother's words. The pearl and silver hairpin on her head was shining. Although it was not dazzling, it was obvious that it was a rare treasure in the world.
After saying this, the Queen Mother walked away from Ruan Yun, as if she had just seen a woman and asked casually.
Until the Queen Mother slowly walked back, someone gently supported Ruan Yun's arm, with slender fingers wearing gorgeous armor. Ruan Yun looked up in surprise, and saw the Queen Mother smiling gently at her, and then walked away with the Queen Mother.
She seemed to be able to feel the empress's extremely gentle movements on her sleeves. Ruan Jun stood there without moving until Concubine Ji called her softly, which brought her back to her senses.
All the concubines had to go to Shoukang Palace to pay their respects to the Queen Mother. Before Ruan Yun sat on the ceremonial procession, she took a special look at Concubine Xian's expression. She looked extremely happy.
Entering Shoukang Palace, everyone stood behind the Empress Dowager and paid their respects to her according to palace rules:
"Greetings to the Empress Dowager, may the Empress Dowager be blessed with good health and good health."
The Queen Mother sat up straight, her face slightly tilted, taking in all the concubines standing behind her:
"Get up."
The concubines were helped to sit down by the palace maids. The empress sat beside the queen mother and asked softly, "How is your health during your stay at Mount Putuo?"
The Queen Mother did not smile, but said calmly: "Everything is fine, thank you for your concern, Your Majesty."
Then he said: "When Concubine Xian was by my side, I was very happy. The Emperor and the Empress asked Concubine Xian to return to the palace to raise the second prince. I felt very uncomfortable without someone by my side."
It's not that the people around didn't understand the meaning of the Queen Mother's words, but since it involved the Empress, no one dared to say anything.
Ruan Yun opened her lips slightly, ignoring her fear, and wanted to speak for the Queen.
Although the Queen Mother is only talking about the Queen letting Concubine Xian return to the palace, there is another meaning behind her words, which is to blame the Queen for her irresponsibility in not being able to protect the royal heir and love the concubines.
A wave of heat came from her wrist, and Jipin shook her head slightly at Ruan Yun, which made Ruan Yun come back to her senses.
The Queen Mother's attitude towards her is still unclear. Although she appears to be displeased, no one knows what the Queen Mother is thinking in her heart.
Ruan Jun swallowed her words and looked at the Queen who was sitting next to the Queen Mother.
The Queen's expression did not change. She just stood up and said, "It is my fault for causing you to worry."
The Queen Mother looked at the Queen's figure quietly, her eyes indifferent, "Forget it, since you have already returned to the palace, I don't mean to blame you. Concubine Xian has been childless and has stayed with me in Putuo Mountain for four years. If it weren't for the Second Prince, I don't know how long Concubine Xian would have stayed with me. I am still happy."
Before the Empress could say anything, Concubine Xian said in a very obedient manner, "Your Majesty the Empress Dowager must be teasing me. I didn't do anything in Putuo Mountain, and even caused a lot of trouble."
The Queen Mother turned around and said to Aunt Jing Qiao who was serving beside her: "Look, her mouth is still so pleasing."
Jing Qiao followed the Queen Mother's words with a smile in her eyes, "The Concubine Xian has always known how to please you."
None of the concubines present spoke. Concubine De had not uttered a word since she entered Shoukang Palace. She just sat there quietly drinking tea.
Concubine Xian was chatting happily with the Queen Mother, and the Queen Mother sat next to her without doing anything else.
"The Second Prince can smile at people now. I will bring him to pay respects to the Queen Mother later."
The Queen Mother smiled even more when she heard this. "I always hear you talk about the Second Prince in your letters. Today I can finally see him with my own eyes."
Concubine Xian said in a coquettish voice: "I just want the Queen Mother to only read the letters and not see the lovely appearance of the Second Prince. This way, when the Queen Mother returns, she will love the Second Prince even more."
The Queen Mother couldn't help laughing out loud, "It's enough that I love you alone."
The only sounds left in Shoukang Palace were the laughter of Concubine Xian and the Queen Mother. The Queen Mother yawned, and Jing Qiao said quickly, "Your Majesty, you have traveled a long way, why don't you take a rest today?"
The Queen Mother nodded and said, "I am old now, not as I used to be. I still feel uncomfortable riding in a carriage all the way."
The Queen asked worriedly, "Is there something wrong with your mother? Should we summon the imperial physician to see her?"
"I'm exhausted." The Queen Mother said as Jing Qiao helped her up. "It's nothing else. Don't be surprised. You can all go back."
The Queen bowed respectfully to see the Queen Mother off. The concubines were waiting for the Queen Mother to leave Shoukang Palace first, but unexpectedly, Concubine Xian said first: "I haven't seen the Queen Mother for a long time. I want to stay and accompany her today."
"Okay." The queen showed some fatigue in her eyes and eyebrows, and she was about to speak but couldn't stop coughing.
After finally stopping coughing, his throat also started to become hoarse. "Let the wet nurse bring the second prince to Shoukang Palace for me to see. Let the wet nurse take good care of the second prince."
Concubine Xian respectfully responded to the Queen's words, and the Queen turned to look at Concubine De, "When the Queen Mother left the palace for Mount Putuo, the eldest prince was still very young. If you have time, bring him here tomorrow."
Concubine De bowed slightly, "I understand. The Empress's health is in danger. You should return to the palace as soon as possible and stop worrying about these things."
After the Empress left Shoukang Palace, the concubines gradually walked out of the Palace.
Ruan Yun saw that Defei's face remained the same, with no other expression. The eldest prince and the second prince were both the emperor's children, but the empress dowager did not mention the eldest prince and only asked about the second prince. Ruan Yun immediately felt a strange feeling in her heart.
The empress dowager seemed to be very indifferent to the emperor's offspring. She only asked a few more questions because the second prince was raised by Concubine Xian. She didn't even care about Shen Chongyi's pregnancy.
"Sister Ying?" Jipin called Ruan Jun several times before Ruan Jun came to her senses and looked at her.
Concubine Ji laughed and said, "Sister Ying, what are you thinking about? You look so absorbed in it."
Ruan Yun sighed and asked in a low voice: "Do you think that the Queen Mother's attitude towards the Emperor and the Empress is a little strange?"
Concubine Ji was so surprised that she stopped waving the round fan in her hand, gripped the handle of the fan tightly, looked around to make sure no one was around, and then said, "It turns out that I'm not the only one who noticed it. My sister also noticed it. I thought I was just being suspicious, so I didn't dare to say anything."
Ruan Jun frowned slightly, lost in thought. It didn't look like the Emperor and the Empress Dowager had any rift between them, or maybe both of them hid it too well and didn't want to be discovered by others.
"The Emperor ascended the throne, but the Empress Dowager has not returned from Mount Putuo, has she?"
Ruan Yun grabbed Jipin's sleeve, clenching her fingers tightly.
Jipin took a deep breath, "It seems so. The emperor was still in charge of the country at that time, and the queen mother had already left the palace. If the Concubine Xian didn't return to the palace, it is unknown when the queen mother would come back."
Ruan Jun found this matter more and more interesting. There must be something hidden in it. The Queen did not complain at all in the face of the Queen Mother's words today.
As the two were talking, they had already arrived at Yu Garden.
Shoukang Palace is the best palace in the harem. The garden is quite deep, and the flowers and trees in the courtyard are dropping petals. There is an inexplicable fragrance of sandalwood. The camellia flowers on the roadside are in full bloom, gorgeous and dazzling.
Ruan Yun picked up the remaining petals of the crabapple blossoms on the ground with a handkerchief. "I heard from the maids in the palace earlier that if you crush the crabapple blossoms and add the juice to rouge, it will have an especially beautiful color. I wonder if it will work."
Jipin fanned Ruan Yun and said, "Let the palace maid pick it up later. Be careful not to hurt your hands, sister."
Ruan Yun handed all the crabapple flowers in the handkerchief to Yingning. Yingning understood the queen's intention and made a note of what she was going to do later.
As Concubine Ji said, most of the flowers in the Yu Garden were about to wither, and the palace servants had to plant new ones.
Before I knew it, I had walked to the southeast of the Yu Garden. I vaguely remembered that Shen Chongyi's palace seemed to be here.
Now that Shen Chongyi is pregnant, there are countless eyes staring at her in the harem. Ruan Yun doesn't want to cause gossip for no reason, and she is even more afraid that Jipin will be sad if she sees it, so she said, "It's getting late. Your health has not improved. You might as well go back to the palace and rest."
Concubine Ji nodded, "I'm fine, sister, don't worry too much about me."
That being said, Ruan Jun didn't look at all worried.
The two were about to leave the Yu Garden when they heard the nurse's voice:
"Slow down little princess!"
"Little princess! Don't fall into the water."
Ruan Jun frowned deeply and held Ji Bin's palm through her sleeve. As expected, she could feel the coldness of her palm through her sleeve.
The Yu Garden is such a small place, even if you want to avoid it, it's too late now.
Ruan Jun looked at the little princess who was running towards her with an unfriendly face, but the appearance of the little princess today was very different from before.
At that time, she rescued the little princess who fell into the water. The innocent look of the little princess made people feel distressed.
Now the little princess looked at Ruan Yun and Ji Bin who were standing in front of her, her round eyes full of fear.
The nurse behind finally caught up with the little princess. When she saw the person standing in front, she bowed and said, "Ying Chongrong is well, and Lady Jipin is well."
Ruan Jun said softly, "Get up."
No matter what Shen Chongyi did, the little princess is ultimately innocent.
"This place is close to the southwest of Taiye Lake. Please keep an eye on the little princess and don't let her fall into the water."
Knowing that if Concubine Ji stayed here any longer, her sadness would increase, Ruan Jun didn't say much. She turned around, grabbed Concubine Ji's sleeve and prepared to leave.
The nurse hurriedly bowed and wanted to hug the little princess, "Little princess, it's getting late, let's go back and have dinner."
But for some reason, when the little princess heard this, she cried very sadly, wiped her tears, shook her head, and wanted to run forward again.
The little princess's face was covered with tears. Perhaps she couldn't see clearly, so she didn't notice that there was a low hill in front of her. It turned out that the palace servants just wanted to create a beautiful scenery. But if the little princess ran forward like this without lifting her skirt, she would definitely fall.
Ruan Yun was horrified. Before she could open her mouth to ask the palace maids to hold the little princess, someone was quicker than Ruan Yun and stood in front of the little princess, blocking her way with his or her body.
Although the little princess is small, she is very strong.
Concubine Ji was knocked to the ground by the little princess, and her subordinates consciously supported the ground. After a low cry, the little princess lay in Concubine Ji's arms, but Concubine Ji was in so much pain that she couldn't stand up.
Ruan Yun got angry for the first time and said, "What are you all standing there for? Hurry up and help Concubine Ji up!"
At this time, Jipin's palace maid came to her senses and hurried forward to help Jipin up.
The wet nurses behind the little princess did not dare to delay and went over to pick up the little princess.
The little princess was still sobbing, perhaps knowing that she was in trouble, and she stood there not knowing what to do.
Ruan Yun squatted down and saw that Jipin's hand hidden in her sleeve was twitching unconsciously. She looked at a pavilion not far away and bit her lower lip and said, "Quick! Let the imperial physician come over to take a look."
Yicui cried so hard that she quickly supported her young mistress with her body.
Jipin smiled weakly at Ruan Yun and said, "I'm fine."
Her waist was in severe pain, perhaps because she had accidentally bumped into the hillside just now, so Concubine Ji caught the little princess herself.
"What are you arguing about?"
Ruan Yuncai helped Concubine Ji up, and her body was inevitably covered with the dust from her body.
Her sparkling almond-shaped eyes looked forward and fell into Yan Shiyu's eyes. Her red dress was wrinkled, and her lonely expression made her look as if she was bullied.
Yan Shiyu's eyes turned cold. He walked over and took Ruan Yun's hand. He looked around and found that she had no injuries. His eyes fell on her skirt:
"Are you injured anywhere else?"
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