At the beginning, at least two letters were sent every month from Huaizhou, but after the twelfth lunar month, none of the letters came. Although Jiang Rao wanted to know what happened there, there was no way out, and she felt a little uneasy. .

Before and after the twelfth lunar month, Jinling was snowy for more than ten days, and the snowy road was difficult to travel. Emperor Zhaowu gave the courtiers a rest period of ten days, and brought his concubines and some confidants to the court to live in the palace close to the hunting ground. For a period of time, by the way, hunting to relieve boredom.

Although Emperor Zhaowu treated Concubine Yun in the past half a year, his regular treatment was the same as before, but he no longer went to Concubine Yun. Concubine Yun saw that she deserved as many things as she deserved. Instead of serving the emperor, she did nothing. She has everything, and she wakes up laughing almost when she dreams. Emperor Zhaowu is going to go hunting in winter. Usually she will follow. This year, she is too lazy to follow. Her favorite, Qin Yun's name was written in the roster of accompanying concubines.

Concubine Yun Gui was annoyed by Empress Jiahe's lack of eyesight, and seeing Jiang Rao feeling gloomy, she took her with her when she went to the palace, and went to relax together.

As soon as Jiang Rao got off the carriage, she saw Hutang waving at her in front of the palace gate.

Hutang, dressed in red, ran to Jiang Rao in a few steps, smiling happily, "I'm really happy to hear that you will come."

Mrs. Hu and Emperor Zhaowu were distant cousins, and Hutang could call Emperor Zhaowu uncle. General Hu was stationed in the frontier and had no children. Emperor Zhaowu had some kind of compensatory thoughts for him. He also had a kind of thinking that he saw General Hu's daughter in Jinling, so that General Hu would not dare to rebel, and he was very fond of Hu Li and Hu Tang. Okay. Even if courtiers often ask him to visit General Hu's daughter's self-willedness and lack of control, he turns a blind eye. When it comes to this kind of winter hunting, Hutang will be brought along by the exchange party, so that she can pass the addiction of fighting and killing.

Jiang Rao was not surprised when she saw Hutang.

Hutang carried a bow on his back and an arrow in his hand, and said with a hearty smile: "I will go out hunting these few days, you wait, I will bring you a little rabbit back."

Jiang Rao was stunned.

Hutang has been with her for so many days, and he knows Jiang Rao's temperament. He realizes that she can't watch the bloody scenes of fighting and killing. Said: "Hey, I'm wrong, this girl is a little tired of hunting."

She jumped to Jiang Rao's side,? ? "You haven't been to this palace before. This palace is very vast. Merlin and the mountain at the back are very interesting. I will show you around."

Jiang Rao knew that she was taking care of her, she smiled softly, remembered something, took Hutang's hand and asked, "Have you heard the news about Huaizhou from your father?"

General Hu was stationed in the north, and Huaizhou was in the south. Jiang Raoming knew this, but asked this instead. It was really desperate.

Hutang shook her head, looked at Jiang Rao's annoyed expression, and asked her, "Are you worrying about the Ninth Highness?"

Jiang Rao let out a sigh of relief, "I ask almost everyone."

But everyone is like Hutang, who doesn't know any news.

Rong Ting told her to stay in Jinling because she was afraid that the three of them would become tigers, but in the past few months, apart from staying in Jinling worriedly, she couldn't help at all.

From what her father said, there were indeed people in the court who spoke ill of Emperor Zhaowu from time to time, but Mr. Liao from the Ministry of Works steadily suppressed the rumors, and his methods were naturally more flexible than that of the woman in the back house.

She felt useless.

Jiang Rao and Hutang walked into the palace together, and when they passed through the corridor, they looked at the unfamiliar scene here, and Jiang Rao's gray eyes brightened slightly.

Maybe here, can find out what news.

Whether it is the movement of Emperor Zhaowu or the movement of Empress Jiahe, in this palace, it is always easier to obtain than in the orderly palace.

Hutang looked at Jiang Rao worriedly, and said to her, "If I hear anything, I will definitely come and tell you..."

Yun Guifei arrived one day earlier than Jiang Rao. Although Jiang Rao and Hutang both lived on the east side of the palace, their courtyards were a hundred steps apart and fell in two directions. When they reached the cross road, they separated. Jiang Rao was captured by the palace maid. led it to Concubine Yun.

Before going to Concubine Yungui, Jiang Raotong led her maid here and asked where Empress Jiahe and Emperor Zhaowu lived.

Empress Jiahe's residence is next to Emperor Zhaowu's, but her aunt's residence is slightly remote.

The difference between being favored and losing favor can be clearly reflected in the little things of Sesame Point.

Jiang Rao felt the oppressive feeling of her aunt living in the palace. Once she was not favored, the things she could get before would be like floating clouds, and she could no longer grasp it in her hand.

Her little aunt loves to fight with others in everything, and she may not be able to swallow her breath when she is assigned to such a remote courtyard today.

Jiang Rao was very afraid that Concubine Yun couldn't think of it, and she was thinking of a way to make her amused. She was brought to Concubine Yun by the maid, but she saw a smiling beauty holding a small coat and catching a cat.

Concubine Yun Gui is trying to dress Pomegranate in a small brightly colored dress.

seem

good mood.

Jiang Rao finally calmed down.

Yun Guifei dressed the pomegranate. Seeing Jiang Rao coming, she carried the pomegranate over and said, "Look, I made this for the pomegranate myself, and I will make one for you in the future."

Jiang Rao looked at the little clothes on Pomegranate's body, which were as clumsy as the stitches she embroidered, with the same resistance as Pomegranate, she took a step back and called out "Auntie" weakly.

Concubine Yun Gui laughed, "I won't scare you anymore."

She sat beside Jiang Rao, "I saw that you have been unhappy these past few months, and I told you to come here, don't think about Huaizhou, when it's time to come back, His Highness Ninth will come back naturally, it's useless for you to be anxious. ."

Jiang Rao understood this truth in his heart.

But it's not that you can make your mind worry-free. It's the first time she's been concerned about the taste of a person.

She lowered her head and said, "There has been no news from Huaizhou for more than a month."

Last month, she collected several medical books related to the epidemic from Jinling and sent them to Huaizhou. There was no reply, and she did not know whether those medical books had arrived.

"I don't see a worried look on the emperor's face. There should be nothing wrong. If you don't receive the letter, don't panic. Maybe you lost the letter on the way."

Jiang Rao was downcast, and Concubine Yun rubbed her head, "Don't just worry about Huaizhou, you are also worried about yourself."

Her face cooled down a little, "You pay attention to the queen, I'm going to serve tea at her place today, she seems to want to know whether you're here or not, although I didn't tell her, but it's not something you can hide after all. Getting married with the ninth prince is in her way. I have fought with her for so many years, and I know her temperament very well. She looks so stingy and stingy inside. In a few years, I have to get it back in the end, I'm afraid she is thinking of ways to harm you."

...

Empress Jiahe is staying with the seventeenth prince.

The seventeenth prince was beside Empress Jiahe, watching her write a letter, and said impatiently: "Empress mother, it has been four months, why not call General Xi to do it?"

"There are some things that need to be done without knowing it."

Queen Jiahe frowned.

If Rong Ting were to die on the battlefield easily, Emperor Zhaowu might give him a posthumous title in exchange. Thinking about the anger Rong Ting made her suffer, she could not bear such a result at all. We must also find a way to make him die on the charge of treason and make him a sinner that has been stigmatized through the ages.

She wrote the letter and gave it to her confidant

take away.

The anxious look on the seventeenth prince's face did not diminish.

"It's a bit strange this month. The letter from General Xi has not come, and my son is a little worried."

"Don't let other people's ambition destroy your own prestige." Empress Jiahe glanced at him, "Last time, Ben Gong underestimated the enemy, General Xi joined the army for twelve years, and fought on the battlefield for more than ten years. You are at ease."

The seventeenth prince pursed his lips, and Empress Jiahe taught him to call to his eyes, "You should think about how to get along with your royal father. What did you do when you stayed with your royal father this morning? Tell your mother to the queen."

"I played a few games with my father."

"Your father is in a good mood today. It doesn't matter if you win a few more games from him. You can also ask him to see your skills. It's just the last game. You must let him win, so don't ruin his mood."

"That's what my son does."

"My father seems to be very kind to me recently." The seventeenth prince took out a red jade snuff bottle from his sleeve. "Mother, this is what the father gave me."

Empress Jiahe took the small snuff bottle. The things that Emperor Zhaowu used were naturally expensive, but she was not someone who had never seen the world. What was not valuable in the Splendid Palace? She just saw the meaning behind this object, and she smiled with crooked eyes.

Today, Emperor Zhaowu rewarded the seventeenth prince with a snuff bottle, as if to let her see the days when Emperor Zhaowu passed the throne to the seventeenth prince in the future.

She had seen Qin Yun spoil her and changed her eyes, disdain Qin Yun's coquettish temperament, but now that Feng Shui flowed to her, she was even more arrogant, grabbed the red jade snuff bottle into her hand, and looked up Chin, proudly said to the seventeenth prince: "Don't cause any trouble in front of your father, he will give you more rewards in the future."

The seventeenth prince listened to Empress Jiahe's voice and said to Empress Jiahe, "Queen Mother, I went outside the palace this morning."

Empress Jiahe frowned, and just as she was about to ask him why he went there, the Seventeenth Prince said, "I saw the carriage of Ning'an Bo's Mansion."

Empress Jiahe's eyes lit up, and she sneered, "Ben Gong guessed that she would come. Qin Yun is unloved and has no children. Don't you expect her little niece to relieve her boredom?"

She smiled, her expression suddenly cold, "Since she's here, there's no need to ask Mr. Bai to walk outside her shop every day. You instruct someone to go and find Mr. Bai."

The seventeenth prince was undecided and asked, "Is it really possible?"

Empress Jiahe said slowly, "Young Master Bai has good eyes."

Empress Jiahe couldn't figure it out all the time. It's not difficult for a girl from the uncle's family to marry a good person. Why did she just fall in love with the disabled Rong Ting?

After thinking about it, the only explanation was that she saw Rong Ting's face, just as Emperor Zhaowu saw his biological mother at a glance.

Since he likes colors, Rong Ting is not the only one who looks good in this world.

Bai Yushu's reputation as a handsome man is well known. Although in her opinion, the color is still inferior to that of Rong Ting, but fortunately, his body is healthy. What's more, his eyes are charming and tender when he looks at people. As long as Jiang Rao is a colorist, he will definitely not be able to resist the tenderness in his eyes.

The little girl's family, and she met such a good-looking man a few times, maybe she began to think that this was the real fate.

Empress Jiahe laughed in a leisurely manner.

Once she released this bait, Jiang Rao would be able to take the bait, and she would definitely publicize her unruly deeds, causing her to be reviled by others, only to avenge her for stopping her and making her angry.

...

During the few days that Jiang Rao stayed in the palace, Hutang often came to look for her. She knew that Jiang Rao did not like killing scenes, so she never talked about the hunting scene in her face, but because she saw Yun Guifei wearing pomegranate clothes. Looking at the clumsy stitches, she inexplicably developed blind confidence in her own embroidery skills.

Hutang often came to Jiang Rao to embroider things with needles and threads.

Hutang didn't come all day on this day, and when twilight came, Jiang Rao was about to find someone to find her, but Hutang himself was covered in snow, his teeth were chattering, and he came in trembling.

Jiang Rao was busy with her going to the fireplace to make a fire.

Hu Tang's frozen body softened a little, still trembling, and said to Jiang Rao, "Guess what, I just slept in the tree in Merlin's place, what did I hear?"

The plum forest in the palace is a place where both male and female relatives can go. Jiang Rao wants to know the news of Huaizhou from others. Bai Liri often goes there. Because he couldn't wait for Hutang, he stayed in the yard to wait for her. Just didn't go there.

She shook her head and said she couldn't guess.

Hutang asked her, "Have you heard of the name Bai Yushu? A well-known and beautiful man in Beijing."

"I was the one who wanted to hide from my mother who caught me and went home. I only got down and climbed the tree in a hurry. I wanted to get down quickly while no one was there, but who would have thought that he suddenly stood under the plum blossom tree and stood there for a while. It was two or three hours ago that I suffered another afternoon of freezing on the tree. This man is really amazing, and his movements when he looked up at the plum blossoms haven't changed much, so I was so scared that I thought he was looking at me."

Hutang hugged her arms and couldn't get warm for a while, her face was flushed red from the cold, Jiang Rao handed her a cup of hot tea, "Maybe it's just a lover of plums, and it's just to appreciate plums in the snow."

Hutang immediately swept his gaze to Jiang Rao, "The important thing is not that he is admiring plums, the important thing is that I heard him say your name under the tree."

Jiang Rao was stunned for a moment, and Hutang said again: ? ? "He called the little servant to see if you came over. It was obvious that he was waiting for you under the plum tree."

"Wait for me?" Jiang Rao felt a little weird, "I don't know him."

Hutang put down the tea, leaned into Jiang Rao's ear, and muttered softly, "I overheard the conversation between him and his servant. He was assigned by the queen to seduce you, Hong, Xing, Chu, Qian."

Jiang Rao was completely stunned.

"real?"

"Of course it's true."

Jiang Rao laughed in anger, "Who does this take me for?"

She doesn't follow the rules, but she also doesn't do random things.

"Who said no? The next trick." Hutang warmed her body and went to Jiang Rao's side to wrap her arms around her, "But I'm curious how good-looking that Bai Yushu was born, so he has a reputation as a handsome man. I only saw the top of his head on the tree, and the hairpin was more complicated and beautiful than the one I used."

"Go and see?" Hu Tang whispered in her ear.

Jiang Rao was idle and had nothing to do. After thinking about it, she couldn't ask that Bai Yushu to wait there eagerly.

She is not afraid of shadows, and she is not afraid of what others say.

But the flies are flying in front of me, so have to wave hands to hit a dozen or so, otherwise it's really annoying.

"Let's take a look." Jiang Rao said.

But when she went out, she suddenly had another idea in her heart.

"When did he stay in the plum garden?" She stopped and asked Hutang beside her.

"I heard his impatient and grumpy tone, and it seemed that he was there all the time except when he was eating."

"Then as long as you enter Merlin during mealtime, there is an attic in Merlin, and you can watch him from a distance without having to deal with him face-to-face."

Hutang nodded, "It's almost time for lunch, do you want to find a maid to visit the plum garden?"

But Jiang Rao did not order anyone to go out.

Hutang is impatient. Once she thinks about something, she wants to do it. Otherwise, she is as impatient as if there is an itch in her heart that she can't scratch. She took Jiang Rao's hand and said, "Don't you want to go over and take a look?"

"Don't think I'm talking nonsense, Bai Yushu has really been under the plum tree, waiting for you to appear." She pouted, for fear that Jiang Rao would not believe her.

"I naturally believe you, but I just thought of some fun things." Jiang Rao winked at Hutang, "Don't go today, I'll find someone to stare at, besides waiting for me in Merlin, is he going to change? plan to do something else."

With the ruthlessness of Queen Jiahe's methods she knew, she shouldn't just call this one called Bai Yushu, who simply stayed under the plum tree and waited for her to appear.

She has to find out first.

It just so happened that Bai Yushu was left to hang out for a few days.

Since he wants to seduce her, he should freeze to death under the tree first...

She sent a maid to inquire for a few days. Seeing that Bai Yushu did not do anything out of the ordinary except waiting under the plum blossom tree, Jiang Rao boldly pulled Hutang up and waited early in the pavilion in the plum garden, asking someone to guard him. , Once they entered the pavilion, they could not ask others to come in, holding the sleeve stove, by the window on the top floor, and glanced outside from time to time.

When he saw the figure appearing in the snow, Hutang's eyes lit up, "Is this Bai Yushu?"

She stared at the figure for a long time, and sighed with emotion: "No wonder some people say that the young master of the Bai family has a good appearance, as expected."

Jiang Rao glanced at random, and then looked back, not much interest, "I look at it, it's not very good-looking."

Hu Tang raised her eyes and glanced at her, "Don't compare him with His Royal Highness Ninth Highness, you compare him with the little servant behind him, do you immediately feel good-looking?"

"His little servant..." Jiang Rao glanced down when she heard the words, but unlike what Hutang said, she felt that Bai Yushu was good-looking, but her heart was strange, and said to Hutang, "Tang'er, don't you think that , his little servant looks too ugly?"

Large families choose maids and servants, most of them like to choose Zhou Zheng, and taking them out will not lose the owner's face.

And the little servant beside Bai Yushu... Even if she has no malice and no demeaning in her eyes, she can only say that the little servant's appearance is not even ordinary.

Not only is he ugly, but his stature is a little short.

Set off his master to the fullest Yushu Linfeng.

Jiang Rao frowned.

If she can't see this, it's better to change it. After she sees it, when she looks at the action of Bai Yushu looking up at the plum tree, and the thin clothes that just shows his slender figure, she feels that there is deliberateness everywhere.

Jiang Rao muttered, "I have long heard that Lord Bai's son is not healthy, and even the best doctors are difficult to treat. Seeing how thinly dressed he is in the snow, I feel sympathy for those doctors."

Hutang looked at her questioningly, and Jiang Rao said, "No matter how good medical skills are, they can't cure disobedient patients."

Jiang Rao beckoned Ming Shao to come in, and ordered her a few words.

Hutang listened on the side, and suddenly had a new understanding of Jiang Rao.

I always feel that she looks delicate and weak, why is her mind so dark sometimes?

...

In the winter, Bai Yushu is obsessed with a fan, dressed in plain white clothes, standing under the plum tree and waiting, looking up at the plum blossoms, which are so clear and beautiful, like a painting, as if they will become immortals in the next second.

But he froze under the corridor and didn't wait for Jiang Rao to come out once, so he couldn't help being a little impatient.

Just as he was about to ask the servant beside him whether the news from the queen was true or not, a call came from behind him.

"This boy."

Bai Yushu looked back and was overjoyed when he saw the person coming.

Although he had never met Jiang Rao, he knew what the maid next to her looked like. When he saw Ming Shao, it was like seeing Jiang Rao. He smiled slightly and asked knowingly, "Who are you?"

"Ning An's mansion, the maid next to the fourth girl." Ming Shao glanced at the ugly servant who followed Bai Yushu, thinking about what Jiang Rao told her, she couldn't help disgusting Bai Yushu in her heart, she said, "Miss Call me over to ask you something."

Bai Yushu knew that his hard work in freezing these few days was not in vain. He shook his fan and felt a little joy in his heart. He smiled and nodded frequently, as if he knew everything.

His tone was gentle.

Ming Shao coughed, as if she couldn't bear it, but instead she said what Jiang Rao taught her, "The girl asked me to ask, which shop do you use for the powder?"

Bai Yushu was stagnant, as if he couldn't hear clearly, "What?"

"The girl asked me to ask, Master, which shop did you use the powder?" Ming Shao raised his voice when he saw him, "Master, can you please tell us if it's convenient?"

Bai Yushu's face changed.

"Just... just want to know what powder I use?"

Others in the plum garden all looked this way, Bai Yushu suddenly realized something and became anxious, "No, I'm not powdered, I'm just born like this."

He has always been the most proud of his appearance, but he just retouched a few times before going out, how can he be considered a fan?

There is something wrong with this maid, just ask, why is it so loud? If people could see him, wouldn't they laugh at him for being unmanly?

Ming Shao cut, "If you don't tell me, don't tell me. You have no powder, and we can tell at a glance from a girl like us."

Bai Yushu's face was red with embarrassment, "I've been standing here for four whole days, and your girl can only see the powder on my face?"

He shivered from the cold and looked a little pitiful, which reflected what he said and stood here for three or four days.

"Ah, the girl put it another way, it's not uncommon for people to stand in the snow for three or four days in such a cold day, wearing such thin clothes."

Bai Yushu breathed a sigh of relief, shook his fan, and his demeanor became graceful again.

"Have a good brain, either dress thickly or stay indoors."

Bai Yushu was about to go crazy, "Master's brain is not sick!"

"Tsk."

Ming Shao followed Jiang Rao's instructions step by step, forcing people to jump, and then she confessed, "My girl knows who you sent here, so Mr. Bai is using his mind in a serious place, don't bother me again, or else , see you once, call once."

Bai Yushu knew that it was no fun for the queen to let him come. He thought that Jiang Rao was born beautiful, and the queen arranged for him to do such things. When he came out to ridicule him, he secretly hated Jiang Rao for being unapproachable, and he was already furious, but his face still looked pitiful, he bit his lip, "I... Although I was coerced, what I did , each piece comes from the sincerity.”

How to deal with this, Jiang Rao has never taught Ming Shao, she can't, she simply turned her head and ran away, Bai Yushu couldn't give up, looking at the direction Ming Shao ran back, she knew where Jiang Rao was, His face, his eyes lifted, and he glanced up with a sad and melancholy look.

He raised his face and waited for Jiang Rao to look at him.

He knew how attractive his face was. When he went to the brothel, he was the most sought-after guest by the girls there.

When she saw the appearance of his face, she might have other thoughts.

Jiang Rao paid attention to the movement below, and naturally saw Bai Yushu looking up.

She frowned in disgust and closed the window directly.

After closing the window, shivered in the cold.

"I really don't want to see this man again."

Jiang Rao complained in a low voice to Hutang with annoyed face.

Just now, Bai Yushu's clasping arms and pitiful demeanor could not be shaken in her mind, causing her to shake her head in disgust.

Suddenly stopped.

She seems to have seen such a pitiful and weak mood on someone...

It's not that I've only seen it once or twice, but think it's very familiar.