At the end of the year, Concubine Li returned to her mother's house.
The general had just left camp and returned to court and was still resting. It was a rare occasion for his sister to return home, so it was natural to treat her well.
During the dinner, Concubine Li was unhappy. His Highness the Sixth Prince had not returned this year, and she always felt empty in her heart.
The general made another military exploit this year. The Huns suffered heavy losses due to successive droughts and colds. Next year, he will be able to have a stable year. He feels refreshed and has been fighting outside for a long time. Naturally, he cherishes the moment when his wife and children are warming up on the kang.
His younger sister was used to being a doting concubine and had a domineering temper. He was also very depressed at times. During the Chinese New Year, he always had to explain all the gossip among the women in the harem.
After all the talk and all the twists and turns, she is still the queen.
I've been fighting for half my life, and it's still not enough.
The general took a long sip of wine and said loudly, "Don't talk about things between women. Men are out there defending their homes and countries, and you are chirping in the back."
He summoned his wife, who was encouraging her, and wanted to send him away, "Go and get me some fish soup. I'm hanging around with those stupid Huns. I need to drink some fish soup to replenish my body."
He raised his hand and threw a handful of peanuts into his mouth, turned to his sister and said, "You said that the prince has been deposed, and a great future is waiting for us Ji'er, give me a smile for my brother."
Concubine Li was not happy. She held the wine glass in her hand. She couldn't help but laugh. She sipped it and said, "What does brother know? Without that idiot, there are others waiting for you."
"A little bastard dares to rob Ji'er from me."
The general leaned back on his body. He had aged after all in the past few years. He had suffered many injuries during marches and battles. The snow melted and the temperature dropped again. The cold wind squeezed in along the seams of his bones. He rubbed his knee bones. , it took a while to think of which little bastard my sister was talking about.
"After all, he is your Majesty's biological son. You have to be careful when you speak." He thought about Lu Jieming, whom he met by chance on the way back to Beijing. At that time, he was leading the horse and followed his subordinates. He was dirty, and the mud under his feet reached his trouser legs. , she doesn’t look like her mother-in-law, but she is still as bright and beautiful.
The general didn't recognize him at first, but later General Fu whispered in his ear and reminded him that the final battle with the Huns was thanks to his little support from behind.
He was so good at what he did that the general couldn't help but take a serious look at him. His nephew was the prince. Of course he knew what these princes were like. He spoke nicely, but when it came to actual work, he would see who was unreliable.
But this seventh prince was unexpected, at least he was capable of taking charge.
He has been in power for a long time, and it has become instinctive to cherish talents, but when it comes to conflicts of interests, talents become a roadblock. There is no room for this tiger in the future of the little nephew, "The matter of his mother and concubine is his Achilles heel, you start on it That’s it.”
Concubine Li's red lips were pretty, with the handkerchief pressed on them, the color was slightly lighter. "It's useless. His Majesty has always avoided the matter of his mother and concubine. He even mentioned it in Yikun Palace a few days ago. If he gets promoted, the seventh child will also When she gets older, it’s not appropriate for her to be a concubine or a concubine.”
The two people that Concubine Li hated the most in her life were the empress who had a higher status than her, and the concubine Rong who had monopolized the favor.
She gritted her teeth in hatred, thinking that this woman had no tomorrow to talk to, but unexpectedly, her son still managed to survive.
The general took the fish soup served by his wife. The strong aroma filled his nose and tasted it in his mouth, but it was very fishy. He suddenly lost his appetite.
"There will always be a way. You always have to keep calm. My brother is there for everything."
"His Royal Highness Seventh is young, and accidents are easy to happen at a young age. Are you still worried that nothing will happen to him?" He raised his hand to rub his sister's hair. The golden hairpin was shaking on her head. He looked at it and found nothing that could stop him. He sighed faintly. When he was young, he could still run his fingers from the end of his hair to the tip of his hair...
He was a military general, and the most disdainful thing he did was doing these villainous things, but he only had a sister, and it was this sister that his parents worried about the most before they died, so he couldn't ignore it.
The general couldn't eat anymore, so he ended the family dinner hastily and went to the backyard with his concubine's newly born son. The little son was very smart, with his braids dangling, and he hugged his father's neck and acted coquettishly.
Children of concubines know how to please people since they are young. Their life is not easy, and they have to survive under the oppression of the first wife.
The general looked at his youngest son's clean eyes, raised his hand and scratched his nose, "Your mother has a bad background, and you have no future. What can you do if your father loves you?"
"You have to be reborn with a good belly." He pointedly pointed, his eyes passing over the unmelted snow under the flower bed, "I have to let Your Majesty see Concubine Rong again."
A woman's kindness is always best utilized.
……
On New Year's Eve, Master Dou happened to be on duty in the palace, so he gave Xu Lianlang a note.
Make an appointment with Xiao Hu in Meiyuan.
When Xu Lianlang saw the note, Si'er was also there.
The stove was burning brightly, and she opened her hands to warm herself up. The palms of her hands were warm, and the ink on the note made her hesitate.
Si'er was making tea again. The flavor of the tea was getting lighter and lighter, and the medicinal smell was getting stronger and stronger. She pushed away the cup that Si'er handed over, "Tell me honestly, what kind of tea is this?"
This tea is very strange. When you smell it carefully, the tea taste is very weak, but when it is brewed, the taste becomes very strong.
Nowadays, the taste of tea is getting weaker and weaker. From one day on, the taste left on the tip of the tongue is the sour and bitter taste of medicine.
With sharp eyes, she folded the note again and placed it at her feet, seemingly not paying much attention.
Si'er felt weak in his heart and sweated on his forehead, "What's wrong? It's nothing." To prove that there was nothing bad in the tea, he drank three big sips, which made him burn.
Xu Lianlang was depressed. She was too lazy to care about it and no longer wanted to drink the tea. She threw the note into the fire. The fire was so strong that it turned to ashes and disappeared in the soot of the stove.
Si'er asked cautiously: "Does the girl want to go to the appointment?"
"Master Dou seems to like you a little." Si'er simply made it clear. Miss Xu did not give Dou Xi the longevity noodles on His Highness's birthday. The girl didn't say anything afterwards, only saying that the noodles were undercooked and not enough. .
Master Dou was obviously determined to be evil, and took advantage of the small road to visit Qiandong Fifth Station several times.
After coming and going, he became familiar with it and suddenly became a regular customer.
Xu Lianlang was not surprised by Si'er's clarification. She blinked and asked him, "What do you think of Mr. Dou?" How can he compare to His Highness!
Although this was what he thought in his heart, Si'er couldn't say it. He frowned and said, "Master Dou is very famous in the circle of noble ladies in Kyoto."
"That's true," she responded, "but I'm not going to the party today."
Dou Xihui was a beloved man and the dream lover of many women. Xu Lianlang was not a pure-hearted saint. Who could not love a beautiful face? Xu Lianlang naturally praised Dou Xihui from head to toe.
His conversation, behavior, and demeanor are all excellent, and more importantly, he likes himself a little bit.
Of course she didn't deny her heartbeat, but there was always something missing from this heartbeat.
Too regular and devoid of passion at all.
She felt that love shouldn't be like this.
She didn't know how to explain her state of mind. She could only attribute it to the fact that the other party's status was too high and she didn't want to marry him and become a concubine.
She was very aware of her identity. As a commoner, if she could be the mistress of the Zhenguo Palace, she would not dare to ask for it even if Dou Xihui dared to give it to her.
But these are not the reasons for her not to go to the banquet tonight. The small lake in the Plum Garden is famous for its beauty. The glacier on the lake has just cracked, and the plum petals have fallen into it. The broken beauty and broken embellishments are the only beauty in the palace. .
Such a beautiful scenery is very seasonal. In a few days, the concubines of the palace will hold a small banquet there. Now no other people are allowed to enter. Dou Xihui didn't know what he could do to catch a glimpse of the beautiful scenery before the other empresses.
The opportunity is rare and must not be missed.
But Xu Lianlang had someone to wait for today.
"You said, it's New Year's Eve, will Jieming come back?"
New Year's Eve was unusual. Maybe her little Highness, who had been away from home for so long, would come back.
She wanted to see him, to see him for the first time.
Lu Jieming has been gone for so long and has not written a letter to her.
She could sense the change in his mood, but she didn't know what he was angry about.
If I didn’t come back on my birthday, I can’t not come back on New Year’s Eve either.
She found a small blanket to wrap around her body, put her arms on the edge of the bed, and looked sideways at the fireworks setting off outside the window.
One after another, they exploded in her ears.
She wondered if the child who was afraid of thunder would be afraid of the sound of fireworks exploding in the sky.
There was less silver charcoal in the stove, and the heat source was gradually weakening. Xu Lianlang was sleepy. She thought about filling in more charcoal, but her eyelids were closed and she could not open her eyes.
In a very shallow dream, I dreamed that Lu Jieming came back riding a white horse. He smiled at her, just smiling. When asked why he was smiling, he didn't say anything.
She was extremely curious, why did she want to ride a white horse? The white coat was so hard to wash.
She tried hard to express her opinion, tried hard to open her eyes, but in the end she didn't know whether her eyes were open or not, there was only a blurry shadow in her vision.
It was a man, very tall, dressed in black, his wrists neatly tied up, and his high ponytail neat and neat. He was squatting on the carpet, adding charcoal to the stove.
Xu Lianlang couldn't tell whether she was dreaming or really awake. In this half-dream and half-awake state, she felt her body light up and she was placed safely on the bed.
This was the bed in the main hall, and she even struggled a few times, feeling that she couldn't lie down.
But the hands that covered her body with the quilt were too strong, and her movements were easily disrupted.
Xu Lianlang finally fell asleep.
Si'er followed the visitor, not daring to breathe. He saw him taking off the lid of the teapot and checking the ingredients inside, and heard him ask, "How are you lately?"
Like a cat that had been bitten on the back of its neck, the hairs all over his body stood on end.
"Your Highness, it's not very good. Miss Xu and Master Dou..."
Xu Lianlang slept very well that night. When he woke up, he stretched and his fingers touched someone. He was frightened away from his drowsiness and sat up suddenly.
She bit her tongue with her teeth to suppress her incoherent words of surprise.
It was Lu Jieming who spoke first, "Happy New Year, sister."
He sat quietly on the edge of the bed, his black robe tightly wrapped around his body. His figure, which was originally too slender due to stripping, changed into a man's tallness and lines.
The facial features and face shape have finally been adjusted to the optimal proportions. It’s been so long since I last saw the boy. The changes in the boy are really amazing.
He was very indifferent, with shallow eyes and cold words.
Xu Lianlang's joy seemed to have been poured cold water on Dou Tou.
She climbed off the bed on her hands and knees.
Lu Jieming just looked at her.
(End of chapter)
The author said: I'm back