box of hearts

Chapter 51: Welcome the Cyclamen (16)
Qi She sipped his tea and said unhurriedly: "I am confident that within five years, all relatives will be cut off. At that time, it will also be the time when the emperor will be sixteen years old and get married. However, the court has been limited in recent years. Clan disputes, internal conflicts are serious, and the household department is also controlled by the royal family. They eat enough food and cannot make ends meet. Last year, when the two queen mothers celebrated their birthdays, the money in Taicang was already stretched, and the emperor knew about it. Do some things on the ground to show the meaning of getting rid of the old and introducing the new, but if the treasury is empty, everything will be empty talk, I am afraid that if you have to increase taxes and disturb the people as soon as you take office, it will damage the reputation of the emperor as a benevolent monarch."

Frowning brightly, Qi Hong slammed his hand down on the desk, "Uncle Huang got me a money rake!"

Qi She smiled approvingly, "My lord is holy. If you want to find a crime against Lu Qiansi, it is 'a bald man becomes a monk-no formalities'. This money rake is now embezzled by order. In the future, the emperor will only Another imperial decree needs to be issued to confiscate the family assets he has worked so hard to accumulate day and night. The emperor can get rich overnight and punish corruption. In addition, Lu Qiansi is sponsored by the regent today. If the emperor takes him down, it is equivalent to telling all the officials and the people that the so-called 'regent' can be suspended on the day when the real dragon emperor himself presides over the great government."

Natural precocious wisdom, familiar history, and the victories and viciousness he has seen day and night are enough for Qi Hong to fully understand these words and the preciousness of the thoughts behind them.He walked slowly to Qi She's chair, and when he saw the big man who always looked like a well-dressed soldier, he immediately stood up humbly and looked into his eyes with a smile.Qi Hong also laughed out a pair of small dimples, "The temple is so high and the rivers and lakes are so far away, I am afraid that only the queen mother and the emperor's uncle will treat me sincerely."

"The Empress Dowager has arrived—"

There was a distant sound, it was the eunuch outside who was passing the message, and the two uncles and nephews rushed out to welcome them together.Soon, I saw the Empress Dowager Xihe entering gracefully.She wears two thick gauze drapes on her arms, and on the gauze are large rose flowers twisted from embroidered ribbons. The neckline of a golden phoenix palace dress is densely clustered with silk lotus petals, which further accentuates the sharp line of the jaw.She raised her hand gracefully, "Excuse me, quickly excuse me. Zhao Sheng helped the emperor get up, and the third master should also get up."

Eunuch Zhao Sheng was a boxer before he entered the palace, and he walked with a steady pace, obviously proficient in martial arts, and said "Long live" with a smile, and stretched out two bulging arms to arm Qi Hong.Qi Hong took his mother's arm and took the seat again, and said: "My mother has something to call for someone to summon. How can I make my son feel at ease when we walk all the way under such a big sun?"

"The queen mother wants to see how Hong'er is studying politics with the emperor." Xi He wore two silver-inlaid porcelain turquoise armor with peach and magpie on his right hand, and gently caressed his son's head and neck, full of nostalgia.Therefore, when Wu Mou turned to Qi She, it seemed that she inadvertently carried the same expression, "How is the third master? I haven't seen you for a few days."

Qi She looked down and followed the etiquette to let go of the earnest gaze from the opposite side. "Thanks to the blessing of the Holy Mother, the Queen Mother, I am well. It's just that the court affairs are busy, and I haven't had time to enter the palace to pay my respects in recent days. Please forgive me."

"Third Master works day and night, and even teaches Hong'er personally. It's hard work."

"The empress dowager speaks seriously. It is the duty of the minister to assist the young master to clarify the political system. I dare not accept the word 'teaching'. I will not disturb the empress dowager and the emperor, and I will retire first."

The gauze and silk, pearls and emeralds all over her body make Xihe feel like an embroidered net fluttering butterflies.She stared unblinkingly at Qi She saluted, finished the salute, stepped back, and turned around, but she still failed to catch half of his eyes.Not only his eyes, but his whole being was flying away from her grasp.That night when she broke into the palace, he promised to come to the palace to see her soon, but he never came.It's been several months, and he came less and less, only evading her, perfunctory her, and rejecting her more and more... Xihe is confused and at a loss, how should she catch him?With the bare hand of catching a butterfly, catch the soaring of a roc?

She had no choice but to smile without showing any traces, and then set the tenderness in her eyes back to her side, and gave it to the young man in bright yellow dragon clothes who had the same shallow dimples as her.

10.
After leaving the Qianqing Palace, Qi She stayed in the Chongding Courtyard until the end of the You Dynasty before leaving the palace to return to his residence.All the way to the study "He Dao Hall" in the mansion, to review the secret books of Zhen Fusi.

There are not many books for this day, and within half an hour, everything that needs to be read and reviewed has been sorted out one by one.Stretching in front of the table, I heard Zhou Dun asking through the curtain: "Master, take a break? Do you want to eat?" Qi She said "Yes", and immediately shouted: "Pass the rice! Cuiyi , Youyan, come in and serve me."

In a blink of an eye, I saw two big girls about seventeen or eighteen years old, each holding tea trays and silver basins, entering.Zhou Dun turned sideways to avoid it, but said "Yo", "Miss Cuiyi, you are stepping on our foot."

Na Cuiyi turned around, with Shao Aike's face on her face, her eyes were extremely black and bright, and her expression was startled, "Why did I step on your foot, you were the one who was slow and almost tripped me. Rolling his eyes, he just brought the tea to Qi She's hand, "My lord, you don't care to teach this servant, let him use his tongue to criticize us."

The other named Youyan had eyebrows like Chunshan's and a face full of gentleness. A pair of jade hands took a hot towel from the basin, wrung it dry and put it on Qi She's face, "Stop right and wrong, don't be afraid of chattering all day long." It's annoying Grandpa."

Cuiyi laughed and snorted, "I want you to teach me a lesson. I just say a few words, but I might not be arguing with you. If you want to talk about arguing, the commotion outside is more noisy than me."

The sound of the cicadas outside the Harmony Hall is in the evening, and a faint song is lingering in it, echoing with the wind.

Qi She opened his half-closed eyes, "Which one is singing there?"

Cuiyi squeezed his shoulders and neck for him, and said delicately, "Hey, today is August [-]th, and the step-concubine said that there were more than a dozen baskets of big crabs left at the banquet yesterday. It's called Haihuang Soup, and I have invited all the ladies and princesses together, and then hold a moon appreciation reunion banquet. I know that the prince has not dared to disturb the official documents. Wouldn't it be nice for the ladies to sit there for a while and leave the food there?"

Youyan on the side dipped the towel back into the basin, said with a smile on both cheeks: "Yes, my lord, it's so boring to stay in the study all the time."

Qi She looked at the two beautiful maidservants one by one, then smiled slightly, "Okay, let's have a look."

The banquet was held at the west end of Kuashui Garden, in a Champs Pavilion named "Suoyuan Pavilion".As soon as Qi She arrived, it was Zhan Shi, the second concubine of the mansion, who greeted her head on.

The royal family has a distinct hierarchy, and the prince's wives and concubines are also divided into several classes, from the main concubine, the side concubine, the world concubine, the king's concubine, to the untitled concubine.Qi She's concubine was originally from the Zhan family, and she was the cousin of this Zhan family, but she died very early in the rebellion of the reserve.Qi She didn't want to establish a concubine again, so he only registered his stepwife Zhan's family as a concubine. Except for the difference in name, all regulations and courtesy were like concubines, holding the power of the family.

Mrs. Zhan always looks about thirty, with a broad round face that is blessed, with a plump figure, wearing a golden-brown Fangsheng Luan bird's beanie, and a gold treasure bun on her head. The less likely you are to be on an errand, the lord doesn't even know to notify you when he comes. Cuiyi, you're still laughing!"

There are more than ten other women sitting in the pavilion, all of whom are well-known concubines, and they are all dressed up and blessed.In the curved corridors on both sides are the rest of the low-level Ji people, and the voices of congratulations can be heard endlessly.

Yingying Yanyan, three thousand beauties.

Cuiyi grinned, deftly flying, "Your Majesty, don't blame the good people. If it wasn't for the suggestion from the servant girl, the prince might not appreciate it."

Youyan took the sweet-scented osmanthus wine from Zhan's hand, and offered it to Qi She with low eyes.

Qi She waved his hand, "I didn't call the reporter, you guys continue to have fun, I'm just having fun, just add a chair. Who is singing, why don't you continue singing?"

Mrs. Zhan led him to her seat and sat down, smiled and pointed to a woman on the first seat next to her, "Who else? Of course it's Sister Xiaoshun. She has a natural oriole-like voice, we invited him again and again." , she was willing to start a song. Now that the prince is here, tell her to sing a lot, and we can also feast our ears."

Qi She patted her forehead, "I'm so confused. When Concubine Shun was a girl, her family routinely advised her that 'music is not a boudoir thing', but she said, 'Sex is what you like, and you can't stop it'. Noise in the capital city is well-known among noble ladies, and I have rarely heard it a few times in the years in the mansion, and I think it has been a long time since I heard it."

Concubine Shun has a green bun with mountain flowers, pink and bamboo clothes, and a pair of big long and square eyes, but there is something extremely sharp in her eyes, "Does the prince remember to listen to the concubine's song? What is so good about the concubine's singing? What is Huaihua Hutong, Duan, Qing and Tian?"

The wind blew from the water, and with a "poof", it blew out a section of the red candle, and the smile floating on Qi She's eyebrows was also extinguished, and his face was heavy and dark.The chair made an ear-piercing sound, and the person turned away without saying a word.Cuiyi exchanged glances with Youyan, but didn't dare to say too much, each led the little girls to follow quickly.Zhan yelled in panic, "My lord, sister Xiaoshun ate a few more glasses of wine, so don't worry about it. My lord!"

The concubines filled the corridor like rain, rising and falling, "Respectfully send off the prince."

By the side of an osmanthus tree on the small bridge in front of the pavilion, the backs of Qi She and a group of long followers slowly disappeared.

Mrs. Zhan turned around, changed her gentle attitude just now, and sternly said: "Concubine Shun, as a side concubine, how can you speak so out of control? What nonsense are you talking about?"

(End of this chapter)