Eunuch's Declaration of Loyalty

Chapter 33

"Your Majesty, are you not going back to the palace tonight?"

"I told you that I want to take you to see the lanterns and what to do back in the palace."

"But tonight is the Lantern Festival, if the Empress Dowager is not in the palace, it may cause gossip."

"Could it be that there are not enough gossips about me?" And if she, the queen mother, has been out of line, how can she give those people who are ready to make a move a reason?If they don't make a move, how can she catch them? She doesn't want to wait for them impatiently.Liu Qingtang replied leisurely to Qin Shu, picking up some men's clothing in her hands, thinking about which one to wear for Qin Shu.

"Then... today is the Lantern Festival, and it's supposed to be a day of family reunion. Why don't you stay at Liu's house and spend time with the Duke and uncle?" Qin Shu could see that the Empress Dowager cared about her family, but she didn't understand why. It's rare to go back to Liu's house but he doesn't want to spend the Lantern Festival at home, so he can only ask tentatively.

The movements in Liu Qingtang's hands paused, and then he said as if nothing had happened: "Father and elder brother will probably talk for a long time in the study today, and they won't care about having dinner with me. It's okay for us to go out to look at the lights."

Since she was born, she has never spent the Lantern Festival with her father, because her mother died on the Lantern Festival, and this day is the anniversary of her mother's death.So on this day, my father will lock himself in the study and not come out.Every time she took her elder brother and Su Shu out to visit the lantern festival, and went to a place to pray for her mother who had never met.

Seeing that the Empress Dowager put down her clothes as if she was not satisfied, and was about to go to the cage to get a few more sets, Qin Shu couldn't help but said, "Your servant can wear whatever clothes you want, so don't take Uncle Guo's clothes." .”

Yes, after his mother said she wanted to take him to see the lanterns, she swaggered and dragged him to Uncle Guo's room to rummage around.

"Brother won't care about such small things, so don't worry." Liu Qingtang knew that Qin Shu was worried about her brother's anger, but didn't he see the maidservants guarding the door as usual?She has been used to doing this kind of thing since she was a child. After all, what she has always followed is that her brother is to be bullied.

Bullying and bullying, they are getting closer and closer.Liu Qingtang, who has been bullying her elder brother since she was a child, thought confidently, holding the clothes in her hands, and was a little distressed by Qin Shu's size.

In just one morning, Qin Shu could roughly understand what Uncle Guo meant when he dragged him to complain in the morning, about "the man from the Liu family is bullied for being worthless, and his father makes trouble for his cold-faced younger sister".

But in his opinion, no matter what the empress dowager does, it is not a trouble.Because even if the empress dowager made him feel embarrassed, distressed and bewildered, he still enjoyed it, and he even envied that uncle Guo could be troubled by the empress dowager.The more he got to know about the Empress Dowager, the more excited he felt.

He didn't like the Empress Dowager because of what she looked like, but because it was her, so he liked every aspect of her, and he liked her more and more to the point where he couldn't hide it anymore.Whether she was as cold and solemn as before or as lively and laughing as she is now, he was fascinated.

Sometimes Qin Shu himself would find it strange. He was just grateful at the beginning, thanking the Queen Mother for saving him so casually when he was most helpless and desperate.But later, during the countless days of looking up to her, his mood changed quietly at some point.When he realized that he was looking forward to the empress dowager, he could no longer stop this bold delusion.

This kind of feeling that shouldn't be there is so warm and sudden, so he can only carefully hide this bitter and sweet feeling.I feel joyful and joyful every time I can get close to the empress dowager, feel lost and sour every time she passes my eyes indifferently, and then do my duty as a slave by her side.

How did things develop into what they are today?It was like a dream, the Empress Dowager also liked him, and introduced him to her father and elder brother...

"Stand up straight and straighten your back."

Qin Shu was in a daze, when suddenly Liu Qingtang slapped his back hard, and he staggered and almost fell forward.As soon as he stood still, he remembered what the empress dowager said, and quickly straightened his back, not daring to bend down again.

The eunuchs in the palace did not dare to raise their heads to look at their master without permission, so they got used to bending slightly like this, and would always do so subconsciously.Many old eunuchs can no longer straighten their backs when they are old, and they still feel sore, it is because they always bent over in such a humble way when they were young.

Qin Shu didn't pay attention to such a sudden straightening and slight pain in his waist, but Liu Qingtang patted his back and then moved down to give him a few light hammers: "Isn't it uncomfortable to always bend like this? Well, I license you not to do this."

"Slave thank you for your kindness."

"It's fine if you call me Qingtang if you don't want to, at least change the name of this slave. Didn't you see that I always match you and me when we get along in private these days?" Liu Qingtang really wanted to knock on Qin Shu's elm sometimes. head.

"I...understood." Qin Shu swallowed the almost blurted "slave dare not" and replaced it with this answer. Seeing the smile on the Empress Dowager's face, she couldn't help being happy.

"Huh? You changed your mind quickly this time." Liu Qingtang bent her lips, picked up the clothes on her arms, spread them around Qin Shu, and compared them with him.Seeing the robe dragged to the ground, he muttered, "It's still too long, Qin Shu, you should eat more, you're only half a head taller than me, you can't even wear my brother's clothes."

She just said it casually, even if she never paid special attention, she knew that Qin Shu in her previous life would be a head taller than her in a few years.She herself is not short among women, and Qin Shu's stature is still very good, but at that time Qin Shu looked thinner than now, tall and thin, coupled with the sinister eyes, People think he is very gloomy.

Maybe it's because of a change in mentality. Now thinking of Qin Shu at that time, Liu Qingtang just felt distressed because of his thinness, and she didn't feel the slightest dislike when she saw him like that at the beginning.Well, his unpleasant look is surprisingly funny and pleasing to the eye when I think about it now.

Qin Shu didn't know what the empress dowager was thinking, he only heard that the empress dowager thought he was short, and suddenly became nervous.He didn't care about this before, but it's different now, it's not good to make the empress dowager feel short.With a gloomy face that didn't change in expression, Qin Shu began to feel anxious about his size in his heart. What should he do to grow taller?
Liu Qingtang didn't notice how much Qin Shu cared about what she said casually.She took a few more clothes to compare with Qin Shu, and found that none of them could be worn by Qin Shu, so she decisively took one of the smaller dark blue robes, and then pulled Qin Shu back to her Haitang Pavilion, ready to let Qin Shu wear it. Dressed in peach leaves to change.

There were not many servants in Liu's mansion, and because Liu Qingtang was going home to visit her relatives, some servants who were not suitable to stay in Liu's mansion were temporarily given vacation, so the inner courtyard was very quiet.Liu Qingtang walked on the road, and would point out to Qin Shu from time to time, which places she used to play when she was young, and which places she liked to hide most when she was young.

Passing by a rockery, Liu Qingtang became interested, and pulled Qin Shu into the huge rockery.There is a hole in the rockery, and after walking through the seemingly narrower place, it suddenly becomes clear, and a two-person-high cave is formed in the hinterland of the rockery.The cave is not dark, there is light shining from the small holes in the rockery, and the dust flying in the beam of light can be seen clearly.

"Qin Shu, come and see." Liu Qingtang ignored the image of the dignified queen mother, lifted up her dress and crawled through a narrow hole, beckoning to Qin Shu from there.Qin Shu also crawled over, and found that there was a slightly smaller cave inside, but this cave was smaller than the outside, and neither of them could stand up straight.Qin Shu stuck to the stone wall of the rockery so as not to squeeze the empress dowager.

Liu Qingtang squatted down by herself, and pulled Qin Shu who was leaning on the stone wall to squat together, then pointed to the front and said, "Look, this is my favorite place to stay when I was young."

This small hole is more like a nest, with stone walls on three sides, only the front side is empty, because of the terrain, it looks like a big window opened in front of it.They squatted here, facing the sparkling lake, and they could still see the row of willows blowing in the wind on the lake bank. The wind passing through here was just mostly blocked by the protruding rockery outside. The wind is also gentle, but it doesn't feel so cold.And because it is on the side facing the lake, no one can see inside, which means it is hidden and the scenery is good.

Liu Qingtang looked at the lake and weeping willows with nostalgia, and said with a cute look on his face: "I found this place, and it belongs to me alone. You see, the lake is right under our feet, like a mirror." Reflecting the clouds, isn’t it beautiful? It’s even more beautiful when it rains, and the splashes of water make the whole lake fog up, making it a vast expanse of whiteness. When it rains heavily, this side becomes a piece of The bead curtain, with raindrops falling from it all the time."

She was radiant, her eyes filled with joy that made Qin Shu feel intoxicated, and she waved her hand to share happy childhood memories with him.

Qin Shu was in this low and narrow stone cave, next to the Empress Dowager, and was held by her hand.Looking at the scenery she had seen before, listening to her voice, I felt that the softness in my heart was about to melt into water.

"In a few days, the willow trees will all sprout, and the willows that are blown around by the wind will look good. And the willow catkins will be blown by the wind and fall on the river, and will flow all the way here along the current. If you lie there and fish them with your hands I can catch a lot of them. Some of the petals on the top will also flow here along the water. There are some red koi in this lake, and they will chase these catkins and petals floating on the lake and gather together. Sometimes Gathering here, you can touch them with your hand, but those fish are very afraid of people, and they will scatter away when you touch them."

"On the outside of the rockery wall, there will be some screws stuck to the place that has been soaked in water. Just reach out and touch some protrusions. I pulled out a few large screws, sneaked them back and kept them in a teacup. Under the quilt. As a result, I accidentally knocked it over while sleeping one night, and it was a joke when I got up the next day, ahem, and then I threw back those screws.”

About this matter, Qin Shu heard from Uncle Guo in the morning.The empress hid the cup filled with water and raised screws on the bed, and accidentally knocked it over at night.When I got up the next morning, the nurses and servant girls who served the empress thought that the empress dowager was wetting the bed, but the empress was so ashamed that she blushed, and no longer dared to hide things under the quilt.Qin Shu found it interesting when he thought about it. The Empress Dowager seemed to have many, many happy things when she was young.

"Qin Shu, it's so strange." Liu Qingtang looked at the white clouds passing by the lake, and said with a puzzled expression: "Obviously I never want to tell other people about this place, why would I want to tell you? I don't often I have the habit of talking about my childhood with other people, but why do I want to tell you? I have taken the initiative to tell you about these things several times."

She turned her head to look at Qin Shu, with some genuine doubts in her bright eyes. "Qin Shu, why do you think this is?"

Looking at those eyes so close, Qin Shu could hardly breathe, and it took him a long time to find his voice. "Slave... I don't know." In fact, he also understands this feeling.If there were such happy things in his childhood, he would also like to share them with the empress dowager, tell her everything about him in the past, and let the empress dowager smile because of his funny stories.

However, except for the memory of the empress dowager, he has no joy.But just because he felt joy when he saw the empress dowager, how could he talk about this kind of thing with the empress dowager.

"Then Qin Shu, do you like to hear me say this?" If she doesn't like it, she can control it a little and don't talk to him all the time.

When Qin Shu heard this, his eyes lit up immediately, and he replied without hesitation: "I like it."

Liu Qingtang couldn't help laughing, grabbed his head, and pecked his lips.Qin Shu's heart was beating violently. Looking at the smiling face of his beloved, he couldn't help holding his breath, then leaned forward, and kissed the corner of her lips very lightly.

Seeing Qin Shu taking the initiative for the first time, Liu Qingtang still couldn't react, felt the corner of her lips being touched by warm lips, and couldn't help covering her lips and widening her eyes.Qin Shu looked at her, and didn't immediately lower his head like before, so the love in his eyes was easily seen clearly.Being looked at like this, even Liu Qingtang suddenly felt a little embarrassed, and subconsciously looked away from him, but her face was a little rosy.

The two of them leaned together without saying a word, and the hand that they were holding did not know who tightened it first, and the other held back with the same strength.This winter is a warm winter, swallows came back early, shuttled among the branches of willow trees that have not yet germinated, and passed over the calm lake, the crisp and melodious birdsong brought the joy of spring.

After a while of silence, Liu Qingtang came to his senses, grumbled, groped for a while at an inconspicuous corner on the stone wall, and pulled out a pillow. "This is the little pillow I used to hide here, and I will still sleep on this little pillow in summer afternoons."

"Ahem, ahem, a lot of dust!" The pillow that was pulled out was covered with dust, and when it was taken out, the dust flew up, and a small hole that was not too big was suddenly filled with dust.The pillows are easy to accumulate dust, and she hasn't been here for several years, so it's only natural that there is so much dust, she just didn't pay attention to it when she was out of her mind.

Liu Qingtang narrowed her eyes and stepped back, Qin Shu hurriedly protected her head from knocking on the stone wall, and fanned the ashes in front of her with one hand.When the two of them came out of the cave, Liu Qingtang saw Qin Shu's head and face covered with dust, instead of helping him brush it off, he laughed and ran his ashen hands on his face, and found a few more kitten whiskers. trace.

In fact, Qin Shu also wanted to laugh when he saw the ashes on the Empress Dowager's face, but he would never laugh out loud to annoy the Empress Dowager, so he just wiped her face and hands with a handkerchief, and then He patted the dust off her clothes, not caring at all about his embarrassment.

On the contrary, Liu Qingtang felt embarrassed, so she didn't bother him anymore, and went back to Haitang Pavilion directly.Taoye and Zhuiyi, who had already tidied up the Haitang Pavilion, came up to meet Qin Shu, covering their mouths and giggling.

"Okay, stop laughing, you two, change this clothes for Qin Shu, we're going to the Lantern Festival tonight." Liu Qingtang knocked on the foreheads of the two Taoye Zhuiyi and laughed.

"Lantern Festival? We haven't been there for many years! Miss, is it still the same as before?" Back at Liu's house, Taoye and Zhuiyi also relaxed a lot, and the carefree Taoye even called Liu Qingtang by the address when he was at home .Liu Qingtang didn't stop seeing the rare excitement of the two who were getting more and more stable, and smiled with his hands behind his back: "As before, you arrange the guards."

Seeing them like this, how could Qin Shu not know that the Empress Dowager often did this kind of thing before entering the palace, so she was more or less relieved.Just now he was worried that if the empress wanted to see the lantern on a whim, she would not bring her guards.After all, there are people from all walks of life in this kind of lantern festival, and if something unexpected happens, it will be too late.

Fortunately, although Empress likes to read those scripts, there is no one who wants to learn from them.Qin Shu thought of the story books that the empress dowager asked him to read, in which the ladies secretly went out to play without guards, and met the heroes of the rivers and lakes after being in danger and fell in love at first sight. He was very worried that the empress dowager would be taught badly.

(End of this chapter)