Golden branches and jade leaves

Chapter 35
Miaoyi took out a scroll from her bosom, handed it to Su Mi and said with a smile, "This is the portrait of the former owner here."

Su Mi opened the painting scroll, and her face couldn't help showing amazement. In that painting was a beautiful woman in green clothes, with a peerless beauty. She had seen countless beauties, but she had never seen a woman with pure eyes like the one in the painting. She is as immature as a newborn baby, and her eyebrows are as charming as the most beautiful peony.

It's just that the eyebrows and eyes made Su Mi feel an indescribably familiar feeling, as if he had seen it somewhere...

"How about this painting?" Without waiting for Su Mi to come up with something, Miao Yi interrupted her thoughts and asked.

"Heavenly beauty." Su Mi praised: "The painting is also top-quality, but... this painting seems to have been completed for a long time, and the brushwork is also very strange..." She did not hold back her praise, and she was able to draw people in the painting. Expressing such a contradictory temperament, the painter's painting skills are very superb.But Su Mi saw something strange about the brushwork in this painting, and she didn't know how to explain it. It gave her the feeling that it took a long time to complete it, and the brushwork seemed to be unfinished and hesitant.

"Unexpectedly, Lian Jieyu also has research on painting." Dowager Miaoyi smiled and said, "You are right. This painting took three years to paint. And it was created by the artist based on the deep impression in his own memory. drawn."

"When the painting was completed, this concubine had passed away more than ten years ago, and this place has already been desolate." She looked around and said, "A few years ago, this place was originally to be demolished, but unfortunately because of a coincidence The former Duke Dingguo suffered consecutive defeats, and the palace was short of money, so it was delayed until now. In fact, if the Queen Mother knew that there were still people who would miss this place from time to time, I am afraid that she would not have written a request The emperor puts the most emphasis on frugality, so he delayed the project, after all, compared to his reputation of virtue, the secrets contained here are more important."

Su Mi's heart "thumped" all of a sudden, and she only felt a heavy feeling pressing on her heart. She intuitively felt that the secret that Miaoyi was about to reveal was not simple.

"I entered the palace in the 14th year of Emperor Xianxie," Miaoyi changed the subject and started talking about her own affairs, "I guess Jieyu knows about this too, right?"

Su Mi nodded frankly, she sent someone to investigate the past of Concubine Miaoyi.

"I have only lived in this palace for more than ten years, but my whole life has been exhausted." Miaoyi smiled sadly, "When I entered the palace, I was very beautiful, but after all, I was young and energetic, I don't know... This harem seems to be full of flowers and brocades, but it is actually extremely filthy."

"If you are not favored from the beginning, and you know how to hide your stupidity, you will be able to live a long life. If you are favored, on the surface it looks like the scenery is boundless, but in fact you are on the cusp of the storm, killing every step of the way, and if you make a mistake, you will be out of favor and even guilty." , deep in the palace of loneliness. It would be good if I just fell out of favor and died, but what is even more unfortunate is that even my family members will be implicated, so there is no place to die." Miaoyi said, a flash of hatred flashed in her eyes,
Her father and brother died on the battlefield of Shu Kingdom, there must be something inside, Su Mi secretly thought.She also sent people to inquire about the ups and downs of Concubine Miaoyi in the palace. Although they were all on the bright side, she could faintly feel the bitterness and hardship in the ups and downs, and deduce the inside story It is far from being as simple as it seems on the surface.

"It's a pity that I'm in the court, not to mention avenging them, I can't even pay homage to them." Concubine Miaoyi's voice was sad and desolate: "Fortunately, there is an old friend who found the family name for me after leaving the palace. The remains will be buried in their homeland."

"Old friend?" Su Mi asked suspiciously.

Concubine Miaoyi did not answer, she was completely immersed in memories.After a while, she asked Su Mi: "Do you know that the first emperor destroyed countless countries and established supreme achievements in his lifetime?"

Su Mi nodded. She naturally knew the achievements of Qi Long's father, the husband of the person in front of him, and the previous generation of Qi Wudi Qi Min.It was in his hands that Daqi transformed from a moderately powerful country into the most powerful country in the world today.Although it has something to do with the strong support of martial arts people called by Zen Master Kuye, the more important reason is that Emperor Qiwu himself is indeed an amazingly talented monarch.

Qi Long is proud and arrogant, and often mentions his father, the foundation of the late emperor is an insurmountable mountain for him.He wholeheartedly wants to surpass his father and become the overlord of today's world. Most of this ambition is also influenced by the late emperor. Sometimes, she can feel Qi Long's reverence and contradictory feelings for this great father from the chat psychology.

"The first emperor was a lustful and sentimental man," Miaoyi continued,
Lust is probably true, passion is not necessarily, Su Mi secretly thought in his heart, compared with his achievements, Emperor Qi Wu's harem is equally or even more famous among the people, every time he destroys a country, he will put his concubine Zongji to death In addition to the concubines who entered the palace through private selection, official selection, etc., when Emperor Qi Wu died, there were nearly a thousand concubines left by him.

Although it is not as good as the magnificent scenes of the previous dynasties with tens of thousands of concubines, it is still rare among the emperors of all dynasties.

"The first emperor not only loved beauty, but also liked to collect pictures of beauties."

Su Mi also knew about the five beautiful pictures. He heard that Emperor Wu of Qi would never forget them until his death. Qi Long also said that he would collect those five pictures and burn them together to worship his father.

"In today's world, the best painter to depict beauties is Dong Qianguang of Liang Guo, who can be called a master of the contemporary era. Dong Qianguang can also be regarded as a unparalleled talent in the world. He wants to search for beauties all over the world and draw them into pictures. The picture was handed down, it can be said to be worth a thousand gold, and the rich and nobles at that time couldn't ask for it. The late emperor also admired his paintings very much. At the end, Dong Qianguang is said to have drawn the five most beautiful women he had ever seen in his life. In the picture He only painted a few flowers representing beauties, but did not paint real people, and claimed that he could not paint the beauty of real people because of his limited brushwork, so he could only describe people with flowers. Because there are only five such paintings, they are called " It is called the Five Beauties, but I don’t know that it makes all the lustful people in the world flock to it, yearning for it day and night.”

"As for the five beautiful pictures, what kind of characters are there? Because there are no characters in the picture, and everyone Dong doesn't want to explain, so most people in the world don't know. But there is one person who can't be more clear, that is, the last generation of the Liang Kingdom at that time. Shen Lvyi, the emperor's favorite concubine."

Su Mi was also familiar with Shen Lvyi, and this incident was a widely circulated anecdote.

It is said that Emperor Wu of Qi was so lustful that he coveted Shen Lvyi's beauty, so that people in the world rumored that it was because of Shen Lvyi that he attacked Liang and destroyed it.

In fact, the real reason that made the world famous at this time was that when he stormed the capital of Liang State, Emperor Wu of Qi did send someone to order Liang Shun Emperor, the last emperor of Liang State, to donate his favorite concubine. Shen Lvyi had just given birth to Emperor Shun. The last prince of Xialiang Kingdom.Even during production, I learned the news.But she is a chaste woman. When she heard that she had summoned swordsmen for the country, she was heartbroken. In order to make Emperor Wu of Qi give up her heart, she even went so far as to fight in front of the city three months after the siege of Liang Guo's army and before a war. Faced with the faces of the soldiers of the two armies, they jumped from the towering top of the city and jumped down the high city. At that time, the soldiers of the two armies were shocked and turned pale. Lack of skill, the beauty is fragrant and the jade is gone.

After Emperor Wu of Qi failed to ask for the beauty, he was furious and ordered his soldiers to storm Liang Jing, and finally captured the city.This made the world praise a chaste and strong woman, but at the same time, it did not forget to add an ironclad evidence of a woman's disaster in the history books.

Of course, there are also rumors in the corners and alleys that Emperor Liang Shun, seeing that the situation was over, wanted to sacrifice his favorite concubine, but Shen Lvyi resolutely refused, so he jumped off the wall on the spot; He must die. In order to make Emperor Wu give up his mind, he pushed Shen Lvyi to the top of the city and buried him for himself; there are also legends that Shen Lvyi was not dead, but was rescued by Emperor Wu again, and then the beauty accompanied the hero... In short, all kinds of The rumors of these stories spread out under the rich imagination of the common people, whether they are beautiful or desolate, they are all based on the blood of a poor woman who amazed the soldiers of the three armies and the emperors of the two countries.

Regarding the peerless legend of a generation of beauties like Shen Lvyi, Su Mi certainly has her own emotions and opinions, but why does Miaoyi mention her now?She looked at Concubine Miaoyi puzzledly.

"The folks have various rumors about this anecdote." Concubine Miaoyi paused, and said, "Although they are all made up out of nothing, there is one rumor that happened to be right."

She turned her head, looked at Su Mi, and said word by word: "Shen Lvyi was indeed not dead at that time."

Su Mi was startled, a flash of light flashed in her mind, she just felt like she had caught something, but she didn't seem to understand anything, she looked eagerly at Princess Miaoyi, her heart started beating hard.

Shen Lvyi, the number one beauty in Old Liang, the favorite concubine of Emperor Wu of Qi 20 years ago, and a vaguely familiar face with the person in the painting... These messages flashed through her mind one by one, a vague thought It suddenly took shape in her heart, and Su Mi was so shocked that she could hardly sit still.She looked at Concubine Miaoyi with three parts horror and seven parts expectation in her eyes.

Concubine Miaoyi smiled, the woman in front of her was really smart, she should have grasped the clue, she was about to continue talking, suddenly there were several noises outside, it seemed that someone was gradually approaching.

"Who is it?" Both of them stood up and looked towards the window.

From a distance came the voices of several young eunuchs calling, "Lian Jieyu!" They seemed to be looking for Su Mi.

"Someone is here, you go out first." Miao Yi said: "We'll talk about it another day."

Su Mi nodded, and walked out from the palace gate. She turned around the corner to the south, passed through a bush, and walked out from another direction.

"What's the matter?" Su Mi asked.

Several young eunuchs who were looking for someone turned their heads and saw Su Mi coming out from behind the flowers, and rushed to greet him, "Ms. Jieyu, why are you here? The emperor asked about you just now."

Su Mi responded naturally, and followed the others back.

The candlelight at night was bright and moving, and it was almost midnight after the feast.Su Mi returned to Caiwei Palace and sat in front of the pear wood dressing table. Miqing helped her remove the hairpins and pearls from her head. Su Mi looked at her face in the bronze mirror and suddenly smiled, "I heard recently that there is a Are there any rare rumors?"

Mi Qing's hand froze, Su Mi knew that she must have thought of the rumor about herself.

"Niang Niang means..." Mi Qing answered with a flicker.

"It doesn't matter, such sensational rumors naturally need even more sensational rumors to deal with." Su Mi smiled charmingly.She took out the portrait she had just obtained from Miaoyi and unfolded it.

Mi Qing saw the portrait on it by the candlelight, and couldn't help admiring, "What a beautiful person."

Su Mi nodded, she was indeed a peerless beauty, "Does this picture look familiar to you?"

Mi Qing looked at the beauty in the painting suspiciously, hesitated for a while, and said, "It kind of looks like..."

"Like who?" Su Mi raised her eyebrows and asked.

"This... looks a bit... like the emperor." Mi Qing said in a low voice.

All kinds of speculations and rumors about the newly favored Lian Jieyu on the pilgrimage gradually subsided in the palace. Occasionally, someone would talk about it, and before they could say a few words, someone in the palace would carefully point in the direction of Xifu Palace, and put up a Put your finger to your mouth.They can disregard Lian Jieyu's favor, but another person's majesty makes them automatically keep silent.

At the same time, a more mysterious and sensational rumor began to spread slowly in the court. Every palace member who mentioned it would unconsciously look around. Stealth and discreet.

"Where did you hear this rumor?" After hearing what the queen reported just now, the empress dowager's calmness couldn't help but change color.

"It's from the mouth of the palace on the side of the road." The queen looked at her mother's face anxiously. The current emperor is not the queen mother's own son, but a palace man who was adopted by the queen mother. Such rumors spread before Qi Long succeeded to the throne. This place once appeared, but it was quickly subsided due to the vigorous and vigorous disposal ban, and now who turned it out?
Seeing the empress dowager's livid face, she hesitated for a moment and asked, "Queen mother, what should I do now? How could this matter..."

Is it just a boring rumor from the palace people?Impossible, this time the rumors were so precise and clear that they even mentioned the palace where the emperor's biological mother originally lived.

"Who else knows what happened back then?" The Queen Mother thought for a while, and the people who knew the Moon Palace must be people who really understood what happened back then. It was dealt with cleanly. It has been more than 20 years now, and the people in the palace have been rotated several times. The palace people of that year, whether masters or slaves, are no longer in the palace.

"By the way, queen mother, could it be those concubines?" The queen thought for a moment, then suddenly asked.

"The concubines and concubines in the palace today all entered the palace ten years later, so it is impossible for them to know what happened back then." The queen mother shook her head and said.

"Although they are not the old people from back then, they may have heard some clues after staying in the palace for many years." The queen said.

The queen mother thought for a moment, then suddenly asked: "You said that on the day of the birthday banquet, who did you see when you asked Yurui to look for Lian Jieyu?"

"Meet Concubine Miaoyi."

"Where did you meet?"

"It's at Ningxin Garden in Xitou..." The queen stopped talking, she suddenly thought, isn't that where Duyue Palace is? !

"What about after that?" the Queen Mother asked eagerly.

"After that... Yurui and those servants were dismissed by Concubine Miaoyi."

"That is to say, where did the two go after no one saw them?" The queen mother's face was uncertain.

"Afterwards, when the emperor ordered the little eunuch to look for it, he saw Lian Jieyu walking out among the flowers alone, still near the Duyue Palace. But no one saw Princess Miaoyi again." The queen said thoughtfully.

"That is to say, during this period of time, no one knows whether the two are together, what did they say?" The Queen Mother sneered.

"Mother, so to speak, she is Concubine Miaoyi..." the queen asked doubtfully.

"It's not necessarily her, but it's probably related to it." The queen mother closed her eyes and said with a sigh, "She has been very respectful to me all these years, remembering my kindness in promoting her in front of the late emperor and letting her be favored again. , I have always underestimated her. What does she think in private, how much does she know about the events of that year..."

Concubine Miao was in great favor back then, and she was pregnant again, so she was unparalleled in the palace.There are even rumors that the first emperor promised her that if she gave birth to a prince, he would teach her personally, and he would definitely raise a prince he was satisfied with.Although Qi Long under the Empress Dowager's knee was supported by the Wang family, the first emperor was not very satisfied with him.The queen mother, who was still a queen at the time, had to move her mind.Concubine Miao and her father and brother happened to be generals under Wang She's banner, so the queen mother ordered Wang She to play some tricks when attacking Shu.The news of her family's death in battle was sent to Concubine Miao, which really caused Concubine Miao to have a miscarriage, and she fell out of favor after that.

Originally thought that everything was over, but after losing the favor, Concubine Miao, who was not very respectful to herself, gradually became servile. She had no choice but to find a backer because she lost the emperor's favor?Still have ulterior motives?The queen mother tried several times, but she dealt with it calmly. The queen mother gradually felt relieved of her, and did not stop her from being favored again. The emperor said that Qi Long had a lot of credit for being appointed as the crown prince. The queen mother was completely relieved of her until now. She must not know what happened back then.

So after the sudden death of the first emperor, she was allowed to be a concubine safely.

It has been so many years now, could it be that she has been lurking and plotting since then? !

The Empress Dowager felt her heart skip a beat.

"Empress, why not concubine Miaoyi first..." The Empress suggested, the Empress Dowager naturally understood what was left unspoken.

"No, now that the rumors have spread, if we do something now, I'm afraid it will make people suspicious for no reason. It doesn't matter what others say now, what matters is what the emperor thinks when he hears such rumors. "The Queen Mother gave a wry smile, "This child has been suspicious since he was a child, I'm afraid..."

"I have already sent people to secretly track down the person who spread the rumors, and strictly ordered the palace officials to keep their mouths shut."

"It's useless. It doesn't matter how these words are passed on by those sloppy palace people. The key is whether they can reach the emperor's ears." The Queen Mother shook her head and said, "Since someone passed these words at this time If you come out, you must be sure to let the emperor know, even if you stop the palace people, you can't stop the emperor's ears."

"So what's going on now?" The queen asked impatiently. It's not that she doesn't understand the importance of this matter, so she just doesn't do anything.

"Let's take care of Concubine Miaoyi in secret first, and ask people to pay attention to the movement." The queen mother thought for a moment and said: "If we make unnecessary actions right now, it will be true. Now that your father is leading the army to go out, your majesty There will be no action on the surface, but..." The Queen Mother sighed, "It's hard to say in my heart."

(End of this chapter)