After just one new year, the concubine, who was so charming in the past, looked haggard.
From the age of thirty-seven to thirty-eight, she seemed to have spent ten years and the rest of her life.
The delicate lipstick has been removed, the heavy powder has been washed away, and the bright red lipstick has disappeared, making it look like it is not well maintained.
Fine lines appear at the corners of her eyes, her lips lose color, there are a few spots on her cheeks, and even the hair on her temples appears sparse.
Only the seriousness and tenderness in cooking porridge are like a wife looking forward to her husband's return.
"Actually, I used to put things in a casserole when making porridge, and I never tasted it again." Concubine Ju said softly, "Because I know that the Tian family is not lacking in people to serve, and I am not lacking in this porridge."
It tastes good but tastes bad, but it shows friendship.
Unlike now, she personally controls the heat, lights the charcoal, stirs and boils it, and then tastes it herself.
It turns out that porridge needs to be seasoned to be delicious, it turns out that beans need to be soaked in advance before they are cooked, it turns out that different ingredients are added to the pot in different orders, and it turns out that the consistency requires constant stirring.
People who don't touch Yangchun water with their fingers need to boil it several times and smoke it several times before they can make a delicious bowl of white jade porridge.
Concubine Ju didn't know, she just gently picked up the bottom of the bowl that was burning in her palms, and walked towards Qianqing Palace with a pious attitude.
Behind him is the familiar and trustworthy steward aunt, and in front of him is the smiling Manager Wu.
Concubine Ju took off her cold cloak, nodded with a smile, and walked into the hall.
With her status, she never needs a drug test, let alone a taste test.
Behind absolute love is absolute trust.
"Your Majesty." She closed the door and walked over lightly.
The man on the bed looked pale, with memorials and documents in his hands. Even though he was busy, he was still keenly aware when he saw her, "Why is A Ruo so haggard today?"
"Last time I told you to work hard to learn how to make porridge, and today I finally made a bowl." She smiled and raised her hand, tilting her head with a hint of playfulness, which vaguely overlapped with the way she looked under the apricot tree when she was seventeen. .
Tianjia smiled and winked.
He must be getting old. Recently, he has been yearning for the past and always seeing... people from the past.
"I was lazy in the past, but today I know how hard it is to cook porridge myself. I also know that this bowl of porridge is not easy to come by. You have to drink it all." Concubine Ju still chuckled, but tears filled her eyes.
She seemed to be reluctant to let go.
Who can give it up?
Childhood sweethearts, playmates for ten years, fell in love naturally, but they couldn't even stay together because of their status.
Twenty years of honor and favor, endless preference, stealing day and night, they have long been integrated into each other's flesh and blood.
Pull it out, it will hurt so much.
Sometimes Concubine Ju couldn't help but think about how nice it would be if they were an ordinary couple, without so much power and wealth, and without so many entanglements and fears.
They fell in love under the apricot tree, gave birth to expectant children, worked hard for life, and held hands full of wrinkles.
Unfortunately, life is not that simple.
Just the status of wife and concubine can cause uproar and affect the country and the country.
He didn't have a choice, and neither did she.
No matter how much pain was hidden in her heart, even if tears welled up in her eyes, she still picked up the spoon and took a mouthful of thick and fragrant white jade porridge, "Your Majesty, please have a taste."
He was a man with a sick face, and his hands in front of him were shaking, but he still held on to his spine and smiled broadly.
A little, a little.
The spoon is getting closer and closer, and is about to be delivered into Tianjia's belly.
The entire hall was quiet, without even a sound. The world seemed to be isolated, leaving only space for them.
Concubine Ju's hands were shaking more and more, and they were shaking more and more.
When she was sure that Tianjia hadn't wavered at all and her lips were about to touch the spoon, she finally couldn't hold it any longer and screamed and fell down.
The soup that has been carefully cooked is in close contact with the ground, and it makes a crisp sound when scattered on the ground.
With the alertness of Manager Wu and the guards, they should have entered long ago, but no one came.
The man on the bed remained calm, but the woman under the bed had tears streaming down her face.
"Why, why can't you make me a queen? It's just a post. Is it so difficult?" Concubine Ju burst into tears. "You have to drink it even if I poison you today. How about we die together?"
Her love finally defeated her reason, and she was unwilling to hurt the boy from twenty years ago.
Tianjia raised the corners of his mouth, his smile getting bigger and bigger. He couldn't wait to tell the woman, tell her about the bet, and tell her that it was okay.
The door of the main hall was suddenly pushed open.
Manager Wu seemed to be shouting in confusion. Something jumped in from the commotion and rushed to the scattered white jade porridge to take a few licks.
"Whose cat is it?" Concubine Ju immediately came back to her senses and shouted angrily, "Is it the beast raised by the third princess? Get it out quickly!"
Manager Wu hurried in with the eunuch and captured him clumsily.
Cats are already very dexterous, not to mention that it is difficult for the guards to reach out in the hall.
Seeing that the accumulated emotions were about to dissipate, Concubine Ju could no longer hold back her anger, "Arrest her immediately, no matter life or death!"
Only then did the guards dare to draw their swords and aim them at Mao'er.
However, before they could take action, the lively kitten suddenly fell down, twitching all over and bleeding from its orifices, and gradually lost its voice.
Silence, deathly silence.
The man on the bed held the quilt in astonishment, the woman under the bed widened her eyes in horror, the well-informed Manager Wu was covered in sweat, and the guard who had drawn his sword froze in place.
"Did...did he fall to death?" After a long time, Manager Wu forced himself to break the silence, "Should the Emperor throw this beast out, or should he be sent to the Imperial Hospital?"
no respond.
Manager Wu braced himself and waved the guards to retreat.
Only this time, he didn't dare to leave, risking being beaten and scolded, so he had to huddle at the end of the bed.
"Your Majesty, I don't have it. I really don't have it." Concubine Ju finally came back to her senses and knelt on the ground. "I really don't have it. I cooked the porridge myself, and even made the fire myself." Yes, it can’t be poisonous, absolutely impossible.”
The more he talks about it, the more suspicious he becomes.
The porridge she cooked herself was poisonous. Who else could poison it besides her?
Coupled with the action of throwing the bowl just now, it is almost a certainty.
Concubine Ju was covered in cold sweat and didn't understand what went wrong.
She had been preparing carefully for so long, but what she wanted was never the life of her sweetheart, but the imperial edict to be crowned empress above her guilt.
She thought her behavior was seamless and safe, and the situation was exactly as she expected, until the cat suddenly appeared and the tragic scene of being poisoned to death.
It shouldn't be, that's not right.
She cooked the white jade porridge with her own hands, without even taking a break, so the aunt in charge helped her put some salt...
Auntie in charge!
Concubine Ju stood up in panic and stumbled to the door, but she only saw the guards with swords drawn on guard, and the aunt in charge was nowhere to be seen.
