This year, the emperor personally celebrated Concubine Rong's birthday. On the first day of the birthday banquet, Lan Ning came to the palace, as she did in previous years.
Concubine Rong liked Lan Ning the most among her grandchildren. Because she was pregnant this year, she specifically told her not to be formal and just come to the palace on the official day.
But Lan Ning refused to be lazy and came anyway.
First, he spent half a day chatting with Concubine Rong in Tong'an Palace, and then followed Concubine Fu to Furong Palace.
Although the weather was much cooler than in mid-summer, it was still quite hot at noon.
Concubine Fu saw that Lan Ning was sweating more than others, so she ordered: "Get warm water for the fifth prince's concubine to cleanse her hands and face, and then come over for two fans."
Lan Ning hurriedly said that there was no need to bother, and Concubine Fu said: "Now the baby in your belly is getting bigger every day, and it has probably started to grow hair. It is the most intolerant to heat at this time.
But you can't eat cold food. I happen to have some melons shipped from Xinjiang here. I asked them to cut a few pieces for you to try. It will quench your thirst very much. "
As soon as Concubine Fu finished speaking, the child in Lan Ning's belly moved twice.
Lan Ning said with a smile: "This little thing is very greedy. When he heard the melon, he kicked me twice. I have already eaten one of the two melons that my concubine sent out yesterday. I feel that it seems to be more delicious than in previous years." tasty."
"Okay, okay, this child has a strong mouth. If he is raised well in your belly, it will be easy to give birth to him, so as not to trouble you." Concubine Fu said with a smile, "But don't raise him too fat, otherwise it will be difficult to give birth and he will suffer. It's you."
She is not like other mothers-in-law who insist on telling their daughter-in-law to eat more so that the child will grow fat and big.
Xue Hengzhao and Danyue came in with a basin and a towel.
The maids Zi Yan and Fang Nian in front of Lan Ning rolled up her sleeves and covered her front with a handkerchief.
Lan Ning was wearing a string of Bodhi beads on her hand, and Fangnian also took them off and put them aside.
After serving Lan Ning and cleaning her hands and face, Zi Yan and Fang Nian applied balm on Lan Ning's hands.
Xue Hengzhao saw Fangnian with his back to the table, thinking that he would need to put on the string of Bodhi beads later, so he first picked up the bracelet and held it in his hand, preparing to hand it to Fangnian later.
But as soon as she got the bracelet, she felt something strange, because when Tong'an Palace was making Bodhi bracelets a few days ago, there were not enough people.
He told Concubine Fu and called several people from the palace, including Xue Hengzhao.
These Bodhi beads are carefully selected and have the same color and size as jade.
There are eighteen beads in each string. Men use big beads, women use small beads, and the younger children wear the smallest bodhi seeds.
Lan Ning's bunch is slightly heavier and the color is somewhat darker.
But it's not obvious. It would be difficult for others to notice it, but who is Xue Hengzhao? She is as meticulous as a hair and has a sharp gaze. Even such subtle differences cannot be hidden from her.
She used a little more force to pull the string apart, and when she saw the gold and silver threads on the beads, she was even more certain that this string of Bodhi beads was not the one they wore.
At this time, Fangnian had already turned back to pick up the string of beads. When he saw it in Xue Hengzhao's hand, he reached out to pick it up.
Xue Hengzhao was in a trance, holding on tightly, but Fang Nian didn't even take it.
Xue Hengzhao came back to his senses immediately, held the bead string in both hands and handed it over, smiling and saying: "I am rude, please forgive me."
Of course Lan Ning didn't care about this, and just asked her casually: "Do you like this very much? I have it at home, and others have given it to me a lot. I will bring it to the palace one day and reward you with two bunches."
"Thank you to the fifth prince for the reward. This servant is in a trance just now. It's not because of this." Xue Hengzhao explained, "It's just a little strange."
At this time, Fangnian had already taken the bodhi string and put it on Lan Ning's hand, and asked her puzzledly: "What's so strange about this? Every year, the concubine will give a reward, and other empresses and princes will also receive it."
"What's strange, slave, is that this bracelet is not new this year." Xue Hengzhao said.
"How could it be? Eunuch Meng personally delivered this to our house yesterday." Because Zi Yan personally took it over that day, she knew best, so she retorted.
"Both my servant and Sister Danyue have helped the Dowager Empress put on Bodhi beads this year, so we know each other." Xue Hengzhao did not think this was a trivial matter, because often there is a huge conspiracy behind an abnormal trivial matter.
"Isn't this a mistake? The Dowager Empress rewards her every year, so it seems to be about the same." Fu Fei said.
"This will never happen. We, the princess, have been wearing the string from last year on our hands. The concubine gave us a new one before replacing it. The old string was put in the box by the slave. There is absolutely no chance of a mistake. "Zi Yan is also a very careful maid, "Besides, last year's string was broken once, and one bead couldn't be found, so I put a coral bead on it. It couldn't be more obvious."
"Your Majesty, I also have a bunch here. Let's compare it and you will know." Xue Hengzhao walked up to Concubine Fu, bowed, held up his hands, and brought over the string of bodhi beads on the Empress's wrist.
Several people came over and looked at Xue Hengzhao's hand.
The two strings of Bodhi beads look similar at first glance, but upon closer inspection, one string is indeed older in color.
If the bodhi bracelet is worn all the time, it will look warmer and brighter, as is the case with Lan Ning's previous one.
Although Fu Fei's string is new, it looks brighter because it has just been polished.
Only Lan Ning's new one looks the bleakest.
It would be fine if the beads were of different quality elsewhere, but these were carefully selected in the palace, and such a thing would never happen.
Originally it was not obvious just by looking at that string, but now when compared with Fu Fei's string, the difference is immediately noticeable.
Looking at the gold and silver threads running through the beads, the difference is even greater, because this year's threads are denser, with more gold threads and less silver threads.
"How could this happen? Did someone in the palace make a mistake?" Concubine Fu also felt strange.
"Mother, you can't be wrong. We checked everything and put it directly into the brocade box. There is a sign on the outside of the brocade box, which house it should be sent to." Tan Yue said, "It's all taken by a dedicated person. It was given as a gift, how could something go wrong?”
"Yes, I still have some left over from what I used. It's not that I don't have enough, so I used last year's stuff to make up for it," Xue Hengzhao said.
"A bodhi bracelet is worth nothing, and there is no need to lie about it." Lan Ning was confused, "I really can't figure out what went wrong."
"I dare you to say something," Xue Hengzhao looked at Concubine Fu and Lan Ning and said, "I'm afraid this matter is unusual."
Lan Ning didn't know Xue Hengzhao well, but she knew that she was from a good family background and was knowledgeable about books and etiquette.
But Concubine Fu knew that Xue Hengzhao was extraordinary. If she said this was unusual, there was probably something wrong with it.
So he said, "Tell me, what could be going on here?"
"This matter shouldn't have gone wrong. The bracelet that the Fifth Princess got should be the same as everyone else's. But in the end the bracelet changed. This can only be said to have been exchanged halfway." Xue Hengzhao looked solemn, "If not For a certain purpose, who would go to such trouble to do such a thing?”
I changed the second half of the previous chapter so it looks smoother. I have been sick recently and my brain seems to be unable to turn. Friends who saw the previous one yesterday may wish to go back and look at it again so that they can connect the dots.
