In the cold autumn of September, the land was golden and withered, and the fallen leaves were neatly stacked, swept away from the corners of Yaoguang Palace, and packed in sacks by the palace staff.
Rumors have spread recently that Concubine Shen is the reincarnation of a colorful phoenix, and she is the perfect match for the Emperor, the True Dragon Emperor. Wherever she goes, she will be full of nobility.
Therefore, even the golden fallen leaves of Yaoguang Palace have become rare items. After they were sold to the public, they were bought by dignitaries and nobles, and then they were taken home and delivered to their daughter's table, as if they could get a taste of Concubine Shen. Nobility.
At this time, Shen Dingzhu stood in front of the window, watching the eunuch Sasou quietly cleaning, but he did not forget to put two or three fallen leaves into his arms, and carefully raised his eyes to look around.
"It's so ridiculous. Is anyone really buying fallen leaves?" Shen Dingzhu was wearing the white fox fur that Xiao Langyan had given her around her neck. She had a beautiful face with black eyebrows and red lips, looking at the movements of the little eunuch. , feeling slightly surprised and frowning.
Shen Bi snickered at the side and said: "Your Majesty, your Majesty loves you so much that everything good comes to our palace like running water. As the saying goes, what goes before and what goes before will lead to results. I don't know how much I envy you both inside and outside the palace. I will soon praise you as a fairy in the sky." , I heard from Chunxi that a fallen leaf in your palace can be sold for five hundred taels outside!"
Hearing this, Shen Dingzhu was not necessarily very happy. There was only a faint and calm smile on that beautiful jade-white face.
Her eyes were dark and sparkling, and her voice contained an imperceptible sigh: "When the Shen family first got into trouble, I was still the laughingstock of the capital."
When the most beautiful woman was reduced to a slave, many people made fun of her and said anything, laughing at her low life and lamenting her pity. Some people were looking forward to seeing her beauty but poor life, while others were waiting to see her crushed into dirt.
"Now that they have received favor, they have made up the legend that I am the reincarnation of a colorful phoenix. Even a leaf that falls in accordance with the heaven and earth has become a subject of bidding." Shen Dingzhu smiled, but the smile did not reach his eyes. It's self-deprecating.
Shen Bi looked at her expression, thought for a while and said, "My dear, you have endured all the hardships and finally come to the end."
Shen Dingzhu didn't say anything, just turned around and sat back on the imperial concubine's couch. She lowered her eyes and looked at the prosperous and gorgeous patterns on her dress, which showed her nobility and the unparalleled favor given to her by the emperor.
She was absent-minded for a while.
No wonder Xiao Langyan felt that he had given him something that every woman in the world wanted, but she was still so ignorant that she made him angry.
But how do those people outside know that in their eyes, the emperor's favor, which is priceless, cannot be exchanged for what Shen Dingzhu really wants.
She spent her two lifetimes working hard to bring justice to the Shen family.
At this moment, Xiucui and Chunxi came in smiling from the outside: "My dear, look who is here!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Xu Shou had already led the Shen family to the entrance of the palace.
"This servant is here to see your Majesty. Following the Emperor's order, I will bring your Majesty's family to celebrate your birthday."
"Mother!" A small figure with a round face immediately rushed in from behind Xu Shou and ran towards Shen Dingzhu.
Before Shen Dingzhu could hold her, the expressions of all the palace attendants changed and they all gathered around to block Su Xincheng.
"Ouch! Your Highness, you must be careful not to hurt your brother!" Shen Bi hugged the chubby Su Xincheng and said with a smile.
"Brother?!" Su Xincheng opened her big eyes, quickly ran to Shen Dingzhu, and put her ear against her mother's belly to listen.
Sudden!
She was shocked: "I heard my brother shouting! He called me sister."
Everyone laughed from ear to ear, and Shen Dingzhu hugged his daughter into a warm embrace: "You weird little guy, my mother is only two months pregnant, and you can hear him calling you sister?"
Su Xincheng stuck out her tongue, cute and cute: "I just imagined it. Anyway, sooner or later, he will have to call me."
After that, she happily ran out of Shen Dingzhu's arms: "That's great! Grandma, grandma, I'm going to be a sister. Cousin, did you hear that, I also have a brother."
Father Shen is old and has suffered a lot in Mobei. His legs are trembling now, and he is helped in by his second brother Shen You.
"The common people bow to the noble concubine." He took the lead, and the Shen family all knelt down to Shen Dingzhu.
"Dad! Mom! What are you doing?" Shen Dingzhu hurriedly stepped forward and helped up her gray-haired parents. Unexpectedly, Shen's father insisted and gently pushed her hand away.
"Mother, the rules cannot be broken." Father Shen looked at Shen Dingzhu with his wise and experienced eyes, filled with emotion.
Nowadays, the father can be regarded as the outsider in the palace, so naturally he cannot get along with the palace concubine.
Shen Dingzhu's eyes were red: "Shen Bi, Xiucui, help them up quickly and give them seats for me."
The family finally sat down peacefully. Xu Shoudu retreated on the pretext of reviving Xiao Langyan, but Father Shen and the others were still well-behaved. Even Shen Dingzhu's nephew, who had just turned six years old, was tense. He was serious and didn't dare to talk too much.
The meal was very peaceful. Su Xincheng was the only one who was happy to see Shen Dingzhu. He would give him some food and then touch Shen Dingzhu's belly and ask his brother if he was hungry.
Shen Dingzhu looked at her parents who didn't dare to look up at her, and her eldest and second brothers, who followed the rules and sat farthest away from her.
She suddenly put down her chopsticks and slapped them on the table. Immediately tears welled up in her eyes: "I won't eat. If I had known that you would enter the palace like this to celebrate my birthday, I might as well not have given up this favor. My parents are like strangers, my brother and my sister-in-law." They treated me well and treated me well, but they didn't feel like a family at all."
As she spoke, tears rolled down her bright and white face, making both Shen Bi and Xiucui look anxious.
"Mother, you have only been healthy for a few days, so you can't be sad!"
Mother Shen finally stood up distressedly, walked to her, hugged Shen Dingzhu, and let her cry in her arms. Her words of blame followed: "It's your father's fault! Before entering the palace, he warned her repeatedly, Asking us to obey the rules, look, it made my Dingzhu cry."
Father Shen's face was very helpless: "Madam, the palace rules are strict. She is now a second-grade noble concubine. If you do this, you will harm her and let others gossip."
Shen Dingzhu cried louder and louder, and Shen's mother felt even more distressed. She hugged her tightly, patted her back gently, and stared at Father Shen reproachfully.
"I don't care about that. I only know that my daughter is crying. Since the emperor has given us permission to enter the palace, we just have to follow the rules and not make mistakes. Besides, don't those people say bad things about our family?"
After that, she lowered her head and comforted Shen Dingzhu in a good voice: "Okay, my best daughter, please stop crying and hurt your eyes carefully, and you have to take care of this in your belly. Your father actually loves you too." , from the day he knew he was going to enter the palace, he was so happy that he couldn't sleep."
Shen Dingzhu's cry disappeared, but she was still buried in her mother's arms.
At this time, Su Xincheng, who was blinking her big eyes at the side, finally understood. She said to Shen Qingshan in a childlike tone: "Look, how old my mother is, she is still a child. She has to comfort her even if she cries. !”
One sentence made Shen Dingzhu laugh from tears. She raised her beautiful red eyes and took a look at the little bad boy she had given birth to.
Su Xincheng smiled and made a cute little pear smile.
Because of this atmosphere, the family finally became happy and lively.
The eldest brother, Shen Lan, finally showed a smile on his straight-browed face. He wiped his head sheepishly: "Finally, I don't have to be restrained anymore. I was never so nervous when I led troops to fight in the past."
The second brother Shen You chuckled: "I am good at treating water, but every time my little sister cries, I am helpless. Only my mother can coax her well. She has been like this since she was a child."
Father Shen let out a long sigh: "My father made a mistake. I shouldn't be too strict about the rules and ignore your feelings."
It was like this at home in the past. Shen Dingzhu cried alone, and the whole family came to comfort her at a loss.
Several people talked and ate lively. Shen Dingzhu was so happy that sometimes she felt in a trance and thought she had returned to the time when she was the young lady of the Shen family.
After finishing the meal, she asked Chunxi to take Father Shen and her eldest and second brothers to appreciate the calligraphy and paintings she had collected.
Afterwards, Shen Dingzhu sat by the bed, took out all the small clothes she had sewn for her children from the box, and showed them to Shen's mother.
"Your hands are so skillful. The lotus pattern you embroidered is so lifelike." Mother Shen brushed it with her calloused hands, but her eyes gradually turned red.
She thought that before the Shen family was destroyed, her daughter Shen Dingzhu was a spoiled young lady in the boudoir, and she was not willing to let her get tired. But now, her daughter Shen Dingzhu was doing such a good job.
How many times should you prick your fingers when you study in private?
Shen Dingzhu knew what her mother was thinking, so she reached out and gently held Shen's mother's hand.
"Mom, I learned this voluntarily, and it helped me a lot."
"Okay, okay," Mother Shen looked pleased, "It's just that the emperor loves you now, so you don't have to work so hard anymore."
At this moment, Shen Bi's surprised voice came from outside the door——
"real?!"
Suddenly, Shen Bi realized that her voice was too loud and hurriedly covered her mouth.
Shen's mother had already looked out the window curiously, and Shen Dingzhu asked Shen Bi to come in: "What happened?"
