That night.
The Fuluan Hall was deserted, and there were not many lamps hanging outside. Only the Queen of Heaven was sitting on the bed reading a book, quiet and lonely.
Shi Rong came in with a palace maid, who was holding a tray in her hand.
"Tian Hou, today is the Mid-Autumn Festival. Let's have a piece of moon cake. This is carefully prepared by the imperial chefs..."
"Put it there." The Queen interrupted.
Shi Rong had no choice but to obey the instructions and put the exquisite mooncakes on the plate on the shore, and then gave the Queen a cup of tea.
Listening to the sound of water, the Queen of Heaven looked sideways at the moonlight outside the window and asked, "Is there anyone delivering anything below?"
"Her Royal Highness the Princess and His Royal Highness Prince Su have prepared gifts for the Queen of Heaven and sent them from Chang'an."
As Shi Rong spoke, he paid attention to the Queen's face, and then took out a booklet from the palace maid's tray.
"Feng Pavilion's internal history Yu Jingtang sent..."
"No need to read it, just take it all over."
Shi Rong immediately put down the book, turned around and walked out of the palace gate.
The Queen put down the book in her hand, and the hall returned to silence.
Today is the Mid-Autumn Festival, the curfew will be lifted in Luoyang City, and the people will celebrate this festival together, enjoy the lantern festival, watch fireworks, and release sky lanterns...
Just thinking about it makes me feel very lively.
Not long after, Shi Rong led a group of maids into the hall. Each of these maids carried some gifts and placed them in the center of the hall.
Without letting Shi Rong introduce it, the Queen got up and came to the pile of gifts and looked at them with eyes.
These were all given to her by her courtiers, each of which was made with great care and each piece was a treasure.
The queen took out an exquisite wooden box, opened it, and found a lake pen lying inside.
"Did Yu Jingtang give it to me?" she asked.
Shi Rong bowed and responded: "Yes."
She put the wooden box back, rummaged through it, found a pen to wash, and couldn't help but sneered: "What do they mean?"
Shi Rong only glanced at it and saw that it was sent by Wenren Yunjian, the Minister of Rites, and she had already memorized the list of gifts.
The Queen put the pen back again, looked at the pile of gifts carefully for a long time, opened the gifts one by one, took the gift book, glanced at it, and suddenly threw it to the ground in annoyance.
"Take it, take it all!"
Shi Rong quickly winked at the palace maid, and the pile of gifts that everyone had worked so hard to move had to be moved out again.
The Queen sat back on the couch, stroking her forehead with one hand, her hair falling down.
"Queen of Heaven..."
Shi Rong was also thinking about why the queen suddenly became angry. Was it because she didn't receive the gift she wanted to receive, or because someone didn't give a gift?
She was thinking about calling some troupes and musicians to relieve the Queen's boredom.
"Pass the message." The Queen suddenly said.
"Go and declare... Lang Anyan, come to my place."
Shi Rong couldn't help but be startled, and then quickly took the order.
After walking out of Fuluan Palace, I saw the maids carrying gifts back, and someone accidentally dropped a large gift box to the ground.
Shi Rong frowned and stepped over: "What's going on?"
She checked the contents of the gift box and was relieved to see that there was no damage.
The palace maid looked around and complained: "Godmother, my daughter didn't do it on purpose."
"Be careful, if something breaks, your life will be lost!" Shi Rong scolded.
But the palace maid said: "It is obviously the Mid-Autumn Festival, but why is the Queen's place like a cold palace with no excitement? Who has spoiled her fun?"
Shi Rong looked at the pretty teenage girl in front of him and suddenly slapped her.
The girl was stunned for a moment. She looked up and saw Shi Rong looking at her coldly.
She realized something, lowered her head quickly, picked up the gift and walked away quickly.
#
An Yan was accompanying Wenren Jinping and Huanxi to enjoy the lanterns on the bustling street. He stood at the bridge and watched the sky lanterns rising in the distance.
"Husband, let's go put out the lanterns too!" Wenren Jinping pointed at the sky and said enthusiastically.
"Okay." An Yan agreed with a smile.
Then he took the two girls to the open space by the lake and bought one from a stall selling sky lanterns.
Wenren Jinping borrowed the pen of the stall owner and wrote a congratulatory message on the paper hanging on the sky lantern.
"Husband." Wenren Jinping handed the pen to An Yan.
An Yan glanced at what Wenren Jinping had written, which was just two simple words of prayer. An Yan looked up at the moonlight and thought for a while, then picked up a pen and wrote down a few words.
"I wish you a long life..." Wenren Jinping muttered softly.
It's just a half-sentence, An Yan didn't write anything else, and it's easy to understand.
Wenren Jinping had a smile on his face, then looked at Huanxi aside and asked, "Huanxi, do you want to write?"
Huanxi never thought that she had her own business, and Anyan also handed over the pen at this time. She was stunned for a moment and quickly waved her hand to decline: "I don't need it... I just wish my uncle and young lady well."
"Okay." An Yan smiled and didn't force it.
An Yan lit the sky lantern, and the hot air slowly lifted it into the sky. An Yan also felt emotional for a moment and took Wen Ren Jinping into his arms.
Wenren Jinping looked around and saw that there were all couples in pairs, so he felt relieved that no one was paying attention.
A sudden burst of hurried footsteps broke the peaceful atmosphere. A Xuanjia guard quickly came to the three of them, cupped his hands towards An Yan and said, "Master An, the Queen of Heaven announces your entry into the palace."
An Yan couldn't help but be surprised and asked, "What's the matter?"
"The humble position is unknown. Lord An, please follow the humble position into the palace."
An Yan was a little unhappy because his interest was interrupted. At this time, Wenren Jinping said sensibly: "Since the Queen is destined, my husband, please go quickly."
An Yan said to the Xuanjia guard, "I'll change into my official uniform first."
Fuluan Hall.
After An Yan entered the palace, she felt that the atmosphere was strange. It was the Mid-Autumn Festival, but the palace was unusually deserted. In fact, it was almost the same as usual. However, there was a lively and joyful scene outside, which made it seem like something bad had happened here. Things are normal.
"What's wrong with the Queen?" An Yan asked Shi Rong.
"The Queen is in a bad mood, Mr. An, please be careful." Shi Rong kindly reminded.
All the maids had been dismissed from the main hall. When An Yan walked in, she only saw the Queen of Heaven lying on her back on the bed, wearing bright red uniforms, with her legs hanging by the bed.
An Yan came closer and saw that the delicate mooncakes on the plate on the short table were untouched.
"Why don't you eat mooncakes during the Mid-Autumn Festival?" An Yan picked up a piece and took a bite. Unexpectedly, she found that it tasted better than the ones made at home, with the aroma of osmanthus.
The Queen opened her eyes and looked at the roof, and asked, "What were you doing when I called you?"
"My wife and I were out shopping and admiring the lanterns."
"Did I bother you?"
When these words came out of the Queen's mouth, An Yan found it interesting, but seeing her expression as she lay there without sadness or joy, she thought about it and asked, "What's wrong?"
She said: "Shentu Ying will listen to me."
An Yan frowned slightly, thinking that the Queen was going to tell him what happened before.
"Even if I want to give him power, he will listen to me."
"After you have done what you want to do, leave all the affairs of the court to Yu Jingtang. It's up to you to do whatever you want." The Queen continued.
She was in a trance as she spoke, and her eyes seemed empty.
"I want to go to Chang'an..."
"..."
An Yan thought for a while and asked, "What's wrong with you?"
The Queen suddenly sat up and stared at him: "Do you want to accompany me to Chang'an?"
Chang'an?
It was a place for the royal family, relatives and dignitaries to enjoy and retire.
What was An Yan going there to do? What he had to do was about to begin, and he couldn't do without Tian Hou.
"Isn't Luoyang good?" he asked.
The Queen's expression darkened when she heard this, and she lay back down again.
"It's not good, nothing is good anywhere..." she murmured.
An Yan thought to herself, why did the queen suddenly become sentimental? Shouldn't the person sitting in this position be a ruthless, decisive and murderous emperor?
No matter how close a minister is, he is just a minister.
Can't you live without him?
An Yan doesn't have to experience this feeling, it can be regarded as standing and talking without backache.
However, he doesn't need to be considerate of other people's thoughts. He has never been a good person with a kind heart. It is even less likely that he will be soft-hearted when the matter is important.
The hall was quiet for a while, then the Queen stood up from the bed, walked up to An Yan, stretched out her arms and hugged him tightly.
The Queen looked directly into An Yan's eyes, her eyes flashing: "I can give you a child, put him under the name of a prince, and become the future emperor."
"Please accompany me to Chang'an."
(End of chapter)
