The peony garden in the Royal Garden is a beautiful sight.
It's just that every time it comes to the cold winter, there is no more charming and charming fragrance at the turn of spring and summer.
But everyone in the palace knew that the imperial concubine only loved this place. Besides staying in her own palace, she also liked to sit in the peony garden, even in winter.
Now that spring has just begun, there is still a slight chill in the air, so Concubine Sun ordered people to cook wine on the white marble table in the peony garden to drink it to warm her body.
She was pouring herself a drink, feeling carefree and contented, when an elegant female voice came from outside the peony garden: "Your Majesty, Your Majesty, I am so happy, but the weather is so cold, why don't you hold a hand warmer?"
"Hey, it's Sister De Fei. Why do you have time to come to the Imperial Garden today?" Concubine Sun raised her eyebrows and smiled. She was already a bit drunk, but now her face was red and her eyes were blurred. , a bit more gorgeous than usual, "Yeah, it's so boring to stay in your own palace all the time. Sister, you still have to exercise your muscles, otherwise you really can't do without the hand warmer all year round. Please note, the hand warmer is no longer available Warmth only comes from the outside in. It scratches the itch but cannot cure the root cause."
Concubine De stroked her bun and said with a faint smile, "Isn't the empress blaming me for coming uninvited?"
Concubine Sun looked at her from top to bottom and saw that she was still slender and as gentle as jade despite wearing a bloated gorilla felt, but there seemed to be a faint sadness between her eyebrows, so she asked her to sit down with a smile: "Sister, sit down. The peony garden is not mine alone, how could I be so domineering? If sister likes it, just come."
Concubine De sighed and breathed out a breath: "I'm afraid that after I come, the empress will not come."
Concubine Sun handed her a small jade cup and said with a teasing smile: "How could it be? My sister is too preoccupied. I like to talk to my sisters the most, but now I am busy with work and can't get away."
Concubine De politely took the small jade cup and after stroking it carefully, she couldn't help but praise: "Your Majesty is indeed the noble concubine in charge of the Sixth Palace. Even this set of drinking utensils are ground from the finest Hetian jade."
"If sister likes it, I will ask Wen Xu to send a set of wine sets to Yongchun Palace later. It will be better kept than this set." Sun Guifei likes to drink, so she has been favored for so many years. Not only has she stored a lot of fine wines, but she has also collected Assorted drinkware.
Concubine De put down the small jade cup, shook her head and sighed: "That's all, I am weak and don't drink much, so the gift of the drinking utensils given to me by the empress is in vain."
"Yes, my sister is an elegant person who comes from a scholarly family. She speaks like a blue orchid and has a beautiful voice. How can she be as dissolute as me? Since my sister is not good at drinking, I will send someone the best Hetian jade tea set to Yongchun. Come to the palace." Then he waved his hand and told Wen Xu to go down.
As soon as Wen Xu left the peony garden, Ping'er, a second-class palace maid, grabbed her arm and chirped: "Auntie, my empress' collection of tea sets is not as large as the wine sets. Do we really want to give her the best set?"
"Everything is based on your wishes." Wen Xu's eyelids twitched slightly and he glanced at her with a half-smile.
Ping'er lowered her head and sighed, "Oh, what a pity."
Seeing her heartache, Wen Xu found it funny, so he knocked on her forehead and said with a smile: "Smelly girl, my wife's things, what are you regretting here! Why don't you quickly tell me, no one is allowed within a hundred steps of the peony garden!"
After many years of tacit understanding between master and servant, Concubine Sun knew with every wave and look that Concubine Sun had something to say to Concubine De in private.
In the peony garden, the sunlight was dim, and Concubine De was sitting quietly on a stone bench with her mattress on her back. She looked coldly at Concubine Sun as she poured herself a drink from a Hetian white jade bucket, without speaking to her.
After all, the atmosphere was quite awkward. Concubine De cleared her throat and looked around to find a topic to talk about: "A queen as big as the Imperial Garden only likes to go to the peony garden. Does the queen like peonies very much?"
Concubine Sun was a cheerful person when she was drinking. She drank a bucket of hot wine with great enthusiasm. The smell of wine was blowing from her mouth and she laughed: "Among the six palaces, Queen Zhuang Xi who has gone there loves snow the most." Li Hongmei, sister, you prefer mountain orchids, while sister Xianfei likes large tracts of tulips. You are both very interesting! It’s just that I haven’t liked these flowers since I was a child. I just like the sour and sweet loquat fruit, so I Let the female officer of Siyuansi plant a few loquat trees outside Tongxin Hall, which is considered arty."
Hearing this, Concubine De bowed her head and was silent for a while, and then she sighed: "Your Majesty is a truly transparent person, how can she be arty! The red plums stand proud of the snow, the orchids are noble and pure, and the tulips are dazzling, but they are not as bright as the loquats. Trees, in pairs, with flowers and fruits.”
"Sister, you are a talented girl from a scholarly family. I am just greedy, but my sister has read so many meanings!" While they were joking, Concubine Sun also poured a small glass of wine for her, "You asked me why I like to be in Shaoyao Sitting in the garden, I don't like those peonies. They are noisy, dazzling, and annoying to death. I just prefer the patch of ivy on the wall. Whenever I sit here, I watch those leaves tirelessly climbing up. Climb, I feel a lot more determined.”
Concubine De followed her gaze and saw some ivy vines hanging on the wall beside the peony garden. They were bare and not very pretty. Concubine De took a breath and sighed involuntarily: "The leaves have all fallen off." It’s over.”
"The times are not good now, but in a few days there will be something good to look at." Concubine Sun raised the Hotan jade bucket meaningfully and toasted to Concubine De from a distance.
Concubine De's eyes flashed, but she didn't say anything. She just finished drinking the wine in the small jade cup and tears rolled out of her eyes. She held her breath and asked cautiously: "Empress, do you, do you know everything?"
"Huh? What do you know?" Concubine Sun's smile was as benevolent as Guanyin Bodhisattva.
Concubine De smiled bitterly: "Why do you bother to play riddles with me? Hui'er, the palace maid of Jianxian Pavilion, has been missing for several days."
"Who is Hui'er?" Concubine Sun held the jade in her hand, her eyes blank.
"Empress, concubine, I really shouldn't have those bad thoughts... But, how could you let Hui'er harm the second prince!" Concubine De said as tears rolled down her cheeks.
This beauty was in tears, and she really looked a little pitiful.
Concubine Sun slapped her palm on the case with a majestic expression: "What?! The second prince was actually harmed by that Hui'er?! Concubine De, you are so brave, you dare to hide such a thing! Say, yes You don’t want to murder the second prince!”
Concubine De bravely knelt down, her delicate body almost lying on the ground. She kowtowed and cried: "My queen, you already know everything, so stop teasing me! I admit it, I asked Hui'er to burn the Jianxian Pavilion because I was blinded by fat and temporarily confused, but I have absolutely no intention of murdering the second prince!"
"Oh?" Concubine Sun raised her lips with a smile, then stretched out her hand to lift Concubine De's chin and asked word by word, "Do you really have no intention of harming the second prince?"
Concubine De knelt pitifully on the ground, her tears flowing down into small rivers: "Empress! I really never thought about harming the second prince! Otherwise, how could I let Hui'er wait until the second prince attends the palace banquet? Just set fire to it!"
Concubine Sun nodded with gentle eyes, and began to caress Concubine De's cheeks as smooth as white jade with her hands. She said in a gentle tone: "Indeed, if you wanted to burn the second prince to death, you wouldn't choose to do it at that time, but - you wanted to frame me. Palace, how are we going to settle this account?!"
After talking about it, she started to use force on her hands and slapped Concubine De hard on the cheek!
So comfortable.
