Chapter 97: Return of the Emperor

After the queen left, she didn't show up until the lantern was held. During this time, Yun Fenghuang drank a lot of water and slept for another hour. The effects of the drug were gradually gone. Watching the dusk fall, she became more energetic.

So he recruited Nian Xuan to come to him, and asked the ins and outs carefully, especially if there was any news about Gong Xiangxiao or Qi Jiulu?

But Nianxuan shook her head, saying that in the past two days, everyone has been around the two concubines, and she doesn't care about other people at all. Moreover, she leaned into Yunfenghuang's ear and whispered: "Your Majesty, have you forgotten? The prince and the others are accompanying you." His Majesty is not in the valley at all if he goes to a distant place. At this moment, Yue Mo is also accompanying His Majesty to go back."

"..." Yun Fenghuang pursed his lips. On the day the emperor was going to a faraway place, Gong Xiangxiao and the others were indeed accompanying him. Side, just to accompany the emperor on a hunting trip.

Except for the two concubines who accompanied the driver because they were female relatives, it was not as convenient for men to go out, so they were left in the villa, so some imperial troops were left to guard, and everyone else followed—even if someone wanted to retreat when things came to an end. Impossible, once the emperor leaves, there are only two concubines left in Chunban Villa, what do you want to do here?

It's just that Gong Xiangxiao and Qi Jiulu had ulterior motives, and they didn't know what excuses they found to come back and do things...

Her heart sank, Chunjia seemed gentle, but in fact she was delicate, and the fire in the valley caused the destruction of Chunban Villa, it was impossible for him not to doubt Gong Xiangxiao who left halfway.

After all, this is the son of the regent prince. Even if the regent really intends to change the youngest son, it is impossible to say that the eldest son will be handed over to the emperor for punishment.

Especially when the royal family's uncles and nephews are deeply in love, no one wants to fall out with each other - so if the emperor catches something, the regent must hand over a scapegoat.

For example, Qi Jiulu.

Yun Fenghuang pondered for a while with downcast eyes, then said softly: "What can the queen tell you these two days?"

Nian Xuan said: "The Empress only asked about your health when she came."

After thinking about it, he said, "Also, when you fell asleep just now, the Empress sent someone to ask us about the cost."

These are trivial matters, nothing can be guessed, Yun Fenghuang is anxious but there is nothing he can do, he can only let her go down to rest.

After all, Nianxuan was worried about her, so she appointed a second-class maid named Han Lu to watch the night instead of her.

It was the first time for Han Lu to serve her master by herself, she was very terrified, Pian Yunfenghuang didn't sleep well this night, she tossed and turned almost non-stop, she was afraid in her heart but dared not make a sound, tremblingly thought of many terrible consequences, she almost died Cry out on the spot. In the morning, Nian Xuan finally came to change shifts, almost weeping with joy.

It's just that Yun Fenghuang asked Nian Xuan to dress herself, and Nian Xuan had to let her continue to fight.

"Your Majesty, just now the people from the empress's side said that your majesty should be here before noon, and they are asking people to prepare lunch." Nian Xuan whispered while tidying up Yun Fenghuang, "Mrs. Yaoning's side Before dawn, the imperial physician was passed on again, and I don’t know what happened.”

She said so, but her face was full of doubts. When Gu Zhen heard that the emperor was coming, she pretended to be seven-point sick, so as to win the emperor's sympathy.

Yun Fenghuang heard it, but only said "um", and said: "Then later, you can see if we have any suitable visits here, and send some over there, it is also my sister's kindness. gone."

As for visiting her in person, that's fine. One is that Gu Zhen is annoyed when she sees her now, so going to see her in person is tantamount to embarrassing her; the other is that she has not settled her own lawsuit, so how can she have time to play with Gu Zhen?

It is extremely cumbersome and time-consuming for a concubine to dress up and make strides, especially Xi Le, who is Yunfenghuang's most powerful man, does not know whether he is alive or dead, and Nianxuan is a close servant by her side, and second-class maids such as Han Lu are inexperienced, so even if they do it, they will be in a hurry . After some tidying up, they finally got their clothes neatly dressed and their make-up exquisite. A report came from outside, saying that the emperor and his party were already five miles away, but their horses were exhausted from galloping all the way, so they could only rest for a while, and they would arrive later.

Empress Ji then notified the two concubines and asked if they could go outside the temporary camp to meet Sheng Jia together?

Of course Yun Fenghuang was going, but Gu Zhen sued him, saying that he twisted his foot when he was leaving the villa, and he couldn't move right now, for fear of losing his dignity in front of the emperor.

So the concubine and concubine put on their veiled hats and went to wait at the gate of the camp - when they arrived at the gate, Yun Fenghuang couldn't help but lose his mind slightly when he saw the valley through the tulle that fell from the veiled hat.

The valley is now full of devastation and beyond recognition, and it does not look like a picture scroll with beautiful mountains and rivers before.

The eyes are all scorched black, and there are uneven thicknesses of ashes near and far, and even the water not far away is like a good landscape painting that has been maliciously and vigorously smeared with many disorderly ink blobs. Forcibly ruined the artistic conception and beauty.

Although a lot of medicines were sprinkled around the camp, and the incense that wards off evil was still burning in the copper stove not far away, and a gust of mountain wind blew in, but it still carried some stench of birds and animals that had not been completely burned after being burned.

"Your Majesty won't know how sad you are when you see this later." Empress Ji, standing in front of him, seemed to be aware of Yun Fenghuang's thoughts, and said slowly, "Chunban Villa was built by the empress dowager's private house. Mudu did it according to His Majesty's preferences, and it turned out to be a good Zhuangzi, and it will be gone if it doesn't exist."

Reminded by her, it took Yun Fenghuang a little effort to confirm that the ruins of Chunban Villa were on the small hill diagonally opposite—yes, it could only be the ruins, because the villa had been completely burned down.

This is not surprising, after all, the vegetation around here is luxuriant, but no bricks and stones are produced.

Empress Dowager Yuan wanted to surprise the emperor at the beginning, hiding the news and making people rush to work. Of course, it was convenient to use local materials and pure wood for construction.

Therefore, there was nothing above and below Chunban Villa that could catch fire. In the fire that swept through most of the valley and was barely controlled by the water and the imperial army's desperate rescue, not a single tile survived.

"Fortunately, Your Majesty wasn't in the villa before." Yun Fenghuang stared at the ruins for a while, curled his lips slightly, but there was no smile in his eyes, and said lightly, "Otherwise, seeing the villa collapse in the fire with your own eyes, that would be called a cone." Heart. After all, people are not in front of you, so it’s okay to receive bad news afterward; if you are in the middle of it, you can see a little bit of what you care about burn in the fire, but you have no choice but to be helpless, isn’t it hopeless?”

Empress Ji didn't seem to notice the euphemism in her words, she smiled lightly, but didn't say anything more.

The concubine waited silently, and after two sticks of incense, she finally saw a group of people galloping towards the end of the ashes.

The first one is the emperor, the distance is far, I can't see his face and expression clearly, I just feel that he is wearing ginger red tapestry and pinching gold arrow clothes, which is particularly eye-catching in the field behind the fire. Compared with ordinary clothes, the arrow clothes are much more self-cultivating, showing Chunjia's broad shoulders, thin waist, and graceful figure.

The horse he was riding was also very handsome, with a black body without a trace of variegation, and its muscles slid when running, like a piece of shiny satin.

As the distance drew closer, the emperor, who had always shown others gentleness and generosity, narrowed his eyes slightly, his face was stern, without a hint of a smile.

This made Yun Fenghuang twist the handkerchief subconsciously, because he didn't know if the emperor knew about it, or how much he knew.

"The empress has worked hard." The emperor reined in and dismounted ten steps away from the concubine, but a cloud of ashes was still thrown up, so that he didn't say anything, and even the concubine suffered.

The Empress and Yun Fenghuang both wore veiled caps, and the veils stretched down to their waists, and the maids patted the skirts for help.

The emperor was covered all over, but he didn't care. He raised his sleeves and wiped his face, and asked, "Where is Yaoning? Why aren't you here?"

"Don't worry, Your Majesty, sister Yaoning is fine, she just twisted her foot." The queen handed him her handkerchief and said in a harmonious voice, "It's Mao Jieyu who frightened the concubine this time, and the people around her panicked. In a panic, I took Anshen Tang by mistake..."

While talking, he had already accompanied the emperor into the queen's tent.

Taking advantage of the last chance, Yun Fenghuang quickly glanced outside the camp: the people who accompanied the emperor on the hunt before have all returned, and the one following the emperor is still Gong Xiangxiao.

He was accompanied by Qi Jiulu, who were all in hunting attire, with bows and arrows and small prey hanging on the saddle, and some light-colored robes seemed to be stained with the blood and stains of the prey even though they were far apart.

Although they didn't have much fun because of the fire in the valley, it could be seen that they didn't have any nervousness or fear. It seems that the emperor's hunting trip went very smoothly.

Whether Gong Xiangxiao or Qi Jiulu, it was natural as if nothing had happened during this period.

Qi Jiulu didn't even look at Yun Fenghuang.

Yun Fenghuang entered the tent after a short pause. Inside, the queen had already waited on the emperor to wash his face, and was trying to persuade him to take off his robe and change into another: "...the fire started too suddenly, and it was impossible to save it when we found it. Yes. Therefore, everyone in the villa can only protect the two younger sisters and escape first. As for the things, they really don’t care how much they can take. You just grabbed one from the cage you left in the villa. Pens, inks, papers and inkstones, so I asked people to go to the palace overnight to fetch some commonly used things."

The emperor complimented the empress for her thoughtfulness, and then asked the cause of the fire: "The grass and trees around the villa are luxuriant, and now it is the time when the seedlings are growing, so it is not easy to get water, not to mention the water in the valley. Plenty, how could such a disaster happen?"

"I also don't think I can figure it out." Empress Ji showed a bewildered and embarrassed look, "The one before me rushed over after receiving the news, so I asked the people below, but a group of people faltered and couldn't understand... I personally went to see the place where the fire started yesterday, and the soil and ashes over there are a little different, and the people below said that it seems to have been poured with oil, but no oil can be seen."

"There are imperial guards all around the villa, why didn't you even notice such hands and feet?" The emperor snorted and said, "Luckily there is nothing important in the villa, otherwise..."

He frowned, and told the queen, "Forget it, call the leader of the forbidden army here and me."

This is to personally trace the source of the fire, Yun Fenghuang was worried, seeing that the queen ordered the maid to call for someone, but he avoided behind the screen, bit his lip, and then moved to follow, unexpectedly, he hadn't looked at her before The emperor suddenly gave a "tsk" sound: "What's wrong with my concubine today? Why does she look so preoccupied... She doesn't have the usual escape at all?"

Yun Fenghuang was startled, and looked at him subconsciously, and saw Chunjia sizing him up with a half-smile, his eyes seemed to be particularly meaningful.

"Maybe I was scared." She hesitated for a while, and Empress Ji had already answered on her behalf, and sighed, "Your Majesty doesn't know, because it was midnight when they found out that the water was leaking, and the two younger sisters ran away to avoid disaster, and younger sister Yaoning was certainly injured. Xi Le, Mao Jieyu's close servant, is even missing..."

"Really?" Before the queen finished speaking, the emperor raised the corners of his mouth slightly, showing a strange smile, "That's really a coincidence, on the way back just now, I happened to meet a man covered in burns who was beyond recognition. Concubine Ai is close to Xi Le."

One queen and one concubine could hardly control their expressions and screamed out!