Chapter 7: Consonance

The place where the empress dowager lives now is also the residence of the former empress Ji Lingzi during her last period of life. It is a small courtyard surrounded by vegetation.

Perhaps because there is a stream passing by the side of the courtyard, the plants and trees are extraordinarily luxuriant, and the vines of various colors are particularly dense, covering the courtyard door with red lacquer copper rings firmly, looking like a cave.

Different from the verdant outside, the courtyard is very simple.

The blue bricks everywhere were cleaned and spotless, and there was no grass, except for a ginkgo tree towering into the sky in the southeast corner, covering the yard covering an area of ​​about acre, causing layers of moss to form on the brick floor. It is thick and soft to step on.

When the empress dowager travels, there are a lot of attendants, but there are not many in the courtyard.

When Yun Fenghuang walked in, he saw six or seven palace guards in the corridor, two of them stood with their hands down, holding their breath and waiting for the call from inside.

The other older ones had to relax a bit, fetched some needlework and the like, sat on the bedside of the beauty and went about their business, occasionally whispering a few gossips.

Sensing that the imperial concubine entered, he glanced at her and didn't say anything.

Yun Fenghuang didn't pay attention to them, and was led in by the little servant who had passed on the message.

Stepping over the threshold, you are faced with a screen of huanghuali inlaid with mica and painted on silk, and painted with Lao Tzu riding a green cow. Each of the four corners is inlaid with a night pearl the size of a pigeon egg, which exudes a faint color in the slightly dim room.

Behind the screen, the floor is covered with azurite-blue plain patterned wooden trusses. The furnishings are similar to those of ordinary rich houses, but the color tone is cold and simple. When you look closely, you can feel that everything is exquisite and exquisite, with profound connotations.

The waiter signaled Yun Fenghuang to wait here, and he walked towards the carved moon cave door on the side. There was a bead curtain hanging on the door, and the pearls were all light pink and soft, not too big, but the luster was uniform and even. The little servant picked up the curtain to enter, and came out after a while, whispering: "The empress dowager will come out later."

After a while, the four palace maids came out in the presence of the Empress Dowager, and took their seats under the Huanghuali 20-fold Kesi beauty screen at the top.

The Empress Dowager has not been haggard these days, but her expression has become much colder.

Although she had never been enthusiastic towards people like Yun Fenghuang in the past, but at that time she was more condescending and careless, unlike now, she was as cold as if she didn't care about anything, and seemed to care about everything.

"Get up." The Empress Dowager didn't look at Yun Fenghuang, she yelled lightly, and asked straightforwardly, "Why did the Queen suddenly replace you here? Is it because Ai's family is difficult to serve?"

"Back to the Empress Dowager, the Empress Dowager has absolutely no intention of doing so, but the concubine is thinking that the Empress Empress, Concubine Wan, Madam Rou Kun, and Xuan Zhaoyi are serving you these days, so I feel uneasy and want to come and serve you for a few days " Yun Fenghuang said softly, "I hereby ask the Empress Dowager to come and replace me as a concubine, and also ask the Empress Dowager not to despise my concubine for being stupid."

The Empress Dowager said in a low voice: "What's the use of being disgusted or not? You all have ideas now. The queen has left, and you have come. The Ai family said they don't want you. You can go back and change the queen." Come?"

It’s not easy to answer this question, it’s not appropriate to say yes or no.

If not, what if the empress dowager hits a snake with a stick and asks her to go back immediately and change back to the queen?

If it is true, it is ready to be caught and disrespectful to the Empress Dowager.

Yun Fenghuang pretended not to hear, and said with a smile: "I haven't seen you for a few days, and now I see that you are much better. It's no wonder that this place supports people. This is the first time I have come here. , I feel a little regretful in my heart. If I knew it, I would have come here two years ago."

"If you like to live, just find a place to rest by yourself." The Empress Dowager said lightly, "Don't come to Ai's family if you have nothing to do, Ai's family doesn't really want to see you."

"The Empress Dowager said that this concubine is sad, I came here to serve you." Yun Fenghuang said softly, "If you don't want this concubine to come to you..."

Everyone probably thought that she would talk about the meaning of her coming here and so on, but Yun Fenghuang said, "The concubine will choose a place that you can't see to serve you!"

"..." The Empress Dowager turned her head sideways, waved her hands, and signaled the palace servants to lead her out, but she didn't even bother to say a word to her.

After Yun Fenghuang went out, he asked Qingdu to look for a Taoist nun at the Taoist temple: "The empress dowager promised me to stay, and they prepared a residence for me. It must be closer to the empress dowager, so as not to delay I will serve my filial piety."

However, the final arranged courtyard was four or five miles away from the Empress Dowager on a mountain road.

The Taoist explanation is that although there are indeed closer ones, they have not been lived in for many years. Even if they are cleaned up in a short time, it is not easy to live in, because the cold air that has accumulated over the years can easily hurt people.

"I remember that Mrs. Rou Kun's residence is also very far away." Yun Fenghuang asked the Taoist nun who was talking back and forth, "But I don't know whose residence is the closest? I will change with her."

The Taoist girl lowered her eyes and said: "If you go back to the imperial concubine, you are the closest one now."

"Did the empress live far away before?" Yun Fenghuang was a little surprised, "How can you serve the empress dowager when you live so far away?"

"I heard that this is what the Empress Dowager meant. Xiaoguan just provided another courtyard, but didn't care about it."

Yun Fenghuang thought for a while, and said: "Forget it. By the way, dare to ask, how long have you been in Taoism?"

The Taoist said a few words modestly, saying that she has only trimmed some fur now, and she dared not pretend to be a Taoist: "Poverty Taoist has been in the temple since he was a child, and it has been more than 20 years."

"Then the Taoist priest was also there when the former empress came here to practice?" Yun Fenghuang asked with a smile, "I don't know what the former empress was like here when she was alive?"

...After a long while, the Taoist nun left, and Qingdu muttered: "This female crown keeps saying that she is a native of Shanyuan Temple, but she doesn't know anything about it, so arrogant!"

However, Yun Fenghuang smiled meaningfully: "Shanyuan Guan has a close relationship with the royal family, and the friendship formed by the three generations of Ji's phoenix masters. If I ask you and tell everything, it will be looked down upon. But , even if she doesn't say it, I know what I should know."

Qingdu let out an "ah" and said, "Did your empress find anything? Is there something wrong with the former empress?"

"Whether there is a problem with the former empress is still unclear, but there must be a problem with the empress dowager staying!" Yun Fenghuang laughed and said, "What did the empress say to Xuan Zhaoyi and Mrs. Rou Kun before? Jieyu passed away, and the empress dowager was in a bad mood. Not only did she insist on staying in the Taoist temple despite her majesty's repeated persuasion, but she was also very picky about the empress and others who came to serve her sick... Just now I heard that the empress dowager Summoned, including ourselves, who doesn't think that the Empress Dowager knows that Ben Gong is coming, and wants to show her power? When I first entered, I was ready to be made things difficult, and the result?"

She pursed her lips slightly, and said, "The Empress Dowager asked Ben Gong to come to her!"

"Yes, Ben Gong is not the kind of submissive nature. If the Empress Dowager treats Ben Gong the same way she treats the empresses, Ben Gong will definitely make her unhappy!"

"But thinking about the background and status of the Empress Dowager, even if she knows that I am not easy to provoke, she will put down her airs and avoid fighting against me?"

Yun Fenghuang breathed out slowly, and said affirmatively, "Before I came here, I just wanted to see what articles can be done here in Shanyuan Temple. Now it seems that this Shanyuan Temple has articles in itself! The Empress Dowager doesn't want to I left Bengong by my side to point out trouble, but I was worried that Bengong's presence by her side would hinder her purpose of staying!"

"Look again, whether it's the empress or the palace, all those who come to serve the sick are arranged far away..."

She sneered a few times, and after asking Chen Jing clearly who was accompanying her this time, she asked him: "You go out later when it is getting dark, and take two reliable and clever people with you, and send them to the nearby courtyard. I figured it all out, and then... go to the Taoist temple and set a fire! Just be careful, don't hurt anyone."

Chen Jing was startled when she heard the words, and said, "Your Majesty will also be staying here tonight, what if the wind really blows away the fire?"

This Chief Manager can talk a lot more than his predecessor, Chen Zhu. He obviously feels that Shanyuan Temple has a close relationship with the royal family, so he doesn't dare to do this, but he speaks of his concern for the master.

Yun Fenghuang glanced at him with a smile that was not a smile, and said: "Why are you so anxious? There are a lot of streams nearby. If it's really impossible, I'm afraid there will be nowhere to hide?"

In this kind of place with water flow, she can hit eight of them!

No more fear!

After arranging the person who set the fire, the imperial concubine asked Qingdu to find another person to guard the empress dowager's side: "Don't disturb the people inside, let's see if there is anything unusual after they discover the fire?"

She was planning to throw stones here to ask for directions, but in the end, after lazily falling asleep that night, Qing Du hurried in and asked her to move to another place: "Your Majesty, it's on fire! And it looks like the fire is coming towards us!"

"How does Chen Jing do things?" Yun Fenghuang was startled, got up and put on clothes, and scolded Chen Jing for being a waste, "Didn't you say that you just put on a show and don't make a fuss!"

Chen Jing was always thoughtful, so Qingdu was willing to break it down into two sentences for him: "We only arrived yesterday, maybe he is not familiar with the terrain and wind direction here... Anyway, please leave quickly, Madam, we have to leave immediately!"

Fortunately, since Yun Fenghuang planned to let his own people set fire, he was also prepared for the unexpected.

After leaving the other courtyard, the people immediately surrounded her and went to a nearby hillside, saying that there happened to be an active spring in this place, which formed a small pool to avoid the fire. on the way.

After stopping here, Yun Fenghuang had the time to look back at the place where the fire started.

Because there are no houses in the mountains, surrounded by unowned land, and the Shanyuan Temple is a famous temple closely related to the royal family. It has received the most noble female relatives in the world, and even the saints of the past have often come here, so Although the Taoist temple itself is luxurious and not high-profile, the other courtyards are very spacious.

Almost all the remaining veins of a section of the mountain were scattered and occupied.

There are also dense vegetation in the mountains, and there are no tall buildings among them. It doesn't look obvious. In fact, there are many other courtyards in this area. At this moment, in the dark night full of shadows, but there are dots of stars and stars, they have lit lanterns everywhere or took refuge or waited and watched.

I saw that the fire was in a side hall of the Taoist temple. Yun Fenghuang had never entered it when he came, and he didn't know what it was for. In short, the flames danced among the thick smoke, dyeing most of the sky red, mixed with The shouts of the firefighters seemed extraordinarily chaotic.

Looking at the direction of the wind, the fire was slowly moving towards the other courtyard where Yun Fenghuang lived.

It's just that the fire didn't really reach the place when it got down in the middle of the night, but was chased and wiped out halfway.

This is not the point, the point is that Chen Jing, who hid in the middle of the night and covered up his whereabouts for a while, took two guards to find the small hillside, knelt on the ground and pleaded guilty to Yun Fenghuang: "Your Majesty, the servant is incompetent, and the servant brought the talent to touch it." Near the side hall, a fire started up. The servants hid aside and watched for a while, but they did not find the person who set the fire!"

"Didn't you set the fire?" Yun Fenghuang was taken aback, who is this person who has such a good understanding with him!

...Couldn't it be Chunjia who did it?

There is no reason why Chunjia can't see the problems that she can see right away.

The reason why they didn't set fire to it before was because the empress dowager's city mansion could easily be fooled by the empress dowager even if they startled the snake.

But it's different when I'm here... Well, wait, if Chunjia did this, knowing that she was here, and setting the fire without telling, she would have to have sex with him when she went back!

Thinking about it viciously, Yun Fenghuang said in a deep voice, "Since no one was found, let's let this matter go. You go and find out, what is the explanation for this accident?"

Chen Jing hurriedly said: "The servant overheard it on the way, saying that the incense candles enshrined in the side hall were overturned by the civet cats that jumped in. The little Taoist girl who was watching the night was young and fell asleep, and did not find out that the temple was burning in time."

Who can be deceived by this reason, not to mention that Shanyuan Temple, a Taoist temple that has always dealt with the royal family, will be short of night watchmen? If a little nun fell asleep, there would be no more arrangements, so that all the nuns would not fall asleep.

Moreover, Shanyuan Temple has never heard of water walking before, so how come it didn't come early or late, but it happened on the first night when I came here?

Yun Fenghuang snorted and asked the left and right: "How is the Empress Dowager?"

"Your Majesty, are we going to persuade the Empress Dowager to go back to the palace?" Xuan Zhaoyi, who had rushed over at dawn, looked unhappy. After all, there was such a big commotion last night, how many people could sleep?

She asked Yun Fenghuang in a tone of asking for instructions, "After all, this kind of thing happened. I'm afraid the Empress Dowager will be quite shocked."

Concubine Wan, who was one step behind, also meant the same thing. Mrs. Rou Kun was still angry with Yun Fenghuang, but she didn't show up.

"Let's greet the Empress Dowager later, and see what she means." Yun Fenghuang knew what they were thinking, and the Taoist temple was on fire. Even if there was no danger, logically speaking, he should persuade the Empress Dowager and other nobles The elders left and went to a safer palace.

But these concubines have been ridiculed by the Empress Dowager during this period of time, and they are afraid of talking to the Empress Dowager, so they hope that she will step on the thunder.

However, Yun Fenghuang was thinking about finding out the details of the Empress Dowager, and said without hesitation, "If you are busy, I can go alone."

Xuan Zhaoyi immediately said: "I caught the cold last night, but I am afraid that I will give the Empress Dowager the sickness."

Concubine Wan took a step too late to find the reason for her mouth and could only swallow it down and find another one: "The concubine came in a hurry and her appearance was not adjusted, it was a hindrance to the view, and she dared not come in front of the Empress Dowager."

So the second concubine succeeded in resigning, and watched Yun Fenghuang take someone to pay her respects to the Empress Dowager alone.

After meeting each other, the Empress Dowager preemptively said: "The Ai family treats you well in this Taoist temple. The concubine walks away as soon as the concubine comes. It seems that the concubine has nothing to do with the Tao. It is better to go back to the palace and stay. Don't make the Ai family tired." There is no such thing as a clean scene!"