Chapter Thirty-Nine Brothers and Sisters
Yun Qike and Yun Suke specially chose a secluded corner to talk, so they sent all the waiters away.
Unexpectedly, without discussing a few words, the Xueli at the entrance of the rockery next to it was separated, and a group of palace people in Jinyi came out surrounded by Yun Fenghuang with picturesque eyebrows, and the two sides just had a good face-to-face meeting.
"..." Looking at each other, the eyes changed slightly.
The brothers were silent for a while, and both bowed to greet the concubine.
"I haven't seen you for a long time, but my cousin's appearance hasn't changed at all." Yun Fenghuang stood still, cried out faintly, looked at the two brothers for a while, and said leisurely, "I didn't expect to meet here."
The cousin she mentioned was Yun Suke.
Before she entered the palace, she followed Yun Qingman in and out of the Duke's mansion, and probably met face-to-face with all the younger brothers of the Yun clan.
Some of them didn't like her very much because of her background, but because of Yun Qingman's attitude, they didn't treat her poorly, but the relationship was relatively cold.
There are also a few who either don't have much family opinion, or are simply more tolerant to beauties, but they are still polite to Yun Fenghuang, and they always exchange a few words when they meet, but they are still friendly.
This Yun Suke is the latter. He is a few years older than Yun Qike. He was married the year Yun Fenghuang came to the imperial capital. sister.
Because of his outstanding academic performance, he is often taken by Duke Yi to teach and give advice, and he often goes to and from the Duke's mansion.
Therefore, I have met Yun Fenghuang several times, and I have always been kind and amiable... Although this kind of kindness somewhat has the meaning of pity, but Yun Suke is quite an upright person, not relying on being the most beloved nephew of Duke Yi The most inappropriate thing to do with his identity is to say a few words to a few brothers in private that his cousin Yun Qingman's playmate is very beautiful.
This kind of words is often not so pleasant when it is passed to Yun Fenghuang's ears, but Yun Fenghuang also knows that many of these words are added by those who are jealous of her in the Yun family and who are valued by Yun Qingman.
When it was Yun Suke's turn, he had never offended and murdered her.
That's why she was able to greet Yun Suke politely at this moment, and even greeted the other party's wife and children casually.
Yun Suke was a little flattered. Before Yun Fenghuang entered the palace, because of Xie Fenghuan's incident, she behaved extraordinarily dignified and innocent in front of the opposite sex. .
At that time, he saw the girl's beauty, and found out that she was from a low-born family. In fact, it's not that he didn't think about it... In the big family, this kind of thing is very common, and the sisters are surrounded by the low-born Beautiful girls, often their purpose of flattering noble daughters is to get the moon first, to take concubines for the noble daughter's father, brother and nephew, or to fill in the house if they are lucky.
But Yun Fenghuang's attitude of avoiding them, coupled with the fact that he was inseparable from Yun Qingman, and he didn't have the slightest intention of flirting with them, he was not the kind of person who was single-minded about women's sex, so he stopped at meeting each other Extraordinarily gentle and courteous, as well as a few words of praise in private discussions.
Now this Ms. Xie, who used to look up to them, is already a concubine and concubine whom they look up to, but she is approachable instead. Although Yun Suke was born in a wealthy family and has achieved academic success, she is considered a leader of Yun's generation, and she is not immune. Feeling that the noble concubine is extraordinarily noble and amiable, she quickly cupped her hands and said, "Madam Lao is thinking about it, but your majesty is more dignified and graceful than before, I almost didn't recognize it."
The two sides exchanged pleasantries as concubines and natal family members for a while, Yun Qike was a little uneasy and uncomfortable, and interrupted with a light cough, saying that the main hall was interrogating Xiangrui's death, and asked Yun Fenghuang if he wanted to hurry up Go over and see what's going on?
The implication is that you don't want to drag my brother to chat, you should leave quickly.
"I heard that the son-in-law is married? And it must be a male heir?" Yun Fenghuang glanced at him when he heard the words, and said with a half-smile, "I haven't congratulated the son-in-law yet, and I'm about to have a Qilin son?"
Yun Xike was even more disturbed when he heard this. He felt that what the imperial concubine said seemed to be malicious to the heirs in the womb of the Han family, and also thought that all the courts and harem knew that the imperial concubine had been harmed by the palace's secrets and could not be born. The woman she once wanted to marry wholeheartedly when she was frivolous, but she never said that to him, and even deeply resented his love for bringing her disaster. This entanglement has a certain relationship with Concubine Zhenxishu's death... ...The grievances and grievances between the two parties are now unclear.
He was in a daze for a while, and after a while of silence, he whispered: "Thank you, Concubine Gui."
The words were so dry that even Yun Suke, who hadn't known where he was, noticed the abnormality, and gave him a surprised look.
Yun Fenghuang looked amiable as if the two were pure brothers and sisters of the same clan, the kind where there was no estrangement, and asked what they were doing here?
"One of the people who fed the white deer just now is cousin Xike." Yun Suke saw that Yun Qike was still a little bit disappointed, but he didn't answer immediately, and he was suspicious, but this is not the time to ask, so he quickly answered for him, "Now it has been taken care of. Called to the main hall for interrogation, we are very worried, so we discuss countermeasures here."
"Xike's cousin, Ben Gong, has also met him, and knows that he is the most honest person, so how could he be unfavorable to Xiangrui?" Yun Fenghuang nodded slightly, and said, "Cousin, don't worry, I am going to the main hall. Yes, when the time comes, I will definitely speak well for Cousin Xi Ke, so that he won’t be wronged for nothing.”
In fact, although the Yun brothers hid out to discuss countermeasures, they didn't feel flustered.
After all, the Son of Heaven now has a great say, and the Yun family has followed the Son of Heaven from the very beginning.
Not to mention that Yunxike was unlikely to murder Bailu who was in the palace, even if he was really so confused, for the sake of Duke Yi, Chunjia would probably not pursue it.
What they are considering at this moment is not whether Yunxike can prove his innocence, but who did it and what is the purpose?
But Yun Fenghuang said so, of course, he can only accept this favor, and he must thank him.
Watching the imperial concubine being surrounded and leaving like this, Yun Suke asked Yun Xike in a low voice: "What happened to you just now? Although this person said that he was adopted by my Yun family, in fact, his thoughts are on Xie's side. When did you remember our family? But after all, it is the imperial concubine, since we bumped into each other, she said a few polite words, why are we so indifferent? Later, I also made it difficult for my aunt and the others to enter the palace to pay their respects."
"..." Yun Qike was silent for a while, then said, "Yes."
Seeing that he didn't mean to explain in detail, Yun Suke didn't ask any further questions, so he changed the subject and sighed: "The banquet of appreciating osmanthus went wrong again. It is said that the palace specially chose this small party for the previous summer banquet. Pot, but in the end, I still couldn't escape... I don't know what will happen next?"
What's next?
At this moment, Chunjia was also thinking about this issue.
Or, what to do next?
Yan Yin beside him reported in a soft voice: "The empress has just questioned her personally, and the Ginkgo tree only appeared in the honeysuckle bushes two days ago. Because its flowers are similar to honeysuckle, she is in charge of going to the island to check it. The palace people didn't find anything wrong after passing by many times, so they didn't report."
"The empress has already taken off her hairpin outside to wait for the crime."
"The same goes for Concubine Shu and Concubine De who are in charge of the Sixth Palace."
"This is a good omen, it has nothing to do with people, it is God's will." Chunjia said lightly, "What are the empress and the others pleading for?"
Yan Yin quickly said: "Yes."
He winked, and some palace people went out to persuade the queen and others to leave.
"... Tell me, does the imperial concubine know about this?" Queen Gu took the second concubine back and went outside, when the queen suddenly asked in a low voice, "I just sent someone to the Jiuying Pavilion to ask, and she said it was nothing Big problem. If that's the case, why didn't you come to the banquet?"
In the Queen's opinion, as Chunjia's most beloved concubine, Yun Fenghuang's sudden absence from today's banquet was a bit strange.
Before, I was thinking that the imperial concubine has been going smoothly since entering the palace, maybe she will be unlucky today?
But when the news of Bailu's sudden death came, she felt that it was either because Yun Fenghuang had a good life and just escaped this storm, or Chunjia knew it well and deliberately let the imperial concubine avoid it.
"I don't know." Concubine Shu was pregnant just now, and because of her grandfather, although she flattered Yun Fenghuang, she never did it too much, so she didn't go to Jiuying Hall in person, and she was stunned when she heard the words , shook his head and said, "However, even if the imperial concubine is here, at most she will plead guilty with us, which seems to be fine? After all, I see that His Majesty is a little tired, but he is not very angry."
"After all, this is a good omen. Of course, Your Majesty will not be angry." Concubine De took over the conversation and said, "Moreover, I just went to see the Jiuying Pavilion in person. The concubine's sister is indeed feeling a little uncomfortable. I thought that the concubine's sister is here today It was purely a coincidence that none of them were able to attend the banquet. After all, the imperial concubine is also worried about the banquet today, how could she just sit and watch knowing that there is trouble?"
Gu Zhen thinks about it too, the imperial concubine is a character who only wants to take advantage but not to suffer, if she doesn't have anything to do with this banquet, she might laugh at someone adding trouble to the middle palace.
But this time the imperial concubine is also one of the hosts, how can she let someone slap her in the face?
The queen sighed and was about to speak when she saw Yun Fenghuang walking in.
"Is the imperial concubine's injury all right?" The queen subconsciously looked at the hem of her skirt and asked, "I just said whether I should call the imperial physician to show you."
"Madam Lao is thinking about it, the concubine's body is only twisted a little, it's not serious, it's all over after resting for a while." Yun Fenghuang said to them politely, and then asked about Chunjia's whereabouts.
Knowing that the emperor was resting alone in the warm pavilion at the back, he asked the queen to go and see.
The queen said: "Your Majesty has been working hard for the past two days, so it's good for you to accompany me. But I see that Your Majesty is tired now, so I'm afraid he may not like to be disturbed."
Yun Fenghuang said indifferently: "I am going to say hello, if your majesty wants to be alone, I dare not disturb your majesty."
So she went, and the queen returned to the banquet restlessly, and continued to eat and drink... After all, the death of the white deer is an auspicious omen, so it should continue to have a feast to celebrate, right?
After waiting for a while and not seeing Yun Fenghuang come back, she knew that Chunjia probably let her into the warm pavilion.
Although he knew that the emperor always treats noble concubines differently, for the empress, concubine Shu and concubine De, it was a bit sour after all, and subconsciously drank a few more cups.
But at this moment, in the warm pavilion, Chunjia was pinching his forehead and talking to Yun Fenghuang about the ins and outs: "...Ouyang Yanran reacted quickly and settled the matter, otherwise, people would die at the summer banquet, and the auspicious osmanthus feast would be fatal. If it gets out, I don’t know how people in the world will discuss it.”
"It's His Majesty's destiny, so there are virtuous ministers to assist you." Yun Fenghuang comforted, "It's just that the good hook kisses were transplanted into the honeysuckle bushes. It is obvious that someone deliberately murdered the white deer, but I don't know what it is. Who is so vicious? Speaking of it, this is also our fault, we shouldn’t just ask people around us to come to the island to check, we should come here to check.”
Chunjia shook his head when he heard this, and said, "These two things look exactly alike, so it's easy to confuse them. Even the little apprentices in the pharmacy occasionally miss them, let alone concubines and ordinary palace people? Even if you are sure that the wrong is not an expert present, you will ignore it when you see it. Otherwise, how can you avoid all kinds of preparations before the banquet?"
He looked a little gloomy, not the kind of vigilance and suspicion that he didn't know the culprit, but a kind of hesitation that made it difficult to make up his mind.
Yun Fenghuang saw some clues, turned his mind around, and asked him tentatively, did the emperor know who killed the white deer?
"...Empress Mother Yuan said something to me just now." Chunjia was silent for a while, and then she said, "She suspects that Empress Mother Qu did it."
"Why did the Holy Mother and Empress Dowager do this?" Yun Fenghuang asked puzzledly, "Not to mention that the Holy Mother and Empress Dowager is His Majesty's biological mother, wouldn't it be embarrassing to His Majesty if she manipulated Xiangrui? ,what are the benefits?"
Chunjia smiled wryly, and said briefly: "Didn't she say that Kunze's marriage should not be searched for her before, did she have an idea in her heart? But she is in love with Yuan Shizi. Empress Qu's mother does not support this marriage. These days Empress Yuan had a serious disagreement with Empress Yuan. This time, it was Empress Yuan's suggestion to put the white deer on the small square pot for the osmanthus feast. Perhaps it was because of this that Empress Qu's mother angered the White Deer? But it doesn't count. Add trouble to me, after all Queen Mother also knows about it, I don't believe it and don't care about it."
The last sentence was just to cover the Empress Dowager Qu's face. After all, it doesn't matter whether the emperor himself believes in things like auspiciousness, the key is the trust of the people below.
This is very important.
People all over the world think that it is auspicious for a white tiger to appear in the country, followed by a white deer, which means that the reigning emperor is recognized and even loved by heaven.
This is a good thing.
But everything has two sides.
Once these auspicious omens make a mistake, they will turn around and suspect that the reigning emperor is not good enough, and auspicious omens will warn them.
When the white tiger went wrong before, the emperor used the Ji family to prevent the disaster.
Now the sudden death of the white deer was not in the emperor's plan or expectation at all.
It was also Ouyang Yanran who reacted quickly and managed to round up the situation.
Otherwise, Chunjia should have a headache right now, how to explain to the world that Bailu's death was not because of his lack of blessings, lack of virtue, not being favored by heaven, etc...
"...I remember that Kunze had always been raised under the Empress Dowager's lap, and rarely went out of the palace. How could he be in love with Mrs. Yuan?" Yun Fenghuang sneered in his heart, wondering how the Queen Mother could get angry over such a trivial matter white deer?
I'm afraid that it was Empress Dowager Yuan who wanted to use Bailu to make a fuss and knocked Kunze's marriage to death, lest Queen Mother Qu use Kunze's adoptive mother's identity to mess up the marriage, even if she was engaged, it would irritate Queen Mother Qu, so that Arrange to kill Bailu?
To be able to annoy the always low-key Empress Dowager Qu like this, I don't know how excessive the arrangement of Empress Dowager Yuan was?
As if nothing had happened, she asked the emperor pretending that she didn't know anything, "Could it be that there is a grievance and a misunderstanding of Princess Kunze, and the Queen Mother lost her composure?"