The little lady in the dining room

Chapter 139
In Liugeyuan, the mother and son were very tired after going to the Qiwang Mansion for such a trip, A Yuan had already fallen asleep heartlessly in the nurse's arms, and A Yao was also yawning profusely.

Sydney took A Yao to take a bath in the south room, and felt that A Yao was soft and slippery, so she couldn't help pinching her, but A Yao smiled and splashed water on her.

Nothing.Xueli had no choice but to let Qingxi take her out after Ah Yao finished washing, and she waited in the south room for Dousha and the others to wash directly after changing the water.

When she wiped her hair and went into the bedroom, A Yao was lying on the couch next to Yu Xiang.

A Yao stroked one of Yu Xiang's beards with two fingers: "Mother, I'm hungry."

Sydney thought about it, she was completely attracted by Yi's poached eggs at noon, and basically only ate poached eggs; at night, she ate noodles, and she would inevitably be hungry after the bumpy journey.

So she called candied dates to come in: "Let the kitchen bring some food. See if there is any fish soup or bone soup made today. If so, bring me a bowl of meat and soup, and a plate of sourdough bread. I will eat some too." .”

Candied dates should go down to ask, and after a while, they bring in food together with brown sugar.

It is fish soup, boiled with crucian carp.The heat was enough, and it was stewed into a milky white color. The meat from the fish maw was served in the bowl, and it looked tender and clean when paired with the soup.There are also a few square pieces of tender tofu around, and there are a few emerald green onions floating on the soup, which is fresh and fragrant.

Each of the sourdough cakes was the size of a palm, and three of them were served, and they were white and fluffy and placed on a plate, warm.

Xue Li originally planned to comb her hair well before eating, but she couldn't care less about combing her hair after looking at it this way, so she took a hairpin and tied up her half-wet hair, sat on the couch and tore the bread into small pieces and threw it into the fish. soup.She has liked the way of eating fish soup soaked cakes since she was a child.But at home, I like to soak the stewed fish in braised fish. After being in the palace for a long time, I prefer the stewed soup with a simpler taste but more umami.

After tearing up a piece of cake and soaking it in, she pressed it with a porcelain spoon, then scooped out a small piece and fed it to A Yao: "Eat slowly, if there is a thorn in it, you must spit it out."

"Yeah!" Ah Yao ate seriously, and Yuxiang next to him smelled the smell of fish. He moved his body and rubbed his head against Xueli, and Xueli took another piece out and put it in his palm to satisfy his greed. Yuxiang rolled his tongue. Just finished the small piece of cake, then smacked my lips, and asked for more.

Couldn't give it any more!Even if you give it all three pieces of cake, it's not enough for it to squeeze between its teeth!

Xueli pushed Yuxiang away, took a sip of the soup, thought it was good, and wanted to ask someone to send a bowl to Zichen Palace for the emperor's supper.

Before she finished giving her orders, the emperor rushed in.

Say Cao Cao Cao Cao is here!
Ayao called "Father Emperor" crisply, and the emperor briefly answered "Good boy" and sat down beside the couch. Sydney looked at his cold face: Who messed with him...

Sitting there, Xie Zhao was feeling lucky, and it took him a while to regain his strength. He turned his head to look at the mother and daughter who were looking at him dumbfounded, sighed heavily, and glanced at the crucian carp tofu soup on the table: " The soup is good, give me a bowl too."

"... Oh, good!" Xue Li, who thought he was going to tell her something big to vent his emotions, reacted for a moment before responding, and immediately lost his heart as if he was facing a big enemy.

Yangyin ordered to go on, and after a while, another bowl of hot soup was brought in, and another plate of sourdough bread was served, along with a bowl of noodles and some cold dishes.

Xie Zhaogang heard from Changle Palace that the Empress Dowager borrowed dishes to describe people, and now the cold dishes are not pleasing to the eye anyway.I endured it and didn't lose my temper indiscriminately, but asked the cold dishes to be removed with a bad face.

Xue Li, who was just about to grab a piece of salted duck liver, moved towards him in grief and indignation: "What's wrong?"

Xie Zhao picked up the soup bowl and took a sip directly, then sucked in a piece of soft tofu from the side of the bowl, his face softened a little: "I just went to Changle Palace to have dinner with the queen mother. I didn't eat a single bite of the food, and my stomach was full of anger."

He went to Changle Palace for dinner?This thing in Sydney sounds fresh!
She was unavoidably nervous: "Is it because of A Yuan?"

"That's not true, she didn't say much about A Yuan." Xie Zhao sighed softly, seeing that A Yao was still eating, she didn't say much for now.Xueli understood, and turned her attention to feeding Ayao first. After Ayao was full and Tinghan took him away, she asked him again: "What's the matter?"

"This year is the year of selection again, and my mother forced me to choose a new concubine." Xie Zhao held a piece of dough cake in his hand, and when he talked about it, he even bit the cake hard.

He really didn't understand why the Empress Dowager attached so much importance to the birth of a concubine, and in her eyes, the daughter of a small local official's family seemed to be much better than the daughter of a court lady like Sydney - this is unreasonable when you think about it, the former Although it is said to be "Miss Qianjin", after all, she came from a small place, so it may not be better than Sydney who grew up in the palace!But the Empress Dowager was very persistent about this, and looked down on her both inside and outside the words. Xie Zhao endured and endured so that she didn't overturn the table in Changle Palace.

He never told Xueli about this, but only told her: "My mother asked me to either pick five or six new concubines and put them in the harem during the selection process, or call in the daughters of the Nangong family, at least to make them concubines Xianxian."

He said with a sneer: "The Nangong family is also really exhausted. The eldest daughter of the family is 21 this year, and she insists on not marrying in order to enter the palace."

Xue Li couldn't help being slightly startled when he heard his age.Women can marry from fifteen, and most of them are married before twenty-this is not the case with the imperial concubine, the emperor's favored daughters, there are some who stay until the twenty-fifth to marry.

But royal is royal!Even if Diji stays until forty to remarry, her husband's family still has to be grateful to Dade, who feels that the smoke from the ancestral grave has made the family and the royal family have a relationship, and Diji can still call the wind and rain when she marries.

But the Nangong family, a mere upstart relative who was favored by the queen mother, stayed until 21 in order to let their daughter enter the palace... It's too hard.

Xueli twitched the corners of her mouth, seeing him so upset that she just ate cakes to relieve her hatred, she took the soup bowl in front of him and ladled soup to feed him, but he took it by himself as soon as he took a sip, calmed down and drank it slowly in his hand, Sydney leaned on his shoulder and did not speak.

She didn't know what to say.If she is more free and easy, she can persuade him to welcome people in. Anyway, the huge harem is already there. It doesn't matter if there is one more person or one less person. At most, the Queen Mother will force him to this point. Shang Nangong.

But she was not so free and easy, more or less worried that he would fall in love with Nangong.This feeling of worrying about gains and losses made her feel a little disgusted with herself. She held his hand and used her fingers to match his fingers sullenly, until he put down the soup bowl and stopped her small movements with the other hand.

Xue Li looked up, then lowered her head, and finally couldn't help asking: "What is Your Majesty planning to do?"

"If they love to consume, let them consume." The emperor had no good face, "I originally thought about giving her to the princes in the next decree, but if you think about it carefully, there is no reason to make the princes feel dissatisfied because of her. You Take it easy."

He smiled shortly: "I know you are small-minded."

...Who is small-minded!

Unconvinced, Xueli got up from his shoulder and stared at him for a while, then went to rinse her mouth sullenly, then went to look at A Yuan after rinsing, and then turned back and started flirting with him.

Xie Zhao was still enjoying himself with the tofu in the bowl, and felt that tender tofu was really delicious when stewed in fish soup, but after she lay lazily on his lap for a while, he didn't have much interest in tasting the soup , It is better to taste pears.

In the main room, the maids were sent away again, and the eunuchs were once again irritated when they heard the movement in the room.

Chen Jijiang rubbed his temples, originally wanted to take a nap, but he was awakened by the lingering voice inside, and he couldn't fall asleep even when the inside was quiet.Near Yinshi, Xu Shishui, who was guarding the Zichen Palace, stepped in quickly to say a few words.

When Chen Jijiang heard it: Heh, that guy really has a long life!

At the second quarter of Yin's time, he softly called out "Your Majesty, it's time to get up" twice outside the door, and the voice was heard from inside.

When several eunuchs went in with clothes and water to help them change and wash, Xueli had already got dressed and got up, and she took the initiative to do the job of changing clothes.

The two of them were very gentle behind the screen, and they both felt better after the night passed.When Xueli helped him change his shirt, he couldn't help but press on the muscles in his abdomen. Xie Zhao raised his eyebrows, and suddenly raised his hand and pulled the tie on her skirt.

"Hate!!!" Xue Li quickly grabbed her skirt.The chest-length skirt was held by this tie, and it immediately slid down when he pulled it like this.

The tie is very long, and she has to go around behind her back to tie it, which is inconvenient for her to tie it herself.Blushing and about to call Dou Sha over, he covered her mouth and said, "I'll come."

Xue Li glared at him embarrassingly and angrily, but he turned his back on his shoulders.

His hands looped from her armpit to the front of her body, his slender fingers touched the straps and then went around behind her, he changed the straps with both hands before wrapping them up in front of her body, and after tying the knot but did not loosen it, he pushed her backwards gather together.

The back of Sydney hit his chest, blushing and staring at his hands: "Get away, get away!"

On the other side of the screen, several eunuchs glanced at each other and then pretended not to hear, not thinking about the situation on the other side of the screen.

"Take it away quickly!!!" Xue Li waved her hand and struggled, not daring to pull his hand, for fear that he would pull her belt away again.

Xie Zhao smiled slightly and bullied her for a while, feeling that he had avenged "being touched", so he let her go, and contentedly raised his arms and waited for her to help him put on his straight train.

"I'm going to get a haircut!" Xue Li smiled and quickly found an excuse before flashing away, leaving him there to be served by an eunuch, Xie Zhao didn't even have time to scold her.

Chen Jijiang took a look, went behind the screen in person, and said in a low voice while waiting for the change of clothes: "Your Majesty, Xu Shishui came to report three quarters ago, saying that someone is asking to see you in the Zichen Palace."

"Who?" The emperor frowned slightly.There are not many cases of rushing forward to ask for an interview.

"This..." Chen Jijiang paused for a moment, then smiled apologetically, "It's Concubine Li. She said she had something important to see, but Xu Shishui asked her and she refused to tell her. She might still be waiting at the gate of the hall now."

Xie Zhaoyin took a deep breath.

The reason why he didn't have time to clean up Concubine Li yesterday was because the dispute with the Empress Dowager made him even more troublesome. Now that Concubine Li dared to rush to him, he didn't know what to say.

"Go and tell her that she is not qualified to question the identity of the eldest son of the emperor. Also, she doesn't have to live in Yilan Palace, give her another place."

"No." Chen Jijiang responded, fastened the emperor's belt on his hand, and asked carefully, "Then... where will Concubine Li live?"

The emperor smiled softly, and settled the matter by himself: "You can figure it out."

Sydney had breakfast with him, and went back to sleep after he went to morning.

When I got up to change clothes and tied the skirt belt, thinking about the morning, I couldn't help but blushed. I didn't have the courage to ask Dou Sha to tie it for me, so I just pulled it by myself and spent a long time to tie it.

Open the window and look, Ayao has also gotten up, and is writing a poem with Qing Xi on the porch. Qing Xi reads "The Sound of the Wind and Rain at Night", and she answers "How Many Flowers Fall".Xue Li listened to the words for two or three times, she was right, she smiled, thinking about making something delicious to reward her, when she turned her head, she saw Sesame's bright eyes coming in.

——Whenever she was so excited, she always inquired about something important to say.

"Come and sit." Xueli took the initiative to invite her to sit, but Zhima didn't sit. She stopped and took a breath and said directly: "Lady, guess what?"

"Don't keep it up." Xue Li clicked her lips, "Tell me something quickly."

"Two things, one is that His Majesty said that when the weather gets warmer, he will ask Diji to have a mother Fu to teach her to study, and the other..."

Zhima thought for a while, turned around and closed the door, and approached, said: "This morning, His Majesty sent Empress Li away. She moved out of the harem directly, and said that she arranged a yard for her next to the Clothes Bureau."

Can you do this? !
Sydney was surprised: "What about the charges?"

"I didn't say anything." Zhi Zhi shrugged, and Xue Li was stunned by this simple and rude hair.

Even if you don't give any charges, you will be moved out of the harem!Your Majesty's directness is really outrageous!

She took a sip of tea with complicated emotions, and after thinking about it, she tasted something different.

It's too easy to find a crime. Even if you don't want to involve the eldest son of the emperor, you can say something like "envious" or "immoral" in general, but he doesn't say anything...

Why does it seem to be deliberately showing something through this incident?
Why?It seems not difficult to understand!
The first thing she thought of was "he really has the final say in the palace", so in the eyes of others, it would probably be the same?Did he call out to the Queen Mother sideways?Let the queen mother understand that he has the final say on whether to choose a concubine?

Xueli thought wildly for a while, and then felt that it was better not to speculate on his unexplained arrangements.After calming down, she shifted her focus to the matter of inviting Fu's mother to A Yao.

She knew a little about the matter of inviting Fu mother to Diji before, and most of them were invited when they were four or five years old, and the candidates were mostly talented wives in Luo'an city.

To be honest, it is somewhat overkill for such a small child to be taught to read by a "wife with both talent and virtue".But the Tian Family Empress is naturally very cautious in choosing a teacher. Don't be afraid of "overqualified talent, useless", if you pick a bad one, it will be bad if you teach Diji to the ground.

However, even though she knew she had to be "cautious", she thought that it was enough for the emperor to call people in after the selection.Unexpectedly, the emperor said to her: "In February and March, you can go home to play again. Will A Yuan take you with me? Let A Yao go with her, and let her meet some Fu mothers along the way."

What Xie Zhao meant was——A Yao is still young, unlike older children who think that "studying well is necessary".Therefore, it is very important for her to have a Fu mother who is pleasing to her eyes, otherwise reading will become a chore for her.

Oh, Your Majesty, you think carefully...

Xueli boasted this in her heart, and then realized more deeply that this trip was not just for her to visit her relatives and help Ayao choose her mother-in-law!

Mainly because of what happened in recent days.

After Concubine Li was moved away, many people including her felt that His Majesty was using the matter of Concubine Li to tear herself apart from the Empress Dowager—and the Empress Dowager was also very "living up to expectations", and she was really slowly Follow His Majesty's mind to tear face with him.

For example, the day after Concubine Li was ordered to move out of the harem, the Empress Dowager ordered two boxes to be rewarded, which were said to be rare treasures.

On the third day, the emperor withdrew all the people around Concubine Li who should have been withdrawn, leaving two big maids to serve.

On the fourth day, the Empress Dowager sent the eunuchs around her to appease Concubine Li. I heard that Concubine Li was crying and thanking the Empress Dowager Long En.

Then on the fifth day, the emperor abolished Concubine Li's position—either abolished or not.

Now the palace people still call her "Concubine Li" when they are used to chatting, but those who don't know each other cautiously call her "Liu Shi" or "Liu Shuren".

When Xue Li lamented the sudden change of honor and disgrace, she couldn't help teasing in her heart: Your Majesty, your intentional slap in the face is too obvious!

The empress dowager rewarded him and punished him, and the empress dowager punished him when he rewarded him. Everyone can see that this is intentional to make things difficult.Because the Liu family put A Yuan in a dangerous place before, Xueli would not feel sorry for her, but she still felt a little shocked by this kind of thing, and even felt that this visit to relatives was different from the year before last.

The year before last, he had clearly told her that he was going to deal with the Empress Dowager, but she didn't feel too much fear because of it.At most, he was just worried about whether he would be too angry with the queen mother, not eat well, drink too much, and so on, so he wrote letters.

But this time, she felt that the smell of the mountain and the rain was too strong...

No matter what, she couldn't think of the current matter as a mother-son grievance. No matter how she persuaded herself, she still felt that these two were going to "fight for three hundred rounds", "you die and I live", and "you will be benevolent if you don't succeed"!

So the night before leaving for home, it was the only time in a long time that she pestered the emperor to come to her Liugeyuan.

It's not that Xie Zhao refused to go, but that he didn't finish the matter at hand.In the end, he felt that she was going to leave the next day, so he read the three or four most important memorials first, and then went back with her.

As soon as she entered the courtyard, she couldn't help but plunged into his arms, clinging to him tightly: "Don't blame me for disturbing your business tonight, I... I'm really scared!"

"I know, I don't blame you." Xie Zhao hugged her tightly, feeling that she was trembling all over.

"Will it make a big fuss? Will it...will the consequences be serious?"

Sydney didn't have the courage to speak out more clearly, and the "consequences" made her shudder when she thought about it...

The world changed hands.

She didn't want to think about such a bad thing, but she had to.

If it's just a queen mother, it's not a problem.But even she is more or less clear that the Queen Mother is not just a "Queen Mother".

The previous dynasty was messed up by the aristocratic family, and he had been trying to settle the aristocratic family from the beginning of his ascension to the throne.The noble relatives were almost suppressed by him. Many nobles who were extremely powerful in the years before she entered the palace are lucky to be able to live a leisurely life with an idle title.

And under the premise that their mother and child are not in harmony, many aristocratic families or upstarts have leaned on the Queen Mother's side.On weekdays, they just quarrel over trivial matters, using various reasons to show their loyalty to the Queen Mother and to make things difficult for him, but when their mother and son really fell out...

They will also really take a stand.

In this way, it is true that he is holding the imperial power in the prosperous age, but the queen mother is supported by so many nobles, if she really goes all out, what will happen...

Xie Zhao couldn't control her trembling, so he hugged her tighter: "No, it's not that serious."

His thin lips touched her forehead: "You go home and have a good rest, I will do the rest."

(End of this chapter)