Queen's New Clothes

Chapter 56
Empress Liu has a son and a daughter under her knees. The eldest prince Wei Jichang is seventeen this year, and the little princess Wei Deyin has just turned three years old.

Perhaps it was because the Empress Empress and Emperor Zhaoyuan were cousins, and the two children they gave birth to were not very healthy.Wei Jichang was born deaf, dumb, and weak in constitution; the little princess was weak and sick since she was a child, and she was soaked in a medicine jar.

When the little princess was one year old, the empress asked a Taoist priest with profound Taoism to make a fortune. The Taoist said that the little princess had a rough life and a weak life. She might not live to be three years old.Empress Liu treats the little princess like an eyeball, and doesn't let her touch anyone until she is three years old.

Not long ago, the little princess had just turned three years old, but she was still alive and well. The emperor and empress were very happy, so they held this flower banquet and invited the family members of civil and military officials to enter the palace to enjoy the flowers together.

Su Xi had participated in this lotus banquet in her previous life, and it was no different from ordinary people's flower banquets, except that because of the empress's presence, she was more restrained.

It was Wei Deyin who left a deep impression on Su Xi.

Wei Deyin inherited the good looks of the two emperors and empresses. Not to mention the cuteness of jade and jade, Wei Deyin's temperament is also lively and innocent.The most important point is that she is exactly the same as Su Xi when she was a child. She is a greedy little girl who wants to taste and lick everything she sees. The only difference is that Wei Deyin doesn't get fat no matter how much she eats, while Su Xi When I was a child, I was a little fat dumpling.

Thinking of this, Su Xi had no choice but to lament the injustice of God.

The day before the lotus feast, Su Xi's moon rabbit held a branch in her purse and finished it with only the last bit left.She lit the oil lamp and yawned four or five times in a quarter of an hour. She was so sleepy that she couldn't keep her eyes open, but she continued to embroider the purse in her hand.

Ting Li came in with a cup of sweet-scented osmanthus tea, and seeing Su Xi covered her lips and yawned again, she couldn't help being full of doubts: "Girl, can't you embroider tomorrow? Why bother to finish embroidery today? You should hurry up." Rest, your eyes will be bad if you are tired."

Su Xi shook her head and said, "It's almost there. I'll go to bed after I embroider. You don't have to worry about me, go to sleep first." As she spoke, she continued to thread the needle, but because she was too sleepy, she accidentally stuck the needle Touching her fingers, she hissed lightly and frowned.

These days, because of embroidering purses for Wei Feng, her hands have already been pierced with needles so many times.While Su Xi put her index finger into her mouth and sucked it lightly, she thought a little resentfully, Wei Yan should really feel honored, this purse was bought by one injection of one blood.

Su Xi stayed up until midnight, and finally embroidered her purse.She was done, put her purse on the table, got into the quilt and fell asleep.

The next day Su Xi slept until the sun was up, and tomorrow was the lotus feast hosted by the empress.She was lying on the bed, looking at the golden curtain above her head, her thick eyelashes fluttered slowly, and her big clear eyes were a little dazed.

Why did Wei Feng ask her to embroider a purse and she embroidered it, and she stayed up so late last night?She shrunk her body and shrank herself into the quilt, and then belatedly began to reflect. She was anxious to embroider the purse last night, was it because she knew that Wei Wei would also be there on the day of the lotus feast what?

Su Xi became uneasy, did she already care about Wei Feng so much in her heart?

If not, why didn't she resist much when Wei Feng kissed her the last two times?And after the kiss, she didn't rinse her mouth with mint tea, but her mouth was full of his sandalwood scent, she seemed to be used to it...

Before Su Xi could figure out why, she heard the geese coming in from the outside, and hung up the curtain while saying, "Miss, Miss Six from the second room is here to look for you."

Su Xi poked her head out of the bed, with a dreamy look, and said, "Why is Sixth Sister looking for me?"

Ting Yan shook his head, "Miss Six didn't say anything, the servant invited her to sit in the flower hall, and said that you will be there in a while."

Su Xi gave a faint "hmm", got up and changed her clothes, and after freshening up, she went to the flower hall beside her.

Su Lingyun waited for a long time, she must have become a little impatient, she looked out from time to time while drinking tea.Seeing Su Xi coming in, he smiled and walked up to her affectionately, "Did Miss Xi not sleep well last night? I just heard from your maid that you haven't woken up yet. It's almost noon. Fortunately, we If your family is not happy, you have to make peace every morning and evening, otherwise you will be punished by your ancestors?"

Su Lingyun has never been very good at speaking, and her mind is not flexible enough, so the second wife Guo Shi and the old lady don't like her very much.

Su Xi had already gotten used to her straight-forward way of speaking, so she didn't answer her first question, but said, "Sixth sister came here so early, is there something wrong?"

Su Lingyun didn't expect Su Xi to ask so directly, even though she had prepared a speech on the way when she came here, she was a little embarrassed at the moment.She hesitated, looking embarrassed to speak: "It's like this, didn't the empress give a banquet tomorrow, and I entered the palace with my aunt... I have worn the two new hairpins I made this year several times. The jewelry is also old. The last time I participated in the flower banquet of Duke Qing's mansion, others asked me why I always wear these two hairpins. Tomorrow's lotus feast, I was worried that I would lose the dignity of the general's mansion in front of the empress, so I wanted to come to Jiu My sister borrowed some jewelry..."

Su Xi suddenly realized, and subconsciously took a look at Su Lingyun's outfit today - she wore a plum flower hairpin on her single snail bun, which was uniformly worn in the mansion last year, and Su Xi also had one.

The Guo family is harsh, and Su Lingyun is a concubine, so it is not easy to live under her hands.Apart from the customary jewelry given out by the family, there were not many pieces of jewelry that could be sold. Her aunt was weak, and she only stayed in her own small yard all day long, and she couldn't help her get anything.

To be honest, Su Xi doesn't have a deep affection for Su Lingyun's sisters, not as deep as the two cousins ​​of the Governor's Mansion.

Although Su Lingyun had never done anything to hurt Su Xi, Su Xi could still recall how she and Su Lingrong satirized her in her previous life.In this life, she lost weight and changed some things, so she changed her position and showed favor to Da Fang.

Seeing that Su Xi didn't respond, Su Lingyun called "Ninth Sister" tentatively, and said, "I know you have a lot of jewelry, but Ninth Sister can rest assured, I will only wear it for one day tomorrow, and I will definitely return it to you after the palace banquet is over. , it will definitely not break it for you."

Speaking of this, Su Xi couldn't refuse.It's just that she doesn't like to wear jewelry that others have worn, so she said: "Sixth sister, don't talk about borrowing it, let me give you some, you don't have to return it to me."

Su Lingyun didn't expect Su Xi to be so generous, with a look of joy on her face, but she refused and said: "This... this is not very good, I feel so embarrassed to take your things for nothing."

But as soon as she walked into Su Xi's boudoir and saw the dazzling array of jewelry and heads in her dressing cabinet, she was speechless.

Next to Su Xi's vanity mirror was a red sandalwood carved bright lattice cabinet, about one and a half people high, with five floors in total, each floor was filled with jewelry.The first layer is bracelets, the second layer is earrings, earrings and the like, and counting up one by one, there are various hairpins, necklaces and jade pendants.

Su Lingyun walked up to take a look, and found that every piece of jewelry was very delicate and valuable. No wonder Su Xi just casually said that she would give herself a few pieces of jewelry. It turned out that those pieces of jewelry were just the tip of the iceberg to her.

Su Lingyun knew that Su Xi had a lot of good things, and the jewelry she wore was rarely heavy, but she didn't expect there to be so many.

Su Lingyun stood in front of the Liangge cabinet and stared blankly, feeling sore, astringent and jealous.Both are girls from the General's Mansion, why is there such a big difference between her and Su Xi?

Su Xi said: "Sixth sister, let's choose a few."

Su Lingyun hesitated for a while, and finally picked out a gold silk butterfly hairpin, a pair of jade carved flower hairpins and a pair of gold inlaid jade lantern earrings.Later, he fell in love with a pair of red jadeite bracelets.Originally, she was embarrassed to take it again, but after thinking about it, Sister Xi had so many good things, even if she didn't take them herself, she wouldn't be able to wear them.So after hesitating for a moment, he still asked for the past.

Su Xi's face was as usual, she didn't feel distressed at all, and asked, "Does Sixth Sister like it?"

Even if there were, Su Lingyun couldn't keep asking, and said, "This is enough, thank you, sister Xi..."

Su Xi nodded, walked out and said, "I'll have someone get you a box and pack it up."

Su Lingyun followed closely, and passed a huanghuali three-bend-leg incense table, and saw a delicate pouch on it, embroidered with the pattern of moon rabbit holding a branch, the moon rabbit has a lively, chubby and cute look, very pleasing to look at.

Su Lingyun fell in love with her immediately, and was about to tell Su Xi when she saw that Su Xi had already walked out.She looked at the purse, and couldn't help thinking about it, thinking that Su Xi has so many purses anyway, the extra one is not too much, and the missing one is quite a lot, even if it disappeared, Su Xi might not be able to find it, so she just took it Get up and stuff it into your sleeve.

After sending Su Lingyun away, Su Xi had time to have breakfast.

Su Xi drank a bowl of white fungus custard and ate another piece of lotus root starch osmanthus cake, and was called away by Yin when she finished eating.

Yin Shi talked to her for half an hour.Su Xi came out of Qiutangju, thinking that she hadn't seen her grandfather for a long time, and went to Chunhui Hall to play chess with the old man for an hour. When she returned to Hualutianxiang, it was just after noon.

Su Xi returned to the inner room, looked at the empty huanghuali three-legged incense table, and asked, "Sister Yanyan, who cleaned the house this morning? Where is the purse I put here last night?"

Ting Yan said: "Is the girl talking about the purse with branches in the moon rabbit's mouth?"

Su Xi nodded repeatedly.

Ting Yan said: "My servant heard Ting Li say that it was a homework assignment for you by Mr. Yao. When I cleaned up the house, I didn't dare to move it. It has been kept here."

Su Xi frowned, "But why is there nothing on this table?"

Ting Yan also glanced at it, wondering: "It's strange, I still saw it when I woke you up this morning, why didn't it disappear?"

Su Xi asked, "Apart from you, who else has entered my house today?"

Ting Yan thought about it again, "After the girl finished her breakfast and left, only Ting Li went in to wipe the table, and no one went in."

Su Xi called Ting Li to ask again.Ting Li said: "When the servant girl came in, she didn't see the purse on the table. At that time, she thought it was the girl who put it away, so she didn't think much about it."

Su Xi pursed her lips, she didn't put away her purse at all, it was too late when she embroidered last night, she put it on the table and fell asleep, and didn't bother to put it away when she woke up in the morning.When Tingyan came in, the purse was still there, but when Tingli came in, the purse was gone. During this period, only one person came in, and it was almost unnecessary to think about who took it.

Second room, Xihu Garden.

Su Xi came to Su Lingyun's house.

Su Lingyun was having lunch, and when she saw Su Xi coming in, she was taken aback for a moment, and then said with a smile, "Why is Sister Xi here?"

Su Xi didn't beat around the bush, and asked, "Did Sixth Sister take the purse I put on the incense table this morning?"

Perhaps because of her anxiety, the usual sweet smile on Su Xi's face disappeared, her brows were slightly frowned, and her expression was a bit serious.

Su Lingyun's smile froze, not wanting to lose face in front of her maid, she pretended not to know: "What purse? Sister Xi, I have never seen your purse."

But apart from her, no one has ever entered her room. If it wasn't her, who could it be?Su Xi said: "That pouch is embroidered with the pattern of the moon rabbit holding a branch. I embroidered it last night. Sixth sister, think about it again." If I lost it, it would be too late to embroider again, and I reminded: "The purse was still on the table before the sixth sister left this morning. After the sixth sister left, the purse was gone. If the sixth sister likes it, I will give you some. I'll give you my purse, give me that one back."

Seeing her insistence, Su Lingyun continued to deny that not only would she not get any benefits, but she would also lose face, so she suddenly realized: "I remembered. I have indeed seen the purse you mentioned. Assuming that Jiumei didn't want it, seeing its cute appearance, she picked it up. Since Jiumei still wants it, I'll take it out and return it to you."

Su Xi breathed a sigh of relief, and her brows stretched.

Su Lingyun went into the inner room to get the purse, came out after a while, and asked, "Miss Xi, take a look, is this it?"

Seeing that what she was holding in her hand was the Moon Rabbit purse she had embroidered with a branch in her hand, Su Xi nodded hurriedly, stepped forward and said, "Exactly."

Su Lingyun didn't hand it to Su Xi immediately.When Su Xi was about to walk up to her, her eyes darkened and her hands loosened.

There was a stove right at Su Lingyun's feet. A pot of hot tea was simmering on the stove just now. Now that the tea was taken away, the purse fell out of Su Lingyun's hand, and then fell without warning under Su Xi's astonished gaze. in the stove.

Su Lingyun felt that Su Xi had made her lose face in front of the servants, wasn't it just a purse, as for coming over to her specially?She was unhappy, so she deliberately wanted to make Su Xi unhappy once.

It's just that what Su Lingyun didn't expect was that after Su Xi was stunned for a moment, she actually put her hand into the brazier!

"Girl!" Ting Yan exclaimed.

Su Xi didn't think too much about it for a while, and her fingers were scalded severely, but she never let go, and rescued the moon rabbit with a branch pattern purse out of the brazier.She hurriedly took a look, and although she was rescued in time, the purse was not completely burned, but because it touched the bottom of the basin, the leaves held by Moon Rabbit's hands were burned off by the flames, and turned into a black lump, which was very ugly, sure. Can't wear it anymore.

Su Xi felt distressed and frustrated.

Ting Yan got angry in a hurry: "How can the girl reach with her hands? What if you hurt yourself? Let the slaves see your hands..." As he spoke, he took Su Xi's hand carefully, and saw that there were only fingertips It was hot and red, and there was nothing serious about it, so I felt a little relieved.

This Su Lingyun was also quite surprised, who knew that Su Xi would impulsively put her hand into the brazier, is that purse so important...

Su Lingyun muttered: "Sister Xi..."

Su Xi didn't look at her, she held the purse in her uninjured other hand, and said to Ting Yan, "Let's go back."

"Girl, don't do such stupid things again next time. Fortunately, nothing serious happened this time. But look, you have two big blisters on your hands, can you feel better?" Ting Yan rubbed Su Xi's hands Medicine, while persuading her painstakingly, for fear that she would commit some stupidity again.

Su Xi obediently responded.

A corner of the purse was burnt, so I might not be able to give it to Wei Wei for the palace banquet tomorrow.Su Xi only hoped that she would not meet him tomorrow, so that he would not remember to ask her for the purse.

Su Xi thought of Su Lingyun again. She didn't want to think so badly about people. After all, they are all sisters of the same family.But this time Su Lingyun deliberately threw her purse into the stove, and she went too far.

In the early morning of the next day, Yin Shi washed and dressed early, and someone came to urge Su Xi.

After Su Xi finished packing, she went to Qiutangju first, and then walked out of the gate with Yin Shi.

Su Xi was still riding in a carriage with Su Lingyun.Perhaps because of yesterday's incident, she felt guilty and couldn't hold back her face to apologize. Su Lingyun didn't say anything all the way, but she wore the few jewelry Su Xi gave her on her head and ears.

Su Xi only took one look, then looked away.

The carriage soon arrived at the gate of the palace.Su Xi followed behind Yin Shi, and within a few steps, she heard several carriages coming from behind.She looked back, and saw the word "Jin" printed on the front of the carriage, which was the carriage of Prince Jin's Mansion.

(End of this chapter)