Mountains and rivers fall into red

Chapter 18: Cuiqiao (6)
Uncle Fu interjected: "When we rushed into the house, the two of us were still wrapped in bed. It took Cao Guizhi a long time to wake up. This scandal spread, and the most difficult person to be a man is the daughter-in-law of the Tao family. Jump into the night pond while people are not prepared."

As if a sharp knife had been pierced into her heart, her blood gushed out, Xiuxiu covered her face with her hands, and shouted with all her strength: "Stop it! Don't say it!" Her mind was a little confused, her body was staggering, Shen Xin Yang quickly supported her.Xiuxiu didn't even want to push it away, and threw himself beside the beam, beating it with his fists continuously.

why is it like this?

Dad, tell me, why is this happening?
No wonder Mother regards you as a stranger, no wonder Concubine Rong hesitates to speak, no wonder everyone looks at me with pity... You are my beloved family member!Dad, why?
Hugh doesn't understand!God, tell me, how is it like this?

Liu Rulan saw that Xiuxiu was in so much pain that it made people feel sad, so she walked to Xiuxiu's side and spoke softly: "Actually, after I found out about this, I also felt uncomfortable. The girl's family's reputation and chastity are ruined. According to the family Law, Mr. Tao should be a capital crime. The master was merciful and locked him in the prison first, and reported the matter to the concubine Rong. Thinking of the master and servant, the concubine Rong felt pity, and allowed Cao Guizhi to marry Mr. Tao, let them stay away from right and wrong and go to Mengyu County. Cao Guizhi was pregnant with you at that time, and you were born soon."

After listening to Liu Rulan's narration, the expressions of the people in the hall were different.After the eldest lady Li Pinghua listened patiently, she couldn't help being sharp: "I don't think Cao Guizhi is a good woman. She looks charming, and I knew something would happen. Due to the face of Concubine Rong, the Shen family took her in. She Is he a person who keeps his own place? Hmph, that's fine, he's a perfect match with Mr. Tao!"

"Stop talking sarcastic!" Shen Buyu shouted coldly.

Li Pinghua reluctantly closed her mouth.

Shen Buyu got up, walked slowly to Xiuxiu, and his complexion gradually softened: "You stay in the capital, this is your home. Is there any place in Mengmao County that is worthy of your nostalgia? Your father is like this, your mother hates it." Through your father, naturally even you hate it. There is no point in going back!"

After finishing speaking, he turned to everyone and said, "Don't mention this matter again! Violators will be dealt with according to family law!"

Everyone made a promise.

Shen Buyu didn't say anything else, and left the main room first, Liu Rulan comforted Xiuxiu with a few words of concern, and followed her out of the room.Everyone inside dispersed, and finally even Shen Xinyang left.

Xiuxiu leaned against the beams and pillars, closed her eyes tightly, and remained motionless.Yan Xi sighed, stretched out his hand to grab Xiuxiu's cold hand, and said in a low voice: "Miss, if you want to cry, go back to Juxinyuan and cry."

With trembling lips, Xixiu said hoarsely, "I can't cry anymore..."

"Miss, do you still want to go back to Mengmata County?"

Xiuxiu opened his eyes slightly, his eyelashes trembled, and tears rolled out of his eyes uncontrollably.After a while, she sighed, trying to swallow her grief.

"My father is gone..." she said weakly.

Wanton

"Why didn't you tell me about this?"

In the queen's palace, the queen stood up and stared at Ji Mingyou who was standing bowed, her temples swaying with pearl steps.

Ji Mingyou gave a slight salute, and said softly: "I am in a difficult situation for a while, lest I will separate the queen mother and son, and hurt the mother's phoenix body."

"I'm so pissed off! Shao'er went to the palace that day, and I asked him what he saw and heard. He only knows how to play, and he doesn't know anything about it. Let him come over and teach him a lesson for the useless things!"

The empress ordered the court lady: "Go and call the First Prince!"

After a while, the eldest prince Xiao Shao entered the inner hall leisurely, holding a red sandalwood carved parrot cage in his hand.When he saw Ji Mingyou, he greeted him directly: "Master Ji, I almost lost my blue and purple King Kong in your house last time, but you said, is it better to have yours or mine?"

Ji Mingyou tried his best to smile, but he only bowed and dared not speak.Xiao Shao then approached his mother and said with a smile, "Why does the queen mother call the child?"

Before the words were finished, the queen suddenly raised her sleeves and gave her son a big slap.

This move of hers shocked the maids, and when she was about to go over to persuade her, the queen stopped her with her hand.Xiao Shao was slapped in the face, and he couldn't help shouting aggrievedly: "Why does the queen mother beat the child?"

"Ask yourself! You stupid bastard who has more success than failure! Do you think you are a hero saving the beauty? You go to Shen's house to report the news. If Shen Buyu catches you, not only Master Ji will be harmed, but even the queen mother will be killed." You got hurt, do you know that?"

The queen almost gritted her silver teeth and scolded her son viciously.Xiao Shao understood, stroked the face that was beaten, and said half wronged: "Where does the child know that the mother is also involved in this matter? Miss Xiuxiu has never seen the mother, so she will not say it. Besides, after so many days, I have not seen her." Mr. Shen reported this matter to Father Chen. He took the initiative to calm things down, why is the empress so anxious?"

"You still dare to talk nonsense! I, the Mu family, is only your son. I thought I could build a harmonious family and inherit the ancestral legacy, but you are so unbelievable! If it is spread, you will teach those princes and nobles how to submit to you. you?"

Seeing his mother, Xiao Shao's arrogance was high, and he no longer resisted, and stood still with his head down.

The son's silence made the empress almost breathless, she gave Xiao Shao a irritated look, waved her sleeves and said, "Get out first, and think about it behind closed doors!"

On the contrary, Xiao Shao relaxed. After saluting, he didn't even want the blue and purple King Kong, so he ran away in a hurry.

The queen had a gloomy face and was still angry.After a while, he regained his composure, and cursed: "I really hate iron but not steel!" At this moment, Fang turned to Ji Mingyou who had stood coldly for a while, and said, "We have to wait for you to deal with Shen Buyu and these cunning villains. "

"Madam, what the eldest prince said is not completely unreasonable." Ji Mingyou said slowly, "Although it is false to capture the main criminal, it is true to hurt Shen Buyu's goddaughter. Shen Buyu doesn't need to calm down, he You can use this as an excuse to participate in Weichen's book, but there is no movement like this, it is strange."

The queen pondered, nodded her head in agreement, and said: "It's really deceitful. Maybe Zheng Wei and others are not in the court, and Shen Buyu's help is not strong enough. I'm afraid that if you hurt others, you won't hurt yourself. Ji Aiqing must be careful."

Ji Mingyou continued: "I have other doubts. That Xiuxiu was just bought by Shen Buyu with money. Firstly, it is not as dignified and virtuous as a nobleman's family, and secondly, it is not as well-educated as the daughter of a prince or minister. It is just a flower in the countryside. Xiao Yehua, Xiao Kui didn't really care about her, but she was bored. Shen Buyu was like a treasure, and he loved her in every possible way. Empress, when Shen Buyu entered the house that day, when he saw Xiuxiu, he looked at her. Showing off her face, she even took off her cloak and wrapped it around her body. Weichen saw it with his own eyes, and was surprised at the time, and it must be that Xiuxiu is not just a goddaughter."

"Could it be that Shen Buyu has become obsessed with himself?" The queen sneered.

"Have you forgotten, Madam? When Shen Buyu married the Liu family, there was an oath between Weng and his son-in-law. From now on, Shen Buyu will no longer take concubines. Everyone in the court knows about this, otherwise Shen Buyu would not have been promoted so quickly. ?”

"Oh? This is an interesting thing." A smile gradually appeared on the Queen's face, a cold light flickered in her eyes, and she hummed silently, "Check it out carefully and see who that Xixiu is."

Ji Mingyou bowed his hands and obeyed.

When the night candles were first lit, a long wind swept across the sky of the palace, and everything was shaken.

Outside Xiao Kui's sleeping hall, the servants and servants all held their breath, no one dared to move.What happened inside the inner hall could not be seen through the heavy curtain of the door screen, suddenly there was a sound of throwing things randomly, the sound of crackling, like jade porcelain smashing on the lacquered gold floor tiles, as if hitting the apex of everyone's heart .

In the inner bed, Qiuyue knelt on the ground alone, with broken porcelain in front of her.The sound of the wind beating against the small window could be vaguely heard, and Xiao Kui's tall figure was swaying unsteadily.

As for Xiao Kui, looking at the night scene outside the window, he stood with his hands behind his back, his face condensed, and his voice was as cool as water.

"Qiuyue, you have exceeded your duty as a court lady. Can you be convicted?"

"Your servant is guilty." A chill passed over Qiuyue's indifferent face.

"You tell outsiders what happened to me without authorization. No matter what your intentions are, I will never tolerate such a thing. According to the palace regulations of this dynasty, you should be executed with the imperial staff. I think you have worked so hard for so many years, and don't care about it. Wait until tomorrow Inform Guang Luxun, you pack your bags and go out of the palace by yourself."

"My servant thanked the Third Highness."

Qiuyue prostrated to thank her, her expression a little numb.She stood up slowly, turned around and walked out step by step.There is no longer the familiar call of "Qiuyue" behind her, only a pair of invisible hands without the slightest tenderness, ruthlessly pushing her out.

All the people outside the hall watched her silently, and no one dared to say a word.Qiuyue walked towards the white jade steps, her cheeks were covered with a layer of shadow under the night, and tears flowed down her cheeks unknowingly.

Three o'clock leaked, and the night was quiet.

Qiuyue sat in the maid's room, slowly tidying up her own clothes.The long wind blows on the window panes, as if the sound of sneering is rustling in the ears.

"You're just a court lady, jealous. It's fine to block one Shen Xiuxiu, how many Shen Xiuxiu can you block? You deserve to be kicked out of the palace!"

"The world is sad, and human feelings are as thin as paper. Even the Third Highness abandons you like nothing. Qiuyue, Qiuyue, you will be cast aside by the world."

She stopped moving and stared blankly at the top of the beam.The cold invaded the room, and the pain pierced into the bones.

Candles burst into flames, alternating light and dark.In the dimness, she saw Xiao Kui standing in front of her, and she naturally helped him undress him.In Xinyue Juanjuan's ecstasy, he clings to her side like a child.

She clearly heard the eight-year-old child say to her in a crying voice: "Don't go, stay with me."

The candles are exhausted, and the sky is bright outside the window.

When Qiuyue came to her senses, she knew that she had no choice.It turns out that the more than ten years of life in the palace, the time when a woman is the most beautiful, is just a dream.

She wrapped the long belt around the beam, held it with her almost frozen hands, and stretched her neck tremblingly in...

It was not yet dawn that day, and I don't know which maid serving the bed was on shift, she yawned and entered the maid's room.Hearing the movement, she raised her head, and Qiuyue's foot was kicking down the footstool, and the maid screamed in fright.The too sharp cry alarmed Jiang Chen who was passing by on night watch.

After hearing the news, Xiao Kui rushed to the maid's room, where the imperial doctor was feeling Qiuyue's pulse.Xiao Kui stood by the bed, looking at the pale Qiuyue, his brows were tightly furrowed.

The imperial doctor left behind two peace-of-mind pills and left.Xiao Kui sat down, took the warm tea himself, and put the pill into Qiuyue's mouth.

Qiuyue's lips trembled, but she couldn't shake a word after trembling for a while.She was so ashamed and ashamed, she covered her face with her hands and wept until her voice became hoarse and her heart broke.

Xiao Kui let Qiuyue cry, patted her twitching shoulders, and comforted her softly: "Okay, okay, I'm getting angry, how can I be willing to drive you away?" How to salute.Xiao Kui hurriedly held her down, seeing her crying like this couldn't help but move him, so he gently hugged her into his arms.

The frost is heavy and the sun is shining, and the petals of wintersweet are falling silently outside the window.Xiao Kui watched silently, and suddenly became dazed, as if the fluttering bright red was not a flower, but a delicate figure.The man's vivid face was full of red clouds, and his eyes stared at him almost stubbornly.

He blinked, and the figure disappeared.For some reason, there was melancholy in my heart, and I sighed silently.

New Year's Eve.

The New Year's customs in the Prime Minister's Mansion are naturally more particular than ordinary people's. On the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month, the day after the stove sacrifice, the whole mansion mobilizes to sweep the house and dust off the filth.Inside and outside the courtyard, in every corner, there are busy figures of useful people.

But in Xiuxiu's Jixin Courtyard, it was as deserted as usual.

It wasn't that Shen Buyu did it on purpose, but was rejected by Xiuxiu.Shen Buyu had nothing to say, so he did whatever she wanted.

Xiuxiu did it himself, scrubbing and cleaning the inside and outside, and was busy.Yanxi saw that after she learned of her father's past that day, although she never mentioned going back to Mengmata County, she was silent all day long and her spirit was depressed. She was also anxious on the sidelines.

"Heart disease needs heart medicine, take your time. Don't mention her father in front of the young lady, and make her happy more. You can eat and do whatever you want." Liu Rulan cared.

Yan Xi secretly hoped that maybe by taking this New Year's break, she could be happy again, and a smile would bloom on her face again.

On New Year's Eve, Li Pinghua's two sons came to have a reunion dinner with their wives and children.For a while, the red candles were shining brightly, the charcoal fire was blazing, and the aroma of delicious food and wine was overflowing.There were more than a dozen tables in the house, and all the housekeepers, servants, maids, maids, and even the grooms were all present. Cups and chopsticks were intertwined, finger-guessing and orders were played, and the hall was full of laughter and laughter, creating a scene of family happiness.

At this time, the wives, concubines, and children in the mansion are all polite, toasting each other and delivering food, wishing each other auspicious new year and all the best.At this time, Shen Buyu asked Xiuxiu to come out to meet the ceremony, taking advantage of the auspicious atmosphere, so he and Shen's family members met.People piled up friendly smiling faces and congratulated a basketful of auspicious words.It's almost midnight before the banquet ends.

Shen Buyu secretly told Xiuxiu to follow him into the palace to visit Concubine Rong Palace on the first day of the new year.Xiuxiu naturally thought of Xiao Kui, so he didn't even want to go.

Shen Buyu had expected to guess where Xiuxiu's heart knot was, because Mr. Tao's matter had hit her hard, so she didn't want to force her.

In fact, when the Spring Festival came, he was even busier as a prime minister.Since the beginning of the new year, officials, relatives and friends come to pay New Year's greetings every day, and there is a lot of traffic outside the prime minister's mansion, which is naturally overwhelming.There was also a stage in the Prime Minister's mansion, and the ministers and their families watched it together, singing and dancing every day, and Shen Buyu had no time to take care of Xiuxiu's affairs.

At midnight, Xiuxiu and Yanxi stood on the waterside pavilion of Yeying Pond.At this time, with the sound of firecrackers in various courtyards, the fireworks bloomed brilliantly in the air, making the surface of the pool look like a dream.

Xiuxiu looked up at the sky, feeling sad in his heart.She thought of her own destiny, just like the fireworks that have not yet cleared, things have passed, and time has passed without a trace.Unable to restrain herself, she groaned, and her tears were frozen into ice beads by the cold wind.

"Miss, go back." Yan Xi stepped forward to persuade.

Xiuxiu wiped her tears with her sleeve, and suddenly asked: "I heard that my father had a son before, I wonder if he is still alive now?"

When Yan Xi heard that the young lady brought up her father, she was startled, and quickly said: "The grown-ups are all dead, but a little sinner's child, who cares whether he lives or dies? Even if he is still alive, you are still a stranger to him. If he finds out that you have taken over his father's love for more than ten years, he might hate you. Miss, don't mention this. "

Knowing that what Yanxi said was reasonable, Xiuxiu helplessly looked up at the sky again.The fireworks dissipated, and it was too dark to see anything, only the bitter wind blowing the corners of her skirt.

At that moment, she felt very cold and cold.

(End of this chapter)