Traveling through the harem: the favorite concubine

Chapter 126

"That person just now is Huang Zongbao?"

After Ruyi and Zhao Qingze walked a little away, they asked with a smile.Zhao Qingze nodded.

Ruyi couldn't hide a smile in her words: "I finally understand why you let him in front of the imperial court. Apart from his talent, the daily business is so boring. It's fun to watch him!"

After hearing Ruyi's words, Zhao Qingze couldn't help being stunned for a moment, and helped her hold the gauze cap with a chuckle, but didn't answer.

"Actually, with his temperament, I think it's good to teach Aman in the future. It's better than those old-fashioned old masters."

Ruyi smiled and took two steps. Not far from her was a simple small stall with the word "Yuanxiao" hanging in front of the stall.

Ruyi stopped in her tracks, pulled Zhao Qingze's hand and said softly, "If I say, I want to eat the Lantern Festival here, will you scold me!"

"Eat it!"

Zhao Qingze answered very readily, and dragged Ruyi into the booth. The business in front of the booth was very good, and several tables were already full of people.

"If the young master and madam don't mind, the old lady will find a table for the two distinguished guests and work together."

An old woman who was standing in front of the stall and serving Lantern Festival saw Ruyi and Zhao Qingze approaching, so she hurried out to greet them.

Ruyi was a little moved, but when she heard this situation, she didn't dare to agree without authorization, she just looked at Zhao Qingze.Zhao Qingze nodded gently.

Just as he was talking, he happened to see someone at a table standing up, as if he had already eaten and left.

The old woman quickly put away the bowl mat, and wiped off the soup on it with the tablecloth.

"What do you two honored guests want to eat? There are sesame and red bean fillings." The old lady waited for Ruyi and Zhao Qingze to sit down, then bowed and asked.

"Let's all have a bowl first!"

Zhao Qingze replied, but stopped Deng Xian from taking a handkerchief to wipe the table with one hand, and replied lightly, "You don't have to be so particular about going out."

"Yes."

Deng Xian bowed his head and stepped back.

But Ruyi smiled lightly and said, "It's beyond my expectation, I thought you would say that the food outside is not clean and won't let me eat it!"

Zhao Qingze also laughed when he heard the words, and smiled lightly, but said: "It's all grown in the ground, grown by the common people, and eaten by the common people themselves, so we can eat it naturally."

Even though he said so, after the food was served, Zhao Qingze didn't make things difficult for Deng Xian, and took the Lantern Festival in the bowl with a small plate to test the poison.

"The slave thanked the two masters for the reward."

The imperial physician beside him also tested the poison and found no problem. After eating it for a while, Deng Xian did not find any abnormalities, and brought up two bowls of Yuanxiao again.

Ruyi took the spoon from Deng Xian, adjusted the gauze cap, scooped one up and put it into her mouth.

"It's stuffed with sesame seeds."

The sesame seeds were ground so finely that they almost melted in the mouth, not much sugar was added, and it didn't taste greasy at all, but it was full of sweetness in the mouth. Ruyi couldn't help scooping one up and brought it to Zhao Qingze's mouth, and said softly, "You eat Eat, it's very delicious."

Zhao Qingze smiled and opened his mouth to swallow the Lantern Festival, nodded, then scooped one from his own bowl and brought it to Ruyi's mouth, and said with a smile, "This one is stuffed with red beans."

Ruyi took a bite, the skin was not thick, Ruyi quickly bit into the red bean stuffing.

"Osmanthus fragrans are added in, so delicious." Ruyi chewed lightly.

At this moment, the old lady led a couple over and said with a smile on her face, "Young master and madam, can you set up a table for these two."

When those two saw Zhao Qingze, they were also a little dazed.

"sit down!"

Ruyi greeted her with a smile, and said to the old woman, "We know these two."

"That's good, that's good!"

The old lady left, but both Anrui and Lord Ning were a bit cautious.

Anrui was better. These days, he often entered the palace to accompany Ruyi, and it was not uncommon for him to eat with Zhao Qingze. Lord Ning was a little cautious, and he didn't even dare to think about sitting in the same seat.

"Emperor brother and sister-in-law also come out to play!"

An Rui said with a smile.

"Yes, you and your son-in-law have also come out."

If he thought that Zhao Qingze didn't speak, he smiled and talked with An Rui.

After Zhao Qingze put the leftover half of the Lantern Festival that Ruyi had just eaten in the spoon into his mouth calmly, he said to Ruyi, "Eat the Lantern Festival, it's going to be cold later."

Ruyi nodded, just about to take a spoon to scoop it up, but Zhao Qingze said again: "Do you still want to eat red bean stuffing, I see you like it just now."

"No, I'll just eat sesame stuffing."

Although outsiders could not see Ruyi's face through a layer of veil, Ruyi's face was still slightly flushed.

The intimacy between husband and wife is fine in the bedroom, but in public, Ruyi doesn't have this idea.

Zhao Qingze scooped one up from his own bowl, and said with a very calm attitude, "Eat it if you like it."

The spoon in his hand had already been delivered to Ruyi, and Ruyi's face was flushed instantly.

Lord Ning and An Rui lowered their heads and tried hard to reduce their sense of presence. They finally finished eating the bowl of Lantern Festival. After they watched Ruyi and Zhao Qingze leave, they looked at each other and sighed silently, finally sending them away.

After eating the Lantern Festival, it was getting late, and Zhao Qingze didn't take Ruyi to continue shopping, but returned to the restaurant that he had reserved early in the morning.

The private room was on the second floor. When Ruyi and Zhao Qingze entered, Aman and Tianyou were already asleep.

If there is an opinion, I wanted to tease the two children with the gadgets I bought, but now I can't, for fear of waking them up.

The waiter in the restaurant came in with a few bowls of Lantern Festival and put it down, then quietly retreated out. Ruyi had already eaten, but now she had no appetite, so she just took a sip of tea.

At this moment, Zhao Qingze walked up to Ruyi, pulled her up to the window, opened the window, and said with a smile, "It's about to start!"

"Start what?" Ruyi glanced at Zhao Qingze curiously.

Zhao Qingze smiled mysteriously, and stood in front of the window while supporting Ruyi's waist.

With a "bang", a surprised look appeared on Ruyi's face.

The sound of fireworks seemed to be a sign of the beginning, but what followed was half of the night sky dyed red by fireworks.

"how come?"

It took Ruyi a long time to come back to her senses, she looked at Zhao Qingze and asked, "Your arrangement?"

Zhao Qingze smiled and said nothing, but Ruyi understood that this year should be a special arrangement. In previous years, although fireworks would be set off during the Lantern Festival, the location was in the palace, but this year it looked like it was by the moat.

But soon, Ruyi couldn't care less about asking each other, the charming atmosphere was also dispelled by the cries of Aman and Tianyou, and the two children were woken up by the sound of fireworks.

Although the moat is not close to here, Zhao Qingze chose the best place to watch the fireworks, so it is not far away, and the sound can still be heard from a distance.

Ruyi stretched out her arms to hug Tianyou, and patted him gently, while Zhao Qingze accepted Aman helplessly, and the good atmosphere was ruined just like that.

But there is no need to coax the two children too much. The two children only looked out of the window, and they were immediately attracted. Their small mouths were opened wide, and Aman didn't even notice that he was drooling.

"Will it be bad for children's eyes to watch fireworks?" Ruyi was a little worried, and wanted to reach out to cover Tianyou's eyes, but Tianyou moved his little hand rarely, trying to tear Ruyi's hand off, but with his little strength Wherever he could pull Ruyi's hand, he simply flattened his mouth and started howling again.

"Imperial Concubine, it's not a big deal to watch once in a while."

The nanny walked to Ruyi's side and whispered, which made Ruyi let go of her hand.

Tianyou and Aman saw the fireworks again, their small mouths continued to open wide, Zhao Qingze and Ruyi looked at the two children and exchanged glances.With a child, it is really not easy to want a space for two people.

They could only stand closer and closer until their arms touched each other.

After the fireworks were over, the two children were still unsatisfied, but at this moment, the freshness was over, and there was no crying.

On the contrary, Zhao Qingze couldn't help but wiped Aman's slobbering chin, and said gloomily, "These fireworks, I think they were set off for these two little ones."

Ruyi couldn't help laughing when she heard the words.

In the evening, they did not return to the palace, but went to Zhuangzi in the suburbs of Beijing. It was already late when they returned, and the two children were handed over to the nanny to take care of them. Ruyi and Zhao Qingze simply washed up and lay down on the bed and fell asleep.

However, in the middle of the night, Deng Xian came to their bedroom and woke up Zhao Qingze.

When Zhao Qingze got up, Ruyi also woke up a little bit, but hearing Zhao Qingze softly told her to sleep again, Ruyi only thought that Zhao Qingze had urgent business to deal with as before, and didn't care, so she fell asleep again.

Who knew, when she woke up the next day, Zhao Qingze still hadn't returned to the room.

She got up from the peony and fragrant grass, and asked, "Where is the emperor?"

"The emperor has returned to the palace."

Fangcao opened her mouth and replied.

"Back to the palace?"

The expression on Ruyi's face could not be described as unsurprised, how could Zhao Qingze leave her and go back to the palace alone, but Ruyi didn't doubt Zhao Qingze at all, and just asked, "Did something serious happen?"

"I don't know, but the emperor asked Eunuch Deng to wait for the empress to wake up to escort the empress, the prince and the second prince back to the palace. The empress might as well send Eunuch Deng to come in for questioning."

Fangcao said softly.

"There's no rush, we'll talk about it after we finish grooming."

After hearing Fangcao's words, Ruyi was not in a hurry, and sat down in front of the dressing table to start getting ready to dress up.

At this time, bells began to ring out from outside, one after another, it sounded very dull.

"This is……"

Ruyi looked puzzled, and exchanged glances with Fangcao and Shaoyao.

"Count, how many times?"

After Ruyi said this, she also felt that she was a little naive. The bell sounded like it was coming from the temple, and it could make the temple in the capital ring the bell. Obviously, some important person had left.

"Shaoyao, go ask Eunuch Deng, who..."

"Yes."

Shao Yao bowed her head and walked out, and soon came back.

The expression on Shaoyao's face didn't change much, but when she spoke with Ruyi, her voice was a little quiet: "Eunuch Deng said that the Supreme Emperor passed away last night."

"..."

When Ruyi first heard the news, she was speechless for a while.No wonder Zhao Qingze went back to the palace overnight, no matter what the relationship between the Supreme Emperor and Zhao Qingze was, it was his father after all.

"Find me a clean dress, Aman and Tianyou, let's change into a new one too!"

When Aman and Tianyou were carried out last night, Ruyi made them wear bright red clothes. If they still wear this outfit when they return to the palace, it may not be suitable.

"We will also pack up and return to the palace as soon as possible. There are probably a lot of things waiting for us in the palace."

Ruyi picked up the comb by herself and started combing her hair.

Although the group had already sped up their movements, the suburbs of Beijing were still some distance away from the imperial palace, and it was already noon when they returned to Zhaoyang Hall.

Ruyi briefly ate dim sum in the car, but she wasn't hungry, and she didn't ask the dining room to deliver the meal.

As for Zhaoyang Hall, it was still the same as before, and there was no decoration. Ruyi didn't know if it was because there was no time to arrange it in the future, or because she hadn't planned to arrange it in the first place.Zhao Qingze was not there at this time, and after Ruyi asked the nanny to carry the two children back to the room, she asked Shaoyao and Fangcao to hurry up and remove some festive decorations in the palace.

Because the new year has just passed, festive decorations can be seen almost everywhere in the Zhaoyang Palace, but it is really inappropriate for the Supreme Emperor to pass away.

"The sackcloth and filial piety clothes haven't been brought over yet, you go and urge them."

These are the most basic rules, and Ruyi knows it.

The Supreme Emperor passed away last night, and there was no time to make arrangements last night, so it should be setting up the mourning hall at this moment, and everyone will probably go to the wake at night.The white clothes were ominous, and she couldn't find such clothes here.

"Yes, the servant knows!"

Shaoyao and Fangcao responded, and were about to retreat when Zhao Qingze walked in suddenly.

"Meet the emperor!"

The two hurriedly saluted Zhao Qingze again, but Zhao Qingze didn't care, waved his hands casually, and let the two retreat.

Looking at Zhao Qingze's tired face, Ruyi knew that he had worked hard last night, so she quickly helped him sit on the couch, and said softly: "I'm afraid I haven't eaten yet, I'll ask the dining room to bring some food up. Take a rest after eating, you may still be busy at night."

Zhao Qingze nodded, but closed his eyes.

Ruyi went outside to let someone pass the meal, and when she walked back into the room, she saw Zhao Qingze leaning on the couch with one hand, frowning tightly, looking very depressed.

"what happened?"

Ruyi asked softly, reached out and touched his forehead, trying to smooth the corners of his wrinkled brows.

However, Zhao Qingze suddenly grabbed Ruyi's hand, twitched the corner of his mouth mockingly, and said with a half-crying and half-smiling expression on his face, "You know, the Queen Mother thought I killed the Supreme Emperor."

(End of this chapter)