married daughter

Chapter 340 Set fire to your "shop"

It's not the first time that the Empress Dowager's Ci'an Palace Ruan Yunting has come here, but the previous few times, she was accompanied by the concubine Renxian or the noble concubine Wan, but now she was called in alone.Ruan Yunting walked into the main hall with her head down and smiled wryly. Fortunately, she asked someone to go back to the old lady, otherwise, if something happened to her today, she would have nothing to say.

The light in the hall was dim, silver charcoal was burning in the three-legged brass stove in the middle of the floor, and the hot air filled the room with the faint fragrance of plum blossoms.The Empress Dowager was wearing brocade and satin clothes with agarwood make-up and flowers, a red gold nine-phoenix hair crown on her head, and a green emerald rosary in her hand. She was sitting cross-legged on a heated kang and chanting scriptures with her eyes downcast. She should be over seventy years old. But she has benefited from maintenance. She looks only 50 to [-] years old. If it weren't for the sporadic silver strands mixed in her black hair, she would have looked younger with her delicate face raised.

Shuangxi said in a shrill voice: "Queen Mother, Ruan Yunting has arrived." After saying that, she stepped back.

Ruan Yunting stood in front of the stove with her head bowed, quietly waiting for the Queen Mother's order.

However, as time passed by, all the people in the Queen Mother's Palace stood quietly, like wax figures, and the Queen Mother also kept her eyes down, carefully counting the rosary beads and chanting sutras. .

Ruan Yunting knew that the Queen Mother was punishing her, since she came, this was probably the lightest punishment.

About half an hour later, when Ruan Yunting's legs were sore from standing, the queen mother opened her eyes as if she had woken up, and when she looked up, she saw Ruan Yunting standing in the middle, and said in surprise: "Yo, Ruan girl is here, How about Double Happiness, why didn't you tell me!"

Shuangxi entered the main hall and quickly knelt down to salute: "I know my mistake."

"No, let's go." The queen mother waved her hand, stood up and walked towards Ruan Yunting, while walking, the yellow tassels on the emerald beads swung back and forth, drawing a dazzling arc.

Ruan Yunting lowered her head, seeing the gorgeous golden material on the Empress Dowager's body appeared in front of her eyes, and her eyes stared at her with substance.Ruan Yunting restrained her mind and didn't move, she didn't panic and dodge, she just let her watch if she wanted to.

After a long while, the queen mother smiled insincerely: "Yes, you are beautiful and dignified. You are worthy of being trained by Fengxian Academy. Mrs. Xu taught you very well."

Ruan Yunting deliberately ignored the yin and yang in her tone, and saluted neither humble nor overbearing: "Thank you, Queen Mother, for your compliment."

The empress dowager's lips, which had been painted with rose red rouge, curved into a profound arc, and she waved her hand to a nun behind her, "Miao Bing, Aijia's great cloak."

"According to the order."

A nanny named Miao Bing came up to her with a glossy black fox fur in both hands, and put it on the Empress Dowager's shoulders.

During this time, Ruan Yunting stood with her head bowed, and the Queen Mother's sharp gaze was also fixed on Ruan Yunting.

"The plum blossoms in the backyard of Ai's house are just in bloom, let's go, you can go and have a look with Ai's family."

"According to the order."

Ruan Yunting saluted with her head bowed, Fang stood up straight, and saw the empress dowager's old hand, wearing a sapphire ring and painted bright red Kodan, reaching out and grabbing her wrist.

For some reason, Ruan Yunting suddenly remembered all the witches in fairy tales...

The Empress Dowager did not bring the rest of the entourage, but walked with Ruan Yunting through the back door of the Ci'an Palace to a small courtyard, walked along the neat bluestone brick road until the end, turned left, and came to the closed Moon Gate forward.

There was already a little maid in emerald green jacket and double-ringed bun waiting for her. Seeing the arrival of the Empress Dowager and Ruan Yunting, she saluted respectfully, and then pushed open the red-lacquered wooden door for them.

The yard covers a very large area, and the green brick cross road divides the yard into four parts, where red plums and white plums are planted respectively. The silence of the garden and the fragrance of the plum trees make people intoxicated. A red hexagonal palace lantern was hung between the plum trees. The candle flame swayed in the night wind, which did not bring much light.

"Look, how is this yard?"

"It's very good to go back to the Queen Mother."

"That's right, the Ai family thinks so too." The Queen Mother walked into the yard slowly, her gaze gradually became far-reaching, "The plum trees in this yard were transplanted by someone when Chu Jing was there."

First quiet?Ruan Yunting blinked, this name and Chu Yun's name both have the word "Chu", maybe it is the eldest princess' boudoir name.Rumor has it that the Empress Dowager loves the eldest princess the most.

The queen mother stopped talking, but walked slowly ahead, as if immersed in memories.Ruan Yunting didn't say anything to disturb her, but just followed behind.

I don’t know how long we’ve been shopping, but when the sky was completely dark and the cloak on Ruan Yunting’s body was no longer enough to keep out the cold, Miao Bing quickly stepped into the yard and saluted behind the queen mother: “Go back to the queen mother, the thing you want to prepare is here.” , please move over."

"En." The Queen Mother turned around, smiled at Ruan Yunting and said, "You wait here for a while, Ai's family will be back soon."

"Of order." Ruan Yunting saluted, turned around, watched the Queen Mother and Miao Bing leave Meilin, and then sighed.

Where is the beauty of Meilin under nightfall?The Empress Dowager was in high spirits, shouldn't it be time to sit by the stove and have tea.

However, the Empress Dowager's order was issued, and she had no choice but to follow her orders. She was asked to wait here, and she could only wait.Ruan Yunting was idle and bored, and counted the branches of the plum tree in front of her by the candlelight of the palace lantern, and counted the second one after counting one.When she counted to the third plant, she began to realize that something was wrong.In the world where the two sticks of incense have passed, the queen mother should have finished everything, why hasn't she come back.Could it be...

Ruan Yunting lifted the hem of her skirt, and quickly returned along the original road, and soon arrived in front of the Moon Gate of the mountain. She saw that the door was really closed, and pushed hard, and opened a gap, but it could not be opened further. No, because the door has already been locked.

"Open the door! Open the door!" Ruan Yunting shook the red-lacquered wooden door vigorously. The chains and locks on the door collided with the door panel, making a loud cross talk, which was particularly ear-piercing in the silent deep palace.

But after shouting for a long time, no one responded to her.Another gust of cold wind swirled in, shaking off the snow from the branches of the plum trees, and the red lanterns on the porch were also flickering.

Ruan Yunting tightened her neckline and shrank her neck. Even wearing a sparrow feather cloak, she was already frozen through.

Such a vicious woman, it's no wonder that she can survive to the position of Queen Mother in the deep palace, she must be the leader in court struggles, not counting tricks and the like, she must do the best when she is ruthless .It seems that she believed Dai Xuefei's words, and she suffered from being dumb today.

Ruan Yunting returned to the middle of the plum grove, looked at the snow-white walls around the vast courtyard, and simply did not look for other exits.Since the queen mother came prepared, even if there were other exits, they must be locked, let alone going out over the wall.During the palace confinement, if she climbed over the wall and was caught by the guards, and put on an assassin's hat, it would be a serious crime of beheading. Wouldn't she be able to eat and walk around?
But just after the new year, there was another heavy snowfall the other day, and when night fell, it was cold. If she stayed here all night, even if she didn't freeze to death, she would definitely die.

They had never met before, and the Queen Mother could treat Dai Xuefei like this just because of a single word, she was really an unreasonable and cruel old bitch!
Ruan Yunting greeted the Queen Mother's ancestors in her heart, walked around the garden a few times, and knocked on the door again, making sure that no one came to open the door for her. The branches, no matter how thick or thin they were, were simply broken into a large bundle and transported to the intersection in the middle of the crossroads in Meilin. Then a large stone was moved to step on it, a palace lantern was taken down, and the branches were carefully lit.

The branch that had just been broken was still damp inside, only smoking but not igniting, and it took a long time for a cluster of small flames to ignite.

Ruan Yunting squatted at the side and stretched out her hand to warm the fire with the small flame. Doesn't the Queen Mother like this Merlin?Look at her for not daring to break off the plum blossoms that the eldest princess personally transplanted to keep warm?Then she was wrong.

In the main hall of Ci'an Palace, the Empress Dowager finished her dinner and then meditated with her legs crossed and recited Buddhist scriptures silently.Miao Bing accompanied her until the Queen Mother opened her eyes and asked, "Queen Mother, Miss Ruan is still in the plum grove. In such a cold day, don't let someone die."

The queen mother sneered, "Miao Bing, you have served me for so many years, you should know that this kind of seductress is what I hate the most. Today is just a small punishment and a big punishment. Don't worry, I won't let her freeze to death, she There's the Xu family behind, right? When it's almost time, just go and release her, and just take this opportunity to frustrate her, let her..."

"It's water! It's water!!"

Before the Queen Mother finished speaking, there was a sudden exclamation and the sound of a gong outside.With a sudden heart attack, she hurriedly put on a cotton cloak and got up to the porch, where she saw a group of court ladies and eunuchs running towards the backyard carrying basins and buckets.

The queen mother went down the steps and stretched her neck to see that the thick smoke was coming from the plum garden behind!

"Miao Bing, go and have a look!"

"According to the order."

Miao Bing took the order and trotted away.

The Empress Dowager was very anxious, she was standing or sitting in the main hall, then Mei Lin was personally arranged by Chu Jing before she was alive, what if it was set on fire?If the weather is not good, then what a good idea to light the house next to it!
At this very moment, Miao Bing came into the room with a tidy Ruan Yunting and a gloomy face, walked up to the Empress Dowager and whispered a few words to her, telling everything about Mei Lin.

The queen mother was furious when she heard the words, and stared fiercely at Ruan Yunting: "You are so brave, you dare to destroy me..."

"The emperor is here! The noble concubine Renxian is here! The imperial concubine Rougong is here! The noble concubine is here!!"

As soon as the voice fell, the emperor had already entered the hall with three beauties, and several of them saluted the queen mother together.

"Empress, my son heard that the Ci'an Palace was flooded, so he came here immediately. Are you alright?"

"It's okay." The queen mother tried her best to smile as if nothing had happened.

Seeing Ruan Yunting, the emperor was also very surprised: "Mother, why is the Ruan family in your palace?"

Xu Xiangwan secretly cast a questioning look at Ruan Yunting.

Ruan Yunting shook her head and bowed her head with a smile.

"Oh, this girl Aijia likes it, so let her come in and have a look."

(End of this chapter)