Dingjiangshan

"Sweetheart?"

The woman's voice sounded a little hoarse, not old, but she insisted on deliberately lowering the tone to look nondescript old.

She held a string of long red sandalwood beads in her hand, and her slightly long nails moved the beads back one by one.The string of beads rolled around from her palm, and then fell down with a piece of yellow wax, swinging back and forth in mid-air.

"The Ai family has never heard that the emperor has a sweetheart." The woman said.

She leaned on the soft pillow with half-closed eyes, and two seventeen or eighteen-year-old girls were kneeling in front of the couch, pinching her legs carefully.

Shu Qiuyu sat neatly in the wooden chair under the soft couch, clutching a silk handkerchief embroidered with narcissus in her hand, covering her lips and coughing dryly from time to time.

The incense in the house was very strong, three or four stoves, large and small, were burning at the same time, and two or three sachets were hung on the screen.She was really not used to such a strong incense, and her face turned pale after sitting for a long time.

"Return to the Empress Dowager's words." Shu Qiuyu said in a low voice: "Your Majesty has indeed told the courtiers so."

When Shu Qiuyu spoke, he turned his body slightly, facing the woman on the couch.It's just that she lowered her eyes and looked at the small piece of green brick in front of her feet peacefully, her eyes never wandering.

Before entering the palace earlier, the Shu family had always raised her as a queen, and Mrs. Shu also told her a lot about the "empress dowager" in front of her.

This empress dowager, Ruan Yin, was the late emperor's confidant - the eldest daughter of the Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs at that time. Logically speaking, she could have been called Qingliu's lineage, and she was on par with the Shu family.

But the special thing is that her mother, the eldest aunt of the first emperor, Ning Shuyun, the eldest princess who was born in the first place, for some reason fell in love with Ruan Wenhua, a new Jinshi at that time, and insisted on marrying regardless.

At that time, there was only such a princess from the first line in the palace, and she was at the age of being favored. No one could resist her, so she could only raise Ruan Wenhua's identity and turn a blind eye to marry her.

Ning Zongyuan, who was still the prince at that time, followed his brothers to give him a kiss for his father, and also forged a little affection with the Ruan family at that time.

Later, Ning Zongyuan and Guanhou traveled abroad, and when they came back a few years later, for some reason, they married Ruan Yin, who was more than ten years younger than him, as the princess.

Mrs. Shu is not too clear about what happened after this, but she only knows that if she had to calculate carefully, the late emperor was able to stand out from the crowd of wolves and ascend to the throne. There was a lot of effort behind it.

The empress dowager is holding Qingliu's family background, but she is also very talkative on the clan's side, and she is really not an easy person to deal with.

"I came to you today, just for a casual chat." Ruan Yin flicked her nails as she spoke, and picked up a palm-sized jade ruyi from the pillow, and played with it in her hand.

Ruan Yin is over fifty this year, but because she has been pampered and pampered for many years, she is well maintained and looks only in her forties.

"Yes." Shu Qiuyu replied humbly.

Today Ning Yan set off for Winter Hunting. As soon as she left, she was called to Renshou Palace by the inner secretary. She also knew that nothing good happened.Shu Qiuyu knew in her heart that the empress dowager was not Ning Yan's biological mother, and there must be a layer of separation between her and him—not to mention that Ning Zheng had been imprisoned by Ning Yan and had not returned to Beijing for ten years. It can be seen that it will not be much better.

Shu Qiuyu was grateful for Ning Yan's regard for her, and before entering the door, she was worried, for fear that if she said something wrong, it would give Ruan Yin and Ning Yan a handle.

Ruan Yin didn't like her well-behaved and cautious appearance very much. Ruan Yin glanced at her and said indifferently: "Actually, it's nothing else to ask you to come here, just to ask about your palace history." How are you doing, have you been wronged?"

"How could it be?" Shu Qiuyu smiled softly, lowered her head slightly, and said gently: "The minister's daughter is a female official appointed by His Majesty. She is in charge of the internal department, so how can she be bullied. It's just that the internal affairs are complicated, and the minister's daughter is short-lived. Unable to get started, and afraid of delaying the end-of-year banquet...Fortunately, the empress dowager sent close female servants to teach, so that the ministers and daughters were not in a hurry. The empress dowager is so considerate, and the ministers are really grateful."

——As expected of the daughter of the Shu family, Ruan Yin thinks, she advances and retreats in a certain way, she does not show her water, but she is not a soft persimmon, a few words have picked the confidant she sent away from the inner division, and turned her into a considerate helper of the elders the person.

These words are so beautiful that even Ruan Yin can't help but want to applaud in her heart.What Shu Qiuyu said was to make it clear that these people were outsiders who were classified as inner divisions, and after the hectic period of the end of the year, they could be called to "retire after success".

But after she finished speaking, she used this as an excuse to brag Ruan Yin on fire, and Ruan Yin couldn't refute it any longer.

The little girl, who has just come to power, is so domineering, not even half of her power leaks out from her fingers.

He is indeed the son of the Ning family - Ruan Yin thought with interest.It's only been a few days of work, and the girl who has been cheated is devoted to him, and she doesn't hold any grudges when she falls from the position of a good queen, and she speaks for him inside and out.

Although Shu Qiuyu secretly refuted Ruan Yin's face, the empress dowager was more attracted to her. She touched Ruyi in her hand and turned her mind twice.

"That's easy to say." Ruan Yin waved her hand, motioned the two little maids beside her to go down, and said, "I understand the emperor. I have been in the palace for so long, but I have never heard of him having a sweetheart." , it must be an excuse for not wanting to get married for a while."

Shu Qiuyu didn't know why she pulled herself to say these things, so she just smiled shyly and didn't speak.

"The Ai family knows that you children always have your own thoughts." Ruan Yin also smiled, and said: "The Ai family was the same as the late emperor back then. They just tossed and tossed and thought that the other party was the best. It's been so many years. When the Ai family took you into the palace, they thought you were a good boy, suitable for the emperor."

Shu Qiuyu finally understood a little bit—for some reason, Ruan Yin also began to think about matching her and Ning Yan.

Obviously, when discussing the marriage before, Ruan Yin still ignored it and seemed to let it go, but now that the matter was settled, she came forward eagerly, as if she was born to like to point fingers at Ning Yan.

On the night of Wanshou, Shu Qiuyu fully understood Ning Yan's thoughts. He no longer wanted to be a queen or not, and was very satisfied with the current position of the secretary.

So Shu Qiuyu just smiled, and said softly: "How can I be the master of such a matter. Since Your Majesty has his own calculations and considerations, I can only obey orders."

"Since ancient times, the marriage contract has been ordered by the parents and the matchmaker's words." Ruan Yin rubbed Yu Ruyi in her hand, smiled, and waved her hand at Shu Qiuyu: "...Come here."

Shu Qiuyu stood up, walked up to Ruan Yin and knelt down in a daze, and saw Ruan Yin put the jade Ruyi in her hand, and patted her wrist very lovingly.

"There is something that even your father doesn't know about." Ruan Yin said with a smile: "...the emperor left a decree for your marriage with the emperor."

Shu Qiuyu was taken aback.

"It depends on whether you are willing or not." Ruan Yin said.

The incense slices in a stove in the corner seemed to be uneven in thickness during baking, and when they were halfway through burning, they made a crisp sound, and the whole slice fell into the fire.

A strong smell of sandalwood permeated the room. These complex aromas completely forgot the decent match on the fragrance spectrum. They were crowded and scrambled for left and right, and they were messed up in a mess. Finally, they were finally found in a door in the outer room. I found a fingernail-sized opening in the crack of the window, and I scrambled to get out.

The crushed snow on the eaves fell along the smooth ice edge, and became filthy after being stained by this fragrance. It fell heavily on the steps and instantly turned into spray.

- pat.

Outside the tent that was set up, the sound of crushed snow falling on the ground could be heard one after another. It was because the servants were cleaning the tent outside, lest the remaining snow condense into ice and weigh down the tent.

Ning Yue's eyes widened, he covered his mouth, and blindly blinked at Ning Yan.

"Heart..." Ning Yue said angrily, "My sweetheart?"

Ning Yan didn't feel that he had left a thunderbolt on the ground, but he was shocked enough by the three remaining people in the room. Ning Yue, who was young, couldn't hold his breath, and almost cried out, but Ning Ci pulled him away and remembered that he was still standing outside. Looking at Yishui's guards and subordinates, he swallowed back the screaming abruptly.

"Yes." Ning Yan skimmed off the froth on the tea bowl calmly, lowered his head, took a sip, and said, "Isn't it possible?"

"It's...not impossible." Ning Yue couldn't hold back his curiosity, so he glanced around, first at Ning Huaijin, then at Ning Ci, seeing that neither of them had any intention of speaking. So he could only bite the bullet and ask himself: "Who is the emperor's sweetheart?"

"Is it sister Ling from the Jiang family, or sister Yue from the Qing family in Dali Temple, or the second daughter from the young servant's family in Taichang Temple..." Ning Yue asked and guessed, and kept talking more and more vigorously, counting with his fingers : "Or the granddaughter of King Yong'an, or..."

Seeing that his counting was getting more and more outrageous, Ning Yan lightly kicked his feet, gave him a meaningful look, and said, "You are very precious to the girls who are waiting to be married in Beijing."

Ning Yue: "..."

Sure enough, Ning Yan put down the teacup, and said: "I might as well find someone of the same age in there, and I'll allocate it to you first. It doesn't matter if the wife or princess is a few years older than you, it just happens to be the housekeeper."

Ning Yue heard the word "threat" clearly from his sixth brother's mouth, and the corner of his mouth became bitter immediately, and he didn't dare to ask a word.While smiling apologetically, he quickly brought up Ning Ci, and moved out in small steps.

"Oh, I'm just joking." Ning Yue said with a dry smile, "The girl that the emperor likes must be in the sky, how can I and other mortals be able to guess--then, the emperor drinks tea slowly , Chendi and Fifth Brother went out to catch rabbits!"

As soon as Ning Yue finished speaking, he slipped away just like when he came.

Ning Yan won a big battle and was in a good mood. He put down the teacup with a smile on his face, pulled the soft leather over again, and shared half with Ning Huaijin.

There was no one else in the tent, and Ning Huaijin, who had been pretending to be serious by the side, was also relieved, thinking about it—he knew that Ning Yan was not married before, but he had never heard that he had a sweetheart.

For the elders, it is always not prudent to inquire about the private affairs of the nephew.

But Ning Huaijin was really curious, she glanced at Ning Yan from the corner of her eye, coughed dryly, straightened her waist subconsciously, and tried her best to ask this question calmly and casually: "Why didn't your majesty say before that I have a sweetheart?"

"My sweetheart, Uncle Huang knows." Ning Yan seemed to be waiting for his words, and said to him with a smile almost immediately: "It's just that it's not the time yet. When the time comes, I'll introduce you to meet."