Dingjiangshan

The New Year's Eve banquet is just around the corner, and the provinces and bureaus in the harem are so busy that they don't even have the time to take a break and visit relatives.

Born at this stall, Ning Yan took people out for winter hunting, and the number of principals in the palace immediately decreased by half.Shu Qiuyu considers herself to be a member of Ning Yan's faction, and it's not easy to ask Ruan Yin about everything on weekdays, and she has to be wary of the "helpers" Ruan Yin sends, most things can only be done by herself .

She has just arrived, she is not familiar with the affairs of the palace, but she can't show timidity, so she can only receive the stewards of the provinces and bureaus during the day, consider the arrangements for the banquet, and read the account books at night with burning oil. After half a month, she is haggard A few points.

Ning Yan did not come back for a long time, and many things could not be settled. The list of guests and ceremonial arrangements on the secretary's desk piled up more than two feet high.

Ke Ning was busy with other things, so she plunged into the upper study as soon as she came back.He had to meet the important ministers in the cabinet and listen to the affairs of the court before he could spare time to deal with the harem.

Shu Qiuyu waited from lunch until it was almost dark, and the little maid who went to guard the outer palace came back in a hurry, saying that the discussion on the other side of the study room was over, and His Majesty had already returned to his own palace.

Shu Qiuyu quickly instructed Ginkgo to pick up the stack of booklets on her desk, and hurriedly went to block Ning Yan.

It's just that this majesty does not slip away, like a spirit made of loach, Shu Qiuyu didn't delay even half of it when he got the news, but he still didn't block his people, but saw Ning Yue at the gate of Zichen Palace.

Holding a whip in his hand, the young prince was bouncing down the steps. When he saw her from afar, he restrained himself and walked down step by step.

Shu Qiuyu walked across from him, and she couldn't pretend that she didn't see him, so she walked up with lowered eyebrows and saluted.

"Hi, my lord." Shu Qiuyu said.

Ning Yue was slightly taken aback.

Shu Qiuyu wore a light lotus-colored long skirt today. The peony flowers on the skirt were embroidered in a simple way, but coincidentally, they were embellished with silver thread, which glistened in the setting sun, making it look very nice against the complexion.

"An, An." Ning Yue quickly nodded and bowed back: "You are... are..."

Ning Yue knew about Ning Yan. In his imperial brother's harem, there was no mistress other than Ruan Yin, but the elder sister in front of him was dressed in exquisite clothes and brought a maid behind her.Ning Yue was a little uncertain about her identity, so he didn't dare to scream.

Seeing his hesitation, Shu Qiuyu hurriedly said: "My surname is Shu. Your Majesty and I are in charge. You can call me whatever you want."

Ning Yue was taken aback when he heard the words, and raised his head to look at Shu Qiuyu.

When he was young, he went to Shu's mansion for a banquet and met Shu Qiuyu once, but Shu Qiuyu was still young at that time, so he didn't look much like now.Ning Yue looked at her carefully for a while before finding some familiar traces on her face.

"It turned out to be Sister Shu." Ning Yue carried the horsewhip behind his back, lowered his head, and coughed dryly: "...Sister Shu looks different from before, and I didn't recognize it for a while."

As he spoke, he quickly glanced at Shu Qiuyu's expression again, and said, "Sister Shu has become more beautiful."

"My lord is ridiculous." Shu Qiuyu smiled, and said in a warm voice: "When you grow up, your appearance will naturally change, and the little lord has also grown a lot taller."

Ning Yue took a step back in embarrassment, put the horsewhip in his hand smoothly into his palm, and asked, "Is Sister Shu here to find Brother Huang?"

"Yes." Shu Qiuyu said, "There are some trivial matters that need to be reviewed by His Majesty."

"That's really unfortunate." Ning Yue said seriously: "Brother Huang was called to the palace for dinner by the Empress Dowager, and he just left."

Ning Yan hadn't returned to Beijing for half a month, and as soon as he came back, he became a spinning top. After seeing this, he had to see another, and he was so tired that he didn't even have time to take a breather.

It was so easy to get rid of those chattering civil servants, and she had to play some filial motherly and filial scenes with Ruan Yin. Just thinking about it made Ning Yan feel tired. She wished she could finish her meal early and go back to the palace, and fell asleep on the bed. .

But that's good too, and it saves him the effort of thinking about Ning Huaijin.

Ruan Yin worshiped Buddha, the incense in the room was always choking, Ning Yan felt dizzy after just sitting for a while, and he just picked up a few chopsticks when eating, and felt that the dish seemed to be covered by the aroma of the room. Pickled into the taste, very unappetizing.

Ruan Yin probably stayed in this environment for a long time, but she didn't feel anything, she finished her meal slowly, and left Ning Yan to talk again.

Ning Yan knew that Ruan Yin would not come to him to talk about the relationship between mother and child for no reason, so she made preparations early in the morning, and she was not in a hurry. Help her back to the inner hall of the main hall and sit down.

"Mother's queen." Ning Yan pursed his lips and said with a smile: "My son hunted two deer and a red fox fur in the hunting ground, and just sent them to his mother. It is winter now, and roasted venison is the best. .The red fox has a shiny coat and a big body. The son looked at it, and it just happened to be a muff for the mother."

Ning Yan's tone was well-chosen, both excited and a little shy, as if he was embarrassed about something.He has acted like a baby in front of Ning Huaijin these years, and he has already figured out a way to set up a child's suit.

Ruan Yin took a sip of her tea, laughed along with her, nodded at him with her fingers, and said: "Your Majesty is still young, and still loves to play, so he went to the hunting ground without making a sound, and didn't care about government affairs."

This kind of instructive words were said with a smile, and the sharpness was cut off for no reason, and it sounded like a joke.

He Wenting stood quietly behind Ning Yan, only feeling tired for Ning Yan.

When the late emperor was still alive, because of Ning Yan's young age, Ruan Yin never even glanced straight at Ning Yan.Not to mention that when Ning Zongyuan passed away, Ruan Yin was sent to the imperial temple to "pray for the country" and did not come back until seven years later.

There is no love between Ruan Yin and Ning Yan, not to mention the fact that Ning Zheng missed the throne and went out of the palace for seven years. All these things are added together. Ruan Yin does not hate Ning Yan. .

In this kind of situation, every time they meet, they have to pretend to be harmonious with their guns and sticks, which is exhausting.

He Wenting stood for a long time, and his feet were a little numb, so he moved quietly, put his weight on his right foot, and continued to concentrate on being a wooden stake.

A maid also brought tea to Ning Yan, and Ning Yan took a sip and put it aside.

He and Ruan Yin have different tastes. Ruan Yin prefers stronger black tea and black tea, while Ning Yan likes sweeter white tea and green tea.Ruan Yin also understood what it means to be in harmony with one's heart, so she glanced at Ning Yan's movements calmly, without saying a word, and slowly smoothed the handkerchief in her hand, and tied it around the knuckles of her index finger.

"Speaking of which, I have read the letter sent by the queen mother to the hunting ground." Ning Yan said with a smile: "The third brother's concubine is pregnant, which is a good thing. The queen mother wants to take her to Beijing to raise her There is nothing wrong with it. It just so happened that the third elder brother also signed up a few years ago, saying that he wanted to greet his mother... From my point of view, if I hadn’t asked the third elder brother and the third sister-in-law to come to Beijing together, even if we can’t leave in time for New Year’s Eve, we can still catch up with the Lantern Festival During the festive season, when the time comes, Ning Yue and Ning Ci will be called into the palace together, which can be regarded as a reunion."

Ning Yan spoke very modestly. If these words came from Ning Yan half a month ago, Ruan Yin would definitely nod her head immediately.At the time, she thought that many things would be easier to take advantage of this opportunity to take Ning Zheng from the fief to the capital—but now she changed her mind.

"Forget it, the empress mother didn't think carefully enough before." Ruan Yin smiled and said, "Concubine Zheng'er's pregnancy is still young, if she moves easily, it will be bad if something happens. This big boss If you are far away, you don’t have to travel to and fro, and you really don’t have to rush for a while, just go back to Beijing together when you give birth in the next day and when the genealogy is published.”

"Oh?" Ning Yan raised his eyebrows, and said with a smile: "But didn't my mother tell me earlier that the place in Anqing Mansion is damp and cold in winter, so it's not suitable for raising a baby?"

The smile on Ruan Yin's face froze for a moment, and then was quickly covered up again.Ruan Yin glanced at Ning Yan with a bit of complaint, and said, "Yes, it's because the queen mother has lost her mind. Zheng'er and the concubine Zheng have been fiefs for so many years, so they must have gotten used to it."

"Besides, you have never been married, so it's normal if you don't know." Ruan Yin said, "It's the most dangerous thing for a woman to give birth. If you don't raise the fetus properly, it's easy to give birth. Zheng'er is approaching her forties. , it is not easy to have a son-in-law, if there is any mistake when entering Beijing..."

Ning Yan already knew that she had to change her tone, tapped her fingers on her knees, and forced down the corners of her upturned lips, so as not to sneer in public.

"What the queen mother said is true." Ning Yan had a very good attitude, with an expression of obeying orders, and said: "Then write to tell the princess to take good care of her. Don't move for now. I will go back and pick some rewards, and I will join the queen mother in the future." Send it to the fief."

"This is very good." Ruan Yin got the result she wanted, and she was in a good mood. She nodded at Ning Yan, and said with a pleasant face: "It's getting late outside, so I won't stay with Your Majesty. It's dark outside and the road is slippery. It's called He Wenting. Light a lamp for you."

He Wenting was called out, and hurriedly came out to answer, which was enough to give Ruan Yin face.

Ruan Yin left Ning Yan to eat this meal for two full hours. When Ning Yan walked out of the gate of Renshou Palace, it was already dark outside, and a few clusters of stars were dotted on the sky, twinkling, as if covered by a layer of darkness. fog.

"...It's going to snow again." Ning Yan looked at the sky and said with emotion: "It snows a lot this year."

He Wenting helped him into the car, and it was not until he walked a long way out that he finally breathed a sigh of relief, as if he had taken off something from his body.

"What's wrong?" Ning Yan's voice came from inside the car, with a faint smile: "What are you worried about?"

"The servant is afraid." He Wenting said in a low voice: "When you came back from the hunting ground, when you met the adults, the servant could not find Linglong by mistake, and the girl went out for more than half an hour before returning to the Zichen Palace. The queen mother called you to go again today, the servant is afraid..."

This is outside, unlike inside the Zichen Palace, so He Wenting didn't finish his sentence.

Ning Yan in the car was silent for a while, He Wenting thought he was also thinking about it, but after waiting for a while, he heard Ning Yan say lightly: "I know, don't be afraid."

"But—" He Wenting wanted to say that this matter is a hidden danger after all, whether it is today or tomorrow, the queen mother will always make a fuss about it.But in public, he didn't dare to speak too clearly.

"It's impossible to defend against people blindly, don't worry for now." Ning Yan had no scruples, and said: "Besides, you have been hunting with me for more than half a month, why haven't you made any progress?"

He Wenting didn't understand his meaning for a while.

"If you want to hunt, you can draw the bow if you can't see the shadow of the prey. Otherwise, you will only scare the snake and make the prey slip away." Ning Yan laughed at himself: "If you want to kill the prey, you have to wait for someone who can kill the prey with one blow." Only then can you shoot arrows—hunters are not stupid."