Dingjiangshan

In such a rainy night, it is impossible to lift the lantern out.

The lights in Renshou Palace were turned off early, except for a few candles in the main hall, most of the other palaces were quiet, like a dead place.

Although there are about fifty people serving Ruan Yin in the whole palace, the close confidantes can be counted with two hands.Not everyone knows the inside story of Ning Yan's angrily leaving Renshou Palace in the morning, but after he left, the guards on the inner, third and outer floors outside the palace gate can be seen by anyone with long eyes.

Shu Qiuyu came here in the afternoon, but did not enter the door, but stood at the entrance of the palace road for a while, then went back to the inner division without saying a word.

People in Renshou Palace were panicked, and in just half a day, the palace was visibly desolate.

The imperial guards around Renshou Palace changed in the evening, replaced by the two battalions of Shenwei and Shenjian who are close to Ning Yan, and even the front and rear side doors of Renshou Palace were all locked, leaving only the main entrance for the dining room The servant of the house came to deliver the meal.

The rain washed the light armor of the Imperial Army until it was smooth and shiny. It dripped along the sharp edge of the armor onto the bluestone floor, meandering along the cracks in the bricks, and pooled into a small hole next to a broken brick, forming a small pool of water. depression.

An embroidered shoe stepped on it, and the rain splashed wet the visitor's light pink skirt, leaving a little brown stain on it.

"Your Majesty has an order to temporarily seal Renshou Palace." The guard at the gate extended his arms to block the approaching people, and said coldly: "No one is allowed to enter or leave."

The footsteps of the visitor stopped at the door, and she was silent for a while, then lifted up the large oil-paper umbrella, revealing the delicate and fair face underneath.

"At His Majesty's order, I'm here to ask the Empress Dowager a few words." Linglong took out her waist badge from her sleeve, handed it to the other party, and said, "Here is your majesty's token, open the door."

The personal maid walking in front of Ning Yan probably didn't know anyone, so even though the commanding envoy had repeatedly told her not to let anyone in, the guard still hesitated for a moment, then reached out and took the things in Linglong's hand.

The token is actually a dragon pendant, which Ning Yan wears on his body every day and seldom leaves it. Indeed, he sometimes uses it as an emergency token.The imperial guard identified it for a while, and after confirming that it was Ning Yan's belongings, he returned the things to Linglong, and opened the palace door for her sideways.

Linglong thanked her and walked in with her umbrella.

This palace city has gone through several dynasties and generations. It looks bright and beautiful on the outside, beautiful and exquisite, but no matter how carefully the inside is repaired, there are always corners and corners that are neglected.

There is a small sunken pit under the threshold of the palace gate of Renshou Palace, which is covered with moss and tender grass, and the narrow one is very inconspicuous.

Linglong didn't pay attention when she entered the door, and stepped into the puddle, half of her embroidered shoes were soaked.She lowered her head for a look, then stomped her feet indifferently, leaving two mud marks.

Everyone in this palace is a good hand at listening to the wind and grass. Ning Yan just had a cold face with Ruan Yin once, and the atmosphere in Renshou Palace became subtle.

Not to mention the popularity, even the little waiter on the night watch in the corridor became perfunctory.

Shili surrounded the two-story inner servants, leaning against the corridor outside the hall, drowsy.He slept crookedly, the thin quilt used for night watch was randomly wrapped around his body, his clothes were crumpled, one leg was hanging down from the porch, and half of his body was already wet by the rain.

When the palace gate closed behind Linglong, Shili turned over with the quilt in his arms, lazily opened his eyes, and met Linglong's gaze.

The two of them stared at each other in silence for a few breaths, Shili looked away lightly first, rolled the thin quilt into a roll again, hugged and fell asleep again.

Linglong took another step, and when she went to the porch to close the umbrella, she shook off the rainwater from the umbrella, and sprinkled half a body of water for ten miles.

Shili was awakened again from his sleep, got up suddenly, and was about to open his mouth to argue, but Linglong had already entered the hall without looking sideways, without even looking at him.

Ruan Yin Hall finally had such a rare moment of purity—this is not to say that her hall is so deserted, but that the strong fragrance of Renshou Palace has finally disappeared. incoming moisture.

Linglong took a deep breath indiscriminately, feeling much more comfortable than the previous few times.

Even if Ning Yan regarded Renshou Palace as an inner prison, Ruan Yin didn't look depressed. As usual, she should drink tea and eat fruit.

Her close servant kneeled in front of the couch and beat her legs, and there was a small bowl of fresh and juicy grapes on the tea table.

Linglong put the oil-paper umbrella by the door, glanced at it, and found that Jiang Xuan hadn't left, and was sitting in a corner of the hall with a tired look on her face.

——Probably because of uneasiness in his heart, he was afraid that Ning Yan would kill her silently, so he insisted on relying on Ruan Yin for protection.

Linglong withdrew her gaze, patted the place on her body that was wet by the rain, and walked into the inner hall to answer Ruan Yin.

"This pass, why did you come here?" Ruan Yin glanced at her inexplicably, and said, "You can come in."

"The Zichen Palace is in a mess, no one cares about the slaves." Linglong knelt in the hall and explained: "So the slaves took His Majesty's jade pendant and came out. The guards outside thought that His Majesty called the slaves to pass on a message, so they didn't stop them."

"Messy?" Ruan Yin smacked the word and said with a smile, "What kind of chaos?"

Linglong came here to answer her, so she knew everything: "Your Majesty vomited a few mouthfuls of blood when he returned, and passed out after vomiting. Later, Director He invited the national teacher to come, but the national teacher seemed helpless ... On balance, Mr. Yan has been secretly invited into the palace."

"Then what's the result?" Ruan Yin said.

"Not very good." Linglong shook her head and said, "When the maidservant came out, the main hall was still brightly lit, and the master and apprentice of the state had never come out after entering the hall. The night poured into the drains under the palace road."

"Really?" Ruan Yin took the teacup, skimmed off the foam on her head, and said, "But as far as Ai's family knows, the poison is not so powerful."

——This is to show that he has doubts about her words.

Linglong wasn't surprised either, Ruan Yin had always been like this, she always only believed in what was held in her own hands.She has stayed by Ning Yan's side for so long, and she can come to pass the news at such a critical juncture, it is normal for Ruan Yin not to believe it.

"Your servant doesn't know either." Linglong said calmly, "Perhaps it's because His Majesty is young, so the reaction is particularly strong."

Ruan Yin didn't speak for a while.

She squinted her eyes slightly, and looked at Linglong for a while, Linglong's shoulders were tense, when she knelt on the ground, a small piece of shoulder blade protruded from under the thin clothes, making her figure extremely thin.

The longer Ruan Yin remained silent, the tighter her whole body became, and she almost shook in the end.

"...That's true." Ruan Yin said slowly: "The man I found to test the medicine is a strong young man, probably more resistant to tossing than His Majesty."

Linglong's shoulders loosened, and she let out a foul breath suddenly, her hands resting on the ground trembling slightly.

"No matter how you say it, it's a good thing." Ruan Yin twisted the Buddhist beads in her hand: "Since the matter is done, then there is no need to worry."

"Why don't you rush." ​​Jiang Xuan, who had been listening to the side, finally couldn't bear her temper, and interjected: "Did the empress dowager forget that your majesty has already torn face with the empress, and the empress dowager does not strike while the iron is hot, because she is afraid that her majesty will slow down. But with this tone, can't you come and clean us up?"

Ruan Yin's face turned ugly for a moment, but she wanted to have an attack but held back.

Ning Zheng has relied on the Jiang family's business route for so many years to pour so many herbs into Beijing, so it is inevitable that he has some account book or something in his hand.

The rabbit bites even in a hurry, now is the critical moment, Ruan Yin didn't want to make trouble, so she patiently spoke a word of comfort.

"Your Majesty can't make trouble." Ruan Yin said: "Let's not say that he can't get around the matter of Jue Hou if he wants to make trouble. Just talking about poisoning, as long as His Majesty has no evidence, even if he is the emperor, he can't 'justify' a person." The king and the empress dowager."

——But they can find a powerless and powerless scapegoat, Jiang Xuan thought.

Ruan Yin did have a confident background - she was Jiang Zhaoyi who brought soup to Zichen Hall every day, and it was Shu Qinghui who brought Jiang Zhaoyi into the palace.Even if the incident happened in the future, when Ning Yan really wanted to ask for an explanation regardless of his own cards, Ruan Yin only needed to say that she was old and foolish, and that she was deceived for no reason, and she would be able to bring this incident to a small one. past.

In short, it was Jiang Xuan and the Shu family who had "ulterior motives", so what did they have to do with Ruan Yin.

Jiang Xuan knew very well that until now, she and Ruan Yin could sit together in this room peacefully because the Jiang family also had a handle on the Empress Dowager.But the arm can't twist the thigh, if she really angered Ruan Yin, Ruan Yin turned around to deal with the Jiang family, it's not that she couldn't smooth that handle - the reason why she didn't, it's just that Ruan Yin was afraid that Ning Yan's oriole would be behind , just made Ning Yan a wedding dress for him in vain.

It's better for her to be more sensible, don't rely on this little "handle" to pull the thread too tight, and relax it a little, Ruan Yin is also happy to keep her.

Jiang Xuan took a deep breath, suppressed the uneasiness in her heart, passed a step between Ruan Yin and went down.

"What the Empress Dowager said is true." Jiang Xuan said: "But if you stand still, it will not be of great benefit to the great cause."

Seeing that she knew the current affairs, Ruan Yin absently twirled the beads in her hand, and said, "Your Majesty's news will not be hidden for long, and there will always be times when the truth will be revealed. Zheng'er just needs to hold back and wait until His Majesty can no longer hide it. It's time for us to take the initiative."

Jiang Xuan didn't know much about the affairs in Beijing, so she subconsciously asked, "...what?"

But Ruan Yin didn't want to talk to her anymore, she stood up while supporting the servant's hand, and called for someone by the way.

Shili Yiling, who was on duty at night in the corridor, got up from his sleep, wiped off his crumpled clothes quickly, knelt at the door and said yes.

Ruan Yin glanced at the door, didn't notice his appearance clearly, and didn't care, she casually ordered: "Get ready the kite raised in the back hall."

"Is the Empress Dowager going to send a letter to our lord?" Linglong said: "There are a lot of forbidden troops outside, if you release the kite, they might find out, it would be safer if you don't give the letter to the servants to take it out."

"No." Ruan Yin glanced at her with lowered eyes, and said, "The Ai family will release this news in person."

As Ruan Yin spoke, she raised her eyes and glanced around the room. Her gaze slowly passed over the faces of each confidant, and finally returned to Linglong's kneeling figure.

"To survive in the harem, you have to be cautious all the time." Ruan Yin smiled and said coldly: "No one in the Ai family would believe such an important matter."