National Division

The Qingliang Hall was originally a place to enjoy the cool air in summer, and there are exquisitely carved long windows on all sides. Although the window paper is pasted, the wind will still leak in through the gaps.The queen originally planned to go to the cold, so she specially wore big wool clothes that were hot inside and out, and added a mink cloak on the outside, but who knew that it was as warm as spring when she entered the palace, not to mention the cloak, even the clothes outside were warm. The big clothes were too much to wear, so I couldn't help looking around curiously, but I didn't find any extra charcoal basins.

Concubine Ye Gui sat on the first seat on the right hand side of Emperor Jing'an, seeing the empress looking around, she pursed her lips and said with a smile: "What are you looking at, empress?"

Emperor Jing'an was in a very good mood this year, even happier than last year when he welcomed Xing Tiehe back and saw the auspicious sign of Changhong Guanyue. He said, "The empress doesn't know why the palace is so warm? Look around here."

Qi Jun also looked over, and saw many screens placed around the hall, but they were pitch black, and they were made of fine iron, with various patterns chiseled on them, the small ones were flowers, insects and birds, and the large ones were Mountains, stones and flowing springs, behind Emperor Jing'an and the empress is a huge frame, on which is a copy of the famous painting "Qingxi Night Snow Picture" of the previous dynasty, only the mountains are continuous, and a bright moon hangs obliquely on the top of the peak, illuminating a clear stream below. The stream trickles by, and the poet leaning on a stick and chanting by the stream is half a foot tall, with beards and beards present, delicate and subtle.Emperor Jing'an smiled and said, "The empress touches it."

The queen carefully reached out and touched it, with a look of surprise on her face: "Hot?"

Emperor Jing'an smiled and said: "There is a layer inside, filled with hot charcoal." He raised his finger and pointed, "Everyone has one behind their backs, and this hall is so warm."

The queen was very interested: "Did the Secretary of Internal Affairs come up with it? It really is a good idea."

Concubine Ye Gui smiled and said: "Being able to enter the eyes of the empress, it can be seen that the elder brother of the concubine did not waste his thoughts in vain."

As soon as she heard that the Ye family had come up with this idea, the queen immediately lost interest.Concubine Ye Gui ignored her expression and only sighed softly: "Actually, the idea was that when my concubine's elder brother was in the army, he saw that the soldiers guarding the grain and grass were suffering from the cold, but there was no good silver frost charcoal in the army. The grass and trees came to be burned, and I was afraid that the water would run away at night, so I simply made some iron boxes and burned some firewood in them, and the elder concubine saw this, and then thought of making this iron painted screen for use by His Majesty and Empress."

There were many concubines crowded in the hall, Emperor Jing'an and Concubine Ye Gui were seated next to each other, upon hearing this, he patted her hand: "General Ye is so loyal, it's rare that he always misses me."

Concubine Ye Gui immediately smiled: "He is a courtier of His Majesty, he is always thinking of His Majesty, who else should he be thinking of? It is his duty to be a courtier. But the servants are thinking, those soldiers are really suffering. I heard that this year the South It's cold, the army can't even afford charcoal, I don't know how to survive this winter..."

"Well——" Emperor Jing'an nodded thoughtfully, "Forget it, after the new year, ask the Ministry of Households to transfer a sum of money to the southwest."

Qi Jun sat firmly, already scolding his mother in his heart.What a loyal General Ye, who saw soldiers guarding food and grass, unexpectedly came up with an iron painting screen?If he believes that there is a ghost!Not to mention anything else, just say that the iron paintings on this screen are not bad, and the small flowers and birds are nothing more than that. The "Qingxi Night Snow Picture" imitated from the previous dynasty, using a hammer as a brush, can actually imitate [-] to [-]% of the brushwork. , how can this be achieved overnight?I don't know how much the Ye family has spent searching for good craftsmen for this iron painting screen, and maybe they still need to train them, let alone how much they have to scrap before they can present such a palace of iron painting screens.Among them, it is an understatement to say that it is a waste.Although Mrs. Ye is a great general, his yearly salary is only a thousand taels of silver, and his family is a bit reluctant to have enough food and clothing. Where did he get the money to do this?Its source of wealth is self-evident.Although it is a peaceful and prosperous age, but the tax has been increased several times, and these officials are scratching the ground, how can the people not complain?Although he, the crown prince, tried his best to improve his political affairs, Emperor Jing'an was at the top and officials were at the bottom. If he tried his best, after all his status was embarrassing, how much could he do?If you really want to rectify the court and bring peace to the world, you have to sit on that chair in the Tai Chi Hall first.

Although it was a reunion banquet in the Inner Palace, as usual Ma Mingzi would also be present, and naturally there was another Immortal Master Xiu Ming this year.Zhen Mingzi is fine, he is older than Emperor Jing'an, so there is no need to shy away from it, but Zhibai is a handsome young man, and he can be among the concubines. Some new concubines are curious, although they dare not talk, But she couldn't help but want to secretly look at him.

At the New Year's Eve banquet, as usual, Emperor Jing'an received a glass of wine, the queen received a glass of wine, and the prince received another glass of wine, and the New Year celebrations began with singing and dancing.At this time, all the concubines in the harem must show their talents, especially those who are not very favored, and they must do their best to catch the eyes of the emperor. , but also very lively.

Emperor Jing'an had a smile on his face, and after seeing the talents of his concubines for half a day, he turned to Concubine Ye and said, "Didn't Concubine Gui prepare any songs and dances for me this year?" go to battle.

"Your Majesty, my concubine is getting older and cannot perform dances for His Majesty in person." Concubine Ye Gui is also in her thirties, and it is rare to be able to dance with her slender waist these years, but this year she is really strong. Uncaught, "However, the concubine also meticulously rehearsed a new dance for His Majesty. Here, there is also the help of the national teacher. If your majesty sees it well in a while, you must reward the concubine."

Showing off her love so brightly, although the queen tried her best to restrain her, her eyes showed complex expressions of disdain and jealousy, anger and a little envy. Those young concubines were not deep in the city, and they had different expressions.Emperor Jing'an didn't pay attention at all, he just said with a bit of surprise: "Is there any help from the national teacher? Okay, okay, I want to see it even more! Come on!"

Concubine Ye Gui smiled slightly and said: "Your Majesty, the ministers and concubines must first extinguish the candles in this hall." Where the emperor is, the lights must be brightly lit, lest someone take advantage of the darkness to do anything wrong. Dare to make such a request.Emperor Jing'an readily agreed, and immediately the palace people rushed, most of the candles in the Qingliang Hall were extinguished, and the few remaining candles were also covered by gauze, leaving only a very weak light in the whole hall, which seemed to be bright outside A few points.

Concubine Ye Gui lightly clapped her hands, and suddenly, the outside of the main hall, beside the Taiye Pool, suddenly became brighter.Dozens of palace lanterns have been set up beside the Taiye Pool, and behind each lantern is a huge bronze mirror, which reflects the light onto the pool surface, shining brightly.About the time when the concubines in Caicai Palace were performing their skills, more than ten dancers had gathered on the surface of Taiye Pool. Although the weather was cold, everyone was wearing gauze clothes as thin as cicada's wings, posing on the water surface as flying fairies. posture.There was a sound of drums and the sound of silk and bamboo, and the dozen or so dancers moved from stillness to dance on the water.

Emperor Jing'an narrowed his eyes: "This water——Aifei is really a coincidence!" The water surface was originally made of wood planks in the shape of lotus leaves, which looked like real lotus leaves from a distance when laid on the water surface. The dancer seemed to be dancing on the lotus leaves.

Concubine Ye Gui smiled sweetly: "Your Majesty hasn't seen the benefits yet."

"Is there any benefit?" Emperor Jing'an was surprised, "I want to take a closer look."

Qi Jun looked around Taiye Pool, but he already saw something strange.There were no palace attendants standing behind the dozens of palace lanterns, each palace lantern was about three feet apart, a circle of several tens of feet away, but they lighted up at the same time just now, which is beyond human power.He also heard that in the previous dynasty, silk thread coated with grease was strung across the candle wick, and hundreds of lamps could be lit without manpower.But it takes time for the silk thread to burn, and the candles are lit up one by one, it is absolutely impossible to light up at the same time.What's more, if you look closely, the huge bronze mirror behind each lamp is actually rotating slightly. No matter those dancers move forward or back, the bronze mirror can always focus the light around them.

Qi Jun looked at it for a while, and was sure that he was not dazzled, so a slight chill came up on his back, and he subconsciously turned his head to look at Zhibai.In order to show the detached status of the two outsiders, Zhen Mingzi is placed below Ye Guifei and above Qizhang, while Zhibai is next to Qi Jun.He was squinting his eyes and staring at the bronze mirrors, and after a while, the corners of his rosy lips were slightly raised, and then turned down with a bit of disdain, showing a contemptuous expression that was half a smile but not a smile.

"What is it?" Qi Jun raised his glass to cover his face and asked in a low voice.

"Five ghosts transport method." Zhibai replied with disdain, "Little trick."

Before he finished speaking, there was already a soft exclamation in the hall, a lotus leaf on the Taiye Pond suddenly flew up out of thin air, and rose to a height of more than three feet, and then the bronze mirrors around were tilted back, with a It stands obliquely on the ground at an absolutely impossible angle, gathering the light in mid-air.The lotus leaf was only a few feet in radius, and the dancer standing on it was slender, and she was the only one among the ten or so people wearing a wide-sleeved dance dress.At this time, the north wind was howling, and her robe fluttered in the air for several feet, dancing to and fro on the little lotus leaf.The sounds of silk and bamboo fluttering all around became more urgent, suddenly the dancer waved her left sleeve outwards, and saw blossoming flowers spilling out of her sleeves, fluttering down to the ground.

Everyone in the hall exclaimed for the second time. When the dancer girl waved her sleeves, countless flowers fell from her sleeves, and disappeared as soon as they landed.It's just that the gauze dress worn by the dancer is extremely thin and transparent, and everyone can see that she can't hide anything in her sleeves, but these flowers are falling down like endlessly, making everyone dazzled, even whispering. I can't take care of it.After a while, the silk and bamboo were all silent, leaving only a flute sound clear and rising, higher and higher, and the dancer's dance steps became more and more hurried.Suddenly there was another drum sound, and the dancer threw flowers with her sleeves for the last time, and all the palace lanterns on all sides were extinguished, everything disappeared in the darkness, only the sound of the flute lingered and lingered for a long time.

There was no sound in Qingliang Hall, and after a long while, Emperor Jing'an let out a long breath, and slowly chanted: "The goddess scattered flowers, decorated with grass and trees in the mountains..."

As he chanted, the gate of Qingliang Hall was pushed open, and Qi Zhang walked into the hall with a purple bamboo flute in one hand, followed by the dancer girl, and the veil on her body fluttered like water waves as she walked, as if she could feel it at any time. Fly in general.As soon as Qi Zhang entered the hall, he lowered his bow and said, "Your minister is showing his ugliness."

"You played the flute? Hmm—" Emperor Jing'an twitched the beard under his chin and nodded with a smile, "Sure enough, he has improved again. The dance is also good, thank you!"

The dancing girl prostrated herself on the ground: "My servant, thank you for your reward." She had beautiful features and a sweet voice, and Emperor Jing'an couldn't help but take a closer look at her: "What's your name? When did you enter the song and dance studio?"

"The maidservant only entered the palace this year. Her original surname is Lin. The imperial concubine gave the maidservant the name 'Xian'a'."

"Xiana?" Emperor Jing'an pondered.He likes the way of longevity, so naturally he has read a lot about these supernatural books. Xian'a is the ruler of the moon, and thinking of the dream trip to the moon palace in Penglai, he naturally has a little more love for the dancer in front of him. To divide the favor, "deliver the decree—to give Xiana a daughter-in-law, to live—"

"Your Majesty, how about letting Lin Cainu live in the Hall of Liangyi? The concubine is also thinking of someone to compare her dancing skills." Concubine Ye Gui spoke at the right time, with a smile on her face.

The new favorite and the favorite concubine lived in the same hall, which was very convenient for Emperor Jing'an, so he nodded immediately.The dancing girl Xian'a—no, she's going to be called Lin Cainu now—thanks shyly and timidly, and is immediately summoned by Emperor Jing'an to hold a pot of wine by her side.Speaking of which, this kind of thing should be done by the court ladies, but at this time, being able to go to the emperor's side represents a great honor and favor, which makes the eyes of the low-ranking concubines look jealous.

Concubine Ye Gui had a smile in her eyes, she turned her head and asked the queen with a nonchalant smile: "I heard that the empress has carefully arranged a play this year, and the concubines have been waiting to see it since the banquet began. When will the singing begin?"

No matter how stupid the queen is, she knows that acting at this time will not please her at all.Concubine Ye Gui's Heavenly Maiden Scattering Flower Dance was really carefully prepared. The scene of Lin Cainu dancing in mid-air and dropping countless flowers just now is shocking enough. What drama can compare to it?But she must not hurt the Queen's face, looking at Concubine Ye Gui's sarcasm eyes, once her temper came up, she didn't care about anything, and she was about to start the show with a sullen face.Qi Jun knew it was wrong, he coughed and leaned forward and said, "I think the imperial concubine is confused, the play is prepared by the team in the palace, how can there be any reason for the dignified palace to rehearse the play in person?"

These words are clearly satirizing Concubine Ye Gui who, as a noble concubine, surrendered her status to join the kabuki dancers. Concubine Ye Guifei wanted to speak as soon as her eyes turned cold, but Qi Jun had already left the table: "Father, my son has prepared a Sword dance, I just don't know if I can get into the eyes of my father."

"Sword dance?" Emperor Jing'an was a little interested, "Come and see Wu."

Concubine Ye Gui smiled and said: "His Royal Highness does not like singing and dancing, but today he is going to perform a sword dance. The concubine should open his eyes and take a good look. Lin Cainu must be far behind."

Qi Jun didn't answer, but just gestured to Feng En, and Feng En presented him with an unsharp sword.He said that preparing for the sword dance was not entirely a temporary idea, since he knew that Concubine Ye Gui was rehearsing the song and dance, he also prepared it in private.It is simply impossible to persuade the queen to fight with Concubine Ye Gui, and he himself is really not close to singing and dancing, so he has to find another way.Fortunately, he has never put down his martial arts practice and changed his sword moves a little. Although it is not as good as a maiko who specializes in sword dancing, it has one advantage - no one dares to perform sword dancing in the palace. In case someone takes the opportunity to assassinate What to do—Emperor Jing'an was in the palace before and never watched the sword dance, so he took the lead, even if he wanted to say it was not good, there was no need to compare it.

Concubine Ye Gui also thought of this very quickly, and secretly hated Qi Jun's trickery in her heart, but she said: "Light up the lamps and candles quickly, so that you can see His Highness performing a dance for His Majesty."

"Wait a minute." Zhibai suddenly said with a smile, "It's just a coincidence that Lin Cainu's dance was assisted by the national teacher. His Highness's sword dance, Pindao also has a little bit of icing on the cake."

Emperor Jing'an was overjoyed immediately: "Okay! I'm going to see the methods of the immortal master!"

Qi Jun couldn't help but also took a look at Zhibai, this matter was not discussed in advance.Zhibai looked back at him with a smile, looked left and right, picked up a white porcelain glazed plate, raised his hand and threw it on the iron painted screen behind Emperor Jing'an.This action startled everyone, everyone was waiting to hear the sound of the plate falling into eight petals, but they saw that the plate was firmly attached to the screen, and it was buckled right at the position of the full moon.When everyone was surprised, the plate had already emitted light, and it became brighter and brighter, and finally it illuminated every corner of Qingliang Hall with silver light, which was both bright and extremely soft, as if the full moon in the sky had really fallen into the hall.

Emperor Jing'an praised repeatedly, but Zhibai didn't finish, took his own pair of tooth chopsticks in his hands, gently waved his hands, and another tooth chopsticks ran towards the plate on the screen again.This time, no one exclaimed, and everyone held their breath to watch, only to see the chopsticks thrown into a round of silver light without any movement. After a while, a black shadow gradually appeared in the center of the silver light, and the As she grew bigger, she gradually took on a human shape, looking at her graceful figure in a long skirt with wide sleeves, she looked like a woman.

Before Emperor Jing'an could open his mouth to ask, Zhibai had already tapped the wine glass in front of him with his other tooth chopsticks, and began to sing with his voice: "Killing Ou Song, who will be with you? Throwing shuttle..."

No one has ever heard Zhibai sing before, all I know is that this Immortal Master Xiuming usually speaks in a slow voice. So tactful and nuanced, but has its own kind of uninhibited wildness.In the midst of his singing, Qi Jun drew his sword out of its sheath, and danced with it on the main hall of Qingliang Palace.