Prince in the same boat

Today is Qianqiu and Princess Yugui of the Prince's Mansion. The long street outside the gate of the Prince's Mansion is already full of carriages. The horses are tall and strong, and the chariots are gorgeous. They are all the treasures of the princes and dignitaries. Brocade clothes and jade belts, flamboyant and domineering.

Just at this time, several plainclothes guards came to the gate of the Prince He's Mansion with a seemingly ordinary carriage. Although the carriage was ordinary and the number of guards was not large, when one looked carefully, all of them revealed a look of vigor. There is also a high-ranking temperament between the eyebrows, as if they are not guards, but the children of nobles.

The chief steward of the gate and the Prince's Mansion was waiting. As soon as he saw the carriage, he quickly and carefully led a group of people to greet him. They seemed to be idle but continued to guard the carriage in the middle.He is deeply trusted by the chief executive of the prince's mansion, and he is deeply trusted by the prince and his wife. On weekdays, even some princes and nobles do not see him treat him so carefully, which shows the high status of the person in the carriage.

"I've seen the empress!" Seeing that no one noticed this place, the head manager carefully said: "The concubine and the masters wanted to greet them in person, but because the empress once said that they would come in incognito, I don't want to Asking the concubine to pay attention to the difference between master and servant during Qianqiu spoils her interest, so I greet her in the inner hall."

"Well..." A rather kind woman's voice came from inside the car: "Since it's a sister celebrating her birthday, don't be restricted by her status or status, otherwise she will come to kowtow to greet me as a sister when she celebrates her birthday." , not to disturb the interest, but it seems that I am a bit pretentious."

"Yes, empress, you are merciful and wise." The chief executive bowed and said outside the carriage: "The dinner party is about to begin, and the master has already arranged it. The guests outside are free to greet the master and Fujin and brothers. Please, empress, follow the concubine. The empress has a family banquet in the inner hall, which not only echoes the good intentions of the empress not to mobilize the crowd, but also allows the empress and the concubine and sisters to have a good reunion."

"Hong Zhou, you monkey boy, is very thoughtful. Forget it, let's take my old lady to the inner hall." The kind and kind voice said in the car.

The curtains of the car fluttered, and the first to come down were two fifteen or sixteen-year-old girls in flag dress. They were both young and graceful, but one looked dignified, dignified and intelligent;

The two beautiful girls shot back and forth first, and one of the charming girls turned around and said to the car: "Old... old madam, they are servants of foreign officials, presumably those princes and women who know you have already gone in, we let's go."

"Hmm..." A well-maintained and extremely fair hand stretched out from the curtain of the carriage, and was held by another dignified and beautiful girl. The two girls carefully helped a luxuriously dressed old lady out of the carriage.

The old woman seemed to be in her sixties, but she was well maintained, and there was a kind and solemn look between her brows and eyes; although her appearance was a bit ordinary, her gestures were of supreme majesty and nobleness in the world. The air is lingering, as if just standing there is enough to make everything sad!

"Time is not forgiving." Looking at the bustling He Prince's Mansion, the old woman sighed: "Thousands of years, even though it is a festive birthday, it is still a waste of time."

"Old madam, please don't say that." The delicate girl said with a smile: "Old madam, my life is boundless, and we juniors all want to look up to your blessings. When you live a thousand years, we will also It makes you happy to be so lively. Sister Qing, don’t you think so?”

"Yes yes yes..." The dignified and beautiful girl said with a smile: "Old lady, look at sister Lan Xin's mouth, it will please you, no wonder you love her more than me recently .”

"Sister Qing will talk nonsense." The girl named Lan Xin Buyi said: "Look, old lady, Sister Qing is bullying me again."

"You two..." Seeing the two girls fighting with each other like flowers, the old lady's mood improved a lot, and she pretended to reprimand: "Okay, what have you been used to like on weekdays? There are no rules. Hong Zhou and the others are waiting, let's go."

"Yes, old lady." The two girls also knew that the old lady was just pretending to be angry, so they were not very panicked. Instead, they winked and smiled and helped the old lady step on the back of a guard to get off the carriage.

In terms of the status of this old lady, she is extremely honorable in this world, and she is the birth mother of Emperor Qianlong, the Holy Mother Empress Dowager.

The Empress Dowager, also known as the Empress Dowager of Chongqing, Niu Hulu, was born in the 30th year of Kangxi (13). At the age of [-], he entered the residence of Yonghe Palace, and his initial name was Gege.

When Emperor Yongzheng succeeded to the throne, Niu Hulu's family was first conferred the title of Concubine Xi, and then in Jin Dynasty as Noble Concubine Xi.In August of the first year of Yongzheng, Emperor Yongzheng secretly established the crown prince, wrote the name of Emperor Qianlong Hongli, and placed it behind the plaque of "Zheng Da Guang Guang" in Qianqing Palace. , Feng Xi noble concubine as empress dowager.

The empress dowager and Prince He's biological mother, Concubine Geng's Yugui, have a very good relationship, just like sisters. When they were in Prince Yong's mansion, Prince Hongzhou and Prince Hongzhou grew up next to Niu Hulu. Emperor Qianlong also lived under the care of Concubine Yugui Lived around for a while.Later, when Emperor Yongzheng succeeded to the throne, he favored the noble concubine Nian Shi of Emperor Dunsu, and the two unfavored concubines had more contacts, and they had a deep relationship with each other.

Today's Concubine Yugui Qianqiu, the Empress Dowager not only gave the Concubine generous gifts in the palace, but now came here in person, which shows the importance she attaches to the Concubine.

It's just that the status of the concubine and the queen dowager are different after all. If the queen dowager puts on her identity to come, it is certainly a great favor, but the concubine will inevitably pay respects to the queen dowager at her birthday banquet. What the princes and nobles want to greet is not the birthday concubine, but the guest, the queen mother.

The empress dowager and the concubine are deeply in love with each other, so they naturally didn't want to overwhelm the host, so they simply came here in plain clothes, which on the contrary showed the friendship between the empress dowager and the concubine.

At this moment, the birthday banquet of the palace has begun, and most of the distinguished guests have already entered the palace. Those who are not of high status outside do not know the queen mother, but those who are interested see the chief executive of the palace respectfully greet her. The old lady guessed her identity one after another.

The gate of Prince He's Mansion is tall and wide, decorated with lanterns and festoons, and two huge stone lions are glaring and majestic.The chief manager led dozens of servants and guards to greet him, and led the three of them to walk inward.

Qianlong and the Niu Hulu family really had great trust in Hongzhou, and Hongzhou himself was well versed in the way of being a courtier. He was not as cautious as ordinary princes and aristocrats. More grace and trust.

Looking around in Prince He's Mansion, the gorgeous and luxurious palaces and pavilions are set against countless water, rocks, mountains, forests, ponds and pavilions, all of which are ingenious and exquisite.

Surrounded by a group of guards, the three of them bypassed the high terraces and pavilions, instead of going to the front hall where the banquet was being held, they walked to the backyard where the concubine lived, and passed by a small pool. bamboo forest.

The green bamboo grove is vast and raging.A gust of wind blew by, and the bamboo leaves fluttered fiercely on the bamboo branches, whistling like a sea of ​​bamboo, which was magnificent and elegant.

When Qing'er saw the bamboo sea, she seemed to like it very much, so she couldn't help asking in a low voice: "He Shun, I remember that when I accompanied Lafayette to the palace a few years ago, there was no such bamboo sea. Could it be that it was newly reclaimed?"

"If you come back to Qing Gege, this bamboo sea was newly reclaimed by the prince in February. He said that it is the best time to cool off here in late summer and late autumn." After entering the palace, there is no need to hide his identity, so He Shun also Used the old name.

"Oh..." Lan Xin's eyes flashed with interest, she shook the queen mother's hand and said coquettishly: "Lafayette, maybe the concubine and Fujin are still entertaining those female relatives. Didn't you say that this time I came here just to be with you?" The concubine is getting together in private, don't you want to make a big show of it? Lafayette has been in the carriage for so long, let's go to the bamboo sea to sit and rest first."

"Yo, Langege absolutely must not." He Shun quickly knelt down and said, "I can't go to that bamboo sea now."

"Well, why?" Lan Xin asked strangely.

"Go back to Lafayette, go back to Lang Gege." He Shun bowed and said, "Yesterday, my lord hired a painter who is proficient in Western painting skills, and now he is painting Western portraits for the concubine in the bamboo sea. Lafayette and the two princesses are both He is an honorable person, how dare he let outsiders see him, what should we do if there is a collision."

"Ah..." Lan Xinfei blushed, although Manchu men and women might not be as strict as the daughters of the Han family, but it really seemed inappropriate for a royal princess to meet a strange man.

"Western painting skills?" Lafayette did not blame Lan Xin, but became a little interested: "How come there are people in Qing Dynasty who are proficient in Western painting skills besides Lang Shining from Ruyi Pavilion? Where did Hong Zhou find such a person?" A painter?"

"Back to Lafayette, our master once showed this artist's paintings to the painter Castiglione of Ruyi Pavilion for viewing. It is said that the painter Castiglione praised him very much, saying that the artist's painting skills are not inferior to his, and his painting skills are innovative. , It’s the first time I’ve seen you.” He Shun said respectfully.

"Oh, you really have such good painting skills, even Castiglione praised it." The Queen Mother was amazed.

"Yes, Lafayette." He Shun confiscated it for a while: "Your servant still listens to my master saying behind his back..."

"Oh, what did you say?" Lafayette looked at He Shun and suddenly stopped, and couldn't help asking curiously: "Just tell Aijia..."

"Um, yes." He Shun said bravely, "The prince once said that the painter Mr. Xia's appearance and temperament, as well as his strength of character and talent are all unique to him."

"It's really rare..." The Empress Dowager nodded, she was very curious about this painter: "I can't wait to see him to be praised by Hong Zhou."

In fact, it was just a whim that Prince He would praise Yong Fan like this. He didn't know much about Yong Fan at all, but Yong Fan's gentle and sharp character was just in line with his temperament, so his appearance and temperament were mediocre. It's true, as for the strength of character and talent, it's a bit exaggerated.

"Uh, Lafayette." He Shun saw that the empress dowager seemed to have the intention of summoning him, and said cautiously: "This... Mr. Xia has a filial piety, it seems that he is not suitable..."

"It doesn't matter, the Ai family came here in a micro-service, so just don't reveal your identity to see it." The queen mother's curiosity has been completely aroused at this time, and she really wants to see it a little bit.

At that moment, the Empress Dowager retreated the guards, and He Shun led the two Ge Ge towards the bamboo sea.

Along the path paved with patterned cobblestones, bypassing the path full of green bamboos on both sides, you come to a small open yard.