Queen Qi's imperial concubine, the maids and maids of Kunning Palace, are also well versed in the survival of the harem, and they never say too much about things that should not be said.

It was only in the past two days that Wen Xi heard Nanny Zhu mention the matter of Gu Changjin's request to marry Rong Shu, and she was naturally shocked and horrified.

After the shock, there was a burst of soreness like a lump in the throat.

Queen Qi's expression turned pale, she rubbed her brows and said, "I had some unpleasantness with the prince today. Let's wait until the prince's anger has subsided."

After that, she gently held Wen Xi's hand and asked seriously. : "You are my daughter, but you cannot recognize your ancestors and return to the clan. How can you hate me and your father?"

Empress Qi looked at her with the eyes of a loving mother, full of guilt and love.

Wen Xi lowered his eyelashes and said nothing.

When Queen Qi saw this, she softened her voice and said, "I had no choice but to replace you in the first place. I will definitely make it up to you in the future."

Wen Xi then said softly: "I have never blamed you.

Queen Qi smiled happily: "That's good. This year's New Year's Eve family banquet, I will officially accept you as my adopted daughter, and your father will make you the princess." Speaking

of Emperor Jiayou, she said. After a slight pause, he continued: "Your father came to Kunning Palace earlier, and you were in a coma. Now that the New Year is approaching, he has to deal with the war in the north and the successive natural and man-made disasters in Dayin, probably on the day of the family banquet. Don’t think too much when you have time.”

It’s a family dinner, so we will definitely see Brother Chang Jin on New Year’s Eve.

Wen Xi's heart skipped a beat.

"Xi'er understands." She looked at Empress Qi, her thin and pale face showing a bit of dependence and admiration, and asked: "Just now... why did the Queen Mother and Brother Chang Jin have a bad relationship?"

She heard her call out, "Empress Mother ", Queen Qi's eyebrows showed a trace of uncontrollable joy. For just a moment, he seemed to have thought of something unpleasant, and that little bit of joy quickly disappeared without a trace.

"It's the prince's marriage." Queen Qi looked cold and said, "The Xing family and the eldest prince have never given up the position of crown prince. I just hope that the prince can choose a wife who is beneficial to him. But he—— "

Queen Qi paused, as if aware of her lapse, she let go of Wen Xi's hand and sighed, "It's okay not to mention it. After all, the prince will understand my painstaking efforts in the future."

Xu Shi didn't want to mention the prince again . After Empress Qi said these words, she switched to another topic. After talking to Wenxi for a quarter of an hour, she left the side hall.

After a while, Nanny Zhu walked in, holding a bowl of lychee sweet soup that had just been prepared in the imperial kitchen.

"Miss Wen, this is the sweet soup specially ordered by the Queen to be made for you!" On

such a cold day, fruits like lychees are rare and hard to find.

It can be seen that Queen Qi really loves her.

Aunt Zhu fed her spoonful by spoonful, and when the sweet soup reached the bottom, Wenxi took advantage of Aunt Zhu leaning over to wipe her mouth, and whispered in her ear: "The queen wants to personally feed Brother Chang Jin." The two of them had a quarrel today because of this matter." Aunt

Zhu straightened up without changing her expression, took the bowl and walked out of the room, walking along the corridor to the main hall, and soon she saw Aunt Gui. He left the main hall with a nervous face.

Aunt Zhu looked at the back of Aunt Gui as she hurriedly left, and slowly stopped.

After thinking for a moment, she squeezed the empty bowl in her hand and quickly caught up with Aunt Gui.

At this time in the East Palace, the cooks in the dining room were also busy.

Knowing that His Highness the Crown Prince was coming back for lunch, everyone looked prepared and half-heartedly grilled deer breasts according to the food list handed over by Lan Xuan.

Gu Changjin was not in a hurry to eat. He changed out of his court clothes at Chuying Hall and went straight to Zichen Hall. As soon as they walked outside the moon gate, they heard a burst of laughter coming from inside.

Looking up, I saw several maids playing shuttlecock in the corridor.

The shuttlecock jumping in the air was padded with leather money, and the leather money was lined with a few copper coins, and several pieces of brightly colored carved feathers were tightly tied with leather belts.

The shuttlecock is very new, and you can tell it is newly made at a glance.

The maidservants were very unfamiliar with shuttlecock kicking skills, but they had a great time playing.

Gu Changjin's eyes turned and landed on the girl not far away who was wearing a sky blue coat and a snow-green skirt.

The young lady, with her simple hair on her hair, looked at the maid in front of her who was kicking the shuttlecock. She had a smile on her lips and a slight sweat on her forehead. It was obvious at a glance that she had just kicked the shuttlecock.

In the past, on snowy days, she also loved to play shuttlecock in Songsiyuan with Yingyue, Yingque and the two fire girls in the small kitchen.

She is as beautiful as dancing when she kicks the shuttlecock. She can easily perform dozens of tricks, such as a golden dragon exploring its claws, a magpie climbing a branch, and a lion rolling a hydrangea ball.

Shuttlecock kicking is one of the hundreds of operas in Dayin. Her shuttlecock kicking skills were learned from a master of Baixi in Ciying Lane in Yangzhou when she was a child.

The first time Rong Shu played shuttlecock in Songsiyuan, it was the first winter day when the two got married.

He was still staying in the study at that time, and one day he got off work early. When passing by Songsi Courtyard, he heard a burst of cheers inside, and walked over without warning.

On such a frosty and snowy day, the bright red skirt of her body was dancing in the wind.

The vast sky and earth suddenly became filled with rich colors.

The copper plate made a series of crisp tinkling sounds, and the gorgeous carved feathers seemed to have spirituality, rising and falling in mid-air, like birds jumping in the snow.

The little lady kicked and said with a smile: "Here, this is a magpie climbing a branch, and I will show you a lion rolling a hydrangea."

As she spoke, she turned slightly and kicked the shuttlecock high with a "ding" sound. .

The two fire-burning girls looked round and clapped their hands together with Yingque and Yingyue.

For the first time, Gu Changjin knew that this dark and lonely house hidden deep in Wutong Lane could have such a bright and allegro-like brightness.

Any place where she is present is always lively and lively, even the usually aloof East Palace is no exception.

With a "ding" sound, the shuttlecock landed in the snow in front of Gu Changjin.

The maids who were having fun caught a glimpse of the figure standing in front of the moon cave door. They were all so frightened that their faces turned pale. They didn't care that the ground was cold and hurriedly knelt on the ground.

"Your Majesty the Crown Prince, stay safe."

Rong Shu had already seen him when the shuttlecock landed, and followed him to greet him.

"Get up, there's no need to be polite." The man walked towards her quickly, "Can we have lunch?"

"I have."

Gu Changjin looked down at her and asked, "What did you eat?"

Rong Shu raised his eyes. , this conversation is really familiar.

In the past, when he came back from work, she would ask him like this if he had eaten on time at the Yamen. If he answered that he had eaten, she would then ask the Yamen cook what he had eaten and how much he had eaten.

Although his tone was light at that time, he still responded to her words exactly.

Now things have changed, and she is the one being asked.

When Gu Changjin saw that she didn't respond, he looked at Mr. Zhu.

Mr. Zhu said respectfully, "When the girl got up in the morning, she ate a bowl of green stem porridge, two plates of pickles, and a small plate of gold and silver steamed buns. For lunch, she had a cup of winter melon and bird's nest soup and a bowl of silver noodles."

When Gu Changjin heard this, he frowned, looked at Rong Shu and said, "Do you still want some sweet soup?" This meant that she had eaten less for lunch.

Rong Shu hurriedly shook his head: "I won't eat. I got up late today and had my breakfast late. Your Highness can go and eat by himself."

Gu Changjin said "yes": "I'll be back early tomorrow. I'll have lunch with you. If you're tired, go and take a rest first. I'll take you around the East Palace in the afternoon. "

Rong Shu only played shuttlecock for half an hour, but he didn't feel tired. There was so much in the yard. He only listened to their words with his ears pricked up, and responded vaguely "Okay", just hoping that he would leave quickly.

As soon as Gu Changjin left, the maids in the courtyard, except Lord Zhu, all looked at her differently.

It brings a bit of admiration, awe, envy and other indescribable meanings.

"That's all for today."

Rong Shu said with a calm smile. She missed Yingyue and Yingque.

After lunch, Gu Changjin went to the big study room, picked out a pile of books, and sent someone to send them to Zichen Hall.

Rong Shu had just kicked the shuttlecock and was covered in a thin layer of sweat, sticky and greasy, so he simply went to the clean room to take a shower. When I came out, I saw a stack of books neatly placed on the table on the imperial concubine's couch. I knew who had sent them without asking.

It has to be said that Gu Changjin not only knows what she likes to eat, but also knows what she likes to watch.

The books sent were all travel notes and miscellany.

Rong Shu opened the curtain next to the couch, stood next to the big pillow, and slowly looked around.

Time flowed slowly with the slight sound of turning pages. Gu Changjin finished handling his official duties and counted the time when the girl would fall asleep.

He glanced at the sky, sent someone to deliver some documents, and continued working in the outer hall. Half an hour later, when he heard some movement inside, he put down the ink pen in his hand.

Lord Zhu and Lan Xuan were waiting in the inner hall.

Gu Changjin was reviewing the memorial in the outer hall, but the two of them did not dare to make any noise inside.

Lord Zhu is the maid in charge of the East Palace, and her character is quite stable.

Lan Xuan was younger, and she didn't dare to take a breath because of the atmosphere in the inner hall. Even Chu Gong had to hold it back.

As soon as Rong Shu woke up, she felt like she was being pardoned and hurried forward to tell Rong Shu that the prince was here.

But as soon as his eyes touched Rong Shu's face, his voice suddenly stopped.

The earth dragon burning in the inner hall was extremely hot, and several pots of silver charcoal were placed. The white jade-like face of the girl in front of him was baked with a layer of pink, and her moist eyes were a little blurry when she woke up.

Lively and fragrant, inexplicably makes people feel fragrant.

Lan Xuan's eyesightened for a moment.

Zhu Jun walked over and said, "Miss Rong, Your Highness is waiting in the outer hall. Do you want a servant to help you wash up?"

As he said this, he couldn't help but sigh in his heart, this girl is really amazing.

After serving in the palace for so many years, this was the first time she saw such a humble prince.

Not only did he leave the dormitory and keep vigil in person, but he also had to arrange the clothes and food for the girl himself. Now, in order not to disturb her while she was resting, she went to the outer hall to wait silently without saying a word.

Zhu Jun thought to himself that this is not the crown princess, she is simply an ancestor.

Even though her thoughts were racing in her heart, she still didn't show any signs of it on her face, but her attitude towards Rong Shu became more and more respectful.

After Rong Shu washed herself, she left the inner hall. Gu Changjin glanced at the two rabbit-ear-like marks on her cheeks, half-casting his eyes, hiding the smile in his eyes.

She likes to sleep with Yue'er pillow in her arms, but her face is tender. Whenever she touches the embroidery on Yue'er pillow, it will leave marks.

But she didn't even know it herself.

Gu Changjin looked at her again and said warmly: "Get ready, I'll take you to the martial arts field."

The martial arts field?

Isn't that the place where he practices martial arts?

Rong Shu was full of doubts. When he arrived at the martial arts arena and saw the hillock covered with thick ice and the wooden crowbar placed on the top of the hillock, he knew what he wanted to take her to do.

"In the past in Fuyu Mountain, when winter came, my father would secretly take us brothers and sisters to play in the snow with a wooden pry without telling my mother-in-law." Gu Changjin led her over and continued as he walked: "The slopes of Fuyu Mountain are high and "Double, the slope of the martial arts field is not high. It's just right for you to play now. I will take you to the mountains to play in the future."

The wooden pry on the top of the slope is very simple and not fancy at all, but the wood is very thick and the carpentry is solid. You can't hear any "crunch" when you sit on it.

Rong Shu touched the animal skins on top and asked curiously: "Did you sit on a wooden crow like this when you were a child?"

Gu Changjin said "hmm": "We each pry, and sometimes my father would let us compete. The winner of a game will be rewarded with a piece of smoked lamb leg or smoked deer breast."

Rong Shu glanced at him and the lunch room made smoked deer breast for him, using the same smoked deer breast she used to make for him. How to smoke meat.

As soon as this thought came to his mind, the man opposite smiled and said: "I already have a reward today, so I won't compete with you."

Rong Shu was playing with a wooden crowbar in the snow for the first time, and he replied after hearing this: "If you compete with me today, you will be defeated by force. I will compete with you next time." He shouted eagerly to start.

Gu Changjin looked into her bright eyes and smiled "Yeah".

Soon, a pea-green figure quickly slid down from the top of the slope, dragging two slender scratches on the flat ground before slowly stopping.

Zhujun and the others not far away breathed a sigh of relief when they saw that Rong Shu was safe and sound.

"I heard that His Highness sent people to irrigate the ground, and it took a long time to build this snow slope." Lan Xuan rubbed her hands and said with envy: "His Highness treats the girl very well."

Mr. Zhu looked sideways. He glanced at her and said: "Light the fire quickly. The two masters will be tired from playing in a while, so they must come over to warm themselves up."

After a pause, he whispered again: "Serve the beautiful girl. I don’t know how many people in the East Palace will envy you in the future."

Lan Xuan came back to her senses and said with a smile, "Thank you Aunt Zhu."

Mr. Zhu led the people to set up a tent to keep out the snow, and then built a fire around the stove.

Rong Shu played for most of an hour.

When the wind whistled past my ears, it seemed to take away all the depression and anxiety in my heart.

Just as he was having fun, Gu Changjin put away the crowbar and said, "That's all for today. I'll take you to warm up by the fire."

"One last time," Rong Shu hurriedly put up a stick. Pointing like she was peeling an onion, she said: "Gu Changjin, I promise, this is really the last time." This

was the third time this girl said "the last time."

Gu Changjin had never seen her acting so shamelessly?

He glanced at the tip of her nose, which was red from the cold, and was about to harden his heart to refuse, but when he saw her eyes as bright as stars, the words of refusal were stuck in his throat again.

For the first time in my life, I knew that the word "no" could be so difficult to say.

But what can he do?

This girl was born to defeat him.