Chapter 275: 275 Tea Ceremony (First Update)
Chapter 275 275 Tea Ceremony (1st update)
Soon, the backs of Gu Jue and Jueying were swallowed up by the night, and they could only hear the sound of horse hooves gradually disappearing in the wind.
The mountain forest in front is shrouded in the bright moonlight, and the layers of towering trees are dim in this winter night, like an ink painting drawn with thick ink, cold, quiet, gloomy, and dangerous.
In contrast, the Hunting Palace Square was a lively scene, with piles of bonfires burning and crowds of people.
Chu Qianchen held the sleeve stove in one hand and led the red horse to a bamboo shed nearby. The red horse's fur shone in the light of the fire.
The place where this man and his horse passed attracted many eyes.
On a winter night, the wind was biting, so palace lanterns were hung in the bamboo sheds near the hunting platform, and charcoal braziers and wind screens were also installed.
Not only Chu Qianchen, but also others came to sit in this bamboo shed, including the emperor, queen, princess and other female family members, several Nanhao envoys, and some older clan nobles.
People gathered together in twos and threes to talk, drink tea, eat snacks, laugh and chatter, which formed a sharp contrast with the lonely mountains and forests in the distance.
One is hot and one is cold.
One movement and one silence.
Chu Qianchen was sitting alone in a bamboo shed in the northwest corner. Her surroundings were empty, as if she had been excluded.
The eyes of others turned to her from time to time.
Chu Qianchen didn't care at all about this.
She glanced around casually and saw a familiar figure in the front right. Shen Wan, wearing a pomegranate red cloak, was talking to Princess Shun and Princess Chang Ning.
Zheng Yuan went to Yunxiangzhai in the evening and checked Gu Zhiyan's pulse. The pulse report was immediately handed over to Chu Qianchen, saying that Gu Zhiyan had a fever due to wind evil entering his body. Fatigue, slow pulse.
Judging from the pulse record, Gu Zhiyan should be fine.
Chu Qianchen withdrew his gaze, slowly brushed off the foam on the tea soup with the tea lid, and drank tea leisurely.
After Chu Qianchen drank a cup of tea, Aunt Shan, who was wearing a rust-colored gown, came over, saluted gracefully, and said: "Princess, the Queen, please come and sit down."
Aunt Shan pointed in the direction.
The bamboo shed where the empress is located is at the front, on the right side of the emperor. The two bamboo sheds where the emperor and empress are located are naturally the most spacious and the most comfortable, with everything in abundance.
At this moment, there were many female relatives surrounding the queen. Chu Qianchen took a casual glance and saw many familiar faces, such as the Crown Princess, Princess Li, Princess Rui, Princess Jingle... and Yuan Zhitong, etc. .
Chu Qianchen stood up, caressed his sleeves slowly, looked slowly from the queen to the emperor in the bamboo shed next to him, and then continued to look to the left calmly.
In the bamboo shed on the other side of the emperor, several envoys from the Hao Kingdom, headed by the Prince of Andaman, were sitting inside. After the second prince Gu Nanzhao exchanged a few words with Andaman, he went back to find the emperor.
Chu Qianchen's eyes flashed and he said calmly to Aunt Shan: "Please lead the way."
Aunt Shan was startled in surprise.
She originally thought that Chu Qianchen would not go, and was thinking about how to persuade her. However, Chu Qianchen agreed so readily.
"Princess, please." Aunt Shan was overjoyed, with a hint of relief in her smile.
Chu Qianchen left her horse behind and went to the Queen's side with only Amber. Her movements were elegant and dignified, attracting many eyes that were either appraising or speculating.
As soon as the queen saw her, a friendly smile broke out on her graceful face and she said, "Nine younger brothers and sisters, please sit down quickly."
"It's cold at night in the mountains and fields, so be careful."
The queen considerately ordered someone to add an extra screen to protect Chu Qianchen from the wind.
Chu Qianchen thanked the queen for the seat and sat down. He glanced in the direction of Andaman again and saw that Andaman was talking to another Nanhao envoy.
This perspective is good. Chu Qianchen was very satisfied with his current seat, and his feeling suddenly changed from "far apart" to "close at hand".
When the queen saw Chu Qianchen smiling, she felt that this was her kindness to her, and she felt a little more calm.
"Ninth younger brother and sister," the queen spoke to Chu Qianchen with a smile, "this is your first time coming to winter hunting with the Nine Emperor Brothers. You haven't experienced night hunting yet, right?"
Chu Qianchen nodded.
The queen continued: "Hunting at night is dangerous, but the Nine Emperor Brothers are certainly not a problem."
"The Nine Emperor Brothers have been good at riding and shooting since they were young. When the late Emperor was here, he would always go hunting in autumn and winter, and the Nine Emperor Brothers would accompany him. Whenever there is a hunting competition, the Nine Emperor Brothers must be the leader whenever they enter the hunting grounds."
"I still remember that one year during the winter hunting, a black bear accidentally entered the hunting ground. The black bear was shot by a stray arrow and went crazy. It almost killed several noble disciples. However, the Nine Emperors came after hearing the news. In the chaos, One arrow hit the black bear in the eye."
Princess Rui next to her also remembered it, smiled and nodded in agreement: "I remember this too. King Chen's archery skills are really extraordinary, and his ability to cross a Yang with a hundred steps should be no more than that. If King Chen hadn't arrived in time, he might have been killed. Several lives were lost.”
"It was an advantage for us that time. I remember that the late emperor shared the reward with the black bear. My prince and I even got a bear paw."
These are things Chu Qianchen doesn't know.
She listened attentively, the smile between her brows and eyes became three points thicker, her eyes sparkled, and her mood naturally became happy.
She likes to hear about the prince's past the most. She has also heard many people talk about the prince's youth, such as the Queen Mother, Qin Yao, Cheng Linhua... Each of them is firmly engraved in her memory, and she thinks about it over and over again. .
Princess Rui seemed to realize that the queen was interested in talking to Chu Qianchen, so she followed this topic and brought up the last time Gu Jue participated in the autumn hunting with the late emperor at the age of fifteen.
At the end, she said with emotion: "I remember that King Chen asked the late emperor for orders to go to the North after that autumn hunt..." Recalling the past, Princess Rui, Princess Li and others were a little sad.
At that time, everyone felt that the Ninth Prince Gu Jue was ignorant of the heights of the world, and no one would have thought that the young man had actually fulfilled the oath he had sworn in front of the late emperor.
"..." Chu Qianchen's face drooped slightly, and in his mind came a young man with a bright and energetic face, standing in the sun with a smile. However, the boy's face looked a little blurry due to the backlight.
For some reason, at this moment, despite the joy, there was an unspeakable regret in her heart.
If...if she had been born a few years earlier, would she have been able to see with her own eyes how handsome and handsome the prince was when he was young?
This thought only passed by for a moment.
What matters most is now.
Now she can stay with the prince.
She has been lucky.
Chu Qianchen curled his lips and took a sip of the fragrant Pu'er tea.
Princess Rui felt that she had made a mistake, coughed twice, lowered her eyes to drink tea, and glanced at the queen.
The queen was a little absent-minded, but she didn't care that Princess Rui mentioned the North.
She thought that the time was almost up, and changed the subject with a smile on her face: "Speaking of it, I have watched the Ninth Emperor grow up under my watch. Now that he has a family and a career, I am relieved to have the Ninth Brother and Sister to take care of him."
"Ninth brother and sister, you are young, don't be afraid if something happens to you. Just make an agreement with me and I will make the decision for you."
"Did there be some misunderstanding between you and Zhi Tong this afternoon?" the queen asked with concern on her face.
"Misunderstanding?" Chu Qianchen raised his head and raised his eyebrows slightly. Most of his mind was still looking at Andaman. He saw a Nanhao man entering the bamboo shed and didn't know what he was talking to Andaman.
All she could see was that Andaman looked in the direction of the emperor with a not so good look on his face.
The queen didn't notice Chu Qianchen's strange behavior. She glanced in the direction of Yuan Zhitong and sighed slightly, "I know this girl Zhitong. She is well-educated and sensible, has a simple mind, and speaks straightforwardly. I'm afraid... The nine younger siblings misunderstood her."
"Because of what happened in the afternoon, Zhitong has been feeling guilty and blaming herself. She couldn't eat anything. She didn't even take a few bites of dinner. She was thinking about making amends to you, the ninth younger sister."
The queen waved her hand to Yuan Zhitong affectionately.
Yuan Zhitong stood up immediately and walked over gracefully, her little face slightly drooped. The lilac-colored underskirt made her look pretty and charming, and she had a rather spotless temperament, which made the princes and princesses around her all excited. Looked a few more times.
"Ninth brother and sister, today I will make peace with you and Zhitong, and let go of grudges with a smile." The queen smiled kindly, and assumed the posture of a mother caring for the world, "Zhitong is the niece of the queen mother, and they are all from her own family. Relatives, you should move around more often in the future, and don’t be strangers to each other... From now on, you will treat each other like sisters. "
"By the way, Zhitong, I remember that you are two years older than the ninth younger brother and sister, right?" the queen asked.
Yuan Zhitong nodded: "The Queen has a good memory."
At the same time, the eldest maid delivered a cup of tea to Yuan Zhitong.
Yuan Zhitong held the tea cup in both hands, bowed Yingying, offered tea to Chu Qianchen, and apologized softly: "Sister, this afternoon was all my fault. I made a mistake and almost hit my sister. It's all my fault. "
"I can't apologize to my sister."
Yuan Zhitong looked pitiful, taking all the blame on himself, but his words were unclear.
At this time, the other female relatives in the bamboo shed also calmed down, with different expressions, some showed sympathy, some suddenly realized, some were waiting to watch the show, or some looked at Chu Qianchen disapprovingly. .
The Crown Princess, Princess Rui and Princess Zhuang all frowned in disapproval.
Listening to the meaning of Yuan Zhitong's words, she didn't hit Princess Chen at all, it was just "almost".
After all, Yuan Zhitong is also the niece of the Queen Mother. Princess Chen still insists on serving her tea and apologizing in public. This is a bit aggressive!
The queen took in the changes in everyone's expressions, curled her lips, and said jokingly: "Ninth brother and sister, you have always been an open-minded person, so you won't be worried about such a trivial matter, right?"
The queen put Chu Qianchen up in a few words, meaning that if Chu Qianchen didn't accept Yuan Zhitong's cup of tea, he would be like a chicken with a weak belly and would inevitably be talked about in the future.
Yuan Zhitong's action of serving tea with both hands also attracted the attention of other people around him. More and more eyes looked towards the Queen, Chu Qianchen and Yuan Zhitong from other bamboo sheds.
None of these people knew what was going on. They could only see that the girl from the Yuan family was apologizing to Princess Chen, and they couldn't help but speculate.
Princess Liqin, who was sitting under the queen, stared at the queen, knowing that no matter what Yuan Zhitong was thinking, anyone could understand the queen's meaning. She asked Yuan Zhitong to call Princess Chen's sister and serve tea in public. This was obviously to rob Prince Chen's palace of people.
Princess Li frowned slightly, feeling that what the Queen did was a bit ugly.
Princess Chen is undoubtedly the legitimate wife, but the queen asked Yuan Zhitong to call her sister. If Yuan Zhitong really enters Prince Chen's palace in the future, won't he have to overpower the princess? !
Princess Li rubbed her temples with a headache.
The problem is that the queen has already spoken about this, and Princess Chen has no other choice but to accept Yuan Zhitong's cup of tea.
Moreover, when the matter reaches the ears of Queen Mother Yin, I am afraid that the Queen Mother will be unhappy with Princess Chen. After all, Yuan Zhitong is a relative of the Queen Mother, and Princess Chen cannot just use it to slap her in the face and establish her authority.
Yuan Zhitong was smiling, his smile was forced, weak and helpless.
Chu Qianchen was also smiling, his clouds were light and the wind was gentle, and his movements were still so elegant.
"Ninth brother and sister, hurry up and take it." The queen urged nonchalantly.
The smile on the queen's face deepened, and there was a sense of oppression in her words, putting pressure on Chu Qianchen again.
There was silence.
At this time, everyone's attention is an invisible pressure, forcing people to panic and unable to think calmly.
(End of chapter)