Retreat, Retreat, Retreat! - Chapter 40

Xiao Changning fell asleep in Shen Xuan’s arms and had a long dream.

The dream is still the most prosperous year of Xibi Palace. The courtyard is full of tender begonia flowers in full bloom. The maidservants come and go to perform their duties. When they see her, they smiled and said: “His Royal Highness Changning is back! Changning! Your Highness is back!”

The field of vision is hazy, and the cage is covered with a layer of light pink smoke, like a meticulous painting that has been rinsed with water, vague and mysterious. With mixed feelings for a while, Xiao Changning stepped up the steps and pushed open the gate of the main hall of Xibi Palace.

The breeze engulfed the petals of the crabapples, blowing away the warm fragrance of the room. The pale yellow curtains danced lightly, and soft light shone in from outside the window lattice, brightening up the graceful and noble figure on the side of the window table.

In the dream, Concubine Yu was twirling a white as jade chess piece in her hand, holding her homely hair bun, her neck was white and slender, and her peacock-blue palace dress bloomed like a lotus, which was breathtakingly beautiful. She seemed to be aware of the existence of Xiao Changning, she slowly turned a vague and gentle face, her facial features were hazy and she didn’t look very real, except for the clear and bright red lips with a smile, and she opened and said slightly: “Changning , Come here quickly, Aniang doesn’t know how to go in this game of chess.”

Xiao Changning stood at the door in a daze, with sore eyes. When he recovered, his face was already wet and cold. She raised her hand to touch her cheek, and felt tears in her palm.

After six years, she finally no longer dreamed of all kinds of bizarre deaths and partings, but flowers, light, and the person she missed most in her life.

“Aniang.” Xiao Changning walked over and called out in a low voice, as if he was afraid of breaking this hard-won peaceful dream.

“Hey.” Yu Guifei responded with a smile, brushing her warm and slender fingers across her cheeks, and sighed, “My son is so tall. I am a big girl.”

There was an endgame on the chessboard, Xiao Changning sat opposite her, twisted a black spot, and slowly pressed it down, raising his eyes to look carefully at the dreaming Concubine Yu Gui. The blurred vision and the strange halo made her look at her mother’s face, but she vaguely felt that Yu Guifei still retains the youngest and most beautiful posture, which is not at all the thinness and depression when she died six years ago.

“Ah, did you have to go like this?” Yu Guifei was surprised, and then she dropped a child, gently tapping the chessboard with her slender white fingertips, and asked softly, “Changning, do you have a marriage?”

Xiao Changning was stunned, and then a faint dry heat appeared on his face. Recalling her terrifying husband, even in the dream, she was still shy and happy.

After a pause, Xiao Changning nodded firmly and smiled: “Daughter is married.”

“Oh, that’s a happy event.” Through the dim light, Yu Guifei smiled and said warmly, “Who is the son of the son?”

“His surname is Shen, he is…” Xiao Changning thought for a while, and seemed to be hesitating how to use the words. For a moment, she went on to say: “He is a great man. Everyone is afraid of him. I was also afraid of him, but gradually , I’m not so afraid.”

Xiao Changning lay down, hanged the white dragon on the chessboard, and closed the game perfectly. He raised his head proudly: “Aniang, although he has a bad reputation, he is very good to me. In fact, he is cold and reliable on the inside. Man.”

“Does Changning like him?”

“I like it, since he took care of me who was sick.”

Concubine Yu nodded, still looking gentle and gentle, and smiled: “Then, does he like you?”

Xiao Changning was silent for a moment.

The wind blew in from outside the window, falling red and flying, stirring the pale yellow curtains, and the surrounding scenery instantly disappeared like smoke, and Yu Guifei’s smile faded away.

“Go ask him, boy.”

As soon as she woke up from the dream, Concubine Yu’s sigh was still in her ears: “He will give you the answer.”

Outside the window, there is mild sunlight on the white snow, dyeing the snow layer on the eaves into a faint golden color. There was the sound of birds flapping their wings in the sky. Outside the door, the tortoiseshell cat meowed, stepped into the house with light and delicate steps, jumped onto the bed, squatted at a comfortable angle on her bedding, and squinted in amber. Cat’s eye.

Everything is so quiet and beautiful, snowy and sunny.

Xiao Changning sat up straight, stretched his waist, and kneaded Amber in his arms. Xia Lu and Dong Sui heard the sound as soon as they got down and waited for her to freshen up and dress.

“His Majesty, I have scared the servants to death in the past two days!” Dong Sui opened the chatterbox, recalling the chaos of the Jingshi, she still had lingering fears, and patted her chest. The slave servant hurriedly packed up important objects and followed him out to take refuge. The servant servant was taken away by Chief Wu in a daze, but less than a mile after leaving the East Factory, Jin Yiwei rushed into the East Factory and started a big fire! Oh, if it’s too late Take one step, and you won’t see the servants!”

“It’s a lot of thanks to Shenxuan’s mindfulness, let Wu Youfu withdraw from the ambush in time, and leave an empty shell for Jin Yiwei.” Xiao Changning glanced at the mirror and brushed Yan Yan’s eyebrows lightly, and then used his tail finger to pick a layer of mouth fat and apply it on Lip. She sat in front of the dressing table, looking at Xia Lu who was silently combing her long hair in the bronze mirror, wondering in her heart, and asked, “Xia Lu, why don’t you talk? It seems like something is going on.”

Xia Lu trembled, lowered her head and said, “Your Highness, forgive your sins, the slave and maidservant have just lost their minds.”

“In the chaos yesterday, my palace was overwhelmed. After I separated from you, I don’t know what happened to you.” Xiao Changning looked back, his gorgeous lips raised slightly, and smiled, “You must have been terrified at that time?”

“Thanks to your highness, the servants and maids have a big life, and they haven’t hurt much.” Xia Lu didn’t seem to want to mention this topic, and her words evaded. In order to divert the topic, she hurriedly rolled up a round bun for Xiao Changning, and inserted a little green hairpin and gold wire inlaid jade hairpin. The simple makeup made Xiao Changning bright and luxurious.

Dong Sui took a few winter clothes and gestured, and asked, “His Royal Highness, which clothes do you want to wear today?”

Xiao Changning took his gaze back from Xia Lu for a while, thought about it, and squinted his eyes and said, “Last time, didn’t Shen Xuan send some new-style fabrics to this palace to cut winter clothes? Has the winter clothes been finished?”

“It’s done, but the fabrics that Admiral Shen picked are too gorgeous, and the clothes made are not as elegant as Shangyi Ju.” Dong Sui turned around and took out a water-red embroidered pomegranate jacket from the cabinet. Child, with a cobalt blue pleated skirt with gold trim and silver plums, “This is it.”

The color is indeed bright in splendid silver, but because it was cut with the fabric sent by Shen Xuan, Xiao Changning loves the house and Wu, so he also praised with conscience: “My palace feels very good, come and wait for the palace to wear it.”

New clusters of materials are worn on the body, and wealthy golden locks are hung on the slender neck, and a pair of gold earrings inlaid with jade sets out Xiao Changning’s bright and beautiful. Thanks to her excellent stature and facial features, she can control such bright colors without appearing tacky.

Xiao Changning was in a good mood. Recalling the agreement between her and Shen Xuan before the sacrifice, she was nervous and expectant. He looked at the bronze mirror left and right for a long while, and then satisfactorily grabbed the white rabbit hair cloak and put it on, and ordered the two palace servants to say. : “My palace is going out, you don’t have to follow.”

After two steps, I remembered something, and then added: “You go to the imperial dining room to see if you have any delicious food and wine, and bring a few more to Lin Huan.”

After explaining all this, she smiled and reached out and pushed the door out. In addition to the cold fragrance of plum, there is a faint smell of scorched earth in the air. Looking from a distance, the front hall of the East Factory still has broken walls that have been blown up. The chief officers such as Lin Huan and Fang Wujing are directing Fanzi to clean up. Clean up the burnt wood and **** in the chaos of last night.

Fortunately, the fire was extinguished in time, and the backyard and South Pavilion were not affected.

Xiao Changning wandered around Shenxuan’s bedroom and study, but he didn’t see Shenxuan’s figure, so he turned to the atrium again. She waved to Lin Huan, who was supervising Fanzi cleaning the ruins, and whispered: “Xiao Linzi, come here, come here!”

Lin Huan had a plump, hot bean paste bag in his mouth, and was squatting on the marble carved fence to supervise the work. Hearing Xiao Changning calling him, he turned a gentle and harmless bun’s face, blinked, and then stuffed the remaining half of the bun into his mouth one by one, turned over and leaped, and landed firmly in front of her.

He was injured yesterday, with a bandage on his left hand, and two splints to fix his forearm, just hanging the injured arm and bulging cheeks and said vaguely: “What’s the matter, ma’am?”

This kid always stubbornly called her “Mrs. Admiral”, Xiao Changning corrected it several times, but to no avail, so he had to follow him.

Seeing his clear and loyal sight, Xiao Changning forgot what to ask, and subconsciously said: “Are you injured?”

“Fighting with the queen yesterday, my hand broke.” Lin Huan swallowed the bun, licked her lips intently, and added, “However, I also slashed the queen. It was a tie.”

As the first Dongchang **** who dared to slash the queen in a century-Lin Huan, Xiao Changning really didn’t know whether to praise him or worry about him.

“Bone is broken, won’t it affect your future use of the knife?” she asked.

Lin Huan was dumbfounded, and said slowly: “It’s okay, just take a one-month rest. Anyway, I’ve been broken several times, I’m used to it.”

Xiao Changning couldn’t laugh or cry: “Why are you heartless, like a silly brother.”

“I’m not a brother. I’m older than my wife, and taller than my wife.” After all, he used his uninjured right hand to compare, and the top of Xiao Changning’s head reached his lips.

“Well, you are big and you are tall.” Xiao Changning thought of the business, couldn’t help but glanced around, pretending to be casual and asked, “Where is your factory supervisor? Why haven’t you seen him for a long time?”

Lin Huan had an expression of ‘I knew you would ask this’ and replied: “My lord went to the palace to see the emperor after lunch, and he might be back soon.”

Xiao Changning made a soft “Oh” sound, feeling a little disappointed, and then he cheered up and smiled slightly: “It’s okay, my palace is waiting for him.” He said to Lin Huan, “I promised you before, if you win the queen, my palace I invite you to eat something delicious.”

Lin Huanhu’s eyes lit up, even standing upright, swallowing drool.

Xiao Changning laughed at him: “Don’t worry, I have asked Dong Sui to pick it up from the imperial dining room.”

Lin Huan was so happy that he stood firm with a backflip, like a restless monkey.

“By the way, the factory supervisor said that Madam’s paintings and calligraphy are particularly powerful.” Lin Huan blinked and asked in a low voice with hope, “Can you please draw a flower on my bandage?”

As he said, he raised his left arm wrapped like a rice dumpling, curled his mouth and said, “This white flowery bandage is really ugly.”

Xiao Changning happened to be bored, and said cheerfully: “Yes, what do you want to draw in this palace?”

Unexpectedly, she promised so happily, Lin Huan laughed out a dimple, and said shyly: “I am the chief of the basalt warlord, please ask my wife to draw a basalt!”

In the palace, the Hall of Nourishing the Heart.

At the case, the cauldron was burning incense, and the light smoke gathered and dispersed in the air. Shen Xuan twisted a sunspot, sitting on one side with the little emperor Xiao Huan, playing quietly.

It was obviously a quiet game, but it seemed that there was a storm hidden in an invisible corner, and the undercurrent surging around.

Probably it was the beginning of the storm, and no one was sitting down to listen to politics and interfere with the political situation. Xiao Huan’s always weak face also added a little smile, twisting a Baizi down with one hand, and resting his chin on the other, saying: “I don’t know. , Even the close-fitting grand palace lady Yu Kou, who served the Queen Mother for nine years, was the work of Admiral Shen. Admiral Shen is a good method, I don’t know how to get Yu Kou to return to the East Factory?”

Shen Xuan’s expression did not change, she pressed a sunspot with a bang, she was quite determined to kill, and said in a deep voice: “She did not return to the Dongchang factory. The minister and the girl Yukou have each obtained the necessary cooperative relationship. , Nothing more.”

“Oh.” Xiao Huan nodded and asked curiously, “Yukou said when she held the Queen Mother last night that she had a sweetheart who was killed by the Queen Mother and Huo Wei. What happened?”

Shen Xu said: “Just as she said.”

Xiao Huan held his chin and blinked and said, “But I want to know, who is her dead love?”

Hearing this, Shen Xuan raised her eyes, her deep eyes fixedly looking at Xiao Huan, as if the darkest night was condensed, and slowly asked: “When did your Majesty become interested in the personal affairs of a court lady?”

“Shen Gong is boring, just ask.” Xiao Huan laughed, his eyes fell back to the chessboard, and he was shocked, “Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! I want to walk again!”

Shen Xuan smiled rather than smiled: “Your Majesty wants to regret chess?”

“Can’t it?” Xiao Huan blinked his eyes and asked innocently.

“Naturally, what your Majesty says is what you say.” Shen Yun threw the black child into the chess set and said, “Repent.”

At this time, Xiao Huan was stunned. He wondered: “Admiral Shen doesn’t care about winning or losing in the game?”

Shen Xuan’s eyes were cold, and she said sharply: “Game is just a pastime. If it is really not fun. For Yu Chen, naturally there is something more important than winning or losing. A small game of chess cannot be seen by the minister.”

Xiao Huan pondered, seeming to be savoring the meaning of these words.

Shen Xuan looked at the sky outside his eyes and stood up and said, “I have been in the palace for a long time, so the minister will leave first.” After he said, he folded his fists and walked outside the hall.

“Admiral Shen.” Behind him, Xiao Huan stopped him.

Shen Xuan turned around and happened to crash into Xiao Huan’s slightly gloomy sight. Xiao Huan squinted his eyes, holding his chin in his hand to meet Shen Xu’s sharp eyes calmly, and said in a hurry, “The queen mother and Jin Yiwei are destroyed. The agreement between Admiral Shen and me has been reached. I don’t know if Admiral Shen…”

Xiao Huan paused, tilted his head and smiled, and then said: “…Can you return Sister A to me?”