Red Mansion and Crimson Pearl

Chapter 386 Camellia Forest

The fifth, sixth and seventh days.

The next three days were the quietest days in the entire court.

It was enough for the emperor to offer symbolic sacrifices in various places.

Daiyu and the other two accompanied the Queen Mother to leisurely offer sacrifices to the God of Wealth, send away poverty, and cut the human hair. They also secretly roasted meat before the snow melted.

Although there were more than ten female relatives of the royal family and nobles who came during this period, and Daiyu and Tanchun also gave away many new and interesting things, but overall, it was still very peaceful.

It wasn't until the eighth day that someone finally couldn't sit still anymore.

Early in the morning, just after breakfast was finished in Yanjia Palace, someone came outside to report:

"The Concubine Xiao and the Concubine Lai have sent people to ask separately. They want to pay their respects to the Queen Mother and speak to her."

The Queen Mother sneered: "Is that all your patience? It's only been three days!"

Hongchang had eaten well these past few days, and his cheeks had become plump. Hearing this, he smiled, stepped forward and hugged the Queen Mother's arm, and asked in a low voice:

"Queen, how about I go out for a walk with the two aunts?"

Give you some space to curse in the street?

“……”The Queen Mother glanced at Hongchang.

This kid is really smart.

Everyone now knows the true identity of Concubine Lai.

The matter of Concubine Lai’s family that His Majesty mentioned last time is most likely related to the Rongguo Mansion.

Under such circumstances, it would be best for the two of them to stay away from these troubles.

only……

The Queen Mother looked at Daiyu and Tanchun——

Would the two of them want to stay and listen?

"Where shall we go?" Daiyu was already excitedly pulling Tanchun aside to discuss.

Tanchun's eyes lit up: "Anywhere is fine! Last time I went out to see Merlin, I was called back before I had seen enough!"

Hongchang grinned and looked at the Queen Mother.

The Queen Mother nodded with satisfaction: "Okay!"

He only told them to bring more people with them, and specifically ordered Chu Jianding to stay with them: "They are not familiar with the road, so you should be careful."

The three little sisters chatted and laughed, put on their cloaks, hoods, and deerskin boots, and ran away hand in hand.

Behind him followed a group of equally excited palace maids.

The Queen Mother looked at their backs, then looked at the palace attendant who came to report, and her smile faded: "Pass it on."

Zijuan stood beside her, attentively tidied up the purple jade hairpin on her head, then poured another bowl of drink and respectfully served it to her:

"You ate several pieces of roast meat the other day, and I heard your throat was still not quiet yesterday. This is sugarcane, reed root and pear juice, no sugar. Please moisten it."

The Queen Mother couldn't help but clear her throat after hearing what she said, and then she took the wine and drank it carefully, praising it with a voice of praise: "It's sweet and delicious."

As soon as Daiyu and the other two left the Yanjia Palace, they relaxed, talked and laughed quietly, walked north along the Jinshui River, and slowly visited the Taiji Palace.

Hongchang was naturally more familiar with the two of them than the others, and raised his hand to point to the left and right: "Concubine Xiao and Concubine Lai have never gotten along.

"When they moved to Taiji Palace, Taishang originally wanted to separate the two of them, preferably across the entire Taiji Palace.

"It was the Queen Mother who interceded, saying that if this happened, the maids who needed to clean the palace would suffer.

"Later, they both lived near the Yanjia Palace. But one was in the Heyu Palace by the North Sea, and the other was in the Shujing Palace near the Qianbu Gallery."

Tanchun looked back and forth twice along the direction of her finger, and asked with a smile, "When I was watching the play the other day, I saw many imperial concubines and noble ladies. Where do they live?"

"Two people live in the side halls of the back halls of Heyu and Shujing Palaces, and the rest are crowded in Jiuri Palace, Xianchi Palace and Linhu Palace."

Hong Chang said softly, adding softly, "It's quite pitiful."

Daiyu and Tanchun both fell silent.

Chu Qi was behind, looking away expressionlessly.

Is this pitiful?

Today, Taishang is still in power, and the supplies in Taiji Palace are even more abundant than those in Daming Palace.

When the emperor passed away, the empress dowager moved back to Daming Palace, and Taiji Palace would be locked. The concubines and imperial concubines at that time were really pitiful.

"Princess, look, what is that red thing?" Qingwen asked in a low voice, pointing to the shore with sharp eyes.

Daiyu took a look and laughed: "That's the poinsettia. The red one you see is its leaf."

A few people became interested and turned away from the river to take a closer look.

Qingwen had already spotted a large patch of short trees on the far slope on the other side of the river. Her eyes lit up again, and she pointed and shouted, "Look! Is that a camellia?"

Hongchang turned around in surprise and hurried to pull Daiyu: "This piece of camellia was planted by the emperor with great effort in the past to please a concubine from Yunnan.

"After that person died, the Supreme Being was heartbroken and never looked at the flowers again. Everyone was also careful not to mention it again.

“I heard that more than 300 plants were transplanted that year, all of which were rare and famous species. It was such a large area!

"I've always wanted to see it, but I've never found a suitable excuse. I didn't expect that today would be the right time! Let's go!"

Everyone was intrigued by her words and headed quickly towards the camellia.

Just as they reached the bridge, Chu Qian, who was tall and had sharp eyes, caught a glimpse of the corner of a robe flashing in the depths of the flower forest.

Chu Qian's face darkened instantly. He took two steps forward and reported to Daiyu in a low voice: "Princess, someone escaped."

Daiyu's expression remained unchanged. She nodded gently, turned to Tanchun as if nothing had happened, and asked with a smile, "You have also tended the garden. How do you see the camellias growing?"

"Camellia is not easy to grow." Tanchun smiled, "It likes shade, but also needs light, it tolerates cold, but also needs warmth. If you don't get the balance right, it will die for you to see.

"There are many people in the capital who enjoy flowers and trees. But there are only a handful who dare to touch camellia. And I have seen them all. The trees are full of stupid leaves, and the flowers don't bloom big."

The three of them knew what was going on, so they chatted slowly as they approached the camellia forest.

"You're right. Apparently no one cares about this. It's all just like what Aunt Yimin said. What a bummer." Hongchang pouted, "And what they said about 'Only the mountain camellia is so durable, and it alone can enjoy the spring breeze under the deep moon', it's all lies!"

Daiyu laughed and said, "When poets speak, three parts are true and seven parts are false.

“Although this camellia is cold-resistant, it will not freeze to death. It will not actually bloom in the first month of the year.

"Come back in March tomorrow, and you will see a splendid sight."

Hongchang wrinkled his nose to show that he accepted this explanation, and took Daiyu's arm: "Then Aunt Zhaoqing, please remember this!

"Send someone to see it every day! If it blooms, be sure to let me know! I have been craving this camellia forest for a long time!"

Daiyu smiled, turned to look at Chu Qian and said, "Did you hear that? You must have made arrangements. Otherwise, our Princess Hongchang will be unhappy!"

Chu Qian bowed and clasped his fists: "Yes."

None of them went deep into the woods, but turned around and walked north along the river bank.

Chu Qian stopped and fell behind, calling out to the two young eunuchs following behind him, with a blank expression on his face: "This task will be left to you two.

"Starting today, come and take a look every day, and count the number of trees and flowers that have bloomed.

"Let's count them now."

After saying this, he went to chase after Daiyu and the others.

The two young eunuchs looked back at the vast forest and were dumbfounded.

"Brother Lei..."

"What's the point of calling me brother? Just count!"