The hot summer gradually passed. The zhuzi of the palace changed out of their silk garments, threw away the fans in their hands, and changed their hairpins from jade to other types. There were some palace maids with ulterior motives that wanted to attract the attention of the Emperor and worked on their clothing and jewelry. However, they had to follow the rules of the palace. It was a pity that because the Emperor's entire heart was on the Empress, no one attracted the Emperor's attention.
Kui Yuan Palace had been renovated a long time ago. The night pearls inlaid in the rooms had all been taken down by His Highness the Imperial Prince and replaced with beautiful glass lamps. All of this was because an official from the Ministry of Works had carelessly said that night pearls could be harmful to the body.
Everyone knew that night pearls were rare items. Many people didn't understand why the Empress didn't use night pearls, so many people outside quickly praised the Empress for her frugality. He Heng felt that this beautiful misunderstanding should continue to be beautiful.
Even though some people knew that it wasn't in accordance with the rules for the Empress to always live in Tian Qi Palace, but the Emperor had said long ago that Kui Yuan Palace hadn't been renovated for long and it wasn't good for newborn children. Because the sixth month had passed, the good day to move would have to wait until the second month of next year. So the date for the Empress to move to Kui Yuan Palace was set to the twelfth of the second year of Jia You, which was also the day of the Flower Festival. Right now, she was naturally staying with the little prince in Tian Qi Palace.
Since the Emperor had already decided, no one in the court was blind enough to say anything. The Emperor and Empress had deep feelings for each other. As outsiders, wouldn't they be disliked by the Emperor if they meddled? Even more, the Empress Dowager didn't have any objections, so why should they worry?
Qu Qing Ju would occasionally hear some rumors about her. Most of them said that she was as beautiful as a fairy, kind, thrifty, and loved the people. Even though she felt that the Empress in these rumors didn't have much to do with her, but she understood that behind these rumors, there was the shadow of He Heng manipulating them.
She enjoyed that He Heng used this kind of tactic to protect her, so she didn't have the heart to tear down He Heng's stage. Occasionally, she would use the name of the Empress to reward some famous and kind women of Da Long Dynasty. He even personally rewarded a remarried woman who had saved a few children in the fire in September after his own death.
Because this woman had remarried, some people in the village gossiped about her, but when the handkerchief embroidered with "A woman is not inferior to a man" was bestowed by Qu Qing Ju, she became a respected matriarch in the entire district. No one looked down on her because she had remarried and became polite to her.
Qu Qing Ju didn't think she had the power to be a promoter of history, but she wanted to do something she could do. In this world, a man could be praised for having many wives and concubines, but why couldn't a woman who remarried be tolerated?
Some of the scholars in Da Long Dynasty felt that a woman not marrying a second husband was the virtue of a woman, but they couldn't erase the village woman's act of saving others. So not many people jumped out to say that the Empress' actions weren't appropriate. Even more, the Empress had praised the village woman's act of saving others, and hadn't praised the village woman for remarrying well. It wasn't appropriate for them to jump out and criticize.
So this matter passed like this. Qu Qing Ju continued to be the mistress of the hougong. When she was bored, she would listen to music, listen to the interesting events of the court, and then pick one or two things to praise, reward them with gifts, and tease her son. These days passed very comfortably.
After the Empress Dowager and Qu Qing Ju's marriage passed, it was He Heng's birthday. Because it was the first birthday He Heng had after ascending to the throne, even if this birthday didn't want to be grand, it would become grand.
Not just the prestigious families and officials of Da Long, even some of the smaller subordinate countries around sent envoys to celebrate the new Emperor's birthday to show their respect and sincerity towards the new Emperor.
Because Da Long Dynasty was a strong and prosperous country, there were many subordinate countries that were subordinate to Da Long. Qu Qing Ju flipped through the customs of these subordinate countries and the tributes that these countries had given to Da Long in recent years. Instantly, she felt that Da Long was very strong and awesome.
What interested Qu Qing Ju was that among these subordinate countries, there was a place called the country of Jing. The present king of this country was a queen. The people that had come to pay tribute to Da Long this time were her son and daughter. And the reason they had come was for He Heng to decree that one of them would be the heir to the throne, using this attitude to express the country of Jing's loyalty to Da Long.
This feeling of congratulations coming from all directions, it really made people feel good.
When He Heng returned to the rear hall, he saw Qu Qing Ju was still flipping through the information of the subordinate countries. When he came closer, he found that she was looking at some of the customs of the country of Jing. He asked: "What's so special about this country of Jing?"
Qu Qing Ju waved the paper in her hand: "I heard that the Hu Guo Princess of the country of Jing is extremely beautiful. This time, she came to our Da Long, I don't know how many men will fall for her."
"It's just that the people of Jing think too highly of themselves," He Heng's tone was slightly disapproving, "The country of Jing is high, so most of the people have dark skin. How beautiful can they be? Compared to the women of our Da Long, they're much worse. It's just a rumor to fool people that don't know. "
The corner of Qu Qing Ju's mouth twitched. It seemed that the men of Da Long Dynasty did prefer women with white and soft skin. He Heng having this kind of attitude, it seemed … … very normal.
"What, you don't like this princess?" He Heng assumed that Qu Qing Ju was worried that he would like this princess of Jing and responded, "Don't worry, I'm not interested in other women. Even more, this Hu Guo Princess wants to be the Queen, not the feipin of our Da Long."
Qu Qing Ju put the information of Jing to one side and snorted: "Emperor, you're thinking too much."
"En, I'm thinking too much. Don't be angry." He Heng laughed lightly and picked up another pile of information, "There's no need to spend too much effort on these subordinate countries. For example, this country of Duo Han. Don't think that they've been well-behaved these years. A hundred years ago, they often acted as bandits on the north side of our Da Long and harmed our people. In the end, our Da Long beat them until they were afraid. Their guts shrunk and they obediently submitted."
They had to be beaten if they didn't obey?
Qu Qing Ju understood the attitude that the Da Long Dynasty had towards these subordinate countries. The general gist was: you have to be good for laozi, listen to me. Otherwise, I'll beat you until all your teeth fall out.
"I just flipped through because I was bored," Qu Qing Ju pinched the back of her neck, "Our Da Long is really strong."
He Heng smiled: "If you fall behind, you have to be beaten. This is the lesson that the previous dynasty gave us," He Heng reached out to lightly pinch the back of her neck, "However, did Qing Ju forget something you promised me?"
"What is it?" Qu Qing Ju raised an eyebrow. She felt that her memory had been very good recently. She hadn't been dumb for three years due to pregnancy.
"For example … … you once said that you would dance for me to see," He Heng reached out to wrap an arm around that soft waist, "I often think about what Qing Ju's dance moves are like."
"Then I also said at the time that it would depend on your performance," Qu Qing Ju smiled lightly. Seeing He Heng's disappointed expression, she smiled and said, "Alright, seeing that you have been well-behaved recently, I'll let you see in three days. Be obedient and wait for ben gong."
He Heng looked at her eyes that suddenly became more spirited and his disappointment turned into a smile, "Many thanks to Empress for her grace."
"What are these?" In the evening, Mu Jin saw a palace maid come out with a pile of paper. There were still traces of ink on the paper. She was worried that this palace maid had taken out something that shouldn't have been taken out. She reached out to take the paper and casually scanned it. She saw what was written on it: Hu Guo Princess was beautiful and good at dancing. She furrowed her brow and asked, "Who told you to clean?"
"Mu Jin jiejie, niangniang told nubi to clean," The palace maid obediently replied.
Mu Jin saw that this palace maid wasn't very old and seemed to be clever. She tore the things in her hands into a ball, "Take it and burn it. It's all useless stuff." No matter what it was, as long as it was something that came out of niangniang's place, she liked the servants to clean it.
"Yes," The little palace maid took the ball of paper and carefully held it in her hands as she hurriedly retreated. It was clear that she was in a hurry to burn these things.
"Still too inexperienced." Mu Jin sighed. Clever, but her methods of doing things weren't mature enough. She still needed to be polished.
Entering the room, she saw the Empress practicing bending down. She habitually went forward and said: "Niangniang, nubi and Jin Zhan have already picked out the cloth. Jin Zhan's craftsmanship is better than nubi. She and Yu Zan made the clothes together. Nubi has already prepared the things you wanted. Do you want to take a look? "
"I don't need to worry about your work. There's no need to go through it again," Qu Qing Ju smiled as she responded, "You only need to follow my orders and decorate the Xi Ce Hall by tomorrow night."
"Nubi understands," Mu Jin didn't ask why the Empress was preparing these things. As a servant, she was very clear about her position and knew what she could say and what she couldn't.
Qu Qing Ju recovered her standing position but didn't immediately sit down. She wiped the sweat on her forehead as she ordered: "Get someone to bring water in, I want to bathe."
After Mu Jin left, Qu Qing Ju walked to the window to look at the Wutong tree outside and sighed. It had been almost two months since He Heng had gotten drunk. Every time she thought of He Heng's aggrieved and dissatisfied expression, she felt that she had been too cold to He Heng.
But she was a person that was more rational than emotional. It wasn't her style to make her lose her rationality to treat a man. What she could do was that when the other treated her well, she would treat the other well. If the other was heartless, then she wouldn't lower herself to curry favor. In this world, without anyone, the sun would still rise.
The autumn night was as cold as water, but the moon was exceptionally bright. After He Heng finished taking care of state affairs, he hurried back to the rear hall. He was still thinking about the dance that Qu Qing Ju had promised him. But when he reached the rear hall, it was empty. He didn't even see Qu Qing Ju's shadow.
"Emperor, the Empress invites you to the Xi Ce Hall of Kui Yuan Palace for a chat." Yin Liu held a lantern of a beauty as she knelt at the door, "Please."
He Heng wasn't angry, and followed Yin Liu in a good mood. The rear hall wasn't far from Kui Yuan Palace, but what surprised He Heng was that it was exceptionally dim along the way. The only thing that stood out was the lantern in Yin Liu's hands. The beauty on the lantern was dressed in red, about to fly away.
When he reached Kui Yuan Palace, He Heng saw the tightly closed doors of the Xi Ce Hall were brightly lit. There were two palace maids standing guard at the door. Other than that, he couldn't see anything else.
Qian Chang Xin and the others following behind He Heng were curious. What was the Empress playing at?
"Emperor, please." Yin Liu smiled as she ushered him towards the Xi Ce Hall. She turned to look at Qian Chang Xin and the others behind him.
"You all wait outside. Without zhen's orders, you are not allowed to come in," He Heng waved his hand, indicating that he didn't need Yin Liu to lead the way. He walked directly to the door of the hall. Seeing the two palace maids at the door bow to him before retreating, the curiosity in his heart grew. What kind of dance would the Empress perform for him?
He took a breath and reached out to slowly push open the door of the hall. Inside the hall, the silk curtains fluttered. Amidst the rising heat, it was like a fairyland. But none of this was the most attractive. What he couldn't move his gaze away was the white jade pond with countless lotus lanterns floating on it. There was a large flower stand floating there. In the middle of the flower stand, there was a beauty in a blue and red dress lying on her side.
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