many worries

Yi Xin handed Qiao Yu a small food box with only one layer, and told him to stay in his room peacefully and explain what happened yesterday when he went back.

Qiao Yu pushed and sang to be sent into the backyard. Holding the key in his hand, he opened the door of Xinxin.Xin Xin is the new head of the Imperial Dining Room, and his foundation is not deep after all. He is only accompanied by Liu Yu, a young eunuch, and Qiao Yu also knows that he has a special status, so he dare not be seen by others, so he shrinks his body and sneaks around I went in, didn't open the windows, and didn't even dare to light the candles.

The room was pitch black with barely any light.Based on her memory, Qiao Yu found a chair in the dark, sat cross-legged on it, sighed, and felt very worried.

What happened that day, he didn't dare to tell the prince, and he didn't dare to tell Xin Xin, not because he was so timid that he wouldn't even dare to say it when he threatened others, but because he didn't want to hurt them.Although he didn't know anything, he wasn't so stupid after all. Concubine Feng always regarded the prince as a thorn in her side, and the two eunuchs beside her were not easy to get along with.If it was just the two of them who came here, it would not be a big deal. If they came here under orders, then it would be considered that they really wanted to find out some tricks and kill the prince.

Qiao Yu was only worried that it was the latter, and she only relied on instinct to hide the truth from the prince that day, not wanting to make the prince worry and feel sorry for herself, but if it was the two eunuchs' own ideas, it would not be a big deal whether they said it or not.And if it's the latter, I'm afraid his aunt will chase after him, not only himself, but anyone who knows about it will be involved and unable to escape.

Thinking of this, Qiao Yu's round face was wrinkled into a ball. It was clearly early winter, but her back was wet with sweat, because she was so scared.

If Xin knows, she must do her best to help herself. It's the first kind, but if it's the second...Qiao Yu didn't dare to bet, he thought in his heart, it's better not to tell Xin.

As for how to deal with it, he couldn't think of any way for the time being.

Maybe it was because there were too many things in his mind. He thought about it for a long time, and he didn't know how long it took. He only heard a soft footstep outside, getting closer and closer, and the sound of a key opening the door.

Xin Xin pushed the door open, then closed it gently, without seeing Qiao Yu huddled inside at first glance, and asked casually, "What's wrong? The candles are not lit."

When Qiao Yu heard his voice, her body trembled slightly, she raised her hand, and tremblingly said, "I'm here."

Xinxin opened the fire folder she carried with her, lit the candle, and walked towards Qiao Yu with the candlestick in her hand. She saw the food box next to him, which had not been opened yet, and her eyes became darker.

He pulled a chair over, sat in front of Qiao Yu, lifted the lid lightly, with his usual expression, and said in a warm voice, "This is the powdered sugar hawthorn cake newly made by the Imperial Dining Room today. Everyone agrees, wait until tomorrow to report this dish to see if there is any master's order. Now I have given everything to the master, so I will ask for more and share it with you and Liuyu."

As Xin Xin said, she brought out the powdered sugar hawthorn cake and the same bowl of sweet soup. The hawthorn cake was really well made, it looked crystal clear, and it was printed in the shape of a flower. It is a bright and beautiful hawthorn red, which is quite lovable.

As usual, Qiao Yu's heart would be devoted to eating, but today she agreed with a weary voice, and instead of going to get the hawthorn cake, she brought the sweet soup first, scooped a spoonful, and only ate half a mouthful.

Still holding her breath, she took a bite of the pastry by herself, and after a while, she asked, "I don't ask why you're so depressed today, why didn't you come yesterday? There must be a reason that can make me feel at ease."

He is very clear, if he understands yesterday, today's matter will be solved, but for Qiao Yu, he must never say anything about it.

Qiao Yu tilted her head, her untucked hair fell down to her cheeks, because she was very timid when deceiving people, and she didn't look at Xinxin, staring at the flickering candle, as if she was very serious and fascinated, and stammered. Telling lies, "Just, I was sick yesterday. I had a cold and a fever. I couldn't get out of bed, so I didn't come."

Usually, Xin Xin always softened his heart towards him, but this time she didn't, and then asked: "When I went back the day before yesterday, I was still alive and kicking, if I was sick, there must be a reason."

Having said that, after all, Xinxin let out a sigh of relief, and while passing the pastry, he pressed the back of his hand to Qiao Yu's forehead, and the fever was no longer there.

Qiao Yu was thinking about how to continue making up lies, but he didn't notice these, so he could only lie again and again, with a soft voice, trying to get away with being coquettish, "The day before yesterday was bad, and I accidentally got caught in the rain when I went back. I'm sick, it's too uncomfortable to be sick, I just need to cover myself in bed for a whole day."

Xinxin looked at him coldly, and there was no trace of softness in his tone, "It was only Sichu when you went back the day before yesterday, but the rain did not fall until it was clear. It took more than an hour to say nothing. You came from the imperial dining room. Climbed back to Taiqing Palace?"

He used to be in charge of the Defei Palace, and he was in charge of half of the palace's eunuchs. He was very meticulous and cautious, and never dared anyone to steal and play tricks with him.

Qiao Yu was startled, and then dodged to the side again, but still faltered and mumbled a few words, unable to explain why.

To deal with different people, you have to use different methods. Yixin sighed, pretended to be a little sad, and said to Qiao Yu: "I felt destined to you when I first met you. I don't mean to say that I treat you wholeheartedly, but I also treat you with all my heart. You are also very close to me. , if that's the case, is there anything else you can't tell me?"

Qiao Yu is soft and not hard, if someone close to him forces him, he can still stand upright and resist death, but if Xin Xin said so, there is nothing he can do, his slender eyebrows are tugged into a ball, and the corners of his eyes are red , turned her head and tugged at Xin's sleeve, "But, there's nothing, I can't tell you..."

"Is it related to Liuyu?"

Yixin had been paying attention to Qiao Yu's every move for a long time, and took this opportunity to speak.He really made up his mind, pretending he couldn't see Qiao Yu's tears that were about to fall, and continued to force him, Qiao Yu was naive and spoiled, and he had never experienced anything since he was a child, and now he was still by Jing Yan's side After learning all these years, he was not a satisfactory opponent at all. Under pressure, he vomited out everything that happened that day.

He was still afraid, but because he was always accompanied by Jing Yan, and he didn't want to be seen to be flawed, so he suppressed it in his heart and tried to pretend to be happy.Now that he finally said it out, he couldn't hold it back any longer, wept so much that he wiped his tears with his sleeve, not forgetting to speak ill of Liuyu.

Yi Xin's hands trembled a little, he comforted Qiao Yu softly, and then tried to calm down his thoughts, thinking about how this matter would end and save Qiao Yu.After that time last winter, for a long time, he just hung on his breath and ignored everything. Now he is indeed much less energetic, and he can't even see people for sure. side.

Now it's finally burning.

Yixin frowned, even if it was only for a short while, she found a useful method, and said in a slow voice: "This matter is not aimed at you, but the one in the Taiqing Palace. How about you, You were born with a serious illness, terminally ill, and there was no cure, but the Taiqing Palace couldn't leave anyone, so they naturally carried you out, sent you back to the eunuch's house, and replaced you with someone else to serve the crown prince. The one from Shenyun Palace hasn't regained his favor yet, so he expects to be blessed Don't dare to go too far and rob people directly. I have stayed in the eunuch's house for a long time, and I have some relations with the left and right, so I can keep you."

This is the best way at present, as long as Qiao Yu can escape from the Taiqing Palace, the matter will have nothing to do with him, and it will no longer be a dead end.As for the deposed prince, his slight affection for him at first came from other places, and he had never met or interacted with him before. Naturally, he was not as good as Qiao Yu who had been with him before.

Xinxin is not a bad-hearted person, but he is not a kind-hearted person that everyone wants to save. In this huge palace, even if there were such kind-hearted people, they would have died long ago.

But Qiao Yu was unwilling, he refused repeatedly, tears soaked the cloth on his legs, and even the color became much darker, "No, I won't go. Even if I die, I will die in the Taiqing Palace, in the crown prince's house." around."

Xin Xin was already distracted, and after hearing this, she couldn't help but patted Qiao Yu on the back, and scolded, "Are you dying? How dare you speak like that."

The crown prince's dismissal has long been a forbidden word in the palace, and he can't say it easily. If he is caught and reported to the higher authorities, it will be an ironclad proof that he has committed rebellion and has a big rebellious heart.

He calmed down and asked, "Why don't you want to? Do you know that if this matter continues to drag on, next time it won't be so easy to get over by posting an official, and the blessing is that it will really want you Your life. That master, is it worth your life?"

Qiao Yu looked up at Yingxin, nodded, and said something buried in her heart that she would never tell others, "It's worth it. Since I entered the Taiqing Palace, I never thought about leaving it. Besides, if another eunuch , what should I do if I succumb all of a sudden and hurt the First Prince?"

His voice was still full of tears, soft and sweet, "He is more important than my own life."

It was an extremely solemn promise, and it didn't look like it was said from the mouth of a child who was usually greedy, lazy, and coquettish and shed tears at every turn.

Yi Xin was taken aback for a long time before forcing a smile, "You say that, and you understand clearly in your heart, and you're not confused. Naturally, I can't stop you."

He just started to like Qiao Yu, because he likes his innocence, cuteness and sincerity which is different from others.Just like just now, he was unwilling to tell himself this matter, but it was actually because he was afraid of getting himself involved here and couldn't get away from such a cute reason.

Probably because of this, there is no way for Xin to be nice to him.He also had someone who he wanted to protect no matter what, even if he knew that that person didn't need him, or even cared about him, it didn't matter, but that person died.

Xinxin hugged Qiao Yu, and said softly, "I thought you were ignorant, but I didn't expect you to know everything you need to know. I'll think of another way. Don't be too scared now, they probably won't come here for the time being. "

He paused, then added, "I'm ten years older than you, in the future when there is no one else, you can call me brother, I will protect you."

Qiao Yu's long eyelashes were still wet with tears. Hearing this, he couldn't help laughing, and hiccupped, "Oh, really? Actually, I've always wanted to have an older brother, that is, Just no..."

He has always been very good at pushing an inch, stopped his tears, smiled and said with crooked eyebrows: "Then brother feed me a piece of hawthorn cake!"

Yi Xin had a separate idea, but still had to plan slowly, so she had to delay the attack first, "The little eunuch who is begging for food by Mrs. Shen's side now came out of the Imperial Concubine's Palace, and stayed by my side for a while. Help. Since Defudequan didn’t leave traces on you, you must have dared not speak up about it and let outsiders know. If you come earlier in the future, I’ll tell him to follow you back, so that Defudequan can’t be found. When you are alone, it will save you the trouble of looking for you again in the near future."

Maybe it was because he was comforted by telling the things he had been keeping in his heart all along, Qiao Yu temporarily forgot about those unhappy things, happily finished eating the hawthorn cake and sweet soup, and when he finally sent him out with satisfaction, there was another I found a steward and bought a plate of dim sum fruit, put it in a food box, and asked him to take it back with me.

After seeing Qiao Yu off, she sat back on her square chair contentedly, only to hear Liu Yu ask, "Master, what did you and Xiao Yu say just now? After staying inside for so long, several people came to look for you."

If Qiao Yu had agreed to leave the Taiqing Palace due to sickness, Yixin would have spoken openly to Liuyu, sent him back to the eunuch's house, and sent him to the most remote place in the palace, where he would never recover for the rest of his life.But it's different now, since that method can't be used, he has to plan carefully, at least not to reveal his flaws now.

Xinxin smiled, it was no different from usual, and pushed the cold powdered sugar hawthorn cake to Liuyu, "I asked him why he didn't come yesterday, and he said that he was playful when he went back the day before yesterday, and he got caught in the rain yesterday. He couldn't get up from the illness, so he didn't come back, and he lived on leftovers for a day. I don't know, he is so greedy and lazy, what will he do in the future?"

Liu Yu knelt down, hammered his legs respectfully, and softly echoed his words, "Xiaoyu is a fool with blessings, and it's always different to be pampered by Master."

Yi Xin raised her eyelids, gave him a cool and condescending look, and stopped talking.

The weather is getting colder and colder. Although the Dian Ji Department is still withholding the quota, it dare not go too far.Now is the first year, and Emperor Yuande has no intention of abolishing the crown prince for the time being. If he is really frozen to death in the Taiqing Palace because of lack of charcoal, the eunuchs will not be able to escape the responsibility.But even so, the Department of Dianji sharpened the things a lot, leaving only one-fifth of them, pushed a cart, and sent them to the Taiqing Palace.

Qiao Yu was still young, with slender arms and legs, and couldn't do most of the work. Jing Yan sorted out the things Dian sent over for the winter.He laid new soft quilts and pillows on Qiao Yu's bed, and added a new stove in the house, which would burn for a while every night, so that he could fall asleep warmly.

He is a person who is easily satisfied, rolling happily on the new quilt, with his whole face buried in the pillow, and his voice came out muffled, "Is the quilt over there, Your Highness, also so soft? Can you turn on the stove for a while longer?" , It’s usually very cold in winter.”

Jing Yan touched his head, dismissed Qiao Yu's unreasonable request lightly, "There is only so much charcoal in the Taiqing Palace, if you burn more charcoal now, there will be less charcoal on my side."

Qiao Yu never mentioned the matter of burning more charcoal fires, and sometimes she would argue about not letting Jing Yan turn on the stove.But it was all up to Jing Yan to decide, and Qiao Yu couldn't help it.

Probably because the weather is getting colder, and it would be a waste of charcoal to heat up the whole house. Jing Yan cleaned up the old wood and opened a large screen that can circle around the bed. fabric.He had learned carpentry with his teacher since he was a child, and he was very talented, so he could do it very well. Qiao Yu looked greedy and clamored for one.

A few days later, Qiao Yu almost forgot about Defu Dequan, but unexpectedly ran into Defu in the Imperial Dining Room.Defu is different from before. He used to have a sharp face, but now he is almost out of shape.It was no longer the same as usual with a three-pointed smile. Although he was talking to the head of the imperial dining room, he was coldly looking at the three of them, Yixin, Qiao Yu and Liuyu.

With a low voice, he pointed at Liuyu and said, "Our concubine Feng Guifei said that there is a lack of a little eunuch in the palace who can do hair and rouge. Our family asked the head of the eunuch's office and said that this Liuyu is always good at combing hair." , I dared to ask the head of the imperial dining room to make it easier for me to understand that we are all sharing the master's worries, let Liuyu go, and come back to Shenyun Palace with me."

Director Zhang of the imperial dining room is a peacemaker, and he is unwilling to offend any master in the palace, let alone Feng Nannan who has always been favored by him.His chubby face was full of smiles, and he said symmetrically: "Wishin, you see that the imperial concubine has taken a fancy to the little eunuch next to you, it is because you have trained well, and our imperial dining room has a bright face. Waiting to be transferred away Wouldn't it be better if I picked a few capable little eunuchs to help you?"

This is the little eunuch next to me climbing up a high branch and going to other masters. The stewards of the imperial dining room can't help but feel that they are not strict enough to control even a child, and they also think that Liuyu is really Good skills, everyone knows that the two brothers, Yixin and Defu Dequan, are in the same situation. Isn't this stepping on the master to climb up?I don't know how important it is to betray the news.

Satisfied but disapproving, Tong Defu smiled and said: "In this palace, no matter who it is, no matter where it works, it is for the master, and the same is true for Liuyu. Since the empress likes it, then take it. It's just that Liuyu can endure hardships and work neatly, I like him a lot, let me have a few words with him, and tell him to take good care of the empress, and then follow the father-in-law."

Liuyu can indeed bear it, but he is not very old, because others think that he has no intentions, and they are complacent and think that he has concealed the truth from Xinxin. He whispered in his ear: "The worst way out of the palace is not sweeping the fallen leaves to look at the warehouse, but the Department of Punishment and the morgue. You are young, keep this in mind and wait."

What he said was so harsh that Liu Yu was frightened by him for a moment and almost couldn't stand still.But it's no wonder that it is so, Xinxin has always been good-tempered in the imperial dining room, and the little eunuchs will reprimand at most for what they do wrong, and they will not even be fined a monthly fee, and occasionally give them some snacks. , and even taught him the principles of how to behave in the palace, and invited Mr. Liu to teach him how to cook, so as to have a way out.

But he forgot that no matter how kind and amiable he is, he is also a person who sits in the first palace before the age of 20, and manages all the affairs in the palace submissively, which is not comparable in the imperial dining room. How could it be a simple character.

Yingxin only said this, and then complimented him a bit. After Defu left with Liuyu, Qiao Yu came out from the corner where he was hiding, raised his head and asked Yixin, "Why did Defu lose so much weight all of a sudden... "

He almost didn't recognize the person from that day.

Anyway, now the head of the imperial dining room thought he was satisfied, so he was betrayed by the little eunuch under his door. He was probably very angry, so he simply dropped the matter and dragged Qiao Yu to the backyard. I just died, I heard that I fell into the water, but I couldn’t be rescued.”

The palace is different from other places, except for the master, the slaves are not human beings at all, even the unfavored concubines or princes and princesses are as light as dust, death is just like breaking an object, at most it was used by the master It's out of hand.

Even if they all died, they were just rewarded by Concubine Feng Gui, not to mention offering sacrifices, and they couldn't even cry, lest they offend the nobleman.

"Ah?" Qiao Yu's eyes widened and he stammered, "He still..."

Xin Xin patted him on the head, and said softly, "It's good to die, just treat it as an accident...don't think too much about it."

Deku died at this time, and everyone would think about why he died. I don't know whether it is good or bad, but at least recently Defu has no time to trouble Qiao Yu anymore.

Liuyu followed Defu all the way to Shenyun Palace, paused in front of the palace gate, always felt that today's Defu was quite different from usual, so he asked in a low voice: "Godfather, you said that I will see your mother later. How can I please you?"

Defu stared straight ahead, met the eyes of Sheng Haiyao who was standing in the corridor, and started to smile, but his sharp voice suddenly became softer on purpose, "You are a good boy, my mother naturally likes you. Just remember one sentence , do more and talk less."

Disguise is indeed easy to use, but the guaranteed time is too short, and it is difficult to imitate a person until no one around can notice the abnormality.Fortunately, Dequan just passed away. Even if Defu behaved a little unusually, he thought that his excessive sadness made him different from the past.

Liuyu finally felt relieved, and followed Defu into Shenyun Palace obediently.

A few days later, Liu Yu was executed in court for stealing Concubine Feng's jewelry, and Defu also committed suicide by taking medicine because of the death of his younger brother Dequan.

This news was kept under wraps, and when Xin Xin heard it, she couldn't help being shocked.

How could this be an accident?

There will not be so many accidents and accidents in the palace, it can only be that someone wants them to die.Moreover, it was related to what happened to Qiao Yu that day.