Mikago

In the 18th year of Ruihe, September [-]th, Chongyang.

The morning light is faint, passing through the thick branches of osmanthus trees, and falling on the courtyard path.

In the Ministry of Internal Affairs to the southwest of Yeting Palace, not a single bird song or human voice could be heard, only the clear spring in the Moss Pond flowing gently.

Today is the day of the regular supervisory meeting of the Ministry of the Interior.All the Ling Cheng from the Sixth Bureau of the province came early and reported the situation in detail.As the personal eunuch of Prince An Le, 16-year-old Qi Yunchu was honored to be among them even though his rank was low.

Due to his advanced age, Lord Qiu Gong, the chief servant and supervisor, did not attend today, so the meeting ended hastily.After the meeting was over, Qi Yunchu walked through the east promenade with a heavy heart, and walked towards the Tongming Gate on the south side of Yeting Palace.

Walk north out of the Tongming Gate, and then pass through two palace gates to arrive at the Hanlu Hall of the Zichen Palace. The 14-year-old An Le Wang Zhao Nanxing lived there temporarily.

At this hour, the little prince had already had his breakfast, and probably stretched his neck, anxiously waiting for Qi Yunchu's return.

It's just a coincidence - Xiao Shi, the empress of the Holy Majesty's palace, is about to give birth today.At a later time, King An Le had to rush to congratulate his brother, but the prince didn't care about what should be prepared for this congratulatory gift, and he, a servant, had no idea.

Fortunately, Prince Anle was deeply favored by the late emperor and the present, and his private treasury was abundant, so he had to ask someone to take two treasures from the treasury for emergency.

Thinking of this, Qi Yunchu barely made up his mind.He relaxed a little, and suddenly felt a faint fragrance coming towards his face.

This year, there is plenty of rain and autumn comes early.The sweet-scented osmanthus in Yeting bloomed and withered; but the chrysanthemums were not liked by Duke Changqiu, and they had not been planted in the Ministry of Internal Affairs for a long time.

But who is it now that is full of dark fragrance in this deep palace?

After all, Qi Yunchu is only a young boy, so he has already slowed down and looked around. There are elegant courtyards on both sides of the promenade, and an octagonal pavilion is connected to the north side. The clear spring flows slowly through it.

He froze for a moment, remembering that this pavilion had a name—Zi Lan Pavilion.

He then discovered that there was a rattan chair on the west side of the Purple Orchid Pavilion, and a white-haired old man was sitting on the chair, motionless, as if he was recuperating, but he seemed to have become a corpse.

Who else is there besides Chief of Staff Qiugong?

Lord Changqiu is the leader of all the eunuchs in Da Nei.Among the eunuchs of the current dynasty, almost no one has figured out how many dynasties he has served the emperor, and how many springs, summers, autumns and winters he has spent in the Ministry of Internal Affairs in the south of Yeting Palace.

The eunuchs are just used to bowing their heads in front of this Renrui, as if he, like the Ministry of Internal Affairs, is a natural existence in this splendid palace.

However, in the eyes of the little eunuch Qi Yunchu, Lord Changqiu is very, very old, not like a person, but more like an ancient tree.Although he sat there motionless, the drooping hem of his clothes seemed to be reaching into the soil, absorbing the essence of the earth.

Seeing Duke Changqiu, naturally he should go forward to say hello.Qi Yunchu stepped forward on purpose, but stopped when he was almost at the edge of the pavilion.

Only then did he realize that there was a clump of Xilan growing on the muddy ground at the feet of Mr. Changqiu.The dark purple flower spikes are in full bloom, and the golden stamens are like dragon spouting pearls, and the delicate fragrance that Qi Yunchu was looking for is obviously emanating from this Xilan.

Qi Yunchu entered the palace at the age of ten, and although he didn't come to the corridor of the Minister of Internal Affairs every day, he walked through it no less than a hundred times.Although this gazebo is named after Purple Orchid, it is surrounded by sweet-scented osmanthus trees.What's more, this Xilan grows by the pavilion, where everyone tramples, how can it last until it blooms?

Could it be the omen of Furui for the birth of the emperor's heir today?

This thought only flashed through Qi Yunchu's mind, and then he gently brushed it away.

Since the founding of the People's Republic of China, the Ministry of Internal Affairs has always been a place where eunuchs gather. Even though there are luxuriant vegetation and luxurious houses, it is not an elegant hall after all.Since it was the prince's joy, the auspicious elephant should appear in the Zichen Palace to the east of Yeting Palace.

Qi Yunchu was thinking of this, but saw the old tree-like Changqiu move, and suddenly opened his eyes.

"Qiu Gong..." Qi Yunchu hastily paid his respects.

Lord Chang Qiu raised his hand to excuse him, but he didn't even look at him, his eyes fell directly to his feet.

What he saw was not the clump of Xilan, but the clear spring water gushing into the Liubei Canal.

"Son..." He asked Qi Yunchu in a hoarse voice, "Do you know where the water comes from?"

source of water?Qi Yunchu was slightly taken aback, and immediately turned to search.

The water flows out of the moss pond in the osmanthus forest. On the high rock of the moss pond, there is a white marble dragon head with three characters engraved on the side.

"Fu Scale Pond"

Qi Yunchu quickly remembered another similar name - "Scaling Pond", which is the spring pool in the garden of the Imperial Study Room of Zichen Palace, clear and sweet.

One rise and one fall, could it be that these two springs are secretly connected?

Qi Yunchu conjectured, Duke Changqiu was noncommittal, but asked him: "Then where will the spring water in Fulin Pond go?"

Qi Yunchu looked forward again along the direction of the water flow.

The trickle flows through the Purple Orchid Pavilion, avoids the two old osmanthus trees, and re-merges into another spring pool in the low-lying part of the courtyard.The water in the pool is deep and clear, and the green bananas at the bottom are like velvet.

Qi Yunchu looked around and couldn't see any water flowing out, so he said, "If you go back to Duke Qiu, the water has flowed into Zilan Pond."

This time, Duke Changqiu let out a "hum".

After all, Qi Yunchu had seen some things in the world, so he didn't think too much about it, he just stood aside quietly and waited for orders.

After a while, only the rattan chair creaked softly.Lord Changqiu bent down, picked off a purple orchid with his long nails and threw it into the Liubei Canal.

Qi Yunchu opened his eyes wide, watching the flowers ups and downs in the spring water, along the winding Liubei canal, and finally poured into the Purple Orchid Pond.

The flower floated on the seemingly calm water for a while, then suddenly turned a few times and sank underwater, and finally disappeared in the depths of the water.

It turned out that there was a whirlpool under the water.

If Qi Yunchu realized something, he was preparing to further figure out what Chang Qiugong meant.At this time, there was a series of footsteps from the east, rushing over in a hurry.

"Report to Duke Qiu, the empress has just given birth to a prince, mother and child are safe!"

Although he had already made preparations, Qi Yunchu was still slightly startled.He turned his gaze to the northeast, which was the direction of Hanlu Hall.

After today, in the midst of the numerous palaces, Prince Anle, Zhao Nanxing... Where will he go?

—————————————————————

Also on the same day as the Double Ninth Festival, Ye Kaiquan, 32 years old, paced back and forth in the courtyard of his private residence in Xuanzheng Square in the western suburbs of the imperial city.

Counting it, this is the second time this year that he has been so nervous.

I remember the first time was in late spring.On the day when the palace examination list was released, Ye Kaiquan paced around the courtyard anxiously, and finally waited for the envoy of the imperial court and the yellow list of the second-class Jinshi.

At this moment, Ye Kaiquan was also looking forward to a good news that was no less than a nomination on the gold list-his gentle and gracious wife Qin Shi was about to give birth.Depending on the situation, the baby will be born later.

Wen Po has been in for some time, and the maid also ran in and out several times, busy drawing water from the well in the courtyard to heat it up.

Ye Kaiquan, who had no master, happened to be standing on the edge of the well. When the well water was brought up, it shook twice and splashed a lot on his feet. There was still a purple-black orchid dripping on the water.

Ye Kaiquan bent down to pick up the flower, put it in his hand and looked at it carefully.The petals are still delicate and fragrant, as if they should have been blooming on the branches not so long ago.

Who pinched off this fresh purple orchid and threw it into the water again?

Ye Kaiquan was thinking about it, when suddenly, a baby's cry took away all his mind.

The apprehension that was full just now has turned into double ecstasy at this moment.Ye Kaiquan took a few steps and ran to the side of the house, but he was concerned about etiquette, so he didn't dare to go in and have a better look.Just when the window lattice was about to be snapped off, Granny Wen finally came out to congratulate her with a smile.

"Congratulations, Mr. Ye, Madam just gave birth to a little son!"

On the side, a servant immediately brought a pen and ink.According to the current custom, Ye Kaiquan needs to write the birth date and name of the newborn on a piece of red paper, and burn it immediately, which is regarded as a notification to the ancestors of the Ye family, officially accepting the newborn.

Speaking of names, Ye Kaiquan had already drawn up several names.However, at this moment, when he looked down at Zilan in his palm, he had another idea.

"I remember that the monks in the nearby temple once said that the water in this well is connected to the water system in the palace. I guess that this orchid probably came from the palace. The Master said: Orchid is the fragrance of the king. Yes There is no spouse in the fragrance of the old country, and the unparalleled scholars in the country. This may be a good omen, indicating that my son will become a talented Wang Zuo. So... let him be called 'Zuolan'."

This is the 18th year of Ruihe, the first year of the life of the last Duke Changqiu of the Daning Dynasty.

In the Spring Festival, Ye Kaiquan, a student of the four schools of the Imperial College, was a second-class Jinshi in high school, and the official worshiped Du Shuicheng; on the day of Double Ninth and Chongyang, Emperor Ninghui gave birth to the prince Zhao Yang, who was regarded as the king of Wuqu Kaiyang; , the eunuch Qi Yunchu followed Anle Wang Zhao Nanxing, left the Hanlu Hall of Zichen Palace, and moved to live in the palace outside the palace.