Except for the imperial concubine, no one in the palace seems to like playing the piano, and the emperor rarely listens to the piano outside Chengqian Palace. I don’t know what other people think. In Lan Qi, it’s all because this is what the imperial concubine can do to please the emperor.
She was fascinated by it.
"I heard that you have learned it?" the imperial concubine asked.
Lan Qi said lightly: "I have almost forgotten what happened many years ago. I have never even touched the strings of the piano in these years, so I must have forgotten everything."
The imperial concubine smiled weakly: "Why don't you give it a try? Maybe it will be remembered in your bones. When your hand touches the strings, you will naturally remember it."
Lan Qi didn't want her to be disappointed, so she agreed with a smile, sat upright on the piano bench, and slightly adjusted her posture and distance. As the imperial concubine said, it didn't feel strange at all when she sat down. She repeated the movements thousands of times when she first learned.
It has long been engraved in my bones.
She raised her hand and stroked the strings with her delicate jade fingers, but only heard a muffled sound. Lan Qi was stunned, and the imperial concubine was also stunned. She did not dare to touch the strings again. After a while, the imperial concubine smiled bitterly: "The strings are loose.
It’s out of tune.”
The imperial concubine couldn't remember when she stopped playing the piano. At least she hadn't played it in the past two years when she was seriously ill. Now she no longer needs to deliberately do anything to please the emperor, but now, there is nothing she can do.
"After all, the emperor likes to listen to the piano, but when he listens to me playing the piano, he always feels a little changed. He understands in his heart, and I understand even more." The imperial concubine took a breath and whispered slowly, "If you don't
I'll give this piano to you so that when I'm gone, you can play it to him."
"After I learned the piano, I threw the guqin that the Empress Dowager gave me into the lake and decided not to play it again." Lan Qi said calmly, "I am willing to collect your piano, which is even more of an honor for me. But it's a great honor for me.
There may be people in this palace who will play the piano for the emperor in the future, but they will definitely not be concubines."
The imperial concubine smiled bitterly: "Why bother? I won't be around in the future."
Lan Qi looked at her devoutly, with tears in her eyes: "But why did you leave?"
Childlike words are her true words from the bottom of her heart. The hatred and resentment she once had are all gone. The imperial concubine’s dedication to Yinzhen, her dedication to the emperor, and even her various help to Lan Qi over the years are enough to make her life worse.
Cherishing does not mean what a person has given to someone to be worthy of being cherished, but that she has worked very hard to live, and everyone can see it.
But God is jealous of beauty, such a beautiful and proud woman is about to disappear in this mortal world.
"I, Ama, and my brothers will continue to support Yinzhen in the future. You don't have to worry about this. Even if I am gone, I can't erase the fact that he was once happy under my knees. The fourth elder brother will still be the adopted son of the imperial concubine for the rest of his life.
, People today will remember him for a lifetime, and will be recorded in the annals of history in the future. People from generation to generation will look at him this way." The imperial concubine spoke slowly for a long time, and after a while, she continued, "Just
It's a pity that I can't give him an adoptive mother who becomes a queen, and your background cannot be changed. But I can obviously give him more, but it's too late and I can't do it."
Lan Qi said quietly: "Fourth Brother himself will fight hard."
There was silence in the room for a while. I don't know if it was because the imperial concubine was tired and couldn't speak anymore, or because the two of them were looking at each other speechlessly. Lan Qi was thinking about asking the piano master to tune the strings, and lowered her head to take a closer look at the piano.
, the imperial concubine suddenly said: "Even if you can't stand on the child's side in the future, don't hold him back. If he doesn't fight, he has no future. If he wants to fight, you can't be partial. You still have thirteen or four, you
You must not be as whole-hearted as I am to him, just treat it as my will, if you can hear it, then abide by it."
Lan Qi looked at her, not knowing what to say. The imperial concubine still didn't give up until this moment. Was it because she valued Yinzhen and his future too much, or was the pride in her bones not allowing her to give up on this, but the person she was about to leave
She couldn't say these things, so how could she keep saying that she would support her son's future struggles?
The imperial concubine turned to look at Lan Qi. Her seriously ill face was pale and bloodless. In the morning, Qinglian applied a touch of rouge, but the makeup seemed to be floating on the surface. Instead, it showed her haggardness even more exaggeratedly. She now had long eyebrows.
He frowned and stared, waiting for Lan Qi's answer.
Lan Qi's hand unconsciously pressed on the strings. After a dull buzzing sound, she finally heard her voice say: "I have written it down."
The imperial concubine's eyes finally showed some relief, and she repeated as if she was worried: "Don't be partial to your little son, he has no shortage of someone to love and protect him, but Yinzhen has too many shortcomings. It doesn't look like he has two mothers.
Okay, do you understand?"
The imperial concubine's paranoid love for her fourth elder brother once made Lan Qi worry that if her love was too deep, things would go wrong. Now, something similar has not happened yet. She has passed away soon, but every word she says at this moment still makes her heartbroken.
It is true that she cannot treat Yinzhen as dedicatedly as the imperial concubine. There are still many things and people occupying her heart in her life, but to the imperial concubine, her fourth brother seems to be everything.
At a certain moment, she would think guiltily, if the imperial concubine lived in good health, would it really be a good thing for the fourth prince?
At this time, Tong Bin came in. The delicate person had fallen ill from exhaustion a few days ago and was sent back to Chuxiu Palace by the imperial concubine to recuperate. Seeing that her face was still sick, she probably heard that the imperial doctor had been summoned in the morning, so she rallied to rush.
come over.
"Why did sister remember to play the piano?" Tong Bin said with a smile. She had been in the palace for several years, and her face still had the childish look of the past. She took her sister's hand and said, "Do you want to hear it? I'll play it for you.
Listen, I haven’t played it in many years, so I don’t know if I can play it well.”
Lan Qi smiled and said: "The strings are loose. I'll ask the musician to tune them. My sister's skills must be better than mine. Once the strings are tuned, you can play them for me."
Tong Bin smiled and nodded in agreement: "Excuse me."
Lan Qi got up and asked the palace maid to move the piano out, and then asked the Yuefu luthier to adjust the strings. Her servants would do those things, while she also had to deal with the trivial matters of the Sixth Palace. When she had free time, she would pay a visit to the imperial concubine or Tong Bin.
Companion, or the company of Fourth Brother, what is different from the past is that none of them are sad.
Even though Tong Bin is not in good spirits, she has always been smiling and accompanying her sister recently since she was prone to crying in the early days. She is stronger than ever. Lan Qi asked in private, who can be a younger sister without turning her back on her sister?
With red eyes, she said: "Only when she looks at me and smiles can I walk with peace of mind."
Unlike eleven years ago, the imperial concubine did not pester Lan Qi to say that she could not worry about her sister. Apart from telling her fourth brother over and over again, she did not overly entrust her to take care of her sister, and Tong Bi was not as gentle as before.
The concubine is careless. She usually looks at her weak and spineless sister, but now she knows exactly what she wants to do.
Lan Qi thought, did Queen Niu Hulu feel that her sister would have no one to rely on in the future because she was disappointed in her family? But the imperial concubine still confidently told herself that her father and brothers would continue to support the fourth elder brother and treat the fourth elder brother.
If this is the case, it means that for Tong Concubine, she will have family to rely on in the future, and she does not need concubines like Lan Qi to take care of her.
In the next two days, the imperial concubine was sometimes conscious and sometimes comatose. The imperial doctor gradually told the people in Chengqian Palace not to make soup or medicine. The imperial concubine could no longer give any soup or food, but she still maintained her breath, as if life was lingering on the world for the last time. Uncle Guo
All the family members of the government had visited the palace, but Lan Qi didn't go to see the sad scene. She couldn't see the white-haired person sending the black-haired person away. She didn't want to remember the pain of sending Yin Zuo away in the past.
On the eighth day of the lunar month, Lan Qi originally knew what was going to happen. Tian Xuanye had made an agreement with her earlier, because even if the emperor insisted on doing something, it couldn't be accomplished by just saying a word. Hurry up and hurry up to make it happen today.
It was announced that Lan Qi was neither in Chengqian Palace nor in Yonghe Palace. He summoned his sister, who had not been in the palace for a long time, to visit Concubine Wen in Xianfu Palace with her for no reason.
Concubine Wen is now a carefree "child". From being crazy and uncontrollable at first, she is now truly like a child. Although it seems a little scary to have an adult's body carrying a child's mind, she relies on Dongyun.
Listening to Dongyun's words, even Dongyun said that she felt less worried now than when she had to fight every day earlier. The imperial concubine seemed to have returned to her childhood and was particularly easy to take care of.
Lan Ying brought exquisite snacks from outside the palace. In the past, it was her turn to bring things to the imperial concubine. She was afraid that she could not even enter the Xianfu Palace. But now people like children will happily say thank you.
Holding the box of snacks, she cuddled up with Dongyun, picked out a few pieces she liked and gave them to her, and then sat and ate them happily and quietly.
Dongyun dressed up Concubine Wen neatly and neatly, and her simple clothes did not lose her elegance. When she sat quietly, she did not appear to be a foolish person at all.
At this time, the eunuch on duty in the Xianfu Palace came back from outside after hearing the excitement and told Concubine De and Fujin like a treasure: "Your Majesty, your Majesty just announced in the morning that the Imperial Concubine will be canonized as Queen."
Lan Qi remembered that a few days ago, the imperial concubine blamed herself for not having enough time to give Yinzhen an adoptive mother who would become a queen. At that time, she did not dare to reveal the emperor's decision without permission. Now she is unconscious, but she has really become a queen.
On that day, the Emperor issued an order to the Ministry of Rites, following the empress dowager's loving instructions, saying that the imperial concubine was filial and filial, and she was well-behaved, educated her sons, and showed great kindness and diligence. Now that you are suddenly ill and your situation is in danger, I feel deeply sorry for you.
, should be made queen immediately to show your favor.
As soon as the news came out, the former harem was in an uproar. The emperor had refused to establish a new queen for more than ten years, but at this juncture, he rushed the imperial concubine to appoint a queen with her last breath. Everyone knew that even this huge happy event could not be reversed.
Is the fate of the imperial concubine really just to show her favor, as stated in the edict?
Even though no one in the harem can compete with the imperial concubine for the position of the middle palace, but that position is vacant, nothing will happen. Now that there is a sudden owner, the harem has completely changed for all the princes, overnight.
In this time, will the fourth elder brother become the legitimate son?
The identity of this legitimate son is somewhat embarrassing, and others are unwilling to admit it, but the emperor will not specifically deny it verbally. How should things be considered that are neither acknowledged nor denied?
On the ninth day of the lunar month, according to the imperial edict, the imperial concubine was appointed as the queen. The emperor sent officials to offer sacrifices to the heaven and earth, the Ancestral Temple, and issued edicts to the world. In the harem, the Sixth Palace, dressed in court clothes, gathered in Chengqian Palace, and knelt down to worship the new queen across the inner hall.
The noble concubine was absent due to illness, and the fourth concubine led the sixth palace. Lan Qi, Hui Concubine, Yi Concubine, and Rong Concubine stood side by side. When the ceremony was over, Concubine Yi suddenly heard her say coldly: "In this way, the fourth prince has become the legitimate prince.