"The little prince is crying so much that he may be sick. If you are sick, you should call the imperial doctor. What are you doing to see your majesty?" Concubine Yao's attention immediately shifted to the little palace maid, and her words were full of blame and unkindness.
The little palace maid did not dare to say anything, but waited expectantly for Dugu Che to speak.
Just now, Miss Lu said that if she couldn't invite His Majesty to Shanglin Hall today, she wouldn't have to go back. If not, even if she was given ten heads, she wouldn't dare to snatch them away in front of Concubine Yao and Concubine Tong Shu!
But she couldn't tell these secrets. Even if she told them, who would pity her as a palace maid?
Only then did Dugu Che finally look up from the page, as if he had been in a fugue.
Xia Houshu secretly looked at the pages in his hand. In fact, he only flipped through a few pages accidentally and did not read them seriously. She could not understand his actions more and more.
"Show off!" Dugu Che put down the book in his hand, stood up calmly, patted the non-existent dust on his body, and left the Linshui Pavilion.
The little palace maid quickly saluted the two concubines and quickly followed Dugu Che's footsteps.
"No one is worried!" Concubine Yao glared at Concubine Tong Shu again and left.
Concubine Tong Shu picked up the crabapple flower on Xia Houshu's desk, looked at it, and said softly: "Don't let anyone see this flower again. You'd better go back first. If you meet other people again, it will be in trouble."
"
"Thank you for your advice!" Xia Houshu bowed slightly to thank him.
Concubine Tong Shu put the begonia flowers back in their place, turned around and walked out.
Xia Houshu looked at her delicate back and was stunned for a while before coming back to his senses. He quickly packed his things and returned to Yaoxueyuan.
The next few days were peaceful, because the day for Princess Pingkang's monthly exam had arrived, and she had no time to find fault with her.
The weather was very good that day. Master Chen was originally in charge of the exam, but Dugu Che suddenly said that he would personally invigilate the exam, so the scene instantly became lively. Except for Princess Pingkang, who was taking the exam, and Princess Pingkang, who had not been in the school for a long time and was very sick.
Princess Jingyi and many other high-ranking concubines also came to join in the fun, and they even claimed to care about the princess's studies.
Princess Pingkang was not panicked at first, and secretly thought that Duguche was her biological brother after all, and had never been serious about her studies. She must be more tolerant than Mrs. Chen, and she could get away with it by acting coquettishly.
However, when she saw that the school was full of people, she immediately panicked and even her legs were shaking. Fortunately, she wore thick clothes in winter so that no one would notice.
She glanced at the sickly Princess Jingyi and knew that she was of no use. She turned around and grabbed Xia Houshu who was walking behind her, and threatened in a low voice: "Xiahoushu, remember this, you are me today."
Each of our think tanks must be as good as ten. If you let them make fun of you, you will not have a good life!"
What does it have to do with me? Xia Houshu not only frowned slightly, but he blamed her for not doing his best?
"Have you remembered?" Princess Pingkang asked.
"I have remembered it, but..." Xia Houshu curled his lips, "You also know that we are from a family of military commanders, so our knowledge is naturally a bit shallow. We cannot compare with the daughters of some great Confucian families, and I am afraid we will disappoint the princess."
"You..." Princess Pingkang looked angry, "I don't care, you must support this princess today, otherwise I will never let you go!"
Xia Houshu didn't want to pay attention to her at all and gave her a "please do it yourself" expression.
Princess Pingkang was so angry that she wanted to curse, but in front of everyone, she had to endure it and turned to Concubine Yao for help.
Xia Houshu took a quick look and saw that all the concubines in the palace were probably of high status and loved to join in the fun. It was not difficult to tell from their words that they actually came to see Princess Pingkang's jokes. She couldn't help but sympathize with these people.
The life there was so boring that they even used it to entertain their sister-in-law.
Princess Kang had no brains in her life, so she happily chatted animatedly with Concubine Yao.
Princess Jingyi, who was ignored by everyone, was sitting quietly on the seat, with no color on her face. From time to time she would take the handkerchief handed over by the palace maid and cover her mouth with a few coughs, her expression extremely painful.
It looked like he was really sick.
Xia Houshu thought about Qingrong's warning and turned to look outside the school. There was a small pond with a hibiscus growing on the bank.
When we first came here, it was blooming in full bloom, almost comparable to hibiscus. But now it is the end of October and the flowering period is coming to an end. The originally beautiful petals have withered on the branches, giving them a kind of ruined beauty.
Suddenly, she felt someone's eyes fixed on her face. Xia Houshu turned her head slightly. She felt a little dizzy after standing in the sun for a long time. He looked confusedly at a red-yellow figure not far away. It turned out that there was a group of people chatting.
They immediately became quiet and stood up to salute.
When Xiahou Shu saw this, he hurriedly saluted.
"Everyone, get up." After Dugu Che finished speaking, he walked past Xia Houshu and sat down on the chair. He turned to Princess Pingkang and asked, "Ati, how is your homework?"
"I know that the emperor brother can't trust me." Princess Pingkang pouted, "The emperor has called so many people here today, is it because he wants to see my jokes?"
"Where did the princess go?" A gorgeously dressed concubine interrupted, "We also heard that your majesty found a chaperone for the princess a few days ago, so the princess has made great progress in her studies, so I am here to congratulate you!"
"This princess is talking to the imperial brother, when will it be your turn to interrupt!" Princess Pingkang glared at the concubine after speaking.
The concubine curled her lips unwillingly.
Princess Pingkang cast her eyes on Xia Houshu again and said disdainfully: "As for her, she is just a little smart, but she is not as good as my princess's real talent and learning!"
"In that case, I'm going to test you." Dugu Che seemed to have not seen the quarrel between Princess Pingkang and the concubine just now, his tone was still just indifferent, and then he moved his eyes to the people outside the academy.
The hibiscus flower came from. Probably because the weather was nice today, some of the hibiscus trees that were about to end their flowering period quietly sprouted new flowers. The pink-white petals contained buds or stamens, shining brightly under the sunlight. So he
Said: "How about writing two lines of poems with this hibiscus as the title?"
Everyone's attention also turned to the outside of the academy. A gust of wind blew, and the academy was filled with the faint fragrance of hibiscus, but in the end it could not hide the fact that it was about to fail.
"This hibiscus has already passed its flowering stage, what's there to see?" Princess Pingkang pursed her lips and said, "The people below must have been lazy and didn't clean up the remaining flowers in time."
Concubine Yao's face looked a little ugly. Now she was responsible for co-managing the harem. Princess Pingkang said that the people below were lazy in front of everyone. Wasn't this just a disguised way of saying that she didn't take care of the people below her?
"It's natural for flowers to bloom and fall. Why do you need to deliberately clean it up? Even after the flowering period, it is still a scenery." Duguche said with a smile. Then his eyes fell on Princess Pingkang again, "Don't worry about it either.
As far as he is concerned, he just writes poetry."
Concubine Yao's complexion softened slightly, and her eyes looking at Dugu Che were full of love.
But Princess Pingkang's face turned pale again and again. She thought for a while and then chanted: "The shade of jade trees creates quiet springs, and the red fragrance disappears and the light smoke spreads."
Everyone fell silent and waited for Dugu Che's evaluation. Dugu Che took a sip of tea and said slowly: "There is indeed progress."
Princess Pingkang was stunned, and the others also fell silent. Dugu Che only said that she had made progress, and did not say whether she was good or bad. They did not dare to speculate at will. After a while, the concubines saw that Dugu Che had no other comments.
Everyone pursed their lips and snickered. Only Concubine Tong Shu remained calm, as if all this had nothing to do with her.
Princess Pingkang seemed to feel a sense of shame and humiliation, and said angrily: "Why are you laughing? It's amazing, you can also say a few words for me to see!"
The concubines hurriedly restrained themselves and looked narrow-minded.
"Everyone is happy for the princess. Why should the princess be angry?" Yao Guifei said with a smile, then turned to Dugu Che, "Seeing such a scene, my concubine also thought of something."
Dugu Che nodded and motioned for her to speak out.
So Concubine Yao proudly glanced at the concubines present and chanted: "Amidst the green bushes, there is a faint red color, but the dew stain is not as thick as rouge."
"It's not bad." Dugu Che could only comment.
When Concubine Yao heard this, she couldn't hide her pride in her charming smile.
Xia Houshu felt a chill all over his body.
Princess Pingkang curled her lips and looked at Concubine Yao displeasedly. She never expected that the person who would steal her limelight in the end would be her cousin who was always older than her cousin.
Then the concubine who had just had a quarrel with Princess Pingkang spoke again. She said: "Your Majesty, I heard that Concubine Shu was a talented woman who was well-known in the capital before she entered the palace. Why don't you also ask Concubine Shu to write a few poems?
Should we rise to the occasion?”
"Sister Lu, this is a good suggestion." Someone immediately agreed with her, and the atmosphere suddenly changed.
Now it's fun, Princess Pingkang's monthly exam has directly turned into a stage for the concubines to flatter themselves.
All the concubines looked at Concubine Tong Shu.
Concubine Tong Shu frowned. After all, she was riding a tiger and couldn't get off, so she could only chant a few sentences: "Wanyuan is swept away with a touch of yellow, and the hibiscus shines in the water and fragrant alone."
Xia Houshu chuckled. This sentence was obviously more elegant than the previous two sentences, and it also closely resembled Tong Shufei's character.
Ever since he heard the sad and sad flute music that night outside the Heyin Hall, Xia Houshu had always had a good impression of Concubine Tong Shu. Later, Concubine Tong Shu came to her rescue at the Linshui Pavilion in the Royal Garden, which invisibly made her have a good impression of her.
A sudden increase. In her life, she most admired those women who were calm and neither arrogant nor impetuous, and Concubine Tong Shu just caught her eye.
None of the concubines dared to make any comments, and turned their expectant eyes to Dugu Che.
Dugu Che's smile grew even stronger, and he was interrupted by Princess Pingkang just as he was about to say something.
Princess Pingkang pointed at Xia Houshu and said unconvinced: "This princess's maid can also compose such a poem!"
Xia Houshu was dumbfounded under the scrutiny of everyone. He was ordered to go to the palace to accompany him to study. After all, he was also the daughter of the Duke of Yue. When did he become the princess's maid?
"You, what about you?" Princess Pingkang really treated Xiahou Shu as a maid, "Hurry up and write a couple of poems for them to see! Don't lose my princess' face!"
"Reciting poems is not my forte, but I can give it a try." Xia Houshu deliberately ignored her humiliation and turned his eyes to the lotus flowers in the lake. Only a few butterflies were seen with the remaining stamens.
Playing in the middle, it was really cute. An idea flashed in her mind, and she said: "The sun is warm in the cold pond, and there are new makeup, and the flowers are returning home with the fragrance of colorful butterflies."
Silence, total silence.
About half a minute later, a burst of crisp applause suddenly sounded, which seemed strange and abrupt.
"These two sentences are quite interesting." Dugu Che said while applauding.
Xia Houshu deservedly accepted his award.
The concubines nearby seemed to be curious about her identity. One of them pretended to be surprised and said: "Huh? Isn't this the daughter of the Duke of Yue who was specially selected by your Majesty to accompany the princess to study a few days ago?"
"Yes, yes." Lu Guiren also agreed, "She is Xia Houshu. She is the one who has been making a lot of noise in the capital a few days ago."
"Hey, sister, this news is really brilliant. You heard the rumors outside the palace very clearly." Concubine Yao immediately acted like the mistress of the house, as if she was the queen of Nanqi.
.
The concubine who intervened from behind couldn't understand the situation, so she asked confusedly: "What did Sister Lu hear? Why don't you tell it for everyone to hear."