The Moon Over Tang Dynasty

Chapter 43: The moonlight is sultry and the road between enemies is narrow.

On her first morning in the palace, Liuli woke up to the sound of birdsong outside the window. Opening the window, the courtyard is filled with grass and leaves that have been washed translucent by morning dew, giving the pavilion and eaves hidden in it an unreal feeling like a picture. Unknown birds chirp happily on the branches, and the three palace maids The two of them walked gracefully in the courtyard, each wearing colorful silk and dressed differently from yesterday. Liuli thought for a while and then suddenly remembered, isn't today the Mid-Autumn Festival?

She turned around and opened the cabinet and found a matching short jacket with moiré piping in a matching color, paired with a royal blue narrow-waisted skirt. Just after changing, A Ling hurriedly walked in from the outside and bowed apologetically, "I just went to the front yard to receive the reward. I didn't expect aunt to get up so early. How did aunt sleep last night?"

Liuli suddenly remembered the strange noises coming from the front yard last night, nodded and said, "Are there any rewards in the palace during the festival? I vaguely heard someone beating a drum last night. Is this also the custom in the palace?"

Ah Ling laughed, "That's all the reward from the palace. Zhaoyi gave me a generous reward! When the aunt heard it last night, she didn't knock the drum, she knocked on the door."

Liuli asked curiously, "Why would someone knock on the door in the middle of the night? If I can hear it from here, wouldn't the knock on the door be louder than the beating of a drum?"

Aling's smile became a little weird, and after thinking for a while, she said, "The good teacher learned that it was His Royal Highness Concubine Shu who came to see Your Majesty last night, saying that..." Her voice lowered, "Concubine Shu was waiting in the yard. Your Majesty caught a cold in the middle of the night and had an unbearable headache."

Liuli was slightly stunned, but she couldn't help but laugh too—could it be that Gaozong was supposed to sleep in Concubine Shu's palace last night? Since I didn't go, then...it's just that Concubine Shu's method is a bit too old-fashioned, right? I couldn't help but ask, "Then, Your Majesty, have you gone to see Concubine Shu?"

Ah Ling blinked, "Your Majesty didn't even show his face. He only sent Ah Sheng out, saying that he was taking them to the doctor at Shang Yao Bureau to treat Concubine Shu!"

Liuli shook her head and laughed. She thought that Wu Shunniang had not been in the palace for some days, and it was just the time when she was in love. If Concubine Shu was the most favored, this trick would probably still be effective, but now it is just annoying. However, she can pretend to be so powerful even when she is pretending to be sick. This Concubine Shu is really...

After having breakfast in her room, Liuli saw Yueniang going out, so she followed her and went to Mrs. Wu's room together. Mrs. Wu looked radiant as expected. When Wu Zetian came to invite her, Liuli felt a little nervous when she saw Mrs. Wu's charming expression. Wu Zetian still looked lazy and peaceful, chatting and laughing with Mrs. Wu just like yesterday. Liuli felt a chill in her heart. , but heard her say, "I remembered it when I saw Liuli. Take out that moonlight skirt quickly. Today is the right time."

Not long after, the six-piece silver silk moiré dress was brought out by the palace maid. Wu Zetian tried it on, and everyone praised it. Liuli looked at it for a few times, suddenly got an idea, and said with a smile, "This The silver thread of the moonlight dress is still not bright enough. If Zhaoyi doesn't worry, I can use bright silver powder to paint some star dots, maybe it will be better."

Naturally, Wu Zetian had nothing to worry about, so Liuli took the skirt back to the house, mixed some silver powder she brought from An's house with water, and carefully painted star-shaped light spots on the skirt. At this time, a piece of silk was as wide as About one foot and eight inches, six paintings are enough to be one foot wide. Although the star points are not difficult to draw, it took Liuli most of the day to draw such a skirt.

 When she finally finished the painting, it was the Golden Wuxi pendant. She held the skirt and went to the main hall. The west room where Wu Zetian lived was full of laughter and laughter. It turned out that Mrs. Yang was also here. She was playing with Li Hong in the nurse's arms. When she saw Liuli, she smiled and said, "What an idiot. I will spend the afternoon." I stood at your window for a long time without even raising my head. Shun Niang and I were laughing so hard that you couldn't hear us! Come on, bring me the skirt. I want to see what you are drawing. "

Liuli lifted up the skirt and unfolded it, and there was a sound of inhalation in the room. In the slanting light shining in from the window, countless starlight suddenly appeared on this long skirt as white as the moon, which was sparse at the top and dense at the bottom. A field of stars twinkling.

Mrs. Yang sighed, "It's strange that you spent a whole day painting, but you actually painted the stars in the sky on this skirt!"

Wu Zetian also stood up happily and put on her skirt. After walking a little, the hem of the skirt became even more dazzling. Even little Li Hong reluctantly stretched out his hand to reach it. Mrs. Yang then smiled and said, "Look, Lian Hong Everyone knows this skirt is pretty!" Liuli sighed inwardly. In fact, if it were sewn on with rhinestones, the effect would be much better. This was just for fun.

Liuli saw that Wu Zetian was already dressed, but she was wearing a dark blue floral brocade jacket. She couldn't help but said, "Zhaoyi, do you want to try on a plain short jacket?"

Wu Zetian immediately obediently asked the palace maids to bring some plain blouses. Liuli picked one with lotus root, jadeite and square brocade rims, paired with a green shawl. After Wu Zetian put it on, Mrs. Yang and Mrs. Wu They all said "good" at the same time, and Wu Zetian also laughed with satisfaction. After thinking for a while, he turned back to Liuli and said, "There is a banquet in the palace tonight. You can come with us and see the excitement." Liuli was startled and responded with a smile. .

Seeing that the sky was getting darker little by little, the group packed up and left the Xianchi Palace surrounded by the palace maids, heading towards the northeast. Not far away, there was a large piece of water in front of them. A light was lit in the southeast corner of the water, and the sound of silk and bamboo could be heard faintly. Mrs. Wu then told Liuli, "This side is the North Sea, and the light is Wangyun Pavilion, which is a good place to enjoy the moon."

When they got closer, they saw a large group of people coming on the road to the side. There were three shoulder carriages crowding in the middle. The two at the head had golden crowns, which looked particularly conspicuous. My heart moved, and I vaguely understood who was coming. I visually measured the distance, and couldn't help but smile bitterly in my heart.

Sure enough, although Liuli's group had stopped walking, when they arrived at the entrance of Wangyunting courtyard, the group of people also walked over. Wu Zetian took the lead and stopped, blessing the golden-domed phoenix chariot that came over. Everyone also followed suit, but they saw that the woman in gorgeous clothes in the phoenix chariot seemed not to be seen, and the phoenix chariot walked in without stopping. went.

Under the light, Liuli could only see Wu Zetian's straight and calm back, but the faces of the maids around her clearly showed dissatisfaction. There was a teenage boy sitting in the second Jinding Huayu. When he passed by Wu Zetian, he didn't mean to salute. He lowered his head and walked in. The faces of the palace ladies here were even more ugly. Li Hong, who was being held by the wet nurse, started to cry for some reason. Wu Zetian looked back at her son, with no expression on her face behind the light. Liuli's heart was already a little excited at this time. In the third shoulder bag that came over, sitting was her old acquaintance Mrs. Wei Guo. Liuli wanted to move back, but saw Mrs. Wei passing by without turning her head. She didn't know whether to be surprised or lucky when she suddenly felt two cold eyes falling on her face. Liuli took a closer look and saw that it was Zhihong who was following Jianyu. She was startled and simply smiled at Zhihong. Sure enough, Zhihong's expression immediately changed, and knives could almost fly out of her eyes.

After this large group of people entered Wangyunting courtyard, Liuli and the others walked in. In front of them was a huge courtyard, with colorful candles everywhere, endless laughter, melodious Xiliang music floating over the courtyard, and beautiful clothes. There were beautiful beauties everywhere. From time to time, some people smiled and saluted Wu Zetian, or praised the unique and gorgeous dress. Wu Zetian also smiled and returned the greetings one by one. The group of people walked and walked for half a day before reaching the Wangyun Pavilion in the west of the courtyard, which is close to the lake. This Wangyun Pavilion is not so much a pavilion as a two-story pavilion. It rises on a high earth platform and looks more and more beautiful and towering.

A **** in his thirties stood at the bottom of the steps. When he saw Wu Zetian, he quickly came over with a smile on his face, "Why didn't Zhaoyi come to the court? Your Majesty was already asking Zhaoyi just now."

Wu Zetian smiled and said, "I've kept you waiting for a long time. I was bored in the palace all day and wanted to take a walk." Then he turned back and smiled at Mrs. Yang, "Mother, my daughter will come down to accompany you later."

Mrs. Yang waved her hand with a smile and said, "Just serve His Majesty well. Mother is naturally accompanied by Shun Niang and the others."

Seeing Wu Zetian and his personal maid, the wet nurse walked up with Li Hong in her arms, another maid came over and led Mrs. Yang to the window seat on the first floor. There were tables on all sides of the pavilion, and there were already many ladies and ladies of different ages sitting there. Only then did Liuli realize that the Mid-Autumn Festival was probably also a day when the concubines’ female relatives could go to the palace to reunite, but only the concubines could go upstairs to meet them. His Majesty Gaozong enjoyed the feast together, while the concubines and their relatives could only enjoy the banquet downstairs.

The maid led Mrs. Yang to the south window, where two long tables were set up. Mrs. Yang looked back, took Yueniang's hand, and sat on the upper table. Mrs. Wu then Sitting at the bottom, Liuli wanted to stand at the back with Cuimo, but Mrs. Yang turned around and said, "Liuli, sit down too."

Liuli was slightly surprised, hesitated for a moment, and then stepped forward and sat down. She also knew in her heart that by sitting down, she confirmed that she was a member of the Wu family and not just a painter. She couldn't help but said sincerely, " Thank you, madam." Mrs. Yang also nodded and smiled at her.

Liuli was sitting sideways facing Mrs. Liu. She didn't even glance this way, but her face was extremely cold. However, Zhihong behind her glared at Liuli again. After a while, the Xiliang music played in the courtyard turned into cheerful Qiuci music, and plates of rare melon and fruit snacks and pots of hot chrysanthemum wine were also served like water.

Only the sound of the stairs was heard, but Gaozong and the queen came over, surrounded by the palace maids and eunuchs, and walked all the way to the main seat in the west. Liuli couldn't help but take a look at it. Unlike most of the beauties in the harem tonight, who were dressed in fancy clothes, this king The queen was wearing a light yellow mother-of-pearl dress, with red gold twelve-tree mother-of-pearl hairpins weighing heavily on her beautiful round face. The smiling Gaozong was much stronger.

The two came to the main seat, and the emperor and empress raised their wine glasses. The king and empress said a few words of greetings, dipped their fingernails in the wine and flicked it into the air three times. After a while, everyone gathered at the table and received the banquet with a grand ceremony. This Mid-Autumn Festival The family banquet in the palace is officially opened.

As the emperor and empress left, the soft dance music of "Six Yao" played, and two teams of Jiaofang musicians in long-sleeved dance clothes walked into the pavilion and danced gracefully in the open space left in the pavilion. The soft waist swings lightly, and the long sleeves that sweep the floor are flying. She is really as graceful as a flying dragon, and as graceful as a swimming dragon.

Unknowingly, the moon was high in the sky, the singing and dancing took a break, the melons, fruits and cold dishes had been removed from the tables, and what was served was a hot soup served in a silver bowl with a pattern of mandarin ducks and lotus petals. Mrs. Wu smiled and said, "This is the palace's Mid-Autumn Festival moon soup. It's the most delicious and suitable for the occasion. You might as well use more." Liuli nodded, picked up the silver soup spoon and just took a sip. Before he could discern the taste, an unfamiliar palace maid suddenly asked. Bu walked over, walked up to Liuli, and said expressionlessly, "Are you Aunt Kudi? Her Royal Highness the Queen asks you to go up and answer."

p.s. Yesterday I came back and turned on the computer. I rubbed my eyes to make sure I saw it right. There are several more pink tickets. Thank you dear Ke Qi, book friend 091217122141682, Lin Jianuan, fanmiah rice grain rice grain rice grain twelve characters (this ID is awesome) and Tianya Jianjia rewarded you with pink tickets, especially classmate Lin Jiannuan, the Heshi Bi you rewarded was so valuable, Alan was not only flattered, but also a little embarrassed... I sincerely say, everyone, please don’t It's too expensive, and even though there is a pink one, Ah Lan still has to keep asking for votes with a straight face, because the competition is fierce. However, spending 10,000 starting coins for this, well, Alan really deserves it. In short, thank you to classmate Lin Jianuan (although the word "thank you" is a bit pale), and thank you to all of you who support me with subscriptions.

Let’s talk about Huang Shengyi’s interview. Yesterday was a cover interview for the Garden Edition of “Girlfriend”. Huang Shengyi is quite punctual. She looks almost the same in real life as she does on TV, but she doesn’t stand out when she’s not wearing makeup because she is too thin. It is estimated that the maximum height is 1.6 meters and 90 pounds. His skin is pretty good among artists. She said that she hated makeup. She wanted to take a shower every time she put on makeup and took a photo. She never lost weight and didn't like beauty. She couldn't apply facial masks as frequently as her assistant... During the interview, she was very cooperative. What impressed me the most was, She is a person with extremely clear goals, a clear mind, and knows exactly what she wants. It can be seen that she is relatively easy-going and informal (well, she didn't kick me out when she was changing clothes, um, that...). There is a female foreign teacher by my side, and I practice English with her when I have nothing to do. Miss Huang is very good at English. She said that she has been learning like this for five years because she thinks it will be useful sooner or later... Therefore, this kind of person will really succeed.

 (End of this chapter)