The concubine is extremely cautious

Ning Wanyin came out of Mingzhao Hall and sent someone to report the good news to the old lady who had just returned from worshiping Buddha.

When we returned to Xiheyuan, it was already dusk.

Pengqin was the first to report, "Miss, Doctor Ge has checked everything, and the fan and jewelry are all clean and non-toxic."

Holding the chess piece, she followed closely behind him. "I have made careful inquiries. Miss Tang was just like usual yesterday. Nothing strange happened to her. But this morning she woke up from a nightmare, crying and laughing, which scared the maids who were serving her."

"She seems to have changed her personality since she woke up from this nightmare. When she returned to the courtyard just now, she sent a maid to give the Madam a box of very precious tea."

Ning Wanyin listened quietly, with no emotion visible on her delicate face. "Have you checked the tea I sent to my mother?"

"You have already instructed that anything delivered to the madam's yard must be checked by Doctor Ge first. The tea leaves were also clean after inspection." Pengqi replied.

Ning Wanyin was in deep thought, saying nothing.

Pengqin guessed, "Miss, Miss Tang's temperament has suddenly changed. Could it be that she is possessed by evil spirits?"

"I haven't heard of anyone being possessed by evil spirits, which makes it more normal than before." Ning Wanyin curled her lips, a trace of caution flashed in her eyes, "Keep a close eye on her and be careful."

"Yes."

Lian Rui was the last one to come back and report. She said, "Miss, the people selected this time include those from the Duke Su's Mansion..."

……

It was a sunny day on the first day of March.

Ning Wanyin bid farewell to her grandmother and mother, and entered the palace with Tang Miaoling.

Because there are few concubines in your majesty's old palace and this year is the first election, most of the six palaces in the east and west do not have a main seat, and Yonghe Palace is one of them.

The leading eunuch escorted the two to the gate of Yonghe Palace, where a group of eunuchs and palace maids were waiting for them. They happened to be assigned to one place, living in the left and right side halls.

"Welcome, beautiful lady!" Six palace maids bowed to Tang Miaoling.

Four more palace maids bowed to Ning Wanyin and said, "Welcome, my dear lady."

There is a strict hierarchy in the palace, and different positions receive different treatments.

"Cousin, we are destined to live together." Tang Miaoling looked surprised, but she was not happy at all.

With her memories of her past life, she already knew that the two of them were assigned to the same palace.

She really wanted to stay away from Ning Wanyin!

Trembling with fear, yet pretending to be overjoyed.

Wow, what kind of suffering is this in the world.

Ning Wanyin saw through her inconsistency and bowed:

"Sister Tang, I'm going back to the house first."

When meeting or leaving a concubine who was higher in rank than her, she had to perform formalities. She had studied the palace rules privately for three years and would not ignore this point just because of the other party's attitude.

"Yes, you have worked hard along the way. Go back and rest!" Tang Miaoling nodded quickly and hurriedly took her palace servants back to the left side hall where she lived.

She wanted to stay with Ning Wanyin for a while longer, as she was afraid that she would not be able to hold on and her legs would tremble.

The hall on the right side of Yonghe Palace - Lingxue Pavilion.

A noble lady could only bring one maid into the palace, so Ning Wanyin brought Lianrui, who had served her since childhood.

The two palace maids and two eunuchs who had just paid her a visit were assigned to serve her in the palace.

"Your servant Danli/Lvju is here to greet you, my Lord. May you be well!"

"I am Xiao Guizi/Xiao Yuanzi, your servant, and I am here to greet you, my dear. May you be well!"

Ning Wanyin looked at the four people in front of her and said calmly, "It is fate that you are assigned to my palace. I have always been clear about rewards and punishments. As long as you work hard, I will definitely not treat you unfairly. But if you are disloyal, I will not let you off easily."

"I understand!" The four palace maids all kowtowed in greeting.

Ning Wanyin knew, of course, that these words, which every concubine would probably say once, had no deterrent effect. She would not trust them, but she had to say what she had to say.

"Lianrui, reward!" Ning Wanyin ordered.

Lian Rui distributed the silver coins she had prepared long ago to the four palace maids. In order to win her favor, the Bo family prepared a thousand taels of silver to reward people.

The four of them were all happy to accept the reward. The silver nugget was heavy and not light.

Everyone wants to be with a generous master.

Ning Wanyin continued, "Since I have entered the palace, I must be prepared to sleep with you. You should also be prepared to welcome the emperor."

The four of them were a little confused when they saw such an active master for the first time, but Danli reacted quickly and said:

"Your Excellency is right!"

Ning Wanyin ordered: "There is no time to lose. We must start preparing for Lingxue Pavilion from now on. Your Majesty is so precious. Lingxue Pavilion must be cleaned spotlessly."

The four of them had no objection and accepted the order. It was their duty to clean the palace and welcome the emperor.

but……

Soon they discovered that this new master was too troublesome.

Not only was Ning Wanyin's bedroom cleaned spotlessly, but even their servants' rooms were cleaned as well.

The flower beds in the courtyard are even more outrageous.

They said they were clearing weeds, but they actually dug three feet into the ground, turned over the flower bed, and replanted the flowers.

The four of them worked until dark. If it weren't for the high reward given by their master, they would have wanted to change their job.

"Master, the entire Lingxue Pavilion has been cleaned inside and out. There are no poisonous weeds or insects in the flower garden, and no prohibited items are buried."

"There was nothing strange in the servant's room, and no extra silver was found."

Lian Rui reported them one by one.

The four newcomers all thought that their master was too busy, but Lian Rui knew very well that her master had said:

You must be familiar with your place of residence, inside and outside the house, every person, every object, every flower, every grass, every brick and every tile.

Only in this way can you live in peace.

"You have worked hard." Ning Wanyin nodded, pondered three times, and went over every brick and tile of the entire Lingxue Pavilion in her mind. She paused, her eyebrows raised frivolously:

"There is no pond in Lingxue Pavilion, so I went to the Ministry of Internal Affairs to ask for eight water jars, and then I said that I like lotus and want to plant lotus. But people in the palace always speculate on their every move, so there must be people who don't believe that I like lotus."

"I'll pretend to let it slip and say that lotus seeds are numerous. I think it's a good omen. I hope you can have a baby soon."

As long as the concubines did things to win favor and have children, others would not find it strange.

Lian Rui suddenly realized and bowed to apologize, "I was careless and forgot this. If Lingxue Pavilion is flooded and it's far to get water, it will be difficult to deal with it."

"You've done a good job." Ning Wanyin smiled. It's impossible to take care of everything in this world all the time, and she herself can't guarantee that everything will go wrong.

But just being as cautious as possible.

Lian Rui quickly took the eunuchs to the Imperial Household Department to move the water tanks. With the money to pave the way, everything was settled.

After everything was done, Lian Rui came back to report.

Having just talked about the “things” in Lingxue Pavilion, there is still the most important “people”.

"I have inquired and found out that Xiao Guizi and Xiao Yuanzi were both in the palace of the late Emperor's Concubine Liu. After Concubine Liu passed away, they returned to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and are now assigned to the Lingxue Pavilion. Danli and Luju are new maids who entered the palace last year. They are relatively young and have just learned the rules for a year."

It was a bit unlucky that the master they had served was dead. Xiao Guizi and Xiao Yuanzi had been in the Imperial Household Department for several years but no one was willing to hire them.

New palace maids are prone to making mistakes, and high-ranking concubines are not easy to choose.

Therefore, the palace servants reserved for low-ranking concubines were either newcomers or had some taboos, which seemed to indicate that there was nothing wrong with their origins.

Lian Rui continued to report:

"Xiao Guizi is a greedy man, and he even asked me about your family background. He is really obsessed with money. Xiao Yuanzi is honest and works without complaint. I will arrange for them to guard the outer courtyard."

"Danli is good at combing hair, so she will help you wash and comb your hair. Luju will serve tea...the two of them serve in the inner room. Now there is really no other way but to use these people. I will keep a close eye on them and ask about their past affairs later to make sure there are no hidden dangers!"

Ning Wanyin looked at her and nodded in appreciation, "You did a great job."

Lian Rui puffed out her chest proudly. After following the young lady for so many years, she had learned a few things.

……

The next day, Ning Wanyin wore a green, double-breasted, waist-cinching skirt with a lotus pattern, and two or three plain jade hairpins in her crow-like bun.

"My dear, you are so beautiful, but you are dressed so simply, I'm afraid you won't be very eye-catching." Danli failed to perform to her full potential.

Ning Wanyin smiled faintly, "I'm not going to pay my respects to His Majesty, so there's no need to stand out."

As soon as she came out of the right hall, Ning Wanyin saw Tang Miaoling guarding the gate of the main hall, waiting for her to pay her respects.

"Cousin, Empress Yuanxiao has passed away, and now Concubine Shu is in charge of the palace. Let's first pay our respects to Concubine Shu in Jingxi Palace, and then go to Cining Palace together to pay our respects to the Empress Dowager." Tang Miaoling tried her best to be friendly and smiled brightly.

Since she was chosen to enter the palace, the palace sent a nanny to teach her the rules and regulations for a few days.

The concubines in the Great Yan Dynasty had to pay their respects to the Queen Mother and the Empress every day.

According to the rules, the Empress must lead all the concubines to pay respects to the Empress Dowager, and the concubines cannot go there privately. Now that there is no Empress in the palace, the responsibility of leading the way falls on Concubine Shu.

All the concubines gathered at Jingxi Palace and went to pay respects to the empress dowager together. There was no rule to pay respects to Concubine Shu every day.

"Okay." Ning Wanyin nodded slightly.

Your Majesty’s first wife, Empress Yuanxiao, passed away a few months before Your Majesty ascended the throne. Before Your Majesty had the chance to remarry, the late emperor passed away.

Therefore, now that the palace was without a master, the emperor appointed Concubine Shu to exercise the power of the empress and take charge of the six palaces.

Shu Fei was the emperor's concubine before he ascended the throne. She gave birth to a prince. This was the only prince in the harem, and his position was stable.

Self-appointed: Empress, Imperial Noble Consort, Four Consorts (Noble, Virtuous and Wise), Consort, Imperial Concubine, Zhaoyi, Jieyushi, Beauty, Honored Lady, Baolin and Selected Concubine.