The most beautiful lady in the harem

Qin Liuse touched the intricate crabapple flower pattern on the pearwood box and took a deep breath. "Master Mingjing, can you let me see the scriptures sent in from outside the palace?"

In Ci'en Temple there were Buddhist scriptures copied by the nobles in the palace when they had time, as well as Buddhist scriptures sent in by common people from outside the palace. Qin Liuse followed Master Mingjing to the back room, washed his hands, opened the neatly arranged boxes, looked around, and found several copies of the Diamond Sutra.

The copies made by the noble ladies in the palace cannot be used. If a noble lady finds out that you have misappropriated the copies, you will be in serious trouble.

Qin Liuse did not dare to use the scriptures copied by the families of dignitaries outside the palace.

As for the common people's scriptures, they are used to pray for the country's fortune. It is not advisable to use them casually. If you are not careful, you will be accused of destroying the country's fortune by those with ulterior motives.

"Oh, what should we do?" Qingqing was so anxious that she turned around and around. "If there is really no other way, let's go and ask the Queen Mother for forgiveness. The Queen Mother is kind and will definitely forgive us."

Qin Liuse was actually so anxious that she was sweating, but she didn't show it. She knew very well in her heart that if she was discovered at first sight, the first person to be dragged out would definitely be Qingqing, not her.

She didn't want to implicate Qingqing, and no matter how bad she said it, she was also the woman of Emperor Yongjia. With such a backer, at most she would be fined, or at worst banished to the cold palace, but no one would die.

But these were not the results Qin Liuse wanted, she still wanted to struggle.

I searched everywhere but couldn't find a suitable one.

But when she was about to close the box, a piece of cloth on the lid fell at Qin Liuse's feet.

"Master Mingjing, what is this?"

"This is the cloth from outside. It was originally used to wrap the common people's scriptures at the Queen Mother's birthday banquet."

"Then let's take this one." Qin Liuse looked at Master Mingjing, "Excuse me, Master, can I use this one?"

Qin Liuse bent down and picked up the cloth on the ground. Master Mingjing smiled and said, "This is not a big deal. There were a lot of things wrapped here, but most of them were taken away. This piece of cloth should have been covering the book and was not taken away."

Qingqing beside her was so confused that she forgot she was crying, "Jieyu, what's the use of this?"

Qin Liuse picked up the piece of cloth, shook it flat, and then placed it next to the scripture for comparison. It should be enough.

If this kind of cloth was placed in the harem and used as a footcloth by the nobles, it would probably be disliked, but for now, Qin Liuse had no choice but to give it a try.

-

Half an hour later, Qin Liuse reappeared at the gate of Yongshou Palace.

The Empress Dowager Cixi lived in seclusion in the deep palace all year round and never saw the concubines. They could only wait outside the door and wait for the people in the palace to report. They could only go in after the Empress Dowager nodded.

Qin Liuse was feeling nervous. While waiting, she was wondering who had tampered with her scriptures. If it wasn't Master Mingjing, then there were probably too many other people in Ci'en Temple who might have tampered with it.

In Ci'en Temple, there are not only nuns who have truly left the worldly world, but also some nobles in the palace who have committed crimes and go there to practice Buddhism. There are also several concubines of the previous emperor, who have no children and nowhere to go, so they go to Ci'en Temple to practice Buddhism, which is like a place to stay.

But Qin Liuse asked herself how long she had been in the palace and had never met them before, so how could she have offended those people?

Thinking of this, Qin Liuse lowered her head and whispered in Qingqing's ear, "Qingqing, ask Aunt Mingyue to find out about this in Ci'en Temple..."

After listening to this, Qingqing nodded, bowed to Qin Liuse and left.

She couldn't enter Yongshou Palace, and Qin Liuse would go in to meet the Queen Mother later, so she could only wait outside. Instead of being bored, she might as well listen to Concubine Qin and do things for her.

While he was thinking about it, a eunuch came out from Yongshou Palace with a hunched back and respectfully invited Qin Liuse to come in.

Qin Liuse held the scriptures in her hands and followed her father-in-law into Yongshou Palace.

The Empress Dowager Cixi worshipped Buddha and usually stayed at home. She only saw the emperor, princes and princesses, and concubines in the harem, and would not see them unless summoned. Qin Liuse was inevitably a little curious about the Yongshou Palace.

But Yongshou Palace was even simpler and more low-key than she had imagined. It was not as luxurious and precious as Empress Dowager Dong’s Kunning Palace. Even the number of servants in the palace was not half of that in Empress Dowager Dong’s palace.

It really feels like I've come to the palace of some hermit in the mountains.

Qin Liuse's heart was beating fast and his eyes were full of anxiety, but the moment he stepped into Yongshou Palace, the matter was already settled, so he collected his thoughts and pretended to be calm.

Qin Liuse took a deep breath and comforted herself that good things will come to her. She had lived two lives, so how could she still be afraid of death?

It is never easy to sit on the throne of queen, so she just thinks of it as a tribulation.

The eunuch at the main entrance of Yongshou Palace called, "Shu Yuexuan and Concubine Qin are here to see you."

Qin Liuse stepped into the main hall of Yongshou Palace. There were not many people in the hall. From the corner of her eye, she could see the Empress Dowager Cixi sitting steadily in the main seat.

Standing next to her were her maids, whom Qin Liuse recognized. One was Aunt Fanghua, and the other were two young maids, Zhucui and Bizhu.

Qin Liuse held the tray, knelt down and raised the tray and the box high in her hands, "Your servant Qin Liuse greets the Queen Mother!"

Perhaps he still had some impression of Qin Liuse after meeting her that day, so the voice of the Empress Dowager Cixi made Qin Liuse feel much more at ease.

"Are you the concubine who was in the Queen's palace that day?"

"Your Highness, I am the concubine."

"Did the emperor ask you to copy scriptures for me?"

"Your Majesty, the Emperor is worried about your health. He asked me to copy the Diamond Sutra to pray for you. May you live a long and healthy life."

"Okay, don't be so formal. Get up quickly." The Empress Dowager Cixi was as approachable as the Empress Dowager Dong.

However, the Empress Dowager Dong was only like that on the surface. She was often so kind that people thought she was their own mother, which always made Qin Liuse feel creepy.

As for the Empress Dowager Cixi, Qin Liuse felt that it remained to be seen.

Hearing her say this, Qin Liuse thanked her and stood up holding the things.

At this time, Zhu Cui, who was beside the Queen Mother, came over and took away the tray from Qin Liuse's hand.

Qin Liuse's heart was completely in her throat. She twisted the handkerchief in her hand, looked down at the ground, swallowed nervously, and waited for the empress dowager's reaction.

The maid beside the Queen Mother opened the box, took out the scriptures inside, and presented it to the Queen Mother.

"The cover of this scripture is quite unique." The Empress Dowager Cixi said with a smile. The surface of ordinary scriptures is exquisite and luxurious, but the cover of this one is wrapped in cloth.

The maidservant beside the Queen Mother also exclaimed, "This seems to be the cloth for the common people's scripture bags sent by the state temple outside for the Queen Mother's Thousand Years Banquet."

Qin Liuse thought to herself, Zhu Cui really has a good memory. She can remember such a thing that happened so long ago and is so fragmentary, yet she can remember it all.

As expected, those who can stay by the Queen Mother's side are not ordinary people.

"This child is thoughtful." The Empress Dowager said, touching the cover of the book.

But when the Empress Dowager opened the scripture, before she could say anything, Zhu Cui beside her exclaimed in advance, "How dare you use such a thing to fool the Empress Dowager."

"The cover is wrapped in book leather. It turns out that the scripture inside was torn, so they glued it together with cloth to fool the queen."

Qin Liuse's handwriting was beautiful, graceful and powerful, but some of the papers inside were glued together on both sides with strips of cloth as thin as a little finger. It was exquisite, but you could tell at a glance that the pages were torn.

Qin Liuse immediately knelt down and said, "I dare not."

"Don't you dare bring this scripture to the Queen Mother?" Zhu Cui scolded Qin Liuse harshly on behalf of the Queen Mother.

Qin Liuse understood one thing in his heart: the prime minister's doorman was a seventh-rank official, and the empress dowager's personal maid, so it seemed that she was at least a second-rank concubine.

Just like the eunuchs beside the emperor, he holds a low position but has great authority, and his words carry more weight than those of 80% of the concubines in the harem.

She was a concubine, at least a third-rank official, yet she was taught a lesson like this by the empress dowager's maid.

Her identity as a concubine is really not worth much.

How come it seems like the servant is teaching the master a lesson?

This harem is really a place where one mountain is pressing on another.

Thinking of this, Qin Liuse secretly decided that he should hold the Empress Dowager Cixi, this big Buddha, even tighter.