[Wu Zetian colleagues] Wu Lingchun

Wan'er was locked outside the gate of Jing'an Palace.

Holding the small bundle containing Buddhist scriptures, she stood blankly at the door for a while, gradually getting some ideas in her mind.

Looking back at the scene just now, the old woman planting flowers, no matter how she looks at it, it doesn't look like she didn't see her at all.

Now that he saw her, he ignored her and closed the door in front of her on purpose... Is this normal?

Wan'er stroked her chin and thought about it again, but she still felt that there was something strange about it.

Even if the old woman is deaf and cannot hear her inquiry, but sees her standing there as a living person, if the old woman is an old nun on duty in Jing'an Palace, shouldn't she ask a question about her duties?

Thinking of this, Wan'er's eyes widened slightly: Therefore, that old woman must not be an ordinary servant, and nine out of ten she is the rightful master of Jing'an Palace.

Only the real master here dares to make such a decision to turn people away!

Guessing that the old woman is the rightful owner of Jing'an Palace, Wan'er became a little nervous.

In the history she is familiar with, the person living in Jing'an Palace is a person of extraordinary status and seniority——

Tang Gaozu Li Yuan's concubine, Xue Jieyu.

Li Yuan is the grandfather of the current Emperor Gaozong, and his concubines are equivalent to the concubine grandmother of Emperor Gaozong.

For Emperor Gaozong, Xue Jieyu's feelings were even more unusual.

After Gaozu passed away, according to the practice of the Tang Dynasty, Xue Jieyu, who had no children, should have become a nun or a Taoist monk as a widow, and she died of this.But Tang Taizong Li Shimin took a fancy to Xue Jieyu's talent and character, and tried his best to keep her in the palace. As his youngest son Li Zhi, the teacher of Emperor Gaozong, he taught Gaozong to study and study.

Xue Jieyu's family has a long history, and since then she has a mentorship with Emperor Gaozong.

Later, after Emperor Gaozong came to the throne, he did not forget to treat his master well.

He named Xue Jieyu the wife of Hedong County. He not only showed great respect to Xue Jieyu, but also specially built Helin Temple in the palace for Xue Jieyu who yearned for Fangwai.

Later, Xue Jieyu was deprived of her honorary title of Jieyu and the title of Madam of Hedong County because of her private correspondence with Shangguanyi who opposed Empress Wu, and was demoted to live in Jing'an Palace.

There are only these records about Xue Jieyu in the official history, as for her final ending, Wan'er has no way of knowing.

Perhaps, there is only such a result as old age and death in Jing'an Palace?

Wan'er never thought that she would stand in front of Jing'an Palace one day in the palace.

So, could that old woman just now be Xue Jieyu herself?

I don't know if Xue Jieyu in this time and space is also like that...

Wan'er quickly made up her mind: wait.

Regardless of whether it was Xue Jieyu in Jing'an Palace or someone else, there was no doubt that she was a noble person.

In this deep palace where ghost tricks exist anytime and anywhere, it is beneficial and not harmful to know one more noble person.

Moreover, why did Master Guo not send others, but why did he send her?

Master Guo has always been a decent person. Although he is an inner eunuch, Wan'er admires his education and character from the bottom of his heart.

Master Guo will never harm her.

It is very possible that Master Guo deliberately found an excuse for her to send Buddhist scriptures, so as to form a good relationship with the owner of Jing'an Palace.

Wan'er can feel that Master Guo admires her very much, and she can also feel that Master Guo also appreciates the talents of her grandfather Shangguanyi.

Wan'er became more and more certain that the old woman probably knew who she was.

The people in the palace can't see anything on the surface, but in fact they have their own way inside.

This is the experience Wan'er has summed up in the palace over the years.

The reason why the old woman gave her a cold shoulder might be to imitate Huang Shigong's method of testing Zhang Liang back then——

Huang Shigong throws his shoes, and the old woman closes the door, which is almost the same.

Wan'er figured it out, so she didn't worry.

So she made up her mind and stood at the gate of Jing'an Palace, waiting.

Seeing the sun rising slowly from the east to the top of the head, and it is about to hit the middle of the sky, the sun is getting stronger and stronger, so strong that people can't look directly at it, Wan'er reckons that she has been standing here for nearly an hour .

There was still no movement in Jing'an Palace.

Waiting and waiting, Wan'er felt uneasy: Could it be that she made a mistake?

Just as he was hesitating, with a "squeak", the door of Jing'an Palace opened a crack.

Wan'er cheered up immediately.

The door opened wide, and a figure appeared——

Naturally, it was the old woman from before.

This time, she was carrying a flower hoe on her shoulder.

The corner of Wan'er's mouth twitched, she thought to herself that she wanted to follow Lin Daiyu's burial of flowers, right?

Cursing wildly in her heart, Wan'er hurriedly turned sideways to make way.

After getting out of the way, Wan'er stood beside her with a low eyebrow,

This time, the old woman was willing to take a look at Wan'er.

Wan'er felt that her eyes lingered on her body for a while, so she let her look at her more respectfully.

The old woman looked at it for a while, then still carried the flower hoe and headed towards the flower garden.

Wan'er followed slowly.

She cautiously did not rush over, but always kept seven or eight steps away from the old woman.

When the old woman stopped in front of the flowerbed, Wan'er also stopped.

The old woman took a flower hoe and turned the soil in the flower garden for about a quarter of an hour.

After all, people who are old have sweat on their foreheads.

Wan'er frowned when she saw the old woman's sweat roll down her cheeks and hit the ground.

The old woman seemed to notice that Wan'er was frowning, and raised her eyebrows invisibly.

"Can you do this job?" the old woman said suddenly.

The voice was clean and clear, definitely not dull and stiff like ordinary old people.

When Wan'er heard her voice, she couldn't help feeling fond of her.

Hearing that she was finally willing to talk to him again, the corners of her mouth immediately curved up.

"I've never done this kind of work before." Wan'er said truthfully.

The old woman said, "Oh".

"Come here." She greeted Wan'er.

Wan'er obediently moved closer.

When she got closer, the old woman looked her up and down, and said: "Stretch out your hand and show it to the mother-in-law."

She was actually willing to recognize Wan'er's name for her, and Wan'er was overjoyed, feeling that the old man was gradually recognizing herself.

Wan'er stretched out her two palms obediently.

The old man looked carefully at Wan'er's two palms and the back of his hands, and the expression on his face became solemn.

"He has suffered a lot." The old man sighed.

As she spoke, she looked at Wan'er's face again, her gaze stayed on the cinnabar mole between Wan'er's eyebrows for a while, then she turned away and stared directly at Wan'er's eyes.

"From where?" she asked.

Wan'er's eyebrows moved, and a mischievous thought suddenly appeared in her heart——

Xue Jieyu is a person who devotes herself wholeheartedly to the Buddha. Should she respond to the occasion with "Come from where you came from, go to where you are going"?

This thought flashed for a moment, and was suppressed by Wan'er.

She bowed to the old man, and replied honestly: "Come from the academy."

"Oh, the academy." The old man was noncommittal.

"Yes," Wan'er nodded, "Master Guo ordered my concubine to come and send a Buddhist scripture to the master of Jing'an Palace."

Hearing the words, the old man let out a "chirp": "What kind of concubine is not a concubine? I am not a noble lady!"

She didn't agree with Wan'er's humble title, so what would she agree with?

Wan'er's thoughts turned, and a flash of inspiration flashed, she leaned over and said, "Mother-in-law taught you the right thing! Disciple obeys!"

The old man let out a "ha", with a smile on the corner of his mouth: "You girl, you are clever!"

She looked into Wan'er's eyes, and she became more interested.

The old man then asked, "What's your name?"

"The disciple's name is Wan'er." Wan'er replied truthfully.

The old man gave him a blank look: "The old man asked your full name. Could it be that your surname is Wan, and your name is Er?"

Wan'er almost burst out laughing, she found this old man more and more interesting.

"The disciple's full name is Shangguan Wan'er." Wan'er replied.

When Wan'er was young, because the Shangguan family offended Empress Wu and was convicted, in order to save her life, she almost never mentioned her surname to others.

It was when Wan'er was questioned by Princess Taiping for the first time, Wan'er refused to say her last name.

So many years have passed, the world has changed, and Wan'er is no longer what she used to be.

Because of the chance to survive and study in the palace, coupled with her intelligence and hard work, she was quite famous in the palace school.

Nowadays, the changes in the palace are happening day by day, and the past of the Shangguan family has long been an old story, and almost no one shy away from it.

Therefore, Wan'er dared to boldly say her full name.

Moreover, facing the old man in front of him who was most likely to be Xue Jieyu, the surname "Shangguan" might be able to increase his favorability.

Unexpectedly, when the old man heard Wan'er's full name, his expression sank immediately: "Your surname is Shangguan?"

Wan'er's heart trembled, with a bad premonition.

"Yes." She could only answer.

The old man flicked the flower hoe in his hand suddenly, and pointed towards the path where Wan'er came.

"Shangguan is not welcome here!" she shouted.

The situation took a turn for the worse, and Wan'er couldn't react for a while.

Seeing that she was still staring at him, the old man became impatient: "Aren't you leaving yet? Are you waiting for the old woman to hit you with a hoe?"

The corner of Wan'er's mouth twitched fiercely, thinking that this is an order to chase away guests!

It's still a merciless eviction order.

Pursing her lips, Wan'er faced the old man's cold face, and said bravely, "I don't know where I offended my mother-in-law. But Master Guo ordered his disciples to send Buddhist scriptures. It's my duty, and I dare not make mistakes."

As he spoke, he held the small burden containing the Buddhist scriptures with both hands.

The old man didn't talk to Wan'er at all.

Wan'er had no choice but to carefully put the little bundle aside.

She saluted the old man before stepping away.

What Wan'er didn't know was that behind her, the old man stared at her back with a thoughtful expression.

Leaving Jing'an Palace, Wan'er turned back the same way.

Thinking of the long road ahead, Wan'er's stomach gurgled helplessly.

By the time she returned to the academy, it would have been long past lunch time, and she might starve for this meal.

Recalling what happened in Jing'an Palace, Wan'er sighed speechlessly——

Could it be that Xue Jieyu was really deprived of her title because she was implicated by her grandfather, and now she hates someone with the surname Shangguan?

Of course, there is another possibility: in this parallel time and space, the person living in Jing'an Palace is not Xue Jieyu at all, but another woman with quite a background.

And what kind of past story this Jing'an Palace owner has with the Shangguan family is beyond Wan'er's guess.

Really, difficult!

Wan'er shook her head with emotion, and could only keep walking.

My legs were sore from standing, and I had to keep walking. It was really painful.

Just at this moment, a shoulder came towards her from behind her.

On the shoulder, a young girl's voice rang in Wan'er's ears: "Stop her!"