Brocade tears

Sui'er bathed and dressed again, changed into a brand-new court lady's attire, and was brought to Empress Dowager Li for questioning.The conversation was in the side hall of the Compassionate Ning Palace, Empress Dowager Li retreated to the left and right, and only Mother Jiang served.Sui Er knelt down in front of the Empress Dowager, prostrating and waiting for the Empress Dowager to ask.

The Empress Dowager leaned on the hidden pouch and half-lyed on the warm bed, closing her eyes and resting her mind.He opened his eyes after a while, looked down at Sui Er and asked:

"Know...why punish you and lock you up?"

"Report to the Empress Dowager, the servants know. The slaves and the Empress Dowager deserve death." Sui'er kowtowed to the ground and replied.

"Is it just a collision?" Empress Dowager Li asked again, and then said, "You don't have to hide your words today, what do you want to tell me, even if you say it, I will not punish you again."

"Your maidservant... Presumptuously speculating about the Queen Mother, I already know that my crime is unforgivable, so I dare not speak nonsense again."

"Hehehehe..." Empress Dowager Li let out a series of laughs, seeming to be very happy, "You servant girl, if I ask you to tell you, you won't say anything. Forget it, I'll ask you something, and you can answer it. Don't talk to me any more. I go around in circles, and my patience is limited."

"Here."

"How did you get into the palace?" asked the Queen Mother.

"Reporting to the Empress Dowager, the slaves are... Fang Ming, the general banner of Nanzhen Fusi, entered the palace through the private relationship of Cui Siyi from the Shangfu Bureau, followed by the group of embroidery capitals who were newly called into the palace a few years ago." Sui Sui Er replied very honestly, because she knew that the queen mother must have checked her ins and outs for such a long time, and she had come to seek asylum, so there was no need to lie.

"What is your relationship with Fang Ming? Why did you entrust your relationship to enter the palace? You have to understand that you have already committed the crime of beheading. If you don't explain this clearly, I don't need to cover it up for you." Queen Mother Li Said with a half-smile.

"Reporting to the Empress Dowager, the servant and Fang Ming never knew each other, but the servant fell into the hands of Zhang Jing, the middle official of the East Factory, and was imprisoned and tortured by him. It was Fang Ming who rescued the servant. Fang Ming claimed to be the person who worked for Concubine Gong. , saving me is according to Concubine Gong's wishes."

"Concubine Gong..." The Empress Dowager said with a deeper smile, "Then, why were you captured by Zhang Jing?"

Sui'er then narrated all her background and relationship with Zhang Juzheng in detail, except that she was rescued from prison by Meng Yi and stayed in Meng's house for a few months, and only said that she was rescued by Meng Yi. The strange man in black was snatched from the prison, held in prison, and then released for unknown reasons.On the way to escape, unfortunately, he was captured by Zhang Jing's men.Empress Dowager Li listened intently, when Sui'er finished her narration, she looked up and found that the Empress Dowager was no longer lying half-lying, but was sitting upright, leaning over to listen.

"I also heard about the robbery of the imperial prison at the end of last year. I didn't expect that the person who was robbed was you. So, you don't know who the people who robbed the prison are?"

"I don't know." Sui Er replied with her head bowed.

Although Sui'er is full of resentment towards Meng Xu and his son, but she still wants to protect the Meng family.In her mind, at least Sister Qing and Xiao Ai are innocent, they probably don't even know what their parents and brothers are planning.They were so sad when they left, it was definitely not a show.If she involved the Meng family at this time, what would Sister Qing and Xiao Ai do?Although the elders of Meng's family treated her unjustly, she could not kill Sister Qing and Xiao Ai for revenge.

She recalled that when she was a child, she was playing along the waterway in Jiashan County, her hometown. She was bullied by some older boys and pushed into the waterway.Drenched all over, she was angry and wronged. She went home and cried to her mother, and said fiercely that she would take revenge, and pushed all the boys into the water, so that they could taste it too.But my mother calmly boiled hot water to wash her body, wiped her hair, and said to her: "Living in this world is more bitter than sweet. Maybe there will be many people who will bully you in the future, but you have to learn to be honest." To complain, at least you must be worthy of the conscience of heaven and earth. It is their fault that they hurt you, but you must not hurt others. Don’t forgive them, remember who bullied you, learn from a fall, and protect yourself. But never take revenge.”

At that time, she didn't understand the meaning of her mother's words at all, but she was forced by her mother to learn to swim.Now she has gone through hardships, been bullied and tortured by all kinds, and has nowhere to vent her hatred, and is completely incapable of retaliation.Mother's attitude towards things is still unacceptable to her who has suffered a lot, but she seems to understand the meaning behind it.

Empress Dowager Li was silent for a while, and said: "You raise your head and let me see."

"Here." Sui'er slowly raised her head, lowered her eyes, not daring to look directly at the Queen Mother.

"What a beautiful lady." The Queen Mother calmly exclaimed, "You really don't know who your biological parents are?"

"I don't know, but according to my adoptive mother, it's an abandoned baby picked up from a wooden basin floating on the river."

"Your appearance really reminds me of an old friend, as if it's been a lifetime..." The queen mother sighed faintly as if recalling something from the past.Nanny Jiang at the side seemed to understand what the Queen Mother was thinking, and her expression was slightly perplexed.

Sui'er still knelt on the spot, not daring to speak casually.The Empress Dowager's thoughts drifted away, and it took a while before she came back to God and said:

"Since you are being chased by Zhang Jing, you can stay with me. Ajiang, you can arrange some work for her. This small city is so dexterous, so I will give her the spring festival robe first." Embroidery. You go to the Shangfu Bureau to say hello, and say that I will keep these people from Xiaodu by my side for the first time, and I will return them later.”

"Here." Mother Jiang said.With the Queen Mother's words, Sui'er was so determined that her body felt somewhat exhausted.Although the queen mother seemed not at all interested in the rumors about Zhang Juzheng's hidden treasure, after Sui'er told the story, she didn't even ask a question, which is a bit strange.But it's useless to think about it, the Queen Mother must have her own plans.She kowtowed again to thank her and planned to leave.The Empress Dowager suddenly stopped her and said:

"Wait, don't rush. Li Huier, come meet your savior. It's been three months since you entered the palace, and you haven't seen Concubine Gong yet. Concubine Gong? Come out now, don't be bored behind that screen I'm asleep." The empress dowager's voice once again had a strong smile, until now, Sui'er understood why the empress dowager would always hide her smile when she mentioned Concubine Gong.

Footsteps sounded behind her, and Concubine Gong walked out from behind the screen in the south room of the side hall, walked to the right front side of Sui'er's body, blessed her body to the Empress Dowager, and said:

"Queen, my concubine is rude."

"Hey~~ What did you say, that's what I meant. You are weak, sit down first." The Queen Mother said kindly.

Sui'er's back was covered with a thin layer of cold sweat at this moment, she was glad that she chose to tell the truth, if she talked nonsense in front of the queen mother today, she would probably be a corpse by now.She quietly raised her eyes, and quickly glanced at Concubine Gong.She happened to be seated right in front of her at this time, wearing a water-green phoenix-patterned pipa-sleeve cross-collared long jacket, a jujube-colored panhua horse-face skirt, and a golden crown on her hair.Two curved thin willow-leaf eyebrows, a pair of black and white round almond eyes, a sharp mouth and a nose, a slender figure, a soft and submissive charm, and a very beautiful appearance.It turned out that this was Concubine Gong who had a spring breeze with the Holy Majesty in the famous Palace of Compassion and Ning, and since then flew high and transformed into a phoenix.Although she actually lived a rather unfortunate life, at least she is a legendary existence among court ladies.Because Empress Dowager Li was born as a court lady like her, she favored and took care of her, and she even protected the eldest son she gave birth to.

It's just that this empress has always had a cloud of sadness in her eyes, and her voice sounds weak, which makes people feel pitiful just looking at it.

When she sat down firmly, Sui'er adjusted the direction of kneeling and kowtowed to Concubine Gong:

"My servant, Li Huier, pay my respects to Concubine Gong. Your mother's life-saving grace is as high as the mountains and waters, and this servant has nothing to repay. If your wife does not give up, this servant is willing to work like a dog and horse for the rest of her life."

Before Concubine Gong could answer, the Empress Dowager laughed and said, "This small city is worthy of being educated, and his speech is really nice."

Concubine Gong hurriedly said: "I am humble, how can I save you. You should thank the empress dowager, if it is not for the empress dowager's forgiveness and protection, how can you have a stable life."

Sui'er has already noticed the subtle mood swings between the two masters, so she followed Concubine Gong's words to thank the Queen Mother again, using more exaggerated and earnest words, so that the two masters present could feel more at ease.

She thought to herself, this Concubine Gong is really not easy, is it her own intention to save herself, or is there an instigation of the Queen Mother behind her?She thinks the former is more likely, but now everything has been found out by the Queen Mother, and Concubine Gong has been arranged to come to this side hall, and she is required to hide behind a screen to listen, so she must be very scared.I thanked her myself, and it was even more unbearable for her in front of the Queen Mother, that's why I said those words just now.

"All right, all right, A-Jiang, you can take her down." The queen mother seemed to be a little impatient with Sui Er, and waved her hand.Mother Jiang crossed her arms and bowed, then led Sui'er back.After that, Sui'er didn't know what the Empress Dowager and Concubine Gong talked about, she only heard a few words when she left.Concubine Gong asked the Queen Mother:

"...Don't you ask?"

The Empress Dowager replied: "...no need...no..."

……

Sui'er spent quite a long period of relatively stable time in the Compassionate Ning Palace, which is very rare.The Empress Dowager's thoughts are profound and obscure, and it is hard to fathom, and Jiang Nanny has always acted on the orders of the Empress Dowager, and she has ordered the palace people in the Palace of Compassion and Ning to treat Sui'er as if she does not exist.Sui'er thought for a long time, and could only judge that the queen mother really wanted to protect her, but it was hard to say whether it would be a blessing or a curse to her.Because of this relationship, the palace people in the Compassionate Ning Palace maintain a relatively distant relationship with Sui'er, but their attitudes are still kind.This period of time is a critical period for Sui'er to recuperate. The daily meals of the Compassionate Ning Palace are quite good, and her diet is better than other palace people.Sui'er understood that this should also be the Queen Mother's grace, but she already had a deep understanding of the master's method of imperial conquest, which was nothing more than a big stick and candied dates.Regarding the gift given to her by the queen mother, she had to be extremely cautious, always reflect on herself, and don't get carried away with complacency.

The queen mother occasionally called her to her and asked her some gossip.Most of the time, the Queen Mother summoned her just to watch her embroider.Sui Er embroiders for half a day, and the Empress Dowager can look at it for half a day. In the eyes of other palace people, this is really a great honor and favor, but only she can understand the pressure on Sui Er.At first, Sui'er was not used to it, and she was worried, and more than [-]% of her heart was devoted to the Queen Mother. She almost made mistakes in stitching several times, but the Queen Mother actually knew a little about Su embroidery stitches, and would even remind her.After many times and a long time, Sui'er got used to it miraculously.Not only is it adaptation, Sui'er even feels that there seems to be a subtle relationship between herself and the Queen Mother. Every time she embroiders, the two are in the most relaxed and leisurely state.

She secretly looked at the Empress Dowager, this noble lady in the deep palace who is not yet 40 years old, has a beautiful and dignified appearance, and there are not many traces of time on her face.It's hard to imagine that she was once a lowly Duren. She was born at the age of 17, and she has endured so much hard work until now.Sui'er felt a little admiration for the Queen Mother, but she still didn't dare to relax her vigilance.

Gradually, the Empress Dowager would give Sui'er a question about what she wanted to embroider today, and the Empress Dowager would draw it herself the night before, and called Sui'er to embroider by her side during the day.From spring to early summer, the warm Linxi Pavilion in the Garden of Compassionate Ning Palace is their frequent destination.The Empress Dowager suffers from migraines, and she likes to light incense most of the day, closing her eyes and resting her mind.Sui'er remembered that it was the sixth day of May in the 12th year of Wanli's reign. The queen mother drew a picture of lotus flowers with double pedicles the night before, and let Sui'er embroider today.Sui'er embroidered according to the pattern as usual, but the Queen Mother spoke to Sui'er abnormally this day.

"Xiaoduren, let me tell you a story." The queen mother always likes to call Sui'er "Xiaoduren", which seems to be Sui'er's exclusive title.Sui'er stopped what she was doing and bowed to listen, but the Queen Mother said:

"You do your work, I say what I say, don't delay." She paused, and saw that Sui'er picked up the needle and thread again, and then continued, "Beyond the Tianshan Mountains in the far northwest, there are many people who live by herding cattle. Tribes. These people called their homeland 'Samarkand', which means fertile land. One of the tribes used the legendary auspicious bird as the tribal totem, and from generation to generation they had to elect a woman to represent the auspicious bird and lead the They chase the abundant aquatic plants. They believe that the auspicious bird can fly high and see far, and can always find the most beautiful home and bring auspiciousness and prosperity.

The auspicious bird passed down from generation to generation has elected a new girl to represent it.The maiden is the daughter of the tribal leader and the most beautiful maiden in the tribe.Lively and lovely, innocent and innocent, it grows on the grassland, and its heart is as broad as the blue sky and the wilderness.But the good times didn't last long, the invasion of foreign races occupied their living homeland, and they had to find a new way out.So the rich Central Plains Empire became their destination for survival.In order to achieve a stable trade with the Central Plains Empire, they joined the tribute team of other united tribes and sent envoys to travel long distances into the capital with the tribute.The girl who is the auspicious bird and the daughter of the tribal leader also came to the capital with the messenger team.The people of the tribe pinned their hopes on the messengers and her, and hoped that the auspicious bird of this generation would bring the hope of prosperity to the tribe like her predecessors. "