Brocade tears

Sui'er is now very reluctant to recall what she experienced during the two and a half years from May 13th to December 16th.Because it was a period of turmoil and chaos. She almost ate food that was poisoned by someone, her bedroom almost caught fire while sleeping, her personal belongings were rummaged many times, her money was stolen, and she was killed while walking. stumbling, and countless crimes, such as theft of property, walking around after the imperial confinement, and so on.

Thinking back now, if she hadn't been cautious in her words and deeds, and kept her mind in everything she did, and Fang Ming secretly passed on Zhang Jing's deployment, the Queen Mother and Concubine Gong had taken many actions to ward off disasters, as well as the two close friends Han Jiaer and Lu Jingshi With the help of Zhang Jing, she might not survive that period of time, either she would be killed in the palace, or she would be taken out of the palace by Zhang Jing's success in framing the crime, and become a prisoner again.

Han Jiaer became close friends with her because of a sinister frame-up.Someone hid a package of jewelry stolen from nowhere between her and Han Jiaer's beds.Sui'er can be sure that this matter was instigated by Zhang Jing, because it didn't take long for Dongchang, who searched for the stolen jewels, to find the palace room of Xianfu Palace with great accuracy, and even directly from the bed between her and Han Jiaer as if guided by heaven. The package of jewelry that even they didn't know existed was found.Sui'er makes the bed every morning, and also makes the bed at night. If the bag of jewelry is there, she will definitely find it, but she didn't notice anything special that morning, so the bag of jewelry must be the same day she and Han Jiaer shared it. After getting up, someone hid there.Dongchang came here in such a short time, I was really afraid that others would not know that Dongchang set up this trap.

Fortunately, Concubine Gong showed a rare toughness in this matter. After finding out the truth of the blame, she even followed the clues to find out the palace maid Dongchang had placed in Xianfu Palace, and drove her out.This palace man is also self-inflicted, so Dongchang naturally blamed her for all the crimes in order to cover up the fact that they were trying to frame Sui'er.And this incident frightened Han Jiaer, because the stolen goods were hidden between her and Sui Er, either she stole it or Sui Er stole it, she thought she could not escape the crime.And Sui Er's calmness and protection for her in this matter really moved her.This girl is a rare kind person in the palace. Although she is simple but not stupid, she understands that it is difficult for her to survive in the scheming palace, and she must find support. Sui'er is so smart and loyal. Spike is determined.

Not long after this incident of blaming, Lu Jingshi, the servant of Yanxi Palace who had helped Sui'er in cleaning up, had an accident.At that time, it was the severe winter of the 13th year of Wanli. Concubine Zheng De, who was pregnant with Liujia, walked by the palace road next to Yanxi Palace, but accidentally stepped on a puddle of frozen water on the ground, almost slipped and fell, and moved her fetus in shock. gas.Although the imperial physician later diagnosed that there was no serious problem, Lu Jingshi, the servant of Yanxi Palace, was involved in a major incident.Although Lu Jingshi swore to the sky that he had absolutely cleaned the palace roads outside the Yanxi Palace and promised not to leave any traces of water, but he is the lowest-ranking servant, and the master of the Yanxi Palace does not want to provoke Concubine Zheng De, let alone protect him. They handed him over directly.

Just when Lu Jingshi was about to be taken away by the internal officials, a transfer order transferred him directly to Xianfu Palace.The order was directly issued by Zhang Cheng, and Zhang Cheng was ordered by the Queen Mother.In order to save Lu Jingshi, Sui'er desperately begged to see the Queen Mother, and even found out the facts, proving that the pool of frozen water outside Yanxi Palace was left by the servant who patrolled the sea every day to break the ice.Menhai is a large water tank placed in front of every palace and hall, also known as auspicious tank, Taiping tank, used to fight fires.In winter, the water stored in the sea of ​​gates will inevitably freeze, and the palace will send special personnel to break the ice in the sea of ​​gates every day to prepare for emergencies.And these ice-cracked servants usually carry a dustpan on their bodies, store the broken ice in it, and take it back to the palace ice cellar for storage after a tour, and get a little reward and expenses.If the temperature rises during the tour, the ice cubes will naturally melt and drip water droplets.This is how the long string of water stains outside Yanxi Palace came about.

For this explanation, it was Zhang Cheng who personally went to talk to Concubine Zheng De. Concubine Zheng De had given Zhang Cheng and the Empress Dowager face and would not pursue it any further.Lu Jingshi was saved by Sui Er, and since then he has been grateful to Dade, and together with Sui Er and Han Jia Er, they supported each other in Xianfu Palace.

In the first month of the 14th year of Wanli, Concubine Zheng De gave birth to a healthy baby boy, the third son of the emperor.The Holy One was overjoyed, and loved Concubine Zheng De even more.Concubine De was granted the title of Noble Concubine in Jin Dynasty, and the third son of the emperor was named Chang Xun.With the birth of this baby boy, the palace and the court began to fall into the vortex of fighting for the crown.The Empress Dowager urged the emperor more and more urgently to make the eldest son Chang Luo the crown prince, but the emperor favored Concubine Zheng and the third son Chang Xun in every possible way, and the courtiers from other courts also began to repeatedly advise His Majesty to establish the crown prince as soon as possible.The emperor became more and more restless and depressed. After many conflicts with the ministers, he began to stop court frequently, got drunk in the palace every day, and ignored court affairs.

Perhaps it was because the emperor hated Concubine Gong and the eldest son more deeply, and the life of Xianfu Palace became more and more difficult.Nanny Gu strictly controlled everyone in Xianfu Palace, and Concubine Gong shed tears every day, and she hadn't seen her son for many days.The children in other palaces can be raised by her side, only she is separated from her own flesh and blood.The eldest son of the emperor has been raised in Qiandong No. [-] since he was born, raised by a wet nurse, and has very few opportunities to meet his biological mother.Sui'er has deep sympathy for Concubine Gong, but there is nothing she can do.Such a cruel deep palace, even more invisibly strengthened her belief that she must escape from the palace.

After stumbling and stumbling until the end of the 16th year of Wanli, Zhang Jing, who has never succeeded, finally ushered in his doomsday.Maybe Zhang Jing secretly gave up looking for Zhang Juzheng's treasure, and he didn't believe that such a treasure existed.But Sui Er, as the only duck that flew away from him, he always holds a grudge in his heart and never forgets it.However, although the Dongchang he is in charge of can run rampant outside the palace, it is difficult to move an inch inside the palace.The forces in the palace are intricate and complex, and every step is one step at a time. Even he has to be careful.Coupled with the fear of the queen mother's protection of Sui'er, he could not do anything with Sui'er after all.At the end of the year, Yushi He Chuguang and Ma Xiangqian repeatedly impeached Zhang Jing, but they were unable to overthrow him, and instead fell into prison.The first assistant Shen Shixing, the important ministers Xu Guo and Wang Xijue went to the battle to apply for rescue, but it was still fruitless.But this time the heavens will also abandon Zhang Jing, and the emperor summons him for questioning. Because of his gaffes in front of the palace and the many evils he has committed over the years, he is finally rejected by the emperor, and he is dismissed and demoted back to his hometown of Hangzhou.The Jinyiwei commander Liu Shouyou and Xu Ban Xing Shangzhi who were attached to him also lost power since then. Xing Shangzhi was sentenced to death and Liu Shouyou was expelled.

Luo Sigong, the new commander of Jinyiwei, took office, and Zhang Cheng was in charge of the Lijian and Dongchang. The dispute between the factory and guard ushered in a new situation again, and the appearance of the palace also took on a new look.A large number of Zhang Jing's forces planted in the various palaces were eliminated, and even the Xianfu Palace lost a lot of people.At the beginning of the 17th year of Wanli, Madam Gu was transferred away, and Xianfu Palace finally had to breathe.As for the reason why Nanny Gu was transferred, Sui'er guessed that it might be related to Zhang Jing's loss of power.Because during the time she was in charge of the Xianfu Palace, Zhang Jing frequently made troubles in the Xianfu Palace, and she ignored them or helped him to abuse them, and the Xianfu Palace repeatedly accepted people inserted by Zhang Jing, so she was met by Zhang Cheng and others. The suspicion of godson Zhang Shufu, coupled with the increasingly difficult situation in the court recently, the emperor did not have so much thought to keep monitoring Concubine Gong, so he lifted the monitoring of Xianfu Palace, and even the eldest son Chang Luo, who had been separated from his mother, could I have the opportunity to return to Xianfu Palace to live with my mother.

At this time, the analysis of Zhang Juzheng's full-width embroidery samples, which had been shelved for a long time, was resumed.The embroidery pattern that Sui'er completed two years ago in Anle Hall was brought back to Xianfu Palace and hidden in the ear room of Concubine Gong's bedroom.It was also the first time for Concubine Gong to see the so-called "Zhang Juzheng's treasure map" in the legend.

This is a huge pattern about six feet long and four and a half feet wide.There are complex pictures of ten thousand animals and hundreds of flowers drawn on it, all kinds of birds and beasts and clusters of flowers are densely dotted in various parts of the picture, seemingly unconnected, and the distribution has no rules to follow.Comparing this map with the map of the Great Ming Dynasty, there is no clue, and no so-called treasure location can be found at all.Even if you are as smart as Sui'er, you can embroider such a picture with your own hands.But it is still impossible to understand what secrets are hidden in the picture.

Although Concubine Gong is quite intelligent, she knows how to survive in the cracks.But after all, she came from a humble background and didn't read many books. Regarding this picture, she looked like a book from heaven at first glance, and suddenly lost her mind.

"I once asked the Queen Mother why she didn't ask about the treasures hidden by the former Chief Assistant after she knew about your relationship with the former Chief Assistant. I don’t know how to draw my own treasure location as a treasure map and make it into embroidery.” Concubine Gong looked at the picture of thousands of beasts and flowers in front of her, and said helplessly, “I don’t believe it, I just think that the former Chief Assistant His family wealth should not be so small. He must have a large amount of wealth that has disappeared and been hidden. This picture of beasts and flowers was rushed out before his death, and it must be related to treasures. Blind faith. But now, I... seem to be a little less convinced."

Sui Er didn't know what to say.In the past few years, she has been implicated by this so-called treasure map, and she has encountered many difficulties, instinctively refusing to think about the secrets in this picture.But now, she really wants to know the mystery of this picture.

Sui'er began to refer to this picture of beasts and flowers, trying hard to recall the short time she was with the former chief minister, recalling the former chief minister's living habits and way of thinking.Now she can be sure that there is indeed a mystery in this picture, but don't just confine your eyes to the treasure, try to think beyond the treasure.To get to the bottom of it, why did the former chief assistant let her secretly embroider such a picture?What kind of secret must be hidden in such a way?Why embroidery instead of painting?It must be that the embroidery itself is also part of the secret key that constitutes the mystery.So what is so special about embroidery compared to painting?In particular, it is necessary to use needles and threads to embroider patterns on the fabric.Could it be that... the part where she embroidered and moved the needle is also part of the mystery?Sui'er suddenly remembered that every time the former Shoufu sent her a new sample, he would note the stitching method of this embroidery and the size of the fabric.The size of the fabric must be equal to the size of the paper, and the size of the pattern must be exactly the same.As for the stitches, Sui Er remembered that most of the embroidery patterns were embroidered by the plainest stitches in Suzhou embroidery, but for some patterns, Shoufu had specially marked the use of special stitches, and she didn't understand the reason at the time. I didn't think deeply about it, and now I seem to have touched the edge of the answer.

It's just a pity that after so many years, no matter how good Ren Sui'er's memory is, it's impossible for her to remember every stitch and thread she embroidered and reproduce it completely.In fact, even if she worked hard to restore the picture of the beasts and flowers, there should be a lot of deviation from the original picture.If she wants to decipher it, she must find the only picture of animals and flowers in the world that she embroidered back then. It is impossible to solve the mystery simply by restoring it through painting.

She informed Concubine Gong of her conjectures and thoughts, and Concubine Gong made an astonishing decision after some deliberation:

"Li Huier, next, I have to find a way to send you out of the palace. You have to find Zhang Yunxiu, the fifth brother of the Zhang family, and retrieve the picture of the beasts and flowers that you embroidered."