Brocade tears

From March of the 17th year of Wanli to the end of the 19th year of Wanli, the period of nearly two years was a period of time for Concubine Gong and Sui'er to explore and plan the way out of the palace.This matter must be kept absolutely secret, and the insiders included in the plan must have the absolute trust of Concubine Gong before they can join in.The first to be included in the plan were Sui'er's only two friends in the palace—Han Jiaer and Lu Jingshi.

From the innermost inner court to the outermost gate of the imperial city, it is difficult to get out of this huge cage.Although Concubine Gong once boasted that she had been close to Haikou since she was a child, Fang Ming, the Fusi of Nanzhen, had a way out of the palace, but in the end, Fang Ming could only arrange a way out of the imperial city. From the inner court to the Forbidden City, and then from the Forbidden City to the Imperial City, if Sui'er wanted to go out, he had to go through at least three barriers and hide it from the eyes and ears of more than 20 people.It is impossible for Fang Ming, a small Jinyiwei South Town Fusi General Banner, to have such a way.

First of all, simply calculating from the distance of the road, it is definitely faster to go north than to go south.Because the Xianfu Palace where Sui'er was located was in the north of the inner court, and further north through the Imperial Garden, you will reach the first palace in the north of the inner court, the Shunzhen Gate.After passing the Shunzhen Gate, passing through the narrow passage formed by two city walls, one must immediately pass another north gate of the Forbidden City——Xuanwu Gate.Passing through these two gates requires different tokens.Generally speaking, this kind of token is only available to some special groups of people, such as princes who have been given entry and exit tokens, and some servants of the Twelve Supervisory Offices.In the northeast outside the Forbidden City, that is, in the northeast of the Imperial City, there are a large number of government offices, factories, and workshops belonging to the Twelve Prisons.Neiguan Supervisor, Rites Supervisor, Shangyi Supervisor, Needlework Bureau, Scarf and Hat Bureau, Inner Mansion Supply Warehouse, Paper Workshop, Nei Weaving and Dyeing Bureau, Printing and Ribbon Supervisor, Sima Supervisor, Guanglu Temple, Shangshan Supervisor, etc. Wait, these government offices and the factories and workshops affiliated to the government offices support the expenses of the entire Forbidden City.Therefore, every day, there will be a large number of servants transporting goods between the inner court and the imperial city through the Xuanwu Gate.

Therefore, if you want to leave the inner court, you first need to obtain a token that can leave Shunzhen Gate and Xuanwu Gate.Among all the servants who can obtain tokens, only those who are purchased by internal officials can relatively freely enter and exit the palace.The number of internal officials in the palace is not large, they are middle-level servants, they have relatively large powers, and there are many areas in the palace, and the tokens are completely issued to them for their own safekeeping.Unlike other servants, who can only walk around in designated areas, tokens must be handed in every time they are used up, and will only be distributed next time they are needed.And it is almost impossible to get the token purchased by the Inspectorate without alarming the enemy and leaking the news.This token is more important than their lives, if it is lost or stolen by others, it is a matter of beheading.The tokens purchased by each internal officer are kept close to the body. Unless the superior dismisses their duties and surrenders the tokens, they will carry them with them for life and will not take them off when they bathe or sleep.

Therefore, the first step of the plan is to make Lu Jingshi an internal official supervisor of procurement.This is not an easy task. The ranks of servants in the palace are strict, the factions are distinct, and they are extremely particular about inheritance from top to bottom.The master who brought himself into the industry is equivalent to a reborn father, and he is generally recognized as a godfather and called "grandpa".The Twelve Prisons are relatively independent, and although they have a master-slave relationship with the master in the palace, the master often acts according to the eyes of the servants. The servants could only swallow their oppression both openly and secretly.

Since Concubine Gong's secret plan to send Sui'er out of the palace was not intended to be known by the Queen Mother, the matter of arranging Lu Jingshi to enter the official prison for procurement could not be arranged through the Queen Mother.This matter has to be managed by Lu Jingshi himself.Success or failure, here is a fight.The fastest shortcut is to climb up the relationship with Zhang Shufu, the junior supervisor of the internal official prison.Zhang Shufu is also in charge of the senior position of Neishutang, and he is a scholar among the servants.And if you want to get ahead among the internal servants, the first step is to study in the internal school, and then you will have the opportunity to enter the power department of the internal servants such as the Supervisor of Rituals and the Supervisor of Internal Officials.The number of people who can enter the inner study hall is limited, and they are selected regularly. Most of the servants are squeezed up and down to dredge up and down, and they can't enter in the end.

The masters and servants of Xianfu Palace worked together to advise Lu Jingshi, and Sui'er, who had read poetry and books, did his best to teach Lu Jingshi, and finally made Lu Jingshi enter the inner school to study in the 17th year of Wanli's selection.And let him successfully join Zhang Shufu's command, and won Zhang Shufu's favor.

Sui'er taught Lu Jingshi to read, and Han Jiaer, who was illiterate, also learned to read.This little girl is quite smart, she is no slower than Lu Jingshi in learning, she can read some simple letters in half a year.

Sui Er once asked the two to help her recklessly, whether they were coerced and helpless, or they were sincere and willing.The answers of the two were surprisingly unanimous. They thought this was their chance to get ahead, and they had no reason to refuse.The two of them are lonely and helpless people outside the palace. This deep palace is the place where they will die in this life. They must earn their savings for the rest of their lives within a limited time.Moreover, Lu Jingshi had developed feelings for Han Jiaer in the process of getting along, and the two agreed to spend their entire lives as each other, and they have become a dish.As a result, both of them have a strong idea of ​​leaving the palace to live in peace.If there is a senior like Sui Er who successfully escaped from the palace to help, I believe that going out of the palace will no longer be a dream.

"Sister Hui, Jing Shi and I both believe in you. If I am too old to be released from the palace, or if something happens to Jing Shi, you must have a way to let us out of the palace. Jing Shi and I will spend the rest of our lives It depends on you. Even if you can't come to rescue us, our current efforts will not be in vain. If Jing Shi can become an internal official supervisor, our future life will be much easier." Han Jiaer said to Sui'er.

"If the plan fails and is exposed, you will surely die. Don't you regret it?"

"There's nothing to regret about it. How can a person live in this world for a while, and let it go like this. We are slaves, but we don't want to be slaves for the rest of our lives. We were just forced to enter the palace. I want to see it again." To the outside world. I have no regrets, and so is Jing Shi. If you fail, you will die. What a pity if you die. Living in this deep palace is like a dead body, it is better to die Clean." If you don't read books, you can't show your ambitions, and Han Jiaer, who is enlightened by reading, has an extremely moving idea.

Sui'er's heart felt like a hot boulder was pressed on her heart. While being moved, the accompanying pressure was also heavy.

At the same time that Lu Jingshi was working hard to become an internal official supervisor, Han Jiaer and Suier also left Xianfu Palace one after another.Sui'er returned to the Shangfu Bureau and returned to her job as Xiu Niang, while Han Jia'er was assigned to the Division Office to become a division commander.The two live in two places and do not communicate with each other, giving people the illusion that they are not close.In fact, every once in a while they would communicate secretly to communicate the progress of the plan.

During this period, Sui'er also entrusted Lu Jingshi to go to the Anle Hall next to Bei'anmen, the north gate of the imperial city, for many times. He asked the old aunt openly and secretly if he would like to live with her outside the palace, but the old aunt refused.She said that she would stay in the palace and that she would accompany the Queen Mother.Sui Er had to give up in the end, she thought that if she left this deep palace one day, she would not have any nostalgia.But I didn't expect that until now, I would feel the reluctance and sadness.

In April of the 19th year of Wanli, Lu Jingshi finally got his wish and entered the internal official prison and became a procurement officer.And Sui'er's plan to escape from the palace was officially put on the agenda.Everyone discussed that the best time is to wait for a large-scale celebration to be held in the palace, or when there are a large number of outsiders coming and going, and it is not easy to arouse suspicion.Although Sui Er really wanted to leave the palace, he didn't want his freedom to be based on sacrificing the lives and future of Lu Jingshi and Han Jiaer, so the plan had to be foolproof, and Lu Jingshi and Han Jiaer couldn't be dragged in by any suspicion.

While several people in the palace were planning to leave the palace, Concubine Gong was also actively contacting Fang Ming outside the palace to prepare.Fang Ming has been inquiring about Zhang Yunxiu, the fifth member of the Zhang family, for so long. Although there is still no news, after searching in many ways, he finally got the last location of Zhang Yunxiu in August of the 19th year of Wanli.It is said that he appeared in Datong and was heading northwest.The news came from a businessman in Datong, where Zhang Yunxiu seemed to have exchanged money for supplies.

As soon as the news arrived, everyone became anxious, wishing to send Sui'er out of the palace as soon as possible.Over the years, Fang Ming worked hard, and finally climbed to the position of Deputy Qianhu of Nanzhen Fusi, and secretly formed his eyeliner and manpower.He began to mobilize these eyeliners and manpower to prepare for the mission of sending Sui'er to Datong.This matter is easy to say, but the actual difficulties are not small. The most difficult thing is money, which is the root cause of the delay in the plan.These eyeliners and manpower are not for nothing for him to work for, and he has to support his family. Concubine Gong has been working hard to save some savings over the years, and has invested in these operations.

At the end of the 19th year of Wanli, envoys from various countries entered the palace to meet the emperor, and the plan began to be implemented.The action was not a success in the first attempt. In fact, Sui'er's ability to leave the palace was the result of the second execution of the plan, and the first failed.That day Lu Jingshi had already entered the palace to exchange tokens with Sui Er, Han Jiaer also dressed up as Sui Er to be a substitute, but the plan failed because of Sui Er's absence, the reason was that at the end of the 19th year of Wanli, the envoys who came to Beijing to pay tribute Among them was an envoy from the Yarkand Khanate, which made the emperor suddenly think of the man from the small capital with an exotic appearance that he found in the Queen Mother's Palace many years ago, so he ordered people to search repeatedly, and finally caught him in the Shangfu Bureau. Sui'er, who was about to implement the plan, took her to Honglu Temple to meet the envoy.

Fortunately, no one noticed that Lu Jingshi and Han Jiaer's behavior was abnormal, but Sui'er suffered another disaster.The Yarkand envoy is the right prince of the Yarkand Khanate, Abdul Raimu, the ninth son of the second-generation Khan Ashid, who is distinguished and ambitious.He also showed a strong interest in Sui'er, and repeatedly suggested that he want to bring Sui'er back to Yarkand, but he had to give up because the emperor didn't seem to intend to let him go.The emperor's intention was to let Prince You recognize Sui'er as his goddaughter and give her a relatively good title so that he could bring Sui'er into the harem through marriage.He believed that Sui'er belonged to the queen mother, so that the queen mother could avoid kidnapping him again on the grounds that she was a member of the palace, and he could also strengthen his control over the western frontier area by way of marriage.

The game between the emperor and Abduryimu unfolds, and Sui Er is caught in it and helpless.This is actually the first time that Yarkand entered the Central Plains. Before that, Yarkand had been outside the tributary state of Xirong, occupying the important western border area, close to Yilibali and Turpan.Abdul Raimu entered the court to pursue his own ambitions, and to use the help of the Central Plains Dynasty to counterattack the current Yaerqiang Khan royal family and usurp the throne.But whether he should recognize Sui'er as his daughter and marry the Central Plains Dynasty by marriage made him hesitate.

During this time, the only thing Sui'er can do is to pray to God to let her go. She can neither become a famous princess in Yarkand, nor can she be brought back to Yarkand by Abdul Raimu.The best result is that Abduryimu refuses to recognize her as his daughter and does not take her out of the capital.

Perhaps her prayers worked, Abduryimu tactfully rejected the emperor's proposal, and also gave up marrying the Central Plains Dynasty.Because this is not the purpose of his coming this time, his purpose is to borrow troops from the Central Plains Dynasty, hoping that the Central Plains Dynasty can squeeze the Turpan Khanate from the east, and he can take advantage of the vacancy to occupy the territory from the west.He entered the court this time under the banner of trade, and he wanted to cover up his real purpose of colluding with the Ming Dynasty. The sudden marriage would plunge him into suspicion in Yarkand, which was not conducive to his plan to usurp power.Furthermore, he didn't want to be a tool to satisfy the emperor's selfish desires, his proud personality didn't allow it.

Abdul Raimu left the capital with the Yarkand mission, and Sui'er was able to stay in the palace.But this tribute made Sui'er the emperor's target again, and he wanted to find ways to bring Sui'er into the harem.The situation is imminent, and fleeing the palace has become a must for Sui'er's fate in the next few decades.

The time finally came to the 20th year of Wanli. The repeated admonitions from the courtiers at the beginning of the year took away the emperor's attention, leaving Sui'er time to make preparations again.In February, Sui'er, who was restless and dormant, finally waited for the opportunity - the offering from the inner treasury.The internal government treasury will distribute the tribute presented by the tribute from all over the country this year in each palace.

On February [-]th, Han Jiaer, a member of the Department of Military Affairs of the Shangfu Bureau, suddenly became seriously ill, vomiting blood, and was sent to the Anle Hall.On the morning of February [-]th of the next day, Lu Jingshi delivered the tribute to Xianfu Palace, but was left by the former master Concubine Gong to speak, and the accompanying servants were sent back first.At noon, the auspicious snow fell, and the entire palace was shrouded in white light.The remaining tributes from the various palaces were transported back to the inner treasury for storage. The delivery team left from Shunzhen Gate and Xuanwu Gate, and Lu Jingshi also appeared in the team.The guards at the gate inspected the real body token of the servant and the goods transported.All the palaces had a lot of things returned. Xianfu Palace returned a large box of furs. Lu Jingshi explained that Concubine Gong was weak and disliked the smell of furs, which smelled unpleasant.The guard at the gate had a very good relationship with Lu Jingshi, after opening the box, fur checked it a few times, and seeing that there was nothing else in it, he let it go.

During this period, Li Huier, the embroidery capital of the Shangfu Bureau, has been working in the embroidery room. Her frame and seat face the north window, with their backs facing the hall. Time has never left, because she is usually taciturn and does not get close to anyone, and because she has recently contracted a cold, she has been covering her face with a veil and coughing constantly, so no one has approached her to talk to her.

The lights are held for ten minutes, and meals are served in each palace.When the people in the Shangfu Bureau returned to their respective residences after dinner, they found that Li Huier, who everyone said was lucky, was favored by the sage, and was about to fly up a branch and become a phoenix, had disappeared.