Wangfu Shenyuan

The stable is not close to the Floating Fragrance Courtyard, it is on the other side of the palace near the courtyard behind the mountain.Xia An fed the dog some water, drove it to the den, and then picked up the wrapped pastry and went out.The dusk has fallen lightly, adding a warm color to the dense palace walls.The setting sun hangs halfway to the west, and Xia An's sense of direction has never been strong, so he can use the setting sun to guide him at this time.

The prince likes hunting and loves horses.There are no less than a hundred horses in the stable. Because the prince loves white horses, all the horses in the stable are white and healthy.Xia An randomly grabbed a boy and asked them which room Deputy Manager Han lived in.The young man pointed to the courtyard on the east, the third room on the right.

As soon as he entered the inner courtyard, he saw Guanshi Han talking with a middle-aged fat man in brocade clothes. Xia An didn't want to disturb him, so he planned to stand aside and wait for a while.

Seeing him coming, Han Fuchao waved him over. "Xia An, this is Director Qiu. All the livestock in the palace are under his management. Come and see me."

Xia An greeted politely.He knew Guanshi Han well and would not introduce someone to him for no reason.Director Qiu has a lot of power, and all the livestock in the palace include of course the pigs, sheep, chickens and ducks in Piaoxiangyuan, as well as the prince's pet dog, and other beasts in the back mountain.In other words, Piaoxiangyuan is also under the jurisdiction of Director Qiu.

"Which yard is there, are you here?" Director Qiu asked coldly.

Xia An respectfully replied: "If you go back to Director Qiu, the servant is a servant of the Piaoxiangyuan. Come and talk to Deputy Manager Han. If you have business discussions with Deputy Manager Han, don't bother with the servant. The servant is just waiting by the side. . ” Because Manager Han was demoted to one level, Xia An had to change the title he said in front of outsiders.

"Well, wait for a while." Director Qiu took a little coldness, satisfied with Xia An's etiquette of knowing how to advance and retreat.

The two were discussing the purchase of new horses, Xia An took a step back and stared at his toes in a daze.Suddenly, a panting young man ran up and whispered a few words to Supervisor Qiu.

Qiu Guanshi was shocked, and said to Han Fuchao: "Hurry up and arrange for the fast-paced horses to go to Tingfengyuan, the prince is in a hurry to use them."

Han Fuchao immediately called two servants to lead the horse in the backyard, and they breathed a sigh of relief when they reported that the horse had been delivered.Han Fuchao asked: "Why is your lord in such a hurry to use the horse, your face is always blue, but what's the big deal?"

"There's news from the palace that the fourth prince may die." Director Qiu is a domestic slave sent by the prince's grandfather, and the family slave sent by Han Fuchao, his uncle, has some similar origins, so they don't see each other. outside.

"The fourth prince is doing well, how could it be?" Han Fuchao sighed and continued, "Then the life of our palace may be even more difficult."

"Hey, I'm afraid the death of the fourth prince is not easy, how can our prince swallow this breath."

Han Fuchao said: "I hope our lord can calm down and don't do anything impulsive, otherwise the lives of more than a thousand people in our palace may be lost."

Xia An listened to the conversation between the two of them verbatim, and listened to the two people's intentions. The fourth prince and Prince Xiaoxian have a good relationship, and if the fourth prince dies, the good life of Prince Xiaoxian's mansion will not be the same as before. It is the fourth prince who has been taking care of the Xianxian Palace.Therefore, Prince Xiaoxian will definitely not allow his fourth brother to die unjustly.

Will it implicate the slaves in the mansion?There is no father, son or brother in the royal family, and they are in high positions. If they make a wrong step, they may lose their lives, and he, Xia An, is very likely to be the prince's funeral object.

The person who lost his temper two hours ago by eating dog food in front of him has lost his family and is facing a crisis himself.

Xia An suddenly felt that, in fact, the prince is also very pathetic, he fell from the high position of the emperor's son, and has to rely on others to live his life.But this thought is fleeting, because no matter how pitiful the prince is, aren't his servants even more pitiful?Xia An has a deep understanding of this.

"Director Qiu, Deputy Manager Han, the concubine has an order that all managers and supervisors must go to Huaying Court immediately." Another servant came and said so.

Han Fuchao frowned: "Didn't the concubine go back to her mother's house to recuperate a long time ago?"

"Huh, what's the matter, she is also the rightful owner of our palace, we can't disobey her words." Director Qiu snorted coldly, and seemed to dislike the mistress.

Xia An took a step forward and said, "Since Deputy Manager Han is busy, the slave will come again next time."

"Alright, you can go back first. I've been busy for the past two days, so I won't have time to find you in the future. When the work at hand is relieved, I will go to Piaoxiangyuan. You can relax."

This was to persuade Xia An not to think wildly, Xia An took this feeling in his heart, said "resignation" and hurried back to Piaoxiangyuan.

Back at Piaoxiang Courtyard, everyone was standing in the courtyard, huddling together and chatting about something.Seeing him coming back, Xiao Jin immediately took his hand and walked into the house. Xia An asked him what happened.

"Didn't you hear on the way that the concubine came back and called all the stewards and directors to Huaying courtyard." Xiao Jin closed the door and put the latch on it.

Xia An poured a cup of tea and said strangely: "Is there anything to make a fuss about? The princess is the mistress of the palace. No matter how long she stays at her mother's house, as long as the prince does not divorce his wife, we slaves must of course obey her orders." gone."

"Oh, what you think is too simple. Both the prince and the manager have gone to the palace, and the princess doesn't go to the palace to express condolences at this time, but summons the stewards and directors of the various courts to lecture. Do you think this is a seizure of power? If it is really The concubine has taken over the internal power of the palace, so the big and small stewards in our palace have to be replaced by people from her natal family."

Xia An couldn't help laughing, almost choked on water, and said with a smile: "Even if the princess is in power, the stewards and supervisors have changed, so what does it matter to us? Does the princess have to replace even a sloppy servant with her natal family?"

Xiao Jin gave Xia An a blank look: "You really are 'nothing to do with yourself'."

"It's nothing to worry about." Xia An spread his hands, proud but helpless, "Didn't you say that our Piaoxiangyuan is the safest courtyard, and no matter how much the masters of the palace seize power, they won't?" What does it have to do with our sloppy yard."

"Hehe." Xiao Jin laughed dryly.

Xia An suddenly looked solemn, and looked sideways at Xiao Jin: "How do you know that the prince and the manager have gone to the palace, and you also know that the prince went to the palace to express condolences."

Xiao Jin was good at gestures: "Everyone is talking, the prince left in a hurry."

Xia An nodded, no longer pursue it, and concentrated on drinking tea.But Xiao Jin kept talking: "You turtle, who has been huddled in the house all day, how can you be willing to go out today? Ah, by the way, what about the pastry, dinner has been delayed, I'm so hungry."

"There are two yuan left, one for you and one for me, okay?" Xia An shyly handed over the pastry, but he couldn't leave two pieces for Xiao Jin, and he himself was very greedy.

"Okay, but next time if you have cakes, please treat me to them."

How could there still be?Xia An smiled and frowned: "Okay, eat quickly."

As soon as the pastry was finished, the cook called everyone to eat.Both of them didn't like to squeeze in with others, so they just stayed in the room and gossiped. In fact, it was mainly Xiaojin who said and Xia An who listened.

Xiao Jin's content has always been rich, from which concubine the prince spends a lot of money on, and which part of the yard the man and his wife scratched and scratched, he knows very clearly.

While listening, Xia An removed the crumbs of pastries that fell on the table, and teased the "miracle doctor" to eat them.Their dinner was not settled, and the "miracle doctor" also had to go hungry.Following the prince's example, he gently smoothed the dog's fur, scratched the dog's itch, and made it run happily all over the room.

Xiao Jin was talking about being excited, and Xia An was also happily stuffing the puppy's tail into its mouth, when the door was suddenly slammed loudly, Xiao Jin glanced at Xia An, who hid the dog, and he Just ran to open the door.

Outside the door is Ah Fu, with worried eyes: "The princess has an order that all servants who have signed the death contract must go to the Gardenia Courtyard to stand by. Xia An, Xiao Jin, you two are the only ones in our courtyard."

Xiao Jin asked anxiously, "But what's the matter?"

"I don't know either. It's the news brought back by the steward."

Xia An said: "Brother Afu, does your family's birth as a slave count as a death contract?"

Ah Fu has always disliked others talking about his background, so he was not annoyed at this time, and replied: "Not exactly, although a domestic slave belongs to the master in name, but the enjoyment is several times better than that of a dead bond slave." treatment."

"Are you using it?" Xia An asked again.

"No, the concubine didn't pass on slaves to her family. She just forced Zhang Qitian (the supervisor who manages the purchase and distribution of slaves) to hand over your contract of sale. I reckon that nothing good will happen this time. So, the two of you have to Be extremely careful, and it is not advisable to mess around in everything. Go, don't make a mistake at this time."

"Understood." The two replied at the same time.

Before dinner, the two of them were already hungry.Before leaving for a long trip, Xiao Jin ran to the kitchen and hid two flower rolls in his arms, and stuffed a water bag into Xia An's arms.

Xia An didn't know whether to laugh or cry: "We won't be going for long, so we can't eat well when we come back, why bother to take it away?"

"You don't understand, women are always nagging, maybe they will scold us for a long time. At that time, we will kneel down and eat a few bites secretly, no one will see it." Xiaojin pulled Xia An to go Zhiziyuan ran, Ah Fu was right, you must not be late at this time, the princess will not let them off easily if she wants to show her prestige.

Apparently, there were a lot of people with this idea. When the two of them arrived, the Gardenia Courtyard was already full of people kneeling.I found a corner and squeezed in.After Xiaojin knelt down, she quietly lowered her head, took a bite of the flower roll, and passed one to the side.Xia An quickly picked it up, and persuaded him uneasily: "Eat later, don't let any steward see you."

"You're right, I don't want to be beaten up." Xiao Jin put away the scroll according to his words.

After half an hour, Xia An smelled a scent, which became stronger and stronger, and hurriedly tugged on Xiao Jin, and the two knelt down straight with their heads down.Sure enough, the sound of footsteps gradually became clear, and a large group of maids and women waited on the pineapple chairs that Princess Yin had placed in the north of the courtyard.

"See Princess Wangfei." Everyone saluted in unison.

Yin's beautiful eyes scanned the audience coldly, took the fragrant tea passed by the mother-in-law and ate it, and after a long time of burning incense, she kissed her fragrant lips: "Director Zhang, count, is everyone here?"

"If you go back to your mother, there are still two people left." Zhang Qitian sweated down his cheeks.At this time, if you resist the order of the princess, you will die. If you accept the order, when the prince returns to the mansion, if you pursue it, you will still die.He had secretly sent a message to his mother-in-law, telling her to flee quickly with her son.

"Oh, who is that noble person, can't even invite me?" Yin's speech was not fast, but it sounded gentle and polite.

"Yes...it's Mr. Lanxiang from Lanxiangyuan and Miss Hua Furong from Furongyuan." Zhang Qitian replied.These two belonged to the male sex and female sex group, they were Qing Qing servants redeemed by the prince from the Goulan courtyard, since they were bought with money, they were contracted to death.Although the status of the two is not high, they have been favored by the prince recently, especially Mr. Lanxiang. As long as the prince is in the mansion, he always wants him to wait on him.

Yin sneered: "You can send the girl next to me to invite you. These two people don't seem to give Director Zhang face." This is not to give Director Zhang face, it is clearly slapping the princess.

Zhang Qitian tremblingly said: "Where do we need the help of the people around the working lady, maybe the slaves didn't notify, and the slaves will send someone to call." After speaking, he winked at the servant behind him.

After another stick of incense, there was movement at the door.A petite and exquisite woman and a man in a bright green gauze came slowly and bowed gracefully, but it was Fu Li who said: "My family has seen the princess."

Yin Shi didn't answer.

The two knees couldn't be bent, and soon they became a little unstable, Hua Furong knelt down, and greeted again: "See your mother." Lan Xiang didn't move, she still gritted her teeth and insisted.

Yin took out two of the deeds of sale, and asked in a warm voice: "You two sold into the palace, and you signed a deed of death, right?"

"Back to your mother, it's a death contract." Hua Furong replied.Lan Xiang was silent.

"Since it is a death contract, then it is a death slave of the palace, but why don't you respect my order?"

Hua Furong kowtowed again and again, crying with tears in her voice: "It's not that my family didn't respect your mother's order, but that the servant who passed the message missed the Furong courtyard, causing my family to be late for a long time. Loyal, willing to do the work of a dog and a horse for your empress."

"Oh, what a sensible person, you step back to one side."

Hua Furong knelt down on one side according to the order, leaving the open space in the middle for Lan Xiang who still refused to kneel.

Yin asked: "Did you not receive the order to come here?"

Lan Xiang raised her head and replied: "I just got up and washed up. It's too late. I hope your mother won't be offended."

"Presumptuous, a servant who doesn't get up until night, dares to let the empress wait for you, what a dare." A blue-clothed woman behind Yin stood up and pointed at Lan Xiang and yelled.

Yin smiled and said to the woman: "Nurse don't need to be angry, let's let Director Zhang comment on the truth." Turning to Zhang Qitian, "What is this person's identity? He's so arrogant?"

Zhang Qitian said: "It's Mr. Lanxiang who was conferred by the prince."

"Young master? Bah, isn't he just a shameful male favorite, bitch." The nanny spat in Lan Xiang's direction.Yin thought it was indecent, so she faked a cough to stop the nanny, and asked Zhang Qitian, "Can a male pet be the master of the house?"

Zhang Qitian wiped off his sweat, took a deep breath and replied: "Masculinity does not have dignity, not like a concubine has a concubine. I am obsessed, male and female are slaves, for the master's entertainment. When the master loses interest, or sell me government, or give it away, or give it to the servants to have fun."

"Oh? Giving the servants fun is a good way to be considerate to the subordinates. Mr. Lan Xiang, what do you think?" Yin's dignified and beautiful face put on a smile, and looked directly at Lan Xiang.

Lan Xiang was not afraid, straightened up, and said proudly: "If you lose the heart of the master, no matter what your status is, you will not end well. Lan Xiang knows this very well, and she has to think about it carefully. "

"Presumptuous." Several maidservants beside Yin couldn't help shouting.

Yin Shi smiled calmly: "Young master's words are very reasonable. Today I just want to teach you this truth well, and I will borrow it from you." The voice was still unhurried, with The self-cultivation of a lady: "Come here, bring the twenty guards of the palace."

Lan Xiang sneered, and said, "I don't know what the concubine's mission is."

"Don't worry, you'll know later."

A row of guards was brought to the front, kneeling in two rows, they were the patrolling guards of the palace.The concubine returned to the mansion this time and brought over a hundred guards from her natal family, but at this time, unlike her own guards, she ordered Zhang Qitian to specially call the guards from the palace.

Yin Shi said: "Just now I learned a good way to be considerate of servants. It's boring to see you walking around, so I will reward you for playing." Here it is for you, you can play as you like, even if you die. Zhang Qitian, let someone clear up an open space, and have fun with everyone in this yard."

When saying this, Yin Shi was still dignified.Xia An already understood what she meant, and trembled violently. Twenty people went to "play" with one person, and it was so cruel in front of everyone.Xiao Jin quietly pinched Xia An's wrist, signaling him not to be afraid.

Lan Xiang was furious immediately, regardless of her status, she pointed at Yin Shi and shouted: "Try to touch me, the prince will definitely not let you go when he comes back."

Yin still smiled: "You have only been in the mansion for a short time, so I'm afraid you don't know many things. Our lord has never liked people for a long time, but he has a persistent hobby, that is, he loves people he once favored. Slowly tortured to death."

"You dare to slander the prince?" Lan Xiang didn't believe it. The prince has been pampering him since he entered the mansion, and many gossips that came into his ears came from the left ear and came out from the right ear.

"Slandering the prince? I don't have the courage. Whether it is true or not, everyone knows this clearly. Anyway, let you try it yourself today and see if the prince will remember you when he comes back?" Yin Shi motioned to those Guard: "Let's get started."