Give you a spring

Ping Wei said that he was going to the palace to find his mother-in-law, but before that he went to another place.

According to what Qi Zheng said, since it is such a tightly suppressed secret, it is not appropriate for him to rush to find Concubine Ming, and he is really unfamiliar with the other party. In order to avoid embarrassment, Ping Wei decided to go first. Investigate.

After coming to the capital, he found a coffin shop that deals with the black market here. He approached the door familiarly, and handed the small black card left by He Zhou to the boss. He asked, "I want to know the coffin shop in the palace 25 years ago The name and address of the eunuch or court lady, or the midwife who was in charge of delivering the concubine Ming's birth is also acceptable."

After so long, he thought that maybe the eunuchs and maids at that time would retire and leave the palace, so he also asked for the address.

The boss was a man in his thirties, dressed in neat black clothes, and kept himself very clean. He was very different from the poorly groomed old man in Fengdu.After hearing Pingwei's request, he turned around in front of a cabinet full of funerary objects, took one of the objects down, and immediately moved on the original flat wall—a door appeared on the right shape.

Ping slightly raised his eyebrows, watched as the boss walked to the door, pushed it lightly, and went straight in.

After half a stick of incense, the boss came out with an extra booklet in his hand, the pages of which had turned yellow.He said, "The midwife back then is dead, she was from Pingzhou, and most of the eunuchs and maids are gone, there are only three eunuchs left, one in Yu'an, one in Linjing, and one in Xiangnan."

There was actually someone in Yu'an—Ping Wei's eyelids twitched, he thought he knew everyone in the town, and asked quickly, "What's the name of that person in Yu'an Town?"

"It's Feng Ling."

It was Mr. Feng, Ping Wei was surprised. Feng Ling lived opposite his house, knew him very well, and lived alone. Sometimes the old man would call him over for dinner during festivals. After that, He Zhou lived with him, so It was his turn to take the old man over for dinner.

"What grade is he in the palace?"

"The fourth rank is the servant's father-in-law."

That being said, he was also in charge of serving the emperor's daily life. He should be familiar with Emperor Chong, but Ping Wei was still a little surprised—he didn't know whether Feng Ling was from Emperor Chong's side or from Concubine Ming, but...he I believe that part of the reason why Feng Ling chose to live in Yu'an after leaving the palace was because she wanted to take good care of herself.

For a while, all kinds of flavors became mixed again.

"Where are the others? I want to know the name of the father-in-law in Lin'an."

Ping Wei looked at the boss, and the other party looked at the brochure, "My name is Du Shubao, from the ninth grade, just an ordinary eunuch, living in Zouma Lane in the East District."

"Okay," Ping Wei thought for a while, then asked in a low voice, "Can you help find out how Emperor Chong and Concubine Ming met, and who did he get along with during the years when he was the prince?"

The boss froze for a moment, then fell silent for a while, then nodded, "Okay."

"How much reward do you need?" Ping Wei asked.

"500 taels is fine."

"Is it so little?" Pingwei was a little startled, "I have always known your price."

The boss smiled wryly, "Who dares to charge you with such a brand?"

Ping smiled slightly, touched the small card in his hand, and said with some melancholy, "Okay."

"Should I have someone deliver it to your house when I get the news, or should you come and get it yourself?"

"I'll come here by myself. I'm in a hurry to find out before tomorrow afternoon."

"can."

"Excuse me."

Coming out of the coffin shop, Ping Wei got back into the carriage and went to the East District to find Du Shubao.

Speaking of which, the last time he went to the Eastern District was during the imperial examination, he and He Zhou went to Zhang Lingsi's house, remembering that Huanyi also lived there.Thinking of that girl, Ping Wei felt a little depressed, he should ask Qi Zheng where the other party went after that, or visit her once in a while.

The road in the East District was not easy to walk, the carriage wobbled all the way and stopped in front of Walking Horse Lane.

After getting off the car, Ping Wei asked a few families. When he came to a dilapidated hut, he was a little puzzled. How come people who came out of the palace would live in such a dilapidated house in their later years. Although he was not familiar with the situation in the palace, But generally eunuchs will collect bribes from ministers or concubines, and accumulate a lot of silver on weekdays, right?

He knocked on the door and waited for a while, the door was pulled open, and a voice as light as a mosquito groaned, "What's the matter?"

"Hello, I'm a distant relative of Uncle Zhang next door. I came over to catch up with him recently. He said that the family ran out of salt and asked me to borrow some for you," Ping Wei said kindly.

"Oh..." The man responded, and let go of the doorknob, "Then just wait."

As soon as he turned around, Ping Wei stretched out his hand to block the door, then pushed in hard, and dodged in.

The person living inside was a gray-haired old man in his seventies with very fair skin. When he saw someone breaking in, he immediately frowned, "What are you doing?!"

Ping Wei sneered, he changed his face specially before coming here, because the other party would definitely be able to guess his identity with his face that resembled the concubine Ming, and Emperor Chong didn't want people to know what happened back then, so in order to avoid alarming the snake, Ping Wei used medicine Shui covered his facial features, dressed himself as an ordinary-looking young man, and said, "Elder-in-law, I'm actually not a relative of Uncle Zhang."

"Then who are you?" Du Shubao looked at him warily.

"I'm actually a book writer." Ping Wei scratched his hair, a little embarrassed, and took out a notebook from his arms, "Look, this is the book I'm writing recently, it's about the story in the palace, I want to tell Using His Majesty as the prototype, write about his love and hatred with the harem concubines."

"...What a mess," Du Shubao casually flipped through the pages, the corners of his mouth twitching. This man looked serious, but the writing was...so big.

The obscene words and sentences throughout the article, to put it bluntly, are a small yellow book, right? !

Du Shubao was silent for a while, and returned the notebook to him, "Will you sell it on the market in the future?"

"Yes," Ping smiled.

Of course he knew what the other party was thinking. He picked up the book from the coffin shop. It is said that it was written by a very popular author a few years ago. The title of the book is very brilliant, called Ye Ye Sheng Huan.

"...Writing so boldly, it will definitely sell well," said Zhang Shubao, when he was young, he had seen maids in the palace secretly pass on small yellow books, but he did not expect to see a small yellow book today.

He put down his guard against Ping Wei, pointed to a chair, "Sit down, what do you want to ask me? No, how did you know my identity?"

"I know some people in the palace," Ping Wei pretended to be coy, and said, "Elder-in-law also knows what I wrote about this background, so I must know something to be true..."

... Zhang Shubao didn't know that the author who wrote the little yellow book would be so serious now and pay attention to the truth.He asked, "Who do you want to know?"

"Concubine Ming," Ping Wei sat up straight and said impatiently, "I heard that she was once a concubine who was once a favorite, so I want to ask how she and Emperor Chong knew each other back then?"

...Actually asked this, Du Shubao said, "She met Chongdi in the 17th year of Jingwen. At that time, Chongdi was still a prince. Once a few friends who met him went out to play in the city. When they were resting in Yu'an Town I met Concubine Ming who was fishing, her real name was Shen Qingru."

Ping Wei nodded, he knew Concubine Ming's name early on, but he didn't expect Yu An to be her hometown, and she was a fisherman before.

"Concubine Ming is very beautiful and intelligent, and she doesn't talk like an ordinary fisherman at all. Emperor Chong was immediately attracted by her. The group of them stayed in Yu'an for five days. Concubine Ming stayed with them before leaving. The former Chongdi asked her if she wanted to come back to the capital with him."

Du Shubao stopped just right.

Ping Wei asked, "She agreed?"

"Well, she knows how to measure. She knows that because of her humble status, the late emperor and the empress mother of the Chong emperor cannot know, so she stays in the mansion all the time and never makes trouble. She is a very sensible woman."

"Later when Emperor Chong ascended the throne of God, she also became a concubine of the Ming Dynasty. However, due to her status, even though Emperor Chong loved her very much, she could not become a noble concubine or empress. She has always been a second-rank concubine."

That seemed to be the incident that made her a concubine.

Ping Wei noticed that in Du Shubao's tone, Shen Qingru has always been a concubine, not a concubine.He thought for a while, and then asked, "How did Emperor Chong become emperor? Who were the people who assisted him back then?"

"You are quite sharp." Du Shubao raised his eyelids, and gave the person opposite him a fair look. "There were many people who helped him back then, but the most important ones were two."

"One is Gu Jing, the son of the great general, and the other is Jiang Yuanzhi, the current empress."

I have heard about the matter between the Empress and Emperor Chong. Her mother's family was the prime minister who was in power at the time. The prime minister didn't want to help Emperor Chong ascend the throne. It was her daughter who loved him so much that she insisted on marrying him. Only then was forced to help him.

And because of his joining, Emperor Chong seized the throne.

"Who is Gu Jing?" Ping Wei asked, "I remember that there is no minister surnamed Gu."

"No," Du Shubao sighed, "He died in Chongli 11 years ago."

"Dead?! Why?"

"It's none of your business," Du Shubao said, "Why ask so many questions, it won't help your little yellow book."

"Is his death related to Emperor Chong or Concubine Ming?" Ping Wei asked sharply, ignoring him.

His question hit the nail on the head. Du Shubao was slightly shocked when he heard it, and said slowly, "Yes."

Ping was slightly shocked, and countless bloody stories in the storybook flashed through his mind, and seeing that Du Shubao's face was not right, he stopped his mouth when he saw it was good, got up and said, "I see, thank you."

"Don't ask me anymore?" Du Shubao looked at him.

"Eunuch, if you don't want to say it, I won't force it," Ping Wei smiled gently, this time from the heart.

He walked to the door, Du Shubao also stood in front of the door, he held him back when the other party was about to turn around, "Ping Wei."

Ping was startled slightly, and took a big step back defensively.

"Don't be so guarded against me," Du Shubao looked at him without blinking, "I haven't seen anything at such an old age. I can't hide that thing on your face from me. I know you have entered the palace, and I heard You just came back from Fengdu, but you didn't expect to find you so soon."

Ping Wei had already walked out the door, and came back after hearing his words, and asked softly, "Did you recognize me?"

"Of course I recognized you, otherwise you would think that I am an old eunuch, why would I tell others so many palace secrets out of nowhere," Du Shubao looked at him helplessly, then glanced at the little yellow book in his hand, "It's not good for you to read less of these books."

Ping blushed slightly—he was taught a lesson by his elders. He hid the book behind his back and asked, "Do you know why I came here to look for you?"

"I can guess a little bit, but I don't have much to say about the specifics. You should ask Concubine Ming."

He didn't mention Chongdi, which proved that Du Shubao knew that Chongdi would not talk about these things peacefully. Gu Jing really had something to do with these people. where?"

"I'm just an ordinary eunuch, but I have been favored by General Gu."

"Understood," Ping Wei replied, ashamed to disturb him for too long.Du Shubao sent him out of the door, and asked a little more before parting, "Now... do you have a sweetheart?"

Ping Wei was stunned for a moment, and a smile appeared in his eyes, "Yes."

"Does she like you?"

"I don't like it anymore," Ping Wei said with a smile, remembering that He Zhou said that he loves him from time to time, "He always said that he loves me very much."

"That's good," Du Shubao muttered with tears in his eyes after hearing this, "It's good that the person you like also likes you..."

"I'll visit my father-in-law later," Ping Wei said in a soft voice, turned around and got into the carriage, saying goodbye to him.

The old man had been standing at the door looking at the receding carriage for a long time, then sighed lightly, "So he's not like Gu Jing..."