[Red Mansions] The Road to Empress Dowager

Another eunuch in charge called out: "Wang Lang, daughter of Wang Qingyun, prefect of Qingzhou; Xie Wanying, daughter of Henan Xuezheng Xie Shao; Xing Xiuyan, daughter of weaving Xing Zhong in the Ministry of Internal Affairs."

The queen looked at the girl like a flower, she was nearly thirty years old, mourned her youth once again, and said, "Look up."

The queen couldn't help being moved when she saw it, Wang Lang was pretty and cute, Xie Wanying was elegant and elegant, and Xing Xiuyan was light and graceful, and Concubine Ping and Concubine Shun who were sitting on the side as foils couldn't help but look at the emperor.The emperor's own face has not aged much from the previous years. If there is any change, it has become more handsome, tall and suave, mighty and domineering, and they are all old people in the palace.

Xing Xiuyan glanced at Tu Yuanyi, it was the first time she had seen him in emperor attire.Bright yellow dragon robe, wearing a black gauze wing crown more exquisite than the TV series, and the crown is inlaid with golden carved double dragon opera beads.Xing Xiuyan has also studied court etiquette and service recently, and knows that this is one of the emperor's usual clothes, and at court meetings, the emperor still wears the emperor's twelve-pronged crown.

She lowered her head, opened her mouth and took a deep breath to calm her mind. The draft has just started, and the queen is still patient, and the emperor is still here.

So the queen asked the show girls what they are good at.

Wang Lang said: "At home, my courtiers have practiced the zither for several years."

Xie Wanying said: "My daughter can write a few words on weekdays."

Xing Xiuyan wanted to say that she was good at making bamboo strips, but she was afraid that she would be beaten with a stick.Calligraphy has learned from the sage again, but now the queen is afraid that she will tear her up, a woman with evil intentions.

Xing Xiuyan felt a little rebellious in her heart, and felt that she had to play music, chess, calligraphy and painting just like a human being, and said, "My daughter-in-law can cook a few dishes at home."

The teacup in Tu Yuanyi's hand almost slipped, he hummed lightly, and couldn't help but raise his phoenix eyes and stare at her.

Empress Yang was not angry, because cooking is indeed a talent that women can praise, and the saints are not angry at all.So she showed her demeanor and said: "Although cooking should be a woman's skill, it is not convenient at this time. Do you know anything else?"

Xing Xiuyan wanted to say no, but suddenly she thought again, she was angry with him, and she couldn't get into the draft, it would be even worse if he wanted to make her into the palace as a concubine who had served him outside, she couldn't help cursing secretly I almost misunderstood myself because of my temperament.

Only then did Xing Xiuyan calm down, and said honestly, "I can draw a few strokes."

The queen asked the eunuchs to set up utensils, Wang Lang played the zither, Xie Wanying wrote, and Xing Xiuyan painted.

After a while, the zither ding-dong sounded, Xie Wanying also spread out the rice paper, and Xing Xiuyan mixed the paint and ink like a tea ceremony.

The time is too short, Xing Xiuyan can only paint what he is most familiar with, and when he picks up the pen, he concentrates on quickly opening and closing the layout.Then I changed the brush to sketch, and the faster I drew, the figure of Avalokitesvara suddenly appeared on the paper, and there was no such thing as a golden boy and a jade girl.Then, take a pen and quickly melt the paint on the paper.

The sleeves were too in the way, so she lifted them up, quickly painted the details, and finally painted the sky with Buddha's light.

Elegant but very chic put down the pen with a snap, and let out a long breath.

Then, I saw that Wang Lang hadn't finished playing the song "Three Lanes of Plum Blossoms", but Xie Wanying had finished writing a lyric.

The eunuchs unfolded the papers of Xing Xiuyan's paintings and Xie Wanying's calligraphy, and the empresses and concubines couldn't help breathing.The painting is also a good painting. The Buddha's light of Guanyin Bodhisattva shines everywhere, the composition is perfect, and the brushwork is smooth without stagnation. It is difficult to draw such a painting in such a short time.

The handkerchiefs of Concubine Ping and Concubine Shun were shredded again. Xing Xiuyan lowered her head and could only see their hands. She thought to herself: As a concubine, it must not be a pleasant thing to see her husband take on a new concubine. The righteousness of occupying the first wife is that in Confucian morality, men should respect the first wife. The first wife is someone who can stand shoulder to shoulder with her husband, so she can live without favor.And if the little wives have no favors, everything will be over.

She suddenly had a wry smile, and she was about to become one of them.

The queen swallowed her bitterness, and said with a smile: "What does the emperor think, these girls are all very talented."

Tu Yuanyi put down the tea bowl, and said lightly: "Just now we left one who can play the piano, let's keep the one who can write and paint. You don't have to pick too many of the same people."

Wang Lang wanted to cry immediately, but Xie Wanying was overjoyed.Xing Xiuyan is sober, knowing that becoming a concubine and actually becoming a concubine are two different things.

The empress ordered to leave plaques for Xie Wanying and Xing Xiuyan, and gave Wang Lang a palace flower as a consolation prize.

Tu Yuanyi watched the person go out of the palace gate, and a stone fell in his heart.

Tu Yuanyi never regarded her as a niece, but as a maidservant, but as an emperor, the maidservant is also his woman.Later, he didn't treat her as a maid, but not a maid that was also his woman.Back then, as a ghost cultivator, he had much warmth, but he had no passion, which was different from being a human being.

Only when I touched her again in this life did I feel that she was warm and alive instead of a cold lotus root, lying softly on his back, and talking behind his ear was itchy.

In his endless lonely days, she was with him, although she was tied around her neck at the beginning, lest she run away and he would become another lonely ghost.

As an emperor, he has seen a lot of women, but he saw those completely different things in her alone, with various expressions and attitudes, and all of them were true.She sat on the ground with a sad expression; she was in high spirits when telling stories; she jumped and jumped when she heard that he had changed her body again; when she wanted something, she hugged his big feet and called uncle; Tears filled the eyes of the suffering history of later generations.

He will never wrong himself in his life. The woman he wants, other people can't get it, even if he wants to be a nun or a self-combed girl.

……

In the backyard of the Muni Courtyard, watching Miaoyu brewing tea is really like a quiet and beautiful picture. The plain clothes restrain the desires of the world, but the abstinence is more tempting.Miaoyu is 19 years old, it is the season when women are most charming, Xing Xiuyan feels sorry for her.

Miaoyu said lightly: "I didn't expect you to come to the capital, it seems that you are doing well." Miaoyu's eyes are very vicious.

Xing Xiuyan sighed, "I've been here for three months, but I haven't come to see you."

Miaoyu said, "I have nothing to look at."

But Xing Xiuyan said to himself: "You used to say that I was tainted with vulgarity. At that time, I was still not convinced. I thought I just wanted to live. Unlike you, I have no money and can't even eat enough. Now that you think about it, you actually That's right."

Miaoyu raised her brows and became interested, Xing Xiuyan didn't hide anything at the moment, and told about becoming the number one embroiderer in Suzhou. The three brothers and sisters of the Xing family forced her to embroider and blind herself.Fortunately, she later met a noble man who cured her eyes.

Miaoyu snorted coldly: "People's hearts are not enough, everyone in the world is like this, what's so strange?"

Xing Xiuyan thought for a while, then suddenly asked: "I've always wanted to ask you, why did you become a monk since you were young, and what happened to your family?"

Miaoyu said: "Stop wasting my good tea, you are becoming more and more presumptuous."

Xing Xiuyan sighed: "I won't be able to come here often anymore. How many times can I drink your tea? I didn't tell you that the nobleman who cured my eyes was surnamed Tu, whose name was Yuanyi, and whose name was Hongzheng. It was originally Prince Su, who has been the emperor for several years now, and I will enter the palace to be his concubine in a few days. While I am still young, I might be able to speak a few words if I work hard, if it does not involve some collusion with the enemy and treason I can always plan a little bit of the serious crime. Whether you recognize me as your apprentice or not, I always recognize you as my master. I still hope that you can return to secular life if you drive me out. Buddhism is at ease in your heart, and compassion is also in your heart. Why stick to monks and common people? Besides, do you think you are a monk?"

Miaoyu was so angry that she threw the cup and scolded: "You still come to mock me? You are so vulgar, so what if you can enter the palace and become rich? Why do I need you to tell me what to do?"

Suddenly, the door creaked open, and Nanny Qin and Nanny Jiang walked in. Nanny Jiang said, "Miss! Miss Xing is very kind, why should you do this? The old lady was implicated and imprisoned back then, so she could only send Miss With such an arrangement, the master and his wife must be thinking of Miss when they die in prison, the original arrangement was not for Miss to become a monk for the rest of her life."

Mother Qin said: "Miss, Miss Xing is a conscientious person. There are not many conscientious people these days. When you don't see her, you often stare at the embroidery screen in a daze. Now she comes, but you scold her like this. Why bother?" in this way?"

Miaoyu was so angry that her chest collapsed, her whole body trembled, she pointed at them and cursed: "She is so good, you go and be with her, she is rich now, no better than me in the monastery!"

As she said that, she walked away, Xing Xiuyan knew her temper, she was extremely proud, even if she still had a heart of mortals, she would not admit it.

After Miaoyu left, Xing Xiuyan asked about the two old nuns.

Miaoyu was born in the Su family, a great family in the south of the Yangtze River. Her ancestors also supported the Great Zhou Dynasty and the Marquis of Ningnan for two generations. When her father passed the imperial examination, she became an official.Her father was a young talent, he won the first prize at a young age, one class later than Lin Ruhai, and later he married the second lady of the Zuo Shilang's family of the Ministry of War.However, there is one thing about this marriage that is not good. The eldest lady of the Zuo Shilang's family of the Ministry of War is the crown princess, and the Su family has to board the prince's boat because of the marriage of the first son.

Mr. Su's family served as the magistrate of Yingtian, so he had to help the prince to control the Jiangnan area. However, the prince's coup failed, and the trees fell and the monkeys scattered.For example, his father-in-law's family members were all beheaded, Miaoyu was only three years old at that time, Mr. Su also remembered that a monk once said that his daughter could become a monk to avoid disasters, so he thought of Mrs. Huiqing of Panxiang Temple.

Mrs. Huiqing has some relationship with the Su family, but she is Master Su's distant cousin, so the Su family spent all their wealth and found the most loyal nanny to send Miaoyu to the temple to lead her practice.Soon Master Su and his wife were imprisoned. When they were imprisoned, the prince had already been imprisoned. After all, the Su family was far away in the south of the Yangtze River, and they had no direct involvement in launching the coup.

But the Su family has more or less become one of the crown prince's pockets, and the death penalty can be forgiven, but the living penalty cannot be escaped, and there is no pardon for a while.The Su family was confiscated by the emperor at that time and demoted to commoners, and they were not allowed to be officials for three generations.