[Red Mansions] The Road to Empress Dowager

Suddenly the eunuch guarding the gate shouted, "Xing Cai has arrived."

I saw a slender figure coming from outside the hall, she walked carefully and respectfully, lowered her head, then knelt and kowtowed in a standard manner.

"Concubine Xing sees the empress, the empress is a thousand years old!"

When the queen saw the woman in front of her, she suddenly had a bad premonition. This bad premonition was very accurate, just like the strong feeling she had when her grandmother who loved her when she was a child passed away.

Taking a closer look at Xing, although she is respectful, she can be seen from the subtle details that she is very delicate, and the expression on her brows is different.The empress would understand that this person was probably served well last night, and the emperor was very interested in doing so.

The queen said: "Xing Cairen, get up quickly."

Xing Xiuyan greeted Concubine Ping, Concubine Shun and all the "sisters" again. Concubine Ping Wu, who was the elder, waved her hand and said, "Okay, there is no need to be too polite, let's sit down quickly."

Concubine Ping hadn't been favored for a long time, and sometimes she didn't see the emperor even once in a month, and she didn't like to see these newcomers very much, but her thoughts were a little deeper than that of Queen Yang who was living too smoothly.Empress Yang has a habit of being in power, and no one has been able to challenge her authority for seven or eight years, so it is more difficult for her to tolerate some people and things that she dislikes.

Liu Jingru said: "Sure enough, I was exhausted from serving the emperor last night, and you are the last one to come today."

Xing Xiuyan sat in the last seat on the right, Liu Jingru happened to be at the head, and Shen Man was sitting opposite, Liu Jingru couldn't help but sneered, and Shen Man gave her a cold look.Xing Xiuyan couldn't answer these words, so he could only remain silent.

The queen presided over the "harem meeting" again, mainly discussing the Qixi palace banquet that will be held in more than half a month. The family members of officials and eunuchs will be invited to the palace to participate in the banquet.

The empress is not only the mother of the country, she presides over such activities to strengthen the relationship between the harem and the courtiers' backyard, and also finds something to do, so the harem should not be idle and moldy.

Xing Xiuyan saw a female historian next to the queen, with a face like the full moon and a color like spring flowers, wearing an apricot-colored female historian's palace dress and a plump figure, full of mature charm.Xing Xiuyan looked at her with a kind face.But looking at her round peach blossom eyes, I couldn't help but suddenly realized, could this be Jia Yuanchun?But now it's going to be called "Jia Yuanchun". Why is there a Yuan character in Tu Yuanyi's name?

But I think the Jia family is really entrusted with it, because they were born at the beginning of the first month, so they should be called Yuanchun, and I don't think that the prince's whole life contains the characters "Yuan".But the ancients were really troublesome, Tu Yuanyi, and the word Hongzheng, how many words should be avoided?

Sure enough, the queen said: "Ms. Jia, then draft posts according to this list."

"Yes, ma'am." Jia Yuanchun bowed gracefully, and stepped back respectfully and carefully.

Xing Xiuyan has been looking at her curiously, wondering in her mind, why didn't Tu Yuanyi make her a concubine, ordinarily she should be canonized when she was around 25 years old.

Xing Xiuyan looked at his wives, big and small, but Jia Yuanchun was actually the most beautiful among them.She is a bit older, but she was about the same age in her previous life before she died, and Jia Yuanchun was well maintained.

The meeting in the harem was over, and all the concubines had to leave. Naturally, the high-ranking concubines went first. Only Concubine Wu Ping and Concubine Cui Shun walked, while the other concubines had to walk.

In the palace system of the Great Zhou Dynasty, only concubines of the third rank and above were allowed to ride on the chariot, which was extremely stingy in this regard.The harem is really a bottomless pit. Bring your own dry food to be prostituted. Thinking about entering the palace by yourself, it only cost 30 taels in a few days. It is almost the top card of a modern prostitute/duck shop.You need to know that Grandma Liu said that ten taels of silver can be chewed by ordinary people for a year.If calculated according to modern times, if an ordinary rural family spends 3 yuan a year, 30 taels is equivalent to a living standard of 10 yuan, just to sleep for one night, causing back pain, what is the so-called?

The emperor's skills are good, and she lost her mind at the time, but she was no match for him, he would toss, and he loved to grind up human bones and eat them clean.

Xing Xiuyan was walking and making up her mind, when suddenly her skirt tugged and then loosened, she staggered and almost fell down.

But Shen Man smiled and said, "I'm sorry, sister Xing, I didn't pay attention to my steps."

Shen Man looked at Xing Xiuyan's outfit today, it was exquisite and extraordinary, she was good-looking, Xing Xiuyan didn't feel it just now, but when she entered, all the concubines couldn't help but suffocated.

This appearance and temperament made people think of "beautiful as a fairy", as if the people in the fairyland had such a beautiful appearance, it made Zhang Meiren, who was originally the most outstanding in appearance, be overshadowed.

Shen Man saw that she was a talented person, and she was dressed much better than her little girl, and she felt even more aggrieved. He deliberately frightened her and trampled on her skirt.

After all, Shen Man is related to the clan. The two cousins ​​of the Wang family in Yijun are quite favored by the disciple Yuanyi, and his father also has some talents.Although Zhao Gui played against Shen Man, but she has money now, and it is not easy for her subordinates to embarrass her for a while, otherwise her long-term wealth will be cut off.

Xing Xiuyan said: "It's okay, I'll just go back and wash it."

Saying that, Wei Wei blessed her and left.

Xing Xiuyan came directly from Taiji Palace, and Li Rong, the eunuch of Taiji Palace, was at the gate of Qifeng Palace at this time.

Xing Xiuyan didn't want him to go in with him, but how could he just leave like this?

Seeing her come out, he went up to say hello, helped her back to Luoxia Pavilion, and asked all the divisions to add extra meals, and suddenly Luoxia Pavilion was very busy.

Mr. Xie Gui who lived in the same pavilion couldn't hear him, but seeing the people in the side room flocking continuously, he felt even more worried and resentful.Is this the difference between being favored and not being favored?

Xing Xiuyan wanted to catch up on sleep, but the place was too small, and she couldn't hear people coming in and out. She was only seated on the chaise longue, and Li Rong stood beside her directing.

"Bah, this dim sum is not fresh, how do you do things like this? Do you know if you want to make it now?"

The little eunuch of Shangshanjian replied: "Wang Sanniang made this yesterday, and the imperial kitchen hasn't made any dim sum yet."

Li Rong snorted, and said in a sharp voice: "Let Old Li do it himself, Xing Cairen's daily snacks here are all made by him, and you don't have to worry about other things in the palace."

The young eunuch responded: "Yes."

As he was about to go down, Li Rong shouted: "Come back!"

"Ah?" The little eunuch respectfully said again: "Eunuch Li, what else do you want?"

Li Rong said: "It's a hot day, do you guys prepare some snacks? Cairen loves to eat fresh melons and fruits, and they pick and deliver fresh ones every day. If others have them, we can't miss them here, and if others don't have them, we should hurry up first." people here."

The leading eunuch of Shangshan Supervisor took a deep breath, nodded repeatedly, bowed to leave, and left with the other three eunuchs.

Li Rong looked at an aunt and four maids who came from the Shangyi Supervisor, looked at the clothes in the tray, tilted his neck, and said, "Where are you going to send the beggar? We are the daughter of Xing Zhizao's family. What kind of clothes are you?" Have you ever seen a good material? This is made by the third-class embroiderer of the Shangyi Bureau. When I go back and redo the four bodies, I will use the four kinds of materials that Suzhou, Hangzhou, Shu and foreign countries paid tribute to. Also, we are talented. If you like red and green, like orchids, peach blossoms, peonies and roses, you can tell Lu Shanggong that I ordered them."

"Yes, father-in-law. The servants will leave." The aunt in charge was blessed.

"Wait a minute." Li Rong said to Xing Xiuyan who was yawning again, "Cairen, the Shangyi Bureau will temporarily cut your clothes for you. This can't be made according to other people's sizes, and you won't be comfortable wearing it. Let Wang Auntie will measure it for you."

Xing Xiuyan nodded and said, "Okay, then Aunt Laowang will be here."

Xing Xiuyan stood up, and the aunt came forward to measure her body, shoulders, waist, chest and feet.

After measuring, she sat down again, and saw that Li Rong had someone offer ice again, and the Luoxia Pavilion in summer was so hot that Li Rong wiped the sweat from his forehead.

It was Xing Xiuyan who asked Jin Yao to make tea, and served it to Li Rong after it was cooled.

Jin Yao smiled and said, "I'm really sorry for Mrs. Li, we are newcomers, if it wasn't arranged by my father-in-law, I really don't know what to do."

Li Rong said with a smile: "Miss Jinyao, you are welcome. Eunuch Zhao personally instructed the miscellaneous family to make the talented people feel like they are at home. No, the palace is now the talented people's home. Let's serve the master well as slaves." This is it."

Jin Yao said: "But other people are not as meticulous as my father-in-law. We are used to being well-clothed and well-fed at home, so we are afraid that we are not familiar with people in the palace. It is really thanks to my father-in-law's kindness."

Li Rong cupped his fists and said, "If the talented person has no orders here, the miscellaneous family will also report to Eunuch Zhao."

Jin Yao hurriedly stuffed him with a purse, but Li Rong insisted on daring not to take it. This kind of "not loving money" dedication made Jin Yao stunned for a while.Li Rong thought to himself: Master mentioned it before, anyone can be blackmailed, but to blackmail Xing Cairen, I'm afraid you have to be tight on your ass.

The master's godsons Wang Fu, Zhou An, and Zhuo Ping have all gone to the south of the Yangtze River to show their faces. He is in charge of the daily life of the Tai Chi Palace, so he has never flattered the saint's heart. Isn't the opportunity coming now?The sage dotes on Xing Cairen. The confidant eunuch of the sage knows it, but what he doesn't know is the naive concubine in the harem.The East and West factories are different from the Ministry of Rites. They were not closely related to the concubines in the harem, but they were the emperor's close servants.

Xie Guiren arrived at the door of the side room, and watched an aunt and four court ladies from the Shangyi Bureau come out, and eunuchs such as the Inner Palace Supervisor, Division Supervisor, Baosha Division, and Mixing Division Division sent things, and everyone arranged things in full swing.

There are no more than three rooms in the side room of Luoxia Pavilion, but they are arranged in a refreshing and rich manner, which is quite different.

Xie Wanying thought to herself, is there such a big difference between having served bedtime and not served bedtime?But I think my house is a bit empty, and I haven't had anything good to eat after living in it for so many days.But these days, she has also noticed that although today is extremely exaggerated, even a few days ago, Xing Cairen's expenses here were better than hers.

It seems that what Xing Cairen said at the beginning that his father was an official of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and that he was acquainted with the eunuch, the head of the house, was not a lie.