Yongzheng period

Here we come." Shen Meizhuang was very happy, "Now I live in the courtyard in Jingli, unlike before in my grandfather's house, separated by a wall, it is convenient to meet each other, but I always think about the love we grew up together. "

Both of them looked at each other and smiled, Shen Meizhuang seemed to have thought of something and said, "Speaking of which, I saw a 'Miss An' from a distance just now, but I don't know if it's the one you mentioned in your letter? No, it's over there. "

Upon hearing this, Zhen Huan hurriedly looked in the direction indicated by Shen Meizhuang, and sure enough, she saw a lady in a lavender dress standing there, talking to a beautiful girl with a Han army flag.Looking at the expression in her eyebrows, her appearance and demeanor, it was An Lingrong, she seemed to feel that she turned her head sideways, and just met the eyes of Zhen Huan and Meizhuang, she couldn't help being startled.

"Sister An," Zhen Huan walked over with Shen Meizhuang, who looked at the two of Ling Rong with a little curiosity and calmness, "I heard that my sister was also selected for the palace, but I just have no time to congratulate, I hope my sister will not give up. to blame."

"Sister Zhen is serious," An Lingrong smiled slightly when he heard the words, and turned his attention to Shen Meizhuang, "I wonder if this sister is—?"

"My name is Shen Meizhuang. Seeing that you look a little younger than me, I will call you Sister An." Shen Meizhuang gave a slight bow.

An Lingrong also saluted, "Hello, Sister Meizhuang." The beautiful girl with delicate eyebrows and eyes standing beside her also stepped forward to greet Zhen and Shen, "Hello, sisters, my name is Cao Xiangyu, My elder brother is Cao Bing, Minister of the Ministry of Officials."

Seeing this, Shen Meizhuang couldn't help laughing and said, "Today it can be seen that we are destined to meet such outstanding figures as the two younger sisters."

"Sister, I was joking. It is Lingrong's blessing to see people with such a sign as Sister Shen." An Lingrong's words were impeccable. Seeing that Zhen Huan took the initiative to talk to her, she was very friendly, and she knew that she was concerned about the two families in the past. Nasty reason.If she really entered the palace, she would not want to make enemies for nothing, so she couldn't help saying, "Sister Zhen's makeup today is very elegant and elegant, different from all the beautiful girls."

"Then I will accept Sister An's compliment unceremoniously." Zhen Huan relaxed slightly, and praised knowingly, "Sister An is different today from the past, and she is quite outstanding."

The four of them talked and laughed, and before they knew it, the time was approaching, and the ceremonial nuns in the palace who had been watching the behavior of the beautiful women came out one after another, and said to the beautiful women, "The Han army flags are all lined up. That's right, stand up."

The crowd was bustling and bustling, and a kind-faced nanny said, "Master Rong reminds all the ladies, all the ladies are selected by thousands of people to stay, and this time I want the imperial concubine and the imperial concubine to see each other in person. , This is a great grace. Naturally, ladies, don’t be nervous, don’t miss the rules and you’ll be fine. If the master doesn’t keep it, it’s a sign, and if you keep it, you’ve been selected..."

Shen Meizhuang couldn't help saying, "It's almost time, let's go and line up." She looked at Ling Rong and the two again, and said with a smile, "I hope the two younger sisters can get their wish and be selected successfully."

"Thank you, sister." An Lingrong replied warmly, watching Zhen and Chen go to the front, while she and Cao Xiangyu were in the middle.

*

In the Tiyuan Hall, Daiyu and Concubine Duan had already sat on the imperial concubine chairs on both sides, and saw Xiunu coming from one side of the palace road from a distance, Daiyu motioned to the singing eunuch standing beside her, "Let's begin."

【74】

After the audition began, there was a group of show girls led by the ceremonial mother, and the eunuch of the singing class hurriedly opened the roster:

"Xia Ruhua, the daughter of the prefect of Jiaxing, is sixteen years old—"

Daiyu looked down and saw that most of the beautiful women in this row were mediocre, she couldn't help but feel a little dull, she shook her head in disappointment, and all the beautiful women in this row put down their signs.

Seeing the imperial concubine shaking her head, the eunuch Si Li raised her voice and said, "Xia Ruhua, the daughter of the prefect of Jiaxing, put down the plaque and give flowers—"

"Fu Hua, the daughter of Fu An, deputy envoy of the General Administration Department, put down the plaque and gave flowers—"

"Your Majesty, are you a little tired? That's right, this list is full of vulgar fans. It's boring." Concubine Duan looked at Daiyu's face with a smile on her lips, "Your Majesty, don't worry, these quotes from eunuchs They will do some tricks of 'suppressing first and then raising', presumably those outstanding girls are still to come."

"The eunuchs quoting dare to speculate on what they want, and they should be punished." Daiyu glanced at her lightly, and smiled, "I also saw a few outstanding younger sisters when I checked the list of draft girls. Looking forward to it."

"No matter how outstanding a beauty is in front of the empress, I'm afraid she will lose her brilliance." Concubine Duan touched a soft nail, but her smile deepened, and she flattered her, "The makeup of your empress today is very dignified, but it's just in the ears. The color of the emeralds is a bit too bright, and the empress is not good enough for emeralds at this age, so it looks a bit unworthy."

Because of the selection of beautiful women, Daiyu is wearing a decent imperial concubine uniform today, with a golden phoenix and silk crown on her head, a golden promise on her forehead, and court beads hanging on her clothes.In order to show her nobility, she chose the lighter-colored jadeite earrings, but she didn't want to become a pretext for Duan Guifei's ridicule.

"People in the world often talk about jade and jade. It can be seen that the color of emerald jade is the same. How can the temperament of the person wearing it highlight the beauty of emeralds?" "I have a cheeky face, I dare not say that it matches the charm of emerald jade, but the one that I am wearing today was chosen by the emperor when he was granted the title of 'Imperial Concubine'—naturally, it is of great significance."

"It is true that good jade is becoming more and more rare these days. The imperial concubine thinks that this jade is getting old, and I don't look good wearing it—" Daiyu said with a smile, "If the elder sister of the imperial concubine does not dislike it, there are still some jadeites in the palace that are sinking." If you give the emerald of color and luster to your sister, it will not be considered buried."

Age can be said to be the Achilles' heel of all women. Concubine Duan used jadeite to warn Daiyu that her qualifications were frivolous but she held a high position, but she shot herself in the foot.After all, her quality as a noble concubine is there. Seeing another group of beautiful girls approaching, she changed the subject appropriately, "The concubine doesn't like to wear jadeite, so it's not easy to spoil the empress's wishes. According to the concubine, this There is one thing about the women who line up for the show."

Concubine Duan happened to see the beautiful girl Lingrong, and the eunuch who served the ceremony pointed to her and said, "An Lingrong, the daughter of Anbihuai in the Sixth Division, is sixteen years old—"

An Lingrong calmed down the turbulent emotions in his heart, tried his best to make his voice sound calm and peaceful, and knelt down to salute, "My daughter, An Lingrong, sees the imperial concubine, the imperial concubine, and may the imperial concubine and the imperial concubine be blessed and safe."

Daiyu vaguely knew that her father, An Bihuai, was working under his father, and seeing that she had the appearance of Xiaojiabiyu, with clear words and polite manners, she wanted to keep her, so she said to Concubine Duan, "Sister's vision is really good. , there were not many of the previous show girls, let's choose her."

Concubine Duan's heart is focused on Zhenxiu who looks similar to Xiaoding, and she doesn't care about other beautiful girls. She nodded and said, "Your Majesty can choose."

The eunuch in charge of ceremonies immediately shouted, "An Lingrong, leave a sign and give me a sachet—"

Seeing this, the rest of the ladies couldn't help showing a look of envy, but she was courteous, she didn't show any joy on her face, and said politely, "An Lingrong thanked the imperial concubine, the imperial concubine, and wished the imperial concubine, the imperial concubine The empress is in good health and will enjoy peace and happiness forever."

Her background was a little bit embarrassing, and Concubine Duan looked down on her a little bit, but at this moment she also showed a look of satisfaction and admiration, "He knows the rules, not so frivolous."

After going down this row of beautiful women, the last few rows really have their own merits, and there are many beautiful women with outstanding looks, which echoes Duan Guifei's voice of "repress first and then promote".This row of beautiful girls came up, and there were two people who were eye-catching. One was beautiful, the other was elegant, and they complemented each other perfectly.

"Shen Meizhuang, the daughter of Shen Zishan, the leader of the Jeju Association, is seventeen years old—"

*

In the Hall of Mental Cultivation, Yongzheng read carefully the manuscripts of the "Compilation of Ancient and Modern Books" submitted by the elder San Yinzhi. "Compilation"; each compilation is divided into several "codes", a total of 32 codes, and each code is divided into several "parts"; each part includes comprehensive examinations, general remarks, diagrams, tables, biographies, art and literature, selected sentences, chronicles, Miscellaneous records, external compilations, etc.

This book can be called all-encompassing. Although it is not yet finished, it has already shown its subtleties. Yongzheng attached great importance to it. It even included many ancient books from the Song, Yuan, and Ming dynasties.

There was no one in the hall, for a while Su Peisheng came forward with a cup of tea in his hand and said, "Your Majesty, Lord Jia and Lord An are already waiting outside the hall."

Yongzheng didn't lift his head when he heard the words, "Let them in."

"Yes."

Jia Lian and An Bihuai walked into the hall together, and saluted, "My humble minister pays respects to the emperor."

"Exemption, peace." Yongzheng put down the manuscript, and ordered Su Peisheng, "Show tea to the two Qing families."

"The ministers are waiting to thank the emperor Long En."

After the two sat down, Yongzheng took the lead and said to Jia Lian, "It's been a while since your family was implicated in an accident and resigned, and it's time to take up the post now."

After the Jia family's affairs were exposed, Jia Lian nestled at home in peace. For a while, everyone in the family worked with their tails between their tails, for fear of implicating the empress in the palace.Today I was finally summoned by the Holy Majesty, Jia Lian was so relieved to see Yueming that the clouds opened, he knelt down to express his heart, "I obey the order, and I wish to repay the grace with all my heart."

Yongzheng said, "Get up and talk, I think it's better for you to leave it outside. There is a shortage in Jiangning's weaving, so you can leave in the next few days, and I will order someone to draw up the imperial decree before you leave."

Jia Lian couldn't figure out Yongzheng's sacred intention for a while, whether he was simply training himself or testing the waters of Jiangning's officialdom?He couldn't think too much at the moment, and responded, "Yes, I will go back to my residence and get ready."