The second quarter moon began to linger on the head of the five-wind building with flowing clouds, illuminating the towering sea tide dragon spine of the Huangji Gate and the goose ridge with high wings, but the courtyard was still dark and gloomy. Wang Ruifen kept watching Dou Meiyi go out of the Huiji Gate and turn north in the midst of a group of palace maids, and even the lights couldn't be seen, so she returned to Wuyingmen with two palace maids and a palace lantern.

Last night, she took care of Fei Zhen'e to meet the new emperor in the dormitory, obviously she had been favored by the emperor, and tonight she took care of Dou Meiyi to be summoned by the emperor, it was clear that this beauty of Ciqing Palace was more loved by the emperor, and she was rewarded with valuable jewelry in person, and she was also told to call herself a concubine in front of the emperor in the future, not to be called a slave and maid, and the honor of being selected as a concubine has been determined.

No matter who is chosen as a concubine by the new emperor, she is not jealous, thinking that this is her bad life, and the eight characters are wrong, and she just wants the world to be peaceful in the future and be released from the deep palace. But she is very concerned about whether Fei Zhen'e can also be selected by the new emperor and be selected into the Dashun Palace with Dou Meiyi. Although all the palace maids are royal house slaves, Fei Zhen'e is the palace maid on Emperor Chongzhen's side, and she doesn't know why, she is emotionally much warmer than her and Dou Meiyi on the side of Empress Tianqi.

When she secretly rejoiced that Dou Meiyi was selected, she couldn't help but think of Fei Zhen'e, and said in her heart: "In terms of character and talent, Zhen'e is also a top person in the palace, can't she also be selected into the palace of the Dashun Dynasty?"

When Wang Ruifen returned to the Xinuan Pavilion of the Renzhi Palace, the fragrance of Dream Immortal Fragrance had already dissipated. Li Zicheng sat by the imperial case to review the documents, but he was thinking about Dou Meiyi and Fei Zhen'e in his heart, and he couldn't calm down, and kept asking himself: "Is it possible to choose both of them by your side?"

Wang Ruifen came to his side with a faint fragrance of fat powder, and bowed down gently: "Emperor, Dou Meiyi has been escorted back to Ciqing Palace by eight palace maids. ”

Li Zicheng looked at Wang Ruifen and said with a smile: "You are worthy of being the person next to Emperor Tian's concubine, and you are very good at doing things." Tomorrow, you will choose a piece of jewelry for me, send someone to Shouning Palace, and reward it to Fei Zhen'e. ”

Wang Ruifen was suddenly overjoyed, bowed down and replied: "The slave obeys the order!"

Li Zicheng is very satisfied with the talents of Fei Zhen'e and Dou Meiyi, and Dou Meiyi's demeanor is very similar to Deng Damiao in Xi'an, and she especially likes her conversation. When he summoned Fei Zhen'e and Dou Meiyi respectively, he was shaken in his heart, and he almost wanted to leave them at the door of the dormitory, but he suppressed his emotions with reason and did not want to fall into the name of a coveted beauty.

Especially when summoning Dou Meiyi, he knew that Wang Ruifen mistakenly called Zhao Xing when he sent the palace people to Ciqing Palace to deliver the decree, so he really wanted to leave Dou Meiyi as a summoning luck, but then he still suppressed his emotions for a while, rewarded Dou with two pieces of jewelry, and ordered her to return to Ciqing Palace temporarily and wait for the edict, he wanted his subjects to know that he was by no means an absurd and greedy person.

Li Zicheng ordered Wu Ruyi to secretly inform the scholar Niu Jinxing of his thoughts. Niu Jinxing asked Wu Ruyi about the emperor's summoning of Fei Zhen'e and Dou Meiyi respectively, and nodded with a smile: "This matter is easy to do, I understand the emperor's thoughts." ”

That night, Li Zicheng summoned Dou Meiyi. Since then, the Dou family has been called to live in the dormitory, and the palace maids and eunuchs have called her Dou Niangniang, and treat each other as a concubine. Li Zicheng has worked hard for many years to run the world, not greedy for beautiful women, and has suppressed the feelings of ordinary men and women.

His peculiar behavior among the leaders of the peasant uprising at that time was often ridiculed by Zhang Xianzhong and Luo Rucai, and praised by his enemies. Now that Niu Jinxing's opinion is adopted, he has simply dealt with the matter of choosing a concubine, which makes him very happy. His fanatical love for Dou Meiyi's outstanding talent almost made him change the habit of getting up at dawn for many years.

Since Dou Meiyi arrived at his side, he began to read the "Zizhi Tongjian" every day in his spare time to read the congratulatory table and review various documents. Concubine Dou saw that what he had brought to Beijing was a good engraved copy from the market, so she ordered two palace maids to go to Ciqing Palace to take the Yuan journal "Zizhi Tongjian" that Empress Yi'an read on weekdays, and ordered a palace maid to take a white parrot from Ciqing Palace, hang the cage under the front eaves of the Renzhi Palace, and move it to the palace at night.

In the Fengtai area in the southern suburbs of Beijing, especially near Fengtai, there is a place called Caoqiao, there are more than a dozen flower farmers who specialize in cultivating flowers and trees, and the ingenious flower raising skills have been passed down from generation to generation, so that the flowers that bloom in late spring can bloom in early spring in advance, or the flowers that bloom in spring can bloom in winter in advance. The flower farmers sent flowers into Beijing at four o'clock and sold them to the palace.

There is not only a small garden in the courtyard of Ciqing Palace, but also a small conservatory, this conservatory is not only sunny, but also can burn the fire in winter, by the two eunuchs to learn the flower raising skills of the Caoqiao flower farmers, one or two months in advance, so that Empress Zhang can see the bright peaches, moon seasons, roses, peonies and peonies. Dou Meiyi sent the palace maids to pass the news and ordered the flower-raising eunuchs of Ciqing Palace to send more than 20 pots of blooming precious flowers to the Renzhi Palace, and then instructed the palace maids, some of them were placed in the main hall, and some were placed in the East and West Warm Pavilion. Suddenly, the dormitory was full of flowers and green leaves, full of floral fragrance.

Li Zicheng enjoyed such a living environment for the first time in his life, sometimes he looked at the flowers, and then looked at Concubine Dou, without saying a word, and couldn't help but smile.

He knew that Dou often accompanied Empress Yi'an to read the history books in Ciqing Palace, so when he was resting, he ordered Dou to randomly select the wonderful passages in the "Zizhi Tongjian" to read to him, Dou Meiyi wished that Li Zicheng could be a heroic lord like Tang Taizong, so he paid special attention to the seven volumes from the first year of Zhenguan to the twenty-second year of Zhenguan to choose the most wonderful chronicles to read to the new emperor. Since then, Li Zicheng has had Concubine Dou's gentle and pleasant reading voice by his side.

The white parrot can recite many Tang people's five-seven-character quatrains and several popular poems. Whenever the wind is clear and the day is warm, Concubine Dou has nothing to do in the palace, he teases the parrot to read poems, and Li Zicheng is very interested in this, often looking sideways at Concubine Dou, smiling and listening.

The Xinuan Pavilion of the Renzhi Hall is used as the dormitory of the Dashun Emperor stationed in Youzhou, and the Dongnuan Pavilion is the dormitory of Concubine Dou. In fact, Dou Meiyi lives in the West Warm Pavilion every night, and although the East Warm Pavilion has a rich bed tent, she never sleeps, but uses the East Warm Pavilion as a place to dress up.

Dou Meiyi came to the Renzhi Palace, called Dou Niangniang, it has been ten days, on the 28th of last month, in accordance with the holy decree of the new emperor, there are more than 2,000 palace maids to reward the meritorious generals of the Dashun army. Because the palace maids couldn't all leave, they had to recruit some maids and servants from the imperial family, official eunuchs, and wealthy mansions to reward the soldiers. The Forbidden City is more fortunate in Ciqing Palace, Chenggan Palace and Shouning Palace, and the palace ladies in these three palaces have survived the reward of the generals.

Shouning Palace is a small palace, because Li Zicheng thought that Fei Zhen'e needed the palace maids to take care of and accompany him, so he left all the palace maids. Ciqing Palace and Chenggan Palace, both because Dou Meiyi and Wang Ruifen begged in front of Li Zicheng, they were spared this catastrophe, and were specially approved by the emperor, and after the situation in Beijing was peaceful, all the palace maids in these three palaces were released from the palace, reunited with their parents and families, and matched by matchmaking.

Dou Meiyi knew that the emperor was always thinking about Fei Zhen'e in his heart, but the new emperor was pampering her like a fire, and he didn't want to make her unhappy, so he postponed the matter of accepting Fei Zhen'e as a concubine. Although Dou Meiyi didn't want Fei Zhen'e to come to the emperor to be favored, she thought that she should be a very virtuous concubine among the concubines, and never compete for favor and jealousy in the harem. Because she has such a virtuous concubine's character, she has twice sent the palace maids around her to Shouning Palace to ask Fei Zhen'e for warmth and warmth, and tell Fei Zhen'e that the new emperor is still thinking about her.

As in the past, today, when the crows on the treetops in the palace began to cry, and the south window was just a little dark, Dou Meiyi quietly broke free from the emperor's embrace, raised her head from the emperor's left arm, got out of bed gently, and walked gently to the Dongnuan Pavilion. Immediately, three or four palace maids came in gently and served her to freshen up. When she freshened up and changed her clothes and finished dressing up, Wang Ruifen was already dressed like a flower, and she opened the curtain lightly and came in, offering a cup of fragrant tea to her mother, and then adding sandalwood to the Boshan furnace.

Seeing that there were no other palace maids in the house, Dou Meiyi looked at Wang Ruifen and called softly, "Sister Ruifen!"

Wang Ruifen was startled, immediately knelt down, and whispered: "The slave doesn't dare!

Dou Shi smiled slightly, pulled her up, and whispered: "You and I were originally from the former court, and we were both royal slaves. For we are sisters, and we have compassion for each other. Now I'm ...... once I've been blessed."

Wang Ruifen intercepted and said: "This is the fate of the mother, once she flies on the branch of the sycamore and becomes a phoenix, many palace maids and sisters are just a group of chickens and ducks, how dare you compare with the mother?"

Dou said: "Don't say that, you are not much worse than me in terms of appearance, you are one or two months older than me in terms of age, and you used to be the housekeeper of Tianhuang Guifei's side, and now you are leading the palace ladies and sisters to serve the new emperor, and you are also serving me wholeheartedly." I often feel uneasy in my heart, so because there is no one around, I call you Sister Ruifen...... I have a question I want to ask you......" Dou Meiyi's face suddenly turned red, and she swallowed the words she was about to ask.

Wang Ruifen asked quietly: "Niangniang, there are only you and me in this Dongnuan Pavilion, I don't know what to ask?"

"I, I, I'm embarrassed to ask you, but I can't help but ask. ”

"Niangniang, if you don't understand everything in the palace, just ask, the slave doesn't dare to hide it. ”

Dou Meiyi endured it again, and finally asked, "What kind of incense do you light in the emperor's bedroom every night?"

Wang Ruifen's face flushed, and she asked with a mysterious smile: "Can Niangniang smell that fragrance is different from ordinary imperial incense?"

"I grew up in Empress Yi'an's Ciqing Palace, and I have never smelled this strange aroma, and it disturbs people's hearts after smelling it. I don't want to ask you what kind of incense it is, and I know you mean it, but I want you not to light it again at night in the future. The new emperor was prosperous in the Spring and Autumn Period, and I hope that he can be a founding hero, diligent in government and love the people, diligently seek governance, and follow the advice to make the people sit at the table as soon as possible. Don't covet beautiful women as soon as you win the world, and miss state affairs. ”

Wang Ruifen was solemnly moved, bowed down and said: "What Niangniang said is very true, the slave will no longer light that kind of incense in the future." ”

Hearing that Li Zicheng had woken up, Wang Ruifen hurried to Xinuan Pavilion. The four palace maids waiting outside the door of the main hall also immediately followed Wang Ruifen into the Xinuan Pavilion.

The early summer night was short, and when Li Zicheng combed his hair, washed and dressed under the service of the palace maids, the mild sunlight shone on the window screens of the Renzhi Hall and on the square bricks in the main hall door. On the flowers in the pot, there are several small birds chirping in the trees in the palace courtyard.

Li Zicheng just sat down on the dragon chair in the Xinuan Pavilion, picked up a cup of fragrant tea, and suddenly heard someone outside the palace door reciting four Tang poems: "I don't know when I sleep in spring, and I smell birds everywhere." The sound of wind and rain at night, how much do you know about the flowers?"

He asked with a smile, "Is Concubine Dou chanting poetry?"

Wang Ruifen bowed down and replied: "Dou Niangniang is reading in the Dongnuan Pavilion, and this is a white parrot reciting Tang poems on the front eaves. ”

Li Zicheng sighed and smiled unconsciously. Accompanied by Concubine Dou, after breakfast, Li Zicheng was accompanied by a beauty, sat in the warm room of the west for a while, and drank half a cup of hot tea. Because he wanted to summon important ministers to discuss the enthronement ceremony in a few days, he got up and went to the Wuying Palace. Concubine Dou led the palace maids to bow down on the Danqi in the Renzhi Palace.

The white parrot shouted in the cage: "Long live the emperor!

＊＊＊＊＊

Tian Mansion has a total of hundreds of houses, pavilions and pavilions, curved sill corridors, rockeries and beautiful pools, there should be everything, Tian Hongyu bought back two beautiful prostitutes from Jiangnan in the fourteenth year of Chongzhen, one surnamed Chen, one surnamed Gu. After Tian Hongyu's death, the one surnamed Chen married Wu Sangui.

The surname Gu still stayed in Tianfu to live, and he had redeemed himself with his personal savings, but he did not want to marry in Beijing, so he only waited for the canal to open and returned to the land of fish and rice in the south of the Yangtze River. After Liu Zongmin came in, the famous prostitute surnamed Gu couldn't escape, and became a stunner in the hands of the Marquis of Ru, living with the servants and maids in a quiet courtyard with flowing water and fish, flowers and trees. Three days ago, I heard that the daughter-in-law of a certain prince who had been robbed and stolen was young and beautiful, and she was newly widowed, so she forced him to give up. This beautiful young woman brought twenty or thirty maids and servants to live alone in another courtyard, and was quite favored by the Marquis.

As soon as Liu Zongmin entered the city, according to the original plan, he arrested the officials in Beijing of the Ming Dynasty every day, and arrested more than 600 people within a few days, including imperial relatives, ministers, ministers of the court and the central government, and ordinary ministers. Originally, it was said that only officials above the sixth rank would be arrested, but this restriction was quickly broken. There is also a minister who originally said that he was not arrested in the name of integrity, but this article has also been broken.

Most of the arrested officials were imprisoned in the western courtyard of Emperor Tian's mansion where Liu Zongmin was stationed, and a small number were imprisoned in the mansions of other generals, where they used all kinds of torture every day to recover stolen goods, and some people continued to scream and die in torture. The policy of torture and looting carried out by the Dashun army, coupled with the rapid deterioration of military discipline and the continuous occurrence of rape and robbery, caused great terror and public anger in Beijing, and disappointed the people of different strata of Beijing, who believed that the Dashun army was indeed a thief and that their nature had not changed, and they missed Emperor Chongzhen again, hoping that Wu Sangui would quickly lead the Guanning soldiers to suppress the thieves and restore the country.

There are some important things that happened in Beijing that Li Zicheng did not know, and some things that he did not fully know. His main concern was how to hold the enthronement ceremony in Beijing as soon as possible, and then return to Chang'an in triumph to establish a great empire like the Tang Dynasty. Most of the ministers were newly descended former Ming officials, and they only hoped to keep their positions as ministers of Panlong and Phoenix in the new dynasty, and they didn't say a word about the internal problems of the Dashun Army.

Among Li Zicheng's ministers, Song Xiance and Li Yan were relatively sober-minded, but because of various concerns, especially the fact that the matter involved Shaanxi generals, they did not dare to speak directly to Li Zicheng. Moreover, they were more worried about the military aspect, only afraid that Wu Sangui would resist and not surrender, and collude with the Manchurians to take the opportunity to march to Beijing. They believed that the Dashun army had come to Beijing as a lone expedition, with few men and horses, and that after entering Beijing, the military discipline was very bad, and it was difficult to defeat Wu Sangui's Guanning border soldiers and the powerful enemy army invading from Manchuria.