In the fifteenth year of the beginning of Thailand, the doors and windows of a palace maid's dormitory in Fengzao Palace were closed, and more than a dozen palace maids surrounded the female Shi Yu Xuangui who was sitting in the middle, with different expressions.

Yu Xuangui is tall, with apricot eyes and peach cheeks, a straight nose and lips, and a very beautiful appearance.

At this moment, her clothes were half-faded, revealing a snow-white skin on her chest.

The palace ladies were all neatly dressed in palace maid uniforms, and two lines of words were embroidered on the chests of the uniforms. The upper line is a number, which reads: Thai Chu 01 XXX or Thai Chu 04 XXX or something like that. This is the palace number of each palace maid, and each number is unique. "The first year of Thailand" means that she entered the palace in the first year of the beginning of Thailand, and so on. There are only three characters in the next line, with their respective surnames and their respective scientific names after entering the palace. The palace maid who entered the palace in the first year of the early Tai Dynasty has a scientific name of Xuan X; The palace maid who entered the palace in the fourth year of the early Thai dynasty has a scientific name of Su X.

Hyun Gyu was originally a palace maid who entered the palace in the first year of the early Thai period, and she is twenty-one years old this year. She was a very intelligent and hardworking woman. In the past 14 years in the palace, she not only crossed the huge gap between the palace maid and the female official and was promoted to the female history, but also obtained the senior medical qualification certificate issued by the Tai Hospital Medical Tao School last year, becoming the fifth female doctor officially recognized by the imperial court.

As a female official, she is free to choose to stay in the palace or retire and return to her hometown.

Without the slightest hesitation, she chose to retire and return to her hometown, because there are still relatives in her hometown that she has been concerned about for 14 years! I haven't seen them for more than ten years, I haven't heard from them, I don't know how they're doing? How is your health?

She never regretted her choice, but the closer the time came to leave the palace, the stronger the reluctance in her heart. Although the various studies in the palace are hard, they have made her reborn and let her step into a new world!

After thinking about it, after tossing and turning, Hyun Gyu decided to engrave his palace number and scientific name on his chest with a tattoo, and never forget the years in the palace!

"Do you really want to stab?" Su Qi, the palace maid who entered the palace in the fourth year of Thailand, felt that her hands were a little soft and her legs were weak.

Su Qi's father used to do a craft part-time - tattooing people. Before Su Qi entered the palace, she had beaten her father many times, and once when she was chatting, she boasted that she would also get tattoos. She never expected that this job would come in handy in the palace - Hyun Gyu Nushi actually let herself tattoo words on her chest!

The palace maids who were watching around also dissuaded Xuangui: "Xuangui Female History, you are so beautiful, and your skin is as white as jade, how can you bear to be so bad?" ”

"That's right! Hyun Gyu, didn't the queen mother say: Every woman should learn to cherish herself? You have always been the most respectful to your mother, but now that you are about to leave the palace, don't you want to listen to your mother's teachings? It was a friend of Hyungyu who said this, so he didn't call it "Hyungyu's female history", but called her scientific name.

There is also a palace maid who said: "You will definitely get married after leaving the palace, what if your husband doesn't like your tattoos?" ”

When Hyun Gyu heard this, his apricot eyes widened, and he said, "Phew! I didn't leave the palace to please a man, I don't care if he likes it or not! After studying in the palace for many years, are you a little successful? ”

The palace maid stuck out her tongue and didn't dare to speak!

Hyun Gyu no longer paid attention to the noisy voices around him, and urged Su Qi: "Hurry up and stab!" Stop talking nonsense! ”

Su Qi pouted, and said a little angrily: "Then you can bear the pain!" Don't move! Don't stop when you're halfway through the stab, and make it look like a nondescript person! Do you want to bite a handkerchief in your mouth? ”

"Don't worry! I won't scream that it hurts! Hyun Gyu said in a deep tone, "I wish it hurt as much as possible!" "The more it hurts, the more I can remember the mood at this moment!

The palace maids around didn't know why she said, "The more it hurts, the better", but they didn't dare to ask, so they had to silently watch Su Qi take a needle to prick Xuangui, exchanging glances with each other from time to time.

Tattoos actually hurt! Moreover, it hurts more and more!

Hyun Gyu grabbed the armrest of the chair tighter and tighter, but he didn't move until Su Qi finished stabbing the two strings of words "Taichu 01077" and "Yu Hyun Gyu".

The date when retired female officials and palace maids leave the palace is set in February every year. At this time, the New Year's Festival in the palace has been busy, and the Wanshou Festival and the Qianqiu Festival have also passed, and a group of palace maids can be released from the palace. This year, the date for the retirement of female officials and palace maids from the palace is set for February 16. There is only one female official who will leave the palace, and there are more than 40 palace maids who will leave the palace.

According to the newly revised palace rules of Yuanchun, girls between the ages of six and nine are recruited into the palace every three years. After these palace maids reach the age of twenty, if they are not promoted to female officials, nor do they have particularly outstanding results in the Medical Dao Academy or the Heavenly Dao Academy, they must leave the palace and return to their hometowns.

The first batch of palace maids to enter the palace after Yuan Chun became the queen began to leave the palace one after another three years ago.

On February 14, Yuan Chun summoned Hyun Gyu and others, who were about to leave the palace, at Yihe Palace, and personally presented them with books and seals.

The dowry given by the palace to these retired female officials and palace maids was a sum of silver. The specific amount varies from 100 taels to several hundred taels according to the grade at the time of retirement. In addition, there are some regular things such as materials and jewelry that add dowry. A more special dowry is a set of books and a seal.

This set of books has been published one after another over the years, including "Mengxue Dictionary", "Fundamentals of Literature", "Basics of Arithmetic", "Fundamentals of Heavenly Dao", "Common Knowledge of Health Care", "Common Knowledge of Law" and so on. These courses have been learned by these palace maids. The reason why Yuan Chun got a new set of books for them as a dowry was to advocate a kind of atmosphere, a culture of dowry and books. She hopes that under this atmosphere, these retired palace maids or female officials who have received strict education in the palace can become teachers to educate more people, so as to form a chain effect, and slowly sweep the argument that "women are virtuous if they are not talented" into the garbage heap of history, so that more women have the opportunity to receive education.

As long as more women are educated, many things will slowly change before you know it.

And that seal is engraved with the surname and scientific name of each palace maid.

Yuan Chun's request was: "The palace has lived in the deep palace for a long time, feels lonely, and often wants to listen to some folk anecdotes." After you leave the palace, you write one or two copies of the newspaper every year, stamp it with your own seal, and submit the report to the local county government, so that they can deliver it to Beijing with the official documents. You can write about anything in this report, you can tell the palace about your current situation, the things around you, and you can also write about the difficulties you have encountered and the doubts in your heart.

"What you need to remember is: retired palace maids have a credit to the royal family, and after leaving the palace, they do not buy and sell, do not be concubines, and marry independently. No one is allowed to buy or sell you as if you were an object; No man shall take you as a concubine; No one shall compel you to marry someone whom you do not want to marry. The emperor has already issued an edict on this matter, and you have also recited that edict, and if you encounter bullying by power after leaving the palace, you can fight back with this edict. After leaving the palace, if you can't stay in your original home, you can set up your own female household, recruit a son-in-law, and be the master of your own house. If you are in a difficult situation, you can also set up a hall to teach apprentices, or you can be hired by a large family to make a western seat. Everything you learn in the palace, you can pass on. If you encounter major difficulties, you can also ask the palace for help, and the palace will consider whether to help.

"Your hometowns are all near the capital, and you are all fellow villagers. After returning to my hometown, I hope you will support each other, don't live up to the friendship in the palace over the years, and don't live up to the hard work of the palace! ”

"Follow the teachings of the mother!" Hyun Gyu and the others bowed down together.

Hyungui was the only female historian who left the palace this time, and she was also the first to receive a dowry in the hands of Wonchun.

Yuan Chun handed her a set of books and a seal engraved with "Yu Xuangui" and said softly: "Xuangui, after leaving the palace, take good care of yourself!" ”

Hyun Gyu knelt on his knees and kowtowed respectfully: "Thank you, Niangniang!" Minister...... I will live up to my mother's teachings! "The tattoo on my chest seems to have a hot feeling!

In the evening, Yuan Chun set up a banquet in Fengzao Palace to feast for Xuan Gui and others, and the accompanying guests were those palace maids who were expected to leave the palace next year. After drinking three glasses of wine, Yuan Chun went back to Yihe Palace and let these little girls make trouble by themselves.

As soon as Yuan Chun left, Hyun Gyu and the others were no longer restrained and let go of the trouble.

As the only female official present, Hyun Gyu was joined by everyone to pour alcohol.

Two fellow sisters Xuanjing and Xuanli, who entered the palace with her, automatically came to help her block the wine. Hyun Kyung and Hyun Li are one year younger than Hyun Gyu, and they are also out of the palace this year.

When I woke up the next day, Hyun Gyu and the others took a bath and freshened up, kowtowed to the ladies of the palace, and said goodbye to their old friends who knew and knew each other.

Early in the morning of February 16, a group of rough eunuchs came over and helped them move the cages to the carriage inside the Yanqing Gate.

Before getting into the carriage, Hyun Gyu glanced in the direction of Yihe Palace, bowed deeply, and then turned around and boarded the carriage and left the palace. In the same carriage as her, there were also Xuanjing and Xuanli.

All three of them are from Songgang County. Xuanjing's home is in the county seat, Xuanli is in Lingxing Town, and Xuangui's family is in a Yujiazhuang not far from Lingxing Town. Lingxing Town is not far from Songgang County, and after returning to the township, the three of them can still come and go often.

After the carriage left the palace, it went directly out of Beijing and went to Songgang County.

The three men in the carriage were silent, dazed.

Fourteen years of life in the palace, that's it...... It's over?

Hyun-gyu touched his chest. There, tattooed with his palace number and the name "Yu Xuangui"! Without this tattoo, she would almost have thought that all these years of life in the palace were just a beautiful dream.

It is said in the play: A companion is like a tiger! And the history books they read in the palace, the lives of the palace maids, are mostly hard and miserable, and there were even palace maids in the previous dynasty who could not bear all kinds of torture and intended to kill the king.

But in the past ten years in the palace, I have never experienced what it is like to be "accompanied by a king like a tiger".

After entering the palace that year, she first studied in the palace for six years, learning various basic homework. Six years later, because she was quite talented in medicine, she was assigned to the Provincial Medical Bureau of the Women's Official Province and began to systematically study medical skills. Three or four years later, she took the examination of the Tai Hospital Medical Tao School twice in a row, and finally obtained the qualification of primary medical practice and the qualification to study surgery. Last year, she obtained a senior medical qualification certificate and went to Huimin Medical Center to work as a doctor. It wasn't until last winter that she decided to leave the palace this year that she obeyed Niangniang's decree and went to Yihe Palace every three days to wait for Niangniang for one day.

Therefore, she has been in the palace for fourteen years, and the time spent waiting by the side of several masters in the palace adds up to less than a month!

The other palace maids are much the same as her. Even if you don't study medicine, it will take about ten years before you can get a little chance to wait for the emperor, the queen, the two highnesses, and a princess closely.

For this, many palace maids can't figure it out: Baba chose the palace maid to enter the palace, and raised it for more than ten years before using it? Why?

Then there were bold palace maids who asked the female official who taught them, and the female official smiled and said, "I have also asked the queen mother this question." Niangniang said: You haven't learned your skills yet, I'm afraid you won't be able to serve well. When you've learned all your skills, it's not too late to wait on her. ”

Hyun Gyu was skeptical of this answer: if that was the case, they should learn more about the ability to serve people! Why does the palace strongly support his study of medicine? Why do you support other palace maids to learn the science of heaven and arithmetic? Why does every palace maid have to learn a lot of things that can only be used outside the palace?

Some people speculated: Maybe the queen mother recruited them into the palace just to let them enter the palace to learn their skills?!

Many palace maids find this statement incredible, but Hyun Gyu is convinced.

She has been in the palace for fourteen years, and the time she has been waiting by the queen's side adds up to less than a month. She spent a hundred times as much time in the hospital! The palace spent more than ten years cultivating and teaching her, just to let her do the work of serving tea and water every month by her mother's side? Niangniang's side, there is still no one who serves tea and water? !

Then one day, a flash of inspiration flashed in her mind, and she suddenly thought of a possibility: the queen mother let herself serve tea by her side for a month, maybe just to mention her identity? lest after he leaves the palace, he can't tell which master in the palace he has served!

The more she thought about it, the more she thought it was like that! The touching in her heart made her cry and wet her pillow in the middle of the night!

She thought: The queen is worthy of being a person who meets immortals, and this compassion is beyond the reach of ordinary people.

……

The crying voices of Hyun Kyung and Hyun Li slowly pulled Hyun Gyu's thoughts back from their memories.

Hyun Gyu sighed secretly and listened to the sound of the carriage. She thought that she was moving away from the palace step by step, away from that beautiful dream, and the tears that she had endured for a long time finally burst out of her eyes!