In the spring of the sixteenth year of Kangxi, the sky was gloomy, a heavy snow stopped, the streets and alleys adjacent to Xi'an Gate were quiet and solemn, the building was a color of pink walls and tiles, and the square was thick and simple.

In the meantime, there was a mansion, three gatehouses and five frames, a thick layer of plain white on the vertical ridge, two vermilion gates were tightly covered, the corner door on the side was open, and four or five male servants wearing blue winter coats and thick felt hats held brooms to clear the snow in front of the door.

The master here is the youngest son of Yidu, one of the five founding ministers of the Qing Dynasty, and Niu Colu, who was the third of the four auxiliary ministers of the class. In the eighth year of Kangxi, he was impeached for 12 counts for the rebellion of Prince Kang, and was stripped of his position as a prince, seized the hereditary title, and was imprisoned for death. In the ninth year of Kangxi, Emperor Kangxi remembered his old merits and still guarded the inner court as a duke.

In the twelfth year of Kangxi, when he was seriously ill, Emperor Kangxi came here to offer condolences, but he died of his life, and this mansion gradually fell silent.

Xu is weather is too cold, a servant of the snow sweep stomped his feet, put the bamboo broom under his armpit, and sighed into his hand, but he heard the sound of horses' hooves stepping on the snow approaching, he looked up and saw a group of four or five people riding horses.

After seeing the young man in fancy clothes led by him clearly, he exclaimed: "Uncle is back!" ”

The rest of the people also stopped, gave way to the sides of the road, and bowed their backs to greet them.

The man called the uncle has handsome eyebrows and a graceful posture, and he is the third son of Suppilon, Faka, because the two brothers died early, Suppilon was only 9 years old when he died, and he has inherited the title. The thirteen or fourteen-year-old Yipin Guogong naturally respects the dignitaries infinitely.

I saw him reining in the stone lion in front of the mansion, and jumped off the horse calmly, and a servant who looked like a steward came forward and said, "Uncle is back, the eldest lady has sent someone to ask twice, and she just asked again." ”

Faka was obviously in a good mood at the moment, and he didn't care, and said: "But when I met the fifth master of the Fengguo General's Mansion on the way, he had to drag me to eat and drink." He muttered in a low voice again, "What a nuisance." ”

The steward Qin Youdao faintly heard a hint of wine, but he just smiled and took the horsewhip and other things in the master's hand and handed them to the servant of the porter, and said while leading the way: "The eldest lady asked the master to go straight to the Mulan Pavilion in the back." ”

Faka did not hesitate when he heard this, turned the wall, walked through the outer courtyard, and the servants who were guarding the gatehouse of the Hanging Flower Gate hurriedly came up to ask for peace, and the noble son raised his hand slightly, passed the Hanging Flower Gate, and Qin Youdao turned around in front of the Hanging Flower Gate without mentioning it.

Faka walked into the garden for a while before he saw a three-storey, three-eaves pented attic.

His steps were very bright, and the house thought that he heard the movement, and picked a thick cotton curtain of pine flowers to greet him, but he was a handsome girl with lotus lotus satin cuffs and fox skin shoulders, combing obliquely flat buns, and melon seed face.

She hung her head slightly and said in a low voice: "Say hello to the uncle, the eldest lady and Gege are talking about you, tell me to come out and take a look." ”

The noble prince glanced at her, raised his hand and took her hand and half-pulled into the house, and said with a smile: "It's cold, it's hard for you." ”

A little maid had already come over with a duster and bowed down for him to sweep the snow foam from his deerskin boots. The maid frowned slightly, but withdrew her hand, only raised her eyes and begged in a low voice: "Uncle......"

It was in her sister's room, and Faka didn't dare to be very rude, so he let go of her hand.

The maid breathed a sigh of relief and untied his jaw.

Faka squinted at her, put his hand on her waist, and heard a crisp voice come from her.

"Uncle, Liugege urged you to go in!"

Faka hurriedly let go of his hand, and saw that it was a maid with a round face and a double bun who turned the screen and came out, and before she could salute, she dropped her sentence a little impatiently, and then lifted her foot and entered the bright room.

The girl came over and called, "He Xuan." ”

The maid named Hexuan looked calm, shook her head slightly, and said to the maid named Ning Lan: "Sister is guarding at the door, I will go to the small kitchen and order Gege to stew a cup of purple rice porridge." ”

Ning Lan responded, and the two of them went to do their own business.

This is the lady's boudoir, and as soon as the peach powder is sprinkled with flowers and beads, there is a warm fragrance on the face.

Behind the fan hangs a complete set of twelve floral Gu embroidery hanging screens, under the Huanghuali open-carved rose chair with a rose red elastic ink chair, due north is a Huanghuali curly grass pattern spread legs desk, the table furnishings should be the four treasures of the study, after hanging a frame of Xuemei map, the east side is a whole row of Huanghuali inlaid enamel bookshelves, the shelves are full of books.

A big kang is set up at the window on the south side, laying a brocade mattress, and a set of fine white porcelain tea sets from the official kiln are placed on the hexagonal plum blossom small kang table, and two young women sit with a few.

The woman sitting sideways on the left is white and greasy on a duck egg face, a pair of phoenix eyes are soft and tactful, Gu Pan is as bright as a night pearl, and the orange flower-sprinkled jacket can hardly hide the girl's figure, and the rest is just a plain pleated skirt;

The woman sitting on her right hand is also dressed luxuriously, with a royal blue folded branch flower oblique placket, purple black fox shoulders, a neat large bun, and a silk golden phoenix hairpin in the center, which is decorated with beaded hairpin velvet flowers on the edge.

When the two of them saw him come in, their eyebrows showed a little anxiety, and the young woman had to get up to greet him, and said, "The master is back, but what did you inquire about?" ”

Faka smiled at her and said, "The snow is very difficult, and Brother Sanger has to leave me to eat and drink, and I will come back late, so I want you to worry." ”

Seeing his relaxed expression, the woman opposite pursed her lips slightly, and slowly poured a cup of fragrant tea with a pot: "This is Bai Hao that you asked someone to send a while ago, it's very good, you can eat a lamp to drive away the cold." ”

Faka didn't answer in a hurry, took the cloisonné butterfly chrysanthemum pattern handstove handed over by his wife Jue Luo Meiqing, and covered his hands, and looked at the third sister Niu Colu Rongyue sitting opposite.

"What do you say?" Jue Luo Meiqing asked again. Hearing her younger siblings speak, Rong Yue couldn't help but lean over slightly and looked at Faka questioningly.

Faka didn't answer in a hurry, but raised his hand to pick up the tea bowl and moistened his throat before saying: "Wen Qi Beizi and Ama have a comradeship, and the Fuguo Mansion is a world friend with our family, so I mentioned it, and they didn't disagree." Brother Sanger left me to eat and drink, and poured me a few large cups of burning knives before letting me come back. Oh...... By the way, Uncle Chukto also said that he would take the opportunity to contact several other adults, and once someone in the court mentioned the matter of the post, they would jointly write a letter to protect the third sister as the queen. ”

Rong Yue glanced at his younger brother lightly, although a lot of alcohol was dissipated along the way, but as soon as he was warm in the room at this moment, his expression showed a little wilting, and he couldn't help but sigh secretly.

At that time, the Empress Dowager was now elected as the concubine, and her third sister Niu Colu Dongzhu and the granddaughter of the four auxiliary ministers Sony, Hesheri Fangyi, both of them were far beyond everyone regardless of family background, character, talent or appearance, and they were the most optimistic candidates for the ministers, and the Dongzhu bloodline was more noble, and the Empress Dowager was also hesitant for a while, but she was as wise as the Empress Dowager of Xiaozhuang, and quickly sorted out her thoughts and chose the Hesheri clan to maximize the interests of the emperor's pro-government.

The actual result was indeed as expected by the old man, but in the thirteenth year of Kangxi, Hesheri died due to dystocia.

The emperor and queen were deeply affectionate, and the emperor insisted on keeping filial piety for the late queen for three years, and never mentioned the matter of the queen.

However, the affairs of the palace are all presided over by Niu Co Lu Dongzhu, as if he has inherited the queen's reality, but he has never been named correctly.

Because of the Ao Bai case, Niu Cobalt Mansion also had to keep a low profile, so it was safe.

But since the expiration of the three-year mourning period of the Empress Hesheri in May last year, the matter of the establishment has gradually sprung up in the hearts of the Manchu Dynasty civil and military, but at this time, the Empress Dowager was unexpected, and selected several girls to fill the harem among the Manchurian relatives and nobles on the grounds of joy, including Tong Xianrui, the eldest daughter of the emperor's mother's family and the Tong Guowei family, who was the minister of the guard.

The wind suddenly wrinkled a pool of spring water, and the Niu Colu family's stable position may suddenly fall into the hands of others, and the Tong family has always been the banner of the Han army, which instantly opened the pot among the Manchu relatives and nobles, including the Niu Colu family.

However, Rong Yue and other parties inquired and summarized the results that the Empress Dowager said very vaguely that she told the big guys to put their hearts in their stomachs, and there was no possibility of standing up before the year, but who could really live a New Year with peace of mind, but all the concubines who felt that there were some possibilities were eager to try and take advantage of the New Year's activities everywhere.

At the beginning of the new year, the Empress Dowager was still playing haha, on the fifteenth Lantern Festival of the first month, when Rong Yue's sister-in-law entered the palace to salute like Niu Co Lu Dongzhu, she was hinted that the harem might be adjusted, so she asked her younger brother to inquire about the event again, just in case.

Rong Yue gently rubbed the magnolia pattern embossed on the white porcelain teacup, and said slowly: "What else do you have to say to the uncles?" ”

smiled: "It's just some dispensable gossip." Thinking of the shy and sultry Yangzhou dancers in Fucha Mansion, he couldn't help but smile, and only said: "Sixth sister, you are too worried, what kind of character our third sister is, so Queen Renxiao can be compared with one or two, that Tong Xianrui...... Nothing to speak of. ”

Rong Yue only sighed in his heart that his younger brother was ignorant, and he wanted to explain a thing or two, but it was not good to show his face in front of his younger siblings, but he heard Luo Shi say: "My husband's words are wrong, I have heard my father and brother talk about it when I was at home, and I often sigh that my parents have not tasted a day of joy since I was a child, and I am angry about the first emperor's sole favor Dong Efei who snubbed her own mother, Empress Xiaokang, and I miss my biological mother guiltily, and I am even more fond of cultivating my mother's family. Plus now Tong Jiayi is out of breath, and let's ......"

Rong Yue sighed lightly and made up for her difficult words: "Our family has been low-key dormant in recent years, and I am afraid that the influence in the DPRK and China will be no match for the Tong family." ”

Faka was worried for two or three minutes, and when he remembered that several Shibo brothers had sworn an oath, he said: "That Tong Xianrui is half a little Nanban, I don't believe that the Empress Dowager will sit idly by and ignore this matter." ”

Rong Yue said: "It is precisely in this way that we have the possibility of fighting for it in the Eight Banners." However, things are by no means that simple, Rong Yue shook his head slightly, and said, "I've been working on you these days." He added: "In a few days, it is better to have a person enter the palace from the beginning to ask the third sister what she means." ”