When Qi Fang saw Ah Yuan, she looked a little flustered, and lowered her head and replied: "A few days ago, the fabrics for making summer clothes sent by the Shangyi Bureau were much less than the same as the green feather yarn. ”

Ah Yuan stared at Qi Fang for a long time, and said quietly: "It's not too much, let them go." Just in Huayin Pavilion, everyone discussed the birthday of the Queen Mother next month, everyone worked together to embroider a birthday star to give a peach picture, the palace was assigned to embroider the longevity peach, you are the best embroiderer in our Yuntai Palace on weekdays. Come with me and see how you can embroider it in a more chic way. ”

After saying that, Qifang followed her into the inner hall, and Ah Yuan roughly depicted the pattern of Xia Shou Tao, and then drew a sketch. Half an hour later, when it was almost lunchtime, Ah Yuan sent Cai Wei to prepare a meal, gently put down the pattern that had been modified several times, and said to Qi Fang casually: "I have always heard that Yangzhou embroidery is the best in the world, although Qi Fang, although you have never specialized in embroidery, but I am afraid that the eyes are not as bad as those aunts in the Shangyi Bureau." ”

Qi Fang replied: "The mother has an overreputation, and the slave doesn't dare to be it." When I was young, there were many embroidery girls living in the neighborhood, and the slaves and maids learned some of them casually. ”

Ah Yuan said again: "I heard that there is a little brother in your family, it seems that he has just reached the age of the weak crown, but everything is fine at home?" ”

Qi Fang was a little embarrassed, and said: "There is Lao Niangniang's concern, and the slave does have a little brother in the family, who lives in Yangzhou's hometown with his parents. ”

Ah Yuan casually flipped through the patterns on the table, looked at Qi Fang's expression, and said: "Presumably, life at home is not easy, as the eldest sister, you also need to help them from time to time, don't let your parents suffer." ”

Qi Fang looked grateful and said, "Thank you for your concern." There is no worry about food and clothing in the palace, and there is not much spending, and the slaves and maids save their money for their fellow villagers to take home. ”

Ah Yuan sighed slightly: "There are not many cases of palace maids every month, and it is difficult for you." Suddenly, the conversation changed, "But even if you are embarrassed, you shouldn't steal and sell the items in the palace, do you know that if you are denounced, you will inevitably go to the court, and then be sent out of the palace." ”

When Qi Fang heard this, her face changed greatly, and she quickly knelt on the ground, kowtowing and crying: "Niang Niang spare her life!" Mother's life! The slave maid only heard from the eunuch of the treasure hall that the things in the palace could be sold at a good price outside, so they asked them to exchange some of the jewelry that the mother rewarded on weekdays, and the slave and maid would never dare to steal the things in our palace to sell. ”

Ah Yuan stared at Qi Fang's eyes, was silent for a while, and then said slowly: "Is there such a shortage of money at home?" The last time this palace rewarded you with dendrobium, it was also considered a treasure, but it was only exchanged for ten taels of silver. With that, he got up and took out the brocade box containing the dendrobium from the cabinet and gently rested it on the table.

Qi Fang couldn't believe her eyes: "This ...... This dendrobium...... The slave did not dare to deceive the mother. A few years ago, the family was okay, but the slave's father was seriously ill the year before last, and the younger brother failed the exam and had no way out. The slave and maid thought that they would save more money and donate a small official to their younger brother, so that they could have a stable errand and not have to rely on the slave and maid to receive monthly help in the future. ”

Ah Yuan looked indifferent: "I asked Cai Wei to redeem it for you." This dendrobium happened to have not been sent out of the palace, and the other jewelry out of the palace has been recovered. As for matters at home, you can tell me clearly in the future. Although I am just a noble person and I don't have a lot of money, I will never embarrass everyone. If you go to Caiwei and advance the money for the next three months, it should be enough. ”

Qi Fang was flattered, and hurriedly thanked: "Thank you, Niangniang!" Thank you, mother! ”

Ah Yuan said again: "But you can't go unpunished if you make a mistake, this palace will give you a difficult errand......" Ah Yuan said, seeing Qi Fang's eyes a little panicked, and said with a smile: "You can go and help Mama Cao catch ghosts." ”

It is said that although Cao Qing has some eyebrows about the matter of the white-clothed ghost, he is too timid to go to check alone, so he came to ask Ah Yuan, hoping to have a palace maid accompany him. Here Qifang was grateful to Ah Yuan, so she took the errand. However, the white-clothed ghost in Naliang was haunted and uncertain, and the two of them squatted for many days, but they found nothing.

On the seventh day of the first month of tonight, when the sky was still half-curved at night, a dark cloud drifted from nowhere, covering the sky and the earth. Qi Fang and Cao Qing have been squatting for several days, they are a little exhausted, looking at this day, Cao Qing started to retreat again: "Miss Qifang, I think the white-clothed ghost will probably not appear again tonight, let's go back now, maybe it will rain later." ”

Qi Fang thought about the rumors that Cao Qing said before, and the white-clothed ghosts appeared near Zishi, so she said: "It's only half an hour when you get to Zishi, my aunt will bear with it a little longer, and we will go back as soon as Zishi arrives, and it will be difficult to explain to Niangniang if you miss it." ”

Although Cao Qing was a little scared, he didn't say much, so he agreed. The two of them talked at first, but then they were a little sleepy, Qi Fang squinted her eyes, her head little by little, and she actually fell asleep. Qi Fang suddenly heard Cao Qing's short shout in her dream: "It's coming!" Here it comes! Then he woke up suddenly. The two of them sat in the leeward of the back wall of the Liang Yu Office, Qi Fang was wrapped in tulle to keep out the cold, and she faintly heard the intermittent cry in her ears, and she suddenly woke up completely with fright, as if a basin of ice water was poured from head to foot.

Cao Qing quickly shook Qi Fang's arm beside him, and said, "It's coming, it's coming!" The devil is coming! What can we do? ”

Qi Fang was also timid, but at this time, he really didn't know how to give birth to a breath of blood: "Don't be afraid!" Let's see who's pretending! With that, he tore off the veil from his body, got up, and walked along the corner of the wall to the main entrance. Cao Qing thought about what Ah Yuan asked for, but he was also helpless, so he had to follow.

The two quietly touched the main entrance of the Liang Brewing Office and peeked in through the broken door panel. After looking at it for a long time, I didn't see any ghosts. The crying was intermittent and seemed to come from the lobby. The two were helpless, so they had to tiptoe towards the lobby. Fang arrived in front of the hall, and the two of them hid behind the eaves and glanced inward. It turned out that the moonlight was obscured by clouds, and the hall was obscure. Suddenly, a demonic wind blew from nowhere, and the dark clouds moved away at once, and the moonlight spilled into the lobby through the broken rubble, reflecting a white figure.

The man seemed to be sitting on the offering table with his back to the offering table, which was missing a corner and was supported by leaning on the side of the offering table. On the platform is the clay statue of Du Kang, the ancestor of winemaking, which has not been taken care of for a long time, and it is also dilapidated. Some of the pots and dishes on the ground were discarded, and some of the melons and fruits had long since dried up into cores.

The "ghost in white" was indeed dressed in white, but it was already dirty and untidy, and the moonlight reflected on it, and the white was miserable and a little infiltrating. He wore gray hair, and in his right hand he held a jug that was commonly used by the Liang Brewing Department, which was still slightly spilled on the ground, and he woke up and cried drunken when he lowered his head like this.

Qi Fang and Cao Qing didn't know what to do for a while, so they went up directly to talk, or they were observing for a while to report to Ah Yuan. The two couldn't make up their minds, and when they were hesitating, suddenly a mouse rushed past Cao Qing's feet, and Cao Qing was startled. The "white-clothed ghost" in the hall seemed to wake up when he heard the movement, and slowly turned his head, but he still had hair and no face! Ghost! Sure enough, it's a ghost! When Cao Qing saw it, he collapsed to the ground in fright.

Although Qi Fang is also afraid, she can still hold on to herself. Seeing that he couldn't hide, he stepped forward and saluted: "Slave Yuntai Gong Qifang, passing by here in the middle of the night and hearing the cry, I came to check, I don't want to disturb Your Excellency's tranquility." ”

The "ghost in white" didn't move, and it wasn't long before Qi Fang noticed that there was a pair of cloudy eyes staring at her behind her gray hair, and then she was sure that it was indeed a person in front of her. Qi Fang pulled Cao Qing and said in a low voice: "Aunt Cao, get up, he is a human, not a ghost." ”

The "ghost in white" heard her speak and muttered, "I'm not human, I'm not human!" I'm a ghost, yes, I'm a ghost! As he spoke, he lifted the flask and pushed it towards his lips.

When Cao Qing heard this, the whole person was even more flustered: "Miss Qifang, he is a ghost, he is really a ghost!" You go quickly, leave me alone, go to Yuntai Palace and tell your nobles! ”

When the "white-clothed ghost" heard "Yuntai Palace", he suddenly jumped up: "Yuntai Palace? Isn't the Yuntai Palace all empty? Who else is in Yuntai Palace?! ”

Seeing that he was about to rush forward, Qi Fang hurriedly protected Cao Qing, and replied respectfully, "Who is Your Excellency?" What does it have to do with Yuntai Palace? Yuntai Palace is now inhabited by Yuan nobles. ”

The "ghost in white" muttered, "Yuan noble? Yuan Guiren...... How did I not know? After the noble concubine who lived in the past was gone, the people in the palace died, and when they left, they were empty. Yes, now there are new people moving in, yes, it should be a new person. ”

Qi Fang asked a little cautiously, "Your Excellency knows Lan Guifei Niangniang?" ”

The "ghost in white" seemed to be a little confused, and began to babble nonsense: "Concubine Lan, Concubine Min...... Zhang's! Zhang's ah! You don't have to die well! The tone was very resentful, as if he had a great grudge against the "Zhang family".

Qi Fang was a little scared, there are two "Zhang's" in the palace now, one is the Queen Mother, and the other is Min Guifei Niangniang, no matter which of these two people hears these remarks, the "white-clothed ghost" in front of them is really going to "die a good death".

Qi Fang asked worriedly, "What grievances does Your Excellency have?" Want to play ghost here in the middle of the night? ”

The ghost in white suddenly cried, "What grievances do I have? I have no grievances! I'm living well, what grievances can there be! Those unscrupulous souls have all returned to heaven. Zhang's family has harmed dozens of lives of our good deeds, they are wronged, what can they do if they are wronged! ”

Qi Fang said: "Why did Your Excellency say that the Zhang family harmed the Liang Xiang Agency, and the Liang Xiang Department poisoned the Queen Mother, intending to rebel, and the incident was punished even again." ”

The white-clothed ghost said angrily: "What poisoned the Queen Mother, it was all planting!" Every pot of wine given to Changning Palace has been tasted by the old slave, and if it was poisonous, I would have entered the underworld a long time ago. It's all Zhang's, Zhang's slut harms me, it's all Zhang's! ”

Qi Fang said again: "Your Excellency keeps saying that the Zhang family harms you, and the Queen Mother is a high and powerful person, why do you want to harm you?" What you said is somewhat unreasonable. ”

The white-clothed ghost seemed to be a little annoyed that Qi Fang didn't believe him, and suddenly jumped forward, and his mind became clear: "Why isn't it Zhang's!" The Japanese public saw that she had a private meeting with the wine supervisor Ginkgo biloba, and wanted to poison the Fumei people of Yuntai Palace in the wine. I was scared and hurriedly walked away, who wanted to lose a piece of the waist card of the good sign and was picked up by her. The next day, I came to my Liangyu Office to find out whose waist card it was, I think she is the emperor's concubine, even if she is denounced, there is no real evidence, how can the emperor believe a little Liangyu to sign the wine? I had to pretend that I didn't know how to mess around. Who would have thought! Who would have thought! However, after more than a month, he wronged our good department for plotting to kill the queen mother, and even the death of Fumei was counted on our heads. Why! Why did the emperor want to keep me alive! The good brewing department is over, what's the use of wine! What's the use of me living! No, no, I live to curse the Zhang family! Curse her for not dying well! ”

The white-clothed ghost was sober in the first half and spoke clearly, but he was a little crazy in the back. But now Qi Fang is a little clear, this white-clothed ghost turned out to be the emperor pardoned by the good brewing office, and the good brewing office was full of punishments, and he was the only one left. When the emperor saw the roster that day, "Xu Lianyun", he remembered that he had brewed Concubine Lan's favorite "Osmanthus Brew" for Yuntai Palace all the year round, and his heart softened, so he crossed out his name with a pen. So this father-in-law Xu lived alone in this Liangyu Office, and when the Liangyu Office was rebuilt, the new winemaker Zhang Gonggong thought he was unlucky, so he threw him into the backyard to burn the fire.

Now it's all clear. The "ghost in white" that Cao Qing said is this Gonggong Xu, and the Zhang family in his mouth is not the queen mother, but Concubine Min. And he also witnessed Concubine Min's private meeting with Ginkgo to ask her to poison Fumei, and Fumei did poison and die in the end, presumably they were the last to succeed, but they planted it together on the head of Liangyu.

The ghost in white was already a little drunk, and he was a little older, so he fell asleep after some excited words. Qi Fang probed his snort and was quite stable, and estimated that it should be fine, so he pulled up Cao Qing, who was still a little weak, and the two worked together to move the white-clothed ghost to the leeward part of the lobby, and pulled the falling curtain to cover him.

After settling in place, Cao Qing finally believed that this was not a ghost but a human, and then his heart knots disappeared and he regained his strength. Qifang also immediately went back and told Ah Yuan all the words she heard tonight.

Ah Yuan repeatedly confirmed the words of the white-clothed ghost three times before sending Qi Fang back. At this time, when it was almost dawn, Ah Yuan had no sleepiness at all, and lay on the bed tossing and turning. The late spring night was still a little cool because of the rain, but Ah Yuan's body was a little hot because of the excitement in his heart.

Now it's all figured out. Caifu sealed Fumei early in the morning, and later because she was often bullied by Rushuang, she broke up with her sister. And this ginkgo is Caifu's fellow villager, thinking that she was ordered by Zhang Jingjing, and often took the opportunity to catch up with Caifu to instigate discord in it. After her sister was killed and died, Concubine Min asked Ginkgo to poison Caifu again. It really doesn't make sense to tell others about this, but in Ah Yuan's ears, there is a reason.

Tsefu must have done something unspeakable to bring him to death! Thinking of the token that suddenly appeared in front of my sister's eyes inexplicably, of course, it couldn't have been put by Wei Han himself, it must have been someone in Yuntai Palace who secretly put it into the bedroom of Yuntai Palace while others were unprepared. If this is all done by Zef, then everything will come together. Then my sister was killed, and all the people involved in this matter were killed, and even if Ginkgo still poisoned Caifu for Concubine Min, she finally did not escape death.

This vicious woman! Ah Yuan was a little excited when he thought of this, but he couldn't help but be a little worried. Although she learned about the cause and effect of her sister's death, she could not inform the emperor about Wei Han. So what is she going to say? And to convince the emperor that the concubine Min Guifei, who was pregnant with the dragon heir, was the culprit?

In any case, you have to avenge your sister!

Early the next morning, Ah Yuan hastily dressed up, and when the morning dynasty was over, he hurried to the Xihe Palace to see the emperor. However, after calling Shiquan in front of the palace, the reply he got was that the emperor was discussing matters and could not get out for the time being, so he asked Ah Yuan to go back to Yuntai Palace to wait for him.

Although Ah Yuan was still unwilling, he could only go back to the palace for the time being.

Just when Ah Yuan was full of anxiety like an ant, Cai Wei walked in. Ah Yuan immediately stood up: "But the emperor is here?" Cai Wei bent down and replied: "Back to Niangniang's words, it was Yang Shangshu's wife who came to the palace, and the last time it was decided was today." The Ministry of Internal Affairs has just come to spread the word, and Mrs. Yang should arrive in half an hour. ”

When Ah Yuan heard this, he remembered that his aunt had set to enter the palace today, and she was busy checking on her sister's affairs for days, and she almost forgot about it. So he hurriedly got up and called Qifang and Caiwei to change their clothes together, and dressed up again. Inserted a simple jasper hairpin, wore a blue sprinkled flowers and woven gold twig palace skirt, and then asked Cai Wei to instruct the small kitchen to prepare her aunt's favorite meal. It's all in my childhood memories, and I don't know if my aunt's taste has changed over the years.

In this way, at noon, Ah Yuan finally met Mrs. Yang.

Mrs. Yang's Bai was supposed to be a woman of about forty years old, she was beautiful in the past, and she was once called the Shuangshu of the capital with her mother. Now it looks like a sixtieth birthday, with mottled hair and sideburns that are all white! Ah Yuan looked at it and couldn't help but feel sad.

However, Mrs. Yang looks good today. As soon as she saw Ah Yuan, she seemed a little surprised, and fell into a trance for a while. However, after a short period of sadness, Mrs. Yang seemed to quickly adapt to come back to her senses. After some greetings, Mrs. Yang looked at the layout of Yuntai Palace, which was exactly the same as when Yang Muzhi was there in the past, and finally said slowly: "I heard that the little lord and Mu Zhi used to marry Jin Lan, but now that Mu Zhi is gone, in the eyes of the courtiers, the little master is like Mu Zhi." ”

Ah Yuan hurriedly raised his hand, held the junior salute, and replied: "Madame is the mother of my sister-in-law, and naturally she is also my elder." ”

It just so happened that the meal had been prepared, and Ah Yuan made it easy for Mrs. Yang to eat together. During the banquet, talking about the reason for entering the palace this time, Mrs. Yang said: "Originally, the courtiers should not have entered the palace, after all, Mu Zhi has been dead for more than two years. She burst into tears, and her gestures faintly resembled the elegance of the past, "But since Muzhi entered the palace, it has been difficult for her family to see her, and now they will not see her again, in fact, it is no different." Rong Chen's wife said something inappropriate, and when she saw the little lord at this time, she vaguely seemed to be Muzhi still alive. Let's miss her, and she'll be there. ”

Ah Yuan originally had a pearl white jade shrimp ball in his mouth, and after listening to Mrs. Yang's words, he was so choked that he couldn't make a sound, and tears fell on Yuelan Luo's skirt.

Mrs. Yang's expression darkened, and she hurriedly comforted: "Good boy, don't cry, don't cry, let's not talk about it, eat first and eat first." ”

Ah Yuan finally calmed down after a while, and then said slowly: "Actually, the emperor let his wife enter the palace in the hope that I would bring some words to Lord Yang. After all, my sister used to be the emperor's concubine, and everyone is a family, whether it is the harem or the previous dynasty, they should all be single-minded. A few days ago, the emperor seemed to be a little discouraged when he saw Lord Yang, and he had the idea of retreating, so he asked me to persuade the Lord and Mrs. I also hope that Lord Yang will do his best. ”

Mrs. Yang was a little hesitant, pondered for a moment, and said: "A few days ago, my husband was a little unwell, but now that he is well, he should naturally be loyal to the emperor." ”

The two talked about some of the reasons why Ah Yuan entered the palace, but Ah Yuan finally couldn't help but not tell the real reason, but it was a coincidence. After some more gossip, an hour will soon come, and Mrs. Yang must also leave the palace. The two were separated, and at this time, Mrs. Yang couldn't help but shed some tears.

The courtyard was dark as usual, silent for a long time.

Staring at Mrs. Yang's Xiao Suo's back, Ah Yuan couldn't help but clench his fists, his knuckles rattled, and the hatred for that woman in his heart became more and more unsettled.