Since the news from the northwest has been delivered to the queen, of course, the letter from the Marquis of Dingbei will never arrive later.

"It's the woman whose son died after drinking Penicillium." Shen Shu took the letter, his face was pale, "That child's name is Zhu Chunsheng, and the woman's maiden name is Zhang, but there is no one for a long time." ”

Taohua thought about it carefully for a while, and recalled the woman with a haggard face and only two eyes that were terrifying: "It turned out to be her." "When she was in the epidemic area, she was shouting everywhere that her medicine had cured people, and then she stopped moving when the epidemic subsided, and Taohua also sent someone to ask her if she was willing to join the nursing team, but she was refused.

"The pain of losing a child......" Taohua sighed slightly. She also feels quite contradictory now, on the one hand, she feels sorry for the loss of her husband and child, but on the other hand, she is also disgusted - she has already said in advance that this medicine is not something that everyone can bear, and she chooses to use the medicine and now regrets it, isn't this just a medical trouble.

"Now that there is a bitter lord to complain, the situation is different." Shen Shu said coldly, "I'm afraid the emperor can only summon this woman to Beijing and hand it over to Dali Temple for trial." "Such a first trial will inevitably make everyone known, and Taohua's reputation will definitely be greatly affected. Not to mention that her medical skills will be questioned, it is very inappropriate to say that the house woman got into a life lawsuit. You don't see some big families with strict family rules, if the female relatives of the family have a lawsuit and need to go to court, they will simply be ordered to hang themselves at home, so as not to show their heads and ruin the reputation of the women of the family.

Taohua was packing her luggage, but when she heard the words, she just sighed lightly: "This lawsuit is still over in the end." The most important thing now is to see what the pox vaccine is all about. "There was no medical arbitration in this era, and it wasn't that she didn't have no witnesses, so there was no ironclad evidence for the death itself. The trouble is the latter incident, who gave her the money and made things so passive?

However, Taohua did not ask this question. Whoever it is, it's not her maid anyway. Since this is the case, it has something to do with the Dingbei Hou Mansion, and asking too many questions will only embarrass Shen Shu, so let him deal with it himself.

Shen Shu didn't say anything more, took the letter and returned to the study before he said sharply: "Who went to find the Zhang family?" "The letter from the Marquis of Dingbei is very short, and the specific matters are all messages from the guards.

The guard who came to deliver the message lowered his head: "Yes—the girl in the cicada." ”

"What is she going to do with Zhang?" Shen Shu had actually guessed it, he had to be grateful that Taohua didn't ask just now, otherwise the guards would say it on the spot, and his face would not be asked.

The guard said in a low voice: "The girl in cicada said that she just didn't want the Zhang family to spread rumors about the princess outside anymore and wanted to appease her. And--Zhang's lost her son, she was lonely and pitiful, and the girl in the cicada clothes also took pity on her, so she gave the silver money...... "It's just that you shouldn't give a silver ticket, let alone a few scattered jewelry." Although it was not worth much, those few pieces of jewelry had been seen by her in the past, which confirmed her bribery of Zhang's attempt to cover up the truth of the dead. 、

"She wants to appease Zhang?" Shen Shu didn't know what to say, "The princess didn't speak, but she made her own opinions, who gave her the guts!" ”

The guard bowed his head and said nothing. Cicada Yi and Dieyi have been serving Shen Shu since they were children, and because of Shen Shu's special status, the two of them are treated differently from others in the Dingbei Hou Mansion. In the past, when Shen Shu had never married a wife, everything in the courtyard was decided by cicadas, if anyone gave her courage, it was about this year and year, month and month, day and day.

Shen Shu also knew that his words were meaningless: "What about her now?" Cicada Yi has served him for many years, and has always been loyal and considerate, so there are some overreaches, and he does not want to be harsh.

Later, Taohua showed a little jealousy, and he left the cicada clothes in the northwest, one is to express an attitude towards Taohua, and the other is also unwilling to wronged the cicada clothes, after all, let her stay in the northwest, and be married by Mrs. Dingbei Hou, wouldn't it be better than looking at her unpleasant master mother?

Who knew that his compassion for the old love would be wrong today.

"When Madame found out about this, she detained her and waited for the princess to be released......" The guard also sighed secretly in his heart. At the beginning, the two big maids in cicada clothes and butterfly clothes followed the prince of the county, and the food and clothing were above the maids of the same level in the Dingbei Hou Mansion, and the two of them were born beautiful, and some guards in the house were in love, thinking that if they could marry them in the future, it would be a good thing to kill two birds with one stone.

Even the guard who came to deliver the letter today also peeked at the cicada's clothes a few times. He is not a first-class guard, and he does not dare to marry the delusion of marrying a first-class maid next to the prince, but he can't help but have some thoughts. However, now that Cicada Yi has done such a wrong thing, in order to set the rules of the Beihou family, Cicada Yi's situation at the moment is like a prisoner waiting to die, which is not as good as the little girl who does not enter the house.

The guard didn't think well. At this moment, in the northwest, in the small courtyard north of the Dingbei Hou Mansion, Cicada Yi is sitting on a hard bed in a daze.

This small courtyard is built in the northernmost part of the Dingbei Hou Mansion, the walls are high and straight, the house is narrow, and it is difficult to see the sun all year round. The outer wall is full of shade-loving pothos, and at the moment it is a thick green, which really dyes the brightness of early summer with a strange desolation.

This place has always been locked up for people who have made big mistakes, so naturally it will not be a good place. The house was very damp, and there was even a rare little green moss growing on the corner, which was a rarity in the dry northwest.

The hard bed under the cicada's clothes was the only place in the room where I could sit, and beyond that was an equally dry and hard table, with one leg broken and stuffed with a wooden peg, barely flattened. There is a broken teapot on the table, with some semi-cold water in it, and two plates next to it, a plate of steamed buns and a plate of pickles, which is the diet of the cicada clothes for a day.

Although the Dingbei Hou Mansion does not pay attention to extravagance, the military generals' families also have meat and fish in their diet on weekdays, and the dishes prepared for Shen Shu are more refined. There must also be a meat dish for cicada clothes and vegetarian meals every day, when will they gnaw on steamed buns and pickled vegetables for a day? At this moment, even though the stomach is hungry, there is no taste in the mouth, where can I eat.

There was the sound of hurried footsteps outside the door. The maids in the Dingbei Hou Mansion walked fast, and the footsteps were heavier, and they couldn't tell who it was for a while. Cicada Yi raised his head slightly, and the door was pushed open - the door was not locked, but what if you let you out of the house, the entire northwest is in the hands of Dingbei Hou, and I am afraid that you will escape from the sky?

"Sister!" The person who came in was a little unexpected, it was Butterfly. In the past few months, Dieyi's footsteps have also changed, and she walks as if she is wearing a small drumstick, and she is energetic to listen to.

However, Cicada Yi didn't feel excited. Dieyi stood at the door, I don't know if it was because of the light or the wind and sun these days, and it was obviously dark. However, she seemed to have grown a little taller, and stood there more and more tall.

This vigorous vitality only feels piercing in the eyes of the cicada at the moment, especially the sunlight that comes in from the door, which seems to illuminate people who can't open their eyes: "What are you doing here?" ”

Dieyi stood at the door, looking at the damp and empty room, and the wooden bed sitting under the cicada's clothes, and couldn't help sighing: "I'll take a look at you." As he spoke, he put the food box in his hand on the table and took out a few plates and a bowl of rice from it, "These are your favorite meat muffins and honey cakes." ”

The warm dim sum exudes a salty or sweet aroma, and a plate of white-cut chicken, poured with sesame oil sauce with pepper, and a spicy aroma rushes into the nose, causing the cicada's stomach to scream like a frenzy.

"I don't eat this!" Cicada Yi twisted her head away. Pepper - since Shen Shu begged for pepper seeds from Xingjiao Temple and sent them back to the northwest, he has planted a lot in the past two years, not only can he use it in the army, but even the Dingbei Hou Mansion has gradually risen from time to time to eat spicy food, and he has to add some of this stuff to get a sauce.

This dim sum and white-cut chicken are not made of butterfly clothes. She was still in class in the nursing team, but she hurried back when she heard about the cicada clothes, and brought something from the kitchen, but she didn't notice that the sesame oil sauce was added with pepper - it was also because she loved to eat this taste, and she didn't notice it for a while.

"Then you can have a snack. There's also a stir-fry here. Dieyi pushed a plate of stir-fried vegetables over, "I heard you haven't eaten in a day." "The dried steamed buns and pickles, if she had changed them in the past, she wouldn't have been able to swallow them, but now that she has lived these days in the nursing team, she is not so picky. But the cicada clothes will definitely not be eaten.

Cicada Yi is really hungry, although the rice is brown rice, the dim sum is good, I took the chopsticks at the moment, first picked up a few bites of rice, and then broke the dim sum to eat. Dieyi saw her eat a meat muffin, and then sighed and said, "Sister, why did you do such a foolish thing?" ”

"I'm kind!" When Cicada Yi heard this, the honey cake in her mouth suddenly changed even the sweetness, "That Zhang is going to go outside to preach, I just want to stop her, it's all kind!" ”

Of course, there is also a little bit of selfishness. After all, it was the princess of the county who killed people, why did the prince carry this reputation together and act in the name of the Anjun palace everywhere? If this is the case, she should control the Zhang family, in case there is something in the future, asking the Zhang family to come out and only testify against the princess, won't she be able to exonerate the prince?

Because of this thought, she sent some silver money and rice grain to the Zhang family at three or five o'clock. It's just that she doesn't actually have much in her hands. Even if it is a first-class girl, the monthly silver is only one or two, and the food and clothing are all public servants, and you don't have to worry about food and clothing, but you can't use it as silver.

In the past, she was in charge of Shen Shu's private accounts, and she just had to tell her what she wanted, and she didn't have any expenses at that time, but she felt that she had a lot of money. It wasn't until I really wanted to use the silver that I realized that there wasn't much cash.

And after Shen Shu got married, all the accounts in her hands were handed over to Taohua, and she only had the monthly income left. She had loose hands, and she didn't save any silver money every day, so after sending a few things to Zhang's family, she found that the money box had seen the bottom, but there were a lot of jewelry and clothes, so she picked up some gold and silver hairpins and earrings and gave Zhang a few things, who knows that there were traces.

Dieyi didn't argue with her, but sighed: "Sister, when you did this, did you tell the prince and the princess?" Or is it Mrs. ”

This sentence can be regarded as stopping the cicada clothes. Of course she didn't say it, that idea was selfish, how dare she talk to Shen Shu and Taohua? It's just that she thought that Zhang's was an ignorant woman, and she was widowed and helpless, so she only needed to give some money and say some good things to coax her. Unexpectedly, it is the ignorant who are fearless, and the Zhang family has nothing, so what scruples do they have? As soon as I heard that the pox had killed someone, I felt that this was a good time to expose the facts, so I didn't tell her a word, rolled up a few clothes and ran away.

had a good wishful thinking, just because of Zhang's disobedience, the situation was completely led to a direction that Cicada Yi could not control. Outside the northwest, there are many people who hate Taohua and covet the military power in the northwest, and as soon as the Zhang family ran out, they were treated as treasures and immediately sent to the capital. Not to mention the cicada clothes, even the Marquis of Dingbei couldn't send someone to chase the Zhang family back at this time. An inconspicuous poor woman stirred up a storm in the blink of an eye.

Dieyi looked at her unconvinced, and only felt unfamiliar. Over the years, she and Cicada Yi have been like sisters, in her heart, Cicada Yi is the person who is gentle and respectful and understands the rules, and it is always herself who is reckless and naughty. But since when did the two sisters drift apart? Now the world in the house is very small for her, there is a wider place outside, and more things for her to do, but Cicada Yi is still only in this small yard, and gradually has more anger and rigidity, until today......

"What is Madame going to do with me?" Cicada Yi pinched half a piece of honey cake and asked with the last glimmer of hope.

Dieyi was silent for a moment, and said: "I haven't asked, I heard Sister Xiangyun say that she is about to wait for the princess ......to come back."

Cicada Yi hung her head. Indeed, the first thing that was damaged by this incident was Taohua's reputation, and it was natural for Taohua to come back and deal with her. Otherwise, unless Mrs. Dingbei Hou beats her to death, it may make people say that she is dealt with lightly.

"Naturally, she can't tolerate my ......"

Dieyi interrupted her: "The princess has always been fair. Only you, sister, say the princess today, say the princess tomorrow, but in the end it's all your own imagination. If you don't think about it, you won't be here today. ”

Cicada Yi clenched her fists tightly, and the piece of honey cake had been clenched into slag by her: "What do you know......"

"I don't know anything, I just know that An'an lives in parts, and it will never be wrong."

"You know what!" Cicada Yi finally couldn't control it anymore and raised her head in collapse, "I just want to stay with the prince, what's so restless!" But the princess didn't even allow me to do this, and when she said a word, the prince told me to stay in the northwest, and asked my wife to choose someone to marry for me......"

Dieyi said lightly: "If my sister is safe, I should listen to the arrangements of the prince and the princess." Let's be girls, whether to stay or go, isn't it the master who has the final say? ”

Cicada Yi was choked, and only after a while did she say: "Why is she the one who has the final say!" If it weren't for her, why couldn't I stay with the prince! "If the prince had married the daughter of the Cui family, the housewife who came out of the door would never be so jealous, and she wouldn't even be able to tolerate a maid.

"So, sister, this is called Anfen?" Dieyi sighed, "I still remember that when the princess was not a princess, I always thought about the enmity between the princess and the Jiang family, and it was not pleasing to look at her horizontally and vertically. How did my sister teach me at that time? Now it's my sister's turn to be on herself, why can't she think clearly? Besides, my sister stayed in the northwest, or did the prince send it, didn't my sister understand the prince's intentions? ”

The cicada was dumbfounded. In fact, what made her the most painful and unacceptable was this: she had served Shen for more than ten years, and she always felt that she was different in Shen Shu's heart after all, and there would always be a place for her in the future, but Jiang Shi said a few words, and Shen Shu left her behind. After more than ten years of love, she can't match Jiang's words, how can she be convinced?

"How can the prince be—it's all because of her, it's because she doesn't allow anyone to ......"

"If the prince is interested, it won't be ...... soon," Dieyi couldn't help but say half a sentence. At Shen Shu's age, as a royal child, he could have released people around him a long time ago, if he intended to accept cicada clothes, he didn't have to wait until after getting married.

"I don't believe it!" Cicada Yi slammed the scrap cake in his hand to the ground, "I just don't believe it!" What's so good about the Jiang family, the prince is so desperate for her! Could it be that the prince forgot the death of the sage concubine Niangniang and forgot that his eye disease was not successful? ”

"What else does my sister say about this?" Dieyi said a little boredly, "Even the prince himself doesn't care, what is my sister's righteous indignation here, it's just to make excuses for herself." If there is anything good about the princess - the princess has excellent medical skills and a benevolent heart, when the prince and the Cui family still had a marriage contract, the princess's family helped the princess distinguish fake medicines and sent prescriptions, and even went to Xingjiao Temple to see the pepper, thinking that it could be used in the Northwest Army - what else is bad about this? The prince was in the barracks when he was a child, and he didn't care about anything in the camp? The princess can also think about the Northwest Army like this, why doesn't the prince like it? It's my sister and I, who have served the prince since childhood, haven't done anything for the Northwest Army, right? ”

This sentence of sentence is so that the cicada clothes can't answer half a word. Although Shen Shu followed Dingbei Hou to the military camp when he was a teenager, there were no women in the army, and she and Dieyi could not follow to serve, so naturally they didn't know much about the military camp, all they cared about was that Shen Shu was particularly shoe-hungry in the army, what kind of thread should be used to make the soles stronger, or the socks worn in the army should be comfortable, and there was no need to embroider, etc. As for saying that she wants to do something for the Northwest Army, it seems that Mrs. Dingbei Hou needs to worry about it, if she can use their place, she will just listen to her orders.

"Then, the affairs in the army are not what we should worry about...... "Cicada Yi muttered, "We are just maids, and we ...... do things according to the master's orders."

"Sister is here again...... "Dieyi is looking at the sisterhood for many years, and thinking that she can wake her up, "If you say that you are doing things for the Northwest Army, your sister has to listen to the master's orders, so why doesn't the prince accept people's affairs, why doesn't my sister listen to the master's orders?" And the matter of the Zhang family, why did my sister make her own opinion? ”

Cicada Yi was completely dumb now, and hung her head deeply. Dieyi sighed: "Sister should think about it herself." Don't always think that the princess can't tolerate you, in my opinion, this is the case, if my sister doesn't have bad intentions, the princess won't be ruthless. Madame handed you over to the princess to dispose of, maybe she is still saving you. ”

There was not even a chair in this room, Dieyi could only stand and talk, looked around, and couldn't help but feel a trace of pity in her heart: "Sister think about it carefully, what is wrong with me, wait for the princess to come back, so that the princess can be born to accompany the princess." When the princess sees the princess in front of the prince, she will always raise her hand. "Follow Taohua these days, Dieyi can also see that the princess of the county is not such a ruthless person, she is often raised high and gently falling, such a thing as cicada clothes, if you are afraid of killing it in another family, when you get to the princess, at least you can save a life. Mrs. Dingbei Hou still thought that they were serving the prince, and they were loyal to the prince, and they also let the cicada clothes go.

It's just that the cicada clothes have to be repentant, if she still has the idea of going against the princess, even if the princess is willing to spare her, the prince is afraid that it will not be ......

Dieyi thought in a mess, got out of the Dingbei Hou Mansion, and went straight to the nursing team's station.

Now the station is no longer the original tent on the open space, but has two courtyards, one is the residence of the nursing team, which is called a "dormitory", and the other is used as a "ward" to receive some patients who are very sick and need to be cared for at any time.

Dieyi now lives in the dormitory, because she came out of the princess's side, and was specially assigned to a "single dormitory", although the room is small, but it is more comfortable than others.

Before entering the courtyard, Dieyi saw a figure at the door of the kitchen, and couldn't help but follow in his heart: "Imperial Doctor Gu? ”

It was Gu Cong who got into the kitchen, his head and face were covered with sweat, he was stuffing a cold steamed bun in his hand into his mouth, looking for hot water to drink on the stove while eating, obviously he had just run back from outside, and he was hungry.

"It's cold!" Dieyi went up and snatched the steamed bun down, "You wait, I'll give you some somen noodles." "Although the weather is already warm, this cold steamed bun is still left over from last night, not only is it cold and dry, how can someone like Gu Cong gobble it up.

Gu Cong was so hungry that he just wanted to eat it in his stomach, but the steamed bun was snatched away by Dieyi, and he couldn't take it back, so he had to sit down on the bench on the side with a bitter face. Dieyi was really angry and laughing when she saw him like this, and touched the two meat muffins in her purse, which were taken out from the Dingbei Hou Mansion to fill her stomach, so she took them out and handed them to Gu Cong: "Pad the mat first, where did you run back from?" ”

This meat muffin has not yet cooled, and as soon as it is taken out, it exudes a fragrance, Gu Cong's eyes are green, and he took it and filled it into his mouth, and said vaguely: "I went to the town where the accident happened." ”

"What can you find?" Dieyi suddenly perked up, and asked urgently while stabbing the fire to boil the water. This is what everyone in the nursing team is most concerned about now.

"That pox vaccine doesn't seem right, it doesn't look like I made it there."