Today's Anxi Palace is very quiet compared to the past, but it is a little gloomy in the quiet, the woman standing in front of the dresser is wearing an indigo jacket and skirt, the makeup is delicate and flawless, but the gold jewelry on her head makes her look slightly rich. This woman seemed to be about forty years old, but she seemed to be very haggard, her eyes were blurred as if she had lost her soul, and a few beads of sweat the size of beans oozed from her forehead from time to time.

It was the cold winter wax moon, the snow was beginning to melt, and the snow on the eaves was still dripping, so cold that people did not dare to approach, but they saw two young people standing under the eaves holding copper basins to receive water, which seemed to be a chore, but these two people were full of smiles and no complaints.

"If you have a nightmare at night, it's reasonable, but in the middle of the day, you can wake up scared, it's ridiculous", the slightly shorter one laughed, and the other one also smiled lightly: "I'm afraid that there is a lot of blood on my hands, and I smell fishy." ”

"But it's not, there are ghosts in my heart, and there are ghosts following me wherever I go", the short man looked around, and suddenly lowered his voice, "Eh, I heard people talk about it yesterday, saying that Niangniang often dreams of Ji Niangniang these days, and Niangniang is still thinking about secretly asking Master Li to come over and do a magic thing." ”

"Ji Niangniang?" Duren's tone was full of confusion, and before he could speak, a scolding came from behind him: "What are you two muttering!" ”

Before the words fell, the two people hurriedly turned around and knelt on the ground as if they were frightened, and said tremblingly: "Liu... Aunt Liu. ”

That Mrs. Liu turned out to be the Duren who was standing beside the woman, presumably the female official in charge of this Anxi Palace, who was about thirty years old, but her eyes were sharp and her face was fierce, and she looked much older in an instant.

"Punish you for catching the snow water here, I didn't expect you to discuss the rights and wrongs of the master in private, see if I don't take you to the mother today, so I can beat you up", after that, Liu Niangzi stretched out her hand and grabbed the right ear of the short man, and made a gesture to pick her up, and the other person knew that it was difficult to save his life, so he rushed forward to hold Liu Niangzi's arm, and said in a low voice: "Auntie, you see, you will be out of the palace after the year, and you will definitely get married at that time, you can't have some better dowry, and the slave maid has a high-quality jade bracelet here, Anyway, the slave and maid don't need it, I don't know if my aunt can see it? As he spoke, the man had already taken off the bracelet on his neck and stuffed it into Liu Niangzi's hand, and then saw that Liu Niangzi smiled knowingly, secretly stuffed the bracelet into his sleeve, and then dragged the short man and strode away.

While struggling, I heard the short man shouting: "Sister Jinyu, Sister Jinyu save me, Sister Jinyu ......"

Seeing that Liu Niangzi finally left triumphantly, the people who called Jinyu also collapsed to the ground and muttered, "Another human life." ”

"What's so noisy", the woman in front of the dresser seemed to be a little calmer, and the lotus step moved outside the hall, and a pair of apricot eyes looked at Liu Niangzi who was walking quickly.

Liu Niangzi's face was full of anger, and she only pushed the short man to the ground, and pretended to be angry, "Niangniang, this girl did something wrong in the morning, and the slave punished her to catch the snow water under the eaves, but she didn't expect that she not only repented, but also spoke disrespectfully, saying that Niangniang's rights and wrongs!" ”

Before the woman could speak, the people kowtowed heavily, "The slave knows that it is wrong, the slave knows that it is wrong, beg the mother to spare the slave and the slave, beg the mother to spare the slave and the slave, the slave and the maid will not dare anymore, please ...... the mother."

The woman held her forehead with one hand, closed her eyes slightly, and whispered, "It's really noisy and upsetting the palace." ”

After speaking, Liu Niangzi glanced sideways and motioned to the two people standing at the entrance of the hall, "Drag her down and beat her to death!" Yanbi immediately held the woman's arm and said with a smile: "Niangniang, are you better?" ”

"Hmm," the woman bowed slightly, "What day is it?" ”

"Back to Niangniang, today is the sixth day of the lunar month", Liu Niangzi paused, and seemed to be a little timid, "It is the day when the ladies who are waiting to be selected for the crown princess enter the palace." ”

Sure enough, I saw that the woman clenched her fists, "This palace wants to see what kind of princess the old woman can find for that sick seedling." ”

The front of the Xuanwu Gate was as empty as a wilderness, except for an old man in a maroon coarse cloth skirt standing in front of the side door, looking anxiously for a long time, and looking back at the door from time to time, seeing that an official in the door could not leave patiently, and finally relented, sighed and made a gesture to turn around and walk towards the door.

At that time, a green canopy carriage slowly drove not far away, and the coachman's expression was a little anxious, but the carriage was still extremely leisurely, as if it was intentional.

When the old man saw the carriage stop in front of him, he was happy in his heart, and he hurriedly took three steps and made two steps to meet him, and knocked three times on the edge of the carriage door, "But the girl of the Zhang family from Cangzhou?" ”

"Yes", the woman in the car replied a little weakly, as if she was tired.

"Then come down quickly, it's too late."

Only then did I see a young woman in a goose-yellow skirt getting down from the carriage, first of all, she gave a salute to the old man, and then said with a smile: "Something happened on the road, and I didn't want to delay, so I told my aunt to wait for a long time." ”

"It's okay, it's okay to come."

The crown prince's selection of concubines is not as powerful as the emperor's selection of concubines, only a table and two stools are placed in the side door, where a father-in-law in blue and black clothes sits, who is leaning on the table with his chin in one hand and napping.

Lao Du led the Zhang family girl to walk quickly to deduct the table, but the person didn't speak, just opened his eyes and looked at it, and then closed his eyes, the old man pretended to be angry, "Father-in-law Wei, this is Miss Zhang from Cangzhou, you ignore it at this time, if you delay something, I'm afraid it is, the Queen Mother can't talk about it." ”

As he spoke, Father-in-law Wei raised his head, with a reluctant face, opened the book resting on the corner of the table, picked up the pen and asked, "What's your name?" ”

"The surname is Zhang, and the small characters are all fang."

"Zhang Junfang?" Father-in-law Wei raised his eyes slightly, and glanced at Zhang Junyu, "Where did you come from, what is your father's name?" ”

"Hejian Mansion, Cangzhou, Xingji Town, my father's single name is a 'Luan' character, and he is the son of the country."

"Xingji?" Wei Gonggong was slightly surprised when he heard this, and then bowed down and said with a smile: "I don't know that the girl is a noble person from Xingji, it is a slave who is rude, please come in quickly, don't miss the time", the emperor had a plan to choose a concubine for the prince as early as September, when Qintian supervised the performance, and the stars shone in the southeast of the canal, so he ordered the princess to choose the daughter of a good family in Cangzhou and Xingji, and this girl of the Zhang family is very likely to be selected.

Zhang Junfang seemed to be a little lost, and said: "My father-in-law is polite", it is getting late, but I am afraid that this hour has already been delayed.

At this time, the Praetorian Guards had already begun to linger and guard near the Xuanwu Gate, "Girl, hurry up and follow the old slave in", but the old people were not as anxious as Fang Cai, but settled down a little.

Zhang Junfang bowed his head slightly, and the loss that could not be concealed under the lowered eyes was mixed at the moment, as soon as the palace gate entered, there was no way out, but it was not easy to stand out from the three hundred people, and now Wan Guifei is favored in power, this time the prince chose the concubine, she must have a candidate in her heart, I heard that Wan Guifei and the East Palace have always been at odds, she will definitely take this opportunity to install party henchmen in the East Palace, and when the prince succeeds to the throne, she can also protect her glory as before.

If Wan Guifei wants to push her informant to the position of crown princess, she will definitely find ways to eliminate dissidents, especially women in Cangzhou and Xingji, which is undoubtedly another thorn, and everyone knows the difficulty of this matter. Entering the palace and choosing a concubine was not what she wanted, but the man who had a marriage contract with her was riddled with evil diseases, and her husband's family wanted her to marry Chongxi, but who knew that person still had a life? 's father didn't want to ruin the friendship between the two families, so he had to secretly send her into the palace, which could only be undefeated, even if she was a good woman, she could be spared.

After the old man entered the palace, he saw that there was no one around, so he took out a jade plate from his sleeve and handed it to Zhang Junyu: "The girl came three hours late, and the Xianyang Palace has screened out fifty people early, but fortunately, the draft is handled by the Ministry of Rites, and the tall man has left a sign for the girl, and the girl will arrive at the Xianyang Palace later, just hand over the brand to the people who lead the way." ”

Just after sending away the girl of the Zhang family, Father-in-law Wei saw a woman in an indigo skirt standing by the side door, and was shocked, it was not Wan Guifei, so he hurriedly walked over and bowed to the ground, "The slave knocks on the concubine." ”

Wan Guifei didn't signal Father-in-law Wei to get up, she just stared at Zhang Junyu's back as she walked away, "Who is it that went in at the right time, why does it seem that it is not small?" ”

Father-in-law Wei also raised his eyes and glanced at it, and then still lowered his head, "Hui Niangniang, this woman's name is Zhang Junfang, because she came from Xingji Town, the slave didn't dare to be negligent, so she let her in." ”

Wan Guifei frowned, and whispered to herself: "Why do you look so familiar", and then lowered her head, "By the way, then Miss Wang from Taiyuan Mansion can enter the palace?" ”

"Miss Wang?" Gonggong Wei raised his eyes, "Niangniang, there are very few ladies from Shanxi, and most of them are surnamed Zhang, but there has never been a Miss Wang." ”

"No?" Wan Guifei was shocked, "How could it not be!" ”