"But you don't have to be afraid, as long as you take care of your own work, don't make trouble, if you enter this Huanyi Bureau, your life is not your own, you don't have the opportunity to meet the harem master on weekdays, and if you want to live or die, it's all in the hands of the aunt in charge." Ying Ning listened to Zixiang and went to the pulp washing room.

Outside the pulp washing room is a courtyard surrounded by a low fence, and the people inside are doing things, and people can see clearly from the outside of the courtyard. There are four wells in the courtyard separately, and there are wooden wheels on the wells, which are specially used for the palace maids who wash the clothes to draw water, and after a long time, the outside of the wells is covered with moss, and these mosses become brown when winter comes. When they entered, the palace maids were still washing their clothes with buckets of biting well water, and there would be a few eunuchs next to them who would patrol with thorns in their hands, and if they didn't like it, they would throw two whips. This kind of hard work is unbearable for ordinary people, and no one would be willing to obey without severe beatings and threats of death.

Walking through a group of laundry maids, Zixiang took them into the house where the housekeeper's aunt was resting.

Before I entered the door, I heard a cry coming: "Auntie thought that I was the first offender, just spare me this time, next time I won't dare to ......"

"Want to have a next time? One time is enough for you to die several times. Master Ping is furious, and will tell me to hand you over, and if you fall into her hands, you will surely die. ”

"Please aunt help me, aunt help me, I'm just fascinated by money for a while, and there will be no next time......"

"Last time we washed a piece of clothing that Master Ping liked in the pulp washing room, she was angry, you also know her temper, and she was so bold to beat her idea."

How did the slave know that she suddenly remembered that after the dress was ironed, the people of the pear courtyard never came to pick it up, and every time Qiu'er came to pick up the clothes, they said that the master of the dress did not like it, and he didn't want to look at it, so he kept throwing it at the slave and maid. It was also the slave maid who was confused for a while, and begged my aunt to think of a child for me...... "Ziyuan is really scared this time, Pingguiren has always been ruthless, and even the maids around her have been disabled, let alone her." She didn't know what kind of wind Pingguiren smoked, today she suddenly remembered the gold silk scattered flower skirt, the skirt had already been secretly handed out of the palace by her, how could she still find it, she couldn't find it if she was killed.

"What can I do, no matter how big I am, I can't go to the master. If you want to save your life, go to the Shangfu Bureau to beg Liu Siyi to go, I have a two-point friendship with her, if she is willing to come forward, you will be saved. ”

"Yes, the slave begged her to go, Aunt Xie pointed out."

"Wait, take my palace card and go, and say I'll let you go."

"Aunt Xie, Aunt Xie......" Qingyuan kowtowed again and again, she was finally saved.

Ziyuan came out with tears, glanced at a few people at the door, and ran out with the palace card.

"Who's out there?" My aunt asked.

"Slave Zixiang, I brought two new palace maids to my aunt to take a look, but it's okay."

"Come in."

"Ugh." Zixiang beckoned to Yingning and stepped in first.

"Zixiang has seen Aunt Tao." Zixiang blessed the blessing ceremony.

Yingning and the two also saluted.

Aunt Tao looked up and down for a long time, put down the tea cup in her hand, and asked, "What crimes have you committed in the family?" ”

"Slave maid Ji's family, my father is a former imperial historian, I was investigated for corruption and bribery, and my family ...... was copied by the saint" "Slave Liu's family, my father was an official outside, and he was killed by a traitor and was assigned to be a subordinate."

"I've heard of Ji Yushi, it turns out that you are Miss Ji, and your appearance is not bad, but you have to remember, since you came to my pulp washing room, your appearance is useless here, I know that you were all young ladies before, but in the future, you will be nothing, as long as you are willing to endure hardships and work hard, you can live, can you understand?"

"Understood." "Understood."

"What's your name?"

Yingning replied obediently: "Ji Yingning." ”

": Liu Ranyan."

"When you come to the palace, you must have the name of the palace, and in the future, you will be called Zining and Ziyan."

Ying Ning and Yan Ran knelt down in unison": Aunt Xie Tao gave her name. "She has a new name, is it considered a new one? Zining, Ning'er, there is still the original shadow, just accept it......

"Then Aunt Tao, the slave maid will go down first, and I have to go and talk back to Mama Yu." Zixiang said.

Aunt Tao nodded, "Go ahead." Then he preached to Zining and the two: "As the name suggests, the pulp washing room is a place to wash clothes, no matter how cold and hot it is in winter and hot in summer, as long as the master has clothes to wash, we can't be idle, and we can't be idle for a quarter of an hour a day." When you first arrive, you have to learn the rules quickly. Later, someone will take you out, and life will be hard, but this is how all the people here come, and you don't have to complain. ”

Zining obediently said yes. But when she was actually brought to a pile of dirty clothes, she really realized what Aunt Tao had just said. The clothes are half a person high, and there are all kinds of them, and the material is not the best material, it should be some face-saving maids and housekeepers' aunts.

"Well, today you can rest with this garment clean. The clothes of the noble master's own person are washed by a special person, and you are not needed. These are all the maids around the master, and those sisters are also very picky, where they are not cleaned, where they are washed and deformed, you can see at a glance, and it is not difficult to get angry and punish you when the time comes, you must be careful. There are pancreas for washing clothes, but most of them are used to wash the clothes of the master, you can't use them, and you can't use a mallet, the clothes are all delicate materials, and they will be broken when you knock them, so you have to rub them carefully with your hands, put them on a soap horn, and wait until the fine foam is kneaded, and then pass three streams of water, and then it will be finished. Also, after the clothes are washed, you can't twist them hard, and after draining the water, pinch out the excess water before you can take it to the drying field to dry. "The one who spoke to them was a palace maid who was older than them, named Zitong.

Zitong left after giving the order, leaving Zining alone to stand beside Yishan and frown. Ziyan was not far away, and he was also worried about looking at a pile of clothes. In addition to washing desperately, what else can be done, Zining foresaw the hard days ahead on the first day.

Washing clothes naturally have to fetch water first, hang the bucket on the hook, and put it in the well, and when the bucket full of water comes up, Zining is worried, her small arms and legs, the wooden bucket can't be carried at all, and she almost planted it in the well several times. The eunuch in charge on the opposite side looked at him like this, seeing that he was about to come over with a thorn stick, there are many names for beating people here, and if one is not good, he can get a beating, looking at the appearance of the eunuch, he is not good, Zining is too anxious.

"Do you need me to carry it for you?" It was the laundry palace maid who was on the side just now, a little older than Zining, with clear eyebrows and beautiful eyes, but there was no expression on her face, her face was red from the cold, and there was a whip mark on her neck, like an old wound, the scab had fallen off, her sleeves were rolled up, and her two arms were a little purple and skinning in the cold wind.

Zi Ning nodded at her, she couldn't carry it anymore, she was bound to eat a meal of wattles, and there were still a lot of clothes waiting for her to wash, if she couldn't wash it, she would have more hardship.

After all, the age is there, and with years of exercise, the bucket was carried up by the palace maid.

"You have little strength, you don't have to fight so much in one breath, don't use brute force when carrying the bucket, follow the well." The palace maid put down the bucket and said that she was about to leave.

"What's my sister's name?"

"Just call me Ziqing."

"Thank you, Sister Ziqing."

Ziqing nodded lightly, didn't speak, went back to his clothes, a eunuch stomped over, saw that Ziqing was not in his place, and scolded her a few words, Ziqing lowered his head and washed hard, not daring to respond.

How hard it is to survive here.

Zi Ning carried a bucket of water and staggered back to his laundry pool. The well water is biting, and my hands can't stay in the well water at all, I just feel that there are thousands of insects eating my bones, cold and numb.

Now is the time of the year, and this garment must be washed when it is time, otherwise there will be no food. Zi Ning closed his eyes, soaked his hands in the cold well water with all his might, gritted his teeth and didn't let his hands pull up, and gradually his hands were frozen red, and then he grabbed his clothes and threw them into the water, rubbing and rubbing them, and his hands couldn't be used at all. I wanted to take the soap corner, but my hand didn't obey the call, and I slipped after taking it a few times, so I had to hold it with both hands, so tossed, I only washed four or five pieces of clothes in an hour, looking at the "small mountain bag" that didn't move at all, Zining was anxious.

Lifting water back and forth no less than 20 times, Zi Ning's hands are small, and he can't lift it at all, here he calls every day should not be, he calls the earth and the earth not working, there is no one to help, everyone can't help themselves, no matter how bitter and cold it is, Zi Ning can only endure it silently and wash it slowly. She had never washed her clothes, and even the face towel was wrung up by Zitang before, thinking like this, she didn't know what happened to Zitang and Yuebai now, thinking about it, Zining burst into tears.

It was washed until the time of the unitary, and everyone went to eat, but no one called her, and there were still half of the dirty clothes around her, so she was naturally not allowed to eat until she finished washing. Ziyan's situation is similar to her, her little back is squatting next to the high pile of clothes, looking so weak and lonely.

In winter, it was dark early, and after a while it was gray, and there were crows chirping on the branches of the trees in the distance, and the sky gradually darkened until it was pitch black, and the lights were lit in the tiled houses on the side. With the faint light, Zi Ning hurriedly washed the remaining seven or eight pieces of clothes. She was grumbling with hunger, from this morning she was brought into the palace until now, she has not entered a drop of water, and the palace maids around her have also packed up their wardrobes and gone back, leaving only her and Ziyan in the huge courtyard.

Ziyan couldn't bear it anymore at this time, and when she saw that there was no one around, she sobbed quietly, her hand hurt from being stabbed by cold water, and she was hungry and didn't have the strength to pick up the bucket and wet clothes, she cried while washing. Listening to what Mama said is terrible, this Huanyi Bureau doesn't know where to bury a dead person, maybe there are a few buried in the corner of the yard, and the empty field has no sound at all except for the sound of washing clothes, and it is eerie and infiltrating.

"Ziyan? Ziyan, don't cry, hurry up and wash in, if you don't hurry up, we won't be able to sleep for a few hours. Zi Ning said, she was also very scared in her heart, although she read the book of sages and didn't believe in those strange things, but in this cold night, there was no popularity, and it was strange and scary.

Ziyan wiped her tears, washed more and more diligently, and she wanted to hurry into the house.

Finally, Zi Ning dried the last piece of clothes, breathed a long sigh of relief, and returned to Aunt Tao's house with the clothes basin and Ziyan.

Aunt Tao had just soaked her feet, and was asking someone to bring a basin out, and it was Ziqing who helped Zi Ning carry water today.

Zi Ning saw Aunt Tao sitting on the warm kang, tidying up the shop, probably preparing for bed, she quietly waited for her aunt to speak.

"It's been a little longer."

Zining's heart skipped a beat when she heard her aunt say this.

"The newcomer is born, read your first offense, forget it today, follow Ziqing back to the house, and you will be in the same room with her in the future."

"Yes......" Zi Ning and Zi Yan were blessed and retreated.

Ziqing is not a talkative, took them into the door, pointed to the two bowls of cold rice on the table and said, "You will eat, I will sleep in the bunk, and there are two places for you to discuss and choose, there are only three of us in this room." With that, he took the bucket and went out to fetch water.

Zining looked around, there was no kang in the house, three narrow beds, one against the inside, one against the wall horizontally, and one under the small window. Fortunately, they all drove tents on their beds, and the curtains were made of linen, which were opaque to light and shadow, and those who put the curtains could not see in them. There is a basin stand next to Ziqing's bed in the room, with towels hanging on it, a washbasin, and a green copper mirror, and a small locked drawer under the copper mirror, which is estimated to be Ziqing's place for small objects. In the middle of the room there was a small wooden table with candles resting on it, and then there was nothing else in the whole room, not even a stool. The window paper was broken, and there were fine cracks, and the cold wind poured into it, but it was much better than in prison.

At this time, Ziqing brought hot water in, "Your name was Yingning before?" ”

Zi Ning stared at Zi Qing in surprise for a while before he reflected, and then nodded.

Ziqing handed over a white handkerchief, "When I was just fetching water, someone asked me to send this over, saying it was for you." Zining stretched out his hand and took it, with mixed feelings in his heart, both happy and scared, if it was good news......

Ziqing saw that Zi Ning was stunned, and said, "Wash and go to bed as soon as possible, you will get up tomorrow, and you won't be able to sleep for long." I've got hot water, so you can all divide it. ”

Zining nodded, her hands trembled after washing her clothes, she couldn't hold the handkerchief at all, and she couldn't wait to open the handkerchief, it was her mother's handwriting!

Sewing room, don't read it.

There were only five words, but Zining was relieved. Although her mother was not with her, she was still sent to the Huanyi Bureau, and she regretted that she did not stay in the sewing room, even if the aunt there was a little more terrible, but at least she could be reunited with her mother.

Zi Ning stuffed the veil and put hot water on it to clean his face. When the frozen hand was put into the warm hot water, it felt like ice cubes on the frozen fingers, slowly melting in the hot water, and gradually becoming conscious, not to mention how comfortable it was, if she could keep soaking like this, she would die.

When she cleaned her face with a handkerchief, Ziyan pointed to her face in surprise and was speechless for a while.

"This, this, so you look like this......"

Zi Ning came back to her senses, she had never looked in the mirror, presumably the blood stains had been washed away, revealing her original appearance.

Zi Ning smiled at Zi Yan and went out with a basin of water. Ziyan is a little timid and doesn't like to talk, so she has no idea how to divide the two beds, so she just waits for Zining to choose first.

After pouring the water, Zi Ning went straight to the bed under the window, the window was ventilated, and there must not be a bed inside. She looked at the bed in front of her and had a headache, the yellowed two bedding was mildewy, and the thin layer of quilt under it was also tidal, so it was strange to fall asleep like this and not wake up in the middle of the night.

Zining could only fold the bedding, half of it was under him, half of it was covered on it, and the quilt on his feet was also folded in, wrapping himself tightly and not leaking at all. Not long after the quilt was wrapped, the quilt gradually warmed up, but Zining's hands were painful and itchy, frozen in cold water for a day, and suddenly soaked in hot water, it was inevitable that he would get chilblains.