When Yingning opened her eyes, she saw a small room. The house is a little old, except for a bed, a set of tables and chairs, and a kang table at the window, there is nothing else.

They had been in the carriage for about two hours the previous night, and when they were pushed out of the carriage, she could not find her way at all, and then she was locked up in the room with the three girls in the carriage, while her mother and two other women in their thirties were taken away and disappeared. For a moment she thought of death in fear, afraid that she would be sent to a dirty place. She thought about it, if she really went to the legendary kiln military prostitute or something, she would bite her tongue and kill herself to save her honor. But then she thought that since it was the holy decree of the saints, those officials should not dare to do such a thing.

Ying Ning looked around, but her place didn't look like she was in the palace. Everything here is dilapidated, the window paper on the window lattice has been blown by the cold wind, through the broken window, the dry branches outside are swaying in the wind, and the few leaves left on the trees have been knocked off after a storm last night. The ochre-colored door was locked from the outside, and there was no movement outside.

At this time, the girl named Wen'er also woke up. The black cloth on her face was removed when she was locked in, and when she first saw Yingning, she thought she was the girl she talked to last night, and her face was covered with bloodstains, covering her originally fair face, making Yingning's originally beautiful face a little hideous.

"Where are we being held?"

Ying Ning shook her head, she didn't know.

"Do you still have a headache?"

Yingning smiled at Wen'er: "It doesn't hurt anymore, but it's a little dizzy." ”

"You should ask the doctor to see the wound on your forehead, otherwise you will ruin this beautiful face." Wen'er said worriedly

At this time, the other two girls also woke up, the fifteen or sixteen-year-old girl who spoke last night was called Luo Yu, and saw a long blood eggplant on Yingning's palm-sized face, and at first glance it was broken, and when she heard Wen'er's words, she sneered: "They are all here to serve people, and they want that beautiful face to do, no matter how beautiful the slut is, she is still a slut, and she is not the same as being humiliated. ”

When Luo Yu smiled, his eyes became narrow and contemptuous, which couldn't help but remind Ying Ning of Jingzhu who ran away, but Luo Yu said anything uncomfortable on his face, which made people see through it at a glance and be more guarded.

Wen'er listened to her words and hugged Yingning up: "Don't you say cool things here, we are all raised by our fathers and mothers, how can there be a distinction between high and low, you are just jealous of Sister Ning's beauty." ”

"Oh, you called your sister so soon, you can't even protect yourself and speak for that little slut, do you like her appearance and have a future, but it's a pity that she is broken. It is estimated that you are the first to be caught by the official messenger rushing in, and you are not afraid of being thrown into the kiln to serve the man. ”

Ying Ning didn't expect this Luo Yu to speak so ugly, if she didn't say anything again, she would kick her nose in the face": You yourself are just a down-and-out slave, life and death are unknown, why bother to hurt people like this here, I see that you are helpless, why do you offend everyone, it is not good for you. ”

Luo Yu was blocked by Yingning's words, she died of her mother when she was a child, she was beaten up under her stepmother's stick since she was a child, and she never thought about protecting herself when she spoke. At this time, Yingning touched her sore spot, and Luo Yu became more and more furious: "Two little sluts, even you have joined forces to bury me, I am not so easy to bully." As he spoke, he raised his leg and swept over, but because he was tied, his movements were a little clumsy, and he didn't touch anyone.

"Don't be noisy, if you are heard, we will not have good fruit ......to eat," another girl in a blue dress spoke weakly, tears hanging from the corners of her eyes. She had a small bun on her head, her face was round, and her childishness had not been taken off, and Ying Ning guessed that she must not be as big as herself.

As soon as Luo Yu wanted to talk back, there was a sudden sound of falling keys outside, and several figures shook outside, so frightened that the four people in the room were silent and didn't dare to move.

Someone opened the door, and the room suddenly lit up, and Ying Ning couldn't help but squint. Seeing that there was a thick-shouldered old woman standing against the light at the door, followed by a few little girls. Ying Ning couldn't see anything, lowered her eyes, and only saw the fine embroidered shoes on the ground, the spotless uppers, and the cold air of the old woman.

"Mama, what do they do?" A girl asked respectfully.

"Untie their hands and feet."

"Yes."

A few girls walked in, and Ying Ning saw their appearances clearly. All of them are dressed in dark ochre-colored embroidered cotton clothes, the skirts are plain and elegant, and the heads are all tied in double buns, which don't look like ordinary maids. The girl who untied her stared at her for a while, her face was a little unnatural, and finally the corners of her mouth pulled a sneer, squatted down and untied the rope on her body, and Yingning's delicate wrists and ankles were strangled with deep blood marks, and they hurt hotly.

"A few cheap maids, don't hurry up and kowtow to Mama Yu to say goodbye." The man said coldly.

This is the first time since Ying Ning begged the jailer last time, she is formally kneeling to kowtow to others to say goodbye, she and the other three girls are lying on the ground together, there are a pair of feet in front of them, I only feel that my dignity has been trampled on to the extreme, and I don't know who came up with the idea of making people kneel, and her knees are like a cone on the hard ground, and it is difficult to endure for a moment. Ying Ning only begged them not to embarrass themselves at the moment, she would never say those flattering words, and there was no silver on her body to send away, whether she was alive or dead, it was probably a sentence from the jade mama in front of her.

And they weren't called up immediately, and there was a cool and warm voice from the top of their heads, "When you enter this palace city, you are all holy people,"

This is the Imperial Palace! There is still such a dilapidated and dark place in the palace, is this the Huanyi Bureau? Thankfully, don't be betrayed by a traitor.

Soon, Mama Yu's words confirmed Yingning's guess: "As the daughter of a criminal minister, no matter how much glory and wealth she had before, it is already a passing thing, so it's better to forget it as soon as possible." After entering the Huanyi Bureau, you will be a lowly minion all your life, and you will never want to escape from this place for the rest of your life. I advise you to keep to yourself, don't cause trouble, obediently listen to the words of the main affairs, and all are fine, but if anyone has a different heart, there has always been no shortage of dead and ghosts in the backyard of this Huanyi Bureau, I want to do you, God does not know the ghosts and ghosts......"

A few people below were silent, only Luo Yu trembled and said, "Mama, I will be obedient and will not cause you trouble." ”

"When did I let you speak?"

When Luo Yu heard this, he was almost frightened, and he lay on the ground and didn't dare to come out anymore.

Mama said in a deep voice: "When you enter a place like the palace, you can only save your life by doing what you don't say, just listening and not asking, but you understand?" ”

"The slave and maid understand." The four of them nodded again and again, for fear of angering Mama Yu, so they were dragged out.

Mama Yu nodded and said, "Get up, follow them to send work." ”

Ying Ning's eyes swept over the other four palace maids standing beside Mama Yu, all of them expressionless and unsmiling. What kind of place should this be?

Finally, out of the small room where he had stayed overnight, he followed the four palace maids and walked forward quickly. Ying Ning found that she hadn't actually entered the palace or the Huanyi Bureau, but was locked up in a courtyard outside the west of the palace.

Entering the side gate of Xihua Gate, Ying Ning lowered her head and walked on the long road, the towering palace walls on both sides, this road was so long that she felt that she could not finish it in her life.

Suddenly, someone came in front of her, and a palace maid quickly pulled Yingning to the side, and knelt down after more than ten steps away from them.

The palace maid whispered to them: "In this palace, in addition to the palace maid and eunuch, the master is the nobleman, and everything that is encountered on the road in the future must be actively avoided, kneel and salute, if you meet the sedan chair of the master and the master, you will kowtow three times." ”

Ying Ning knelt down again, her knees hurting. The person in front of her got closer and closer, she secretly observed the palace maid beside her, she didn't kowtow, she also lay quietly, her head lowered, and she didn't dare to move.

"I said fifth brother, why should you let him, Yan Yu's kid has no one in his eyes, it is estimated that he is also forced to be anxious, the Nie family has fallen to this step, I think the Nie family can still be in the palace for a few days."

Fu Lingtian was angry when he thought of Yan Yu's arrogance, saying that he was here to beg for someone, but in front of Yan Chen, he didn't look like he was begging for anyone, and he used his eldest brother to pressure him every word.

Yan Chen sneered: "What are you anxious about, without the backer of the Nie family, there is no Prime Minister Nie Cheng to advise him, see how he can pounce." ”

"You regard him as a brother, but he is not, at this time, the dog jumps over the wall to ask his father for the power of your army, and I don't know how those brothers can be dispatched by him." Fu Lingtian was very unwilling, the eldest prince deceived people too much.

Yan Chen didn't speak, and saw two rows of palace maids kneeling in front of him, several of them were wearing non-palace clothes, and it was time that there were new palace people entering the palace. I saw that there was a palace person in the back row, after all, it was a newcomer, there were no rules, Yan Chen frowned, and walked over without stopping.

When Fu Lingtian passed by them, he suddenly whispered to them, "Don't look at indecent things, don't listen to indecent people." After saying that, he quickly chased after him.

Luo Yu was frightened, she just wanted to see who the noble man was and what he looked like, and she looked at two young men from a distance, so she wanted to take a sneak look. I didn't expect to be discovered by them, but fortunately they didn't pull her out just now, otherwise she would have only a dead end, and at this time, seeing Mama Yu's face, she may not be better.

Yan Chen walked a few steps, and suddenly felt that there was a familiar figure in the palace maids, turned around, and found that the group of palace maids got up and walked forward, leaving only the scolding voice of the leading old lady.

Yan Chen shook his head, it couldn't be her, he had already sent someone to send her out of the capital, how could she appear in the palace.

When Ying Ning finally waited for them to walk over and stood up to walk forward, she stumbled a little because she had been kneeling for too long. Mama Yu in front of her was still sternly admonishing Luo Yu, ": How many lives do you have to look up?" What I just said fell on deaf ears? ”

"Mama spared me this time, I didn't mean to, I won't do it again next time." Luo Yu was about to cry urgently, what Mama Yu just said in the house was still in her head, she didn't want to be a ghost in this palace.

"Hmph, this will know that you are afraid, if you don't give me a lesson, I see that you have no memory, I don't think you will eat today's meal, just kneel outside, wait for enough hours to kneel, remember the rules, and naturally someone will lead you in." As she spoke, Mama Yu took a few people into the Huanyi Bureau, leaving Luo Yu alone to kneel outside.

Ying Ning first came to Chadao, and she didn't dare to speak for Luo Yu, Mama Yu was not a kind person, and she couldn't provoke her for such a person. Ying Ning has only heard of the Huanyi Bureau, but when she really enters this bitter cold place, she can truly appreciate the misery of the palace maids inside. As soon as you enter the door, you will be hung with clothes and quilts in the drying field and cloth field, different from the place outside the Huanyi Bureau, here is bleak and lonely, the flowers and trees have long been ruined, looking at a plain color, the rough palace maids are numb, or walking quickly with a basin, or washing in cold water, or receiving copper bucket clothes, each performing its duties, without words, can only hear the beating and scolding of the aunt in charge, and the sound of laundry water.

Mama Yu commanded a palace maid named Zixiang for a while, and then she left with her hands.

"Come with me." Zixiang said to them.

Yingning walked through the drying field, turned into a courtyard along the bluestone path, and saw Zixiang blessing Fu'an to one of the housekeepers and aunts inside, and she also followed Fu'an.

"Aunt Chun, I brought four people here today, I have long heard that there is a shortage of people on your side, so you can pick two first." Zixiang spoke respectfully, and the aunt in front of her seemed to have a lot of style.

Aunt Chun's face was thin, her cheekbones were sunken, she pursed her thin lips, put her hands behind her back, and looked at them in front of her with a cold gaze, she was not a good person at first glance, Ying Ning secretly prayed in her heart not to choose herself, she looked at this Aunt Chun and trembled in her heart.

"Why did you bring these people here? I'm here to mend clothes, you should know that these two years are too young, I'm afraid I won't even be able to hold a needle. Sensing that Aunt Chun was looking at her, Ying Ning lowered her head, Aunt Chun should be talking about her and another little girl.

Zixiang said with a smile: "There have been no newcomers in this palace for a long time, and these four have just been punished by the above, and I have received someone and brought them to you immediately." ”

"You said four, but what about another?"

"Something wrong, kneeling in the door."

"If the new palace people don't understand the rules, they will be punished more, how old is that kneeling one?"

"About fourteen or fifteen years old."

"That's it, just leave this one and the one kneeling outside." Aunt Chun pointed at Wen'er and said.

Ying Ning breathed a sigh of relief when she heard this.

"Alas, those two girls will trouble your aunt to train you well, and I will bring her in as soon as Luo Yu is punished."

"Don't worry, just let her kneel, I don't care what she does, she only enters my hospital, she must be someone who understands the rules."

Zixiang nodded hurriedly": What my aunt said is that the slave maid still has something, so I won't bother my aunt. ”

"Go ahead."

Zixiang took Yingning and another little girl out of the yard, and then bypassed a yard, pointed to a row of low houses in front of them and said to them: "There is a pulp washing room in front, you must stay there, life is a little harder," Zixiang looked around again and whispered, "But I always followed Aunt Chun, I heard that one person was killed in her yard yesterday......"

When Yingning and the two heard this, they were frightened, fortunately they were not looked down upon by Aunt Chun, but Yingning was a little worried about Wen'er.