At the end of the day's duty, except for the sisters who were on the night shift, everyone lined up, came out of the Kunning Palace without squinting, and walked all the way to their residence along the edge of the road - there are not many buildings near the Kunning Palace, and the palace maids generally cannot stay in the palace, unlike the Yong'an Palace, in addition to the night shift palace maids on duty, there are also some rooms for decent old ladies to use. And the palace maids are best to go in pairs, the most taboo to travel alone, now that a group of people are on a business trip, they naturally gathered into a team, reminded each other, maintained the dignity of the queen's palace, and went back to their residence on the edge of Jingshan.

After all, it is the people of Kunning Palace, and it is not much different from the ordinary court, and the envoys of Qingning Palace and Kunning Palace occupy the most haode row of rooms, although they are not as grand as the eunuchs and eunuchs who live - now they all live in small courtyards. But a row of three-entry rooms, even if it is a new entrant, can be used for two people, which is considered a great dignity among the people.

It wasn't until they entered the house that everyone relaxed, and laughter immediately filled the small hut, and the girls were busy preparing their own washing, and those with a little less seniority had to boil more hot water and send it to their 'sister' and 'master', and the young ladies with more seniority made an appointment to enter a one-person room, sat cross-legged on the kang, and immediately talked about the news released by Mama Zhou today.

"Believe it or not." Liu'er rolled her eyes, and unceremoniously spit out two pieces of melon seed skin from her companion, "Why am I lying to you, aren't I standing in front of the queen today, when Old Mama Zhou came in to reply, she heard it so really, she was going to let people out!" ”

In front of the master, they are gourds without mouths, in fact, how can people really be the same as gourds? A few friends, you and I said a word, and quickly pieced together all the news.

"It's true," Wufu who spoke was the doorman, "You don't know yet, I heard what the two boys at the door said, the concubine mentioned this, and the old lady agreed to it." From the third day of the new year, ten people in the first house can go out to visit relatives in shifts. Accompanied by her husbands, she goes to work during the day and comes back at night, and she is not allowed to stay overnight. Only ten people are allowed, and the list will be opened up a year ago. ”

Such a visit to relatives, naturally, can only be a palace maid who lives in Beijing to have this blessing, Liu'er glanced at his little apprentice sourly, "It's cheap for you!" ”

Most of the palace maids are selected nearby, and these people who have served all the way from Nanjing, their hometowns are naturally in the south, even if they can release the palace, it is meaningless, so they can only give the opportunity to the juniors who have been selected in recent years. A few little characters are very wise, knowing that they can't talk nonsense at this time, they just pursed their mouths and smiled happily, took a white cloth to pad their hands, carried a copper kettle and scalded the teapot and cups, and made a pot of tea, "Sisters, drink tea, slave boil pot water, wash your feet." ”

Such diligence also made Liu'er a little calmer, and seeing that there were no outsiders in the house, she couldn't help but sigh softly, "It would be nice if the concubine Niangniang took charge of the house earlier......"

"It's never too early for us to be in Nanjing." Wufu tilted her head and knocked on the melon seeds, her eyes blinking - her hometown is not in Beijing.

Liu'er stopped talking, stared at the round teapot, and after a while, said, "Hey, have you heard?" ”

"What did you hear?" Wufu poured a cup of tea and tasted it shallowly, "Hey, how can you taste the same as the melon slices you tasted in the pantry?" It's your family again! Look at you, now you are the same two people as before, and how much worse is the food than the master? ”

Liu'er didn't pay attention to Wufu's words, she said in a deep voice, "It seems like the first two years...... There are people who go out on the New Year's Day of Yong'an Palace. ”

"But what about it?" Everyone in the room gasped, and Wufu put down the tea in his hand, "Who did you listen to?" The one in your family? ”

"Anyway, there's such a thing, quietly, going out several times, and coming back the same day after going out." Liu'er lowered her voice, "In the past, Yong'an Palace also sent human milk out, you know this, right?" They all begged the imperial grandfather, and the imperial grandfather agreed. Just like our current rules, the decent palace maids and nurses on their side go out to visit relatives in shifts. ――Just after the concubine Niangniang was promoted. ”

There was a low exclamation in the room, and even Wufu couldn't speak for a while, she looked at the corner of the room in a daze, and only woke up after a while, "It's not right, don't talk about the red and grass that they went out, aren't the blue and flowers all the old people around the concubine?" And our generation, too, are from the south—"

"It's that after the concubine Niangniang was promoted, the mother's family took over Lan'er and Hua'er's family." Liu'er couldn't hold back in the end, revealing a hint of envy, "It's hard to say whether the family is coming up, anyway, I heard Lan'er say last time that her brother has settled in Beijing and married a sister-in-law." ”

The palace maids of the national dynasty are worthless, and the eunuchs can mix with the decent ones in front of the mother, and they have to bring their families over, but no one has heard of anyone who has this ability, not to mention anything else, they can't get out of the palace, and it is difficult to communicate with their families. Unless it is a few nurturing grandmothers in one palace, there may be a little way, such as Liu'er and Wufu, who have been in the palace for a few years, and have not seen their families for a few years. When Wufu heard Liu'er's words, he was so envious that he couldn't even speak, and after a long time, he smiled and said, "They are blessed!" We can't compare to ......."

"What's not comparable?" Mama Zhou's voice sounded outside the window, and everyone in the room jumped up in fright, Liu'er's tea spilled, and she didn't care about wiping it, she and Wufu exchanged a frightened look, and quickly squeezed out a smiling face, and stepped forward to open the curtain for Mama Zhou in a few steps.

"Mama, are you on duty?" She greeted with a smile, "Come in and sit down, we have a good melon slice from our family, you can have a drink......

Mama Zhou entered the house, sat down on the top without giving up, Liu'er personally poured a cup of tea for her, and commanded her sister-in-law to go to Mama Zhou's room to light the stove and boil the water - after dedicating this long period of hospitality, Mama Zhou showed a little smile, she glanced at Liu'er, "Speaking of blessings, who can compare to us?" If you want to say this again, I will go for you and change you to serve in Yong'an Palace, what do you say? ”

Liu'er was so frightened that his face turned pale, but Wufu was a little disapproving, "Good grandma, Ming people don't say dark words, is it interesting for us to say this?" You are in Yong'an Palace, and you have been out for two years, but it is better than sending letters again and again? I don't know how long our grandfather's illness can last, so let's take a look at it! ”

Mama Zhou glared at her, but she didn't get angry - Wufu worshiped at her knees when she entered the palace, kowtowed and recognized her godmother, and now the monthly money and rewards are all received from her. "Just say a few words! Still think the mother is not enough to block the heart? But if she wants to get that good face, she has already come up with such a rule, and it's not a difficult thing, can Niangniang still embarrass us? ”

"Why are you blocked again?" Wufu was stunned, and he hadn't kept up with the rhythm, "Didn't you just poke the basket at that end?" It's too late to be happy—"

"Poke a fart basket," Mama Zhou pouted, and exploded. "Today, the Qianqing Palace is going to the Shanggong Bureau, and people are going to the palaces to spread the message that they are not allowed to use colored satin to tie flowers this winter, not even colored paper, and it is expensive to say that it is pigment. I was just about to come back, and the letter came, but no, it was delayed until this time. ”

"Huh?" Whether it was Liu'er or Wufu, they didn't expect things to change like this, and the room was stunned, "This, how could it be-why did it alarm the imperial grandfather again?" ”

"But it's not all," Mama Zhou snorted, "The Queen Mother also sent a message to the Shanggong Bureau, saying that the concubine Niangniang was simple and pure, outspoken and courageous, and was a model for the concubines. ”

Liu'er laughed in surprise, "This-this is true?" Mama, don't be surprised, it sounds like it's real and fake! ”

"It's true, Liu Shanggong said it himself when he came to deliver the letter, who of you could have imagined that there is such a thing in the world?" Mama Zhou's mood was very low, and she didn't even feel sorry for the queen, she sighed, "Alas, poor Niangniang, after hearing about it, I can't even eat dinner......"

Although he envied Yong'an Palace, since he entered Kunning Palace, there was no reason to change his course. The tendency of the queen mother and the emperor is so obvious, people naturally empathize with each of them and fully understand the feelings of the queen mother. Everyone didn't even have the strength to speak, and after a while, they scattered, Liu'er and Wufu washed together, and both of them didn't feel sleepy for a while, so they leaned against the wall, and talked about the idle article without a match.

Pulling and pulling, they all fell silent, and it was Wufu who opened his mouth first. "Hey, you say...... This queen mother will not be able to get up if she is sick......"

"Don't talk nonsense." Liu'er's heart skipped a beat, and he reflexively scolded before he woke up - this was in his own room, and he could still talk about something.

Her tone softened. "What nonsense, the mother can't get up, what else do you have to do? When the time comes, you will be happy to be buried with you? ”

"I didn't mean that......" Wufu hurriedly explained. I—I mean...... In case of this, if Niangniang is sick, she can't get up, she can't be a director, just like Hu Niangniang in front of her...... Now this is not stronger than when our mother was a concubine? When our mother was a concubine, the old lady was very pressed, and now, the old lady held her up...... The emperor likes it that way......"

Not to mention anything else, the most popular and authoritative in this palace, if it is replaced by a noble concubine, maybe this row of good houses will not be the turn of Liu'er and Wufu to live, just find an excuse, Lan'er and Hua'er will be able to move in and show off their might......

Liu'er's heart was sour, her thoughts were churning, and after a while, she said a little dullly, "Why do you think so much?" Whoever goes up and who goes down, we can't eat a bite to eat. Let me tell you, you tell your godmother, there is not much silver per month, and it is okay to give it to her, so you are willing to give it to you? Last time, you coaxed the mother so happy, it was easy to get a plum blossom hairpin, and then it fell into her hands again, who knows if you can get it back? ”

Seeing that Wufu was silent, she continued to herself, "I just thought, Niangniang just can't get up from being sick all the time, that's fine." The concubine is in charge, and she can go out once a year, so I ask someone to bring a letter to our family, so that they can also come up, and I have saved some silver and those jewels over the years, and I have put them out for money. My father and mother have been digging the soil all their lives, and they will rest for a few years when they are late......"

The more she talked, the more reliable she felt, and in a blink of an eye, she secretly hoped that the queen would be so sick, even, even ......

Wufu looked at Liu'er for a while, and saw her looking at the beams of the house, with a faint smile on the corner of her lips, as if she was already immersed in her own thoughts, and couldn't help but sigh enviously - where could she hide the reward she received from the queen mother?

She stabbed Liu'er a little sourly, "When people were just promoted to concubines, you didn't have good things to say about her, and now it's a mother, a mother, a mother......"

"Go, go, go." Liu'er didn't pay attention to Wufu at all, she waved her hand impatiently, and immersed herself in her happy imagination again: Daddy, a small house in Beijing, once a year, can see each other for a day......

#

Xu Xun didn't expect that the Queen Mother's determination was so strong, she actually didn't expect that the Qianqing Palace would issue this edict to reprimand excessive extravagance. It's just that when Qianqing Palace posted the article, although she was surprised, she was also happy to see it, but when she heard her name appear in the mouth of the teachings in the women's school, her mood was really mixed.

This is a class in zuihou a year ago, so it is relatively short, it is not dark when the class is over, Xu Xun wanted to go back to the palace directly to find someone to ask clearly, but it is different from usual - today, not only the concubines, Li Jieyu, Yuan concubines, and even those who have not come over for a long time to come over to flatter, also gathered around to greet and flatter Xu Xun, making her annoyed, casually entertained a few words, and quickly broke free, and even got on the sedan chair with a little embarrassment.

This matter is not a secret, just ask a priest and tell you everything, and ask the emperor the next night, what else do the two of them not understand? The Queen Mother wants to highlight Xu Xun, there are many means, what does it matter if the Qianqing Palace does not mention Xu Xun in an edict? As long as this edict is issued, it shows that the emperor is inclined to Xu Xun. She herself was generous enough to let people record this matter and compile it into a teaching material, and a court tale was naturally born, one humbly accepted advice and changed it when it knew its mistakes, and the other was simple and cherished and courageous to admonish, both of them can be said to be models of female virtue, and they are also worth learning from future generations......

Fart.

Xu Xun can be regarded as understanding the emperor's mood, although she has never liked the queen mother very much, and even when she favored herself, she had an instinctive fear of her, but for the current situation, she still felt a greasy taste from the bottom of her heart.

Thinking of the polite conversation between the two when she went to ask the Queen Mother for her guilt, she couldn't help but tremble slightly, and when the emperor saw it, he asked, "Why are you so afraid?" ”

"I want to ......" Xu Xun sighed, "The old lady can crush the queen to death, and it doesn't all depend on her identity......"

Saying that, she couldn't help but smile to herself, "I kind of understand where the queen's style comes from, the old lady who has learned everything, but unfortunately, she is still a little bit short of the key, not like the old lady......"

"What's missing?" The Emperor asked.

Xu Xun didn't dare to say - the queen mother was the emperor's mother after all, and she only shouted silently in her heart: It's almost shameless!

"Are you going to let the old lady play like this?" She didn't answer the rhetorical question and changed the subject. "In this way, the queen's condition, I'm afraid it will get a little worse."

The Emperor raised his eyebrows and smiled a little in surprise. "Xiao Xun, what do you mean by this, do you want to curb your own mother-in-law? That's my mother! ”

The word zuihou, he bit it particularly hard - indeed, in terms of filial piety, just occupying the position of the biological mother can make the queen mother invincible in the palace. In this game, all her opponents may lose out and fall into a situation where they have nothing, and for the Queen Mother, the worst situation is just to leave the game and enjoy wealth and glory.

And she wants to move Xu Xun's chess piece, it is simply Xu Xun's honor, how can she really be out of the game if she says she is unwilling?