Chapter Forty-Eight: The Crucifixion of the Red Beads
"This palace looks at her, and she doesn't have this ability, the women from the land of the Southern Barbarians are all childish in doing things, and they are not enough to worry about." Satisfied with what Concubine Yi said, Concubine Hua swallowed a melon seed and looked up at the imperial garden.
"Who's that?"
Concubine Yi followed Concubine Hua's gaze and saw two figures sitting under the willow tree on the other side of the lake.
"It seems to be the red bead in Concubine Xiao's palace, and the new imperial doctor."
"Hmph, the upper beam is not right and the lower beam is crooked, the master behaves inappropriately, and there was a scandal with General Miao Jiang before, and now the subordinates are also learning from her foxy appearance."
After staring at the two people for a long time, Concubine Hua threw the melon seeds in her hand on the stone table, and said sharply: "Go back to the palace!"
"Look at this, does it look good?" Pu Julian took out a wreath made of willow branches from her back, and between the branches there were colorful and gorgeous seasonal flowers.
"Wow, it's so beautiful, did you make it yourself?" Hongzhu's face was full of surprise and she smiled very happily.
"Come, I'll put it on for you." Stretch out your hands and gently place the wreath on Hongzhu's head.
"It's so pretty." Looking at Hongzhu's clean and delicate face, Pu Julian said.
The two of them were sitting and playing happily under the willow tree by the lake, but they didn't know that a pair of eyes were staring at them viciously in the pavilion in the distance.
The queen asked Tang Ningnan to personally handle each of the concubines' standing recitations, prayer offerings, and negotiations with the monks of Bodhi Garden, so that she could be sure of everything in her heart, so that when she operated alone in the future, she would not be clear about the correct etiquette.
It turned out that the assistant harem was not a good errand, it was equivalent to a thankless cadre in Tang Ningnan's era, responsible for palace affairs, and beware of that lady who was jealous and framed her, Tang Ningnan was studying and preparing for several days.
Finally, on the day of praying, the queen knelt in front and took the concubines to worship the statues, chanted and prayed, and put incense on the outside, followed by Tang Ningnan and Concubine Hua, and the concubines did not need to be incensed.
After the incense, they also have to hand over their hand-copied scriptures to the monks of Bodhi Garden for them to burn on their behalf, and the concubines need to chant outside, and they have to kneel for two hours when they kneel.
"I'm dying of exhaustion, some places of the ancients were really terrible, just kneel for a few hours, will it rain in the sky?" An hour and a half passed, Tang Ningnan knelt with a sore body, and complained fiercely in his heart.
Two hours finally passed, and Tang Ningnan stood up tremblingly under Bizhu's support.
"My legs are almost gone, and I've never knelt for so long." Tang Ningnan's legs were numb by the weight, and she was almost unconscious, but she still needed to preside over it later, even if the pain now wanted to make her grin unconsciously, she still had to hold back and make a calm expression.
"Sisters have worked hard, today's chanting has ended, sisters go back to the palace separately." Tang Ningnan turned to the group of concubines and said.
"Yes, the concubine is retired." So the concubines, supported by their respective palace maids, prepared to get up and go back to the palace.
"Oops, I'm sorry, I'm sorry."
Hongzhu turned around, but collided with Bai Shao next to Concubine Hua, today Bai Shao apologized first, which was completely different from the previous appearance of relying on her master's swagger.
All the concubines were attracted by this sound and stopped.
"It was me who was careless, I'm sorry, ah, Miss Redbead's thing dropped." Bai Shao apologized as she picked up a purse from the ground and handed it to Hongzhu.
The moment Hongzhu took the purse, a white object fell out of the purse.
"This red bead girl is really strange, other girls are in their purses with some spices, small jewelry or something, what are you putting here?" Concubine Hua on the side looked at the things that fell on the ground, pinched her throat, and said in a strange tone.
Hongzhu also felt strange, it was right that the purse was hers, but she had never seen the contents herself.
Bai Shao's eyes quickly picked up the white object again, and when she picked it up, she saw clearly what it was, it was a white man's obscene clothes.
"What is this, take it away, don't stain the eyes of this palace." Concubine Hua hurriedly covered her mouth and nose with a handkerchief, turned sideways, and looked extremely disgusting.
Seeing this, the concubines in the back also covered their faces with handkerchiefs and did not dare to look directly.
"Amitabha, pray for the holy land, how can there be such an obscene thing, donor, I am afraid that this thing will provoke the wrath of the gods and implicate the innocent people in the great drought." The abbot, who was standing next to the idol, folded his hands and said slowly.
"Master Huiyuan, what did you say, the gods are angry?"
"Back to Concubine Hua, all of you are here to ask for rain in Huaizhong today, and now they are destroyed by this benefactor, and the gods are angry, I am afraid that the people of Huaizhong will not be able to wait for the rain, but will be dry for many days."
"Ahh Then I'm the people! Concubine Hua took a few steps back, her face shocked.
Tang Ningnan looked at her with a gloomy expression, it seemed that she was thinking about trying to frame them Rong Yuxuan again, just to see how she could act.
"You, you don't know how to check, forget it, and bring this filthy thing to the Bodhi Garden, destroying the prayer for blessing and rain, can you bear the lives of the people in the world?" Concubine Hua turned her head and scolded Hongzhu, who had already knelt on the ground.
"Niangniang Ming checked, this dirty dress is not the slave's, and the slave didn't do such a thing." Hongzhu hurriedly kowtowed, so anxious that tears came out, Tang Ningnan was distressed and wanted to help her up, but was pulled by the queen behind her.
"Miss Hongzhu, of course we know that this is not yours, this is obviously a man's profane clothes, naturally it can't be what you are wearing, if I guess correctly, it should be Pu Julian Pu Taiyi, right? I've seen the two of you together more than once in the Imperial Garden. Zhang Jieyu, who was standing behind, pushed everyone away and said in an unquestionable tone.
"Okay, the human and material evidence is there, do you still dare to quibble, come here, arrest the palace and let the grandmother there discipline well." Concubine Hua shouted at the guards outside the palace.
"Bengu will see who dares to move!" Tang Ningnan saw that the guards were about to take away the red beads, so he stood up despite the queen's obstruction.
"Concubine Xiao, as a concubine, you can't discipline the palace people well, do you still want to come out to defend this cheap maid?"
"Whether this thing is Hongzhu or not is still to be decided, Concubine Hua is so anxious that she wants to take Hongzhu away, I'm afraid it's not a thief."
"You, you mean this thing was put in by the main palace? This "Concubine Hua was angry and pointed at Tang Ningnan with her index finger wearing long armor.
"This palace didn't say that you put this dirty clothes in, even this purse was deliberately thrown here by you."
"You dare to doubt Bengong like this, what is this's ability to make Bengong bother targeting her"
"Hongzhu, is this purse yours?" Tang Ningnan leaned down and asked Hongzhu softly.
"Little master, purse, yes, it's a slave." Hongzhu said with a sob.
"Did you hear it, this admitted that the purse was hers, why did she take it down from the palace."
"Yes." The guards outside the door obeyed the order and came in to suppress the red beads.
"Little master, the dirty clothes inside are really not the slave's, the slaves are wronged, the little master, you have to believe the slaves." Hongzhu, who was taken away by the guards, cried and shouted at Tang Ningnan
Seeing the crying Hongzhu, Tang Ningnan was very distressed and wanted to step forward to stop it, but was stopped by the queen: "Now that the human and material evidence is there, if you defend her, you will be bitten by Concubine Hua to cover up the crime, and we will think of saving Hongzhu later."
"Who are you? How did you enter my house without permission? Pu Julian, who came back from the Tai Hospital, saw that her residence was also searched by a group of guards.
"Offended, Imperial Doctor Pu, the minions are acting on orders." The leading guard stopped him at the door.
One of the guards took something out of the room and handed it to the lead guard, a purse, and saw that the pattern and the red beads were put together.
"What are you doing, give it back to me, what can you do with a purse." Pu Julian stretched out her hand to grab it, but was pushed away by the leading guard.
"I'm sorry, Imperial Doctor Pu, this is evidence, we have to take it away from Anhui tourism." After speaking, he left Pu Julian's residence with a group of people, leaving only a house that had been turned into a mess.
Why did they take the purse that Hongzhu gave me, and say it was evidence? Could it be that something happened to Hongzhu? Pu Julian felt that something was wrong in her heart, and sped up her pace to Rong Yuxuan.
"What should I do, Queen Mother, Concubine Hua came on purpose for the red beads, and she couldn't deal with me, so she took the red beads." Tang Ningnan's usual ghost ideas couldn't come up at this time.
"What kind of place is that palace punishment, if you get there, you will not really be beaten into a trick, even if you can come out in the end, most of the rest of your life will be wasted." Tang Ningnan was in a hurry in the palace.
The queen comforted her and said: "Don't worry, Concubine Hua's crime of catching the red beads is undoubtedly that she lost her purse in Bodhi Garden, revealing her private things, causing the gods to be angry, and the drought in Huaizhong cannot be solved. ”
"However, that thing was obviously deliberately put in by someone, even if it has no effect on the drought in Huaizhong, Concubine Hua will still not put the red beads out on the grounds of the crime of filthy palace."
"Then why don't we go and find the emperor, it stands to reason that Mrs. Pu is your and the emperor's savior, Concubine Hua doesn't dare to do anything with him, let's go and beg the emperor." The queen said again.
"You don't have to go to the emperor, I met Su Mingju on the road, the emperor is discussing with Prime Minister Sima Cheng in Chaohui Hall about the rebellion of the army, the drought in Huaizhong is the emperor's heart, so to say, it will put Hongzhu in a disadvantageous state." Outside the door, Pu Julian hurried in.
After listening to Tang Ningnan, he understood the outline of the whole thing.
"The key now is to prove that the profane garment was not brought into the Bodhi Garden by the red beads, but that someone deliberately framed it." At this time, Pu Julian was the calmest one.
"However, Concubine Hua has arranged it early in the morning, how can we find the flaw, Bai Shao is the person next to Concubine Hua, and she will not tell the truth if she is killed."
"Does Niangniang really believe what Master Huiyuan said? A profane garment will provoke the gods to anger and not rain rain. Pu Julian asked Tang Ningnan rhetorically.