The cool breeze rises at the end of the day, and the yellow leaves bring the chill of autumn, looking at the accumulation of yellow leaves all over the ground, Wei Zifu can't help but think of a scene a few months ago.

"Zifu, the mourning family knows your intentions for Che'er, but the current government is unstable, and the mourning family is worried that the variables of the previous dynasty will affect the harem, so the mourning family will temporarily send you to the palace as a maid, I hope you take care of the overall situation, and don't worry about Che'er for your own selfishness. Do you understand what the mourners say? The Queen Mother looked at Wei Zifu meaningfully and said slowly.

Although Wei Zifu didn't understand the stakes, she had already understood that although Liu Che was the king of a country, many things were out of his own hands, and the Queen Mother was Liu Che's biological mother, so everything must be for him. ”

The queen mother bowed slightly, called the eunuchs in the palace to pack a few clothes, and then took Wei Zifu to the palace of Chufang.

When he first walked into this cold palace, Wei Zifu didn't believe his eyes. Although he has only been in the palace for a few months, he has seen all the richness and magnificence, and the palace in front of him is dilapidated and dilapidated, like an old man, with a body of illness, and this carved dragon and phoenix, step by step splendid heavenly palace is simply incompatible.

"Ahem... Cough! A cough came from the inner hall, and the eunuchs of Changle Palace couldn't help frowning in disgust when they saw this, handed over Wei Zifu's burden, and said: "Miss Wei, the old slave will send you here, inside is the emperor's Tian Meiren, now this situation is coughing like this, the old slave will not be exposed to this bad luck, girl, please take care of yourself!" With that, he turned and left.

Wei Zifu was not reluctant, took the burden and thanked him, and walked into the inner courtyard alone and knocked on the door.

The yellow temple door with carved dark lattices in the past is now mottled and peeled off everywhere, and it is covered with traces of time, with a kind of vicissitudes of isolation, although it is summer at this time, but here, there is no trace of vitality.

For a long time, no one came, Wei Zifu gently pushed the door open, and with a "creak", there was a bright beam of light in the gray hall, enveloping this place covered with a layer of dust from time.

"Who are you?" An elderly palace maid came out of the room when she heard the voice, looked at Wei Zifu and asked in surprise.

Wei Zifu hurriedly stepped forward and bowed: "The palace man Wei Zifu came to serve the beauty in the name of the Queen Mother. ”

"On the orders of the Queen Mother?" The old palace maid's eyes were a little suspicious, she hesitated for a moment, and said in a low voice: "Come with me!" After that, he turned around and walked into the inner hall, Wei Zifu didn't dare to slack off, and hurriedly followed behind.

If it weren't for the inner room of the palace, it would be common, but in the imperial city covered with gold and jade, it would be too simple, there was no brocade silk tent, no screen block, and some were just a half-old beauty lying down, a four-legged table with palace spikes and a mahogany couch with gold leaf feet. Leaning on the couch is a woman about thirty years old, simply combing a falling horse bun, willow eyebrows and phoenix eyes, goose face shape, it can be seen that she was also a beautiful woman when she was young, she may have lived in this remote cold palace all year round, although she is on fat powder, she can't hide the paleness in the bottom.

She is suitable for the Tian beauty that the waiter said in the mouth, Wei Zifu stepped forward and saluted: "The palace man Wei Zifu came to serve on the order of the Queen Mother, and the beauty is blessed and Chitose!" ”

"Beauty? Hahaha... Beauty," said the woman, and then burst into a horrifying laugh, "Do you think I'm still a beauty?" This was followed by a cough that continued.

"Lady, lady... You have to hold on to your body..."The old palace maid said with a crying voice, constantly stroking the woman's back, and her eyes were full of concern.

"Auntie, what else do I have to hold on to my body, it's just a handful of ashes in this imperial city, who cares?" The woman's eyes were glistening with tears, and she still coughed uncontrollably.

Wei Zifu didn't expect that his ordinary words would make the woman so moved, so he hurriedly lowered his head and confessed: "The slave and maid rushed into Tian..." But the old palace maid opened her mouth: "The old slave thanked the Queen Mother for her kindness for Tian Meiren, the beauty is weak, you can step back for the time being." ”

Wei Zifu also felt that he was very redundant here and now, and when he thought about it, he couldn't help but feel sad, and he agreed to retreat.

After staying in the Chufang Palace for a little longer, Tian Meiren still has a cold face, and she can't say a word to Wei Zifu all day long. However, this palace maid named Shu Yu has been with her for a long time, so she gradually got closer, and slowly, Wei Zifu also learned about Tian Meiren's past from Shu Yu's mouth.

Tian Meiren is the palace that Emperor Jing entered in the second year, and was first named a beloved, because she was the same person as Emperor Jing's favorite concubine, Mrs. Li, so the two went quite close. Emperor Jing was named a beauty in the fourth year, and in the same year, Mrs. Li's son Liu Rong was canonized as the crown prince, and his fate began to change since this year.

Mrs. Li has always been narrow-minded, and she doesn't like Emperor Jing to have many concubines on her side, and she can't bear it before Liu Rong is made the prince, and after Liu Rong is established as the prince, the resentment in her heart for many years finally broke out in an instant. In addition to doing everything possible to avoid Emperor Jing from contacting the palace concubines, he also privately ordered other concubines not to serve Emperor Jing, because she is the crown prince's biological mother, is the future queen of the Han Dynasty, the queen mother, so all the palace people dare to be angry and dare not speak, since then Tian Meiren has gradually fallen out of favor with Emperor Jing, and then moved into the palace of Chufang.

In the seventh year of Emperor Jing, the crown prince Liu Rong was deposed, and Mrs. Li finally died of depression, but Emperor Jing no longer remembered the Tian Meiren he loved in the past. Until the collapse of Emperor Jing, Tian Meiren still stayed in this palace of Zhufang, living a half-separated cold palace life. Originally, there were a few palace maids who followed Tian Meiren, and when they saw that she was down, they each found a reason to leave the Chufang Palace. However, Shu Yu was Tian Meiren's aunt at the beginning, and she has been by her side since she was a family member until now.

-----

"Zifu, why are you stunned, come and help me pick out black charcoal." Shu Yu bent down and walked into the inner courtyard with a basket of charcoal for heating, and saw Wei Zifu looking at the yellow leaves all over the ground, and couldn't help shouting.

As soon as Wei Zifu looked up and saw Shu Yu coming back with the charcoal fire, he hurriedly put away his thoughts, quickly stepped forward to take it, looked at the amount of charcoal in the basket, and couldn't help but say: "Auntie, these charcoal fires seem to be less for the winter." ”

Shu Yu sighed and said helplessly: "Isn't it, since the lady moved here to the Fang Palace, what year has the charcoal fire been given in full amount?" ”

"It's just that the amount is worse, but I also sandwiched a lot of black charcoal in the charcoal, which made the lady's body worse and worse, and the cough was aggravated by the smoke every time it was cold." Looking at the black charcoal mixed in the charcoal in the basin, Shu Yu sighed heavily.

Wei Zifu leaned down and picked out the black charcoal mixed in it, and comforted Shu Yu with kind words: "Auntie, no matter how we still have these charcoal fires for the winter, it's better than those who don't even have charcoal!" ”

"Zifu, you can always comfort me like this, but this year's charcoal is less than in previous years, how can the lady survive the winter like this..."

Shu Yu looked at the black charcoal picked out on the ground and shook his head repeatedly.

"Auntie, it's not cold yet, you and I can hold on to a little bit on weekdays, and give the extra to the lady, and the lady can always barely survive the winter when it's cold." Although Wei Zifu was also worried in his heart, he knew better the helplessness of the current situation, so he could only save a little bit.

Shu Yu nodded, with a hint of apology in his eyes: "Zifu, you are really a good girl, I have wronged you with us." ”

Wei Zifu smiled: "Auntie, you treat Zifu as an outsider!" Shu Yu looked at Wei Zifu and couldn't help but smile, the two of them lowered their heads again to pick up the black charcoal, the cold wind swept up the fallen leaves on the ground, and the pace of the harsh winter was getting closer and closer.

-----

"Bang bang... The sound of the beating of the wood, the sound of the hands of the clothes, mixed with the words of the palace maids, rose and fell in the Yongxiang in the early morning. Yongxiang was originally a long alley in the palace, most of the palace maids who were not assigned to the palaces lived there, and it was also the place where the palace maids worked on weekdays.

"Wei Zifu, you washed this!" A tall and thin palace maid threw over a few pairs of eunuchs' trousers.

"Wei Zifu, you washed this too!" A chubby palace maid with a hint of ridicule threw over a few coats with a sneer.

"Hey, Wei Zifu, you washed ours too!" Seeing this, several palace maids also took advantage of the situation and threw the clothes in their hands over.

The palace has always been a place to worship the high and step on the low, and even the humble palace maids are invisibly divided into ranks because of whether their masters are powerful or not. Wei Zifu was used to it, and when he saw this, he didn't say much, so he picked up his clothes and walked to the well, and the remaining palace maids glanced at each other, and each covered his mouth and snickered.

Before he walked a few steps away, a gust of wind blew in his face, raising a cloud of dust, Wei Zifu's eyes were suddenly foggy, and the clothes in his hands were also blown to the ground. After the wind passed, Wei Zifu saw that the clothes in front of him fell to the ground, and hurriedly put down the wooden basin and leaned down to pick them up one by one.

"It's really windy, girl, be careful." Wei Zifu was about to pick up a coat when a man bent down to pick it up and put it in her hand.

Wei Zifu listened to the familiar voice, and when he looked up, he saw a familiar face leaping into his eyes, and he couldn't help but shout in surprise: "Brother Gongsun? ”

"Miss Wei?" Gongsun Ao never thought that the palace maid in front of him was Wei Zifu, and he was also surprised, and said in surprise: "How are you in the palace?" ”

Wei Zifu was embarrassed when he heard this, and lowered his head slightly and said, "This matter... It's a long story, I don't know when Brother Gongsun entered the palace? ”

Gongsun Ao is a smart person, seeing that Wei Zifu avoided answering and thought that there must be something hidden in it, he didn't ask anymore, and said with a smile: "Since the princess's mansion was goodbye, Gongsun has entered the palace and entered the chariot camp, and now he has just been transferred to the palace as a guard. ”

Wei Zifu bowed his head lightly and said with a smile: "I see, that should be excellent!" ”

Gongsun Ao said: "I don't know where Miss Wei is serving? ”

Wei Zifu said softly: "Zifu is serving Tian Meiren in the Chufang Palace. ”

Pick up the Fang Palace? Gongsun Ao was surprised in his heart, although he had not been in the palace for a long time, he still had some impressions of the Fang Palace, wasn't that the cold palace of the first emperor, how could she be there? Thinking about it, it was inconvenient to ask more, so she just said: "Miss Wei is so thin, these clothes are still taken care of by the grandson!" As he spoke, he picked up the tub and walked straight towards the well.

Looking at Gongsun Ao's back, Wei Zifu felt a warm current in his heart, it is always a joy to meet the old man in the palace, she thanked Gongsun Ao for his kindness, and even more grateful for his understanding that he did not ask.