In the eleventh year of Zhenguan, just after the Lantern Festival was released at night to enjoy the lanterns, the inner attendant went to the palace to announce the recruitment of martial arts into the palace. After dressing up, Wu Yue left the boudoir and prepared to board the carriage.

Thirteen-year-old Wu Yue looks like a beautiful flower, and he can use "eyebrows like green feathers, muscles like snow; The waist is like a bundle, and the teeth are like shellfish".

I saw that she was wearing an orange narrow-sleeved shirt, a tight vermilion long skirt, a long skirt tied to the willow waist, and a double ring on her head, which looked slender and straight, slender and moving.

Mrs. Yang thought of another daughter, and she didn't know when she would be able to meet, so she couldn't help but cry bitterly. We will soon meet in the palace, so why be sad? ”

Mrs. Yang suddenly remembered what her daughter had said, "Taking the position of the queen is like taking something from a bag", and immediately stopped crying, and Wu Yue smiled and left.

The carriage entered the Hengjie of the Imperial City through the Yanxi Gate, and then entered the Yeting Palace through the Yong'an Gate and Tongming Gate, registered at the Yeting Cheng, and then arranged accommodation by the Gong Yucheng.

The women who were hired by the ceremony were called Cai Nu, and were routinely accompanied by two Chinese envoys in Tsing Yi to help her quickly become familiar with the etiquette and rules of the palace.

The two Tsing Yi are about two years older than Wu, one is called Ah Hong, and the other is Ah Zi, with a black head wrapped around their heads, wearing a cyan round-necked robe, and the male man's outfit reveals a hint of handsomeness.

The two took Wu Yue to the residence in the palace - Yongxiang Youlan Pavilion, and the three of them went north from the gate of the inner palace courtyard, enjoying the palace scenery all the way.

In the palace, the pavilions and pavilions are scattered, the pine and cypress are lush and green, the plum and camellia are open, and Wu Yue is looking left and right, excited.

Ah Hong reminded: "The lady must not look back, and smile without showing her teeth." Walk peacefully, don't laugh when you're happy, remember. Wu Yue said: "Thank you, Ah Hong, I am new to the city, and I am not familiar with many things, please give me more advice." ”

A small river appeared in front of it, and houses were neatly arranged on both sides of the river, forming alleys. The small river originates from the Qingming Canal, and the lane is Yongxiang.

Youlan Pavilion is a very spacious courtyard, there are pond rockeries, there are east and west wings, there are pavilion bedrooms, the hall is placed with water leaks, the bedroom is paved with wooden floors, and there are beds, couches and cypress tables on them, as well as five-color saddle felt and dragon beard mats.

After Wu Yue placed his luggage, he looked at the time, it was three o'clock in the afternoon, and his stomach was growling, so he asked, "Where are we going to eat?" Ah Zi replied: "Go to the public kitchen to eat, if you miss the time, you can also make your own fire and cook, there is an earthen stove here." ”

In the kitchen, there are dim sum such as bean paste porridge, sesame rice, steamed cakes, soup cakes, shortbread, lily seeds, almond tofu, candied fruits, and sweet drinks such as floating ant sake, sugarcane juice, and spiced drinks.

Wu Yue's appetite was open, gobbling it up, Ah Zi smiled and said: "The first time I entered the palace today, I let go of my belly and ate a full child, I can't eat like this in the future, I can only eat eighty percent full, I glanced at it, and quickly stopped." ”

"Why?"

"Because the lady is here to serve her master, not to enjoy happiness! Even if you are canonized in the future, you still have to wait for your boss, so you can't be willful. When eating, you must control your diet, pay attention to not farting around the owner, and there will be a smell, fishy smell and bad smell, so that the owner smells it is disrespectful and will be punished! ”

"Oh, so can't I eat grass carp, sweet potatoes, onions and garlic and other foods?"

"Yes!"

After taking a nap at noon, Wu Yue thought it was convenient, and Ah Hong said: "There is no toilet in the palace, there is a bedpan in the side room, and when it is used up, it is called to the eunuch to clean it." After a while, Wu Yue called again: "Ah Hong, where is the toilet chip?" It's a piece of bamboo that rubs the buttocks. ”

Ah Hong laughed and said, "There is no toilet here, rough paper, in the box next to the bedpan." Wu Yue found the rough paper, rubbed his buttocks, and said while lifting his underwear: "Don't people always say that they should cherish the paper? Why do you rub your ass with paper in the palace! ”

Ah Hong said: "Rough paper is not paper of words, it was specially developed by the doctor who was the supervisor to supply it to the palace for convenience. ”

There was nothing to do in the afternoon, Wu Yue wanted to walk around and visit the Yeting Palace, Ah Zi said: "You can't walk around casually in the palace, and you must go in pairs when you go in and out." ”

Ah Hong said: "Even so, in order to satisfy the curiosity of the newcomer, you should still take the lady around, so as not to cry because of homesickness and provoke strange eyes from everyone!" ”

The three of them came out of Yongxiang Youlan Pavilion, walked to the north, along the road there are pine and cypress garden, cuizhu garden and plum garden, less than 100 meters, they saw six neat courtyards arranged in front, that is, six bureau courtyards: Shanggong Bureau, Shangyi Bureau, Shangfu Bureau, Shangshi Bureau, Shangshu Bureau and Shanggong Bureau.

There is a little eunuch guarding the gate of the courtyard of the sixth bureau with a sentry stick, prohibiting the palace people from entering and leaving at will, and a little eunuch saw Wu Yue and his party coming from a distance, and shouted: "The machine room is heavy, and idlers are not allowed to enter." What unit are you from? How dare you walk around casually? ”

Wu Yue was taken aback, Ah Hong waved a handkerchief, stepped forward and said, "Xiao Wang, don't you recognize me?" The eunuch's name was Wang Fusheng, who was familiar with Ah Hong, and replied: "It turned out to be Ah Hong, where to run an errand?" ”

Ah Hong said: "This little lady is a courtesy girl, who has just entered the palace, and came out to exhale and relieve boredom. Xiao Wang replied: "I see, then you should be careful!" ”

Wu Yue walked around the outside of the Sixth Bureau Courtyard, continued to walk north, and saw a row of tall buildings, Ah Zi introduced: "This is called Taicang, which is a large warehouse for storing grains. There is enough food in the warehouse to feed 100,000 people for three years! ”

After Wu Yue visited, he was shocked by the scale of Taicang and the richness of the inventory, and said to himself: "Although the concubine is in the rivers and lakes, there is no legend of the concubine in the rivers and lakes; Although the concubine is in Taicang, Taicang is not owned by the concubine! ”

Walking east from Taicang, I saw a majestic palace gate on the east wall of the Yeting Palace, Ah Zi said: "This is the Jiayou Gate, which is the same as the Tongming Gate below is the gateway of the Yeting Palace to the Taiji Palace, but it is guarded by the forbidden army." ”

Turning to the north, I saw a complex of buildings with a large stage in front and a dressing room and lounge in the back. Ah Hong said: "This is the Zhongyi Stage, a place for performing dances, sheng flutes, and juggling. ”

After Ah Hong accommodated the eunuch guarding the gate, he took Wu Yue to visit. Wu Yue came to the instrument room, saw Youse, happily knelt down and drummed for a while, the sound of the music was in harmony, crisp and tactful, Ah Hong and Ah Zi both listened attentively.

When he arrived at the big stage, Wu Yue improvised an elegant long-sleeved dance, Luo Yi followed the wind, the sleeves were like returning snow, the slender waist made the bright moon, and the long-sleeved dance was in the spring breeze, and even the eunuchs guarding the door were fascinated.

Ah Hong and Ah Zi were pleasantly surprised: "The lady is too rape, she can actually play music and dance in the palace, and he is expected to canonize the mother one day, and we can also get naked!" ”

It was almost dusk, and there was a faint sound of drums, and the three of them went west from the Zhongyi Platform and returned to Yongxiang through the West Gate.

The kitchen has already closed, there is a stove in the room next to Youlan Pavilion, Ah Hong took out a fire sickle and prepared to make a fire, Wu Yue was surprised: "Does the palace maid still have to make her own fire to cook?" I have a husband in charge of the meal, and I don't have to do it myself, I always open my mouth to eat! ”

Ah Hong smiled silently, slashed on the flint with a fire knife, and the spark ignited the puff flannel, and then used the puff to ignite the sawdust, and the sawdust ignited the dry firewood, and the fire on the stove was lit.

Ah Hong cooked a pot of soft buckwheat soup cakes, which were fragrant. After the three of them finished eating, they boiled hot water and took a bath.

Ah Hong and Ah Zi brought the bathtub and set up the bath tent, and Wu Yue saw a white and greasy ball on the floor, emitting a refreshing floral fragrance, and was very curious. Ah Zi smiled and said: "This is a soap made from fat beads from Jiangnan Tugong, which contains cloves, sandalwood and other spices. It's better than bath beans! ”

Wu Yue lightly untied Luo's skirt, scrubbed it with soap, washed off sweat stains, rubbed the fragrant skin, and said to Ah Zi: "I used a five-spice bath bean before, beauty and descaling, moisturizing the skin, the face is as white as snow within ten days, and the skin is like clotted fat for twenty days, and soap also has this effect!" ”

There is a colored ceramic water leak in the front hall of Youlan Pavilion, and when the arrow of the kettle has been pointed at, Wu Yue is still energetic and not tired.

Ah Hong and Ah Zi were very tired, yawned and said, "The lady is in good spirits, the day has come, go to sleep!" "Blow out the bronze tung oil lamp and yellow candle, fall down on the bed and cover the quilt, and sleep on his side curled up.

The cold night of early spring is still long, the sun has not yet risen, the melodious bell has come, and the city gate and the palace gate have been opened in turn.

After Ah Hong and Ah Zi got up, they called Wu Yue: "Hurry up, the fifth watch has passed, and the time has come, it's time to freshen up and dress up, sprinkle and sweep the court." ”

Wu Yue turned over and got up, sleepy-eyed, and was very curious when he saw Ah Hong holding something in his hand. Ah Hong smiled: "This is a toothbrush, made of bamboo chips, horsetail, and rosin, and used to brush teeth." ”

"Isn't it morning chewing? It's just brushing your teeth with willow branches! Wu Yue was surprised.

"It's not. See how I use it? Ah Hong dipped a toothbrush in ointment and applied it to her teeth, then brushed up and down, rinsed her mouth with salt water after brushing, and then washed her toothbrush. Wu Yue nodded and said, "This is much more hygienic than rubbing your teeth with your index finger and willow branches!" ”

Ah Hong and Ah Zi called rice water to wash Wu Yue's face, and then helped Wu Yue to go to the bronze mirror to dress up, pull his hair into a snail with a colored ribbon, insert a jade flute, put hair wax, and then apply rouge, draw eyebrows and eyeliner, tie a sachet, and a fairy appeared like this.

Ah Hong and Ah Zi themselves also wore heavy makeup, and their appearances before and after makeup were very different, seeing Wu Yue's strange eyes, he smiled and said: "Is it beautiful, a basin of water, remove makeup, it's all ghosts!" But the lady is an exception, born beautiful, radiant, even if you don't wear makeup, it is clear water out of hibiscus, natural carving! ”

After freshening up, Ah Hong began to make the bed and fold the quilt, knelt to wipe the floor and dragon beard mat, and tidy up the room.

At the end of the day, the three of them went to the public kitchen for dinner, and Wu Yue ate a steamed cake, a Hu cake and a mutton cake, and drank a bowl of millet porridge.

Three days passed, Wu Yue neither cried nor made trouble, enjoyed the life in the palace very much, and did not feel homesick.

Ah Hong and Ah Zi said: "Is our service too thoughtful, so that the lady can't miss it?" The lady is different, other girls are doing everything possible to avoid entering the palace, even if they enter the palace, they have to cry, but the lady takes the palace as her home, as if the palace is her own compound! ”

Ah Hong and Ah Zi took Wu Yue to the Inner Literature Museum to learn court etiquette and various talents, and the Inner Literature Museum has two palace teaching doctors, who are responsible for educating the palace people.

One surnamed Yutai, the bishop of ceremonial scriptures, and the other surnamed Yuwen, bishop calligraphy, law, arithmetic and Go, are all smart and studious, erudite and talented women.

Wu Yue went to study in the doctoral class of Yutai in the morning, and studied in the doctoral class of Yuwen in the afternoon, because he laid a solid foundation since he was a child, so he made very rapid progress, and he finished learning the knowledge of other women in January.

The two doctors saw that Ah Wu was diligent and studious, and they were also willing to teach him. What "Book of Rites", "Zhou Li", "Rites", "Book of Songs", "Book of Changes", "Book of Changes", "Book of Songs", "Spring and Autumn Zuo's Biography", "Ram Biography", "Gu Liang Biography", "Book of Filial Piety", "Analects" and other Confucian classics are endless, and there are also "Shuowen", "Zilin", "Sancang", "Erya", "Zhou Ji Sutra", "Nine Chapters of Arithmetic", "Island Sutra" and other scrolls are like a sea of smoke.

The more Wu Yue learned, the more he felt small, like a frog at the bottom of a well jumping into the sea, looking at the sheep and sighing, even if he thought that "the book mountain has a diligent path, and the sea of learning is endless", he felt that he was unable to do it.

I also heard Dr. Tantai say that before the "Spring and Autumn Zuo Biography", there were "Three Tombs" and "Five Classics", that is, the books of Fu Xi, Shennong, and the Yellow Emperor and the books of Shaohao, Zhuan, Gaoxin, Tang Yao, and Yu Shun.

Wu Yue was dumbfounded, and he knew that the Chinese civilization was really long and unfathomable!

Wu Yue was intrigued by the rich knowledge of the two doctors, and Dr. Yutai smiled and said, "People don't know everything from birth, they are all learned by hard work." The knowledge of the servant is that of Professor Xu Jingzong and Gai Wenda, the bachelors of Hongwenguan! ”

Wu Yue asked in surprise: "Could it be the two gentlemen on the "Eighteen Bachelors of Qin Mansion" photo map?" Dr. Tantai nodded yes, and Wu Yue looked at him with admiration.

At the beginning of February, Wu Yue successfully passed the examination of the Inner Literature Museum, and his talent ranked first.

Dr. Tantai commented: "The student is well-versed in the past and the present, filial piety and sincerity, love for all relatives, simple and open-minded, tolerant and free-spirited!" Perseverance, tireless reading of history, talent covers the whole class, and the results are among the best! She is ambitious, enterprising, and striving for perfection, and believes that she can raise the ideal sail, realize her good wishes, and become the most dazzling one among the stars! "It is recommended that Wu Yue serve as an internal post and be a secretary or secretary.

Wu Yue insisted on being a concubine, and thought to himself: How do you birds know that I Honghu entered the palace with a glorious dream and a call of duty!

Xianlai once asked Dr. Tantai: "What have you (the emperor) been busy with lately?" ”

Dr. Tantai smiled and said: "As far as the servant knows, everyone loves Empress Wende deeply, and since the burial of Empress Wende in the Zhaoling Tomb of Jiuzhi Mountain on November 4 last year, they have been thinking about it day and night, and sent the queen's cronies to live in the palace and continue to serve the queen!" He also ordered the craftsman to build a high floor in the forbidden garden, and the layer view was only recently completed. It is conceivable that Empress Wende's status in everyone's hearts is over, and she should never be a queen again! ”

Wu Yue was shocked and thought: There will be no more queens? How can it be? Still forced to calm down and asked: "The beauties in the palace are like clouds, how can Empress Wende have such great charm?" ”

Dr. Tantai replied, "The servant only tells a story, and the lady will understand." Empress Wende said to everyone on her deathbed in June last year: She should not be buried after her death, and the burial is meant to be hidden, so that future generations will not be seen. Since ancient times, the sages have advocated frugality, only the world without the Tao to raise the mountain, the world labor, so ask for the mountain to be buried, no need to get a grave, no coffin, only use a wooden tile, thrifty to send the end, so is not to forget the concubine! Everyone was very impressed! ”

Wu Yue couldn't help but be in awe of Empress Wende, but he still insisted on his beliefs, thinking: Emperor Wende is frugal and simple in logistics, husband and children, reconciles inside and outside, and has four virtues, but it is not unsurpassable! With his own intelligence and beauty, he may not be able to fascinate everyone!