On the day An Jixiang returned to Jinling City from Xuzhou, it was just in time for the ceremony of canonizing the queen, and the imperial city was busy, and no one cared about An Jixiang's whereabouts for a while.

Before Yang Yuanpu ascended the throne, he had married Li Yao, the daughter of Li Pu, the Marquis of Xinchang, as a concubine, and then accepted the daughter of Wang Jian, the lord of Shu, the lord of Qingyang, as a side concubine.

After ascending the throne, Han Shuhui, the daughter of Han Daoming, Zheng Zhao, the youngest sister of Zheng Hui, and Huang E, the daughter of Huang Hua, were accepted as concubines.

The reason why the county lord of Qingyang was held in Yueyang was mainly because the county lord of Qingyang was the daughter of Wang Jian, the lord of Shu, and Yang Yuanpu was still the king of Tan who had an unstable foundation at that time, not to mention that the marriage between the two nominally carried the expectations of the marriage between the two countries.

Although the round-trip between Xuzhou and Jinling is by boat, but in addition to stopping in Xuzhou for two days, before and after more than a month lived in a small cabin, even if you can stand on the deck at any time to look at the beautiful scenery on both sides of the strait, even if there is an accompanying eunuch to serve, it is also indescribably tired.

An Jixiang returned to the palace, and saw that from the Chongwen Palace, the Carrier Hall to the Changxin Palace, it was very lively, and he thought that His Majesty was most likely exhausted by the cumbersome and abnormal ceremony today, so he thought about going to the Chongwen Hall tomorrow to return to the matter of passing the decree, and he first took the two eunuchs back to the Banyuan courtyard on the west side of the Chengyuan Hall to rest.

Although the soldiers and horses of Yueyang had not yet broken through the inner city, the Anning Palace and the Nanya Forbidden Army chose to withdraw from the northern city, but when the defenders withdrew, they set fire to the imperial city, resulting in serious damage to the Cishou Palace, the Carrier Palace, the Chongwen Palace, and the cardinal palace south of the palace gate, leaving behind a place of wolves and wreckage.

At this time, it has only been two months since the recovery of Jinling, and even if tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians are requisitioned to repair the palace, the palace is full of devastation, and only a few of the most important palaces are repaired and used first.

For the sake of the safety of the guards, Yang Yuanpu spent the night in the former county king's mansion after acting in the Chongwen Palace on weekdays.

An Jixiang at this time rested in the courtyard, next to the Chongwen Hall of the wing hall, even if the house has been renovated, but everywhere can still see the traces of burning, a hundred years old elm tree was smoked by the fire blackened branches, but there are still a few thick old branches are still tenaciously burst into green.

There are very few people in the palace who can summon them now.

At this time, most people are busy in the Changxin Palace for the ceremony, in the huge class courtyard, there are small thirty rooms in the two slip rooms, at the beginning can live hundreds of large and small eunuchs, divided into three classes to serve the dispatch of the Chongwen Palace, at this time there are two old eunuchs on duty, and it is also particularly deserted.

Before the Jinling Incident, there were nearly 10,000 eunuchs and palace maids in the palace.

After the incident, the courtiers used by the first emperor, as well as the eunuchs and palace maids of Cishou Palace, were cleansed.

Some of those who served with the emperor were directly executed or imprisoned, and a considerable number of court attendants were considered unreliable and were expelled from the palace.

The remnants of the Anning Palace and the Nanya Forbidden Army fled to Jiangbei, also taking a group of eunuchs and palace maids with them.

In addition, there are some inconsequential palace maids and eunuchs, or they are old, or have just entered the palace and have not trained the rules, or their status is low, or they have just committed crimes and have been punished, and they have been abandoned and left in the palace.

However, after Emperor Yanyou ascended the throne, even if he did not purge these people, he would be worried that there would be spies and assassins from the Anning Palace, and it would be impossible to keep them in the palace for appointment.

The palace eunuchs were all sent in to serve as apprentices, and the palace maids were directly dismissed and ordered to return home.

The eunuchs and palace maids who originally entered the palace with Emperor Yanyou were only those who were used in Tanzhou and Yueyang Tan Palace, and there were less than 100 people.

Although the group of eunuchs and palace maids who were initially expelled from the palace after the Jinling Incident should be reliable, they also need to be carefully screened; Even when An Jixiang returned to Jinling City two months later, he called the two old eunuchs on duty to inquire, only to know that the manpower used in the palace at this time was only four or five hundred.

"Senior brother, I can hope you back! Why did you hide here as soon as you came back, and didn't show your face in front of Your Majesty and the three nouveau riche? ”

An Jixiang asked someone to move out a reclining chair, just wanted to close his eyes in the shade of the tree and enjoy the feeling of not shaking on land, but he heard a familiar and slightly sharp voice coming from the gate of the courtyard, and when he opened his eyes, he saw that Chen Ruyi was wearing a brand-new dark crimson official robe and walked in.

Although he knew that he would be reused in the Inner Servant Province when he came back this time, An Jixiang couldn't help but look cold when he saw Chen Ruyi first wearing the dark crimson official robe that represented the four-grade eunuchs.

There is one person in the inner service province, who can wear purple clothes from the third grade.

Over the years, his master Zhang Ping has worked diligently by His Majesty's side, not to mention that he wasted an arm to save His Majesty when guarding Xichuan, and during the war of cutting the feudal domain and the war of Jinling, he served as a military supervisor to the front line to participate in the command of the war at the most difficult time.

If His Majesty ascends the throne after receiving the edict, and there are other old people in the palace, Zhang Ping will naturally not be able to ascend to the sky in one step, and even need to climb up step by step from the inner inheritance, the inner permanent attendant, and the young eunuch, and complete the qualifications step by step.

However, in this situation, the eunuchs in the palace who were loyal to the first emperor were washed in blood by the Anning Palace, if the eunuchs loyal to the Anning Palace did not escape, they would not be able to escape the liquidation here, except for Zhang Ping, who is still qualified to wear purple clothes in the palace?

In addition to the provincial eunuchs, the senior officials in the palace also have two young eunuchs, four to six permanent attendants, and palace envoys who serve the queen mother, the queen and the concubines, all of whom are eunuchs from the fourth rank and the fourth grade.

Although Wang Lin's death was a great achievement for him and Chen Ruyi to personally take action to relieve His Majesty's worries, but in terms of qualifications, it was not his turn to compete with Chen Ruyi for the two young eunuch positions, and the palace envoy mostly used female officials, seeing Chen Ruyi wearing a deep scarlet official robe at this time, An Jixiang thought that he should be the first to occupy a seat from the four ranks.

As a permanent attendant, it is possible to assist the internal attendant in supervising the administration of the court, the inner government, Xi Guan, etc., and it is also possible to serve His Majesty, the Empress and the Queen Mother.

Even if he does all the things he serves, there is only one master An Jixiang really wants to serve.

That's Your Majesty.

Thinking that he left Jinling to Xuzhou for more than a month, it was impossible for His Majesty to be without a close eunuch by his side, An Jixiang's heart couldn't help but be clouded.

Chen Ruzhi's An Jixiang's face suddenly turned cold, as if he could guess what he was thinking, he smiled sadly and said, "What are you thinking?" If I could serve by His Majesty's side, how could I get out of my body at this time and come to you to talk about the friendship between my brothers and sisters after many days of separation? ”

An Jixiang thought to himself, today's canonization of the queen's ceremony, and at the same time the acceptance of the three daughters as concubines, His Majesty will walk down a complete set of ceremonies, there is no possibility of getting out at all, and Chen Ruyi really wants to be the inner attendant of the Chongwen Palace, other times may have time to relax, but today it is inevitable to follow His Majesty every step of the way.

"Where do I think about anything, just thinking that I have been tired from traveling and traveling for more than a month, and I have just come back tired, and I am forced to serve by His Majesty's side at this time, if there is anything missing, it is not beautiful - even if you don't usually serve by Your Majesty's side, but on such an important day today, how can you be idle to talk to me?" An Jixiang squinted his eyes, sat up straight on the recliner, and motioned to the little eunuch who was waiting beside him to move a chair out of the house for Chen Ruyi.

Chen Ruyi sat down quietly, motioned for the left and right eunuchs in Tsing Yi to step aside, and then opened his mouth to ask: "Senior brother, do you still remember when you and I were young begging for food and living on the streets of Yangzhou City?" ”

"How many years ago was that, nineteen or twenty years ago? I can't even remember – I remember I was seven, were you six or seven? An Jixiang's restrained eyes narrowed even smaller, and he couldn't figure out what Chen Ruyi's intention was in choosing to block him today, so he became more cautious when he spoke.

"At that time, we were so hungry that we stuffed soil into our mouths, and suddenly a beautiful woman like a fairy came and took us to the palatial village to raise us for half a year, provided us with food and drink and taught us to read and write, and then ruthlessly cut off our lives, and did not die of sores before sending them to the master to be raised-my little brother is one year old, and he remembers these past events clearly, how can my senior brother not remember them?" Chen Ruyi asked with a smile.

"If you can't remember, you can't remember, I don't have your brain to pee." Anji said in detail.

"Senior brother said that he can't remember, probably because he trusts me, and probably because he doesn't want to remember how many children like you and me were adopted from the street in that village, and how many children like you and me were sent into this Great Chu Palace one after another, right?"

"Ruyi, what do you mean by saying this suddenly, are you coming to ask me on behalf of Your Majesty?" An Jixiang seemed to be being targeted by a poisonous snake at this moment, making him shudder, holding back the fierceness in his eyes, staring at Chen Ruyi and asking.

"I don't mean anything, Your Majesty asked me about this earlier, and I told His Highness what I knew," Chen Ruyi said, "I was afraid that my memory would be biased, so I came to you to verify it, Senior Brother." ”

"......" An Jishen could easily believe Chen Ruyi's words, and said, "I don't know what you remember, junior brother?" ”

"There's a list here, I don't know if there's anything missing!" Chen Ruyi took out a list from his arms and handed it to An Jixiang, saying, "Senior brother, you can help me check the fallacies and omissions." ”

An Jixiang took the list suspiciously.

Although after being sent to the Great Chu Palace, he and Chen Ruyi were only serving by Zhang Ping's side for a long time because of their young age, learning the art of fist and foot skills with Zhang Ping, learning the rules of the palace and many scriptures and historical notes, and they had no direct contact with other disciples who lurked in the palace in the late Red Mansion in the past.

And during that time, like them, most of the two or three hundred homeless orphans who were picked up from the street and housed in the village were not sent to the palace, but over the years lurking in the Great Chu Palace, An Jixiang still recognized at least nine familiar faces that had appeared in the village courtyard one after another.

An Jixiang didn't say anything, and he didn't try to verify anything, just silently remembered it in his heart.

The list drawn up by An Jixiang Duanxiang Chen Ruyi actually included all the nine people he recognized, and there was even one more person, which shows that Chen Ruyi has been secretly observing everything all these years.

"I really don't remember much, after your mention, these people in the palace may have really seen faces in the courtyard outside Yangzhou before." An Jixiang said.

"Senior brother and I went to assassinate Wang Lin, and left a book to restore Shen Yang's innocence, so that His Majesty could transfer Shen Yang back to the center - Senior brother did this with me, and his speech was still vague at this time, do you really expect Madame and the Queen Mother to be kind to us in the future?" Chen Ruyi stared at An Jixiang and asked sternly.

"Since the senior brother and junior have told His Majesty the old things that he remembered, why don't you serve by Your Majesty's side at this time?" An Jixiang was not so easy to bluff, and secretly thought in his heart that Chen Ruyi really wanted to explain the layout of the Shenling Division in the palace, why didn't His Majesty keep him by his side and call him closely, so that he would have spare time to come over and intercept him on such an important day?

"Your Majesty has sent me another to do it." Chen Ruyi took off a sign from his waist and handed it over.

An Jixiang took the newly cast bronze medal, and saw that it was engraved with the words "Jinyun Division Zuodu Command" and other official letters.

"Jinyun Division?" An Jixiang was slightly stunned, and looked at Chen Ruyi in disbelief, thinking that Jinyun Si was transformed from Jinyun Tower, and after Han Qian returned to Xuzhou, shouldn't it be Jiang Shu and Yuan Guowei's one-acre and three-point land? How could Chen Ruyi intervene and occupy the top position of "Commander of the Left Capital" at a glance?

An Jixiang knew that His Majesty had recovered Jinling, all the ruins were waiting to be revived, and every day there might be new officials and rewards, and there might be subtle changes in the court every day, but why didn't he expect such a change?

What did Jiang Shu and Yuan Guowei do to lose His Majesty's trust at the same time?