The capital of Daqi. In the imperial study in the backyard of the palace, Li Hongji slapped the case with an excited face, and shouted: "Okay! Good! General Yan really lived up to my expectations, the Taiping bandits were defeated and retreated, and the scoundrel who called himself the "Heavenly Father" personally commanded the troops and failed to turn the tide of the war. ”。

Zheng Decai, who was full of silver hair, grinned, his old face was wrinkled, and he knelt down in front of Li Hongji in a few steps, and said loudly: "The old slave congratulates the emperor!" I am hopeful that Zhongxing will be forever. The saint is wise and martial, and he is really a generation of Ming Jun! ”。

Li Hongji laughed and walked down the steps, and pointed to Zheng Decai, who was kneeling on the ground, and said, "I am happy in my heart today, you sycophant is a big shot, I want to reward you heavily!" Let's go for a walk with me in the Imperial Garden."

Zheng Decai hurriedly kowtowed and thanked him, shouted long live, and then quickly got up, bent down and lowered his head to follow closely behind Li Hongji's buttocks, and hurried out of the imperial study.

Receiving the report of the New Army for the Protector of the Motherland, Li Hongji was in a good mood today. After going out, he stood on the steps and looked up at the sky, the sky was high and the clouds were light, and even the oncoming breeze was no longer dry and boring, but carried the wet fragrance of flowers.

Walking in the Imperial Garden, Li Hongji found that today's flowers are also very interesting, and seeing him strolling around, it is like you competing for me to squeeze on the branches to bloom, and the fragrance is fragrant.

"When General Yan exterminates the Taiping bandits, and then free up his hands to exterminate the red turban bandits, I can sit back and relax and sleep comfortably!" Li Hongji said with emotion.

Zheng Decai, who was behind him, nodded again and again and said: "The Holy Lord can relax, the old general Yan is well commanded, my new army to protect the country is brave and good at fighting, and the Holy Lord You are the true dragon son of heaven, I have a foundation for hundreds of years, and it will be carried forward in your hands, and it will be eternal for ten thousand years!" ”。

Li Hongji laughed and continued to walk briskly.

Suddenly, the corner of a pink coat flashed in the bushes in front of him and hid behind a tree.

The smile on Li Hongji's face narrowed, and he shouted softly: "What person? Don't be sneaky, come out. ”

A little palace maid with black hair and a slender waist walked out hesitantly, knelt down tremblingly and kowtowed: "The slave maid is the palace lady who serves the Pan nobles, and the Pan nobles take the slave maid to Qin Meiren to get some objects, pick up the bargain and want to take a shortcut, I don't want to disturb the two fathers-in-law, and I hope to forgive my sins." ”

Li Hongji stared at the little palace maid's slender waist and slightly upturned buttocks, and his heart couldn't help but move.

He turned around and asked Zheng Decai suspiciously: "Father-in-law Zheng, why are there two fathers-in-law?" Where is that father-in-law now? ”。

The wrinkles on Zheng Decai's face twitched a few times, and he looked at the kneeling little palace maid and changed her face and said, "Bold!" This is the current saint Long Live Lord, you are the sin of deceitful king, and you deserve death! ”。

The slender little palace maid was frightened to death when she heard this, her whole body trembled up and down, she kowtowed again and again, closed her lips tightly and didn't dare to make a sound.

Li Hongji smiled and waved his hand: "Hey, those who don't know are not guilty!" I guess you've just entered the palace, right? Raise your head, have you ever seen such a eunuch in the wind? ”。

The little palace maid trembled and raised her pale little face, with clear eyebrows and a round little nose, looking childish.

Li Hongji leaned over with interest and smiled, "What's your name?" ”

The little palace maid hurriedly bowed her head and kowtowed again, and said in a low voice: "Back to Long Live Lord, the slave maid is the palace lady who serves the Pan nobles, and her name is Zitong." ”

Li Hongji raised his head and silently recited it twice, and said with a smile: "The name is good." He turned to Zheng Decai and whispered, "Let her clean up and send her to my dormitory in the afternoon." After saying that, he walked away without looking back.

Zheng Decai couldn't believe his ears, he stayed in the local area for a long time, and when he looked back, how could he still have the figure of Long Live Lord?

Zheng Decai turned to Zitong and said to Yan Yuese: "You get up!" Come with me, go freshen up. ”

Zitong got up with two flashing eyes, and said in surprise: "Where are you going?" I'm still in a hurry to get things for Pan Guiren, I should be punished if I go back late! ”。 In other words, it really looks like he is about to cry in a hurry.

Zheng Decai couldn't cry or laugh, and hurriedly said: "Silly girl, you are about to ascend to the sky in one step, what else do you take?" Today, the saint has taken a fancy to you, come with me, maybe that Pan Guiren will serve you in the future! ”。

The Zitong girl was stunned and motionless, skeptical. Before meeting, the wrinkled father-in-law's eyes narrowed impatiently, and then he lowered his head and hurried away with small steps after him.

In less than the evening, the news that the Holy Lord had favored an unknown little palace maid was like a small wind, blowing all over the entire Ouchi harem.

The Queen Mother bowed her head and tended to the exquisite flowers and plants in the pot, and Zheng Decai bent down and stood respectfully behind her.

The Queen Mother said: "Someone went to check the life experience of the palace maid, Pan Guiren there she can't live, tomorrow for her to open a residence in the palace alone, you arrange some palace maids to serve, the saint will be happy to give her a title one day, and then build a courtyard for her is not too late." ”

Zheng Decai nodded again and again: "Although the Queen Mother can rest assured, the old slave has already arranged everything." ”

Almost at the same time, in Empress Xiao's bedroom, Pan Guiren was sitting on the ground crying.

"Let that little slut go on an errand, who knew that I met the emperor by chance, and the emperor hasn't been to my bedroom for more than two months! ……”。

Empress Xiao sighed lightly and said: "Sister, don't be too sad, you have to take care of your tongue, don't be a little slut, you can't call a little slut, it is estimated that she will move out of you tomorrow." In case she coaxes the emperor to be happy one day, maybe she will be sealed as a permanent person, a nobleman or something, and it may not be under you. If you get pregnant with the dragon seed again after a year or two, it's even harder to say! ”。

Pan Guiren was stunned when he heard this, and then gritted his teeth with a hideous face and said, "She thinks it's beautiful!" This kind of ignorant and shameless little slut staying by the emperor's side will only cause chaos in the harem! ”。

Empress Xiao lowered her face and said unhappily: "I just reminded you just now, why don't you know how to repent?" Now, after she returns to you, you will send two little eunuchs to take her to me, and I will remind her a few words, and teach her some rules in the palace by the way. ”

Pan Guiren bowed his head with tears on his face and a gloomy expression: "My sister's lesson is reasonable, and the concubine has written it down, so I will leave and go back." ”

Empress Xiao shook the sleeves of her gorgeous robe and waved her hand gently.

The moon is bright and the stars are sparse, and the moon hangs obliquely in the black treetops.

A eunuch held a lantern aloft, dimly lit, barely able to make five steps in the foggy night. In the light and shadow of the lantern, the little face of the Zitong girl who was still dressed as Gong E was slightly red, and the corners of her eyes and eyebrows were full of joy.

She had just come out of the queen's dormitory and was about to rush back to Pan Guiren's dormitory. She was still thinking in her heart: The queen mother is really the mother of the world, with an extraordinary bearing, amiable and amiable, soft-spoken, eloquent, polite and caring to her, not at all like the fierce Pan Guiren, who slaps his mouth at every turn, and even pinchs and beats with his own hands, and loses his temper. According to the kind white-haired father-in-law, he will be able to get out of the sea of misery tomorrow. Like a bird that has been in a cage for a long time, it can finally spread its wings and fly high, how is it not exciting and exciting?

The little eunuch holding the lantern in front of him suddenly stopped, and the Zitong girl also stopped. She looked up and looked around, where is this? She had just entered the palace, and the harem was too big, and she was not familiar with the roads during the day, let alone in this dark night?

The little eunuch turned his head, and in the dim light, the smile on his face looked false and strange.

"Miss Zitong, I'm really sorry, I accidentally ate my stomach today, and now I'm in a hurry. You take the lantern here and wait for me for a while, and I will go back as soon as I go, and promise to send you back to Pan Guiren. ”

Miss Zitong hesitated for a moment, reached out and took the lantern, raised it high and said softly: "Hurry up, this black light is blind, and it is a little scary." I don't even know how to get around! ”。

The little eunuch said with a smile on his face: "Don't worry, you only need to stay for a while, and I'll go back." With that, he disappeared into the thick darkness.

High in the treetops, a majestic owl with its sparkling eyes and its fluffy, flexible head turned curiously at the faint glow of the lantern under the tree, and behind the slender girl holding the lantern, two figures quietly approaching like ghosts.

A big furry hand suddenly stretched out from behind and grabbed the soft neck of the purple tong girl, in a panic, the lantern fell to the ground by mistake, she opened her mouth and was about to shout for help, but another big hand stretched out from behind covered her mouth tightly, and the lantern went out.

The next day, in a waste water well in the palace, a little eunuch found the swollen body of the purple tong girl.

Gonggong Zheng received a report and strictly ordered to block the news, and no one was allowed to spread it, so he hurriedly visited the Queen Mother.

The old queen mother was stunned for a moment, and asked in a low voice, "What is the cause of death?" ”。

Gonggong Zheng knelt down and saluted: "This is not clear at the moment, the little eunuch who sent her said that he couldn't find her if he turned around, maybe he committed suicide, maybe he was ......."

The old queen mother waved her hand and said: "This girl is blessed and thin, there is no need to pursue it anymore, move it out of the palace and bury it." If the Holy One asked, he would say that she had a sudden illness and had returned to heaven. ”

Gonggong Zheng bowed his head and kowtowed: "The old slave understands. ”

The deep harem has regained its tranquility, where filth and dirt are hidden, and the powerful regard the lives of the weak as mustard; There is a darker and bloody cruelty here than the primeval forest.

The strange thing is that the Great Qi Emperor Li Hongji never mentioned the Zitong girl again, perhaps because he was so anxious about the problems he faced that he didn't have time to take care of. Or perhaps, he had long forgotten the little palace maid with a pale face and a slender waist.