In Qixiang Palace, the eunuchs and palace maids were in a hurry, but no one dared to make a sound, let alone talk, and even walked on their toes on their toes, not daring to make a sound.

Now the owner of Qixiang Palace is the imperial concubine Tian Xiuying.

Tian Xiuying is second only to the queen's concubine, elegant manners, versatile, both civil and military, piano, chess, calligraphy and painting are all refined, deeply favored by Zhu Youzhen, when he just ascended the throne, he specially changed the name of Yongning Palace to Chengqian Palace, for Tian Xiuying to live in.

The most favored concubine is always intolerable to the queen, not to mention Tian Xiuying's status in the palace, second only to Queen Zhou Yufeng.

Zhou Yufeng always wanted to find an opportunity to overthrow Tian Xiuying, at least to destroy her good impression in Zhu Youzhen's heart.

But Tian Xiuying behaves dignified and has no quarrel with the world, although Zhou Yufeng is jealous, she has always suffered from not having a chance.

In the first month of the thirteenth year of Chongzhen (1640 AD), on the first day of the new yuan, Zhou Yufeng finally waited for the opportunity.

According to the usual practice, the concubines in the palace have to congratulate the queen, Tian Xiuying came to the Jiaotai Hall where Zhou Yufeng was located as usual to prepare to congratulate Zhou Yufeng, Zhou Yufeng knew that Tian Xiuying was outside the palace, but deliberately did not announce her entering the palace.

It was extremely cold at that time, and it was raining and snowing, so Zhou Yufeng could also pass the order to be exempted, but Zhou Yufeng deliberately let Tian Xiuying freeze outside the palace for a long time, and Concubine Yuan, who came a little later, entered the palace before Tian Xiuying, and talked very happily with the queen.

After a long time, after Concubine Yuan left, Zhou Yufeng announced that Tian Xiuying entered the hall, and when she was congratulating her, Zhou Yufeng saw Tian Xiuying, so she kept her face calm and did not say a word, and there was no atmosphere of talking and laughing with Yuan Guifei just now, and Tian Xiuying could only retreat silently after the salute.

Afterwards, Tian Xiuying returned to the Chengqian Palace, and cried to Zhu Youzhen, Zhu Youzhen has always disliked the harem infighting, and was furious after hearing it, so he rushed to Kunning Palace, and Zhou Yufeng, who had just completed the sacrifice, theorized with Zhou Yufeng, and Zhu Youzhen pushed Zhou Yufeng down by mistake, and Zhou Yufeng was angry and protested with a hunger strike.

Zhu Youzhen saw Zhou Yufeng's hunger strike, and regretted it very much in his heart, and sent mink fur clothes and asked about life in person, actually apologizing to Zhou Yufeng, but Zhou Yufeng did not give up, and simply ignored Zhu Youzhen.

Zhu Youzhen has always cherished the estrus relationship with Zhou Yufeng, and Tian Xiuying is a favorite concubine, so she is very embarrassed.

Tian Xiuying, who was well aware of the righteousness, took the initiative to admit her mistake in writing, admitted her mistake to Zhou Yufeng, and asked to move to Qixiang Palace to reflect on it, hoping that Zhou Yufeng would calm down and let Zhu Youzhen concentrate on state affairs.

In order to calm down the dispute in the harem, Zhu Youzhen also approved Tian Xiuying's request, and Zhou Yufeng drank gruel.

Tian Xiuying was wronged, and she was a little depressed in her heart, plus the sixth son of the emperor Zhu Cican, the fifth son of the emperor Zhu Cihuan, and the seventh son of the emperor mourned the death of King Huai one after another, especially the seventh son of the emperor, who did not even take a name, and was less than two years old when he died.

Maybe he suffered from the wind and cold outside the Jiaotai Palace, or maybe he became ill for a long time, Tian Xiuying's body weakened day by day, Zhu Youzhen sent the imperial doctor to Qixiang Palace for consultation, but Tian Xiuying's body not only did not improve, but now it is difficult to even get up and get off the ground.

In the Qixiang Palace, there was a bleak atmosphere, and the eunuchs and palace maids knew that the master liked to be quiet, so as not to disturb the master's recuperation, no one dared to make a loud noise.

Guozhang Tian Hongyu sat alone in the hall drinking tea, although he held the fragrant tea in his hands, he couldn't drink it in one gulp.

He knew in his heart that he was originally just a small guerrilla general, and in the Beijing division where the generals and generals of the Ming Dynasty gathered, he did not enter the stream at all, because of his daughter, Zhu Youzhen loved the house and Wu, so he was rewarded with the title of commander of the Jinyi Guard and the governor of the left capital.

Zhu Youzhen will also come to Qixiang Palace to have a look, but his daughter's body is no longer good, and even the imperial doctor can't do it, once the concubine has three long and two short......

Tian Hongyu's heart was very anxious!

Everything in the Tian family is on the concubine Niangniang, one is lost, and one is prosperous!

But Niangniang has been ill for many days and has not improved......

Tian Hongyu's eyes were distracted, the tea cup in his hand seemed to weigh a thousand catties, he had just seen the concubine, and his original full and tender face was now only skinny and bone......

No, we have to think of a way!

Tian Hongyu wanted to stand up and move his muscles and bones, but he was afraid of disturbing the tranquility of the concubine, so he had to leave the Open Xiang Palace and go out from the Kunning Gate, wanting to bypass Dongcheng and return to the Governor's Mansion.

Walking to Longfu Temple, his heart suddenly moved, since the imperial doctor could not cure the mother's illness, I am afraid that he has suffered impure things, so he can only ask the Buddha for help.

Longfu Temple is too small, I heard that the Bodhisattva of Putuo Mountain is very effective, and he will respond to his request!

Tian Hongyu was silent, went to Longfu Temple to put on a pillar of incense, and then quickly returned to the governor's mansion and asked the deacon for leave.

Although the title of the governor of Zuodu is high, it is only an idle position, you don't have to come for a few days, if you are bored, you can also come to deal with it, besides, he wants to pray for the mother to pray for the blessing, who dares to stop it?

Tian Hongyu is a person who does what he says, after he returned home, he immediately packed his bags, took two palace guards, and personally went to Putuo Mountain, Zhejiang Province to pray for the blessing of the concubine.

Along the way, Tian Hongyu except for occasionally accepting gifts of silver from the prefectures and counties along the way, but did not stay, and when he arrived in Suzhou, it was late, so he stopped for the night.

The place where Tian Hongyu stayed was near Jinchang, the most prosperous place in Suzhou City, and when the lights were not yet in hand, there was already a lot of noise.

Tian Hongyu couldn't sleep for a while, so he asked the store: "What's going on outside, so lively?" ”

The shopkeeper saw that Tian Hongyu was dressed extraordinarily, although he was older, but his body was full of dignitary, so he smiled and said: "Listening to the accent of the guest officer, it should be from Jingshi, right?" The guest officer didn't know that this place was Jinchang, which was a place where all the beautiful people fought, and every day was dark, it was more lively than the day. ”

"Battles?" Tian Hong was puzzled, "What is this?" ”

The shopkeeper smiled, with a look of yearning on his face, "If it's a Jingshi, it's called Zhenghuajiao!" ”

It turned out to be a place where prostitutes gathered! Only then did Tian Hongyu understand that in Nanjing and Suzhou, prostitutes are famous for their beauty, and they have a different flavor from Jingshi.

He was in a hurry, except for the food, the life of an ascetic along the way, and the loneliness of the journey, so he itched in his heart and asked with a smile: "Jin Chang Zhiyan, what are the rules?" ”

"Rules?" The shopkeeper smiled: "Suzhou is different from Jingshi, generally regardless of identity, only about money!" ”

"Money?" Tian Hongyu went south this time and got the help of the prefectures and counties along the way, and the most important thing on his body was silver.

"As the saying goes, bustards love money, bitches love pretty," the shopkeeper laughed, thinking that Tian Hongyu was a rich businessman, so he said: "There are also beautiful girls who like young and talented people, but they are very valuable, even if the talented man likes it, I am afraid that the financial resources are insufficient, and the real leader is still waiting for the rich businessman!" ”

Tian Hongyu was tempted for a moment, so he quit the shop, went back to the room to clean up, pretended to be a wealthy merchant who went south in Beijing, and carried thousands of silver tickets, and did not bring a guard, went out of the store alone, and only wandered around the lively place.

Unconsciously, he has walked a long way, but he is not familiar with Jin Chang, and he doesn't know where the bitch is cute, and it is not easy to inquire about such a thing on the street.

Looking around, a tall courtyard appeared on the left-hand side, two lanterns were lit in front of the courtyard door, by the light of the lamps and candles, Tian Hongyu saw that there were three gilded characters of "Tianxiangyuan" hanging on the lintel, and there was a faint girl's laughter inside.

Different from all kinds of lively green buildings, in front of the door of Tianxiang Pavilion, there are no girls dressed in fancy clothes to greet guests, only a young maid stands under the lantern, and when the guests enter, they bow down and invite the guests in.

When Tian Hongyu was in Beijing, he was a frequent visitor in the major alleys, and he knew that this Tianxiang Courtyard was not the most lively on the surface, but it was the most classy, and the girls in the courtyard were probably all stunning beauties.

He lingered at the door for a while, sorted out his clothes, and walked towards the main entrance of Tianxiang Courtyard, although the little guy greeted him, there was no flattery on his face, just habitually bowed his waist, "This guest officer, is he going to enter Tianxiang Courtyard to have fun?" It seems that the face is very ......."

Tian Hongyu frowned and said, "Is Tianxiangyuan a place to have fun?" Is it only regular customers who can enter? ”

"That's not it," the little guy saw that he was dressed luxuriously and had a Beijing accent, so he didn't dare to slack off, and hurriedly said: "Guest officer, please inside!" ”

Tian Hongyu took out a silver ingot of ten taels in his sleeve and handed it over with his head high, "Who is the top card of your Tianxiang Academy?" ”

"The guest officer wants a nod card?" The little guy glanced at the silver ingot in his hand, retracted it in his arms, and said, "The guest officer is late, at this time, the top card already has a guest!" ”

"You just have to say who the top card is," Tian Hong said in his heart, he is the emperor, is there anyone who dares to fight with him, but the identity of the emperor should not be easily revealed, "Whether you can see the top card, that's my business!" ”

"The head card of this courtyard is called Chen Yuanyuan, but unfortunately he is not in the courtyard tonight," the little guy naturally didn't dare to argue with the guests, welcomed Tian Hongyu into the door, bowed and said: "Does the guest officer want to wait for the Yuanyuan girl to come back, or will the villain arrange for the girl to accompany him?" ”

Since Tian Hongyu entered Tianxiang Academy, he naturally didn't want to give up the top card, so he frowned and said, "When will Miss Yuanyuan come back?" ”

"Guest officer, this is not certain, it depends on the mood of the guest!"

Although Tian Hongyu was arrogant, he couldn't pull Chen Yuanyuan up from someone else's bed, and besides, he couldn't tell where the guest would take Chen Yuanyuan for a while, so he said: "Arrange a young and pretty girl first, the silver will not be less than you, and when the Yuanyuan girl comes back, you will pass it on again!" ”

"The villain will know!"

The little guy first arranged for Tian Hongyu to drink tea in the side hall, and said goodbye to himself, and after a while, he came in with a gust of incense, pointed to the girl behind him and said: "Guest officer, this is the second best Gu Shou girl in our courtyard, she is not happy, and she doesn't plan to pick up guests, and the villain sees that the guest officer is not an idle person, so he has to beg his sister to ......."

Tian Hongyu looked at Gu Shou, who was sixteen or seventeen years old, but his appearance was exquisite, and the skin on his face and neck was white, and he was already a little happy in his heart.

As for what the little guy said, second only to the top celebrity, he naturally wouldn't believe it, but at this time, it is already very good to have a girl who looks like this!

Tian Hongyu withdrew his gaze and nodded at the little guy, who hurriedly said, "Sister, quickly take the guests back to the room to rest!" ”

Gu Shou glanced at Tian Hongyu, lowered his head and said, "Guest officer, please rest behind the slave family!" Without waiting for Tian Hongyu, he turned around and walked out the door.

Tian Hongyu hurriedly walked two steps to catch up with Gu Shou, and as she turned through the two corridors, she came to a secluded small hall, Gu Shou was a little blessed, and said, "Guest officer, please!" ”

The light is on in the small hall, it looks simple, a dresser by the window, a small table of eight immortals in the middle, a few wooden chairs, at the corner of the two walls, there is a wooden cabinet, and some commonly used things are placed on the cabinet, all of which are wiped clean.

On the left and right sides of the small hall, there is an ear door, and the ear door is hidden, I don't know which one is Gu Shou's bedroom.

Tian Hongyu is a little strange, obviously he is a bitch with "a little red lips and ten thousand tastes", why is Gu Shou very cold? There is no common flattery at all, "The girl is so cold, is she worried that she will not be able to pay the money?" ”

Gu Shou made Tian Hongyu a cup of hot tea, put it on the table of the Eight Immortals in the middle, frowned lightly and said: "Didn't the little guy say just now, the slave family is a little unhappy, if you snub the guest, it is not the slave family's heart, don't blame the guest officer!" ”

What kind of nonsense are you talking about, and you will come out to pick up customers if you are not feeling well? According to Tian Hongyu's temperament, he had already overturned the Eight Immortals table, but this time he came out to pray for the concubine, and if he could do less, he would have one less thing, and after tonight, everyone was a stranger, and he vented all his anger # on Gu Shou's body.