In the afternoon of this day, someone came to the imperial dining room and sent some oil, salt, sauce and vinegar, Rudong ran to the study and said to Yue'er: "Niu Tao is here, he said that he must come to thank Niangniang, can you see him?" ”

Yue'er was sorting Master Ze's sketches, and she spread all the drafts on the ground, pondering them one by one, and marking them on the back with charcoal strips.

"You bring him here."

"Yes—"

After a while, Niu Tao knocked on the door and entered the study, he saw a sketch on the ground, Yue'er was squatting on the ground and contemplating, and couldn't help but be surprised.

"Mother, you, what are you doing here?"

"Haha, this is my next job, Niu Tao, congratulations on becoming the internal supervisor of the imperial dining room."

Yue'er put down a sketch and glanced at Niu Tao, his face was a little pale, obviously he had suffered two days ago and had not recovered.

"Thank you Niangniang, the little one is here to congratulate the mother, and at the same time thank the mother for saving her life, the little one not only did not lose her life, but also got promoted."

"That's supposed to be, you didn't do anything wrong in the first place."

"No, this is the credit of Niangniang, the most ridiculous thing is that that Jin Cai exposed your gambling money, saying that Niangniang also beat him personally!"

"Oh, what do you say?"

"I admit the gambling money, but I don't know anything else, sure enough, yesterday Zongzheng Mansion released the small one, and let the small one be promoted, this must be the grace of the mother."

"You're doing well, and you deserve to be promoted."

"Yes, the little one will do his best to do things for his mother."

After Niu Tao finished speaking, he took out a wax pill and handed it to Yue'er, saying, "That day, I went out with Lord Yongjing, and Master Hu of Ximen asked me to bring you a letter again, because of the matter of the Tibetan Painting Pavilion, I haven't had time to hand it over to you." ”

Yue'er sighed, secretly glad in her heart, if she didn't help Niu Tao, this wax pill would definitely be obtained, although others couldn't understand what was written, but if you strictly investigate, your identity may be exposed.

"You must keep this matter secret, Yongjing has fallen, and other concubines will ask you if they want to go out to buy something, you have to keep an eye on it, don't be taken advantage of!"

"Yes, the little one knows, thank you for the reminder."

Yue'er smiled and said, "Next time you have a chance to gamble, you can still quietly call me!" ”

Niu Tao was flattered and bowed again and again.

"Don't dare, don't dare, don't dare to die!"

When Niu Tao withdrew, Yue'er pinched open the wax pill, and when she saw the first article written on it, she couldn't help but nodded, snorted, and said, "Very good, heaven can't live, don't count on the big red pill!" ”

The second message is about Li Dahao, the people of Ximen found that there were still people secretly spying on him, I don't know if it was people from the court or people in the rivers and lakes, but Li Dahao drank and had fun every day, and he didn't take it seriously.

Yue'er said secretly: "Do you want to arrest Li Dahao and torture him, now that Taiwei Gao's power in the court has been greatly reduced, if Sikong Man wants to kick off this stumbling block, he will definitely make a move." ”

The third message is that the people of Ximen quietly got the mortgage of the Frost Leaf Pavilion, and it only cost 30,000 taels of silver, Yue'er nodded secretly, if the people of Ximen dug the dry well in the backyard again, then he could escape from the palace from the Baiyu Palace.

After thinking for a while, Yue'er wrote the order and sealed it again, and then sealed it with wax pills, she planned to wait for Rudong to give it to Niu Tao so that he would have a chance to take it out.

As soon as the letter was written, a eunuch came to pass on Xuanling's message, saying that he would still settle down in Anhua Hall tonight and let Concubine Duan sleep.

When the news came out, the harem was greatly shaken, and everyone finally believed that the emperor had changed his taste, and the Duan concubine, who was not to be seen by anyone, did not know what luck she had and became the emperor's new favorite concubine.

Today, Xuan Ling came early, and before dusk, he took his father-in-law to Anhua Palace, the two sat down in the Plum Blossom Palace, Lan Qiu and Ji Hong served tea and snacks, Yue'er was afraid of trouble in winter, so she was guarded outside the courtyard.

Xuan Ling waved his hand and asked his subordinates to retreat, leaving only his father-in-law beside him.

"I was so angry just now!"

"Oh, who dares to be angry with Your Majesty?"

"It's the Queen Mother!"

When Yue'er heard what Xuan Ling said about the Queen Mother, she immediately shut up, she originally wanted to say a few words about that person.

Xuan Ling continued: "The case of the Tibetan Painting Pavilion has been revealed, as you said, Lin Shu's deputy envoy really killed his relatives in righteousness, he said that the family education is not strict, he is ashamed of the ancestors, and he asks for severe punishment, I decided to give poisoned wine, but the queen mother called me and Prince Dongping together in the afternoon, and said that Lin Zhaoyi has been with me for so long, and he can't be too ruthless, and wants us to pardon that woman!" ”

Prince Dongping's name is Zhao Dongping, he is the boss of Zongzheng Mansion, this prince does not hold any official position in the court except for the head of Zongzheng Mansion, usually as invisible, and only appears at critical moments, so some people call him the shadow prince.

Yue'er didn't expect that it was the Queen Mother who interceded, and the emperor could refuse others to intercede, but the Queen Mother's words still had to be heard.

"Then, then Your Majesty will pardon Lin Zhaoyi."

"Oh, you think it's okay to pardon?"

Xuan Ling was a little surprised.

"Lin Zhaoyi's mistake is indeed unforgivable, but after all, she has a love affair with His Majesty, and she is humane for a hundred days as a husband and wife overnight, and the Queen Mother should not want Her Majesty to be infamous for being affectionate."

Xuan Ling was a little excited, and said: "I am reluctant to kill her, but do you know, those calligraphy and paintings are the culture that has been passed down by me for thousands of years, and they are destroyed like this, what will the world say, how will the history books be written, they will poke at the spine and scold me, how can this be embarrassing?" ”

"Your Majesty is too worried, as long as Your Majesty is dedicated to the welfare of the world, it is a blessing for me, and the painters of the Imperial Painting Academy racked their brains and exhausted their thoughts, why can't they paint the masterpieces that have been handed down to the world?"

As soon as he said this, Xuan Ling's anger was much smoother.

"I didn't expect Concubine Duan to be born in Dalili, she could be so reasonable, it was really unexpected for me, when you entered the palace, I really shouldn't have snubbed you."

Yue'er hurriedly knelt down.

"It was Yu'er who was young and ignorant and willful, and now she regrets not being at the beginning, and she can't complain about the emperor's neglect."

"Yes, you can change your mistakes now, and you are very good, but that woman hurt you, can you not be angry and spare her?"

"The concubine only feels sorry for His Majesty for those calligraphy and paintings, but the matter has come to this point, killing her will not help, it is better to spare her life."

Xuan Ling snorted and took a few steps back and forth with his hands behind his back.

"Since Yu'er interceded for that woman, then I will spare her life for the sake of you, and tomorrow I will tell Zongzheng Mansion to abolish her status as Zhaoyi and demote her to the palace and enter the court."

Yue'er knew that the concubine was beaten into the court and the cold palace, and basically had no chance to come out again, and the pain she endured was far beyond imagination, and there were not many people who lived for six or seven years like Concubine Baili, but she still thanked her and said: "Your Majesty is magnanimous, and Yu'er admires it so much." ”

Xuan Ling laughed and said to his father-in-law: "Ask someone to bring wine, I want to have a drink with Concubine Duan!" ”

Father-in-law Tong retreated, and Yue'er thought of Jing Guiyi's entrustment, so she asked, "Since Your Majesty has forgiven Lin Zhaoyi, how will the others be relieved?" ”

"They help and abuse, they must not be spared, they should be killed, and they should be killed!"

"What about Jing Guiyi?"

Xuan Ling was a little strange, he took Yue'er's little hand and said, "Yu'er, why did you suddenly ask her?" ”

"The concubine moved here, thinking that this was the residence of Sister Jing, and she was a little uneasy, so she wanted to ask Your Majesty what to do with it?"

Xuan Ling's face turned pale, and said: "Chen Jieyu and Chu Meiren are involved in another matter, which has nothing to do with the Tibetan Painting Pavilion, did Jing Guiyi come to ask you for mercy?" ”

Yue'er nodded, she didn't dare to deny that this emperor was very perceptive and could see through it at a glance.

"She did remind Yu'er that day here, so I owe her a favor."

"You owe her a favor? What a naivety! She just wants to curry favor with both sides, be careful that one day she sells you, and you count the money for her! ”

Hearing this, Yue'er was stunned.

"What does Your Majesty mean, do you still want to punish Jing Guiyi?"

Xuan Ling picked up the wine glass that his father-in-law had placed on the table and drank it all.

"Yes, I plan to issue an order in a few days to demote her to a feudal king, otherwise I will only let her move somewhere, how can I justify it without punishment, what do you think?"

"Your Majesty, Yu'er doesn't dare to make a judgment."

P.S.: The word "culture" comes from the Book of Changes, which means to educate according to humanities, and is quoted in this book as a modern word meaning.