In the fiery weather of August, Ruqing ushered in the news of the ice cellar for the first time in her life.

It has been three years since the death of the first emperor, the emperor's filial piety period has passed, the gate of the harem is open, and the emperor is about to be drafted!

The Empress Dowager ordered the Ministry of Rites to personally order that all officials above the fourth rank in Beijing, and boudoir girls over the age of thirteen must enter the palace to participate in the draft.

Fang Jinglan is a three-grade official, and the three girls are not married, and they are all in the draft list. Ruqing's heart was frightened, and she felt a knife go straight to her throat.

But fortunately, Ruqing has already been engaged to the Xiang family, and she is a concubine, so she doesn't have to enter the palace. After getting this news, I finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Just kidding, inside the palace, is that what she can do? I'm afraid that less than half a year after entering, there will be no bones. Again, Ruqing has another layer of scruples, the one with the highest status in the palace, she sincerely hopes that it will not be the one she imagined.

No one understands and knows Ruqing's worries and scruples, but Ruqing has indeed decided to be a family member and can no longer participate in the draft. In late August, after three days of rainstorm in the capital, the sky had just cleared, and if it was good and beautiful, it was dressed up and entered the palace, Fang Jinglan Li was in a complicated mood, on the one hand, her daughter became the mother of the palace, if she was favored, then the Fang family would go to the next level. However, there are three thousand beauties in the emperor's harem, and it is too difficult to stand out.

In the end, after a few nights of ideological battles, Fang Jinglan made a painful decision to let the two girls only dress up ordinary, and enter the palace with empty hands.

In the evening of the same day, the two sisters came back, Rushan's face was pale with cyan, although Rumei was calm, but she also looked scared, Ruqing hurriedly asked what's wrong, failed?

Rushan looked a little unwilling, but Rumei was happy, because it was later learned from He's mouth that the two sisters were eliminated in the first round of the draft.

Rumei couldn't stand the ridicule of other sisters, so she was resentful. Rushan clenched his fists and secretly complained about his father's stinginess.

"Daddy is really, why don't you let me bring some silver into the palace? The daughter of the Zhou family was inferior to me, but she was chosen, but she stuffed some silver for the grandmother. ”

Li tilted his mouth and reprimanded: "Your father has good intentions. You must know that inside the palace, looking at the scenery, it is actually a place where you cannibalize people without spitting out bones. With your arrogant nature, you will not only be stepped on when you enter. Do you think the nobles in the palace are as easy to get along with as their own sisters? ”

Rushan was annoyed and said angrily: "Mrs. is serious." I didn't think so, it's just, it's just, ---"

"My sister is only eight years old, and she is proficient in piano, chess, calligraphy and painting, but those people have no vision, and my sister doesn't want to climb the dragon and the phoenix, but she has a kind of indignation that her talent is not appreciated." Lin took over the words, neither yin nor yang, and then looked at Rushan with a smile, "Sister, am I right?" ”

Rushan's face turned blue, glaring at Lin angrily, and he didn't dare to answer at will. This Lin family, in terms of mouth talent, she is really not an opponent.

Although Rumei failed to win the election, Li was disappointed for a while, but seeing that Rushan also lost the election, his heart was balanced, and he happily comforted Rumei and comforted himself, "Come on, don't hang a face." The reason why your father didn't give you some money was because he didn't want you to choose. You know, there are three thousand beauties in the harem, it's not that you are not good enough, but that your father is not an official, you look at the mothers and masters in the palace now, which one is not from the back of the general, but from the duke's palace? ”

Li will comfort people, Rumei is really no longer depressed, and soon cheered up again, and talked about the draft process with great interest.

Ruqing patiently listened to her talk, from a certain show girl to a certain concubine, and then from a certain eunuch to those grandmothers, she couldn't even insert the words, until she said that she was tired, or thirsty, and when she was drinking water, Ruqing hurriedly asked: "Have you seen the Queen Mother?" ”

Rumei's face was sneering, "The queen mother is noble, the mother of another country, the mother of the world, and lives in the deep palace, how can I see it." ”

Ruqing put her mind at ease again, and suddenly felt that she was really suspicious, how could there be so many coincidences in this world.

*

In two days after the boudoir girls above the fourth-grade officials in Beijing entered the palace, most of them were eliminated, and I heard that only a few remained. Immediately afterwards, there will be a national draft girl.

After a few days, suddenly there was a wild rumor outside, in fact, the emperor was not in the palace, but went out on patrol in microclothes. However, this news was vigorously denied by three cabinet members and dismissed as nonsense.

However, Fang Jinglan, who went down to the Ya, discussed this matter with Zhiyi, and felt that the rumors should be true. Because, the emperor has been sick for several days and will not go to court.

Immediately afterwards, on the fifteenth day of the lunar calendar, the day of the routine temple incense, and I heard that the current queen mother rewarded a statue of Laojun in Hongyuan Temple, and the abbot wanted to consecrate the statue of Taijun, which immediately attracted pilgrims from all directions, and the female dependents of the Fang Mansion also went together.

Hongyuan Temple is a national temple, with grand rules and a wide area. The main building of the temple is the core area of religious functions. The main contains: a door, to welcome the hall, the Mida treasure hall, the bell and drum tower, the four corners of the building, the Buddha light hall, the Buddha hall, the intake hall, the lecture hall, the Tibetan scripture building, the Dharma building, the Lent hall, the squatter room, etc., take the imitation of the Tang Dynasty architectural style, the central axis symmetrical structure, the front and back four into.

Ruqing took the old lady into the hall, and saw the sound of the Buddha inside, and the six-character inscription of "Amitabha Buddha in the south" was erected in the middle, and the pilgrims in the Buddhist hall were like clouds, and the crowds were crowded. Ruqing is most afraid of a lot of people, coupled with the hot weather, and can not wear short-sleeved short skirts like modern times, although the clothes are indeed thin, thin sand cotton moon white narrow-sleeved gown, the outer cover couple-color embroidered weeping willow leaf placket than the armor, the lower body of the same color crescent moon color long skirt, is already very thin and thin, but in this general trend of dog days, it is still hot and sweaty, there are many pilgrims here, everyone squeezed together, almost sweating, finally boiled to the incense, met the Bodhisattva, kowtowed, exited the Buddha hall, Ruqing strode towards the back hall familiarly.

The Pet Source Temple is nestled at the southern foot of the Forbidden City; The terrain is high, the forest is dense and the wind is sparse, the peaks are surrounded, and a river lingers, which is a good place for nature! Walk through the Buddha hall and under the guidance of the little novice, you will come to a room specially prepared for pilgrims to rest.

Ruqing found that the wing room here was not the original building, and couldn't help asking, "How many pilgrims are there today?" ”

Xiao Shami replied: "There are indeed a lot of tourists today, and the first-class rooms in front of me are full, so I can only grieve the female donor." ”

Ruqing said that she was fine, and then held a small incense fan with a face on her face and fanned the old lady desperately, and helped the old lady into the wing. The mother-in-law hurriedly prepared tea and fanned their masters.

The Li family was indeed miserable, just now from the bottom of the mountain all the way up, almost so hot that he lost his strength. I don't want to move when I lean back on the big chair.

After sitting for a short time, Ruqing found that this house was actually sitting east and facing west, at this time the sun was shining in the house, there was no electric fan in ancient times, it was just an ordinary side room, and there were no tools such as ice cubes to cool off, the old lady and others were almost so hot that they were out of breath, even if there was a fan, it was not a problem, and a few girls who played fans were also tired and sweaty, Ruqing thought about it and stood up, "Let's just go outside." ”

Rushan and Mei were also very unaccustomed to staying, and they also got up together.

The old lady opened her eyes slightly and nodded, "Go ahead, remember not to go everywhere." Let the mothers follow along the way in case something goes wrong. ”

When the three sisters walked out of the wing, they walked in the direction of the shade of the tree, and when they passed the wingroom where they had rested, they found that there were many serious-looking mothers-in-law and subordinates standing in the corridor outside one of the wings, and their shoulders were straightened proudly with a vigilant look. And there were actually a few small novices standing on the periphery, looking respectful.

Rumei secretly came to Ruqing and bit her ears with her, "There are a lot of female dependents of the rich family who came to Shangxiang today, all of them are surrounded by servants, mighty, but there is no such persona, look, there are more than ten mothers-in-law, a few girls, more than a dozen male attendants, a dozen guards, and even a monk guarding here, which rule is this, if you want to say that a man, you will never bring so many mothers-in-law and girls, but if it is a female dependent, you will not leave the male attendant at the door to guard, right?" ”

Ruqing couldn't help but take a few more glances when she heard this, and then she realized that something was really wrong, these mothers-in-law looked so serious, these girls were all beautiful and slim, and these guards were all majestic and mighty, so not magnificent.

Rushan also stared at it, and suddenly his brows were knotted, as if he was thinking about something.

Probably the three sisters were too attentive and too focused, and finally attracted the attention of an elderly waiter, only to see the old waiter glaring at the three girls with a majestic gaze, and walked to the steps menacingly, looking at the three of them condescendingly, their voices were cold and sharp, "What are you doing here?" Don't retreat quickly. ”

The three girls were frightened by his sharp voice, and ran away as quickly as possible, and then went to a place where no one was around, then you look at me, I look at you, and said in unison: "It must be from the palace." ”

Rushan said: "That man's voice is so sharp, it must be a Tailin." ”

Rumei also took over, "Look at that battle, the status is not low. ”

Ruqing guessed, "Then, which mother will it be?" ”

Rushan thought about it; "Could it be a concubine, a queen, or a princess?"

Rumei said, "Probably not." I heard that the noble lady was pregnant, and she would never appear in the temple. I heard that the queen has long fallen out of favor. You can't have such a battle when you fall out of favor. Princesses are even more unlikely. According to the regulations of our dynasty, the princess's chamberlain is eight people. Look at this, the chamberlain has already greatly exceededed. ”

The three sisters were once again confused, then, not a noblewoman, not a queen, so who could it be?

In the end, I really couldn't guess, Ruqing simply stopped speculating, and said: "Whatever, it has nothing to do with us anyway, what should he do?" ”

When the two sisters heard this, they nodded one after another, yes, anyway, it has nothing to do with them, and it's not interesting to think about it.

In the end, the three sisters stayed in the small pavilion near the river for a while, facing the cool mountain breeze, and finally relieved the heat.

On the way back, they arrived at the house for the rich daughters to rest, and out of curiosity, the three sisters looked at the same place. This time I was really lucky, I actually saw a woman about fifty years old, under the embrace of a group of grandmothers and attendants, came out of the wing room, the person was wearing ginger pinched gold buds and carved silk silk placket, the lower body dark blue gold thread embroidered Wufu Mountain color Shoufu Shuangqi Xiangyun skirt, wearing the Chaoyang Five Winds hanging Zhu fork, each hairpin on the sky twelve golden hairpins of red gold hairpin, the red gold pearl chain on the forehead wiped the forehead, the whole body was majestic and majestic, Ruqing found that the inner servant who had just reprimanded them was leading the woman's hand, Step by step, he came to the slippery chariot carried by eight people, the slippery chariot was carried by the same chamberlain in black civilian clothes, surrounded by sword warriors, and the palace maids and grandmothers followed closely behind, and people with a little bit of eyes knew that this woman's identity was indeed extraordinary.

When the woman got into the car, she said a few words to the grandmother beside her, and then raised her head slightly, at this time, Ruqing finally saw her face clearly, and gasped, only to feel the thunder of the sky, and a chill stretched out from the soles of her feet.

Rushan has always had a good memory, but at this time he couldn't remember, he only squinted at the woman for a long time, and suddenly said to himself: "Strange, how can this person's voice be so familiar?" ”

Ruqing only stayed, and couldn't help but turn her head to look at her.

Rumei also followed, "Yes, I also feel familiar, I don't know if I've heard it." ”

At this moment, Zi Ruqing couldn't keep her composure anymore, and hurriedly reached out to cover the mouths of the two, and whispered: "Shut up, beware of being heard asking for our lives." ”

Rushan Rumei immediately closed her mouth and didn't dare to speak again.

The woman got a pine-colored curtain decorated with silver cheeks, embroidered with octagonal and inlaid with glass tassels, and the head of the chamberlain shouted sharply: "Get up the sedan chair"! The eight chamberlains hurriedly lowered their waists and lifted the chariot, and those grandmothers and palace maids hurriedly followed, and surrounded the chariot with the samurai. Then go all the way down the mountain.

When the woman finally left, the previous order was restored in front of her, and she looked in the direction of the woman's departure, and at this time the shadow of the chariot was long gone, and only the shadow could still see the occasional flash from the bushes, and muttered, "What a majesty! ”

Rumei said: "I think, it must be the Queen Mother." The legendary Queen Mother of Longyu. The biological mother of the current emperor. ”

Ruqing replied uneasily: "There is only the queen mother in the palace who is the most majestic, presumably this is it, the queen mother is on patrol, although many complicated ceremonial guards have been subtracted, but this battle alone is not comparable to ordinary rich and noble people." ”

Rushan also nodded and sighed, "Yes, it's really rare to be a woman to her level." ”

"But, for some reason, I always felt like I'd seen it somewhere. Especially the sound, it sounds so familiar. Rumei lowered her head and thought bitterly.

Ruqing turned her head, "The world is so big, there are no surprises." There are also many people who look similar and have similar voices. Sister don't worry. ”

Rumei bowed her head, "That's the same." What is the identity of the person, and they live in the deep palace, how can they see it. It must have been something wrong with my ears just now. ”

Ruqing smiled slightly, but her smile was more ugly than crying.

*

When she returned to Fangfu in the evening, she retired from the crowd and told the old lady about her concerns. Rao is well-informed old lady was also taken aback when she heard about this. looked at Ruqing with blazing eyes, and said in a deep voice: "Are you sure you haven't looked away?" ”

Ruqing nodded heavily, "No." It was only suspected and has never been confirmed. When Shen's mother was leaving, I vaguely guessed her identity. But I never expected that she would be so --- and powerful. This is something she didn't expect.

The old lady frowned suspiciously, looked at Ruqing's delicate face, and suddenly asked, "Now that it has been confirmed, what is the little girl going to do next?" ”

Ruqing made a bitter face, "Grandma, what else can I do?" Of course, you can hide as far as you want. Grandma, the capital is so big, and people are the mother of a country, what if, if one day the interest comes, you want to kill me, what can I do? ”

The old lady frowned, "How so?" You're her great benefactor. It's too late for her to thank you, how can she kill you? ”

Ruqing stomped her feet, "Grandma! Although I am kind to her, but the mother of a country has been a slave, and is still the lowest slave, whispered in front of me, in front of my wife has always called herself a slave, and has been slapped by Liu's mother, has been scolded by Mrs. in public, you say, you say, people are now the mother of a country, high up, the scenery is incomparable. If people knew that the dignified ** was actually a slave of our family, what would outsiders think, what would she think? If you don't want to find a way to kill our family, it's already an ancestor who has accumulated virtue, how can you dare to make a big noise? ”

It's not that she's dying too long. Also, she wouldn't be so stupid as to think that she was kind to others and ran to ask for merit and rewards. The person in power attaches great importance to face and dignity, and the more he is on top, the more he cannot tolerate the unbearable and humiliation that someone knows about him. If she runs away like this, even if she doesn't invite credit, just everyone meets and chats, and a few words to each other are estimated to be dead.

After Zhu Yuanzhang became the emperor, he particularly hated the words "monk, light, baldness, thief", and even the word "then", which has the same sound as "thief", hated it deeply. The reason is that Zhu Yuanzhang was very poor and miserable when he was a child, and he was a monk. So when he ascended the throne and became an emperor, these words were especially taboo.

The old lady stared at Ruqing for a long time and sighed: "I am relieved that you can think so." At least my sunny girl is so sensible and smart, and she knows the stakes and interests. But don't take it too hard and scare yourself. Our family can move from Qizhou City to the capital, and it has been smooth, first, your father is indeed a matter of course, and second, maybe it is also related to this. But there are two sides to everything, so it's better to be careful. It's not unreasonable for you to have this concern. When dealing with the Heavenly Family, you really have to be cautious. ”

Ruqing nodded, "I'm just a concubine, and if I get married in the future, I don't think I have the conditions to meet that person, but I'm not afraid of what if, just in case, if this really happens, I, alas, this will be really miserable." Especially recently, I have been selected to enter the palace, wouldn't it be even more miserable? ”

The old lady snorted softly and hugged Ruqing in her arms. patted lightly: "Don't worry, the queen of my Daqing Dynasty has always been from the people." The daughter of the official family can really be selected, but she is only a concubine. Again, my Daqing Dynasty has always had cruel regulations on the burial of concubines after the collapse of the emperor. Even if you enter the palace and be prosperous for a few years, if your child does not become the emperor, you can't escape the fate of being favored. Seeing the body in his arms, he shrank down slightly, patted it gently, and comforted: "But don't worry." You are a concubine, and you have already made a family matter. People still don't look down on it. However, it is better to prepare early. In this way, you go out to avoid for a while, and when you are ready, you will immediately marry the Xiang family. So as not to have many dreams at night--- but where to avoid the limelight? Haining's hometown has just been, and your eldest sister and brother-in-law have not moved out of Pingyang Hou's Mansion yet, so it is inconvenient for you to go to Shanxi --- and go to your second brother. ”