I used a few more bites for lunch, and dinner was a little late. Stir-fried choy sum, cold asparagus, braised chicken breast and crispy celery, stir-fried spinach with brine tofu, two dishes of pickled side dishes, two bowls of pea vegetarian porridge. Aunt Lin and Wanying took advantage of the last glimmer of twilight to light a candle, and the maid and maid served tea on the side.

After the meal was over, the mother and daughter left everyone and gathered around a low kang table, talking about homely things while picking lotus hearts. It was mid-autumn, and there was no fire in the warm pavilion, only a delicate and moderate kang stove was placed on the kang. Put down the cotton curtains on both sides, and after a while, the East Warm Pavilion also warmed up.

The fingers pinching the embroidery needle sweated slightly, but it was not good to shave the lotus heart. Swipe left to right, right to left. It took a few back and forth to find the right amount of strength.

"Mother, Qing'er's makeup is good today." Wanying took a silk handkerchief, wiped the sweat that she couldn't see on her hands, and asked her mother.

Since the birthday of Master Shi, Wanying seems to have grown up suddenly, and she gradually understands Aunt Lin's intentions.

Aunt Lin put the lotus heart in a porcelain box and put the lotus seeds in another small basket. His eyes focused on a new lotus seed, and he said without raising his eyebrows, "Very good, know how to guard yourself and be restrained." ”

Hearing Aunt Lin's praise, her mind had already flown out of the clouds, and Wanying was secretly happy in her heart. I really understand my mother's mind more and more. Thinking of the troubles of the afternoon, I was really unhappy in my heart, grabbed a lotus seed, pinched the embroidery needle, my heart was ethereal, my hands were also ethereal, and I pinched it for the first time. Press the impetuosity in your heart, twist a few laps steadily, and pinch the embroidery needle steadily. However, the one hundred taels of gold was not a small amount after all, and she really couldn't bear it in her heart, so she asked her mother.

"Mother, your monthly routine is only eight taels, plus Wanying's ten taels. I'm afraid one hundred taels of gold is all my mother's savings, right? Wanying held back these words for an afternoon, and wanted to ask for a long time, but because there were many people, she didn't speak.

"Money is just things outside the body, my mother didn't fancy these in the first place, if this money can really help you solve disasters, it is worth it." Aunt Lin's gaze still never left the lotus seed in her hand.

"Mother's words, Qing'er doesn't understand very well. At most, it is the magic eye that cannot enter the pavilion, and Wanying can't wait to be returned, where will there be a disaster? Aunt Lin may have been focusing on the lotus seed in her hand, and she had no intention of saying what was in her heart, but this sentence pulled Wanying into the fog, and Wanying originally thought that the mother and daughter were thinking the same. But it turned out that the mother's deep thoughts were far beyond Wanying's ability to speculate.

"Silly boy, how could it be returned? In all dynasties, where can all the women who have been favored by the royal family be returned? Even if it doesn't quite agree, it's just that he stays in the palace and serves until the end of his life. Aunt Lin finally moved her gaze to Wanying's anxious gaze. He still holds lotus seeds and embroidery needles in his hands.

Sure enough, Wanying's thinking was simple, she thought that she would be able to stay at home if she was defeated, just like now. But I forgot that I couldn't choose a show girl, and there was a palace maid. Where can I easily return home?

"If it's ordinary, but it's just a few taels of silver, and it's a bluff to report a minor illness, and now it's tricky because you are recommended by Concubine Dong'an to the Queen Mother. Just dealt with the past so stubbornly, how could Concubine Dong'an not be careful? What's more, those villains in the DPRK and China who tell right and wrong can easily let us do this? A few days ago, I invited your father to drink tea and appreciate chrysanthemums in the palace, and I hope that your father can take refuge in Wu'anhou at this time, if you lie that you are sick and cannot enter the palace to be elected, wouldn't even the Queen Mother be offended? ”

The candlelight swayed, like a yin wind blowing, Aunt Lin took scissors and cut off the long candle with her head crooked, and the room was stable and bright again. Put down the scissors and continue to pick up the lotus seeds and embroidery needles. Wanying watched carefully, and her mother immediately pinched the embroidery needle. I secretly admired in my heart: my mother had seen the world in the end, and she was already in turmoil, but her mother was still as quiet as water.

Aunt Lin continued: "I have discussed privately with your father, the Queen Mother and the Emperor have never seen you, if the portrait sent is not in the eyes of the Emperor, this matter will be much easier." Your father has already taken care of the queen mother and the people around the emperor, and Mr. Cui's danqing will be perfect. ”

Aunt Lin said that she was very relaxed when she said this, but Wanying was a little lonely, all this was not the same as she thought, she was still worried about 100 taels of gold in the afternoon, and at this moment she was worried about her future.

Aunt Lin put down the lotus seeds, and held Wanying's slightly sweaty hand through the basket, and the back of Wanying's hand was like a piece of beautiful jade under the candlelight like daylight. Aunt Lin groped back and forth a few times, and said lovingly: "Qing'er, it is precisely because your entry into the palace is irreparable, and the situation in the palace is obscure, the more low-key and introverted you are, so as not to incur jealousy and get into trouble." Although the mother is in the house, the situation in the palace is also a little heard. This time I really can't help myself, otherwise my mother will never let you enter the palace. ”

Of course, Aunt Lin didn't dare to say the real reason, that is, the current emperor is in turmoil. Such a helpless emperor with an uncertain future, Aunt Lin would never give her daughter to her.

"Mother, you also said that the matter has come to this, then leave it to fate. Maybe it's a blessing? ”

Aunt Lin smiled bitterly, and still couldn't tell the real reason for the rebellion in her heart, she only said: "Silly boy, you are not without rumors, there are a lot of pets in the saints today, and you have no intention of politics, and you like to mess around in the inner palace the most." The DPRK and China can only be stabilized by relying on the Queen Mother and Wu Anhou's cuisine. Where does the blessing come from? The Queen Mother has always doted on the emperor and let it go. After speaking, he carefully instructed: "Just keep these words in your heart, and you must not declare them in your mouth, so that others know that when you say them from our mouths, you will be copied all over the house." ”

"Mother, Wanying understands these truths, Wanying won't say a word when she enters the palace, and she won't cause trouble for her father."

"Good boy, mother knows. It's just that these things are very important, so my mother specially instructed you. ”

Hearing this, Wanying suddenly remembered something, and asked: "Mother, the child has heard that the current emperor was born by Mrs. Baohua back then, and the queen mother is just an adoptive mother, how can she be so doting if she is an adoptive mother?" ”

What Wan Ying asked, it is estimated that it is also a suspicion in the hearts of the people of the whole world, Aunt Lin may be idle when she has nothing to do, or when the ladies come and go, she has already found a good answer to Wan Ying's words, so she said without thinking: "The Queen Mother is kind, and the friendship with Mrs. Baohua was once a good story in the palace." Seeing that the emperor has been sluggish since childhood, and the former sisters followed the emperor to the west, how can there be any reason not to love? ”

It's just that Aunt Lin herself didn't dare to believe her words very much. The Queen Mother's doting on the emperor far exceeds that of any kind mother, and there is no one in the whole country who does not praise and praise. The holy bow is slightly uneasy, so it will be stationed in front of the royal couch to serve, the holy bow is healed, and the holy bow will be repaid, and the immortal Buddha will thank you. The more fanfare and hands-on work, the more it will look like it will be shown to the world.

On the contrary, he was very strict with his own Prince Rong, and in the past few years, there were often anecdotes of the Queen Mother beating Prince Rong in the palace. Prince Rong reads until late at night, and he also sees it with his own eyes.

Prince Rong is now able to open up the territory and expand the territory. On the other hand, the emperor is arrogant and lascivious, flying and domineering, and the minister's recitals often require the emperor to interpret the deep meaning, and even the master has to try his best to figure out the words that the emperor can read every time he goes on the table. Even Aunt Lin, who was serving on the side, was always anxious.

"Then Wanying will clean herself and not be in the same stream as she is." Wanying listened to her mother's slightly strange words to the emperor, and she also understood that her mother did not want to enter the palace by herself, and she probably looked down on the emperor. Mother and daughter have the same mind, but they don't say it clearly.

"It's just a grievance for my Qing'er, as the saying goes, 'I wish to have one heart, and the white head will not be separated.'" Don't you know that the most ordinary wish is also the most difficult thing to achieve. Aunt Lin sighed, and then changed her words: "In fact, this situation is not an unsolvable desperate situation, but if you want to solve this dilemma, you need time, location, people and fate." All four are indispensable, even if one link goes wrong, there is no turning back in this life. ”

Aunt Lin said such things cautiously. I thought: Master Shi and myself have been running around for Wanying's affairs day and night these days, not for anything else, just for her to seek a stable life.

Seeing this, Wanying didn't understand the truth, and her heart was much more steady, and she finally figured out the plans of her father and mother. No longer bored, he took his mother's hand and said, "Qing'er listens to her mother for everything." ”

Aunt Lin smiled knowingly and nodded. He whispered: "There are still two princes in the palace, both of whom are the brothers of the current emperor, and they will grow up in the future to go out of the palace to establish their own palace, and the princes' mothers and concubines will follow them out of the palace. ”

Aunt Lin paused for a moment, and then said, "The tenth prince's mother, Concubine Kang, passed away in the spring of this year, and I won't mention it for the time being. Only the mother of the ninth prince is left, but the ninth prince is fourteen this year, and it is also a matter of talking about going out of the palace to build a mansion. ”

"That is to say, when Qing'er enters the palace, she must not only be assigned to the palace of the noble concubine, but also have to be close to the noble concubine, so that she can leave the palace with the noble concubine in the future."

"That's the case, so, what my mother said is that the time and place are favorable, and the most important thing is fate, so that the concubine likes you."

"It is not difficult for Qing'er to make the concubine like it, but how can I get to the palace where the concubine lives?" Wan Ying told Aunt Lin what she couldn't do. At this moment, we must be careful and take every step of the way.

"Don't worry about this, my mother will discuss with your father in private and let your father dredge up the links in the palace. Even if this matter can't be done in the end, you will be dormant in the palace for a year and a half, and after the current limelight, it is unknown if your father will find another reason to send you out of the palace. No matter which way it goes, the most important thing at the moment is not to let the Queen Mother and the Emperor take a fancy to it, if it is really a first-grade and a half-level, then the gods are really weak to return to the sky. ”

"This afternoon, Wanying looks at that painter, and she will definitely help Wanying."

"It is up to man to plan things, and it is up to heaven to make things happen, so let it be fate."