Xing Tie smiled: "If it's just you two little dolls who go to beg the old woman, of course, you can only go there directly, so as not to be suspected by her." And with me going all the way to intercede, I can't do that. ”

Li Hao said proudly: "I didn't expect that there are such benefits when you are small, so it's better not to grow up." ”

Xue Yue'er teased: "Could it be that you want to be so big forever?" Skinny and short, ugly and ugly! ”

"I'd love to!"

The three of them laughed and walked for nearly half an hour before they came to the old woman's quarters. There are several blue brick houses, and the houses are old, but they are quite spacious.

Xingtie approached the door that had already peeled off the paint, grabbed the copper ring on the door and knocked it lightly a few times.

"Who?" A middle-aged woman's inquiry came from the door.

"The blacksmith Xingtie refined in Quanzhou has come to visit."

The thick wooden door squeaked open, and a woman of nearly thirty years old came out, with a beautiful and average appearance.

"I don't know what's going on with the master, it seems that my family doesn't have the utensils to entrust your store to build." The woman looked at the two village girls behind Xingtie and nodded abruptly, "You're here to find my mother-in-law." ”

"Exactly."

The middle-aged woman let the three of them in, closed the door again, and called to the inner room, "Mother-in-law, a few guests have come to your old man's house." ”

"Who, who's going to come to me for this bad old woman?"

Out of the hall was an old woman with gray hair, wrinkled like a wrinkled orange peel, but she was still agile in her movements, and she did not need to use crutches.

The woman received the gift from Xingtie, and when she opened it, she saw that it was two small dolls' satin robes, and she couldn't help but be overjoyed, which could be used as a birthday gift for her own dolls. There were also a few sticks of ginseng and other herbs next to her, and she handed the tonic to the old woman and said, "Mother-in-law, look at the many tonic medicines that have been sent to you." ”

The old woman said, "Put your things away and go and pour some cups of tea for the guests." ”

turned to Xingtie and said: "Master Xingtie wants to come to ask the old woman to intercede and send these two little sisters to the palace to be maids, right?" I'm afraid that it's been a long time since I've been out of the house, and what the old woman said doesn't have much weight. ”

Xingtiedao: "It's okay, as long as the old woman does her best." These are two little girls from distant relatives in the countryside, and suddenly something happened in the family, and they had to entrust me to take care of them. But I have no home and no room, how can I take care of people, so I have to ask the old woman to help, send these two little girls into the palace to be maids for a while, learn some etiquette, and wait for a few years, and then find a richer family to marry, and also fulfill the wishes of my relatives. ”

The old woman nodded, turned to look at the two little girls with thin faces, looked at the palms of the two of them, and asked, "The two little dolls should have done housework and suffered hardship." ”

Li Hao and Xue Yue'er nodded at the same time and said, "We can suffer anything." ”

The old woman still asked about the family history of the two in detail.

Li Hao suddenly said: "I heard that those palaces recruit girls very strictly, will they still strip people naked and check them or something?" Wouldn't that be a shame to death? ”

Xue Yue'er blushed and lowered her head at Li Hao's words.

The old woman smiled: "How can there be such a thing! Do you think this is the palace recruiting palace maids? They generally check their family history and sign a contract of sale when they see that people are available. ”

Xingtie interjected: "This contract is only signed for five years, and there is no need to sell yourself." If you are favored by the palace, the old woman will bring the contract back, and I will call someone to come and get it tomorrow. ”

The old woman nodded and said, "That's fine, then I'll take you two little dolls over and ask." ”

Xingtie nodded and said, "Xingtie will ask the old woman, I still have something to do, so I won't follow." I've rented a carriage for you outside, and I can take you back and forth. Also, don't say that these two little dolls have a relationship with me, lest they become suspicious. ”

The old woman said, "This is a matter of course, and I will say that they are from my country village." The old woman has been bored at home for some time, and now it is not bad to go out for a walk. I don't know if those people still remember the old woman. ”

Before parting, Xingtie discussed with Li Hao and Xue Yue'er for a while, and sent the two of them into the carriage.

Looking at the carriage in the distance, Xing Tie shook his head and said with a wry smile: "These two little ghosts, it's best not to make something big." ”

"Two little sisters, why did you agree to go to the palace to be a maid? The rules in the palace are strict, and they are not as presumptuous as the countryside. ”

Sitting in the carriage, the shrewd old woman asked uneasily.

Li Hao: "Be strict, be strict, but I heard Uncle Xingtie say that there are a lot of delicious things in it, chickens, ducks, fish, etc., all of them, just to make your body a little fatter." ”

The old woman was amused by her and laughed: "That's right, there is indeed a lot of fish and meat in there, more than in the countryside." But you don't necessarily have the opportunity to eat, only during the New Year's holidays, there are some rewards of silver, wine and meat. If you go in, you are not allowed to eat any of them, or you will be caught and spanked. ”

Li Hao said: "Alas, I have to wait until the New Year's Festival, but it's okay, at least there is something delicious." ”

"However, what you usually eat is much better than what you eat in the countryside. You two little sisters remember, when you go in, you must not steal anything. ”

Half an hour later, the carriage stopped, and it had arrived at the palace.

The three of them jumped out of the carriage, and Li Hao looked at the gate and wall of the tall palace in front of him, as well as the stone lion squatting there angrily, and the guards with swords and armor standing motionless like the stone lion.

Li Hao also saw that the thick door panel inside was full of yellow glittering copper nails, and he couldn't help but stammer: "Good girl, there are still people guarding the door, just like those guarding the city gate." There are two more stone lions here, which look so domineering, much more powerful than the previous one in our family. ”

Xue Yue'er cooperated: "Sister, silence, Uncle Xingtie said, you can't talk nonsense when you get here." ”

Li Hao stuck out his tongue and shrank behind her in fear, making the old woman smile and shake her head, what is it a little doll in the countryside, and she will only hide when she is scared.

The old woman walked to the door and said to the guard with a sword: "The two little brothers have worked hard, please bring a message in, the old woman wants to find the backyard steward Mi Ruxiang." ”

The guard didn't look at the old woman and was about to chase people away, but when he heard her mention the name of the backyard supervisor, he immediately raised his spirit and said, "You still know the rice manager, is there anything wrong?" ”

"I have a relative in the countryside who has suffered an accident at home, and I asked the old man to take care of him, so I had to send him to the palace as a maid, and I want to ask my former partner if he can help take care of one or two."

The Jia Shi said: "It just so happens that the palace has something to do recently, you wait here, I will ask Manager Song to take a look." ”

The old woman hurriedly said, "Thank you so much for this brother! ”

After a while, a white and chubby butler walked out, wearing a rich hat on his head and a Han jade ring on his hand, and he was quite imposing.

When Li Hao and Xue Yue'er saw him come out, they didn't salute, and shrank back a little in fear.

The old woman hurriedly said: "The little doll in the countryside is not very sensible, don't blame Mr. Song." I don't know if the chief manager still remembers the old woman. ”

The old fat man laughed and said, "It turned out to be Sister Mei, what wind blew you here, let's go, take these two little dolls in, and meet our old buddies from before." You will really come in time, just when the palace wants to recruit people, so you sent people over. ”

As the big housekeeper Song entered the gate, the pavilion and courtyard path twisted all the way, like a mountain road and a peak, and he couldn't see the famous flowers of the elegant building, which was much more magnificent than Xue Yue'er's house, and Li Hao and Xue Yue'er were dumbfounded, and their eyes were flawless.

From time to time, they would inadvertently look back at their housekeeper, and nodded reassuringly, sure enough, it was just a little country doll who was not deeply involved in the world, and there should be no problem.

Steward Song took them for a full half a column of incense, passing by a large kitchen in the backyard, only to see that the maids and maids were in and out of the house, all busy.

Before entering the room, Steward Song shouted loudly: "Ruxiang, your old sister has come to see you." ”

An old-looking woman walked out of it, dressed in a purple satin robe, wearing gold and silver, faintly with a bit of superior momentum. When I saw the old woman in front of me, I was overjoyed and said, "Sister Mei, I didn't expect you to come back to see my little sister." ”

The old woman Zhai Xiaomei said: "Alas, the palace is deep and strict, and the road is far away. The old sister is okay now, and she doesn't dare to go this way, this time there is nothing to ask you for. ”

Turning his head and pointing at Li Hao and Xue Yue'er, he said: "My sisters in the countryside have suffered from something, and I entrusted these two little sisters to my wife to help find a mother-in-law." But I thought about it, since I want to find this, of course I have to find a better one, and I am afraid that these two wild girls in the countryside do not know how to be polite, and people will not look down on them, so they specially sent them to the palace for training. Annoying Sister Ruxiang to take care of one or two, don't care too much about my face, just do what the rules should be. ”

"It just so happens that the palace is going to recruit people, Sister Mei is really timely to send people here, otherwise my sister is afraid that she won't be able to accept them."

Mi Yunxiang looked at Li Hao and the two of them carefully, asked some more things, and nodded: "There should be no big problem, I will trouble Steward Song to open the contract for a while, and I will only do it for five years." ”

Zhai Xiaomei nodded, and Mi Yunxiang said again: "It's rare for the old sister to come back once, so let's have a few drinks with the little sister first, after a few years, the little sister is afraid that she will have to go home, and there will not be many opportunities to meet." ”

"No, the carriage rented outside is still waiting, and after waiting for a long time, people don't want to."

Mi Ruxiang said: "Then how can it be done, we must have a small drink." Let's do this, stay for a while and ask Xiao Yang to send you back, and the carriage outside will ask someone else to ask him to go back first. ”

"Okay, it's rare that Sister Rue still remembers the old sister, so let's have a few small drinks, I really miss the time we used to be together."

As Steward Song presented the two pieces of white paper in black and white, Li Hao and Xue Yue'er pressed two bright red handprints on them, and the matter of entering the palace was easily done.

After Li Hao and Xue Yue'er signed the contract paperwork, Mi Yunxiang said: "You two will help in the kitchen for the time being, and you will be familiar with some rules, and then I will let you be the little maid ring waiting for the master and be familiar with some etiquette rules." Remember, don't run into your master, you know. ”

called a middle-aged maid ring and led the two to the place where they were staying, and by the way, they received the clothes of the unified family of the palace.

Li Hao and Xue Yue'er received two sets of family clothes, and when they were changing clothes, Xue Yue'er sighed and said: "I didn't expect that I should not let go of the good lady, but I want to come here to be a little girl and serve others, it's really terrible!" ”

Li Hao laughed a few times and said, "If you can bend and stretch, you can be regarded as a strange woman." Didn't the play say that even if those famous heroes, in order to solve the case or something, they would still play beggars or something, wouldn't it be even worse. So, let's just pretend to be a little girl, it's okay. ”

Xue Yue'er said aggrievedly: "Besides, the last time you asked me to strip the dead man's bloody clothes, and I had to wear that smelly and bloody clothes, I almost didn't toss me to death!" ”

Li Hao said embarrassedly: "Isn't this for escape, if you refuse to change your disguise for the sake of that false face, then you must not lose your life." Maybe someone else caught us and didn't give us a knife, and cut us to pieces, wouldn't it be miserable? Okay, let's get through this with our hearts first, get rid of that damn old man, and we will definitely be happy in the future. It's not early, hurry up and change your clothes and go out. ”

Just move, Li Hao and Xue Yue'er only needed a few breaths of effort to change the clothes of the palace family, and the skills they had learned from the disguise technique were quite fast when they were used in it.

The middle-aged maid watched the two little girls put on their clothes and behaved very well, nodded and said: "Two little sisters, you remember, from today on, you are a member of the palace, you must talk less and do more things in the future, even if the master is not around, you can't talk nonsense, you know?" ”

Li Hao nodded suddenly, tilted his head and said curiously: "Why is this?" ”

"Don't ask so much why, remember, you just have to be obedient and don't talk nonsense."

The middle-aged woman will encounter the rules of how to behave with her master along the way, and she will explain them clearly one by one. Hearing that she had to kowtow as soon as she met the master, she couldn't get up until the master walked over or greeted her, Xue Yue'er couldn't help but stick out her tongue with a bitter face, and pinched Li Hao hatefully, pulling Li Hao into a grin, which was a little bit of balance.

The middle-aged girl led the two to the kitchen, pointed to a hill-like vegetable pile in front of them, and said to them: "Two little sisters, you have always washed the vegetables at home, and this morning, you will finish washing these dishes." Recently, there have been a lot of guests from the palace, and there are more things. ”

Xue Yue'er exclaimed, "Isn't it, washing so many dishes?" ”

The middle-aged girl frowned and said, "What, is there a problem?" ”

Li Hao pulled Xue Yue'er, shook his head and said: "No problem, I just didn't expect that I would have to wash so many dishes once, when I was at home before, I only needed to wash a few dishes to finish things, and I could wash so much at one time, so my sister would be surprised." ”

The middle-aged woman smiled and said, "There are only a few people in your family, do you know how big the palace is?" There are hundreds of people in total, more than the people in your village who usually get married and make wine, how many dishes do you say is enough? ”

Xue Yue'er was pulled by Li Hao, and said in surprise: "It turns out that there are so many people, no wonder they have to wash so many dishes." I've seen the next-door neighbor's banquet when he was bridal, and the dishes were piled up. ”

Li Hao said: "Then we will start washing now." ”

The middle-aged woman said: "The dishes must be washed cleanly, even if they are washed slowly, they must be cleaned." If the food is too dirty, you will suffer. ”

Li Hao said: "I know, the dishes we wash at home are very clean every time." ”

The middle-aged woman watched the two of them wash in the water with vegetable leaves, looked at them carefully for a while, and then nodded and went to go about her own business.

Along the way, Xue Yue'er learned to clean the internal organs of beasts with Li Hao, and she has almost adapted to these things, which is why Li Hao dared to let her in as a maid ring with confidence.