The private room is very large, but there are not many people inside, except for Concubine Zhou, Xu Siniang's master and servant, and then the ancient concubine and her two maids, and then there are some face-saving housekeepers and outer courtyard stewards in King Ning's mansion, there are about six people, all of whom are familiar faces, and the rest are all maids. He Angelica recalled, remembered the names and Nian Geng of four of them, and secretly praised himself for being really iron-headed, and even the names of the lackeys were kept.

Seeing that He Angelica didn't answer Concubine Zhou's words, the housekeeper surnamed Huang immediately raised her eyebrows and shouted: "Hmph! This is Zhou Niangniang from King Ning's Mansion, she asked you, you just answer honestly. If the mother asks you anything, you answer. ”

Zhou Jinglan smiled in her eyes, and said with anger on her face: "This sister is a guest invited by the concubine, how can she talk to a guest like this." ”

No matter how dull Qing'er is, she also understands who the woman in front of her who looks like Guan Yun is. Qing'er glanced at He Angelica worriedly, and saw that her face was faint, joyless and sad, and knew that she was uncomfortable in her heart, so she replied on her behalf: "We are from Yangzhou, and my sister is also an official dependent, and there is an uncle who is a person who speaks to the Son of Heaven in front of him, and the family eats imperial grain and runs road transportation." Is she a father-in-law, she is Meng Xuan, the seventh son of the Meng family in the capital, and her father-in-law's military rank has five grades. ”

Zhou Jinglan, who listened to a sentence, felt uncomfortable on her face, Mrs. Wupin? That...... That Tsing Yi's stunning identity is higher than her!

In the entire Ning Wangfu, only Xie Qiaofeng has a grade, and there is originally a quota, which is a four-grade fate, which can be divided into side concubines, she and Wan Fang Concubine have been fighting for a long time, but the prince has deducted the quota and has not sent it. Therefore, she Zhou Jinglan can put up a side concubine shelf in the palace, and she can mention the name of the palace when she leaves the palace, but if you want to talk about it seriously, her dignity will be broken like tissue paper - she is not even a six-grade fate.

Qing'er didn't stimulate her enough, and continued to report to her family and said: "But she is not in a hurry, she still lives in Yangzhou after getting married, and she is not in a hurry to return to Beijing to be crowned, because she is now the lord of Qingning County, who is personally canonized by the emperor, and the emperor is the thread that makes her worship King Yan as her father, Princess Yan as her mother, and the emperor as her grandfather...... Tsk, a relative of the royal family, so happy. Qing'er crossed her chubby fingers and counted them carefully, "King Yan is the fourth son of the emperor, and King Ning is the seventeenth son, so isn't King Ning the uncle of my sister?" Isn't that 'Princess Ning' her aunt! Qing'er hurriedly patted He Angelica, "Sister, you have met a relative!" Don't call Auntie yet! ”

He Angelica looked well-behaved, very obediently found the silk handkerchief, turned it into a silk flower, saluted in the direction of Zhou Jinglan in slow motion, and opened his cherry lips, as if he was about to spit out the word "aunt" in the next moment.

Zhou Jinglan and the housekeeper surnamed Huang had already changed color when they heard this, because yesterday everyone talked and laughed about the granddaughter who the emperor recognized during his private visit, and everyone was envious. What a coincidence in this world, today I met the right Lord! And Zhou Jinglan is a Vanity Fair figure, and she has heard every detail about the emperor's recognition of the granddaughter of the people, and it is exactly the same as the introduction of Qing'er, and the county lord is also rumored to be a beautiful character like a fairy. Now that everything is right, you can't go wrong.

Seeing that He Angelica was about to salute herself, Zhou Jinglan quickly stood up and sideways to avoid He Angelica's "big gift" that had been holding a veil and not putting it down. Secretly pondering for a while, Zhou Jinglan's face regained the smile of spring breeze and Mu, turned around to face He Angelica, saluted dignifiedly, and chuckled: "Oh, the water washed the Dragon King Temple, the family doesn't know the family anymore, and the concubine Zhou asks for peace to the county lord." I don't dare to accept your gift from the county lord, I am the side concubine of the prince, and I am not among the edicts. ”

Seeing Zhou Jinglan saluting solemnly, Gu Concubine had no choice but to stand up to entertain the guests, first looked at He Angelica and smiled, and the jealousy in her eyes could hardly be concealed. No matter how harsh the eyes are, I can't find a big defect in the nose, but I see that she has no fat powder on her face, and her complexion is as clear as snow. She looked less than sixteen years old, and she was named the lord of the county with a small body, and I don't know how she confused the old emperor......

Qing'er turned her eyes to look at the ancient concubine who was grinding her teeth in front of He Angelica, and said with a smile: "The older Zhou family is the concubine of King Ning, so he salutes my sister, so you ...... You must be Concubine Ning? Saying that, he pushed He Angelica again, "Hurry up, hurry up, salute your aunt, the child with many gifts is the most pleasing!" ”

Gu Concubine waved her hand and said "don't dare", and at the same time realized in her heart, the other party meant that Concubine Zhou was older and a side concubine, and they all bowed respectfully to He Angelica, and she was a few years younger, and her identity was under Concubine Zhou.

But Gu Concubine is a very strong person, and before leaving the cabinet, she was also the eldest lady who was loved by the family, and it was enough to hold her breath when the family kowtowed to Princess Xie in the palace on weekdays. So she didn't understand it at all, and only said that she didn't dare to accept He Angelica's courtesy, and laughed twice and it was over. At the moment, Concubine Zhou also sneered in her heart, firmly remembering this mistake of the ancient concubine, thinking that she could use it as a threat in the future.

After the two sides saluted, Concubine Zhou diligently invited He Angelica to the table and invited her to have a light meal here, Qing'er was already hungry, and she was happy to eat a meal that didn't cost money, so she only asked someone to send a message downstairs, so that Jin Jia didn't have to wait, and ate them casually. Before the two sentences were finished, the exquisite dishes were displayed one by one, and the housekeeper had already taken out the silver fork from the box and handed it to the maid to test the poison.

He Angelica and Qing'er didn't bring a maid, Qing'er ate it in a big and big place, no one was just right to distribute, she would pick up whatever she liked to eat, and stand up and clip it if she couldn't reach it. He Angelica only rinsed his mouth under the service of the palace maid, and then sat in meditation quietly, which has always been required by the etiquette of the daughters of the official family.

Concubine Zhou on the other side of the table had a very attentive attitude, but she turned a blind eye to the fact that He Angelica did not have a cloth vegetable maid, and He Angelica was so happy to watch her eat vegetables in the face of an old enemy who was difficult to swallow, and wanted to stare the two rows of snow-white upper and lower teeth out of a hole.

After such a confrontation for a while, Concubine Zhou felt a little uncomfortable, and she also put down her chopsticks and rinsed her mouth, and talked with He Angelica: "I don't know which family the county lord's mother is, what is your family name?" ”

He Angelica knew that she wanted to inquire if her surname was "He", and everyone in the palace knew that King Ning was obsessed with a woman surnamed He a few years ago. He Angelica picked up the fragrant tea, took a sip lightly, and said with a smile: "Niangniang's question is very interesting, the concubine has the emperor as her grandfather, so of course my surname is Zhu." Now that her new identity is surnamed Guan Zhu on the document, this answer is not a lie.

Concubine Zhou touched a wall, not too dead, for some reason she had an intuition, the woman in front of her was the little vixen called "He Angelica" that the prince was obsessed with. After a pause, she opened her mouth again: "The county lord is really a fairy figure, and our palace can be regarded as a collection of beauty in the world, but I can't find a girl with immortal products like you, the county lord's boudoir name, why not bring the word 'immortal'?" ”

He Angelica replied slowly: "My title 'Qingning' is that the emperor's grandfather was lazy and gave the number, and he directly took the name to fill it." ”

After hearing this, Concubine Zhou still looked He Angelica up and down with some suspicion. The ancient concubine on the side listened to Concubine Zhou complimenting the county lord of Qingning like this, and she was very unhappy, and she praised her, why did she still bring a woman back to the palace, this is not even herself lying down and being shot.

Gu Concubine entered the palace late, I don't know if Zhu Quan was obsessed with He Angelica, those stand-ins are consumables, and none of them have survived for a long time. Therefore, the ancient concubine didn't know what Concubine Zhou was doing when she inquired about the name and surname of the county lord, and thought that Concubine Zhou was going to set up a trick and almost slap the other party, so she smiled bitterly: "County lord, you don't know anything, although Sister Zhou's family is a big family, she was raised outside...... Ahem! She cleared her throat, with a look of remorse on her face, but said with a pun in her mouth, "I also have a boy in my family, alas, not biological, in the end, it is separated by a layer, and it is also a small family when raised." ”

She insinuated that she said that Concubine Zhou and He Angelica were two people, Qing'er also heard it, and looked up from the vegetable bowl in her busy schedule and said: "Oranges are sweet in Huainan, and when transplanted to Huaibei, they will become bitter oranges, because the land in Huaibei is too thin and stingy, and they don't give good fertilizer, and they still want to eat tangerines, who is stingy and mean?" She tilted her head and said, "Xiaoyi, you eat an orange, why are you sitting." ”

"Xiaoyi?" Concubine Zhou keenly captured this name, and heard that last year, the prince shouted "Yiyi" in the bed...... Could it be?

He Angelica slowly peeled the orange peel, ate half of it with a smile, and then said: "I met on the river during the day, and I also met in the store at night, so it can be seen that we have a fate with each other." Now that fate has been described, I am also tired, so I won't accompany the two mothers to talk about homely, Qing'er, let's go? Put your chopsticks aside, Qing'er! ”

Qing'er ate another bite of drunken carp, and then reluctantly put down the chopsticks, thanking the host for his hospitality. She took care of half of the dishes on the table, and this thank you was due.

Concubine Gu sat and didn't move, Concubine Zhou stood up to see off the guests and sent them to the corridor outside the door, she didn't mean to go back yet. After following He Angelica and the others for a while, she lowered her voice and said, "Please come over to the county lord, I want to ask, your ship came from the south, have you ever seen a green and yellow sailboat?" There is a son of the Guan family on it, who is the brother of Miss Guan San. He went to the north to do goods, and he sent me a batch of goods, so I spied on his whereabouts. ”

He Angelica knew that she was talking about Guan Mo's thief ship, and after thinking about it, she replied with a smile: "I met in a certain water area a few days ago, but I don't know the way, Niangniang really wants to inquire, then I have to go back and check the geographical map." ”

Concubine Zhou was very happy when she heard this, you must know that her people were sent out for three days without asking for a clue, and she was so worried that she couldn't do anything, but she didn't expect to pay attention to the people she met on the road and inquire, but she asked all of a sudden! After two days, her palace was completed, and she couldn't stay outside, and several things that urgently needed to be interviewed with Guan Mo had not yet been settled, and even Guan Mo's people had cut off the news, which made her anxious and angry, and worried that the incident of private trade and prohibition had happened......

Now that she finally asked about Guan Mo's whereabouts, Concubine Zhou's heart was overjoyed, and she said quietly on her face: "In this case, then there is labor, although it is not an important goods, but you must always bring it over after you pay." I don't know when I will have a letter? Will it be an hour? ”

He Angelica covered his mouth with a handkerchief, yawned lightly, and said tiredly: "It's lacking, and the geographical map is not easy to find, since the goods are not valuable, then please come and ask tomorrow, I will take the time to help you check." ”

"......" Concubine Zhou regretted her words, she pretended to be in a hurry if she knew it, tomorrow? Wouldn't that have to be delayed for another day?

Qing'er squeezed in front of He Angelica, carried her away, and urged: "Okay, don't be reluctant - Zhou Niangniang, see you tomorrow, bye!" - Good sister, you didn't eat a bite of food just now, why don't you go back to the room and ask for a table of dishes to fill your stomach? How can you work when you're hungry? You, it's just that people are too stupid, and it doesn't matter if everyone Zhou Niangniang said it, you still do it as a holy decree, how can there be such a kind person as you in the world. ”

Seeing He Angelica and the two holding their arms, talking and laughing and leaving, Concubine Zhou stood in place, very anxious and annoyed, and after returning to the private room, she was ridiculed and ridiculed by the ancient concubine, saying that she was really good at stammering, and it made Concubine Zhou feel a lot of fire. barely slept in the middle of the night, and after freshening up the next morning, she inquired about the whereabouts of the county lord and his party, and hurried there, but saw a big red note pasted on the door, which said: Dog and Zhou Jinglan are exempt from entering, and they are self-respecting when they see the words.