Ji Cunyan and a few little palace maids were led by Gonggong Zhang to a row of low bungalows in the southeast of Jinyang Palace, which was the residence of the palace maids. Father-in-law Zhang left after a few words, nothing more than to be diligent and don't be lazy, don't go to the inner hall if you have nothing to do, especially when His Majesty came.

Ji Cunyan put down the burden on her body, and heard a little palace maid beside her say to her: "It's really dangerous, you almost died, you know?" ”

"Huh? Why? Ji Cunyan asked pretending to be stupid.

"You are so good-looking, if Concubine Cao is in a bad mood, she will definitely find a reason to beat you to death." The little palace maid was not new to the palace, but was drawn from the imperial dining room. She had some experience in the palace, so she whispered to Ji Cun while sorting out her things, "Look at the people in our room." ”

Ji Cunyan turned around and looked around.

"Aren't they all pretty?"

Indeed, these girls are quite outstanding, and some of them can guess that they are beautiful embryos even if they only look at their backs.

"The rules of Jinyang Palace, but any palace maid with a bit of grace is not allowed to show her face in front of the emperor."

"Why?"

"Hey, you still don't understand? It is said that Cao Guifei is virtuous, but in fact, this concubine is the most jealous. ”

"When your things are packed, go out with me, and I will inform you of our daily messengers." Suddenly, a palace maid intervened and interrupted the conversation between the two.

Compared with other newcomers, this palace maid is a little mediocre, her eyes are not big, her nose is not straight, and the most important thing is that she walks with a slight limp, and there should be a stubborn disease in her legs.

After she finished saying the above sentence, she whispered beside the little palace maid who had just talked a lot with Ji Cunyan: "There are eyeliners everywhere in the palace. In the future, don't talk about the rights and wrongs of the palace lady. Especially this Jinyang Palace. Otherwise, there is really no life to get out alive. ”

The little palace maid was flushed, and she could only take a few steps back before replying, "Yes." ”

The palace maid who had a leg disease smiled again: "I'm just a low-level palace maid who is responsible for sprinkling and sweeping, but I have been here for a few more years than you, so you don't have to be so respectful to me." ”

Ji Cunyan's first day passed without danger. Later, she saw that the other palace maids respected this palace maid with leg disease very much, and called her "Sister Tian", only to know that her real name was Tian Hui, and she had been in this Jinyang Palace for three years. She is diligent and warm-hearted, and she is also quite prestigious among the palace maids. Therefore, even if it is Father-in-law Zhang, he speaks softly to her.

In fact, from the first time he talked to Cao Guifei, Ji Cunyan also guessed a bit of the temperament of this concubine.

The concubine is indeed jealous, and the palace maid with a slightly better appearance will not give her a chance to get close to the emperor. The temper is not small, he regards Jinyang Palace as his own territory, does whatever he wants here, ignores the rules of the palace, and lynches the people in the palace, unscrupulously.

It's really similar to her brother who is a horse in the city.

But can such a woman really sit in the position of a concubine? Her speech methods are not very good on the stage, and some even have a slight market atmosphere. Even the few official wives and young ladies that Ji Cunyan has seen, Mrs. Yu is much more educated than her.

Who knows? Maybe the emperor liked that.

Ji Cunyan took scissors to prune the osmanthus tree on the side of the road, and watched Cao Guifei take a group of palace maids and eunuchs out to visit the imperial garden.

"Xiao Yan!" There was a big palace maid called her.

"Yes!" Ji Cunyan put down the scissors and walked over with low eyebrows.

"Go and feed the fish in the pond behind you, and then come back and prune." The maiden handed her a bucket and a spoon in which fish food was placed.

Ji Cun responded, and went to the backyard with a wooden barrel.

Tian Hui, who had just washed her clothes, came out of the backyard and saw Ji Cunyan carrying a wooden bucket alone, knowing that she was going to feed the fish. After thinking about it, he followed.

Ji Cunyan threw the fish food in his hand into the lake while looking around the scenery.

There are many such rivers and lakes in the palace, ponds and pavilions, and if there are none, they will also be dug artificially. The scenery by the lake is also carefully designed, sometimes wearing a corridor, sometimes building a chic pavilion in the center of the lake, leisurely to watch the scenery and feed the fish, fishing and tea, the most comfortable.

Ji Cunyan has a small lake dug by hand at home, and every year Ji Mu also specially casts a few fish, shrimp, turtles, crabs and other fishing to play.

However, the pond of Jinyang Palace seems to have not been taken care of for a long time, overgrown with weeds, not half popular, and not as grand as the front hall at all.

"You can't feed fish like you do." Tian Hui said behind Ji Cunyan.

"Sister Tian." Ji Cunyan said sweetly, "Why are you here?" It's a big day at noon. ”

Tian Hui walked to Ji Cunyan's side, crushed the fish food in the stab, and sprinkled it into the pond with a wooden spoon. Sure enough, a few huge, beautiful koi fish swam out of the water to eat.

Ji Cunyan said: "I want to feed it like this, thank you Sister Tian for teaching me." After that, she did the same and fed a spoonful.

Tian Hui said: "This place is unknown, after feeding the fish and not staying longer, leave immediately." ”

"Huh? Unknown? How could there be anything ominous in the palace? Ji Cunyan looked around.

Tian Hui sighed: "During the winter solstice last year, there was a little palace maid, who was about the same age as you, and she was also feeding fish by the pond. I came at noon, but I didn't see it back at dusk. We searched here, and where you stood, we found only the barrel she used to feed the fish that day. ”

Ji Cunyan looked down at the wooden barrel under her feet, and a strange feeling flooded her heart, making her unconsciously take two steps back. She swallowed and said, "You mean...... That little palace maid stumbled and fell? ”

Tian Hui shook her head and said, "At first, we all thought so. He also let people divert the water from the pond and rummage through it inch by inch. No bodies were found. But after a few days, she returned. ”

Ji Cunyan lifted it up in one breath and patted his chest.

When she returned, she said she didn't remember anything, and she didn't know what had happened after feeding the fish that day, and that she was in the garden. We all thought it was strange, but we had already found it, so we didn't dig deeper. ”

"Maybe she stumbled and fell overboard, and then drifted down the river to the Imperial Garden?" Ji Cun said.

"No way. The pond was dug by hand, and the water was only the size of a person's arm. Not to mention people, the bigger carp in the pond can't swim out. Since then, the love of the woman in the small palace has changed greatly, as if she has changed people, and every day the gods chatter, and some people say that they often see her not sleeping in the middle of the night, only wandering alone by the lake. She was also seen stealing raw meat in the kitchen, and her mouth was full of blood. ”

"Wow." Ji Cunyan frowned when he heard this.

"Everybody said she was aborted. If you get such an evil thing, you naturally can't keep it. The father-in-law at that time, Father-in-law Qin, was ready to return to Ming Guifei Niangniang and send her out. Who knows, the night before she packed her bags and left the palace, she died mysteriously. ”

Ji Cunyan felt that this story was indeed very weird, and he couldn't tell what was wrong.

Since then, this pond has become a forbidden place in the palace, and no one dares to come over on weekdays. When the little eunuchs who patrol the night occasionally come to take a look, they always say that they can see some ghost fires and hear some strange sounds. After some time, even the night watchmen did not dare to come. ”

"I just saw that the carp in the lake is so big, and the red one must be half a human length, right? Isn't the carp in the lake a fine? Ji Cunyan said nonsense.

Tian Hui smiled: "How can there be so many carp that are fine." That carp was released three years ago when the concubine was still Zhaoyi, how could there be fish that had been raised for three years and became fine? ”

"Can you grow that big in three years?!"

Tian Hui said: "Maybe it's the most delicious!" ”

After the two finished feeding the fish, Ji Cunyan said to Tian Hui: "Sister Tian, didn't you say don't gossip in the palace?" Then you told me so many strange stories of chaos. ”

Tian Hui said: "Jinyang Palace is full of the eyes and ears of this noble concubine today. You have to be very careful in what you say and do. "But no one ever dared to come to this pond, yes, and they didn't have to be so careful."

"Guifei Niangniang......" Ji Cunyan thought of the task given to him by the emperor, so he asked cautiously: "Isn't it famous for its virtues?" Why does it seem to ......?"

Tian Hui sighed: "The concubine Niangniang was indeed very kind in her early years. This leg of mine is a stubborn disease since childhood, and when I was sent to Jinyang Palace, Father-in-law Qin shook his head when he saw me walking. But the mother saw that I was pitiful, so she left me behind and let me be in charge of the palace cleaning. If I don't stay in Jinyang Palace, a body like mine can only go to a place like the Huanyi Bureau. Niangniang is very good to her subordinates, and she always speaks softly, not only Her Majesty likes her, but we also like her. Just ......"

"Just?"

"Since the beginning of spring this year, Niangniang's personality has changed dramatically, just like the little palace maid at sunset, as if she has suddenly changed into a person."

"Ahh You mean—"

Tian Hui hurriedly made a "silence" gesture to Ji Cunyan. "That's all I have to say, I can't say more. It's getting late, let's go. ”

On the way back, Ji Cunyan asked Tian Huidao: "Sister Tian, why did you tell me about this?" It stands to reason that I'm just a new little palace maid, and I don't have a deep friendship with the two of us......"

Tian Hui said to Ji Cunyan: "Miss Xiaoyan, shouldn't she be an ordinary palace maid?" ”

Ji Cunyan was stunned, and he didn't dare to talk.

Tian Hui said again: "I am an old man in the palace, and I have seen a lot of people and ghosts." Your words and deeds, and your courage in action are not like ordinary people. Especially the few words you said when you first entered the palace and the concubine Niangniang in the front hall made people look at you even more. Just you have to remember. I can see that the people next to me may not be able to see it. It's not okay to be sharp. If you're too smart, you won't live long in this house. ”

Ji Cunyan said: "Thank you Sister Tian for mentioning it." ”

At night, Ji Cunyan was still thinking about what Tian Hui said to herself.

In the pond behind Jinyang Palace, there must be something strange! Could it be that Cao Guifei was also "taken away"? Is there really such a thing as resurrecting the soul? Are there really water ghosts in the lake?

What does the strangeness in this lake have to do with Cui'er's self-immolation?

At this time, in the dead of night, Ji Cunyan's ears were filled with the even breathing sound of the little palace maids.

I can't think of any useful clues here, so let's just go to the pond and take a look.

Thinking of this, Ji Cunyan secretly got up from the bed, because she was afraid that the movement would be too big and she would be discovered, she didn't even put on her coat, so she tiptoed out of the room.

Today, the moon is bright and the stars are scarce, and the moonlight is sprinkled on the gravel path, so you can see the road ahead without lighting a lantern. Ji Cunyan walked all the way, and soon came to the edge of the pond where he had come at noon.

The breeze blows, the pond water surface ripples, the spring breeze is mixed with the fragrance of flowers, and the humidity at the water's edge brews the warmth of early summer.

Ji Cunyan sighed, and said in his heart, the night is so beautiful tonight, if you are at home, you will definitely eat snacks and admire the moon with your father and mother and third brother in the small pavilion in the backyard of Ji Mansion, but unfortunately now this lake is gloomy, dark, and not popular.

Suddenly, Ji Cunyan said a strange "um". Finally she realized why something was so wrong here.

The last time I was searching for a giant python in Suzhou, I passed by a mountain forest, Zhang Ji once said that wherever there are fierce beasts, birds, beasts, insects and fish will dodge, making the surroundings seem unusually quiet.

When I came out of my dwelling, I could still hear a few insects and birds chirping in the night, why was it that after turning a corner, the pond was so quiet that I couldn't even hear half of the frog's call?

Could it be that there really is some ghost here?

Ji Cunyan looked around carefully, but he couldn't see anything. It's just that in the bleak moonlight, I always feel that under the shadows of those trees and in the corners of the walls, there are some ghosts and monsters hidden, waiting for an opportunity to move.

Although Ji Cunyan is a secret agent of Xuanjing Hall, after all, he is still inexperienced, and he is really pampered at home, so he is still a little scared when he is alone in this strange night.