Everything was quiet, Hong Xiu was sitting beside the bed, she lived in a very small room, she shared a big bed with six other palace maids, there was no separate wardrobe, no separate dressing table, this is almost the life of Hong Xiu for more than ten years When she was in the most embarrassing time, from the moment she picked up the first customer, she enjoyed the best resources of the brothel and became the top card.
For Hongxiu, her destiny is predetermined, and the best future she imagines is waiting to catch a man at the best age, this man may be a rich businessman, or a young master, and then be redeemed from the brothel, From a larger cage, into a smaller cage.
She will be favored, and then she will fall out of favor, and her background predestines her not to be the wife anyone is marrying.
Or maybe she won't be redeemed, and when she's old, she'll be a sweeping mother-in-law in a brothel, hunched over, wiping steps and floors, no one will know she was a graceful beauty when she was in her prime .
She thought about it a lot, but she never thought that she would be sitting in such a place, and that her past experiences would become the experiences she relies on now.
"Anxiu, stop sitting, come up and sleep." The palace maid called her from the bed with half-squinted eyes, "I have to get up early to work tomorrow."
Hong Xiu climbed onto the bed and covered the quilt, revealing only half of her head, while the maids whispered about the day.
"I can't sleep. My aunt made me kneel in the afternoon. My knee still hurts."
The little palace ladies are the daughters of little officials. They have not enjoyed the luxurious life of the powerful. The only difference between them and the daughters of ordinary people is that they do not need to go hungry, but they still have to do their jobs. Family enjoyment.
"My aunt is so fierce..."
"They are hiding the Empress!"
The big palace ladies control everything around the queen. They are the queen's eyes and the queen's ears. They press the little palace ladies down, just because they are afraid that they will go up, and they will have to come down. After all, the number of seats next to the queen can be counted of.
But in the naive fantasy of the little palace maids, the queen was hidden by the big palace maid.
Hong Xiu listened quietly, without saying a word.
"The Empress has a good temper. I heard that if you make a mistake, you won't be rude."
"The Empress won't fight, but if the girls want to fight, it hurts in the palm of your hand."
"I heard that if you hit the palm of your hand twenty times, your hand will be swollen, and if you hit it fifty times, your hand will be useless."
"We can't make mistakes. It's a small thing to be beaten, but a big shame. My family is still waiting for me to leave the palace!"
Although she was old when she left the palace, the girls who have stayed in the palace are better off saying kisses after they go out.
Being able to enter the palace is a matter of face.
"I heard that Niangniang Li is the most favored, and the emperor goes to her every day."
"Niangniang Li is beautiful! They all say that Niangniang Li is more beautiful than Concubine Yang!"
"Can't beauty make the emperor love her?"
"Go to sleep, you have to work tomorrow, don't wake up auntie."
The little palace maids stopped talking. Some people closed their eyes and slept. Some people kept their eyes open.
The sun shines on the earth, and this temporary and small imperial city wakes up from the dark night. The inner servants and the palace maids are in a hurry. The coldness of early spring has not yet dissipated. They are walking in the imperial city wearing cotton-padded clothes. The red sleeves follow the palace maids. On the road, no one knows what is ahead and who is ahead.
"Anxiu, come with me." The leading palace maid called out to Hong Xiu.
Hongxiu walked in front of her in a regular manner. Hongxiu lowered her head, her eyes dazed and uneasy, just like every young girl who is anxious in her heart.
The palace maid smiled at Hong Xiu: "I think you are honest and well-behaved. It just so happened that an elder sister in the palace left the palace, and there was a maid who served tea."
Hong Xiu's eyes burst into brilliance, she looked very excited, and said cautiously, "I bought rouge for Sister Zhang."
The palace maid's surname is Zhang, and she coughed pretentiously at this time: "I'm not chasing this benefit, but I'm just giving you a chance because you are well-behaved."
Hong Xiu nodded again and again: "I know I know, it's my sister who is thinking of me."
She gave this palace maid Zhang a lot of benefits, and almost all the gold brought into the palace was given to her, so she barely got through this joint.
If Concubine Zhang fails to fulfill her promise, then she will also have a hard time in the palace. At that time, she can only send a letter to An Lao Si and the others to try again. The initial plan will also fail, and she can only be theirs in the palace. of one eye.
Palace Maiden Zhang took a small box of rouge handed over by Hong Xiu, pursed her lips and said with a smile, "If you can gain face in front of the empress in the future, don't forget me."
Hongxiu: "Lending my sister Ji Yan, if one day you become prosperous, you will never forget your sister's great kindness."
"Let's go now." Lady Zhang led the way and told Hongxiu, "You have to be cautious when you go to the palace, you are smart, I don't need to mention anything else, just remember one sentence, don't worry about others, that Aunt Zhao can get it Be careful, she is the most embarrassed by the Empress's side, if you offend others, it's fine, if you offend her, you don't know how you died."
Hongxiu asked in a low voice, "Is Aunt Zhao fierce?"
Palace Maiden Zhang led her through the small door. No one passed by here was considered a blind spot. She looked around to make sure that no one was passing by before pulling her red sleeves and saying, "Aunt Zhao is an old man who is following the goddess."
"Before the goddess entered the palace, she was the most capable person around the goddess." Zhang Gongnv said, "She doesn't like money, so don't come up to her to give gifts. Aunt Zhao likes honest people."
Hong Xiu understood and smiled sweetly: "Thank you, sister."
Lady Zhang smiled and said, "If you're good, I can be better, right?"
If you can get along well in the palace, you will have a good face in front of the master. After you leave the palace and give birth to a child, maybe you can go back to the palace and continue to be a nanny. If you are lucky, the master will be able to come back if she has a child. When a nanny, that time is one step to the sky.
As long as it can be remembered by the master, everything else is empty.
There are not many things that the maid serving tea can do, that is, to make tea for the queen. If the maid next to the queen is holding it, she will not even have the chance to bring tea to the queen and get used to it.
But even so, the person vying for this seat can break his head.
"Aunt Zhao, this is An Xiu." Lady Zhang brought Hong Xiu to Aunt Zhao, and all the maids in the palace had to go through it in front of her.
Aunt Zhao is in her thirties. She has a straight face and has a stereotyped feeling that she is older than her age. Her lips are thin and look a bit mean, and her back is slightly hunched. This is the result of years of bending her belt. How proud she is in front of the queen and how much power she holds in her hands, she is just a slave who can't stand up to her master.
Aunt Zhao just glanced at Hong Xiu and said indifferently, "Be honest, do what you should do, and don't worry about what you shouldn't have."
Hongxiu lowered her head, and she could only see the hem of her skirt: "Yes, Aunt Xie has a point."
Aunt Zhao: "It's not worth mentioning, come with me."
Hongxiu has learned to order tea. Her tea skills are very good. She is an oiran who came from a brothel. She must be proficient in piano, chess, calligraphy and painting, be able to compose poems with literati, and be able to serve people.
Being a high-class prostitute in ancient times was also a technical job.
"Not bad." Aunt Zhao took a sip of the tea ordered by Hongxiu, and finally made such a comment, "The craftsmanship is still good."
The red sleeve appropriately showed an excited expression.
Aunt Zhao glanced at her sideways, and the red sleeves tightened her neck.
Aunt Zhao: "What does it look like to escape like this? This is the queen's palace, and it is an example for women in the world!"
Hong Xiu lowered his head: "Yes."
Aunt Zhao looked away: "You are the servant of the Empress, and you must be loyal to the Empress. If you let me know if you communicate with the outside world, I will tell you to come in vertically and go out horizontally."
After Aunt Zhao finished beating, Hong Xiu was led away by other palace maids.
Although it is the queen's palace, it's not very big. After all, Anfeng is just a county, it can't be compared with Dadu, and it can't be compared with the real imperial city. It's just that everyone pretends that this is the imperial city. The palace also became more opulent.
Hong Xiu looked at all this calmly, but her heart was full of contempt.
The women here are proud of being the queen's maids, and they attach their honor and disgrace to one person.
This man told them to live when they were born, and to die when they died.
How similar is it to her before
She once also pinned her everything on men.
But later she found that life must be in her own hands in order to live happily.
It's like she's standing here now, not because of the honor of the family, nor because she was forced to be helpless, she chose all this by herself.
So she can face all the good and bad of this choice.
Not these women.
If the queen falls, they're finished, and they don't even know what they've done wrong.
Hongxiu stood in the tea room, with countless tea leaves behind her. The room was filled with a strong aroma of tea. Her wrists were very thin and white. She was wearing a palace dress with the most common bun, and there was no expression on her face. The maids around were doing their own things, no one made a sound, and they seemed to be in a tomb.
The Queen's Palace is decent, but what's decent about only the Queen's Palace
Who is the emperor, who is decent.
Everyone outside said that the Queen was charitable, but no one thought about it. If the Queen was really charitable, why did Niangniang Li so fond of her but not give birth? The emperor is young and strong, and the dragon and tiger are fierce. It is not that there are no princes and princesses in the palace. Li Niangniang is also in her prime. Every day, there is an imperial doctor to ask for peace. She is the most favored.
The red sleeves smiled.
She is not afraid of the Queen's cruelty and greed, but she is afraid that the Queen has no desires or desires.
A person who has no desire and no desire is the most terrifying person.
The man himself wants nothing.
How can others seek what they want from her
The fiercer she is, the more likely Hongxiu will climb up.
Red Sleeve took a deep breath.
The freezing three feet is not a day's cold, and she has to continue to dormant and slowly figure it out.