Today is New Year's Eve, but the palace eunuchs are not on New Year's Eve. Except for the extra month's monthly payment for the New Year, one person added a new suit and added some meat food to his meals, which was no different from other usual times.
King Jing accompanied his wives and concubines to a New Year's Eve banquet in the hall. Xiaohua knew that, but she had nothing to do with her. Knowing that there are many people serving in the hall today, she consciously did not go to join in the fun.
Today, the New Year's Eve banquet for the masters in the palace was done by the Dianshan Restaurant, and the small kitchen, Mammy He, was idle.
Everyone in the Jingtai Hall gathered in the front hall, and there were two or three kittens left. The small kitchen made a table of rich delicacies, and everyone sitting together was considered a New Year's Eve dinner. .
Xiaohua was at Mama He's place at this time. A large round table was set up in the outer room of the small kitchen. Except for those who served in the front hall, there were two eunuchs who could not leave the gate, and the rest were all here.
There are not many people, only about ten people in total.
In the small kitchen, there are Mammy He and several other elderly palace aunts. There are also small flowers and spring grass, and five rough eunuchs.
Today's banquet was made by a man from the palace called Aunt Meng, and Mammy He was instructing. Mammy He is old now, except for His Highness's meals, she occasionally does it, and everything else is left to the people below. This matter was later familiar with the small kitchen, and Xiaohua only knew about it.
The dishes were set, and as soon as the people were seated, An Cheng came.
Seeing An Cheng, everyone was a little surprised.
Before I could ask her intentions, An Cheng said with a serious face, "Miss Xiaohua, Your Highness invites you to the front hall."
As soon as these words came out, the small kitchen suddenly became quiet, and only the occasional crackling of the lights could be heard.
"This—" For a moment, Xiaohua was at a loss and didn't know how to react.
Mammy He is old and sophisticated, of course she understands that there is nothing wrong, and King Jing will definitely not invite Xiaohua to go there for no reason. If you want to have this meaning, you will have recruited it long ago, and you will not suddenly call someone in the middle of the way.
"Kid Ancheng, what is it for? You come here and pretend to be high-level for Mammy and me."
An Cheng touched his face and smiled to please.
"Mammy He, look at what you said, the little one just came over there and didn't get used to it for a while." He frowned, looked at Xiaohua next to him a little worriedly, and said, "It doesn't feel good, princess. I don't know how to know about Miss Xiaohua, and suddenly she asked to meet at the banquet. In front of so many people, she said her words sincerely and well-founded, and it was not easy for His Highness to refute her. Right."
An Cheng, who was Fushun's apprentice, still knew something, and there was no reason why Princess Jing wouldn't suddenly come out like this. It's just that the matter is urgent, and His Highness nodded again. Those of them who are slaves can only come to recruit people. And once he knew about this, there would definitely be another disturbance in the Jingtai Hall.
The people outside don't know, but the people inside know the rules of Jingtai Hall, and they reveal every bit of news in the hall from the outside. If they are caught, it will be a dead end.
The affairs of Miss Xiaohua and His Royal Highness are also known to the people in Jingtai Hall. On weekdays, Miss Xiaohua and a small palace person next to her never leave the temple, which means that this news must be released by people in Jingtai Hall. of.
There are two eunuchs in Jingtai Hall, one is Fushun, the flattering eunuch, and the other is Changshun, the deputy director. The leader is Fu Shun, but he spends most of the week with His Royal Highness to serve, and Chang Shun handles other chores in the house.
Fushun seems to be indifferent to everything, but no one dares to say that he is indifferent. He doesn't care about the little things, he only cares about the things around the prince. Whoever touches the prince's taboo is touching his bad head. If you touch Fushun's bad head, the end will be miserable.
This fact was confirmed by countless old people serving in King Jing's mansion with their own eyes.
As for Xiaohua, anyone with a discerning eye would know that this was delivered to King Jing by Fushun. No matter what the purpose is, at least in the eyes of outsiders, Fushun is very happy these days, and the source of happiness is related to Xiaohua, a small palace man.
I don't know what's inside, and I'm taboo about Fushun behind Xiaohua, and I think I didn't see it, or if I saw it, I thought it didn't have any meaning in it. Knowing what's inside, he knows the deep meaning behind Fushun's actions.
It took everyone a lot of thought to make His Highness finally think about it. Princess Jing suddenly intervened. No matter what her purpose was, at least the person who sent her news was dead.
And An Cheng and He Ma are both aware of the inside story, and they must know that things are not so simple, but they can't say it clearly, after all, there are other people on the side.
"Girl Xiaohua, you don't have to be afraid. Go and deal with it carefully. With His Highness here, there must be nothing wrong." Mammy He could only say this to comfort Xiaohua.
Xiaohua smiled reluctantly, and followed An Cheng with anxiety in her heart.
Entering the main hall, the lights are bright, but it is silent.
Xiaohua entered through the side door, walked to the hall, and did not see the expressions of the people in the hall, so she knelt down and bowed.
"Greetings to His Highness, the concubine, the concubine Qiao and the two ladies."
Before coming in, An Cheng gave her some simple details about the masters along the way, so Xiaohua was also one of those who did not fall.
Princess Jing smiled like a flower, and said with a very enthusiastic attitude: "Get up quickly, what are you doing with such a big ceremony, you are all sisters, so don't be cautious." And motioned to the side of Chunxiang to help Xiaohua get up.
Xiaohua stood up and lowered her head.
"Come and see, I haven't seen my sister yet." Princess Jing beckoned as she said.
Princess Jing was kind and enthusiastic, but Xiao Hua felt a little shudder. Just like the rabbit who was chased by the hungry wolf and was trapped in front of him, he had to go forward knowing that there was a pit in front of him.
As soon as Xiaohua walked in, Princess Jing held her hand.
Princess Jing's hands are very warm, but Xiaohua feels cold in her heart. She looked at the other party through her half-closed eyes. The smile on Princess Jing's face was very kind, but Xiao Hua always felt that there was something hidden in this smile.
"He looks really good, no wonder His Highness hides beside him and is reluctant to see people, tsk, look at Concubine Qiao, isn't she very smart?"
Concubine Qiao smiled and said nothing.
"How old are you this year?" Princess Jing asked in a warm voice while stroking Xiao Hua's hand.
"The slave is just fifteen."
"Oh, so young."
Aren't you young, fifteen, so young. Compared with fifteen, Princess Jing, who was already twenty-four, was ten years older.
Princess Jing knew that she shouldn't be like this, but her hands holding Xiao Hua's hands couldn't help but tighten.
Xiaohua's hand was pinched to the point of pain, but she didn't dare to retract it, but her eyes couldn't help but go around King Jing.
What I saw was King Jing's calm and unwavering profile, and the slender hand that was playing with the wine glass in his hand, and he didn't even look here at all.
"For such a beautiful person, His Highness is careless and doesn't even give a name. I really wronged you."
This is so that Xiaohua can't take it or not. If you take it, it means that His Highness is careless, and if you don't take it, it's disrespectful to the princess. Xiaohua knew nothing about the situation in King Jing's backyard at this time, and she decided not to make a sound when both parties could not afford to offend.
Otherwise, Princess Jing's ability to talk to herself is getting better and better now, she continued with a smile: "His Royal Highness is busy with official business, so I don't have the time to take care of these little things, but I, as a princess, can't be careless, Otherwise, this princess will give you the title of concubine, and you will also serve your Highness. When the time comes, I will move to the East Third Hospital to live, and everyone can sit together and be lively."
She paused for a moment, her face showing embarrassment: "It is said that you are from a palace, and you have only been in the palace for half a year. The rules in the palace are like this, but don't think that the status of a concubine is too low. There are few sisters in our palace. For example, the two jade ladies were also rewarded by the father and his old man, so they got the status of a lady."
Princess Jing's words had a lot of meaning. It not only explained that Xiaohua had to be given a name, but also mocked that her background was too low, so she could only get the status of a concubine. By the way, Yu Jiao Yurong and Yu Rong were also ridiculed, and the two of them and Xiao Hua were combined into the same grade, both of whom were born as slaves, that is, because the current Emperor Xi rewarded them, they could get the position of a lady.
In the Daxi Dynasty, the prince's wife and concubinage system consisted of one main concubine, two side concubines, and several wives. The wife is the lowest class concubine, but even if it is low, it is named, while the concubines are not waited, and they are not recorded, as much as you want.
At this moment, the people in the hall almost understood what Princess Jing meant.
Showing affection is false, being kind is false, attracting is false, all kinds of rhetoric are false, the only truth is that her purpose is to give Xiaohua a name.
Some people may say that the name must be given for Xiaohua.
Whether it's good or not, only God knows.
Everyone present knew in their hearts that the women in the backyard had a status, so they didn't want to live wherever they wanted, but they all had to be classified into the East and West courtyards. This is the rule set by King Jing at the beginning, in order to let these women from the East and West Third Court stay safe and not go where they should not go.
But now, Princess Jing is holding the rules set by King Jing and hitting King Jing in the face.
Of course, it's not a slap in the face, after all, Princess Jing's attitude is impeccable, and what she said is very reasonable. The only thing worth mentioning is her thoughts after this action.
Anyone with a discerning eye can see that Xiaohua is in the Jingtai Hall. As the saying goes, the building near the water gets the moon first. King Jing doesn't go to the backyard all the year round. I couldn't get started, so I pulled others back to a starting line. I couldn't say that Princess Jing did something wrong, but after all, it gave people the feeling that she reached out too long.
"His Royal Highness, you don't blame the concubine for being too wide, and the concubine is also for the sake of this sister."
When Princess Jing saw King Jing looking over, she looked a little aggrieved, as if she was generous and you should never blame her.
Xiaohua looked at King Jing begging, hoping that he would never agree.
King Jing misunderstood the begging in Xiaohua's eyes, and his eyes deepened.
After all, after serving him for so long, it was time to give her a name. As for what Xiao Hua said a long time ago that she wanted to be a small palace servant, it was completely forgotten by King Jing.
However, King Jing felt that the status of concubine was a little low. He glanced at the two 'ladys' who he had classified as miscellaneous. After serving him for so long, could it be better than two women who have never met
"Fu Shun."
"The old slave is here."
"She." King Jing raised his hand holding the wine glass to the place where Xiaohua was standing, and said succinctly, "Madam."
"Yes." Fushun replied clearly, "This old slave will be done soon."
Even though Fushun's heart was bleeding at the moment, he decided to poke Princess Jing's heart and lungs.
Let you meddle in your own business, and let your words set others up, what rules, the rules are not set by His Highness himself.
Concubine Jing's identity is not enough, and each of them is from a palace. In addition to ridiculing Yu Jiao and Yurong for their low status, she also told Xiaohua by the way, and also told King Jing that this palace person's identity is low, and at most it is worthy of being a man. Concubine' means.
Little did she know that she was talking too much nonsense, and she was pitted. Xiaohua's identity was low, but King Jing couldn't stand it and felt that he didn't want to be wronged. It's just a low position for a lady. Maybe the side concubine must go to the court and get permission to apply for the seal, but the lady doesn't need it. The wife and concubine recognized by the ancestors.
Seeing that she couldn't stop it, Princess Jing smiled stiffly and said, "Well, that's really congratulations to my sister."
Concubine Qiao's eyes flashed, and she smiled like a flower: "Congratulations."
Yurong and Yujiao's faces were a little ugly, but they were also happy.
Xiaohua couldn't do anything other than kneel down and thank King Jing for the grace.
Fushun kicked the little eunuch next to him and said, "If you don't have a vision, don't hurry up and set up a table for Madam Hua for a banquet."
This 'Mrs. Hua' was really loud, which made Xiao Hua stunned for a moment, and made the expression on Princess Jing's face even stiffer.
The little eunuch moved quickly, and it was set up in no time.
So, Xiaohua also sat in the hall, below the concubine Qiao.