The east was already red all over the sky, and the sun slowly rose from the sleepy clouds that lay close to the ground, shining on the most grand buildings in Kyoto. The outer wall of the imperial palace was obviously redder than the sky, and it watched the crowd in the square in front of it calmly and horribly. Fan Xian was also one of these people. He looked at the high palace wall and the deep and endless doorway below the wall, and felt that the dark place looked like a monster's mouth, and he couldn't help feeling a little nervous. .
Fan Xian, like other people in this world, would still feel awe in front of the solemn symbol of imperial power. But awe does not mean obedience, nor does it mean non-resistance, which is what makes him different from others. After inspecting everyone, the guards at the palace gate nodded with a little pride, and Fan Xian and his party walked in honestly.
Today is Boxing Day, there is a decree in the palace, and it is said that the eighth-rank Xielu Lang will enter the palace. The decree arrived yesterday. The Fan residence was busy all night before drawing up the number of people entering the palace. Naturally, Fan Jian would not go. There are few female relatives in the Sinanbo residence, so several other members of the Fan clan in the capital The distant relatives in the house all volunteered.
Fan Xian had never seen such excitement before, Fan Jian coldly stopped everyone's thoughts. In the end, it was decided that those who accompanied Fan Xian into the palace were Liu Shi and Fan Ruoruo, plus two other old ladies who accompanied him. These two old ladies were old people from the time when Danzhou's grandmother was old. Very clear. Liu's willingness to enter the palace with Fan Xian this time was somewhat beyond Fan Xian's expectations, because he knew that although Liu's family had never been righted, in fact, he had been in contact with those nobles in the palace since he was a child, and his affection was with others. It's not ordinary. If she was by his side, Fan Xian's trip to the palace would have gone much smoother.
The sound of slight and noisy footsteps echoed in the quiet doorway. The door opening was extremely deep, and the rising sun could only see half of the area, and the other half was extremely dark. A cold wind suddenly blew out from the palace wall, making everyone's eyes hard to open. The weather in September suddenly felt a bit chilly in late autumn.
Fan Xian touched his belt imperceptibly, and felt a little peace of mind when he touched the pills, which were much smaller than soybeans. Knowing that the palace inspection is extremely strict, he hid his dark crossbow and dagger in the house before leaving the mansion, but Uncle Wuzhu's lecture left a deep impression on him, so even if it is theoretically speaking of the world's most powerful In the safety of the palace, he still made himself prepare some ways to save his life.
"Tap, tap, tap." Man is a very strange animal, and people are a very strange group. Walking under the quiet palace wall, the footsteps of a group of six gradually became unified. Landed at the same time, lifted at the same time, followed by the leading eunuch, as if playing the ukulele at the same time, and issued the same monotonous syllable.
Discomfort welled up in Fan Xian's heart, and he paused forcibly, allowing his steps to be staggered from those of the others, and the unison under the palace wall was suddenly broken. He gently tugged at his sister's sleeve and said in a low voice, "I'm a little nervous."
Fan Ruoruo smiled, wanting to give him some encouragement. The little eunuch in front turned his head away, frowned and glanced at Fan Xian, seemingly dissatisfied. Mrs. Liu frowned and said softly: "The palace is no different than other places, and the words are more modest."
The little eunuch was not pretty, with a frowning face, when he heard Madam Sinanbo say that, he suddenly felt that he had some brilliance, where is this? This is the palace. Fan Xian smiled wryly, but unexpectedly, Mrs. Liu continued to smile and said, "But don't be nervous, I'm going to urinate in this palace, and it was the time when Eunuch Hong was the head of the eunuchs. I didn't expect that there were only children here." Served in the palace."
Hearing this, the little eunuch in front didn't dare to take the pie, and hurriedly stooped and walked into the palace. He thought he was picking up a few bumpkins into the palace, but he didn't know that it was an acquaintance's string of relatives.
The imperial palace is huge. Behind the long city cave, there is a large square made of bluestone, which makes people suddenly feel enlightened. The early morning shines on the roof of the main hall of Taiji Palace. The yellow glazed tiles reflect the eye-catching color. Very solemn.
Fan Xian squinted at the building in front of him, and felt a sense of absurdity in his heart. He really wondered if he had come to the Palace Museum. Perhaps this sense of absurdity dilutes the tension in his heart and a sense of alienation from the strange court. After that, Fan Xian finally returned to his natural demeanor, a bit like when he first entered the Fan Mansion, smiling all over his face. , looking around at the court ladies and eunuchs walking with their heads bowed under the palace wall, and occasionally looking up at the corners of the eaves sticking out in the distance - but I don't know which palace it is, and who lives in that palace.
All his expressions fell into the eyes of his companions, the little eunuch shook his head, but a vague smile appeared on the corner of Liu's lips, she thought to herself, this young master is indeed a fearless man temper.
The purpose of entering the palace today is very simple: the ladies in the palace want to see what the talented Fan, who is about to marry Chen'er, looks like.
Although the purpose is simple, the process is extremely complicated, so everyone in the Fan Mansion got up early, washed and dressed, entered the palace as soon as the palace gate opened, and waited in a corner room, waiting for where the palace door was. The call of a lady. Those who are summoned can wait, but the women in the palace are not willing to wait for others.
Because he got up too early, Fan Xian sat in the corner room, drinking the good tea in the palace, still feeling a little sleepy and not in good spirits. Mrs. Liu glanced at him, stood up with a smile, and said to the father-in-law who was meeting them in the palace: "Eunuch Hou, long time no see." Saying this, he stretched out his fingers without any fumes. , The bank note was handed over. (I like it without smoke and smoke, Kaka)
Fan Xian watched secretly, the corners of his lips twitched and he almost laughed. His aunt's methods were indeed nurtured by his father, and she relied on money to open the way to beat people.
Unexpectedly, that Eunuch Hou showed embarrassment on his face, and said respectfully: "Mrs. Fan, aren't you slapping this old slave in the face? You grew up together with the masters in the palace. How dare this old slave be here?" You are here to beg for food."
Liu Shi couldn't help laughing when she heard these words: "This is a reward for you, not a buy for you, so who are you afraid of talking about it?"
Eunuch Hou smiled, the wrinkles on his face were crowded together, and he said softly: "I know that you are entering the palace today, and those masters have no reason to make you wait here for too long. Don't worry, it's just that it's too early. I'm afraid that the palaces are still busy washing, so just sit for a while."
Fan Xian's ears twitched, and he realized that the old eunuch was addressing Mrs. Fan, whom Mrs. Liu used. It seemed that the palace had long been inclined towards the matter of Mrs. Liu's rectification. Hearing that the palaces were still cleaning and sweeping the courtyards in the morning, he felt that he got up too early and came too early. Hearing this, he couldn't help but smiled wryly.
Fortunately, Eunuch Hou was right. It was really wise for Si Nanbo to let Mrs. Liu accompany him into the palace. The three of the Fan family had already entered the harem before the morning court started. The two old mothers were entertained outside. He was also an old man who entered the palace back then, so he would never be bored.
…
…
The first thing I went to was Yigui concubine, this noble lady was the birth mother of the third prince of this dynasty, the mother relied on her son to be expensive, so she was promoted from talented person to noble concubine. Fan Xian saluted politely, and then heard a gentle voice: "Get up."
This Yigui concubine was born plain and clean, but she only had the word "Sujing", and she was not at all as beautiful as Fan Xian imagined. Much to Fan Xian's surprise, Mrs. Liu looked at Concubine Yigui with slightly moist eyes. After the two women reserved a salute, they held hands and looked at each other speechlessly without regard for etiquette. Fan Xian cast doubtful eyes on his sister, Ruoruo's face was calm, but he wasn't surprised at all.
After listening to the conversation for a while, Fan Xian realized that this concubine Yigui was actually Liu's cousin!
Fan Xian was extremely shocked. Only then did he realize that the Liu family had such a deep foundation. Thanks to the appeasement policy he implemented after entering Beijing, and the Liu family treated him kindly, otherwise the two sides would really clash, and they really don't know who will die!
"You don't always come into the palace to see me." Concubine Yigui wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes, and complained, "It's been four years, and you have the heart to leave my sister alone in this palace. I got the decree and called you into the palace to talk with me, but I didn't know that you refused to come, I'm really depressed."
A look of sadness flashed across Liu's face, he didn't speak for a while, and after a while, he said softly: "It's all my fault, it's all my fault."
She didn't glance at Fan Xian, but Fan Xian looked at Mrs. Liu's slightly thin shoulders, and a strange look flashed in his eyes. He listened to what Concubine Yigui said about the four years, and he thought of the assassination in Danzhou very sensitively. Incident, according to his father, the Liu family was just a scapegoat for this assassination, and the real mastermind behind the scenes was the two most "noble" women in the palace—the Liu family did not enter the palace for four years, could it be because of this reason.
"In the future, I will often come to the palace to see you." Shi Liu smiled gently, holding Concubine Yigui's hand, "Didn't you come today?"
Concubine Yigui turned her anger into a smile, and said softly, "If it wasn't for the young master of your Fan family who wanted to marry the most precious girl in the palace, I wouldn't expect to see you." She turned to Fan Xian and asked gently Said: "Are you Fan Xian?"
Fan Xian hurriedly stood up, with the warmest smile on Qingyi Tuochen's face, and bowed to the ground: "Nephew Fan Xian, meet Aunt Liu."
This is very unruly! The maids and eunuchs were stunned, and Liu Shi was also a little stunned, thinking that I am not your real mother. However, Fan Xian's brazen pursuit of relationships was obviously very appealing to Concubine Yigui, who was tired of the rules in the palace. The noble lady looked at Fan Xian and smiled, "Sure enough, he is a good boy."