Tang Lihua got up before the hour of the day, washed and dressed, and put on the official uniform of the fourth-rank married woman. The gray silver thread was meticulously bulged, and she put on the official hat, as if she was a different person, with the gentleness of ordinary times. The old lady is different, but she is like those old matriarchs from official families.
Wang Cuilian also got up early, accompanied her, and followed her into the carriage. The carriage stopped at the gate of the palace, and the guards guarding the palace gate confirmed Tang Lihua's identity before letting her go.
It was stipulated that Mrs. Sipin could only bring one serving woman into the palace, so Tang Lihua took Lao Momo who taught her the rules, while Wang Cuilian waited in the carriage outside the palace.
Tang Lihua entered the palace wall and waited outside the hall under the guidance of the small yellow gate. The civil and military officials in the hall greeted the emperor, and the one-day court meeting officially began.
Without the emperor's summons, Tang Lihua could only wait. She stood there for about half an hour, when a high-pitched eunuch's voice came from the hall, "Xuan Tang's audience."
Then a little eunuch came out of the hall. Under the guidance of the eunuch, Tang Lihua walked unhurriedly, with a dignified demeanor, lowered her head slightly, and only stared at the jade tablet in her hand.
"My wife kowtowed to the emperor, long live the emperor, long live the emperor." Tang Lihua knelt down, put her hands on the ground, and bowed down with her whole body, there was no mistake in the etiquette.
"Aiqing is free of courtesy." A majestic but kind voice came from above his head. It was the current Emperor Jingren.
Tang Lihua bowed again before getting up, "Thank you Lord Long En."
"You are Tang Lihua from Yihe County. I admire you very much when I hear about you. If there were more people in the world who care about the people, I would have less worries." Emperor Jingren said It was admiration for Tang Lihua, and he sighed a little at the end.
Tang Lihua still lowered her head, not surprised by favor or humiliation, "The emperor has a holy heart and virtue, and the common people know that the emperor loves the people like a son, and the minister's wife is a country woman. She can't be an imperial examination examiner, so she can only do her best. I believe that many people and ministers The woman thought the same."
Emperor Jing Ren was naturally relieved when he heard this, and laughed, "Okay, okay, I really did not misunderstand the person, and even my mother and queen praised the righteousness of the fellow."
Tang Lihua still looked calm, which made Emperor Jingren think highly of her.
It's just that Emperor Jingren Xuan Tang Lihua's noodle sage was just a whim, and after a lot of praise, he made people retreat. So far, Tang Lihua's noodle sage trip is completely over.
Tang Lihua had just left the palace gate when Lao Mo came over and bowed to her, "Mr. Xiang, the Empress Dowager invites you to come over."
Knowing this in advance, Tang Lihua followed behind the old lady, thinking about the purpose of the queen mother summoning her, Tang Lihua was not so naive, once the dignified queen mother would put such a small person in her eyes, Also summoned in person.
There must be some reason for this, but Tang Lihua couldn't think of any clues for a while, the only one who could mention her before the Queen Mother and let the Queen Mother take care of her was the third prince and Princess Pingyang.
If the Third Prince and Princess Pingyang were indeed unhappy in front of Lian Er yesterday, but Tang Lihua would not believe that the Empress Dowager was summoned because of such a trivial matter.
Thinking of the end, Tang Lihua didn't want to think about it at all, and she knew what it was because of it.
The palace is surprisingly large, and Tang Lihua is not qualified to sit in a sedan chair, so she can only walk. Fortunately, Tang Lihua is in good health, and she usually walks and exercises more, otherwise, after this morning's tossing, her body would have been long ago. I can't take it anymore.
Tang Lihua didn't know how long she walked before she stopped in front of a palace, looked up, and saw the words "Compassionate Palace" on the tall plaque on the palace.
Lao Momo was walking in front, and all the court ladies she met along the way stopped to salute, "Hello, Auntie."
Tang Lihua's heart moved, it seemed that this old man was originally from the Palace of Compassion, and as for why he was sent to teach him how to behave, it seemed that it was the Queen Mother's handwriting, Tang Lihua was even more curious.
"My fellow countryman, wait a minute, the old servant will go in and let me know." After stopping in front of a house, Lao Momo dropped the words and opened the curtain to walk in.
But after waiting for a while, Lao Momo came out, smiling all over his face, "Please come in, fellow countryman."
Tang Lihua walked in, and the person sitting in the seat who was about the same age as her was the Empress Dowager. The Empress Dowager had been in a high position for many years, so her grace and luxury were naturally beyond the reach of ordinary people.
"My wife, please greet the Queen Mother." Tang Lihua saluted again. This is what made Tang Lihua unhappy in ancient times. When she met someone with a higher status than herself, she had to salute and salute. It was really annoying.
Just doing as the Romans do, Tang Lihua complained in her heart, but her face was still respectful.
The queen mother looked at Tang Lihua carefully, then smiled kindly, and waved her hand, "Please sit down, Mr. Xiang."
This attitude reassured Tang Lihua a lot, at least it was not a bad thing.
The Empress Dowager chatted with Tang Lihua like an ordinary family, but she mentioned her granddaughter from time to time. Tang Lihua had only two granddaughters, so it was naturally not Wang Cuilian that the Empress Dowager wanted to ask.
Tang Lihua had an idea in her mind, and it seemed that it was the hero's role that made Wang Cuiyao fall into the Queen Mother's eyes.
You must know that the male protagonist has been raised under the empress dowager since he was a child, and the queen mother loves him the most, and always considers him. Now he should be aware of the male protagonist's feelings for the female protagonist, so he came to test it.
"The Empress Dowager doesn't know. My second granddaughter was brought to the capital by his parents a few years ago, and we only met yesterday." Tang Lihua sighed.
Naturally, the queen mother has investigated these things a long time ago, so it is not surprising to hear her say that, "Now that we are in the capital, we should communicate more and be more intimate."
There was something special about these words, Tang Lihua pretended she didn't hear it, and nodded repeatedly, "It should be so."
"Queen Dowager, it's time to rest." At this time, Lao Mo, who was serving the Queen Mother, reminded her.
The queen mother frowned, seemingly displeased, but she didn't retort, "When you get old, you feel more."
Tang Lihua got up knowingly, "It's my wife who bothered the queen mother, so I will step back."
"Forget it, it's time for you to go out of the palace." The queen mother waved her hand, then remembered something, and said to Tang Lihua, "In the future, there will be a flower viewing feast at the Princess Chang's mansion, and there will be female relatives from the capital. Bringing both granddaughters along will give us a lot of insight."
"The granddaughters are growing up too, it's time to find someone else." The last sentence was a joke, and Tang Lihua responded respectfully, and exited the room.
After she left, the Empress Dowager put away the smile on her face and crossed the prayer beads in her hand, "What do you think of this man?"
Memo, who was serving her, laughed softly, "Your maidservant looks like you are ignorant in the countryside. You are not timid when you see the Queen Mother, but you have a good temperament."
The queen mother looked at her and smiled, "You, you, if you didn't take a step away today, the Ai family really thinks you have received so many benefits from others."
Well, I have served the Queen Mother for a long time, so of course I know her temper, "The Queen Mother usually rewards the old slave, and this old slave can't use it up in this lifetime, so the Queen Mother should not make fun of the old slave."
Of course, Tang Lihua didn't know about the conversation between the master and the servant, and it finally came out of the palace gate.
Outside the palace gate, the woman serving Tang Lihua saw her sharply, and hurried over to help her into the carriage.
Tang Lihua looked at the empty carriage, "Where's Lian Er?"
"Miss was bored in the car, so she went out for a walk, and said it was the old lady, if you come out, you should go back to the residence first." The old woman replied.
Tang Lihua nodded without saying much, and closed her eyes to rest her mind.
In the afternoon, Wang Cuilian came back angrily, sulked for a while, and when Tang Lihua woke up, she asked about the affairs of the palace, and her eyes lit up when she heard the scene of the palace wall described by Tang Lihua.
Tang Lihua leaned on the grand teacher's chair, flipped through Cuiyuxuan's account books for the first half of the year, and asked casually, "Where did you hang out today?"
Speaking of this, Wang Cuilian's face swelled up, "My granddaughter wanted to see how the teahouses in the capital are different from our Yihe County, but she met a dude. It's really annoying."
"But it's okay, he took my seat, and I didn't make it easy for him." Wang Cuilian raised her eyebrows triumphantly as if thinking of some funny scene.
Tang Lihua looked at her amusedly, and lightly patted the account book in her hand on her head, "Little boy, please read this account book, and tell me what's wrong with you after reading it."
Wang Cuilian stuck out her tongue, she was used to this way for a long time, took the account book, flipped through it, and saw Cuiyuxuan on the first page, she remembered that her grandma had indeed told her that there was such a store, just I have never seen it myself.
Not only in the capital, but also in other affluent places, Tang Lihua also opened such a Cuiyuxuan. At the beginning, he had no power and power, and encountered a lot of troubles, but Cuiyuxuan was different from other businesses, selling tricks and intentions.
"Grandma, I haven't visited Cuiyuxuan yet, let's go and see it tomorrow." Wang Cuilian was a little excited, girls naturally like these things.
Tang Lihua nodded. Now she is still a fourth-rank country lord. Although she has no real power, she is also a title, so there is no need to hide it.
"That's fine, call Cuiyao tomorrow to make two new clothes, and go to the princess palace with me for the flower banquet the day after tomorrow."
Before Wang Cuilian could ask, Tang Lihua told about the incident in the Empress Dowager's Palace. Although Wang Cuilian was puzzled, Grandma said so, so she didn't ask anything, and nodded in response.
Next, Tang Lihua closed her eyes and meditated, while Wang Cuilian looked at the account books, and the years were quiet.
In the evening, Tang Lihua sent someone to Wang Jiafu's mansion to deliver a message, asking Wang Cuiyao to come with her tomorrow, and soon there was a message to respond.
After breakfast the next day, she got into the carriage and went straight to the palace. Wang Cuiyao was already waiting, and of course she was not the only one. Mrs. Chen followed, but Tang Lihua didn't say anything.
The group divided into two carriages and stopped at the gate of Cuiyuxuan.
Mrs. Chen didn't know in advance that she came to this place today, she was a little surprised and also a little embarrassed, because they couldn't buy anything when they came here.
"Mother, why don't you go and have a look elsewhere." Chen said tentatively.
Tang Lihua walked in directly, "Let's have a look first before we talk."
Chen had no choice but to keep up, and only prayed that he would not be too embarrassing later.