The snow on the cold night was freezing and biting. Gu Shiba Niang lay on the ground and didn't hear any sound for a long time. If from the corner of her eye, she hadn't seen the pair of cloud-patterned gold leather boots under the black cloak with green surface and gold trim in front of her. Everyone thinks that there is no one else here except themselves.
"You think it's because of this?" A low-alcohol voice with a hint of coldness fell from his head.
Gu Shiba Niang did not dare to answer, her thoughts turned around, and she reached out from her sleeve and took out the recipe for Longhu Soup that she had written in advance.
Before she could move, a gust of wind passed in front of her and the snow crunched. She looked up and saw Prince Wen turning around and striding away.
"House..." Gu Shiba Niang was stunned. She wanted to shout, but she hurriedly covered her mouth for fear of being heard by others.
Prince Wenjun walked very fast, and the branches in the plum forest were covered with branches. After three or two turns, only his back was left.
Gu Shiba Niang stood up, picked up her skirt and chased after her in a small step, but she didn't dare to shout loudly, but she finally saw her, and she didn't even say anything. She just left like this. What the hell...
"Your Highness..." She shouted in a low voice, lowered her head and passed through a tree. When she looked up again, she could no longer see the figure of Prince Wen.
There were dim lights all around, the snow was pure white, and the shadows of the flowers and trees were mixed together. The laughter of the women was getting closer and closer.
Gu Shiba Niang couldn't help but stood there blankly, feeling in a daze that it was just her hallucination and that Prince Wen had never appeared at all...
For a moment, she was at a loss as to where to go. It was getting later and later, and the night wind was getting colder. The remaining snow on the plum branches was blowing by, making people shiver. She couldn't tell what she felt in her heart. She bit her lower lip and shed tears. Faintly about to fall out.
"Miss Gu..." A palace maid came out from behind some plum blossom trees, holding a lamp and saluting with a smile, "It's slippery here, please come this way..."
Gu Shiba Niang said oh, lowered her head to thank her, wrapped her cloak tightly and followed the palace maid.
Not far away, women in twos and threes were gathering together, pointing out the surrounding scenery and joking.
"I was so distracted by the sight that my shoes and feet were all wet..." a woman said. She noticed someone beside her and turned around to smile.
"Me too..." Gu Shiba Niang smiled, lifting her skirt slightly to let her see that her shoes were stained with mud and snow.
"Wash it tonight, bake it on the stove and dry it tomorrow..." the woman said with a smile.
While talking, the female officers came over.
"It's getting late, it's freezing cold, ladies, please go back and rest." The leading female officer said with a smile.
Everyone responded and followed the maid swaying away.
The second day's palace selection was in the afternoon. The Queen Mother, who had just recovered from her illness, was very excited and came over in person. The Emperor had already lived in seclusion. Since the Crown Princess had already decided, the others were not in his mind, so she did not attend. The Queen took the The concubines of the harem sat with the Queen Mother.
But the prince, who was expected to appear, did not come.
Accompanied by the female officer's announcement, women came forward to kowtow one by one. The Queen asked some customary questions, such as how old she was, what her family was, and the Queen Mother leaned on the brocade, just listening, without asking a single question. The Queen finished asking. , would turn around and ask the Queen Mother for instructions, and the Queen Mother would just nod and wave her hands.
"Jiankang Gu family Gu Xiang..." the chamberlain announced in a sharp voice.
Gu Shiba Niang hurriedly lowered her head and walked forward quickly, fully dressed and knelt down to worship. Her body was shaking slightly because of nervousness. In her previous life, she never dreamed that she would have the opportunity to meet the most noble woman in the world, the Queen Mother, the noblest of the country, and the mother of the world. instrument.
The queen still asked those few questions, and Gu Shiba Niang lowered her head and answered.
"Your name is Gu Xiang..." the Queen Mother, who had been silent until now, suddenly asked.
"Yes." Gu Shiba Niang lowered her head and replied.
"Raise your head and let me take a look..." the Queen Mother said, sitting upright.
Gu Shiba Niang sighed softly in her heart, and raised her head according to the words. Her eyes were filled with jewels and jewels. She couldn't see what these nobles looked like, and of course she didn't dare to look directly at them.
Perhaps it was because the Queen Mother spoke for the first time after coming in. The faces of the concubines present moved slightly, their eyes were thoughtful, and all eyes were immediately turned towards her.
The sky is dark today, but the light in the palace is very good. It can be seen that the woman standing at the foot of the stairs has a light pink and black skin, and she is pretty. However, her appearance in this hall is not even as good as that of the palace maids standing on both sides. The familiar concubines can't help but They looked at each other with some surprise.
Gu Shiba Niang raised her head for a moment, and then her eyes fell faintly in the middle of the hall, facing a line of sight that seemed to come from the clouds. This kind of sight was condescending and heavy with pressure. Gu Shiba Niang hurriedly looked away.
"Well..." The queen mother above heard a soft hum, and then said no more.
"Okay, go back." The queen said in a soft voice.
Gu Shiba Niang responded, kowtowed again, stood up, and slowly returned to the queue.
The ten people were all seen soon. The Queen turned her head and whispered a few words to the Queen Mother, then turned to smile at the girls and said: "All of them are talented and beautiful, have an innocent family background, are virtuous and virtuous, and have just grown up in the East Palace. , need to add some peace and popularity, so they all stayed.”
As soon as he said this, all the women except Gu Shiba Niang were shocked and all knelt down to thank him.
The queen explained a few more words and ordered them to go home and wait until the end of the month to choose an auspicious day and divide the ranks among them.
As the girls who could no longer conceal their joy walked out of the palace, the carriages and horses of each family were already waiting outside.
"Miss..." Lingbao was happy and excited, but did not dare to speak loudly, so he waved and shouted.
"Congratulations, Miss..." The eunuch who led the way congratulated respectfully.
Gu Shiba Niang nodded, looked back at the majestic and solemn palace, held Lingbao's hand and got into the carriage.
The waiter who led the way watched the carriage rumble away with a slightly startled look.
"Hey, how much reward did you get?" The other waiters who led the way came over, bumped him with their arms, and asked with a low smile.
The waiter shook his head and sneered, spreading his hands to everyone, "Well, I encountered a stick..."
The news came from the royal servants at home. The door of the home was wide open. Ms. Cao was dressed in formal clothes and led a group of servants to stand at the door to greet her. Neighbors gathered around the street to watch the excitement, with envious expressions on their faces.
"Eighteen Niang..." Seeing Gu Eighteen Niang's carriage stop, Mrs. Cao hurriedly wiped away her tears and took it with a smile. However, she saw that her daughter's expression was solemn, without any sign of joy. She must be tired.
"Congratulations..." Seeing Gu Shiba Niang enter the door, the servants knelt down and shouted loudly.
Gu Shiba Niang became even more upset. She waved her hands impatiently and said, "Let's get up." She quickly walked into the house. She unintentionally said she was tired and took a rest, then closed the door tightly and never came out again.
Ms. Cao was slightly stunned and looked at Lingbao.
Lingbao shook his head, indicating that he didn't know.
"The eighteenth lady is choosing a table. I haven't slept well in the past two days..." Cao Shifu said after a while. She ordered her servants to prepare hot water and meals to send over, while she was busy writing a letter to Gu Hai.
Entering the East Palace is no ordinary wedding. It would be great if Gu Hai, the eldest brother, could come back in time. Counting the days, Gu Hai will definitely be able to come back in time.
The news spread quickly, and the sound of firecrackers rang out in the alley of Jiankang Gu's family for half a day, which only attracted the attention of the entire Jiankang City.
The Gu family is about to give birth to a daughter-in-law. This is a great blessing for our virtuous ancestors.
"That's ridiculous!" Mrs. Shen San slapped the table and shook the tea cup.
"Madam, this must have been bribed by the Ministry of Rites!" the maid on the side said immediately, "Isn't that girl very rich? She must have bribed the selection officials. Madam, why don't you give the Queen a discount, so as not to let such a lowly People have defiled the palace!"
As a decreed wife, one has a rank and has corresponding authority. One of them is that the decreed wife can appeal to the Empress.
As soon as the servant woman finished speaking, she heard a clear snap.
Mrs. Shen San raised her hand and slapped the servant woman on the face. The servant woman's face suddenly turned blue.
"Madam?" The servant girl was so frightened that she knelt down and didn't know why she flattered her so wrong.
"Do you think people in the imperial court are as stupid as you?" Madam Shen San said with a stern face, "Do you think you can silence everyone if you have money? Do you think everyone in the palace is easy to fool? Then What kind of people are there in this place? You actually want me to accuse that girl of being a bitch. Do you want me to slap the royal family in the face? You asked me to jump out and insist on it even though they pretended not to know. To put it bluntly, if I hit someone in the face, can I still have a good life? You idiot, you are trying to cause trouble for our Shen family."
The servant girl was so frightened that she kowtowed repeatedly, "I'm wrong, I'm an idiot."
"Get out!" Mrs. Shen San shouted.
The servant girl hurriedly walked out on her knees.
"Stop." Mrs. Shen San shouted again suddenly.
The servant girl was so frightened that she turned back on the spot, trembling all over. Now Mrs. Shen San is even more powerful than before, especially her biological son, the second son of Mr. Shen San, who gained the favor of Mr. Shen Guo in the capital and stayed in the capital. He raised him personally, and it is said that the Duke of Guo’s wife also liked the child very much and arranged a marriage for him personally. This marriage was from a very high family. Everyone said that since the Duke of Guo and his wife dared to ask for this marriage, it was obvious that He deliberately wants Shen Andong to inherit the title.
"This girl was originally engaged to us, but then our Young Master Lin injured his leg, and she no longer had the intention... Now she flies on a branch and becomes a phoenix... Oh, it's just pity that our Young Master Lin is mute and eats Coptis chinensis. Ah..." Mrs. Shen San said slowly, holding up the tea cup.
The servant girl was stunned for a moment, then realized what was going on, and her swollen face broke into a smile.
"No..." she said with a smile, but Mrs. Shen San glanced at her, looking busy and crying, "My poor Master Lin..."
"Let's go out. Speaking of which, our young master Lin went to the border gate just after recovering from a serious illness. It's really painful..." Mrs. Shen San sighed and said, "Go and prepare some nourishing food for young master Lin. I know what it’s like.”
"Madam, don't worry, I promise that the arrangements will be well made!" the servant girl understood and said with a smile.
Mrs. Shen San nodded and took a cup of tea.
The servant girl understood that there was no order, so she got up and went out happily.
There will be a flurry of gossip about the new nobles of the Gu family in Jiankang. For the moment, Princess Baiyu of Pingyang Marquis Mansion in the capital is furious.
"You don't even care about the Queen Mother! You don't even care about the Queen Mother!" She ripped off the tablecloth with a crackle, and the tea cup shattered on the ground. The maids around her knelt down and did not dare to speak.
"This bastard! This bastard!" she screamed.
"My princess!" An older and wealthy maid walked in quickly, wiping the tears on her face with a handkerchief, and said with full affection, "You are just a lowly maid, how can you be so angry? "
"I want to go find the Queen Mother!" Princess Baiyu burst into tears when she saw this servant girl, "Nanny, I'm not married yet, and he bullies me like this... I can't swallow this breath..."
"My princess, you are wrong!" The servant girl stretched out her hand to hold her and said in a deep voice, "If you do this, it will really make your relatives and enemies happy.