This year, the New Year in the palace was also very restrained, and it was not as lively as usual.
Especially when Chu Jinyao heard the news that the emperor was being escorted back to the palace by King Su, he lost the thought of celebrating the holidays.
Of course, Qin Yi arranged for someone to greet the emperor in Juyong Pass. In this kind of thing, Qin Yi could not have arranged the guard of honor at the gate of the Oirat tent, so apart from the ceremonial officials who went to negotiate the peace, he only sent a small team to Oirat. The king's tent escorted the emperor, and there was an army not far away to protect him. As long as he entered the range of Dayan, the emperor could exchange for the imperial guard of honor.
However, no one expected that King Su would appear outside the pass in person, posing as if he had come to greet him. He would naturally turn the direction with the emperor, enter the pass from a gate, and then be escorted by the army of King Su's domain. All the way to the capital in a high profile.
This is too obvious, and the face of inviting credit is too ugly.
Thinking of this, Chu Jinyao could only sigh in her heart. As long as the emperor has a little understanding of the situation, he can understand that Qin Yi had previously refused Oara to "escort" the emperor into the capital, and later refused Oara's insincere peace talks, all for the sake of the country and even the emperor. As long as the emperor is willing to think about it, he can understand Qin Yi's difficulties.
But Chu Jinyao felt that the emperor would not think about it. If he would think about these things carefully, he would not have been captured by the Oara people from the very beginning.
The more you think about this kind of thing, the worse it gets, Chu Jinyao put it behind her head and wholeheartedly dealt with the matter of letting the palace maid out of the palace.
In this dynasty, in order to prevent the harem from interfering with politics, all the maids were selected from the people. Every three years, many young and beautiful women are selected from thousands of miles to bid farewell to their families and enter this magnificent and closed Forbidden City. There are red bricks and green tiles, and the palace is towering, but it has nothing to do with these palace maids. They came in in the most beautiful years, and since then, they can never leave the palace again.
The palace maids can only enter. Even though the inner court is dark and cruel, many women die unexplainably every year. Rao is that the number of palace maids in the inner court increases year by year. Up to now, there are 9,000 palace maids in the harem. Not to mention the larger number of eunuchs.
Such a system destroys the maids and also drags down the national treasury. The annual expenditure of the harem is a terrible figure. The trouble in the capital this time is just an opportunity. Qin Yi can finally openly propose to let the palace people leave the palace, and Chu Jinyao is also willing to focus on physical worries and slowly investigate the people who really need to leave the palace.
Chu Jinyao secretly investigated for a few days before slowly releasing the news of the release. At first, everyone refused to believe it, and they all waited and watched. Later, as time passed, everyone in the harem saw that Chu Jinyao's posture did not seem to be a fake. More and more people came to take the initiative to resign.
Chu Jinyao instructed Linglong: "The roster must be carefully checked, and the origin, age, etc. must be checked when sending the repatriation fee, and it cannot be falsely claimed."
Linglong leaned over: "My servant understands. Crown Princess, the first batch of palace servants to leave the palace are leaving soon. They want to kowtow to you."
Chu Jinyao looked out, and through the blurry window paper, she seemed to be able to see those lonely and weak figures, Chu Jinyao finally shook her head: "No, it's His Highness's intention to let them out of the palace, they If you really want to thank someone, live a good life in the future, and contribute to this country, that is the best reward."
Linglong half bent his knees and led the way. When Hongmao came in, she happened to see a group of palace maids walking out. Their expressions seemed to be anxious and happy, but they all had a sense of relief. Hong mama sighed inexplicably when she saw this scene.
She remembered that when she entered the palace, she was so anxious and happy, until the cruel and strict court life smoothed out her character and her spirit a little, and in the end, even the past was gone. After so many years, what has become of the world outside this red palace wall
No matter how wealthy and glorious this palace is, it has nothing to do with her. This is the blessing of the ladies, not theirs. It's been too long, and Mammy Hong can hardly remember what her hometown looks like, and she can't remember whether there is a small stream in front of her house.
Kikyo saw Mammy Hong through the half-opened window, and hurriedly called out, "Mother Hong is here? Come in!"
Mammy Hong wiped her hands on her skirt, walked quietly into the main hall, and saluted Chu Jinyao: "Greetings to the Crown Princess, all the best to the Crown Princess."
"Mammy Hong is here. I called you here today because I wanted to ask you about your departure from the palace." Chu Jinyao raised her head and looked at her with a slight smile, "I promised you before, and now there happens to be His Highness. I will borrow flowers to offer Buddha, do you have any plans to leave the palace?"
Mammy Hong stood there for a while and was stunned. At that moment, she seemed to feel that the palace and the princess in front of her were spinning. When she finally came back to her senses, she saw that all the maids in the palace were looking at her with a smile.
Hong mama finally understood, and hurriedly knelt down and kowtowed: "Thank you, Crown Princess!"
"It's nothing. As we said before, are you going to Changxing Houfu to raise my sister and niece, or are you going to Zhuangzi in the suburbs of Beijing?"
All of this came so unexpectedly, Mammy Hong felt dizzy in front of her eyes, she barely calmed down and said, "Prince Concubine, Rong Laonu go back and think about it, and I will come back to you tomorrow."
Chu Jinyao nodded with a slight smile: "Mammy, you don't have to make a decision in a hurry, you should think carefully about where to go out of the palace. It is estimated that the emperor and King Su will arrive in the capital in two days. It will be postponed for a few days, and during this time, Mammy Hong can think slowly."
Mammy Hong thanked again and slowly exited the room. After waiting outside, Mammy Hong saw through the blue glazed tiles of the East Palace, only to find that the sun today is actually very good, and the sky is clean and high, and the blue makes people look happy.
The news that the emperor was going to return to the palace in the past two days quietly spread among the palaces, and Xiao Qi had been in a quiet situation for many days, but he even heard it. When she heard the news that the emperor was coming back, her eyes, which she thought she would never cry again, suddenly burst into tears.
"Your Majesty..." Xiao Qi's tears rolled down her eyes, and her eyes burst out with brilliance after a long absence. She subconsciously wanted to call someone over to dress her up, but after Xiao Qi called several times, no one answered. Xiao Qi immediately became angry, the emperor was coming back, and the temper of the queen who was favored by the emperor was also resurrected. She stood up angrily and walked out quickly.
When I went outside, I found that it was already dark. During this period of time after Xiao Qi, she washed her face with tears every day, and most of the time she cried to the candlelight in the palace, even the time was blurred. Xiao Qi never thought that he would have such a depressed time, but from now on, this kind of groggy, indistinguishable day and night will never happen again.
After Xiao Qi stood at the gate of the palace and shouted a few more words, finally a palace servant came hurriedly from the apse. Qiu Shuang gave the queen a blessing, and asked in a low voice, "Niangniang, what are you going to do?"
Xiao Qihou looked at the person in front of her with disgust: "Bengong wants to dress up. Where did you bastards go? It's only been a few days, have you even forgotten your duty to serve people?"
"How dare you." Qiu Shuang lowered her head and said respectfully, "It's the servant's negligence, Niangniang, please wait inside, the servant's hands are clean, come here."
After Xiao Qi gave Qiu Shuang a fierce look, she walked into the inner room. Qiu Shuang was the girl who was assigned to Kunning Palace as soon as she entered the palace. At that time, after Xiao Qi looked at her elder sister's old man, she changed it all in one breath. Qiu Shuang came to Kunning Palace at this time. Later, why Qiu Shuang climbed to the position of the big palace maid, Xiao Qi did not have any impression. She was a queen, so how could she pay attention to a humble palace maid.
Qiu Shuang came soon, and brought a pot of tea at the same time. She poured tea for Xiao Qi Hou unhurriedly, and every move carried the unique elegance of the court. Xiao Qi Hou was used to all this. She took the tea and touched the warm blue and white porcelain cup, for some unknown reason. feel a violation.
"Why is this tea warm?" How long has Qiu Shuang been out, how could it be possible to boil the tea in such a short period of time and dry it to a temperature just enough to drink
Qiu Shuang's smile didn't change: "Niang Niang, the things you use are always warm on the stove."
After all, Xiao Qi was a queen who had been a queen for many years. She was wary and frowned and looked out: "Where's Lan Yu? She's been serving the food in this palace. It's been so long, why haven't you seen her?"
Qiu Shuang sighed slightly, and a strange smile suddenly appeared on her face: "Niangniang, Aunt Lanyu is indeed loyal to you. Now, she is waiting for you below."
Xiao Qihou turned her head back in surprise, and before she could understand anything, someone grabbed her neck. Then, a stream of warm tea forcibly entered her throat and slowly slid across her esophagus, bringing with it an almost unbearable surge of tea. Endure the burning sensation.
The splendid Kunning Palace suddenly made the sound of a stool falling to the ground, and there was a faint squeaking sound. It seemed that someone was using a fingernail on the ground, which was especially harsh in the silent palace. But it didn't take long before everything went silent again.
Mammy Hong's eyes were dark, and she was dragged forward by someone covering her mouth. Suddenly she was pushed violently, and she stumbled to the floor, and her eyes lit up again.
Finally being able to see things again, before Mammy Hong could breathe a sigh of relief, she realized that she was in Kunning Palace. Years of experience of falling, rolling, and crawling in the palace immediately told her that she was less fortunate today.
"Mammy Hong, long time no see."
Mammy Hong fell to the ground halfway, trying to straighten her waist to make herself look neater: "Miss Qiushuang, what do you mean?"
"Mammy Hong, when Niangniang arranged for you to go there, she should have instructed you long ago. Why do you think you've been rather reluctant recently?"
Mammy Hong's body couldn't help trembling. Tomorrow, there will be another day, she will be able to talk back to the Crown Princess and completely escape from this quagmire. Why is it this evening
Mammy Hong tried her best to calm herself down: "The old slave always remembers the teachings of the empress, and does not dare to ignore it."
"Okay, since you said that, the mother-in-law will give you a chance to prove your loyalty."
Mammy Hong's throat was dry, and she swallowed hard before she spoke: "What?"
Qiu Shuang threw a packet of medicine powder in front of Mammy Hong and said, "Take this pack of medicine with you now, and hide it with the Crown Princess when you go back. As long as you finish well, the Empress will let you out of the palace and let you Reunite with your niece."
A few years ago, Mother Hong's hometown was hit by a disaster. It took a long time for Mother Hong to know that her family was all dead, leaving only one orphaned niece.
So she desperately wanted to leave the palace and go to her hometown to find her niece, who was her only relative.
But now, Mammy Hong looked at the mediocre paper bag in front of her, and couldn't pick it up after a long time: "Miss Qiushuang, we can survive thanks to the Crown Prince and the Crown Princess, the emperor will return to the palace in two days. ,This… "
"There's so much nonsense, do you still want your niece's life?"
Mammy Hong closed her eyes hard, her face showing grief that was no longer young, it was guilt and hatred for her inability to do anything: "Miss Qiushuang, I naturally have my whole heart towards the empress. Just, old slave Rong asked Concubine Shu, old slave. Is your niece really still alive?"
"Of course." Qiu Shuang raised one eyebrow and looked down at Mammy Hong, "What do you mean, you suspect that the Empress is not successful?"
"How dare this old slave." Mammy Hong reached out and picked up the medicine bag, holding it tightly in her palm. She stood up and seemed to be walking out. When she walked to the tall and heavy wooden door, she suddenly asked: "Miss Qiushuang, since you are spreading the word, it is enough to find a place outside Ciqing Palace, why did you bring the old slave to Kunming? Ning Gong is coming?"
Qiu Shuang's eyes narrowed slightly: "You talk too much, what do you do."
Mammy Hong looked at the quiet Kunning Palace in the night sky, the outline was like a giant beast lurking in the darkness, as if it could devour everything that happened inside. Mammy Hong suddenly turned around and pushed Qiu Shuang hard. Qiu Shuang was caught off guard and fell to the ground. Qiu Shuang's anger rose from the bottom of her heart, but before the people hiding in the dark ran out, she saw Hong Mama herself slamming into the red pillar under the palace eaves with great force, almost all her strength was used.
With a "bang", Mammy Hong's stiff body slowly slid down from the red pillar. Qiu Shuang covered her mouth in horror when she saw this scene. She dared to test Mammy Hong's breath. retract as well. She cursed "madman" in a low voice, then quickly covered her eyes and ran out of the back door.
In the Bailu Palace, the person in front of the mirror heard the report and gently raised her soft and graceful eyebrows: "Is the touch pillar dead?"
Qiu Shuang lowered her head and replied in a low voice, "Yes."
Concubine Shu threw the Luo Zidai in her hand to the ground with a bang, and the well-maintained face in the mirror showed a gloomy viciousness that was completely inconsistent with her temperament.
"Okay, she didn't live in vain, she could actually see Ben Gong's plan." Concubine Shu sneered, her eyes gradually became crazy, "Unfortunately, she still doesn't know enough about Ben Gong. What Ben Gong wants to do When did things fail? Even if she died, it was impossible."
Concubine Shu stood up, and in a blink of an eye, she returned to the appearance of Concubine Shu, who was familiar to everyone in the harem: "Come here, set your car."