"Father!"
Nangong Yue and Xiao Fei bowed their knees together to salute King Zhennan.
"Excuse me!" Zhennan Wang waved his hand, motioning everyone to excuse him, looked at Aunt Mei who was kneeling on the ground, and asked with a frown, "What are you kneeling here for?"
Aunt Mei raised her small face that was as white as jade, and shouted delicately: "My lord..." There was an indescribable grievance and cowardice in a pair of shining black pupils. She bit her lower lip with her snow-white jade teeth, and looked at Nangong Yue with a hesitant expression on her face, her eyes were half down, and her long eyelashes trembled slightly like cicada's wings.
King Zhennan frowned slightly.
A playful smile flashed across Nangong Yue's eyes, and before he could ask, she took a step forward and gave another blessing, and said respectfully: "Father, Aunt Mei is new to the palace, and she didn't learn the rules of our palace well. The daughter-in-law is punishing her for an hour of self-examination, so that she can remember the lesson this time and avoid making jokes in the future."
King Zhennan nodded suddenly, it turned out to be the case.
Ever since the crown prince took charge of the house, the palace has been in perfect order, which shows that the crown prince's rules are excellent.
He nodded and said: "Concubine Shizi, now you are in charge of the mansion, you can be the master!"
"Thank you, father." Nangong Yue thanked respectfully.
Aunt Mei bowed her head and knelt stiffly on the cold bluestone floor in winter, motionless, her thin figure looked pitiful.
King Zhennan glanced at the young and tender concubine, feeling a little distressed, but he didn't want the other party to be arrogant, so he strode away without saying anything.
From now on, no one will pay any attention to Aunt Mei.
"Sister-in-law, let's go to Merlin."
Xiao Fei and Nangong Yue continued to move forward according to the original plan, leaving only Aunt Mei kneeling there alone.
Aunt Mei's personal servant girl looked at Nangong Yue and Xiao Fei's leaving back for a while, and then looked at her master, not daring to help the master up. From time to time, there would be maids and mother-in-law passing by, whispering and pointing.
After kneeling for an hour, the servant girl carefully helped Aunt Mei up.
It was freezing cold, and Aunt Mei knelt down until her knees were numb and cold. She described herself as being in a state of embarrassment, and was helped back to her yard by her maid, and then sent him away.
When she was the only one left in the room, her complexion changed, the original cuteness and embarrassment disappeared, and her expression became calm and decisive, as if she had changed in an instant.
She strode to the desk, polished the ink skillfully with her own hands, spread out a piece of tissue paper, then picked up a wolf brush, dipped it in the ink, and wrote without hesitation—
"... The concubine Shizi has a calm temperament, she is decisive in dealing with things, she is firm and flexible, and has won the trust of the king of Zhennan. Now the internal affairs of the palace are under the control of the concubine Shizi, and it is difficult to find a loophole for a while. I will continue to act according to the plan and wait for the opportunity. "
After finishing the writing, Aunt Mei read the letter again, pondered for a moment, and added a pen to the end of the letter paper, saying: "His Royal Highness has arrived in Luoyue City, if you have any orders, please tell me!"
Aunt Mei carefully blew away the tissue paper and pulled a flower spike from her hair. She skillfully removed the head of the hairpin, and it was obvious that the hairpin was hollow! She carefully rolled up the tissue paper and stuffed it into the hairpin, then put the hairpin back on and removed a pearl on it.
After finishing all this, she put away her pen and ink, and then said in a low voice, "Ah!... Qinglan, Qinglan!"
The maid Qinglan who was waiting outside hurriedly opened the door and came in, bent her knees and said, "Aunt."
"My hairpin!" Aunt Mei's eyes were filled with tears, and the tears seemed to fall at any moment, she said helplessly, "This is a gift from the prince, why is it broken?"
Qinglan stepped forward to look at it, and quickly comforted her: "Don't worry, Auntie. It's just a bead that fell off, and I'll find a gold and jade shop to repair it in a few days."
"Yes, yes!" Aunt Mei's eyes lit up, and she said, "Hurry up and help me to repair it. When I was serving at Madam's place, I heard that the masters in Jinmantang in the north of the city are good at craftsmanship, so you can go there and repair it." Speaking of this, she paused, her tears seemed to be falling, she was very pitiful, "I am a rootless duckweed in this palace, I can only rely on the prince, if the prince knows that I don't cherish his gifts so much, say Maybe, maybe... I have offended the Crown Princess, what should I do if I don't have the favor of the prince."
"Don't worry, Auntie." Qinglan was anxious about what she was anxious about, and said loyally, "Wei side concubine is good, I just went to fix a hairpin, and I won't embarrass you."
Aunt Mei took her hand and said expectantly: "Then go and come back quickly."
Qinglan nodded, and hurried away with the hairpin.
Aunt Mei looked at the back of her leaving in a hurry, her red lips curled slightly.
Although the palace has strict rules and regulations, as a daughter-in-law, Shi Zifei still can't manage her father-in-law's inner courtyard. Concubine Wei has always been easy-going, so as long as she gets her permission, it's not difficult to go out and do some "small things".
Aunt Mei opened the window leisurely, and the cold wind came with the clear fragrance of plums. She remembered that just now, the concubine Shizi walked hand in hand with the eldest girl, and the maid following behind carried a small red clay stove, a copper pot, and a bamboo basket in her hands. She must have planned to go to admire the plum blossoms... She had heard about the prince before she entered the palace. The relationship between the concubine and the eldest girl is very good, and it seems to be the case now.
Maybe this will be a breakthrough...
The plum blossoms in Zhennan Wangfu are in full bloom, and all kinds of wintersweet are in full bloom, especially the northern garden has the best view.
Nangong Yue and Xiao Fei cooked tea and admired plum blossoms, and wrote poems with splashing ink. A picture of winter plums leaped on the paper. In the picture, winter plums were in full bloom. A gray eagle perched on a branch, lightly pecking at its wings, adding a sense of vitality.
Both of them thought the painting was very good, and Nangong Yue asked Baihui to frame it with great interest.
Xiao Fei muttered regretfully, "It would be great if there was snow." As she spoke, her eyes lit up, and she said, "Sister-in-law, let's pick some plum blossoms and make some snacks."
Nangong Yue agreed with a smile, so the two happily picked several baskets of plum blossoms in the garden together with a few maids.
Xiao Fei ordered the maid to bring those baskets of flowers back to Yuebiju, and vowed to go back to make plum blossom syrup now, and invite Nangong Yue, Mrs. Fang, and Han Qixia to taste the plum blossom cakes she made with plum blossoms in two days. Tea.
Seeing Xiao Fei's high spirits, Nangong Yue let her go.
After bidding farewell to Xiao Fei, Nangong Yue returned to Bixiao Hall.
Despite the cold weather, after some activities in the garden, she still sweated a little, and went to the clean room to take a shower and change clothes.
After Nangong Yue's whole body was refreshed, there was a sound of curtain picking, Que'er came in with a booklet in her hand, and said on her knees: "Concubine Shizi, this is the first roster just recorded, and it contains those who are responsible for the flowers and trees in the small garden, Slave who sweeps the house. Take a look at it first, if it is feasible, then the servant will continue to do so."
Nangong Yue responded, took the roster, put it on the dressing table, opened the first page casually, raised her eyebrows slightly, and then turned another page...
Que'er is indeed promising. This roster not only carefully notes the origins of these people, but also the years they have worked in the small garden, and even what positions they have held in other places in the mansion and how long they have worked for. Listing them all, including their relatives in the mansion, etc., even after she read it, she felt that she couldn't be more thoughtful than her.
Seeing the corners of Nangong Yue's mouth raised higher and higher, Que'er proudly puffed out her chest. She usually chats with others in the palace. Even if she doesn't want to say something, it doesn't mean she has no other choice. access to information.
Nangong Yue flipped through the pages... Suddenly, her hand that was about to turn the pages stopped, and her thoughtful eyes fell on one of the pages.
On it is written a Luo woman who is in charge of sweeping in the garden. This Mrs. Luo is just a poor envoy of the palace. She was very ordinary. The one who attracted Nangong Yue's attention was Mrs. Luo's daughter - Mrs. Luo had a daughter named Banxia, who used to be the third-class maid in the courtyard of the former concubine Dafang's family. , and was later sold because of a mistake.
Nangong Yue half-closed her eyes, staring at the time noted above, 19 years ago, the second day of February... Wasn't that not long before Xiao Yi's concubine gave birth
Nangong Yue was meditating quietly, and moved the index finger of her left hand on the dressing table a few times.
Logically speaking, at that time, the baby in the womb of the first princess was about to be born. In order to accumulate blessings for the newborn, unless the slaves and servants made an unforgivable mistake, the general master would be more lenient to the servants. Was it sold at this time
Did Ban Xia really make a big mistake, or...
Nangong Yue couldn't help but think of Sun Xinyi's aunt. Back then, she designed herself to be sold because she inadvertently learned some secret things in order to save her life. Could it be the same for this maid
Que'er and Huamei looked at each other, not understanding how it was just a roster of small gardens that made the Crown Prince show such a dignified expression.
"Shizifei..." Que'er looked at Nangong Yue nervously, wanting to ask what's wrong with the roster.
Nangong Yue's left hand stopped, her lips pursed into a straight line.
No matter whether you are too suspicious or not, even if there is a slight possibility, you can't miss it!
"Que'er, go find the old roster from nineteen years ago..."
When Nangong Yue clarified the time to such a specific level, Que'er also understood a little bit that Shi Zifei definitely wanted to check the past. It seems that my errands are still done!
She responded energetically, and hurried down to work.
Not to mention why the warehouse where the old account books were piled up in the palace was turned upside down, the box of old registers and a large box of account books were moved to Nangong Yue's yard by several women.
The maids dusted off the dust first, and then presented it to Nangong Yue.
The first book Nangong Yue wanted to look through was the roster in the Dafang family’s yard. The roster so many years ago was already dilapidated, some were eaten by moths, some were missing pages, and some ink stains were dim. Fortunately, Nangong Yue still The name Banxia was found on the penultimate fifth page of this roster—
This Pinellia worked as a third-class maid in Dafang's house for half a year, responsible for cleaning the tables and chairs in Dafang's house.
Nangong Yue saw the last line in a hurry, and frowned slightly.
In the roster, it didn't say what mistake that Banxia made, nor did it say which matchmaker took over.
However, ordinary powerful families would not use those second- and third-class matchmakers, let alone the Zhennan Palace!
For a mansion like the Zhennan Prince's Mansion, a fixed matchmaker will be used.
Nangong Yue ordered again: "Look for the account books from nineteen years ago, and see which family the prostitute used in the palace belonged to at that time. Is she still in Luoyue City now?"
As soon as she gave an order, the maids immediately searched through boxes and cabinets, and after a while, they found out that the palace used Li's dental shop, and even noted the address of that dental shop.
Naturally, Nangong Yue immediately ordered Baihui to investigate again, but this time, the result disappointed her.
"My Concubine, Li's Dental Shop was closed ten years ago. I heard that the Li family all moved to Linbai Town, and never returned to Luoyue City."
Nangong Yue felt as if a bucket of cold water had been poured into her, and her heart, which had been boiling with blood, calmed down in an instant.
yes. It has been almost nineteen years, not nineteen days, how could things go so smoothly.
There was a moment of silence in the inner room, and then Nangong Yue said in a deep voice: "Baihui, go and pass the message to Zhu Xing, and continue to search." As long as the Li family is still alive, even if you search every inch of soil in southern Xinjiang, you must search for it. Find out!
Then he told Que'er: "Que'er, go and find out what mistake that Pinellia made back then..."
"Yes, Crown Princess."
The maidservants got busy again, especially Que'er, she not only wanted to check the affairs of Pinellia, but also just registered a book in the palace's roster, she will be busy for a long time!