In the capital, find a rich family to make offerings to.
Because the female officials in the palace are well-informed and have extraordinary manners and conversations, many wealthy families are willing to pay high prices to hire them to be raised in the mansion. Indeed a rare talent.
It's just that the number of female officials of the right age in the palace this year is much higher than in previous years, and many of them have found suitable families, but female official Liu has not been found. Therefore, female official Liu begged the grace of the master to come out of the palace in advance. She wanted to find a good family for herself, but because of her upright temper, her position in the palace was not high, and she was not good at flattering and fawning, so she stayed in Yufu, which was not considered a prominent family.
Unexpectedly, within a few months, the Yu Mansion would become like this. Ms. Liu wanted to find another house, but she couldn't find it in a short while.
Seeing that I have reached the age to be released from the palace, even if I go back to the palace now, I won't be able to stay for many days, but I still have no idea where I will go in the future. Ms. Liu is worried and worried, but there is no other way. I can stay in Yufu for now.
Because she is not a servant of Yu Mansion, the head steward dismissed all the servants who were no longer needed the day before yesterday, but he didn't know how to deal with Ms. Liu. Anyway, there are many vacant yards in Yu Mansion now, so the head steward let Ms. Liu live here temporarily. Wait until you find a place to stay before making plans.
Miss Liu's eyes were slightly lowered, and she said these things in a flat tone, as if she was talking about someone irrelevant, but Yu Linglong could sense a trace of loneliness in her expression from the calmness she tried to hide.
That's right, Ms. Liu is in her prime, but she is still alone. She has lived in the palace for most of her life. Once this coldness is released, it is not easy to find someone to rely on.
After listening to Ms. Liu's words, Yu Linglong pondered for a while, and said, "Would you like to come with me to Prince Xu's Mansion?"
Ms. Liu raised her eyes in surprise and looked at Yu Linglong, as if she couldn't believe her ears: "Miss Si, what did you say?"
Yu Linglong smiled faintly, and said: "I am short of someone who understands the rules, if you are willing, follow me from now on."
Although female officer Liu has a bit of a stubborn temper, she is a rigorous person. Yu Linglong faintly feels that if she goes to the Xu Palace in the future, she will still need such a person to help her.
Prince Xu's mansion is no better than Yu's mansion. After she married, she will no longer be a concubine in Yu's mansion, but an upright princess. In the future, she will have to deal with people in the palace. At that time, violence will not be able to solve the problem. Yes, it is good for me to have a knowledgeable person by my side.
Lady Liu had an expression of surprise and disbelief on her face, she quickly stood up and saluted, and said, "Miss Si, I... If my servant can serve you, that would be a great blessing."
Who doesn't know that Miss Yu Si will be married in a few days and go to Xu Wang's mansion to be a concubine. If she is a little female official, if she can serve the princess, it will be a job that can't be asked for.
Yu Linglong nodded, and said to Hemerocallis, Linger and the others: "From now on, you will call her Mother Liu."
Hemerocallis understood, stepped forward to help her up, and said with a smile: "Mother Liu, please give me more advice in the future."
During these days in Yu Mansion, Mama Liu got used to seeing the highs and the lows, and tempered her temper a lot. Seeing that daylilies are so polite, she hurriedly said: "Don't dare, the girl is too polite."
Yu Linglong said: "Go back and pack your things first, let's move here today, so we can take care of each other, come back at night, I still have something to ask you."
…
When it was time to light up the lights in the evening, Mother Liu really came. She had changed into a brand new blue satin double-breasted gown, and she was much more energetic. When she entered the room, she saluted Yu Linglong: "Miss Fourth."
Yu Linglong sent out all the irrelevant people, and asked Ling'er to move a small bed for Liu's mother, and told her to sit down, and then she got to the point: "I won't hide it from you, I'm going to Prince Xu's mansion is over, but many things are still unclear, you are an old man in the palace, I want to ask you something."
Mother Liu quickly stood up, and said respectfully: "Miss Fourth, please ask me, this servant must know everything and say everything."
After finally finding a good master, she naturally wanted to seize the opportunity to show her loyalty.
Yu Linglong thought for a while and said, "King Xu... what kind of person is he?"
She has always felt that Xu Wang is not a simple person. He hides himself so deeply, there must be a very important reason, but she can't solve the mystery of him, which makes her feel a little uneasy. Seeing that she is about to become Concubine Xu, from now on, at least on the surface, she will share good and bad times with him. It is better to inquire about his details as soon as possible.
Mother Liu misunderstood what she meant, and thought that she wanted to take the opportunity to get to know her future husband-in-law. After thinking about it, this is human nature, so she said in detail: "My lord is the youngest prince of the emperor today. Ninth, it was born by Concubine Ling Gui. The emperor used to love Concubine Ling Gui very much. Later, Concubine Ling Guifei was dying of illness due to the epidemic. I just got stopped..."
For some reason, Yu Linglong suddenly remembered the scene of King Xu putting a small river lantern into the water on the day of the Ghost Festival.
The dim light illuminated his hazy face, and there was a little sadness in his deep voice, and he said softly: "I am for my concubine mother."
At that time, she didn't know, nor did she seriously think about it, but there were so many secrets hidden in his heart, and his concubine mother was one of them.
Mother Liu was still talking, pulling back her erratic thoughts: "... when Concubine Ling passed away, the prince was only seven years old. Originally, the empress dowager wanted to take the prince to live in the Palace of Mercy, but later Something happened—"
Mama Liu suddenly stopped, and looked up at Yu Linglong.
Under the candlelight, Yu Linglong's face was like a lotus, her eyebrows were freshly cut, and a pair of black agate-like eyes looked at her, obviously listening intently.
Mama Liu paused for a moment, then spoke in a low voice, but seemed to switch to another topic: "Miss Si, you also know that we are facing Shangyuan in the east and north, and we have been oppressed by the kingdom of Shangyuan for many years. In the eleventh year, the Shangyuan Kingdom sent envoys to ask Eastern Chu to surrender, threatening to send troops to attack Eastern Chu if the emperor refused to agree. The emperor was furious when he heard the words. , or the empress figured out a way, suggesting that the emperor send a prince to Shangyuan Kingdom as a hostage, in exchange for Shangyuan's trust, in exchange for the peace of Eastern Chu... "
Even though she guessed what Mother Liu was going to say, Yu Linglong's heart sank.
Sure enough, Mother Liu continued: "The prince sent here is His Royal Highness King Xu."
Almost uncontrollably, Yu Linglong's fingers clenched slightly, forming fists in her sleeves.
It was hard for her to imagine that a child who was only seven years old would be sent to an enemy country as a hostage, where he would be blinded and bullied. It was hard for her to imagine how difficult it was for him to live in a foreign country and spend a lonely and helpless childhood.
Just because his surname is Yu, and because he is a prince, he has to endure pain that adults can hardly bear at such a young age, and use his immature shoulders to support the important task of a country's peace.
She always thought that he was a dandy prince who only knew how to eat, drink and play, maybe also the leader of some mysterious organization, but she never thought about what kind of soul, what kind of past was hidden behind his mask.
Mother Liu was still talking, describing to Yu Linglong everything she knew about Xu Wang.
"...the prince lived in Shangyuan for nine years, and when Shangyuan released him, he was already sixteen years old, because he made such a great sacrifice for Dongchu, so as soon as he came back, the emperor released him Confer the title of King Xu, declare it to the world, entrust ten thousand hectares of land, reward countless gold, and countless rare treasures, and are favored by the emperor. However, maybe it is
The prince suffered too much in Shangyuan Kingdom, but after returning to the capital, he never cared about the government. His favorite thing all day long is fine wine and famous horses. The people were miserable, the emperor pitied him for losing his mother when he was young, and he was wronged for so many years in Shangyuan, so he never blamed him, but tried to comfort him as much as possible. Whatever the prince wants and likes, the emperor finds it all and gives it to the prince. Therefore, the prince was used to become even more lawless. Up and down in the capital, who doesn't know that the prince is the most beloved prince of the Holy One, even His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is slightly inferior! So the prince is a character that no one dares to mess with, if you are sensible, if you hear the name of the prince, you will run away—"
Mama Liu was really outspoken, talking about Xu Wang's bad deeds endlessly, it seemed that she didn't consider Yu Linglong's feelings at all.
In the end, Hemerocallis couldn't stand it anymore, and interrupted her: "Mother Liu!"
Only now did Mother Liu come to think about it, she smiled embarrassingly, and said: "That's all I know about this servant girl, and many of them are based on hearsay, maybe... maybe the prince is not that kind of person."
Yu Linglong nodded noncommittally, and said, "I see, you go down first."
Mother Liu secretly breathed a sigh of relief, and quietly backed out.
Yu Linglong looked out of the dark window, her jade-like eyes were a little pensive.
She didn't believe what Liu's mother said. According to her judgment, Xu Wang was not a person who was greedy for pleasure, let alone a dandy prince who didn't care about government affairs. On that day, he told himself about Ganfu, and unknowingly revealed a lot of things.