In the cold palace, Xu Guipin sat at the table, looked at the haggard Xu Shi in front of him, and sighed: "The concubine Shu, who used to be all-powerful, did not expect to be reduced to this point."
"What are you doing here?" Mrs. Xu looked at her with a bad face: "Aren't you afraid of being punished for coming to the cold palace privately?"
"Only you and I know about it, so what punishment are you afraid of?" Xu Guipin smiled: "There is a lot of commotion outside, and the empress is probably ignorant and kept in the dark in this cold palace. Concubine The concubine is also kind, so I came to tell you."
Xu frowned: "What happened?"
"Tang Zhaoyi was promoted by Concubine De today, and she is about to be promoted to a noble concubine." Xu Guifei smiled: "Because of her loyalty, she served the concubine De concubine very attentively, so the concubine De concubine also said that among the concubine concubine She is naturally one of the candidates for the selection of concubine. You see, after stepping on you to go ashore safely, the Tang family can be said to be on the rise."
Serving Concubine De? Concubine Shu's face darkened, she remembered that Tang Shi had told her that Concubine De was behind her when she entered the cold palace, so she would definitely take down Concubine De to avenge her. Why did he become a servant in the blink of an eye
"You don't come to provoke." After calming down, Xu said: "I know what kind of person Tang is."
Xu Guipin looked at her sympathetically: "You, you are so stupid. You were sold and helped to count the money. Do you really know what kind of person Tang is? At the beginning, she was the first to seek refuge with Wugui. Concubine, why did you turn to you later, do you know the reason?"
Xu was taken aback for a moment, and looked at her blankly.
"It's really surprising to be played around by a girl who sells buns." Xu Guipin shook her head and sighed: "You have listened to her advice a lot, right? First, reduce the number of people in the harem and drive out those who have never slept with you. When you left the palace, you offended many ministers in the court, so that you were in trouble, and few people stood up to intercede. Later, you became an enemy of Concubine Wu Gui, trying to expose the secret of her belly, and finally got yourself in. Until now, you still Do you not understand that you have been used as a gunman?"
With a shock in her heart, Xu's eyes moved, and after thinking about it carefully, it seemed that this was indeed the case.
Tang Shi was helping her to make suggestions, playing the banner of being good for her, but in fact, he left himself very clean and hid behind her, letting her block all the bad things, and he lost one enemy after another. But now, she entered the cold palace, and only Concubine De was left alone in the palace, so she acted according to the wind and became the person behind Concubine De.
This number is really familiar.
Eyes narrowed, Xu sneered, "I understand."
"It's good if you can understand. Now that you are in the cold palace, the concubine can't hurt you, but you are pitifully cheated." Xu Guipin stood up and said, "What did Tang say to avenge you and save you?" Going out is all a lie, she had countless opportunities to make Concubine De and the child in her stomach disappear together, but she didn't do it. If you trust her, you are really stupid."
Xu pursed her lips, rolled her eyes left and right, thinking about a lot of past things in her mind, her face was extremely ugly.
Xu Guipin smiled, and before he left, he planned to mend a knife or something, but he saw someone rushing in from outside, and shouted: "Your Majesty!"
Holding her palace skirt, Tang Shi walked out of breath, and when she saw Xu Guipin, she gave her a glare.
"Hehe." Xu Guipin raised his eyebrows: "You really deserve to be the one who is next to the Concubine Virtue, how dare you commit an offense?"
"Ms. Xu Guifei doesn't know?" Tang frowned and said, "I have already been named a noble concubine, and I am equal to you. Where did you come from?"
With a slight choke, Xu Guipin sneered: "That's great, I can't afford to offend you, so let's go first."
Tang frowned, seeing the man leaving with a face full of pride, feeling uncertain, hurriedly went to hold Concubine Shu's hand and said, "The concubine has brought you food and clothing."
Glancing at her, Concubine Shu smiled: "You have a heart."
Not knowing what Xu Guifei just said, Tang could only bite the bullet and said: "My concubine has just been promoted to noble concubine, it is inevitable that some people in the palace will be jealous, and will come here to criticize my concubine. How does my concubine treat my empress? Do you know it in your heart?"
Concubine Shu nodded: "I know exactly how you treat me."
"...That's good." Tang Shi pursed her lips: "As long as the concubine can sit on the concubine's position, I will be able to get rid of those people who hinder your eyes one by one, and then give you a good word in front of the emperor, and take you out of the cold palace."
"How long will we have to wait?" Concubine Shu asked.
"It won't be long." Tang said, "As long as the concubine takes the position of concubine, it will be realized immediately."
After looking at her for a while, the look in Concubine Shu's eyes became softer: "In that case, I will wait for you."
"Your Majesty, don't worry." Tang bowed his knees and said, "You must also trust the concubine, now no one will lend a helping hand to you except the concubine."
Concubine Shu nodded after looking at the bedding, clothes and food boxes at the back.
She really can't cut off her only escape route now, as long as Tang Shi is still willing to help her, then wait. If she really has a different heart, it will be a big deal.
Sensing Concubine Shu's softened attitude, Tang smiled, talked to her for a while, and when she turned to leave, the expression on her face was very gloomy, which shocked the maids beside her.
"Does she feel that since she is with the Queen Mother, she is covered by the Queen Mother?" With a low laugh, Tang Shi said, "It's really too arrogant, even if the situation is not settled, you dare to tear down my platform."
"Your Majesty." The palace maid whispered: "Ms. Xu Guifei's slander against Concubine De has not been settled yet. Maybe it is because Concubine De has too many things to do and she forgot. Look... Do you want to remind Concubine De? "
"No need." Tang snorted coldly: "Concubine De is a smart person, it's useless to tell her, she won't be the first bird. Let's just wait, she won't give up the position of concubine willingly to Bengong. "
At least now in front of Concubine De, she has a better chance of winning, so how could Concubine Xu be reconciled
Back in her own palace, Mrs. Xu waited for a long time, but the palace man who came back to report said: "Ms. Concubine Shu said she was tired and had already rested, so she didn't reveal any news."
"Oh?" Xu Guipin frowned: "Tang Shi is really eloquent, can you continue to lie? Concubine Shu also believes?"
"My servant feels that this is not a question of Concubine Shu's belief or not, but that she can only rely on Concubine Tang Gui, so she has to believe it if she doesn't believe it." The maid next to her said.
It made sense, Xu Guipin was a little melancholy. Concubine Shu can't pry it here, so what should she do? There is absolutely nothing she can do about Concubine De, is it possible that she can only watch Tang as the concubine
Just as I was thinking about it, someone came to the Hall of Mental Cultivation.
"Your concubine, your concubine is here to invite you."
It's been a long time since Mrs. Xu has been to the Hall of Mental Cultivation, and she was favored by the Emperor in the honor of the Empress Dowager before, so Concubine De must have hated her too, right? Call her over this time, what can I say
Full of doubts, she still got up and changed her clothes, and went to greet Hua Chun in a polite manner, and she was already prepared in her heart that Concubine De would make things difficult for her.
As a result, as soon as he entered the Hall of Mental Cultivation, what he saw was a smiling face.
"Concubine Xu Gui is here? Come and sit."
Hearing Concubine De's gentle tone, Xu Guipin really wanted to stretch his head out to see where the sun came out today.
Hua Chunduan had an attitude of flirting and didn't think the matter was too big, looked at her gently and said: "You must know about the selection of someone to fill the concubine's position, right?"
Xu Gui concubine nodded, and laughed dryly: "Did your empress take concubines into consideration?"
"It's natural." Hua Chun nodded: "The noble concubines in the palace, except those in the cold palace, everyone else is eligible. Although I have a lot of old grievances with you, in this matter, this palace I also don't want to leave people with the excuse of public revenge, so I let you come here today to talk about the selection criteria."
How could he be so magnanimous? Xu Guibin's eyes were full of doubts, this standard must also be biased towards Tang's, right
"This time, the concubine selection will be judged from three aspects: character, loyalty, and appearance." Hua Chun waved his hand, and Qing Niao, who was next to him, handed the written rules to Xu Guipin.
"Twenty points for character, twenty points for loyalty, and twenty points for appearance. I will spend half a month observing, and finally give you a score. The person with the highest total score will be promoted to be a virtuous concubine. There is no subjective will in scoring. , are all based on facts, if anyone is dissatisfied, then the final decision will be made by the emperor, can you understand this explanation?"
Xu Guipin was dumbfounded: "This method is novel."
"There are too many unfair competitions in the palace." Hua Chun said with a sad face: "So it is impossible not to do this. According to this rule, the palace will give each concubine a copy. From now on, please do your best in all aspects. Performance, if a mistake is made, five points will be deducted."
Eyes moved slightly, Xu Guipin nodded: "I understand."
"It can't be said that Ben Gong is biased, right?" Hua Chun said innocently, "If Mrs. Tang makes a mistake, points will be deducted accordingly."
"yes."
It is true that there is no partiality, as long as Tang's points are deducted more than hers, then the concubine will be hers, and there is no need to deliberately flatter the concubine De, it is indeed fair and just.
Holding the rules, Xu Guibin left happily. Qing Ling looked at her back and sighed: "I don't think it will stop in the future."
Hua Chun chuckled twice: "Once they stop, I won't be able to live a good life, so it's better to let them make trouble."
This rule seems fair, but in fact it set off a storm of exposing each other's faults among noble concubines. They don't notice it now, but they will understand later.
"Master." Rui'er came in from the outside, blinked at her and said, "The sun is out today, and it's very warm in the imperial garden, do you want to go for a walk?"
Looking at the dazzling light outside, she realized that she hadn't gone out for two days.
"Okay." Standing up and supporting Rui'er's hand, Hua Chun stretched his waist: "Idle is idle, why not just go for a stroll."
With a sigh of relief, Rui'er immediately led the way, Qing Niao took out the cloak and wrapped it around Hua Chun, and the three of them went out.
The sun is indeed warm, making people drowsy. At this time, the emperor should still be changing his son in Zichen Hall, right? Hua Chun pursed her lips, there seemed to be a cold war between the two of them, the emperor didn't seem to want to take sides with the Queen Mother in this matter, maybe he just wanted to teach her a lesson in the cold.