Cining Palace
"The Queen Mother, Concubine Shu wishes to see you."
"What is she here for?"
The Queen Mother listens behind the curtain and does not have much time to manage the affairs of the harem. The harem is now handled by the Queen and the two noble concubines. However, due to the palace rules of filial piety, the high-ranking concubines in the harem will still be led by the Queen to greet the Queen Mother every month.
On the contrary, few people usually come to Cining Palace for fear of disturbing the Queen Mother's purity.
Today is a special day, and Concubine Shu is here... Thinking of what happened at Chuxiu Palace not long ago, she frowned, but the Queen Mother still let Concubine Shu in.
As we all know, Concubine Yang is the niece of the Queen Mother, so she is naturally on the Queen Mother's side. In fact, Concubine Shu is also from the Queen Mother lineage, and the relationship is very close.
The Queen Mother gave birth to three children, two daughters and two sons. The third time was a pair of twin princes. Due to premature birth and insufficient growth in the mother's womb, both died shortly after birth. The Queen Mother also suffered physical injuries due to this, and later adopted the current emperor.
As for the previous two princesses, the younger one died of a fever at the age of six, so now only An and the princess are left under the Queen Mother's knees. Of course, they are doted on. Even when she wanted to marry, she had to choose from a thousand choices, and she found a young master from the Xie family of Qinghe, who had a clean family background, profound social background, and was quite talented himself.
This Concubine Shu is the direct sister of Prince Consort Xie, and the serious sister-in-law of Princess Anhe.
The relationship between the Queen Mother and the Yang family is not close. In the selection of officials in the court, she would rather support her in-laws than her own family. If Yang Guifei was not older than Shu Fei, it would be difficult to say who is the noble concubine and who is Shu Fei.
However, this situation has slowly changed in recent years. As the Queen Mother has grown old and the emperor has grown up, the Xie family has also become a behemoth with her support. They no longer listen to her orders and even have an ambiguous relationship with the auxiliary minister. , the Queen Mother realized something terrible.
The Xie family was indeed very kind to An He, but the prince born to Concubine Shu was the prince of the Xie family and had nothing to do with her. She was already concerned about the fact that the emperor was not her biological son, but now she still wanted to support a prince whose family was extremely powerful and had nothing to do with her to ascend to the throne?
She thought of the Yang family. The prince with Yang family blood would have the same interests as hers in the next ten or even decades.
But the imperial concubine did not live up to expectations. After entering the palace, let alone giving birth to a child, she was not pregnant with a child at all. The queen mother became a little anxious, and then the second daughter of the Yang family entered the palace.
With this change in attitude, Concubine Yang became proud. Concubine Xian stood out and appeared at the election because of her strength.
On the other hand, Concubine Shu was defeated. In order to comfort her, the Queen Mother handed over the affairs of the Chuxiu Palace to her. The rooms for the four recommended students were also arranged by Concubine Shu. Not only was she a concubine, but she also secretly expressed it to the Queen Mother. dissatisfied.
The Queen Mother has not said anything since this incident happened. Concubine Shu knew that this incident was over, and she no longer had any worries in her heart. However, this incident was over, but driving away the beautiful girl was not an option.
Xiu Nu is considered to be half the master in the palace, and there are many people on the roster. To get rid of these official ladies, the Queen Mother and the Empress need to nod and agree. This is the reason why she came here. Although she is willful, she is not brainless. .
"I would like to send my regards to the Queen Mother."
"sit down."
The Queen Mother's attitude was no longer as gentle as before, and Concubine Shu knew the reason very well, so she hurriedly tried to please her:
"The first one went through the warehouse and saw a few strings of gorgeous coral beads. Knowing that the imperial concubine's sister always liked these things, he sent someone to send them over. It happened that my sister was drinking tea with the Queen Mother, so I didn't see the imperial concubine's sister. Man, when the palace maid replied to my concubine, I was still very regretful."
"You do remember her."
"...I know that Sister Yang Guifei doesn't like me, but I will always remember your kindness to me, Queen Mother, and I will never embarrass you even if it's for your sake. "
Speaking of the latter, Concubine Shu directly called herself me. She was once the companion of Princess An He. She spent nine out of ten times in the palace in a month. She was also very familiar with the Queen Mother. She almost grew up under the Queen Mother's watch. Yes, this is her confidence to dare to be a monster.
Sure enough, the Queen Mother's attitude was no longer so cold. Even if she knew that Concubine Shu was deliberately being good, she still felt very useful when she said this:
"It would be great if you really think so."
"Of course I think so, but I am very angry and have a bad temper. Sometimes I can't hold it back and let you down."
If she rejected all her questions, the Queen Mother would never believe it, but she said this... The Queen Mother sighed and didn't bother to show her attitude:
"The Ai family doesn't expect you to have deep love as sisters. We only hope that you will live in harmony."
"It's natural."
Concubine Shu quickly said:
"I don't want to make trouble with Sister Guifei, and let others laugh at me. However, for a while, Sister Guifei will not believe my sincerity. I will go back and look through the warehouse to see if there is anything suitable. My sister’s things, I just hope these things can calm her down.”
This was another hint that the concubine was petty, but Concubine Yang was indeed notorious for her bad temper in the palace. The Queen Mother knew Concubine Shu's little thoughts, but she didn't point them out. The two of them drank tea and talked some more. , seeing that the atmosphere was as usual, Concubine Shu opened her mouth to talk about the eviction yesterday.
"This show girl's rules are really bad. She's just late. She actually dares to refuse to come without telling grandma. She also had a conflict with the Yang family sister and argued endlessly in the main hall. How can there be room in the palace for such a black sheep? The concubine asked her to pack her things and leave the palace, and all the beautiful ladies in Chuxiu Palace can testify to this."
I also heard that this beautiful lady’s surname was Chen. I had never heard of any daughter of the Chen family from a high-ranking family entering the palace. The Queen Mother nodded obediently. This was a small matter to her. Compared with this, Concubine Shu The most important thing is to come over and admit your mistake, apologize and show your kindness to Concubine Yang.
This shows that in this palace, Concubine Shu, including the Xie family outside the palace, are still standing in the same boat with her.
On the other side, the news that Concubine Shu went to the Queen Mother's Palace to pay her respects was known to Concubine Yang within less than a moment of burning incense.
"My Lady, would you like to go and pay your respects to the Queen Mother?"
Shan Qing, Yang Guifei’s eldest maid, whispered:
"No, I know what she wants to do, but it's just a useless effort."
Concubine Yang leaned on the concubine's couch and squinted her eyes.
Princess reading companion? A noble daughter from a noble family? It's all useless. The relationship between the Queen Mother and Concubine Shu and herself, as long as the Queen Mother and her surname are Yang, and Concubine Shu's surname is Xie, will never change. What is she afraid of?
Compared to Concubine Shu, although her fifth sister had just entered the palace, she could not be said to be her real rival.
On the other side is Chuxiu Palace.
No one in the Chuxiu Palace could sleep well last night. When they dealt with Xue Li, they could still convince themselves that she was just a palace maid and a slave. But now, seeing a show girl being driven away without dignity, most people were frightened. There are many people who have no sleep all night.
When we met today, everyone looked haggard and looked very bad.
Lu Yunying, who was in the center of the deep vortex, naturally didn't sleep well. She thought that the upgrade of her sign-in system would help a lot. However, in fact, she still only earns a few copper coins from signing in every day. No, it is still more than before. .
In addition, she has also experienced the cumulative rewards of 3, 5, 7, 10... these sign-ins, and has also done some tasks such as greeting the show girls, in addition to the sign-in space eyebrow pencil and eye shadow. , skin care lotion and the like, but it is of no great use.
What's more, except for the things she can use to take care of her skin before going to bed, she doesn't dare to use other cosmetics. After all, all the items for the show girls were provided by the palace. At this time, there were countless pairs of eyes staring at Chu Xiu Palace. If she found out that she couldn't explain her cosmetics, it would be bad to get into trouble.
But reason is reason, but emotions will not change with knowledge. Uneasiness accumulated in Lu Yunying's heart, and she could only try to comfort herself. With her status in this palace, there is very little room for mistakes. This is not the first time something like this has happened to Chen Xingyue, and it will definitely not be the second time. She has to get used to it.
"Don't worry."
Yesterday, Lu Yunying successfully changed rooms and successfully lived with Chu Xiu Niang. It was she who stayed with Lu Yunying last night and comforted her for most of the night.
"Since you moved here and I didn't punish you yesterday, then in the eyes of Aunt Feng, it's no longer your problem."
"Next, you and I will learn the rules and stay in the corner safely. There will be no accidents."
"I understand, thank you, Xiu Niang."
Lu Yunying nodded and accepted the affection, but he didn't quite agree with it in his heart. The reason why an accident is an accident is that he wouldn't come to you just because you are safe and sound. Moreover, this accident may not be God's will or man's will.
But if you think about it seriously, it’s quite strange. Since they came to the palace, apart from not being allowed to leave the Chuxiu Palace, they have been given a lot of space for these beautiful ladies. There are no restrictions on changing rooms, making friends, visiting... there is no penalty for being late.
The Queen Mother and the aunts sent from the Queen's Palace seemed to be giving lessons to these beautiful ladies. Apart from the step-by-step lessons, they paid no attention to anything else.
Grandma Feng, who is in charge, is also very talkative, and is extremely respectful to these show girls who don’t know whether they can stay. But yesterday... it was like raising a worm, waiting for the show girls’ emotions to expand, and then—— The gun hit the first bird, shocking everyone.
Indeed, people in high positions don't have to spend any time watching them to death. They only need to come and look at them from time to time. Killing a few "bad examples" is enough to make them dare not make mistakes. After a few repetitions, they will have a weak character and become weak. It's not necessarily a psychological problem either.
Shaking his head, Lu Yunying stopped thinking about it, but he also discovered a good thing from it.
She might not have to be so cautious, at least the space for beautiful women in the Chuxiu Palace was not as narrow as she imagined, as long as she controlled it and did not cross that line.
Otherwise, even if nothing happened, after suppressing herself like this for a long time and living in fear, Lu Yunying felt that she might go crazy, which would go against the purpose of her entering the palace.
His mind was spinning all the time, and Lu Yunying was still able to devote part of his mind to chatting with Chu Xiu Niang:
"I stay at home all year round and don't go out very often. When this happened, I was really confused."
"I'll take it slow, just take it easy."
Chu Xiu Niang knew that she couldn't ask Lu Yunying to think about it immediately, so she nodded and changed the subject:
"Okay, we went out to play the day before yesterday. I used some money to ask Dujuan to help bring some snacks. They tasted good. Today I asked her to help make more dishes. If you go back early in the evening, you can warm the house for you."
"Pfft, you're so greedy that you say you're warming up my house."
"Hmph, then don't eat it."
"I didn't say that. Now that Sister Chu has spoken, I have no choice but to admit this crime, right?"
"Hahahaha, you have such a mouth, you can really eat and talk so much."
Du Juan is the maid who serves Chu Xiu Niang's room. Now that Lu Yunying has moved there, she is also responsible for taking care of her.
Regardless of anything else, just moving into a room was indeed a good thing for Lu Yunying. She could have a good sleep.
The two chatted and laughed, and the atmosphere gradually relaxed due to intentional actions, but they were not able to return to the room as soon as planned in the evening.
"Sister Lu, please help me."
Liu Yueya reached out and grabbed Lu Yunying's wrist before everyone left, immediately attracting the attention of other beautiful ladies:
"I, I won't change. Can you give me the room back?"
With the idea of being one step ahead, Liu Yueya immediately went to find Nanny Feng. Under Nanny Feng’s half-smiling gaze, she gritted her teeth and expressed that everyone agreed to change rooms this time. This allowed Nanny Feng to The palace maids and eunuchs were sent to help move the rooms.
Who knew that just as the palace maid and eunuch were tidying up in the room, Chen Xingyue barged in and kicked everyone out without explanation. Then in the evening, Chen Xingyue was also driven away by Aunt Feng.
At noon, after Liu Yueya found out what happened in the morning, she still felt that she had suffered a big loss, and Chen Xingyue was not that powerful at all. But when she heard the noise over there at night, she began to feel happy again. Fortunately, the room had not been changed, and she could still regret it even if she cried and begged.
But before she could figure out how to do it, she was carried to another room and ended up on Chen Xingyue's bed that night. Liu Yueya was so scared that she didn't fall asleep all night. In the morning, there was no palace maid to help her fetch water and comb her hair. When she asked, Dingxiang was sent away because she was unlucky at work, and her mother-in-law didn't assign anyone to serve her for a while.
Liu Yueya spent money to "hire" a little palace maid to help, and then she hurriedly put on her makeup and rushed to class today. She really didn't want to live in that room alone, what a bad luck!
"I can give you money and gifts. Sister Lu, please help me. I can't sleep for a moment."
As she said that, Liu Yueya started crying.
Crying in public is a loss of face for a noble girl, but Liu Yueya doesn't care much. Her family is an official bought by a merchant, and she cares more about benefits than face. If Lu Yunying is soft-hearted or agrees because of face, she will make a profit. , she couldn't live in that room for a moment.
But Lu Yunying just looked over with an indifferent expression. She thought it was a coincidence that just when she was about to test the "degree" of Chu Xiugong's supervision of the show girls, someone bumped into her.
"Since you call me Sister Lu, then we are sisters. I don't want any money or gifts."
Liu Yueya couldn't believe that such a good thing could happen? Then I heard her say:
"It's just that we exchanged rooms yesterday. Sister, you came over to tell me in person, and you also went to tell Grandma Feng in person."
"If you want us to switch back today, I can only trouble my sister to go and say it again in person. After all, it's my sister who regretted it first, so I don't have to bear the consequences for my sister."
These words blocked the road for Liu Yueya. After what happened yesterday, and seeing the scene of Aunt Feng with a frosty face and letting the eunuch carry Chen Xingyue away, how could she dare to contact Aunt Feng again.
"I, I can't."
Liu Yueya's tears became even fiercer. She vaguely felt that this scene was somewhat familiar.
"I, I'm scared. Sister Lu, please help me. If it wasn't me, it would be you who stayed in that dark and cold room all night. Today there is no maid to wash up. I really can't stay any longer. .”
As soon as she said this, she cried miserably again. Many of the beautiful women Li Suqiu who had received the gifts from her couldn't help but whisper to the side:
"That room belongs to Sister Liu. It's enough that she helped you endure a night of fright yesterday. Why don't we each take a step back, and Sister Lu, can you come over here?"
Just after she said this, Lu Yunying looked over expressionlessly, causing Li Suqiu to avoid looking at her. However, her words were obviously recognized by many beautiful ladies.
The next second, Chu Xiu Niang standing next to Lu Yunying sneered:
"Did Sister Lu beg her to change rooms yesterday? No, right? She saw Chen Xiunv being praised by His Majesty, and eagerly wanted to join in, so she asked us to change rooms specifically. Doesn't Yun Ying owe her anything?"
"Go if it's beneficial, and run away if there's no benefit. I thought there was only one person with such a thick skin, but I didn't expect that my eyes were opened today."
Even Liu Yueya couldn't help but feel ashamed and angry when someone exposed her secret thoughts to her face and scolded her for being thick-skinned.
Li Suqiu also didn't expect that she just said a fair word, but also humiliated her, so she immediately said:
"I just think that we are all sisters who came to the palace together, so we are destined to be together. I want to fulfill this sisterly love before I speak. If Chu Xiunv thinks of me like this, it is really..."
"Then you change."
Lu Yunying suddenly spoke. It was a joke. Chu Xiu Niang had already helped her charge. How could she be so slutty? She immediately said:
"Liu Xiunv and I are not familiar with each other, and our relationship as sisters is weak. I might as well help her speak out for her, Li Xiunv."
"Besides, Li Xiunv, you have received the gift from her. At this time, instead of talking about it, why not do it with your actions? Wouldn't it be enough to give her your room?"
"Ah, by the way, you happen to be the one involved in changing rooms, so you can talk to Aunt Feng, and you don't have to embarrass Liu Xiunv."
When Lu Yunying spoke, her eyes slowly shifted from Li Suqiu's face to the purple jade butterfly hairpin on her head.
The purple jade is soft and gorgeous in color, and the carved butterflies are lifelike. You can tell at a glance that this object is extremely precious.
Many people know about this purple jade butterfly hairpin. One of the reasons is that Li Suqiu likes to show off, and the other is that this thing is really exquisite, and it is difficult for most girls to forget it after seeing it.
Li Suqiu subconsciously touched the hairpin on her head, and then realized that she shouldn't have done this, but it was too late.
Liu Yueya felt that Lu Yunying was right. Li Suqiu took her gift and talked for her, so why couldn't he just exchange rooms with her? For this she was even willing to send her a thank you gift.
Of course, it's hard to say that Lu Yunying's tough attitude at the moment and Liu Yueya's benefit of not having to confront Nanny Feng were more attractive to her.
Afterwards, the crying and entanglement in the main hall had nothing to do with Lu Yunying. After sighing, she took Chu Xiu Niang's hand and happily went back to the room to eat.
I don't know if it was because he was in a good mood and found a way to make life easier in the palace. Lu Yunying was lying in bed at night and was studying his sign-in system when he suddenly discovered a new way.
Cumulative sign-ins 3, 5, 7... The rewards for sign-ins on such special dates are doubled, and this doubling can actually be accumulated.
For example, if you sign in on the first day and get ten cents, and if you double the reward on the third day, the sign-in reward may be a sample. Then on the third day, you still get the original ten cents and accumulate the remaining rewards. Then it will be the same as the seventh day on the fifth day. If you use the daily rewards together, what will you get?
Just do it when you think of it. Lu Yunying was very tolerant. It was not until the day before the next rest day that he used the accumulated rewards together. As expected, the situation changed.
——Opportunity Card (Small): As small as the vibration caused by your fingers plucking the strings, your life will also undergo a change, good or bad, it is up to you to decide.
