Night gradually enveloped the entire imperial city, with bright stars twinkling one after another.
Lying like a sleeping giant beast in the imperial city in the middle of the north of Chang'an, Xibo, the palace maids and eunuchs shuttled through the palace corridors in an orderly manner, lighting lamps one after another.
The soldiers on duty at the city wall would always unconsciously look and overlook at this moment, looking at the majestic lights of the ancient city beneath their feet, echoing the stars and connecting in the distance.
The imperial capital has been glorious for thousands of years.
In the Xiyue Palace, Shi Tijieyu, who had just sent away another wave of Qianniu guards, breathed a sigh of relief and was exhausted both physically and mentally.
From the explosion in the Imperial Medical Office at noon yesterday until now, the Royal Guards belonging to Bei Ya in the palace have been conducting routine patrols all the time. It is not known which wave it is now.
It was still the same reply as before. These internal guards with fine scales really followed the same rules. It was not even half a step to say that they were patrolling. They just came in and said a few words of "be careful", which was insignificant. The official language will leave on its own.
I think this group of guards who guard the deep palace all year round also know very well that Xiyue Palace, a place that can be classified as a cold palace, cannot be said to be without favor from the saints all year round. I am afraid that it has reached the point where no one cares about it. To them, this It's just a formality to farm a place. It's better to go to the palaces of those empresses who are deeply favored by the saints, and you can make more money.
Instructing the palace maid to reward the leading one with a relatively long piece of silver, Shi Ti smiled bitterly at the complaints of the dowry maid named Qing'er who had been with him for more than twenty years, and just comforted her with a gentle voice. Go to bed early.
It is obviously different from the rigorous inspections last night and this day. Recently, the two groups of guards have been tightening the outside and loosening the inside as a routine. The talk of the explosion of the alchemy furnace has long been spread in the palace. There is no mention of the so-called "assassination". After the attack was defeated, this group of soldiers who had been nervous and sleepless for more than ten hours naturally relaxed their vigilance.
Whether she was nervous and nervous, worried about the safety of the saint in the Yangxin Palace, or dealing with the guards who might appear at any time, Shi Tijieyu, who had not had a good rest for more than ten hours, waited for the maid to leave, then turned around and entered Side room.
In the side room was the man wearing a corrugated hat who wanted to leave the palace but obviously failed.
From yesterday to now, Shi Tijieyu has many questions to ask. At first, the concubines in the harem went to Yangxin Hall to visit. They waited for a long time, and did not go back to the palace until nightfall. After that, this man focused on taking advantage of the night. Leaving, it was just that the palace restrictions were suddenly strict, and she kept hiding in the side room until she found a suitable opportunity to go back. Shi Tijieyu had been dealing with the guards who came to check from time to time. It was only now that she could calm down and find out what happened.
Seeing that it was Shi Ti who came in, the man who had only been affected by the air wave without any damage to his internal organs recovered very quickly this day and was able to move around freely. He stumbled out from his hiding place in the corner and changed into something common in the palace. Navy eunuch uniform.
First, he bowed politely, but before the man could speak, Shi Ti said first, "You can tell me now what exactly happened and why the explosion happened. What you promised me before was just to meet with the Holy One to ask for permission." How could this statement become so serious? It has now exceeded the rules we set at the time. If this continues, I will tell the Holy One about you and punish you even if I risk my life."
Faced with Shi Ti's questions and threats, the man was not in a hurry. He sat awkwardly on the steps in front of the couch. The burn wound on his back stretched and his expression became very painful, but the corner of his mouth was twisted into a grin, which he didn't know to cover up. Pain was still disdainful of Shi Tijieyu's threat, and her tone was playful: "At this point, do you still want to get off the boat?"
Shi Ti frowned.
Although she couldn't clearly see the face that was deliberately hidden by the messy hair and the brim of the hat, she could still clearly feel that there was something in the other person's invisible eyes that made her very uncomfortable.
This woman who came from a military family tightened her eyes and said, "Then you can try whether the Holy One believes in me or you."
The man, who was obviously more energetic than yesterday, sneered, expressing his indifference to this threat.
This day and night was really hard for this woman who was married from afar from the Western Regions. Such a big event happened in the palace. It was obvious that there were countless connections with the man hiding in his room, even if there was another layer of unexplainable relationship. , how could Shi Ti not be frightened.
Years later, a group of veterans from their hometown asked someone to help them and said they wanted to go to the palace to file a petition. So they only told them that three hundred guards were involved. The general's daughter, who was born in the Anxi Governor's Palace, naturally Feeling compassion, he risked the crime of beheading to help, but he never expected that such a frightening thing would happen.
Pressing his corrugated hat out of habit, the man looked at Jieyu, whose expression was getting fiercer, and said frankly: "I don't know how the news spread in the palace now. This explosion has nothing to do with me. It was worse when I arrived at the Imperial Medical Office." When I was discovered, I hurriedly avoided it, but before I could get far, there was a loud bang, sending me flying far away, and I had no idea how the explosion happened."
Shi Ti asked: "Why are there rumors in the palace that there is an assassin?"
Indeed, no one could figure it out. The explosion that occurred at noon yesterday was already rumored to be an explosion in the alchemy furnace. How could it turn into an assassination at night? The imperial guard in the palace was a little kidding. He couldn't talk such baseless nonsense.
Or is it really like the rumors that have spread wildly among the palace maids Huang Mengmen in the past two days, what kind of plot is it to usurp the throne?
Shi Ti was quite amused when she thought about this. Now that the world is peaceful and people are living in peace, these palace servants who talk nonsense all day long seem to have something wrong. Maybe it is just a simple explosion or petty theft. In the past few days, in their mouths, the trivial matters have turned into a battle between palace affairs. What's more, they even quoted the past and discussed the present in a serious way, saying that they have noses and eyes. It is really ridiculous that three people become a tiger. Although Shi Ti is also a woman and doesn't know much about the political situation, she doesn't believe that the current prosperous times will develop into a coup that will destroy all lives.
Isn't this funny?
The man understood this very well, and teased: "Isn't this the usual style of officials? If they can't find out the truth, they just find any excuse to put it aside, and they must first keep the veil above their heads. As for the rest, it's just that officials protect each other. Are you trying to hide things from others and deceive yourself?"
Who knows these secrets from a man? Shi Tijieyu was convinced by this explanation. She felt relieved and breathed a sigh of relief, "Fortunately, it's not the Holy Master who is being targeted."
The man pulled down the brim of his hat again, which originally covered his eyebrows so that no one could see half of his face, but now he hid them even more tightly. He looked around and said slowly: "We will not commit the serious crime of destroying the nine tribes. Do it. I just came to ask for an explanation from the Holy One. Although it is a bit extreme, it is a last resort and I will never cross the bottom line. "
With a wry smile, the man lowered his eyebrows and lowered his eyes.
"I'm just looking for a reasonable explanation for the three hundred guards in the Western Regions."
There was clearly a sigh, but how could the person in front of him understand its meaning.
Suddenly the voice of the personal maid Qing'er came from outside the house, "Tell Jieyu, there is news from the Liangzhou Liu backyard outside the palace. His Royal Highness Prince Liang has set off to return to the capital and should arrive tomorrow."
Not only Shi Ti was stunned, the man's brows under his corrugated hat also frowned.
Shi Ti said "I know" without any trace, and the man raised his head to look at the night through the breathable skylight, estimated the time, and said, "Tonight I will sneak into the ranks of dung men and leave the palace."
Unexpected and reasonable.
Shi Ti just said softly, "That's fine."
Before coming to Beijing, I had a detailed understanding of Jieyu, who had been in the harem for several years. Naturally, I knew that the Prince of Liang mentioned by the palace maid was her only son, the fourth prince Wang Han, who had a fiefdom in Longyou Road, Liangzhou. He is called the King of Liang.
Obviously, Shi Tijieyu is not as valuable as mother and son, and is almost relegated to the cold palace. It is certain that the current emperor will not set foot in Xiyue Palace. Therefore, the eunuchs and bodyguards all feel that there is not much oil and water here, so As for Uji House, it is now in a neglected situation.
But everyone can be sure that as Shi Tijieyu's son, he will not forget his mother just because his father forgot this concubine.
What is also certain is that no one else, even the maid Qing'er who was married to Jieyu and has been with her for so many years, cannot step into the side room. But this Prince Liang, as the son of a man, has every reason to do so. Free access.
Although it is said that the emperor's will is required for such a vassal king to return to the capital and enter the palace, but the saint is still unconscious in bed due to illness. As cautious as this man is, he does not believe that this vassal prince cannot enter the palace to pay his respects to his mother.
You know, I have heard of the reputation of the King of Liang before. It is said that one year, a nomadic tribe from Tibet in southwest China crossed the border and went to Liangzhou to destroy and loot. Although the impact was not great, the King of Tubo also sent envoys to ask for help in time. He made peace and compensated with gold and silver utensils and other valuables in an attempt to eliminate the anger of the great country. However, before the capital city could make any decision, the ill-tempered prince led 500 soldiers under his own royal palace to attack five cities in half a month, all the way to the Tubo King's City to demand an explanation and force the King of Tibet to surrender. I went out of the city to apologize and ceded territory to negotiate peace.
The man hiding in Shi Tijieyu's side room had every reason to believe that he might not be discovered by the current emperor and sentenced to death, but he would definitely be beaten to death by the fourth prince with full strength.
Until the night completely covered the imperial city, the man wearing a corrugated hat mixed with the team of dung men and put on a pair of tattered clothes that were even more shabby than the beggars.
"Shifu" is a contemptuous term. For those who are well-dressed and well-fed in the palace, they naturally look down on these servants who are at the lowest level. Although there is a cleansing department in the palace, with special eunuchs in charge, and a formal title of cleansing official, how many people would call a low-class person who lives with feces all day like this?
Over time, the vulgar but direct name of Shifu became more formal.
It is said that the stewards in charge of the House Cleansing Department are the most unpopular eunuchs in the palace, but they do not know the secrets of their duties, and they have deep connections inside.
The money allocated from the palace is handed over to the cleaning department, who then pays it to these dung men who come every day. Just like this, it is up to them to decide how much to give? Since ancient times, people have not dared to compete with officials, let alone the center of power, the center of the entire Zhou Dynasty. How can those shitheads who are ordinary people dare to compete for the amount of silver?
Besides, even if they were deducted by those eunuchs in the palace who were just as ruthless as they were people, it would still be a huge amount of money in their hands, otherwise there would be fights happening outside Fanglin’s door every now and then. , these scumbags are the ones who fight over this most unsavory business.
The Shifu seemed to be used to having palace eunuchs or maids mix into the team, and he selectively ignored this man from Xiyue Palace who suddenly joined the team.
You know, in this deep palace, there are many people who can't stand the strict regulations of the palace and run away halfway.
Those children from poor families originally thought that after entering the palace, they would have a chance to climb high branches and become successful. Many common people who had faced the loess and turned their backs to the sky for several lifetimes sent their children to the palace, hoping that they could fly in the chicken coop. A golden phoenix, even if a man loses his most basic abilities, is better than suffering and suffering.
It's just that although the idea is good, it will be another kind of torture if you really want to enter the palace.
Outside the palace and in the countryside, at least there won't be those cumbersome etiquette to abide by.
Why do everyone have their own titles? Concubines and concubines Zhaoyi and talented people can tell who is who based on their headgear. If you call them by the wrong name, you will get a slap in the face at every turn. These are all light. The punishment of being unable to eat for a few days is the most torture. people. You have to walk silently, cover your mouth when eating, put your chopsticks level with yourself, and not snore at night. No one from the countryside can stand these constraints, so they will naturally find ways to get out, even if they are in the palace. According to the rules, those who leave the palace in private are hanged, but in the eyes of some people, they would rather not abide by these rules and try to escape.
After successfully leaving the palace, everyone was happy.
If you don't succeed, it's better to die with a knife than to suffer in the palace.
