Chapter 3 Chapter 2 Crane Shadow

A touch of greenery emerged from the red wall, which was the Longevity Mountain at the northern head of the imperial city.This mountain is the highest in the imperial capital. Pines and cypresses are planted all over the mountain, and it is evergreen all year round.In his later years, the first emperor was good at Taoism, and he built Fanghe Pavilion and Luye Garden in the mountains, which look like fairy mountain pavilions in the distance, floating far above the imperial city.She used to look at this mountain from a distance in the city, but never had the opportunity to be so close to it. It was so close that she could hear the sound of white cranes flapping their wings and smell the fragrance of grass and trees in the mountain. The fragrant grasses and trees and the long river and blue sea.

On this day, white clouds are in the sky, the blue sky is like washing, reflecting the beautiful mountains and rivers, and the cranes are clear and long.If there is no snow in the winter of the Imperial Capital, the vegetation will be sparse, the sky will be full of dust, and the wind will cut like a knife.If it weren't for the blue sky like a glazed cup to look at each other, wouldn't it make people feel ashamed? "Mistress Qin—Mistress Qin?" She moved her gaze away from the blue sky and white clouds, followed the sound towards the entrance of the small courtyard, and saw a small, naked head sticking out.

"Xiaoqi, school is over so early?" The little internal official ran in, shaking the notebook in his hand at her. She frowned and said, "You want me to write for you again?" Xu Xiaoqi salivated and rubbed her face: "My lady's handwriting is the best. My handwriting is ghost-drawn talisman, and I was beat up by Mr. Jie Fang, and one paw was swollen into a rice dumpling. You can do it, lady, anyway, you will be locked here all day long. Idle is also idle..." "Mr. will always find out. If your godfather finds out about it, what will you do?" Even so, she copied the post.I flipped through and saw that there were only "A, B, C, D" and the like, so I laid out a piece of paper and wrote it quickly - if you want to catch a knife for a child, naturally you can't write very well.

"Mr. Shen can't see it." Xu Xiaoqi muttered while burying his head in ink, "As long as the lady doesn't tell, the godfather won't know." She asked casually, "Which inner minister is that Mr. Shen you mentioned?" "Our husband is not an internal official." Xu Xiaoqi's tone was quite proud, "The former emperor said that internal officials must study clearly to be admitted to the court of ceremonies, so the internal book hall always invites ministers to come to the palace to give lectures. This Shen Sir, he is a Bachelor of Attendant of the Imperial Academy, named Shen Hongrang."

Hearing the words "Shen Hongrang", she stopped writing, then sneered and said, "Damn it, the teacher's name is also called indiscriminately? Do you know how many scholars in the world want to worship under Mr. Shen but can't. The book hall invited him to give lectures, and it was a great deal. But you are not serious." "My lady recognizes this Mr. Shen?" Xu Xiaoqi blinked. She was silent for a moment, then pushed back, "I don't know." "My lady coaxes me, she must know me!" Xu Xiaoqi didn't believe it at all, "Tell me Mr. Shen's hobbies, taboos, what he likes to eat, what he likes to play..."

She laughed and said: "Why are you thinking about this? He is a husband, not your godfather. If you memorize the Four Books and Five Classics, you have fallen into his hobby. Otherwise, even if you give him ten catties of candy, you won't be able to fool him." his mouth." Xu Xiaoqi wanted to make a fuss about her, but he heard a smiling voice from outside: "Could it be that my mouth can be covered with cornstarch?" Xu Xiaoqi was shocked, and quickly grabbed a copybook and covered it on the paper.She was also busy putting away her pen, and when she bumped her four hands, ink splashed all over the table.

The person who came was a young internal official, dressed in bright red velvet, with a ceremonial plaque on his waist, a long body with a jade face, and a pleasant smile. She was a little flustered, and said "Wanfu" and said: "I'm joking with Xiao Qi, please don't mind, Eunuch Tian." Tian Zhihui let out a haha, walked in the door, and threw her a blue cloth bundle: "Qinnei, I see that your illness is also recovering, right?" She lowered her eyebrows and replied: "Thank you, Eunuch Tian, ​​for taking care of me. This servant is very grateful."

"It's easy to say, easy to say." Tian Zhihui put away his smile and said, "I'm here to tell you something serious. It's almost the end of the year and everyone is busy, so don't be idle. The scriptures you copied last time are very good There is a shortage of manpower for Huang Shicheng to transcribe the bibliography, so you can go over and help me." He pointed to the baggage, "Change into the clothes of an internal official, pack up, and come with me." She hesitated, "Are you coming back?" "I'm not coming back." Tian Zhihui turned his head, saw the copybook on the table, opened it, and saw that the back of the post was covered with mottled ink.He looked at the words on the table again, he understood, he snorted coldly, dragged Xu Xiaoqi to the courtyard, and closed the door behind him.

Opening the bag, there is a green sticker inside and a blue flat scarf—this is the attire of a small palace official.She knew it was a disguise.Taking a closer look at the inside of the sticker, it was still clean and new, so she changed the palace coat and skirt, and added the inside of the sticker to the outside of the middle sheet. When she is at home, she is always served.After entering the Huanyi Bureau, I have to do everything by myself, but combing my hair has become a problem, making my hair like a flying feather all day long.Later, he was tortured with a stick and lay down in the Anle Hall to wait for death. He became a sick ghost with a disheveled head.Recently, I hid in the duty room, and since I didn't see anyone, I simply didn't even have my hair tied up, and it was still loose as if it was an hour.

Now I want to pretend to go out, but I have to wear an internal official's hair bun.When I want to ask Tian Zhihui how to comb, I feel that I can't ask, and I don't dare to delay for too long.I suddenly remembered that I had seen Xie Qian tie his hair when I was at home, so I tried my best to recall how he tied his hair, how he tied it, and how he crowned it... Thinking about it, a splash of water splashed in the copper basin, but it was my own tears. After all, I got a man's hair bun, although it doesn't look like it, it's passable with a flat scarf. When the door was opened, Tian Zhihui was standing under the tree in the courtyard, scolding Xu Xiaoqi.Looking back and seeing her standing under the eaves smartly, she was just a delicate and handsome internal official, Eunuch Tian couldn't help showing a smile of approval on his face.

It was Tian Zhihui, the eunuch of Jingchang who was the chief inspector of ceremonies, who came forward and rescued the dying Qin Taiwei from the Anle Hall.At that time, Qin Taiwei was already in a daze and didn't know about human affairs. She vaguely remembered that someone gave herself medicine and needles, and some people gathered at the bedside to discuss in a low voice, and the voice was indistinct.After tossing about for three to five days, she became conscious and realized that she had fallen into the Prison of Rituals.This area is located to the east of the imperial city, and there are many large and small courtyards on the west bank of the Yuhe River, all of which are the private residences of the eunuchs and eunuchs.The small courtyard where she was hiding was Tian Zhihui's territory. When she first came here, she was extremely apprehensive—after all, internal officials are also men.When she was in the clothing bureau, she also heard from her companions that Da Dang once arbitrarily selected a beautiful palace lady from the clothing bureau as her counterpart.The palace man who said this is not without envy in his words, it is better to rely on a powerful internal official than to die exhausted in the clothes bureau.But thinking about it in Qin Taiwei's mind, it would be better to hit him to death.But eunuch Tian obviously didn't mean that.He locked her in this remote courtyard, and didn't teach her to show her face, and didn't even let her make a loud noise, lest people would find out, he sent Xu Xiaoqi to serve every meal, soup and medicine.Qin Taiwei lived here quietly for more than a month, and she was really not noticed.She also asked why they rescued her, Xu Xiaoqi was a child, so she couldn't tell.But Tian Zhihui only smiled without saying a word, and asked more questions before he said vaguely: "Ms. Xie is a well-known figure in the palace, and you are the granddaughter of Princess Xining. Could it be that you really died in the clothes bureau?" She thought it was really good, if anyone in this palace is willing to take care of her, then only cousin Xie, she asked again: "I wonder if cousin is in good health?" "She is your cousin, and even more concubine Shu. When you mention her in the palace, you must call her your empress. What sister and sister, let people hear it, and you will have another good meal." Tian Zhihui taught her like this, but she didn't He didn't tell her about Concubine Shu's recent situation. They left the value room and walked south along the Yuhe River.The journey was long, and Tian Zhihui introduced to her the establishment along the way in a low voice while walking.Since entering the imperial city, it was the first time for her to go out and walk around.The imperial palace is divided into two layers, the outer one is the imperial city, and the twelve supervisors, eight bureaus and four divisions of the inner palace are all gathered here, and the inner one is the forbidden city, which is the residence of the emperor and empresses.The red walls of the Forbidden City are endless, and the atmosphere is so high that it can reach the sky.Under the sun and sky, a faint layer of golden light can be seen floating on the top of the wall, which is the light from the glazed roofs of the three main halls of Fengtian, Huagai, and Jinshen. She wondered if she was about to go outside. Going around a vermilion wall, she suddenly saw a long brick road, and at the end of the brick road was a high platform of white jade.The main hall on the platform is nine rooms wide, with a golden tile roof, magnificent and magnificent.What's even more strange is that the whole hall is built with bricks and stones, not even a single piece of wood is used, just like a huge monument through the ages. The afternoon sun hit the golden tiles of the main hall, and then scattered all over the ground.Tian Zhihui narrowed his eyes and raised his head slightly, as if intoxicated by the pure brilliance: "This is Huang Shicheng." Hearing these three words, Qin Taiwei suddenly became sad.When her father told her the anecdotes of Beijing, he mentioned here specially. Tian Zhihui led her to find a value room and told her to wait outside first.The house is not big, but very elegant and clean, she speculates that this is probably the residence of the eunuch in charge here.Seeing Tian Zhihui walking to the bed through the curtain, he bowed down and called "Master". Someone on the bed asked in a low voice: "Did someone bring it?" Hearing that man's voice, Qin Tai felt a little strange.Before she could think about it, Tian Zhihui had already beckoned her in.Only now did she see clearly that the man was old and lying on the bed.This situation couldn't be more familiar. In September, she lay on the ground for more than ten days.This old internal official must have also received the cane. "This is Eunuch Zheng, who is in charge of Huang Shicheng." Tian Zhihui introduced it very solemnly, and she hurriedly gathered her head to worship.But the old internal official said: "My wife doesn't need to salute. I'm sorry that I can't get up to greet my wife here." Eunuch Zheng was lying on the bed, although his posture was not very elegant, but his expression was dignified.After Qin Taiwei entered the palace, various internal officials also met some dignified and prudent ones, easy-going and sophisticated ones, and simple and straightforward ones.This old internal official has a relaxed attitude and elegant speech, not like a person in the palace, but like an ordinary scribe.At first she thought he was very old, but in fact he only had gray hair on his temples and his face was only forty or fifty years old. Qin Taiwei was thinking wildly, and then heard Eunuch Zheng say: "Although the company is big, there are always not enough manpower, and there are even fewer people to use. Before the scriptures will be published in June next year, the catalog of the whole library must be sorted out. Due to my illness, For fear of delaying the construction period, please ask my wife to come over and help with some copying work - I heard that my wife can write well, how lucky is this company." Qin Taiwei hastily thanked him, and heard him say: "There are no other palace people here, they are all internal officials. It is inconvenient for you to be with them, and they will be placed in my backyard for the time being - don't wear palace people anymore clothes." The backyard is connected by narrow roads, only the side door is open, and there are giant locust trees in the courtyard, so if you don’t pay attention, you can’t see other houses at all—it’s really a good place for Tibetans.Tian Zhihui put her down, said there was something else to do, so he left first, and told her to stay at ease, "Don't be afraid, I'll come and see you when I have time." He still smiled, "That ten catties of candy, I remembered it." The rooms are extremely small.A canopy bed was set up, and the bed curtains were as clean as new.There is only an old lacquered table in the room, with a pen and inkstone on the table, which can be used for reading and writing.Qin Taiwei sat down on the edge of the bed, lost her mind for a while.After recovering her life from the Anle Hall, she hid in the prison guard's room for more than a month.Now Tian Zhihui probably couldn't hide there anymore, so he moved here again.It's just that no one can tell her how long she will be hiding in this way.In the imperial confinement as deep as the sea, there is no one to answer where she will go. She was restless, got up and walked to the front yard. Eunuch Zheng was holding a volume of books, when he saw her coming, he pointed to a stool beside the bed: "Sit down, Miss Qin." The long-lost title made Qin feel a little terrified.She didn't dare to sit down, and stared at Eunuch Zheng suspiciously.Eunuch Zheng smiled, stood up and sat down, and looked at her seriously: "My name is Zheng Banshan. Before entering the palace, my name was Zheng Chuyun—have you ever heard of it?" She tried hard to recall, she seemed to have heard the name before, but her memory was like an ocean, she didn't know which rock she was sinking under, she just couldn't remember it. "Probably never heard of it," he said with a warm smile, "You were born in Wan'an in the 28th year, and you are 14 this year, right? And I have left Hangzhou since I was in Wan'an in the 26th year." "Uncle Zheng?" She remembered that when she was a child in Hangzhou, she often heard her father mention that an old friend surnamed Zheng sent letters from Beijing, and it was not until her father died suddenly that she lost contact.She always thought that "Uncle Zheng" was her father's colleague, but she did not expect to be an internal official. "I am different from Zhihui and other children. I did not enter the palace since I was a child. I am from Xiaoshan. When I was young, I studied and passed the exams. Unexpectedly, I ran into a fraud case in the examination room and my reputation was completely ruined. I am a down-and-out scholar. Your father has a good eye, and he served under the army. In the twenty-sixth year of Wan'an, our army fought a bloody battle with pirates, and my comrades sacrificed their lives. I was also seriously injured, so my father arranged for me to enter the palace as a servant." His voice was not as shrill as the minister's, so it was because of this.Speaking of the ups and downs of the past, the voice is calm, as if talking about someone else's resume. "My father not only has the kindness of knowing you, but also the friendship of Jinlan. I am a deformed person, and I dare not call myself an uncle. I have been immersed in the palace for ten or twenty years, and I know a little bit about it. You are here I stay here, so I can rest assured that no one will harm you." Qin Taiwei's face was full of tears.For half a year, she fell from Anle Xianxiang to Shura Dojo, but no one offered a helping hand.Those bitter and grievances, which were originally suppressed in my heart, did not dare to reveal, the pain and humiliation suffered all over the body, the fear and struggle of being trapped in prison, the desolation and despair of terminal illness, the separation and abandonment of relatives, the reluctance to say goodbye to grandmother, The longing for the parting of the brother, and even the sudden death of the father and the death of the mother in the past, those moments of separation between life and death, the pain of eternal separation, gushes out from the dantian in an instant, turning into rain, dew, frost and snow, soaking the place in front of you without any scruples. The sleeve of a white-haired old man.She couldn't help it after all. "OK OK……" Zheng Banshan stretched out his dead branch-like hand and patted her twitching shoulder. On the day of the winter solstice, the court goes to the Circular Mound to worship the heaven and the earth.As soon as the twelfth lunar month enters, it is necessary to prepare early for New Year's Eve ancestor worship at Taimiao and Fengxiandian.The supervisor of Zhidian sweeps the pavilions and verandahs, the supervisor of the shrine rehearses the Shaoyue Yu dance, the supervisor of Shangshan and the Taichang Temple prepare the festival banquet, and everyone is busy inside and outside.Only this Huangshicheng has always been a cool place.Although it is necessary to compile a bibliography, there is still half a year before the publication of the scriptures in June, so I am not in a hurry.Qin Taiwei said that she was in charge of copying, but she only worked every afternoon when the sun was bright, and spent the rest of the time wandering around in the empty stone building, turning out the pages of various books and looking at them. Huang Shicheng keeps a large number of books, and fire prevention is the first priority. Not only is there no wood in the room, but the brass is used as the cabinet, and even the table is made of stone slabs. It is forbidden to enter the building, so in winter, it is like a hell of ice.Those little internal officials didn't want to stay in the building at all, so they sneaked into the courtyard to bask in the sun when they had time.Qin Taiwei never mixes with them.When she was young, she heard from her father that this Imperial History Museum is very good. It not only stores the imperial jade volumes, imperial edicts, real records, etc., but also collects the world's classics, documents, and albums, and even contains some secret collections that cannot be seen by the people. I came up with the idea that I could not return empty-handed after entering Baoshan. The archives and documents of the past dynasties are stored in a huge cabinet made of brass, which is called the Golden Chamber.In his early years, the late emperor was extremely proficient in writing. He ordered the Sili Jianjing Factory to print classics handed down throughout the dynasty, and also searched for a large number of secrets from the people.Later, the first emperor devoted himself to cultivating Taoism, and his lectures were dusty, so these books were left unattended for many years.Due to lack of checkpoints, it is even messy and disorderly.Last year, Jinshang happened to pass by Huangshicheng, and found that the books in the library were infested with silverfish. Fang ordered the Secretary of Rites to appoint a learned official to count the books and compile a catalog.However, even if there are erudite and knowledgeable people among the internal officials, they don't think that compiling books is the way to get ahead, and they don't want to stay away from the beautiful post of the imperial court and succumb to the poor yamen like Huang Shicheng.The so-called compilation of books is just a grind.Although Zheng Banshan wanted to do something, he was relegated here by accident, and he didn't know how long he would stay, so he didn't care.Only Qin Taiwei is full of curiosity, and she is more enthusiastic about checking books than any other official in charge of Huang Shicheng.Zheng Banshan saw that she was so interested, so he allocated a sunny room in the building to her for copying the bibliography.He also found a half-worn mink fur cloak and a pair of sheepskin soap boots and told her to wear them all day long, so as not to get sick again due to the cold in the building. This day, Tianqin Taiwei searched here and there, and found Wan'an's thirty-five-year memoir—it was the last year of the first emperor's dynasty, during which state affairs changed frequently, and visions frequently appeared in the ban.Even a little girl like her has vaguely heard some rumors.She hugged the book, sat on the golden chamber and read it carefully page by page.However, after watching for a long time, I found that the recorder was too timid to record any important stories.While he was in a loss, he suddenly saw Zheng Banshan floating towards the door, jumped down quickly, and threw the scroll back into the cabinet with his backhand. Zheng Banshan just pretended not to see, and waved to her with a smile. "It's windy today, why don't you wear ear warmers?" Zheng Banshan frowned when he saw her exposed temples. Qin Taiwei took out ear warmers from her sleeves and put them on silently.Every winter, high-ranking internal officials can get a pair of warm ears from the Shangyi Supervisor.Zheng Banshan also gave Qin Taiwei the warm ear warmer he received this year, and he wore the old ear warmer from last year.Qin Taiwei didn't like it, but felt that wearing it made her look like an internal official. On New Year's Eve, to worship ancestors, the portraits of emperors and empresses of all dynasties must be hung.These portraits are kept in Huang Shicheng's attic on weekdays.Before every sacrifice, the eunuch in charge will take out the statues from the pavilion, check them one by one, and send them to the shrine secretary for later use. Zheng Banshan didn't ask others to follow, but only took Qin Taiwei to the attic together.The pavilion has been locked for a long time, the air is stagnant and dark.When the heavy triple-layered curtain was lifted, a row of golden and vermilion gorgeous scroll paintings suddenly appeared, all of which were of the same size and the same clothes.Qin Taiwei set up a window, and a ray of sunlight in the afternoon came through the wall, and the light dust danced up and down like snow, as if the portraits came to life. The emperor Taizu of this dynasty was born in commoner clothes, and he went through hardships when he was young. He was defeated by soldiers and horses for half his life, and just after he was firmly established as the Ninth Five-Years, he set up a torture prison, and killed all the heroes of the year. one.Qin Taiwei pays attention to this person's face, even if the painters whitewash it in every possible way, the murderous and violent aura still cannot be concealed.Emperor Taizong of the second generation was also a military general who followed his father in the army. He was quite like his father, with a burly body and a dark complexion.Emperor Gaozong of the third generation was weak and pale, and after two years of ascending the throne, the dragon ruled Bintian. It was not until the fourth emperor Renzong that he had the atmosphere of Qinggui Wenhua.The next few emperors are all dressed in crowns and crowns, with solemn faces, and there is nothing strange in sight.Qin Taiwei couldn't help asking: "How similar are these images to real people?" "It's still very similar." Zheng Banshan told her with a smile, "Especially in recent times, there have been a large number of talented painters, and they can completely take care of the grand demeanor of the emperor and the resemblance of the gods." The discussion room has come before the portrait of the first emperor.The first emperor, named Yang Duo, was posthumously named Xianmiao. He ascended the throne at the age of eighteen and reigned for thirty-five years. He worked hard for governance in the first eighteen years, and was regarded as the master of a generation of ZTE.Unexpectedly, at the age of forty, he suddenly felt a persistent illness, and stayed in bed for five years. The state affairs had to be handed over to the empress and prince.After Xianmiao recovered from his illness, his eyesight was completely broken, and he could not see clearly the eyes, ears, nose, and mouth of people ten steps away, and his temperament seemed to have changed. He lived in Yangtai Mountain for a long time and mixed with a group of Taoist priests in Chaotian Palace.Empress Xu's involvement in politics and the rise of his relatives are all thanks to the late emperor's neglect of government. Qin Taiwei's father, Qin Lingxian, became famous all over the world during the Wan'an period.She took a closer look at the late emperor's face, and it was not the skinny and consumptive appearance as she had imagined, but because of his thin face, he looked immortal. Just as she was about to comment, her eyes slid to the scroll painting on the left, and she suddenly froze. The person in the painting is only two or ten years old, and he is also wearing a crown, five chapters of black clothes and four chapters of clothes, and the crown is only nine, which is slightly less than the emperor's crown. "That's Prince Zhuang Jing." Zheng Banshan said softly. Prince Zhuang Jing's name is Yang Huan, and he is the eldest son of Empress Dowager Xu.If it hadn't been for the sudden death of the crown prince in the 33rd year of Wan'an, the person sitting in Fengtian Hall would not be Yang Zhi.When Qin Taiwei was young, he also heard his father praise the prince for his intelligence and wisdom, and was once given high hopes by the courtiers.It's just that he didn't expect that besides being wise, the prince who died young was born so handsome.She couldn't help but glanced a few more times, regretting secretly in her heart, and asked again: "Uncle Zheng, do you look like his elder brother today?" Zheng Banshan was in a trance when he suddenly heard her question, thought for a while and said: "They are of the same mother, so of course they are somewhat similar. The appearance of Prince Zhuang Jing is different, it is not from the hands of the painter, but is drawn by Jinshang himself. Yes. At the beginning, no one thought that he would leave so early, and he did not even leave a single posthumous face. Later, the empress dowager ordered the painter to draw a portrait from memory, and she always felt that it was not vivid. The painter was humble, and he was not close to the prince. How could he I saw it so carefully? Later, Jinshang painted this painting by himself, and the queen mother said it looked like it, so she mounted it and put it in the warehouse. However, before the crown prince passed away, Jinshang was a vassal king and lived in Gyeongju for many years. .So the prince in his memory still looks twenty years old." "The emperor must be very sad to lose his elder brother." Qin Taiwei said.Suddenly, he remembered the sentence "There are so many paintings in the world, and a piece of sadness can't be painted", so I stared at the prince in the painting for a few more times, and I really saw some relatives between the wide forehead, star eyes, green temples and green skirts. Meaning Qi Ran. Zheng Banshan seemed to sigh. "I guess, the portrait of Prince Zhuang Jing was framed by Uncle Zheng?" Qin Taiwei said suddenly. "You guessed it right." Zheng Banshan smiled. It's the twelfth lunar month in a blink of an eye.On the eighth day of the eighth day, every family in the palace washes red dates, soaks japonica rice, peels chestnuts and water chestnuts, and cooks Laba porridge.On the 24th, the stove is worshiped, dim sum is steamed for the New Year, new clothes are made from fashionable materials, and palace officials and officials compete for luxury and beauty.From the 24th to the 17th day of the first lunar month, the Qianqing Palace set off fireworks every day, day and night, and the rumbling sound could be heard as far away as Huangshicheng. The atmosphere of the New Year spread from the forbidden area to the four corners of the imperial city. On the twenty-fifth day of the twelfth lunar month, Xu Xiaoqi took a basket and ran from the duty room of the Sili Supervisor all the way to Huangshicheng, knocking on Qin Taiwei's courtyard door loudly.Qin Taiwei opened the door impatiently, but saw him panting, his face was as red as a lantern in the first month, and he was still steaming. "Godfather asked me to send it to Grandpa Zheng and Mrs. Qin for the New Year." The baskets are filled with New Year’s goods. On the first floor, there is a plate of bad river crab, a plate of sweet-scented osmanthus whitebait, a plate of Jiangnan black bamboo shoots, and a plate of red stewed sea cucumber, all of which are Zheng Banshan’s daily favorites; In the box are a pack of Lu'an pineapple tea, a pack of Shouzi ice cream, a pack of Shengzhou torreya, and a small bottle of Wenxianggong Jintan wine; the third layer of the box is fragrant, and there are nine golden, round, dense Comoros. Xu Xiaoqi picked up an orange, and took out a blue and white porcelain pot with lotus pattern from the corner of the basket: "This is for my wife." Qin Taiwei opened the jar, only to feel the faint fragrance in her brain, it turned out to be rose flower oil.Xu Xiaoqi smiled and said: "I saw that the lady didn't have something to comb her hair, so I bought it at the house in the corridor. Although this is not better than the one that the lady uses at home, it is also liked by people in the palace." The scented soap, hair oil, pearl powder, rouge, etc. used by the palace people are all distributed by the Palace Fashion Bureau, and there are monthly regulations.Qin Taiwei hid in Huangshicheng, so she couldn't get these. "You don't have much monthly money, so why spend so much money?" Qin Taiwei was not ungrateful. "The lady wrote so many words for me, I should, I should." Xu Xiaoqi said repeatedly, and picked up two oranges, Qin Tai took a look, gasped, and there was another stack of papers! "Miss Qin, Mr. Shen asked us to write Shiwen today! Please help me..." Xu Xiaoqi said with a bitter face. "You guys don't take the merit test, what are you doing writing this?" Qin Taiwei wondered. "Mr. said that in the future, when serving the inner study and dealing with court officials, you must always have something to say. The officials themselves are all from the imperial examinations, so they force us to engage in stereotyped writing..." She also read Shiwen written by Xie Qian when she was at home.Xie Qian is naturally a master, otherwise he wouldn't have won the provincial title at the age of seventeen.But she was able to read and write by herself, but she only read the Four Books and Five Classics briefly, and read some poems and songs, and her interest fell on the notes, astronomy, geography, and even actuarial interpretation.Asking her to write stereotyped essays is simply asking for fish. "Sister, help me. I know you don't like to write, we are really close friends..." Qin Taiwei hesitated between the powder and the manuscript paper, but still picked up the manuscript paper. The title is from "Mencius": "A gentleman who draws but does not send out, jumps like a man." Fortunately, it is not too difficult, if Xie Qian is here, it will be fine. "But you'll have to wait two more days," she said with a frown. "I haven't written this, so I have to think about it." "Mr. Shen said that you can submit the manuscript before the New Year's Eve." Seeing her submitting, Xu Xiaoqi was overjoyed, "My sister doesn't need to write too well, if you write too well, you will doubt it!" Zheng Banshan was sitting under the window reading a book, and when he saw the two of them coming in one after the other, he pointed to a red lacquered crabapple food box on the table: "You two should share." Qin Taiwei lifted the lid and saw that it was a plate of snails soaked in butter, which looked like snow balls and ice mills.Xu Xiaoqi cheered, and immediately picked up one and bit it down, only to find it sweet and moist, and slipped it into his stomach in two or three bites.As he ate, he flattered: "I don't know who Da Pang respected it, it's really a rare thing. The dim sum enshrined in Qingning Palace is nothing more than this. Grandpa Zheng is really full of peaches and plums, and all the heroes of the world are in the hub. " When Zheng Banshan and Qin Taiwei heard the inappropriate words, they both laughed and bent over.Xu Xiaoqi asked Qin Taiwei why she didn't eat it. Qin Taiwei hesitated for a moment, then said softly: "It's made of milk, it's a bit fishy..." Xu Xiaoqi rolled his eyes: "If you don't eat it, I'll keep it for my godfather." "You have a heart, and you know how to miss your godfather." Zheng Banshan laughed, but pushed Qin Taiwei a box of Meisu Wan: "Do you like this one?" Meisu pills were originally a common snack, Qin Taiwei took one in his mouth, and suddenly changed his face: "This is not the Meisu pill in Beijing, it looks like my father bought it from the Wang's shop in front of Qianwang Temple..." Zheng Banshan smiled and said: "It is indeed purchased from Hangzhou." The sourness of plums suddenly spread from the tip of the tongue, wandered unscrupulously between the lips and teeth, and rushed straight to the fontanelle, she couldn't help closing her eyes. "It's my fault, which made you sad again." Zheng Banshan propped up his body, leaned forward, and said, "I don't know that Xuan Jing has always been reserved, but she would go to the street to buy snacks from a girl's house. .” "After my mother left, there was no one around my father to take care of the house. Those silk flowers, clay dolls, sugar cakes, etc., were all bought for me by my father." Qin Taiwei replied in a low voice, suppressing the trembling in her throat. "Sigh... Ling Tang passed away early, and he refused to renew his strings. It was not easy to bring you up alone. Did Xuan Jing teach you your studies? I see that the books you read every day are different from those in ordinary boudoirs. Follow Xuan Jing's hobbies one by one." "Daddy is usually busy with official duties, so he didn't teach me anything specially. Originally, he hired a teacher in Hangzhou, and took classes randomly for a few days. Then I went to Daddy's study to look for his books, and Daddy would also read them when he was free. Give me some pointers." Qin Taiwei said, "It's just that I was sent to Beijing, so I didn't have a chance." "Then," Zheng Banshan said leisurely, "Did you leave Hangzhou in the second year of Shenxi?" "Yes." Qin Taiwei said, "In the twelfth lunar month of the second year of Shenxi, my father came to Beijing to report on his work and took me to live with my grandmother. My grandmother said that I was already ten years old and it was not suitable for me to run around with my father. So after the new year, my father He went back to Hangzhou by himself, without taking me with him." In the third year of Shenxi, Qin Lingxian died in the post of governor of the southeast.About this, Zheng Banshan is very clear. "So, when your father passed away, you were in Beijing." He said, "I didn't have time to see you for the last time..." The next day, the weather suddenly warmed up, and even the wind stopped, which suddenly meant that the spring would return early.Qin Taiwei asked for hot water, so she hid in her room to take a shower and change clothes.After taking a bath, he untied his braids and hung them into the basin. While smoothing his hair, he scooped water from half a gourd and poured it slowly on his head.When I used to be at home, someone would take care of showering and shampooing, so I didn't have to lift a finger.Now that I wash my hair myself, the front and sleeves are soaked every time.After washing, it is unavoidable to take off the robe to dry, and only wear a fine cotton singlet.While drying her hair, sitting bored, she put on a mink fur cloak and a brass hand stove, slipped into the stone building for a stroll, took out a roll of maps she found the day before, and quietly carried them into her small room . The sun shines in through the white window paper, making the room quite warm.She opened the window, only to see the blue sky, the wind and smoke are clean, looking at it makes people feel clear and bright.Longevity Hill is like Penglai on the sea, floating far away in the air. She suddenly thought of Bai He. I thought the climate in the north was cold and white cranes couldn't live there, but it was Xie Qian who told her that there was a group of white cranes in Longevity Mountain.They also talked about where they could see these precious white cranes in the past, but not to mention that the Forbidden Garden was deeply inaccessible, they even had a rare chance to get out of the Xie Mansion. Now she is not far from Longevity Hill, and she can see the Crane Fangting Pavilion on the hill.It's only been half a year since I entered the palace, and I haven't seen a white crane flying from the mountain once. I don't know why.She sat on the table under the window, thinking of the past, the melancholy in her heart swelled like a canopy.The sun was as strong as wine, poured on her eyebrows, soaked her cheeks, and stained her eyes sour.As a result, my eyes gradually became dazzled, and there were five colored lights floating up and down... After an unknown amount of time, suddenly a gust of cool wind blew past her neck.She woke up suddenly, and the mink clothes slipped to the ground. The door that was closed at first was half opened at some point.Snow-white light and shadow passed by the door. She was startled, and suddenly chased him out. The corridor in the building is deep.At the corner, the white shadow fluttered like a crane's feathers.Is there really a white crane flying over, or is it because she is dazzled that she can't see clearly? After chasing to him, He Ying disappeared into the darkness. Surrounded by silence, she regained her senses and stood still for a while, seeming to hear a slight noise behind a door. There was someone talking inside the door, the voice was extremely low and weak, but it was still familiar to her. "...After talking about it a few times, this child really doesn't know anything. Look at my thin face, let her live." She put her hand on the door for a while, but she didn't push it away after all. The voices inside died, maybe they were done talking?Perhaps heard her footsteps? Because she was only wearing a middle single, she began to feel that the stone building was as cold as ice, so she tiptoed back to her room, wrapped up her mink clothes, and went downstairs slowly. The hair has been dried and combed neatly, dipped in rose flower oil with a hairpin, and brushed on the long hair little by little.The aroma of hair oil slowly diffused in the air, and the fragrance of roses was deep and bewitching. After brushing your hair, put it in a bun, and wash your hands.She had made up her mind, unfolded the manuscript paper left by Xu Xiaoqi, and carefully wrote the stereotyped article. On New Year's Eve, Tian Zhihui came off duty, called Xu Xiaoqi, brought another bottle of pepper wine, and prepared a Pepsi Daji box, and came early to "say goodbye to the old year" to Eunuch Zheng.Zheng Banshan made a cage of mutton flat food with his own hands. As soon as he saw them enter the door, he boiled a lot of water and poured the flat food. After a while, it was cooked, and four hot bowls were served on the table, along with various dried fruit snacks. After pouring the wine, Fang ordered Xu Xiaoqi to go to the back and make a fuss with Qin Taiwei.It turns out that the custom in the palace is to keep the year old, and you can't sleep on New Year's Eve.Seeing that Qin Taiwei couldn't bear it anymore, Zheng Banshan asked her to take a nap, and waited for her to get up and watch over her. Qin Tai rubbed her eyes slightly and came in, and saw that the charcoal basin inside the house was burning red, the gods of good fortune and ghost punishment were pasted on the wall, gold and silver strings of eight treasures were hung on the curtains, and three eunuchs, old and young, surrounded a square table, waiting for her alone. When they entered the table, they were all smiling, like a small family celebrating the new year, she really didn't know what it was like. After drinking pepper and cypress wine, Xu Xiaoqi repeatedly asked Eunuch Zheng if he had wrapped copper coins in the flat food.Eunuch Zheng said with a smile, Xiao Qi hurriedly bit off all the flat food in his bowl to check, but couldn't find it, so he couldn't help sighing.Qin Taiwei was also curious, couldn't help picking the flat food in her bowl, and found that one of them had a slightly different shape, and her heart sank suddenly. Zheng Banshan and Tian Zhihui talked about some things in the palace, it was nothing more than who offended the master and who got promoted.Tian Zhihui said that because there was no competent person in the middle school, Zhou Lu, the eunuch of Bingbi, the supervisor of ceremonies, deliberately transferred Zheng Banshan back, just waiting for the emperor's mercy.Zheng Banshan pondered for a while, laughed and said that the study room is too tired, but Huang Shicheng has a good leisure time, which is just suitable for taking care of his life. Qin Taiwei left that dumpling to the end, and had to bite open, and sure enough, a shiny "Wan'an Tongbao" rolled out.Xu Xiaoqi repeatedly said: "My sister is lucky, my sister will become a concubine!" Qin Tai blushed slightly: "What nonsense are you talking about?" Xu Xiaoqi blinked and said: "Sister was born well, she will definitely be favored by the emperor. If you are rich, don't forget each other!" Rao Qin Taiwei had tempered her patience for half a year, and now she couldn't hold back her face.Tian Zhihui hurriedly stopped Xu Xiaoqi: "You are not old or young now, and you refused to call me a lady, and you called me sister. Lady Qin calls my master uncle, but you call her sister instead? Should I give it back?" How about calling you brother?" Seeing her godfather turned his face, Xu Xiaoqi quickly knelt down and kowtowed like garlic.田知惠嗤笑道：“还不滚到院子里去，把那堆柴火给我烧干净了！” 徐小七如蒙大赦，连滚带爬地跑开。 众人围炉闲谈了一回，郑半山见窗纸上映得通红，遂出去察看。京中旧俗岁暮烧柏枝除邪祟，曰之（火禺）岁。郑半山早在院中备好了柏枝，徐小七一人张罗着，倒也烧得不亦乐乎。 “郑爷爷，我想去看烟火。” 郑半山往大内那边望了望，火树银花连天不绝，遂道：“那你就端个杌凳，坐在院子里看。” 徐小七笑道：“高处看得更清楚些。” 郑半山心知他是想上石楼，除夕这夜灯火大盛，石楼按例是紧锁了不放人上去的。郑半山想了想，道：“你跟琴娘子道个歉去。她若肯时，让她带你悄悄上去。” 琴太微早已消气。郑半山找了两只手炉，又拣了一盒栗子柿饼之类给他俩带上，嘱早去早回，休惊动旁人。徐小七抱着果子盒，拖着琴太微就跑，不一会儿两人便消失在夜色里。 白铜执壶里的酒有些冷了，田知惠从炉上续些了热水来，把酒重温上，又给郑太监倒了一杯。 郑半山抿了一口酒，脸上的春风和悦之色亦渐渐褪了下去。 田知惠心中再明白不过，他打定主意要问个端底了：“打算把她怎么办呢？” 郑半山闭了闭目：“这个我还没想好。” “那么……”田知惠揣度着，指了指西边，“他的意思呢？” “本来是说要除掉的。”郑半山轻声说着，一边拣了几颗饱满的栗子，抛入火盆中焙着。火光猛跳了一下，郑太监那张青白如玉的脸，忽然间被照得明艳似血。“除掉”，田知惠虽早已有数，听见这个词仍觉得一丝丝心寒。 好在郑半山又幽幽地接了一句：“现下又说，让我随便找个地方，送走完事儿。” 田知惠道：“随便，天下最难就是这个'随便'！随便打回浣衣局也是随便，随便送给皇上也是随便。干脆发到乾清宫去，免得浪费了这般才貌。或者透个信儿给谢娘娘，横竖是她家的人，看她怎么料理……” “万万不可，谢家大小姐——”郑半山想起那个粉妆玉琢容色和婉的美人儿，不禁冷笑了一声，“也未免太乖觉了些。” “不能让谢娘娘知道，那么驸马府也是回不得了。十四五岁的女孩子，还得给她找个人家。”田知惠道，“怎么说也是琴督师的掌上明珠，我猜您也舍不得委屈了她。” 郑半山被他说中了心思，笑道：“上月我看邸报。北海那边打了大胜仗，陆家兄弟将罗刹人赶到了乌拉尔山西边，至少三五年内不敢再犯北海。如无意外，明年春天小陆将军就要回来了。” “陆……文瑾？”田知惠有些惊喜。 “今年高烛明和他通信时，他听说了琴家的官司，还特意问起过琴小姐，想来他不会袖手旁观。不过多年未见，不知小陆如今是个什么情形，还是等来春见过面再说。”郑半山道，“眼下这孩子就留在我这儿，慢慢看着吧……她倒是极聪明，可惜不能收了做徒弟。” 田知惠低头忍笑，想了想又道：“论理不该我问。不过我还是纳闷儿了——把人藏来藏去，费这么大周章，也没弄出什么结果来。这到底是为的什么啊。” “既知不该问，还说什么？” 田知惠嘿嘿地一笑，不敢再说话。炉火中发出噼噼啪啪的声响，栗子爆开了壳儿，发出丝丝甜香。田知惠用火钳夹出栗子，吹冷了，剥了壳，捧到郑半山面前。 郑半山拈了一个栗子尝了尝：“差点儿火候。你还想问什么？” “小事儿，小事儿。”田知惠笑道，“就想问问，您那手抖泼茶的毛病，只是在给谢娘娘裱《洛神图》的时候犯过一回，是吧？” 郑半山忍不住伸手弹了弹田知惠的额头：“越发长进了，什么都敢问。” 田知惠笑道：“徒弟愚钝，百思不得其解。求师父指点，就当是年下打赏了徒弟吧。” 郑半山闭目沉思良久，终于道：“我是想试探一下，皇帝是否忌讳《洛神图》。” “结论呢？” “忌讳，非常忌讳。我原本就怀疑皇上并不想看见这张画，又不愿惹恼了有身子的谢娘娘，大约是盼着这画被人毁了拉倒。果不其然……”郑半山道，“若非如此，泼了御笔这种大事，哪里是一顿板子就能完事的。” “为这饶上一顿板子，还被贬到皇史宬来，”田知惠嘟囔道，“也不知值不值得。” “当然值得。”郑半山冷然道。 这是将有大动作的意思了。田知惠还想问问，如何就知道皇上会不喜欢那幅画，又想起刚才那句教训，暂且忍住，却问：“您就不怕得罪了谢娘娘？” “哼……”郑半山将栗子放入口中，慢慢咬碎，“画什么不好，要画洛神？只怕她自己也是在试探皇上吧。” 这一晚清宁宫、乾清宫两处彻夜燃放烟花，四九城中百姓俱能仰望。琴太微领了徐小七，悄悄走到她那间值房里，支起窗扇，正好望见漫天的琼英碎玉飘飞不断，将星河的光彩都掩盖下去。 “乾清宫看起来真远啊。”徐小七一边舔着柿饼上的糖霜，一边叹道，“有一千丈那么远吧。也不晓得我这辈子能不能去皇上身边儿当差呢。” “哪有那么远，”琴太微说，“也就二百来丈罢了。” “咦？你怎么知道，难道你已经去过乾清宫了？” 琴太微说：“不用去乾清宫，站在这里估算一下，就知道有多远了。” “怎么算呢？” 琴太微伸出手臂，把拇指竖起来：“比一比就知道了。《海岛算经》上说'今有望海岛，立两表齐，高三丈'……你想学吗？” 徐小七想了想，说：“没兴趣，干吗学它。将来我去了乾清宫，自然知道了。” 琴太微轻轻笑了一声：“是啊，行军打仗才用得着这个。对宫里人来说，这些本事学来也全无用处。” “姐姐打过仗吗？” “要叫娘子。” “娘子打过仗吗？” “……我没有打过仗，只见我爹爹指挥过人打仗。” 徐小七恍然大悟：“我听干爹说过，娘子的爹爹做过大官儿。我只道是个读书的夫子，原来还曾领兵打仗来着，敬佩敬佩！” 琴太微沉默了一会儿，说：“我的爹爹啊，是个很了不得的人……” 徐小七待要听她讲故事，说她爹爹怎么了不得，却没下文了。偷眼瞧去，见她面色端凝，唯有一对眼睛亮闪闪的，似有波光明灭。他还以为她哭了，其实只是映着天空中烟火的光彩。徐小七想逗她高兴，又说：“娘子啊，我说了你别生气。” "Ok?" “你吃到的那个铜钱，很灵的。去年除夕，跟我住一块儿的何三儿吃到了铜钱，一开春他就被挑去给二皇子伴读了。还给起了个学名儿，叫什么何足道！唉……” “做伴读很好吗？” “好呀！现在是伴读，以后就是皇子的心腹了。可惜我书读得不好，选不上我，”他想了想，扳着指头说，“大皇子到现在还没出阁，谁都不指着他。皇上还有三个庶出的弟弟，不过跟着他们没意思，将来都得之藩。徵王更不成，说不定哪天就走了。剩下就没人了。淑妃肚子里的不知是男是女，就算也是皇子，等三皇子长大读书，我都老了呀。” 琴太微揣摩他所说的“有意思、没意思”，大约指的是想跟着太子，以后就是皇帝身边权势倾天的大珰。她亦听说大皇子有病，故而宫中的情形十分微妙，乃至徐小七这样连禁城都不大进得去的小内官，都要掐斤算两、掂量利害。 “姐姐，你咬着了铜钱，希望明年有什么好事儿落在你头上？” 琴太微说：“我想回家。” “天下那么多愿望，你倒许了一个永远不能实现的。”徐小七嘟囔着。