Chapter 7 Chapter Seven: Lady Miaoyin

I woke up in a dream, feeling uneasy in my heart, and I didn't care about the night, so I immediately sent Jingqing to Yimei Garden to see if the little statue I hung to pray for blessings was still there. Seeing that I was in a hurry, Jingqing didn't dare Asking why, he immediately changed into thick clothes and went out.As soon as she left, everyone in the palace was alarmed. I can only say that I woke up from a nightmare. After a long time, as if it had been a long night, Jingqing finally came back and told me that my little statue was gone, probably blown away by the wind.My heart felt as if cold water was poured on my head, and I was stunned for a long time without making a sound.Jinxi and the others thought it was unlucky for me to lose the statuette, so they were unhappy, and they tried to comfort me for a long time and told me jokes to make me happy.I forced myself to cheer myself up and comforted myself, maybe it was really blown away by the wind or some court lady saw Jingjing and picked it up to play.Having said that, my heart is unhappy.Fortunately, the days are still as smooth as a mirror, and I don't see any incidents affecting my Tangli Palace.I was still recuperating in the palace, and I was also exempted from going to the court meeting on the first day of the new year.

One day, after lunch, he was resting in the Nuan Pavilion, Mei Zhuang raised the curtain and came in, with a half-smile and said: "There is a strange thing I want to tell you." I got up and said with a smile, "What's new in this palace?" Mei Zhuang said with a faint smile: "For some reason, the emperor fell in love with a maid named Yu in the Yimei Garden. The first one was sealed to change clothes. Although it is the last eight rank, compared to being a court lady, it is also Serious little master." I flicked the stove in my arms and said: "The emperor saw that the palace maid made a concubine. It is a common thing in the past. Concubine Shun Chen is not..." Mei Zhuang glanced at me, and I smiled: "You are so cautious, now I am here The best place to talk."

Mei Zhuang lowered his head and caressed the embroidery on the dress, and said slowly: "The emperor dotes on her very much now." "Is she beautiful?" "That's all. I just heard that the singing is very good." I smiled and said nothing, the three-inch-long silver armor inlaid with broken jade on my little finger gently rubbed the itch of my chin.After a long while, he said, "Your majesty is also a temporary novelty. Besides, no matter how much you spoil her, the ancestral court ladies and concubines can only be promoted step by step, and they can't surpass you for a while."

Mei Zhuang smiled and said: "I know this. It's just... Ling Rong is not happy after all." I was slightly surprised: "Is Lingrong still unfavored?" Mei Zhuang slightly nodded and said: "Having been in the palace for so long, the emperor has not yet summoned her." After finishing speaking, he sighed slightly, "It's nothing more than being favored by others, but she is a palace maid whose status is lower than hers, so she naturally feels uncomfortable .” I recalled the mausoleum in the lonely wind and dew that night when I entered the palace, and her affection for my brother... Could it be that she, like me, wants to deliberately avoid favor?I hesitated: "Could it be that Ling Rong doesn't want to be favored?"

Mei Zhuang looked at me suspiciously: "How could it be? Although she has a calm face, she always wants to be favored, right? Otherwise, with her family background, how can she gain a foothold in the palace?" I hesitated: "Do you know that she has a lover?" Mei Zhuang was taken aback by my words, and his face blushed layer by layer: "Don't talk nonsense. We are all heavenly concubines, and our bodies and hearts belong to the emperor, how could we have someone we fall in love with?" I also became embarrassed, blushing and said: "I just asked casually, what are you in a hurry for?"

Mei Zhuang thought about it carefully, shook his head and said: "I really don't know if she has someone in mind. Looking at her like this, she probably doesn't have one." After saying that, he changed the subject, and the chat broke up after a while. After seeing off Mei Zhuang, seeing Pei'er come in with charcoal to change, she pretended to ask casually: "I heard that the maids in Yimei Garden were banned from changing clothes?" Pei'er said: "Isn't it? It's said that she was lucky. I heard that she had a few words with the emperor on New Year's Eve. In the morning of the second day of the second year, Eunuch Li who was next to the emperor came to look for someone. She answered a few words and was taken away." Who would have thought that she would not come back after leaving, only to find out that the emperor had granted her a decree to change her clothes."

I smiled slightly, and it really was a court lady, such a clever court lady!Blocked this for me.It seems that there is never a shortage of carp in the palace who want to jump over the Dragon Gate.While talking, Jinxi had already walked in, knelt down in front of the couch and beat my legs, saw that Peier went out after changing the charcoal, and only she and I were left in the warm pavilion, so she said softly: "That night, the young master also went to lean on the plum garden. , I don’t know if I’ve ever met someone else?” I reached out to take a candied fruit and put it in my mouth, and said, "What does it matter if you see it or not?"

Jinxi focused slightly, and said with a smile: "It's also a servant's fantasy. It's just that there are too many things in this palace, and the servants are probably taking advantage of others." I spit the core of the candied fruit into the spittoon near me, and then I said: "If you benefit others, sometimes you may benefit yourself." After more than a month, the mausoleum is still unfavored, but Yu Changyi is smart and good at singing, but the emperor's favor for her has not come down. Within a month, she has been recruited and selected as a servant, and she has been registered as a seventh-rank Miaoyin lady. Give home to Hongni Pavilion.For a while, the limelight became so popular that even Concubine Hua personally rewarded her with a gift.Madam Yu is also very good at flattering Concubine Hua, and the two are very close.Yu Shi gradually became arrogant and self-indulgent, even Mei Zhuang, Liu Liangyuan, Tian Guiren and others didn't pay much attention to them, they contradicted each other.Even though Mei Zhuang cultivated himself well, he still felt a little annoyed.

Although it is already February, the weather has not warmed up. The past two days have become more and more cold every day. The sky is dark and dark with lead clouds hanging down, and there is a tendency for rain and snow to come again.Sure enough, at night, the snowflakes were dense and dense, and it snowed heavily for a day and a night.On the second night, the snow was getting lighter, and Xiao Yunzi and Xiao Lianzi swept the snow in the courtyard and came in, already wet and shivering, muttering "this terrible weather" in their mouths, and hurriedly went down again. I changed my clothes and warmed myself by the fire.

I put down the embroidered handkerchief in my hand and said, "The weather is really bad this year. It's already the day when the dragon raises its head in February, and it's still snowing. I'm afraid the flowers and plants will freeze to death." Liu Zhu smiled and said, "Miss loves those flowers and plants very much. At the end of autumn, all the eunuchs are wrapped in straw, so they won't be damaged by the cold." I smiled slightly, then lowered my head to embroider the oriole on the handkerchief.He could faintly hear the sound of rumbling cars approaching in the distance, and wondered in his heart, Tangli Palace is located in a remote place, there were rarely any cars and horses, why there were still cars at such a night.Looking up, I saw Jinxi standing solemnly with her hands down, and said softly, "My lord, this is the voice of Fengluan Chunen's chariot." A dedicated car.

After listening intently for a while, the sound of the car was getting closer and closer. In the quiet snowy night, I could hear the ringing of pearl rings on the car.There is also the voice of a woman singing vaguely, the singing is very melodious and high-spirited, and the song is a new congratulatory poem made in the palace, "The stove burns incense, sandalwood, animal charcoal, and snowflakes fly outside the pearl curtain. Six palaces drink, Yaomeishou, dance phoenix and coil dragon Full of royal clothes." I listened to it for a while, and finally said: "The singing is not bad, no wonder the emperor gave her the title of 'Wonderful Voice'." Xiao Yunzi lowered her head and whispered: "Singing in Yongxiang in the middle of the night is against the rules of the palace." Without raising my head, I said: "This is enough to show how much the emperor loves her!" No one made a sound, and the room was silent, only the sound of beeping charcoal in the charcoal basin, and the whistling north wind outside the window. The sound of the wind and the sound of laughter drifting away in the wind.Her laughter is so proud, it resounds in the silent snowy night, shuttles between the endless alleys and palaces of the harem... This is the first time I have heard the sound of Fengluan Chunen's car, and that sound is very beautiful.I don't know how many women's ears and eyes will be attracted by the sound of the car going all the way, and how many women's expectations, disappointments, tears and laughter will be carried on this small car.Many evenings in the palace, they stood quietly in the courtyard, just waiting for the Fengluan Chunen car to stop in front of the palace gate and take them to the emperor's bedroom.When I was young, I followed my elder brother under the window of the west wing and listened to my master recite Du Mu's "Ode to the Palace of Efang". Now I think about a few lines that are especially shocking-"The thunder is startled, and the palace carriage passes; Yes. One muscle and one face, full of beauty, unadorned and farsighted, but fortunately, there are those who cannot see, thirty-six years!" Thirty-six years, I am afraid that it is the life of many women!All the women in the palace are not as beautiful as heaven, but are just beautiful, which is the least rare thing in this harem.There are different fresh beauties appearing every day, the old beauties are getting old, and new beauties will come again, with younger bodies, smooth foreheads, bright red lips, bright eye waves, slender waists... and they do it all their lives. The most common thing I am used to is nothing more than "looking farsighted and looking forward to luck".In this harem, a woman who is not favored by the emperor is like a lifeless paper puppet, even an occasional gust of wind in autumn can blow her down and destroy her.But can those who are favored by the emperor be able to sit back and relax?I am afraid that their lives are more worrying than unfavored women, "How long will it be good for Israel to serve others?" They are more afraid of falling out of favor, more afraid of aging, and more afraid of the emergence of better women.If there is no love, the favor of the emperor will not be stronger than silk paper.And love is probably the most lacking thing in the entire imperial harem.Women in the palace will approach the emperor for status, glory, and favor, but for love, who has ever heard of it... I just felt sore in my head, put down the needle and thread in my hand and said to Huanbi: "The charcoal gas smells bad, it makes my brain hurt, so I went to change it for aloe incense." Huanbi hesitated for a while, and said: "Miss, the regular incense for this month has not been brought yet, and it has been delayed for several days. Why don't you send someone to ask about it?" I knew in my heart that the people from the Ministry of Internal Affairs must have deceived me into being unfavored and withholding my status. "It's snowing a lot these days, and there are people in the Ministry of Internal Affairs who are lazy and delay for a few days. Forget it, just light any incense first." Huanbi promised to go out in a hurry, and then walked outside the door, "Yeah", said in surprise: "Chun Chang is here, why are you standing alone in the wind, afraid that it will be blown out? Come in quickly." I heard something different, and hurriedly got up and went out.Sure enough, Chun Chang was standing alone under the palace gate, his nose was red from the cold, but his cheeks were pale, he just stayed silent.I hurriedly asked: "Chun'er, why are you alone?" When Chun Chang heard the words, he only turned his head slowly, his eyeballs rolled around slowly, his face gradually showed an expression, and he cried "Wow", "Sister Wan, I'm so scared!" Seeing that something was wrong, I hurriedly dragged her into the warm pavilion, asked Jingqing to take the stove and put it in her arms to warm her body, and asked Pin'er to bring hot milk soup for her to drink, and then slowly asked her why.It turned out that after dinner, the heavy snow was getting lighter, and Shi Meiren had dinner at Chunchang's place and was about to return to the palace, so Chunchangzai gave her a ride.It was dark and the road was slippery, so I lit a lantern to illuminate the road, but the paper lantern in the hand of Shi Meiren's court lady was suddenly blown by the wind and ignited, just ingeniously, the lady drove over in Fengluan Chunen's car, and the horse who was driving was hurt by the fire Shocked, even if the royal horse is well trained and the coachman discovered it early, he still shocked the lady Miaoyin in the carriage.It wasn't a big deal at first, but Mrs. Miaoyin was not willing to let her go. She entered the palace early and had a higher status than Mrs. Miaoyin. In addition, Miaoyin was favored recently, so she was not very happy at first, and her tone was not so submissive.Madame Miaoyin was so annoyed that she ordered Ye Tingling to imprison Shi Meiren.I couldn't help being surprised when I heard the words, the "violent room" is the place where the deposed concubines and the palace maids who made mistakes were imprisoned for hard labor.How could Shi Meiren be imprisoned in the "violent room" since she was neither deposed nor a maid who made mistakes? I hurriedly asked, "Did you ask for the emperor's or empress' orders? Didn't the emperor or empress speak?" Chunchang shook his head blankly, wiped his tears and said: "She... Mrs. Miaoyin said that the emperor and empress don't have to worry about trivial matters, and if they disturb the emperor, the empress would ask for a court order." I am even more surprised that Lady Miaoyin did not have the warrant of the emperor, but she even ordered the concubine to be locked up in the "violent room" without permission. Such arrogance is really unheard of! A smile slowly formed on the corner of my lips, and it returned to normal in an instant.If you are so arrogant and careless in your words and deeds, I am afraid that your life will be exhausted. I comforted Chun Chang for a while, and ordered Xiao Lianzi and Pin'er to send her back safely.It's really embarrassing for her to be so frightened in the palace at such a young age. Early the next morning, Mei Zhuang and Ling Rong came over early.I was having breakfast, and when I saw them, I smiled and said, "What a good nose! Knowing that Jinxi has made a good beef bone marrow tea soup, I came here for such an early show." Mei Zhuang said: "You are the only one in the whole palace who can be happy at ease. There will be chaos outside!" I took a sip of the tea soup and smiled: "What? Even you can't hold your breath?" Ling Rong said: "Sister, did you hear the singing last night?" I smiled and said: "Of course I heard it. The lady 'Miaoyin' really deserves her reputation, and her singing voice is very beautiful." Mei Zhuang remained silent, and said for a long time: "Pride and pride, singing in the middle of the night! She actually ordered that Meiren Shi, who used to live with you, be sent to the 'violent room'." I smiled and said, "That's a good thing." "Good thing?" Mei Zhuang frowned slightly, and Ling Rong also looked puzzled. "She has already made everyone in the harem dissatisfied by her sudden favor. If she is so ignorant and proud of being favored, isn't she seeking her own death? It's better to seek her own death than one day force it on you and ask you to do it yourself." I continued. : "Such a person with such aptitude and lack of self-discipline is obviously stupid. Such a person will never threaten your status. You can rest easy." I raised my glass and laughed: "Such a happy event, isn't it worth it for you to drink it up? " Mei Zhuang said: "Even so, the emperor hasn't said anything to punish her? What's more, she is on good terms with Concubine Hua." I said calmly: "That will happen sooner or later. What happened yesterday has already hurt the empress's face and disrupted the order of the harem. Even if Concubine Hua wanted to protect her, she would not be able to keep her. Besides, Concubine Hua is so smart, how could she go to this place?" Muddy water?" Lingrong said: "I'm afraid she is so favored. Although Concubine Hua is kind on the face and feels uncomfortable in her heart, how can she help her?" After that, he raised his glass and laughed: "Lingrong uses tea instead of wine, drink it first. This cup." Mei Zhuang smiled and said: "In this case, the hospitality is hard to get rid of." Sure enough, in the afternoon, the emperor made a decree to let Shi Shi out of the "violent room" to comfort him, and at the same time ordered Yu Shi to contemplate behind closed doors for a period of ten years and deprive her of the title of "Miaoyin". It is very different. -------------------------------------------------- --- Notes: