The Job of an Imperial Concubine

"Master, why do you want to help Concubine Wang?" Ting Zhu carefully squeezed Zhuang Luoyan's shoulders, "I feel that although Concubine Jiang Xian and Concubine Wang have no enemies in the palace, Duan Duan can't be a good helper."

"They're just enough to protect themselves now, they don't want to talk about helping me, they just don't want to provoke an enemy," Zhuang Luoyan leaned on the back of the chair, her posture was extremely lazy, and she wished she had lost her bones, "Your Majesty, look Let me walk with her together, besides, she has been kind to me today, there is nothing in the harem that can be owed, but it cannot be owed favors." Besides, Jiang Xianpin deliberately mentioned Wang Concubine's illness today, which may have made her I mean to help.

Listening to Zhu immediately understood, but thinking of Jiang Xianpin reminding the master not to be tempted, his heart skipped a beat, thinking of what the master said in the pear garden two months ago, he didn't know what to say for a while.

When she raised her head again, she saw that the master had already squinted her eyes. She stopped her movements, and gestured to the maids who were fanning behind her, telling them to move softly, then she got up and quietly retreated out.

"Master is asleep?" Yun Xi was holding the sour plum ice soup, and seeing the bamboo coming out, she glanced at the inner room and whispered, "Then I'll put this soup on an ice plate."

"Master just ate the ice bowl, so it's better to put the sour plum soup on hold for now." Ting Zhu glanced at the sun and wiped the sweat from his forehead, "This year's weather is not too hot, last year when it was the hottest , the emperor, the empress dowager and some honorable masters have all gone to the summer resort."

"It was really hot last year," Yun Xi recalled that last year the whole Zhuang family was preparing to send the master into the palace, and now the master is already from the third rank, so the days slipped away really fast.

"Tingzhu, Yunxi, people from the Dianzhong Province came to ask if we have enough ice cubes here. If not, they will send someone over immediately." Fubao walked over sweating, and asked the two of them. road.

"The empress is sleeping now, and the ice in the house is still in use, and I don't need it for the time being. Tell them to bring it after noon." Ting Zhu thought for a while, "Remember to give some silver to the servant who came to ask."

"Success," Fu Bao nodded, "I'll go ahead."

The summer night came late, Zhuang Luoyan was wearing a gauze skirt, sitting by the window to enjoy the cool, but after sitting for a while, she found that the northwest corner seemed to be a little strangely bright, she frowned, and heard the noise coming from outside, Something big seems to have happened.

"Master," Yun Xi walked in without much panic, "The Ruiqing Palace in the northwest is flooded."

"Ruiqing Palace?" The name of this palace sounds very dignified, but it seems that there is no concubine living in the harem. She thought for a while, "Which master lives here?"

"It used to be the sleeping palace of the abandoned concubine Wei Shi. Later, the late emperor gave Wei Feifei's son dead, and imprisoned Wei Feifei's son, King Gu, in it." Ting Zhu's face seemed a little calmer than Yun Xi's. She was in the palace. If you stay longer, you will naturally hear some harem secrets.

"King Ru?" Zhuang Luoyan heard this title, and understood how much the late Emperor hated Wei Feifei.

"Go and ask if the other concubines have gone to ask," Zhuang Luoyan said in a deep voice, "This matter has nothing to do with us, so we don't need to know too much."

Seeing Zhu Tingzhu and Yun Xi went out, Zhuang Luoyan continued to stare at the northwest corner of the flames. I don't know if it was her delusion or not. Tonight's incident may not be a simple accident.

After a while, Ting Zhu and Yun Xi came back, and their pace was much faster than before, "Master, besides the emperor and queen, there are several other masters who have already rushed away. Just now, the slaves watched the Concubine Shu of Anqing Palace sitting and walking. The chariot is rushing to Ruiqing Palace, and I heard that even the Empress Dowager has also rushed there."

"Then let's go and have a look," Zhuang Luoyan got up, changed into a formal dress, put on a simple bun, and followed.

Sitting on the slightly swaying chariot, Zhuang Luoyan thought about some rumors from that year. Concubine Wei Fei once doted on the harem, and even the empress wanted to avoid her edge, but in the end, the late emperor found out that she had contacted her relatives to support the second prince to become the prince, and finally the late emperor gave Wei Feifei The three-foot white silk, and the second prince were also given a "stained circle" and imprisoned in Wei Feifei's original bedroom. After spitting blood and doing these things, the first emperor dragged his body to vomit blood for several months, and finally died. After returning to the west, the crown prince at that time, who is now Emperor Chengxuan, succeeded to the throne, and King Gu never left Ruiqing Palace again.

As she approached Ruiqing Palace, she saw many eunuchs and court ladies carrying water to fight the fire. The fire had been brought under control, and the emperor and his party were sitting in an empty space not far away. Because it was night, she couldn't see the emperor's expression clearly.

Although there was still a distance, Zhuang Luoyan got off the chariot obediently, walked towards the royal army with Tingzhu's hand, and when he got closer, he found a dignified woman sitting beside the emperor, who looked only forty Looking more than enough, she knelt down and saluted obediently, "I have seen the emperor, empress dowager, empress empress."

The Empress Dowager glanced at Zhuang Luoyan, who was well-dressed and well-dressed, and turned her head to look at the Empress: "This is the concubine who entered the palace this year. The Ai family seems to have never seen it before."

"After returning to mother, Zhao Chongyi did enter the palace this year," the queen replied politely, her appearance was completely different from that of other concubines in the past.

The Empress Dowager nodded, seeing that she had no aversion to Zhuang Luoyan, "Which family's daughter is it?"

"After returning to my mother, Zhao Chongyi belongs to Mr. Zhuang's family." The Queen replied.

The Empress Dowager nodded again, and she just avoided Zhuang Luoyan's gift, "Go forward and let Ai's family take a look."

Zhuang Luoyan stepped forward with her head slightly lowered, and blessed her body two steps away from the Queen Mother.

"Well, she looks like a good girl." The queen mother thought for a while, and suddenly asked, "Aijia remembers that a girl from the Zhuang family entered the palace two years ago. Could it be that Aijia's memory was wrong?"

"The queen mother remembers correctly," the queen explained, fanning the queen mother gently with a fan, "Zhuang Jieyu is also Mrs. Zhuang's niece, but Zhuang Jieyu is a concubine, and Zhao Chongyi is a concubine."

After the queen mother heard the words, she immediately rewarded Zhuang Luoyan with a pair of jade bracelets, obviously she also valued the concubines.

Zhuang Jieyu, who was standing among the concubines, was embarrassed, but she still had to act like she didn't care. Presumably no one else would know how resentful she was except herself.

Feng Jin never interjected from the beginning to the end, but only glanced at Zhuang Luoyan when she was retreating to the concubines after receiving the reward, and then looked calmly at the Ruiqing Palace where the fire was slowly extinguished.

It wasn't until Zishi that all the people in Ruiqing Palace were put out. Feng Jin looked at the general of the Imperial Forest Army in front of him, and asked softly, "Can King Gu be saved?"

"My humble minister is incompetent. His Royal Highness King Gu has... passed away because he inhaled too much smoke." The chief of the Imperial Forest Army knelt on the ground, not daring to look at the emperor's face.

"I'm going to see this second brother." Feng Jin stood up and walked towards Ruiqing Palace.

The prosperous palace in the past seemed a bit desolate due to disrepair for a long time, but now it is even more desolate after encountering a fire. Gao Dezhong looked at the ashes and sewage all over the floor, and bowed to help the emperor.

Feng Jin waved Gao Dezhong's hand back, and strode to the corpse of King Gou, what he saw was the King Gou who was in a panic, although his body was already stained with dirt such as charcoal ash, he was still recognizable with a frightened face Whose.

King Gu didn't inherit Webster's good looks, on the contrary, he looked mediocre. He acted arrogantly in the harem back then, even embarrassing him in front of other servants. Later, he cursed at him after he was imprisoned. Now he just lay down in such embarrassment.

Seeing the emperor quietly staring at a dead man, everyone dared not show their anger, presumably they all knew about those things back then.

"I pass on my decree. Although King Gui was misbehaving and arrogant during his lifetime, he remembered that he was buried with the ceremony of ten thousand households and changed his title to ceremony." Feng Jin glanced at the palace, turned around and strode away. go out.

The decree clearly stated that he acted improperly and arrogantly, and even gave him a title as a gift, which is really ironic. The chief of the Imperial Forest Army glanced at King Li's corpse, told the people below to pack up quickly, and turned around to follow.

When the concubines saw the emperor coming back, they saluted timidly, Feng Jin didn't care to listen to these women's nonsense, so he waved these women to retreat.

The Empress Dowager looked at the desolate Ruiqing Palace, and said calmly, "Since the Ruiqing Palace has lost water, let's change its name after it is rebuilt."

Although Feng Jin respected the Queen Mother, he would never let the Queen Mother intervene in his decisions. After hearing what the Queen Mother said, he said, "You don't need to worry about the Queen Mother, I know what to do."

The queen mother nodded, and wanted to say something else, but seeing her indifferent face, she finally left holding the queen's hand.

Feng Jin glanced at the backs of the Queen Mother and her party, and said slowly: "Send your car back to the palace."

After the trouble came to an end, Zhuang Luoyan had already started yawning while sitting on the chariot, so that even Concubine Yangui didn't notice when she walked to her side.

"Sister Zhao is sleepy?" Concubine Yan Gui said with something in her words, "Sister is really a kind-hearted person."

Zhuang Luoyan turned her head and saw that it was Concubine Yan Gui, and said calmly, "Sister, what do you mean by this, you and I are concubines in the harem, other things are decided by the empress dowager, what should my sister worry about?"

Concubine Yangui wanted to talk about the water leak in Ruiqing Palace and King Jiu's death, but when she remembered those things in the past, she held back and said instead: "My sister misunderstood, I am just worried that my sister will be frightened by what happened today."

"Thank you for your concern, sister," Zhuang Luoyan smiled lightly, "Please rest assured, sister."

Concubine Yan Gui forced a smile, "Of course." When she encountered a fork in the road, Concubine Yan Gui let the slave who carried the chariot go away.

Not far behind the two, Concubine Shu and Su Xiuyi's chariots were moving forward quietly in the night, Su Xiuyi saw that Yangui's concubine and Zhao Chongyi's chariot had separated, and said: "Sister, it seems that this Yangui concubine is in Zhaochongyi's Didn't get any benefit."

Concubine Shu glanced ahead, showing a sarcastic smile, "She still thinks she is the most favored."

Su Xiuyi looked ahead, then at Concubine Shu, but did not speak again.

How did Ruiqing Palace catch fire, was it accidental or man-made?

The next day the emperor ordered a thorough investigation, but everyone knew that it was the same whether the investigation was carried out or not. This king of rites was a thorn in the emperor's heart, and it was better to pull it out than to keep it, even if the thorn was nothing threaten.

None of the ministers was going to make trouble for the emperor. What the emperor said was what he said, and it had nothing to do with political affairs. The emperor's family had a lot of secrets.

For the concubines in the harem, neither the King of Li nor the King of Gou has anything to do with them. The only difference is that the Empress Dowager who has been worshiping the Buddha for nearly a year has appeared in the harem. What else will happen in the harem?

And will Ye Shurong, who has already had a miscarriage, and Ye Ronghua, who has been relegated, climb up again by relying on the Queen Mother? Anyway, the two sisters of the Ye family are the nieces of the Empress Dowager, and this relationship is beyond the reach of other concubines.

Zhuang Luoyan didn't have as many thoughts as the other concubines. To her, it didn't matter which concubine the queen mother was related to. What mattered was the emperor's thoughts.

According to TV drama experience and historical experience, if the emperor's cousin or concubine's concubine has no real power in the family, and the emperor's mother is at ease, and the concubine can clearly recognize the occasion, then life in the harem will still be very comfortable. If there is real power in the family, the emperor's mother still manages the east and the west, and the concubines are not good at thinking. This kind of woman may be able to have a good time, but the end result will not be so good.

Therefore, no matter which of the two possibilities the Ye family sisters belong to, it doesn't matter much to her, unless the back position is empty now.

While Zhuang Luorou was happily drinking the sour plum ice soup, the reward from the queen mother came down.

Zhuang Luoyan looked at the silk and jade pendant on the table and smiled lightly. The queen mother is not giving rewards to the concubines, I am afraid that she is telling the women in the harem that the queen mother and her old man are going to leave the mountain, so everyone should be honest.