A Precious Pearl in the Imperial City

Out of the Sixth Palace of Zhang, the more secluded you go as you go west. The wind passed through the palace lanes, leaving a whining sound to show that they had passed by here.

Covering the shivering cat with his sleeve, Wang Chen turned his head to look at Jiu Zhu: "Little pig, are you cold?"

Jiuzhu shook his head: "The cloak that Niang Niang prepared for me is very warm. Your Highness, it looks so desolate here."

When Aunt Xiangjuan took her around the palace, she never took her here.

"The one who lives here is the concubine of the first emperor." Wang Chen said slowly: "Most of them are not of high grade and have no children under their knees. They entered the palace when they were young and have never seen Longyan several times in their lives."

He vaguely remembered that when he was very young, a fifteen-year-old palace lady died in a well on the third day after being favored by the first emperor.

"According to the ancestral system, these childless concubines should be sent to the nun's nunnery in Chong'an Prefecture to pray for the first emperor until they die." Chen Wang pointed to the high wall separating the Toffee Palace: "Actually, there are no children and no children. The old lady who is spoiled and has no maiden support, the life in the nun's house is worse than ordinary people."

"Does the person who sent them know this?" Jiuzhu grasped the cloak tightly.

"How about you know?" Chen Wang looked down at the kitten in his arms: "No one cares."

"Then why are these concubines staying in the palace now?" Jiuzhu asked curiously, and felt fortunate for these concubines.

"It was the mother concubine who left them behind. In order to avoid words, the mother concubine even made people build a high wall to separate the concubine palace and the harem." Speaking of this, Wang Chen suddenly laughed: "You It can be seen that for the first time the mother concubine was scolded by the civil servants against the demon concubine.

Jiuzhu shook his head.

"It's because of this." Chen Wang smiled sarcastically: "Some ministers feel that leaving these concubines to serve is against the ancestral system. The mother and concubine are not abiding by the ancestral law, but the enchanting concubine in the harem of disaster."

"But the empress is helping these toffees."

Chong'an Prefecture is a few hundred kilometers away from the capital, and no one knows that these old concubines are in the nun's nunnery even if they are bullied.

Those ministers who opposed the empress saw the rules of the ancestors, but what the empress saw were women who could not decide the fate of their lives.

"In fact, in the ancestral motto of the imperial Yun family, there is never a clear statement that after the emperor's death, the concubine must be sent to the nun's nunnery." King Chen triumphantly lifted his chin: "I was with my father back then. The emperor and the mother concubine have turned over the Yun family rules and family precepts three times. In the end, the ministers had to pinch their noses to acknowledge the matter and praise the emperor for filial piety.

Those ministers who had lost the quarrel did not dare to scold his father, so they only dared to say a few words behind Concubine Su bewitching the Sacred Heart.

"Wow." Jiuzhu looked at him admiringly: "His Royal Highness, Niang Niang, and Your Majesty are so amazing."

"That..." She turned her head and glanced at the court lady **** who was following her, moved to Wang Chen's side, and asked in a low voice, "Our house, did you quarrel with you?"

"Do you think those ministers, why do they end up holding their noses to praise the emperor's filial piety?" King Chen guessed what she was thinking, and said with a smile: "There is also the credit of the three adults of the Ming family."

"Tell me quickly, tell me quickly." Knowing that his family and His Highness are in the same position, Jiuzhu suddenly became energetic: "What did my dad and uncles do?"

"The three adults of the Ming family found the list of officials who were filial and honest in Daqing, and found those officials who had been praised for benevolence and kindness." Chen Wang couldn't help laughing: "Especially your second uncle, who is eloquent, just argued. Wushuang, under the guts and tongues, the opposing officials were speechless, almost hiding their faces and running in tears."

"Er uncle is so amazing." Jiuzhu heard from his mother that Er uncle is now a herd in Huaizhou and his family has moved to Huaizhou. The letters from Erbo on weekdays are humorous and amiable. She couldn't imagine how such a second uncle would cry courtiers.

"Here." Wang Chen pointed to a closed vermilion door: "Go through this door and you will arrive at the Jing'an Palace where the concubines live."

"His Royal Highness, please wait a moment with the county lord." A little **** knocked on the door, and soon someone came to open the door. The one who opened the door was an old eunuch. He saw the little eunuch, arched and asked with some caution: "What does the little father-in-law do?"

"Father-in-law, the youngest is working in the Sixth Palace of Zhang, and is now serving in front of His Royal Highness Chen. It was heard that an old lady had lost the cat, and His Royal Highness Chen personally brought the cat over."

"His Royal Highness Chen Wang?" The old lady listened to the word Chen Wang, and she was shocked, and hurriedly greeted her: "I don't know if it is the Chen Wang personally, the old slave has missed a long way to welcome her, please forgive her sins."

"Father-in-law, don't need to be polite." Jiuzhu gave the old **** helplessly: "Excuse me, take us to see the old concubine."

"This is the head of Ming County, the daughter of the minister of the Ming Dynasty." The little **** was afraid that the old **** would make jokes when he didn't know anyone, and whispered: "It's also the fiancé appointed by His Majesty for His Majesty King Chen."

"Master Ming's daughter..." The old **** whispered, looking at Jiuzhu with muddy eyes: "Two nobles, please come in, please come here with the old slave."

Stepping into the red lacquered wooden door, inside is a large garden with a palace on three sides. The gray-haired toffees sat together in twos and threes, some were talking and chatting, some holding embroidery needles, slowly poking two stitches on the embroidery fabric, tilting their heads to listen to what the other old sisters said.

Looking younger, they were arguing about calligraphy and painting around the table, and their expressions suddenly became tense when they noticed that outsiders came in.

"Are you from the palace?"

"It's not like."

"Could it be that we are going to... want us to go to Chong'an Prefecture?"

"Don't scare yourself, look at their dresses, it's clear which prince is with him..." The toffee who was speaking paused: "No, why do you wear a girl's hair bun?"

Isn't she an unmarried little girl?

"Don't guess, I saw the prince holding a cat in his hand. Didn't Sister Zhao of Jing'an Palace lose the cat? I see them, they are here to send the cat to Sister Zhao."

"The cat found it?" A toffee breathed a sigh of relief: "That's great. The person surnamed Zhao cried all night last night, and I didn't feel like I slept well."

"I don't want to say a few words. I looked at that His Royal Highness a little familiar, like His Royal Highness." The embroidered concubine was not sure. After so many years, the child of the year had long changed.

"His Royal Highness..."

The chirping concubines calmed down. They all knew that if there was no Empress Su Gui, there would be no stable life for them now.

"There are three palaces here, Jing'an Palace, Ningkang Palace, and Fushou Palace." Wang Chen whispered to Jiuzhu, "The Jing'an Palace is home to a few concubines, and the other two palaces are some low-grade old people. Concubine."

Jiuzhu noticed that there were cloth tigers, cloth rabbits and other objects hanging on the trees in the yard. The stitches were not too fine. I thought that these old people didn't look good, so they were a little crooked when sewing.

However, these toffees dressed very cleanly, with a ruddy complexion, and lived a good life.

She stood on tiptoe and touched the cloth tiger hanging down from the branch with some curiosity.

"Girl like this?" An old voice sounded behind her.

Jiuzhu retracted his hand, turned to look at the old lady who was talking, and blessed her.

"If the girl likes it, take it away." The old lady walked up to her, her gray hair was kept intact: "It's all done when the old man is bored."

"Thank you." Jiuzhu wanted to refuse, but seeing the expectation in the eyes of the old man, she reached out and took away the cat in Wang Chen's arms: "Your Highness, will you help me take it down?"

King Chen raised his eyebrows, glanced at Jiuzhu's height only to his chin, and reached out to pick the little tiger.

"Meow." The kitten lay in Jiuzhu's arms and let out a soft cry.

"Oh, this little thing." Seeing the cat, the old lady suddenly laughed: "I asked someone to look for it all night, but I found it."

Hearing the voice of the owner, the kitten flicked its tail lazily and turned its head to the old lady.

"It turns out to be Toffee your cat." Jiuzhu touched the kitten's furry head and returned the cat to the toffee: "This cat's foot has been injured. I have already called the imperial doctor to show it."

The **** of Zhangliu Gong held out the medicine: "This is the medicine prescribed by the imperial physician, so change it sooner or later."

"Thank you girl and your highness." The old princess took the cat into her arms and pressed her face to its head: "Little thing, tell you not to run around, you are not obedient, and the injury hurts. See you next time. If you dare to run around, next time you dare to run around, I won't care about you."

The old lady said no matter what, but her movements were so gentle that she didn't even touch any injuries.

"His Royal Highness and the girl brought this little naughty back." The old lady looked at the two gratefully: "Please come in for some refreshment before leaving."

Her tone was imploring, as if afraid they would refuse. Jiuzhu turned to look at Wang Chen, but did not immediately agree.

"The king will bother me." The king Chen put the taken little tiger in Jiuzhu's hand, with one hand behind him, and the other hand held the old lady's arm a little awkwardly: "Let's go."

The old concubine looked at the young man's hand on her arm, smiling and bending her eyes: "Except for the eunuch, there have been no other young people here for a long time."

Entering the door of the inner hall, Jiuzhu smelled a very faint smell of medicine.

"Someone is sick?" Wang Chen helped the concubine to sit down and looked around.

"Everyone is getting older, and it is inevitable that some headaches are inevitable." The toffee said with gratitude: "Fortunately, the concubine lady asked the imperial hospital to arrange for the imperial physician to give us old women a safe pulse every five days, so we have no major problems."

With that said, a mother about forty or fifty years old came in with tea. She looked at Wang Chen, respectfully buried her waist lower, and put up all the tea.

"If the old man didn't guess wrong, your Royal Highness should be the child of the imperial concubine, Yun Duqing?" The old lady pointed to a plate of pastries on the table: "This tastes good, try it soon."

"Thank you, Toffee." Jiuzhu grabbed a piece of snack before Chen Wang and broke it in half. After tasting two bites, he smiled and nodded: "It's delicious."

After talking and laughing, she put the other half into Wang Chen's hands.

Wang Chen ate half of the dim sum into his mouth. The taste was neither good nor bad, but it was in line with the taste of the elderly.

"Your Royal Highness's name is good, it is a blessed person." The old lady touched the kitten's head lovingly, and the kitten whimpered, and soon fell asleep.

Jiuzhu looked at this person and cat, eating a snack and laughed.

"What are you laughing at?" Chen Wang looked at her with a smile.

"I just think that Your Highness and Empress are great." Jiuzhu looked at Wang Chen, her eyes curled into crescents with a smile.

In the world, how can there be such a good, such a good person.

Wang Chen raised his eyebrows and nodded: "Well, you have a good eye for this."

"His Royal Highness, I'm going home tomorrow." Jiuzhu's smile faded a little: "Mother said in a letter that the 28th of the twelfth lunar month is a good day, and the uncle invited someone to Zhou's house to propose marriage to Fu's sixth brother. "

"Then, after New Year's Eve, I will let the mother concubine pick you up."

Princess Zhao looked at the two young men whose heads were almost close together, with a kind smile on her face.