"Hey, is it the mother-in-law who ran away?" One of the palace servants heard the cat meowing and said curiously. Nian loved cats and had always kept them around. The last time Nian Gengyao entered the palace, he came from nowhere.
He found a cat that was all white with golden eyes. Nian liked the way it looked all furry and balled up, so he named it Tuantuan.
Hong Sheng casually glanced at the place where the cat was meowing. Unexpectedly, he saw Hong Li lying on the wall. He was shocked. Afraid of being discovered by the palace people, he said: "E Niang likes Tuan Tuan the most. If it really ran out,
All of you must be punished, and hurry up and look for them."
After everyone in the palace dispersed, he motioned to Hongli to go to the back door, and then opened the door carefully while no one was around. As soon as he saw Hongli and the two of them, he said: "What are you two doing?
Kun Gong came to climb the wall. If someone discovers it, he will file a lawsuit with my mother-in-law and Huang Ama. Let’s see how you end it.”
"It's none of my business, it was Fourth Brother's idea." Hong Zhou looked aggrieved, but he did nothing.
Hong Sheng turned his gaze to Hong Li and said with a hint of brotherly dignity: "Fourth brother, when did you become so imprudent? Can you climb the walls of Yikun Palace at will? What if my mother-in-law finds out?
Even if I won’t punish you personally, I will definitely report it to Huang Ama and your mother-in-law.”
"I'm worried about third brother." Hongli curled his lips and said a little aggrievedly, and then said nervously: "Third brother, does the imperial concubine know that you gave me the jade pendant? That's why I don't let you go to class.
?”
Hong Sheng's eyes dimmed and he said in a low voice: "Yes, E Niang recognized that jade pendant. Today I am ordered to stay in the palace and not to go anywhere."
"I'm sorry, it was me who caused you trouble. If I didn't wear that jade pendant, nothing would have happened." Hongli blamed himself. If he hadn't been greedy for the beauty of the jade pendant and wore it around his waist, how could he have been noticed by Concubine Nian?
arrive.
"Forget it, the matter has come to this, and it is useless to talk about it anymore. E Niang is really angry this time. I guess even if I go out in the future, the palace people will stare at me, and it will be inconvenient to talk to you again. And I also promise E Niang in the future.
I will never interact with you again." Hong Sheng said helplessly.
"Then the third brother can't play with us anymore?" Hong Zhou was disappointed. He finally got closer to Hong Sheng, but in the blink of an eye he became like this again.
"There will be opportunities in the future. Lao Si is good at reading. You should study more and don't be as playful as I used to be. Otherwise, no matter how smart you are, it will be useless." Hong Sheng was quite sad. It was rare for him to find such a person in the palace.
A little bit of brotherly friendship was cut off by E Niang.
"Okay, if you have nothing to do, you should leave quickly. I guess those palace officials will be back soon." Hong Sheng said cruelly: "It will be troublesome if they find out."
"Well, take care of it yourself, third brother." Hongli was about to leave when he suddenly remembered something and quickly took off the bamboo jar tied to his body at the edge of the door. "Here you go, this is the dew collected last night, almost half of it."
The can is enough for you to make a cup of tea
Today I will put a few more bamboo jars and try to pick more for you..." After talking for a while, remembering that it was inconvenient for him and Hong Sheng to meet, he said one by one: "I will have people put bamboo jars in Yi every morning.
The back door of Kun Palace, remember to take it in."
"It's okay if I don't drink. Don't worry about it." Hong Sheng took the slightly heavy bamboo jar, his nose was slightly sore. The sound of palace people looking for Hong Sheng could be heard in the distance, thinking that they had discovered that Hong Sheng was missing.
"It's okay, it's settled." Hong Li smiled nonchalantly, then pulled Hong Zhou back a few steps, "Okay, third brother, please close the door quickly so that no one can see it."
"Yes." Hong Sheng nodded vigorously, closed the door again, and strode out of the backyard. No matter what, Hong Li was his good brother and would never change in his life.
Every day after that, Hongli fulfilled his promise and put half of the dew collected at the back door of Yikun Palace. Rain or shine, there was at least half a can each time, and the bamboo forest was already densely covered with bamboo cans.
, collecting and absorbing the dew of the moon day after day.
After entering October, the weather became colder and colder. It was already freezing to hands and feet without burning charcoal, but Yishui Xuan was deserted and deserted as usual.
No one knows what the Queen said when she summoned Shumulu Jiahui, and she was as quiet as before when she came back. It should be said that she was getting quieter, and her presence was not even felt.
After a few days of worry, Huiqiu and the others found that the punishment they imagined had not come, and they gradually began to become bolder again, feeling that the queen did not take Shumulu seriously at all.
In this thought, their behavior of betraying their masters and deceiving them became more and more unscrupulous. In such a cold weather, not only did they take away the silver charcoal, they even took four sets of winter clothes and got them into the hands of Shu Mulu.
There is only one set left, not even enough for replacement, so
So she could only wear it together with Qiu clothes. She really felt cold, so she wore a few more middle coats underneath. But when Hui Qiu and the others took it to wash, they started talking again, overtly and covertly.
The purpose of mocking her for wearing so many clothes was to make them wash a few more pieces.
Mrs. Shumulus always endured and did not argue with them, but such tolerance only made her situation worse. It was about to start winter, and every morning when she got up, there was a thick layer of frost outside. She
But he still couldn't enjoy even a sliver of charcoal fire. In addition, his clothes were not warm, so he couldn't bear the cold.
After thinking about it for a long time, he finally decided to call Eqiu and the others in, and said kindly: "It is October now, and the Ministry of Internal Affairs must have brought down some charcoal for heating. You can take some out and light the charcoal stove.
Come on." Fearing that Hui Qiu and the others would not be happy, he added: "You don't need too much, just enough to keep you warm."
Hui Qiu said impatiently: "Master, I have told you before that I will stay in the house and not go out. If you are too cold, just wrap yourself up in a quilt. What are you doing burning charcoal fire? Silver charcoal says there is no smoke, but really
It's still very smoky when burned, and it won't matter if the slaves are used to it, but you, with your delicate skin and tender flesh, can't bear it, so it's better not to burn the charcoal pot."
"But, it's really cold today, and I can't stand it without lighting the charcoal basin." Mrs. Shumulus was used to swallowing her anger, and it took her a long time to muster the courage to say this. Of course, it was also because she couldn't stand the cold.
Hui Qiu's expression became more and more impatient. They were used to enjoying it, and now they were not willing to spit it out again. He simply said: "To be honest with you, Master, the charcoal sent by the Ministry of Internal Affairs has been almost used, and it really can't be evened out."
"It's only the beginning of the month, so there's no reason to use it up. Hui Qiu, this charcoal was originally allocated to me. Now I understand your hard work as servants and don't care about it anymore. Why are you still resisting the need to use some charcoal? This
What’s the point?” Shu
Mu Lu was so angry that she said a few more words, but she didn't know that as soon as she finished speaking, another palace maid said: "Master, since his heart is kind, he must be kind to the end. Don't embarrass the slaves anymore. If you want charcoal, just do it."
You can go to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and collect it yourself."