Following Queen Duoduo's order, all the maids held the embroidery needles with two fingers, then stretched out their right hands and stood as steady as wooden stakes, motionless, with extremely relaxed expressions on their faces.
They couldn't even understand why the queen would take something so easy as the assessment content. Isn't this just teasing them?
After Duoduo gave the order, he took Jinlian's hand and said: "Jinlian, the sun is out, it's too hot outside, let's go inside and drink tea."
"Ah? Sister, then they..."
"Don't worry, it will take an hour. Just wait slowly."
After Duoduo finished speaking, he took Bin'er back to the big living room with him. He poured out the tea he had brewed in the morning and tasted it slowly. The table was filled with various pastries, melons and fruits, all of which were personally delivered by the people from the imperial dining room.
of.
Jin Lian seemed to have a sore on her butt. She couldn't resist her curiosity and stretched her neck to look outside.
Duoduo smiled and said: "Girl, since you like watching so much, go out and watch, and report the situation to my sister by the way."
"Yes, sister, I will go out and take a look right now."
After Jin Lian finished speaking, she jumped out. She really wanted to know how a small embroidery needle could stump those palace ladies.
Soon, Jin Lian returned to the living room and said with a puzzled face: "Sister, I don't think your method will work. Such a simple thing made them chat while holding the embroidery needle."
"Really? Hehe, come on, come on, continue drinking our tea, time has just begun."
Duoduo was not in a hurry, holding his son while eating and playing.
Jin Lian couldn't bear it anymore and went out for the second time.
"Sister, sister, it's strange, why are they all frowning now?" Jin Lian ran in and asked.
Duoduo smiled and said nothing, and just said: "I told you not to be anxious, come and drink tea."
Jin Lian couldn't help it again and went out for the third time.
Soon, she ran back and said: "Sister, they are all sweating profusely now. The sun is not so hot now, so why are they sweating so much?"
Duoduo said: "Of course it's the effect of embroidery needles. Jin Lian, you don't know. If you let them carry a pot of tea or a jar of wine, I believe there will be many people who can pass this test. But if you hold the embroidery needle with your fingers,
It’s probably several times more difficult to needle someone for an hour without falling off the ground. If you don’t believe it, you can try it yourself.”
Jin Lian didn't believe it at first, but now she was half-convinced. She didn't bother to go out to see it anymore. Anyway, she would see for herself after an hour.
While Duoduo was drinking tea, he saw his son drawing on the table with a chopstick. On a whim, he asked Jinlian to bring the Four Treasures of the Study and try to teach his son to write.
Bin'er was also very active, taking a brush and scribbling a few symbols on the white paper.
Duoduo glanced at it and almost fainted. Is this... is this really a coincidence? Or... fainted. This little kid who has never written a pen drew those four symbols for her from the beginning.
Why don't you become a human being?
"What's wrong, sister? Bin'er's strokes are quite coherent. Isn't that good? Jin Lian can only understand some words, but can't write them. You see, my writing is much worse than Bin'er's. He can't
The ink is drawn so evenly." Jin Lian said, and also drew that one... Speechless, okay, let's just treat it as a coincidence, alas... Duoduo took the brush and wrote a square word on the paper: mouth.
"Come on, son, recite together with mother: mouth!"
"What is the mouth?" Bin'er asked, tilting his head.
"A mouth is a mouth, you confused idiot!"
"Mouth? Mom, isn't that how it should be?" Bin'er took a pen and quickly drew a horizontal line in the middle of the word "mouth": "If there is a tongue, then this is the mouth. Mom, quack."
"Holy shit! You, you, you..." Duoduo felt that she was always hinting that her son would really not be a good bird in the future. She first wrote that, and then changed it to... 日!
"Mom, why are you angry? Isn't Bin'er right?"
Duoduo suddenly felt like his face was cramping. He twitched the corner of his mouth a few times and said: "Yes, yes, yes, you are right in everything, but this text was set by our ancestors long ago. We cannot change it at will. Do you understand?"
?”
"Oh, I understand, mother."
The three of them were scribbling in the living room for a while. Duoduo originally wanted to teach his son how to read, but later he found that his handwriting was not very good, so he left his son to do some writing and ink alone.
"Ah...ha..." It's easy to feel sleepy in a comfortable life. Living in such a big palace, with good food and clothing, Duoduo suddenly realized a problem. The emperor named her empress despite such heavy pressure from public opinion.
, keeping her like a pet, could it be that she wants her to cling to the quilt in autumn silk and winter satin, and have enough food and wine to think about sex?
Just as Duoduo was thinking about it, her face felt cold. It was actually her son who had drawn a stroke on her pink and tender face!
"Little bastard, I think you are looking for death, come here!" Duoduo yelled at his son.
"Quack, I don't, my mother is a tabby cat face..." Bin'er played circles with her mother around the big round stone table.
"Sister, the time has come!" Jin Lian suddenly shouted, and then ran out quickly.
"You don't have to run so fast. No matter how fast you run, the result will still be the same."
The three masters and servants walked out of the hall and came to the palace ladies.
"Ah? How could this happen?" Jin Lian couldn't believe her eyes. She saw that the hands of the palace maids were all empty. Looking down, she saw that all the embroidery needles had fallen to the ground.
"You? Why is this happening?" Jin Lan said angrily: "I can't even hold an embroidery needle, so what's the use of having you here?"
"Sister Jinlian, you don't know until you have tried it. There was no problem for the first half an hour. Later, my fingers became a little numb and sweated again. I felt tired when I squeezed them hard. I was afraid of falling if I didn't use any force. After several tossings, it didn't work.
You know when the embroidery needle is on the ground..."
"You are still quibbling, what a bunch of useless guys!" Jin Lian walked around and suddenly pointed at the last palace maid and screamed: "Sister, come and see, I finally see someone who is qualified!"
Duoduo was also secretly happy. This person's endurance was indeed extraordinary. Who else could she use?
When she got closer, she saw that the embroidery needle was still firmly held between her two fingers.
"Well, that's good. Finally, someone made it to the end. Everyone else, you can leave."
"Yes, please leave..." The maids picked up the embroidery needles from the ground and walked out of Xiangyun Palace with their heads lowered.
Duoduo asked the palace maid: "What is your name?"
"Go back to the queen, my slave has a one-night stand."
"Late stand? This name is quite poetic. Okay, now that you have passed the examination, congratulations. You will follow me from now on, and you will be indispensable for being a popular and popular person."
"Sister..." Jin Lian couldn't help but tugged at Duoduo's clothes. This queen must have the airs of a queen. How could she still talk about popular things like a ruffian concubine like before... "Empress, slave,
This slave has something to say..." The palace maid suddenly said with a panicked look on her face.
"Empress, slave, slave, I have something to say..." the palace maid suddenly said with a panicked look on her face.
Duoduo smiled and said: "There is no need to say anything about being grateful. From now on, when you become a member of this palace, I will naturally protect you."
"No, ma'am..."
"No, come on, relax, put your hand down and give me the embroidery needle." Duoduo smiled and reached for the embroidery needle.
I was suddenly shocked. I tried my best to get the embroidery needle off!
"Who are you?" Duoduo pressed the maid's pulse with a backhand!
"Mother, what I have always wanted to say is that I was working in Sizhen's room. I was rushed here by people from the Ministry of Internal Affairs just now. My hands were full of paste and I didn't even have time to wash it off. So, so..."
"Isn't it?" Duoduo suddenly said with a disappointed look on his face: "I thought you had extraordinary endurance, but I didn't expect that it was the strong glue that caused the trouble. Why didn't you tell me earlier? Are you worthy of me?"
"Your Majesty, please forgive me. I didn't expect this slave to stick to you so well at first. I'm guilty of this. Please forgive me, Your Majesty."
"Oh... fate, now that things have come to this, what can I say to you? Forget it, just pretend that I didn't hear anything and accept you, Jin Lian, this palace maid will be disciplined by you."
"It's my sister. Jin Lian will take care of her late love. Don't worry, sister."
The late stander immediately burst into tears of gratitude: "Thank you so much for your grace, thank you so much for your grace."
"What's going on? Who's causing trouble in my Xiangyun Palace?"
With a powerful questioning, the emperor walked in with two other people.
"Brother..." Duoduo was so excited that he didn't even salute the emperor and rushed directly towards the Prince of Persia.
The Persian cat was not polite and hugged him as a courtesy, but the emperor was too embarrassed to say anything.
"Brother, why are you back?"
"Back to the Queen, I'm--"
"Shut up!" Duoduo glared at him seriously, and suddenly grinned: "You guy, if you call me empress again, I won't welcome you!"
"This...the emperor..."
"Oh, this is the queen's territory. I can't be the master. Ah, you can call me whatever you want."
Jin Lian secretly glanced at the Persian cat, feeling pretty good, and two red clouds flew up unconsciously on her face.
The two brothers and sisters naturally had a lot to say when they met again, but now that Duoduo has become the mother of the country, and with the emperor sitting next to her, everything has become extremely restrictive.
"Prince of Persia, what are your plans for this visit?"
"Your Majesty, I came here just for sightseeing. Last time, I had to prepare for the martial arts competition, so I didn't have time to appreciate the charming scenery of the Southern Dynasty. This time, I also brought my imperial sister with me.
Maybe, I’ll stay for a while.”
"Okay, I'm worried about staying in the palace and feeling miserable. Let's go out alone. The Emperor is worried about it. Now it's better. I have my elder brother with me. Your Majesty, you should be relieved, right?"
"Hahahaha, what should I be worried about? Let's do this. I may not have hunted for a long time. Since it is late summer and early autumn, it is a good time for hunting. I have decided to take you hunting together!"
"Okay, okay, Zilan has never seen what hunting is like. We in Persia don't have deep mountains and old forests like yours, so naturally there is no prey to hunt."
Duoduo looked at the purple and blue princess and praised: "Sister Zilan is indeed the princess of Persia. Look at her figure and appearance. She is really far from you, brother. You are like a country bumpkin."
"What? You said that about me too?"
Duoduo smiled and said, "What do you mean? Do others think so too? Haha, if one person says it's fake, if two people say it, then it's true!"
Zilan said: "The fifth prince said the same thing. By the way, Your Majesty, Zilan heard that the fifth prince is very good at fighting against all the heroes in the ring. Can the fifth prince also participate in this hunt?"
"This... ok, more people will make it more lively. It's settled. Tomorrow, when I'm ready, I'll send someone to pick you up at Prince Jie's Mansion."
Duoduo ordered the people in the imperial kitchen to serve a table of wine and food. He hadn't eaten so happily in a long time, and he drank until his head was dizzy. The banquet was finally over.
Nangong Ming seemed to be in a good mood. He stood up and was about to say something, but suddenly he sat down on the chair again, covered in night sweats.
"Your Majesty, what's wrong with you?" Duoduo walked over and helped him, feeling secretly surprised that Nangong Ming's arm was unusually cold!
The Prince of Persia also expressed concern: "Your Majesty, if you are unwell, then tomorrow's hunting will still be in the future -"
"Oh, it doesn't matter. I have been fighting for many years, so this is nothing. Tomorrow, just wait and see my hunting."
After the emperor finished speaking, he left, and Duoduo also sent the Persian cat brother and sister out of Xiangyun Palace. He watched their backs disappear around the corner before turning back to Xiangyun Palace.
"Sister, is something going to happen? Why do you look so ugly?"
Duoduo said: "I don't know either, but when I touched the emperor just now, I found that his arm was very cold and something didn't feel right."
Jin Lian said "Oh" and didn't know what to say.
Duoduo suddenly said: "Hey, Jin Lian, late stand, do you think it was the pretty girl just now or me?"
Late stand said: "My dear, you are all beautiful..."
Jin Lian glared at her late love and said: "Everything is beautiful? Of course our queen is the most beautiful! That purple and blue one, huh, she's far from it!"
Duoduo stretched out his hand and tapped Jin Lian on the head and said, "You know how to flatter me, but that Zi Lan is indeed a great beauty, and she is in the middle of the pack with my sister and me."
"What? Sister, are you worried that she will harass your King Jie? And then King Jie will be tempted?"
"He dares? Sister, I will castrate him, hum!"
The conversation between the two made Wate Qing's eyes widen like bells. The master and servant of Xiangyun Palace, outsiders would never have imagined such a scene.
Seeing that she was stunned, Jin Lian said: "Late stand, please be careful. When you enter the door of our Xiangyun Palace, you are your own family. You cannot leak a word of what we say at home to the outside world. Do you understand?"
"
"Yes, Sister Jinlian, I know about my late stand."
At this time, the guard outside took an invitation and came in to report: "Your Majesty, someone from Shangshu's Mansion has sent an invitation. Please take a look at it."
"Shang Shufu? Is it the Minister of the Ministry of War or the Minister of the Ministry of Rites?"
"It's the Empress, the Minister of Rites."
"Oh?" Duoduo took the invitation, opened it, frowned slightly, and said, "Tonight, we have something to drink again."
As night fell, Duoduo left his son with his one-night stand and left the palace in a sedan.
The Minister of Rites, Lao Lai, sent someone to send an invitation to the Queen to have a light meal at his house. Duo Duo naturally wanted to give her this favor.
However, when she and Jin Lian walked into the Shangshu Mansion, they were shocked by the deserted scene! Fortunately, there were several servants in the mansion who were busy moving here and there, hanging lanterns and pasting red paper everywhere.
It makes people look a little bit festive.
"Ah, the Queen, are you really here? Madam, come out quickly to see the Queen." A rickety figure came out of the back room, knelt down in the tunnel and said: "My queen, I am here, but I am a little far away from you. Please forgive me.
."
"See you, Queen." The lady dressed in simple clothes knelt beside her husband holding the baby boy who was just over 100 years old.
"Why are you so polite? We are all a family, please get up quickly, please get up quickly!" Duoduo helped the Minister of Rites and his wife, then stuffed a thousand taels of silver note into the baby's clothes and said: "This
That's what I meant, it's not disrespectful."
"This... your Majesty..." When Mrs. Shangshu saw the banknote of that denomination, her face changed with fright, and she looked at her husband and said, "Ms. sir, your Majesty... one thousand taels..."
"Accept it. Although we have never received gifts from others, this is given by the Queen. We will accept any amount." Shangshu said, turning around and thanking: "Thank you for your love, I will be loyal to the country in the future."
Duoduo was touched. He had long heard that the Master was very gentle and never accepted money from anyone. But today he made an exception and accepted it, which shows that in his heart, he has completely regarded her as his own queen.
Jin Lian said: "Master Shangshu, today is your 100th day of wine. Why don't any of the bureaucrats come to congratulate you?"
Shangshu said: "Haha, we have different ways and we don't want to work together. It was the lower officials who deliberately didn't tell them. In fact, I also wanted to invite the prime minister and a few of my friends, but I was afraid that others would find out. So I invited some and not others.
It’s easy to offend villains.”
Duoduo smiled and said: "So, I, as the queen, have more respect than the emperor. Haha, even the emperor doesn't know, but I got the invitation."
"Haha, I'm so ashamed. My Majesty, I don't like to show off. I originally wanted to have a meal with my family, but I can't repay the kindness of my Majesty. After thinking about it, I sent someone to tell my Majesty. If it hadn't been for my Majesty that day.
Use your body to block the official's head, my child will be an orphan as soon as he is born."
Entering the living room, Duoduo found that the host had prepared a table full of meals for them, but at first glance, most of them were vegetarian dishes, with only two plates of meat dishes placed in the middle.
Duoduo couldn't help but get angry and said: "I, the grand minister of the Southern Dynasty, live in such a miserable state for my son during the festival. Lord minister, please tell me, is it someone who has deducted your salary?
I will definitely stand up for you!"
The minister hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, calm down, your Majesty, please calm down. In fact, the lower officials receive a salary of one hundred taels per month, but..."
Seeing that Shangshu didn't know how to explain it, Mrs. Shangshu said: "My dear, there is nothing he can do. With a salary of one hundred taels per month, he can live a very good life, but he took eighty taels."
We are helping the poor and orphaned elderly people, so we live a little cautiously, please forgive me."