The buildings of this era were basically made of wood, so the doors and windows were not tight enough, and the texture of the wood could not withstand the gnawing of rats and ants. Especially in the summer, some "cuties" prefer to come in uninvited.
Therefore, in order to have a good sleep at night, and more importantly for personal safety, every palace and courtyard must sprinkle some snake and rat repellent and burn insect-killing incense every once in a while.
"Although the Old Summer Palace is cooler than the Forbidden City, there are also a lot more mosquitoes. In the side courtyard of the palace over at Changchun Garden, remember to ask someone to send more rodenticide and insecticide incense." Shu Jin smiled and ordered Zhang Shoufa.
There are so many simple and easy-to-obtain poisons, so why bother with the safflower-musk ones?
Not only is it a waste of money, but it is also easy to get caught.
Shu Jin thought to himself, I gave you the poison. As for how to poison it, you can think of it yourself. After all, this is your deep hatred, and I can't make it smooth for you.
At the same time, Shu Jin also released the news, saying that he would leave for Yonghe Temple to offer incense and pay homage to the late emperor on the Hungry Ghost Festival on July 15th, and that the late emperor's concubines could also invite him to accompany him.
The Hungry Ghost Festival is a ghost festival. It is a good time to pay homage to the dead ghost of the late emperor, and by the way, the son of the late emperor is also turned into a dead ghost!
At this time, there is still more than a month before the Hungry Ghost Festival, which should be enough for Yingshi and Liushi to arrange everything.
In a quiet palace in the Changchun Garden Palace, Yingshi looked impatient, "Sister, we have the poison, and we will send him to the west next month!"
Ms. Liu frowned secretly: "But how can we put poison in his food?" Although she knew where the kitchen of Yonghe Temple was, she really didn't want to accidentally kill an innocent person.
Suddenly, Mrs. Liu thought of something again, "The Hungry Ghost Festival is also a big day, and Sifu Jin should send Su Zhai to him."
Yingshi said quickly: "No, we can't implicate Sifujin." Back then in Sibeile Mansion, if Sifujin hadn't been kind-hearted, she would have died long ago.
Mrs. Liu naturally knew about Ying's past, so she sighed, "Then we can only wait until we are gone, and then go to the kitchen to find out which food was sent to the living room."
July 15th arrived soon as scheduled. Shu Jin originally thought of bringing Concubine Mi, Concubine Liu, Concubine Ying, and Concubine Maodegui from the Forbidden City, but there were not enough people to sign up to attend the Lama Temple memorial ceremony.
There were quite a few nobles, including Guo Taigui and Zhang Taigui who were born in Qiandi, as well as a dozen or so noble people from the Chun family, the Wang family, the An family, the Ma family, the Hai family, and the Nala family, all of whom requested to accompany the Queen Mother.
Shu Jin is in trouble, he is treating his trip to Yonghegong as a free trip!
Although helpless, Shu Jin still couldn't bear to refuse.
Some of these people have gray hair on their temples, some are young, but without exception they all become widows. Even though Shu Jin and Hong Zhou will not treat them materially badly, they will spend the rest of their lives just in Changchun Garden.
Die alone.
I don’t know if I’ll get the chance to go out to the palace for a second time in this life!
Naturally, we are encouraged to sign up!
"Okay, then let's all go." Shu Jin said with a smile, but Concubine Maodegui declined, saying that she was not feeling well due to the heat.
Shu Jin thought with his toes and knew that Lao Song didn't want to offer incense to the dead Yongzheng.
Princess Huairou's palace in Fengkeli is very close to the Forbidden City. Every now and then, she would bring her children into the palace to pay her respects, which lasted most of the day. Concubine Maodegui and her daughter were accompanying her, so she was not willing to offer incense to the dead Yongzheng!
As for Concubine Qi... Shu Jin never considered her from the beginning. What's more, Concubine Qi is now being raised in the Prince's Mansion of Ke County. Apart from some disagreements with her daughter-in-law, her life is quite fulfilling.
The group list for the one-day trip to Yonghegong Lama Temple has been finalized.
On the day of the Ghost Festival, Shu Jin got up early, and a crowd of people put on the Empress Dowager's auspicious clothes, boarded the ceremonial car, and led Concubine Mi and a group of nobles to Yonghe in a hurry.
The palace has gone.
The news came to the Lama Temple early in the morning. The abbot led a group of monks out of the gate of the Lama Temple to greet him. Shu Jin immediately knelt on the ground as soon as he got off the car.
Shu Jin's buttocks were numb from the bump all the way from the Old Summer Palace. Fortunately, she was smart and only wore Jifu instead of the higher-standard court clothes, otherwise her neck would have suffered.
After being helped out of the ceremonial car, Shu Jin suddenly realized that there was an acquaintance kneeling in front of a group of bald heads - well, not too familiar. But his identity was indeed valuable enough.
"Prince Zhuang? Why are you here?" Shu Jin wondered, why did you, a prince, go to Yonghe Temple for a purpose? Offer incense?
Prince Zhuang stood up and said: "Reporting to the Queen Mother, my brother is the Prime Minister of the Lama Temple."
For a temple, a prince has to be appointed as Prime Minister?
But then I thought about it, Yonghe Palace was the place where the late emperor once lived. This is a hidden residence! - And it is not an ordinary dormitory. Two emperors lived here! The late emperor lived here for many years, and the current emperor Hong Zhou
He was also born here. The status of Yonghe Temple is naturally extraordinary!
Shu Jin nodded, "Here comes Prince Laozhuang."
By the way, with Prince Zhuang keeping an eye on him, wouldn't it be difficult for the Liu family and the Ying family to attack him? It seems like they have to send him away.
Next, with Prince Zhuang leading the way, Shu Jin first went to the main hall of Yonghe Palace, which was the Yin'an Hall when Yongzheng was the prince. There are three bronze clay and gold Buddha statues in the hall, as well as the Eighteen Arhats in Mongolian and Mapo gold. It is indeed a solemn treasure and full of incense.
.
Shu Jin Surong stepped forward and knelt down three times, while Concubine Mi and the other nobles knelt down three rows behind her.
Shu Jin and Concubine Mi each got up and carried three sticks of incense, and then went to the Yongyou Hall in the north, where portraits of Yongzheng were enshrined, and they kowtowed and offered incense.
"The Queen Mother, next is..." Prince Zhuang stepped forward to explain again.
Shu Jin immediately raised his hand to interrupt him, "I am here to pray and offer incense to the late emperor. There is no need to go to other places."
She doesn't want to kowtow everywhere! You have to know that there are many Bodhisattvas in Buddhism! If you want to kowtow, you will never be able to finish it.
The abbot of Yonghe Temple said with a kind face: "Then please invite the Queen Mother and the concubines to go to Wanfu Pavilion to get some vegetarian food."
Shu Jin nodded, that’s pretty much it!
The chef in the dining room of Yonghe Temple is the best chef in the palace who is good at cooking vegetarian dishes. Therefore, apart from having less oil and water, this lunch really has no choice in terms of color, smell and taste.
After lunch, Shu Jin glanced at the crowd of nobles with a smile: "This Lama Temple is the palace of Prince Yong in the past, and now it is a Buddhist temple. There is nothing to avoid. You can go and have a good life, and you can worship here.
There are still many Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, so go and pray in peace."
Everyone happily said "yes" and then dispersed in twos and twos.
But Concubine Mi, Lady Liu, and Lady Ying did not leave.
Shu Jin looked at the two of them with a smile, "Why, why don't you take action?"
At this time, Prince Zhuang leaned forward again and said, "The Queen Mother, the late Emperor's fourth elder brother... want to see you."
Shu Jin raised his eyebrows, "Prince Zhuang, are you familiar with Hongli? You actually helped him pass the message?"