On the winter solstice, the capital was covered with heavy snow.
In the third secret room of the Qintian Prison, there is a red lacquer table in the center of the plain gauze curtain, with a row of white jade rhythm tubes placed on it.
It's almost noon, and a wisp of jia ash flies out of the rhythm tube engraved with the words "winter solstice", which indicates the beginning of the winter solstice and the birth of yang energy.
It is said that the winter solstice is an auspicious day.
At this time, a banquet was being held in the Forbidden Palace as usual, even though it had only been two months since the deposed prince's rebellion.
In this bloody storm, the deposed prince and the deposed queen were drugged to death, and the deposed crown concubine hanged herself.
A group of courtiers were implicated, and another group of upstarts took the stage.
The residual blood of Tonghu Mountain is still there, but the red plum blossoms in front of the steps of the East Palace have sprouted a few buds.
The most respected and majestic place in the world is also the cruelest and darkest place.
On the corridor northwest of the Forbidden Palace, two eunuchs, one large and one small, were walking from north to south with a group of maids who had just entered the palace.
Among the scattered jade, an elderly palace maid walked towards her.
Behind her was a little palace maid in blue holding an umbrella.
When the eunuchs saw her, they quickly stopped, smiled and said hello.
"Aunt Ningcui, why did you come here in such a cold weather?"
"Are these all new to the palace?" Aunt Ningcui glanced at the palace maids, her voice was calm and indifferent as the cold wind could not dissipate, "Where are you taking them?"
"As for my aunt, these fifty people are all the daughters of guilty ministers. Because there is really not enough manpower in the palace, we just showed mercy and selected these people from the families of the exiled guilty ministers." The eunuch said, "They are not qualified.
Those who go to the 12th Supervision Bureau can only work in the 4th Division and 8th Bureau. They must first be led to give a lecture, and then they must learn the rules and then be assigned to various places."
"The two people we released from the palace last month have not yet filled the vacancies. At the end of the year, we will have to kneel down and copy scriptures again, so we need to fill them with two people who can write.
I have other things to do at the moment, so tell Qian Sanchun and ask him to leave two good ones for me."
"Don't worry, aunt, the young ones will definitely spread the word." The eunuchs said hurriedly.
"Then you'll have a hard time." After Ningcui said that, she got out of the way and the group continued to move forward.
"It's so pitiful," the little palace maid holding an umbrella sighed as she looked at the backs of the group of people, "These people were originally the daughters of noble families, but now they are all low-class maids.
It's so difficult in this palace, I really don't know if they can bear it.
Especially the penultimate one on the west side. Looking at her frail body, I am afraid that if the wind gets stronger, she will be blown away. I wonder whose house it belongs to? It looks good."
Most of these people have been able to accompany their family elders to the palace to pay their respects before, and they have all been seen more or less.
But that one, the little palace maid, has never met her.
In such a cold weather, these women were only wearing coarse cloth and thin cotton clothes, which could not protect them from the wind and snow.
His hands and face were stiff and red from the cold, and his feet were a little unruly.
But most of them still had their shoulders slumped and their backs straight, trying not to show any signs of shrinking.
Aunt Ningcui had already noticed the person the little palace maid was talking about.
She is indeed a bit frail, but her outstanding beauty and noble demeanor cannot be concealed. At a glance, it is obvious that she is the apple of many generations of scholars and wealth.
Such a person must be kept in a boudoir, held in the palm of your hand and given extra care.
Even if you get married, you still need ten miles of red dots and a golden son-in-law.
It's a pity that now he has been reduced to a mere leaf in the palace.
There is no deeper water in the world than here, and it is bitingly cold. There are whirlpools everywhere, and I don't know when it swallowed up this little duckweed.
Xue Hengzhao's feet were already numb from the cold, but he still straightened his back and walked dignifiedly with every step.
Her grandfather Xue Chang was an official in Zhongshu Ling, and his posthumous title was Wenzhong.
His father, Xue Yingchen, was appointed as the imperial eunuch to offer sacrifices to the prince. He was accused of overstepping his duties because of his petition for the abolition of the crown prince, which offended Long Yan.
After that, he was dismissed from his post and his family was ransacked, and his whole family was exiled to the scourge of Lingnan.
Because Xue Hengzhao was frail since childhood, he lived with his grandmother in his old house in Dongdu all year round, only occasionally returning to the capital for a short stay.
Even when he entered Beijing, he lived in seclusion and rarely interacted with others.
Therefore, none of the people who are now in the palace are familiar with her.
The long corridor is as far as the eye can see, with a snowy road sandwiched between two dark red palace walls. It is narrow and cold, just like the fate they will suffer.
After walking forward for a while, the snow seemed to lighten a little, and the sun showed a faint red ray through the lead clouds.
Two eunuchs came out of the side door on the east side of the corridor, carrying a corpse, and happened to meet the group of people opposite.
The alley was filled with wind, and a gust of wind lifted up the white cloth covering the body, revealing a frozen and frightened face.
The wide-open eyes and purple face made people's hair stand on end, and the originally neat team suddenly became chaotic.
Lin Fufei, who was next to Xue Hengzhao, was the most timid, but the corpse was closest to her.
She was so frightened that she fell to the ground, almost bringing Xue Hengzhao down with her.
The two eunuchs carrying the body didn't say anything, they just stretched out their hands to cover it with white cloth and continued walking north.
Their faces were like the bricks on the corridor, cold, hard, and expressionless.
Lin Fufei is the only daughter of the Lin family. She has eight brothers, all of whom love her very much.
Normally, when she sees a caterpillar, she will become so frightened that her face changes color, and she has to be hugged and comforted by her mother for half a day before she can recover.
Now that I saw the ferocious dead face, I was immediately frightened and started crying.
The eunuch who led the team came over and shouted: "Why are you crying?! You haven't stood up quickly yet, you really don't understand the rules! You're late, I won't expose your skin!"
The more he scolded her, the harder Lin Fufei cried.
The cry was full of fear and grievance.
Gradually, people around her began to become dissatisfied. Her behavior might affect everyone.
The eunuch stepped forward to kick her, but Xue Hengzhao stretched out his hand to Lin Fufei.
Her wrist was white and slender, making Lin Fufei afraid to hold it tightly.
"If you don't get up, you will be beaten." Although Xue Hengzhao's voice was low, it was so clear.
It's like the feather sound of Jinse, clear and graceful, touching people's hearts.
But her eyes were very calm and cold, as if she was warning Lin Fufei not to be willful.
Lin Fufei suddenly stopped crying.
"It's so unlucky," she complained in a low voice after getting up. Her legs were still weak and she couldn't help trembling, but she still didn't forget to thank Xue Hengzhao, "Thank you very much."
Xue Hengzhao didn't say anything, but quickly retracted his hand after Lin Fufei stood firm.
It was just as neat as when she reached out before.
The team started walking slowly again, and the little eunuch rubbed his hands and said: "I heard that another person died in Miwuyuan early in the morning, is this the third one?
Everyone says that the courtyard has been haunted since Liu Guiren’s death, but it’s really evil.”
"How dare you be so cold that you are dizzy?!" After hearing this, the eunuch suddenly straightened his face and scolded, "The Holy One hates such nonsense the most, so be careful!"
The little eunuch was horrified and hurriedly squeezed out a smile, which looked like a cracked frozen persimmon. He apologized repeatedly: "Master is right, I am really out of my mind and talking nonsense. With the real dragon emperor controlling me, how can there be any evil spirits."
Your Majesty is now in his prime, and he hates unlucky words.
There was once an imperial eunuch who accidentally said "Old Jian is cold in spring and hot in autumn" while talking about the weather, and was sentenced to death with a cane.
Therefore, both the ministers of the previous dynasty and the people in the harem knew that taboos should never be violated.