Next to the small courtyard where the theater troupe is located, there is a large stage.
There are various ancient trees planted on both sides of the stage, with tall trunks and lush crowns, making the enclosed courtyard even more secluded and small.
There are only three rooms in the small courtyard, and the principal arranged for Jia Fei to rest alone in the main room.
The class leader and the deputy class leader live together in another room, leaving the last room for the rest of the group.
Fortunately, it was midsummer at this time, so you could sleep on a mat in the house, and you could live in a crowded place. However, the house was stuffy and hot, and there were mosquitoes infesting it, so the children were making a fuss when they couldn't sleep.
"You guys, go and have a rest in my main room. There is a draft there and it is not as stuffy as here."
Jia Fei came in from outside the house and said to several women and children.
Before the women could agree, the children shouted to Da Wusheng and rushed out of the door. Among them, the youngest Erwazi walked at the end and did not follow her out. He just looked up at her with his fingers in his mouth.
Jia Fei knelt down and touched Er Wazi’s head and asked:
"Still hungry?"
"Not hungry anymore."
After Erwazi finished speaking in a milky voice, he rolled his little eyes and continued:
"Otakesheng, thank you for the food and sweets, and yesterday's ice-flavored cap, it was so sweet... um... do you have any more?"
Jia Fei couldn't help but laugh, patted the second child's head, and promised him that he would find a way to get them more, and then the little child jumped happily and ran towards the main room.
The remaining women wished them well, and Jia Fei took advantage of them not paying attention and took out a few packets of food from the brocade bag and handed them to them. After the women thanked them again, they went to the main room to take the children to rest.
Jia Fei returned to the courtyard alone. In the wing room opposite, the deputy leader heard the noise and came out of the room to bow to the cat demon and thank him:
"At first I thought you were really going to leave, but when the people from the palace came to my door this afternoon, I was frightened, especially the husband from the palace. But when I called my name, I insisted on you singing.
That will definitely cause trouble."
The old class leader also hurriedly came out after hearing this and echoed:
"Oh, no, you don't know. That husband screamed and threatened in a high-pitched voice, which scared us to the point where we didn't know what to do. Fortunately, the handsome young man in white was still sensible, and he
He didn’t embarrass us too much. Oh, by the way, that young gentleman in white clothes came to inquire about you..."
Jia Fei nodded and interjected:
"I know him, just keep talking."
"Oh, the young man in white thinks he has a long-standing friendship with you, so we also benefited from it, so he didn't make it difficult for us. He only said that the palace wanted us to go to the singing hall. We had to go this time, so we couldn't
No... Hehe! It's a pity that I met you in the capital. Otherwise, our team's lives would have been lost here."
After the old leader finished speaking, he pulled Jia Fei into the corner and whispered:
"I seemed to have had a dream this morning. I dreamed that someone said that Duan Yulou had become a bandit leader in Qianyuan Prefecture?"
After the old leader bowed his head and finished speaking, he carefully turned his eyes upward and looked at Jia Fei. The cat demon pondered for a moment and then replied:
"It is indeed true. I... also got the news from the government. Fortunately, the investigation has not gone as far as this. Therefore, it is up to the class leader to decide how to deal with it after this trip."
"Yes Yes……"
After finishing speaking, the old class leader wiped the sweat from his forehead, turned around with a frown and took the deputy class leader, and they went back to the house to think about their thoughts, leaving Jia Fei alone in the courtyard.
She looked up at the small starry sky above her head, and saw a small sparrow flying in the sky.
Cheng Yu folded his wings and landed on the overhang of the stage next to the small courtyard, maintaining the barrier while carefully feeling the surrounding environment.
The palace was very quiet at this time, with nothing unusual at all.
'I'll take a look from the top.'
"Pullingleng!"
After Cheng Yu transmitted the message to Jia Fei, he spread his wings and flew into the air.
Looking down, I can see the entire palace at a glance. It is more than twice as big as Qian's Mansion in Qingchuan County.
There are more than a dozen courtyards in front and back, and almost every courtyard comes with a garden of different sizes. There is even a stage of almost the same size in the backyard.
The stage is located next to a pond, surrounded by patches of lotus leaves and lotus flowers, and has pavilions and pavilions at various heights. It is much more elegant than the Qian Mansion in Qingchuan.
Next to the stage, he saw Eunuch Zheng, who was in a hurry to make an appointment, walking in three and two steps to an exquisite and elegant courtyard with two entrances. The three characters "Yueyunzhai" were written on the plaque on the door of the courtyard.
Cheng Yu was still some distance away from Yueyunzhai at this time. He couldn't hear any movement over there, so he had to speed up and fly forward. When he flew near Yueyunzhai, he was too far away from Jia Fei's.
The gas machine connection is interrupted.
At this time, Eunuch Zheng had entered the courtyard. The main room of the courtyard was still lit with lights, but the doors and windows were covered with a screen, presumably to block mosquitoes.
Eunuch Zheng walked to the porch and was stopped by the female servant under the porch. He did not dare to go any further and stood in the courtyard to report:
"Sister Yun, everyone from the birthday class has been brought here, and now they are placed in the yard next to the stage in Qianfu."
Cheng Yu landed on the wall of the courtyard and looked at Eunuch Zheng standing respectfully to report back. There were two young female envoys guarding the servants at the entrance of the small courtyard and in front of the porch of the main room.
At this time, the theater troupe has been settled in the front palace, and the eunuch who went to report has just arrived in the principal's courtyard. This shows how big the palace is.
After the eunuch finished his report, he took out a token from his pocket and handed it to the female envoy outside the porch. He did not retreat, but still stood waiting with his hands lowered.
"Okay, let them rest for now. We'll talk about it when it gets light tomorrow. You can go and rest too."
A slightly gentle female voice came out slowly from inside the house.
Upon hearing this, Eunuch Zheng hurriedly replied, turned around and went out to the courtyard.
But before he reached the entrance of the courtyard, he was stopped by the female voice in the room:
"Wait a minute, the new guy in his team is going to cause a stir. Is the person pretending to be a martial artist named Cheng?"
"Back to Sister Yun, the person pretending to be a martial artist is a young man, and his surname is indeed Cheng."
After Eunuch Zheng finished his reply, the person in the main room, who was called Sister Yun, paused for a few breaths before speaking again:
"Call him to come with the troupe leader."
"Ah? Calling him here now? But the harem door is closed, and they have just arrived at the mansion and haven't practiced etiquette yet. They might bump into the sisters..."
Eunuch Zheng said in surprise.
"We have obeyed the order of the princess to give the opera troupe a test first to avoid making mistakes. If we pass the test, you can intensify the teaching of etiquette tomorrow.
If you fail the exam, you will be sent back where you came from, and there will be no way to practice etiquette. As for the harem gate, the princess gave you this token when she left the house..."
In the room, Sister Yun said and clapped her hands. The female envoy in the porch heard the sound and walked to the door. The door curtain was opened a crack from inside the house, and a gold token was handed out from inside. The female envoy took the gold medal and turned around to leave.
Go down the porch and walk to Eunuch Zheng.
"With this token, you can open the palace door."
"yes."
Eunuch Zheng took a look at the token. It was a circle larger than the one he handed over just now, with the two characters "An Ting" clearly engraved on the front, and he knew that this token was indeed given by the princess.
"Don't be harsh to others."
In the room, Sister Yun added another sentence, and Eunuch Zheng hurriedly replied, taking the gold medal with both hands respectfully, but did not leave in a hurry. He waited for another moment or two, and then waited slowly for a moment or two after hearing no other instructions from the room.
Exit the yard slowly.
As soon as he left the Yueyunzhai courtyard, Eunuch Zheng sighed inaudibly, turned around, shook his head, lifted up his robe sleeves, and quickly returned to the direction of the front house.
Because the palace was too big and the harem was too far away from the stage in the front palace, the eunuch still had to run for a while to get to the courtyard where the theater troupe was.
The Qi connection between Cheng Yu and the cat demon was broken, and there was nothing going on with the cat demon, so he thought that he would stay here to explore the truth first, and then go back and report to him in time.
The sister Yun the eunuch mentioned just now should be Mu Yun, one of the four personal female officers under the princess.
I heard the two drunken people talking wildly outside the mansion before, saying that three of the five beauties in Prince Yu's palace have left, and there are still two beauties left in the palace. One of them is naturally this Mu Yun, and the other...
Cheng Yu glanced at the plaque with the words "Yueyunzhai" written on the gate of the small courtyard, and guessed that the other person left behind was probably Jin Yue.
While thinking about it, Cheng Yu did not forget to spread his consciousness quietly and scan the small courtyard, and then gently landed on a rockery stone in the corner of the courtyard.
At this time, he was too far away from Jia Fei, and although he couldn't use his clairvoyance, he could tell with his outstanding hearing that there was indeed the sound of another person's breathing in the main room where Mu Yun was, but it seemed that there was another person breathing.
He was doing his own thing quietly without anyone saying anything.
Um?
After landing in the courtyard, Cheng Yu suddenly felt a cool breath coming out of the house, accompanied by bursts of fragrance.
This fragrance is natural and gentle, not overpowering but rich, as if the fragrance of flowers and fruits are lingering and intertwined.
"Sister Hui Yun, the hot water for you and Sister Yue's bath has been heated."
At this time, a little maid came from the second backyard, stood outside the porch and shouted into the main house.
"I know, prepare the water for us first. I'll let you know if we need it later."
"yes!"
The little maid returned to the backyard, and Cheng Yu happened to land on the wall of the front yard at this time.
Sister Yue...
The two female officials who stayed behind in the palace were indeed Mu Yun and Jin Yue.
He raised his head and looked inside the main house, but there were two silk curtains hanging at the door, which were breathable but not transparent, so he could not see clearly inside the house.
He scanned around with his consciousness and found that the four female servants in the front yard were standing quietly, motionless. The two female officials in the main room seemed to be packing their things separately, and they were also silent. Only the sound of boiling water could be heard in the backyard, and there was also
Mixed with the whispers of several fire girls.
"The boiled water is not available for washing. On a hot day, we have to stay here to keep the fire."
"No...hey! Tell me, why didn't they go with you? It would be great if they all went. I heard that no one has taken care of those prodigal hoofs in Sister Xing's yard next door in the past two or three days.
, as comfortable as herding sheep, sleeping for a full day during the day, and not getting up until it was dark and cool. Without washing, they went to the Lingku to touch some ice, and ate fresh fruits according to the chef's instructions, and had cold drinks at night.
Wine cools down the heat."
"Oh! Don't mention it... let them eat it. Then they will have irregular menstrual periods and become weak. They will wait until Sister Xing and the others come back... Huh! Just wait and see, the one in the courtyard next door will
The two of them are no better than the two of us, and those little hooves will inevitably be hit by a brick wall when the time comes."
Cheng Yu saw that the girls who were lighting the fire in the backyard were only chatting about laziness and idleness, including some private conversations in the boudoir, so he had no intention of paying attention.
At this time, he was standing on a loquat tree in the courtyard, less than ten feet away from the window of the main house.
It's a pity that the carved wooden lattice window is also covered with a layer of silk screen, which also allows light and air to pass through but does not allow shadow to pass through.
The lights in the house were quite bright, and looking out of the screen window, two graceful women were dimly reflected, and they seemed to be crouching in front of the desk.
"Whoosh!"
There was a gentle sound of paper shaking from inside, followed by a series of very slight rustling sounds.
"These strokes are quite well written, but they don't look like my daughter's handwriting."
Mu Yun's voice came from the room, seeming to be speaking to another female officer Jin Yueyan.
However, Cheng Yu did not hear Jin Yue's words, only heard his faint laughter, and the rustling sound of the pen tip rubbing against the paper resumed.
The two female officials in the room never spoke again, except for a young female servant outside the porch who secretly yawned.
Apart from that, there were only a few sparse chirping of insects in the courtyard, and even the non-stop chirping of cicadas outside.
At this time, the entire courtyard, illuminated by the gauze lanterns on the porch, once again showed a simple and elegant charm, without any oppressive feeling of royal nobility, which made Cheng Yu inexplicably feel quite comfortable in his heart.
"Wow!"
There was another sound of paper shaking, followed by Jin Yue's slightly lazy yawn.
"Half a stick of incense has been burned..."
Jin Yue finally spoke and muttered softly. If Cheng Yu didn't have sharp ears, he would never have been able to hear it. I guess this female official was very quiet and didn't like to talk.
As soon as he finished speaking, under the candlelight, a figure looking out was outlined on the screen window.
"Well, in my opinion, Mr. Zheng is getting older and has become more and more lazy recently. I heard rumors from the little girls outside that after getting up early to send him errands, the old man would still grumble and complain all the way.
"
Mu Yun murmured in a low voice as if he were chatting at home, not at all the same as when he was talking to Eunuch Zheng just now.
Jin Yue didn't say anything else, and soon the sound of the pen tip grazing the paper rustled again in the room.
