Unknowingly, it has been three months since I entered the palace. www. It is approaching the New Year, and the palace is increasingly filled with a festive atmosphere. More and more monks are chanting sutras and praying in Tongming Hall day and night. On the twenty-fifth day of the twelfth lunar month, the annual rewards are also
I have received it. Even though I am a noble person who has been ill for a long time and has no favors, I still get a lot of rewards. With the gifts from Meizhuang Mausoleum and Chun Changzai, I can have a fulfilling New Year. Although Tangli Palace is deserted, Jin Xi and the others
There are many smiles on their faces, and they are busy cleaning the room, hanging five blessing auspicious lanterns, and posting the word "福".
The snow has been falling for two days, and the chill is getting thicker. I stood under the window with a hand warmer, watching the goose feathers of snow falling all over the sky, and the ground covered with snow. Jingqing came over and said to me with a smile:
"What are you thinking about, little master? There is wind leaking in under the window. It blows your mind and gives you a headache."
I smiled and said, "I thought everything in our palace is fine, except for a few plum blossoms and pine and cypress trees. In winter, the yard is bare, with no flowers or trees, and you can only look at the snow."
Jingqing said: "In the past, when the beautiful women lived there, they didn't like flowers and plants the most. They thought flowers were more delicate than people. They especially disliked plum blossoms. They said that they bloomed in winter, but people's hands and feet shrank from the cold, and their noses turned red. They became more and more beautiful.
They didn't look as good-looking as those flowers. They also thought the smell of pines and cypresses was bad, so they just pulled out the ones that were originally planted."
I laughed: "Shi Meiren is so interesting!"
Jinxi came over, glared at Jingqing, and said, "I can't control my mouth anymore! Remember, a slave cannot talk about his master behind his back."
Jingqing stuck out her tongue slightly: "I will only speak in this palace and will never tell anyone outside."
Jin Xi said solemnly: "If you are used to talking in your own palace, you will slip out of your mouth outside and bring trouble to my mistress for nothing."
I smiled and smoothed things over: "She's under the New Year, don't say she's too heavy." Then I told Jingqing: "You need to remember better in the future. Don't forget what my aunt taught you."
Jinxi walked up to me and said, "Your Majesty, you don't think the view out is good, so why don't you let the slaves cut some window grilles and put them on them."
I was very excited: "I can do this too. We cut and pasted it together, and it made me happy to see it."
Jinxi happily agreed and went down, and soon she came with a stack of colored paper and a stack of gold and silver foil. The women in the palace loved to embroider and cut paper to pass the time when they had nothing to do for a long time, and the palace maids were also good at this.
When they heard that I wanted to cut the window grilles, they all gathered around the warm couch and started cutting them together.
After two hours, there were a bunch of brightly colored window grilles on the table: "Magpies ascending the plum blossoms", "Two dragons playing with pearls", "Peacocks in full bloom", "Goddess scatters flowers", "Auspicious celebrations are more than enough", "Harmony combines two"
"Immortal", "Five Blessings", as well as plant patterns such as "lotus, orchid, bamboo, chrysanthemum, narcissus, peony, and the three friends of Suihan".
I looked around each one and praised: "Jinxi's haircut is really good, she deserves to be an aunt." Jinxi's face turned slightly red and she said modestly: "Nothing can compare with the noble man's 'Hehe Erxian'
, simply lifelike.”
I laughed and said, "There is no such thing as a 'harmony of two immortals' in the world. It's just a matter of cutting it out as you like. It would be a good thing if you can cut it out exactly like a real person."
As soon as she finished speaking, Pei'er yelled: "Little Yunzi can cut out real-life portraits."
Xiao Yunzi immediately turned around and glared at her: "Don't talk nonsense in front of the little master, how could such a thing happen?"
Pei'er was not convinced: "I just saw with my own eyes that little Yunzi cut off the portrait of my mistress and put it in her sleeves?"
Little Yunzi's face turned red and she whispered: "I dare not be disrespectful to my little master."
I chuckled: "What's that? I never pay attention to these details. Just take it out and read it."
Xiao Yunzi handed it to me with a look of embarrassment. I looked at it and smiled slightly: "Sure enough! Xiao Yunzi, you have such skillful hands."
Xiao Yunzi said: "Thank you for your compliment. It's just that my hands are clumsy and I can't cut out your beautiful face."
I smiled and said, "You can make me happy with your smooth mouth. It has already made me look so good. I like it very much."
Liu Zhu asked with a smile: "He is a smart guy. Why do you want to cut out the portrait of a noble person?"
Little Yunzi said seriously: "Since my master asked Dr. Wen to save my slave's brother's life, both my slave and my brother were grateful for my great kindness, so they cut out a small portrait of my master, went back to offer it to me, and paid homage day and night."
I said sternly: "I understand what you and your brother mean, but it's just against the rules and it won't be good if it spreads. It's better to keep it in my palace."
Jin Xi stood up and said with a smile: "There is a custom in the palace. On the night of New Year's Eve, you hang your favorite small objects on the branches to wish for all the best in the coming year. Since the young master likes this portrait cut by Xiao Yunzi, why not hang it on the tree too?
Praying on the branches is also a reward for Xiao Yunzi's great face."
I smiled and said, "That's a good idea." Then I asked Huanbi to get the winnings to reward Jinxi and Xiao Yunzi.
In the midst of the excitement, someone opened the curtain and came in to say hello. It was Baojuan, the palace maid next to the mausoleum, who came in with two pots of narcissus and said: "The young master who chose the waiter planted a few pots of narcissus with his own hands. They bloomed today. Let me bring them to you."
For Wangui to enjoy."
I smiled and said, "What a coincidence, we just cut the narcissus window grilles today, and your mistress sent you to send narcissus. Does Hui concubine have any?"
Baojuan replied: "I have already asked Juqing to send two pots, and I also gave Chunchang one pot."
I nodded: "Go back and tell your little master that I like it very much, and then bring the window grilles I cut to your little master to put on the window to play with. It's snowing heavily outside, so you stay here to warm yourself before leaving, so as not to freeze."
Baojuan agreed and went down.
New Year's Eve is coming soon. Meizhuang Lingrong and Chun Changzai were invited to attend the inner court banquet hosted by the emperor and the empress as usual, so naturally they couldn't come to see me. I was ill, and the empress allowed me to stay in the palace to recuperate.
, there is no need to go to the banquet. After eating the "New Year's Eve dinner" alone, he will stay up with the people below. Pin'er boiled hot water and came in and said with a smile: "Little Master, the snow outside has stopped, and the sky is full of snow.
As for the stars, it looks like it will clear up tomorrow."
"Really?" I laughed happily, "This is a beautiful scenery that must be appreciated!"
Jin Xi said happily: "It's time for you to hang the statue on the branch in the yard to pray for blessings."
I said: "If there are any dead branches in the yard to hang on, why not look where the plum blossoms are blooming and hang the little statue?"
Xiao Yunzi replied: "The plum blossoms in the southwest corner of Shanglin Garden are very good, and they are also close to our palace."
I asked: "Is it Baimei?"
Xiao Yunzi said: "It's wintersweet, very fragrant."
I frowned slightly: "The color of wintersweet is not good, and the aroma is so strong, it smells like alcohol. Is there anything else?"
Xiao Yunzi gestured and said: "In the Yimei Garden in the southeast corner of Shanglin Garden, there are red sandalwood plum blossoms with red flowers blooming like red clouds. They are so beautiful that people are stunned. But they are far apart."
The bright moon on a snowy night reflected the clusters of white plum blossoms, with their faint fragrance floating around. What a beautiful scene it would be. I longed for it in my heart, stood up and put on a feather satin cloak with a silver-white background and jade-patterned brocade, put on my hood and said as I walked: "Then
I’ll go there and have a look.”
Little Yunzi's face turned pale with anxiety, and she immediately knelt down and slapped her face twice, saying, "It's all my fault for talking too much. My master's body is not yet well enough to withstand the cold. Moreover, Concubine Hua recently sent down an order to say that my master is infected with an infectious disease."
It is not advisable to go out and about, if it reaches the ears of Concubine Hua, it will be a big crime."
I smiled and said, "Why are you blaming yourself? It's late at night, and all the concubines are waiting for the banquet. I wore this dress specially. It's warm in the snow and not conspicuous. Besides, I'm sick."
After such a long time, it is beneficial and harmless to go out for a walk." Xiao Yunzi tried to persuade me again, but I had already stepped out of the door in three steps and two steps at a time. I looked back and said with a smile: "I am going alone, and no one is allowed to follow me. If anyone is brave,
If he dares to stop him again, he will be punished by staying up all night in the snow."
Just as they walked out of the Tangli Palace gate, Jin Xi and Liu Zhu hurriedly caught up, knocked on An and said, "I don't dare to persuade you deeply. I just ask you to bring a lamp to prevent the snowy road."
I reached out and took it, but it was a small lantern with horns. It was light and bright, and not afraid of being extinguished by the wind and snow. Then I smiled and said, "You better be careful."
Liu Zhu put a small hand stove in my arms: "Miss, take it to keep warm."
I smiled and said, "You're such a burden, why don't you bring the quilt too?"
Liu Zhu blushed slightly, but said harshly: "Miss, she dislikes me more and more now. Liu Zhu may end up in tears if she keeps going like this."
I laughed and said, "You know how to talk nonsense. The more you indulge, the more you don't know the rules."
Liu Zhu also laughed: "How can I care about the rules? What I care about is the safety of the young lady." Jin Xi also laughed.
I said, "Take it back. I'll come as soon as I go. It won't freeze me." After that, I turned around and left.
The snow on the long street and Yongxiang in the palace has been cleared away by the palace people, but the road is a bit slippery due to the cold, so you have to be careful when walking. It is cold in the night, and the concubines are having a banquet with the emperor and empress in the main hall.
The palace maids and eunuchs also stayed in their respective palaces afraid of the cold. Occasionally, the guards and eunuchs of Yulin who were on night patrol passed by, but they were a little less energetic than usual, so it was easy to avoid them. The road to Yimei Garden was a bit long.
, Fortunately, the night wind was not strong, and although it was quite chilly, my clothes were thick and I could withstand it. It took about half an hour of walking and we arrived.
Before entering the garden, I could smell a lingering fragrance from a distance. It seemed like it was not there, but it only lightly attracted people to get closer. The closer I got, the more refreshing it became. No one had swept away the snow in the Yimei Garden.
It was snowing, but it was not very cold yet. My lambskin embroidered warm boots made a slight creaking sound when I stepped on the snow. There was silence in the garden, and I could only hear the sound of me walking on the snow. The garden was full of red plums,
It blooms grandly and wildly, like steaming clouds under the clear starlight that drips down like mercury, and is as red as if it is about to burn. There are still bits of white snow on the petals, crystal clear, reflecting the topaz-like stamens, and the bright ruby-like flowers complement each other.
, it is even more beautiful and proud. I don’t know whether it is the snow that sets off the plum blossoms, or the plum blossoms that support the snow. It is really a fairyland with “sparse shadows slanting across the water, clear and shallow water, and a faint fragrance floating in the moonlight at dusk.”
I couldn't help but take two steps closer. The refreshing fragrance of plum blossoms seemed to turn one's bone marrow into ice and pure jade. I loved it so much that I picked a plum branch with the most blooming flowers and hung up the statue. I didn't care about the snow and ice on the ground and put down the wind lantern. I was sincere.
Kneel down and pray silently in your heart:
Zhen Huan wishes her parents to be healthy and her brothers and sisters to be safe;
I only wish that I can live in peace in the palace and end this rest of my life. Thinking of this, I can't help but feel sad. If I want to protect myself by not getting involved in the disputes in the palace, I will have to stay ill in this life, bury myself in this deep palace, and become a white-headed palace concubine.
, not even talking about Xuanzong’s past events1;
This third wish of "having the same person and being together forever" is even more wishful thinking and will never be expected. Thinking of this, even though I already know that I will be buried in the palace forever and never see the light of day again, I can't help but feel sad.
It was hard to say, so he sighed and said: "The headwind is like a solution to the problem, and it is easy not to destroy it." 2
As soon as I finished speaking, a low-pitched male voice suddenly sounded from far away from the flowers and trees: "Who is there?" I was greatly surprised. There was someone else in the garden! And it was a man! I immediately kept silent and said, "Hoo"
The ground blew out the wind lamp and flashed behind a plum tree. The man paused and asked again: "Who is it?"
Everything was quiet around me. I could only hear the soft rustle of the snow on the branches in the wind. No one responded for a long time. I wrapped my body tightly in feather satin. The stars were faint, the snow was white, and the shadows of the many flowers and trees were mixed together.
Wrong, like the chaos of countless coral branches, it was not easy to find me. I held my breath, slowly put my feet up and moved out, for fear of making a sound when I stepped on the heavy snow.
The man's footsteps gradually came closer, and his boots with the pattern of azure and sapphire dragons going out to sea could be vaguely seen. He stopped and made no sound after a few plum trees. His tone was quite stern: "If you don't make any sound, I will
Let people turn the entire Yimei Garden upside down."
I stood still, clasping my hands, and felt a little stiff with the cold. Through the shadow of the flowers, I saw a silver-gray clothes not far away from me. The dense dragon patterns on it were vaguely visible. I was even more horrified, and suddenly turned around.
Seeing the emerald green palace maid's clothes flashing behind the small door of the garden, she had an idea and said: "I am the palace maid of Yimei Garden. I came out to pray. I don't want to disturb you, so please forgive me."
The man asked again: "Have you ever studied? What's your name?" I couldn't help but feel frightened, and I calmed down and said, "My humble name may offend your ears."
Hearing him take a few steps closer, he said urgently: "Don't come over here - my shoes and socks are wet and I'm changing them." As expected, the man stopped walking and couldn't hear him speak again for a long time. After a while,
Hearing his footsteps gradually looking away, there was no movement at all. Then he came back to his senses. His heart was beating so fast that he felt like it was about to burst out of his chest. He quickly picked up the wind lantern and ran out in the dark, as if there were many people behind him.
As if someone was following me, I was frightened. I walked through the long alley on broken ice and ran back to Tangli Palace.
When Jinxi Huanbi and the others saw me coming in without a care in the world, my hairpins were loose and my hair was all messy. They couldn't help but looked at each other in shock and asked repeatedly: "What's wrong, little master?"
Huan Biyan quickly poured tea and brought it to me. I drank it in one gulp and then I calmed down and said, "There were two cats nesting next to the snow pile in Yongxiang. I don't know who raised them. They jumped on me all of a sudden. Really.
Scary!"
Liu Zhu smiled and said: "Miss has been afraid of cats since she was a child. She saw two at once, so she was not frightened." Then she called out in a loud voice: "Pei'er, make a thick ginger soup and give it to your noble lord.
Dispel the wind and suppress the shock." Pei'er responded repeatedly.
Jin Xi said: "The ladies in the palace have always liked to keep cats. Those cats have wild tempers, so the young master has a precious body, so be careful." He then asked, "Have the young master made a wish?"
I nodded: "I promised three. But I wonder if the gods and Buddhas in the sky will blame me for being greedy?"
Jin Xi bowed solemnly and said with a smile: "Congratulations, little master. As the saying goes, 'cats bring good luck.' After the little master made a wish, he bumped into two cats. This is not a good sign that the wish will definitely come true."
"
I smiled slightly: "Anything bad that comes into your mouth is good. If it really fulfills my wishes, there's no harm in being frightened by it." After saying that, Jingqing brought the water and mixed it for me again.
With a bun on her face, she changed her clothes and sat down to play the horse crane.
After calming down, I couldn't help but feel suspicious. Today's harem night banquet did not invite foreign ministers and relatives. No other men except the emperor could enter or leave the harem. Suddenly, a pair of azure and sapphire blue boots with patterns of dragons going to sea appeared in my mind... silver-gray balls
The dragon's dense pattern was on the clothes corner. I was suddenly shocked. The dragon's dense pattern is a pattern used on clothes, and the prince is not allowed to use it. Could it be the man in the plum garden... Fortunately, he escaped quickly, otherwise he would have entered the palace.
All the hard work up until now was in vain. Jin Xi and Xiao Yunzi noticed that I was a little lazy, so they deliberately lost a few games in a row to make me happy. I said that I felt a little uncomfortable, so I went back to the room first.
Zhong. Jinxi came in to remove my makeup.
I asked casually: "Today's harem banquet, did the Emperor and Queen invite anyone else?"
Jin Xi said: "As usual, several princes will also come." I said "oh" softly.
The princes mentioned by Jinxi are the eldest prince of the late emperor, Wang Xuanxun of Qishan, the third prince of Runan, Wang Xuanji, the sixth prince, Wang Xuanqing of Qinghe, and the ninth prince, Wang Xuanfen of Pingyang. The late emperor had seven sons and two daughters. The fifth prince, seventh prince and eighth prince passed away early.
Emperor Xuan Ling ranked fourth, and he and the second princess, Princess Zhenning, were both descendants of the current empress dowager.
King Xuanxun of Qishan was the son of Concubine Yi, who is also the current Concubine Qinren. Although he was the eldest son, he had a mediocre personality and did nothing. He only wanted to be a prince who enjoyed peace and prosperity.
The king of Xiangcheng, Xuanji, was born to Lady Yue. Lady Yue was the youngest sister of Marquis Boling. In the tenth year of Longqing, Marquis Boling rebelled, and Lady Yue was deeply implicated. She died of depression without favor.
He had a good character and was not liked by the late emperor. He did not receive the title of King of Xiangcheng until the late emperor's death. Now he has fought in both the south and the north, and has made many military exploits, and is highly relied upon by Xuan Ling.
King Xuanqing of Qinghe was intelligent and agile, and because of his mother-in-law, Concubine Shu, he had been favored by the emperor since he was a child. He wanted to make him the prince several times, but because Concubine Shu's birth and appearance were criticized by the world, all the officials opposed it.
I had no choice but to let it go. After the death of the late Emperor, Concubine Shu asked herself to become a monk. Xuanqing was raised by Concubine Lin, who had always been friends with Concubine Shu, and is now the Queen Mother. She and Xuanling were like the same mother, and they had a very close relationship.
Xuan Qingxian Yun Yehe was proficient in the six arts, but he did not care about political affairs. He was accompanied by poems and books and instrumental music all day long. His flute playing was one of the best in Beijing, and he was known as the "Prince Zi Zi".
Pingyang Wang Xuanfen is the youngest son of the late emperor, and he is only thirteen years old now. His biological mother, Enbi, was born in a humble background. She was once a darning maid in the embroidery courtyard. After the death of the late emperor, although she was granted the title of Princess Shun Chen, Prince Pingyang has been a darling since she was a child.
He was raised by the fifth prince's mother, Zhuang Hetai.
I listened silently, feeling restless as if something was missing in my heart, so I had to go to sleep first. Everyone also dispersed. I slept in a daze until midnight, when I suddenly sat up in shock, and my body suddenly lifted up.
The air flow stirred up the brocade tent, and I thought of something that made me uneasy - a small statue!
Note:
1 comes from "The white-headed palace maid is here, sitting around talking to Xuanzong". It describes the desolate years of the women in the palace.
2 From "Plum Blossom" by Cui Daorong of the Tang Dynasty