People are divided into three, six or nine grades, and the same is true for domestic servants.
Take the servant sent by King Xiang Hongjing to the palace to deliver a message. This person is called "Chang Le". He is a member of the "Zhongyang Liu family" of Liu Shuyi, the mother-in-law of King Xiang Hongjing. Why is the surname Chang, because this person is Liu
His seventh cousin, eighth aunt, and a series of related people.
This is the contemporary relationship network. It seems that only the Shi family of the uncle's family is behind the great reputation of King Yong. But in fact, the Cui family of Suanzao is also a member of the Yongwang party line, and the same is true for King Xiang Hongjing.
Loyalty is a necessary guarantee for domestic servants and slaves in the palace. It is almost difficult for people with no family ties to get into the palace. Take the Palace of Prince Xiang as an example. When Prince Hongjing of Xiang was building the palace, his mother Liu Shuyi
Some people were transferred from the "Liu family of Zhongyang" to his son as a messenger; and when the princess of Xiang Wang Hongjing married into Prince Xiang's palace, she would also marry some trustworthy people from her natal family (herein referred to as the wife's father's family and the wife's mother's family).
The house slaves, maids, and house servants are here.
The uncle's (mother's) clan, the wife's father's clan, and the wife's mother's clan, generally speaking, these three parties will constitute the manpower in the son's (uncle-in-law's) house.
Not everyone is like Su Wang Zhao Hongrun, who directly recruited one or two hundred retired soldiers from the dredging army as palace guards, and then brought the family members of these veterans to the palace as domestic servants.
The servant "Chang Le" sent by Xiang Wang Hongjing to the palace to deliver the message was the cousin of Princess Xiang's Chang family and the distant nephew of Liu Shuyi. Naturally, he was a close relative of Xiang Wang Hongjing.
Some people may ask, why Yongwang Hongyu personally wrote to Cui Xie, the general of the Beiyi Army, instructing him to instigate the Beiyi Army Camp to change his key attributes that could threaten King Yong. Why didn't King Xiang Hongjing send his own Zongwei to send the letter to the Queen?
Instead, he sent people from the mansion.
In fact, the reason is very simple, because no matter which prince is the Zongwei, they have been following the prince they are loyal to for many years, and they frequently show up. Therefore, many people are not strangers and it is easy for them to leak information.
But relatively speaking, the number of servants in the house like Chang Le is much less recognized.
In the final analysis, secretly delivering this key letter to Queen Wang, while instigating Queen Wang to come forward to bring down Yong Wang Hongyu, while trying not to let Yong Wang Hongyu know about it, is what Xiang Wang Hongjing wants to see most.
Arrived.
On that day, Chang Le took the letter from Yong Wang Hongyu from his uncle and distant cousin, and deliberately entered the palace from a side door around dusk when there were very few people around the palace.
The side door of the palace is usually the entrance for the eunuchs under the inner chamber supervisor to enter and exit. For example, when the purchasing department transports some carbon, firewood and other items needed by the palace to the palace, they use the side door.
Compared with the main palace gate, the defensive force of the side gate of the palace is not weak at all, and there are many guards guarding it. Therefore, the only difference is that the eyes here are relatively small, and it is not easy to be noticed by interested people.
As for how to enter the palace, as long as Chang Le holds the token of Prince Xiang's Mansion, it is not difficult to enter and exit the palace.
Of course, it is not difficult to enter and exit the palace, but entering and exiting the harem is a problem. After all, not just anyone can enter the harem.
Fortunately, Chang Le has something to say: greeting Liu Shuyi on behalf of Princess Xiang.
The daughter-in-law sends someone to greet her mother-in-law and give her some gifts. Is this not a problem?
So, when Chang Le ran into the imperial guard on duty, he used this excuse and got through easily.
As the master of the harem, Queen Wang lives in "Fengyi Palace". This palace can be called the largest palace in the entire harem. In addition to maids and eunuchs, there are also many female officials here.
Female officials, or palace officials, to put it bluntly, are high-level palace maids. They are generally responsible for managing lower-level palace maids, or training new palace maids, and are also responsible for taking care of the princess, etc.
There are six bureaus in the imperial court and six bureaus in the harem, namely, "Shang Gong Bureau", "Shang Yi Bureau", "Shang Fu Bureau", "Shang Shi Bureau", "Shang Bed Bureau", and "Shang Gong Bureau", all of which are served by palace maids.
Female officer.
Therefore, it can be said that the two most powerful forces in the palace are the "Inner Chamberlain" and the "Shanggong Bureau". The former is the emperor's people, and the latter is the queen's people. The two parties check and balance each other, but do not interfere with each other.
But in general, the queen still has the final say in the harem, after all, she is the master of the harem. And Emperor Wei, unless under special circumstances, is not allowed to interfere with the affairs of the harem according to the ancestral system. After all, the emperor governs the country, and the harem can be left to the queen.
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"Note: In fact, the ancestral system of the past dynasties, to put it bluntly, is that the male (emperor) controls the male, and the female (queen) controls the female. If the king frequently interferes in the harem, he will be reprimanded by the officials, and if the harem interferes with the government, he will also be criticized by hundreds of officials.
In addition, the harem is actually a small court in a sense, but it only targets the concubines in the harem."
When he arrived at Fengyi Palace, Chang Le made a request to the "Luan Guard" outside the palace to see the Queen.
The so-called Luanwei actually refers to some female guards who belong to the Shang Palace Bureau and take orders from the king and queen.
Of course, in terms of strength, they are incomparable to the Imperial Guards. They can only be regarded as a guard of honor, supporting the scene.
After all, Fengyi Palace is already the deepest part of the harem. It would not look good if too many imperial guards were walking around here.
When Chang Le asked to see Queen Wang, Queen Wang was reading the Taoist Scriptures in the side hall of Fengyi Palace.
Once upon a time, even Su Wang Zhao Hongrun thought that Queen Wang was an extremely strong woman, but this was not the case. In fact, Queen Wang could be said to be the woman who disliked fighting the most in the harem. In the past twenty years, she had never seen her.
Which concubine is she feeling sorry for?
Even Chen Shu'ai, who danced the most happily in the past and tried to take advantage of Emperor Wei's favor to become the queen, was too lazy to pay attention to Chen Shu'ai. She only focused on reading Taoist scriptures and cultivating her character.
I remember that two years ago, Queen Wang's younger brother, Wang Ting, the youngest son of the Wang family in Zhengcheng, was killed by the riding bandit Huanhu. Zhao Hongrun was worried that Queen Wang would be harmful to Concubine Shen Shu, but in fact, Queen Wang did not ask anyone to deliberately target Concubine Shen Shu.
Therefore, the government and the public generally believe that Queen Wang is the woman who dislikes fighting the most among the queens in the past. In contrast, the mother of Yong Wang Hongyu, Concubine Shi, and Chen Shuai of Youzhi Palace, these two concubines are particularly hostile to Queen Wang. And Wang
The queen completely ignored the other party, as if they didn't exist.
Today, when Queen Wang was reading the Taoist Scriptures, an old eunuch named "Feng Lu" rashly disturbed the Queen's self-cultivation.
"Queen, there is a man who claims to be from Prince Xiang's Mansion and wants to see the Queen."
"..."
After hearing this, Queen Wang, who was sitting quietly to recuperate, was indifferent and did not even open her eyelids.
Seeing this, the old eunuch Feng Lu said again: "That man said he came here for His Highness the Crown Prince..."
After hearing this, Queen Wang slowly opened her eyes.
After thinking for a moment, she said calmly: "Let this person come in."
"Yes!" Feng Lu bowed and retreated.
After a while, Feng Lu led Chang Le to this side hall.
"The villain is always happy to see the queen."
When he saw Queen Wang, Chang Le immediately kowtowed to the ground and saluted.
It has to be said that as the mother of Zhao Hongli, the former crown prince of the East Palace, and the dignified queen of the Wei Kingdom, Wang is a very beautiful and dignified woman. Even now in her late fifties, she is still as charming as an old lady.
Of course, for Chang Le, no matter how beautiful and charming the woman in front of him is, he does not dare to raise his head. After all, the woman in front of him is the queen of Fengyi World.
"What do you want to see me for?"
Queen Wang asked calmly. She didn't even turn around, still kneeling on the futon and looking at a calligraphy and painting with the word "Tao" on the wall.
Chang Le swallowed his saliva and said respectfully: "Reporting to the Queen, my Royal Highness happened to get a piece of evidence of King Yong's crime. He learned that the incident at Beiyi Military Camp was instigated by King Yong..."
"..." Queen Wang turned her head and glanced at Chang Le, and said lightly: "My son Hongli, he is no longer the Crown Prince of the East Palace... Prince Xiang really picked a good time."
Hearing this, the old eunuch Feng Lu Yi laughed and glanced sideways at Chang Le, with a bit of mockery in his eyes.
No one is a fool. Did the Queen and the old eunuch named Feng Lu not know when King Xiang was beating him?
This evidence of Prince Yong's crime had not been sent to him long ago, but he had to wait until Zhao Hongli, the former crown prince of the East Palace, lost power. King Xiang's intention was very clear.
"You go back." Empress Wang said calmly: "Go back and tell King Xiang that my son has lost and King Yong has won. Tell him not to cause any more trouble."
"Eh?"
Chang Le was greatly surprised when he heard this. He never expected that Queen Wang would have such a cold attitude.
You know, Zhao Hongli, the former crown prince of the East Palace who lost power, is her son!
Thinking of going back like this and being unable to explain to King Xiang Hongjing, Chang Le quickly took out the letter written by King Yong Hongyu from his arms, lowered his head and presented it with both hands, and said urgently: "Queen, this is written by King Yong himself to Bei.
A letter from Cui Xie of the First Army. The letter clearly states that King Yong ordered Cui Xie to instigate rebellion in the camp and frame the blame on His Highness the Crown Prince..."
"Written by King Yong himself?" Queen Wang's eyes that had just been closed suddenly opened, she frowned and said, "Feng Lu, take it and ask me to read it."
"Yes, Queen."
The old eunuch Feng Lu nodded, took the letter from Chang Le and handed it to Queen Wang.
Queen Wang opened the letter and took a few glances at it. Her beautiful eyebrows could not help but frown. After a while, she said lightly: "I know about this matter. You can go back. Feng Lu, please send him out."
"Old slave, I obey." An old eunuch named Feng Lu nodded.
After the two people left, Empress Wang, who looked indifferent at first, carefully looked at the letter written by Yong Wang Hongyu, and sighed quietly: "Eager for quick success and taking risks for profit, Shi Shi can't teach you well..."
Shaking her head slightly, Queen Wang hesitated for a moment, then she actually lifted the letter to the candlestick next to her and lit it with candle flame.
This evidence of the crime of King Yong, on which King Xiang Hongyu had placed high hopes, was lit by a candle and burned completely.
At the same time, the old eunuch Feng Lu took the servant of Prince Xiang's mansion to a garden.
"My father-in-law, are you taking the wrong route?" Prince Xiang's servant looked ahead in confusion.
"How is it possible? This is the way you are going." The old eunuch Feng Lu smiled, a dagger slipped from his sleeve, and he stabbed the servant in the back.
After a while, the old eunuch Feng Lu summoned several young eunuchs, pointed to the corpse on the ground, and said lightly: "Take this corpse out quietly and throw it into the ditch in the city. Don't let anyone see it."
"Yes, Eunuch Feng."
Several young eunuchs came over obediently to carry the body.
On their eunuch uniforms, a few small words were clearly embroidered: Internal Attendant Eunuch.