The day when Anji Xiang returned to Jinling City from Xuzhou to deliver the edict, it happened to coincide with the ceremony for the inauguration of the queen. The imperial city was so busy that no one cared about Anji Xiang's whereabouts for a while.
Before Yang Yuanpu ascended the throne, he had already married Li Yao, the daughter of Li Pu, the Marquis of Xinchang, as his concubine, and later took Princess Qingyang, the daughter of Wang Jian, the Lord of Shu, as his concubine.
After ascending the throne, Han Shuhui, the daughter of Han Daoming, Zheng Zhao, the youngest sister of Zheng Hui, and Huang E, the daughter of Huang Hua, were appointed as concubines. Even if the three daughters were appointed as concubines at the same time as Princess Qingyang, according to the rules, they could not hold weddings alone.
We had no choice but to catch up with the day of the Queen's Ceremony and take care of the concubine's affairs together.
The main reason why Princess Qingyang was adopted as a concubine and the wedding was held in Yueyang was that Princess Qingyang was the daughter of Wang Jian, the lord of Shu. Yang Yuanpu was still the King of Tan whose foundation was not stable at that time, not to mention that the marriage between the two was in name only.
It also carries the expectation of an alliance between the two countries.
Although we travel between Xuzhou and Jinling by boat, except for two days in Xuzhou, we lived in a small cabin for more than a month, even though we could stand on the deck at any time and look at the beautiful scenery on both sides of the Taiwan Strait.
The scenery, even with the attendant attendants, is indescribably tiring.
Anji Xiang returned to the palace and saw that the area from Chongwen Hall, Chengyun Hall to Changxin Palace was very busy. He thought that His Majesty was probably exhausted by the complicated and unusual ceremony today, so he thought about going to Chongwen Hall to report back tomorrow.
To convey the order, he first took the two eunuchs back to the class courtyard on the west side of Chengyuan Hall to rest.
Although the Anning Palace and the Nanya Imperial Guards chose to withdraw from the North City before Yueyang's soldiers and horses had conquered the inner city, the defenders set fire to the imperial city when they withdrew, causing Cishou Palace, Chengyun Palace, Chongwen Palace and other buildings to be destroyed.
The Privy Council and other ministries and departments south of the palace gate were seriously damaged, leaving behind a mess of ruins and debris.
At this time, it had only been two months since the capture of Jinling. Even if tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians were requisitioned to repair the palaces, the palace city was still in ruins. Only a few of the most important palaces had been restored and used first.
For the sake of the safety of the guards, Yang Yuanpu would spend the night in the former prince's palace after attending to official duties in Chongwen Hall on weekdays.
The class courtyard where Anji Xiang rested at this time was next to the wing of Chongwen Hall. Even though the house had been renovated, traces of burns could still be seen everywhere. An old elm tree that had been growing for hundreds of years was smoked by the fire.
The branches have turned black, but there are still a few thick old branches that are still full of green.
There are very few manpower available in the palace now.
At this time, most people were busy with the ceremony in Changxin Palace. In the huge courtyard, there were thirty rooms in two rows. At first, it could accommodate hundreds of eunuchs, big and small, and they were divided into three shifts to serve Chongwen.
At this time, two old eunuchs were left on duty, and it seemed particularly deserted.
Before the Jinling Incident, there were nearly 10,000 eunuchs and maids in the imperial palace.
After the incident, the courtiers around the late emperor as well as the eunuchs and maids in Cishou Palace were purged.
Some people who had served the late emperor were directly executed or imprisoned. A considerable number of palace attendants were considered not so reliable and were expelled from the palace.
The remnants of Anning Palace and the Nanya Forbidden Army fled to the north of the Yangtze River, taking a group of eunuchs and maids with them.
In addition, there are some unimportant palace maids and eunuchs, some of whom are old, some who have just entered the palace and have not been trained in good manners, some of whom are of low status, or who have just committed crimes and been punished, are all abandoned and left in the palace.
However, after Emperor Yanyou ascended the throne, even if he did not purge these people, he would still worry about the secret spies and assassins from the Anning Palace mixed among them, and it was impossible to keep them in the palace.
The palace officials all sent in generals and craftsmen to serve as apprentices, while the palace maids were sent away directly, each ordered to go home.
The number of eunuchs and maids who initially accompanied Emperor Yanyou to the palace to serve him were less than a hundred in number only in Tanzhou and Yueyangtan palaces.
Although the first group of eunuchs and maids who were expelled from the palace after the Jinling Incident should be reliable, they still need to be carefully screened; even at this time two months later, Anji Xiang returned to Jinling City and called
The two old eunuchs on duty inquired and found out that the number of people in the palace at this time was only four to five hundred.
"Senior brother, I've been waiting for you to come back! Why did you hide here as soon as you came back and didn't show your face in front of His Majesty and the three new nobles?"
Anji Xiang asked someone to bring out a deck chair. Just when he was about to close his eyes and rest under the shade of a tree, enjoying the feeling of being on land without shaking, he heard a familiar and slightly sharp voice coming from the door of the courtyard. When he opened his eyes, he saw
Chen Ruyi walked in wearing a brand new dark crimson official robe.
Although he knew that when he came back this time, he would be re-employed by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Anji Xiang couldn't help but look cold when he saw Chen Ruyi put on the dark crimson official robe that represented the fourth-grade eunuch first.
There is one prisoner in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, who is of the third rank and can wear purple clothes.
Over the years, his master Zhang Ping has been working diligently by His Majesty's side. Not only did he lose an arm to save His Majesty when he was guarding Xichuan, but he also served as military supervisor during the most difficult times during the Jinling War and participated in commanding the war on the front line.
.
If His Majesty were to ascend the throne following a posthumous edict, and there were other old people in the palace, Zhang Ping would naturally not be able to ascend to the throne in one fell swoop. He would even have to inherit the imperial edict from within, serve as a constant servant, and serve as a junior eunuch to climb up the ranks step by step, completing his qualifications step by step.
However, in the current situation, the old eunuchs in the palace who were loyal to the late emperor were bloodbathed by Anning Palace. If the old eunuchs who were loyal to Anning Palace did not escape, they would not be able to escape the liquidation here. Besides Zhang Ping, who else is qualified to do this?
Wear purple in the palace?
In addition to the chamberlains and provincial eunuchs, the senior officials in the palace include two young eunuchs, four to six chamberlains, and the envoys who serve the queen mother, queen and concubines, all of whom are junior and senior eunuchs.
.
Although Wang Lin's death was the result of his and Chen Ruyi's personal actions to relieve His Majesty's worries, which was considered a great achievement, in terms of qualifications, it was not his turn to compete with Chen Ruyi for the two young eunuch positions, and the palace envoys mostly used female officials.
Seeing Chen Ruyi coming here wearing a deep scarlet official robe, Anji Xiang thought that he should be the first to occupy a seat from the fourth rank rank.
As a regular chamberlain, you may assist the chamberlain in supervising the administration of the Yeting, the inner palace, the Xiguan and other departments, and you may also be responsible for serving your majesty, the queen and the queen mother.
Even though all he does is serve, there is only one master that Anji Xiang really wants to serve.
That is Your Majesty.
Anji Xiang couldn't help but feel a shadow cast over his heart when he thought that he had left Jinling to deliver orders to Xuzhou for more than a month, and that His Majesty would never be without his close eunuchs to serve him.
Chen Ru noticed that Anji Xiang's face suddenly turned cold. She seemed to be able to guess what he was thinking. She smiled sinisterly and said, "What are you thinking about? If I can serve His Majesty, how can I take off my clothes at this time?"
Come here to talk to you about the friendship between brothers and sisters after being apart for so many days?"
Anji Xiang thought the same thing. Today is the ceremony for the appointment of the Queen, and at the same time he accepts three women as concubines. His Majesty has to go through a whole set of etiquette, and there is no possibility of escape. And Chen Ruyi really wants to be the constant servant of Chongwen Palace. Other times
Maybe I can have some free time, but today I have to stay with His Majesty every step of the way.
"I wasn't thinking about anything. I was just thinking about how tired I was after traveling and traveling for more than a month. I just came back and was exhausted. Now I have to go to His Majesty's side to serve him. If anything goes wrong, it would be bad - even if you are not here at ordinary times.
Your Majesty is waiting by your side, but on such an important day today, how can you have time to chat with me?" Anji Xiang narrowed his eyes, sat up straight on the recliner, and motioned to the eunuch waiting beside him to move a chair from the room for Chen Ruyi
come out.
Chen Ruyi sat down calmly, motioned the young men in green clothes on both sides to step aside, and then asked: "Senior brother, do you still remember when you and I were begging for food on the streets of Yangzhou City when we were young?"
"How many years ago was that? Nineteen or twenty years ago? I can hardly remember it - I just remember that I was seven years old at the time. Were you six or seven at the time?" Anji Xiang
Her introverted eyes narrowed even smaller, and she couldn't figure out what Chen Ruyi's intention was in choosing to block him today, so she became more cautious when speaking.
“At that time, we were so hungry that we stuffed dirt into our mouths. Suddenly, a beautiful fairy-like woman came over and took us to a magnificent manor to raise us for half a year. She fed us and taught us how to read.
He ruthlessly cut off our life roots and died without any sores before sending them to Master to be raised - my little senior brother is one year old and remembers all these past events clearly, how could senior brother not remember it?" Chen
Ruyi asked with a smile.
"If you can't remember, you can't remember. You don't have the brains to control me when I need to urinate." Anji said in detail.
"Senior brother said he can't remember. Maybe he trusts me, or maybe he doesn't want to recall how many children like you and me were adopted from the street, and how many children like you and me were there in that manor.
Will they be sent to the Great Chu Palace one after another?"
"Ruyi, what do you mean by saying this suddenly? Are you coming to ask me on behalf of His Majesty?" Anji Xiang seemed to be stared at by a venomous snake at this moment, which made him feel cold. He suppressed the sharp look in his eyes and stared at Chen Ruyi.
asked.
"I don't mean anything. His Majesty asked me about this earlier. I will tell His Highness exactly what I know," Chen Ruyi said. "I was afraid that my memory would be biased, so I came to see you, senior brother, to verify it.
"
"..." Anji Xiang could easily believe Chen Ruyi's words and said, "I wonder what things you still remember, junior brother?"
"Here is a list, I wonder if there are any omissions!" Chen Ruyi took out a list from his arms and handed it to Anji Xiang, saying, "Brother, please help me check for errors and omissions."
Anji Xiang doubtfully took the list and read it.
Although after being sent to the Dachu Palace, due to their young age, he and Chen Ruyi only served Zhang Ping for a long time, learning boxing and kicking skills from Zhang Ping, the rules of the palace, and many classics and history.
Ji Zhu has never had direct contact with the other disciples of Wanhonglou who lurked in the palace.
During that time, just like them, most of the two to three hundred homeless orphans who were picked up from the streets and taken into custody in the manor were not sent to the palace, but they had been lurking in the Dachu Palace over the years. Jixiang Lu gradually recognized at least nine familiar faces that had appeared in the farmyard back then.
Anji Xiang didn't say anything, nor did he try to verify anything, he just kept it silently in his heart.
The list drawn up by Anji Xiang Duanxiang and Chen Ruyi actually included nine people he recognized, and there was even one more person in it. This shows that Chen Ruyi has been secretly observing everything these years.
"I really don't remember much. After you mentioned it, junior brother, these people in the palace may have seen their faces in the courtyard outside Yangzhou City before." Anji Xiang said.
"Senior brother and I went to assassinate Wang Lin and leave a letter to prove Shen Yang's innocence so that His Majesty could transfer Shen Yang back to the center. Senior brother accompanied me to do this. At this time, we are still speaking vaguely. Do we really expect Madam to arrive in time? Will the Queen Mother be merciful to us in the future?" Chen Ruyi stared at Anji Xiang and asked sternly.
"Since junior brother has told His Majesty all the old things he remembered, why are you not serving His Majesty at this time?" Anji Xiang was not that easy to bluff, and secretly thought that Chen Ruyi really wanted to reveal the layout of the Shenling Division in the palace. Why doesn't Your Majesty keep him by your side and ask him to come over and intercept him when you have free time on such an important day?
"Your Majesty has given me another assignment to handle." Chen Ruyi took off a sign from her waist and handed it over.
Anji Xiang received the newly minted bronze medal and saw that it was engraved with the words "Commander of Zuodu, Jinyun Division" and other official script words engraved on it.
"Jinyun Division?" Anji Xiang was slightly startled and looked at Chen Ruyi in disbelief. He thought that Jinyun Division was transformed from Jinyun Tower. After Han Qian returned to Xuzhou, it shouldn't be Jiang Huo and Yuan Guowei's. One-third of an acre of land? How could Chen Ruyi step in and suddenly occupy the position of "Commander of Zuodu", which seems to be the top position at a glance?
Anji Xiang knew that His Majesty had recovered Jinling and was waiting to be renovated. There might be new official titles and titles every day, and there might be subtle changes in the court every day. But he never thought there would be such a change?
What did Jiang Huo and Yuan Guowei do to lose His Majesty's trust at the same time?
