After the story was over, the guests left. The lady picked up the tea that was not very hot and took a few sips to moisten her throat. She looked up and saw that the female guest who had just paid money to tell her the story had not left yet.
"Sir." Jiuzhu brought a stool and sat in front of the female teacher.
"Miss, do you have any other stories you want to hear?" The lady quickly drank some more cold tea. She was just an ordinary person struggling in the world, just for the small change to support her family.
"I don't want to hear the story." Jiuzhu noticed that although the lady's cuffs were clean, they were patched with the same color. The stitches were fine and it was obvious that she had put a lot of effort into the patching.
She endured the pain and took out another piece of silver: "I want to know where the story of the beautiful prince you just told came from?"
"So the lady wants to know about this, it's all a small matter." She said it was a small matter, but she took the money quickly. She put the money away and said, "A few days ago, a lady gave me a storybook, saying that she wrote it when she was bored. If I tell it, she will give me twenty taels of silver."
"Twenty taels?" Jiuzhu was surprised: "Spending so much money just to let you tell a story?"
"Girl, this is the capital city, there are all kinds of weird people." The female teacher glanced at Jiuzhu and said, "Aren't you the one who paid money to have the story changed?"
"As storytellers, what we care about is satisfying our guests and getting a good start."
Zhou Xiao stood behind Jiuzhu, looking at the storyteller with pity, wondering who had come up with such a vicious plan to drag an innocent female teacher into this.
If the story spreads further and further, and the palace becomes aware of it and conducts a thorough investigation, the first person to suffer will be this female teacher.
"Mom." A little girl in a flowered shirt ran out from the side door. She raised her head, glanced timidly at Jiuzhu and Zhou Xiao, and hid behind the female teacher.
"I'm sorry, the child is young and doesn't know the rules. Please don't mind, ladies." The lady took out a few copper coins and stuffed them into the girl's hands: "Go buy some snacks from the shopkeeper. Mom will be here soon."
The little girl kicked and stomped the copper plate as she ran away. Jiuzhu rummaged in her purse and took out the last piece of silver. "If you believe me, don't talk about the beautiful prince and the evil prince together in the future. Stories are supposed to be just stories, but people are suspicious and will inevitably make up stories and cause trouble."
The lady's expression changed slightly. She looked at the silver on the table and said, "Thank you for your reminder, young lady. I cannot accept this money."
"Sir, please don't misunderstand me." Jiuzhu smiled and said, "Sir, your story is good. I like the story of the evil prince very much. I will come again next time."
"Please rest assured, young lady. I will tell you the story of the prince with an evil face but a kind heart tomorrow. You are welcome to come and listen." The female teacher readily accepted the silver.
"Thank you." Jiuzhu covered her empty purse and sighed after walking out of the teahouse. No wonder people say that talent is priceless. It's also expensive to let the storyteller change the story. The money that she had saved for a month was spent cleanly today.
"Sister Ming." Zhou Xiao had lived in the capital for a long time and had heard of all kinds of secret schemes. She looked serious and said, "It seems that today is not a good day to listen to books. Why don't we go to the Rouge Shop?"
Jiuzhu held her purse tightly, frowning, and shook her head to reject Zhou Xiao's suggestion to go to the rouge shop: "I have already spent all my money."
Zhou Xiao laughed dumbly. She had thought that the Ming family loved their daughter so much that she was so generous in paying the money. She didn't expect that it was all the money she had.
"It's okay. It doesn't cost any money to take a look." Zhou Xiao took Jiuzhu's arm and said, "Let's go. Just think of it as keeping me company."
The young lady's body felt soft and fragrant, so Jiuzhu nodded vaguely. In the end, the young lady gave her a box of rouge vaguely.
When she got home, she held the rouge in her hand and murmured thoughtfully, "No wonder Master always said that beauty seduces people. It turns out it's true."
However, who can resist a beautiful, gentle and caring young lady?
At Minister Zhou's residence, Zhou Xiao walked into the main courtyard where her parents lived.
"Father, mother." Zhou Xiao served tea to the two elders: "My daughter went to the teahouse to listen to stories with Ming's sister today, and encountered some problems."
"What's the matter?" Zhou Rui and Mrs. Zhou smiled knowingly. The elders of both families had already discussed their daughter's marriage with Ming Jia Liulang. When Ming Jinghai returned to Beijing, they would arrange for someone to propose marriage.
My daughter has a good relationship with the girl from the Ming family, so it will be easier for her to get along with her in-laws after she gets married.
Zhou Xiao recounted what happened in the teahouse from beginning to end.
How could a small storyteller know what happened between Prince Qi and Prince Chen? If Ming's younger sister hadn't discovered something was wrong today, the storyteller might have lost his life because of this story.
Thinking of the timid little girl behind the female teacher, Zhou Xiao couldn't help but speak: "Many people say that the King of Qi is both virtuous and talented, a jade in the rough. After what happened today, my daughter began to doubt, is there really such a perfect person in the world?"
Zhou Rui remained silent, but Mrs. Zhou, who was sitting next to him, smiled and said, "This girl from the Ming family is quite interesting."
Although he is naive, he has a natural and sharp reaction to many unknown crises.
"At first, even you didn't realize there was anything wrong with the story. She just listened to a few sentences and interrupted it directly. She didn't reveal her identity or bully others. Instead, she paid the other party to change the content of the story willingly." Mrs. Zhou sighed: "She is worthy of being a member of the Ming family. Even though she is fostered outside, she still has the courage and decisiveness of the Ming family."
No wonder Concubine Su, who has never had a good relationship with civil officials, likes this future daughter-in-law.
"Really?" Zhou Xiao suspected that her mother might have some misunderstanding about Ming Jiuzhu. Ming's sister was decisive?
Thinking of the other person's pitiful look when he was holding his empty wallet and feeling sorry for the money, Zhou Xiao fell silent.
Let it be a misunderstanding. If it were exposed on the spot, my mother would be very embarrassed.
As long as she is happy.
In Mingyue Palace, Concubine Su was looking at herself in the mirror. Xiangshen hurriedly walked up to her with a strange look on her face: "Your Majesty, there are some rumors outside the palace about Your Highness."
"Are you saying that my son is arrogant or that he loves to enjoy luxury?" Concubine Su calmly picked up the eyebrow pencil and filled in the edges of her eyebrows.
“Neither.”
"Oppressing the poor and bullying others by taking advantage of your power?"
"Not really." Xiang Xian coughed dryly, "There are rumors out there that His Highness is only fierce on the outside, but in reality he is a kind person who feels sorry for small animals getting hurt and cries when he sees others suffering."
"What?!" Concubine Su's hand trembled, and her eyebrow pencil almost poked her nose: "Are you sure you are talking about my son, and not the Prince of Qi?"
"It's indeed about our Highness." Xiangshen said, "Rumor has it that there are many cooks in the Prince Chen's mansion. In fact, they are some seriously injured soldiers. His Highness couldn't bear to see them lose their ability to live, so he let them work in the mansion."
"Your Highness, the evil spirit bought the old man's carrots because he saw that his family was in financial difficulty and was looking for an excuse to give him money."
Although she didn't understand why a prince would buy radishes himself, rumors among the people sometimes inevitably led to misunderstandings such as "the emperor uses a golden shoulder pole" and "the empress puts a lot of oil in her pancakes."
After listening to Xiang Jun's bizarre stories such as "sending an old man home", "evil spirits giving money to beggars", and "beautiful women seducing men into sitting in his arms without causing chaos", Concubine Su was silent for a long time. Was this talking about her son? That was clearly a Bodhisattva.
Rubbing the goose bumps on her arms, Concubine Su interrupted Xiangxian's story and said, "Stop talking, stop talking. It's really awkward to listen to."
Concubine Su was puzzled: "Where did such an outrageous rumor come from?"
Xiang Xian: "I don't know where this rumor came from, but it has spread inexplicably in the past few days."
"Could it be... there is another conspiracy against my son?" Concubine Su thought about it, but couldn't figure it out. "But spreading this rumor is good for my son, no matter how you look at it, what is the mastermind behind this?"
They, mother and son, had always attracted a lot of attention in the palace. Others were jealous and gnashed their teeth behind their backs, burning incense every day to pray for their misfortune. It was impossible for them to go to such great lengths to embellish her son's reputation.
Is this repaying evil with kindness, or spending money on charity?
The reputation is good, but it is too exaggerated. As a mother, she feels embarrassed.
"This is what you told me, is it done?!" After listening to the servants' report, Concubine Ning summoned the palace maid who was in charge: "You are taking my money, are you working for me or for Prince Chen?!"
Five hundred taels, a full five hundred taels, and this is the result?!
"I don't know what happened. It was fine a few days ago, but the female guests in the teahouse liked the prince who looked domineering but was gentle at heart..." The voice of the palace maid became weaker and weaker: "The female teacher said that storytellers should tell stories that the guests like. She was unwilling to continue telling the content of the script we gave her in the past."
"If she doesn't want to, just keep raising the price." Concubine Ning suppressed her anger and said, "If she still doesn't want to pay more, she can always find someone else. Do you need me to teach her this?"
"Your Majesty..." The maid was very embarrassed: "Nowadays, female guests in the capital no longer like stories about humble gentlemen. They all like to listen to stories about overbearing princes or arrogant marquises."
Ever since the story of the domineering evil king and his gentle heart became popular, countless storytellers have followed suit and made up stories of this kind. No one likes to listen to other old-fashioned stories like those about scholars and ladies, or fox fairies and generals.
"Are these people mentally ill?" Concubine Ning couldn't help but ask back: "What is there to like about a prince like Yun Duqing?"
Seeing that Concubine Ning was very angry, the maid quickly tried to comfort her, "Your Majesty, they don't like Prince Chen, but the fabricated character."
I don’t know why, but many women have equated Prince Chen with the overbearing prince in the story.
She didn't dare tell Concubine Ning about this, for fear of being punished by her in anger.
"Get out!" Concubine Ning kicked her in the lower abdomen: "Useless thing!"
The maid held her belly and said, "Please calm down, Madam. I will take my leave now."
She staggered out of the inner room, and the little palace maid reached out to support her: "Aunt Bai Shao, are you okay?"
"I'm fine." The maid endured the severe pain in her lower abdomen and pushed away the maid's hand. Cold sweat dripped down her forehead: "The queen is not in a good mood today. You should serve her carefully."
The young palace maid's face suddenly changed. She looked at Bai Shao worriedly. Bai Shao just covered her lower abdomen and walked to the door step by step. When she stepped through the door, she fell to the ground.
"Auntie." The little girl didn't dare to shout. She ran to Bai Shao and said, "I'll help you go back."
"Stop making trouble." Bai Shao said weakly, "Do you want to die?"
"The Queen is in a bad mood, how can she allow you to leave without permission." Bai Shao stood up with the help of the door frame: "I'm fine, you can go back quickly."
Everyone in Lanxu Palace knew that Concubine Ning hated the servants in the palace being disrespectful to her. It was said that before she entered His Majesty's hidden residence, because her birth mother was of low status, as a concubine, she was often treated coldly and bullied by the servants. So after His Majesty ascended the throne, he did not like disobedient servants.
However, this was just a rumor that was secretly exchanged among the servants of Lanxu Palace, and no one dared to seek the truth. Moreover, the relationship between the queen and the Pingyuan Marquis Mansion has been very close over the years, and it doesn't seem like she has been treated coldly.
"Aunt Bai Shao." A young eunuch chased out and said, "The Queen asked you to ask the Palace Department when the new tea will be delivered. His Highness is getting married soon, and the Queen said that all the items in the palace should be replaced."
"I understand." Bai Shao let go of her hand that was covering her stomach: "I'll go to the Palace Province now."
The eunuch looked at Bai Shao, whose face was pale, and wanted to say something but dared not open his mouth. Finally, he whispered, "Auntie, please take care of yourself."
"Miss Ming, that's the Imperial Household Department, which is responsible for the expenses of the concubines in the harem." Xiangshen pointed to a small house not far away and said, "This is the Imperial Household Department that His Majesty set up after he ascended the throne, fearing that the eunuchs would withhold the expenses of the concubines."
During the reign of the previous emperor, unfavored concubines often ate leftovers and drank cold water and stale tea, and their lives were worse than those of servants.
Xiang Jin glanced at Jiuzhu and found that Miss Ming was very curious about everything, as if there was nothing in the world that she could not find fun in. These days, the Queen summoned Miss Ming to the palace every now and then, and the two of them got together to appreciate paintings and chat, and from time to time, she gave some small suggestions on the scriptures copied by the concubines, and they got along very happily.
The only ones who were not so happy were probably those concubines who were sincere and "insisted" on copying the scriptures.
The queen called the little girl into the palace, and worried that she would be bored, she asked her to take Miss Ming for a walk. Now the whole palace, except for the bedrooms of His Majesty and the queens, has been almost trampled by them.
The next time Miss Ming comes to the palace, she doesn’t know where to take her.
"Aunt Xiangshen." Jiuzhu pulled Xiangshen's sleeve and said, "I'll go to the front and take a look."
"What's wrong?" Xiang Jin looked at Jiuzhu in confusion and saw her walking towards a plum tree.
Bai Shao curled up, leaning against the tree trunk, cold sweat soaking her back. She half-closed her eyes weakly and looked up at the gray sky. The pain in her lower abdomen, like a knife cutting, reminded her that she was still alive.
The pain in my abdomen seemed to spread throughout my body, and even my brain seemed to be clamoring to explode because of the endless pain.
"Are you okay?"
She tried to open her eyes wide and looked at the girl who appeared in front of her.
The girl was wearing a red cloak, and the hairpins on her hair were shining brightly, illuminating even the gray sky.
"Aunt Xiangshen, she seems to be about to faint."
Before Bai Shao passed out, she saw the girl take off her cloak and cover her with it.
…
"Your Majesty." Liu Zhongbao handed a secret letter to Emperor Longfeng: "The mastermind behind the attempt to send the embroidery to the Concubine during the Qianqiu Banquet has been found out."
Emperor Longfeng opened the secret letter, read the name on it, and gently placed it on the table: "Liu Zhongbao, how many years have I been on the throne?"
"Your Majesty, this year is the thirteenth year of Longfeng."
"I remember that Du Qing was imprisoned in a dark room with me when he was less than eight years old." He sighed, "So many years have passed in the blink of an eye."
"Swing Qingfeng Pavilion."
Qingfeng Pavilion was filled with an unpleasant smell of medicine. The woman lying on the bed wrapped herself tightly in a quilt and coughed heart-wrenchingly.
There were footsteps outside the gauze curtain. She opened it with great effort. She felt happy at first, but then she was extremely flustered.
She tried to struggle to get up, but finally lay back on the bed weakly.
"Just lie down and rest." Emperor Long Feng did not go near the bed. He looked at the haggard woman with no joy or anger in his eyes.
"Your Majesty, are you here today to see me, or to seek justice for that woman Su Meidai?" She coughed a few times, "Your Majesty and I have known each other since we were young, but in the end, I am no match for a merchant girl. How ridiculous."
"Your Majesty!" She looked at Emperor Longfeng unwillingly: "Are all the women and children in the harem not human beings except for Su Meidai and Yun Duqing?"
"Since the founding of the dynasty, no emperor has been more lenient to his concubines than I am." Emperor Longfeng sighed, "Yang, you shouldn't use such means on my beloved concubine."
"My beloved concubine? Hahahaha, my beloved concubine?" Yang asked bitterly, "Only Su Meidai can be considered your woman?"
Seeing the hatred in Yang's eyes towards Concubine Su, Emperor Longfeng said, "I already knew about what happened in the 30th year of Xiande."
Yang was stunned. After a long while, she seemed to be crying and laughing: "So that's how it is, so that's how it is..."
The room fell silent. After a long while, she struggled to sit up. Looking at the empty room, she laughed until tears came out of her eyes. She murmured to herself, "Your Majesty is right. You are indeed a kind emperor."
That year, His Majesty was imprisoned in the palace, and the women in the back house chose to betray their husbands for the future and honor of their family.
Later, the plan failed and the prince ascended the throne. She thought that this matter had become a secret that His Majesty would never know.
She was wrong. How could there be a secret in this imperial city that would never be known?
"Ha ha ha ha……"
Yang laughed until tears came out. The other women in the harem usually laughed at her from a high position, but they didn't know that their actions had already been seen by His Majesty.
How ridiculous, how ridiculous they all are.
When Jiuzhu woke up in the morning, she found that all the red lanterns in the corridor of her house had been taken down.
"Sister Chunfen, why have all the lanterns been changed?" Jiuzhu looked up at the blue lanterns and felt a little awkward.
"The concubine Yang in the palace has passed away. Your Excellency is a third-rank official in the Ministry of Rites. It is not appropriate to hang red lanterns within nine days." Chunfen put a plain cape on Jiuzhu and said, "The Madam may take you to the palace to pay your respects later. Just stay with the Madam."
Jiuzhu suddenly realized that it was no wonder that Sister Chunfen had specially picked out a plain-colored dress for her today, even the hairpin was made of plain silver.
"Who is Concubine Yang?"
Chunfen lowered her voice and said, "She is the daughter of a criminal. Her father and brother conspired with the rebel king to force the emperor to abdicate more than ten years ago. After His Majesty ascended the throne, he took pity on her for not knowing the truth and did not get angry with her..."
"Jiuzhu." Shen walked into the yard and waved to Jiuzhu.
Jiuzhu trotted to Shen and said, "Mother, are we going to enter the palace now?"
"Did the Spring Equinox tell you?"
Jiuzhu nodded.
Shen looked her daughter over, confirmed that there was nothing wrong, and took her out.
Prince Chen was wearing plain clothes and walking on the palace road. He noticed that some palace maids looked at him with something strange in their eyes.
Seeing a palace maid almost fall into his arms, he dodged and asked Fugui in confusion: "What's wrong with this palace maid? She can't even walk steadily. How can she work in the palace?"
Fugui looked at the palace maid who was lying all over the place and thought, maybe this palace maid had also heard the bizarre story of "The Domineering Prince and the Beautiful Palace Maid"?
The Prince of Chen did not even look at the young palace maid lying on the ground with tears about to fall. He said impatiently to the two eunuchs, "Hurry up and help her back. If someone doesn't know, they would think that I pushed her down."
As soon as he finished speaking, he heard Jiuzhu's voice calling him from behind.
"Your Highness!"
Jiuzhu trotted to the front of the Prince. She looked at the palace maid kneeling on the ground, then looked at the Prince, her face full of confusion: "Your Highness?"
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