In order to entertain Empress Dowager Pei, Gu Jiu came up with a simple and crude method.
She brought girls from the royal family who were between fifteen and eighteen years old to serve as female officials in the palace.
In addition, the late emperor's concubines were required to take turns entering the palace in order of date and chatting with Empress Dowager Pei to relieve her boredom.
When Empress Dowager Pei learned about these two methods, she almost vomited a mouthful of blood that had been stabbed for nearly sixty years.
Empress Dowager Pei angrily said, "She's just jealous! If you want to let women into the palace to serve as ladies-in-waiting, you should choose women from officials and nobles. Instead, she found a group of women from the royal family to enter the palace, and even gave them the beautiful name of chatting with me to relieve my boredom. Bah! Shameless!"
People with the same surname cannot marry each other.
Gu Jiu brought a group of women from the royal family into the palace to serve as female officials. In the eyes of Empress Dowager Pei, this was clearly a precaution to prevent someone from trying to curry favor with the emperor.
"How can you be worthy of being a queen if you are so jealous?"
Empress Dowager Pei was so angry that her heart, liver, spleen, lungs and kidneys all ached.
She ordered, "Go and find out what the royal family says. Do they strongly oppose it?"
Eunuch Wen said cautiously, "This old servant does know something about the situation."
Queen Mother Pei glanced at him and asked, "What's going on?"
Eunuch Wen hesitated and said, "It seems that within the royal family, they are quite happy to have their daughters serve as palace ladies-in-waiting."
"Ridiculous, how is it possible!" Queen Mother Pei didn't believe it.
Eunuch Wen hurriedly explained, "The Empress has stipulated that the age limit for marriage is fifteen to eighteen. Upon turning eighteen, one can leave the palace and marry. The marriage situation for both male and female members of the imperial clan is not very good, and many are reluctant to marry into the imperial clan. However, if one has experience as a court lady in the palace, marriage is easier. Many official families are willing to marry a daughter-in-law who has served as a court lady. It's a good rule, provided she's not too old. Therefore, the Empress's move has won the support of many members of the imperial clan."
The royal family has a bad reputation, mainly because its members do not follow the rules and act recklessly.
Huyang is a typical example.
Of course, the royal family members below did not have Huyang's confidence and courage, so they naturally did not dare to follow Huyang's example and keep a lover.
However, it is not uncommon for men to keep mistresses.
Eating, drinking, whoring and gambling are everywhere.
Many women have developed gambling habits.
The chaotic atmosphere refers to a part of the royal family.
One bad apple spoils the whole barrel.
This group of corrupt people naturally ruined the reputation of the entire royal family.
Fortunately, there were free schools to discipline the boys and girls of the royal family to prevent them from learning bad things.
So far, it seems that the results are good and it is working.
The men go to the military camp for two months of training every year to correct their bad habits.
The women were organized by Xiao Qin'er to do some work that paid them.
However, short-term changes are not enough to change the inherent impression of the royal family in the eyes of the world.
Therefore, marriage is a difficult problem for men and women of marriageable age in the royal family.
They are neither too high nor too low, and they keep dragging it on until they become older men and women.
People often say that the royal family is a group of beggars.
The royal family members did not admit it and said that they were raised by a stepmother.
The court's treatment of the royal family was unprecedentedly harsh.
Anyone who is more than five degrees of kinship with the royal family will be expelled from the clan, no matter how high their status is or whether they hold an official position.
Without the status of a royal family, he naturally became a commoner.
The country lasted for two hundred years, so why were there only a few tens of thousands of royal family members?
This is because the royal family has been actively eliminating members of the clan and limiting its size.
The only condition for becoming a member of the royal family is that one has a clan relationship with the royal family that is within the fifth degree of kinship.
Only blood relationship matters, nothing else matters.
People without family backgrounds, being out of the fifth mourning period, were expelled from the imperial clan and without the support of the Shaofu, and their lives naturally became increasingly difficult. Without any special skills, they would soon fall into the pauper class.
This group of people are the most reluctant to leave the royal family.
However, rules are rules and no one can be exempted.
Those members of the royal family who have family background, connections and abilities hope to leave the royal family as soon as possible.
Once you become a civilian, you can enjoy the rights and interests of civilians, and there will be no restrictions on taking the imperial examinations or joining the army.
The children's marriage has also become simple and easy to resolve.
At the same time, he has connections within the royal family and can talk to the palace, which is simply wonderful.
If I could do some small business with the Shaofu, I wouldn't have to worry about food and drink for the rest of my life.
Go to the small streets and alleys to look for the family with the surname Liu, and look at the family tree. Maybe the ancestor was a prince.
Empress Dowager Pei doesn't care about the interests of the royal family. They are a bunch of people raised by stepmothers, so they deserve to be beggars.
After listening to Eunuch Wen's explanation and thinking about it carefully, she understood the strangeness.
"Great! The Queen is actually trying to win over the hearts of the royal family under the pretext of being filial to me. How despicable!"
Is it necessary to take the trouble to promote a group of royal family members who were raised by stepmothers?
Eunuch Wen said, "The royal ladies are currently being taught etiquette by the maids. If any of them excel, they will be assigned to work in the Weiyang Palace, where they can chat with the Empress Dowager and keep her company."
Empress Dowager Pei snorted coldly, "The Queen is so sure I dare not oppose her that she's deliberately looking for trouble, right? A bunch of ignorant royal women, what can you say? Go tell the Queen that Weiyang Palace does not need royal women as ladies-in-waiting. If she is happy to use them, send them to Chang'an Palace."
Eunuch Wen looked embarrassed. "Queen Dowager, is this appropriate? After all, this is the Queen's intention."
Bang!
Queen Mother Pei slammed the table and said, "You don't even listen to me, do you?"
"I dare not!"
"Then hurry up."
"I obey your command!"
…
Chang'an Palace.
"You said the Queen Mother is not willing to order the women of the royal family around?"
Eunuch Wen lowered his head and said, "I dare not lie to the Queen. The Queen Mother said that the women of the royal family lack knowledge. There is nothing to say."
Gu Jiu pursed her lips and smiled, "I know about this. Don't let her complain about being lonely tomorrow."
Eunuch Wen was surprised to find that the problem was solved so easily.
"Those women from the imperial clan have already entered the palace. The Empress Dowager doesn't want them. What does Your Majesty intend to do with them? I dare to ask this question. Please forgive me, Your Majesty."
Gu Jiu looked at the other person with a half-smile, "Since they have entered the palace, of course they have to stay. The Queen Mother dislikes their lack of knowledge and harsh words, but I don't dislike them. They know the messy things within the royal family better than anyone else. With them to keep me company and talk, the time flies by."
Eunuch Wen thought to himself, "Oh my god!" Why didn't he think of using this reason to persuade Empress Dowager Pei?
After completing his mission, he returned to Weiyang Palace.
Relay the Queen Mother's words to Empress Dowager Pei.
After hearing this, Empress Dowager Pei asked, "Does the Queen really want to keep those royal women?"
"Absolutely true! The Empress said that since she has already entered the palace, there is no reason to drive her away. It would be good to keep her here to listen to the royal family gossip."
"How could I have forgotten this!"
There are tens of thousands of royal family members, so there shouldn't be too many messy things.
When she was in the palace in the past, Empress Dowager Pei often spent her time listening to all sorts of nonsense.
She instructed Eunuch Wen: "Go to Chang'an Palace in a few days and tell the Queen that I have changed my mind. Ask her to arrange for a few clever maids to serve me."
Eunuch Wen let out two exclamations.
Queen Mother Pei glared at him, "Ah what? Is there something wrong with what I said?"
"No, no problem!"
…
With someone to chat with Empress Dowager Pei and cheer her up, she finally stopped being so noisy.
However, Xiao Qin'er's life was not easy.
Empress Dowager Pei is a child and her mind is getting narrower and narrower.
She had not forgotten what Xiao Qin'er had done to her before. At that time, she had few channels for information and could not tell the truth from the falsehood after being deceived by Xiao Qin'er.
Now that she has a group of women from the royal family surrounding her, it is equivalent to having an information channel that is more informed than Xiao Qin'er.
Empress Dowager Pei knew that she had been fooled by Xiao Qin'er in the past.
Those casual words, those things that told her not to worry about, damn, Xiao Qin'er was up to something in private.
Empress Dowager Pei did not rush to summon Xiao Qin'er, but sent a nanny to Prince Duan's mansion.
"The Queen Mother has been unwell recently and needs someone to devoutly copy the Diamond Sutra 100 times and burn it before the Buddha for blessings. The Queen is very busy and simply cannot spare the time. The Queen Mother has personally appointed the Princess to copy the Diamond Sutra 100 times before the 15th of next month. The Princess must copy it personally and copy it 100 times. This matter concerns the Queen Mother's health as well as the Princess' filial piety. Please do not take it lightly."
Xiao Qin'er's eyebrows twitched, "Is the Queen Mother really unwell?"
"If the princess is so interested, why not go to the palace and pay your respects to the Queen Mother?"
"Of course I will go to pay my respects to the Queen Mother. But who can give her advice on copying the Diamond Sutra?"
"What do you mean, Princess? Are you unwilling to copy scriptures for the Queen Mother? Is this filial piety?"
Xiao Qin'er felt like she was screwed.
She waved her hand, "Alright, alright. I know about this and will definitely finish copying it on time."
The nanny laughed. "When we came here, the Queen Mother said that Princess Duan had some ulterior motives and was afraid that she would be cunning and treacherous. Now it seems that the Queen Mother clearly misunderstood Princess Duan."
Xiao Qin'er couldn't hold back her smile.
It is certain that Empress Dowager Pei deliberately sent people to disgust her.
It has to be said that Queen Mother Pei succeeded.
She was indeed disgusted.
After sending the nanny away, Xiao Qin'er couldn't bear to smash the teacup, so she kicked over the stool.
She went to the outer court academy to complain to Liu Yi.
"My Queen Mother is deliberately making things difficult for me. Could you please go to the palace and plead for me?"
Liu Yi was absorbed in his painting and said casually, "You went to the palace to plead for mercy yourself. Mother will not make things difficult for you because of your sincerity."
"You won't help me?" Xiao Qin'er was very angry.
Liu Yi finally looked her in the eye. "I told you long ago, don't try to be clever. You'll suffer the consequences sooner or later. What did you tell me at the beginning? You said that the Queen Mother was old and not energetic enough, and you were just trying to share her worries. You were being clever and sidelining her. Now that the Queen Mother is giving you a hard time, it's all your own fault."
Xiao Qin'er looked embarrassed. "At this point, not only do you not help me, but you're also adding insult to injury. Liu Yi, do you have any humanity? If it weren't for me supporting this family all these years, it would have collapsed long ago."
Liu Yi rubbed his eyebrows. It was the same thing every time. Aren’t you annoyed?
Xiao Qin'er burst into tears again. "Do you know how Mother is trying to make things difficult for me? She told me to copy the Diamond Sutra a hundred times before the fifteenth of next month. I can't finish it all by myself, and Mother specifically told me not to ask anyone else to write for me. Cousin, please help me. I will be more careful in what I do in the future and never try to be clever."
It's impossible not to be clever.
It is easy to change the country but difficult to change one's nature.
Xiao Qin'er has loved to be clever since she was a child, and she will never change this bad habit.
Seeing her crying, Liu Yi sighed, "When was the last time I entered the palace?"
Xiao Qin'er burst into laughter, wiping her tears as she said, "The last time you came to the palace was during the Chinese New Year. In the past six months, you haven't thought about coming to the palace to pay your respects."
Liu Yi snorted, "If you are not willing to enter the palace, then of course I am not willing either."
Xiao Qin'er hesitated for a moment. "Going into the palace is so boring! It's so deserted right now. Only Chang'an Palace is a little lively. Weiyang Palace is so cold and deserted. Every time I go into the palace, my mother always pulls me aside and talks a lot. I really can't handle it, so I don't want to go into the palace anymore."
Liu Yi dropped the brush in his hand and said, "The palace is deserted, and it's not just this year. My brother ascended the throne, and so many people were dismissed from the harem. You didn't mind it before, but why do you mind it today?"
Xiao Qin'er rolled her eyes at him.
"Think about it. Every time I entered the palace and wanted to go to Chang'an Palace, I was turned away once out of three times. The Empress is always so busy that she doesn't even have time for small talk. After being turned away several times in a row, I naturally don't want to enter the palace anymore."
Liu Yi stared at her, seemingly puzzled by Xiao Qin'er's reason. "Is it for this reason that you are unwilling to enter the palace?"
"If Li were to be turned away, would you be willing to enter the palace?"
Liu Yi thought about it carefully. "Weiyang Palace didn't refuse you a visit. Your main mission in the palace was to pay your respects to the Queen Mother. Chang'an Palace was just a side trip. Does it matter if you were refused a visit or not?"
It’s a big deal, okay?
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