Chapter 6: Six Palaces Greetings
The master and servant chatted for about half an incense stick of time, when they suddenly heard a greeting from outside the door:
"The servants Zhihua and Xiying greet Miss Song."
Yunshan peeked outside through the window and said to Song Zhao, "My lady, this should be the maid sent by the Ministry of Internal Affairs to serve you."
Song Zhao nodded, and Yunshan cleared his throat and said in a clear voice, "Come in."
Zhihua and Xiying seem to be about the same age as Song Zhao. Although they look immature, their every move is very proper.
After bowing to Song Zhao and introducing himself, he stood there blankly, as if waiting for Song Zhao to lecture him.
Unexpectedly, Song Zhao looked at them, smiled and said, "Palace maids entered the palace at the age of eight, and have learned all the rules long ago. There is no need for me to teach you anything. From now on, you are my people in the room. Once you have done your work, I will not treat you unfairly."
When other masters enter the palace, they have to show off to the servants.
Take Concubine Li who lived in the east wing hall for example. When Zhihua and Xiying came to Song Zhao's place just now, they heard Concubine Li scolding the palace maids from a distance.
I didn't expect that Song Zhao would treat me so well.
They thanked each other quickly, looked busy, and started to get busy.
When she walked out of the bedroom to clean up the courtyard, Zhihua whispered to Xiying,
"I think Song Da Ying has a gentle personality and should be easy to get along with. Our lives will be better in the future. Lian Er has been assigned to the East Side Hall to take care of Li Guiren, but I'm afraid this job is not easy."
Xiying frowned slightly, obviously disagreeing with what she said, "What's the use of having a good temper? We palace maids are servants. We can only be proud if we are favored by our masters. Otherwise, we will live like servants, lower than dirt."
She was absent-mindedly pruning the branches while she kept complaining.
"Although Concubine Li is a little harder to serve, she has a good family background and good looks. She was given the title of a noble when she entered the palace, which shows that the emperor values her. How can she be like us?"
Xiying glanced back at the closed window of the west side hall and said with disgust, "She is just a concubine, but she has a face full of red sores. How can the emperor look down on her?"
"Don't talk nonsense!" Zhihua nudged Xiying with her elbow, "Master's right and wrong cannot be judged, get back to work!"
The two of them were talking in a very low voice, so Song Zhao naturally couldn't hear it from inside the hall.
Yunshan made her a pot of scented tea and asked her, "My lady, the master said that the servants in the palace are the best at flattering the powerful and bullying the weak, and that you must be tough with them after entering the palace, so that they will know how to be afraid. But why were you so kind to them just now?"
Song Zhao played with the porcelain lid of the teacup and sneered:
"Why would I be so mean to them? Don't worry, the people who follow me won't be disloyal."
*
The next morning was the day when the rookie entered Fengluan Palace to pay his respects to the Queen.
Song Zhao did not dare to delay, so he packed up quickly and rushed to the Queen's palace.
She was wearing the same outfit today that she wore when she entered the palace yesterday.
To put it nicely, it makes people look quiet and elegant. To put it bluntly, it is difficult to recognize them even if they are thrown into a crowd.
She has brains, and others are not stupid either.
Li Guiren, Xiao Changzai and Liu Changzai also arrived very early, and each of them was dressed much more simply than yesterday.
The one who attracted attention was still Lady Li.
She greeted him, but she was carrying a black gold brocade box.
When Xiao Changzai and Liu Changzai asked her what was inside, she avoided the question and was unwilling to tell the truth.
Later, concubines arrived one after another. The four newlyweds stood upright in the hall. When they met concubines of higher rank, they followed the rules and performed courtesy.
The first person to enter was Concubine Yao, who lived in Yaohua Palace with Song Zhao and Concubine Li.
Yaopin's appearance was not outstanding, and she was not tall, but she had a very graceful figure, with beautiful breasts and a waist that could be held in one hand.
She also knew her own strengths very well, and her clothes were tailored to fit her body very closely, which further highlighted her plump figure.
Late yesterday, after attending to the empress, she returned to Yaohua Palace and met with Li Guiren and Song Zhao.
When I first met him, he seemed kind and not arrogant.
After her, Huipin came in.
She has willow-shaped eyebrows, peach blossom eyes, a small nose and a small mouth, and cheeks like pink peaches, looking very childish.
Seeing Song Zhao and the others bowing, he smiled happily.
"That's great. There are more sisters in the harem who can play with me~"
She called Song Zhao and the others "sisters", not because she was being sarcastic, but because she had the mentality of a child.
I heard that Concubine Hui only turned fourteen after the Chinese New Year, and she was the only one among the older generation of concubines who had never served the emperor in bed.
Although she looks young, everything she wears is very expensive.
The string of tourmaline beads on her wrist alone is worth hundreds of gold coins.
Her family was wealthy and was a well-known rich family in the Jiangsu and Zhejiang areas. When there was a drought in the Qi Dynasty, her family helped the late emperor a lot.
Later I heard that the late emperor had forced upon him a sinecure of a fourth-rank official post, so that his daughter could marry into the palace and become related to the royal family.
The next person to come in was Concubine Ying whom I had met yesterday. Walking side by side with her was a concubine who was quite pretty but had an ugly expression on her face.
Judging from how Concubine Ying addressed her, this person should be Concubine Yun.
"Sister Yunfei, why do you have to worry about this? It's not the first time that Concubine Chen has become arrogant because of her favor."
The two entered the main hall, and Song Zhao and the others hurriedly bowed.
Concubine Ying smiled and motioned for them to stand up, but Concubine Yun seemed not to notice them. She turned around and sat down, then began to recite to Concubine Ying again:
"Last night, the Empress had a heart attack, so we all went to Fengluan Palace to take turns to take care of her. But what about her? She walked around like she was visiting a temple fair, then turned around and said something to the Emperor, and coaxed him to go to her palace again!
Today, the newly selected concubine came to pay respects to the Queen, but she said she was tired of serving the Queen and she didn't come? This palace thinks she is getting more and more presumptuous! "
Concubine Ying smiled bitterly and advised: "She has been like that all these years. If the emperor likes her, what can we say?"
Concubine Yun rolled her eyes impatiently, "I just despise her frivolous look! Concubine Shu is pregnant, and she only stopped paying respects to the Empress these past two days because the weather was hot. Who the hell is Concubine Chen?"
Song Zhao listened quietly at the side.
As early as when she was in the mansion, she heard that Concubine Chen had been the exclusive favorite since she entered the palace.
In fact, it is no wonder that Emperor Xiao Jingheng would do this.
It is said that the Concubine Chen was the most beautiful woman in the palace, and her father was a minister of the imperial guards, who was a first-rank official.
The former dynasty and the harem are closely related. With such a powerful mother's family as a backer, it is not surprising that she is favored.
As for Shu Fei, she was considered to have the best luck among all the concubines.
Xiao Jingheng has been on the throne for three years. In the first two years, he was busy with mourning and government affairs and had little time to go in and out of the harem. It was only last year that he began to favor concubines.
Shu Fei did not receive much favor, but she was blessed enough to announce the good news of her pregnancy early on.
In addition, she was gentle and low-key in character and never made enemies with anyone, so no one in the harem was jealous of her pregnancy.
But who knows what's going on behind the scenes?
Song Zhao looked straight ahead, but out of the corner of his eye he secretly looked at the women in the room.
I was thinking privately:
The days from now on will be lively.
(Ps: This is a fictional background, and uses the ranks of the Qing Dynasty harem. From low to high, they are: Guan Nu, Da Ying, Chang Zai, Gui Ren, Pin, Fei, Gui Fei, Huang Gui Fei and Empress.)
[For more free resources, add WeChat YWY4087]
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com