Chapter 23 Chapter 23 Palace Maid on the 23rd Day
The ceremony of crowning Concubine Xian as Queen was held with great ceremony, with Qian Quanzhong coordinating the overall situation, Qingyu Qinggu quickly got the hang of the related matters, and even Xuancao became calm.
Shen Qing followed Xuancao to help, and her salary kept increasing. When the palace maids in the harem saw her, they all showed her respect.
The crowning of the empress was an extremely important and lively event in the court and the harem. The whole capital was filled with a warm and enthusiastic atmosphere, sweeping away the solemnity of the three years since the death of the previous emperor.
After this incident, the marriageable children of officials in the capital began to look for partners or get married. First, officials with meritorious service were not allowed to get married during the mourning period for the late emperor. Those who violated the rules would be stripped of their official positions and titles. This delay lasted for three years, and some men and women were too old to get married as soon as possible. Second, next year would be the day of the triennial general election, and marriageable girls in officials' families would need to go through layers of selection to become selected girls and enter the palace to be chosen as concubines, but if they got engaged before the election, they would not have to become selected girls and enter the palace.
This is how things have always been handled, and the royal family has turned a blind eye. After all, if someone is forced to enter the palace unwillingly, there might be people who would harm the emperor at the cost of their entire clan.
It would be better for both parties to take a step back and be happy.
Lu Mansion.
Lu Yunmei, the eldest daughter of the Lu family, brought her maid Xing Luo through the corridor to pay their respects to the mistress of the Lu family.
"Mother, are you worried about your daughter's marriage?" Lu Yunmei opened her eyes and looked at the mistress of the Lu family, Mrs. Lin Wan. She obviously did nothing, but Lu Yunmei's eyes were like a hook, which made people's hearts flutter. She herself had a snow-white skin and a charming look.
Lu Yunmei is the eldest daughter of the Lu family. Her biological mother was born a skinny girl in Yangzhou and was given to Lu's father as a concubine. Everyone called her Aunt Yun. That year, the master of the Lu family kept lingering around Aunt Yun, and his wife Lin Wan was quite neglected.
However, the good times did not last long. Aunt Yun died during childbirth, leaving behind only one daughter, Lu Yunmei.
At that time, Lin Wan had no children, and Lu Yunmei was the only child in the entire Lu family. Lin Wan raised Lu Yunmei on her own lap. Although she was not a legitimate daughter, she was treated the same as legitimate children.
Although Lin Wan disliked Aunt Yun, she had no ill feelings towards the child, and when she had a daughter, she raised her with care like other families. However, the older Lu Yunmei grew, the more she could not hide her beauty, and she was even more outstanding than Aunt Yun at that time. Pearls could not hide her beauty, and even though Lin Wan often kept Lu Yunmei at home, the rumors about her appearance were still widely spread in the capital.
As the general election approaches, Lu's father intends to let his eldest daughter enter the palace to seek long-term wealth for the family. Lin Wan thinks this is not possible, but continues to look for someone for Lu Yunmei as usual.
With Lu Yunmei's looks, she could only marry into a wealthy family, but after choosing and choosing, the families that Lin Wan liked either had a strong mother-in-law, or useless sons, or the eldest sister-in-law was not easy to mess with, or the younger brother-in-law was a famous playboy in the capital.
In short, nothing went smoothly. These days, Lin Wan asked the maid around her to boil medicine for her to drink.
Facing Lu Yunmei, whom she had known since childhood, Madam Lin, even as a woman, could not help but be in a trance for a moment: "Yes, it is true, but you still have to choose the marriage yourself. These few families..."
Before Madam Lin finished speaking, Lu Yunmei stated her purpose: "Mother, I would like to enter the palace to participate in the selection."
Mrs. Lin frowned: "But what did your father say to you? Don't worry about him."
Father Lu was a good-for-nothing. He seemed to have some promise when he was young, but the older he got, the more he wasted his time in a sixth-rank official position. Some of those who took the palace examination in the same year as him had already become third-rank officials.
Lu Yunmei smiled slightly: "It's not all for my father. I want to be a helper to my younger brother. Besides, if I become the emperor's concubine, no one will dare to speak ill of me. I should marry the most noble person in the world. I want to enter the palace to see it."
Lu Yunmei's younger brother is Lin Wan's only child. He is twelve years old this year and is also a handsome young man. After Aunt Yun left, Lu's father became addicted to alcohol due to grief. Later, he woke up from his dream and realized that he had let his wife and daughter down for the past three years. After reconciling with Lin Wan, Lin Wan gave birth to a son named Lu Yungui the following year.
Lu's father was a child prodigy since childhood, but his talent was mostly lost after he became addicted to alcohol. Lu Yungui did not inherit his father's reputation as a child prodigy. He was just a little smart, and his career in officialdom was probably even more dim. However, having a sister who was a favorite concubine made things very different.
When Mrs. Lin heard Lu Yunmei mention Lu Yungui, she suddenly became unsure. She didn't care about Lu's father, but Lu Yungui was her only hope.
"The hearts of people in the harem are unpredictable. How can you withstand the targeting of other concubines?" Lu Yunmei was raised since she was a child, so there should be no problem for her to enter the palace smoothly. If there is a problem, it can only be that the people in the palace do not want to have an additional strong enemy. There is nothing to say.
Lu Yunmei: "That's why I came to look for my mother. I heard that my mother left behind a servant, and I want to meet her and learn something from her. I think that in the palace, with the emperor's favor and my own caution, all conspiracies and tricks can be solved."
Mrs. Lin looked at Lu Yunmei's face which was slowly turning red with shame and knew that she had made up her mind, so she finally nodded.
Back then, she disliked Aunt Yun's despicable methods, so she never allowed Lu Yunmei to see the old woman that Aunt Yun relied on. However, the Lu family was small, and Lu Yunmei was aware of the existence of that old woman.
Lu Yunmei held Lin Wan's arm and slowly rested her head on Lin Wan's shoulder: "My daughter knows that mother is doing this for my own good, but my daughter also wants to do something for mother."
Madam Lin sighed. Somehow, Lu Yunmei had followed in her mother's footsteps. But being a concubine in the royal family was always a little different. She only wished that everything would go well for Lu Yunmei when she entered the palace.
She helped Lu Yunmei up: "Since you want to enter the palace, the Lu family should support you. Our family also has some connections in the palace, and the Concubine Hui in the palace is my mother's sister. She is not favored, but she is the master of a palace after all. I think she will help you a little because of these relatives..."
Heavy snow was falling outside the window, and the walls and courtyards of the imperial palace were covered in silver.
Inside Kunning Palace.
Daylily was looking at the snow scene under the corridor and sneezed loudly.
Shen Qing was wearing thick palace clothes and was organizing the young palace maids to make ginger soup for the palace servants who were sweeping the snow. Seeing this, she personally brought a bowl to Xuancao and said, "Sister, drink it quickly while it's hot, otherwise you will catch a cold again."
It was also because of the snow that the cold wind entered Hemerocallis' body and she fell ill. The Queen Mother specially added more charcoal to Hemerocallis so that she could recover before coming back to serve her.
At that time, Concubine Xian had just become the Queen not long ago. Xuancao was so happy that she took the little palace maids to play in the snow during the first snow of the year, but her joy turned into sorrow.
The daylilies are only a few days old now, and looking at the snow, they seem to be getting back to their old ways again.
Shen Qing showed helplessness on his face and stared at Xuancao as she drank up all the ginger soup.
Daylily made a bitter face and showed her: "Look, I've finished drinking it all. What's the reward?"
Hearing this, Shen Qing wanted to reach for Hemerocallis's mouth, but Hemerocallis came closer and, with a "boo" sound, pressed her lips against his cheek.
She kept saying, "You're getting prettier and prettier. Let me have a taste of your fragrance."
Shen Qing was stunned and looked at Hemerocallis several times, making sure that she was a real straight girl. He wiped his cheek with a look of being touched by her cuteness.
Being by the Queen's side, she ate well, dressed well, and was in high spirits. Her whole body was rosy, her cheeks were round and chubby, her face was dark and moist, her eyebrows were black without any makeup, and even her hair was thick and shiny black. It was most appropriate to describe her as having black hair like a waterfall and misty hair like clouds.
Shen Qing wore a pompom hair accessory she made herself, which hung on one side of her bun. Instead of looking childish, she looked lively and cute, which perfectly matched the snowy scenery.
Because of this, she suffered countless cruel treatment from her sisters. But because she really liked it, she made different patterns and wore them on her head.
Seeing the soft flesh on Shen Qing's cheek bounce, Xuancao curled her lips in satisfaction.
Because the queen became the empress, there was an extra position for a senior maid beside her, but Shen Qing had no intention of competing, she just wanted to study makeup powder and put makeup on the queen, so Xuancao let her do what she wanted. But in private, she suggested to the queen about Qi He, who was on good terms with Shen Qing.
Qi He's qualifications are completely sufficient, and it is also comfortable to be with her. Xuancao doesn't want her future colleague to be someone who can cause trouble, nor does she want someone who will cause trouble for Shen Qing.
The Queen Mother thought about it and promoted Qie He.
Cuiwei Qigu was defeated regretfully, but she had no complaints. They were all honest people and would get together with Shen Qing in private to study the makeup, hair and clothing for the Queen. Good makeup needs to be matched with a suitable bun, and a gorgeous bun also needs makeup to keep up. The two complement each other.
They had only one goal, which was to make the Queen's majesty overpower everyone else and never let the concubines below harbor any thoughts of usurping power.
On the second day after she was crowned Queen, when all the concubines came to pay their respects to her, the Queen took back Concubine De's power in the palace. Concubine De was able to handle the situation, but after returning, she still said she was sick.
The Queen knew that Concubine De was unwilling to be humble in front of her and come to Kunning Palace to pay her respects every day. After all, she was such a proud noble lady. So she didn't dwell on the matter, and didn't even mention removing Concubine De's green card.
The queen was kind-hearted, but Xuancao kept humming, always worrying that the queen would be bullied by the concubines.
Under the influence of what they have seen and heard, Shen Qingcui, Wei Qigu and the other three who are in charge of makeup, hair and clothing will naturally not let the queen lose. Qi He was promoted, and the number of women in the palace was enough, but the queen was supposed to be equipped with six second-class palace maids, and now the gap has suddenly increased. However, the queen felt that there were enough people, so she thought that this matter was not urgent, and the most important thing was to have a good impression.
The more important thing right now is the relationship between the emperor and the empress after the wedding.
The Qianqing Palace and Kunning Palace are located on the central axis of the imperial palace and are quite close to each other, with only the Jiaotai Hall in the middle.
Therefore, when the emperor was not busy with state affairs, he did not need to ride the dragon chariot. He could reach Kunning Palace in two steps, which was much more convenient than going to the six east and west palaces.
Because of this, the queen was often caught off guard, and the couple became less distant and more affectionate.
The empress was busy with palace affairs and the emperor was busy with government affairs, but at lunch, six out of ten times, the two ate together.
Moreover, just one month after the wedding, the emperor gave face and did not go to the harem. He went to Kunning Palace more times than the empress in the past year.
Everyone in Kunning Palace was filled with joy, and the queen was also happy. When she was happy, she would double the monthly allowance.
Bodhisattva, where can I find such a good queen?
But as the emperor came more often, the queen's mind began to become a little dirty. She would often sit and dress, her mind wandering to who knows where, making Shen Qing wish she were deaf.
She is still young and can't stand hearing such nonsense.
Since the emperor came so frequently, the empress naturally had to show her appreciation, so she asked the small kitchen to prepare the emperor's favorite soup and had it sent to the Qianqing Palace.
Because Xiao Dingzi was Wang Jigui's man, Wang Jigui and Qian Quanzhong were more like one in charge of the interior and one in charge of the exterior around the emperor. Therefore, most of the people who came to Kunning Palace with the emperor were Qian Quanzhong or his apprentice Qian Ji.
Therefore, if Shen Qing wanted to see Xiao Dingzi, he had to go to Ganqing Palace to deliver soup.
Xiao Dingzi has now been transferred to the Qianqing Palace and is under the command of Wang Jigui. He has also changed his name to Wang Jigui's last name, now called Wang Ding. He is now a well-known little figure.
Although Shen Qing and Wang Ding cannot be friends openly, it is still possible to say hello.
It is much more convenient than in August and September.
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