Hou Kun

Chapter 71
It was settled at night, and Suge had a problem with recognizing the bed, tossing and turning, and was afraid of waking Yurong, who was on the same bed, so she had to stare sideways at the window paper.

The moonlight was gloomy, hanging in a hazy mass in the dark blue night.In the spring of the Forbidden City, the wind is indispensable day and night. On the quivering window paper, a budding branch appears from nowhere. It's like whispering to someone.

Yurong was lying on her side, with her legs curled up, one hand resting on her side, the other stretched out flat, motionless.Suge later found out that Yurong's aunt had trained her to maintain such a posture all night long. "There are temple gods in the dormitory, how can you stand up and down, it is a sin to startle the temple god." Suge learned it a few times, but he was still dishonest when he fell asleep, and felt that he was really not the material of a palace lady.

Confused, she didn't know when she would fall asleep, but when Yurong woke her up, it was still pitch black outside.After washing up with Yurong, I waited for two soft high-fives outside, and when I went out to the courtyard, there were already a bunch of court ladies gathered, and everyone lined up in order to go to the Palace of Compassion.Arriving at the Palace of Compassion and Ning, the palace gate just opened, only to find that the corridors and corridors are full of court ladies and eunuchs, they dare not make a sound, waiting in place.Su Ge saw a rough envoy maid carrying a bucket of hot water, so she went over to help.

Even though it was spring, it was still chilly at this hour. After standing for a while, I lost all feeling in my toes, like a stone.Can't help but think of Khalkha again, one night she came out of the palace, in the wind of rubbing cotton and blowing wadding, she stood under the mast with dragon flags spread out, stomping her feet, and then, she wore a soft tire cap with sea dragon needles on her head , on the fur of the sable that stood out, a pair of eyes full of thousands of mountains and rivers squinted over, slowly telling her her future fate.

Thinking about it, I can't help but feel sad, this is the same person who resolved the disasters of her whole life for her kind and deceitful sister, so the grievances that had just accumulated just disappeared suddenly.Su Ge sighed, everyone has their own fate, and she doesn't know in what life she owed Prince Yi, so let's just treat it as repaying the debt.

The gauze that covered the lights in the room was removed, and there was light in the bedroom. Song Ling, who was serving the bedroom last night, deliberately shouted "Auspicious Queen Mother!" Yurong, who received the signal, led everyone to the door of the bedroom. The maid who was guarding the door at night opened half of the door, and the maids entered in a file, doing their own work in an orderly manner.Songling led the five maids who were on duty last night to kowtow to say hello, and retreated out. When she saw Yurong, she winked quietly, and pointed her hand upwards. An, then ordered hot water, twisted the towel, the queen mother took it, covered her face, and let out a long breath.

It was Suge's first time serving her, and she was a little at a loss. Yurong took the time to whisper to her, "Go outside and wait for your hair to be combed."

As soon as Su Ge arrived at the door in a panic, she saw a tall, thin eunuch with a Huang Yun dragon bag on her head outside the Ci Ning door, and hurried in.

Comb hair Zhang is not very old, but the eunuch likes to pick and hug his body when he walks, which makes him look a little bit old.Suge opened the curtain to welcome him into the dormitory, combed his hair and smiled kindly at her, took off the burden on his head and handed it to her, then knelt down facing the queen dowager's dormitory, kowtowed neatly, and called out "Auspicious queen dowager" , this slave pleases Wanan for you."

Inside, Yurong's gentle voice sounded, "Come in, Zhang Defu." This is for the Queen Mother, and it is Zhang Defu's dignity, but not everyone can be called by their first and last names in front of the Queen Mother.

Zhang Defu got up, took the bag from Suge's hand, and whispered, "Are you new here? Don't be afraid, follow me."

His voice is gentle and gentle, which makes people feel at ease.

While combing his hair, he told jokes while combing his hair. His voice was steady, and what he told were all fresh jokes. Even Suge pursed his lips and smiled.With a sharp hand, she handed over the combs one after another, and the comber gave her an approving look, and she felt a little relieved for no reason.

Comb Zhang pinched a few locks of hair that had fallen off, and while he was changing hands, Su Ge took it secretly.

The Empress Dowager is nearly 40 years old, and her hair is already thinning. It can be seen that half of her life has been well-intentioned. She combed her hair happily and secretly hid the fallen hair.

After combing her hair, Dong Guixiang on the copper samovar came over with a bowl of white fungus that had just been stewed. Yurong signaled to Suge, Suge took it from Dong Guixiang, it was a little hot, she endured it, lowered her head and handed it to the Queen Mother , placed on the kang table aside.

"The queen mother moistens her throat first, and it's best to drink after opening her stomach."

The queen mother was slightly startled when she heard this, touched the jade bowl, understood in her heart, and smiled, "What's so important about this?"

In fact, Suge followed her own Ernie for many years to get up with a cup of warm salt water, Ernie said that especially when she was getting old, getting up with a cup of water would prevent all diseases.

The Empress Dowager's habit of nourishing her skin for many years is not bad at all, but the sticky bowl of white fungus in the morning, coupled with not drinking water overnight, is actually harmful to her health.

"The servant learned from serving his wife before Ernie. The wife of the servant once had blood thickening disease. With this very simple folk remedy, she has never suffered from dizziness and dizziness for so many years. Now her body is healthy, so I don't care about it. The method is highly respected. Besides, things that are too hot are not good..."

Suge was a little apprehensive.It's the first time to serve, I don't know if what I said violates the master's taboo.

In fact, the imperial physicians in the palace also used this prescription, but the Empress Dowager has been drinking tremella soup for many years, and the habit is not easy to change.Others didn't dare to persuade them too much, but Su Ge told them the truth.

The Empress Dowager ordered people to prepare warm salt water, looked at her kindly and said, "I said it was right to keep you in the palace with me. Rong'er and the others only know how to be filial, although they are obedient children, they dare not persuade me too much. Good boy, as I said, you should treat me as your kisser, if you have anything to say, let me listen to it, it’s fresh and lively. But if you have any other remedies, tell me all of them.”

Suge returned to the duty room, the morning's hustle and bustle had just passed, the queen mother first went to the main hall to receive the queen's greetings from the queen and the others, and then she went to the Buddhist hall in the dark to worship the Buddha and recite the Diamond Sutra.As soon as the Empress Dowager left, a crowd of people appeared in the palace, sweeping the yard, cleaning the glass, tidying up the verandah, and polishing the jade and porcelain displays inside and outside the house. There were all people inside and outside, each with their own division of labor, and there was no chaos at all. In time for the Queen Mother to finish worshiping the Buddha, she must be cleaned up.

Yurong stood on the porch, pointing at the crowd with air, she couldn't get any sand in her eyes, she scolded anyone who moved slowly, she didn't save face at all.Suge helped wipe the jade wares in the bedroom, and came out to help clean the verandah. Yurong hurriedly stopped her, "You don't need to do these things. The Queen Mother just ordered you to get the medicine for hair care. Go now. Take it." I still need to cook medicine when I come back.”

Su Ge knew that she was protecting her, smiled gratefully, and prepared to go to the imperial pharmacy to get the medicine. When she was about to go out, she looked up and saw raindrops starting to fall from the sky. No wonder the moon was so misty last night.

(End of this chapter)