Dong Gong Mei

Chapter 86
In the early morning of deep winter, the wind is biting, and the breath turns into frost.

At the gate of the Zhao Mansion, gorgeous carriages lined up lined up with Cui Gai and Zhuying, beside the carriages were dozens of guards in brocade clothes.

At this time, a thin line of fish belly was exposed on the horizon. Since they were entering the palace, everyone dressed thinly to maintain their appearance. After waiting for more than half an hour in the cold wind, they felt as if they were in an ice cellar, but no one dared to wrinkle. A frown, or a shudder.

They all had their backs straight, their hands clenched and fists hanging by their sides, their eyes were piercing, and they maintained a mighty and extraordinary appearance.

At the front of the line was a man with a stern face.

He has a majestic figure, purple clothes and a golden crown, and a jade belt around his waist. He is the prime minister Zhao Ziyi.

He was riding a brown horse with a calm expression. He only glanced around briefly, and the guards on the whole long street were shocked, and they straightened their backs unconsciously.

When the old lady came out of the gate with all the female relatives, Zhao Ziyi's expression became more gentle. He got off the horse and bowed to the old lady: "Mother, you can get in the carriage."

The old lady nodded, showing a gratified smile.

When the Queen Mother gave a banquet, all the female family members were invited. No matter how powerful Zhao Ziyi was, he still couldn't reach the harem.

But as long as he was guarding the carriage, the old lady felt like she had a backing, and suddenly felt a lot more at ease.

The eldest lady and the old lady were in the same carriage, driving at the front.

Following closely behind were the second and third wives. Although they were not ordered by imperial order, they were also able to enter the palace to participate in the flower viewing banquet because they were female family members of the Zhao family.

Then the third carriage sat Zhao Chengyu and Zhao Chengyan.

It was not yet dawn, and the streets were empty at this time, except for the sound of carriages rolling across the ground. Zhao Xiwei sat alone in the last carriage, loneliness and anxiety surged into his heart again.

She took several deep breaths, but still couldn't suppress the emotion.

It's useless to think too much, what should be faced will be faced after all, so I simply close my eyes and fall asleep.

After about half an hour, the carriage stopped.

Zhao Xi pricked up his ears slightly, and heard the voices of officials saluting outside the door: "Morning Prime Minister Zhao", "Morning Luo Shangshu", "Morning Master Liu"... and so on.

You don't need to lift the curtain to guess that this is the Suzaku Gate.

This is the first gate of the imperial city, and ordinary people stop here.

The guards of the palace gate held the seal of the roster and verified the identities of each of them one by one:

"Master Qiao Anqiao of Honglu Temple, please-"

"Master Jing Zhao Yin Cui Yan Cui, please—"

"Master He Kuihe, Zhan Shi of the Eastern Palace, please—"

……

Hearing the familiar name ringing in his ears, Zhao Xiwei gradually calmed down the uneasiness in his heart.

Finally, when they arrived at Zhao Mansion, the voice of the palace gate guard Ling was very respectful: "Master Prime Minister, please pass."

Zhao Ziyi was the head of all the officials, and it was too late for the guards to curry favor with him, how could he dare to put on airs in front of the chariots and horses of the Zhao family, so the group let them go.

Zhao Xiwei once again felt the power of power.

After entering the Suzaku Gate, the atmosphere suddenly turned solemn.

Unlike the silence in the outer city, this place is as quiet as a world with only air left.Even the sound of cicadas and birds chirping disappeared, and even the cold wind seemed to become more cautious when it came here.

The carriage also slowed down significantly, and after traveling for about two quarters of an hour, all the officials got off their horses.

With so many people, none of them said a word, and none of them made a sound.

Zhao Xiwei sat in the car, his nerves tensed up.

Here, it must be the legendary Chengtianmen.

Only by entering this gate can one truly enter the palace.

Officials went to meet the emperor from here, and they also entered their respective government offices from here to carry out official duties for a day.

This is the core of Wei's power, and the government orders of the whole country are issued from here.

Here, don't whisper, don't make loud noises, let alone look left and right.

Although Zhao Ziyi was the prime minister, he couldn't violate the rules of the palace, so he whispered a few words to the guard officer, looked at the old lady, and walked towards the Zichen Palace.

The chariots and horses of the women's families waited for about a quarter of an hour in such a state of indifference, and an official in charge of chariots and horses came over, with a voice that was so calm that there was no slight ups and downs: "The forbidden area of ​​the imperial palace is not allowed to enter unless the royal chariots and horses, everyone Gentlemen, please change to a small car here."

Everyone hurriedly arranged their clothes to make sure there was nothing wrong before getting out of the car quietly.

Zhao Xiwei also followed in a well-behaved manner.

Dozens of uniform green-curtain chariots appeared in front of them, and none of the female relatives dared to take a second look. They only watched their noses, noses, and hearts, and obeyed the dispatching arrangements of the chariot and horse orders.

Zhao Xiwei didn't even have a chance to see what Chengtianmen looked like, so he sat in a new carriage and was sent into the inner palace by the servant in charge of driving the carriage.

I don't know how many doors I passed, the sky became brighter and brighter, and even the sun came out, and finally I heard a servant in front proclaiming in a protracted voice:

"Xuan, Mrs. Qiao Zhong, the wife of Dahonglu Qiao An, come in to see—"

"Xuan, Cui Luoshi, the wife of Jingzhao Yin Cui Yan, come in to see—"

"Xuan, Mrs. He Shen, the wife of He Kui, Zhan Shi of the Eastern Palace, came in to have an audience—"

……

After a long chanting and kowtowing, it was finally the turn of the female family members of the Zhao family.

Zhao Xiwei was led by the old lady, and solemnly bowed to the palace far in front of him: "My daughter, my wife kowtowed to the Empress Dowager, and the Empress Dowager is a thousand years old."

"Old lady, get up." The servant's shrill voice sounded.

"Thank you, Eunuch." The old lady said politely.

The waiter paused for a moment, then said: "The empress dowager is eating, please go to the side hall with our family to wait for a while, Mrs. Zhao."

The group of people lowered their eyes, followed the servant, and filed into a nearby palace.

Everyone sat down quietly, and when a court lady served tea, the old lady thanked her again.

The surrounding area became more and more quiet.

The uneasiness in Zhao Xiwei's heart gradually surged up again.

At this moment, a cold and haughty voice sounded at the door: "The queen mother has an order to send Zhao Xiwei, the daughter of Zhao's patriarch, to see her!"

The sound entered his ears, and Zhao Xiwei's hand holding the teacup froze.

It's Eunuch Chang.

The old lady's complexion also changed, everyone entered the palace together, why did they summon Miss Wei alone?
She was raised in the country before, and it's her first time entering the palace, can she do it?

Mrs. Zhao felt inexplicably flustered when she thought about it, she even forgot the rules and raised her eyes to look over.

When facing the danger directly, Zhao Xiwei calmed down instead.

She got up and bowed politely, her voice was gentle and respectful: "My daughter Zhao Xiwei, I have met Eunuch Chang."

The old lady nodded secretly.

This girl, entering the palace for the first time, did not panic at all. Sure enough, she saw the right person, sister Wei is a courageous one.

Thinking of this in my heart, my mood has stabilized a lot.

Unexpectedly, this stability was broken by a single sentence the next moment.

Eunuch Chang's voice was like a sword, falling straight from the top of his head, making the old lady's scalp buzz, and there was a feeling of spinning the world.

She could hear clearly what Eunuch Chang said: "Miss Zhao, have you put on the knee pads you were rewarded last time?"

(End of this chapter)