After the whole family was swept away, I lay down flat

Chapter 610 Hard Times
On this day, Ma came back exceptionally late.

Haitang had already gone to the kitchen to prepare dinner, and was practicing archery in the main courtyard, taking advantage of the fact that it was not windy today, nor was there any rain or snow, and it was not yet dark. Seeing Ma coming back, she quickly put down her bow and arrow and went to greet her: "Grandma, why are you back at this time today?"

She took the bundle from Ma's hand and asked, "What did Ma say? Is she satisfied with the new vest? Has she chosen the embroidery pattern?"

"She was very satisfied. She said it was up to you to choose what kind of flowers you want to embroider. She would like whatever you choose." Ma lifted the curtain and went into the house. She took off her big cloak and lay down on the kang. "But I am exhausted. She held me and talked for a long time, but I didn't dare to get up and say goodbye. It was not good to lie there in someone else's house and let her laugh at me as a country woman with no manners."

Haitang put away her bag with a smile, and sat down on the kang to massage Ma's waist and legs: "Grandma, how can you be called a country woman? I think you are more fashionable than Ma."

Ma rolled her eyes at her granddaughter, but couldn't help but smile: "What nonsense are you talking about? I'm younger than her, so it's normal for me to wear bright clothes. But in terms of knowledge and ability, I can't compare with her."

Seeing that her granddaughter was massaging her legs and feeling quite comfortable, she sat up again and leaned against the edge of the table on the kang, indicating to her granddaughter that some parts of her waist and back needed more massage, and said, "I see that she didn't have the time to look at the pattern you picked for her today. She was only interested in asking about Madam Mei. Madam Mei seemed to be an acquaintance of hers, but she had been lost for many years and had never been found. So when she heard you talking about Madam Mei, she immediately kept asking questions."

Haitang blinked behind her grandmother, "Oh? Is it true? Is it such a coincidence? But isn't Mammy from Chang'an? She entered the palace as a maidservant for the Empress Dowager. How could she know Madam Mei who lives in Shanhaiguan? Even if Madam Mei really worked for a nobleman in the capital before, she wouldn't have had much chance to meet people in the palace."

"It is said that they were sisters who knew each other in the palace, but they were framed and driven out. She could not leave the palace, and she did not know where the sister went or what happened to her later. Now that she heard what I said, she felt that she looked a bit like that person." Ma paused, "That's what she said, but she herself was not sure which sister it was. It seems that there were several girls around the Empress Dowager who were driven out of the palace!"

When Empress Dowager Zhou was still the empress, she had a prince but was not favored by the emperor. The late emperor favored Concubine Chang Gui the most. In addition, there were several other concubines, all of whom had princes. Therefore, all of them regarded Empress Dowager Zhou and her son as thorns in their eyes. They always found excuses to attack Empress Dowager Zhou, the empress, but they never really pulled her down. However, in the process, there were always innocent people who suffered, sometimes concubines or palace maids, and sometimes palace maids or eunuchs around the empress.

According to Ma Shangyi's recollection, there were eight maids from Chang'an who came with Empress Dowager Zhou to marry into the palace. After entering the palace, there were more than ten palace maids and eunuchs in Kunning Palace who were subdued by Empress Dowager Zhou. Before Empress Dowager Zhou became the empress dowager, half of these confidants had died, and several of them were sick, disabled, or framed and expelled from the palace, so that when she moved into Cining Palace, there were only seven or eight confidants left around her. Although Empress Dowager Zhou had added a lot of trustworthy people in the more than 30 years in Cining Palace, these new people were still inferior to the old people who had accompanied her through the most difficult years.

Ma whispered to her granddaughter, "At that time, the fourth master of the Zhou family was still young and lived with his brother in Chang'an. He had never moved to Beijing to set up a new residence. The Queen Mother had a hard time in the palace. The girls under her were unjustly driven out of the palace, but there was no place to settle them. When the Queen Mother had time to send people out of the palace to inquire about the whereabouts of these girls, they were nowhere to be found. They didn't know whether they were dead or had escaped to other places... After suffering this loss, the Queen Mother wrote a letter to her family in Chang'an, and the fourth master moved to the capital to become the Marquis of Cheng'en. That way, when the Queen Mother needed someone to take care of her outside the palace, she would not have to worry about having no one to turn to."

Haitang also asked in a low voice: "Isn't there Madam Wu? The wife of Lord Wu Wen'an is the elder sister of the Duke of Zhenguo and the Empress Dowager. She should have been in the capital at the time, right? Couldn't she help the maids around the Empress Dowager?"

Ma shook her head: "Old Madam Wu was still a young wife at that time. She had to look after her parents-in-law and husband at home. How could she make the decision? Even if she wanted to help, Lord Wu Wen'an would stop her. Their Wu family is a family of scholars and officials. They don't like to interfere in the affairs of the court. They are very noble. Old Madam Wu's sister entered the palace and became the queen. Their family complained privately, saying that their family had become foreign relatives for no reason, and those old friends were gossiping about them." Haitang pulled the corner of her mouth: "If his family was really so noble, how could they let Queen Wu marry the emperor later? The husband's family of the queen's sister is a foreign relative, so isn't the queen's family a foreign relative?"

Ma sneered, "That's why I don't like the Wu family's behavior. When I was a child, I heard my father say that the Zhou family chose the wrong son-in-law! We shouldn't have let my old aunt marry into the Wu family. There are so many rules in the family, and she is despised for not being the daughter of a scholarly family. Even her own sister became the queen, and people would find fault with her! In fact, the Wu family didn't despise the queen at all. They just thought that this dignity was not theirs. When their own daughter had the opportunity to marry the prince, they were not reluctant at all. The Empress Dowager was not happy and advised them not to be stupid. The Emperor had already had an engagement, but they kept it secret from the Empress Dowager and rushed to meet the Emperor! If his family hadn't insisted on interfering and ruining the engagement between the Emperor and Concubine Sun, their family wouldn't have died so miserably. Now there are only two little seedlings left. The Emperor also blamed the Empress Dowager for forcing him to marry her niece, which prevented him and his beloved concubine from being husband and wife!"

This statement contains a lot of information.

Haitang opened her eyes wide, wanting to know more details. But Ma was inspired and dropped the topic after she finished speaking, not wanting to continue this topic: "Anyway, at that time, the old lady had no power over the family, and she couldn't help the Empress Dowager's sister, so she had to let the Fourth Master go to the capital. After that, the palace maids around the Empress Dowager had a place to go when they were driven out of the palace. But the few who disappeared before have not been found until now. When Ma Ma heard about Madam Mei from me, she suspected that she was one of the missing palace maids that year, and kept pestering me to find out!"

Haitang looked curious: "Didn't Mama tell me the names of her sisters? And their ages, looks, etc., they should match up, right?"

Ma sighed, "In fact, their ages don't quite match, but if they were palace maidens who were driven out of the palace, their lives would be difficult, so it's normal for them to look older. As for the others... their names can be changed, their backgrounds can be fabricated, they all look similar, and I don't have any portraits, so they all sound alike. She had no choice but to ask me where Madam Mei lived, and thought of asking someone to go to Shanhaiguan to inquire."

Haitang said, "This happened more than 30 years ago. If Madam Mei didn't have any relatives at the time, I'm afraid she wouldn't be able to find out any useful information."

"Who says it's not true?" Ma sighed, "Back then, Madam Mei only hired an old couple to do odd jobs, and later bought a little maid to raise. When she fell ill, it was this little maid who took care of her by her bedside. But after she died, I lost contact with her hometown, and I don't know where the little girl went. The students she had accepted in the past are even more unknown. This is really like looking for a needle in a haystack. But Madam Ma insisted on doing it, and I couldn't stop her."

However, if this Madam Mei is really an old friend of Ma Shangyi, then she can also be considered as Madam Mei's student, and her relationship with Ma Shangyi needs to be reconsidered.

Ma asked Haitang to look at the new jade bracelet on her wrist: "Look, it was given to me by Mama Ma, and she even told me to call her aunt from now on. What should I do..."

(End of this chapter)