Leader Lan Palace

Chapter 2300 Six Volumes 355 Since ancient times, mother-in-law and daughter-in-law have been difficult problems ([-] words)
Wanxi stretched out her hand, and Yuchan handed over the fire sickle purse and the fire velvet.

The empress dowager narrowed her eyes, "Hey, you prepared to come by yourself? Why, you are betting that I will definitely want to smoke in front of you, and I will definitely allow you to light cigarettes?"

Wanxi smiled lightly and shook her head, "The concubine is already a noble concubine at this time. In this position, I should learn how to serve the empress dowager. I should naturally learn how to serve the empress dowager."

"The empress dowager may not smoke this time, or may not allow the concubine to light a cigarette, but the concubine has to prepare as she should. The concubine also believes that the empress dowager is not allowed today or tomorrow, but There will be a certain day.”

The empress dowager chuckled, "Who gave you such confidence?!"

Wanxi smiled and bent her knees, "If you go back to the empress dowager, you will be the noble concubine."

Wanxi slightly raised her eyes and looked around the window, "The palace is the most well-behaved place in the world. The head of the inner court, what kind of things can and cannot be done according to which position, all The palace rules are clear."

"These rules are set for these positions, and will not change because of who is in this position."

Wanxi said calmly, walked slowly to the mother-of-pearl red sandalwood pedal at the empress dowager's feet and sat down, spread out the purse, took out the dried tobacco leaves, and ground them finely.

"According to the palace rules, the concubine does not have to be led by the empress, but she can also lead the concubine alone to pay her respects to the empress dowager, and serve her in front of the empress dowager on a daily basis. Since the concubine is already in the position of imperial concubine, it should be Follow the rules of this position."

Wanxi rubbed the tobacco leaves very finely, and carefully removed the hard stems from the veins.

"Such rules were not made by the emperor or the empress dowager; they should have been passed down in the harem of the Qing Dynasty for more than 100 years. These rules are not clearly recorded in the "Hui Dian" or "Place Rules in the Palace" , but it is clearly remembered in the hearts of generations of harem women."

"The concubine remembers this rule, and the empress dowager must remember it even more clearly. Therefore, the concubine dare not obey, and the empress dowager must be the first person in the harem to respect the rules of the ancestors."
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Wanxi's words are neither humble nor overbearing, and the distance is neither too far nor too close.

There is no intention to please the empress dowager, but there is no fear or dissatisfaction.

The empress dowager stared at Wanxi for a long while.

"But I smoke waterpipes, not dry tobacco! Your tobacco leaves are useless!"

Wanxi still just nodded and smiled slightly, "I know it myself. Because the palace is especially afraid of flooding, it has always been strict with fireworks. In the past, during the reign of Lord Kangxi, there was a rumor that there was a cook in the imperial dining room. The servant, named Erge, caused the dining room to flood because of smoking... Lord Kangxi severely punished Erge, and since then he has left a message saying that smoking is not allowed in the palace."

"However, the old lady under the banner is an old tradition passed down from generation to generation. Who can not smoke? Therefore, the empress dowager only smokes waterpipes in the palace, so she doesn't have to worry about getting caught."

The empress dowager snorted softly, which seemed to agree with Wanxi's statement.

Wanxi smiled, "A few days ago, I held a holy birthday for the Empress Dowager, and my concubine helped to collect the gift slips stored in the Empress Dowager's Palace... During the inventory, I found a few more cigarettes... and the Ministry of Internal Affairs Compared with the bottom file, it turned out that it was left by Empress Wen of Xiaozhuang."

Wanxi raised her head and winked playfully at the Empress Dowager.

"...It turns out that even though Lord Kangxi issued a decree in the early years not to allow smoking in the harem, Lord Kangxi did not restrict Empress Xiaozhuang Wen and his old man."

"As the son of heaven, no one dares to disobey his words; but there is only one exception, and that is the filial piety of the son of heaven-the words of the son of heaven can be used to regulate the front court and the harem, and what the son of heaven says will not be changed. , it is not allowed to make a special case for anyone - but the emperor, in order to show filial piety, will change the preface and make a special case for only one person in the whole world."

Wanxi paused slightly while speaking, tilted her head and smiled lightly.

"Lord Kangxi is willing to do this to Empress Xiaozhuang Wen, and the emperor is also willing to do this to Empress Dowager."
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The empress dowager couldn't help but take a deep breath, her eyes fixed on Wanxi.

Wanxi still hung her head halfway, carefully rubbing the tobacco leaves in her hands.This situation seems to be not in the Shoukang Palace in the Huanghuang Forbidden City, but in the Kangtouer of ordinary banner people's homes.An old man and a young man sat beside each other like this, the mother-in-law was waiting with her cigarette bag in hand, and the daughter-in-law carefully rubbed the tobacco leaves for her mother-in-law to light.

In winter, the days are short and it is extremely cold outside the window. In such a winter, people outside the customs cannot cultivate, and they are even too cold to go out.Men naturally have the fun of men, and women just snuggle together and accompany each other like this.

It is the rules between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law. A daughter-in-law dare not speak casually in front of her mother-in-law, but she uses such meticulous movements to express her filial piety to the fullest.

The empress dowager sighed for some reason.

In the past few years in the palace, the scenes of the inner court dignitaries coming to light cigarettes are naturally familiar to the empress dowager.In the past, there was naturally Xiaoxian, who served her with care, even with trepidation.Although that appearance is said to be extremely filial, it actually made her feel uncomfortable-although Xiaoxian is said to be a daughter-in-law, she is after all the first wife of the Yuan Dynasty.

Being so cautious made her feel like a tigress, as if she could swallow someone up in one bite at any time.

She knew that Xiaoxian came from a famous family after all, and the rules of the family were strict. It was not necessarily because she was trembling with fear on purpose, but because she had cultivated such good rules at home since she was a child—but after all, she herself was not the girl who came out of such a family. .

She herself, her family has suffered, and she herself has endured hardship and served others well.Therefore, being served by Xiaoxian like that in turn, she felt a little uncomfortable.

Later changed to Nala's.Nalashi is Gege from the old Manchu family, so there is nothing wrong with lighting his cigarettes.It's just that even when Nalashi is lighting a cigarette, he doesn't stop talking.One sentence is no, and one sentence is bad, and she will not be able to smoke a bag of cigarettes.

Also—whether it is Xiaoxian, Nalashi, or Concubine Shu and Lan Guiren who she found to light cigarettes for her, these children want to please her too much in front of her, so they all behave in front of her standing.

There is no one like this girl surnamed Han in front of me, who knows she is not welcome, but still sits on this footstep in such a familiar way.

But it was only in this way that she was helpless, yet had an indescribable intimacy...

The real companionship of mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, whether it is in the palace or in the common people's home, shouldn't it be like this in the first place? .
Wanxi naturally knew that the Empress Dowager was staring at her.

She also lowered her head naturally, and tried to raise her head as little as possible, so as not to embarrass the old lady when her eyes collided.

——The old lady wants to watch, just watch.Anyway, before she came, she had combed her head carefully, so there must be no dandruff or lice.

When she thought about it, she couldn't help laughing, with a small dimple on her lips.

It's not a "dimple", it's just a small vortex when the corners of the lips are raised, and it disappears when you don't smile, like a hidden secret.

"... Although the hookah is good, it is not an old tradition outside the customs. The hookah is imported; moreover, the concubine must be looking at the empress dowager because she is smoking the hookah and feels that she is not in a hurry. I have to smoke several bags."

"Since that's the case, it's better to ask the empress dowager to take two puffs of dry cigarettes. You can find the old taste and keep up the energy; it's just that the empress dowager promised me one thing: since I'm in a hurry, I will only smoke once a day. How is the bag?"

As Wanxi said, she skillfully stuffed the wrong tobacco leaves into the gilded copper pipe pot, pulled out the "old crow spoon" on her head and pressed it tightly.Then he quickly lit the tinder with a scythe, carefully lighting the tobacco leaves.

The empress dowager took a sip and then snorted.

The tobacco leaves are crushed by hand and finely chopped with scissors, the taste is different.In the past, Xiaoxian was a lady of every family, so naturally he would not rub tobacco leaves with his hands to serve others; Nalashi took care of his status as the queen of the palace, so he did not do it himself.

It is rare that the imperial concubine is willing to rub the tobacco leaves with her palm, so she is willing to serve others.

An Shou hurriedly handed over the purse, wanting to pack the remaining tobacco leaves that Wanxi rubbed.Wanxi smiled and shook her head, "Don't use purses, aunt. No matter how good the silk is, it doesn't go well with tobacco leaves, and it's easy to taint the smell."

Wanxi took out a wicker basket from the bag she brought, "I used to see that old people used this to pack tobacco leaves. Tobacco leaves and wicker are both vegetation. I think using a wicker basket will not only affect the original taste of the tobacco leaves, but also add some flavor. Fragrant."

An Shou hesitated slightly, and looked up at the Empress Dowager.

The empress dowager also snorted, "Put it in a bamboo basket, so that it is convenient to rub the tobacco leaves. While rubbing, the other side is caught in the bamboo basket."

Wanxi laughed now, and nodded to Anshou, "Auntie put it on the kang head, so I don't have to worry about the tobacco leaves getting damp."

An Shou bent his knees to take it, raised his eyes to look at Wanxi, and then smiled slightly, "Today is the big day for the noble concubine and the master, and the noble concubine and the master came to greet the empress dowager, but with light makeup and no makeup."

The Empress Dowager also glanced at Wanxi, and snorted softly, "That's why the tobacco leaves she rubbed out from her palms don't have the slightest smell of powder. Otherwise, this cigarette would not be smokeable."

Wanxi stared at the Empress Dowager and smiled quietly.

The empress dowager couldn't help frowning, "Why are you laughing? Do you think I will tolerate you just like that?"

Wanxi shook her head with a smile, "I also ask the empress dowager to forgive me: I suddenly remembered that when I was a child, I saw an old man in the farm, smoking this copper pipe, and a wild dog happened to pass by, scaring the child to tears. The old man didn't care about it." A bag of cigarettes was freshly packed, I tore the stem from my lips, and chased the wild dogs and beat them."

"For the elderly, this cigarette stick is not only a cigarette stick, but also can be used as a walking stick, as a weapon, to hoe the strong and help the weak."

"Maybe he can even be in charge of the family law, listen to his grandson's recitation, if he can't recite it well, he can just bring it up by his neck and knock his forehead with a cigarette stick."

The empress dowager snorted, shook her head, and turned away.
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Wanxi didn't stay any longer, and after serving the empress dowager's cigarettes, she bowed and took her leave.

The Empress Dowager looked at their backs, slowly sucked Jasper's cigarette holder, and sighed softly.

An Shou glanced at his master, and then said softly, "It's not because of the heavenly fragrance and national beauty that the noble concubine's master has been favored all these years; the slave is thinking, but the word 'pleasing'?"

There is a kind of person in this world, who is clearly not the prettiest, nor is he necessarily the most peaceful-tempered, but for some reason, he is likable.There is also a common saying among the people that this is "lover's flesh".

The empress dowager sighed again, and shook her head slightly.

"Look at her, she just appeared in front of my eyes, and she didn't try to please me deliberately, and even said something that hurt my ears; I was obviously angry with her, but somehow, listening to her say Then, before I knew it, I fell into the hole she had dug."

"She obviously used to talk to me stubbornly, but as she talked, she didn't know when she changed all the words I like to hear."

An Shou bowed his head and sighed softly, "No! The servant saw how the master and the imperial concubine Ling were frozen, and was really worried about how to continue talking about this."

"On the other hand, if Concubine Ling made it clear to please the old master as soon as she came, I'm afraid that you would have kicked her out early in the morning, how could you give her a chance to continue talking?"

The Empress Dowager narrowed her eyes.

"The little girl has grown up, and this is more and more out of my temper-why am I not a stubborn temper? If she was groveling at the beginning, I would just tell her to shut up; she deliberately At the beginning, I just said it, but I want to listen to her and see what else she can say..."

An Shou smiled, the corners of his lips moved slightly, but he didn't speak.

The empress dowager stared at Anshou, "You old bastard, why don't you just say it directly?"

An Shou also laughed, and bowed his knees and said, "The servant is thinking, after all, mother and child are connected. If the imperial concubine can make the emperor happy these years, then she will naturally know how to make the empress dowager happy. The emperor's temperament, from Basically, isn’t it just like the old master?”

The Empress Dowager raised her eyebrows and stared at An Shou for a long while, then spat again, "As long as you are clever, you will be a starling in your next life!"
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An Shou came out of the empress dowager's bedroom, and An Yi couldn't help but whispered, "...Looking at it now, you are also speaking nice things about imperial concubine Ling in front of the old master."

An Shou glanced at Anyi, and also sighed lightly.

"We are in the palace. After all, we are slaves. How can slaves have any likes and dislikes? But we all look at the face of the master, and we will also put on the same face."

"The old master doesn't want to see Concubine Ling. The old master didn't want to see Concubine Ling when she was young and just came into the fiefdom. If the master is like this, we slaves, why don't we go and say good things for Concubine Ling?"

"Of course the master is bored, so we will be bored together; we have to be even more bored. Only in this way can we not say the wrong thing in front of the master and show an expression that we shouldn't have."

An Shou himself said, also sighed.When Concubine Shu fought with Concubine Ling, she also turned to Concubine Shu and took money from Concubine Shu.

However, in fact, the money is not the most important thing, what is still important is the faces of the masters - at that moment, it was clear that the Empress Dowager liked Concubine Shu and hated Concubine Ling, so those slaves like them naturally wanted to get close to Concubine Shu.

Therefore, she naturally had to accept the silver rewarded by Concubine Shu.

"But these years have come... Look, how many people have been favored, and then fell out of favor; how many people have given birth to an emperor's heir, but the emperor's heir can't keep his life safe. The emperor still deserves to be an heir. gone."

"In these years, the only person in the palace is the noble concubine Ling, who has always maintained a rising momentum, and the emperor's heirs have continued year after year... Then don't we understand? If we still don't understand the situation, isn't it in the palace? Years, have you lived in vain?"

Anyi also sighed, "This makes the imperial concubine not only know how to please people, but even though she can use the ruthless tricks that should be used, she still knows how to leave three points for others."

An Shou was also taken aback, "What are you talking about?"

An Yi looked at An Shou, hesitated for a moment, and said, "Anyway, Qingshun has left the palace early, and there are only a few days left, so I said right now, I'm not afraid anymore."

An Shou frowned, "...you want to talk about Qingshun and Shoushan's incident? Forget it, it's just a fake Phoenix, and people depend on each other when they are old. Although it violates the palace rules, why don't we Such fate, we don't pity them, why don't we go around talking about it?"

Anyi nodded, "But Qingshun has been worried all these years. She said that she and Shoushan matter, she herself vaguely felt that Ling Guifei also knew about it. The reason why she was put into the Queen Mother's Palace from the Department of Punishment Shoushan sees that Tian'er looks up but doesn't look down, it's the imperial concubine Ling who is taking her down."

"After all, when Qingshun was in the Punishment Department, he offended Concubine Ling... The cat punishment is not something that can be seen; besides, a man named Yuyan died in the Yongshou Palace later, and Qingshun was also the old master of Feng. According to Yizhi, I took someone to investigate, and asked Concubine Ling to be confined in the palace at that time."

"By the way, Qing, she knows that Imperial Concubine Ling will not let her go, and sooner or later she will destroy her with the matter of her and Shoushan... She has been worrying about it all these years, but she never thought that Imperial Concubine Ling seems to have forgotten about it , never mentioned it again."

An Shou also sighed, "That's right, I didn't expect Concubine Ling to have such a good move in her hands, but she didn't make it."

An Shou said walking forward, but suddenly stopped and turned back.

"But then again, if Imperial Concubine Ling made that move, the relationship between her and the old master would have been ruined long ago."

"Recalling this matter, the master does not have chess in his hand, but he obviously has chess but does not move."

Anyi also laughed, and followed slowly, walking side by side with An Shou.

"...So, do you think that the old master really doesn't know anything about this matter? So even though the relationship between the old master and Concubine Ling has not been very harmonious over the years, the old master has always left her behind. One step ahead."

An Shou also nodded with a smile, "No. Only the old master is pretending to be confused about the matters in the harem. How can the old master not understand? Besides, the things that Qingshun did back then were also ordered by the old master to go away. How could the old master not know what to do?"

An Shou sighed lightly, "Actually, when it comes to 'room', things like Qingshun don't count as room. Between the old master and Concubine Ling, the real room is only with the emperor."

"Just like the relationship between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law for thousands of years in this world, the key to whether they can get along well is always on the son. Only the son will always protect the daughter-in-law in front of the mother. Even if the mother-in-law doesn't want to see each other again, she must leave a leeway ; This room is reserved for the son, but also for the mother-child relationship."

"Therefore, the empress dowager is willing to keep this leeway forever only if the emperor's favor for the noble concubine does not fade away; if the emperor's favor for the noble concubine is no longer there, the empress dowager will never keep the leeway gone."

Anyi nodded and said, "Isn't it... As long as the imperial concubine has the ability to win the emperor's heart, the empress dowager will never do anything."
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The salute on the second day of the canonization ceremony, according to the rules, is to first go to the Empress Dowager Palace to salute, and then to the Yangxin Palace and the Empress Palace to salute the emperor and empress respectively.

The emperor was waiting in the Hall of Mental Cultivation, and when he saw Wanxi walking in, although her face was dignified and calm, there was a hint of wisdom in her eyes, and the emperor smiled.

Every time Wanxi went to the Empress Dowager's palace, his heart would be tugged.This time it was even worse, after all, it was because of the importance of the position of imperial concubine, he had just had such a big dispute with his mother; and it was less than a month after the conferment, and he rushed to complete the canonization ceremony.

——The mother knew at a glance that he had already prepared the imperial concubine's crown and clothes, the golden book and the golden treasure.That is, no matter whether his mother agrees or not, he has already made up his mind to enter Feng Jiu'er.

Therefore, he is very worried today that his mother will embarrass Jiuer.

He wanted to follow today, but Jiu'er stopped him after all.She said that she was 33 years old and the mother of three children, how could she ask the emperor to accompany her to the Empress Dowager Palace forever?

At that moment, she raised her eyes with a smile, "Besides, it's the empress dowager's palace, the emperor's mother's bedroom; it's not the goblin cave~~"

At that moment, he was so annoyed, "Well, the first half of the sentence still makes my heart hurt; the second half of the sentence, I want to pinch you!"

Seeing her approaching with a faint smile at this time, his heart finally fell to the ground.

The emperor had to carry it in front of Yuqin, Concubine Ying, and Concubine Yu, so he was embarrassed to directly ask Wanxi what method she used to escape safely.

Seeing the emperor's expression, Yuqin grabbed Wanxi's hand with a smile, and handed it to the emperor, "Your Majesty, hear it, what's the smell in her palm?"

The emperor slightly raised his eyebrows, leaned forward and smelled it, "Smell of smoke?! You are the 'Nanshan Red Smoke' from Jilin Piaohe!"

Northeast Tobacco, commonly known as "Kandong Tobacco", "Tobacco is produced in all three provinces in Northeast China, but Jilin is the best."This Kanto tobacco has a mellow aroma, rich taste, and strong strength. When it is inhaled into the nasal cavity, it will automatically return, with a unique aroma.

Therefore, smoking "Kandong cigarettes" is also commonly known as "enjoying the blessing of the mouth", because of the fragrance, when smoking, people can't help but click their mouths.

Wanxi nodded with a smile, "You can't hide anything from me... This is the red smoke from the Kanto region raised in bean cake water."

After hearing this, the emperor knew what he was doing, so he snorted, "What kind of talent is it just rubbing tobacco leaves? Didn't you say to prepare a pocket for the cigarette stick? Otherwise, you'll be called Queen Mother, and she'll be done enjoying it." Koufu, just like the folk old lady, just pin the cigarette stick to the belt?"

Wanxi stuck out her tongue and said in a low voice, "I'll save it for next time. I have to use my pocket to exchange for the 'cigarette money' rewarded by the empress dowager!"

(Thank you for your support in October, see you in November~)

(End of this chapter)