The little lady in the dining room

Chapter 192 Extra Story: Two Plums
Most of the palace people have different meal times, but according to the rules of the Changqiu Palace, the young palace ladies have to go to bed early and are not allowed to be on duty that night, so the young palace ladies can eat together after their shifts in the evening.

Occasionally, there will be older ladies in charge of teaching to use it together, talking about things in the palace while using it, adding some fun.

It is very comfortable to eat two pots of fish hotpot stewed in winter. The fish is still tender after cooking, dipped in the sauce, and the warm and smooth feeling goes all the way to the stomach.

Suanmei picked up freshly cooked mutton with chopsticks for the little maid beside her, listening to their chirping while thinking about her own affairs.

One said that she was curious about what the empress looked like, and she hadn't seen it in Changqiu Palace for so long; the other said it's better not to think about it, because they can't enter the Jiaofang Palace in their capacity.

After arguing and fighting, the group of little girls finally cast their eyes on Suanmei, and boldly touched her shoulder: "Sister, you follow Emperor Ping'an, do you often see the empress? What is the empress?" What does it look like? After a few years when Di Ji gets married, will you serve in the Jiaofang Hall?"

A series of questions made Sour Mei frowned. She stuffed a fish ball into the bowl of the little maid who was asking the question, and said with a straight face, "Where do you talk so much? This is not what you should ask. It's not up to me to decide where I go."

"Oh..." The little maid closed her mouth in embarrassment, but she didn't show any kind of fear.Suanmei took a bite of the shiitake mushrooms dipped in sesame sauce, and her mood became more and more complicated.

Emperor Ping'an made a marriage contract with the Song family half a month ago, and Wu Mei, who was originally working with her, was married off by the empress two years ago.

At that time, it wasn't that the empress didn't make arrangements for her, but she herself said that she didn't want to marry and wanted to stay in the palace for the rest of her life.

What she said back then was sincere, but two years later, she regretted it a little now.

——If he had listened to the empress's advice and married off directly, he would not have been tempted by others later on, and he would have been in a dilemma like he is now.

Sour plum thought and sighed.After taking another bite of beef slices, the door behind him slammed "Duk Tuk".

All the court ladies looked over, and the little eunuch by the door lowered his eyebrows and said, "Sister Suanmei, the queen's biography."

Suanmei was slightly stunned, put down the bowl and chopsticks to rinse her mouth, and followed him.

After staying in the palace for a long time, the matter on his face is very clear, and Suanmei thinks that it is not a good thing when he looks at what he said just now.

But she didn't rush to ask, she didn't stop until she saw Zhang Fugui at the gate of Jiaofangdian, and said, "Master Zhang."

As soon as she rolled her eyes, Zhang Fugui understood, waved the little eunuch back away, followed Suanmei and walked a few steps to the side to avoid people.

Suanmei carefully asked him: "Is something wrong?"

Zhang Fugui sighed: "I... I don't want to cheat you. You know in your heart that there is something shady in your room. The empress is angry now, how to explain this is up to you to figure it out."

"... promise." Suanmei responded tremblingly, thanked Zhang Fugui, and turned to go into the hall.

Never expected this to be the case...

Suanmei was terrified in her heart, even though she tried to calm down, she still felt her fingertips trembling.After entering the bedroom, she bent her knees and said, "The empress is safe."

The queen leaned on the couch, looked up at her, and pointed to the unfinished clothes on the couch table: "You tell yourself."

Sour plum just glanced at it, and felt her cheeks were hot and her heart was beating wildly.

The straight train with the dark pattern of silver ingots, no matter in color or style, it was obvious that it was for men.But the eunuchs in the palace didn't have a chance to wear these, and the princes were all younger, and the size was wrong.

The sour plum remained silent, the queen stared at her for a moment: "Speak."

Suanmei's knees softened, and she knelt down involuntarily, her voice trembling: "Empress, please forgive me..."

"Admit it?" The queen turned pale, and looked at Nanny Bai, "I'm sorry, Madam."

Sour Plum didn't dare to lift her head, and she raised her eyelids a little until Nanny Bai approached, and saw that she was holding a ruler in her hand, and raised her hands tremblingly.

The board fell with a "slap", and Suanmei twitched all over.But he gritted his teeth tightly, and neither made a sound nor flinched.

"Pa—" The second hit was obviously more painful than the first one, and her mind went blank, and she was caught off guard by the past and aroused a burst of fear.

When she was five years old, she suffered a severe beating, which was done by Chen Shi, the nanny of Emperor Ping'an.It was also very cold at that time, and the board in Chen's hand not only fell on his hands, but almost escaped from his back and body.After the beating, she knelt on the alley of Liugeyuan all night, and there was something wrong with her leg. After so many years of recuperation, the rainy day was still very difficult.

At that time, this kind of thing happened because she was in slavery, and anyone could bully her.

But right now...

She was suddenly afraid that the charge of "fornication" would cause her to be demoted back to slavery in an instant - that only needed a word from the empress, just like Her Majesty could pardon her with a word back then.

Suanmei was full of fear, she didn't dare to make a sound, seeing the purple marks on her palms became more and more obvious, she just turned her face away.

After thirty boards were played, her face turned pale, and a layer of cold sweat covered her forehead. She peeked at the queen's expression, her eyes stopped on the dress, and her voice was calm: "Your Majesty, slaves will never do this kind of thing again. Alright, that dress... the servants took it and burned it!"

The man she likes is not enough to make her die, not to mention that once she returns to slavery, life is worse than death.

The queen's eyebrows jumped: "You say it again?"

"The servant girl will not think any more that she shouldn't have!" Suanmei was eager to convince the queen that her words were true.

The queen sized her up with a complicated expression for a moment: "...You are going to be so mad at me."

The sour plum was taken aback for a moment, the queen signaled the only Bai Nai who stayed in the palace to also go out, looked at her and said, "I asked the nanny to punish you not because of any crime of adultery - if it was because of that, I would send you to Gongzhengsi That’s it, it’s just a piece of clothing, it’s not worth it in my eyes.”

Suanmei looked up in a daze, a little puzzled, and inevitably regretted the promise she made just now.

She really liked that man very much, every time she saw him, she was very happy.

The queen's face softened: "Punish you because you lied——when you took leave of absence from the palace during the Shangyuan period, did I ask who you were going out with? What did you say?"

At that time, she said that she just wanted to see the lantern festival by herself and walk around.But when he came back, the joy on his flushed cheeks was obviously unusual, and the queen could understand it at a glance.

After that, there were several times, during Huachao, Qingming, Dragon Boat Festival, and Double Ninth Festival, Sour Plum went out of the palace.Every time she asks a question, the reason of Suanmei is similar to that of Shangyuan, but every time she comes back, there is an unusual joy on Suanmei's face.

But because Suanmei has always been too sensible and obedient, the queen once felt that she might be careless.It wasn't until Ah Yao accidentally saw the clothes made by sour plum brought to her, that she finally convinced herself that it was time to ask about it.

"Not only that time in Shangyuan, how many times have you lied to Ben Gong before and after? ——If you just feel embarrassed in your heart, Ben Gong doesn't blame you, but you can't prevaricate and say no, and at the same time promise to stay for the rest of your life. In the palace." The queen frowned even deeper as she spoke, "You have studied with Diji for so many years, and you still don't understand the truth? If Diji is like this If you do, I will punish her as well."

In the queen's opinion, at Suanmei's age, it's normal to have a spring heart, and I'm sorry to say it's also normal.

But she was too embarrassed to tell the truth, and at the same time told the lie of "refusing to marry", which was a bit too much.

Suanmei felt so guilty when asked by the queen, she lowered her head after a while and said, "Your servant is guilty."

The queen sighed again, pointing to the dress: "Tell me, which son is it for? If he is not married yet, I can help you with a word. You, a female official from the Changqiu Palace, have a good status." Let's do it."

She thought it was a good thing for Sour Macon to marry. When Sour Mei said she wanted to stay in the palace for the rest of her life, she always felt that the girl was too bitter.

"Empress Empress..." Suan Mei didn't dare to say for a while, looked at the Empress's expression, and said euphemistically for a moment, "This person...a servant is not worthy."

The queen was persuasive and persuasive: "Let's talk about it first, and there is no one else around right now. If you really can't get married, I will pretend you didn't hear it."

Sour plum bit her lip and hesitated for a while, and when she spoke again, her voice was as low as a mosquito, "It's... the eldest son of the second master's family."

Queen: "...Who?!"

The queen had to admit that she was really surprised.

The eldest son of the second brother Ruan Yue and Suanmei...

I really didn't expect it!
But thinking about it again, it seems normal again.

The first time Ruan Yue and Suanmei met was when she went home to visit her relatives for the second time that year.At that time, both children should be five years old, and Ruan Yue is a few months older than Sour Plum.

In the following years, she visited her relatives so many times, and the two of them could see each other every time, and they were getting older.

After being dazed for a while in the palace, the queen felt that it would be good if this marriage could be accomplished, so she asked her second sister-in-law and Ruan Yue to come in together.On the other side, Emperor Ping'an was full of guilt for the sour plum.

"I'm sorry..." Ah Yao bowed again and again.She had seen sour plums making clothes for men, and thought it was a novelty, so she showed it to her mother with the idea that "maybe it could lead to a marriage", but she didn't expect her mother to be angry when she saw it.

Ah Yao was also terrified, she left the Jiaofang Hall with her front foot, and asked Wu Mei to enter the palace with her back foot.As a result, as soon as Wumei arrived at her place, sour plum also came in with swollen hands.

The three girls sat down around the table, Wu Mei found some ointment to apply to the sour plum, A Yao leaned over the table and looked at the sour plum and said anxiously: "Is the queen really... very angry? I'll go beg the queen!"

As Yao asked, he felt that it shouldn't be...

Suanmei is 19 years old, although she is not old enough to be released from the palace, but if she is willing to give her out to marry someone, it is not impossible, so what if Suanmei has someone she likes in her heart?
He didn't do anything shameful, why did he beat him so hard?

The queen mother really intends to let the sour plum stay in the palace for the rest of her life?

Suanmei hurriedly shook her head, telling Ah Yao that she was fine, and Wu Mei, who was lightly applying medicine on her palm, looked up at her: "Is it really okay? Don't hold yourself back, Diji's words are more effective than you. Besides you ...Hey, you should have married me two years ago, don't you think I'm fine now? The empress didn't just point at someone and let us marry, why do you bother with unnecessary troubles?"

Wu Mei married a royal guard named Cheng Di.Because he is still young, his position is not high. He is just a general banner, but he is also an excellent person.

Now it is different from ten years ago, when the imperial guards were really licking blood on the tip of their swords.Afterwards, the aristocratic family was cleared away, and the court and China were at peace, and the imperial guards lived a much more stable life.And because of both civil and military skills, many rich ladies in Luo'an city want to marry.

Wu Mei was stunned when she saw that person through the curtain, she still vaguely remembers that time when Emperor Ping'an waved her hands in front of her eyes, and the empress said to her current husband: "Master Zongqi, This is Wumei next to Diji. You can talk whatever you want, but one thing is, if you dislike her as a slave, you can tell me directly, and I am not in a hurry to marry her off."

Wumei felt so embarrassed that day!Look at Cheng Di again, blushing even more than her.

Later, the Empress Diji and the palace staff all left, leaving the two of them talking for a while in the hall.Even though they were separated by a curtain, the two of them were still stuttering.

There were a total of five or six conversations like this. On the last time, Cheng Di asked her if she would marry, but she blushed and said nothing.

As a result, the decree arrived that night, and even the queen was a little surprised—it is said that Cheng Di did not tell the queen in advance, but asked for the decree directly from His Majesty when he reported the matter to his superior.

They were soon married, and it has been nearly two years now.He didn't have a child yet, Cheng Di said that he would wait until his official position was promoted again, and then talk about the child when he had enough spare money to pay the nanny to take care of him, so that she would not be exhausted at home.

——So the two of them are very...restraint at night, after all, even if Wu Mei is taking medicine, there will inevitably be times when it won't work.

Wu Mei picked up the things about herself and Cheng Di while applying medicine to the sour plums, and told her about them.

Wu Mei thought, if it really doesn't work, let Suan Mei tell the Empress that she will marry the person she wants to point out to her.In this way, although the sour plum still ruined the original promise, it still followed the original intention of some empresses...

But Suan Mei kept silent, she didn't dare to tell Wu Mei, she had already told the empress her true thoughts.

He didn't dare to tell Emperor Ping'an that the person he likes is her cousin...

When Ruan Yue entered the palace with his mother Geng, he didn't know what happened.After seeing the ceremony, as soon as the queen ordered someone to call the sour plum, he understood!

Ruan Yue lowered his head and didn't speak for a long while, until Suanmei came in, he saw Bai Lian wrapped around her hands and looked at the queen in astonishment: "Auntie..."

Geng Shi also glanced at it, and there was also obvious distress in his eyes, which only made the queen angry.

The queen gritted her teeth: "Even the second sister-in-law already knew about it? Then why didn't you tell me?"

Partnering together to blind her?Is she that scary? !
Geng's expression was slightly flustered, his face turned pale for a while, and he stammered: "Isn't this... isn't this the age for her to be released from the palace? We are also afraid that this will be against the rules..."

"Wu Mei is married to her, don't you know?" The queen gave Geng a blank look, and then looked at Ruan Yue, "The second sister-in-law doesn't understand you, and you don't understand either? Your majesty appointed you to be the imperial guard, You don't know anything about the palace?"

Ruan Yue's face was tense and he couldn't speak.

The imperial bodyguard belongs to the imperial guard, and at the same time it is a separate official position. It does not manage as many things as the imperial guard, but it spends a lot of time by the emperor's side.

Grandmother Gao exhorted thousands of times, no matter how much she heard about the affairs of the court, she was not allowed to get mixed up, it would be best not to listen deliberately.So Ruan Yue really didn't listen to the court affairs, but as for the palace affairs...

He also probably "deliberately refused to listen", but he had indeed heard about Wu Mei.

He never mentioned the matter of sour plums to the queen, because he didn't know how to do so, and he didn't expect that after so much delay, sour plums would be punished.

Ruan Yue remorsefully confessed to the queen, and the queen looked at Geng again: "Would you like a sour plum to be your daughter-in-law? Sister-in-law, you can go back and discuss it with your second brother. If you want to marry, hurry up! Don't let her make clothes secretly, and make her It looks like Bengong bullied her!"

When Geng heard that the queen was really angry, he didn't want to discuss it anymore, and immediately nodded and said "marry", as if he was afraid that the queen would vent her anger with sour plums again.

After the mother and son resigned and left, the queen looked at the sour plum with a cold face for a while, and lay facing the wall, betting that she didn't want to pay attention to anyone.

Suanmei didn't know that it was inappropriate for her to walk at the moment, so she peeked at Zhang Fugui for advice, but Zhang Fugui ignored her.

Suanmei hesitated for a while, saw a bowl of sugar taro seedlings on the desk beside the couch, walked over lightly, and said cautiously: "Queen Empress, calm down, you... have your supper first?"

The queen said lightly: "You guys take it and eat it, I'm full."

Sour Plum: "..."

The marriage was settled so suddenly, and she didn't even know how to talk to the queen. She should have retreated tactfully in normal times, but now... the queen is about to become her veritable elder!
Sour plum bit the bullet and continued to persuade: "Empress Empress, the slaves were ignorant before, don't...get angry."

Until the emperor arrived at Changqiu Palace, the sour plum was still comforting the queen bitterly.The emperor had just heard about Ruan Yue's story, so he could roughly guess why the empress was angry.

The emperor wanted to laugh a little bit, but when he heard the sound of Suan Mei who was about to cry, he stopped laughing again.

He strode over, reprimanded as he walked: "I really don't know how to do things, and I'm more annoying than that Ruan Yue, you two should really be husband and wife!"

"Your Majesty." Suanmei hurriedly turned around to salute. The emperor stretched out his hand to support her before she bowed down. He sat on the side of the couch and looked at the queen with a smile, and said to Suanmei: "I heard that the marriage is settled, why don't you Change the name to Aunt?"

Sour Plum: "..."

The queen sat up suddenly: "Who wants her to be called aunt!"

The queen said in her heart that I am not such a stupid niece and daughter-in-law!
"Okay, okay, don't bark if you don't call." The emperor waved his hand indifferently to let the sour plum back down, and the sour plum was about to salute, when he looked up, he saw Chen Jijiang lip-syncing to her beside the emperor: bark!
I really want to call now...

Suanmei held back with difficulty for a while, knowing that Chen Jijiang was probably right, she raised her head: "Auntie! Then I... I'll take my leave first..."

While staring at her, the empress couldn't help but wanted to punch the emperor, but as soon as she raised her hand, she was grabbed by the wrist.

The emperor laughed at the empress and said, "Okay, it's a good thing, why are you so angry? They didn't mean to lie to you."

The queen still had a straight face, but was forcibly pulled into his arms by the emperor.After that, it would be really inappropriate for the sour plum to poke here again, so I hurriedly bowed my head and left.The heat on her face had just faded when she went out, when she felt a heaviness on her back: "Congratulations, cousin!"

Emperor Ping'an threw herself on her back, laughing badly: "Has the auspicious day been fixed? This palace has to say congratulations no matter what!"

Sour Mei just recovered her calm face and blushed again. Just after she said "Don't yell, Di Ji", Wu Mei also came over and said, "I'll help you buy the wedding dress from the Shangfu Bureau? What do you like about jewelry? , shall I speak to the Shanggong Bureau?”

"...Don't make trouble!" Suan Mei squatted on the ground covering her face, smelled the fragrance of the medicine in her hand for a while through Bai Lian, and then pushed the two without thinking, Wu Mei also squatted down with a smile If you want to say something, you immediately raise your head and take the lead, "Stop talking! You still not going home? Master Zongqi, are you not in a hurry?"

"Don't worry, he doesn't dare to rush, Mr. Ruan is still his boss." Wu Mei smiled shamelessly, and then patted Soan Mei's shoulder, "You can get married at ease, I can teach the little maid for a while For a while, it's easy to discuss!"

Ahhhhh Ume, shut up!
Suanmei's cheeks were flushed, before Wumei could speak again, she got up abruptly, and ran to her residence without looking back.

Wumei and Ping'an Diji laughed together in the back, and Suanmei rushed into the house and closed the door, shouting angrily in her heart...

Still need you to say!I will definitely get married with peace of mind, okay?

(End of this chapter)