The little lady in the palace

Chapter 4 Conflict
On the day of the Lantern Festival, there was a banquet held at Youshi in the mansion.The banquet was held in a hall behind the garden.There are not many flowers to see at this time of year, but there happened to be a lot of spring snow two days ago. At this time, the window is half open, and the snow scene outside is reflected in the hall.The tiles on the wall and the branches that have just sprouted some green buds are covered with a layer of fluffy white, and the non-poignant cold makes the hall warmer.

There are not many masters in Yijun Wangfu, and there are only two tables in total at the moment.The seats at the back are for six concubines with lower ranks, and the seats at the front are only the two side concubines and the eldest son who just turned two years old.

Neither the Prince Yi nor the Concubine Zheng arrived yet, so the seat of honor was vacant.Concubine You looked out, but seeing no one came, she finally found something to say: "It's the Lantern Festival, why doesn't Sister He bring her children with her?"

There are only three children in the mansion, the eldest son Meng Shili was born to You Shi, and the daughter Lan Jing under He's knee is not yet old.The eldest child is He Jing, the eldest daughter of the former concubine Guo, who is more than four years old, and is now raised by He.

But Concubine He didn't bring a single child today. When Youshi asked, she smiled coyly: "Lan Jing is still young, and she was sleeping soundly when I came out, so I simply didn't bother her. He Jing..." She There was a slight pause in the words, "Sister Hejing's body also knows that since Guo's death, she has always been sick every three days. No, it snowed two days ago and caught the wind and cold again."

When the two said this, they sighed together and felt sorry for Jing. Although Guo Shi was viciously abolished by the emperor and given to death, he deserved it, but it made such a little girl who was just about to remember things lose her biological mother.

Then Youshi changed the subject, looked at the table behind her, and lowered her voice a bit: "What do you think, Sister He?"

He Shi also looked sideways.

Among the six people at that table, three were gifted by the empress, and three were gifted by the concubine Ding.The oldest is the Jiang family who came in with the Guo family back then, and the youngest are the Gu family and the Su family who entered the mansion with the concubine.

Because there is a custom of wearing white silk jackets during the Lantern Festival, all six of them wore white jackets. Although they had cross-collars, stand-up collars, and different patterns, they still couldn't tell much difference at first glance.

In contrast, the difference in hairpin jewelry is quite large.

He's eyes were fixed on the person who was the most pure from head to toe: "Su is smart, this is to fall in love with the princess."

You Shi glanced over and smiled lightly, then changed the topic again: "Then what do you mean by our princess?"

A few days ago, the main courtyard spread the word to everyone, asking them to go to the main courtyard to drink tea an hour before the banquet on the day of Lantern Festival.Naturally, the mistress's order could not be neglected. Today, from the side concubine to the concubine's room, I went on time. Unexpectedly, the princess did not show her face, let them drink tea in the main room for half an hour, and then ordered to leave.

What kind of way is this new princess...

In the main courtyard, Xie Yuyin counted the time, stood in front of the dressing table without any haste, spread her arms, and let Liuli and Hu Po help her arrange her dress.

Shan Shan stood beside her with her arms tied, telling her everything she saw and heard when she was in the main room just now, and then looked at the two eunuchs not far away.

Those two eunuchs were specially called into the main room to wait on them just now, because there is no leader among the eunuchs in the main courtyard, Xie Yu triggered a word and asked Shan Hu to choose one, Shan Hu couldn't make up her mind between the two in the end.

Sensing the inquiring gazes, both of them tensed up, and the one called Zhao Chengrui arrived first: "Oh, Concubine He didn't bring the two young ladies here today. The slave is thinking, the second young lady is probably too young." It’s inconvenient to bring it out, but Missy’s side...you might as well ask about it later.”

Xie Yuyin responded.

She asked them to come here for tea and sit down that day because she felt that she was not familiar with them, so she met them in advance to get a feel for their character so that they could be prepared, so as to avoid any discord at the banquet.But when they came, she suddenly realized that she had nothing to say to them, and they probably wouldn't reveal anything in front of her.

That's why she shrank her head at the end and let them drink tea in the main room by themselves, leaving Coral to stare and talk to her later.

Hearing what Zhao Chengrui said, Xie Yuyin remembered the matter of He Jing.

The dress has been arranged, Liuli Huber bowed her head and retreated to the side, Xie Yuyin looked in the mirror and turned to go out, Wang Dongxu, who was robbed of his words by Zhao Chengrui, finally thought of something to say!
He hurriedly bowed: "Princess, the Su family who entered the mansion at the same time as you are wearing very plain clothes today."

He turned a few phrases in his mind, and chose a matter-of-fact statement: "I often talk about you in the conversation, saying that she also likes Buddhism. It would be great if I could talk about this with you, maybe I will hit it off .”

Wang Dongxu held his breath and waited for Wang Hao's reaction.He thought, if the concubine expressed joy, he would help push Su to make a good relationship; if the concubine didn't like Su's clinging, he would then say that Su had no eyes and no rules.

Xie Yuyin was startled after hearing this, then nodded again: "Oh, I see."

Wang Dongxu: "...?" What do you mean?Is this a good sign to accept or not?

Xie Yuyin twitched the corners of his mouth secretly as he walked out.It would be great to have someone to talk to her with, but the only thing she could talk about was Buddhism.

but……

Just because this is the only thing she can say, she thinks it's better for her to get in touch with something else—isn't this jumping back into the world of mortals?Life is still going well.She quickly adapted to the "normal" way of life, which is good for herself.

Alas, the Zen language says, "If you have nothing to worry about, it is a good season in the world."All she cares about at the moment is the family's gossip, and it really is annoying.

Xie Yuyin had already stepped out of the courtyard door teasingly, glanced inadvertently, and saw a skirt passing by the corner.

"Who!" she shouted.The man was obviously hiding from her, and he didn't turn back because of it.

Xie Yuyin frowned and waited. After a while, a little girl was "forced" to come out.

She was surrounded by four eunuchs, but none of the four eunuchs dared to move her or push her, they just surrounded her tightly to prevent her from running away.

Xie Yuyin was startled when he recognized her: "He Jing?"

He Jing is the daughter of the former concubine Guo Shi. Guo Shi was decreed by the emperor to abolish her throne and bestowed her death because of the murder of her son.Now that she is still young and has not been conferred a title, everyone in the mansion calls her "Miss".

She only saw He Jing once on the day she entered the mansion, and her only impression was that the little girl was watery and well-behaved.I haven't seen him since then, and it's said that it's because he's weak and sick.

Yu Yin beckoned He Jing to come over, but He Jing hung her head and didn't move, so she had to take the initiative to walk over, squatted down and asked her: "What's the matter? But you have something to do with me?"

He Jing hummed without answering, and Xie Yuyin calmly said, "If there's anything, you can just say it directly. Who upset you? Or do you need something?"

But Jian Hejing frowned: "I don't want you to care!"

Yu Yin couldn't help but also frowned, because she knew that she was raised under He's knee now, so she couldn't care too much.

She told Shan Hu: "Go and invite Concubine He to come over and talk about the things here, and tell her that He Jing is here with me."

But in a short moment, Concubine He came over to lead the people.She came here in a hurry from the banquet, wearing a bright new dress, but her hair was messed up.

As soon as he reached the door, He staggered and knelt down: "Princess, forgive me..."

"...Get up quickly." Xie Yuyin didn't think it was a big deal, but was taken aback by He's gift.She helped Concubine He up, and Concubine He scolded He Jing: "Ignorant! This is your aunt, how can you be so rude!"

He Jing seemed surprised by this sentence, she looked at Mrs. He blankly, her eyes turned red suddenly: "She is not my aunt..." She gritted her teeth before she finished speaking, turned around, wiped her tears and ran away. Before he had time to block again, Mrs. He froze for a while and then came back to Yuyin with a blessing: "Princess forgive me, I will come to make amends sometime later."

After she finished speaking, she hurriedly chased after him, Xie Yuyin couldn't stop her, so she calmed down, but she was still startled by this sudden appearance.

She took two slow breaths before she regained her senses, and told Shan Shan, "Hurry up and find someone to follow."

He Jing's reaction was too intense, so don't let anything happen.

In the study in the front yard, seeing that it was almost time, Meng Junhuai prepared the book in his hand for a family banquet.

As soon as he stood up, he saw a eunuch rush in hurriedly: "Your Highness!"

"What's the matter?" He asked, looked at the eunuch, and said, "Didn't I tell you to go to the banquet first?"

The eunuch kowtowed: "The slave has gone. Just now the eldest lady had some conflicts with the princess, and the princess sent someone to call Concubine He. Concubine You asked the slave to come and report to His Highness."

Meng Junhuai's eyebrows jumped slightly: "Why did He Jing have a conflict with the princess for no reason?"

"I don't know about this... the slaves either." The eunuch prostrated on the ground, "I don't know why the eldest lady suddenly went to the main courtyard, but I heard that there was a lot of disrespect towards the princess in her words, and it seems that... she also categorically refused to recognize the princess. To be a aunt."

Meng Junhuai's face darkened, and he asked: "What did the princess say?"

"Princess..." The man thought about it carefully, and was a little surprised after thinking about it, "The concubine didn't say anything... Maybe it was too late? The eldest lady was reprimanded by Concubine He, and then ran away crying. Concubine He hadn't returned to the banquet when the slave came, so maybe she went straight back to the west courtyard."

Meng Junhuai took two breaths, and said, "You go to Mrs. He and ask."

The eunuch just answered "Yes", he stopped him again: "Wait."

The eunuch stopped and waited, Meng Junhuai thought for a while, shook his head and said, "Forget it, you shouldn't know about it."

It would be better for him to take a trip to the main courtyard by himself at night.

(End of this chapter)