The little lady in the palace

Chapter 43
In the room, Meng Junhuai sat by the desk and meditated, feeling so oppressed that he couldn't breathe.

Two months ago, when the eldest brother Huang was sure that he wanted to kill Zhang Wei first and then play the memorial, he stopped the elder brother Huang. He suggested that he could try again and find an official who had an audience to present the memorial to the emperor for them.Later, it was the seventh brother who went to look for the person, an official of the Ministry of Punishment who had no relationship with the princes, Zheng Xiang.

It was one of those who were robbed and killed this time.

Meng Junhuai followed him to think carefully, only to realize that the other people were more or less related to Princess Shumin's affairs.

Cai Kai, a hundred households of Jinyiwei, was ordered to arrest Zhang Wei at that time. Later, Zhang Wei's mother went to make trouble in front of the princess mansion, and he was also the one who went to arrest Zhang Wei.Song Fangqiong, a scholar of the Academy of Imperial Academy, was the first one to express his loyalty to Zhang Wei after his father questioned him.

As for Chang Pingyong, Minister of the Ministry of Officials, he is over half a hundred years old, and there happens to be a second son in his family who is of marriageable age.Meng Junhuai vaguely remembered that the eleventh brother mentioned that the Chang family was the family that asked to marry Princess Shumin.

Meng Junhuai exhaled heavily, suddenly feeling very tired and extremely angry.

This is a provocative killing. To put it mildly, it can also be said to be a gauntlet before the start of the contest.The opponent arrogantly presented their strength to them, letting them see that those who helped them would die, but they had nothing to do.

And the real irony is that there's really nothing they can do about it.

The murderer was not caught, and the blood was washed away in the rain.Meng Junhuai couldn't find any conclusive evidence to prove that this was what Wei Yulin did—not even anything that could prove to himself that this was what Wei Yulin did.All he can rely on is his own feelings.

It's so ridiculous, they are the nobles of the sky, they are mocked by an eunuch, but they can't do anything!
"Princess." The eunuch's voice reached his ears, temporarily interrupting his train of thought.

Meng Junhuai raised his eyes to look over, and Wang Dongxu was making a bow: "Princess, Su Fengyi from the north is here, and said that she has been in charge of the account books of the mansion for the past two months. When I heard that you came back, I wanted to present them to you for review."

"Oh." Yuyin was resting on the edge of the couch, and nodded when she heard the words, "If she didn't tell me, I wouldn't have thought of it. Bring it in, let me see."

Meng Junhuai didn't care either, and took a sip of tea, but Wang Dongxu said again: "Su Fengyi said that he wanted to present it to you, if there is anything wrong, please give me some pointers."

Meng Junhuai's eyebrows twitched, and when he looked up and saw the smile on Wang Dongxu's face, a wave of anger rushed straight to his head!

With a "snap", the teacup landed heavily on the table.

Yu Yin, who was about to tell Su Shi to come in, was taken aback: "Your Highness?"

"The concubine said that you can come in with the account book, but you are too talkative." Meng Junhuai looked at Wang Dongxu coldly, and the sternness in the words was so rare that Yu was stunned.

Wang Dongxu didn't recall it for a while, and was stunned and said nothing.

Meng Junhuai gritted his teeth and said: "Eat the inside out, drag it out and beat it to death."

"Your Highness?!" Yu Yin was taken aback, and Wang Dongxu's blood turned pale immediately: "Your Highness, Your Highness..."

Seeing that something was wrong with the prince, Yang Enlu dared to make Wang Dongxu talk more, and asked someone to come over and gag him before dragging him out.

Yu Yin hesitated for a while, and stood up suddenly when she heard the screams from outside.She quickly rushed to Meng Junhuai, terrified: "What is your Highness doing? He, his crime is not worthy of death?"

Meng Junhuai sat with a cold face, forced himself to hold his breath, and ignored him for a while.

"Your Highness!" Xie Yuyin frowned.She didn't know what was going on behind those officials being robbed and killed, but she also felt that Meng Junhuai was in a very bad mood all the way.So she also forced herself to take a breather, trying not to add fuel to his fire, "Your Highness, let's... let's explain the matter clearly? Then tell me what capital crime Wang Dongxu committed. If he really deserves to die, I will be alone." Not a word."

"..." Meng Junhuai took a deep breath and raised his eyes to look at her. He propped his forehead and calmed down for a while, then suddenly burst into a wry smile.

Qing Yuan and He Jing became more and more afraid as they thought about it.

She didn't understand, why did the father, the queen, and the concubine leave suddenly?Is something wrong?Before she left the study room, her father said to let her practice her handwriting and show it to him, but after she left, she heard that they had returned home?
He Jing struggled for a while, then ran to Concubine He and said, "Concubine He, why did the father leave suddenly? Let's go back too!"

"Don't make trouble." Concubine He, who was coaxing Lan Jing to sleep, stood up from the cradle, picked He Jing up on the couch, squatted in front of her and said, "Your father didn't tell us to go back, we can't go back. You can stay here with peace of mind and play with your younger siblings, okay?"

"But..." He Jing curled her lips, her little brows frowned, "but what if something happens to the father? Is he sick? So you're in a hurry to go back to see a doctor?"

"Don't talk nonsense!" Concubine He stopped her.

He Jing said again seriously: "Mother Concubine He, you don't know why, do you? Then let's go back and have a look. Anyway...there is also a carriage, and it's not too far away!"

"He Jing!" Concubine He looked stern, and looked at her with a straight face, "What did Concubine He tell you? No matter what it is, you have to listen to your father. He said to let you go back, You can go back, if he doesn’t say anything, you are not allowed to make trouble.”

"But..." He Jing wanted to try harder.

"No but." Concubine He cut off her words, "You are disobeying your father's will by making such a fuss about going back. If he knows, he will dislike you."

He Jing's eyes turned red suddenly, her eyebrows twitched, and tears fell down.

Concubine He took a long breath, raised her hand to wipe her tears, and her tone softened: "You are obedient. Concubine He, mother, go and fetch A Li to play with you, okay?"

He Jing wiped her tears and didn't respond, Concubine He sighed and got up to pick up Ah Li.

He had just taken two steps, but he heard a sobbing voice behind him: "You're not right!"

"What did you say?" Concubine He turned her head in a daze.

He Jing's eyes were still red, but her eyes became firmer a little bit: "You are wrong! Father will not dislike me!"

Concubine He looked at her in surprise, and He Jing got down from the couch and walked to her: "The concubine mother said, I will be a good child, and if I don't do bad things, my father will not dislike me! Now, I I just want to know what happened to my father, it's not a bad thing! My father may be angry...but he won't dislike me!"

He Jing took her hand and asked her with a small face: "Concubine He, my father didn't tell me to go back, nor said I can't go back, right? Then why did you just say no, don't ask?" Ask the father?"

"He Jing, you..." Concubine He was at a loss for words for a while, and He Jing paused and said again: "Mother Concubine He is afraid of the father, so I will write a letter to ask Concubine Mother, is it okay?"

This child...!
Concubine He didn't know what to say.He Jing has never contradicted her like this before, she brought out the words of the princess to refute her, what should she say?

She was a little flustered.In terms of status, she could never criticize the princess, but she felt uneasy.She really wanted to say, isn't the princess teaching the child badly if she is like this?

The so-called "obey the father before marriage, obey the husband when married, and obey the son after the husband dies", girls have been like this since ancient times.How could the concubine teach He Jing to ask about her father, and even let He Jing think about asking about her father?
This can't work, He Jing's biological mother is gone, and her father's love is her only backing.And her father didn't like her biological mother, so this backing was no longer so stable.

"No." Concubine He finally rejected her, and said word by word, "You can't make trouble to go back, and you can't write to the princess. Concubine He is doing it for your own good, and you will understand when you grow up."

In the palace, Yuyin clearly felt that there were more things going on in the palace in the past few days.

It's all trivial matters, but she is the concubine, so it's all on her.

First of all, when Wang Dongxu was punished that day, Su Fengyi was still in the main courtyard.So Su Fengyi was terrified, and had a high fever when she returned home, and had nightmares all night.

This made her have to go to the north to have a look. As soon as Su Shi saw her, she wanted to stay at the bed and apologize. The maid named Mu He next to her even kowtowed so hard that her forehead was bleeding. It doesn't matter!Su Fengyi just wanted to show her the account books, and she didn't have any other thoughts. She gave Wang Dongxu the benefits without authorization!

Yu Yin, one head and two big ones, calmed down for a long time, and rewarded a lot of things, so he could be regarded as calming the two masters and servants who were still in shock.

Then there is the matter of the front house.

She didn't know what had happened to Meng Junhuai these days, it seemed that the eunuchs suddenly became displeased and punished them every now and then, if he could see what was going on, it would be even worse.

In fact, Xie Yuyin felt that it was normal for eunuchs to move their minds?In other words, if you are an individual, you will think about it for yourself, right?
Just like what happened to Wang Dongxu that day, after thinking about it afterwards, she also understood that Wang Dongxu must have taken advantage of Su Fengyi to say that in front of her.But to be honest, all Wang Dongxu can do is talk a lot, and she is the one who makes up her mind in the end.As far as she is concerned, following the wishes of the subordinates must mean that there is no harm to herself, after all, she is not a fool.

So, Wang Dongxu took that little benefit... It's right to say that he eats inside and outside, but as for beating him to death?She really doesn't think so.

But Meng Junhuai seemed to be playing tricks, and recently he preferred to catch eunuchs to vent his anger.It made Yang Enlu unable to bear it, so he came to ask her for help with a bitter face.

Yang Enlu asked her: "Princess, my servant wants to temporarily replace all the people serving His Highness with maidservants, do you think it will work?"

Yu Yin: "..."

She wants to say that this is not the case, right?Besides, there are quite a few servants in the front house, and they are all replaced by maidservants...there are not enough people in the mansion?
As a result, Yang Enlu told her helplessly that he didn't want to do this either.But, after the past few days, half of the eunuchs who served recently have been punished, and the rest of the eunuchs will not be able to take turns.He wouldn't do it if he was asked to directly adjust the supplements from the bottom-wouldn't it be death if he didn't know how to wait?
So it is more convenient to directly replace it with a maid.Moreover, the eunuchs are all allocated from the palace, not to say that just adding someone can add someone, the maidservant can also directly buy a low-ranked one to come in, or it is not difficult to transfer someone from Qingyuan.

Yu Yin thought for a while, then nodded temporarily: "Eunuch, let's look at the arrangement, I'll go ahead and see His Highness."

In the sitting room in the main courtyard, when the eunuchs told this new news, they all expressed a sigh of relief.

Zhao Chengrui sat on the side of the couch, leaning on Wang Dongxu's shoulders: "It's better for us to live in the back house! You are the only one who is unlucky, and everyone else is fine!"

"...Get out!" Wang Dongxu couldn't move his hands on his stomach, so he could only move his mouth, "Don't look at my jokes, I will have less salary in the future, so I will eat yours and drink yours!"

"Oh, you are still thinking about your salary? You want to kowtow to our concubine after taking your life!" Zhao Chengrui was so hurt by the side that he didn't show mercy at all, "Look at how unlucky you are! The last two months , you are in charge of everything in the mansion, you have done a good job, and I also thought about promoting you in front of the princess. In the end, you are lucky, and I have to accept Su Fengyi's bracelet--that silver bracelet is worth a tael of silver Is it? Look at what you did to yourself!"

Wang Dongxu rolled his eyes dejectedly on the pillow, bowing again and again: "Master Zhao, Mr. Zhao, can you be merciful? I won't collect things indiscriminately after killing me, and I don't even want a mountain of gold."

He finally figured it out, eunuchs have no children, even if they love money, they don't have to risk their lives for it!
It's better to live your own life!Take good care of your life in the future!

Anyway, he is still the person next to Zhengfei Wang of Yi County, with more or less money... After all, he won't starve to death.

In the study room of the former house, Meng Junhuai propped his forehead to read the book, the side, the side, and the book, but he didn't look at Xie Yuyin.

He knew why she came here now, he had indeed caused a lot of things in the mansion these past few days, and in the end it all became her trouble.

He also knew that it was not good for him to be like this, and if he didn't say anything else, it was not a gentleman's action to catch someone angry with someone.

But Meng Junhuai was also helpless, he really pissed off Wei Yulin, and he knew that Wei Yulin was not "fighting alone", how many eunuchs in the palace and Beijing were entwined with this eunuch with palm prints, would he be pleasing to eunuchs?

At this moment, there is an occasional ignorance... Sometimes he is really angry and punishes people as soon as he opens his mouth. After a while, the punishment that should have been carried out over there has been carried out. How can he take back his words?
He also dislikes himself for causing trouble like this!

On the side, Xie Yu cited reading the scriptures to look at him, watching him read the scriptures again, and finally decided not to tell him "Because you are moody, so I decided to replace everyone around you with maidservants".

She put down the scriptures and thought for a while, then took a note from her sleeve and handed it over: "Here."

"What?" Meng Junhuai took a look at her expression, and took it in puzzlement. Yu Yin explained: "It was written by He Jing, and I haven't had time to return it to her."

She didn't leave Qingyuan alone, it didn't matter that Concubine He was still there, the main reason was that the three children were also there.So she asked Zhao Chengrui to go there in person every other day, to check everywhere, to see if there was anything she needed?Have you ever been sick with heatstroke?She had better arrange it quickly.

After Zhao Chengrui came back yesterday, he presented this to her.

A small piece of paper was no bigger than a palm, and there was only one sentence on it: Concubine Mu, I want to go back home to see my father, is that okay?
She recognized He Jing's handwriting at a glance, and then felt that it was strange.He Jing could obviously write a letter to her and hand it back, but the paper was crumpled, as if it had been hidden for a long time.Moreover, there were two round water stains on the paper that smudged the ink away. At first glance, it seemed that water dripped unintentionally, but Yu Yin compared the distance, and felt more like He Jing was crying when writing.

But when she asked Zhao Chengrui, Zhao Chengrui said that the eldest lady was fine, and when he secretly slipped the note to him, he didn't have any special emotions.

After reading it, Meng Junhuai also felt that there was something behind it. He guessed but was not sure, so he simply wrote a reply letter: If you want to reply, you can also ask Ah Li.If he wanted to, he would come back with Yang Enlu.

Then he called Yang Enlu, folded the paper with only one line written on it in half, and gave it to him: "You go there yourself, and pick up the eldest lady."

In the Qingyuan, Concubine He sat blankly in the main room, feeling empty in her heart.

As soon as He Jing left, there seemed to be a sudden desertion around her.Although Lan Jing was still babbling there, she just didn't think that was the case.

She also read the reply letter from the prince brought by Yang Enlu, and speaking from his tone, it was clearly a reply letter.But she didn't know when He Jing wrote a letter to the prince, let alone what was written in the letter.

So, she doesn't know, is the prince angry with her now?

He Jing was very happy after receiving the reply, and immediately ran to ask Ah Li if she wanted to go back together, and then ran back and asked her: "Mother Concubine He, do you want to take your sister back together?"

In fact, she also wanted to ask Yang Enlu if she could take Lan Jing back with her, but she didn't dare to say in the end.She felt that the prince didn't mention her because he deliberately didn't want to mention her, so she had to be sensible.

Thinking of this, Concubine He sighed heavily.She felt that she would always make the prince unhappy, but she really didn't know why.She thinks that she is careful enough, and she thinks that she has done a good job of the virtues that a married woman should have.But the prince just didn't like her, not from the very beginning.

The palace, which had been dull for a few days, was a little more relaxed because of the return of the child. When they arrived, Meng Junhuai and Xie Yuyin were having dinner together in the main courtyard, and Yang Enlu directly led them to the main courtyard to say hello.

Ah Li is still young and doesn't know much, but He Jing was very happy after seeing his father was fine: "Father is not sick?"

"Who said I'm sick?" Meng Junhuai stuffed a mushroom into her mouth, and He Jing, who didn't like mushrooms, collapsed instantly.

Yu Yin ordered Shan Hu to add more bowls and chopsticks, and then suddenly remembered: "Ah... Should Concubine He come back together? I didn't care about this in the morning, but now she and Lan Jing are left in Qingyuan."

"Qingyuan is also my place, it's fine." Meng Junhuai sneered, feeling that Yuyin was worrying too much, "Besides, it's cool over there, she's willing to stay there, there's no need to rush her."

Yu Yin was right after thinking about it.What's more, Mrs. He is a side concubine, which is different from those in the north.Those few people have low status, and they have to listen to their arrangements for everything, while the side concubine can make up her own mind about many things, and then report it to her. As a concubine, she just nods and agrees.

Then she won't ask.It is inevitable that Lan Jing is particularly afraid of the heat when she is young, so she let them escape the heat there with peace of mind.If not, with He's cautious temperament, she would feel that she was urging her to come back when she asked her.

Yuyin felt relieved, and confessed that Zhao Chengrui still had to go to Qingyuan every other day to ask questions.Next to him, Meng Junhuai beckoned Ning Zhi: "Tomorrow you will directly accompany the young lady to the study to study and practice calligraphy, and return to the main courtyard at noon to have dinner, take a nap before going there."

"Yes." Ning Zhi Fu responded, and He Jing said "huh": "Will Father be here tomorrow?"

"Well, my father is going to see your uncle and uncle tomorrow."

"I also want to see Uncle!" He Jing blinked happily, and then thought, "Who is Uncle...?"

"Uncle is the concubine's elder brother." Yuyin fed Ah Li a mouthful of tender tofu, and then sent a box of lotus root to He Jing's bowl, "Tomorrow your father and king have official business, so you can't follow. Stay at home with concubine mother Okay? It just so happens that my aunt wants to bring your cousins ​​to play, so you can play with them."

(End of this chapter)