Who says maids don't fall for the city

Chapter 1 Flying Flowers Are Light Like a Dream (1)
Daye Jian'an 14th year, winter.

The heavy rain didn't stop until the sky became bright, and Phoenix City was shrouded in mist, deserted.

Occasionally, a queue of soldiers appeared in the city, tidying up the mess all over the city.The blood was left all over the place, the smell in the air was disgusting, and everyone's faces were blank.

The city that took a whole month to capture did not make them happy, or maybe the killing has made people numb.No one thought that a small country in the south would cost them so much time and energy.

He won, but at the same time lost countless.

In the cemetery outside the city, a soldier in his early forties was responsible for digging and burying the corpses. He kept lifting the hoe and shoveling the soil, sweating profusely in the cold air.Seeing that it was almost done, he breathed a sigh of relief, and found a clean place to sit down and rest.Wiping the sweat off his forehead, he carefully checked that there was no one around, and just now he took out a dough pancake from his clothes, and ate it in small bites - this was something he secretly hid during dinner yesterday, if he was found out, he might not be able to escape A good fight.

"Woo meow... woo meow..."

He stopped and listened carefully.A whimpering sound like a cat meowing came to my ears, and the grass not far away shook slightly.He stood up, pulled out the knife on his waist, and walked towards the direction of the sound with light steps.

When the grass was in front of him, he took a deep breath and used the tip of the knife to push the grass away, only to see a female corpse lying on the ground, she looked to be in her early twenties, she was beautiful, and she was wearing the costume of a palace maid from the Nanle Kingdom.She bowed her body, tightly protecting something in her arms, and an arrow sank into the flesh and blood behind her.The soldier tapped the woman's body several times with the knife to make sure that she was dead before inserting the knife into the sheath.Then he squatted down and opened the woman's crossed hands, revealing a swaddling baby!
The veteran lifted up the swaddling baby and hugged it in his arms, opened a corner, and a small face carved in pink and jade came into view.The baby seemed to be awakened from hunger, and his little face was flushed from crying.

He suddenly left the original embrace and came to a warmer place. This surprise made the little baby stop crying, and opened a pair of clear eyes to look at the person in front of him curiously.The veteran also looked at the child in his arms, staring at him for a while, and no one would admit defeat.The baby laughed suddenly, showing its bare gums.She reached out to the old soldier to scratch his beard, and the little hand tickled the old soldier, and he laughed too.

The veteran carried the child back to the resting place, took out the bread, tore a little bit of it, crushed it in his hands, and then fed it into the child's mouth.The baby sucked happily, holding the old soldier's hand with its small lotus root-like hands, refusing to let go.A scent of plum blossoms floats into the nose, which immediately makes people feel refreshed.

A feeling of being relied upon spontaneously arose, and the veteran looked at the baby with softer eyes.Thinking of his wife who had nothing to do so far, and looking at the child in his arms, the veteran nodded fiercely and hugged the child tightly.

On the city wall, a man in black robe stood facing the wind.

Not long after, a lieutenant galloped over and knelt down on one leg in front of the black-robed general: "My lord, Madam Qiyue committed suicide by taking poison in her bedroom. The little princess was taken away by the maid and tried to escape through the secret passage of the palace." , has now been intercepted."

"Clatter..." The wind blew the banner on the city wall, and the black-robed general lost his mind for a moment.

"My lord?" the lieutenant reminded.

"Bring it up." The general ordered softly, and the deputy hurriedly took the order and left.

After a while, a court lady followed the lieutenant up the city wall with a child in her arms.The three stood still behind the black-robed general.

"Who are you next to the empress?" After a while, the general in black robe asked such a sentence, which made the deputy general a little surprised.Could it be that the prince and the wife of the Lord of Nanle are old acquaintances?

The little maid did not show any surprised expression.She looked down at the child in her arms, the child was sleeping soundly, the destruction of the country and family had no effect on the baby's dream.The woman took a deep breath, afraid of waking up the child, so she lowered her voice and said, "My servant's name is Xing'er, and she is your maidservant."

At the end, I added a sentence, "It was brought into the palace by the empress from the mansion."

The black-robed general turned around, with sword-like brows and starry eyes, which were deeply familiar to the marrow.The maid seemed to be sighing in her heart, but it was so indistinct, like a pillow of yellow beams, and when she woke up, there was nothing but melancholy.

The general looked the maid carefully up and down, her appearance was not outstanding, but her eyes were surprisingly beautiful.

"I don't seem to have seen you?" the general asked.

There was still a faint expression on the maid's face, but there seemed to be a puddle of water in her eyes, but it disappeared after a while.

"Xing'er is just a maidservant next to Miss, even if the general has seen her, he won't remember it."

The baby in her arms seemed to have had enough sleep, and let out a cry.So the general turned his attention to the baby in the maid's arms, the baby yawned a little, showing its soft gums.Instantly makes people feel warm.

"Can I hug the baby?" He asked, his voice was unexpectedly bitter.

The maid seemed to hesitate, but after thinking about it, she still handed the child to the black-robed general.Nostalgia and determination flashed in his eyes.

"My lord, before she died, she asked her servants to hand over the child to you. She said that you owed her one thing, and she hoped that you would take good care of the child." After she finished speaking, she took a deep look at the man and rushed to the city wall. Edge jumped.In a trance, as if returning to the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival five years ago, the young lady sneaked out of the house and ordered her to pretend to be herself and study in the room.That night she covered her veil, and on a whim climbed to the roof to watch the moon.When he was traveling in Nanle, he happened to pass by the alley on the side of the mansion.

She said that she was the young lady of the prime minister's family, and seeing that he was young and flirtatious, she invited her to enjoy the moon together during the Mid-Autumn Festival.

Those were the most frivolous words she had ever said in her life. The veil covered her blushing face, revealing only a pair of eyes, shining like stars.

The wind blew against my face, and my clothes fluttered.She felt relieved.

"Bury her with honor", for some reason, he felt a little sad because of the death of this unknown woman. "Madame Qiyue has brought Princess Nanle to be buried as her lord. Today's matter must not be mentioned again."

This is what he owes Qiyue, and he should pay it off.

The 30th year of Daye Jian'an, the seventh day of the seventh month.

"Sister Qing'er, where should I put this vase? Can it be placed outside?" Ruyi, who was dressed in yellow, looked to be only in her early teens, and her clever and cute face was wrinkled into a ball at this moment, almost being regarded as a steamed stuffed bun.She was holding a vase in her hand at the moment, and asked with a distressed face.

"Let me see", I responded, and then glanced out of the open window, "You girl can find out everything, it was a gift from Princess Cheng last year, if you want to be punished, you can put it out. "

"Ah! Then what should I do?!" She yelled, almost jumping in a hurry. "I saw this in the young master's room today. I thought he had brought it back from the outer hall. I was worried that I would be scolded if someone found out, so I hurried back to the original place. Who would have thought that the ancestor They actually took Madam's things and put them around..."

"What did you say?" I slowly stood up, my eyes wide open, my face full of disbelief, and I asked almost word for word. "Young master brought it?"

"That's right, Sister Qing'er, why does something like this always happen every time it's my turn to clean the young master's room?" She almost cried.

"Give me something!" I yelled, and rushed out of the room like flying, then snatched the vase from Ruyi's hand, and ran towards the Treasure Pavilion.

Immediately after Emperor Jian'an ascended the throne, he raided the surrounding small countries, and my parents also died in the war.The prince saw that I was young and pitiful, so he took me back and raised me.Originally, it was raised in the room of the late princess, but within a few years, the late princess saw that although I was young, I had a kind of composure, so she sent me to take care of the eldest son.At that time, the first princess said that if the son made any mistakes, I would not be able to escape.Since then, I have been trembling and cautious, and at least the past ten years have passed.Today is the Chinese Valentine's Day and the princess's birthday. I have been busy since last month, so I didn't pay much attention to the little ancestor.But he still got into trouble.

After running for a long distance, I saw that the Treasure Pavilion was in front of me, so I stopped, took a few deep breaths, and walked over with straight eyebrows.

When the servants guarding the attic saw me coming, they were all respectful. "Miss Qing'er."

"Hmm," replied lightly, "Madam asked me to sample something."

"Yes." The two stepped aside.

Walking to the door, he took out the key from his sleeve, opened the door, walked in and closed the door lightly.Looking carefully, the traces of being turned over in the cabinet are very obvious.With a resigned sigh, I put the vase back in place, and put everything back together—a cleanup that I've done dozens of times.

After everything was put away, I suddenly remembered what my wife ordered yesterday, so I went to the second floor.On the west wall hangs a landscape painting.Open the painting, and there is a hollowed out place on the wall.There is a very delicate wooden box in the space.He took out the wooden box and took out a small key to open the lock.As soon as it came into view, the whole person was stunned, his body became limp for a moment, and he almost fell to the ground.

I couldn't help laughing wryly.

As soon as he came out of Zangbao Pavilion, he saw Shun'er, Shizi's personal servant, guarding outside the building with a flustered expression.

As soon as he saw me, he rushed forward, looking like he had been crying.

"The birthday banquet is about to start, what are you doing here instead of accompanying Shizi?" I asked angrily.

"Sister Qing'er, don't blame me. Shizi, he..." Shun'er stammered, looking extremely pitiful.

Seeing him like this, my anger suddenly eased a lot, but I became more and more worried.Inside the box was a jade hairpin that the prince gave to the princess on the Qixi Festival of the year when the prince and the concubine got married.The concubine has always been extremely precious, and she keeps it in the Treasure Pavilion, and is only willing to take it out on her birthday every year.But now that the hairpin is gone, I can't think of anyone else who can and dares to do this besides Shizi.

The concubine ordered me to take the hairpin yesterday and give it to her today. Now that the things are gone, even if the crown prince took them, I will be the one who will be punished.

"What's wrong with the son? Did he disappear again?" I asked casually, but Shun'er's face turned pale. "Really gone?" As soon as he made a sound, he realized that he was almost shouting, and the voice buzzed in his ears.Shun'er was frightened by me and was stunned, only looking at me with one pair of eyes open.

"Qing...Miss Qing'er", Shun'er called out to me cautiously.Seeing that I was silent, he suddenly burst into tears, and said while crying: "Sister Qing'er, the son left the mansion early this morning, and I am not allowed to follow. But he hasn't come back yet, what should we do? ? If the concubine asked after a while, Shun'er would be dead, Sister Qing'er, you have to save me."

He was crying hoarsely, and I really couldn't say anything to teach him, so I had to comfort him.After watching him go back to the yard, I looked up at the sky, it was getting late.

After thinking about it carefully in my heart, I made up my mind, so I grabbed a random person and asked him to bring a message to Ruyi, saying that I went to find the prince, and I must be back before the birthday banquet.

Then he hurried out of the mansion, turned around and came to the 'brothel'.There are countless pink places in Luoyang City, but this is the only one that dares to name it 'brothel'.

I once heard the sisters in the mansion say that the 'brothel' can be regarded as the first building in Luoyang. The girls in the building are all talented in color and art, and there is a rule for girls to choose their own guests.Of course, those who can enter must be famous and powerful people, but only the girls who choose themselves can become the guests of the 'brothel'.

But no matter how famous it is, it is only a place of fireworks and willows, a place of smog, so I have never been there.When going out for shopping, I would rather take a detour than pass by the building.However, at this moment, for the sake of that ancestor, I have no choice but to bite the bullet and break through.

As soon as I came to the door, a young man stopped me.

"Miss, I'm sorry, the 'brothel' does not accept female customers."

I smiled apologetically, "Brother, I'm here to find my young master, please do me a favor and call him for me." I took out some broken silver from my pocket and handed it to him.

He blocked my hand and didn't take it.After thinking about it, "Okay, let me tell you something for you. May I ask who is your young master?"

I laughed dryly, and took my hand back, "It's the son of Prince Yi's family, please trouble me, little brother."

Watching him walk in the door, I couldn't help but sigh in my heart.The first floor is indeed the first floor, even the guards at the door have rules and regulations, I don't know how many times stronger than the servants of many big families.

After waiting for a long time, he still didn't come out, and the sky was getting darker and darker.

I was so anxious that I had to walk up and down in front of the brothel.

I don't know how many times I walked, thinking about the hairpin of the princess, I closed my eyes and rushed in.Because it was not yet dark at this time, there were no guests in the building, and it looked a little deserted.Entering the lobby, there are several servants cleaning.When they saw me coming in, they pretended not to see it, and they still did their own things.

I was worrying about where to find it in such a big place, but there was a faint singing voice coming from my ears.Stand still and listen carefully, the singing is like a yellow warbler coming out of the valley, it is melodious and moving, as if it can capture people's hearts.Quickly steadying his mind, he followed the sound and walked towards the backyard.

Passing through the lobby, a large lotus pond comes into view.The lotus blooms just right, pink and white.It was almost dusk now, and the light shone faintly on the pond, which seemed like a fairyland.In the middle of the lotus pond, there is a high platform of waterside pavilions, surrounded by pink and white gauze scarves, which complement each other with the lotus flowers in the pond.

"Long-term lovesickness, short-term lovesickness, if you send three or two branches of plum blossoms..." The singing voice is leisurely, but it also has a kind of coldness, and I don't know what kind of woman can have such a singing voice.

The singing seems to be coming from the high platform, and through the flying scarves, one can see a woman playing the piano.After looking around, I realized that the little brother who had just promised to help me pass the message was standing by the pool at the moment, with a dull expression on his face, as if he had fallen into a dream.

Shaking his head helplessly - such a singing voice almost lost my soul as a woman, let alone him.

He turned his gaze to the direction facing the waterside pavilion - as expected, the ancestor and the two young masters who often came and went were drinking and admiring the beautiful woman.He was thoughtful, but he never thought about me. Anyway, I have been with him for more than ten years. If he stole the hairpin, maybe I will lose my life!Thinking about it, I felt sad.

But after thinking about it, he is the master, and he has never been governed by these and other rules. There are some who didn't think of it for a while, and I shouldn't blame him all, let's forget it.Taking a deep breath, he stepped forward.

After walking a few steps, a young man next to Shizi suddenly turned his head and raised his eyebrows slightly when he saw me, showing surprise.That person is Li Xiaoyi, the second son of the Shangshu family of the Ministry of War, who often visits the palace as a guest.Although he never spoke a few words to me, he was gentle and extremely polite to me.Every time I give a gift to the prince's wife or the eldest son, there will be a few servants who can talk to me and Ruyi in the mansion, so I have a good impression of him.

Now seeing that he was frightened by me, I smiled at him embarrassedly.He froze for a moment, his eyes returned to gentleness, and he nodded slightly to me.Then he turned sideways, pushed the person next to him, "Cheng Yu", and then raised his chin and nodded towards me.The man turned around and looked at me, the sparkle in his peach blossom eyes made the pond full of lotus flowers pale in an instant.

He turned his body slightly, showing a smile on his face, "Oh, Xiao Qinger, why did you come here?"

His voice was so abrupt that everyone looked at me for a moment, and even the singing on the waterside pavilion seemed to have stopped.

As my face became hot, I didn't care about being shy, and hurriedly stepped forward to bless my body, "Master, it's getting late, the birthday banquet is about to start, and this servant is here to invite you back to the house."

"Ah, I've forgotten all about it like that," he cried, distressed in his voice.I raised my eyes slightly, only to see a smile on his face.Knowing that he didn't care at all, but he still straightened up and said: "Then please hurry up and go with the servant, if it is too late, I'm afraid it will be too late to pay my respects to Madam."

He stood up and twirled a hairpin in his hand. "Okay, then I'll go back with you. Shuangshuang..." He called out suddenly.

"Young Master Yu, are you leaving now?" Someone answered behind me, I turned my head, and saw a woman in blue walking towards us through the passage on the pool with a smile on her face.There are lotus flowers in full bloom on the left and right, and she is in it, as if stepping on the flowers, which makes people feel beautiful for a while.She should be the woman who sang on the stage just now. She was far away, so she couldn't see clearly.Now she walked up to her eyes—a pair of red phoenix eyes, which could take people's soul in just a glance.The eyebrows are like Yuan Dai, and the skin is as fair as warm jade.The cherry mouth is small, the willow waist is pretty, but the makeup is lightly applied, but it is radiant.If she is said to be a peerless beauty, she will never insult these four words. "But Shuangshuang didn't sing well enough to drive Yu Shaoqi away?" Shuangshuang asked softly, with a beautiful smile on her face.

Shizi chuckled and walked up to her.

"Shuangshuang's Ge Daye is unmatched by anyone, so what's wrong?" He held the hairpin in front of Shuangshuang's eyes.

"There are some things in the mansion today, I have to go first. How about I use this hairpin as an apology."

I was surprised, "Grandfather!"

As if he hadn't heard of it, he inserted the hairpins into both buns.Hands caressing both hairs, eyes so gentle that water can drip.

I lowered my voice, "Master, this belongs to the princess, how can you give it to someone at will?"

"Hey, Xiao Qing'er, your master has given away this hairpin, do you want to take it back?" Prince Cheng's son Cheng Yue walked up to me and waved his fan back and forth, looking like he was afraid of the world. Not messy. "Besides, it's not a big deal. Does your princess still lack jewelry?"

"I heard that the hairpin was given to Princess Yi by Prince Yi. It is a dowry gift for the current Empress Dowager. Why did you give it away, Cheng Yu?" Li Xiaoyi put his hand on the young master's shoulder, smiling.

I gave him a grateful smile back.

"A Yue is right, doesn't Er Niang even have a hairpin?" The young master withdrew his hand, "Shuang Shuang, then we will leave today and come to see you tomorrow. Go and rest first."

Shuangshuang glanced at me with a smile, "Then Shuangshuang will not see you off."

The young master nodded, turned around and left.Cheng Yue looked at me and smiled, and also pulled Li Xiaoyi to follow.I stayed where I was for a while, neither leaving nor staying—if I can’t get the hairpin back today, I’m afraid I’ll die if I don’t die.

After thinking about it, this life was picked up by the prince anyway, even if it was thrown in this palace, it would not be considered a wrong.So he gritted his teeth and stamped his feet, and turned to leave.

"Miss Qing'er", the person behind me suddenly stopped me.

I stopped and turned around.

Shuangshuang came forward, took off the hairpin, and handed it to me.

"Miss Shuangshuang, what are you?" I asked suspiciously.

(End of this chapter)