Harem for a living

Chapter 66

Chen Manrou invited the queen to greet her. Seeing that it was still early, she decided to go back on foot. Anyway, there was nothing to do if she went back too early.

"Ma'am, a few days ago, the crape myrtle flowers bloomed in the imperial garden, let's go and have a look?" Huiyin followed aside and said with a smile. Chen Manrou thought about it, but she didn't remember which direction the crape myrtle flowers were planted. She has always been not very interested in these flowers and plants, she only looks at them when she is bored, so now she can't tell what kind of flowers are planted in the imperial garden.

"There are quite a few crape myrtle flowers planted in the Hall of Worship." Huiyin is very good at observing words and expressions, and immediately said with a smile: "That flower is very big and blooms a lot. Let's fold a few branches back and put them in a vase. Leave it for a few days."

Chen Manrou nodded: "All right, let's go and have a look."

There are many palaces to go from Yongshou Palace to Chongjing Palace. As Chen Manrou walked, she suddenly remembered that since she entered the palace, she has hardly visited other concubines.Looking at crape myrtle flowers is quite boring, why don't you just visit someone else?
Thinking about it, she turned her head and asked, "Who lives in this Hall of Harmony?"

"If you go back to your mother, it's Wang Xiuyi and Li Xiuhua who live there." Huiyin quickly replied, seeing Chen Manrou looking forward, he continued to answer: "The Chuxiu Palace in front is the residence of Song Meiren and Qimeiren. After passing Chuxiu Palace , is the Hall of Worship.”

"What about the Palace of Harmony?" Chen Manrou raised her finger, took a look at it and said, "If you go back to your mother, it's Xianfu Palace, where Ma Jieyu, Wang Jieyu and Ding Jieyu used to live. Three people, Ma Jieyu later moved to the Jingren Palace of the imperial concubine, and only Wang Jieyu and Ding Jieyu were left here. In front of the Xianfu Palace is the Changchun Palace of the Concubine Liu, bypassing the Changchun Palace, It is Yanqing Palace, where Han Wanyi lives. In front of Han Wanyi is Yuhua Pavilion, where Hu Zhaoyi lives."

Chen Manrou stood on the spot and thought for a while, then quickly said after drinking: "At this moment, Wang Xiuyi and Wang Jieyu are probably serving the empress, and Ding Jieyu and Li Xiuhua are probably going to Ci'an Palace."

Both Wang Xiuyi and Wang Jieyu belonged to the Empress Dowager, while Ding Jieyu and Li Xiuhua were gifted to the emperor by the Empress Dowager Ci'an back then, so they probably haven't come back yet.

However, Chen Manrou understands this truth, it's just about the rules... Chen Manrou tilted her head and asked suspiciously: "Then Ding Jieyu and Li Xiuhua can go to Ci'an Palace at will?"

On weekdays, it was the empress who took them to pay respects to the empress dowagers of the two palaces. Without the empress leading them, it would be difficult for them to pay respects to the empress dowagers. It was not a simple matter of breaking the rules.If the queen doesn't want to pursue it, then it's fine.If the empress wants to investigate, whose concubine has you seen go over the head of the house to pay the old lady peace?Unless that aunt is the old lady's niece.

There is no woman in the harem who is the niece of the queen mother of the two palaces. To put it bluntly, no matter how high the status is, as long as she is not a queen, she is still a concubine, and she goes over the mistress to pay her respects. Do you still want to replace the mistress?
So under normal circumstances, unless the emperor said it, or the empress dowager spoke, or the empress wanted to leave someone to serve the empress dowager instead, no one would foolishly pass the empress to serve the empress dowager.

Even if Ding Jieyu and Li Xiuhua belonged to the Queen Mother, this kind of thing would be too unreliable, right?

"Your Majesty, you forgot, the Dragon Boat Festival will be in a few days." Huiyin hurriedly explained: "Every year at this time, the Empress Dowager will ask Ding Jieyu and Li Xiuhua to make zongzi."

It was said to be Bao Bao Zongzi, but in fact, it was to give Ding Jieyu and Li Xiuhua a chance.In this huge harem, only these two are the queen mother's confidantes.Every time after Ding Jieyu and Li Xiuhua made zongzi, the emperor always wanted to give Empress Dowager Ci'an some face and let the two of them sleep in.If she can take the opportunity to conceive, she will be the queen mother's reliance in the future.

Chen Manrou frowned and thought for a while, then suddenly her thoughts turned to "the old lady's niece", and hurriedly asked: "There is no girl of the right age in the queen mother's family?"

"There are four nieces in the Empress Dowager Ci'an's family, two of whom are already married. There are two more, who are still young, probably only seven or eight years old now. There are three nieces in the Empress Dowager Ci'an's family, one is already married, and one is married. They are only twelve or three years old, and the other one is only four or five years old." Hui Yin thought for a long time before saying, Chen Manrou curled her lips, she didn't know if this twelve or three year old would enter the palace.

"Let's go to Chuxiu Palace to visit first." Chen Manrou inquired about this matter, but didn't think deeply about it. Anyway, it's not the queen mother's niece, but the queen's cousin or Concubine Yang's distant sister. A lot of time, it's too early for her to worry about it now.

Later, Huiyin was a little dazed. Didn't he still talk about the relationship between the Queen Mother's family and Xiunu?Why did it turn into going to Chuxiu Palace in the blink of an eye?
"Ma'am, it's not easy for us to go to Chuxiu Palace right now?" Seeing that Chen Manrou had already turned the corner, Huiyin hurriedly took two steps to follow and asked.Chen Manrou glanced at her: "Why is it not easy to go? Is it possible that I have to post a post in advance?"

"Your Majesty, forgive me, this is not what I mean." Huiyin hurriedly knelt down to salute, and Chen Manrou waved her hand: "Then what do you mean? Get up quickly, and let others see that I thought I was bullying you."

"I just feel that I just came out of Yongshou Palace and suddenly went to Xianfu Palace. I'm afraid..." Huiyin was a little hesitant, but Chen Manrou understood it as soon as she heard it. Originally, if she wanted to meet Song Meiren and the others, then Yongshou Palace has already seen it, or just saw it.If you come to the door at this moment, it is very likely that people will think that you are going to discuss something with Song Meiren and the others.

In the harem, it is a bit taboo to discuss things, or discuss things that others don't know.

"It's okay, I heard that Song Meiren sings very well, I want to listen to it." Chen Manrou glanced at the drink, and said lightly.Huiyin looked at Chen Manrou's expression, and didn't dare to say anything, so he followed Chen Manrou to Chuxiu Palace.

The group of them walked slowly and talked about some gossip along the way, so when they arrived at Chuxiu Palace, Song Meiren and Qi Meiren had already returned.When the two heard the announcement that Concubine Hui had come, they were both surprised. They really couldn't imagine that Concubine Hui, who never liked to go out, suddenly came to Chuxiu Palace.

However, the surprise was the surprise, and the two rushed out to greet them.

"My concubine has met Concubine Hui, please greet her." The two saluted Chen Manrou together, and Chen Manrou slightly raised her hand: "Get up, I'm too busy, I'm going to walk to Chuxiu Palace Here, I suddenly thought of the two of you, so I came in to take a look."

"Concubine Hui is really lucky to be able to think of maids and concubines." Qi Mei hurriedly said with a flattering smile, "If you don't mind your concubine, please come in and have a seat?"

Chen Manrou nodded, and walked towards the main hall. She is a second-rank concubine Hui, so it's hard for her to really go to the side hall.Song Meiren and Qi Meiren hurriedly followed, while ordering people to prepare tea and snacks.

Even if the main hall is not inhabited, someone cleans it all day long, so the room is very clean.Chen Manrou sat down in the main hall, and Qi Meiren took the teacup and teapot from the maid's hand, poured tea for Chen Manrou herself, and then brought it up: "Mrs. Biluochun, would you like to try it?"

"The Queen's reward is naturally excellent." Chen Manrou took a sip and said with a smile.Qi Mei hurriedly responded: "What Concubine Hui said is true, it's the servant girl who is reckless."

Chen Manrou raised her eyes to look at Song Meiren, who had not spoken much, and saw that Song Meiren was a little uneasy, rather timid.Looking at Qi Meiren, she was flattering and flattering from the moment she entered the door, so the two of them are quite interesting.

"What do Song Meiren and Qi Meiren do to pass the time?" Chen Manrou put down her teacup and asked casually. Qi Meiren answered first: "The concubine is doing some needlework on weekdays, not the concubine boasting, the concubine's daughter Hong, before entering the palace, she was one of the best around our house. Concubine Hui, look, the clothes on this maidservant were made by the maidservant herself, isn’t it pretty?”

Chen Manrou raised her eyes and took a closer look. The orange dress was embroidered with dark golden chrysanthemums, which was very splendid. It should have been a slightly old-fashioned dress, but it was lined with a bit of brilliance.

Both Qi Meiren and Song Meiren were drafted into the palace with Chen Manrou. Neither of them had much power in their families, and they were not very beautiful themselves.Although entering the palace is a beauty of the fifth rank, but in fact the emperor is not particularly fond of it, and he may not even remember it once in two or three months.

Chen Manrou once suspected that these two people were probably in the late stage of the draft, in order to make up the number, so they were rewarded with pearl hairpins.

But now it seems that this Qimei is really talented, probably meets the requirements of women's work, so she was selected into the palace.

"Very good." Chen Manrou praised sincerely. Although she also learned embroidery since she was a child, she probably didn't have that talent. At most, she embroidered more similarly, with a temperament like Qi Meiren. , a little more soul than vivid, it can't be done.

"If Concubine Hui doesn't dislike it, can the concubine make a body for Concubine Hui too?" Qi Mei stepped on the pole, smiling very flatteringly, and almost came over to pinch Chen Manrou's shoulders and beat her legs.Chen Manrou was very funny. In this harem, there was a difference in status, favored and not favored, there really was a big difference.

When she first entered the palace, in order to pretend to be innocent, she really took a big risk. Fortunately, compared with doting, country is more important, so she was able to find a way for herself in a reckless manner.

"If Qi Meiren is willing, it's too late for me to be happy." Chen Manrou said with a smile, and then turned to look at Song Meiren. Song Meiren was a little nervous, and her veil was about to be pulled out of shape by her. Salute: "Concubine, concubine, on weekdays, just, just in a daze, concubine is not like sister Qi, she can make good-looking clothes..."

Chen Manrou saw that she was really timid, she was so stuttering that she was almost unable to speak, and was about to show mercy to interrupt her, when she heard a loud voice from outside.Huiyin hurried up: "Your Majesty, something seems to have happened outside."

Chen Manrou frowned, turned her head to look at Qi Meiren and Song Meiren with surprised faces, and her thoughts turned sharply, what will happen outside at this moment?Outside Chuxiu Palace, there is Jianfu Palace on one side, which is still empty, and Xianfu Palace and Tihe Palace on the other side, and the people inside have not returned yet.On the other side is Yangxing Zhai, and there is no one in it.

The last side is the Hall of Worship and the Qianqiu Pavilion...

(End of this chapter)