refuse to be a concubine

Chapter 3 Entering the Palace as a Handmaid

palace?It is a place belonging to the sky. I touched the waist card for a moment, and felt that it was a pity to lose it. Although this wooden card is of no use to me, it is exquisite and small, very beautiful, and I like it in my heart. I can’t help but look at it over and over It took a long time before I put it in my arms.

"Work hard—Su En." I shouted to the sky, and after I finished shouting, a lot of courage seemed to surge in my heart.

The cry startled countless morning birds.

The streets of the capital are always so lively. Yesterday I felt that I couldn’t fit in here, but today I felt that it was a different state of mind.

Cuckoo—my stomach sang an empty city plan at this time, I rubbed my stomach, and secretly told myself that I must find an errand today.

"The craftsmanship is good." The boss of the embroidery shop carefully looked at the embroidered handkerchief I gave him, and nodded in appreciation, "Your craftsmanship is one of the best in the capital."

I rejoiced in my heart, "Then will you use me?"

The boss sighed and shook his head, "Recently, the business has been sluggish and the management is not doing well. My embroidery workshop will be closed in a few days. Miss, I'd better go to another place to ask."

Feeling extremely disappointed, I took back the embroidered handkerchief and had to go find the next one.

By noon, I had found three companies in a row, all of them only wanted men to do coolies, no matter what I said, I could work hard and bear the burden of hard work, but no one wanted to use me.

I was so hungry that my chest was pressed against my back, and my steps faltered a bit.

"It takes an hour to walk from the moat to here with a fish basket on my shoulders. I'm afraid you can't do it as a girl." The clerk at the fish shop looked at me and waved his hand, "Let's go, we only have men here."

"I can do it, I have strength." I quickly straightened up, "Don't look at me as small and thin, but I am actually very strong."

"Really? But when I saw you walking over just now, you looked like you hadn't eaten for a few days. Oh, let's go, don't stand in front of me and hinder my business." The guy didn't believe what I said at all. Push me away and start yelling for business.

I smiled wryly, this was the first time I lied, and it failed.

"Selling buns, big white buns—"

steamed stuffed bun?I pursed my dry lips and looked at the steamed stuffed bun stand not far away. Big and white steamed stuffed buns were being taken out of the steamer for sale. The steaming mist exuded the unique scent of cooked flour.

I couldn't help but walked towards the steamed stuffed bun stand. With every step I took, the aroma of ripeness became stronger and my stomach growled louder.

"Girl, do you want to buy buns?" The guy smiled when he saw me, took out three buns, wrapped them in oiled paper, and handed them to me, "One penny."

I nodded excitedly, and stretched out my hand to take out money in my pocket. After a while, my smile became stiff, and I shook my head, "No, I'm not hungry." Apart from the waist card I picked up, where is there any money in my pocket? It's starving.

"girl?"

After walking a few steps, the man behind me suddenly walked up to me, stuffed the steamed bun wrapped in oiled paper into my arms, and said with a kind smile, "You must have not eaten for a few days, take it."

"I, I'm not hungry."

"Take it if you're not hungry. I steamed some steamed buns today. If I can't sell them, I have to throw them away." The man smiled honestly and went back to the bun stall.

"Thank you, thank you." My nose was slightly sour, I took out a bun and took a bite, then turned to look at the busy guy, my eyes were wet.

A steamed stuffed bun under the stomach, the stomach is warm, and the person has become much more energetic.I was reluctant to eat all three buns. I haven't found a job yet. I don't know what will happen tomorrow or the day after tomorrow. Three buns are my three-day ration.

When my mother was around, I could embroider dozens of handkerchiefs every day and earn more than a dozen Wen. Although I lived a poor life, I was able to fill my stomach at last.It's just that I didn't expect that an errand would be so hard to find.

"It's dusk? Another day has passed." On the horizon, the afterglow of the setting sun shone goldenly over half of the sky. I sighed, wrapped the remaining buns in oiled paper and put them in my arms. The temperature in my arms would not harden them. , It will still be soft when you eat it tomorrow.

I found the waist card again, and I put it above my head and looked at it carefully. This black wooden block is really beautiful, especially the word "Tongxing" in the middle, and the deep marks carved by the strokes. Another angle It can refract light of different colors, even the bright red silk tied to it exudes a different luster, one can tell that it is a special silk material, and only people in the palace can use it .

palace?The words of the man outside the tree last night flashed in my mind, "It took so much for your father to ask someone to take care of you in the palace so that you can enter the palace as a palace maid."

Maid?I lightly stroked the waist card and murmured: "Can I? Can I pretend to be her and enter the palace as a maid?"

Before I could make up my mind, I was already standing outside the gate of the palace.

The imperial palace looks like just a high wall, but it has a sense of solemnity, majesty, and inviolability. Maybe it brings too much mystery to people, and the people who live in it are as noble as gods, and they are inviolable. Makes you feel a sense of awe and awe.

I squeezed the waist card in my hand, my hand was full of sweat, hesitated, and my heart was so nervous that it was almost afraid.

"Are you the daughter of the Su family?" When I was flustered, a thin and long voice suddenly sounded behind me. I was startled, and the waist card in my hand fell off.

The father-in-law in eunuch uniform picked up the badge on the ground, looked at it, and said impatiently: "It's really you? Why are you here now? The maids who have been trained for three months have all gathered in Ningcui Courtyard to wait." Let the ladies choose, if I hadn't taken your father's money, who would have let a wild girl who has not received etiquette into the palace? What are you doing in a daze? Let's go?"

I tightly clenched my hands that were trembling due to nervousness, said softly, and followed my father-in-law towards the palace.

At this time, I can only go forward.

The main gate of the palace was guarded by dozens of guards. I was careful every step of the way, not even daring to raise my head.

"You girl, why aren't you smart at all?" After entering the main entrance, my father-in-law turned around suddenly, raised the orchid flower and pointed at my forehead, and said impatiently, "Don't be like a country girl, hold your chest up for me, oops, In short, you have to be like a court lady who has been trained for three months, understand?"

"I, I see." What is a court lady who has received etiquette training like?I don't know, but at this moment, I can only respond.Although I come from the countryside, my father has read the Four Books and Five Classics. From a young age, I have been taught as a girl to be reserved, to know how to behave properly, to stand with a posture, to sit with a posture, and to walk steadily. But at this moment, I am Entering the palace under false pretences, not to mention a guilty conscience, and even more afraid of being seen through, her behavior is somewhat concealed and restrained.But it seems that they haven't seen the woman before, and my hanging heart finally came down.

"It's not me, I want to call myself a servant girl. It's really a princess who sells melons. That old man Su claims that his daughter is so smart. Now it seems that I was deceived." The father-in-law snorted coldly.

The Su family?I was stunned for a moment, I didn't expect that family's surname was Su?

"Hey, who dares to lie to Eunuch Wang, the godson of the head of the House of Internal Affairs."

I looked around where the sound came from, and saw an aunt about forty years old walking slowly from the west side, looking at the father-in-law in front of me with a smile, showing a little flattering taste.

"It's Aunt Li, this is the girl."

"Elder-in-law, you are worth a visit just for this little girl? Just ask the people below to pick it up." Aunt Li didn't look me in the eye.

"Of course you have to do good things after collecting the money. Hey, this is yours. Keep your mouth shut. Go down and dress her up, and send her to Ningcui Palace as soon as you're done." Eunuch Wang took out a small bag from his arms. The bag was stuffed into Aunt Li's hand, and she looked at me again and said, "And you, don't lose your word, understand? If someone finds out, it's a crime of beheading."
"The servant has recorded it."

"Come with me." Aunt Li happily put the money bag into her arms, turned around and left.

Although I was uneasy, it was my first time entering the palace, and my uneasy heart was quickly attracted by the magnificence and magnificence of the palace.
When I was a child, I heard the grandeur and majesty of the imperial palace in the stories told by the old people. When I grew up, I also heard the book in the teahouse. Everything I heard did not mention the palace one or two.

Aunt Li led me into a side hall, casually took out a palace dress from the box, glanced at me, "Put it on quickly."

Dressed neatly, I looked directly at myself in the mirror, and I always felt that I was not beautiful. If I really want to praise, I can only "look good".

"Oh, I'm afraid the ladies are already on the way at this time, we have to go by the small path."

As if in a hurry, Aunt Li dragged me forward. Along the way, I only remember that I passed through three gardens, two winding corridors made of glazed tiles, four or five round doors, and then a long corridor , Whether it is a garden, a corridor, or a corridor, you can always see court ladies and eunuchs rushing in and out.

When we entered the Ningcui Courtyard, both of us were panting like cows, with dry mouths and tongues.

"Looks like the ladies haven't arrived yet, I'm exhausted." Aunt Li pointed to the main entrance, and gave me a cold look, "Be smart." After finishing speaking, she left.

Ningcui Courtyard is a huge side hall. At this time, the court ladies who have been trained for three months are standing in a row in the courtyard talking and laughing.

I stood unobtrusively at the end of the last row. As soon as I stood still, I heard a high-pitched father-in-law shout: "Concubine Lan, Concubine Ming, Concubine Liu, Concubine An, here—"

"The servants have seen the empress."

I hastened to salute like the maid at the side.

The ladies seemed to be asking something, but because there were several rows, I didn't hear what these girls were asking, and I just stood there respectfully.

"The servant respectfully sent off Concubine Lan, Concubine Ming, Concubine Liu, Concubine An—"

so fast?I didn't even have time for a stick of incense, so I took a sneak peek at the departing ladies, and saw that there was only one new lady behind them besides the ones I had brought with me, I felt a "huh" in my heart, so many maids, Why do ladies choose only one court lady?Withdrawing his gaze, he suddenly stopped at the back of Concubine Liu, and felt that this figure was very familiar.

Just as she was thinking about it, she saw a 36-year-old court lady with a good appearance come in. Her palace dress was darker than that of the court lady, and it was the same as Aunt Li's, and she had been in the palace for some years.

"Hey, it's Aunt Suyan, why are you free to go to Ningcui Courtyard today?"

"Several maids from the Laundry Bureau are going out of the palace on a certain day. I have brought three new maids to fill them up according to the Queen's order. Please, father-in-law, pick three maids and come with me."

"Okay, you, you." Father-in-law Lanhua pointed to two maids at random, and No.3 suddenly clicked on me, "And you, you go to the laundry bureau."

"Eunuch," the No.1 court lady who was ordered cried and knelt in front of her father-in-law, "Elder-in-law, didn't you promise to send me to the Queen's Palace? Why, why did you let me go to the laundry bureau?"

"Yes, father-in-law, you also promised me that you will find a way to let me go to the palace of the most favored Concubine Liu." The No.2 maid also knelt down and begged, "I don't want to go to the laundry bureau."

"What are you... talking nonsense about?" The father-in-law looked at Aunt Suyan and the maids in a panic, trying to break free from the legs held by the maids.

"Did you take our money?"

Slap——the father-in-law raised his hand and slapped the kneeling maid, "If you talk nonsense, you will be punished a hundred times."

The two maids murmured and did not dare to speak any more, they just sobbed and caressed their slapped faces.

Faced with this situation, Aunt Suyan seemed not surprised, she had no expression on her beautiful face, raised her eyebrows slightly, looked at me, and said indifferently: "Would you like to go to the laundry bureau?"

"Slave is willing." I am blessed, the purpose of entering the palace is to have food and clothing, and to get a shelter, so what about going to the laundry bureau?

Aunt Suyan nodded, "Then let's go."

"Why don't you leave quickly?" The father-in-law kicked the two mourning maids viciously. The maids were crying so hard that they had to follow Aunt Suyan to the laundry bureau.

It is said to be a laundry bureau, and it is also a very beautiful place.Although it is far away from the imperial palace, it is not so elegant, especially the wells carved with dark patterns in the huge quadrangle, against the rows of silks and satins fluttering on the clothes poles beside the wells, it is very beautiful. is spectacular.

I didn't expect that just a laundry place could be so beautiful.

"aunt."

The maids who were washing clothes all saluted to Su Yan, she just nodded, glanced at the work they were doing one by one, then turned and looked at the three of us indifferently: "From today onwards, the three of you are the maids of the laundry bureau .”

Busyness is a good medicine that can make people forget many things. Since my mother died, I have been extremely depressed.

The work of the Laundry Bureau is heavy and busy. In addition to working during the day, they still work. At night, the extremely tired body can't think about anything at all, and falls asleep after touching the bed.Although it was bitter, it was also very fulfilling.

In the past three months, the pain of losing a loved one has gradually faded away. Although sometimes I still feel so sad when I think about it, and tears flow down my face, but I focus more on the life in front of me.There was also the night in the Jipin Building, which made me feel so painful that I almost wanted to die. I also buried it deeply in my heart, but after the night was late, I would occasionally be awakened by nightmares. When I woke up, it was a night of sleepless hatred.

As the end of the new year approaches, it has snowed from time to time in the past few days, and the ground is covered with ice and snow. Fortunately, the well water is slightly warm, and the laundry will not freeze my hands.

"Aunt Suyan, it's not good, Hongxia has run away."

(End of this chapter)