Kangxi Harem Ⅰ: Green Years

Chapter 4 ([-]) The road ahead is boundless in the waiting room
[Gai's family has a girl who has just grown up, slim and virtuous,]

[When the court ladies are drafted in spring, the parents are reluctant to let go of their daughters. 】

Kangxi five years.

Gaishan, a member of the etiquette department, held a teacup in his living room and sighed softly. His only daughter, Gai Ronger, was named on the draft roster of court ladies this year. Well-off, but Gaijiaqi's nationality is coated with Zhenghuangqi. This maid must participate in the audition. Considering her daughter's background, the possibility of being selected into the palace is too small to be favored by the emperor. Once she is selected as a court lady To enter the palace, one has to be a court lady until the age of 25 before leaving the palace. Although the youngest daughter lives in an ordinary family, she is his only child. Gaishan taught her carefully since she was a child. Female embroiderers are also good, she can be regarded as a girl who knows how to read and respect the etiquette, and if she enters the palace as a slave, even though she serves a noble person, she will inevitably feel a little bit unbearable.

"Master, why are you sighing?" Gai asked her husband puzzled.

"Hey, ma'am, let your daughter prepare. In a few days, this year's maid of honor will be drafted. Rong'er is on this year's roster."

"Ah? What? Master, you mean that your daughter will enter the palace as a slave?" Mrs. Gai's face was full of sadness when she heard this.

"Well, Ma'am, don't worry too much, maybe you won't be selected, and this maid is not chosen randomly."

"But what if, what if Rong'er is chosen." As she spoke, Mrs. Gai's eyes began to turn red.

"Okay, ma'am, it's all fate, let's see Rong'er's life, can we resist the order? Okay, you go and talk to your daughter, talk well, don't make her a burden." Gaishan said helplessly. with.

In the backyard cottage.

"Miss, the lotus flower you embroidered is really beautiful." Xiao Yu, the servant girl, stood next to a beautiful woman in Tsing Yi who was sitting in front of the window and was concentrating on embroidery. Full moon, clear and elegant, black hair shawl, two strands of black hair hanging from the shoulders on the chest, a pair of smiling eyes focused on the embroidery on the hands, and the hands are elegantly moving the needles on the embroidery.

"Rong'er..." A soft call sounded from the door, and the woman called Rong'er turned around and smiled sweetly, "Emiang, you are here."

"Yes, Rong'er, come on, put down the work in hand first, Er Niang has something to talk to you." While speaking, Mrs. Gai walked towards Gai Rong'er slowly, and sat beside her.

Gai Rong'er put the embroidery on the table, smiled and said to her mother, "Emiang, what can you say?"

Seeing her daughter's elegant and well-behaved appearance, Mrs. Gai couldn't help feeling her nose ache, but remembering what the master said just now, she had to force herself to smile and said, "Rong'er, you will be 14 this year, and your daughter is older. You know our family is Zhenghuangqi Bao Yi, according to the regulations of our royal family, the Bao Yi family will participate in the annual maid selection in the palace when they reach the age of 13. You were ill last year, so you avoided it, but this year you must go. It is an honor to serve the emperor, empress dowager, empress dowager, and imperial concubine here." Even so, Mrs. Gai's eyes turned red, she paused, and then pretended to be calm and said: "If... ...If...if...you are lucky enough to be favored by the Lord Long Live, maybe you can still be the master, if...if the emperor doesn't like it, you can still come out and go home at the age of 25..." Mrs. Gai knew in her heart that these were just words of comfort , so tears flowed down uncontrollably.

"Ah?" Xiaoyu, the maid next to her, exclaimed, "Ma'am, if that lady is elected, won't she be able to come back for more than ten years?"

"This..." Xiaoyu talked about Mrs. Gai's pain, tears flowed more and more, she took Gai Rong'er's hand and said, "Daughter, your mother told you to prepare, for mother's sake, I don't want you to suffer, but this It is the emperor's order and cannot be violated.

Gai Rong'er gently wiped away her mother's tears with her hands, "Emiang, don't cry, didn't you say that if you can enter the palace to serve the emperor, the empress dowager, the empress dowager, and the imperial concubine, that is a daughter's blessing. And the daughter may not be so lucky."

Gai Rong'er picked up the embroidery from the table again as if it had nothing to do with her, and said with a smile: "Emiang, Rong'er knows, let Ama feel at ease, and my daughter will prepare with peace of mind. Emiang, don't be sad, it's really nothing Yes. You go and talk to dad." After finishing speaking, he began to concentrate on embroidery again.

"Oh." Mrs. Gai wiped her tears and left the room.

"Miss, if you want to be sad, just say it, it's okay to cry, don't hold back, if you are chosen to serve you, how can you serve others?" Xiao Yu also cried anxiously on the side Well, her young lady has never put on airs, and she has never regarded her as a real person, so Xiao Yu has very affection for Gai Ronger.

Gai Rong'er raised her head and smiled and said to the servant girl: "I'm really not sad. In fact, last year, I knew that I was going to participate in the palace maid audition. It’s a matter of time, since it’s unavoidable, let’s think about it and let nature take its course.”

"But miss, you have never done rough work. I'm afraid you won't be able to bear the hardship." The little maid choked up, the master's house is a well-off family anyway, and someone has taken care of the small family since she was a child. If she really enters the palace, the miss will What should I do.

"Silly girl, don't think about it. I may not be selected. Well, you go down first, I will stay alone for a while."

"Yes, miss." Xiao Yu also walked out wiping her tears.

Gai Ronger put down her needlework and stared out of the window. It was almost spring, and spring buds had grown on the trees outside. The spring of hope, what is my hope?Gai Rong'er shook his head, and smiled wryly in his heart, he didn't know it, he didn't know it, and he had no way of knowing it.

Last year, when Ama and Er Niang talked about her not being able to enter the palace to participate in the election due to illness, she happened to let her hear it. From then on, she knew that entering the palace for the draft was her destiny, and she could not avoid it.Entering the palace to participate in the election, if the election is not good, you can still go home to accompany your parents.If you are selected, you will have to serve as a slave in this deep palace for more than 10 years.Rong'er's parents love him since he was a child, and he is very contented, and his temperament is relatively calm. In fact, he doesn't have too many desires, that's all, let nature take its course, and let God arrange things for Rong'er that he can't change.

Cover the front hall of the house.

"Master, I've already told Rong'er." Mrs. Gai said to her husband, wiping her tears when she returned to the front hall.

"Well, what did Rong'er say?" Gaishan asked with a sigh.

"My daughter didn't say anything, but she comforted me." Mrs. Gai paused, then looked up at Gai Shan, "Master, our daughter is really good. She has been obedient and sensible since she was a child, and she is my heart. Isn’t being an official and a slave digging my heart, can the master find a way to avoid it, let’s say that Rong’er is sick? Or something?” Mrs. Gai stared at Gai Shan and prayed.

"Nonsense, women's opinion, this is the king's law, it's the system, do you still want to violate the emperor's order?" Gai Shan slapped his legs and scolded;
"Then you just watch your precious daughter ruin your happiness? This is our only daughter." Mrs. Gai begged unwillingly;

"Hey, ma'am, stop making trouble. How can you make your daughter feel at ease to run for the election? Rong'er has been sensible since she was a child, and she is much better than a mother like you. From now on, don't make trouble anymore. Let's prepare with my daughter with peace of mind." Enter the palace to participate in the election." After speaking, Gaishan walked out of the hall, feeling bitter in his heart, he was just such a daughter, and she was sensible and obedient since she was a child. He lived a happy life without suffering or suffering, but he was an official ordered by the court, how could he do such a thing against the emperor's order for his own daughter.

Gai Shan thought about how many of the maids who were selected into the palace every year were favored by the emperor? She came out of the palace in her 20s and was an old girl, so how could she promise a good family, but her daughter is dignified and beautiful, and she has been carefully cultivated since she was a child. The chance of not being selected is too small. With his background, can he really thrive in the palace?Ever since the first emperor Shunzhi started the draft system, I have never heard of a woman who can be named a concubine in a coat, and she will be locked in the deep palace for a lifetime. Daughter, I am sorry to live with you. Your future fate depends on you good luck.

(End of this chapter)