The First Gongsheng of Ming Dynasty

A small sedan chair took Mrs. Huang and Zhao to a courtyard outside the city. On the outskirts of the capital, the gate of the courtyard was very large, like an official residence.

After Mrs. Huang Zhao arrived, just like when she was transferred before, she could still take the maid who was close to her before. After entering, she still had to make resettlement. Before she could pack the withered baggage she brought, There was a woman who was not even twenty years old, looking into the small courtyard where she lived.

Mrs. Huang Zhao quickly gathered her mood and came out to greet the visitor, saluting the visitor.

"New here?" The woman looked very innocent and looked at Mrs. Huang Zhao curiously.

Huang Zhao said: "Yes, I'm new here. If I don't understand the rules, I hope you can teach me."

The woman shook her head and said: "I have only been here a few days and I don't understand anything. I just said that you are not allowed to go out casually here. If you have anything to do, you can tell the aunt in the backyard and she will make arrangements. It's a bit like going to jail, but also like It’s a cage, and I don’t know when I can get out.”

Mrs. Huang Zhao frowned slightly, seeming to feel pity for the woman in front of her.

After all, she has gone through many ups and downs and experienced many things. Even if she is behind bars like now, she can calm down.

But the woman in front of her was so young and beautiful that she was locked up and used as a canary...

"If you want to eat, go to the front. This place is very big..." As the woman was talking, a group of people came to the door, led by a stern-looking woman in her thirties.

The woman glared at the young woman, who then lowered her head and stood behind her.

The woman came in and introduced herself: "You can call me Aunt Lin. I am just in charge here, not the head of the family. Logically speaking, this is Cai Guogong's villa."

"I know." Huang Zhao lowered his head.

"As long as you know, after dinner today, I will go to the front hall to get your things and come back. You can go too!"

Aunt Lin then glared at the young woman beside her.

The young woman stuck out her tongue as if she was being naughty.

This also surprised Huang Zhao. Is this young woman so ignorant of the world?

The housekeepers in the courtyard are roughly equivalent to housekeepers with the power to punish, and they are slaves at best. If this makes Aunt Lin unhappy, it is easy to take her out and give her a beating.

"She is really fair-skinned. She has never been exposed to the sun before, right? It was before, and now is now. No matter how wealthy you were in the past, you are just working here... Don't come out if you have nothing to do. Go and get your things back today. , if you can't deal with it, you will be sent away in a few days. Not everyone has the chance to stay here. "

Aunt Lin's words made Huang Zhao even more puzzled.

They have all been sent here to be canaries. Does this mean that it is not easy to stay here?

Does it mean that we still need to go through selection?

……

……

Then Aunt Lin and the young woman left the courtyard.

When Mrs. Huang Zhao went in to pack her things again, a maid named Chuntao on the side said: "Madam, what do you think that person means? Does he mean that we will not live here for a long time and will be sent to another place?" ?”

Mrs. Huang Zhao put the quilt prepared on the side with the quilt cover she brought, stretched out her hand and said, "Help me."

Chuntao then went over to help.

"If you shouldn't ask, don't ask." Mrs. Huang Zhao said, "We are just like duckweeds. It's good to have a temporary shelter. Also, just don't call me madam anymore, and I won't Then Miss or Madam.”

"What's the name?" Chuntao looked puzzled.

"You are younger than me, so just call me sister. This will also make you look closer. Just like what the girl said earlier, this place is a prison, and you can't fly out like me!"

……

……

That day, Mrs. Huang Zhao took Chuntao to the dining room for dinner.

At this time, Mrs. Huang Zhao realized that the courtyard seemed to be very messy, but in fact it was well-proportioned. There were small courtyards within large courtyards, and they were not the common courtyards in the north. They were more like a Bagua diagram, with one ring inside the other. ring.

When we arrived at the dining place, we found that there were many people here, and they were all women. There were dozens of people waiting to eat in the dining room alone.

Chuntao leaned over and whispered: "Why does Cai Guogong support so many people?"

"Shut up."

Mrs. Huang Zhao quickly scolded Chuntao.

In a strange situation, if you say something wrong and someone overhears you, you may get into trouble.

Mrs. Huang Zhao didn't know where to sit. Fortunately, she saw the young woman she had seen before. The young woman smiled and waved to them from afar. Then the master and servant walked over and sat next to the young woman.

"Sister, are you coming over for dinner? My name is Mingxin, and I'm from Chuzhou." The young woman could finally sit down and talk to Mrs. Huang Zhao.

Chuntao asked: "Where is Chuzhou?"

"what?"

Mingxin held her head, not knowing how to describe it for a long time.

Mrs. Huang Zhao said: "My surname is Zhao, my maiden name... I can't tell you. Why are you here?"

"I was sold here." Ming Xin said, "In the first two years, my family said they wanted to marry me off, but they wanted a heavy dowry. They said I wanted to marry into a rich family, and then someone took me out. It was said that she could become a concubine in a wealthy family's compound, and then... she arrived in the capital, and I don't know how she ended up here."

Mrs. Huang Zhao nodded and said, "He is also a miserable person."

Mingxin said with a bright smile on her face: "It was hard on the road before, but it's nice here. It's much better than where I lived before. I have food and clothing, and Aunt Lin treats me well."

"she……"

Mrs. Huang Zhao originally wanted to say, as the manager here, how could she treat the people here sincerely?

Don't have any intentions.

But thinking that she was in the same situation as Ming Xin, she didn't dare to slander others in front of Ming Xin, even though Ming Xin didn't seem like a scheming woman.

While Huang Zhao was talking to Ming Xin, someone was talking about something next to them, whispering.

A woman in her twenties said: "In the end, there are only a dozen left. I've asked around. If you can't get selected, you may have to work as a female worker, maybe weaving or something, and you will have to rely on it in the future." Feed yourself. It would be nice to stay here."

Someone next to him said: "Are you waiting for Cai Guogong to come? Shouldn't it be decided by Cai Guogong?"

The woman in her twenties sneered: "Silly sister, do you really think that the aloof prince would just come to this small place? You are not like a fish and a goose, nor do you have a throat as dexterous as a lark, you want to When you are a singer or dancer, you also have to look at your talent. Who are we from, do we still want to be a canary?"

When Huang Zhao heard these words, she felt very sad.

Mingxin asked: "Sister, do you understand what they said?"

Mrs. Huang Zhao said: "I don't know about you. I am a sinner and I don't dare to hope for the future."

"Oh?"

Ming Xin heard it half-understood.

Just at this moment, Aunt Lin and her group appeared at the door of the dining room again, and the room instantly became quiet.

"time to eat!"

Aunt Lin said, "After dinner, go to the front hall. I have something to tell you. It concerns your future. It depends on you whether you are capable or not!" ...

……

Aunt Lin ate with everyone present.

She was probably equivalent to a housekeeper. When Aunt Lin was there, no one at the scene spoke, and they were all cautious for fear of offending this person of origin.

Even Mrs. Huang Zhao is wondering, what is Aunt Lin's background and how can she have such a big arrogance?

"I heard that they came from Cai Guogong's residence..."

Mrs. Huang Zhao heard a woman behind her whispering to the person next to her.

At this moment, a woman suddenly came in and said, "Aunt Lin, here comes another person. This is the last person. They said the yard will be closed tomorrow."

"Yes." Aunt Lin put down her chopsticks and said, "Tell her not to pack her things yet, but come over to eat first. After arranging things, she can go back and pack them in the evening."

"Yes."

The woman hurriedly went to deliver the message.

Chuntao asked curiously: "Isn't she going to eat?"

This is talking about the woman who just went out.

Mingxin said while eating: "The people in the steward's room all have staggered meal times. They eat the same as us. The food here is really good."

Chuntao pursed her lips and smiled, and glanced at Aunt Lin. After making sure that no one was paying attention to her, she smiled and said: "This is also the first time I have met someone who can eat with the host. This place is very good, but pity……"

Halfway through what he said, he didn't say any more.

……

……

After dinner, it was time to light the lamp.

In late autumn, when the days were short and the nights were long, a group of women gathered in the front hall, and Aunt Lin asked people to count the numbers.

"Thirty-seven people are here."

Aunt Lin said, "Three of you are girls brought here by the previous owner. That means there are thirty-four of you."

When Mrs. Huang Zhao heard this, she realized that it was a privilege to be able to bring the maid here.

Many people here come directly and have to take care of themselves. It is impossible for others to take care of them.

Aunt Lin said loudly: "I know what you were thinking when you came. You think this is Cai Guogong's foreign palace. As long as you come in, you can become a member of Cai Guogong's palace in the future. You may even have the opportunity to enter the house and become the hostess here." .”

"Aunt Lin, don't we have a chance?" Someone in the crowd immediately questioned.

Aunt Lin looked very sad, shook her head and said, "Maybe, I don't know."

A group of people immediately started talking.

It probably means, you don’t know what you’re talking about?

Are you deliberately making fun of us?

"Quiet down." Aunt Lin said impatiently, "A group of women are chattering, what are they talking about? Were they uneducated before?"

When Aunt Lin became stern, her majesty also made the women present shudder.

Aunt Lin said: "If you want to be a hostess based on your own abilities, that is your own business. I am only responsible for arranging what I want to do for you."

A group of women looked at each other.

Aunt Lin then waved her hand and said: "Pass the things down. One pile for each person."

Several people who looked like maids came in. Huang Zhao knew that these were the "people in charge of the house" as Ming Xin called them. They brought in piles of things that looked like classics and distributed them to everyone present.

Aunt Lin said: "The fact that you are here means that you are all literate. Since you are literate, you should be able to understand the things on it. This is an account. In the next three days, you need to prepare this account according to the You can organize your own thoughts and I will give you the necessary pen, ink, paper and inkstone."

"What do you mean, Aunt Lin? Do you want us to settle accounts?" someone asked.

Aunt Lin continued in a cold tone: "No one will teach you how to do it. It all depends on your talent. Now three days later, you need to add the things you have organized to the things given to you now. Hand it in together, this is like your exam paper."

"What are you doing?" someone immediately asked.

"I don't know either." Aunt Lin said, "But I expect that only some of you will be able to stay. The rest, I don't know where you will be sent."

"what?"

The women present were completely shocked.

A woman looked very excited and said, "Didn't we be bought by Cai Guogong? Why do we do this?"

Aunt Lin said: "Each of you, no matter what your previous background is, whether you are a criminal or a happy person, etc., you are indeed bound here by birth, but this does not mean that you were sold as concubines. Cai Guogong, Cai Guogong seems to have never set foot here."

"Then what do we do?"

A woman dressed very voluptuously asked with excitement on her face.

Chuntao leaned into Huang Zhao's ear and said, "I think they just want to seduce Cai Guogong. They are all incompetent. Fortunately, madam, you are capable."

"Speak up!"

Mrs. Huang Zhao quickly stopped Chuntao from speaking.

At this time, Huang Zhao was also wondering what the situation was.

Her brain couldn't seem to keep up.

Aunt Lin reached out and motioned to the maids beside her to continue handing out "exam papers". She continued to narrate: "I've given you the things. How to organize them is your business. I don't know what it means. If you think you can rely on your own If you can attract Cai Guogong with your beauty, you can give it a try...but the premise is that you have to have a chance to stay so that you can have a chance to meet Cai Guogong, otherwise...everything will be in vain."

"Hee hee hee……"

Mingxin on the side couldn't help but smile, and she smiled happily.

Immediately, someone heard Ming Xin's laughter and glared at Ming Xin: "Why are you laughing? Is this funny?"

Mingxin instantly became the target of public criticism.

Mingxin couldn't laugh anymore. She looked aggrieved and said: "I...I just think what my aunt said...is so interesting. I...I..."

Aunt Lin walked over and handed a test paper to Ming Xin in person, as if she wanted to protect her. Her tone continued to be very cold: "The opportunity is before you, you can make another choice, that is, put the things in front of you Ignore it, then where you are from now on will have nothing to do with me, and we won’t even have anything to do with each other after a while. Those who have taken the things can go back to where they live. In the past two days, you will do nothing except necessary Except for eating and other things, there is no need to come out at other times!"

"Then Aunt Lin, what are we going to do?" someone asked.

Aunt Lin said: "Don't ask me, everything depends on what is on it. If you can't understand it, then just put it away in the cabinet and no one will care! But if you do it well, everything in this yard in the future may really be yours." Take care of it, you will be the mistress here!" (End of Chapter)