Golden branches and jade leaves

Chapter 1: The Beginning of Winter Snow
Su Mi leaned against the wall and put the bucket in her hand aside.He breathed lightly on his red and swollen palm.This damn weather, it's so cold at the beginning of winter.

The first snow of this winter just fell yesterday, but today it was a sunny day, the sun was shining brightly, but there was no warmth at all, after a whole day in the sun, the snow on the tree branches still didn’t have a trace signs of melting.On the contrary, the cold wind was stronger than the next, like a small knife cutting, blowing straight to the bone ache.

Fortunately, she put on the padded coat that she just made yesterday, she was thinking while stomping her feet.

It's not too early to see the sky, the water has to be brought back quickly, the master in the house is still waiting to use it.

She bent down to pick up the bucket and just took a step, but she heard someone behind her shout: "Sister Su, Sister Su..."

Looking back, it turned out that it was the little eunuch Xiao Luzi from the east backyard of Caiwei Palace, who was rushing over.

"Why did my sister come out to fetch water today? The weather is so cold, there is snow and ice on the road, so give it to me." Xiao Luzi asked while reaching out to snatch the bucket from Su Mi's hand.

"The heavy snowfall yesterday froze the well in the yard. I got up early this morning to fetch water, and the bucket was thrown into the well with a loud bang, which surprised Master Wei and me." If you want to mention it, Su Mi doesn't hesitate anymore.

"This sister doesn't know. You have to seal the mouth of the well at night when it snows. Just find a cover or something. It's best to cover it with a layer of straw. It will be fine when you uncover it in the morning." The two walked forward together. , while talking.

"Looking at the weather, I'm afraid we'll have to go out to fetch water in the next few days." Su Mi gently caressed her unconscious hands that were about to freeze, and said, "I don't know when the weather will warm up."

"I'm afraid it's still early," Xiao Luzi shook his head, "By the way, Sister Su came from the south, so she must have never lived in such a cold day, right? It's just winter, and it will be even colder in a few days, Mr. Wei's Are you still sick?" He asked Su Mi's master, Wei Qing'er, a talented person in the east courtyard of Caiwei Palace.

"It's not getting any better. I'm going to get the medicine for the master in a while." Su Mi shook her head.Wei Cairen entered the palace with him this spring, but soon after entering the palace, he fell ill, and has been lazy and has irregular menstruation.

"Why is my sister doing all the work at my sister's place? Isn't there that girl Huier? She is the laziest. She has always made my sister suffer." Xiao Luzi said angrily
According to the rule in the palace, in addition to sweeping servants and other rough envoys, the talented people of the sixth grade also have two maids who serve as personal servants, and Huier is the one who guards the talented people together with Su Mi.

"That girl Hui'er has always been like this, it's not like you don't know about it." Su Mi said.

Xiao Luzi is also the little eunuch of the Caiwei Palace, serving in the East Backyard. There has been no master living in the East Backyard, and the courtyard is still empty. Only Xiaoluzi and a little girl are responsible for the daily guard and cleaning work. Because they live close together, they only enter the courtyard. It didn't take long for Gong to get acquainted with several people. He was a diligent man, and he would come over from time to time to help Su Mi and the others with some work.

Not long ago, Xiao Luzi's older brother was seriously ill, and he was about to die. The whole family was in a hurry. Their family only had these two sons. Because they were too poor, they sold their younger brother into the palace to become a eunuch. The elder brother carries on the family line.Su Mi found out about this, and after asking about the condition, she prescribed a prescription and secretly grabbed a few handfuls of medicine from Wei Qing'er's account and handed them to Xiao Luzi, who asked someone to take them home for his brother to take After taking the prescription, it recovered within a few days.From then on, Xiao Luzi completely treated Su Mi as a savior, and often came to help Su Mi with work.

"I think she is not only lazy, but also wants to climb a high branch," Xiao Luzi looked dismissively, looked around for no one, and said in a low voice: "Sister, you don't know, I went to Find my master, do you know what I saw there?"

Seeing his mysterious look, Su Mi couldn't help feeling amused, and asked, "What did you see?"

"That white jade hairpin is the one that Huier said was a family heirloom and kept as a treasure. It's in my master's cabinet."

Su Mi's heart moved, and she suddenly understood that all the eunuchs who hold important positions in the palace are very rich. For example, they work as servants in Qianqing Palace. Where is that ninety-five supreme being going recently?what do you like eating?Which color of clothes does the favored Concubine Yun like recently... In the complicated environment of the harem, these are all valuable news.Xiaoluzi's master, Wei Fulong, was the eunuch in charge of serving tea in the Qianqing Palace, and occasionally there would be some gossip.

"Your master made another small fortune?" Su Mi asked jokingly.

"That old turtle earns so much money and deducts our share, so save it for the coffin." Xiao Luzi spat on the ground and said angrily.

All decent eunuchs in the palace accept apprentices, ranging from a few to hundreds.It is obvious that he is an apprentice, but in fact he is cultivating his own influence, like Xiao Luzi, who has to honor half of his monthly allowance to this master.After all, he is sweet-talking and clever, and the errands assigned to him are not bad. In the east backyard, although he is not as prestigious as his favored master, it is more relaxing than in those handymen's rooms and laundry bureaus. I don't know how many times stronger the tiring work is.

"Be careful that your master hears that he sent you to the cold palace." Su Mi couldn't help teasing him.

"I'm not afraid if he hears me." Xiao Luzi said it easily, but couldn't help shrinking his neck and looking around: "But sister Su, in my opinion, with Huier's beauty, hey, even When I really met the emperor, I also lifted the tofu with hemp rope—don’t mention it, but I changed my sister, maybe I really have this opportunity.”

"What nonsense?" Su Mi gave him a blank look.

"What I said is true, sister, don't believe it. From my point of view, even if my sister doesn't usually dress up, the one who is dressed in coarse clothes all day is much better than Huier, the little girl who wears makeup and powder all day long. If you want to really dress up, you just need I'm afraid it's not bad compared to the concubine Yun who is the most favored now." Xiao Luzi was a little anxious, and argued.

Su Mi's face straightened, and she shouted in a low voice, "Stop talking, is this what we slaves should say? If it falls into the ears of others, it might cause a big disaster. Hugh."

Xiao Luzi also knew that he had made a slip of the tongue, so he looked around vigilantly and didn't dare to say more.

After a while, Su Mi had already arrived at the east corner gate of Caiwei Palace. Su Mi took the bucket from Xiao Luzi and sent him back, and then entered the courtyard.

Although the east side courtyard of Caiwei Palace where they live is only the side courtyard of the first palace, it is small but has all internal organs.There are a total of seven or eight rooms in the main hall, two warm pavilions, and the corridors and corner rooms where the servants live.It was originally intended for two low-ranking concubines to live in.The current reigning emperor has only been on the throne for three years, and the harem is not substantial, so there is only Wei Cairen living there.Even in the whole Caiwei Palace, there are only four masters, including the chief concubine Zheng Gui and Wei Cairen.

Su Mi was about to enter the room with the bucket in hand, when she bumped into a figure walking out quickly, she stepped back slightly and looked up, it was Hui Er.

Hui'er was wearing a verdant palace dress, with two newly cut silk flowers pinned to her sideknot, and two drops of jade pendants hanging by her ears, her face was lightly applied with powder, making her skin fair and delicate.

Take a closer look, in fact, this girl is really quite charming, and she can't complain that she only wants to climb up.Thinking of Xiao Luzi's words just now, Su Mi couldn't help thinking secretly.

Hui'er was about to go out, but she didn't want to run into Su Mi, and when she saw the bucket in her hand, she also felt a slight blush.Just as she was about to say something, she saw that Su Mi was looking at herself carefully, with a smile that was not a smile, and she couldn't help feeling a little annoyed, and said immediately: "Why did my sister go out to fetch water? Those slaves are really hateful."

Such strenuous work as fetching water was originally undertaken by the rough envoys and servants of the palaces, but since the master of their house, Wei Qinger, fell ill, these people were still loyal to their duties at the beginning. Wei Qing'er had been ill for a long time, so she began to be lazy and take advantage of the loopholes, and didn't come to the door to order her three or five times, but nothing happened.After being ill for more than half a year now, no matter how they give orders, they are just shirking and delaying. They are ordered to carry buckets of water in the first half of the month. I am afraid that there will be no water drops in the second half of the month. There was nothing I could do, I was annoyed by scolding too much, so I had to do it myself.But this Huier is a very lazy person, so almost all the work falls on Su Mi.

"If we don't do it ourselves, can't we still have slaves for us to order?" Su Mi said angrily, "Who made it impossible for us to be masters."

Hui'er's face changed slightly, as if her mind had been exposed by someone, she quickly changed the subject and said: "Why do you have to be some kind of master, as long as there is a good fortune that allows us to be a good master, it will be a great blessing , if our master can win his breath and have the favor of Concubine Yun, we will see the light of day. Last time I heard that Concubine Yun is short of manpower, I am a clumsy man The reason is that I dare not think about it, my sister is such a smart person..."

"It's up to us to talk about what happened to the master." Su Mi felt annoyed, interrupted her lightly, turned around and put down the bucket, and entered the room.

Hui'er was not happy when she was choked, and went out by herself, but just as she walked to the door, she turned her head and said, "Sister Xiangluo from Concubine Zheng's place came over just now, and said that the regulations for this month have come down. I'm sorry, I'll trouble my sister to go and bring it here." After saying that, he turned and left.

Su Mi went into the house and turned on the fire, boiled the water, took the warm medicine, raised the curtain and went into the warm pavilion in the back room.

Wei Qing'er was leaning on the head of the bed, the first thing anyone would think of when seeing her was a withered flower.Her face was pale, her plump and beautiful cheeks were very thin, and her eyes were even more lifeless.

"Master is already awake?" Su Mi put the medicine on the bedside,
"Don't call me master, Ah Mi, just call me like you used to." Wei Qing'er said, her voice was still as clear as before.

"Okay, Qing'er, it's time to get up and take medicine." Knowing that she couldn't be persuaded, Su Mi hesitated a little and changed her address as she said, while helping her sit up.

"I'm afraid I won't get better from this disease. No matter how much medicine I take, I'll just throw it in the sand." Wei Qing'er shook her head and said, "It's a blessing to be able to walk a day earlier, but it makes you suffer this pain with me. "

Su Mi couldn't help being startled, and immediately realized that she might have heard what Hui Er said just now.

"Don't listen to Hui'er's little hoof yelling, it's just because the water and soil are not acclimatized, it will be fine after this winter." Su Mi comforted her.

Wei Qing'er still shook her head and remained silent.Seeing Wei Qing'er's pale face, Su Mi was disturbed for a while. She simply put down the medicine bowl and said seriously, "Qing'er, left and right are just words from a servant, why bother to take it to heart. Once you can let go of your heart, this The illness will not last until today, although you and my sister are lonely in the palace now, but we have someone to take care of us..." Su Mi kept talking, but Wei Qing'er's expression was gloomy and gloomy, knowing her I didn't listen to it at all.

There was nothing Su Mi could do, so she just kept her mouth shut.She knew where Wei Qing'er's heart knot was, and she tried to persuade her many times but had no effect at all. She wondered if she had no ability to solve it.What's more, there is no one to solve her own knot.

"Drink the medicine first." Su Mi took up the bowl and helped Wei Qing'er drink the medicine, then asked her to lie down and tucked in the quilt.

Looking at Wei Qing'er's pale face, Su Mi was in a trance for a while, she vaguely remembered the first time she saw the girl in front of her.

That was four years ago, when she was 12 years old, she took the hand of her adoptive father and walked into the palace of Weiguo.The adoptive father came to treat the emperor's concubine, the beautiful and weak Concubine Rou.Walking in the long corridor, she marveled at how beautiful the imperial palace is, and at the same time begged A Mi to live here as well to her adoptive father like a baby.

The adoptive father scratched her little nose in amused and helpless way.At this time, she heard a burst of laughter behind her, she turned her head, and saw a few girls about her size kicking shuttlecocks on the green grass not far away, and she saw the girl in the middle of it at a glance. It was a man in red, with a few drops of sweat on his delicate and pretty face, laughing loudly while counting.Under the sunshine of early spring and March under the shade of green trees, it is more vivid and vivid.The adoptive father took her hand and continued to walk forward. In a blink of an eye, the branches of the trees covered their lively figures.Su Mi was slightly disappointed and a little bit envious, that shuttlecock was so beautifully made, and the golden pheasant brought by her stepfather didn't have such bright feathers.

Arriving at Concubine Rou's palace, she met this concubine Rou who was said to be her mother's close friend.She is a woman as gentle as water, with a beautiful birth. She secretly compared the empress in front of her with her mother and step-mother, and thought that her mother was more beautiful. In fact, she had never seen her mother-in-law before. For such a beautiful woman, the adoptive mother was also born beautiful, but she was still a little bit worse than her mother, but she was still a little better than the soft concubine in front of her.

She was contemplating and comparing, a small face sculpted in pink and jade poked out from behind Concubine Rou, a pair of big bright eyes looked at her curiously.It was the little girl in red that I saw in the garden just now.It was only later that Su Mi found out that she was Concubine Rou's daughter, Emperor Yiqing's concubine Wei Qing'er.

Concubine Rou's chronic illness is a disease left over from her early years, which recurs from time to time, and her adoptive father also finds it quite troublesome. For the convenience of treatment, Concubine Rou finds a room for them in the Imperial Hospital for them to live temporarily.

Soon Su Mi got acquainted with Wei Qing'er. Although Wei Qing'er was an empress concubine, she never had the delicate, arrogant and contemptuous temper of a golden branch and a jade leaf. There are not so many rules.The two often play games together.When Concubine Rou recovered from her illness and Su Mi was about to leave, the two who had become good friends were reluctant to part.

Seeing this, Concubine Rou suggested Su Mi to stay and let it go. Coincidentally, Emperor Ji Yiqing just turned 12 years old this year, and according to the rules of the palace, it is time to find a companion to read.So Su Mi stayed in the palace, accompanied by this round-faced and lively girl.

Until four years later, Daqi's elite soldiers destroyed the country and drove straight in. As one of the many small countries in the south, the Wei country was destroyed. Enter the capital of Daqi.

Overnight, the world that belonged to these women was completely turned upside down. They didn't even have time to make any choices. In fact, they didn't have the chance to choose, either to reward meritorious soldiers, or to fill the king's harem. All they could do was It's just quietly waiting for fate or cruel, or relatively gentle arrangements.

Wei Qing'er and several other girls with the most outstanding appearance were selected into the harem, and Su Mi was also brought into the palace as Wei Qing'er's personal maid.

They entered Daqi's palace in March this year, and Wei Qing'er fell ill as soon as they entered the palace. Su Mi understood that the pain she had suffered from a golden branch and jade leaf ignorant of the world to the country's ruin and her family's death had overwhelmed her , especially her mother Concubine Rou died of unbearable torture on the way to Beijing, which made Wei Qing'er lose her last reason to live.

Su Mi often thought that if it wasn't for this illness, Wei Qing'er might not have survived until now.

In this harem where the forces of all parties are intertwined, they, as subjugated women, are the most helpless group of people.The few women who entered the palace together, the ones who were more favored, Yi'an Emperor Ji, who was one year older than Wei Qing'er, fell into the water and died in July this year, Yiyu Emperor Ji died of a miscarriage, and another Zong Ji died because of her words. Accidentally, he offended the queen and was thrown into the cold palace, and died soon after.The few remaining people lived their days cautiously, cautiously and in panic.For them, the emperor's favor is not so much a kindness as a reminder.

This is true for a master, let alone a slave like Su Mi who was brought into the palace as an accessory.At least she knew one girl, Zhui'er next to Yiyu Emperor Ji, who used to come to play with them often when she was in the Imperial Palace of Weiguo, but because she was accidentally favored by the emperor once, she was found in a wrong place soon. Beat to death.

Su Mi unconsciously fiddled with the ashes with a hook. She studied medicine with her adoptive father since she was a child, and his adoptive father's medical skills were unparalleled in the world. She had already seen Wei Qing'er's illness, and she might not be able to survive this winter.That's fine, sometimes she couldn't help thinking that when Wei Qing'er left, she would have one less concern in this world.No... It should be said that there is nothing more to worry about.

She couldn't help sneering, half self-deprecating, half bitter, Su Mi, Su Mi, isn't this the day you've been waiting for?

She threw away the fire hook in her hand, went to the cabinet and took out the towel soap beans, picked up the hot water, and went into the back room.All she can do now is to make her as comfortable as possible for the rest of the day.

(End of this chapter)