Golden branches and jade leaves

Chapter 2 Birthday Discussion
Concubine Zheng Gui is the head of Caiwei Palace, who lives in the main hall. Although she is one of the twelve noble concubines of the third rank, she has been out of favor for a long time.

Originally, the monthly records of the concubines in each palace were sent directly to each master by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and none of the masters of the Caiwei Palace and the Palace were favored.Even the highest-ranking concubine Zheng Gui only saw the emperor three or five times throughout the year, and they were all at the banquets in the harem during the New Year and holidays.Naturally, the Ministry of Internal Affairs also became slack, and every month, all the supplies from the whole palace were sent to Concubine Zheng Gui, and I went to pick them up personally.Of course, some deductions are indispensable.

Su Mi entered the Caiwei Hall, and the little girl led her into the back corner room. As soon as she entered the door, there were silver ingots wrapped in red paper, a few packets of scattered copper coins and two small boxes on the table. The big girl Xiangluo is counting.There was also a pile of silks and satins piled up on the bed, colorful and colorful. Chang Zai Hao Yingchun, who lives in the west backyard, was rummaging there with the girl beside him, when she suddenly looked up and saw Su Mi coming in, her face couldn't help but blush.

It is a rule for each palace to be sent by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, but there are certain rules.Always send the high-ranking ones first, and then the low-ranking ones.Usually, the rewards for festivals and festivals are first picked by the ladies above, and then handed down layer by layer.

In the entire Caiwei Palace, except for Zheng Guifei, who is the lord of the first palace, Wei Qinger has the highest talent status, but she has never been favored, and she is so sick that she can't even get out of bed all day long, so everyone will inevitably live. With the meaning of contempt, he acts without scruples.This Hao Changzai is a shy, cowardly, timid master, seeing Su Mi coming in at this time, he cannot help but feel guilty.

Su Mi was in the mood to care about these things, so she gave her a little bow and then turned to look at Xiang Luo.

Before she could ask, Xiang Luo had come over and held her back with a smile, "We were talking about you just now, and we were talking about Hui Er's little hoof who forgot the business, but you just came. Your master Is the disease better? Our mother is still thinking about going to see Wei Cairen this morning, and I am afraid that the noise will delay her recuperation. Alas, Wei Cairen is so young..." He sighed In two breaths: "I'm really tired of my sister."

"Your concubine takes care of the Caiwei Palace. She has a lot of affairs. My sister works hard day and night to serve her. How can we dare to admit that my sister is tired when we do small things. Besides, it is our blessing to serve Master Wei. What will happen there? It's hard work, not to mention that your concubine has always been blessed and blessed, and please see the lady later to thank the lady for our master's kindness." Su Mi quickly said seriously.

Xiangluo is a girl from Zheng Guipin's family, and she is her confidant.In Caiwei Palace, even ordinary masters like Hao Changzai are polite to her, so Su Mi will not be rude.

"No wonder Xianglin often said that you are very sensible and sensible, Wei Cairen is also very lucky to be served by you. If you need anything for food and clothing, just come to me." She said, while He took Su Mi's hand and came to the table.First pointing to the money on the table, he said, "This is the month's allowance just sent by the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Compared to usual, Wei Cairen pays money every three to two months a month. Alas, the Ministry of Internal Affairs said that the frontline wars are tight this month. However, the year is approaching, and we have to buy new year's goods to prepare for various banquets in the inner court, and the Queen Mother's birthday ceremony is approaching, and money is needed everywhere, so I am nervous at the moment, so I have to embezzle part of it first, wait for a while, and then send someone to send it over , while talking, weighed out one tael of silver and counted out thirty copper coins to Su Mi."

In a few days, the police will send it back?That is simply a joke, unless one day Wei Qing'er suddenly recovers from illness and is favored again, the embezzled money will be returned in full or even doubled, and those war banquets... These things made the Ministry of Internal Affairs The name of "headache" will naturally never reach their ears again.

"Hey, these people who kill thousands of knives don't think that Master Wei is ill. Although the palace has its own doctor's care for medical treatment and medicine, and it doesn't cost money, it's not such a deduction method." Xiangluo also scolded angrily. said a few words.

Su Mi couldn't help but sneer. I'm afraid at least half of the one or two taels of silver and seventy copper coins that were deducted were left in the hands of Concubine Zheng. There is less than half left.

Xiangluo opened the two small boxes again, one box was filled with red, green and green, delicate and delicate silk flowers of various colors, and the other box was filled with golden light, a few nobile pearls and jade.

"This is a pile of yarn and silk flowers specially made by the Shangfu Bureau to celebrate the New Year, and they are distributed to each palace. Master Wei is a sixth-rank official, and should receive ten flowers. You can choose the one you like."

"This one is a gift from the empress to the masters of the palaces for the new year. Two gold hairpins of the third rank and above, two beads and flowers, one each of the six ranks and above, and only one gold hairpin below the sixth rank. You from Wei Cai Let’s pick them out too.”

According to Su Mi's words, she picked out ten silk flowers, one emerald gold hairpin, and one white jade inlaid silver pearl flower.

Xiangluo walked to the bed again and said: "This is the regular material for this month, a piece of forging made in accordance with the old rules, plus new clothes tailored at the end of the year, and Ming silk satin weaved and paid for in Suzhou. match."

Su Mi looked at the pieces of fabric, because they were used for the New Year's Eve, the colors were all bright red and green, and the patterns were also woven with gold and red, which was extremely festive and colorful, so bright that it made people dizzy.

She randomly picked two horses according to the routine, and was about to leave, but Xiangluo held her back and said, "Little sister, don't rush away." At the same time, she called a little girl waiting outside the door and ordered her to move back for Su Mi. .

"Sister, stay here for a while. I have an important matter to discuss with my sister." Saying hello to Hao Changzai, he dragged Su Mi into the inner room.

"Sister, do you know what day is the thirteenth day of this month?" Xiangluo asked.

"Forgive me for my lack of knowledge. Please let me know." Su Mi shook her head.

"That day was Concubine Yun's birthday. Sigh, it wasn't an important day in the first place. Originally... although Concubine Yun's family is now in prosperity, she has never had any friendship with us, so I don't need to pay attention to it. But listen It is said that because the empress has been depressed since her miscarriage last month, in order to let her feel relieved, the emperor specially made a decree on this birthday, and ordered the Ministry of Internal Affairs to organize a big celebration, and the six palaces will celebrate together." Xiang Luo curled her lips as she said.

Su Mi thought about it, and immediately understood.

Concubine Yun, Qu Yiran is now the emperor's favorite concubine. Since she entered the palace last year, she has been a holy family member and is the most favored concubine in the harem.In less than two years, she was promoted from a beauty of the sixth rank to one of the six concubines of the second rank. The emperor even wanted to canonize her as one of the four concubines of the first rank. The minister persuaded and even the current queen mother personally stopped it before giving up.

The limelight is so momentary, and when the wind works, it is natural to flock to those who cater to the flatterers.But this Concubine Yun, who is loved by thousands of people, has an extremely lonely and cold temperament. She does not lie to all kinds of people who come to visit and please, and is indifferent to all kinds of banquets and entertainments in the palace. It is said that she is quite arrogant towards today's Holy Majesty.

When she was selected as a concubine, the emperor knew that she loved lotus by nature, and loved her color like a flower, so the emperor specially gave her the title "Lian". Many people in the harem loved her because she came from a humble background but received such great favor. Not long after the title was awarded, someone secretly rumored, "The Lian Zhe, Lian Ye, just matches the humble background of this concubine who has recently been favored and arrogant." These words reached Concubine Lian's ears , she actually immediately went to the table to ask the emperor to resign her title. After careful questioning, the emperor was furious when he learned of these rumors, and severely punished the people involved in the rumors. He blamed him, but instead praised him for his "speaking and honesty", and changed his title to "Yun" according to the words. Even Qu Yiran's father, an old scholar who failed many times, gave him the same family background and conferred the mansion. The hall shines.It can be said that one person has achieved the Tao, and the chicken and dog have ascended to heaven.

Afterwards, her love continued unabated, and she moved to Jing'e, Jieyu, and Guifei. In this autumn, because she was pregnant with dragon descendants, she became a concubine. Unfortunately, the emperor's heir had a miscarriage last month in less than three months. She thought that once she lost her dragon descendants, Concubine Yun would lose her support, and her favor would not be as good as before, but judging from today's news, I am afraid that this favor will rise instead of fall.

A collection of favors is also a collection of grievances.

Because Concubine Yun has always monopolized the sacred favor, and she doesn't care about "sisterhood" at all, there is a lot of dissatisfaction with her in the harem, but because of her popularity, she dare not speak out.

For concubines of rank five and above, their birthdays are naturally handled by the House of Internal Affairs in accordance with the palace rules. The same was true for Concubine Yun’s birthday last year. For example, choose some gifts and send them to someone.This time is different from the past, since the emperor made the decree, the banquet etiquette is of course the responsibility of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, but this gift requires all the palaces to think about it.

If you give it lightly, you will inevitably be looked down upon by others, who will think it is too petty, and even if it is passed to the emperor's ears, it will cause displeasure.If the gift is too heavy, it will be considered as a flattery, which will attract hatred from those who care about it.

"Now our empress is having a headache about what gift to prepare," Xiangluo said, "You also know about Concubine Lu."

Naturally, Su Mi knew what she was talking about.

This summer, Concubine Lu was still Concubine Lu Gui. She had to be pampered for a while when she first entered the palace a few years ago, but she was left behind in a few months and never had the chance to see Tianyan again.The Chao'an Palace where she lives is the closest to the Juhe Palace where Concubine Yun lives. Seeing Concubine Yun's continued favor, she intends to please her, so she specially prepares a heavy gift to visit her, but it is a pity that Concubine Yun is indifferent and does nothing What he moved made her return disappointed.

Misfortunes never come singly, and not long after, she was discovered that one of the pearl-bearing golden phoenixes used in the palace turned out to be six-tailed (the palace stipulates that six-tailed phoenixes can be used only for concubines of the second rank and above), so she was convicted and deposed as a concubine. For concubine.The difference between noble concubine and concubine is only one word, but the grade is four levels lower.

It's just that regarding this matter, there are other rumors secretly in the palace. It is because some powerful nobles in the palace are dissatisfied with Concubine Yun's favor, but because of the fact that she has a strong family, I have to vent my anger on Concubine Lu Gui who has no winks. on people.

Speaking of this, most of the palace people will vaguely point to the west, the meaning of which is self-evident, the imperial concubine Ni Yelin who lives in the Xifu Palace on the west, is the second only to the queen in this harem. The imperial concubine was born in a noble family, and the emperor valued her very much. In addition, before Concubine Yun entered the palace, she was always the most favored. Now that someone has robbed her of the limelight, how can she not complain.

No matter Concubine Yun or Concubine Huanggui, they are not something their little Caiwei Palace can offend.

"It's a pity that Su Mi is dull, unable to share her worries..." Su Mi said calmly, Wei Qing'er is sick and shuns the world, so these disputes in the palace are naturally clear to the bystanders.

"Actually, our empress has already made a fuss about it," Xiangluo said, "Yesterday she said, 'We Caiwei Palace and the sisters in the palace are deeply in love with each other, and we are all one, so we, the masters, prepare gifts and send them over together. The gifts don’t have to be expensive. I haven’t seen any rare treasures in Concubine Yun’s place. It’s just a thought.’ So I want to discuss with all the masters today when everyone comes to collect the order. Hao Chang is , Wu Meiren and the others have already agreed. It's just...Master Wei has been ill all the time, and it's not easy for us to work for her. Fortunately, you are an idea and sensible..."

"My sister has won the prize. We in Caiwei Palace will naturally let Madam Zheng make decisions, but I don't know when Madam Zheng plans to go there? Maybe let us prepare gifts." Su Mi responded immediately.Zheng Guipin was just thinking of not blaming the public.

"It's already the seventh day of the lunar month. The eleventh of this month is a good day. All the masters have agreed that this day will pass. Don't forget my sister."

Su Mi naturally nodded and said yes, Xiang Lola came in just to explain this matter, seeing that it was over, the two casually chatted about household chores for a while, Su Mi took the opportunity to leave.

As soon as he returned to the east courtyard, he saw Xiao Luzi poking his head at the door. He was overjoyed to see Su Mi coming back, and jumped out quickly.
"My sister is back. I have something important to tell my sister."

"What's the big deal? Didn't you hear the gossip again?" Su Mi welcomed him into the room and asked casually.

"Absolutely not. This time is very good news. If I dare to lie to my sister, I will be a eunuch in my next life." Xiao Luzi cursed and swore.

He looked around for no one, and then approached Su Mi and said in a low voice.

It turned out that he just wanted to go back to the east backyard after seeing off Su Mi just now, when he suddenly remembered that he forgot his whisk with his master, since he had nothing to do anyway, so he went back to get it.As soon as he got to the master's place, he saw Hui Er's figure in his master's room from a distance. Seeing that there was no one around, he tiptoed to the window and heard Hui Er and his master arguing in the back room.

It turned out that Hui'er went to Wei Fulong to get some news, so that he could have a chance to meet the emperor.For this reason, she actually gave him a lot of belongings a few days ago, almost all of the belongings she saved in the palace were filled in.But Wei Fulong still felt that Huier's gift was too light, no matter how nicely she begged, he refused to reveal a single coin.

The dispute between the two failed, Huier had no choice but to leave resentfully, Xiao Luzi was listening to the joke outside, he thought Huier was not pleasing to the eye, and was about to come out from the dark and follow her to sarcasm, but saw Xianglin, the girl from Zheng Guipin's place, came in. He was afraid that his master would blame him for eavesdropping, so he kept hiding and did not dare to come out, and then he heard the conversation between Xianglin and Wei Fulong again.

Like Xiangluo, Xianglin is also a powerful girl beside Zheng Guipin, and her purpose of coming to Wei Fulong is exactly the same as that of Huier.

"Usually I can't tell. Seeing her arrogant appearance, she actually has this thought. If Concubine Zheng finds out..." Xiao Luzi shook his head, smacking his lips and said, "But she was in Zheng Guizhen Your concubine works there as an errand, but she has saved a lot of good things. Once the bag is opened, tsk tsk..."

The gift she gave was enough, and Wei Fulong told her what she wanted very happily.

"A few days ago when the emperor was reading a collection of poems, he asked if the plum grove on the east side of Weiyang Pond had bloomed. Yesterday, Gao Shengnuo, the head of internal supervision next to the emperor, sent someone to clean it carefully. I'm afraid the emperor will be interested in it in the next few days. Going to enjoy the flowers."

This is a pie that fell from the sky, Xiao Luzi seized the opportunity and came to Su Mi as soon as he slipped out.

"Why don't sisters try it too? In my opinion, sisters must be good luck. Hui'er, Xianglin and the others, hmph, it would be a waste of effort to go."

"It's a waste of effort for them to go, can I have an adventure if I go?" Su Mi couldn't help laughing.

"My sister is not comparable to those people." Seeing that Su Mi was completely unmoved, Xiao Luzi couldn't help persuading: "My sister looks better than them, she can read and write, and knows medical skills, nothing is better than them Strong?"

Su Mi was about to answer, but she saw a figure outside the window, and she couldn't help laughing secretly.

"In this palace, if you want to be really good, just relying on appearance alone is not enough..." Su Mi said leisurely, then smiled, "Besides, I don't want to join in the fun when it's cold. Master Wei is already sick, if I also collapsed, how will I live this day? Could it be that you, a little monkey, will take care of me?"

Hearing what she said was reasonable, Xiao Luzi had no choice but to stop persuading her. The chance was slim, and Su Mi was originally from the south, so she was afraid of the cold. If she really fell ill because of this, it would be really difficult. not worth it.

"It's a pity, it's rare to hear some useful words from my master, but I can't use them." Xiaoluzi said dejectedly.

"Not necessarily useless." Su Mi looked out the window and smiled.

The figure outside the window had disappeared, and Su Mi looked at Huier's corner room through the cold window paper.

She moves fast!

Xiao Luzi looked at her in bewilderment.

After dismissing Xiao Luzi, Su Mi went into the room and sat down quietly to think.

As for Concubine Yun's birthday gift, Xiangluo already had an idea in her mind.If it is used well, this is really an opportunity, a real start for her to flourish.

Su Mi didn't take the suggestion of Xiaoluzi Meilin to be a favor just now at all.How many women in this palace are yearning day and night, racking their hearts and minds just to be able to see the emperor, let alone those concubines who have never been destined for the holy family all year round, they are rough maids in the palace, no matter they are beautiful or not. , Whoever is not dreaming is looking forward to flying on the branches and turning into a phoenix.

However, the chances of the dream come true are so slim, there are only three old cases where a court lady was favored and promoted to a concubine in the harem of the former emperor.

Even if this day really happened... Su Mi sneered, none of the three concubines had a happy ending.

Since Hui'er has decided to sit on the sidelines, let her do whatever she wants, she, Su Mi, naturally has her own way.

She stood up and opened the cabinet in the corner of her room. Unlike the clothes and money that ordinary palace people put in, it was full of scrolls. She took out one of the scrolls and opened it gently.

What is depicted in the painting is a pool of lotus flowers. The faint curves outline the sparkling water waves of the pond. The lotus flowers on the surface of the pool are in full bloom. A small dragonfly stands lightly on a flower bud, about to fly.It is obviously an ink painting with only black and white, but the whole painting gives people a feeling of bright color and rich style. Among them, the lotus is even more delicate and charming, and the painting smells fragrant.

Su Mi's eyes fell on the inscription in the painting, and she silently laughed: This time it's all up to you.

(End of this chapter)