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Chapter 21

After listening to Zhu Jin's words, Emperor Xia nodded slightly, and said, "He is not afraid of power and has a kind heart. This son is indeed different from other powerful children in the capital."

Zhu Jin also said with emotion: "It's no wonder that the Zhao family is willing to fulfill the marriage contract back then. Some of the children from other families in the capital are really outrageous..."

Emperor Xia just smiled and said: "You really think that the Zhao family will marry the proud daughter of heaven to him just because of his good nature. He is telling me that the Zhao family will not participate in the power struggle in the capital. , some people are already powerful enough, if they marry Luanfeng of the Zhao family again, hehe, I'm afraid even I will be afraid..."

……

In the Lin Mansion, Lin Xiu and Zhao Lingyin are practicing in the room.

The way Zhao Lingyin helped him practice was to make him suffer from the extreme cold. Lin Xiu was only wearing a shirt, and the cold air wrapped around her body, and a layer of frost had already formed on her eyebrows and hair.

There is a power in his body, which is fighting against the cold air outside, and during this protracted confrontation, the power in Lin Xiu's body is gradually increasing at an extremely slow speed.

Today, not long after the two practiced, there was a knock on the door outside.

When they are practicing in the room, no one will disturb them unless something urgent happens.

Lin Xiu quickly put on her clothes, opened the door, and found Uncle Ping'an and his wife standing at the door, and there were three figures standing in the yard in front of the door.

All three of them were white-faced and beardless, and the robes on their bodies looked like official uniforms, but they were different from official uniforms. A man standing near the front said in a high-pitched voice: "Lin Xiu, the son of Uncle Ping'an, has been summoned by His Majesty. Follow me into the palace, there must be no mistakes."

Lin Xiu was taken aback and asked, "Your Majesty summoned me, what did Your Majesty summon me for?"

The eunuch who passed the decree said indifferently: "We don't know about this, you should go with us quickly, be careful if you miss the time, your Majesty will condemn you."

Lin Xiu followed the three eunuchs away in a daze. Uncle Ping'an and his wife looked worried. Zhao Lingyin seemed to understand something, and comforted them: "Uncle and aunt, don't worry, Lin Xiu will not cause any serious problems when he enters the palace."

When Lin Xiu stepped into the palace gate, he vaguely guessed the intention of Emperor Daxia calling him into the palace.

As the son of a third-class uncle, how could a mere clerk in the Qing Dynasty come into the eyes of the emperor? To the emperor, the only thing he had some value for was his ability to make ice.

He had heard from the dean of the Abnormal Arts Academy that there were only two people in the entire Great Xia Kingdom who possessed the Ice Abnormal Art.

One is Lingyin and the other is Lin Xiu.

The reason why heaven-level different arts are heaven-level is not only because of their powerful abilities, but also because the probability of their awakening is too low. People who awaken heaven-level different arts and have the talent for cultivation are even rarer.

As for why he is not invited to have a more powerful spiritual voice, but to invite him who has just awakened his ability, it is not surprising. Things, I am afraid that the news that the Great Xia Emperor does not respect talents will spread out soon.

Lin Xiu was different. He was just an unknown junior in the capital, and this strong man was arrested as soon as he said he wanted to be arrested.

Lin Xiu's guess was right. He had just entered the palace when an eunuch officer told him that the ice storage in the palace was empty and he needed to use his ability to make ice for the palace.

Lin Xiu could not refuse this matter, nor could she refuse.

For one thing, this is the emperor's personal call, and he is not allowed to refuse.

Secondly, to a certain extent, this is Lin Xiu's obligation.

After all, he is a student of the School of Different Arts, and the students of the School of Different Arts have another identity, that is, they are special talents recruited by the court. As long as the court needs them, they need to serve the court at any time.

These people accepted the cultivation of the imperial court, enjoyed the resources of the Academy of Different Arts, and a high salary of ten taels of silver per month, so they should take on this obligation.

Since it is called, naturally there is no pay.

Thinking that these few days, he was doing things for the palace for free, but he lost real money. Lin Xiu couldn't help but sigh when he thought of this.

The eunuch supervisor frowned and asked, "Why, you don't want to work for the palace?"

Lin Xiu shook her head and said, "Elder-in-law misunderstood, it's just that my ability has just awakened, and my energy is low, and it will be exhausted after a while. I'm afraid I won't be able to make much ice..."

The eunuch glanced at him and said: "Of course you don't need to worry about this, come with me, and enter the harem in a while, give me a little cleverness, don't look at what you shouldn't look at, don't ask what you shouldn't ask, if you violate the palace Don't blame me for not reminding you in advance."

The Great Xia court had 24 divisions, each with its own responsibilities, and the imperial palace also had [-] divisions, which were in charge of everything in the palace.

Within the imperial city, the front palace is the yamen of various ministries and the three courtyards of the royal capital, and the middle palace is the place where the emperor and ministers discuss matters. Therefore, the positions of these 24 divisions are all in the rear palace, which are in charge of the female officials and eunuchs in the palace.

That's why the eunuch supervisor reminded Lin Xiu just now, telling him not to look around or ask questions along the way. After all, the people living in the harem are either the emperor's concubines or princesses who have not left the cabinet. Even if he takes a second look at these people All faux pas.

Lin Xiu followed several eunuchs, walked through several extremely long palace corridors, and finally entered the legendary harem.

The harem, the middle palace, and the front palace are simply two worlds.

All kinds of flowers and plants were planted on both sides of the palace road. It is early in the morning, and the sun has not yet risen. There are many young and beautiful court ladies tending flowers and plants by the roadside. Several colorful battles passed by Lin Xiu, and the three When the eunuch was standing on the side of the road and saluting, Lin Xiu took a few glances without showing any traces. The people sitting on the colorful staff were all beauties of heavenly fragrance and national beauty. To be exact, they were young women of various types, Some are glamorous, some are innocent, and each one has its own characteristics.

Lin Xiu had never met the emperor, so she didn't know his character, but there was no doubt that this man had a very good vision, and his aesthetics were not much better than Lin Xiu's.

Compared with those young girls, these are real women.

The eunuch beside him reminded Lin Xiudao in a low voice: "It's all said, don't look around, be careful to bring disaster on yourself."

When Lin Xiu heard this, she immediately lowered her head, looked at her nose, nose and mouth, and stopped glancing around from the corner of her eye.

After all, this is the era of feudal imperial power supremacy, and the harem is a place of right and wrong. As a little son of a third-class uncle, it is better to be careful in everything.

Soon, Lin Xiu was taken to a palace by three eunuchs.

The plaque of "Shang Bingsi" is hung on the gate of the palace courtyard. Shang Bingsi is one of the 24 divisions in the harem. Its main duty is to store ice cubes in the ice bank in winter, and provide them to the palaces to cool off when the summer is hot.

After entering the Shangbing Division, Director Li explained his purpose, and the eunuch in charge of Shangbing Division had a worried look on his face, and said, "What should I do? I don't know why, the water drawn from our company's well these days is abnormally turbid. How can I use it? Come make ice for the girls..."

Mr. Li frowned, and went to the well to fetch a bucket of water, and sure enough, he saw that the well water was very muddy, and he couldn't drink it at all.

He thought for a while and said, "I'll report to His Majesty, you are waiting here."

Director Li left Shang Bingsi, walked in again after a while, and said to Lin Xiu: "Come with me."

Because there was a problem with Shang Bingsi's well water, the emperor temporarily ordered Lin Xiu to go to the palaces of various concubines to make ice according to the rank of concubines.

This can avoid competition among the palaces and maintain order in the harem.

Lin Xiu took the ice-making tools from Shang Bingsi, followed them, and was soon taken to a palace courtyard.

In front of the tall palace gate, there is a plaque of "Yongning Palace".

This palace courtyard is much more grand. Before entering, Director Li reminded again: "This is the residence of the empress, please don't make noise after entering, don't wait and see, leave quickly after making the ice."

Lin Xiu walked into the palace courtyard and saw several maids and eunuchs busy in the courtyard. He was taken to the well in the corner of the palace courtyard. Some eunuchs had already filled the water and were waiting here.

The ice made by the imperial palace is made by Shang Bingsi. The mold is square and can make one cube of ice at a time.

The harem is not the moon-chasing building. Lin Xiu can't put her hands directly on the water to make ice, she can only put her hands on the outside of the mould.

In this way, the speed of making ice will be much slower and consume more energy. Lin Xiu has nothing to do about it. No matter how clean his hands are, the eunuchs around him will not allow it.

I don't know how many concubines the emperor has. If things go on like this, the vitality in Lin Xiu's body will have to be drained by these concubines today.

Chapter 22

After finally making ice for the Empress's Yongning Palace, Lin Xiu was taken to Changchun Palace before she had time to rest.

This is the residence of the imperial concubine. After entering the Changchun Palace, Lin Xiu clearly noticed that the expressions of the eunuchs who followed him became much more tense. Before entering, Director Li gave him thousands of instructions and spoke in the Changchun Palace. You must be careful and careful when you do things, if you offend the imperial concubine, no one can save him.

Lin Xiu stepped into the gate of Changchun Palace, and saw a beautiful woman in palace attire standing in the courtyard, holding an animal that looked like a cat but was not a cat in her arms.

This animal has snow-white hair all over its body. It is not a cat. It does have a cat's body. It is a cat. It has a pair of white and small wings on its back. This is the first time Lin Xiu has seen a cat with wings. .

Lin Xiu was not particularly surprised by this. He already knew that the species in this world were different from the earth he knew.

In addition to humans, there are other races in this world, such as Eldar, Barbarian, Sea Race, etc. It is not surprising that there are some animals that do not exist on Earth.

The beautiful woman in the palace costume has an outstanding appearance, exuding a faint sense of nobility, her figure is graceful and enchanting, and her chest is even taller, making one unable to help but want to take the place of the cat in her arms.

This kind of woman is fatal to the attraction of men.

Fortunately, regarding women, Lin Xiu has also seen countless storms, and she didn't show any abnormalities.

After Mr. Li walked in, he quickly stepped forward, bowed and said, "I have seen the imperial concubine."

The beautiful woman in palace attire glanced at him indifferently, then looked at Lin Xiu again, and asked, "Who is he?"

Manager Li quickly explained: "Going back to the imperial concubine, he is a student of the School of Different Arts, and was specially summoned by His Majesty to make ice for the ladies."

The beautiful woman in the palace costume gently stroked the fur of the spirit beast in her arms, and without looking at Lin Xiu again, said: "Go, move quickly, my daughter is afraid of meeting strangers, if you scare it, I will take your heads off .”

Manager Li said again and again: "Yes, yes, yes, we will leave after making ice, we will leave after making ice..."

This noble concubine is obviously not a kind person, not only Manager Li and several eunuchs are submissive, but even the maids and eunuchs in the Changchun Palace look trembling, they do things lightly, and they dare not make a sound when walking.

After finally finishing making the ice and coming out of Changchun Palace, several eunuchs, including Director Li, wiped the cold sweat from their foreheads with lingering fear, as if they were still alive after the catastrophe.

There are countless harems of the Great Xia Emperor, among which there are five people with the most respected status, that is, one empress and four concubines.

The first queen is naturally the queen, she is the mother of a country, the mother of the world, and the well-deserved head of the harem.

Under the queen, there are four other concubines, namely noble concubine, virtuous concubine, Shu concubine and de concubine, and after that are nine concubines, Jieyu, talented person, and beautiful woman. The order of grades, the door of a palace and a palace.

After the imperial concubine was the concubine Xian, who didn't say anything except to come out to have a look, so Lin Xiu and the others completed the task smoothly.

Coming out of Concubine Xian's Ningxia Palace, Director Li finally breathed a sigh of relief, and said: "The master of Qianqiu Palace has a very good temper and never makes things difficult for the palace people, you can rest assured."

The Qianqiu Palace is the residence of Concubine Shu. According to Director Li, this Concubine Shu seems to have a good reputation in the harem.

Not long after, in Qianqiu Palace, Lin Xiu put one hand on the mold and wiped the sweat from his forehead with the other hand. Making ice in this way consumes too much energy. He could have insisted on making ice Fifty square meters, probably not even half of it now.

If he went to one more palace at most, the energy in his body would be exhausted.

Just as Lin Xiu gritted her teeth and insisted, a fragrant wind suddenly wafted from her side, and a court lady came over, holding an ice bowl in her hand. In the ice bowl were a dozen peeled, crystal clear grapes.

She looked at Lin Xiu with a smile, and said, "Thank you for your hard work, this is a gift from Concubine Shu."

Passing the ice bowl to Lin Xiu, she walked back with light steps.

Lin Xiu looked at the grapes in the ice bowl, and ate a few by herself. Looking back, she saw the three eunuchs swallowing hard, so she handed the ice bowl to them, and said with a smile: "The reward from Concubine Shu, everyone will share it." Bar."

Being able to eat a chilled grape in the summer is something that only the nobles in the palace can enjoy. Mr. Li swallowed his saliva, shook his head and said, "No, no, no, this is a gift from the imperial concubine to Mr. Lin. We can't eat……"

Lin Xiu waved her hand and said, "It's hard for the father-in-laws to run around with me, how can I eat alone..."

Seeing that Lin Xiu was so free and easy, Manager Li didn't insist. He laughed a few times and said, "In that case, we'll follow Mr. Lin to get rich..."

I don't know what kind of grape this is. It's juicy, fleshy, seedless, and very sweet. After chilling, eating one is really refreshing. Lin Xiu put down the ice bowl and couldn't help saying: "This grape is really good." eat..."

Manager Li laughed and said, "This is the tribute grape from the Western Regions. Even the empress only got two bunches, and only the concubine Shu will give us this precious tribute."

Lin Xiu turned her head and looked in the direction of the inner palace. Concubine Shu really treated people very well. The masters of the three palaces he had been to before didn't even look at him, let alone reward him.

There are rules for everything in the imperial palace. If you make ten squares of ice for the empress, the fourth concubine can only reduce it by half. Lin Xiu has a good impression of the empress Shu, and made two more squares for the Qianqiu Palace. Manager Li didn't say much about it. half a word.

After sharing the reward from Concubine Shu, the distance between the few people was shortened again. When they left the Qianqiu Palace, Director Li gave Lin Xiu a look and reminded him kindly: "Next we will go to Ruidong Palace. It is the bedroom of the Concubine De, after the Concubine De passed away a few years ago, only Princess Minghe lived there, and when I go there, Mr. Lin remember not to talk nonsense, and be careful not to offend the princess."

Lin Xiu knew that what Director Li said meant that Princess Minghe was not easy to provoke.

He nodded and said, "I see."

Stepping into Ruidong Palace, Lin Xiu clearly noticed the difference between this place and the previous palaces.

Yongning Palace, Changchun Palace, Ningxia Palace, Qianqiu Palace, the palaces where the empress and the other three concubines live, there are many court ladies and eunuchs in the palace courtyard, and there are people busy everywhere, but in Ruidong Palace, there are only two figures.

A girl in a red dress is sitting on a swing under a plane tree, with a court lady standing behind her.

Manager Li walked into the courtyard, bowed and said: "See Princess, this servant is ordered by His Majesty to bring people to make ice for Ruidong Palace."

The girl in the red dress glanced at him and said, "Ruidong Palace doesn't need ice, go out."

"Yes."

Manager Li responded, and was about to take Li Mu out when the voice of the girl in the red dress came from behind him again.

"stop."

The girl in the red skirt glanced back at the maid behind her with a thoughtful expression, and then said, "Cai'er, take them to the well."

Although he didn't know why Princess Minghe went back on his word, Manager Li took Lin Xiu over honestly, made enough ice for the Ruidong Palace, and then bowed and said, "Princess, we have to go to other palaces, so we left first... ..."

When leaving with Manager Li, Lin Xiu looked back.

The girl in the red skirt was also looking at him, and the two eyes met. For some reason, Lin Xiu suddenly felt a very uncomfortable feeling. It was the first time they met, but he had a feeling of fighting with the girl in the red skirt. impulse.

At the same time, looking at Lin Xiu, the girl in the red skirt also frowned beautifully.

Beside the swing frame, the little maid noticed the strangeness of the girl in the red dress, and asked curiously, "Princess, what's wrong?"

The girl in the red skirt asked: "Cai'er, don't you think that person just now is very annoying?"

"The princess is talking about the son just now?"

"it's him."

The little maid shook her head and said, "No, that young master is very good-looking..."

The girl jumped off the swing and said: "But I just think he is annoying, even more annoying than the prince, these ices are enough for you for a long time, don't let him come tomorrow..."