Crossing the East Palace

The Crown Prince just spoke out in court about the dangers of women's footbinding.

The Empress Dowager and the Empress Dowager made a gesture for it, and also passed on the criteria for choosing a prince and concubine—no matter whether the main concubine or side concubine, they must not be footbound women.

It's ridiculous that the royal family has already set an example. The fifth princess, who had just returned from "praying" in the nunnery, showed her "little feet" that had been bound for several months when she greeted the Empress Dowager in Changle Palace.

"The great-grandson daughter was born dull, not proficient in poetry and books; she has no spirituality in piano, chess and painting; fortunately, she has practiced the three obediences and four virtues since she was a child, and is familiar with the four female books, so she knows that the virtue of a woman lies in her chastity. Binding feet Although the method damages the body, it can make the woman more abide by the women's morals, be chaste and quiet, and the great-granddaughter is not talented. I privately think that this method is something that must be done for women who are determined to abide by the women's morals, so I endured the pain and resolutely Foot bones, foot binding. I also look forward to my great-grandmother, forgive my great-granddaughter for not telling me in advance."

The fifth princess and the eldest princess left the palace to go to the nunnery to practice in the past, in the name of praying for the country.So when they returned to the palace this time, the Empress Dowager also ordered the queen to invite many foreign wives and their daughters and granddaughters to wait for them in Changle Palace.

As a result, the fifth princess gave everyone such a "shock" as soon as she opened her mouth.

The empress dowager and the empress dowager's complexion immediately sank.

The prince said that he had heard about the dangers of footbinding.In order to prevent them from knowing the difficulty and pain of this matter, the prince once called more than a dozen women who had had their feet bound, and asked them to tell the empress dowager and the empress dowager about the pain of foot binding.

He even went outside the palace, found two four-year-old girls who were having their feet bound, and asked them to come to the palace, bind their feet on the spot, and watch with the Empress Dowager and the Empress Dowager.

What does a four-year-old girl know?They cried heartbreakingly on the spot.

The Empress Dowager and the Empress Dowager did not agree with women's footbinding. After seeing the four-year-old girl crying when her feet were bound, and knowing the inconvenience and pain in her heart after footbinding, they naturally hated such things that ravage women's bodies. As for the matter, at this moment, seeing the respectful eyes of the fifth princess, there is still a little complacency, how can I not be annoyed?

"Bold!" The Empress Dowager looked around at the flickering eyes of the married woman who had been invited to the palace, and immediately broke a teacup, "You are not a man, you don't need to earn a career, and you don't know anything about poetry, calligraphy and painting. , the Ai family will not be demanding on you. But others will not, can you recite filial piety? "Your body is hair and skin, and your parents dare not hurt you.", Have you ever remembered this sentence in your heart? You broke your bones and bound your feet today, how did you hurt the hearts of your father, mother and concubine? How did you make the Ai family and the Queen Mother feel sad?"

The fifth princess was sent to the nunnery before she was one year old.

At the beginning of the nunnery, the empress dowager and the empress released their trusted palace servants to serve the fifth princess.

But the nunnery is lonely, and the fifth princess is okay when she can't walk, but after she can walk, she often makes noises to run outside, unlike staying in the nunnery.

The palace people who served the fifth princess knew well that since the empress dowager had ordered the fifth princess to practice in the nunnery for seven years.Then, within the past seven years, if there is no will for the fifth princess, she must not leave the nunnery for half a step.

The palace people couldn't, and didn't want to think of too troublesome ways, so they simply "accidentally" let the eldest princess who hated him even more intimidate the fifth princess, and the palace people themselves also contributed to the flames. Eager to be cared about.

It is because of the character of the fifth princess that the eldest princess has already grasped it in her palm, so naturally she will believe what the fifth princess says.

Although the foot-binding incident was painful to the marrow, the fifth princess endured it in order to please the emperor and empress.

However, after enduring it, when she went to the palace, what greeted her was the empress dowager's wrath.

The fifth princess was so young, she was immediately stupid.

The queen clutched her heart, her heart ached like a twist.

Foot binding, broken bone foot binding!

What do those slaves do for food?He dared to do such a thing to the most honorable princess of Datang!

The queen was still clutching her heart, hesitating, but Concubine Xin rushed over and carefully lifted the fifth princess's blue skirt, revealing two slender feet that were clearly different from those of a seven-year-old girl.

Concubine Xin shed tears in two lines, and immediately shed them.

She was no different than others, she grew up in the north, and there were not many people with bound feet at that time, and it was rare.She once went to the South with her father to take office, and she made friends with a handkerchief handkerchief, and her family forced her feet to be bound by that handkerchief hand.

Concubine Xin had seen with her own eyes the suffering of handkerchiefs, and now that her eldest daughter has also suffered such hardships, she wished she could replace it with her own body.

"Why are you so stupid!" Concubine Xin was so excited that she couldn't help but hit the fifth princess on the back, then knelt down and said to the empress dowager, "The empress dowager is kind. The fifth princess is young and born not long ago. , I went to the nunnery alone. Although there are servants in the nunnery, they are different from ordinary people. They have their own parents and elders to take care of them. The five princesses were young and ignorant, and they were deceived by others, so they bound their feet by mistake. I beseech the empress dowager, The Empress Dowager and the Empress spared the Fifth Princess this time because the Fifth Princess was seven years old but had spent seven years studying outside the Qing Dynasty. Strictly investigate the palace servants around the Fifth Princess to see who they are. Trick the heir!"

Back then, the five princesses were ordered to leave the palace to practice, originally for the safety of the emperor's heir.At the beginning, it was not that the fifth princess was at fault, but that the fifth princess was in the middle of the game. The empress dowager and the emperor had people who valued the fifth princess more, so they had to sacrifice the fifth princess.

In her heart, the Empress Dowager had no pity for the fifth princess.

It's a pity that the matter of the fifth princess was brought out in front of many wives as the prince's royal sister after the prince had just mentioned the matter of abolishing the custom of foot binding.

Even though the Empress Dowager knew that the fifth princess had been deceived, she still had to punish the fifth princess.

Of course, she not only wanted to punish the fifth princess, but also those palace servants who were sent by her and the queen to serve the fifth princess.

"The princess was young, and she bound her feet privately. The palace servants didn't know how to persuade her, but instead helped her cover it up. This crime can be punished! The first-class and second-class palace servants who served the fifth princess closely were all executed with sticks. After the foot, the imperial doctor will treat it, don't leave the root cause of the disease, and then..." The Empress Dowager said with a sullen face, "For the time being, the foot is grounded. You are stupid, and when you are grounded, copy the filial piety, the Four Books and the Five Classics a thousand times, and so on. You must be able to make up for your weakness with diligence.”

Both the queen and concubine Xin breathed a sigh of relief.

Putting feet is not a punishment, and grounding is not a particularly serious punishment.As for copying filial piety and the Four Books and Five Classics, it is right for the fifth princess to hone her patience.

Concubine Xin suppressed her tears, stretched out her hand to press the fifth princess's hand, and bowed down together with her, saying, "My concubine and the fifth princess, thank you for the empress dowager's kindness."

The queen looked at Concubine Xin and the Fifth Princess kneeling side by side, and clenched her hands tightly.

This is her daughter, her princess, but in the end she can only be called a concubine by others, and she is treated like a concubine princess!

If, if he could raise her under his knees...

The queen remembered Mrs. Yuehou's words clearly, and at this moment, she couldn't be confused at all.

If there is a mess, as a queen, if the son-changing incident is exposed, neither she nor the Ning family behind her will be able to escape severe criticism.

Even apart from being harsh, her grace will be completely lost, and the girl who should belong to her will not be reborn into her womb.

But what the queen didn't expect, what concubine Xin didn't expect, and what everyone present didn't expect was that just after Concubine Xin thanked the fifth princess for her kindness, the fifth princess threw off Concubine Xin's hand and kowtowed again.

"A mistake is a mistake. Since the great-granddaughter is wrong, she is willing to accept the punishment. It's just that the great-granddaughter has a wish. If she can't achieve it, she will be unwilling."

Concubine Xin heard what the fifth princess said, and hurriedly apologized for her: "Please forgive me, the empress dowager, the fifth princess is confused, you have a lot of adults, don't care about the younger generation."

The Empress Dowager narrowed her eyes slightly, and looked at the fifth princess: "Say."

The fifth princess immediately felt joyful, and hurriedly said: "The great-granddaughter's wish is to serve her mother and queen. The great-granddaughter is humble. Although she is a concubine, she still cares about her aunt. Show off your face."

Then she turned sideways again and kowtowed to Concubine Xin: "Concubine Mother, please don't blame your daughter. Your daughter is your daughter, and she is the Queen's legitimate daughter. It is filial piety for a daughter to serve her aunt. Please forgive me .”

The room was silent.

Concubine Xin stared blankly at her daughter whom she had been thinking about for seven years, the tears in Xing's eyes flowed unconsciously.

In the past seven years, she has cried so many times for the fifth princess, but when her daughter came back, she wanted to "serve" her aunt!

Although she is a concubine, although the fifth princess is a concubine, how is the imperial concubine the same as other concubines?Her natal family is not a shameful family, a princess is a princess, the blood of the Tian family, why is it so humble?Why does her daughter, the daughter of a first-class concubine, have to do what a common concubine has to do in order to survive?

Compared with Concubine Xin, the Queen is full of joy.

However, even if she was happy, she didn't dare to show it at the moment, she just hurriedly went to see the Empress Dowager.

The Empress Dowager's gaze was slightly dark.

It was a last resort to let the fifth princess go to the nunnery.The queen did not allow concubine Xin to be with the fifth princess. The empress dowager thought about it a lot, so she added a few palace servants to guard the fifth princess.Originally thought that such five princesses would be able to grow up safely.

But I didn't want to, the fifth princess did grow up safely, but she didn't have the rules and etiquette that should be learned and the pride that a royal princess should have!

The Empress Dowager deeply hated herself for being ignorant back then. Although Concubine Xin was naive and cowardly, the Shen family of Concubine Xin's mother's family has always been cautious. If Concubine Xin sent someone to serve the fifth princess, it would be someone carefully selected by the Shen family.If the Shen family were serving the fifth princess, they wouldn't have taught the fifth princess to be so miserable!

"Great-grandmother..." The fifth princess looked at the empress dowager timidly, "Dare to ask great-grandmother, great-granddaughter, if you can serve the queen mother?"

The queen, concubine Xin, and all the women who didn't know how the fifth princess could be so stupid all looked at the empress dowager.

The Empress Dowager twisted the beads in her hand and closed her eyes slightly.

After a long time, I opened my eyes, looked at the fifth princess, and said, "Since you have such a heart, you don't have to go to the Princess Courtyard, so you can live in the Qingning Palace. During the confinement period, the Queen will decide all the teachings." The empress dowager looked at the queen, "Remember, when the fifth princess came out from the confinement, what the Ai family wanted to see was a real princess, not an ordinary concubine who only knows how to play tricks!"

Although the empress felt that the empress dowager's words were too harsh, but since she was able to raise her own daughter, she didn't care about other things, and hurriedly said: "I will obey the imperial grandmother's will."

The fifth princess did not hear the scolding in the Empress Dowager's words at all, and she was also very happy. At the same time, she did not forget to look gratefully at the eldest princess who was standing aside.

——If it wasn't for the elder sister to teach her, how could she be raised by the queen's side like a concubine, improve her status, and marry a good husband in the future?

When the fifth princess looked at the eldest princess, the Empress Dowager frowned.

After seeing such a farce, many imperial wives left in a hurry.

Many wives with little feet actually avoid people before leaving, for fear that people will see their little feet.

When Tang Luojin came, it happened to be the time when Madam Gaoming was leaving.

The imperial wives brought their daughters and granddaughters and were about to leave, but when they saw His Highness the Crown Prince, they immediately stopped in their tracks, and had to greet His Highness the Crown Prince.

Of course, they had to bring their daughters and granddaughters to pay their respects.

So Tang Luojin, who didn't pick a good time, could only stand there with a blank face, and was greeted by many five-, six-, seven-, eight-year-old and even nine- and ten-year-old girls who were either well-behaved, shy or timid. , or stared at it innocently and carelessly for a long time.

Tang Luojin looked at Aunt An at the door, Aunt An went inside to report for a while, but when Naihe came out, she bowed to Tang Luojin and bowed to Tang Luojin. The granddaughter was taken away.

Tang Luojin immediately understood the teasing meaning: "..." He was only seven years old in his life.real.

Seven-year-old body, seven-year-old appearance.

There's no need for a blind date so early.

It's a pity that the Empress Dowager didn't think so. After hearing Aunt An's report, she didn't let Tang Luojin in.

Tang Luojin had no choice but to stand outside for a long time, waiting for those orders to leave after seeing enough before going into the main hall.

When he walked to the door, he happened to see Concubine Xin with a lost face, and the four-year-old Ninth Princess.

Tang Luojin paused.

Princess Jiu pulled Concubine Xin's clothes, bowed her knees in a dignified manner, and said, "Xiao Jiu has met the prince's brother, and the prince's brother is blessed."

Only then did Concubine Xin come back to her senses, and she and Tang Luojin each performed a half salute.

Concubine Xin had obviously cried, and judging by her appearance, she was still extremely sad.

Tang Luojin didn't want to say anything at first, but she couldn't move her footsteps.

"Concubine Xin's mother is weak, and taking care of Xiaojiu is hard work. It's good for the fifth emperor to be with the empress." Tang Luojin comforted dryly, "The empress is lenient, and I think she will be able to teach the fifth emperor well."

Concubine Xin was so sad that she couldn't help herself.

But the matter is a foregone conclusion, the fifth princess is not willing to get close to her at all, and there are many blames in her eyes.

Concubine Xin knew that she could only blame herself for not being strong enough and being naive, not being able to put her own people beside the fifth princess, but instead allowing the queen to take the lead, so that there was no one around the fifth princess who spoke for her.Even if she has to give things to the fifth princess every now and then, if the wind blows in her ears, how can the fifth princess know how much she loves her when she is young?

Concubine Xin thought of the appearance of the fifth princess who was timid and cowardly but thought she was smart, and hated that she had never taught her personally, and felt unbearable pain in her heart.

"The queen's teaching is her blessing." Concubine Xin endured and endured, and said, "It's just that the fifth princess is weak, even if she has the name of the queen's teaching, she may not be able to take on the responsibility of being married in the future. I'm afraid... ..."

Tang Luojin understood.

Concubine Xin didn't know about the son-changing, and she blindly thought that the fifth princess was her own flesh and blood.And the behavior of the queen to keep her from being close to the fifth princess time and time again made Concubine Xin mistakenly think that the queen didn't like her cousin, so she wanted to embarrass the fifth princess.Concubine Xin might even think that the matter of the fifth princess' footbinding and asking herself to "serve" the queen this time was the queen's instigation in order to make her sad.

And the saddest thing for a mother is to ruin her child's future.

The fifth princess is a woman, so the way to destroy the fifth princess without hurting the Tian family's face is to make her go and get married?

Tang Luojin knew what Concubine Xin was most worried about, and said, "Mother and Concubine Xin are too worried. Since the fifth emperor sister was raised under the knees of her mother, she is naturally half a princess. Looking at the history books, there are several princesses who are married to the princess. One is a descendant? Besides, the national power of Datang is growing day by day, and the possibility of marrying a princess is unlikely, so don't worry too much about Concubine Xinmu."

Concubine Xin knew that Tang Luojin was just a child, and even though she was a prince, she didn't like her queen's son.But hearing Tang Luojin comfort her like this, she still couldn't help but want to believe Tang Luojin.

However, Tang Luojin felt that he and Concubine Xin had talked too much, nodded slightly, and said, "The fifth imperial sister is already seven years old, and she has her own mother to take care of her. Xiao Jiu is only four years old, and I hope that the concubine Xin will take care of the fifth imperial sister." , and remember to love Xiao Jiu more."

After Tang Luojin finished speaking, she touched Jiu Gongzhu's bun, then turned and left.

The Ninth Princess was very delicate and naive, and she was not angry when Tang Luojin touched her head. Instead, she pulled Concubine Xin's clothes and said, "Mother Concubine, Mother Concubine, Xiao Jiu thinks that the Crown Prince really likes Xiao Jiu, Xiao Jiu I really like Brother Prince. My concubine also likes Brother Prince, okay?"

Concubine Xin was taken aback, she took Princess Jiu's hand and walked slowly outside Changle Palace.

"Your prince brother didn't say a word to you, how do you know he likes you?"

"Of course Xiaojiu knows!" Princess Jiu said happily, "When the concubine mother looked at Xiaojiu, her eyes were so gentle and gentle. When Miss Wuhuang looked at Xiaojiu, there was something terrible in her eyes, but the prince brother When looking at Xiao Jiu, his eyes are so gentle. The prince brother must like Xiao Jiu very much, and Xiao Jiu also likes the prince brother very much."

Then the ninth princess quietly added in her heart that she only likes the elder brother of the prince, and doesn't like the fifth emperor sister who the mother concubine said she should be close to at all.

Concubine Xin was startled, took the hand of Princess Jiu, and walked slowly to Changxin Palace.

As soon as Tang Luojin stepped into the main hall of Changle Palace, he saw the Empress Dowager and the Empress Dowager smiling teasingly at him.

Tang Luojin saluted with a straight face.

The Empress Dowager called him over, touched his face, touched his hand, and said with a smile: "Our Xiaoqi, except for not being fond of laughing, really is good anywhere. Aijia looks at it like this When Xiao Qi grows up, he will definitely be the most beautiful man in Datang! When Xiao Qi goes out, he must not let those girls' handkerchief purses hurt his head."

Tang Luojin: "..."

The queen mother took a careful look at Tang Luojin, nodded and agreed: "Auntie is right. Our little seven is the president, and we only pick the best of the emperor and empress. Now that he is young, he is also cute. Wait for little seven When he grows up, he must be a handsome gentleman, or a handsome gentleman who is chased by girls!"

Tang Luojin had nothing to say.

Although he knew that this face was really good-looking, but he had always kept a cold face. How could a girl dare to approach him?It was as if the girls outside just now, even the two bold ones, only glanced at him before lowering their heads, as if they had seen a scourge.

"Xiao Qi is here to give gifts to my great-grandmother, grandmother and queen mother." Tang Luojin looked at the eldest princess and fifth princess who stayed behind with a serious face, and said, "There is also the return of the eldest sister and the fifth princess." I also asked someone to bring the ceremony of the palace."

Both the eldest princess and the fifth princess thanked each other for not mentioning it.

The Empress Dowager then jokingly said: "The Ai family originally thought that Xiao Qi was bringing something to the Ai family, but it turned out that Xiao Qi came to Changle Palace to give something to the sisters, so did she bring a gift to the Ai family?"

The empress dowager is old and has a noble status, so she seldom makes jokes like this.But when she is old, she has a great-grandson who looks like an old pedant with a straight face. Even though the empress dowager is old, she can't help being stubborn and teasing Tang Luojin.

Tang Luojin's expression didn't change at all, and he said: "Xiao Qi always pays attention to color when giving gifts. Whoever has a beautiful color like a flower, Xiao Qi will give the gift to whom first." With a serious face, his eyes glanced at the faces of several women in the main hall, and said, "Xiaoqi thinks that the most beautiful people in this whole palace are great-grandmother, grandmother, and queen mother. Xiaoqi's gift is naturally First of all, I want to give it to you three."

The Empress Dowager and the Empress Dowager laughed out loud at Tang Luojin's serious flattery.

The Empress Dowager pointed at him and said: "You, you. Others only think that the prince is dignified, but they don't know that the prince also wears colorful clothes to entertain his relatives. Well, we should let us see what gifts Xiao Qi gave you."

Tang Luojin glanced at Xiao Jing, Xiao Jing immediately made a bitter face, and ran out.

If it was said that before, the Empress Dowager and the Empress Dowager were not very curious about the gift from Tang Luojin, but now seeing the appearance of the little eunuch, they couldn't help being curious.

When the little eunuch brought in three golden parrot stands, the empress dowager and the empress dowager couldn't laugh or cry.

"It's really unkind for His Highness the Crown Prince to give you gifts. I gave you all the parrot stands, so why don't you see any parrots? Could it be that you didn't have any money at hand, and all of it was used to fight these three parrot stands?"

The queen frowned slightly.She wanted to reprimand Tang Luojin a few words, but when the words came to her lips, remembering her elder sister's advice, she had to hold back.

But Tang Luojin gave a bow and said: "Xiaoqi has something to do, and I want to ask my great-grandmother, grandmother and queen mother for help. Although the foot-binding issue has been eased a little, the ministers of the court have also made concessions, saying that the common people should not bind their feet. The female relatives of the noble family can bind their feet. However, "Qi Huangong likes to wear purple, and the whole country wears purple. It is the right time, and five elements cannot be purple." Moreover, women are pleasing to themselves, men love small feet, and women bound their feet privately in order to please men. I am afraid it is unavoidable. Although the imperial court conscripts can strictly investigate, it is a pity that men and women are different, and they cannot make women take off their shoes and socks. It doesn't matter whether the foot is big or small.

So Xiao Qi, please ask your great-grandmother, grandmother and queen mother to do a play with Xiao Qi.Let's see if such a parrot stand will be hung in the homes of all officials and dignitaries in a month's time. On the parrot stand, there will be water and food, but no parrots. "

The Empress Dowager and the Empress Dowager suddenly realized when they heard the words, and then nodded in relief.

The queen stared at Tang Luojin, the handkerchief in her hand was almost crushed.

——The elder sister told her to bear it.But how can she bear it?

If Tang Luojin is a stupid person, or like before, likes to have fun, and is late to study and leaves early, maybe she can bear it.

But, but, the queen looked at Tang Luojin's energetic appearance at such a young age, and then thought about Tang Luojin's ability to never forget and the idea just now, she felt that she couldn't bear it at all.

The eldest sister only said that she had no children for the time being, so she would let Tang Luojin fight and defeat the eldest prince and the second prince, and let her son be the last oriole that "mantis catches cicadas, and oriole is behind". I don't know, this praying mantis is born strangely, any oriole would not dare to speak easily.

The author has something to say: In fact, what the queen said is correct, Xiao Qi is indeed "Tang Lang"~~ or the "Tang Lang" that many people like~~ Tang Lang Tang Lang Tang Lang... Ahh, it's decided, From now on, let Xiaogong call him Xiaoqi once (?) on the boat~~