[Qing wear] Harem promotion expert

Jiang Heng sorted out the list in his hand, and waited for Yinqiao to come in and speak.

Sure enough, something happened outside.

The emperor came to have dinner yesterday, knowing that Jiang Heng was already well, but before leaving, he suddenly said to her: "Even though your spirit has recovered a bit, you should rest more, I have already closed the door to thank guests for you, You just need to stay in the palace for a few days."

When he said this, the emperor had almost reached the door.

Before Jiang Heng could say anything in the future, the emperor told her not to send her outside, because there was a wind in the night so as not to blow, then he went out and hurried away.

She felt a little strange at the time, the emperor seemed to have something difficult to say for a while, and she was afraid of her asking, so he left in a hurry?

And it means to let her stay in the palace temporarily...

When I turned around and asked Nanny Yu and Qiu Xue, neither of them knew.

Firstly, the queen changed the charges and sent the two young maids to the Department of Punishment, and the emperor ordered the Department of Punishment to investigate privately. These rumors in the palace are like grass that has just sprouted and been beaten with dichlorvos, and it has not grown. Wake up; secondly, she is not feeling well and needs to rest. Both Nanny Yu and Qiuxue are defensive and impenetrable characters. They look at the Yonghe Palace like an iron bucket, and do not leak any internal affairs. Correspondingly, there is no news from the outside. Come in.

Seeing that Jiang Heng was still standing at the door, lost in thought, Qiu Xue persuaded her to come back and sit down.

Qiu Xue was afraid that the empress's spirit would be hurt after thinking about too many things on the first day.In Qiuxue's view, there is nothing more important than the empress and the future little prince and princess, so she just said: "I want to come to the emperor because I am afraid that the empress will bother me. This time, the empress is so tired that it is kind of scary."

Nanny Yu also felt something unusual from the emperor's slight vision just now, but she also kept the same attitude as Qiu Xue and said conservatively: "Maybe there are some things outside, but the emperor specially ordered you to only care about raising the baby. That's all right, if there is any wind and rain outside, I can't blame you."

"Your maidservant is here, I have something to say to your majesty." Yinqiao's eyes fell on Jiang Heng softly: "Young lady, just rest assured, this matter has passed before the imperial court, and Long Live Lord Jinkou will take care of it carefully, your majesty." Just listen, and don't rush to get angry."

Even though she said that, Qiu Xue next to her couldn't help showing a little color: Yinqiao's tone was very gentle, but nothing should be taken care of by the Department of Punishment, and it will not be a small matter.

Sure enough, when Yinqiao told the whole story and the gossip of the two little maids, Nanny Yu and Qiuxue's expressions became solemn.

Amitabha, these words are a statement to punish one's heart. Fortunately, the Long Live Lord Shengming did not want to doubt the empress, and even ordered someone to investigate and deal with it privately.

If it really gets to the point where rumors are flying all over the sky, even if it is suppressed for a while, these words will leave a root in the hearts of others, and they will come out at any time.

Yinqiao only paid attention to Jiang Heng's expression, but saw that the empress didn't look surprised, and just asked her: "You came back this time, is Shen Zuowen ordered by the Punishment Department?" Yu Wenshu's petition is equivalent to a closing statement.

Yinqiao nodded: "Since Concubine Xi ran into those two little maids by chance, but they were sent by the empress, the Secretary of Punishment had no choice but to go to the empress to answer. Handed over to Chengqian Palace: thirteen palace maids who were restless, gossiping, lazy and indifferent, have all been sent to the Punishment Department according to their severity, and they will be fined from one to five years for sewing clothes for border guards. .”

Jiang Heng smiled: No wonder the queen is gone.

Throwing this huge hot potato to the emperor, of course it's better not to touch it.What's more, the name she sent the court lady to the Department of Punishment was false, and the application form sent by the Department of Punishment was correspondingly false. The truth found out in private was naturally reported to the imperial court secretly by the Department of Punishment.

That Shen Zou document is equivalent to a useless document for archiving and preservation. It is estimated that it was sent to Chengqian Palace, and the empress didn't bother to read it. It might just be thrown into the tea stove.

"Afterwards, the master went back to the emperor. According to the meaning of the Lord Long Live, let our Punishment Department choose someone to come and talk to the empress and talk about this matter." Yinqiao smiled and said: "The Lord Long Live told the master several times that we have to pick someone Be kind, and say it slowly, don't let Concubine Xin worry."

What Yinqiao laughed at was that Master Su Nanny took this job, and when she went back to the Punishment Department to talk about it, she frightened several deputy principals of the Punishment Department to turn pale.

That's right, the lords of the Department of Punishment, who are usually frightening, are also afraid.

It's okay to let them stand cold and raise their eyebrows to interrogate people, but the emperor's order is obviously to send someone among them to comfort Concubine Xin, and to let Yonghe Palace know that they have a deep understanding of the matter, but they are not allowed to frighten Concubine Xin. concubine.

This is really not in line with their profession. With the temperament they have cultivated over the years, no matter which palace gate this face appears, it will scare the concubines.

But it’s okay to scare others, now that Concubine Xin is the only favorite concubine and she just got pregnant. It is said that she is not in a good mood recently. Wouldn't it be a great sin to sit down?

So after listening to the instructions brought back by Madam Su to the Hall of Mental Cultivation, everyone was really pale, like a graduate who was afraid of being selected for a blind trial, and only prayed in her heart, "Screw others, but don't smoke me".

Nanny Su expressed her worries and made her wish in secret, and deliberately dragged and frightened them for a long time before she chose Yinqiao. The vice-principals immediately praised her as if they had received an amnesty: "The director is wise, Miss Yinqiao is your disciple, and she has always been the most capable.

Su Momo took the opportunity to hit them and said: "In the past, I asked Yinqiao to do some things, and you all were dissatisfied in private, complaining that she was young, and it was all because of my flattery. But what about this time? If you are willing to accept this The errand is done for the Punishment Department, so I won’t praise Yinqiao—I heard about the Yonghe Palace in the past, didn’t you all rush to go, want to show your face and get a reward?”

Several vice-principals bowed their heads: You can sneer as you please, anyway, we dare not go this time.

The bridge approach was sent out by the Punishment Department.

Although Madam Su ordered her, she was also worried, and told her: "This is an extremely difficult job. I asked you to do it specially to help you. You must know that you are not as good as them in terms of qualifications. If you want to convince others, you have to do difficult things that others cannot do.”

"It's just that the concubine Xin's place is the most important place in the harem. You haven't gone to face the saint, and you don't know the emperor's appearance, so you really care about it." Presumably, I don't want the concubine Xin to be unprepared, and I'm afraid of the Punishment Department. Concubine Xin was startled by the lack of thoughtfulness of the people who went, so she ordered several times in a more emphatic tone, "speak slowly", "don't exaggerate and scare", and "don't be vague". .

In fact, there was no pressure from the Punishment Officer who came out of the bridge: she knew the empress, so she would not be shocked by these things.

Seeing that Yinqiao wanted to report to the Punishment Department for a secret investigation, Nanny Yu and Qiuxue stepped back: This matter is important, and it is up to the empress to decide whether or not to tell them, and how much to tell, and they shouldn't be here at this moment. Listen carefully.

And there are more people around, I'm afraid that if the girl Yinqiao dared to say it, she will have to weigh it or not, and then hide it.

Sure enough, when there was no one else in the room, Yinqiao relaxed, and instead of sitting on the bamboo and rattan stool just now, she came to Jiang Heng's side and sat on the footrest, as if she could lean on the empress's lap.

About fledgling complex?Jiang Heng also felt that Yinqiao had a different attachment to him, different from Qiuxue and others.

She couldn't help laughing and stretched out her hands like stroking hair, and gently scratched the joint between Yinqiao's jaw and neck. Anyway, cats like this very much, and foxes should be similar.

Yinqiao tried his best to suppress the joy in his heart, and then he tried his best to reply seriously: "Your Majesty, it's really hard to check the rumors this time. The emperor asked the master to send someone back to you, and I think that's why."

Jiang Heng nodded: With the emperor's temperament, if he really found out the precise behind-the-scenes instigation, for example, the real name system of the concubine Qi wanted to liberate the concubines to make things difficult for her, the emperor would naturally deal with it immediately and would not tell her.

This time, the Department of Punishment was asked to talk about this matter. It must be that there was no precise result, so she let her know a thing or two in her heart, and took precautions.

Sure enough, Yinqiao said: "Those two little maids were originally in charge of running errands in the Imperial Garden. They can go anywhere. This is the first difficulty to find out." , When I was first transferred to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, I still did chores for a long time.

There are not many places where concubines in the palace can enjoy the scenery and take a break, and the imperial garden is the largest one.

Therefore, the Ministry of Internal Affairs will arrange some young maids to stand guard outside several pavilions with good scenery. run errands.

"I talked to the two little maids in the middle of the night, and looked at each other, and finally confirmed that the place where they first heard the rumors was a maid surnamed Fei from the laundry department of the West Sixth Palace."

"These two little maids don't know what's going on at all. They like to talk about what matters in the palace. The news of the empress's pregnancy has just spread, and there are many people talking about it in the palace. When they heard the rumors, they followed suit—— Now, under the order of Lord Long Live, the Royal Garden has abolished this kind of little maid who is responsible for running errands, and the maids who are idle everywhere must be reassigned."

"But it's more difficult to find out about the washing maid surnamed Fei." If Madam Su was here, she might think that the disciple is really stupid and bold. This is not talking slowly, but talking from beginning to end!

But Jiang Hengzheng likes this, and when someone from the Department of Punishment or the Ministry of Internal Affairs replied, she was either gross and bristling (such as Zhang Yuzhu and Changqing), or the official rhetoric of her impermeable mist (such as the ancient mother Su Momo), It was Yinqiao's frankness and straightforwardness that made her most comfortable.

At this time, Jiang Heng was still listening to the book, inserting a sentence of his own guess to see if he could guess it correctly, so he asked Yinqiao: "The reason why it is difficult to find out the maid Fei is because she has a lot of concubines involved?"

Yinqiao raised his head and smiled: "Exactly, my lady guessed it very accurately. This maid named Fei was originally named Xiaobai, and she was the maid of Concubine Yu's concubine in Prince Yong's mansion. Later, after entering the palace for a year, Concubine Yu thought she was too much. I sent her away, and the Ministry of Internal Affairs arranged for her to come to this washing place."

Generally, the maids sent away by the masters of the palaces are afraid of taking on the responsibility of the House of Internal Affairs, so they are rarely transferred to other palaces as errands.

Yinqiao said: "Now this Fei Xiaobai is living in the Punishment Department. I also listened to my master's own questions. She just insisted that she arranged it herself."

"Check outside the palace, and there is no one in her house. Check inside the palace, it will be even more lively. The people who came out of Concubine Yu's place are undoubtedly familiar with Xianfu Palace; They all live near each other, and this Fei Xiaobai is also familiar with any palace. Yinsong, the eldest maid of the Concubine Xi, has rashes all over her body, so every time she is entrusted to wash and wash clothes alone, and has a lot of dealings with him; There are god-sisters she has recognized. Not to mention the maids in various palaces who send clothes, they may have a word with her."

It's a mess, and a few major positions have been hung up.

The concubine Mao is now a person who does not go out all year round and only recuperates from illness, and she is actually involved in this incident.

Even the Department of Punishment doesn't want to go to the palace gate of Maobi. I heard that Maobi's mother can't breathe every time there is a change in the climate. Once the maids in Xing Si Ti's Palace frightened her, it would be bad if something happened.

There may not be a definite number for this kind of thread ball to be removed in the end, and the more concubines involved, the faster the rumors will spread if a thorough investigation is carried out.

Therefore, the emperor's approach is to cut the mess with a sharp knife, not to find out where the source is, but to select some typical gossips in the palace and send them to the Punishment Department, and then dismiss the idle posts in the palace. , so that the maids and eunuchs have their own masters, and if they have something to do, they will directly sit with their superiors.

Suppress the rumors directly in the cradle.

Afterwards, Yinqiao took out a few folded papers from his sleeve: "This is what the master asked Fei Xiaobai to find out, and the Punishment Department found out that there are people who have close contacts with Fei Xiaobai, my lady, please stay and take a closer look." .”

Jiang Heng took it over, and sighed: "Fortunately, you are here. If you were someone else from the Department of Punishment, you would definitely not confide in these things."

Yinqiao then said somewhat proudly: "Yes, I understand your empress - if there is troublesome matter, your empress would rather know it clearly, rather than try to save trouble and be kept in the dark."

Jiang Heng smiled and said, "Yes." In fact, Yinqiao didn't spend much time with her, but he knew her best in terms of temperament.

But Yinqiao couldn't help being curious: "Your Majesty doesn't seem to be surprised by the rumors, but she already knows about it. Didn't your Majesty just rest in the palace because she was unwell?" Just after asking, she felt she had slipped her tongue, and immediately got up: "My Majesty, don't Pay attention to the nonsense I said, as long as the empress is as clear as a mirror in her own heart."

After finishing speaking, he resigned, and the appearance of leaving in a hurry made him feel like he had said something wrong and fled.

Sure enough, after Yinqiao went out, he pinched himself twice annoyed: "Your Majesty treats you so close, you really lost your head and asked everything."Wouldn't it be nice for the empress to have her own source of information, which is something that outsiders can ask casually?

I hope that the empress will not blame her, Yinqiao left in a bit of frustration.

Back in the Department of Punishment, several deputy principals saw that Yinqiao's expression was not very good, and they were still gloating in their hearts: "Oh, this job is not easy to do. Sure enough, you have come back in disgrace."

This night, Jiang Heng had someone set up a deck chair in the yard, and she wanted to watch the stars.

The starry sky without pollution is really beautiful, with indescribable clarity.

The maids of the Yonghe Palace were busy moving chairs and lighting mosquito repellent spices, and they were extremely busy: the rules of the Yonghe Palace were clear, only the first-class and second-class court ladies could enter the main hall to do personal things.Therefore, if Concubine Xin only stayed in the house, it would be difficult to see the work of the little maids outside.

So if the empress is watching the stars or playing with flowers and plants in the courtyard, the rest of the palace will be very excited, thinking it is an opportunity to show her face.

Jiang Heng held a fluffy blanket while looking at the stars, and compared them with the stellar motion instrument next to him.

After relaxing for a while, Jiang Heng's mind turned to the rumor.

If the Yonghe Palace is compared to a small city that needs to be guarded, Jiang Heng is naturally the lord of the city, then Nanny Yu and Qiu Xue are undoubtedly generals who are good at guarding, even if the lord is not there, the two of them are enough to guard the city gate to prevent outside spies from infiltrating Qiu Shuang is a well-experienced lieutenant general, and if the city lord and general above him are not there, he can take care of things in a short period of time; as for Qiu Lu, who is in charge of the small kitchen now, he changed careers halfway to become the logistics team leader.

But Jiang Heng felt that these were not enough at a very early stage.

Even the city, the Yonghe Palace is not an isolated city, let alone a paradise isolated from the world.

If you want to protect your own small city, you must not only defend it, but also pay attention to the news of other 'cities'. In the article "Mozi Orders", he discussed in detail how to defend a city, and it was written in it that "to defend the city, start with the Hou."

Scouts for outside news are indispensable.

Jiang Heng got up very early to check whether there were any suitable candidates in the palace to be scouts.

A wind suddenly blew up at night, so Jiang Heng stopped looking at the stars. Qiu Xue came to collect the plush blanket and stood beside her to help her get up.

Jiang Heng smiled and said, "It's not time to move yet."

As he entered the door, he suddenly remembered: "By the way, I've been sleeping for a few days, so are the swans in the imperial garden fed on time?"

Qiu Xue looked down: "This is Qiu Wu's errand, where is Qiu Wu?"

I saw a thin maid came out from the corner: "If you go back to your mother, the servants will go to the imperial garden to feed your mother. And today, the servants are watching, there are some new ones in the rare bird room who can perform tricks." My little sparrow, if the empress likes it, can the servants go and ask for two?"

Jiang Heng said, "Can you perform tricks? Let's hear it." After speaking, he entered the room, and Qiu Wu followed him in with a low eyebrow.

The two third-class maids who were cleaning up the lounge chairs and cups and saucers outside were a little envious when they saw Qiu Wu go in, but they couldn't get in.

After packing up her things and returning to her own residence, she couldn't help saying: "Sister Qiuwu is really lucky, but it's because the empress came to serve as soon as she entered the palace, so she can take up the vacancy of a second-class maid!"

When Jiang Heng first entered the palace, she named the four court ladies Qiuxue, Qiushuang, Qiulu, and Qiuwu according to the book.

As she was promoted step by step, the maids who were close to her were naturally promoted as well.Among them, the first three are well-known outsiders. If anyone wants to flatter Yonghe Palace, they should follow the path of these three people.

As for Qiu Wu, many people don't know that there is such a person in Yonghe Palace.

She lived up to her name, and she became a cloud of mist that was not noticed in the Yonghe Palace.

"Yes, sister Qiuxue is incomparable to anyone. Needless to say, sister Qiushuang also took care of the palace affairs when the empress went to the Old Summer Palace. Sister Qiulu was in charge of the small kitchen and tea room. She can cook for the entrance of the empress and the princess. Naturally, the empress is very trustworthy. She was born in Qiuwu, and I have never seen the empress willing to use her on weekdays, and she is superior to us."

She was so filled with righteous indignation that she stopped calling her sister and called Qiu Wu directly.

"Who knows that there is such a second-class maid in the Yonghe Palace outside? We are still young, and the concubine entered the Yonghe Palace. Qiu Wu sees it like a thorn in her side."

"Yeah, the empress obviously doesn't like her very much. She used to let her take care of her face, but now she only does some errands such as feeding geese, sending a message to the embroidery room or the Ministry of Internal Affairs."

The two little maids bit their ears and said a few words before falling asleep.

In the main hall, Qiu Wu was in front of Jiang Heng, holding the list left by Yinqiao in her hand. She read it and handed it back to Jiang Heng: "I will pay attention to these people again."

She only needs to read it once to fully remember it in her heart for a long time.

In the eyes of outsiders and many people in Yonghe Palace, Autumn Mist has no sense of existence, but to a certain extent, it is Jiang Heng's most valued scout.

She discovered Qiuwu's ability when she was in the literacy class of Yonghe Palace.

At that time, she was still a noble person, and there were only these four maids in the palace. Jiang Heng did their own literacy, and the maids who came in after that were just mentors.

At that time, Jiang Heng took ten sheets of paper, and the words on them gradually increased from one hundred to five hundred characters.Jiang Heng only read it once, and then asked Siqiu to repeat it one by one.

They are all clever girls, even if they only listen to it once, they will not remember the main points of the sentences wrongly, and the retelling is basically correct.

But only Qiuwu is not basically correct, but word for word.

Even a paragraph of [-] words, as long as she listens attentively, she can memorize it in a short time.Jiang Heng was pleasantly surprised at the time, left Qiu Wu behind, and told her that he would have separate arrangements for her from now on.Maybe she will suffer some grievances on the surface, but in private, Qiu Xue and the others have what they have, and they will never lose her. Even if she does the scout job well, she will get more.

Qiuwu never thought that the empress would use her exclusively: Compared with the others, she always felt that she was incompetent. She was not good at words and had a sweet mouth. , looks not festive, and belongs to the unpleasant appearance of palace people in the palace.In addition, she does not have the temperament and style of being in charge, and she is not born with a sense of oppression, so she is obviously not a talent who can be alone.

At that time, the nanny of the Ministry of Internal Affairs who taught her said: She must not be able to do well in the palace, she only has a good memory, but in the palace, a good memory is of no use. Hit, if you want to get ahead in the palace, you have to be able to do something.

Qiuwu is the kind of character who will not come to trouble at all, and it is as difficult as execution to make her flatter others.

But in Jiang Heng's view, this is the investigator she wants most!

So these years, Qiu Wu has been staying in the Yonghe Palace like a mist. She rarely comes to Jiang Heng to talk, but when she speaks, it is a big deal.

Like the rumors this time.

Before leaving last night, the emperor left a message for her to rest in the palace for the time being. Jiang Heng felt that something had happened outside, so he asked Nanny Yu and Qiu Xue not to know.And when Qiu Wu was summoned to ask about it, he had a score in advance.

Qiuwu feeds the swans every day, and is responsible for spreading the word everywhere. The gossip from all over the palace gathers in her unforgettable mind.

Just like when Concubine Qi went to win over the concubine Nian, even if the emperor didn't tell Jiang Heng, she would know about it herself.

She is familiar with the emperor's mind, and will make considerate arrangements for those who care about her, but it doesn't mean she wants to sit in a black box, see or hear nothing, and wait for someone to make arrangements.

Jiang Heng's expectation for the people of Yonghe Palace is that they can read, know his name, who he is, and his job, let alone her.Even if she knew that the emperor had a heart for her and Minmin, but just like a person walking on the narrow cliff road, instead of blindfolded and believing that others will support you and never let you fall, it is better to be able to see the way ahead .

And the emperor is Emperor Yongzheng, a man who would go all out on his own when he gets busy.

It is impossible for him to keep an eye on her safety every day, even if he has the heart, he is still a human being, and there is always a distance between his thoughts and reality—at that time, Jiang Heng really wanted to be admitted to Tsinghua University.