Everything is quiet, Hongxiu is sitting by the bed, she lives in a very small room, sharing a big bed with six other maids, no separate wardrobe, no separate dressing table, this is almost ten years of Hongxiu's life In the most embarrassing time, since she took the first customer, she enjoyed the best resources of the brothel and became the number one.

For Hongxiu, her destiny is fixed. The best future she fantasizes is waiting to catch a man at the best age. This man may be a wealthy businessman or a young master, and then he will be redeemed from a brothel. From a larger cage, into a smaller cage.

She would be in favor, and then out of favor, her parentage doomed her not to be anyone's right wife.

Or maybe she won't be redeemed, and when she gets old, she will become a sweeping mother-in-law in a brothel, hunched over, wiping the steps and the ground, and no one will know that she was once a graceful beauty in her prime .

She had thought a lot, but she never thought that she would be sitting in such a place, that her past experiences would become the experiences she relied on now.

"Anxiu, don't sit still, come up to sleep." The palace lady lay on the bed with half-closed eyes and called her, "I have to get up early to work tomorrow."

Hongxiu climbed onto the bed and covered herself with the quilt, only half of her head was exposed, and the maids whispered about the day's affairs.

"I couldn't sleep. My aunt punished me to kneel in the afternoon. My knee still hurts."

The little maids are the daughters of small officials. They have never enjoyed the luxurious life of the rich and powerful. The only difference between them and the daughters of ordinary people is that they don’t have to go hungry, but they still have to do their jobs. The salary of a small official plus taking bribes is not enough Family to enjoy.

"Auntie is so fierce..."

"They hid the empress!"

The big palace ladies control everything around the queen. They are the queen's eyes and the queen's ears. They put the little palace ladies under the pressure, because they are afraid that they will jump up, so they have to come down. After all, the seats next to the queen are counted. of.

But in the naive fantasy of the little maids, the queen was hidden by the big maid.

Hong Xiu listened quietly, without saying a word.

"The empress has a good temper. I heard that she won't beat her up if she makes a mistake."

"The empress doesn't want to beat her, but the aunts want to beat her, and it hurts her palms."

"I heard that if you hit the palm twenty times, your hand will swell, and if you hit it fifty times, your hand will be useless."

"We can't make mistakes. It's a small matter to be beaten, but a big one to be humiliated. My family is still waiting for me to get out of the palace!"

Although she was older when she left the palace, the girls who had been in the palace were more likely to talk to each other after they left the palace.

It is a matter of face to be able to enter the palace.

"I heard that Li Niangniang is the most favored, and the emperor goes to see her every day."

"Mistress Li is beautiful! They all said that Mistress Li is more beautiful than Concubine Yang!"

"Can the emperor love her if she is not beautiful?"

"Go to sleep, you have to work tomorrow, don't wake up aunt."

The little maids stopped talking now, some of them closed their eyes to sleep, some of them kept their eyes open, exchanged glances with the little sisters next to them, buried their heads in the quilt and laughed smugly.

The sun shines on the earth, and this temporary narrow imperial city wakes up from the night. The servants and maids are in a hurry. The cold in early spring has not dissipated. They are walking in the imperial city in cotton-padded clothes. The red sleeves follow the maids with their heads bowed. Their eyes are always looking at the front No one knows what is ahead or who is ahead.

"Anxiu, come with me." The leading maid called to stop Hongxiu.

Hongxiu walked up to her politely, Hongxiu lowered her head, her eyes were blank and restless, just like every young girl who is worried.

The maid smiled at Hongxiu: "I think you are honest and well-behaved. It just so happens that there is a sister in the palace leaving the palace, and there is a tea-serving maid missing."

Hongxiu's eyes sparkled, she looked very excited, and said cautiously: "I bought rouge for sister Zhang."

The maid's surname was Zhang, and she coughed in a pretentious manner: "I'm not aiming at this benefit, I just want to see that you are well-behaved, so I will give you a chance."

Hong Xiu nodded again and again: "I know, I know, it's my sister who misses me."

She gave this palace lady Zhang a lot of benefits, almost all the gold brought into the palace was given to her, and this joint was barely opened.

If Lady Zhang fails to fulfill her promise, then she will be struggling in the palace. At that time, she can only send a letter to An Laosi and the others to think of a new way. of one eye.

Lady Zhang took the small box of rouge handed over by Hong Xiu, pursed her lips and said with a smile: "If you can gain face in front of your empress in the future, don't forget me."

Hongxiu: "With my sister's auspicious words, if one day I get rich, I will never forget my sister's great kindness."

"Let's go now." Lady Zhang led the way and told Hongxiu, "You have to be more cautious when you go to the palace. You are smart. I don't need to mention anything else, just remember one sentence. No one else needs to worry about it. That Aunt Zhao can get it." Be careful, she is the most embarrassing around the empress, if you offend others, that's fine, but if you offend her, you won't know how you died."

Hongxiu asked softly, "Is Aunt Zhao very fierce?"

Maid Zhang led her through the small gate. No one passed by here was considered a blind spot. She looked around to make sure no one passed by before pulling her red sleeves and saying, "Aunt Zhao is an old man who follows your mother."

"Before the empress enters the palace, she is the most capable person around the empress." Maid Zhang said, "She doesn't love money, so don't come in front of her to give gifts. Aunt Zhao likes honest people."

Hongxiu understood, and said with a sweet smile, "Thank you, sister."

Lady Zhang smiled and said, "You're all right, I can do better too, can't I?"

It's good to be able to hang out in the palace, to be familiar with the master, after leaving the palace and having a child, maybe you can return to the palace and continue to be a nanny, if you are lucky, the master can come back after having a child When the time comes to be a nurse, you will reach the sky in one step.

As long as it can be remembered by the master, everything else is false.

There are not many things a court lady can do to serve tea, but to make tea for the queen. If the court lady next to the queen is in charge, she will not even have the chance to serve the tea to the queen.

But even so, those who fight for this seat can win the head.

"Aunt Zhao, this is Anxiu." Maid Zhang brought the red sleeves in front of Aunt Zhao, and all the maids in the palace had to go through it in front of her.

Aunt Zhao is more than 30 years old. She has a straight face with a stereotyped feeling beyond her age. Her lips are thin and appear a bit mean. Her back is slightly bent, which is the result of bending over for many years. How embarrassing in front of the queen, how much power she holds in her hands, she is just a slave who can't straighten her waist in front of her master.

Aunt Zhao just took a look at Hongxiu, and said calmly: "Be honest and do your duty, do what you should do, and don't think about what you shouldn't have."

Hongxiu lowered her head, she could only see the hem of her skirt: "Yes, Auntie Xie for reminding me."

Aunt Zhao: "It's not worth pointing out, so follow me."

Hongxiu has learned how to order tea, and her tea art is very good. As an oiran from a brothel, she must be proficient in piano, chess, calligraphy and painting, be able to recite poems with literati, and also be able to serve people.

Being a senior prostitute in ancient times was also a technical job.

"Not bad." Aunt Zhao took a sip of the tea ordered by Hongxiu, and finally made such a comment, "The craftsmanship is still good."

Hongxiu properly showed an excited expression.

Aunt Zhao glanced at her sideways, her red sleeves shrank and her neck tightened.

Aunt Zhao: "What does it look like to be so outrageous? This is the queen's palace, a role model for women all over the world!"

Hongxiu lowered her head: "Yes."

Aunt Zhao looked away: "You are the empress's servant, and you must be loyal to the empress. If you tell me whether you communicate with the outside world, I will tell you to come in vertically and go out horizontally."

After Aunt Zhao finished beating, Hongxiu was taken away by other court ladies.

Although it is the queen's palace, it's actually not that big. After all, Anfeng is only a county, and it can't be compared with Dadu, nor can it compare with the real imperial city. It's just that everyone pretends that this is the imperial city for a long time, as if The palace has also become more magnificent.

Hong Xiu looked at all this calmly, but his heart was full of contempt.

The women here are proud of being the maids of the queen, and they tie their honor and disgrace to one person.

This man told them to live and to die.

How similar is she to her past?

She once also pinned everything on a man.

But later she discovered that life must be in her own hands in order to live happily.

It's as if she is standing here now, not because of the honor of the family, nor because she was forced to be helpless, she chose all of this by herself.

So she can face all the pros and cons of this choice.

Not so with these women.

If the queen falls, so do they, and they don't even know what they did wrong.

Hongxiu stood in the tea room, with countless tea leaves behind her. The room was filled with a strong fragrance of tea. Her wrists were very thin and white. She was wearing a palace attire, with the most ordinary bun, and her face was expressionless. The surrounding maids were doing their own things, no one made a sound, it was as quiet as if they were in a tomb.

A queen's palace is decent, but what's decent about a queen's palace?

Whoever is the emperor is decent.

People outside said that the empress was charitable, but no one thought about it. If the empress was really charitable, why did Li Niangniang not give birth to a child after being so favored?The emperor is young and strong, he is fierce, there are no princes and daughters in the palace, and Li Niangniang is also in her prime, she is greeted by the imperial physician every day, she is the most favored, and it is natural for a man and a woman to have children.

Hongxiu smiled.

She is not afraid of the queen being cruel and greedy, but she is afraid that the queen has no desires.

A person who has no desires and desires is the most terrifying person.

The man wants nothing for himself.

How can others seek what they want from her?

The more vicious she is, the more likely Hongxiu will climb up.

Red Sleeve took a deep breath.

Freezing three feet is not a one-day cold, she has to continue to lie dormant, and slowly figure it out.

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