Prequel to the Red Chamber: I Am the Second Wife

Waiting for the grandson to go far away, Ning Shan said to Zili worriedly: "You just heard that the situation in Liaodong seems to be not good. Your Majesty must have summoned the grandson to discuss important matters." Zili was a little surprised Take a look at Ning Shan, wasn't she very indifferent to him before?Why did it suddenly become hot. "What do we know? It's getting late, let's wait for the Empress Dowager to get up. Why is my sister here alone?" Didn't she go to talk to the girls of the Fang family and the Yuan family?

Ning Shan still had a gentle face: "The two of them like to tease others when they are free. I don't have that in mind. Don't take what happened a while ago, sister. I have always been a soft-hearted person. I beg Sister, don't worry about it." Zhen Ningshan made a big turn, making Zili lose his head for a while.The so-called people who just reach out and don't hit the smiling face, since Ning Shan is willing to stop fighting with Zili, she has no reason to be cold-eyed: "What did you say, we are newcomers when we are together, and our personal qualities are different, why? There can be no bumps. My sister was ignorant of the previous things, so please don’t take it to heart. If there is anything wrong with me, my sister can just say it.”

Ning Shan was very soft when he heard Zili's words, and he became more and more happy: "No wonder the Queen Mother and Queen Mother like you and say hello. I was not convinced before, but now I am really convinced. Let me tell you, the two of them Inside, you still have to be careful of the girl from the Fang family. She saw that you were favored by the queen mother and whispered about you several times behind your back. Although we have no intention of harming others, it’s just that a gentleman can’t call you in vain if he doesn’t stand under the wall. People figured it out." Hearing Ning Shan's words, Zili said gratefully to her: "Thank you for reminding me, sister, I will remember." In fact, she was holding back the disgust in her heart, and thought with a sneer, it might not be because of you.The girl from the Fang family is superficial by nature and good at jealousy, so she just sneered at Zili.

The one who could come up with the idea of ​​isolating her was Ms. Ning Shan out of ten. Now I don't know if she got some rumors or suddenly realized that someone is watching her every move in the palace.In the eyes of the empress dowager and others, her innocence is just a joke.If she still thinks she is smart and playing tricks, she will lose the Queen Mother's favor sooner or later, and the Queen will not like her either.Even if the Zhen family has the big backing of the crown princess.If she still dies, the gods will not be able to save her.Zili thought about it and said tentatively: "In fact, everyone is the same, and I'm not angry. This matter is over. Thank you sister for caring about me. We can stay together for a few more days. Look at the posture just now. , maybe the Holy Majesty is going to Jinling. Oh, I'm confused, anyway, my sister is going to Jinling." Zili's flattery made Ning Shan very comfortable, and she already thought that Zili was really young and careless people.

"You silly girl, don't you understand yet? You see, the Queen Mother and Queen's attitude towards us is becoming more and more different from that of the two of them. We will be sisters for a long time. Don't worry, No matter how many newcomers there are between our sisters in the future, I will always regard you as the most caring sister. If you have any troubles, just tell me..." Ning Shan pulled Zili and promised her that he would be with her Get along well, ask Zili to tell herself everything, and she will settle it.

Seeing Ning Shan's attitude of wanting to marry Jinlan with her, and the elder sister accepting the younger brother, Zili suddenly understood that the first sentence of the invisible grandson Liangdi's competition was over.The girls from the Fang family and the Yuan family were eliminated, Zili and Zhen Ningshan won, and the more intense finals began.Ning Shan suddenly changed his attitude towards Zili to buy people's hearts, she must have got the advice from the princess.Thinking back to Ning Shan's calm and dignified appearance in front of His Royal Highness just now, Zi Li secretly smiled in his heart, she was just a teenage girl who wanted to put on the posture of a wife.It's a bit funny like a little girl wearing adult clothes.Maybe in Ning Shan's heart, the wife of the wife is the one who does it.Or she saw her mother at home as a wife like that.

Although the case in my heart mocked Ning Shan's excessive force and excessive self-confidence.But Zili thought about it again, could it be that she was really staying in the deep palace for the grandson Liangdi or some other concubine of His Highness the grandson?

Thinking of the only remaining feeling of watching a joke here, the mood of watching a joke suddenly dissipated, and countless dark clouds floated in her heart.The most important thing for her is to ask clearly, if the grandson Liangdi cannot be selected, will she be able to go home.If he could go home, Zili looked coldly at Ning Shan beside him.She does not hesitate to fulfill the wishes of the person in her dream.

It's a pity that the Queen Mother personally shattered Zili's last hope that night.After serving the Empress Dowager, Zili cautiously exited the Empress Dowager's bedroom.Suddenly the queen mother stopped her: "Zi Li stand up first, Aijia's eyes are getting dizzy, you read to me, and you can fall asleep early." The queen mother is getting older and she doesn't doze off so much, she likes to have someone at night Talk to her and wait for the sleepiness to come up before falling asleep.

Zili was hinted by Aunt Sun to stay. The Queen Mother leaned on the pillow and said to Zili who was kneeling in front of the bed: "It's cold on the ground, don't kneel down." The greatest honor of standing or kneeling on the carpeted floor is to sit on the footrest in front of the Empress Dowager's bed. Zili thanked the Empress Dowager and sat down on the rosewood footrest.The queen mother pointed to a book of Tang poems and said, "Choose a few peaceful and beautiful poems and read them slowly for me to listen to."

Zili turned it over and it turned out to be the Song of Everlasting Regret. After Zili had finished reciting the Song of Everlasting Regret, she looked at the Empress Dowager again and found that the Empress Dowager had closed her eyes and seemed to be asleep. "What did the girl from the Zhen family tell you these days?" Zili was taken aback by the Queen Mother's sudden opening. The Queen Mother had already noticed the changes in the girls.

"Sister Ning of the Zhen family has taken good care of me these past few days, and she didn't say anything else. The past is over." Zili told the queen mother the truth, but she didn't need to have anything in front of the queen mother. Conceal, don't look at the Queen Mother as if she doesn't care about world affairs, in fact, everything in the palace has not escaped the Queen Mother's eyes and ears.

The queen mother closed her eyes and listened to Zili's words without saying a word. The room fell into a terrible silence. After a long silence, the queen mother finally spoke: "What about you, are you three not angry at all?"

"I was a little angry at first, but then I thought, why should I punish myself with other people's mistakes. In the palace, the queen mother and empress are naturally in charge. I just do my own thing well, why bother about others What did you say. Now that sister Zhen's family is apologizing to me, I feel a little embarrassed. We are all together, we have just met each other, and our personalities and experiences are different. Our teeth and tongues often fight. Why should I hold on to it? It's not that he won't let go. It's useless to make people laugh." Zili said that she would not be angry for irrelevant people.

The queen mother suddenly opened her eyes and looked Zili up and down: "Are you really not angry anymore? That's okay, the little girls are annoyed by a little thing, and it will be fine after a while. I was overwhelmed. You go back and rest. "As the queen mother waved, Zili hurriedly saluted the queen mother, put down the curtain and quietly left.

The next morning, the queen mother came suddenly and was interested in doing needlework. The queen mother's needlework is not just a purse or something.As the queen mother, even casual needlework is very noble.Watching the maids come out carrying a roll like a tall carpet.Waiting to unwrap the yellow silk on it, and when it unfolded, Zili was dumbfounded.This is a large Duixiu Maitreya Buddha statue. Duixiu is to take brocade and cut it into a format shape, and then sew it on a large brocade to form various patterns.Duixiu works have the most Buddha statues, and this Duixiu Maitreya Buddha statue was specially made by the Empress Dowager for the Ci'en Temple in Jinling.

"This is to be enshrined in front of the Buddha. Most of it has been finished in the capital, and there is still a small place left. You have all learned needlework, and today you help to complete it. It is also a matter of accumulating virtue and blessings." I think Zili and Ningshan's needlework is very good, you two wash your hands and help your Auntie Sun with it." Not everyone can do the queen mother's needlework casually, and the girls of the Fang family and the Yuan family have a bad look on their faces. , can only exit.

Before the girl from the Fang family left, she gave Zili a hard look. Zili was stabbed by the girl's gouging eyes and touched her nose innocently.The two of them washed their hands carefully, and began to help the handy ladies in the Empress Dowager's palace with the last bit of needlework.In fact, the portrait of Maitreya is basically finished, what Zili and the others have to do is to finish the last bit of cloud.Zili looked at the last cloud on the left corner. She lowered her head to think about it, and picked up the bottom layer of cloud to sew on.

Before Zili's hand touched the finished cloud, Ning Shan had already started to guide Jiang Shan and arrange everyone's work.She asked the maid to heat the iron first, and then asked Zili to help get water and a watering can.Zili was very surprised and said: "Now that you are flattened, the clouds will still wrinkle when you sew them on. Why don't you sew the clouds on now." Before Zili could finish speaking, Ning Shan began to teach with his identity: " What do you know, this base is made of plain brocade, and the satin is the easiest to wrinkle. If you don't iron it flat first, you won't know where the clouds are nailed." Zili frowned and disagreed with Ning Shan's words: "Look, the base is all The ink lines have already been drawn. You can only flatten such a big thing with an iron without the stitches on it, but don’t forget that satin is the easiest to stretch. You only iron a part, and the rest The bottom ones were uneven and blistered. How would you sew up the clouds at that time?" Zili remembered what the old man who had been invited to make at home had said, and felt that Ning Shan's method was unreliable.Such a large piece of satin is not stitched together with several pieces of satin, but is produced by a special wide-width loom made in Jiangnan.

This piece of satin went north by boat from Hangzhou, and when it arrived in the imperial palace, people from the needlework bureau mixed bletilla striata into a special slurry to wash it, and several craftsmen ironed it together.The satin produced in this way will always remain flat, even if it is a little wrinkled when it is rolled up, it will be fine after a while.Ning Shan didn't know this truth, he just urged people to heat the iron and spray water on it.If it is really sprayed with water, it will be scrapped.

Ning Shan was slapped with embarrassment by Zili, and couldn't help it for a while.She babbled for a long time before saying: "I actually forgot that my sister's home is weaving in Hangzhou, no wonder I know it well." The maid who was talking about bringing water came in with a basin: "Miss, the water is brought. But do you want to put it in the watering can now!"

Ning Shan seemed to have been stabbed, she stared at the maid, and said sharply: "Who told you to bring a basin of water in. Your aunt never taught you that this thing can't get wet." The palace maid suffered an unreasonable disaster, she stammered and wanted to refute: "Miss, what you said is wrong, it was clearly the lady who asked me to bring the water—" The little palace maid continued, Ning Shan pointed at her and said sternly: "You listen to me Did I tell you to carry the water basin? I'm not the kind of bad guy who likes to cover up for you."

Aunt Sun heard the quarrel and glanced at the little palace maid coldly: "You dare to talk back to the girl. As a servant girl, if you do something wrong, you will go down to receive the punishment, and you still stand and talk back! It's against you! Girl, don't be angry, she is not young. Sensible." Saying that, Aunt Sun asked someone to take the little maid down.

Ning Shan saw the little palace maid being dragged away with an aggrieved face, and seemed a little unbearable. She lowered her head and bit her lip in silence for a while before recovering: "Why didn't sister Zili wait for me to do it first?" She was busy Sit down and pick up your needle and thread.

Zili disapproved of Ning Shan's efforts to show her dignity and power, so she cut off the last bit of thread without looking at Ning Shan: "It's already done, let Aunt Sun take a look, is it still suitable? Zili looked up and asked Aunt Sun to come over and check.She couldn't help it, and looked back at Ning Shan who was staying there: "We have never seen anything in the world, we should ask the sisters and aunts around the Queen Mother first."

Aunt Sun didn't look at Ning Shan either, she pretended nothing happened and went up to take a closer look at Zili's needlework: "Oh, I didn't expect that girl's hands are so skillful, she's more careful than the people from the Needlework Bureau. "

Even if the turmoil was over, the Queen Mother sent the girls away after lunch to rest.Aunt Sun took a pair of beauty fists and beat the Queen Mother's legs in a leisurely manner.The queen mother half-closed her eyes, and sighed inaudibly. Aunt Sun put down her work very thoughtfully, and handed tea to the queen mother. "Chun Niang, what do you think of the two of them?" The Queen Mother called Aunt Sun's name in a low voice.

"According to my servants, the girl from the Wang family is more stable. The girl from the Zhen family is good-looking, but her temperament is not as stable as the girl from the Wang family. She is a bit frivolous. The seat of grandson Liangdi is more suitable for the girl from the Wang family," Aunt Sun said. She squinted her eyes so that people couldn't see her expression clearly.

"The Ai family is exactly what you think, and it seems that the Wang family is loyal to the grandson and the prince. I heard yesterday that the emperor scolded the prince for the affairs of Liaodong, and it was the Wang family who came out to speak out. It seems that the family education of the Wang family is good. The emperor is also , the candidate for Liaodong defender was recommended by the king of Wei. Why are you scolding the prince now that you lose!" The queen mother frowned and sighed worriedly.She once hinted to the emperor that Wei Wang should go to the territory.Unexpectedly, the emperor talked about him from left to right, and didn't express his opinion at all.It is not a good sign that the prince's status is shaken.

"The Empress Dowager means to ask the girl from the Wang family to be the grandson Liangdi. If this is the case, the Wang family will definitely not have any other ideas about the prince and the grandson. The Wang family is quite powerful in the court, and they have a lot of friends and relatives. , and the old man of the Wang family is still the prince's master." Aunt Sun told the queen mother's plan.

Zili, who was resting in the room, suddenly started to sneeze non-stop. She sat up helplessly and rubbed her nose with a handkerchief, muttering to herself, "Okay, who is talking about yourself behind your back?"

The Queen Mother and Aunt Sun were not the only ones talking about Zili, Xiao Zhongliang quietly looked at His Highness the Grandson who seemed to be taking a nap. "What are you doing furtively, come in!" Taisun sat up from the bed with a grunt.

Xiao Zhongliang ran up to the grandson in small steps, and said neatly: "The servant is worried about disturbing His Highness's rest, and everything His Highness ordered has been done. Please take a look at it." Xiao Zhongliang made a gesture to the outside, and the two A small eunuch came in with a red lacquered tray and knelt down in front of the grandson.

"You are very agile in handling things." The grandson smiled and glanced at Xiao Zhongliang who was standing aside, and saw the same thing on the two plates, both of which were the same set of Go and two fans. "This is a high-quality cloud. It is cool to the touch in summer. The fan is also made by skilled craftsmen in the south of the Yangtze River. Look, Your Highness, among other things, the fan handle is carved out of high-quality ivory. The painting on it It was also written by everyone. The slaves thought that the two girls must like it. Seeing that the weather is getting hotter every day, the girls must be happy to see the grandson's intentions." Xiao Zhongliang knew the grandson's thoughts like the palm of his hand.Although the girls of the Wang family are cute, the grandson also liked the beautiful girls of the Zhen family when he was young and vigorous.

His Highness Taisun suddenly thought of something, and pointed at Xiao Zhongliang, "I don't think the Wang family has prepared any powder for her. Don't you think women like rouge and powder? Go and get a few." Give her the good rouge." Xiao Zhongliang immediately understood what the grandson was thinking, and he smiled cunningly: "Your highness, such a rouge may not be popular with Miss Wang's family. I don't think it's better for your highness to be free with the Wang family that day. Wouldn’t it be better for the girl to have a piece of rouge ointment, so that she can talk and play at the same time. The servant girl gave the set of glass bowls to the girl of the Wang family, and told her to ask her to prepare for something.” With the girl she likes The child made rouge paste, and the grandson imagined the intimate scene of the two, and couldn't help but feel flustered.

It's a pity that the grandson's beautiful imagination was quickly shattered by reality: "Forget it, my grandfather is worrying about the war in Liaodong. If he is found out that I did that, he will be scolded again. Besides, there are people in this palace who are watching closely. For us, one more thing is worse than one less thing.”

Xiao Zhongliang stopped talking immediately, the emperor was in a bad mood these days, Concubine Dong Gui had been staring at the grandson and the prince, trying to find some fault with them and complain to the emperor.Xiao Zhongliang could only comfort the grandson with a few words, and asked someone to send the things. "Wait!" Taisun suddenly stopped the two inner eunuchs who were delivering things, and he thought about it and said to Xiao Zhongliang: "The eighteen-character bracelet I carved myself, I brought it to Miss Wang's family."

Xiao Zhongliang was startled when he heard Taisun's words, the eighteen son bracelet was Taisun's favorite thing, so he gave this to the girl of the Wang family.Doesn't that mean - "Your Highness, the Crown Princess is interested in the girl from the Zhen family." Xiao Zhongliang thought about the Crown Princess' wishes and hurriedly reminded the master.

"You just do what you are told. My mother is also a sensible person. Their Zhen family is neither yin nor yang. I don't believe that mother will insist on calling the girl from the Zhen family to be the grandson Liangdi. You don't want to be a slave." Do you want a generous master?" Taisun Bai glanced at Xiao Zhongliang, then lay back on the bed and closed his eyes to rest.