Jiapingguan Chronicle

Chapter 2513 Reconciliation 55.0

When she said this, Mian Bai choked up a little, and her tears flowed uncontrollably.

Merlin, who was standing aside, saw him like this, reached out to take the handkerchief handed over by Yingwu, and put it into Mianbai's hand.

"Wipe it off!"

"Thank you!" Mian Bai wiped his tears, put the handkerchief in his hand, looked at Shen Cha and Shen Jiu, and felt a little embarrassed. "General, General Shen, I am rude, please forgive me."

"This is not rude at all, it's just the expression of true feelings." Shen Jiu waved his hand, "It's understandable that relatives who have been separated for many years are overwhelmed with emotion when they meet. What's more, you are separated forever, and there is nothing wrong with missing your relatives."

"Thank you, General Xiao Shen." Mian Bai bowed, wiped the tears from her face, and continued, "At that time, I was completely confused. In fact, I never thought that she would recognize me. After all, our identities are very different. One is a so-called court musician, and the other is a favorite concubine. No matter how you look at it, we are not the kind of people who should be together."

"Although we haven't had much contact with Concubine Hui, she is not the kind of person who values ​​status."

Shen Cha thought about the few concubines in the late emperor's harem, who could be counted on one hand. Except for the Empress Dowager, the others were recruited into the palace as female officials. Their backgrounds were not prominent. They were neither descendants of meritorious officials nor local wealthy people. At most, like the late Empress, their families were in the silk business and had some fame in the local area.

As for Concubine Hui, according to the investigation of the Internal Court, her family should be in the porcelain business. However, there are several brothers in the family, but their relationship is not very good. They have never visited Concubine Hui in Beijing, and Concubine Hui has never gone back to visit her family.

"What's wrong?" Shen Jiu noticed that something was wrong with her sister. "What's the problem?"

"Empress Dowager Hui has been in the palace for more than 20 years, but no one from her family has ever come to the capital, and she has never returned home, as if she has no family at all." Shen Cha looked at Mian Bai, "Is there any hidden story behind this?"

"General, yes!" Mian Bai nodded, "Don't worry, listen to me slowly. Concubine Hui came over with the jade token and told me that she was my cousin. I didn't react for a moment, so she waved the jade token in front of me and said that it was carved by my second uncle when she was one month old. Over the years, no matter what difficulties she encountered, she was reluctant to pawn the jade token. Later, I asked her how she recognized me, and she said she recognized me a month ago."

"A month ago?"

"Yes!" Mian Bai sighed, "That was the first time I saw her. She came to the Grand Empress Dowager's palace to pay respects, and the Grand Empress Dowager asked me to play the zither for them. At that time, I had just recovered from my illness, and I felt dizzy. I just wanted to finish it quickly and go back to rest. I didn't see what the ladies looked like, and I didn't dare to look, for fear of offending them. However, since that day, Concubine Hui really came to the Grand Empress Dowager's palace whenever she was free. At one point, there were rumors that she cared about the Grand Empress Dowager and was close to her."

"In fact, she just wanted to see you and get to know you. It has nothing to do with the Empress Dowager."

"Yes." Mian Bai paused for a moment and continued, "She said that she recognized me at first sight. I look a lot like my father, especially my posture and technique of playing the zither, which are exactly the same as my father's. I even look very similar to my great uncle. After all, we all inherited from our grandfather. They taught us the same way as our grandfather taught them."

"That's right. You'll definitely be familiar with what you hear and see." Shen Jiu nodded and raised his chin towards Mian Bai, "Go on."

"When she said this, I was still in a daze, still a little bit unconvinced. She also saw this in me, and slowly started talking to me about some family matters, such as what my grandfather was like, what my uncle was like, what my father was like, and so on. As I listened, I was sure that this was the cousin that my grandfather and father had always been thinking about. Only then did we feel the reality of recognizing each other, and we hugged each other and cried, expressing our excitement about the long-awaited reunion of relatives." "How many years have you been separated?"

"Hmm," Mianbai calculated, "It's been about twenty years, because the year we met, I had just turned seventeen."

"Twenty years," Shen Cha sighed, "It really can be considered a long-awaited reunion. What happened next? Did you talk about what happened after you separated?"

"Yes, my uncle and aunt took her away from home, and it took them a year to cure her illness. After the illness was cured, they didn't have much money, so they had to find something to do to make a living. Fortunately, my uncle had a good reputation, so he went to a wealthy family to be an enlightenment teacher. That family was in the porcelain business."

"you mean"

"My cousin entered the palace in place of the porcelain merchant's daughter."

"Ah?" Jin Miaomiao was stunned. "Why? Is this what the porcelain merchant meant?"

"Yes." Mian Bai looked at Jin Miaomiao and nodded gently. "Although the porcelain merchant has several sons, he only has this one daughter, who is the apple of his eye. From the old lady to the merchant himself, they are reluctant to let their daughter marry far away, and they are even more reluctant to let their daughter go to the palace to be a female official and serve others, even if the person they serve is the most noble person in the world. Their original plan was that when their daughter grew up and was going to be married, they would definitely not let her marry off, but would recruit a son-in-law. This lady's brothers all had this plan. He sighed and continued, "But their family is on the list. Even if they are not happy, they cannot refuse, otherwise it would be disobeying the order. So they made plans early."

"Plan?" Shen Cha frowned. "Have they been thinking of letting Concubine Hui replace their daughter?"

"Yes!" Mian Bai looked at Shen Cha, "When my great uncle went to teach their family, they had already inquired about it. My great uncle's family only has this one daughter. My great uncle and aunt are not mean people. They are very kind and never quarrel with others. They thought that if the two families can get along well, they can adopt my cousin as an adopted daughter, and when the time comes, send my cousin to be a female official, which is not considered as deceiving the emperor. If my great uncle and aunt are reluctant, they will really treat the two families as relatives, and their daughter can take the place of my cousin to show filial piety."

"Are your uncle and aunt willing?"

"A year before my cousin entered the palace, my uncle and aunt passed away one after another."

"Dead?" Hongye frowned, "What a coincidence? Could it be..."

"No, it wasn't the work of that porcelain merchant. It was purely a coincidence." Mian Bai sighed, "The reason they passed away is also the reason why my cousin decided to enter the palace."

"What do you mean?"

"My uncle met the leader of the Qinglian Sect who blackmailed them in the past on the street."