Don't help me, I can sit up by myself

Nectarine lay at Du Jiyan's feet with red eyes: "I have been in the palace since I was a child because my family was poor. I was assigned by the Ministry of Internal Affairs to do rough work for the imperial concubine. Because I was ridiculed for my large appetite, I have never had a full meal. Please invite Du As long as you, sir, have a lot of food, please don’t drive me away. I will never be greedy again in the future.”

It was just a few bowls of rice, and Du Jiyan didn't blame her.

However, when she went to Jingren Palace to pay her respects, the imperial concubine Meng Yuzhu bit back and complained to the queen, saying that Du Jiyan abused her maid who went out of Changle Palace and forced the maid Nectarine to eat so hard that she almost strangled the nectarine to death.

The queen was admiring the roses in the snow in the courtyard. The white snow fell on the big red rose petals, some red and some white. The tender petals were hung with ice particles. The blooming under the severe frost had a unique beauty. In addition, Wei Zhaoning was playing the piano leisurely on the high platform. The sky was high and the clouds were clear, and the sound of the piano was distant. It was such a beautiful atmosphere, but the imperial concubine came to cause trouble again.

Don't wait to see.

The queen patted the snow on the rose, and the snow melted in her hands.

The queen thought to herself that she had to move to a warmer place so that she could hear the imperial concubine beeping. Anyway, she would beep for a long time.

"Queen, Du Changzai almost choked Nectarine to death by relying on his status as the head of the first palace."

"What? Nectarines? Why are there nectarines in such a cold weather? Is there a new fruit in the Ministry of Internal Affairs?" The Queen was puzzled.

"The nectarine is not a peach, it is the maid of my Changle Palace. Because Du Chang moved to Wanru Palace, he sent her to Wanru Palace to sweep and serve."

"Ah, let's put it this way, that Nectarine is no longer a member of your palace. You don't want to make noises here in my palace."

Meng Yuzhu.

This is really chewing on the back molars.

"The Queen, although Nectarine no longer serves me in Changle Palace, she is still a harem maid. Du Chang is abusing the harem maids, won't the Queen punish her?"

"Abusing a palace maid?" The queen was confused: "We in the Chen Kingdom do not allow this. Concubine, do you have any evidence?"

Nectarine had already been carried away to Jingren Palace, and one of her pair of very bright green shoes was missing. She was very embarrassed.

Shi Jing squeezed Du Jiyan's hand: "Look, it's just that the imperial concubine can't hold back any good things. She really didn't have good intentions when she put the nectarines in Wanru Hall."

Nectarine knelt in Jingren Palace with shaking shoulders.

The queen couldn't bear to see her bare feet, but Meng Yuzhu stared at her coldly and threatened: "Nectarine, if you dare to tell a lie, you will be beaten to death."

Nectarine shivered.

"Your Majesty, the Queen hasn't spoken yet." Shi Jing couldn't stand Meng Yuzhu's arrogant look.

Of course, Meng Yuzhu was not used to Shi Jing: "Does Little Master Shi still have the right to speak here? What does it have to do with you? It's just a low-ranking lady——"

"Don't let Nectarine talk." The queen sighed. You see, you know that whenever the imperial concubine speaks, she wants to block everyone else's mouths.

The crowd suddenly fell silent.

Nectarine looked at Meng Yuzhu carefully, and then at Du Jiyan's toes. Her lips moved but she made no sound.

Zhang Zhaoyi, the imperial physician who happened to pay respects to the queen, was the one who showed Nectarine her stomachache at the Wanru Palace that day. Meng Yuzhu called Zhang Zhaoyi and said, "Physician Zhang, did you go to the Wanru Palace to see this palace lady's stomach that night? painful?"

Zhang Zhaoyi put down the medicine box and saluted, looked at the palace maid under the rose bushes, she was indeed from that night, and nodded.

"What's wrong with her?"

"She ate too much and accumulated food, which hurt her stomach."

Meng Yuzhu scolded Nectarine: "Tell me, what did you eat that night at Wanru Hall? Honestly, if you make a mistake in a word, you will be beaten to death."

"Three bowls of rice, one bowl of Maoxuewang, one plate of cold-cut beef, one cup of bird's nest and one bowl of rice wine." Nectarine lowered her head.

The concubines sighed.

The queen was shocked. Even the maids of Wanru Palace ate so well? Sure enough, the master is so good at making money that even his servants will benefit from it. The servants of Jingren Palace have not yet eaten the bird's nest.

Zhao agreed: "God, it's strange that Du Chang is running a small kitchen. Her maids are all drinking bird's nest, and they have better food than me."

Bao Guiren: "As a nobleman, I might as well go to Wanru Palace to be a palace maid."

Shi Jing: "This palace lady is really good at eating. One meal can catch up with others' three-day ration."

Seeing that the topic was about to go astray, Meng Yuzhu shook the handkerchief decisively and glanced at Tian Lingyue.

Tian Lingyue picked up Nectarine's shoe from somewhere. She first asked Nectarine to put it on, and then pretended to be very docile and distressed: "I know this Nectarine. I have been serving him in Changle Palace for several years." , the imperial concubine felt that she was strong and could do a good job of cleaning, and because Du Changzai had just moved to Wanru Hall, she thought that there must be a lot of places to clean in Wanru Hall, so the noble concubine was kind enough to assign Nectarine. I went to Wanru Palace to serve, but I didn’t expect that something like this happened just a few days ago. The imperial doctor can testify that Nectarine, a palace maid, could eat so much. Du Changzai was dissatisfied with the position of the head of Changle Palace, so he just said it to his face, sister. There's nothing we can't say, why bother embarrassing a slave?"

Tian Lingyue's habit of being a good person made Shi Jing angry, but Du Jiyan took Shi Jing's arm and told her not to be impulsive.

After all, he was now the queen's trustee, so Du Jiyan told the queen what happened that night.

The queen held her handkerchief and thought for a while, then asked the nectarine: "Are you willing to eat it yourself, or is it something Du Chang is forcing you to eat?"

"It was Du Chang who was forcing her to eat, otherwise who would eat herself until she vomited it out?" Meng Yuzhu took a step forward.

"My dear concubine, is Nectarine mute?"

"No." Meng Yuzhu took a step back.

"Since she is not mute, how come the imperial concubine still answers for me when I ask her questions?"

"This"

"Don't do this or that, stand back, I will deal with it impartially." The queen asked Guiyuan to bring the brocade stool, and she sat on the brocade stool: "Nectarine, you tell me."

The queen always doesn't understand the case.

But this time the posture was sufficient.

"Back to the Queen, this slave voluntarily ate it. Because of my stupidity, I never had enough to eat in Changle Palace." At this point, Nectarine shrank down and protected her head with her hands. She looked at Meng Yuzhu in fear. She seemed to be in trouble. Meng Yuzhu was beaten frequently. Of course, now in Jingren Palace, Meng Yuzhu couldn't jump up in front of everyone. Nectarine knelt at the Queen's feet, her tears almost dripping on the Queen's embroidered shoes, her broad knuckles lying on the ground, His body twitched: "In Changle Palace, slaves do the dirtiest and most tiring work. They also know that they are stupid and not as smart as other sisters, so they never dare to cry tired. They just get hungry quickly and eat more." A steamed bun will lead to a severe beating. Last month I ate an extra roll, and Sister Cashew Nut slapped the slave five times. Even now, the slave’s eyes are still bloodshot, and her left eye is still blurry.”

There was indeed a blood spot under Nectarine's eyes.

When she rolled up her sleeves, she could see that the old scars on her arms were caused by whips.

"Later, Master. Later, the imperial concubine gave the slave a piece of silver and asked the slave to serve Du Changzai." Nectarine took out a piece of silver and two taels from her arms: "The slave was very happy when he heard the news. Wanru Palace will not be beaten. The servant thought, but unexpectedly, Du Changzai rewarded us with a large table of delicious food just a few days after arriving at Wanru Palace. I was starving again, so I opened my stomach to eat more. I ate a little and my stomach was full. Du Changzai also called the imperial doctor for me. I am very grateful."

Alas, he is also a poor man.

Cashew secretly stood behind Meng Yuzhu and quietly lowered his head.

Meng Yuzhu asked Nectarine with a blue face: "What benefits has Du Changzai given you, or threatened you with anything, and you want to help her speak like this?"

Nectarine just shook her head.

The imperial doctor also came out to testify that he ate too many nectarines that night. It was indeed the imperial doctor sent by Du Jiyan. He also asked the imperial doctor to treat Nectarine well. Nectarine didn't look like he was being forced.

This is too much. The palace regulations of Chen State emphasized that the master was not allowed to punish his slaves at will.

Nectarine suffered a lot of injustice.

Zhao agreed: "It's really pitiful. I don't even give my slaves enough food."

Bao Guiren: "That cashew is also a slave. He dared to beat Nectarine until his eyes bleed. What a slave."

The queen also couldn't bear it. She asked the imperial doctor Zhang Zhaoyi to look at Nectarine's eyes and asked Meng Yuzhu: "Is this how the imperial concubine treats the maids?"

"This"

"It seems that she is not familiar with the palace rules." The queen sighed, facing the warm sunshine shining through the corridor: "Last time the emperor punished the concubine to memorize the palace rules, the concubine must have memorized and forgotten."

"I have not forgotten it." Meng Yuzhu quickly knelt down.

"Then recite it again and listen."

"This" Meng Yuzhu bared her teeth and tried to think of the contents of the palace rules. The last time she memorized the palace rules, it almost cost her half her life. It caused her to have nightmares and wake up in the middle of the night and she had to recite a few sentences of the palace rules. Who knows if it will be better? It was easy to memorize it and handed in the job, but now I have completely forgotten it and can't even think of a single word.

What's even more hateful is that the little hooves next to her seemed to be watching the fun, and no one reminded her.

The queen did not indulge her: "My concubine, you go back and continue to memorize the palace rules. After you have memorized them, come to Jingren Palace and I will check them."

Meng Yuzhu felt dizzy, and Tian Lingyue quickly stepped forward to support her.

As soon as Meng Yuzhu knelt down, the cashew nut was exposed. She was wearing a set of purple-gray clothes and stuck there like a sugar cane.

I had long heard that this cashew was domineering with the help of Meng Yuzhu, but today she was caught in the crossfire.

The queen was always kind and didn't say anything. Wei Zhaoning took advantage of serving tea and whispered to the queen: "If sister indulges this cashew nut, won't the servants lose their rules?"

"What should you do?"

"Let her slap herself fifty times as a warning to others."

The queen looked embarrassed: "This is a bit harsh."

"My sister is the queen of the middle palace. She is the official head of the palace. She should use some means. Otherwise, how can the people below be convinced? They behave like this. They clearly don't take you seriously, sister."

"Cashew, you injured the palace maid for no reason. Now, just kneel in Jingren Palace for two hours." The queen murmured.

Cashew secretly glanced at Meng Yuzhu's face, and Meng Yuzhu lowered his head to look at his shoes.

"The imperial concubine's teachings are not good, so she is fined one month as nectarine's medical expenses."

Meng Yuzhu was secretly angry at this unscrupulous cashew nut. Forget it if you are punished. Kneel down quickly and admit your mistake. Everyone is fine, but she stares at her as a noble concubine eagerly. Now, the queen followed the cashew nut's gaze and punished her. Although Yue's salary was only a few taels of silver, face was important after all. The noble concubine was fined and became the laughing stock of the harem again.

After leaving Jingren Palace, Meng Yuzhu sat on the chariot sedan with a blue face, while Tian Lingyue waited on the chariot sedan.

Without the cashew nuts around, Meng Yuzhu's hand stove was also held by Tian Lingyue.

The corridor is deep and long.

The water marks on the bluestone are still wet.

Tian Lingyue held up the stove and wanted to hand it to Meng Yuzhu: "Your Majesty, please be careful if your hands get cold."

Meng Yuzhu slapped Tian Lingyue staggering.

Tian Lingyue felt dizzy and almost threw the stove in her hand. She chased for a few more steps. At a corner gate, Fang caught up with Meng Yuzhu's carriage, and held it up respectfully and said: "Your Majesty, Your Majesty." It doesn't matter if you hit me, don't get so angry, the coals in the hand stove are still warm."

"In Jingren Palace just now, were you a mouthless gourd? You let that old woman, the queen, deal with me and cashew nuts, and you came to see the fun? Don't you usually have a lot of ideas?"

"I didn't expect that nectarine either."

"Isn't it your idea to give me the idea? You said that Nectarine is stupid and throws it into Wanru Palace, and it won't attract anyone's attention. It's better to leave her to find out the news. Where is the news? I didn't get the news, so I Gong Zhe went in."

Meng Yuzhu's slap made Tian Lingyue's hair mess up, but Tian Lingyue still followed step by step. The sedan carriage stopped at Changle Palace. Tian Lingyue quickly acted as a cashew nut and stretched out her arm to help Meng Yuzhu enter the main hall.

In front of the bronze mirror, Meng Yuzhu was served by Tian Lingyue, taking off the red gold and red treasure armor one by one.

The dark yellow light of the red gold and ruby ​​armor reflected Meng Yuzhu's fair and cold face.

Meng Yuzhu's face in the bronze mirror was as frosty as ice.

Tian Lingyue could only stay by her side carefully. The maid brought tea, and Tian Lingyue quickly took it and handed it to Meng Yuzhu's face.

"If I had known that nectarine didn't work, I would have been the first to be stupid when we were in Changle Palace." Meng Yuzhu held her forehead.

"I originally thought that since she is not welcome in Changle Palace, I would send her to Wanru Palace to save you from being upset when you see her. I don't want to."

Meng Yuzhu in the bronze mirror frowned: "How could I know that I was bitten back? What should I do next for this dead hoof?"

Tian Lingyue whispered: "Have you forgotten our plan?"

Meng Yuzhu didn't have time to listen to Tian Lingyue's betrayal, and the queen became furious even before the task of memorizing the palace rules was completed.

"She has just moved to Wanru Palace. Everything is still new. Everything has not been established yet, so we have more opportunities. When Cashew comes back, we can let her go."

"Cashew is not as clever as you, so go ahead."

Tian Lingyue.

Tian Lingyue was not willing to do anything that would put her in danger.

At any rate, she is now promised by Tian, ​​a person with status, and went to Wanru Palace to cause mischief. Isn't that what the slaves did? If she were to go, wouldn't she lose her identity?

In the side hall, Shanzhu brought a bowl of purple rice porridge with two or three side dishes.

Tian Lingyue reluctantly used some purple rice porridge and put down her chopsticks.

Shanzhu stuck his head out and took a look. Changle Palace was quiet. He thought Meng Yuzhu had fallen asleep, so he closed the window and whispered to Tian Lingyue:

"Is it dangerous for the imperial concubine to ask the master to go to Wanru Palace to do business?"

"If it wasn't dangerous, it wouldn't be my turn."

"Look, slave, the one in Wanru Palace is not easy to deal with. Master, do you really want to go?"

"I live under someone else's roof and depend on someone else's nose. Is there any other way for me to choose?"