Chapter 3 Chapter Three

Yin'er followed a young inner court eunuch named Wang Huihui in his early thirteens, walked all the way across West Chang Street, towards the right gate of Xianhe.She cautiously followed behind the little eunuch, almost stepping on the footprints of the little eunuch with every step, not daring to overdo it.As she walked, she looked at the ever-burning lamps on both sides of the palace road. She felt as if a person was standing there, and the rectangular glass lampshades were like dull human faces, staring at her expressionlessly.The surroundings were extremely quiet, except for the footsteps of her and the little eunuch, there was no other sound.She was so frightened that she didn't even dare to breathe out, and she didn't dare to look around. She felt unspeakably nervous, as if there was mystery and danger hidden everywhere, and she would be swallowed up by this huge palace if she didn't pay attention.

The long corridor is paved with a yard of blue stones, and there are tall red ocher palace walls on both sides. Behind the palace walls are towering buildings with cornices and tile roofs. If she hadn't seen it with her own eyes, Yin'er would never believe it. There are still such magnificent palace complexes in the world.The afternoon sun illuminated a row of cornices and tiled roofs in the east dazzlingly golden, and at the same time left a large blue shadow on the corridor, and the stone slabs were faintly covered with a layer of grayish white in the shadow. Half a month ago, she was still single-mindedly thinking about marrying Rong Qing, but in a blink of an eye, she actually entered this royal palace.She felt as if she had a terrible dream, and she still couldn't wake up from the dream until now.A few days ago, when she was a candidate for the palace in the Yanchi Building of the Clan Mansion, she deliberately didn't dress up, and she didn't even put any powder on her face.Unexpectedly, the eunuch with a long horse face (I later learned that it was Li Lianying, the chief executive of the inner court), picked her at a glance, and specially assigned her to Chuxiu Palace as an errand.To be a court lady beside Lafayette, in the eyes of other selected court ladies, this is a great honor, but she doesn't take it seriously.

Entering the right gate of Xianhe, the atmosphere suddenly becomes much more peaceful. The palace wall is also a bit shorter than that of Xichang Street. From time to time, a few figures can be seen walking in the distance. Xiao Hui pointed to the east-west side street in front of her and told her This is the famous Xiliugong Street, where the famous Lafayette lived.In this imperial city, everyone called Empress Dowager Cide Lafayette. Sometimes she lived in Changchun Palace and sometimes in Chuxiu Palace.In recent years, especially since Emperor Guangxu officially took charge of the government, she prefers to stay in Chuxiu Palace, because she was favored by Emperor Xianfeng and gave birth to Emperor Tongzhi here. Think of her dignity as the queen mother.

When you get there, you first need to meet the person in charge of the palace, and she will assign you to do some chores.Then see if you are of this material, and let you worship an aunt.Auntie is like a master outside, you will be under her control from now on, she will teach you everything, tell you the rules in the palace, and teach you how to do things.Only when your aunt thinks you are qualified can you serve Lafayette, or you won't be able to get close to Lafayette, so you can't be careless when you are with aunt!Xiao Huihui told Yin'er earnestly, her tone was very old-fashioned, not at all like a thirteen-year-old boy.

Brother Xiaohui, thank you for your pointers.Yin'er nodded repeatedly. You don't need to be polite, we will live in the palace for a long time, and we will inevitably take care of each other.Xiao Hui smiled, apparently he had heard such kind words a lot. Yin'er followed Xiaohui back from the Katydite Gate to the Second West Chang Street, arrived at Chuxiu Palace, and met Aunt Liu who was in charge.Aunt Liu glanced at her, seemed to find it pleasing to the eye, and led her to kowtow outside the bedroom where Lafayette slept, and told her, if you kowtow, you will be considered a member of Chuxiu Palace from now on.After Xiao Huihui left, Aunt Liu asked a middle-aged mother to take her to a couch in the harem to rest, and asked her to wait there for orders.The so-called couch is also called the servant's room, which is the place where the maids rest and sleep.Most of the couches are in the backyard. There are three or five people in one room, and there are also two people in one room. For example, Aunt Liu, who is in charge, has a high status and lives in a room for one person.

She followed Zhang Ma all the way to the backyard along the large corridor with carved beams and painted buildings.The two of them passed through the Hall of Tihe, and then entered the backyard through a side door. They didn't go far, and saw a few eunuchs with sullen faces, carrying a stretcher and walking past her in a hurry.She instinctively glanced at the stretcher, and saw a person wrapped under the quilt, with long black hair spread out, and a sallow hand exposed from the quilt, she recognized it as a woman at a glance, and vaguely saw a bruise on the woman's wrist scars.Seeing the eunuchs carrying the stretcher out of the backyard door, she couldn't help turning her head to look at Zhang Mama, as if she wanted to ask something.Zhang Ma's expression was indifferent, as if she hadn't seen anything.

She raised her eyelids and looked around, only to find that there were several young court ladies standing far and near on the corridor outside the lower room. They all had sullen faces, staring in a daze at the backyard door where the stretcher was carried out.Judging from their expressions, something must have happened here. Zhang Ma led Yin'er into a servant room next to the east end. Her eyes were used to the strong sunlight outside, and when she suddenly walked into the servant's room in the corridor, she only felt that the inside was a haze, and a maid in a light blue dress stood by the window in a daze.Seeing Mama Zhang walking in with Yin'er, the maid hurriedly turned around to meet her, and called Mama Zhang!

Ping girl!This is the new girl Yin'er.Mama Zhang said with a smile. The place has been vacated.The palace maid named Ping'er stared at Yin'er, was taken aback for a moment, then pointed to the vacant seat on the kang and smiled at her.It seems that everything here is in order, the maid seems to have known about her arrival, even her quilt has been prepared and placed neatly on the kang bed. After Mama Zhang left, Ping'er followed.Yin'er's eyes finally got used to the light in the room, and now she could clearly see the long kang running along the north wall, which could accommodate at least four people.There was only one bed on the kang, and there were only two people including her.There was a small Kang table on the kang, an oil lamp with a glass cover on the table, a wardrobe and a row of wooden boxes on the east wall, a few chairs and a few small benches by the window, she put down her hands The soft bag she brought with her was a piece of blue flower coarse cloth that wrapped all her personal items.She stood there, still thinking about the woman on the stretcher.

For some reason, she felt an ominous feeling in her heart.Standing by the window, she heard footsteps not far away, and saw two maids walking along the corridor, whispering something about poor Qian'er, who died at a young age, if she said nothing, she would be gone Class words.They were obviously discussing what had just happened.She hurriedly went to the window to understand, but she didn't expect the maids to come to the servant room where she lived.She instinctively moved away from the window, so as not to let people think that she was here deliberately eavesdropping, she turned around and walked to the kang, and began to pack her luggage.Unexpectedly, the two court ladies raised the door curtain and came in while calling Miss Ping.

Yin'er heard the noise behind her, turned around in a hurry, and said that Miss Ping had gone out.Just as she turned around, the two maids froze at the same time. The petite maid who was walking in front stared at her, then instinctively took a step back, gasped, and exclaimed: "Qian'er!"Yin'er saw the panic on their faces, she didn't know what was going on, and was about to tell the other party that her name was not Qian'er, and that she was a new maid, when the two maids suddenly turned around and ran away, talking while running. Li said hell.Yin'er stood there blankly, watching the backs of the two maids walking away, feeling unspeakable doubts in her heart, thinking about it for a long time, not knowing what happened.

At night, Yin'er was lying on the kang, staring out of the window, and the sound of clappers could be faintly heard in the distance from time to time, it was the eunuch on duty watching the night.The more anxious you are, the more you can't sleep, the more anxious you are, the more anxious you are when you see Miss Ping sleeping soundly across the kang table.Her mind was like a mess, everything that had happened these days poured out, one thing was not finished, and another thing came out. What she missed most was Rong Qing.He had visited her at home before she entered the palace.They hid in her boudoir and talked, he put his arms around her, wiped the tears from her face, and comforted her, asking her to work in the palace with peace of mind, he would definitely wait for her, no matter how many years he waited, he didn't care.From Rongqing, he thought of his mother and elder brother again. In order to save his younger sister from the errands in the palace, the elder brother went around looking for someone surnamed Chang, but he didn't expect to be beaten black and blue the day before yesterday.Seeing his appearance, he was angry with him and pitied him. His mother simply ignored him. He knelt down in front of his mother and swore that he would never gamble again.From family affairs, I thought about entering the palace today, thinking about Xiaohui reminding her to be careful everywhere, thinking of the young woman on the stretcher of the eunuchs when she came in, and I could never forget her long black hair and the The snow-white wrist exposed outside the quilt After thinking about it, she finally couldn't resist the drowsiness and fell asleep. Sleeping until midnight, she suddenly felt someone pushing her.She opened her eyes in a daze, and saw a young woman in a light blue cheongsam standing at the head of her bed, saying that this was her bed and she wanted Yin'er to move to another place to sleep.Yin'er naturally refused to let her go, saying that Aunt Liu, who was in charge of the palace, assigned her to sleep here.The court lady in the green dress ignored Aunt Liu, and stretched out her hand to drag her out of the bed. who are you?Yin'er was in a hurry and sat up from the bed. My name is Qian'er!If you don't believe me, ask Miss Ping, is this bed mine? Qianer?Yin'er's eyes widened, and she felt that the name sounded familiar, but she couldn't remember where she heard it. You don't know me but I know you.You're new here, right?The maid in Tsing Yi sneered. Who are you?Yin'er stared at the other party, with inexplicable doubts in her heart, because she really couldn't remember where she had seen her. you forgot?I was carried out on a stretcher when you came in today. Hearing that she was the maid lying on the stretcher this afternoon, Yin'er couldn't help but tremble in her heart.She couldn't help but glanced at the other party, only to find that the other party's face was pale, and there were several purple spots on his arms and neck.Only then did she remember that the two maids had mentioned Qian'er's name, and she wondered if she wasn't dead, why did she come back again? Miss Qian!You are not dead?Yin'er asked boldly. who diedDeath is not allowed in the palace!I have to say auspicious!Qian'er lowered her face and corrected Yin'er. Yes Yes.You are not lucky? Why do you care so much?Don't inquire about things you shouldn't ask!If you refuse to give me the bunk, we can sleep next to each other.Qian'er let go of her hand and lay down beside Yin'er.aunt!I am not sleepy, I just sit like this.She dared not lie beside her. Lie down next to me, it's okay.The other party patted the kang bed. Yin'er hesitated for a long time, finally lay down, and asked her in a low voice: Are you all right?I was terrified just then. That's what I deserve, so you don't need to cry like a cat! No, aunt, I really love you! Do you dare to talk back?I tell you, you are new here, the most important thing here is the rules.Qian'er glared at her, the rules in the palace are strict, if you take a wrong step, you will be just like me! What happened to my aunt?Yin'er was startled. I told you, don't ask anything you shouldn't ask!Miss Qian suddenly tore open her clothes, revealing scars all over her body, her neat hair was loosened, and her complexion became ashen. If you don't believe me, just look at it, breaking the rules is my fate!Seeing the other party's frightening appearance, Yin'er was terrified, and jumped out of bed in fright.Unexpectedly, Miss Qian grabbed her with both hands and pressed her firmly on the edge of the kang, a long tongue was exposed on her bruised face.Yin'er struggled desperately, and was so frightened that she rolled on the ground with the quilt on Yiner!Yiner!What happened to you?Yin'er heard someone calling her.She hurriedly opened her eyes, and found herself sitting on the ground, and her roommate, Ping, was sitting on the edge of the kang holding a lamp. Ghost, there is ghost!Yin'er pointed to the window in shock, saying that she saw Miss Qian running away from the window. You are dreaming, Ping'er reached out to cover her mouth, don't talk nonsense.Yin'er looked at Ping'er, then at the window, and realized that it was just a nightmare. I had a nightmare!Yin'er was covered in cold sweat. My aunt, this is where you dream!Ping'er helped Yin'er onto the kang, complaining in his tone, think about it, this will disturb Lafayette's sleep, and you will never see the sun rise tomorrow! Damn me. Who did you dream about? Miss Qian. When Ping'er heard Qian'er's name, he immediately gasped, thinking to himself, what the hell!Yin'er just came here in the afternoon, not to mention that she has never met Qian'er, she has never even heard of her name, how could she dream of her and be able to say her name?She asked Yin'er about the situation in her dream in detail, and she didn't expect that the court lady Yin'er mentioned was wearing a green dress, which was the same as Qian'er's when she died. When she came in in light blue clothes, Ping'er couldn't help but feel a sinking heart, thinking that Qian'er had returned.If Aunt Liu hadn't greeted him in advance, and Mama Zhang led the newcomer in, she would have been so frightened that she thought she had run into a ghost.Thinking of this, Ping'er was silent for a long time, thinking that Yin'er's dream was too wonderful, and Qian'er must have entrusted her with the dream.Is she afraid that she can't bear to part with this house?Ping'er looked at Yin'er's kang bed and sighed deeply. So, Miss Qian really lives here?Yin'er's eyes widened in fright, Sister Ping!Why don't we buy her some paper money tomorrow? Burning paper is not allowed in the palace, except for the family members of the Long Live Lord, not even the members of the Lafayette family.Ping'er glared at Yin'er, and was silent for a moment, let alone not sure, it was sure, we were afraid of introducing ghosts. Sister Ping, please stop talking, I am so scared!Miss Ping's expression undoubtedly confirmed Yin'er's full of doubts. The palace girl who died during the day really lived in this servant room before, and she slept on the kang bunk where she was sleeping now.Thinking of this level, Yin'er was so frightened that she went straight into Ping'er's arms. You don't have to be afraid, although Miss Qian has lived here before, she is a good person. Pinger took a look at this new maid and thought to herself, how many palace maids and eunuchs have died in the palace compound for hundreds of years?The reincarnated pigs and dogs don't care about him, and the lonely ghosts who have not been reincarnated are all floating in the courtyard of this palace. What did Miss Qian do?Yin'er couldn't help asking. In fact, it's nothing. Ping'er hesitated for a long time, sighed deeply, and finally didn't tell the reason for Qian'er's crime.Thinking of Qian'er being beaten to death by some rapper for hiding a men's sweat towel at a young age, it's really pitiful.She entrusted the dream to Yin'er, it must be because she died too wrongly, thinking of this, she dragged Yin'er to the window, even though kowtow to the dead is strictly prohibited in the palace, for Qian'er, she would kowtow to her no matter what , not to mention it's midnight, no one will know about it. Yin'er tremblingly followed Ping'er to the south window, and knelt down along with her. Miss Qian!I know you were wronged when you left, so I kowtowed to you specially with Miss Yin. Miss Yin is new here, you don't need to scare her, just tell me if you have anything to do.Ping'er clasped his palms together, murmured, and couldn't help the tears in his eyes. Yin'er prayed silently with Ping'er.Although she didn't know what happened to Qian'er, judging from Miss Ping's tone, it must not be a big deal, so Ping'er felt sorry for her.While praying for Qian'er's soul, she told herself in her heart that no matter what, she had to be careful, and she must not break the rules here. Once something happened, the consequences would be unimaginable. It was just dawn, and the east revealed a hint of whiteness, and the lampshade covered with black gauze outside the bedroom where the Empress Dowager Cixi slept was immediately removed.When the palace lantern came on, it indicated that the Queen Mother was about to get up.Thus, a busy day began in Chuxiu Palace.The maid on duty lifted half of the door curtain of the dormitory, indicating that the maid and eunuch could go in and wait for Lafayette to wake up.The little eunuch picked up a load of hot water and waited outside the bedroom. After the maid came in to wash and comb Lafayette's face and hair, and changed his clothes, the old eunuch Zhang De brought white fungus soup by the way.When the eunuchs in the palace met the maids, they deliberately called out to the ancestors to be auspicious. In fact, this was also a signal to tell other people in the palace that Lafayette had woken up. A court lady named Xiuzi walked down the corridor. She was in her early twenties and had been with Lafayette for seven or eight years.She has an oval face, two hair tied, light-colored pearl flowers in her ears, a pair of beautiful almond eyes under her curved eyebrows, and her black eyes look particularly energetic. She walked to the door of the servant's room where Yin'er lived, and deliberately coughed twice so that Yin'er in the servant's room could hear her.Seeing that there was no movement inside, she raised the curtain and entered the door. Yin'er slept soundly, lying on her back on the kang with her legs up in the air, seeing that Yin'er hadn't gotten up, Xiuzi felt angry inside, seeing her sleeping face lying on her back, she couldn't help venting her anger, He casually grabbed the feather duster on the wall and yanked the edge of the bed vigorously, making a series of crisp noises. Yin'er heard the movement and woke up rubbing her sleepy eyes.When she saw Aunt Xiuzi standing in front of the kang, Ping'er, who was in the same room, had long since disappeared, and the quilt was neatly folded. aunt, i Suit up.Xiuzi gave her a hard look, and shouted under her breath, "Stand in the corner and kneel down for me." Yin'er was about to say something, but when she saw her aunt's face, she was so frightened that she hurried to the corner and knelt down.Without saying a word, Xiuzi picked up the broom and lashed her back violently.She didn't move and let the opponent beat her until Xiuzi was tired, then she threw down the duster panting, moved a bench and sat down at the door, staring at Yin'er sullenly without speaking. aunt!Don't dare to do it next time!Yin'er gritted her teeth to keep the tears from flowing. Knowing whether you have made a mistake or not, I am afraid that you do not know where the mistake is. I got up late.I'm not good, I made a mistake, and I won't dare to do it again next time. Why, say you don’t know, you really don’t know!Is it pretending to be confused or really confused?Say, where is the mistake!Xiuzi said coldly.The day before yesterday, Aunt Liu led Yin'er to kowtow to her, which was regarded as a formal obeisance to her aunt, which meant that Yin'er had learned from her since then.Xiuzi is a court lady who specially serves cigarettes for Cixi. This job can often be by the old queen's side, which is very popular with the old lady, so even Aunt Liu, who is in charge, gives her three points.Xiuzi met Yin'er the day before yesterday and thought she was pretty and clever, so she agreed to accept her as his apprentice, but she broke several rules on the first day. aunt!Yin'er blinked her eyes in confusion, I didn't hear the drums, I got up late, didn't I? nonsense!Think about how I confessed to you. She was at a loss and wept with a sad face. It's not a big deal if you wake up late, look at the way you slept just now!Xiuzi stood up from the bench, restrained her anger, and walked to her side. I told you yesterday that staying by Lafayette's side is no better than staying at home. Standing and sleeping are different.It's good for you, lying on the kang with your feet upside down! For hundreds of years, people have always believed that the palace where the queen mother and the emperor live is a very sacred forbidden place.There are various gods guarding the palace, and the temple gods guard all the palaces and halls.Legend has it that the god of the temple often came out in the middle of the night to patrol around to protect the empress dowager and the emperor, so the maids had to lie on the kang to sleep in two characters, not to mention the ugly sleeping, but it was a great crime to run into the god of the temple.When Xiuzi said this, Yin'er was so frightened that her expression changed, she knelt down on the ground and slapped herself while begging for mercy: Damn me, I'm guilty!i'm damned i'm guilty Stop.Xiuzi hurriedly grabbed her wrist: You forgot again, didn't you?How did I tell you that court ladies are not allowed to slap in the face, this is a rule passed down from the ancestors. I was wrong. Others are not allowed to beat me, but I can’t punish myself? no.The face of a court lady is not allowed to be slapped by others, nor is she allowed to slap her.Once you step into the palace gate, with this face, your whole body belongs to the palace.The face was broken, and it made Lafayette upset when he saw it. Isn't this also a sin?When working here, needless to say, you can't have a wound on your face, even if you pout your mouth and look sad.Remember: no matter in front of the queen mother or in front of the emperor, master and young masters, you are not allowed to speak when you are not allowed to answer.When answering, the voice must not be too loud, the eyes must not look directly at the master, and every word must be clearly sent to the master's ears.On weekdays, you are not allowed to laugh loudly, cry, show your temper, or show embarrassment.Whatever has nothing to do with you, no matter what you see, you are considered blind.No matter what you hear, only if you are deaf Xiuzi said a series of rules that are not allowed and that are not allowed. Compared with the many rules she did not say, this is only one percent of them.In particular, Chuxiu Palace is the place where Lafayette lives. This is the most prestigious place in the entire palace, so the rules are even stricter.Yin'er knelt there, listening carefully to every word.Just like what the dead Miss Qian said to her in her dream, if you accidentally break any of the rules in the palace, if you make trouble, you will end up in the same fate as her.Thinking of this, she was secretly terrified. It doesn't matter if she dies, she will never see Rong Qing again, thinking of the latter, her heart clenched tightly, and cold sweat immediately broke out on her chest, back and back.I remember the scene of entering the palace a few days ago, the high eaves and tile ridges, the empty palace road under the red wall, and the ever-burning lamps, how majestic and brilliant they looked in the sun!But now, she finally understands the meaning of those words that Xiao Hui told her repeatedly that day, pinching her voice and eyes. Every corner of the royal palace seems to hide countless dangerous dooms!