marry queen

September [-]th is an auspicious day for Shen Zhiqiu to enter the palace. He brought both ginkgo and aloes with him, and everyone in the Hou Mansion sent him to the gate of the palace and watched him go in. Shen Zhiqiu lifted the curtain of the carriage and glanced at the majestic The majestic palace, with red walls and green tiles, was magnificent. An Nanhou called him from behind, but he didn't look back.

Shen Zhiqiu was arranged in Ganquan Palace, which is a remote place away from the other halls of the harem, separated from other palaces by a large plum grove, like a corner that has been forgotten, and I think there would never be a favored concubine living here before. .Ganquan Palace is small in size, with a main hall, two side halls, and four side rooms. There is no one else living in the palace. The eunuch who brought him in said that it was specially packed out for Shen Xuan to live in.

That's right, his position is to choose a servant, the last one waiting.

The eunuch led him to the gate of Ganquan Palace, and the task was considered completed. He bowed to Shen Zhiqiu, "Master, this is your future residence, and the servants will be sent here. The servants arranged for you by the Ministry of Internal Affairs have already been delivered. What else do you want?"

"It's all right, thank you Eunuch." After saying that, Shen Zhiqiu signaled Chen Xiang to hand over a purse to Eunuch, Eunuch saluted again, turned and left.

Ginkgo pushed open the palace door, and a strong smell of dust came towards him. Shen Zhiqiu coughed twice, and heard two immature voices greeting him, "Slave Qibao and slave Mo Lan send my greetings to the master."

Shen Zhiqiu followed the sound and looked, a court lady and a eunuch, all about fourteen or fifteen years old, kneeling on the ground respectfully, looked honest, he nodded, "Come on, how is the cleaning going inside?"

Qibao replied: "Back to Master, everything has been tidied up."

Shen Zhiqiu walked in past them, sat down in the main hall, there was already brewed hot tea on the table, agarwood, ginkgo and seven treasures, Molan Qiqi, knelt down in front of him, waiting for his arrangement.Shen Zhiqiu took a sip of tea and opened his mouth, "I don't have many rules on weekdays. The most important thing to serve me is to be loyal, and I don't care about the rest."

The four said in unison: "The servant will serve the master wholeheartedly, and never dare to have a second heart."

Shen Zhiqiu said again, "I think Qibao and Molan are still young, and from now on, Chen Xiang will be in charge of the affairs of Ganquan Palace, no troubles without reason, no betrayal of the Lord's trust, have you remembered?"

"remember."

"Okay, let's do our own work." Shen Zhiqiu waved his hands and ordered them to disperse, and then called Ginkgo, "Go and find out where Qibao and Molan were sent."

"Yes, son." Ginkgo got the task and left.Shen Zhiqiu walked out of the main hall, stood in the courtyard, and looked around. This small palace is very simple, there are no flowers and plants in the courtyard, and there are two large water tanks standing bare, only plants more than one meter high grow on the left side of the hall. , I can't recognize what it is, but I can see a few dead branches on the courtyard wall, it is the plum grove next to it, it seems that the scenery here in winter will be better, Shen Zhiqiu thought so.

In Fengyi Palace, Fu Wei and Empress Mo Yanjun sat face to face for dinner, a few court ladies tried their dishes in silence, the queen said to Fu Wei: "Your Majesty, Attendant Shen Xuan has entered the palace today. "

Fu Yi was startled, then remembered, and asked casually, "Where do you live?"

The queen glanced at Fu Yi, and replied: "The concubine thought that Shen Xuanshi was a man after all, so she arranged for him to go to Ganquan Palace, which is far away from the concubine's residence. What do you think, Your Majesty?"

Fu Yi nodded, "The empress has arranged things properly, you always make me feel at ease when you do things."

"It is the duty of a concubine to share worries for His Majesty." The Queen said with a blushing face. The two of them were talking, and Fu Yi finished his meal. He wiped his mouth with the handkerchief brought by the maid, and said to the Queen: "I'm planning to marry Fu Yun to the eldest grandson of Ning Guogong, and I'll leave the marriage to the queen."

The queen was slightly surprised, "Your Majesty means..."

"The queen mother was very angry with me that day. As a son, I should make amends first. My fifth younger sister has reached the marriageable age. She is the first daughter of the queen mother. The queen mother must take her marriage very seriously. Seriously, Ning Guogong is the elder of the three dynasties, and the eldest grandson of their family is worthy of the fifth sister, so the queen mother must be happy."

After hearing this, the empress understood. It seemed that the emperor was planning to appease the empress dowager. He had just ascended the throne, and he really shouldn't have quarreled with the empress dowager, but he was still a little worried.

"I know." Fu Yi went to the soft couch in the side hall with his hands behind his back and sat down obliquely, and took the queen's hand with a smile, "As long as the queen mother is happy, I will be happy. Besides, a mere Ning Guogong, Mr. Yuezhang How can you pay attention to it?"

The queen also felt relieved, smiled and sat down with Fu Lie, and said: "The concubine must have carefully arranged this marriage. Such a big happy event can be regarded as a good start for His Majesty's ascension to the throne."

In the early morning of the second day, Fu Wei announced the news. He didn't inform the queen mother in advance, but the queen mother was very satisfied when she found out.Naturally, the prime minister's son was also promoted, and the turmoil caused by Fu Yi's draft was finally calmed down.

Shen Zhiqiu entered the palace for three days, but no one cared about him all the time, and he was happy to stay in Ganquan Palace to tidy up his small courtyard.Gingko was always quick to inquire about news, and soon figured out where Qibao and Molan came from. Qibao came from the flower house, and Molan came from the clothing bureau. They were the last places to wait. very close.Not only that, Ginkgo also inquired about the current layout of the harem. The current emperor has a total of five concubines, all of whom were brought in from the palace.Empress Mo Yanjun is the daughter of King Zhennan, the concubine given to him by the previous emperor when the emperor was still a prince; the noble concubine Zheng Waner, the concubine daughter of the Taifu, was the side concubine of the palace; Jieyu Lin, the daughter of the prefect of Jeju, was The concubine of the palace; the noble Liu and the beauty Wang are all concubines of the palace.He was the only one who entered the palace through the draft.

Shen Zhiqiu took a small hoe to deal with the chrysanthemums that Qibao had brought from the greenhouse. Listening to Ginkgo's report, the chrysanthemums were not of a good variety and their growth was not good.After Ginkgo finished speaking enthusiastically, seeing that her master didn't respond, she was a little discouraged and complained in a low voice: "Master, have you listened to your slaves? The current emperor's harem is the first concubine since he ascended the throne, but you!"

Ginkgo was originally annoyed and complained about Shen Zhiqiu, but now that Shen Zhiqiu has entered the palace, she also only wanted her son to live a better life in the harem.After Shen Zhiqiu loaded Qiu Ju and watered them, he smiled at Gingko: "That's really happy."

Ginkgo saw that the master was teasing her at a glance, snorted softly, clapped her hands and left, Shen Zhiqiu looked at the swaying chrysanthemums, then looked at other places in the yard, called Qibao, and asked, "Are there green bamboos in the greenhouse?"

Qibao respectfully said: "There are, but not many. The empresses of the palace think they are not good-looking, and few people are willing to grow them."

"Go and bring some back and plant them in the southwest corner so they can be taken care of." Shen Zhiqiu said.

Qibao took his orders and went. Bamboo is a cheap thing that no one wants. The flower house gave him a lot.

In the afternoon of that day, the door of Ganquan Palace, which had been deserted all along, was knocked open, and the empress brought rewards, most of which were jade decorations, jade pendants for calligraphy and painting, pens, inks, papers and inkstones, things used by men, and a box of high-quality pearls.After the queen's reward, the empresses of the various palaces also sent things one after another, Shen Zhiqiu thanked them all one by one, and let Chen Xiang put it into the warehouse.

In the evening, he sat at the low table and carefully looked through the list of rewards. The gifts from Concubine Zheng and nobleman Liu were mostly jade and antiques, and the colors of silk and satin were also suitable for men, while Lin Jieyu and Wang Meiren gave gifts. The things that came were Zhuchai jewelry, and red and green silk and satin cloth.Shen Zhiqiu already knew what these five people were thinking.

Ginkgo tugged on Chen Xiang's sleeve, and said to her in a low voice: "Why didn't the emperor reward the master?"

Chen Xiang glared at her, signaling her not to talk nonsense, but felt a little sad in her heart, it seems that the emperor chose the master to enter the palace not because he liked him.

After the reward, Ganquan Palace fell silent again. Before Shen Zhiqiu was summoned by the emperor, there was no need to go to greet the queen, and the ladies of other palaces would not come to this remote Ganquan Palace. Shen Zhiqiu stayed in Ganquan Palace all day, tidying up the courtyard , the dilapidated old palace gradually took on a new look under Shen Zhiqiu's care when he first entered the palace.

The weather was fine that day, Shen Zhiqiu had a lot of lunch, so he wanted to go out for a walk, so he went out of the palace gate for the first time, and took Qibao to the imperial garden for a stroll, just to digest food.There was a beautiful piece of chrysanthemums blooming in the imperial garden, which attracted Shen Zhiqiu. He stepped over there and met a group of court ladies. When the court ladies saw him, they were stunned at first, but then they remembered that this was a newcomer to the palace. Shen chose to serve, so they saluted together.Shen Zhiqiu nodded and ordered them to stand up. The maid in the first row was probably nervous and couldn't stand still, so Shen Zhiqiu subconsciously helped her. After the court lady blushed and saluted again, she led the others away in a hurry up.

On the second day, Shen Zhiqiu was about to fertilize Qiuju in the yard again, when a father-in-law came outside the door, saying that it was the empress who summoned him.Shen Zhiqiu was stunned for a moment, didn't ask any more questions, after cleaning his hands and changing clothes, he took Chen Xiang and followed the father-in-law towards Fengyi Palace.

Seeing that the father-in-law leading the way was some distance away, Chen Xiang asked Shen Zhiqiu in a low voice, "My lord, the empress summoned me suddenly, I don't know why."

"It's probably not a good thing to be so sudden." Shen Zhiqiu said, and then added, "It's not a bad thing either."

Chen Xiang didn't quite understand what the master meant, so he could only secretly worry about following him to meet the master of the harem.

Fengyi Palace is spacious and bright. As soon as Shen Zhiqiu approached the yard, he heard a burst of laughter from inside. He stepped in and took a quick look. In the main hall sat the emperor in ordinary clothes. The woman should be the queen, and there are two concubines sitting underneath, Shen Zhiqiu doesn't know who they are.

He walked straight to the middle, bent over and knelt down, and said loudly: "My minister Shen Zhiqiu sees the emperor and empress."

The people who were still talking and joking just now fell silent, Qi Qi looked at him, Fu Yi was sitting on the soft couch with a cup of tea, and while drinking tea, he motioned for the queen to ask questions, and the queen said: "Servant Shen Xuan, you Can you be found guilty?"

Shen Zhiqiu frowned slightly, puzzled and said: "I don't know."

"You still don't admit it!" A concubine suddenly stood up from the chair, pointed at him and said, "She told me what you did to Xiao Lian, do you still want to deny it?"

"Lin Jieyu, in front of the emperor, be careful." The queen said, and then asked Shen Zhiqiu, "Shen Xuan, Lin Jieyu said that you bumped into her personal maid Xiaolian, is there such a thing?"

Shen Zhiqiu tried his best to recall for a long time, but he didn't remember such a person, so he said, "I don't know Xiaolian."

"Did you meet a court lady in the Imperial Garden yesterday?" The queen reminded him.

Only then did Shen Zhiqiu understand, he gave a wry smile in his heart, and told the truth, "I did meet a group of court ladies in the imperial garden yesterday, and the leading lady almost fell down, so I subconsciously helped him, and there was no act of collision .”

"Empress!" Lin Jieyu said again, "As a man, Shen Xuan should understand the principle of whether a man and a woman should be married or not. I wanted to find a good marriage for her, but when she came back yesterday, she cried and said that she had no face to marry, and the concubine came to you because she was so angry."

Shen Zhiqiu still knelt and did not move, the queen asked the cause, looked at Fu Yi, and asked for instructions: "What does your Majesty think about this matter?"

Lin Jieyu sobbed and said, "I beg Your Majesty to make the decision for my concubine~" It seemed that she was the one who was hit, not Xiaolian.

Fu Lu drank tea, and looked at Shen Zhiqiu quietly. He knelt upright, without any timidity or anger. From entering the door to now, he never said a word to defend himself except answering the queen's words. Fu Lu put the teacup on the On the table, he opened his mouth and said: "Shen Xuan's behavior is negligent, and he will be fined and banned for three months."

"Your Majesty~" Lin Jieyu seemed dissatisfied with this punishment.

Fu Yi was so disturbed by her quarrel, he glanced at her, and said in a deep voice: "Even if Shen Xuan is a man, he is still my man. As the master, why do you want to offend the maid!"

Lin Jieyu was frightened, and she didn't dare to speak any more, but Fu Yi continued: "Since you, a court lady, can't even walk steadily, you don't need to serve in your palace anymore, so you can send it to the Clothes Bureau."

Lin Jieyu's face was pale, and she tried to beg for Xiaolian's mercy again, but another concubine beside her who had been silent tugged at her sleeve lightly, Lin Jieyu finally endured it, knelt down to plead guilty, "It's okay to be disciplined by the concubine, the concubine knows the crime."

Shen Zhiqiu also kowtowed, "I will be punished."

Fu Lie got up to go out, and everyone knelt down to see him off. When he walked to Shen Zhiqiu's side, the hem of his clothes swept over Shen Zhiqiu's hair, and there was a scent of golden osmanthus in the air. When he looked down, it turned out that there were a few tender yellow flowers falling. On Shen Zhiqiu's shoulders, it was probably contaminated when he passed by the Imperial Garden when he came here.