Life on Wangfu East Road became calm again because of Tian Xuefang's ban.

Song Qingyue is busy preparing for the Qixi Festival chess competition. All the invitations have been sent out. Men, women, old and young can participate. Those who do not participate can also come to watch the competition. The first, second and third places all have prizes, and the prizes are very generous. The first place

The second place can get 500 taels of silver and a set of jade chess pieces, the second place can get 300 taels of silver and a folding fan painted by a famous artist, and the third place can get 200 taels of silver and a jade pendant.

This was the first time that Song Qingyue had organized such a thing. She was afraid that there were not enough people and it was not lively enough, and she would lose the face of herself and the palace, so she mobilized her father, her two brothers from the Song family, her second brother-in-law Jiang Yuanchao, Li Zhao's friend Huang Huaide, and Song Shisan

Master, Tong Jiuye, Xing Zhuangyuan, Meng Wanfeng, the twin sisters of the Feng family, the second sister, as well as the young masters and girls of Wu Shangshu’s family helped her post a message to invite people, and also told them to help invite more friends, the more people

The more exciting the competition, the more lively it will be!

Li Zhao originally wanted not to intervene to help, but when he saw that she was so happy, he seemed to be infected by Song Qingyue's emotions, so he wrote a few invitations to several chess masters from other places that he knew.

"Is it okay?" Song Qingyue asked.

Li Zhao smiled and said: "They are all white people without official status. What's the big deal?"

She thought it would be great if about a hundred people signed up for the competition, but as a result, more than two hundred people responded to the post and confirmed that they would come to compete, one-third of which were women. Plus those who responded to the post saying they wanted to come and watch the competition.

There are more than five hundred people.

Fortunately, Wangfu's hot spring resort on the outskirts of Beijing was large and spacious, but there were also people from other places who came to participate in the competition, so they had to arrange accommodation. They were afraid that there would not be enough place to live, so they asked people to build temporary buildings. Facts have proved that as long as the money is in place, the work can be done

very quickly,

With so many people participating, there will definitely be no competition in two days, so the schedule was extended to four days, with two competitions every day, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. The winner and loser were determined within two hours, so I had to write letters one by one.

notify.

After working hard for more than half a month, in the blink of an eye it was June 16th, the day when Ning Yueyao entered the mansion.

Ning Yueyao was sitting in a water-red sedan with four carriages and stopped at the side door of the palace. Someone helped Ning Yueyao get out of the sedan.

Because she is the concubine of the crown prince, she cannot even wear a phoenix crown. She can only put a gorgeous golden pheasant-shaped hairpin studded with gems on her hair, cover her head with a translucent water-red soft smoke hijab, and wear all wedding clothes.

This dull red color makes people unhappy.

Ning Yuan, who was riding a horse, had already dismounted. When he saw his sister getting off the sedan, he came over and said, "Congratulations, sister, I finally got my wish today."

There was ridicule and impatience in his words.

Ning Yueyao just glanced at her fourth brother lightly, said nothing, and turned to look at the people greeting her at the door.

There were many people to greet him, including His Royal Highness Prince Su's Concubine Zhuang, Princess Yunying and the six from Jinxiu Pavilion.

I don't know why, but Yunying looked at her with some pity.

Ning Yueyao smiled and said, "Excuse me, everyone."

Everyone paid her a courtesy, and then someone came to help her into the house.

Throughout the whole process, Ning Yueyao never looked back.

Behind her, her fourth brother Ning Yuan just looked at her back and frowned.

He was angry that his sister actually wanted to enter the prince's palace to be a concubine for his friend, which was embarrassing. He was even more disappointed with Ning Yueyao's behavior of buying a murderer to kill Mu Lei, and he was not even willing to come to marry her.

A concubine, no matter how nice it sounds, is just a concubine, so what if she gives it away?

It was the old lady of the Hou Mansion who said sincerely: "Ah Yuan, you are the only brother left in the capital. What if you don't go? After all, she is your sister, the legitimate daughter of the family. Just go, no matter how ignorant she is, she is your only one after all.

sister!"

The two old ladies in the palace also advised: "Your mother has lost four of your brothers, and she is only a girl, so why don't you love her! Besides, that boy Prince Su is a blessing, and he may not know what fortune he will have in the future!"

Ning Yuan was thinking in his heart, wasn't it because you guys loved and doted on her so much that she got to this point? He thought so in his heart, but couldn't say it out loud. He just sighed and didn't want to say more, and finally came.

.

Ning Yueyao entered the house, and the person who greeted her led her through the side door of the front yard.

I walked past Baoguang Hall, passed Wufangzhai, and then walked along the road between Wangyue Pavilion and Cuiti Pavilion.

We crossed a bamboo forest, bypassed a lake, and then arrived at Yushengju.

"Concubine, we are here. This is Yusheng Residence. The Crown Princess has said that you are the concubine, the legitimate daughter of the Marquis Mansion, and the cousin of His Highness, so naturally you have to arrange the best place to live. Look inside, and you will find everything there is.

It was carefully arranged by the Crown Princess, if you are dissatisfied with anything, just say it." Aunt Bai smiled very respectfully and politely, but she kept emphasizing that it was the Crown Princess.

Ning Yueyao snorted and was very unhappy when she didn't see Lin Wanfu next to her cousin coming to greet her. She looked at a bush next to her yard and asked, "What kind of trees are these?"

"As for the concubine, these are all peach blossoms." Mo Fan said with a smile.

"Peach blossoms?" Ning Yueyao blinked and asked, "But my cousin knows that I like peach blossoms, so he planted them specially for me?"

Mo Fan blinked, no, that peach blossom tree was originally here, but she only smiled and said nothing.

"My cousin is so considerate." Ning Yueyao lowered her head and became shy. She held the maid's hand and sat down. Her eyes were bright and she smiled and said: "Thank you, Crown Princess, for taking the trouble to arrange it! Where is my cousin? What is he doing?

When is the time to come see me?”

"Your Highness entered the palace early in the morning and has not returned yet."

Hearing what Mo Shan said, the smile on Ning Yueyao's face faded a little, and she said, "Then should I go to see the Crown Princess first?"

She meant to meet, not to pay homage.

Mo Fan and Aunt Bai looked at each other, both of them a little unhappy.

"Don't be in a hurry. The Crown Princess said that you have been dressing up all morning and you must be tired now. Let's take a rest first. When Her Royal Highness returns home in the afternoon, it will not be too late to visit her again. I will give you a banquet in the evening." Aunt Bai said.

.

"Okay, Sandalwood." Ning Yueyao called out, and Sandalwood handed over the two purses: "Thank you for your hard work, mama, thank you for your hard work, sister."

Aunt Bai and Mo Shan accepted it without being humble or overbearing, nor did they show much joy. A first-class maid like Mo Shan, in addition to taking care of Song Qingyue's food and daily life, also helped Song Qingyue with her accounts and finances.

They were all capable senior secretaries who were in business and took care of trivial matters such as interpersonal relationships. Therefore, Song Qingyue gave Mo Yun, Mo Fan and the other five girls a monthly salary of up to fifteen taels on weekdays, and Song Qingyue gave thirteen taels a year.

Monthly monthly payment, plus various annual benefits and year-end bonuses, and an additional 20% of pension money, but this money is deposited with the Crown Princess. It is said that they can not take it out until they are thirty years old, which is called

What kind of pension fund...

Aunt Bai has more monthly silver, twenty taels a month, which is more than those in Jinxiu Pavilion.

Anyway, they are really not short of money, and being raised by a rich and wealthy prince concubine makes them more knowledgeable than a lady from aristocratic family.

Then Mo Fan explained the furnishings in the courtyard again before leading the people into the main room on the second level.

Ning Yueyao actually has no interest in visiting. She has a dowry. Anyway, all the furnishings and objects in the house will be replaced by those she brought from the Hou Mansion.

After that, Aunt Bai asked again: "How many maids and wives did the concubine bring? The imperial concubine said that you are the legitimate daughter of the Hou Mansion, so you must have brought many maids and wives, so I won't add any to you for the time being.

If you don't have enough manpower, just tell me and I will make arrangements for you."

This surprised Ning Yueyao. That little bitch Song San didn't send anyone to her place?

She did bring six maids and a nanny. In fact, this was already too much. They originally thought that it would take a lot of trouble to keep all the maids and women she was marrying, but she didn't expect that Song San would not do it at all.

No matter, not even a sweeper or an envoy was sent.

Ning Yueyao said dissatisfiedly: "Is this how your imperial concubine arranged it? Where are Sasou and Ruushi? There must be a few, right?"

Aunt Bai still had a businesslike attitude and said with a smile: "How many sweepers and rough men do you need? How many second-class and third-class maids are needed? You can tell me the number, and I will report back to the Crown Princess.

The Crown Princess also said that if you are not used to it, you can go back to the Marquis Mansion and bring over all the servants you are used to."

"She really said that?" All of Ning Yueyao's servants were very surprised.

"That's what nature said." Aunt Bai said respectfully.

Ning Yueyao snorted: "You, the Crown Princess, are good people in front of His Highness."

Aunt Bai smiled but did not answer.

"Okay, I am indeed tired and need to rest. Thank you very much, grandma." Ning Yueyao said and brought the tea.

Aunt Bai didn't pause and led the people away neatly.

In Wufangzhai, Song Qingyue was still discussing the chess competition with Mo Ping and Mo Zhu. When she saw Aunt Bai and Mo Shan coming back, she asked, "What should I say? Is there anything she is dissatisfied with?"

"No, how dare she. Instead, she rewarded the old slave." Aunt Bai said.

Song Qingyue smiled and said: "In the future, if people from Yushengju give us money, we will take it. The money is not too much, right? It doesn't matter whether the matter can be done or not."

Everyone in the room laughed, but Mo Fan said: "Then I don't want to take that person's money. Concubine, you have given me enough, so I don't care about that little money."

Mo Zhu also expressed his loyalty: "I won't take it either."

Song Qingyue and Aunt Bai laughed and said, "Look at how clever they are. I don't know how many good things they will coax out of my hands in the future."

Aunt Bai was very pleased and said: "Old slave, I am relieved. If Mo Yun and Mo Xiang get married in the future, there will be a successor!"

If you ask about Ning Yueyao in the main courtyard, you will naturally ask questions in other places as well.

However, after all, Ning Yueyao had just entered the mansion, so she couldn't get a clue even if she wanted to ask.

When people come in, they only need to set up a table in the evening, and they are considered to have passed the Ming Road. The status of the concubines of the Zhou Dynasty palace is much lower than that of the concubines of the Manchu and Qing Dynasties in actual history, because the Manchus were in the process of entering the customs.

In the past, there was no distinction between wives and concubines. In the etiquette of the Han people, the distinction between concubines and concubines was a very serious matter.

After all, she is just a concubine. No matter how noble her birth is, she cannot be overly praised. At most, she can be rewarded with something.

Before noon, the rewards from the prince and the princess arrived. Concubine Meng Shu also received something as a reward, but there was nothing from the emperor.
To be continued...