When he got drunk, Liu Ziqiu had the idea of breaking into the palace. Dongdu was too big, and even if he visited all the teahouses and restaurants, it would be difficult for him to get news about Gao Xiuer. But Liu Ziqiu knew very well that Gao Xiuer came to Luoyang
It was for revenge. He believed that as long as he kept an eye on Yang Guang, he could discover the whereabouts of Gao Xiuer. Yang Guang lived in a deep palace, so he would inevitably go there. Now, he could not only help Han Shi'er, but also find out.
path, truly killing two birds with one stone.
But Zhang Chuchen asked again: "What is the third item?"
Liu Ziqiu said seriously: "Mr. Han, if Miss Hou is willing to stay in the palace to accompany the king, you and I can't force it!"
This is not an alarmist statement by Liu Ziqiu. There are probably very few women in the world who are as discerning as Zhang Chuchen. Between Yang Guang and Han Shi'e, one is the ruler of the world and the other is just a fledgling young general. It's hard to say who Hou Susu will choose.
Li Jing and his wife looked at each other with solemn faces. Han Shi'er, on the other hand, was confident and patted his chest and said, "Su Su will not change her mind!"
Empress Xiao proposed this selection of girls in order to enrich Xiyuan. At this time, Yang Guang had not returned from his northern tour, and even Empress Xiao was with him, so the selection of girls was not in a hurry.
It happened that the Sixteenth Courtyard of Shanglin Xiyuan was completed recently, and the Ministry of Industry sent people on flying horses to tell Yang Guang the good news. Yang Guang was so happy that he announced that he would take a tour of Xiyuan after returning to the eastern capital.
Yang Guang liked to show his support the most. He wanted to visit Xiyuan, so he couldn't leave the Danian Garden empty. So Empress Xiao sent someone to send a letter on Pegasus, telling the two Chen concubines who stayed in the palace to complete the ceremony in the near future and select beautiful girls.
things.
These two Chen concubines also have a good background. They are the two half-daughters of Empress Chen. The elder sister is Chen Sui, born to Xie Zhaoyi, and was awarded the title of Princess Guangde. The younger sister is called Chen Chou, and her biological mother is Chen Sui.
Zhang Lihua, whom Gao Jie ordered to be killed. If Zhang Lihua had not been killed by Gao Jie, wouldn't it be embarrassing for mother and daughter to serve the same husband now?
Long before the Northern Inspection, Yang Guang had already established a system. A total of sixteen courtyards were built in the Xiyuan. Each courtyard selected an outstanding woman to serve as the director and was granted the title of fourth-grade wife. Twenty beauties were also selected to teach in the palace.
They sang, danced and played for fun while drinking rice. There were 336 people in total. The rest were selected from more than 2,000 women and assigned to various places as miscellaneous workers.
After Yang Guang left Dongdu, internal eunuchs such as Xu Tingfu were sent out to look for beauties. Those who were selected by the internal eunuchs, such as Wang Guizhi and Hou Susu, were all among the 336 people. The remaining number were made up of Shi Huiniang and others of the right age.
Choose among women.
Early in the morning, candidates were standing outside the palace gate. Most of these women were unwilling to enter the palace, and now they had to dress up. Because everyone knows that once you step into this palace gate, it will be difficult to come out again.
.Instead of losing the election and becoming an ordinary palace maid or handyman, it is better to compete. Even if you are a beauty, you still have status.
Gao Xiu'er, who came to replace Shi Huiniang, was also in the queue at the moment. She was surrounded by greenery, with willow eyebrows and pretty eyes, and all of them were pretty beauties. The real Shi Huiniang was also a pretty girl. If she were placed here, I'm afraid she would be a beauty immediately.
Being compared.
Different from these people, Gao Xiuer did not apply makeup, and she came late on purpose and stood relatively far back. Because Gao Xiuer's purpose was different from theirs, she just wanted to sneak into the palace. As for whether she would be a wife or a beauty,
It doesn't matter. Being an inconspicuous handyman might give you a better chance.
Although there were more than ten queues, only one person was allowed into each queue for half a day, and the queue moved very slowly. As noon gradually approached, someone finally became impatient and muttered: "It's so slow, when will it be my turn."
Someone else said: "What kind of place do you think this is? This is the forbidden area of the palace, so the interrogation process is very strict. It takes a long time to search before entering."
Nearly three hours passed slowly like this, and the team suddenly moved faster.
"It's over!" The girl in front of Gao Xiu'er suddenly lamented and said, "The three hundred and thirty-six people must have been filled up, and all we have left is to work as handymen and serve people's lives."
Gao Xiuer asked in surprise: "Why is this?"
The girl sighed and said: "After we go in, we need to meet the empress, so the search will naturally be more detailed. Now that we are walking faster, I definitely don't need to see the empress."
Gao Xiuer thought about it and felt that what she said was reasonable, so she felt a little more relaxed.
The girl in front made a good guess. The two ladies, Ms. Chen, had spent the whole morning choosing. As they gradually became tired, they became more casual about the selection. Soon they had gathered 336 people, and there were still hundreds of people left to send directly.
They went to each hospital, but they didn't bother to look any further.
Just as the two empresses were preparing to return to the palace, a burst of noise suddenly came from outside. Chen Chou frowned and asked, "What's the noise?"
A palace maid had already come to report: "I'm reporting to you, someone brought a murder weapon into the palace, and it has been captured by the guards."
Chen Chou asked: "Who is so bold? What kind of murder weapon is he carrying?"
The palace maid said: "The beautiful lady Shi Huiniang brought scissors privately, saying she does needlework."
Chen Chou muttered: "Oh, bring her to see me."
Chen Suiqi said: "Sister, if you bring something prohibited into the palace, you can ask someone to drag it out and kill it with a stick. What is she doing?"
Chen Chou smiled and said: "Sister, I don't know. My sister is in need of a needleworker."
While he was talking, Gao Xiuer had been brought in, and he lowered his head and said, "I beg your Majesty, the scissors are indeed used by this slave every day, and there is no evil intention. There is still some silk thread in the slave's sleeves."
Just now I heard that I had to be searched when entering the palace. Gao Xiuer had no choice but to take advantage of waiting in line to remove some threads from her clothes bit by bit and hide them in her sleeves. She just said that she didn't know the rules in the palace because she was used to it.
I brought my needle and thread, scissors and thread.
If it was just a pair of scissors, it would indeed be suspicious. Now that it even has a thread, Chen Chou suddenly believed it and said, "Raise your head."
Gao Xiuer raised her head and saw clearly the two empresses in front of her. Their faces were like morning glow, their skin was as white as snow, their eyes were like autumn water, and their eyebrows were as tall as the distant mountains. They were both radiant and extremely beautiful.
Chen Chou said "Hey" and said, "Sister, who do you think she looks like?"
Chen Sui didn't pay attention at first, but after hearing Chen Chou's words, she took a closer look. She was secretly surprised and asked, "Where are you from?"
Gao Xiuer didn't know what was going on, so she answered honestly: "Go back to my wife, I am a concubine from Luoyang, the eastern capital. Her nickname is Huiniang. Her father Shi Shun opened an inn on Dongmen Street, and her mother is Wang."
Chen Sui said disappointedly: "It turns out you are not from Jiangnan."
Chen Chou smiled and said: "Sister, look, she looks so much like you when you were young, why don't you keep her by your side."
Gao Xiu'er was shocked, and then she noticed that the older lady was indeed very similar to herself.
But Chen Sui said: "This is the woman His Majesty specially obtained for Xiyuan. How dare I keep her? Forget it, let someone arrange a lighter job for her."
"It's rare that she looks so much like her sister. Wouldn't it be a pity to be a handyman." Chen Chou shook his head and said, "It's better to include her in the count."
Chen Sui said in embarrassment: "All three hundred and thirty-six beauties are ready..."
Chen Choujiao smiled and said: "What's so difficult about this? It's not just a matter of words between us sisters."
Chen Sui thought for a while and said: "That's true. I remember that Xu Tingfu sent a girl named Hou yesterday. She was very beautiful, but she was crying all the way and looked quite reluctant. It would be inappropriate if she disturbed the Holy Master in the future.
Mei, why not just change her."
Because of Miss Chen's words, Gao Xiuer was selected among the 336 people. However, although the chance of getting close to Yang Guang increased, she also became the focus of everyone's attention and her whereabouts became even more intense.
It’s hard to hide. Boss Gao Xiuer was reluctant, but there was nothing he could do.
In the evening, a group of beauties were taken to the west gate of the palace city. After leaving the palace gate, there was a different world outside. It was the Shanglin Xiyuan newly built by Yang Guang.
In the garden, a pool is carved into the sea, a mountain of rocks is formed, the pavilions are curved, and the palaces are exquisite. It is also planted with exotic flowers and grasses, peach branches and willow paths, and is green and shaded. It also breeds rare birds and auspicious animals, such as golden apes and green deer, which often appear in groups. Good.
It was a fairyland on earth, and all the beauties were fascinated by it.
In this Xiyuan, except for the three fairy islands in the lake that have been named, the other five lakes and sixteen courtyards have not yet been named, leaving it to Yang Guang to come back and personally decide. Even these 336 beauties are only temporarily separated for ten
Sixth Courtyard. From now on, whoever is in charge and who is the beauty will have to wait until Queen Xiao returns to the Eastern Capital.
Gao Xiuer was assigned to the fifteenth courtyard, and there was a girl who was not selected as her personal maid. The other twenty girls, like her, learned to sing, dance and play every day, waiting for the queen's return.
But that evening, Li Jing finally returned home. Liu Ziqiu and Han Shi'er came forward to greet him and asked in unison: "How is it?"
Li Jing shook his head and sighed: "I'll try again tomorrow."
He was a member of the Driving Department, assisting the Minister in charge of driving dispatch. He had to deal with the Ministry of Works, so he had a few familiar officials. He stayed at the Ministry of Works for the whole day, under the pretext of studying driving, but in fact he wanted to steal
Looking at the plans of the palace, I found nothing.
After some insinuations, Li Jing finally figured out that all the plans for the construction of the Eastern Capital, including those for the palace city and Shanglin Xiyuan, had been put away by Yu Wenkai, the minister of the Ministry of Industry, and no one could view them without his order.
Not to mention that Yu Wenkai was following Yang Guang on his northern tour at the moment. Even if he was in Dongdu, Li Jing had no personal relationship with him and would not be able to borrow him.
Liu Ziqiu looked at Han Shi'er, who was full of disappointment, and suddenly smiled and said: "It doesn't matter if there is no pattern. The clouds are thick tonight, so we can do something about it. I will go to the palace tonight to have a look. Even if I can't find Miss Hou, I will admit it first."
The paths are also good.”
Li Jing's home is in Yongkang, southeast of Luoyang, while the palace city is in the northwest, separated by the Luoshui River. According to regulations, there are Fangding in every neighborhood, and Shiding in the market square. Even the bridges on the Luo River are also designed.
There are bridge guards. Every time it gets dark, the gatekeepers will close the gate and then take turns to guard it. They will not open it again until the next morning.
Before the third watch, the two men on night duty had already dozed off. Suddenly, a black shadow floated over their heads.