The Moon Over Tang Dynasty

Chapter 144 A promise worth a thousand dollars, a smile and a sideways glance

She wears a short plain silk jacket with silver satin piping, a narrow five-piece white silk skirt, and only a thin layer of powder on her snow-white oval face. Liuli looked at Xue Nu who walked in slowly, and couldn't help but exclaimed in her heart. It’s been more than a month since we last met, and Xue Nu has obviously lost weight. However, against this pure and water-like dress, she feels extremely cold and glamorous, and the natural charm in her bones has also become vague. , but it becomes more and more sultry.

Liuli suddenly felt a little guilty: During the recent period, she had completely forgotten about this Snow Slave. According to Ani's report, she had been staying in Meiyuan as expected, and would go out and take the initiative to cook every morning and evening. Huacao, when she occasionally chatted with other maids, she always spoke in a well-behaved manner. She never inquired about the news of going to bed or used favors to win people's hearts. Looking at this charming beauty now, Liuli felt that he had put her in the backyard to get moldy, which was really a waste of natural resources.

Xue Nu walked up to Liuli and bowed respectfully, "Xue Nu has seen the lady."

Liuli smiled quickly and said, "No need to be polite! I heard that you have something to report, so just get up and reply."

Xue Nu did not stand up, but still knelt on the ground, lowering her head deeply, revealing a neck like snow, with dark black hair. Even though Liuli was a woman, her heart jumped when she saw it.

　　"Xue Nu is here to beg the lady to give Xue Nu a favor."

Liuli couldn't help but sit up straight, waiting for her next words. I couldn't help but sigh in my heart. I should have thought of it a long time ago. Such a beauty would probably not be willing to grow old slowly in the small world of her own backyard, right?

Xue Nu's voice was low, but her tone was not hesitant, "I overheard that the lady will transfer the property to the eldest princess in the next few days. I think that the lady and Alang will have nothing to do with the Hedong Duke's house in the future. Congratulations to the lady, Xue Nu. , I also want to ask my wife to make the decision and sell the snow slaves again. "

Liuli raised her eyebrows in shock, and almost blurted out "What did you say?" - Did she hear it correctly? Xue Nu came here to beg him to sell her again? Her request was as personal as ever! After thinking for a long time, she could only ask, "Where do you start talking about this?"

Xue Nu straightened up slightly, but his voice was still very calm, "To be honest with you, Madam, Xue Nu has been growing up in Pingkangfang since he was a child. Although he has never been admitted to a teaching place, he was raised carefully by his fake mother. He thought he was a rare commodity, but unexpectedly he was The Duke of Hedong took a fancy to her and forcibly bought her as a slave for 200 gold. Fortunately, both the lady and Alang were kind-hearted and gave Xue Nu a place to live. However, Xue Nu had nothing to do in the palace. , I feel really uneasy, so I want to beg the lady to start a new life. On the one hand, I can sell the snow slave to the Le family in the house, and the lady can get one or two hundred gold without saying a word; on the other hand..." She seemed to become a little hesitant, no Let’s talk about it later.

Liuli suddenly understood. As Pei Xingjian had expected, this Xue slave was indeed a prostitute. However, she was not an official who had been admitted to the jiafang, but a private servant who had been raised by the madams. Listening to her tone, Presumably she was not originally a slave, but was forcibly bought as a slave by the eldest princess. Now she probably felt that the Hedong Duke's government would not be interested in pursuing her whereabouts, so she begged herself to sell her back - maybe for her , being an oiran is indeed a more promising career than being a gardener, right? Liuli couldn't help but slow down her voice, "If you have anything to say, you might as well just say it."

Xue Nu was silent for a moment, then suddenly raised his head and looked at Liuli resolutely, "If Madam can trust Xue Nu for once, Xue Nu will boldly ask Madam to let Xue Nu do her good deeds. The lady is worth a thousand pieces of gold!”

Liuli looked at Xue Nu in surprise. There was an air of determination on her beautiful face that was almost frightening to watch. It stands to reason that her request is not only bold, but also whimsical to the point of absurdity, but for some reason, there is something in her expression that makes it impossible to refuse outright. Liuli thought for a few times before frowning, "Slave slaves are good, state-owned custom-made, I don't just let them go if I want." According to the laws of the Tang Dynasty, she could only treat Xue Nu as a slightly better customer than slaves. , but she cannot be directly regarded as her beloved.

Xue Nu's eyes suddenly lit up, "Madam, you don't know something. Xue Nu is originally from a good family. As long as Madam is willing to let Xue Nu go, Xue Nu will have her own way to return her to a good family. The person who bought the slave was originally Hedong Gongfu. This matter is also It will never involve my wife!”

Liuli was silent for a moment, but she also knew that the Tang Dynasty government strictly prohibited forcing a good person to become a slave. If a good family son was forced to be sold into slavery, as long as he went to the government to appeal, he could indeed be returned to good status. It was well known to everyone that the eldest princess gave her two stunningly beautiful maidservants. Even if Xue Nu changed her registration, it would not implicate her. However, it was the Hedong Duke's house who bought her, so she actually said she was sure of it. Being able to look back on this matter shows that he has thought about it very carefully...

Xue Nu looked at Liuli, and her expression became more sincere and humble, "Madam, it's not that Xue Nu is ungrateful. Xue Nu was born in the dust, and has nothing to do except being an artist. Madam and Alang were extremely kind to Xue Nu. , but with Xue Nu's humble body, what's the use of keeping it in the house? If the lady is willing to sell Xue Nu back to Pingkangfang, she can make a little profit. However, if Xue Nu is free, he can try to stand on his own. My wife’s income in ten years will be several times what I am worth now. With such status as my wife and husband, Xue Nu, a humble citizen, would not dare to deceive each other even if he has great courage!”

Liuli looked at Xuenu quietly. Xuenu looked slightly nervous at first under Liuli's gaze, but then regained his composure. Liuli secretly admired her heart and nodded with a smile, "I guess you not only heard that I will transfer the property to the Hedong Duke's Mansion, but also heard that I will use the hundreds of thousands of dollars of income for my tribe, so today I will Are you going to do this? The so-called selling to a fake mother is just an excuse. Do you think that since I don’t care about a fortune of hundreds of thousands of gold, I will not be known as a prostitute for a net worth of one or two hundred gold, no matter what. For the sake of fame and fortune, I will let you out happily, right?"

 I want to transfer my property to the Hedong Duke's Mansion. No one in this mansion has known about it for a long time. Xue Nu has never been banned. How could it be possible that they only heard about it recently? I came here to beg for mercy early this morning. Naturally, I heard the latter news recently. She talked about this in circles, not to let herself resell her. She was just betting on herself. If he could give up that huge family fortune, he might be afraid of trouble and love his reputation, so he would let her go for fame, or if he was far-sighted, he would let her go for profit. Unfortunately, he was neither of the two.

Xue Nu was startled, her face suddenly turned pale, and she hurriedly leaned to the ground, "Xue Nu doesn't dare!"

Liuli smiled faintly, "Don't you dare? Then why are you here? You guessed it right. I really don't care about your worth, and I don't want to be known as a prostitute. But I don't like you even more. You are tempting me like this, so I have never heard of selling you to a fake mother for ten years of gold!"

Xue Nu trembled and raised her head to say something. When she met Liuli's eyes, she finally lowered her head wordlessly, her shoulders completely slumped.

Liuli was silent for a moment, then turned around and said, "Aqin."

Aqin glanced at Xue Nu with a complicated expression and took a step forward, "What do you want me to do, ma'am?" Liuli said calmly, "Take Xue Nu's deed and go to the outer courtyard to find Butler Pei and ask him to go to Wannian County. , and said that we just learned today that Xue Nu was originally from a good family, and asked the Yamen to check it out, and if it is true, please cancel her status. "

Xue Nu suddenly raised her head and looked at Liuli in disbelief. Liuli looked at her calmly and said in a much gentler tone, "I know you have a way to return to a good place, but after all, it was Hedong Gongfu who bought you. Go, you have to pay a lot of money to change this matter. Why don't you come forward and think that I bought a good reputation with you? If you have a reliable place to stay, you can wait until the housekeeper comes back. You can leave the house on your own, and you can take the clothes and clothes made for you with you if you need them. After you leave, you will have nothing to do with this house anymore, and you don't have to come to the house again when you leave. "It's rare to meet such a personable person. If these beauties can be reunited and separated easily, it would actually be a good deal.

Xue Nu was stunned for a long time, then suddenly leaned over and kowtowed with dignity, "Madam, I am so kind to you, Xue Nu dare not say a word of thanks. What Xue Nu did today was not ungrateful. She actually had unfulfilled wishes and could not enjoy food and clothing." , I came up with the idea of ​​begging the lady to be kind, and I definitely didn’t mean to deceive the lady. As for the debt of a thousand gold, the lady can pretend that she didn’t hear it, but Xue Nu would never pretend that she hadn’t said it. If the slave survives, he will wear a grass ring in the future to repay his great kindness. Snow slave will retire now!"

Seeing Xue Nu kowtow again, she quickly stood up and exited the room. Her usually graceful figure actually gained a bit of freshness. Liuli shook her head gently, feeling very regretful: There once was an excellent lady. The painted model was placed in front of her, but she didn't cherish it... But she heard Ani behind her whisper, "Madam, did you really let her leave like this?"

Liuli smiled and said, "Why keep her? Is it possible to let her spend her whole life pruning flowers and trees in the house?" She can bear it, and those poor flowers and trees probably can't bear it either...

Aqin walked out of the inner room holding a body deed. Hearing this, he smiled and said, "Madam, you are good at tricks. In this way, not only will others have nothing to say, but Xue Nu will also become more sincerely grateful. With her appearance and tricks, , Ten years of gold is nothing. If she causes trouble in the future, no one will be able to blame us, and if my wife asks her to do something, she will most likely do it with all her heart. "

Liuli couldn't help but laugh. She had never thought about getting the thousand taels of gold, let alone using this method to win over people's hearts. In fact, it was just vanity. She didn't want to do good things and still be regarded as a fool. That’s all. Just listening to Xue Nu's words before leaving, she seemed to have some unfulfilled wish. She was really curious about what this beauty with scheming intentions and pursuits would look like in ten years.

　　…………

At the right moment, as the melodious music of elegant music played, hundreds of civil and military officials of the fifth rank and above who attended the Chang Dynasty in the Tai Chi Hall all avoided their seats and stood in awe, holding hands and bowing. On the dragon bed that was more than ten feet wide, Gaozong stood up with an indifferent expression, turned around and walked slowly eastward. As soon as the ocher-yellow dragon robe disappeared outside the East Pavilion Gate, the pairs of ceremonial guards all over the Taiji Hall also exited one by one in an orderly manner.

At the second quarter of the morning, the elegant music stopped playing. In the lingering sound that echoed in the hall, starting with the officials of Shangshu Province, all the civil and military officials left quietly in order of rank. After a cup of tea, there were only Hundreds of empty mats were laid.

The autumn sun has already poked its head out from the cornices on the east verandah of Tai Chi Hall, shining slantingly on the blue glazed tiles on the two corridors outside the palace. Hundreds of seats have been arranged under the two corridors. Officials retreating from the palace. They sat down silently in their respective seats. After a while, the crisp sound of rings came from far and near, and the palace ladies wearing brocade half-arms and blue long skirts lined up in two long teams, holding exquisite food boxes, and delivered each gold-plated silver bowl to everyone. On the food table in front of people.

Although hundreds of people were eating at the same time, except for the occasional sound of bowls and chopsticks clashing together, there was silence in the two long corridors. Everyone was sitting upright, with the same demeanor as if they were attending court in the palace. Occasionally, someone was talking in a low voice. After a few words, the two censors who were patrolling back and forth came over and lowered their heads cautiously.

Pei Yan was wearing a green round-neck robe, and his sharp eyes were scanning the officials in the corridor. As the supervisory censor on duty, he not only had to rush to the main hall before the morning court, supervise the dress and manners of the officials before entering the court, lead them into the hall and sing songs, but also supervise whether they were quiet when eating in the corridor. Only by being solemn can one be considered to have completed the supervision of today's court meeting. Seeing these officials whose rank was much higher than his own, their postures became more and more dignified with the sound of his footsteps. Pei Yan couldn't help but straighten his waist and feel a little warm in his chest, until he saw a familiar face in the corner of his eyes. , only to feel slightly cold.

In the middle of the shift of the fifth-grade civil servant, Pei Xingjian was sitting in front of the desk. His posture was upright and upright, but his eyes were absently looking out of the corridor. In the silver bowl on the desk in front of him, there was a whole bowl of hot noodle soup that was almost untouched. The sun shone slantly on his face, making the smile at the corner of his mouth particularly conspicuous.

Pei Yan's brows suddenly frowned slightly: "Does Pei Xingjian think this is a restaurant?" What he eats in the corridor is the gift from the Holy One, and he observes the etiquette of the court. His casual celebrity style is fine on ordinary days, but if it can be used here, is it a little too disrespectful?

As if he felt Pei Yan's gaze, Pei Xingjian came back to his senses, smiled calmly at Pei Yan, lowered his head and started eating. Pei Yan withdrew his gaze and continued to walk forward, but his handsome face became increasingly cold and solemn.

When the bells of Qingyue rang leisurely, the officials who were eating in the corridor put down their silver chopsticks, stood up, and walked slowly down the steps. Only then did the sounds of joking and laughter rang out, and some people were looking around for their colleagues in the department who were returning to the Yamen on the same way. , some people asked their friends to go to Xinchangfang to drink a cup of sweet-scented osmanthus wine after going to the office.

Pei Yan looked at the backs of everyone, dusted the corners of his clothes, and was about to turn around and leave, but he heard a voice not far away, "Pei Mingfu, please stay." He couldn't help being startled, and looked up, only to see a Chu Suiliang in purple robe was walking quickly towards Pei Xingjian in the crowd. Naturally, everyone gave way, and Pei Xingjian turned around with a smile and bowed slightly.

The two of them whispered something in a low voice. Chu Suiliang suddenly burst into laughter. After a while, he patted Pei Xingjian on the shoulder and said with a smile, "Okay! You can go to the political hall to find me in the afternoon!"

Looking at Pei Xingjian’s smiling profile, Pei Yan’s eyes narrowed involuntarily.

The classification and management of prostitutes in the Tang Dynasty were very, uh, special; the ceremony of going to court was also quite special. I'll write it into the Tang Dynasty Survival Guide when I have time. My task these days is to write as much as possible, and I will keep it up until the end of the first half, so as to save everyone from being anxious...

 (End of this chapter)