Early in the morning of the vernal equinox, Wu Jie got up to freshen up. The vernal equinox priests did not need to wear the formal court clothes of noble concubines, but they also needed to be solemn and clean.

Wu Jie chose a long autumn-colored thick satin dress and a deep purple doraemon cloak, and brought a few maids to the small square where they gathered.

He got into the arranged carriage and quickly drove out of the palace.

Looking out through the curtain of the car, the sky is still dark. Front and back are elites in armor.

The royal driver travels, and the forbidden army clears the way. The cars of Wu Jie and the concubines are all behind.

The road was so boring, reading a book and shaking her eyes, Wu Jie almost fell asleep in the car. After walking for more than two hours, they finally arrived at the Chongsheng Temple where the ceremony was held.

Chi Rui helped her down and stood in front of the mountain gate, looking at the ancient temples spreading up the mountain.

As a royal temple, Chongsheng Temple is actually a huge palace, stretching for several miles, not only presided over by eminent monks, but also several yamen such as Qin Tianjian.

Entering from the magnificent gate, there is a long white marble walkway, and the wide yard is simple and solemn, all the way to the hall of offering sacrifices to heaven.

Further behind is the altar, including several altars with different functions, such as the praying grain altar and the praying victory altar. Behind it is the Astrology Palace, Huangji Palace and so on.

Yuan Jing led everyone to salute in the Heaven Sacrifice Hall, and then came to the Prayer Valley Altar to hold the ceremony. After a whole set of procedures, it finally reached almost noon.

Wu Jie's legs and feet were numb from standing. It was said that it was spring, but in fact the weather was still bitingly cold, especially since several altars were built on the hills, and the wind was blowing.

Finally able to rest, Wu Jie supported Chi Rui's hand and walked towards the side hall, seeing Li Chongrong beside him kept looking back. Then turned around and took a look.

I saw Lu Pingting behind.

In this cold weather, she didn't wear any thick clothes, only a thin silver-blue satin skirt that was old and not old.

Surrounded by concubines in solemn and elegant attire, she was the only one who looked shabby, especially her slender figure, standing in the cold wind, she looked even more pitiful.

Wu Jie blinked, not knowing what to say.

Yuan Jing glanced over here, and stopped for a while when passing by Lu Pingting, but quickly moved away.

Isn't there any pity for such a beauty? Wu Jie asked herself that even looking at her made her feel very touching.

Lu Pingting walked very slowly, falling behind the crowd, and cautiously walked into the side hall.

It was obviously not only Wu Jie who noticed her style. Empress Gao glanced at her, said nothing, and went to rest in the apse.

Concubine Hongshu refused to let it go, staring at her and asked, "Could it be that the regular clothes for Concubine Lu Gui's palace have not been distributed this year?"

Lu Pingting's face turned red, and she lowered her head, "I have some clothes, but it just happened that yesterday I overturned a furnace of incense ash in the cage, so I had to send more than a dozen newly made thick clothes to be washed."

Concubine Hongshu said in a manly voice, "So that's the case, I was wrong."

She paused, and said with a smile, "It just so happens that two boxes of candied snacks made by the Queen Mother in the Palace fell on the carriage in the small square at Dongtou. Please bring someone over to fetch them for me. It's windy and sandy outside. The sisters are all wearing new clothes with gold and silver, and it’s not good if they get dirty when they go out, just like your old clothes look like work materials.”

After finishing speaking, she didn't look at Lu Pingting, and walked straight to the apse with a few court ladies.

Several concubines looked at the pale Lu Pingting with glee, and laughed in a low voice.

Wu Jie was speechless, Concubine Hongshu was also a fool, Lu Pingting's idea today was to show others weakness and to invite favor with pity. If you come up and step on it two or three times, isn't it just to make people complete their minds.

Lu Pingting's eyes were red and her face was even paler, but she was secretly happy.

She took the maid out of the side hall, deliberately pretended to be in a daze and glanced up, feeling very disappointed in her heart, Yuan Jing was no longer in the courtyard at this time.

I had no choice but to bow head and walk in the direction when walked quickly.

All the rituals in the main hall were completed, and suddenly a concubine came out, naturally becoming the focus of everyone's attention.

But he didn't dare to look around rudely, the guards and guards who were still in the vestibule all glanced at it and quickly lowered their heads.

However, there were two people who looked unscrupulous.

Among them, the one on the left, dressed in silver and white armor, was born in a very good shape, with phoenix eyes and thin lips, he always smiled when he was not smiling, and he was naturally handsome and romantic. He stared at Lu Pingting's back for a second, then turned to look at his unscrupulous companion beside him.

"Master Shen also thinks this lady was born well."

Shen Sishu suddenly came back to his senses, only to realize that he was rude, and smiled to cover up, "I was just thinking about something. I made General Hong laugh."

Hong Chongyue laughed and patted him on the shoulder, "Slender beauty is something that everyone can see, so there is nothing to avoid."

It is extremely rude to comment on the concubine at will in public, but Hong Chongyue is unscrupulous.

Shen Sishu smiled wryly, and quickly changed the subject, "I'm not as romantic and affectionate as General Hong."

Although Hong Chongyue was young, he was a well-known playboy in Capital City. He not only had fun, but also had a crush on several famous ladies, and even caused several scandals at one time. It's just that his father is the prime minister, his aunt is the empress dowager, and the emperor is his own cousin. Big things can be suppressed, let alone a few flirtatious things, just adding a few beauties to the back house.

Hong Chongyue laughed loudly, showing an expression that I understand, "Actually, the empress in this palace"

Shen Sishu hastily raised his hand to surrender, he doesn't have such a strong background, he doesn't want to talk about the harem concubines with Hong Chongyue in public.

Just when Xi Yuwei's subordinates came to report the matter, Hong Chongyue stopped teasing.

Shen Sishu hurriedly slipped away.

He wouldn't be so rude, he just recognized the one just now, it should be Lu Pingting.

Looking at a cute and charming little white flower, didn't expect it to be such a cruel and ruthless master. Using a rough servant girl, a girl who was rescued from nowhere, she gave her stepmother the reputation of killing a good family.

In fact, the last time they didn't make a move, just relying on Lu Pingting's trick-or-treating layout, it was enough for Yang Shi to be overwhelmed.

A while ago, stuck within the limit of three days, Shen Sishu sent the results of the investigation to Yuan Jing's imperial case.

This time he learned his lesson and never showed off his meager wisdom and reasoning ability, everything was based on facts.

Finally, he investigated the ins and outs of this matter clearly, but the more he investigated, the more surprised Shen Sishu was.

It's fine with the Lu family, it's just a dispute within the house, and that girl with steamed buns appeared and disappeared strangely. No trace was left behind.

Yuan Jing immediately gave another order to find out the whereabouts of that person.

In fact, even if the emperor didn't give an order, he still wanted to get to the bottom of this matter with his temperament of pensive books.

It's just that this concubine Lu Gui, I'm afraid there will be no bright future in the palace. Based on his understanding of Yuan Jing in Shen Si Shu, it is impossible for him to spoil this type of girl.

Alas, the emperor looked at Leng Ao, but he actually had a very gentle personality and was considerate, but after a long time of contact, he knew that besides being gentle, he also had a kind of arrogance, and it was impossible for someone who didn't like him to pretend to be a little fake.

However, my sister, who was unconscious, was clamoring all day long to enter the palace and become a concubine, just because of that face.

Shen Sishu shook his head, it's better to hurry up and do some errands.

Of course, Lu Pingting didn't know about these details, she was still ambitious and wanted to make progress.

Taking the candied fruit box from the carriage, Lu Pingting hurried back to the side hall.

Shan Fang whispered beside her, "This concubine Hong Shu is really going too far, insulting your empress so much."

"Don't talk about concubines behind your back in the future, otherwise I won't be able to keep you." Lu Pingting reprimanded, and smiled again, "It's just a yellow-mouthed kid, these sarcasm are nothing."

Not long after she entered the palace, she had a precise grasp of Concubine Hongshu's character. It is actually very easy to please this kind of person. The reason why she didn't want to do it was because she didn't want to offend Empress Gao. After all, during the period when the emperor returned to the palace, most of them stayed in Phoenix Rite Palace, and he didn't seem to be very affectionate to Concubine Hongshu, his cousin. After all, he was young and his figure hadn't grown.

She is very confident in her appearance and talent. If there are many beauties in the palace, she doesn't think she can be unique, but now in the palace, Empress Gao is more than tough, but not gentle enough. Concubine Hongshu is beautiful and affectionate, but childish. Both Lin Zhaoyuan and Li Chongrong were inferior in appearance, and Wu Guifei, who entered the palace together, was a woman from a foreign country after all, so there was nothing to worry about. As for the rest of the talents and beauties, there are only beautiful vases.

If she still can't stand out in such an environment, she, Lu Pingting, has really wasted her beautiful looks and full of poems and books bestowed by heaven.

However, the ideal is beautiful, but the reality is cruel.

Not long after Lu Pingting returned to the side hall, she coughed repeatedly, obviously choking on the cold wind.

After hearing the news, Empress Gao said a few words to Concubine Hongshu, and ordered the maid Lu Pingting to rest in the side hall, so she didn't have to attend the afternoon ceremony.

Concubine Hongshu was so angry that he dropped the dim sum box.

In the afternoon. Yuan Jing brought several clan princes into Huangzhuang to plow the fields.

The queen and her concubines collected mulberry leaves and sent them to the silkworm room.

Wu Jie also followed behind the crowd, feeding a few leaves, listening to the rustling sound, everyone dared not speak.

It is said that the silkworms are very delicate, loud noises can easily scare them, and everyone washed off the powder and spices before entering.

Immediately after the ceremony was over, a special maid came to take over. The servants who greeted Huangzhuang knelt down and reported that the silkworms in today's silkworm room will spin and cocoon, and then they will be cut into special cloth and presented to the palace. .

In fact, Wu Jie doubts whether these silkworms can really survive until the day they cocoon. The vernal equinox is early this year and the weather is quite cold. When was collecting mulberry leaves just now, there were only a few buds sporadically sprouting from that large mulberry tree.

This is a little inconvenience in the north, and the mulberry trees in the south should be green and full of branches.

It is said that the silkworms in the silkworm room were specially spawned in advance in the warm room for a few days of sacrifice.

Of course, it is impossible to say these words to destroy the atmosphere. Empress Gao's demeanor perfectly represented everyone's acceptance of Tian Zhuang's kindness, and said some words for the scene that she had prepared.

The historians and agricultural officials next to me recorded it meticulously. Today's persuasion ceremony is over.

Everyone continued to go to the apse to meet the Queen Mother.

The Empress Dowager came to Chongsheng Temple today, first went to visit the Buddha and prayed for blessings, then talked about Buddhist scriptures with several eminent monks, went to ask for two lottery in the afternoon, and now it has just been sent to the back for an explanation.

He was waiting, and when he heard that Empress Gao was leading his concubines to meet, he ordered to pass in.

Everyone filed in and knelt down in unison.

Hearing Xuan Ping, the female officer next to the queen mother, stand up.

This was the first time Wu Jie saw Queen Mother Hong in her life.

Empress Dowager Hong is only in her early forties, and her appearance can still be seen as beautiful and tender as a girl. She has a three-quarter resemblance to Concubine Hongshu, but has a more mature charm than Concubine Hongshu.

It's just that his face is pale, and his spirit doesn't look good.

When she was the noble concubine of the late emperor, she had a heartache, and the late emperor took pity on her very much. In the past two years as the empress dowager, she has become weaker and weaker, and her condition fluctuates from time to time.

Wu Jie knew that in more than a year, the queen mother would die of illness.

Her death was the beginning of the decline of the Hong family.

The Hong clan, once extremely prominent and in control of the situation in the court, had completely left the center of power when Wu Jie died.

The current patriarch of the Hong family is the elder brother of the Empress Dowager, the Prime Minister of the Left, Hong Heting, who not only controls the power in the court, but also is a great Confucian in the world, has students everywhere, and is known as Hong Banchao, which means that nearly half of the civil servants in the court are all out of his door.

The sons were all up to the task, holding important positions in the court, and even because Hong Chongyue joined the Xiyu Guard, they also gained a lot of prestige among the generals.

In addition, the emperor is the nephew of the Hong family, so it would be no problem to see the Hong family's wealth continue for another 20 or 30 years. Unexpectedly, just over a year later, Empress Dowager Hong died of a sudden illness, and Concubine Hong Shu died of illness not long after being too tired to serve the Empress Dowager. At the end of the same year, Hong Chongyue died again on the battlefield of South Chen.

Hong Heting was heartbroken that his beloved son, daughter, and younger sister passed away one after another. He became sick from worry, and his health deteriorated. He also died of illness two or three years later.

Without Hong Heting as the pillar, although the reputation of the Hong family is still noble, it will no longer be the glory of the past. But just with Yuan Jing around, it wouldn't be too embarrassing.

Looking back now, the decline of the Hong family might not have been due to that person behind the scenes.

He succeeded to the throne at a young age, full of ambitions, and never willing to be controlled by others. How can stand these old ministers pointing fingers at me with their seniority. It's just that Wu Jie couldn't guess how many hands and feet were involved.