The entire imperial city was shrouded in snowflakes, and everything seemed to be imprisoned in it, with nowhere to escape. But what really imprisons people is the high red palace wall.

In the east of the imperial city, there is a large open space between the Xingqing Palace and the Dashan Palace, and the "Blessing View" is built against the palace wall.

The Taoist temple is actually a small courtyard, and a pedestal was built in the yard, and a Taoist temple was built on the pedestal. Miaojin is in this Taoist temple, praying for Queen Xu every day to eliminate disasters. She was sometimes allowed to go to see Empress Xu, but she was not allowed to go in and out of the courtyard at will.

The courtyard wall is very low, and in the Taoist temple, you can see the outside scene, but you can't see the outside of the imperial city anyway, only the palace wall makes people feel oppressive.

The palace wall is not as thick as the wall of Nanjing, but it is very high; It is so high that it not only restricts people from climbing over, but through a wall, the scene outside cannot even be seen or heard. In the Imperial City, the only thing you can see outside is the white sky.

Inside a red wall, it was as if it was completely cut off from the world.

Miaojin stood on the pedestal outside the Taoist temple, looked at the snowflakes in the sky, raised his hand and gently blew a puff of white steam. With a sneer on her face, she stared at the red wall, and then at a large moon stump within the wall. She said in her heart: In this imperial city, the only thing that can reach the wall is probably the big Yueji.

The palace halls on all sides are tall and magnificent, and the eaves are very luxuriously carved, but there are no plants, and there is not even a tree in ordinary places. Only that Yueji survived, perhaps its branches and leaves were too thin to withstand a person climbing along its branches, so it was not eradicated.

In the past two years, Miaojin has gradually guessed one thing...... In his heart, the emperor actually knows very well what these women who live in the red wall feel. That's why he used this quiet means to force Miaojin to comply, and even wanted her to take the initiative to compete for favor!

It's really boring and boring for the palace ladies to live here! Miaojin thinks that although she is not a pure-hearted person, she is also very able to calm down and sit still...... It wasn't until she was locked up here that she really felt what it meant to be bored.

However, the hardest part is not boredom; In the past, Miaojin also lived in the palace for many days, but she didn't feel too sad.

The most difficult thing for the people in the palace to resist is probably the hopeless torment.

You have to live like this all your life, die here of old age, and when you think of this, you are very easy to go crazy. This kind of torment will gradually erode everything in people, and finally desperately fight for the meaningless straw: the emperor's favor.

It is also a miraculous thing that the imperial city, where the world's wealth gathers, and the imperial city where the brocade clothes and jade food are glorious and rich, can make the palace ladies live their lives like this.

So the competition for favor became the only interesting thing for them.

Miaojin has a lot of free time every day, and sometimes I think about it......

The bloody things that everyone fights over are still not interesting; Those identities and honors only exist in the hearts of those who are outside the red walls. What people fight for is not necessarily because of how good it is, but because there are too few opportunities to get that little benefit, and what many people grab is naturally precious.

However, everyone sees different things in their eyes, at least Miaojin is not uncommon.

…… Miao Jin is not the one who was sent to the cold palace, and is nominally praying for the queen. Therefore, the palace maids and eunuchs are still very polite to her, and they will talk when they meet.

Zhu Gaoxu opened a mine in Yunnan, fought with Tusi, sent a "match made in heaven", gave birth to a son, etc., Miaojin heard about it one after another.

Miaojin understands his situation, and now disobeying the emperor's wishes will will not help, there is only a dead end. She could faintly feel that what Gao Xu was doing was helplessly currying favor with the emperor.

This is not at all Miaojin's expectations, in her heart, Gao Xu is a person who can endure not to do useless things...... Don't act rashly, at least there is a glimmer of hope; Otherwise, there is no hope at all.

In many boring days, Miaojin recalled every encounter many times, not letting go of any detail. Everything made her firmly believe that Gao Xu must be thinking about herself in her heart!

Later, I got used to recalling, and this incident became a rare and interesting thing in her life.

A cold wind mixed with snowflakes blew, Miaojin shivered from the cold, she looked at the sky and said: Yunnan should not snow, will it rain now?

Miaojin felt that her body was about to stiffen, and she was about to turn around and enter the house. Then I saw a man carrying something and walking towards this side.

The man was a little familiar, so Miaojin stopped and looked at it again. When the man got closer, she saw that it was a little eunuch of twelve or thirteen years old, with a food box in his hand.

After a moment, Miaojin's lips opened, and her apricot eyes widened with a look of surprise. She didn't make a sound.

The little eunuch walked along the stone steps to the pedestal, glanced at Miaojin, bent down and said, "Big sister still recognizes me?" ”

"Let's talk about it inside." Miao Jin hurriedly took him into the Taoist temple. She closed the door and immediately looked the little eunuch up and down.

The little eunuch said, "Big sister, isn't there anyone else in this house?" ”

Miaojin shook her head, her expression still did not return to calm, she blurted out, "The child grows so fast, I haven't seen you for five or six years, and you have grown so tall......

The little eunuch sighed, revealing a demeanor that was not commensurate with his age, and said, "I have been away from Peking for almost seven years. ”

Miaojin couldn't help but ask, "Why are you in the palace?" Didn't one of us go to Lingquan Temple to pick you up that year? ”

The little eunuch said: "Here, he is a monk." I took the clothes and coils that my big sister had given me and followed him. At that time, I don't remember how many miles I walked, and then I arrived in Jingshi. ”

Miaojin nodded and whispered, "That's right." At that time, your father Zhang Yan had been martyred, and according to the original arrangement, a colleague surnamed Ma would take you away from Lingquan Temple and bring you back to Beijing to raise. It was still the early years of Jianwen, and you should be safe and sound when you arrived in Beijing......"

Her eyebrows were puzzled, "After all, your father died to be loyal to the imperial court, and saving you was to give the Zhang family six queens, how can you be a eunuch?" ”

The little eunuch lowered his head, "The eldest sister is right, I was more than nine years old in the parents' house of Master Yifu in Beijing, and I returned to the vulgar with my hair, and I also entered a private school to study and read. But at the beginning of the fourth year of Jianwen, the whole family of the father-in-law suddenly disappeared, and the house was sold to someone else! I was evicted from my home penniless and without even a single piece of clothing.

I remember it was the beginning of the first month, just after the end of the New Year. It was snowing like this year, and I was so cold and hungry on the street that I was about to freeze to death. At this time, the godfather crossed the street, saw me, and after watching it for a while, he asked me, 'Do you want to wear warm clothes, eat big meat, and live in a big house', of course, I quickly nodded, and followed the godfather for fear that he would regret it.

Later, my godfather told me that there is no such thing as eating and drinking in the world, and if you want to eat and dress warmly, you must first purify your body and get rid of the root of your sin, as long as it hurts for a few days, you will not worry about eating and drinking for the rest of your life. I agreed then...... So I became a eunuch, and at first it hurt me to death, there was a goose feather stuck there, and I didn't even have water to drink for several days, and I could get out of bed for half a month. It's too late to regret it......"

When Miaojin heard this, her face turned pale and she couldn't say a word. In this world, the trees are really scattered, and those who have paid for their lives are really worth it?

She thought of her ancestor again, and finally ended up as a loyal minister of Emperor Yongle...... She blushed and wanted to sigh, but she didn't know what to sigh about.

Miao Jin only looked out of the crack in the door, and the silent snowflakes were stunned for a while. After that momentary curtain, no matter how much hustle and bustle there is, there is always endless desolation behind it.

"Big sister." The voice of the little eunuch woke Miaojin up.

The little eunuch took out a plate of vegetarian dishes and a night's rice from the food box, and said, "I begged my godfather and asked for this errand because I wanted to see my eldest sister." I heard that my eldest sister is a vegetarian all day long, but it is easy to be hungry if she is vegetarian, so I quietly hid an egg under the rice...... A Taoist priest is not a monk, can he eat meat? ”

Miaojin looked at the rice in front of her, her nose was sore, and she almost didn't cry. Looking at Zhang Yan's death from a certain point of view, his death protected Miaojin, so Miaojin is now facing Zhang Yan's son, and he has more mixed feelings.

Her voice was a little strange, "I didn't take care of you......"

The little eunuch said: "The eldest sister has always been very good to me, I became a eunuch, and it has nothing to do with the eldest sister." There's nothing wrong with it now. ”

Miao Jin secretly wiped away her tears and said with a forced smile: "It's good if you can think about it." Thank you for the eggs, I told people that the master is Zhang Sanfeng of the Quanzhen Sect, and he originally avoided eating meat, let alone in the Taoist temple...... But today I don't care about those rules. ”

The little eunuch said: "I don't know those rules very well, and I didn't do good things with good intentions." ”

Miaojin shook her head and asked, "What's your godfather's name?" ”

The little eunuch replied: "The godfather's name is Wang Gou'er, it didn't seem to be called this name at first, but it was changed later." I don't have the surname Zhang anymore, so I don't have to humiliate the Zhang family. My godfather asked me to follow the surname Wang, and he also took a name called Wang Yin. “

Miao Jin whispered again: "Then you will only remember yourself Wang Yin in the future, and don't mention the people of the Zhang family again, understand?" ”

The little eunuch Wang Yin nodded vigorously and said, "I understand!" If the big sister wants to eat anything in the future, she will ask someone to bring a message, the godfather is on an errand in the imperial kitchen, and there is a way to get any delicacies from the mountains and seas! ”

"You know how to eat." Miaojin scolded him with mixed emotions.

Wang Yin laughed "hehe" when he was scolded.

Miaojin said kindly: "Then you follow your godfather to eat better, you are growing at this age." ”

Wang Yin raised his head to see Miaojin, he nodded vigorously again, and said, "Ouch, big sister, I'm going to go first." With that, he turned around and opened the door and ran out.

Miaojin sent it to the door, looked at the little back, and was stunned for a while.

Somehow, she remembered that Zhu Gaoxu's princess gave birth to a son, and her heart was indeed a little sour. But thinking that Guo Wei was very good, Miaojin felt that she should be happy for her.

What's more, what reason and name does she have to be sad?