Chapter 31 Too Sweet

Although Pei Xingju was ill, he was not idle.

The emperor was young, no more than sixteen years old, and had been ruled by the Empress Dowager for a long time. He had only taken power three years ago. However, he was inexperienced and relied half on the Empress Dowager's party and half on close associates like Pei Xingju.

Pei Xingju had served as a tutor in the palace for two years. Therefore, the emperor trusted Pei Xingju and people also called him the imperial teacher.

The court was in a state of panic, and a trusted confidant had fallen ill. The emperor was so anxious that his mouth was bubbling. He endured it and handed many government affairs to the Pei residence. People from the Ministry of Justice and other departments came to the Pei residence to discuss any matters.

Therefore, in the past two days, there were always people coming in and out of the gate of Pei Mansion, and Zhuang Wan, who was taking care of the sick, could not avoid showing her face in front of people.

Zhuang Wan took good care of Pei Xingju, and was considered to be doing her best in the eyes of everyone.

He urged Pei Xingju to take his medicine and prepared fruits and snacks. Perhaps because breakfast that day went exceptionally well, Guard Lu had the kitchen staff hand over all of Pei Xingju's meals to Zhuang Wan.

He praised her with satisfaction: "I didn't expect Miss Zhuang to be so capable. With Miss Zhuang around, we can all rest assured."

Zhuang Wan: Forced smile.

He went in and out of the study more often, and he knew a little about the affairs of the court. It was said that Pei Xingju and others tried their best to persuade the emperor, but in the end the emperor still dismissed Gao Jing from his post as the Censorate.

However, because Gao Jing had acted too aggressively before and submitted thirteen memorials impeaching the Queen Mother and the Liang family, the people talked about this matter with great relish, and Gao Jing's dismissal caused considerable controversy among the people.

Most of the controversy was directed at the Liang family and Queen Mother Liang, causing the Liang family's reputation to plummet for a time and everyone to attack them.

But the Liang family did not sit idly by.

In order to protect the Ministry of Revenue, he accurately grasped the emperor's filial piety and made a big fuss in Hezhou. He bluntly stated that these taxes were not privately set, but that the people of Hezhou were grateful for the empress dowager's grace and spontaneously paid tribute.

The Liang family even compiled a list of people who had voluntarily donated money. The Hezhou prefect came out to complain, saying that there were indeed many scattered temples without proper rules, and that they had also received spontaneous donations from the people.

However, if you examine these lists carefully, you will find that these people are all relying on the Liang family for profit. They abuse their connections with the Liang family to bully others in the village, and of course they have to give the money they have extorted to the empress dowager.

Over the years, they set up Taimiao in various places to collect taxes in the name of praying for the Empress Dowager. This was also the idea of ​​"building Taimiao" that the Liang family came up with later when they wanted to settle the tax accounts in recent years.

You see, even the people know how to be grateful and respect the empress dowager. Does the emperor still want to hold on to it?

The emperor was accused of being unfilial and was caught in a dilemma.

As a result, the case of privately setting taxes was shelved.

Chen Yi was furious: "Shameless! The Liang family has lost all their dignity and is willing to let the people point fingers at them! I think they dare to mess with the foundation left by their ancestors!"

"This is clearly a case of fabricated pretexts and specious justifications, yet he was able to exploit this loophole, and the Emperor remained silent."

"Cultivate yourself and be careful with your words!" Pei Xingju said.

Chen Yi pursed his lips and swung his sleeves in anger.

"So, what should we do now? We can't have all this effort go to waste, right?"

After thinking for a while, Pei Xingju said, "Not necessarily. The emperor is a man of great resolve and ambition. I'm afraid he has other plans for this matter."

Sure enough, after lunch, someone came from the palace and invited Pei Xingju into the palace.

.

After Zhuang Wan woke up from her nap, she learned that Pei Xingju had entered the palace, so she simply lay back down and continued to sleep.

Not long after, he stood up with a somersault and sighed, thinking that his fate was to be a hard-working and lazy bootlicker.

After tidying up, she went to the backyard kitchen.

Uncle Niu saw her coming and asked, "Miss Zhuang, what do you want to do today?"

In the past two days, in order to coax Pei Xingju to take the medicine, she has been making sweets in various ways. After thinking for a while, she said, "Let's make a cake."

"Cake? What is it?"

"It's... a pastry made with eggs."

"oh."

She called Qiu Tan to help her prepare the ingredients.

First, take a basket of eggs and stir the egg whites and egg yolks separately. When the egg whites are stirred into a creamy consistency, add sugar and a little salt to enhance the flavor. Then pour in the flour and stir. Preheat the oil in the pot, then put the stirred ingredients into the pot and simmer over low heat.

Cut the shaped cake into pieces, sprinkle some dried locust flowers and dried jujube slices on top, drizzle with honey, and stack them layer by layer. In this way, the delicious locust flower and dried jujube cake is ready.

They worked like this until evening, when they heard that Pei Xingju had returned home. As soon as he returned, Guard Lu sent someone to look for Zhuang Wan.

To be honest, Zhuang Wan was a little puzzled. She didn't know why her status and position changed so much after Pei Xingju fell ill. She had become Pei Xingju's personal maid and nanny.

Moreover, the people in Pei Mansion trust her very much. Aren’t they afraid that she will poison Pei Xingju?

Of course, even if she wanted to poison her, she wouldn't have the chance, because Jingzhe followed her almost all the time, keeping a close eye on her so that even a mosquito could hardly get close to her.

After looking at the sky, Zhuang Wan carried the prepared cake to the main courtyard.

In the study room in the main courtyard, Pei Xingju, Chen Yi and several other officials were discussing matters, so she had no choice but to wait outside the door for a while.

Guard Lu came over from the corridor and said to her, "Miss Zhuang, you have worked hard recently."

Zhuang Wan laughed in her heart, but said that it was not hard.

Guard Lu: "The imperial physician just came to check your pulse and said that you are recovering very well. You will be fully recovered after taking the medicine for another day. I will have to trouble Miss Zhuang again tomorrow."

Zhuang Wan nodded, then remembered something and asked, "Guard Lu, how much do you make a month?"

"salary?"

"Oh, it's the monthly allowance. How much is it?"

Guard Lu replied, "Ordinary guards make five taels a month. I make more, eight taels a month."

Zhuang Wan was curious. They didn't give much, so why were they all so devoted to Pei Xingju? They cared for him like their own father, even trying to coax him when he refused to take the medicine.

"Why does Miss Zhuang ask this?"

Zhuang Wan smiled and said, "I'm just asking."

At this time, a quarrel was heard in the study:

"The Ministry of Revenue corruption case hasn't been resolved yet, and you're already planning to hold a birthday banquet for the Empress Dowager? What's the Emperor thinking?"

"What is your right to say what the emperor thinks? The emperor naturally has his own considerations. We, as his subjects, only need to serve the emperor and share his worries."

"Yes, yes, yes! You, Lord Hu, are loyal, but I am the unreasonable and treacherous villain?"

"When did I ever say that? Aren't we discussing the Queen Mother's birthday right now? Why are you talking about the Ministry of Revenue?"

"Your Ministry of Revenue is not clean, and you won't let people say it?"

"The Emperor hasn't even convicted you yet, but you've already sentenced Lord Yang. I think you're trying to bypass the Emperor and take over!"

"You're talking nonsense!"

"It's no use hiding your Sima Zhao intentions!"

Something landed on the table with a thud. Suddenly, the room fell silent.

Pei Xingju said in a deep voice, "If you two adults want to argue, you can go outside and do it. I am still seriously ill and have no intention of listening to this."

"Oh, Master Pei, please don't blame me! We are all working for His Majesty, and we are just in a hurry."

Then, the noise in the room began to die down again.

Zhuang Wan listened outside for a while, and seeing that Guard Lu was still standing nearby, she asked, "Anything else?"

Guard Lu hesitated, scratched his head, and finally said, "I have a friend who wants to...he wants to..."

"What are you thinking about?"

"He wants to ask Miss Zhuang's maid...if she's married?"

He almost choked back the last words, his face flushed with embarrassment.

"Oh, you're asking Qiu Tan." Zhuang Wan laughed and said, "No, she's not married yet, and she doesn't have a crush on anyone."

"It's not me...it's, it's a friend of mine." Guard Lu's face was so red that it could be dyed with eggs.

"I know," Zhuang Wan deliberately stretched out her voice and said slowly, "It's not you, it's one of your friends."

Guard Lu tried to endure it, but in the end he couldn't bear it anymore and ran away.

Zhuang Wan was overjoyed.

.

Not long after, the people in the study came out one after another. They were used to seeing Zhuang Wan carrying a tray of food outside, and some even bowed to him and said goodbye.

Zhuang Wan walked in with a food tray. Shen Yi was still in the room.

She heard him complain, "I think Lord Yang is right. The tax issue hasn't been dealt with yet, and they're celebrating the Queen Mother's birthday. Won't that make the Liang family even more arrogant?"

Pei Xingju was busy sorting through the documents on his desk. "The Empress Dowager is ill, so this matter should be put on hold. While the Emperor is ambitious to clean up the court's chronic problems, he must also consider the public's concerns."

"Did the emperor say something to you?" Shen Yi pondered.

Turning around, he saw Zhuang Wan coming in and changed the subject: "Miss Zhuang, what delicious food did you make today?"

Zhuang Wan passed by him and asked, "Master Shen, would you like to try it?"

Chen Yi saw a few small cakes on a white porcelain plate, but they didn't look like cakes. They were yellow and crispy, sprinkled with dried dates and flower petals, which looked very appetizing.

"You're welcome!" He picked up a piece and said, "I've been taking advantage of Mr. Pei these days and eaten a lot of good food..."

Before he finished speaking, his expression changed.

"What's wrong?" Zhuang Wan asked.

Pei Xingju also raised his eyes.

Shen Yi smiled stiffly: "It's okay, I remembered that I have something else to do at the office, so I'll leave first."

He said goodbye in a hurry and spat out the cake in his mouth as he walked out the door.

"It's so sweet, how can I eat it?"

At this moment, a yellow dog passed by in the yard. He waved, "Come here."

Shen Yi threw the unfinished cake on the ground.

"Here you go," he said.

Unexpectedly, the yellow dog put the food in its mouth for a moment and then spit it out.

"You think it's too sweet too?" Shen Yi said, turning his head to look inside the house, only to see Pei Xingju sitting at the table eating without changing his expression.

He couldn't help but despise it.

How much love does this have for the whole family? It's so sweet, and I can even swallow it. Tsk tsk...