Chapter 24 Chapter 24 Great, I knew you had ulterior motives...

However, even so, if Li Shuyao really asked Nanny Lin to ask for a different price, she still wouldn't dare.

She is timid.

Lying on the table, tapping his forehead against the edge a few times, Li Shuyao had a vague idea in his mind: find external help!

You can't just find someone randomly. First, he has to be literate, second, he has to be willing to help her, and third, he has to be able to keep it a secret.

——What if this account book is important?

After thinking about it, Li Shuyao could only think of one person in her mind, her new best friend, Guo Luoluo Qingyao.

Qingyao is definitely satisfied with the last two conditions, but I don’t know if she can read.

Thinking of this, she stood up, picked up a few booklets and hurried out.

Along the way from her room to the outer room, the eunuchs and palace maids she met all saluted her with a very respectful attitude and proper posture. Compared with the cold stare she received everywhere when Li Shuyao first came here, it was truly a world of difference.

But Li Shuyao was too careless and didn't notice anything unusual.

I just feel that everyone I met today was quite polite and courteous.

Had he been retrained recently? Or were there new regulations in the palace? They had to have colleagues, and they had to love each other...

As he was thinking, he stopped, kept holding the account book, bent down with difficulty and knelt down, returning the greetings one by one.

She didn't notice that the palace maids who were bowing to her were showing expressions of horror one after another, as if they had seen a devil.

After walking and stopping along the way, Li Shuyao arrived outside Qingyao's room. She was already sweating profusely and didn't even have the strength to raise her hand to knock on the door. She could only stretch out her foot and gently kick Qingyao's door, shouting weakly, "Qingyao, good Qingyao, please open the door for me."

There was no movement in the room for a long time.

Not here?

Li Shuyao adjusted her position while holding the account book, and finally freed one hand. She bent her knuckles and knocked lightly on the door twice, her little face almost touching it. "Qingyao?"

Still no one answered.

It seems that he is really gone.

Li Shuyao sighed somewhat disappointedly, turned around and sat on the green-painted railing of the corridor outside Qingyao Gate, folded the account books in her arms one by one and placed them aside.

Then she kneaded her sore arms with both hands, her eyes still fixed on Qingyao's door with melancholy, imagining whether Qingyao would suddenly jump out from inside the next moment, laugh at her with a smug look on her face, and then cross her waist, "Haha, did I trick you?"

Li Shuyao waited for a while without blinking, for fear that she would subconsciously show a frightened expression when Qingyao jumped out.

Then she lost to Qingyao!

However, as time passed, Qingyao's room remained quiet.

A breeze blew slowly past Li Shuyao's back, bringing with it a few strands of the unique heat of summer. Cicadas chirped leisurely on the big tree in the yard, and the leaves rustled from time to time.

In other rooms, one could often hear the sounds of people walking around, pouring water, or talking.

Only Qingyao's room was silent.

It seems that he is really gone.

But……

Li Shuyao tilted her head, and a hint of natural confusion flashed in her dark eyes. She hadn't heard that Qingyao was recruited to accompany the emperor in the Qing Palace today. So where did she go?

...Could it be that I met a new friend?

Li Shuyao suddenly became alert and stood up suddenly.

At this moment, the door of a house not far away creaked open, and a woman in a pale yellow Manchu dress walked out. When she saw Li Shuyao outside Qingyao Gate, a look of surprise crossed her face. She raised her round fan to cover her lips and asked softly, "Who are you?"

After saying that, he glanced towards Qingyao's room and asked, "Are you here to see Qingyao?"

Li Shuyao nodded. She put her hands behind her back, pursed her lips, and looked a little nervous.

The woman took another look at Li Shuyao's clothes, slowly put down her round fan, and said with a smile: "Qingyao is not here at the moment, why don't you come to my room and wait?"

As he spoke, he opened the two doors a little and made a "welcome" gesture.

Li Shuyao hesitated after hearing her words and glanced at the account book on the railing.

Just as she was about to agree, a light bulb suddenly lit up in her head, and she remembered that the room this woman was in was exactly the room where she noticed someone prying at her when she came to apologize to Qingyao on the first day.

So she was the one who was peeping at her in the room at that time?

Li Shuyao quickly withdrew her hand from the edge of the account book. She gave the woman a polite smile and asked politely, "Excuse me, who are you, young lady?"

The smile on the woman's face was still gentle, and her voice was very pleasant. "My last name is Zhu. If you don't mind, you can just call me Sister Mengyan."

Zhu!

It was indeed her.

Li Shuyao's heart trembled, and her lips turned slightly pale.

She bit her tongue hard, then bent down and picked up the account books on the railing again. Turning around, she said to Zhu Mengyan, "No, I'm in a hurry to send these account books back to the Palace of Heavenly Purity."

Hearing the words "account book" and "Ganqing Palace", Zhu Mengyan's eyes flickered slightly, and she asked curiously, "Are you a palace maid in the Ganqing Palace?"

Li Shuyao suppressed her fear and nodded, "Yes, I serve in the tea room."

"So that's the case. Then why did you come to see Qingyao today?" Zhu Mengyan asked again.

Li Shuyao looked hesitant. "This..." She paused and continued, "Madam, I won't let you say this. Please forgive me, young lady."

"Oh..." Zhu Mengyan was slightly disappointed when she saw that she hadn't been able to get any information out of Li Shuyao. She glanced at Qingyao's room again and asked, "Since you didn't complete the task, will Madam punish you?"

Li Shuyao tightened her grip around the account book, trying not to show any hint of emotion on her face. "It's okay. I can come back another day."

"Okay, then go and do your thing. I won't keep you here."

Zhu Mengyan smiled at Li Shuyao, took two steps back, and closed the two doors with a "click".

Li Shuyao: "..."

She suddenly became even more afraid.

Why did she go back directly?

So she came out just now specifically to pull her into the house?

At this moment, countless horrifying images flashed through her mind. Li Shuyao, holding the account book in her arms, quickly left the area surrounding the house as if she were riding on a whirlwind of fire wheels.

However, before she could run back to her house, she was stopped by a familiar person on the road.

"Shu Yao? It really is you. I haven't seen you for a long time."

On the palace road not far in front of Li Shuyao, Wu Yalianchu's smile was as bright as the sun, and her eyes were shining.

She rarely showed such emotions, which was very inconsistent with Li Shuyao's impression of Wu Yalianchu's personality, so Li Shuyao was unable to recognize her for a moment.

When she came to her senses, Wu Yalianchu had already handed the object in her hand to another palace maid, whispered a few words, then left the team and walked straight towards Li Shuyao. His eyes curiously turned to the account book in her arms, but he considerately did not ask what it was.

Instead, he pulled Li Shuyao's sleeve and asked her softly, "You seem to be having a hard time carrying it. Do you want me to help you take it back to the Palace of Heavenly Purity?"

Li Shuyao hurriedly shook her head, her voice trembling, obviously still not out of the shock, "No, no, no, no need."

She silently held the account book in her arms tighter, as if she was afraid that Wu Yalianchu would snatch it away.

Fortunately, Wu Yalianchu had no intention of taking action.

He stood in front of Li Shuyao with his hands behind his back, his eyes sparkling with tears, as if he had countless words to say to Li Shuyao.

Li Shuyao had no choice but to take her back to her house.

As soon as the door was closed, Wu Yalianchu started walking around the room very familiarly. She walked around, touched the mattress and curtains, looked at Li Shuyao's dressing table and the jewelry in the box, opened the wardrobe door and took a look, and even touched the copper basin filled with water in the corner out of curiosity.

Then he walked back to Li Shuyao and said in a light tone: "Shuyao is really different now."

She was referring to the decoration and furnishings in the room, the clothing styles in the wardrobe, and the hairpins and accessories usually used on the dressing table, all of which were completely different from the Li Shuyao of the past.

In fact, from the day she went to visit Li Shuyao, she vaguely felt that she was a little different.

It's just that she was busy at that time, and she felt that Li Shuyao might not be able to get over the blow of being "betrayed" by her best sister. So even though she knew that Li Shuyao's personality was a little different from before, she didn't think about it in other directions for a while.

She felt that Li Shuyao's series of abnormal behaviors were caused by excessive stimulation.

But he didn't expect that she would sneak away from the palace maids after he hadn't seen her for just two days.

She also sneaked to...the Palace of Heavenly Purity, the place she longed for most.

Wu Yalianchu's eyes became deep and dark, with a hint of inquiry.

Li Shuyao was carefully putting away the account books on the table and locking them in the cabinet. She hadn't used the lock on the cabinet since she moved in, so she stopped to study it for a while, completely missing Wu Yalianchu's inquiring eyes.

I heard her say that she was different.

Li Shuyao straightened her back proudly and said with a hint of pride, "Yeah, I think I've become a lot smarter recently!"

She finally locked the cabinet, turned the key in the opposite direction a few times, and finally pulled it out of the keyhole with a slight pull of her finger. She turned around and began to search the room for the purse where she kept the key.

He didn't even look at Wu Yalianchu.

Wu Yalianchu watched her movements quietly. After a while, she couldn't help but asked, "What are you looking for?"

"A purse." Li Shuyao answered as a matter of course. In order to keep things neat and beautiful, the clothes of the palace maids in the Qing Dynasty were not designed with pockets specifically for storing things.

People here either put objects on their chest or tuck them into their sleeves.

If she put it on her chest, Li Shuyao would feel uncomfortable because it would be uncomfortable. If she put it in her sleeve, she would be afraid that she would accidentally drop it.

After all, she and Qingyao played and jumped around all day long, and they had lost things more than once. Every time, Lingluo followed behind them and patiently picked them up one by one.

After it happened so many times, even someone as carefree as Li Shuyao felt a little embarrassed.

So she spent some money to have someone embroider a few empty purses for her. She would carry one with her whenever she went out. She would just hang it around her waist. It didn't affect her appearance, and it also ensured that she could move and do things smoothly. It was better than having her chest poked from time to time.

As Li Shuyao spoke, she rummaged through the drawer. After searching for a long time, she finally pulled out a moon-white purse from the bottom of the miscellaneous items.

He put the key in, tightened the ropes on both sides, and then carefully buckled the purse onto his belt.

When she looked up, she saw Wu Yalianchu had walked over to her at some point and was standing very close to her, bending over to look at her.

Li Shuyao was startled and almost fell off the chair.

She quickly held onto the table to steady herself, and then looked at Wu Yalianchu with resentment in her big, wet eyes, "Sister Wu Ya, you scared me to death!"

"When did you come here?"

"I just came over." As she spoke, Wu Yalianchu's expression looked a little unnatural.

It was obvious that he was not very happy about Li Shuyao's frightened behavior just now.

But now was not the time to worry about these things. She pointed at the purse on Li Shuyao's waist and asked, "When did you learn to embroider such a pattern?"

Li Shuyao blinked her eyes and said, "I didn't embroider it."

Wu Yalianchu was surprised: "It wasn't you who embroidered it, it was Qingyao who embroidered it?" She tilted her head, "But this isn't the embroidery method Qingyao can use."

Li Shuyao reached into the drawer, took out a small box, and opened it.

There were a few small pieces of silver cake lying quietly inside, weighing about five taels in total.

She handed the box to Wu Yalianchu, whose eyes lit up for a moment, then said happily, "I spent money to have someone embroider it!" Then, she pinched the purse with her other hand and lifted it up, "Do you think it looks good? I heard it's Suzhou embroidery."

The corners of Wu Yalianchu's lips twitched slightly. "You, paid someone to embroider it?"

"Suzhou embroidery?" Wu Yalianchu raised her voice, then pointed at the purse in Li Shuyao's hand in annoyance. "Judging from the direction of the embroidery, this person has only been learning women's crafts for less than a year. How can she already be doing Suzhou embroidery?"

She asked Li Shuyao: "How much did you spend?"

Li Shuyao: "..."

She felt around and loosened her grip on the purse, placed the box of broken silver coins back on the dressing table, then stood up, put her hands behind her back, lowered her head obediently, and said in a low voice with a look of sincere apology, "Five purses, one, one ounce of silver."

She only bought five in total.

The money used was the "salary" paid last month.

Others received five or eight taels, but she received twenty taels. Qingyao said that she could get this much in the first month, and her monthly allowance would probably be around this amount in the future.

When Li Shuyao was reading "Dream of the Red Chamber" before, some bloggers told her that the twenty taels of silver that Liu Laolao took was roughly equivalent to 16,000 yuan in modern times.

Sixteen thousand! Li Shuyao had never earned so much money with her own hands.

Because he was too happy, he spent a little more than he should have. Out of the twenty taels of silver, only the last five taels were left.

As for the savings of the original "Li Shuyao", she kept them well, worried that if she suddenly traveled back in time one day, the original owner would not return to the pre-liberation era when she came back.

In short, she was spending her own hard-earned money, so what was wrong with that?

Thinking of this, Li Shuyao straightened up her slightly hunched back again, looking righteous and confident!

"How much?" Wu Yalianchu couldn't believe it after hearing it, "One or two taels!"

She worked hard in the palace maid's quarters and only earned three taels of silver a month.

However, Li Shuyao spent the salary she had worked hard for ten days without blinking an eye just for a few purses that were obviously embroidered by a novice.

At this moment, Wu Yalianchu's facial expression was distorted with jealousy.

His hands clenched into fists, and his eyes blazed with fire.

Her red lips moved, and she opened her mouth to scold Li Shuyao as she did before. However, when her eyes fell on the wooden box containing broken silver cakes next to her, her mind suddenly became clear.

Li Shuyao's current status is different from before. If we strictly follow the rank, I am afraid that even Aunt Jia would kneel down to salute her when she sees her now.

How can I tolerate her scolding?

Li Shuyao still vividly remembered the scene of being slapped as punishment a month ago, and the voices of other palace maids mocking and sneering unscrupulously rang in her ears.

Wu Yalianchu pinched her palms hard to adjust her distorted facial expression.

The veins on her forehead were throbbing, but she had to be careful not to sound too serious or aggressive when she spoke. "I, I mean, my embroidery is better than this maid's. Next time you need a purse, you might as well come to me."

"After all, we've been friends for such a long time. Don't you think you still don't trust my embroidery skills?"

Li Shuyao: "..."

That's it.

She wondered what Wu Yalianchu was going to say.

She suddenly relaxed, exhaled from her chest, then turned sideways, closed the wooden box on the table, and put it back in the drawer.

The tone of his mouth was light: "Okay."

What I was thinking was, no way, she would give advantage to no one but Wu Yalianchu.

Who knows if the money used to buy the purse today will become the cost of framing Wu Yalian after she comes to power in the future?

Humph, Li Shuyao would never do such a stupid thing as giving money to the enemy and helping the enemy count the money.

*

Li Shuyao tidied up the surface of the dressing table before taking Wu Yalianchu to sit at the table outside.

She picked up the teapot and poured a cup of warm tea for Wu Yalianchu, saying shyly, "The water seems a little cold, so the tea may taste a little weak. I hope Sister Wu Ya will forgive me."

Wu Yalianchu smiled softly, not intending to argue. Instead, she held the teacup in her hand, felt the temperature of the tea for a while, and said to Li Shuyao, "You can boil another pot."

Doesn’t that mean Wu Yalianchu will have to sit here for a long time?

It was a rare day of rest. Although she couldn't go play with Qingyao, Li Shuyao didn't want to waste her time on Wu Yalianchu, so she shook her head and said, "The water fetching place is a bit far. How can I bother my sister to make a trip?"

Wu Yalian was stunned when she heard this. What does it mean?

What do you mean sorry to trouble her to make the trip?

She also thought for a moment before she understood the meaning of Li Shuyao's words - now Li Shuyao's rank is higher than Wu Yalianchu, so how could Li Shuyao serve Wu Yalianchu in return?

Besides, this is Li Shuyao's house, and there is no one guarding it inside or outside. In addition, there are valuables here. How could she feel at ease leaving Wu Yalianchu alone in her house?

What if something is lost?

When Wu Yalian first thought of this, her mind was slightly wandering. Seeing how Li Shuyao treasured those books, perhaps they were really something extremely important. Who knows, it was a mission given to her by the emperor. If they were really lost...

She stopped her thoughts in time.

Many people saw her coming to Li Shuyao today.

So if those books were really lost, Li Shuyao would not suffer any good, and her fate would probably be even worse than Li Shuyao's.

no need……

Wu Yalianchu lowered her eyelashes slightly while drinking tea. After taking a sip of the cold tea in the cup, she slowly placed the teacup back on the table and smiled at Li Shuyao. "The tea flavor is still there, Sister Shuyao, don't worry."

He actually started calling Li Shuyao "sister" again.

Li Shuyao smiled back at her with a smile on her face, then picked up the teapot and filled her cup.

Wu Yalianchu hurriedly reached out to take it.

Finally, he said, "Okay, I'm not thirsty for the time being, so don't bother with it."

Oh, okay.

Li Shuyao put down the teapot with a little disappointment.

"I came here today, not only because I wanted to see you, but also because I'm a little curious about the Palace of Heavenly Purity." Wu Yalianchu said.

Li Shuyao:?

Well, I knew you had ulterior motives and impure intentions.

Li Shuyao puffed her cheeks unhappily, "Sister Wuya, do you care more about me or the Palace of Heavenly Purity?"

Wu Yalianchu hadn't noticed her little mood yet. "Of course it's you. I've heard people say before that the rules in the Palace of Heavenly Purity are very strict. Eunuch Liang is a person who can't tolerate any sand in his eyes. He's worried that you can't adapt to the Palace of Heavenly Purity. If..."

She paused, and instead of saying those words that seemed to carry a hint of curse, she carefully considered changing her words to something more euphemistic, "What if I'm wronged?"

Li Shuyao was silent for a moment, as if she could smell the familiar scent of green tea again.

She remained calm and didn't say anything. She planned to listen to Wu Yalianchu's purpose first and then come up with a response plan.

When Wu Yalian first saw her, she had her eyes downcast and had no intention of answering. Her profile looked a little lonely, so she guessed that she must have suffered some pain.

The suffering she endured wasn't great, but it also wasn't small either. While it had helped Li Shuyao achieve her current status, it had also slightly altered her personality. Otherwise, if it were the Li Shuyao of the past, she would have already been holding her hand, tearfully complaining about her suffering.

After knowing that Li Shuyao had suffered, Wu Yalianchu's jealous heart felt a little better.

She continued, "Working in the Qianqing Palace isn't as comfortable as it used to be. There's a lot of intrigue, right? I heard the maids here aren't easy to get along with. One day they're ganging up to bully one, the next they're lining up to exclude another."

"Every time I think of you still trapped in this dire situation, I feel very uncomfortable."

Wu Yalian performed the whole play for the first time, and her eyes were already red before she finished speaking.

She took the handkerchief from her chest, picked up a corner and wiped her eye sockets and the corners of her eyes.

Li Shuyao just sat there motionless.

He just lowered his head silently again, and this time he didn't even let Wu Yalianchu see his side profile.

She was afraid that she would accidentally laugh out loud when she saw Wu Yalianchu's appearance.

Wu Yalianchu, however, was secretly delighted and continued to act out her story with all her might: "Thinking back to the time when you, me, Qingyao, and Yueshu were in the palace maids' quarters, we were so free and unfettered. Although Aunt Jia Ya is strict, she has a sharp tongue but a soft heart."

"And Moxiang, Guiru and the others..."

Wu Yalianchuxu read out a few more names, all of whom were "Li Shuyao's" former superficial best friends.

Li Shuyao: "..."

She sighed in her heart, feeling that she might not be able to hold it in any longer.

"Sister Wuya, why don't you just say whatever you want to say."

Li Shuyao suddenly raised her head. Her palm-sized face was clean and her almond-shaped eyes were shining. She didn't look lost, but rather... curious.

Wu Yalianchu was shocked and suddenly realized that she might have misjudged something before.

However, the conversation had already come to this point. After laying so much groundwork, there was nothing much for her to say now. She just simply felt sorry for Li Shuyao.

It's a bit... too straightforward and superficial, fooling people like fools.

She held her handkerchief and calmed herself down. "I, I just heard that a tea-serving maid left the Qianqing Palace a while ago. If, if it's possible, could you please plead for me in front of Eunuch Liang?"

…