Chapter 43 Chapter 43 She Became Rich Overnight!!

Li Shuyao's eyes were confused. She stretched out her little hand and wanted to touch Qingyao's forehead to see if she had a fever and was not thinking clearly.

Otherwise, why would he say such weird things?

What wish, whose wish?

How could Qingyao's wish be related to her?

Qingyao tilted her head to avoid her hand, then came closer with sparkling eyes, her tone still excited: "Did the emperor say what position he would give you?"

Li Shuyao blinked, then shook her head slowly and stiffly. "He didn't say anything. He just told me to think it over and give him an answer in three days."

Of course, this answer cannot be related to the word "no".

otherwise……

Li Shuyao thought about it and felt that her life was still in great danger.

But if she agreed directly...

Li Shuyao felt uncomfortable no matter how she thought about it, after all, she had never been in a relationship.

She always felt that she was still young, like during the summer vacation when she was alone at home and didn't dare to open the door when the community census workers came.

I could only explain dryly to the outside through the door, asking them to wait until there were adults at home before coming over.

So...she hasn't even celebrated her 20th birthday yet, and she's going to become another man's concubine?

If I become a concubine, do I have to sleep together, sleep in the same bed, and so on...

There were no effective contraceptive techniques in ancient times. What if you got pregnant?

The more Li Shuyao thought about it, the more scared she became.

She was afraid of death and also afraid of having a baby.

Giving birth to a baby hurts.

She couldn't stand it.

Thinking of this, tears welled up in her eyes. She was so scared that her fingers were trembling, and she looked extremely pitiful and helpless.

Guo Luoluo Qingyao immediately noticed that something was wrong with her mood, quickly suppressed her inner joy, and came closer with confusion to check on Li Shuyao's condition.

When he saw the desperate expression on her face, Guo Luoluo Qingyao was stunned.

Is Shu Yao unwilling?

Did she, did she do something wrong?

Just because he wanted to play with Shu Yao, wanted to stay together like before, he secretly asked the emperor to force her into the emperor's sight, causing her to be favored by the emperor, and then forced...

The Emperor forced Shu Yao?!

Thinking of this, Guo Luoluo Qingyao's heart tightened instantly.

She moved her stool closer, held Li Shuyao with one hand, and lifted her chin with the other hand, looking her up and down with scrutiny.

When it finally landed on Li Shuyao's neck, which was only lightly covered by two or three layers of makeup, but where the bruises could still be vaguely seen, her beautiful eyes shrank instantly.

She didn't care that Lingluo and Tian Jiarou were still there, and asked hurriedly and panickedly: "What's wrong with your neck? How could it be like this? Your Majesty, did the Emperor do something to you..."

Li Shuyao noticed something was wrong as early as when Qingyao came over to check.

She was about to be discovered.

Qingyao will definitely be angry.

But her hand was still tightly held by Qingyao, and she couldn't escape at all. She could only let Qingyao scan her up and down, and finally found the marks of being bitten on her neck.

Li Shuyao was so anxious that her cheeks flushed red, sweat broke out on her forehead, and she stammered for a long time without being able to utter any further words of explanation.

Tian Jiarou and Ling Luo, who were standing by, had no idea how the topic had turned to this. Seeing that their stools were close together, they mistakenly thought that they were whispering something to each other, so they stood up quietly and prepared to walk out.

Who would have thought that just after taking a few steps, he suddenly heard Miss Guo Luoluo's words, which were filled with surprise, anger, and a bit of disbelief.

Lingluo and Tian Jiarou looked at each other.

Soon they gathered around.

Tian Jiarou was the one who knew about the abnormality on Li Shuyao's neck early on, but she arrived the latest and didn't know how close Li Shuyao was to Guo Luoluo Qingyao. She just saw that Li Shuyao's hand was pinched by Miss Guo Luoluo so that her fingertips turned white and were still trembling slightly, so she reached out her hand without thinking, trying to help Li Shuyao break free from Miss Guo Luoluo's shackles.

As soon as she made a move, Lingluo, who was eager to protect her master, also moved.

He quickly slapped Tian Jiarou's hand away from the air, frowned, looked at her with an unexpected expression and asked, "What are you doing?"

Tian Jiarou bit her lip and said, "My daughter is already trembling with fear. I beg Miss Guo Luoluo to forgive her and let her go for now."

"What do you mean by trembling with fear and forgiveness? What are you talking about?" Lingluo was a little confused.

He then turned sideways to glance at Li Shuyao and Guo Luoluo Qingyao, who were cuddling together, and said to Tian Jiarou, "Can't you see that my young master is comforting your daughter?"

Tian Jiarou shook her head and said confidently, "I didn't see that. I only saw that your mistress had pinched my girl's fingers until they turned white and were still trembling."

Lingluo was stunned when she heard this.

Tian Jiarou didn't say anything else.

The two of them looked at Li Shuyao and Guo Luoluo Qingyao together.

Li Shuyao was a little confused and didn't understand how the situation suddenly turned out like this.

Qingyao, although Qingyao was angry, she wouldn't hit her.

Li Shuyao was a little amused and helpless, and the despair in her heart seemed to be slightly suppressed by the bickering between the two of them.

His expression didn't look as sad as before, and most of the dark clouds above his head had disappeared.

She moved her fingers and easily pulled them out of Qingyao's palm. Then she straightened her back, looked at Tian Jiarou, and patiently explained to her, "I was in a bad mood just now, so my fingers were like that. It wasn't Qingyao pinching me. Don't be nervous."

Only then did Tian Jiarou breathe a sigh of relief.

With her hands on her waist, she knelt down and saluted Guo Luoluo Qingyao, "I misunderstood just now. Please forgive me, my lady."

Qingyao's mind was still on Li Shuyao, and she didn't care whether she had offended her or not.

Seeing that the conversation had already started, she waved at the two of them with a somewhat impatient expression, indicating that they should go out and wait. She still had a lot to say to Shu Yao.

She wanted to say that if Shu Yao really didn't want to, then she would go and ask the emperor for help. Although the emperor might not be willing to let Shu Yao go, but...

What if?

The emperor is the richest man in the world and he can have any kind of beauty he wants. He doesn't have to have Shu Yao, right?

…

Lingluo and Tian Jiarou tidied up a little, then turned and walked out the door, leaving the space in the house to Li Shuyao and Guo Luoluo Qingyao.

Li Shuyao took advantage of this gap to completely sort out her thoughts.

What is there to be afraid of!

Just be a concubine. Just treat being a concubine as a special profession.

Before traveling through time, she had never been a palace maid, but now, isn't she used to it?

Even when he met a three-year-old kid, he would kneel down without any hesitation!

Life is like this, no one knows which will come first, an accident or tomorrow...

Oh, forget it, just come if you want, it’s up to you whether you want to come or not, she really doesn’t know how to talk about these big principles.

Li Shuyao muttered to herself for a long time. Although she was reluctant, she finally comforted herself.

Then he turned to look at Qingyao, pinched his palm, and asked her cautiously: "Qingyao, if I also became the emperor's concubine, would you be angry?"

Qingyao was originally immersed in her own thoughts. When she heard her question, she repeated with a puzzled expression, "Angry? Why should I be angry?"

She was not angry now, but more regretful. She was worried that after Shu Yao knew the truth, she would think she was a selfish villain. What should she do?

Li Shuyao said, "Because you are the emperor's concubine, the emperor's woman. If the emperor has another woman, won't you be angry?"

Qingyao followed her words, thought about it carefully, and then burst out laughing.

She asked Li Shuyao with great interest: "Before the emperor appointed me as an official lady, did he never have other women? Did he suddenly have one?"

Qingyao's two sentences were a bit difficult to understand.

Li Shuyao counted on his fingers for a while before he could finally understand what she meant.

Immediately, her almond-shaped eyes lit up, "So, you're really not jealous anymore?"

"If I were jealous, I would have been jealous hundreds of years ago..." Qingyao said, and suddenly realized, "So, you are acting so abnormally today because you are afraid that I will be angry?"

Li Shuyao looked at her with wet eyes like a little puppy, nodding his head rapidly, almost breathing out.

Qingyao: "..."

She was almost laughing out of anger. She originally thought that Shu Yao really didn't want to be the emperor's concubine, so she acted like she was ready to die.

But who could have guessed that what was in her head were all these random and messy things?

Still jealous?

If anyone is going to be jealous, shouldn’t it be the women before the emperor who are jealous?

I only see the new people laughing, but don’t hear the old people crying.

There's no newer person in the entire Forbidden City than Shu Yao, but she can't even smile...

This silly Shuyao.

However, Guo Luoluo Qingyao also knew in her heart that Shu Yao's abnormal behavior today was because she put herself before the emperor.

In other words, her position in Shu Yao's heart is much more important than that of the emperor!

Thinking of this, the bitter smile on Qingyao's lips suddenly became sweet again, and her heart felt as refreshed as if she had eaten a chilled watermelon in the dog days of summer.

Li Shuyao didn't understand why she suddenly smiled again. She pursed her lips and came closer, looking at her eagerly.

Qingyao then grabbed her slender fingers, breaking them one by one and explaining to her, "First, I won't be angry. I'll just be happy, because if you also become the emperor's concubine, we can go to the harem to play together. No, we can live together!"

"Secondly, I won't be angry because the emperor has more than one woman. You saw it at the Dragon Boat Festival banquet. Besides Concubine Niuhulu and Concubine Tong, there are also Concubine Nara and Concubine Majia in the palace... There are even several royal heirs. If everything has to be based on first come first served, then I should kowtow at the gates of each palace one by one!"

"No, don't kowtow. It hurts." Li Shuyao said comfortingly in a dry voice.

Qingyao was amused by her words and smiled again. She continued to snap off the third finger, "Three, I still won't be angry. Not only am I not angry, I'm even extraordinarily happy, because you think I'm more important than the emperor, right? So I know that no matter what time, you love me the most."

Qingyao thought for a moment and added, "Of course, I like you the most, too!"

Li Shuyao immediately smiled happily and said "hmm" twice.

He directly held Qingyao's hand and said to her: "I was really scared before. I thought you would feel that I betrayed you and would never be with me again."

Qingyao was puzzled when she heard her words, "Are you my maid?"

Li Shuyao was stunned and shook her head, "No."

"Then where does the word 'betray' come from? If you want to betray, first you have to be my maid, right? Secondly, you have to swear to me that you will never think of turning into a phoenix in this life." After Qingyao finished speaking, she thought about these two sentences at a deeper level.

He quickly denied himself, "That doesn't seem right."

"After all, as the old saying goes, water flows to the lowest places, and people strive for higher places. This is true no matter where you go. This shows that people are ambitious. What's wrong with being ambitious?"

When Li Shuyao heard her last few words, she shrank her neck guiltily.

He didn't dare look at her with a dull expression.

Qingyao didn't notice her strangeness, and continued to mutter thoughtfully, "...In this palace, who doesn't want to climb up? Only those with broken brains would think of serving their masters as maids and eunuchs for the rest of their lives, right?"

Li·Brain Damage·Shu Yao: ...

Oh no, Qingyao was talking to her.

However... Qingyao's words were so well-reasoned and well-founded that she couldn't think for a long time and couldn't say a word to defend herself.

So I could only continue to hunch my neck, sit in my place, and wait quietly.

But Qingyao kept on talking for a long time, and although she didn't mention Li Shuyao in every sentence, Li Shuyao felt as if her name was between the lines of every sentence.

Her mood unconsciously became tense. She pinched her fingers and fell into deep thought. Now that she and Qingyao were colleagues, would palace fighting begin?

Does she need to stand up?

Qingyao, oh yes, Qingyao is a big villain, and there is also Wuya... Hey, has she not cared about the whereabouts of the heroine of the original novel for too long?

*

After Li Shuyao and Qingyao talked things out, they were no longer so anxious.

The emperor said he would give him an answer in three days, so Li Shuyao was not prepared to fulfill any obligations in advance before the deadline.

She hasn't been on duty for a long time.

Li Shuyao suddenly missed the time when she spent her days slacking off in the tea room. At that time, she didn't have to worry about anything. She only needed to stay in a corner, secretly eat snacks and daydream.

Song Fuwen was in charge of all the work in the tea room, and she didn't have to worry about external coordination.

What about the arrangements and training of palace servants on duty...

By the way, if she is going to be the emperor’s concubine in three days, does she still need to participate in the training given by Nanny Liang?

Li Shuyao thought about it and felt that the arrival of this Madam Liang was somewhat strange.

...No, it can't be directed at her, right?

Li Shuyao thought carefully about what the emperor had said in the imperial study that day, omitting the embarrassing parts and only recalling the conversation...

Li Shuyao soon discovered that there were no useful clues at all!

Or maybe the emperor hinted at it, but she didn't hear it?

It's such a headache.

…

After Qingyao left, Li Shuyao was like a lazy and beautiful kitten, curled up in the rocking chair and basked in the sun for most of the day.

"Separated by the air" means that the sun is outside and she is hiding in the house, facing the bright sunshine that covers the entire yard with golden light through a long shadow under the eaves.

As the golden sun set in the west, the palace maids who had been taken away by the two old maids for training in etiquette were released one after another.

One by one, as if their energy had been sucked away by ghosts, they dragged their heavy feet, with their heads drooping, and walked into the courtyard listlessly. When they saw her sitting in the house, they didn't have the urge to show their courtesy to her for a moment. They turned around and went back to their own rooms and closed the door.

The yard soon became quiet again.

Li Shuyao sat for a while longer. Night gradually fell and the sky was dotted with stars.

At this moment, a group of people with neatly arranged lanterns came from afar and walked quietly into the small courtyard where Li Shuyao was.

The leader's clothes looked strangely familiar.

Li Shuyao squinted her eyes and looked for a long time, vaguely recognizing that it seemed to be Liang Jiugong?

She jumped up from the rocking chair.

She was terrified. Hadn't they agreed to give her an answer within three days? Why were they arresting her the next day?

She, should she hide now?

Or should I close the door first?

While he was hesitating, Liang Jiugong had already looked around the yard, and his eyes accurately swept towards Li Shuyao's house.

Li Shuyao was caught red-handed when she was standing at the door and carefully reaching out to close it.

He grinned at Li Shuyao, then waved the whisk in his hand. The eunuchs holding lanterns followed him and walked towards her.

Li Shuyao was so scared that she just wanted to call her mother.

Who will save her?

Li Shuyao's legs were like noodles in a pot, so limp that she couldn't muster any strength to lift them.

With some difficulty, she held onto the door frame to keep herself from sliding to the ground.

A pair of clear, watery apricot-shaped eyes stared at the group of young eunuchs walking towards him without blinking. Suddenly, he realized, a little too slowly, that in addition to the lanterns, they seemed to be holding something else in their hands.

Like a tray?

The young eunuch quickly walked to the door of Li Shuyao's house.

Liang Jiugong also followed. His attitude was not as cold as when they met on the first day, nor was he as polite and courteous as when they were together in the tea room later.

The corners of his mouth curled up slightly, revealing an attentive smile, his eyes flickered, and his back was hunched, a bit like how he looked when he was in front of the emperor.

He first bowed to Li Shuyao.

Li Shuyao nodded in a daze, and suddenly she felt an inappropriate sense of unreality that she was about to become a concubine.

Is she dreaming?

Li Shuyao muttered to herself, hid her fingers in her sleeves, and pinched her soft fingertips hard with her nails.

Ouch, it hurts.

Reality is real, not a dream.

Liang Jiugong was really smiling at her in a flattering manner.

He also brought a lot of people with him, and it seemed that they came to give her gifts.

Li Shuyao was thinking when Liang Jiugong spoke up, "Miss Li, have a good evening."

Still calling her Miss Li?

Still, still saying hello?

Li Shuyao's body trembled imperceptibly, and she thought to herself that after she became a concubine, she would have to face Liang Jiugong like this for many many years, and she would have to adapt herself.

So he endured the discomfort and forced a smile towards Liang Jiugong, "Liang, Eunuch Liang is doing well too."

Even her voice was shaking, and she couldn't control it at all!

When Liang Jiugong heard this, his eyes flashed again. He knew that the little palace maid in front of him might not be able to react for a while.

but……

Judging from the expression on her face, she was no longer as panic-stricken as she was yesterday.

I heard that Miss Guo Luoluo also came here this morning, so have you figured it out?

Did she figure it out on her own, or did Miss Guo Luoluo help her figure it out?

Liang Jiugong felt a completely unfamiliar curiosity in his heart for the first time in a long time.

But now is not the time to think about these things. The most important thing is to complete the emperor's instructions first.

Liang Jiugong quickly hid the light in his eyes, bowed and made room for Li Shuyao, and then whispered to her, "The Emperor thought that the young lady was frightened yesterday, so he specially ordered me to send some apology gifts. Please accept them."

Apology, oh, apology.

The tense string in Li Shuyao's mind finally relaxed.

She licked her dry lips and asked Eunuch Liang, "What are they?"

Eunuch Liang began to chant in a low voice, "Two pieces of Shu brocade, four pieces of cloud-forged silk, four pieces of brocade satin, and four pieces of Lake satin..."

Most of the things he read out were about rare and brightly colored fabrics, and every time he read out a sentence, a young eunuch behind him would readily lift the silk cover on the tray to show it to Li Shuyao.

Li Shuyao was curious about the fabrics at first, but after looking at them for a while, she felt that there was nothing good about them. They were just fabrics, not ready-made clothes.

Instead, she became somewhat interested in the young eunuchs, who could hold the lanterns, support the trays, and even free up one hand to lift the silk cloth...

His arm strength is really strong.

She sighed to herself.

Then I heard Liang Jiugong's words change again. This time he was talking about jewelry, such as jade bracelets, earrings, hairpins and collars... He recited three or four trays in a very eloquent manner before finally coming to the end of the line.

Liang Jiugong smiled at her mysteriously and asked, "Girl, why don't you guess what's inside this tray?"

Upon hearing this, Li Shuyao curiously stuck her head out to take a look and discovered that the tray in the little eunuch's hand seemed a little different from those in others.

The middle is more bulgy, while the two sides are relatively flat, like a small mountain placed in a tray.

Moreover, a thick layer of sweat had appeared on the forehead of the young eunuch, and the lantern in his hand seemed to be out of control, shaking more violently than others.

This means that the things in the tray are very heavy, so heavy that even someone with excellent arm strength like them would find it difficult to support it.

So...

Li Shuyao's eyes lit up instantly, and her feet felt like they had eaten spinach, no longer as weak as before.

She clung to the door frame and stretched her upper body outward. The stars in her apricot blossom eyes seemed to be more numerous than those in the sky.

The beautiful and bright little face was filled with uncontrollable joy. She looked at Liang Jiugong and the little eunuch as if she had seen her parents who provided her with food and clothing. She guessed in a clear and joyful tone, "It's silver, isn't it?"

"That's a lot of silver, right?"

Liang Jiugong nodded with a smile and opened the red silk cloth on the tray with his own hands.

The silver light dazzled Li Shuyao's eyes.

Wow!

She became rich overnight!!