Chapter 53 Chapter 53 "I must work hard to be the emperor's favorite...

After Yue Shu finished speaking, she pulled out a white porcelain bottle from her sleeve, held it in her hands, and handed it to Li Shuyao. She continued, "This is what I found when I returned to my room after packing the young lady's clothes yesterday."

She didn't wait for Li Shuyao to ask, and explained everything directly.

——When Yue Shu and Tian Jiarou learned that Li Shuyao was canonized as an official's daughter, they were very happy. They got up early and helped several maids to dress up Li Shuyao.

Just as they were about to leave, Nanny Lin stopped them. Nanny Lin said that Li Shuyao would be fine with the help of the others, and asked them to stay in the courtyard to watch the palace maids from the Palace of Heavenly Purity pack up Li Shuyao's belongings, so as to prevent the maids from being extravagant and damaging Li Shuyao's treasures.

When the two thought about it, they realized that this was the truth.

So he stayed obediently and watched the people in the Qianqing Palace clean up.

When she was halfway through packing, Yue Shu was called away by someone from the Imperial Household Department. They said that since Li Shuyao was now a government servant, her food, clothing and other expenses had to be in accordance with the allowance for a government servant. So she took someone to the Imperial Household Department and the embroidery room and brought back a lot of things.

On the way back, he happened to run into Wuya Lianchu who came out to do something for Nara's concubine.

When Wuya Lianchu saw her, she was very happy and talked to her for a long time.

Yueshu thought that they were sisters after all and it had been such a long time since they last saw each other. She wanted to chat with her for a while longer, so she simply told the others to go first and she would come back after she finished talking to Lianchu.

Yue Shu's face turned pale. "She asked me what I was doing out there, and I just said I was out to get some things."

"Then she asked Miss Li how you've been lately..."

When Yueshu reached here, Li Shuyao raised her hand to interrupt her.

She felt so uncomfortable listening to Yueshu calling her "little master" all the time. Firstly, she was not used to it, and secondly, Yueshu's voice was vague and sobbing, and sometimes she would mistakenly hear it as "little pig".

...So she always felt like she was cursing someone.

Li Shuyao said, "When you are alone, you should call my name."

Yueshu was stunned for a moment.

Qingyao reached out and pinched Li Shuyao's soft little face in annoyance, "What do you mean when there's no one around? I'm still here. Am I not a human being?"

Li Shuyao laughed and said, "In my heart, Qingyao is like a beautiful fairy in heaven. Of course, she can't be considered a mortal."

She is especially deadly when she speaks sweetly.

Besides, Qingyao herself wasn't really angry. Seeing that she was about to continue chattering, Qingyao quickly raised her hand to cover her chattering mouth and said, "Stop making trouble and listen to what Yueshu has to say first."

Li Shuyao immediately put on the appearance of being well-behaved and sensible.

Blinking his eyes, he looked at Yue Shu, first called her up, then pulled her over to sit together, and then said, "You continue."

Yue Shu smiled softly and continued, "I don't know if she asked this on her own initiative or because of Concubine Nala, so I didn't tell her the truth. I just said that you are living quite well in the Palace of Heavenly Purity, that the people around you are very friendly, and that the maids are very easy to get along with."

"Then she asked me if I had seen the emperor since arriving at the Palace of Heavenly Purity."

"I said no."

"She then asked, 'Where is Shu Yao?'

Yue Shu frowned unconsciously when she said this. "I felt that her expression seemed a little strange when she said this. I thought I had seen it wrong at the time, but when she saw that I didn't answer, she took my hand and squeezed it very tightly and hard. With a fierce expression, she asked again..."

"I was taken aback and didn't know how to answer her."

"But she suddenly let go of my hand, smiled strangely, and said, 'You're different from us now. You don't treat us as sisters anymore, so naturally you won't tell me everything.'"

"She also said some bad things about you..."

"What did you say about me?" Li Shuyao suddenly became interested.

Qingyao glanced at her from the side.

Li Shuyao didn't notice at all, and continued to look at Yueshu with her sparkling almond-shaped eyes.

Yueshu began to ponder over her memories, most of which were trivial things that happened when they were palace maids.

But when it was expressed through Uya's mouth, it seemed that Li Shuyao was a person with particularly small thoughts.

Qingyao listened with a thoughtful look on her face. After a while, she tugged at Li Shuyao's hand, calling her attention back, and said to her, "I remember now. She seemed to have said something similar to me before."

Li Shuyao was startled and asked her, "What are you talking about?"

Qingyao: "For example, one time, she said that you have a very straightforward personality and can't think in a roundabout way. You often can't hear the implicit meaning of other people's words. When you speak, you are particularly reckless and direct, and sometimes you can be quite rude. She asked me to be more tolerant of you."

Yueshu followed up with another comment, "She also told me that several times when she went out with you to do things, she was terrified, afraid that you would offend someone and get her punished as well."

Li Shuyao: “?”

She kept asking, "Anything else? Anything else?"

Qingyao and Yueshu then talked about a few more things.

Li Shuyao thought about it, and the expression on her delicate face was very confused. "But, that's not what she told me."

She pointed at Qingyao and said, "She said that your father and brothers are both very powerful, and your family background is unique among us palace maids. Otherwise, how could you be sent to serve in the Palace of Heavenly Purity as soon as you entered the palace?"

"She also said that you must have been pampered at home and had some spoiled temper. Now that you've entered the palace and are doing servant work, who knows how unhappy you must be. She also said that you're arrogant and would look down on us palace maids from the Han Army Banner. That's why she told me to stay away from you and not let you bully me."

After finishing speaking, Li Shuyao pointed her slender finger at Yue Shu again, "She said you should talk less. You basically just use words like stingy, shabby, etc. She also said you're stupid and don't think about yourself. You finally got some reward money but you just sent it out of the palace without thinking about yourself at all. She said that if you keep doing this, you won't achieve anything in the next ten years..."

As Li Shuyao spoke, she felt that these words seemed a bit excessive.

I think Yueshu won’t be angry after hearing this?

He quickly pointed his finger out the window again and swore loudly, "It wasn't me who said that. It was that bad Lian Chu who said that!"

"I'm just repeating..." After thinking for a moment, Li Shuyao added nervously, "It's good for you to know, so you won't believe everything she says in the future."

"As the saying goes, every failure makes you wiser. You've experienced so many setbacks, you'll definitely be smarter than anyone here in the future!"

As soon as the words fell, Li Shuyao's heart skipped a beat.

It's over. Her habit of talking nonsense when she's nervous is still not cured.

What a weird way of comforting her.

Yueshu must be like everyone else, disliking her for being stupid...

But Yueshu didn't have it.

She was so moved by Li Shuyao's words that her eyes turned red. She looked at her for a while with trembling lips, then nodded vigorously, "I understand. I will never believe her again."

After saying that, he seemed to remember something and waved his hands again in panic, "No, I didn't believe her before."

Otherwise, she would have foolishly told Lian Chu that Li Shuyao had been canonized as an official's daughter.

Yue Shu pinched her palm and continued in a trembling voice, "Actually, when she finished saying those words, I explained to you that you're not that kind of person. If you were that kind of person, you wouldn't be trying so hard to give me advice and help me get rid of my uncle's family. Don't you agree?"

"Also, she told Qingyao that you're straightforward. I think being straightforward is better. It's so comfortable to get along with someone. I don't have to spend time trying to guess what you're thinking. I can tell whether you're happy or not by looking at your expression. Isn't that good?"

Qingyao sat aside, still holding Li Shuyao's fingers in her hand, with a leisurely and comfortable expression. After listening to Yueshu's words, she nodded as if she felt the same way, and said, "Yes, that's why I haven't liked her since a long time ago."

"I still prefer playing with Shu Yao."

Li Shuyao's words awakened her memory of when she first crossed over.

She remembered that time when she went to apologize to Qingyao. Because she felt guilty and thought that those thoughts of climbing into bed were shameful, she quietly concealed the truth and only said a lot of bad things about Uya together with Qingyao.

Qingyao and Yueshu probably don't know yet that Uya's target is actually the emperor, right?

Thinking about it, Li Shuyao cleared her throat, sat up straight and was about to speak.

Suddenly, something cold touched my lips.

Li Shuyao lowered her head and saw Qingyao bringing the teacup from the table and placing it to her lips.

Li Shuyao:?

What is she doing? She has already prepared her speech and is about to give it...

Li Shuyao's eyes suddenly became sad and aggrieved. She wondered if Qingyao's action meant for her to "drink water and don't talk"?

Fortunately, Qingyao opened her mouth at the right time to explain, "You coughed a few times just now. Is your throat uncomfortable?"

"If you're not feeling well, drink some water and take a rest. I'll ask for you if you have any questions."

Li Shuyao suddenly felt happy again.

I just hope Qingyao doesn't dislike her.

She held the teacup handed to her by Qingyao, gulped down several mouthfuls of water, wiped her slightly moist lips with a very generous gesture, and pulled Yueshu over to sit closer to her.

His expression was excited, but his voice was very low, almost whispering to the two of them: "You don't know, Lian Chu likes the emperor, and has liked him for a long, long time."

To put it simply, she fell in love with him at first sight when she was a child, and she had been thinking about him for many years. Even though she knew that she was born into a bannerman family and could not participate in the election to become the emperor's concubine, she thought that being a palace maid would not be bad either.

After that, she learned music, chess, calligraphy, painting and needlework for several years. As soon as she passed the selection, she asked someone to find a connection with the Imperial Household Department and was directly sent to the Palace of Heavenly Purity.

She thought that since she was so close to the water, she would definitely be able to pick the moon smoothly, but she didn't expect that the "good opportunity" she had been thinking about for many years would be handed over to Qingyao by Li Shuyao in one day...

Li Shuyao shook her head and told Qingyao the words that Uya had used to instigate her after she had successfully served him in bed.

It was only at this time that Yueshu found out that such a thing had actually happened a few months ago.

The expression on her face suddenly became extremely guilty and sad. She reached out and grabbed the white porcelain bottle next to her, "So, this is what's in this bottle!"

Li Shuyao:?

Her attention was instantly drawn back, and she realized that she had actually ignored the bottle before.

What is this?

Li Shuyao stretched out her hand, wanting to touch the white porcelain bottle, but was stopped by Qingyao just when her hand was halfway out. Yueshu also turned around quickly while holding the porcelain bottle, obviously not wanting her to touch the bottle or the contents of the bottle.

Li Shuyao suddenly became even more curious.

She asked Yueshu: "You haven't told me yet, what's inside this?"

Yue Shu steadied her somewhat rapid breathing and shook her head, "I don't know yet."

"But I suspect that the things in here must not be good."

"Because at that time, after Lianchu finished speaking ill of you, her expression was full of pity..." Yueshu paused, and after a few breaths of serious thought, she nodded decisively, "Yes, it was pity. She was pitying me, saying that I had been deceived by you. She said that you wouldn't be so kind as to transfer me to the Palace of Heavenly Purity for no reason."

"You also said that you must have other intentions towards me. If I want to avoid being murdered by you, the best way is to find the emperor as a backer."

"After she finished speaking, she wanted to push the bottle into my hand, but I was scared and refused."

"I don't think you will hurt me... You, you are not the kind of person Lian Chu said!"

But Li Shuyao was still serving the emperor in the emperor's bedchamber at that time. Even though she was panicked, she didn't dare to run directly to the East Warm Pavilion to find her. So she could only suppress her emotions temporarily and finish the things that Nanny Lin had asked her to do with Tian Jiarou first.

Unexpectedly, when she woke up this morning, she found this white porcelain bottle at the door of her house...

"You mean, there are people like Wu Yalianchu in the Qianqing Palace?" Qingyao raised her eyebrows in surprise.

Li Shuyao noticed that she was now calling Uya by her full name.

Yue Shu nodded hurriedly. "Because there were a lot of people in the yard at that time, after Jiarou and I left, the housekeeper would definitely send someone to clean up our room. I had no choice but to bring this bottle with me."

After that, this is what Li Shuyao knew.

Seeing that Yue Shu was neither successfully seduced by Uya, nor did she have the slightest intention of hiding her thoughts.

Li Shuyao was so happy.

Even though she knew that there was a heroine named Wu Yalianchu who was eyeing her covetously...

Who cares about her? She can’t reach into the Palace of Heavenly Purity anyway.

Moreover, Qingyao and Yueshu are now wary of Uya. Li Shuyao feels that she may not be able to become the emperor's concubine smoothly as in the original novel.

...Even if she becomes the queen, she is not afraid, because she still has Qingyao and Yueshu.

Qingyao is the villain in the book who fights with the heroine until the middle and late stages. As for Yueshu, although she looks inconspicuous in her daily life, Li Shuyao believes that since she can live smoothly to over 90 years old in the book, it is impossible that she has no tricks at all.

Oh, by the way, she also has Tian Jiarou.

Tian Jiarou has a very good relationship with her now, so he will always protect her, right?

Li Shuyao thought about it and felt that it was not that scary.

Maybe he's been in the Qianqing Palace for too long and has developed some courage?

She is so amazing.

Li Shuyao thought happily.

Qingyao and Yueshu, who were standing by, had just finished a discussion about "what was in the white porcelain bottle".

Turning around, I saw Li Shuyao leaning lazily on the couch, holding a soft pillow in her arms, her eyes bright and charming, her expression looking proud and bright, as if she was very happy.

Qingyao couldn't help but feel confused, "What are you laughing at?"

Li Shu glanced at her and said, "I'm just very happy."

Qingyao: "..."

Sometimes, she really didn't understand Shu Yao's thoughts.

Qingyao sighed and reached out to straighten Li Shuyao's sitting posture. Yueshu immediately brought a soft pillow and stuffed it into the empty space behind her waist.

Qingyao picked up the teacup and asked her if she wanted to have two more sips.

Li Shuyao shook her head and said that she had drunk enough.

At this time, Yueshu walked into the inner room, took out two thin quilts, and gave one to Li Shuyao and one to Qingyao.

Li Shuyao looked at the two people busy around her and felt a little shy and embarrassed for the first time in a long time.

I always feel like a lazy bum who has not evolved.

She sat up straighter and asked Qingyao, "So what should we do next?"

Qingyao shook her head and pushed her back, saying, "Let's wait and see what Wu Yalianchu will do next."

Li Shuyao asked again, "What about this bottle? What should I do with it? How about I take it to the Emperor and file a complaint against her?"

Qingyao: "..."

She sighed again, "First of all, how did this bottle appear at Yueshu's door? Did anyone see it?"

Li Shuyao shook her head obediently, her almond-shaped eyes twinkling.

Qingyao: "When Yueshu was talking to Wu Yalianchu, did anyone around see her stuff the bottle into Yueshu's mouth?"

This time it was Yueshu's turn to remain silent and shake her head.

Qingyao: "Yes, you and I are good friends, and Wu Yalianchu is Nara's concubine's person. There have been constant disturbances in the harem recently, and it finally calmed down a bit because of the canonization ceremony. Now, you are holding a bottle with an unknown object in it, and you are using it to prove that a maid in Nara's concubine's palace harmed you... What do you think the emperor will think?"

"..." Li Shuyao followed her words, thought about it seriously for a long time, and then continued to shake her head.

Qingyao said, "Don't forget, Concubine Nara has an older brother."

Li Shuyao couldn't help but complain: "But this is just a small matter... a small conflict between Wu Yalianchu and me?"

Why do these big shots always overthink?

Li Shuyao felt depressed and anxious.

...It's so annoying.

Qingyao spread her hands helplessly, "There's nothing I can do. This is the imperial palace."

"Otherwise, why do you think the Ministry of Punishment was established?"

Li Shuyao buried her head in the soft pillow and asked her in a muffled voice: "Then..."

Qingyao: "Let's talk about it after I become a concubine."

"When everything is settled, I will go to the Yanxi Palace more often to sit and see what status Wu Yalianchu has in front of Concubine Nara in the Yanxi Palace."

"If she is highly regarded, I will order people to keep a close eye on her; if she is not particularly favored by Concubine Nara, I will find an excuse to bring her over and keep her under my watch."

But this way... wouldn't it be more in line with her wishes?

And wouldn't the plot just go back around?

Li Shuyao became anxious instantly, and had to persuade Qingyao to give up the idea.

The few of them discussed for a long time but couldn't come up with any good ideas.

Finally, Li Shuyao couldn't help but get furious. "Then there's nothing I can do. I can only work hard to make the emperor like me more, so much so that even if she wants to harm me, the emperor won't believe her. How do you think that is?"

Yue Shu was a little worried after hearing this, "Wouldn't she hate you even more?"

Qingyao said, "That's a good idea!"

"All under heaven belongs to the king, and all the people in the world are his subjects. Your Majesty is the emperor, is there no way he can deal with a little palace maid?"

Li Shuyao: "..."

She had a hunch that Qingyao seemed to have said something nonsense.

After thinking carefully, "Your Majesty is the Emperor"...

"Pfft——" She couldn't help but burst out laughing.

Obviously Qingyao also realized that what she said was wrong. Seeing her laughing, she rushed over angrily.

The two of them laughed and played around together.

Seeing that the issue with the bottle had been resolved, and that the two men had no time to pay attention to her, Yue Shu simply bent her knees, turned around, walked out of the house, and went to help Ling Luo.

*

We had dinner that afternoon.

Li Shuyao and Qingyao walked around the yard hand in hand for a while, and then they lay back down in the house feeling sore all over.

At the same time, he was still crying out "Aiya!" and looked very pitiful.

It is obvious that the aftereffects of "sleeping with the emperor" have not yet healed.

Qingyao looked up at the sky outside, then turned to ask Lingluo, "What time is it?"

Lingluo announced the time, and Qingyao calculated with her fingers and guessed, "The Emperor should have finished flipping the cards by now, right?"

Lingluo shook her head. "The Emperor didn't choose a card today, but he did send someone to inquire about it. After learning that Young Lady Li wasn't well yet, he returned. Not long after, he sent someone to deliver two bottles of medicine and told Young Lady Li to rest well and try to recover tomorrow..."

Before Lingluo could finish her words, Li Shuyao, who was lying on the couch, felt as if struck by lightning, and her cries of "Aiya" suddenly became clear and loud.

It sounds like an old monk chanting sutras, and it sounds very rhythmic.

At this moment, Li Shuyao felt deeply that the emperor was truly a Huang Shiren.

As for her, she is naturally the poor Yang Bailao.

Look, this name is also very meaningful. Working in vain, working in vain, without even having time to rest.

He served the emperor in bed yesterday, rested today, and will go back to work tomorrow. Even the cows in the fields are not as hardworking!

Li Shuyao doesn't want to go.

At least, at least I can rest for one more day, right?

…

So Li Shuyao got an extra day of rest as she wished. She just got up early on the third day.

Before she had the chance to go across to say "good morning" to Qingyao, the small room she and Qingyao shared was rudely "occupied" by Nanny Lin and more than 20 palace maids.

Each palace maid was holding something in her hands: a tray, a dressing box, several sets of exquisite and gorgeous Manchu clothing, and a flower pot bottom that looked so high and steep that it seemed like if you put it on, you would fall three times if you took a step...

The leader, Nanny Lin, had a smile like the big bad wolf in the forest, and her eyes were filled with "malicious" light.

She came over and bowed to Li Shuyao with a smile, her tone as if Li Shuyao had won a five million lottery ticket, "Congratulations, Miss Li, the emperor has summoned you to his bedchamber today."

Li Shuyao just stood there in a daze.

Then I couldn't help but look up at the sun that had just risen outside.

This, so early?

Qingyao turned her head to look at her, and couldn't help but lower her voice to tease her: "Go, Li Xiaoyao, didn't you say before that you must work hard to be the emperor's favorite person!"

"The time to prove yourself has finally come!"

Among the people present, Nanny Lin and Li Shuyao heard her two words clearly.

Nanny Lin couldn't help but look up at Qingyao, thinking that this young lady was truly magnanimous.

And Li Shuyao said: "..."

She was so upset that she could not even cry.

Still, I haven't rested enough.

I should have wished to take a month off earlier!