Chapter 22 Chapter 22 Palace Maid on the 22nd Day

In Yongshou Palace.

Concubine De let Shi Liu help her take off her hair bun: "Miss Gao is smart for once."

It is not difficult to guess that Alan was originally supposed to be Du's person, but was taken away by Concubine Gao in some unknown way.

Shi Liu said, "Your Majesty has given Lady Gao several months. If she can't even handle such a small matter, she would be unworthy of her position as a beauty."

Concubine De looked in the mirror and stroked the corners of her eyes: "Concubine Gao is not useful. She can't compete with Lady Du, and even Concubine Yu is better than her. When the election comes next year, I will have to choose carefully. I need to support beautiful women like Lady Du and Concubine Yu according to the emperor's preferences."

"Your Majesty is wise."

-

For Shen Qingqing, every moment she spent in Jingren Palace was perfect.

The virtuous concubine held the power in the palace and protected her own people. No one in her palace would neglect them. The palace clothes sent for cleaning were not only returned quickly but also had a light fragrance. The jewelry in the palace maids' allowances would not have any flaws. They would only be sent after being checked by the female officials in charge of this matter. The monthly allowances for the palace maids in Jingren Palace did not need to be retrieved by the senior palace maids. Instead, they were delivered to her on their own initiative.

No matter who the palace maids were who left Jingren Palace, they would be called "girl" or "sister".

As for Qingyu and Qinggu, everyone called them aunt.

What Shen Qingqing was most satisfied with was the small kitchen in Jingren Palace. In addition to taking meals from the imperial kitchen, Concubine Xian would ask the small kitchen to prepare whatever she liked. Therefore, rice, noodles, vegetables and meat would be sent to the small kitchen every day. Some vegetables and meat would go bad if not stored properly within a day. Concubine Xian could not finish them on the same day. In order to avoid waste, the cook would cook extra meals for the palace maids in Jingren Palace.

This was also approved by Concubine Xian, and was Concubine Xian's grace to the palace ladies of Jingren Palace.

Shen Qingqing no longer had to go to the kitchen to buy food with money when she was growing up, so she could not save a penny at the end of the month even though she had free food and accommodation in the palace.

She was recuperating in Jingren Palace and could not go out, but when Qie He came back one time, he brought her a bottle of golden jade ointment - five words were clearly written in a vertical row on the bottle, and he winked at her.

This is a holy medicine that only the emperor and the Qianqing Palace have.

Now she was sure that Qiehe was indeed connected with Xiao Dingzi, and she was most likely Wang Jigui's person.

Qie He had known for a long time that Shen Qing was one of hers, which meant that her rank in Wang Jigui's faction was probably slightly higher than Shen Qing's. It was also probably at Xiao Dingzi's request that she took good care of her.

At this point, it no longer makes sense for Shen Qing to be struggling over whether she should work for Wang Jigui's faction.

On the surface, she was Concubine Xian's person, but privately, she had connections with Wang Jigui's faction. In fact, secretly, she also took the olive branch offered by Cuihuan, who was beside Concubine Hui.

I can't figure it out. I can't figure it out at all.

After Shen Qing was surprised by Qi He's active exposure, she became more intimate with her. She asked Qi He, "Sister, do you know which department Chao Lu, the former maid of Du family, is in now? I saw Chao Lu's uniform that day, and she was already a female official of the eighth rank." Qi He asked, "Why do you ask this?"

Shen Qing sighed, "When Madam Du was still a concubine, she had a maid named Daimao who she brought from home. This maid was involved in Madam Du's murder of the maid, and she was expelled from the palace after being punished that night. Chaolu was a maid under Daimao, and I always felt that there was something wrong with her."

She suddenly recalled the day when Chaolu left Du Baolin. Chaolu was so confident and calm, as if she had seen through Du Baolin's future at a glance, and left without any hesitation.

Of course, except Shanhu, who followed Du Baolin resolutely when she heard that he was going to the cold palace. No one would hesitate to leave Du Baolin.

"I hope I'm overthinking it." How could she say this? She suspected Chaolu had contributed to the deaths of Xia Chan and Wen Xin, suspected that Liu Shun had not followed Du's orders and had killed people directly, and suspected that Chaolu and Liu Shun might have the same master behind them.

When Liu Shun was in Zhiyun Palace, he was extremely disliked by Mrs. Du. So why did Mrs. Du want Liu Shun to do this? There was obviously a more suitable eunuch who was the head of Zhiyun Palace at that time. I think someone must have introduced Liu Shun, and that person could only be Daimao who was involved in this matter.

If the morning dew could motivate the hawksbill turtle, this would be a perfect plan.

No matter how Mrs. Du defends herself, no one would believe that she didn't intend to do that.

Then there was the incident of Lady Du injuring a palace maid, which further proved that she had a vicious mind. It seemed possible that she could have killed two palace maids.

Qi He was puzzled, but still agreed: "I'll ask for you. Aunts Qingyu and Qinggu should know."

Qingyu and Qinggu will handle the affairs of the three bureaus under the management of Concubine Xian among the six bureaus, so it couldn't be faster to ask them.

Qi He reached out her hand and pressed Shen Qing's brow: "Little girl, don't be so thoughtful, otherwise you won't look pretty."

Shen Qing looked up blankly, and seeing Qi He's relaxed look, she suddenly realized that Qi He knew as much secrets and handled as much as she did, but she was not bothered by these things at all and lived a transparent and comfortable life.

If she gets involved in these things again, she will tire herself to death. Why not be a happy little palace maid before that?

Shen Qing smiled cleverly at Qie He and shook her arm.

"Sister Qiehe, what are we having for lunch? Will the kitchenette provide extra food?"

Qie He laughed and said that the lunch should be similar to yesterday's, and that the cook happened to have made too many pastries this morning, so everyone should be able to get two pieces.

Shen Qing almost fainted with happiness when he heard this.

Two pieces, this is intentional buying.

Woohoo, the virtuous concubine is good, the cook is good, and Qiehe is good too. Anyway, there is nothing bad about them.

In the afternoon, Ji He found out that Chao Lu was now the eighth-rank clerk of the Shang Gong Bureau. Since the Shang Gong Bureau was the responsibility of the Concubine Xian, Shen Qing certainly did not believe that Chao Lu was Concubine Xian's person, otherwise why would Concubine Xian be suspicious? So, she turned around and told Xuan Cao about Chao Lu in detail.

Although Xuancao was slow, she had learned some skills after being with Concubine Xian for a long time. She was also cautious and would not miss any suspicious spots, so she immediately sent people to investigate.

Then it was discovered that Chaolu was connected with a seventh-rank Dianbo in the Sibo Department.

Thinking that Concubine Xian was investigating the traitor in Si Bosi, Xuancao reported the matter.

So one day, Shen Qing, who was leisurely studying rouge and powder, suddenly received a reward of twenty taels.

Because her injuries have not fully healed, she has been very decadent recently. She is so beautiful that she doesn't know what day it is. She doesn't even get close to Concubine Xian, let alone listen to her inner thoughts.

Moreover, her thoughts were too private, and she would not deliberately listen or pry into Concubine Xian's mind unless she was on duty.

Shen Qing held the reward silver wrapped in a lotus leaf and asked Xuancao: "Sister Xuancao, why did the Queen want to reward me? The makeup powder hasn't been developed yet?"

Xuancao was so happy that her eyebrows danced with joy: "Shen Qing, you have done a great job!"

"Thanks to the information you provided, otherwise the Queen would still be worried about what went wrong with Si Bosi... You may not understand, but it doesn't matter. The Queen will record your merit. If there is an extra vacancy for a senior maid in the future, you will most likely be promoted."

Shen Qing felt that as a newcomer, if he was promoted too quickly, he would be hated by others, so he followed Xuancao's happiness and said modestly: "I am still young and cannot handle things. Cuiwei, Qigu and Jihe are more suitable."

After understanding, Xuancao quickly put the matter aside: "We don't know when there will be a quota for the head maid, so don't worry about it. Why don't you tell me what you want to eat for lunch? I will ask the kitchen to make a few dishes for you."

This time Shen Qing was really happy, and said crisply: "Braised pork elbow!"

Hemerocallis patted her chest and said, "No problem." She would take care of it.

Xuancao's happiness is simple, she is happy when the queen is happy. Shen Qing's happiness is also simple, just having money and sex.

Shen Qing stayed in Jingren Palace, recuperating from his injuries and finding things to do. During these two months, the Emperor came to Jingren Palace eight times, half of which were just to order water. The whole Jingren Palace was filled with joy.

It was not because he surpassed anyone, but because the emperor only visited Concubine De in Yongshou Palace six times in two months.

Xuancao finally felt proud and complained to Shen Qing about Shi Liu, who was by Concubine De's side. However, she didn't have the courage to complain about Concubine De, and she said that as Concubine De's maid, Shi Liu's problems were just trivial matters.

Shen Qing found it funny.

However, the next major event caught everyone in the harem off guard.

The emperor issued an edict to confer the title of empress to the virtuous concubine Xiao Shangyue, ordered the preparation of an imperial seal, and selected an auspicious day for the ceremony of conferring the empress.

The Imperial Astronomical Observatory gave three auspicious dates: October 8, October 1, and November 7. Finally, the emperor chose October 8.

Not to mention how shocked the other concubines were when they received the news, the Jingren Palace, which was the focus of everyone's attention, also had mixed feelings after receiving the imperial edict.

Joy, the Queen was crowned, and they were promoted to the Queen's maids in one step. How lucky and glorious it was.

My worry is that there is less than a month left until the Queen's coronation ceremony. Time is tight and I don't know whether all the etiquette will be perfunctorily carried out.

Fortunately, the emperor sent Qian Quanzhong to assist the empress.

And after Shen Qing's great surprise, she understood why Xiao Dingzi asked her to come to Concubine Xian. Could it be that Wang Jigui had already understood the emperor's intention and calculated all this?

Xiao Dingzi also said at that time that he would leave Siguozhai when there was a major reshuffle in the palace.

Now that the Du family fell early, Xiao Dingzi should not have come to the imperial court in advance - because she did not find him among the people the emperor brought to Jingren Palace, and the news she received from him did not mention that he came to the imperial court. This time of being crowned queen was probably the best time for him to be transferred to the imperial court, while the palace was in chaos.

Because of the queen's coronation, the harem that had been peaceful for a long time was finally about to become turbulent.

It was bustling outside, and other concubines went to congratulate Concubine Xian in advance, but the Yongshou Palace was dead silent.

Concubine De sat in front of the bronze mirror, her eyes constantly changing, and finally she covered her eyes with her hands and stopped looking.

Her voice was light and fluttery: "I thought the emperor liked me."

This was indeed the case before, but why was the result so unexpected to her?

Although she knew that the candidate for the throne would be either her, the virtuous concubine, or the daughter of an important official in the court, she still wanted to wonder why Xiao Shangyue had such a good life.

How is Li Shuyi inferior to her?

Shi Liu was the only one left in the room. She said worriedly, "My Queen..." but she didn't know how to start.

"Could it be that the Emperor knew that Mrs. Du was the victim of our scheme? That's why——"

De Fei gritted her teeth and denied: "Impossible!"

Shi Liu lowered her voice and said, "Liu Shun did not commit suicide in Zhiyun Hall out of fear of punishment. Instead, he was taken away by Qian Quanzhong's apprentice Qian Ji and sentenced to death. If Qian Ji sensed something was wrong and tortured Liu Shun, there is no way to prove that Liu Shun would not reveal that someone was behind him."

De Fei rubbed her brows and said, "This is just your guess."

"Your Majesty, Qian Quanzhong has served two dynasties, and his apprentice must also be a dog-nosed person. They are loyal to the emperor. Unfortunately, the emperor does not need solid evidence, but only needs to be suspicious. The situation will be extremely unfavorable to your Majesty. We have to prepare for the worst."

Defei finally accepted Shi Liu's words, sighed, opened her eyes, and her look became calm.

"If your guess is true, then let our people lie dormant first. I don't believe that being the queen will always be smooth sailing."

The future is still long.

Shi Liu understood what Concubine De was going to do, and said loyally, "Yes."

She is a confidant carefully cultivated by the Li family for Concubine De, and she only needs to assist Concubine De with all her strength.