"I, am not up to par?" Lu Linglong was furious. "Who are you calling unworthy? You are the only one who is not up to par! My brother is the Marquis of Pingyang, a rising star in the court, and my grandfather once saved His Majesty's life! Who do you think you are? You want me to bow to you? Dream on! You came to the palace so early and you're trying to control me. Wait until I become a concubine, and see what I will do..."
"shut up!"
Nanny Song scolded her, and Lu Linglong shut up immediately after seeing who it was. After all, she had seen this person before. She was a first-rank female official beside the Queen.
Nanny Song said with a cold face: "It's unbecoming to make such a loud noise in the Empress's palace! Rong Cairen is under house arrest for half a month. Master Lu is under house arrest for three months. Let's all go."
"Empress!"
Rong Cairen stamped her feet. She had just gained favor and had been under house arrest for half a month. Did His Majesty still remember her?
Lu Linglong was also dumbfounded. Why was she under house arrest for three months?
But the palace was not a place where she could act like a spoiled child, so she could only go back obediently.
Everyone in the palace was watching the wind. Since Lu Linglong was under house arrest, all kinds of expenses were reduced. A few days later, it started snowing, and there was not a single snowflake under the eaves of the main hall of Qingshuang Pavilion. The room was warm, as if it were spring.
The side hall of Qingshuang Pavilion was chillingly cold.
Lu Linglong huddled in bed, shivering under the quilt: "Is there no charcoal fire for me?"
Xiaolan and Xiaoyu were shivering with cold. Their master was still wrapped in a quilt on the bed, but they could only wear thin clothes. There was nothing they could do. Their master was not favored, so they could not get the share of servants.
Xiaoyu said, "We went to the inner storehouse to collect it, but they said there was no share for us."
Xiaolan was puzzled: "How could there be none?"
Lu Linglong also didn't understand: "I have been your Majesty's concubine since I entered the palace, so why don't I have my share?"
Xiaoyu was a little angry. She thought she had a new favorite, but who knew it was useless. She squinted her eyes and said, "The inner treasury said that Master Attendants have no ranks. There has been no precedent in this palace for hundreds of years, so I don't know how the allowances will be distributed."
"Even if you're a concubine, you're still entitled to an eighth-rank ration, and you get a few pounds of silver frost charcoal and red silk charcoal every month. We servants also get our quotas of black charcoal and silver silk charcoal. Now that you're just a Master Attendant, you have no rank or class, and the items in the inner treasury are all limited, so it's not easy for them to distribute them privately."
Lu Linglong was shivering with cold, not knowing if it was her bones or her heart that were cold: "Then tell the Queen! Why not tell her!"
Xiao Yu turned her face away. "Master Attendant, what is your status? What is this servant's status? You can't even see the Empress, so how can this servant be? If you can't get your share, just spend money to buy it. Why are you angry with this servant? Don't you think about your status? And you act like a master. If this were in the palace, we servants would at least have a hot meal to eat. But with you, we can't even get a sip of hot water!"
Xiaoyu ran back to her room after she finished speaking. This small side hall, to put it nicely, was just the back house of an ordinary family with a courtyard wall added.
There were no side rooms or anything like that, just three rooms in a row. The middle one was for Lu Linglong to live in, and the two rooms on the left and right were used, one for storing miscellaneous items and the other for two palace maids to live in.
But Lu Linglong has nothing, so where could there be any miscellaneous items here?
Not only was there no clutter, it was also very empty, just like Lu Linglong's purse.
She also thought of sending a letter home, after all, her life was so hard now!
When she entered the palace, she only wore one set of clothes and was assigned to Qingshuang Pavilion. The inner treasury gave her four sets of clothes and a quilt, nothing else.
The clothes were just for everyday wear. There wasn't a single cloak, cape, or gray squirrel coat to keep warm in winter, let alone fox fur or anything like that.
Forget about all these, you can still endure it, but what you can’t endure is the cold.
The underground heating of Qingshuang Pavilion could not reach Lu Linglong's side hall. It was already very cold here. After days of snowing, even if she was wrapped in a quilt, she would still shiver with cold.
It would be fine if we could have some hot food, but the food we got from the imperial kitchen every day was always cold. It was a relief if it wasn't frozen after being carried all the way here.
Qingshuang Pavilion has a small kitchen, so why would Consort Keli let her use it?
I wouldn't even give her a sip of hot water.
How could Lu Linglong have ever suffered such hardship? After eating cold food all day, she had diarrhea for several days, and she was so exhausted that she couldn't get out of bed.
Now, when Lu Linglong heard Xiaoyu mention silver, a glimmer of hope ignited: "Yes, silver, but where can I get silver?"
They couldn't even get the required amount of charcoal, let alone silver.
Xiaolan suggested, "Master Attendant, why don't you write home and ask for some money? If you can't buy anything else, you can at least buy some charcoal. With charcoal, we can keep warm and make some hot meals."
Lu Linglong nodded repeatedly, but she was puzzled: "I'm under house arrest, can I still go out?"
Xiaolan said, "But we servants can go to the imperial kitchen. As long as we have some things to prepare, we can always send a letter."
Upon hearing this, Lu Linglong hurriedly searched her body. Fortunately, she was dressed up beautifully that day and took her most valuable things with her. She was reluctant to part with hairpins and other things. After searching for a long time, she took off a pair of earrings and reluctantly handed them to Xiaolan.
At the last moment, another one was brought back. Lu Linglong repeatedly warned him, "Tell him to keep the earrings well. My brother is the Marquis of Pingyang and will definitely send me some money. When my family sends the money, I will exchange the earrings for them."
"Master Attendant, don't worry."
Xiaolan agreed and asked Lu Linglong to write a letter personally and send it to the imperial kitchen.
The news quickly reached Li Zhaoyi, who sneered, "If she wants to deliver a message, then let her go. I'll see if she has another rival or another fool in the palace."
Several palace maids laughed.
The harem got the news, and soon the emperor also knew about it. He raised his hand and said, "It's okay. As long as she doesn't cause any trouble, let her do whatever she wants."
The emperor also wanted to see what the fourth prince's purpose was in sending this person into the palace.
Yes, the emperor knew that night that this was the person sent in by the Fourth Prince, and he immediately arrested the palace maids who helped the Fourth Prince and brought them to justice. Letting outsiders into the palace without permission was a serious crime, and these palace maids must not be let off easily.
As for the Fourth Prince, he gave him a symbolic punishment.
For the Fourth Prince, this was a very good sign. If something went wrong, he would be handled with care. This showed that he was truly valued by the Emperor. The Crown Prince of the Eastern Palace? That was nothing.
The Fourth Prince was very proud, but Lu Yan, who received the letter, was not proud at all.
No one knew how Lu Linglong entered the palace, at least Lu Yan had no idea. In his opinion, she had used extraordinary means.
That's why His Majesty was so angry and only gave such a lowly title to a royal attendant. This was to give him, the Marquis of Pingyang, face. Otherwise, if he had alarmed the imperial carriage, he would have deserved to be beaten to death on the spot.
Now you come back to ask for money?
Lu Yan simply put the letter aside and ignored it. He was still short of money, so where would he get the money to give to Lu Linglong?
The messenger knew that Old Madam Lu loved Lu Linglong, and she was the master of the palace after all, so he couldn't ignore her. Besides, the person from the palace would come over in half an hour to wait for a reply, so he delivered the letter to Old Madam Lu.
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