Chapter 72 Yaohua Fire
Return to the rear hall of Changle Palace.
The four second-class palace maids Chun, Xia, Qiu, and Dong and Liang An and Liang Fu were all there.
Seeing Pei Tingyue, several people saluted in unison: "This servant/slave congratulates the master on his promotion to Concubine."
Pei Tingyue smiled and asked them to get up.
“There are rewards for all.”
Several people cheered.
Pei Tingyue entered the hall and told Yunshu to bring the silver.
Yun Shu quickly brought over the mahogany box.
Pei Tingyue planned to reward them with three months' monthly allowance. She had inquired about the promotions in the past and found out that basically, when palace concubines were promoted, they would be rewarded with three months' monthly allowance for their subordinates.
The monthly allowance of the four palace maids, Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter, was one tael of silver. Liang An, Liang Fu, Yun Shu and Yun Zheng were first-class maids, whose monthly allowance was three taels.
The silver in the mahogany box was in ingots, some were five taels, some were ten taels, some were twenty taels, and there were even a few fifty tael ingots at the bottom.
The reward for three months, Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter, is three taels of silver, and Yun Shu and the others get nine taels. If the silver is broken down, it seems a bit stingy.
Pei Tingyue thought about it.
Jieyushi is of the fourth rank, and above that is the mistress of a palace. If nothing major happens, she may stay in the position of Jieyushi for the next one or two years.
She finally got the chance to be promoted, so she shouldn't be too stingy.
In the end, Pei Tingyue rewarded Chun, Xia, Qiu and Dong with five taels of silver, and Yun Shu, Yun Zheng, Liang An and Liang Fu with ten taels of silver each.
Everyone was delighted when they received the silver. They thanked the master immediately and said a lot of nice things.
Fearing that they would become too arrogant, Pei Tingyue gave them another round of warning.
Afterwards, she instructed Yunshu, "When dinner is ready, take some money to the imperial kitchen and prepare two tables of decent meals. We can celebrate behind closed doors."
Deafening cheers rang out again in the rear hall.
Everyone in the back hall was extremely excited all day. Pei Tingyue asked everyone to order a dish they liked, and the imperial kitchen would prepare the rest.
As soon as it was time for dinner, Yun Shu and Yun Zheng took Chun, Xia, Qiu and Dong to the imperial kitchen.
When it was getting dark, several people came back.
Pei Tingyue put down the notebook and stood up from the couch: "Did you send it to the Imperial Concubine?"
Yun Shu smiled and nodded. "As soon as we entered Changle Palace, this servant brought the feast to the Imperial Concubine. Knowing we were celebrating, she even sent two jugs of wine. What's it called... well, what was it called?"
She got stuck while speaking and quickly looked at Yun Zheng.
Yun Zheng reminded: "Penglai Spring."
Yun Shu nodded vigorously. "Yes, yes, it's a nice name. The Imperial Concubine said that although the name of this wine sounds nice, it's also strong, so she told the Concubine not to drink too much."
Pei Tingyue smiled and said, "Okay, let's each have some and try it."
Several people quickly put the food on the table.
A total of three tables were set up, one table was sent to Concubine Song in the front hall, and there were two tables left.
Originally, the back hall had only a round pearwood dining table, and they were worried that it wouldn't be enough to accommodate two tables of food. Then Liang An and Liang Fu dug out a long square table from the storeroom, and Pei Tingyue took a look and thought it might be suitable for use as a dining table.
Now it is placed in the east side room, next to the round dining table, and it doesn't look out of place.
The meals that cost money were naturally good. There were squirrel mandarin fish, braised lamb, jade lion's head, golden butterfly rolls, Longjing shrimp, pipa tofu, etc., filling up two tables.
It has great color, aroma and taste, and is very tempting.
After everything was set up, Pei Tingyue said nothing more and waved his hand, "Let's eat."
Several people sat down one after another.
Pei Tingyue, Yun Shu and Yun Zheng sat at the usual dining table, and the rest of the people sat at another table.
Pei Tingyue asked everyone to pour a cup of Penglaichun. She smiled and said, "One cup is enough. Don't drink too much."
Several people agreed.
Yun Shu took the first sip of the wine, and after drinking it, she stuck out her tongue because it was so spicy.
There was laughter in the hall.
Yun Shu blushed with shame. She said angrily, "Try it yourself. This wine is really strong. If you drink it, you will definitely be more unbearable than me!"
Everyone didn't believe it and tried it too. Their reactions varied. Some looked normal, while others stuck out their tongues like Yun Shu.
Pei Tingyue also tasted it and found that Penglaichun was really spicy.
But after two or three bites, it's not so spicy anymore, and instead leaves a lingering fragrance on your lips and teeth, with a long aftertaste.
It’s really good wine.
As the wine was drunk, people in the hall gradually relaxed and became less reserved as usual. The two sisters Zhichun and Zhixia even sang a song, which won cheers from everyone.
Pei Tingyue was a little drunk and felt inexplicably relieved.
The string in her mind had been stretched tight all along, but today, under the influence of alcohol, the string finally loosened.
She stared at the wine cup, her tone melancholy: "No wonder the Imperial Concubine always said that a good drink can dispel all worries. After drinking, my mind is really free of all those messy things."
Pei Tingyue didn't expect the alcohol to have such a strong aftereffect. In the end, her whole body became hot and she had difficulty breathing.
While everyone was cleaning the house, Pei Tingyue sat at the ice mirror for a long time before he recovered and the heat in his body subsided a lot.
She was full and didn't want to move, so she sat there in a daze.
Several people came in and out, and it took a while for Yun Shu to come in. She looked unhappy: "Jieyu, something happened."
Pei Tingyue's remaining drunkenness quickly dissipated. She straightened her face and asked, "What happened?"
Yun Shu said quickly, "There's a fire in the palace."
"Take water?"
Yun Shu nodded and said, "I just pulled a young eunuch who was helping to put out the fire at the door and asked him about it. He said it was the fire in Yaohua Palace."
Hearing this, Pei Tingyue suddenly stood up, walked out of the back hall, stood in the courtyard and looked towards the direction of Yaohua Palace.
She murmured silently: "She's coming out."
The heroine, who was supposed to return to the palace in the spring of the fifth year of Xining, came out in the summer of the fourth year of Xining, more than half a year earlier.
Pei Tingyue closed his eyes.
This is definitely not good news for her.
During this period, her relationship with the emperor was on the rise, and the emperor cared more and more about her.
She originally thought that if she continued to entangle with the emperor in this way, by next spring, even if Concubine Shen Liang came out, she would be sure to occupy a significant position in the emperor's heart, and could even clash with Concubine Shen Liang.
Now, she really wasn't sure how much of a position she held in the emperor's heart. If Concubine Shen Liang came out and the emperor forgot about her, she, a downtrodden "favored concubine," would never have an easy life.
"New love and old love" are destined to be in opposition.
She didn't want to lose, even if she had to snatch it away, she would win the emperor's heart.
Pei Tingyue took a deep breath and tried to calm herself down.
She quickly went into the corner room to take a shower, washed off the smell of alcohol, put on some fresh makeup, and rushed to Yaohua Palace with Yun Shu and Yun Zheng.
She became more and more frightened as she walked.
The fire in Yaohua Palace was raging, lighting up half of the palace. The long street was filled with palace servants shouting to put out the fire.
As expected of the heroine after her meditation, she is cruel to herself and even sets such a big fire in order to arouse the emperor's emotions.
Only today did Pei Tingyue understand how precious Concubine Song's words "Don't be timid" were.
A timid person is destined not to live long in the deep palace.
Only a madman like Concubine Shen Liang who doesn't care about his life can have the last laugh.
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