Misunderstand
Upon arriving at Sihai Tower, Lin Yimo and Ping An entered the private room one after the other, followed by Qiu Yan, who had been transferred to Ping An's side. As for the other palace servants, Ping An had them stand guard outside.
After entering the private room, Ping An first enjoyed the food with great interest, then sat by the window watching the passersby before casually asking, "Lord Lin, how much do you know about Fu Xiuzhu?"
Lin Yimo glanced at Qiu Yan, who was trembling beside Ping An and wished she could shrink into a ball and pretend she didn't exist, and raised an eyebrow: "Lord Fu loves power, he loves power very much. As long as he can climb up the ladder and gain more power, he will do anything and sacrifice anything, including his own blood relatives. If Madam..."
"Don't call me 'Madam' anymore, it makes me uncomfortable. Just call me 'Miss' instead," Ping An interrupted Lin Yimo.
“Yes, young lady, if you wish to cooperate with Lord Fu, my suggestion is that you cooperate with me instead.” Lin Yimo raised his head and stared straight at Ping An, his eyes revealing undisguised ambition: “I believe my abilities are no less than Lord Fu’s. Although my official position is not high now, I can do what Lord Fu can do for you. Moreover, I do not have a family as powerful as the Fu family behind me, so I pose far less of a threat to you than Lord Fu does.”
Ping An didn't answer Lin Yimo's suggestion, but instead asked out of the blue, "Lord Lin, how is Lu Fengping doing lately?"
“A few days ago, he accompanied Miss Chen to the mountains, saying he was going to find a rare but very beautiful mushroom,” Lin Yimo paused, “and he also asked me to visit a lady who was practicing in a royal temple.”
Ping An chuckled to himself.
She knew that with Lin Yimo's abilities, even if she accidentally let slip something to Lu Fengping due to emotional turmoil, she could still cover it up. However, she didn't expect that Lin Yimo could actually coax Lu Fengping into revealing the affair between Cui Lingxian and Shen Meiwu. Her ability to control people's hearts was truly remarkable.
Ping An glanced at Lin Yimo, his expression unreadable: "Lord Lin, Fu Xiuzhu is my blood relative. If you want me to choose you over him, you have to give me something in return."
"Didn't I give you a booklet filled with information about princes and ministers before?"
Ping An chuckled softly.
“Lord Lin, times have changed. Back then, I was just an orphan with nothing. Now, I am the only princess. Those little things... are no match for me.”
“...That’s true. Then please give your instructions, Miss. Whatever it is, I will serve it to you as soon as possible.”
Ping An moved gracefully to the outer railing and sat down. Looking down at the pedestrians coming and going on the street, she thought of Yuan Shuang and Yu Qin, who had failed to achieve their goal yesterday, and said softly, "I need a woman, a woman who cannot have children, preferably one that 'he' would like, but whose status is not suitable for being publicly acknowledged."
Lin Yimo was stunned for a moment before realizing that the person Ping An was referring to was Cui Shenzhi, and then a genuine look of confusion appeared on his face.
*****
Lin Yimo was an official in the imperial court, so he naturally had contact with Cui Shenzhi. In addition, given his relationship with Lu Fengping, Cui Shenzhi and he could be considered good friends. Therefore, Cui Shenzhi had mentioned Ping An to him.
For example, you could ask him where there are scenic spots near the capital, so you can take Ping An there to relax; or what styles of clothes, jewelry, cosmetics, and perfumes are fashionable in the capital, so you can buy them for Ping An; or what temple fairs are happening in the capital, so you can take Ping An there to enjoy the festivities.
Moreover, when Cui Shenzhi said this, his eyes were overflowing with happiness, and his words were filled with an undisguised smile. It was obvious that he was deeply in love with Ping An. Yet Ping An said he wanted to find a woman that Cui Shenzhi would like? And a woman who was not presentable? What's going on?
Lin Yimo felt something was off.
After a moment's thought, he whispered, "Miss, such a person is both easy and hard to find. May I be so bold as to ask, why do you need someone like this?"
“What else could it be but serving him?” Ping An turned to look at Lin Yimo, her voice filled with complex emotions that were hard to describe. “No matter how my status changes, I’m still just a person. There will always be times when I feel uncomfortable, so naturally I need to arrange a suitable person for him.”
Lin Yimo felt something was even more wrong.
—The technique Cui Shenzhi used to massage Ping An's lower abdomen was taught to him by Lu Fengping through Lin Yimo. The reason Lu Fengping brought this up was because Cui Shenzhi heard from Qingya that Ping An was not feeling well during her period, so he wrote to ask her about it.
He takes such a small matter to heart and even travels a long distance to write to Lu Fengping, a renowned physician. Cui Shenzhi clearly cares about Ping An and doesn't want to leave her side for a moment. Yet Ping An says she needs someone to serve Cui Shenzhi when she's not feeling well? Is she serious?
Lin Yimo couldn't help but wonder if Ping An was testing him, or if Ping An wanted to use him to test Cui Shenzhi, but in any case, he couldn't refuse such an opportunity.
He pondered for a moment, and after making up his mind, he said, "Five days. I am sure I can find someone who meets your requirements within five days. But how should I deliver him to you? Should I send him directly to the palace? Or should you come here to pick him up? Or should I create a chance encounter on the street?"
"Bring it here so I can take a look. After all, I am his wife. I may not know all his preferences, but I am at least aware of what he dislikes."
"Yes." Lin Yimo cupped his hands and said, "Then I will not disturb you any longer. I will come back here in five days to await your arrival."
After saying that, Lin Yimo left the private room, leaving only Ping An and Qiu Yan inside.
Ping An leaned against the railing, watching Lin Yimo leave. After observing the passersby on the street for a while, she finally spoke up, seemingly bored: "Qiu Yan, do you know any good places in the capital to have fun or kill time?"
Qiu Yan timidly shook her head.
“My family is poor. When we were outside the palace, my family was busy from morning till night and we still couldn’t get enough to eat. That’s why I came to the palace to serve. I don’t know where to find fun or kill time.”
Upon hearing this, Ping An turned around in surprise.
"What did you say? You're busy from morning till night and still don't have enough to eat? You're not kidding me, are you?"
Qiu Yan nodded, and said with a hint of grievance, "This servant would not dare to deceive Your Highness."
“At home, my parents and brother would go to work in the fields before dawn every day, while my sister would take me to go from street to street to help people wash clothes. My younger brother and sister would do some light work at home, such as washing clothes and feeding chickens and ducks. But this only kept us from going hungry; we couldn’t save a single penny.”
"In order to give my brother a wife, my parents found a family to arrange a marriage between my sister and my brother. My brother was able to marry the sister of the other family. However, my sister-in-law became pregnant soon after entering the family and could not do heavy work. I was also engaged early and could not contribute to the family's dowry. Moreover, my fiancé's family was not well off. That's why my parents found a way to send me to the palace, both to reduce the family's burden and to hope that I could earn more money for the family."
"That's considered good. In my village, there are people who really can't make ends meet and have no choice but to sell their sons and daughters. They sell their sons to other families to be live-in sons-in-law, and their daughters to other families to be child brides. There are even people who sell both their sons and daughters to brothels."
Ping An was dumbfounded.
Although she grew up in the cold palace, she never went hungry again after she learned to please Guo Shu. Moreover, she was not a real palace maid, so apart from pleasing Guo Shu and obeying his orders, she did not have to work like the other palace maids. Her life was not bad, and she never knew that there was such hardship.
Fortunately, neither Fu Yunjin nor Qingya had the ability to take her out of the palace. Fortunately, she never intended to leave the palace and live a simple life as Qingya suggested.
Ping An breathed a sigh of relief, and then noticed the new thing that Qiu Yan mentioned.
"Can a son be sold to a brothel? Who would patronize them?"
Qiu Yan blushed and whispered, "I heard that some young ladies who become widows often need some comfort, so they go to brothels to find male prostitutes. There are also young masters and gentlemen who like male homosexuality, and they go there too."
Ping An's eyes lit up upon hearing this.
"So that means they accept both male and female guests? Let's go take a look!"
Qiu Yan's face turned pale instantly, and she shook her head frantically in refusal.
"You...you can't go!"
"Oh, I don't plan to have anything happen between me and them. I'm just going to see what it's like, chat with them, and maybe have some tea. Don't worry."
After saying that, Ping An rushed out with great enthusiasm. Qiu Yan's eyes were filled with tears. She ordered a palace servant to hurry back to the palace and tell Cui Shenzhi that something had happened. Then she led the remaining palace servants to chase after Ping An and leave Sihai Tower.
*****
After leaving Sihailou, Lin Yimo went home.
He recalled Ping An's expression and posture when she spoke to him, as well as Cui Shenzhi's expression and posture when he mentioned Ping An, and came to a conclusion with a wry smile.
Ping An must have misunderstood Cui Shenzhi for some reason, feeling that Cui Shenzhi's sincerity towards her was all a lie.
This is really... great!
Ping An misunderstood Cui Shenzhi's true feelings, so conflicts were bound to arise in the couple's daily interactions. Whoever helped resolve these conflicts would be credited to Cui Shenzhi. If he claimed to be finding someone for Ping An, but actually sent someone to her side, carefully maintaining the misunderstanding without deepening or resolving it, while subtly making moves at opportune moments to appear as if he were clearing up the misunderstanding, wouldn't he have a steady stream of credit waiting for him?
Given Cui Shenzhi's dedication to Ping An and the amount of help he's provided, he'll surely show some appreciation. Although Cui Shenzhi isn't the type to promote someone based on personal matters, he'll at least bestow upon them a minor title. With this, who wouldn't know that Lin Yimo is Cui Shenzhi's favorite? Wouldn't that allow him to rise rapidly in the officialdom?
Therefore, the person sent to Ping An's side must be carefully selected; they must be a smart person who knows how to read people's expressions, otherwise things could go wrong.
A figure slowly emerged in Lin Yimo's mind.
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