Chapter 62 The Secret History of the Embroidered Couch
At the corner of Zhaofeng Hutong in the east of the city, there is a very secret little study, opened by a dandy young man whose family has fallen on hard times. He privately displays his family collection of books for people to borrow and read.
Because his prices were not low and one had to pay one or two taels of silver before entering his study, his business was not very prosperous.
Nowadays, one tael of silver can buy two dan of rice. One dan is about 180 kilograms of rice. It would cost 360 kilograms of rice just to build the study, which is really not cost-effective.
Those who were not short of money looked down upon his collection of books, while those who wanted to read them were mostly reluctant to spend the money. The only regular customer was Yang Jingzhen, a woman dressed as a man.
Yang Jingzhen, dressed as a page boy, sat in the corner of the study, flipping through the "Secret History of the Embroidered Casual Bed" in his hand with great interest.
Just when they were watching the thrilling scene, a man in brocade clothes rushed in. The shop owner was intimidated by his cold aura and didn't even dare to ask him for money.
Yang Jingzhen's eyes widened in shock. This was clearly the eunuch of the Eastern Palace whom she had just met yesterday.
She subconsciously and hurriedly stuffed the notebook into her wide sleeves.
"Miss Yang, please come with me." Tong Lin slowly raised his eyelids.
When Yang Jingzhen saw him coming here, she thought that her elder sister must be looking for her for something urgent, so she jumped up quickly.
The shopkeeper looked at her hesitantly, and quietly made a finger-twisting gesture to her to ask for money.
Yang Jingzhen was afraid that someone would find out that she was reading a romantic novel, so she gritted her teeth and handed over six taels of silver for the book.
When she returned to the Yang residence, Yang's father and mother were already waiting for her in the carriage. She didn't even have time to change her clothes and got on the carriage dressed as a page boy.
Seeing this naughty second daughter who had caused trouble, Xue Shulan twisted her ears and gave her a scolding.
Yang Qianxing gave some advice and lamented in his heart how his two daughters did the exact opposite.
The eldest daughter, Manyan, has been well-behaved and sensible since she was young. She can sit quietly for a whole day if given a book. The second daughter, Jingzhen, has been like a naughty monkey since she could walk. If she is not disciplined for three days, she will dare to climb up the roof and tear off the tiles.
When the family of three arrived at Yuquan Mountain in the western suburbs, the prince and Yang Manyan had already checked into Qingyinzhai of the Yuquan Palace.
In the back room of Qingyinzhai, when the gauze curtains are rolled up one after another, you can see a round pool filled with hot spring water that is as clear as jade.
It happened that Yang Manyan felt weak all over, so he went into the spring to soak in the water to relieve his fatigue.
The spring water was rather hot, but tolerable. Yang Manyan leaned his back against the pool wall, his eyes slightly closed, his entire body below the neck submerged in the pool, feeling extremely comfortable.
Xiao Yan stood outside the layers of gauze curtains, looking at the graceful figure of the girl in the steamy pool, his Adam's apple rolling.
After hesitating for a moment, he retreated.
He was worried that he would lose control again and hurt Yang Manyan.
Then, Xiao Yan walked directly to the small study on the west side of Qingyinzhai and sat down on the armchair with a backrest behind the rosewood desk.
Tong Lin, who had been waiting here for a long time, reported to him that the Yang family had moved into Chengxinyuan not far away, and also handed him the secret report that had just been delivered.
After careful consideration, Tong Lin still did not report the fact that Yang Shangyi's sister had secretly read erotic books.
He was born in the Jinyiwei, and his eyesight and hearing were extremely sharp. He saw clearly at a glance what book Miss Yang was holding in her hand.
This matter concerns the reputation of a woman and has no impact on the Eastern Palace, so it is better not to talk about it.
Xiao Yan nodded slightly and took the secret report.
He was not the kind of person who would sit there and wait for death. He could not bear to watch his father bully them even more.
One of his plans was to bring Yang Manyan to Yuquan Mountain. Among the twenty-six guards guarding the capital, the Tengxiang Left Guard, with whom he had the closest contacts, was stationed in the western suburbs.
"Is there any movement in the palace?" Xiao Qing asked, pursing her lips.
Tong Lin replied: "The emperor did not react when he heard that you and Yang Shangyi had left the palace. He just met with the Minister of Works to discuss the repair of the Altar of the First Silkworm."
Xiao Yan's handsome brows frowned almost immediately.
As the position of the Empress was vacant, there had been no current Queen Mother to preside over the Silkworm Ceremony for more than a decade, and the Altar of the First Silkworm, located in the northeast corner of the Western Garden, gradually fell into disuse.
The emperor had the urge to renovate the Altar of the First Silkworm on a whim, which was clearly a hint that the Silkworm Ceremony, which had been suspended for more than a decade, would be restarted.
Yesterday, Yang Shangyi's birthday was celebrated according to the Queen's standards. Tomorrow, Yang Shangyi will probably perform the silkworm ceremony on behalf of the Queen.
After a moment's silence, Xiao Qi picked up the purple-hair brush, lightly dipped it in the inkstone, and slowly put ink on the gold-sprinkled rice paper.
"I know, you go down first."
Tong Lin said nothing more and bowed to leave.
As soon as he left the small study, he ran into the Yang family members who came to Qingyinzhai to pay their respects to Yang Shangyi.
The little girl, who was still dressed as a page boy this morning, had changed into a brand new pea green brocade jacket and skirt with a butterfly pattern. She had her hair in a bun and wore a pearl and gold necklace around her neck.
They were all sent by him just now.
Yang Jing was really confused, fearing that Leader Tong would report her to his parents for reading the erotic novels.
She just flipped through a few pages out of curiosity, but who would have thought that the plot of "The Secret History of the Embroidered Couch" was so ups and downs and fascinating that she couldn't stop reading it.
Fortunately, he just glanced at her lightly and said nothing.
Only then did Yang Jingzhen feel relieved.
Led by the palace servants, their family entered the main hall of Qingyinzhai where guests were received and sat down.
After waiting for about half an hour, I heard a sudden chaotic sound of footsteps from the other end of the corridor. Dozens of palace maids came towards me, escorting a plump woman with elegant clothes and outstanding looks.
Yang Qianxing and his wife and daughter looked at each other, then stood up and went out to greet them.
Before they could salute, Yang Manyan hurriedly stopped them.
She held her mother's hand and said with a smile, "This is not the palace. Dad, Mom, and Zhenzhen don't have to be restrained. Come and sit down."
The brazier in the main room was burning brightly, making a slight crackling sound, creating an atmosphere of warmth.
Each sandalwood coffee table was filled with snacks brought from the palace, including crispy abalone and snail cakes, eight-treasure cakes, pine nut and lily cakes, dragon's beard candies, etc. There was a wide variety of snacks to choose from.
The palace servants then smoothly brewed a cup of Emei Snow Bud tea for each person, and the fragrance of tea filled the air in an instant.
Having exchanged greetings with his mother and sister yesterday, Yang Manyan now looked his father over from head to toe.
"Dad has lost a lot of weight after being away for several months." Her eyes suddenly turned red.
Yang Qianxing said jokingly, "Yuanyuan is mistaken. Father has clearly become much stronger."
He chattered endlessly about the interesting things that happened during his time surveying the fields in the past few months. Following the principle of reporting good news rather than bad news, he only talked about happy things.
Yang Jingzhen hid a storybook in her sleeve and felt restless the whole day.
She didn't dare hide it in Chengxin Hall, for fear of being discovered by the palace servants, so she had to carry it with her at all times.
Yang Manyan noticed that something was wrong with his sister, and found an excuse to take her to the side room before parting.
"Tell me, what's going on?" Yang Manyan raised his hand and gently scratched his sister's nose.
Yang Jingzhen hesitated for a while before hesitantly taking out the notebook from her sleeve.
"Sister, please help me hide it, don't let my parents know!"
Yang Manyan was slightly startled, and when he saw the four big words "The Secret History of the Embroidered Bed" on the cover of the book, his eyes widened in shock.
"You..." She was about to open her mouth to scold, but Yang Jingzhen had already stuffed the script into her hands, picked up her skirt and ran away.
Yang Manyan felt as if his hand was burned, but he didn't dare to put it down for fear of being discovered by the palace servants.
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