Chapter 49 Chapter 49 They are tired of each other, but there is no way to avoid each other...
After having lunch with Lingchuan, Gu Shi was still suspicious and deliberately avoided her and called Qingye to the study alone.
After Qingye came in, she bowed politely. She only wore a non-eye-catching velvet flower on her head.
"Your servant Qingye pays homage to His Majesty."
She had no idea why Gu Shi called her here alone... and even sent all the other servants away.
Qingye felt a little nervous, afraid that he might say something wrong and upset Gu Shi.
"Did you see anyone last night?"
Gu Shi cleared his throat and changed the way he asked the question.
"Lingchuan said he enjoyed listening to the flute last night. Have you seen the person playing the flute?"
Aoba bowed.
"I did see that maid, but I was afraid she would disturb Your Majesty's rest, so I sent her away."
"Does the maid have any physical characteristics?"
"She has big eyes and a somewhat seductive look."
"Okay, got it. Let's go back."
Qingye's confession and Lingchuan's explanation basically match each other, and there doesn't sound to be any particular contradiction, but Gu Shi still doesn't dare to completely believe Lingchuan's statement.
Qingye walked out in panic, feeling vaguely that there was something strange about this matter.
If she was just an ordinary palace maid who could play the flute, why would Gu Shi bother to call her over alone?
But even if something big happened, she was just a palace maid and could do nothing. The less she knew, the safer she was.
Once Gu Shi's suspicions arose, it was difficult to dispel them.
His heart was already filled with jealousy, hatred, and stinginess. There were already signs of infidelity in his relationship with Lingchuan. Even if there was only the slightest clue, the dark emotions would quietly burn away all sense of security.
Gu Shi deliberately avoided Lingchuan and called Qingye to interrogate him, but what he didn't know was that Lingchuan was also deliberately avoiding him.
Taking advantage of this time, Huang Xing took advantage of the situation and attacked Lingchuan in the dark.
Lingchuan looked at her. Huang Xing's eyes were dark and blue, and she seemed a little haggard.
She didn't know what means she had used to sneak into the palace. She only knew that this would cause a huge psychological burden. How could a young girl like her bear it?
She grabbed her hand and told her all the lies she had told Gu Shi.
"Huang Xing, Gu Shi was already suspicious of the flute music last night, so I lied and said your stepmother was from the same hometown as me, so you could also play this tune. I specially asked you to come here to play a lullaby for me."
Huang Xing nodded, memorized everything, and explained her purpose:
"I wanted to bring you a letter, but I was caught by a maid last night. She scolded me and sent me away. Out of caution, I destroyed the letter."
It would be too reckless to bring the letter. How could Qin Sizhao be so careless... Lingchuan frowned.
"Okay, no problem... Please tell him I'll take the medicine on the day I take it. It's too dangerous... Go back quickly and don't come back."
She took off a bracelet and quietly handed it to Huang Xing.
"Hide the bracelet and take it to the pawnshop to pawn it for some money. It's worth about four hundred taels of silver, which should be enough for you to live on for a while. Don't be too impatient and pawn it for too little."
She specifically picked out a bracelet that she had bought from a foreign merchant when she was still in the palace. Such a thing would be worth some money, but would not be too sensational to cause trouble.
Besides, she has at least eight such bracelets, if not ten, and no one would care if one was missing.
"Go back quickly, don't let anything happen again."
She urged Huang Xing to return home quickly, and after watching her disappear from her sight, she hurried back to Congcui Palace.
Lingchuan's heart was also beating fast. She was not afraid of death, but there was no need to implicate innocent people.
Qin Sizhao was being too careless. Since he had already brought the fake death drug, why bother letting Huang Xing take the risk of coming all the way to deliver a message? If she was caught on the spot, wouldn't she be caught red-handed, and all her plans would be exposed on the spot.
She made herself a cup of tea, but heard Qingye say:
"Madam, there is a bracelet missing from your dressing table."
Lingchuan's hand shook and cold sweat flowed from his forehead.
"Why? Do you have to count these one by one every day?"
Aoba nodded proudly and spoke as if he was naming a dish.
"Your Majesty has 231 silver hairpins and 91 gold hairpins. To prevent any servants from engaging in dishonest activities, these gold and silver jewels must be counted daily... and of course, they must be memorized."
Lingchuan was a little intimidated by Qingye's good memory and sensitivity to details, and smiled bitterly:
"You don't have to work so hard. There shouldn't be anyone with such dirty hands in our temple."
Qingye's expression immediately changed, and he said seriously:
"Your Majesty, you don't know that most of these slaves are low-spirited. If you relax your control a little, they will immediately have messy thoughts. You must manage every detail diligently."
Lingchuan was scolded by her and felt a little embarrassed, so he could only say hesitantly:
"I just picked up a bracelet as a gift. Don't take it too seriously."
She probably couldn't remember the style of the bracelet... Lingchuan could only pray that she couldn't remember it.
Such a good memory really makes Lingchuan wary, she has to find an excuse to transfer Qingye away.
She walked to the dressing mirror, where her fake death drug was lying openly on the dressing table.
Since she could count her jewelry, could she also secretly remember what medicine she took?
Qingye must not stay around.
"Qingye, I want to set up a small kitchen in the palace to take care of my diet. Please go and take care of this matter. From now on, you will be the one to check everything I eat. I will leave Jinzhan to serve me."
She looked at Qingye with a forced smile. If she didn't still have a conscience and knew that she shouldn't harm innocent people, she might have just killed her.
"Jinzhan? Your Majesty, are you sure you really want Jinzhan to serve you personally? She always neglects her duties and is simply not as devoted to you as I am. I even remember exactly how many ruby-encrusted hairpins you have."
"It's because kitchen work is so important and requires someone who's especially attentive that I've specifically entrusted you with it, and your monthly salary is doubled. Jinzhan has served me for six years, so I'm used to it, whether it's good or not."
Qingye had indeed put a great deal of psychological pressure on Lingchuan, but she seemed oblivious to it all. She stood there with a frown on her face, seemingly dissatisfied with her arrangements.
Lingchuan had no choice but to put on a fake smile, picked out a silver hairpin and put it on her head.
"This is a reward for you. I ordered you to prepare the special meal not because I think you are not doing a good job, but because I want to use you."
She held her shoulders and pushed her in front of the peep show in a mock-affectionate manner.
"Look, what a beautiful lady."
Lingchuan never thought that she would actually want to kill a palace maid. She finally understood how those monarchs in history books who were afraid of capable ministers felt.
Qingye was unaware of her nervousness and thought that Lingchuan truly appreciated her talent. His eyes sparkled and he gave her a genuine smile that was almost innocent.
"Okay, get busy. Remember to hire a good pastry chef who can make hand-rolled noodles."
Qingye was indeed efficient. That night, Lingchuan ate a strange bowl of noodles that were translucent, as thin as a hair, and tossed with several kinds of strange and complicated dried goods.
Gu Shi also dined with her. He sat up straight and took a bite with an elegant posture.
Lingchuan, by comparison, had no good eating manners. He took a deep sip and said:
"These noodles... are so thin that it feels like nothing at all. They melt before I even chew them. The more I eat, the more disgusting they become. How can they even be called noodles?"
"Aren't all noodles like this?"
Gu Shi looked at Lingchuan with strange eyes.
Qingye introduced:
"It's the thin noodles that really show the skill. The noodles are stretched very thinly, deep-fried, and then topped with a topping made from dried abalone."
Lingchuan couldn't help but roll his eyes. The food became unpalatable due to the extra steps involved. The people in the kitchen must have skimmed off the fat from this complicated process.
She complained:
"For some reason the flour in this palace doesn't have the aroma of wheat."
"The flour that can enter the palace must be more sophisticated and complicated in terms of craftsmanship."
Aoba replied.
Ling Chuan watched Gu Shi eating a bowl of strange noodles as if it was nothing special, and he couldn't help but sneer:
"It's hard to say what you rich people's taste is. I think a bowl of trouser belt noodles with some hot oil on it is more delicious than anything else."
"Kuangdai Noodles"? That name is too vulgar... Gu Shi frowned at Lingchuan. How could a girl talk about that part so casually?
When she was fourteen or fifteen, she spoke more dirty country dialect, some of which made him blush just by listening to it.
He had taken great pains to correct her and had managed to make her behave like a lady, but now she was showing signs of relapsing into her old ways.
This wouldn't do... It would be fine if he just said it casually on the bed, but he couldn't afford to embarrass himself in front of so many servants.
"Surely, such vulgar food cannot be eaten in the palace."
Lingchuan's face turned blue and red. Gu Shi just said a few words casually, which made her unable to eat many things.
She secretly vowed that after she faked her death and left the palace, she would eat ten bowls of real noodles in a row.
She looked at Gu Shi's elegant posture, which he was completely unaware of, and smiled coldly. By then, he would be alone in the palace, crying and regretting.
But Lingchuan wanted to fake his death and run away to leave Gu Shi completely, not entirely because he wanted to take revenge on Gu Shi.
She felt that she did have feelings for Gu Shi. For example, hatred had always been the most intense emotion in her heart towards Gu Shi.
Of course, this kind of affection also has a tendency to sink, but after sinking for a while, it often comes back to life.
This feeling kept rising and falling in her heart.
She knew very well that being with Gu Shi would only torture each other and lead to loss.
Even if she followed Gu Shiguo sincerely, over time, this resurrected emotion would only turn them into an incompatible couple.
They are tired of each other, but they have no choice but to torture each other to death.
Lingchuan wanted to take the fake death drug just to end it all.
Only in this way can the two of them separate completely and end this absurd relationship once and for all.
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