Hearing her mistress's words, Lüyun nodded cautiously, "Yes. We servants will be careful. We will definitely not let anyone take advantage of us."
Huo Qinghe gave a soft "hmm": "You guys are all the most clever. With you around, I can be the least worried. Did Lühuai go to get lunch? Call her in when she comes back. I have something to ask her."
Green Cloud paused in her ink-grinding motion, then said, "Yes, this servant has remembered."
When Green Locust returned, Huo Qinghe told Green Cloud and the others to go out and set the table first.
"How's the investigation into the Dragon Boat Festival going?" Huo Qinghe went straight to the point.
Green Locust shook her head: "This servant and Granny Wang have both secretly investigated, but we haven't seen the palace maid wearing the same patterned green palace dress that you mentioned. However, the number of new clothes for the palace maids to cut in the embroidery room for each season and festival is fixed. As you said, Granny Wang and this servant guess that the person behind the trouble that day must have been a high-ranking palace maid, perhaps even the head palace maid."
Hearing Green Locust's guess, Huo Qinghe nodded slightly; this was also her guess after the incident.
"I haven't been in the palace long, and I don't have much contact with people from my former residence before I entered the palace. It couldn't have been Consort Yi who did it..."
But after hearing what Granny Wang and the others said about Huo Yiyun's anxious and flustered appearance after she fainted that day, and the endless stream of tonics that followed, it couldn't possibly be Huo Yiyun.
After she fell into the water, she would be unable to serve the emperor for a period of time, and it was very likely that she would harm her health.
Huo Yiyun was hoping she would get pregnant, but she would never do something so foolish.
Huo Qinghe, an elderly woman who entered the palace through the imperial selection three years ago, still doesn't remember everything. And according to what Wang Mama inquired about, the situation in the Chuigong Hall on that day was not the case either.
Among the remaining rookies, there were a few suspicious ones, but Huo Qinghe only had suspicions and no evidence.
If you really have to pick the one you're most suspicious of, Huo Qinghe does have one in mind, but it's not the newcomer.
Since entering the palace, she is the only one who could be considered an enemy, yet dared to commit such a heinous act of murder...
Whether it was out of some kind of instinct to seek advantage and avoid harm or something else, Huo Qinghe's first thought was still Consort Zhou in the main hall.
That's why she had given Green Cloud and the others that instruction earlier, and now Huo Qinghe was giving Green Locust the same instruction again.
"Although there's no reason to guard against thieves for a thousand days, I don't know how long Consort Zhou will remain in my position, so for now, I'll avoid her if possible. If it's really unavoidable, and if what happened that day was indeed Consort Zhou's doing, then Consort Zhou and I will naturally not get over this."
Green Locust understood what her wife meant and nodded repeatedly in agreement.
After lunch, Huo Qinghe took a walk around the corridor to digest her food, and listened to the maids' jokes, which made her feel relaxed.
...
Huo Qinghe had lunch early, while the Emperor in the Funing Palace was extremely busy.
After the morning court session, Pei Yuanhui was bothered by Fu Shiyi for quite some time. Fu Shiyi chased after him to the Funing Palace, crying and snotting as he recounted how the Fu family had devoted themselves to the country since Pei Yuanhui ascended the throne.
Finally, when Fu Shiyi subtly inquired about Fu Shi's situation in the palace, Pei Yuanhui became even more impatient. His ears hadn't had a moment of peace since early morning.
Despite how much Fu Shiyi cared for her granddaughter Fu Wenzhu, she was actually thinking the worst about Fu Wenzhu when she was crying.
Indeed, if Fu Shiyi truly loved his granddaughter, he wouldn't have allowed Fu Wenzhu to come to the palace and suffer like this.
Having finally managed to get rid of Fu Shiyi, Pei Yuanhui continued reviewing the memorials that were presented to him without stopping for a moment. He drank two cups of tea made with cassia seeds throughout the morning. Just before lunchtime, another uninvited guest arrived.
Jin Yang entered with a bitter face: "Your Majesty, Consort Chi requests an audience."
Hearing this, Pei Yuanhui continued reviewing the memorials without stopping. He raised his hand and tapped the edge of the table. Jin Yang quickly came over, opened the memorials, and placed them in front of the official.
"Did Consort Chi come from Kunning Palace?" Pei Yuanhui cleared his throat, rubbed his lower back with his free hand, and spoke in a lazy tone.
Jin Yang responded with an "Yes," and said, "Consort Chi brought dried fish to feed General Tan. Your Majesty..."
Pei Yuanhui waved his hand: "How fat has Tan Nu become? If you don't want to see her, just say that I am busy with state affairs and do not have time to see Consort Chi. Let Consort Chi go back first, and I will go to see her when I have time."
Jin Yang let out a sound of agreement, and when he looked up, his innermost thoughts were so loud that they hurt Pei Yuanhui's ears. He grabbed the paperweight on the table and threw it away.
"After you've seen off Consort Chi, you should also get out of here."
The paperweights commonly used by officials now bear countless dents and scratches.
Jin Yang had somehow angered His Majesty again, but dared not utter a word in defense. Trembling, he bowed and replied, "Yes," before retreating.
He had just stepped out when the official called him back.
“He runs faster than anyone else all day long. Go, go invite Huo Er to lunch.” Pei Yuanhui pointed in the distance, but he didn’t think twice before calling out “Huo Er”.
But it took Jin Yang, that slow-witted man, several seconds to realize who the "Huo Er" the Emperor was talking about was. He was filled with doubts, wondering why the Emperor had given Huo Meiren a new name all of a sudden.
As if knowing what he was thinking, the Emperor's voice rang out simultaneously with his own thoughts: "I can call you whatever I want. Do you also want me to call you Jin'er?"
Jin Yang got goosebumps from the Emperor's tone and trembled even more violently: "This servant dares not."
Jin Yang went out and tried to politely dismiss Consort Chi, but no matter how kind he was, he was ultimately kicked hard by Consort Chi.
Jin Yang had no way to express his bitterness. Seeing that he couldn't deal with Consort Chi, he could only give his apprentice a look and ask him to invite Consort Huo.
Otherwise, the officials inside will blame them if they can't find anyone.
Jin Yang's apprentice was named Miao Xi. He wasn't very old, had a very youthful face, and always had a smiling face.
Miao Xi received the signal and immediately set off.
The young man was fast on his feet. When he arrived at Yanxi Palace, Huo Qinghe had just finished digesting her food in the corridor and was saying that she would go back to read some books and then take a nap.
Hearing that the Emperor had invited her to lunch at the Funing Palace, the maids were overjoyed. Fortunately, Granny Wang remained calm and tidied Huo Qinghe up a bit.
Huo Qinghe asked Luyi, who had already eaten, to accompany her to Funing Palace, feeling somewhat curious herself.
Why did His Majesty suddenly decide to summon her for lunch?
Unbeknownst to Huo Qinghe, just as she was leaving Yanliang Pavilion with Miao Xi's guidance, Huo Yiyun called Cuiqiao to invite Huo Qinghe to Xianfu Palace for a talk.
Green Locust and Green Cloud could clearly see how unpleasant Cuiqiao's expression was when she arrived, and they were all secretly relieved that their mistress had been summoned away by the official in time.
However, they couldn't find out Cuiqiao's purpose from her. After all, Cuiqiao's expression was as if an inkwell had been overturned after she learned that Huo Qinghe had been summoned by the emperor.
It doesn't look like good news at all.
The maids only knew that their mistress was one of the many new beauties who had been invited by the Emperor to have lunch at the Funing Palace.
Although his wife had already eaten lunch.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com