Many of the dishes on the table were untouched. The emperor only drank half a bowl of sweet soup. The queen spent more than three hours preparing this meal, but the emperor did not even stay in Qiwu Palace for half a quarter of an hour.
The queen took the sweet soup and put it into her mouth. The soup was added with longan, red dates, and candied lotus seeds, but it tasted bitter.
Xia Chan greeted softly, "Your Majesty, the soup is cold and not tasty anymore. I'll get you a new bowl."
The Queen's eyes were horribly gloomy. She slowly stood up and said, "Xia Chan, I remember there is a Qi Gengyi in Cangzhu Palace. Please ask someone to find her."
Xia Chan bent over and retreated. The maids and eunuchs in Qiwu Palace didn't even dare to breathe. The Queen sat alone by the rosewood table for a long while before she stood up and said quietly, "Go away. From now on, no snow pear sweet soup is allowed in Qiwu Palace."
The maids in charge of serving the food hurriedly cleared the table. The chef looked at the food and felt unhappy. These people worked together to make the dishes with such high-quality ingredients, but the masters didn't even take a bite with their chopsticks.
The imperial chefs would secretly send these leftover dishes out of the palace and resell them to large restaurants in Kyoto. The money earned was divided equally between the eunuchs and the imperial chefs.
The moon above Qiwu Palace also shines above Cangzhu Palace.
Qi Gengyi opened the wooden box and found a few pieces of silver from the bottom. It was only the beginning of the month and her monthly salary was already empty. The palace was spending money like water and Qi Gengyi had no subsidies from her mother's family. Every step was difficult.
“Knock, knock.”
There was a knock on the door. Qi changed his clothes, locked the box, and got out of bed to open the door himself.
Xia Chan looked at her with a smile and said in a gentle tone, "Get changed, the Queen wants to see you."
Qi Gengyi cried with joy, and then her eyes dimmed. The queen was of such noble status, why would she suddenly come to see her?
"Aunt Xia Chan, why is the Queen looking for me?"
"You'll know when you go and change your clothes."
Qi Gengyi is the master and Xia Chan is the servant, but Qi Gengyi doesn't even have the courage to ask Xia Chan a few more questions. She follows behind Xia Chan, thinking in her mind.
The old woman guarding the palace gate was slowly eating a piece of dried persimmon cake. When she lifted her foot, she found an ant crawling under the chair. She stepped on it and said, "What kind of little bug dares to bite me?"
The old woman stepped on the ant and it stopped moving.
Qi Gengyi followed Xia Chan all the way to Qiwu Palace. The queen was lying lazily, and Qi Gengyi was kneeling on the ground, with a pearl curtain between them.
The bead curtain swayed, and Qi Gengyi's heart was in turmoil.
"Qi Gengyi, I heard that you and Gu Gengyi have a personal grudge?"
Qi Gengyi knelt on the ground and said, "Your Majesty, I have always been law-abiding and have never had the intention to harm anyone."
"So you are so timid, and I even said I would promote you." The Queen fell silent after saying this.
Qi Gengyi's brain was working fast, guessing the queen's intention.
She asked me to come here because she must need me. If I refuse her, I'm afraid I'll end up in trouble. It's better for me to agree to her first.
"I am willing to go through fire and water for your majesty."
"There's no need to risk your life. I do have something I can use you for right now."
"Only at the Queen's command."
After Qi Gengyi said this, the Queen laughed three times with joy and called out, "Hahaha, summer cicadas, look at the feast."
Xia Chan lifted the pearl curtain and came out, respectfully helping Qi Gengyi up. Qi Gengyi didn't dare to get up without the Queen's order.
"Qi Gengyi, stand up and speak."
"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your consideration."
Xia Chan gave Qi Gengyi a thick stack of silver bills and turned back to the queen.
If you accept this money, you have to work for the queen.
"Empress, I won't accept any reward without merit. This money..."
The queen thought Qi Gengyi's money was too little, so she ordered Xia Chan to give her more money.
"Summer cicadas, enjoy again."
Xia Chan came out from the inner room and handed Qi Gengyi another twenty silver notes, each with a face value of one hundred taels.
The money weighs heavily on the hands of servants.
Half a minute later, Qi Gengyi came out of Qiwu Palace with a bag of money in his hand. This money was given by the Queen to buy Gu Yinwei's life.
Qi Gengyi looked at the money in her hand, her eyes changed from panic to confusion, and then from confusion to determination. Women in the palace are bound to die. She cannot avoid death, but she can choose to live as gloriously as possible before death.
…
Gu Yinwei didn't know that the Queen had bribed Qi Gengyi to work for her, but Concubine Zhen was the first to discover this secret.
The next day, before paying her respects to the Queen, Concubine Zhen hurriedly came to chase Gu Yinwei on a sedan chair.
"Empress Zhenfei, you got up really early today."
"My little rascal, I am concerned about your safety."
Zhen Fei held Xiao Yu's hand and slowly stepped down from the sedan chair. She pulled Gu Yinwei aside and said mysteriously, "Yesterday I saw Qi Gengyi get a lot of money."
“That’s a good thing.”
"What a bullshit! Why don't you ask where Qi got the money for changing his clothes?"
"I'm afraid people won't easily tell others how to make money."
"You are such a fool. I won't keep you in suspense any longer. The money Qi Gengyi received from the Queen was given to you. Qi Gengyi has received so much money from the Queen, so he will probably find a way to deal with you. You better be careful."
Gu Yingxia rushed forward excitedly and asked, "Who? Who dares to bully Gu Gengyi? Come out and let me hear it."
Concubine Zhen waved her hand at Gu Yingxia, "Stop making trouble."
Gu Yingxia sniffed and said, "Hmph, if you don't tell me, I will check them one by one myself."
Gu Yinwei walked towards the stairs, not forgetting to remind Gu Yingxia, "It's almost time to pay your respects, don't waste time."
The concubines found seats one after another. Ever since the Imperial Noble Consort and Consort Rou were confined to their houses, Consort Yi no longer tried to curry favor with the Empress as she did before. Instead, she liked to talk to Consorts Zhen and Jin. Gu Yinwei sat upright, her thoughts far away.
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