Chapter 28 The Incompetent is replaced
In a blink of an eye, it was almost noon. Jiang Xue was sitting in the room reading a book when Xiaochun came to report.
"Your Highness, the Prince Consort has gone to the study after the court session."
"Can you tell him that I invite him to have dinner with me?" Jiang Xue raised her head and asked.
"Xianglu is waiting at the main gate. I told the prince consort as soon as he got off the sedan chair."
"What's the reaction of the Prince Consort?"
"The Prince Consort said that he had originally planned to come to see Your Highness after the court session, but it was inconvenient to wear court clothes, so he went back to change into casual clothes before coming here."
"This morning Jiang Qibin asked where he stayed last night."
"The prince consort should be staying in the main house. I asked the servants yesterday and they said that the prince consort always stayed in Lumingzhai before the marriage."
"Yes," Jiang Xue put down the book in her hand, "What clothes should I change into in the study?"
She smiled and said, "Go out and have a look. Jiang Qibin should be back."
Xiaochun responded and went out.
Huang Fu must have come back with a letter, otherwise Gu Lintan wouldn't have been so anxious to go to the study, Jiang Xue thought.
Well, she is not in a hurry at the moment.
She called out, and it was the palace maid Xiangyu who came in.
She said, "Go to the kitchen and tell Fu Dong to arrange for someone to put the food in the small side hall. Go and wait at the gate of Qingxuan Courtyard. If the prince consort comes later, just lead him there."
Fragrant rain will fall.
Jiang Xue walked to the dressing table, looked at her makeup in the bronze mirror, thought about it carefully, picked up a handkerchief and wiped off all the lip balm.
People who are sick should not have a too pretty complexion.
Soon, Xiaochun brought Jiang Qibin in.
"Your Highness, Guard Jiang has just returned to the courtyard." Xiaochun said.
"Greetings, Your Highness." Jiang Qibin saluted with his fists clasped.
Jiang Xue walked out of the inner room, bypassed the screen separating the inner room and the outer hall, and went directly in front of the two of them.
"What did you gain?"
"I followed Huang Fu all morning, but strangely, he didn't go to see anyone special, nor did I see him give anything as a gift."
"Oh?" Jiang Xue frowned and asked, "Then tell me in detail where he went this morning and who he met."
She looked outside the house and said, "Let's make it short and talk about the most important things."
"Yes." Jiang Qibin replied and immediately began to recall.
"Huang Fu asked his servants to harness the carriage and go out this morning. He told the gatekeeper that he was going out to do some shopping."
"He only sent one servant to drive the car, and he went to four places in total."
"One is the grain store on East Street, where I bought a few bags of rice and flour."
"One is Dong's Silk Shop, where I bought some plain-colored cloth."
"One is at Liangji Tea Shop on Lin'an Street in the west of the city. I bought four boxes of tea."
"Finally, I went to the market in the south of the city, which was also a grain store, and bought a few baskets of vegetables and fruits such as potatoes, cassava, and taro."
"I watched him from a suitable place every time he came in and out. There was nothing unusual in his conversations with the merchants, and he indeed asked the servants to carry out the things he bought from the store."
"Shopping?" Jiang Xue looked at Xiaochun, who shook her head.
"The housekeeper Xiaochun has not even taken inventory of the supplies in the mansion. Who gave him the order to buy? Who gave him the money to buy?"
"Besides, the Gu Mansion is in the north of the city. He can go to the grain store on East Street first. Can't he buy some crops at the same time? Does he have to go to the south of the city again?"
Jiang Qibin asked, "Your Highness, do you think there is something wrong with the grain store in the south of the city? I will go and check it out now."
"No," Jiang Xue sneered, and said, "Do you remember who the business owners or waiters in these four places were who negotiated with him?"
Jiang Qibin said: "Yes, I remember their faces. Your Highness, what do you need me to do?"
"Go ask every household." Jiang Xue said.
"You just need to say that you are a servant from Prince Consort Gu's mansion, and Butler Huang asked you to pick up the tickets for the things you bought this morning."
"Tickets?" Jiang Qibin asked, "What if Huang Fu took them this morning?"
"No matter he took it or not, you just need to tell them through words that the Gu Mansion has a new housekeeper. The new housekeeper is particularly picky and difficult to deal with." Jiang Xue said slowly.
"Take this opportunity to establish a relationship with them," Jiang Xue said, "and find out when Huang Fu went shopping before, and roughly what he bought each time."
"You can make up the specific lies yourself." Jiang Xue smiled, "If they are difficult to deal with, just use some money cleverly."
"Yes." Jiang Qibin replied.
"Whatever you discover, remember carefully what these people say and tell me when you get back."
After Jiang Xue finished giving her instructions, she said to Xiaochun:
"Let's go. I'll ask Fudong to put the lunch in the small side hall. Come with me over there to wait for the prince consort."
As she was leaving, she looked back at Jiang Qibin.
The young man had red lips and white teeth, and was handsome. He was wearing the uniform of a guard prepared by the palace, and had an extraordinary temperament. He did not look like a "servant" at all.
She said to Jiang Qibin, "Go back to the side room and rest first. After lunch, I will have someone prepare some clothes for you. You can change into them before you move out."
"He's so handsome." Jiang Xue lowered her head and said to Xiaochun.
Jiang Qibin's ears suddenly turned red.
Xiaochun covered her mouth and chuckled.
"Think of a way to paint your face darker." Jiang Xue said casually and turned to leave.
"Why do you think you're whiter than me when you look closely?" Jiang Xue muttered a few words and disappeared from Jiang Qibin's sight.
Wenqingxuan's small side hall.
As soon as Jiang Xue arrived, she was immediately attracted by the aroma of the food.
She didn't eat much for yesterday's dinner and today's breakfast. She had been hungry for a long time and now she just wanted to pick up her chopsticks and eat.
Xiaochun asked, "Your Highness, do you need me to go and urge the Prince Consort?"
As soon as he finished speaking, Gu Lintan stepped over the threshold of the small side hall.
When he heard Xiaochun's words, he immediately asked, "Have you kept me waiting for a long time?"
Jiang Xue forced out a gentle smile and said softly, "It's okay, Prince Consort. I just arrived too."
Gu Lintan's face was full of concern. He quickly walked to Jiang Xue, supported her, and asked:
"Your Highness, are you okay? Why do you look so bad?"
Oh, man. She just took off her bright red lipstick and felt her face and mouth turn pale and her body felt unwell.
Jiang Xue rolled her eyes silently, but she had to continue to look gentle on her face.
"No problem. Please sit down and eat your meal."
In fact, Gu Lintan had been waiting for Jiang Xue to take the initiative to talk about what happened last night.
He wanted to know what Jiang Xue's attitude was towards this matter, whether she was simply dissatisfied with his ability to arrange guards, or whether she had doubts.
Helplessly, Jiang Xue just called him to eat and didn't mention anything else.
He had no choice but to sit next to Jiang Xue.
Seeing that Jiang Xue hadn't picked up her chopsticks for a long time and looked listless, he could only say:
"Your Highness, I deserve death for what happened last night."
"What did the prince consort say?" Jiang Xue frowned, her face full of confusion.
"Wasn't it the scoundrels who did it last night? What does it have to do with the Prince Consort?" Jiang Xue asked softly, "Could it be that the Prince Consort knows something about the thief's origins?"
Gu Lintan's heart sank. Was she asking this question out of pure curiosity, or was she deliberately testing him out of suspicion?
"Of course not," Gu Lintan said, "I only regret that I didn't manage the guards in this palace well, and let them be so careless that His Highness was frightened!"
"Since there is no such thing, don't blame yourself, Prince Consort." Jiang Xue consoled him, "Do you think the guards in this palace failed to fulfill their responsibilities?"
"Of course it's my fault," Gu Lintan said, his regret becoming more and more obvious, "It's all my fault for being too lenient with them! I will punish them severely this time!"
"How does the prince consort plan to punish me?" Jiang Xue raised her chopsticks, picked up a piece of lotus root and placed it in Gu Lintan's bowl.
Seeing her move, Gu Lintan sincerely reached out and gently placed his hand on the back of her hand, saying:
"If they neglect their duties and bring disaster to the princess, they will be severely punished with ten strokes of the cane and one month's salary. I believe they will not dare to commit the same offense again."
"Does your Majesty think they are neglecting their duties?" Jiang Xue asked back.
Seeing that Gu Lintan didn't respond, she continued, "I don't think so."
"When I was young, there was a eunuch in the palace. The chief eunuch asked him to sort out the books in the palace library. He sorted for more than a month, but not only did he not complete the task, he also misplaced several books, causing a very precious scripture to be lost."
"The fault he committed was so serious that the chief eunuch dared not punish him arbitrarily, so he came to ask the Queen Mother for advice."
"But the Queen Mother did not punish the eunuch. She only asked Aunt Dong to go to the palace servants' office and pick out a eunuch who could read and write, and asked him to replace the original person and reorganize the library."
"Does your Majesty think that your Majesty is too kind and soft in this decision?"
Gu Lintan said, "Your Majesty, there must be a reason for this. I think the eunuch was illiterate, but was assigned to the library. Therefore, even if he is severely punished, he will not be able to complete this task."
Jiang Xue smiled and said, "The Prince Consort is indeed the number one scholar. This is absolutely true."
"I was confused at the time and asked my mother why she didn't punish me. She said that she wanted to rectify the palace affairs and punish me appropriately."
"If a talented person fails to accomplish things within his ability, he can be punished."
"If an incompetent person cannot get things done, no matter how severe the punishment is, he will not be able to get the job done."
"It would be better to replace the person as soon as possible so that things can be pushed forward and completed."
Jiang Xue raised her eyebrows with a playful look in her eyes as she watched Gu Lintan's reaction.
"The Prince Consort said, yes or no?"
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