Lu Ming added, "Moreover, Chu Huan has been in the military camp recently, and we rarely see each other. This zither was a gift from him."
Chang Lili felt a little sorry for the taciturn boy. Perhaps Lu Ming had fallen for him at some point, but before Lu Ming could figure it out, Xiao Lingshou reappeared. Now it was too late, and Lu Ming's mind was focused on someone else.
Chang Lili looked at Lu Ming, who was being secretly admired, and said, "Really?"
She could only hope in her heart that Lu Ming's choice was not wrong.
After Lu Ming and she made up, Lu Ming showed her his hard-earned piano skills.
Chang Lili usually deals with government offices, but now she finds these ancient musical sounds quite interesting. She always reaches out her paws to pluck the strings. Lu Ming called her a few times, and she was able to pluck a few tunes. Then she was eager to buy a zither to practice.
Meng Yuxiu was always tinkering with weapons, and she was also tinkering with wooden mechanisms. In the future, the house would be too hard and rigid, so she needed something more elegant.
Unaware of what Chang Lili was planning, Lu Ming asked, "By the way, has Xiao Shu'er been causing you any trouble lately?"
Seeing Chang Lili shake her head, she told Chang Lili everything Xiao Shuer had said on her birthday.
Chang Lili had never liked her, saying, "She actually tried to sow discord; this woman is both petty and vicious."
"You need to be careful, I have a feeling she's still up to something."
"Instead of worrying about me, you should worry about yourself. If you really marry the Crown Prince, she will be his aunt, and you'll be family." Chang Lili pretended to threaten her. "Don't abandon me just to please her."
"How could that be?" Lu Ming quickly said, "You know that the Empress and the Eldest Princess don't get along, and His Highness probably doesn't have a good relationship with her either."
That makes sense, but speaking of the Empress, Chang Lili asked, "Does the Emperor also approve of you?"
"The Emperor wants me to enter the palace. Isn't there going to be a grand election? The Empress isn't in the palace. He said he'd give me a female official position so I can manage some affairs in the harem."
It's understandable that the emperor would try to match Lu Ming and Xiao Lingshou, but is it appropriate to let Lu Ming, a female soldier who is used to being in the military camp, manage those delicate young ladies in the harem?
Lu Ming, also feeling a headache coming on, stepped onto the soft couch with one foot and said, "I'm really afraid that I'll end up fighting with those women."
"You'd better hold back, the Crown Prince won't marry a fierce woman." As she spoke, Lu Ming quickly took her leg down, put on the dignified demeanor of a well-bred young lady, sighed sadly, and said, "Never mind, we'll talk about it later. You can come to the palace to play with me too."
Chang Lili nodded.
"By the way, where's your general?"
“My mother-in-law hasn’t been feeling well lately, so he took her to the Imperial Hospital.”
"The General is truly something else. When are you two getting married?" Lu Ming said with a mischievous grin, bumping her shoulder.
Chang Lili raised an eyebrow and said, "What's the rush? Anyway, you'll get your share of the wedding banquet. Hurry up and teach me to play for a while longer. I'll go back and play for that brute."
Lu Ming placed her hands on the strings and asked, "By the way, my father has been quite busy lately. Isn't your general busy?"
Chang Lili found it extremely pleasing to hear Meng Yuxiu repeatedly address her as "your general." Recalling how often Meng Yuxiu visited her, she said, "I haven't heard him mention anything. What's he busy with?"
Lu Ming glanced around warily, making sure no one else was around, then leaned close to Chang Lili's ear and said, "What organization are you investigating?"
"Um?"
"What's it called, Three-Page Gate? I heard it in my father's study, that's what it's called, but I don't know what it's for. Anyway, he's quite unhappy, he feels like he's wasting his talents, and now he's hoping the Northern Barbarians will make some noise so he can hurry to the border and leave the capital."
Chang Lili smiled. She hadn't paid attention to this matter before, but for some reason, her heart suddenly skipped a beat because of the name Lu Ming had mentioned earlier.
Imperial Medical Academy.
After vomiting blood and falling into a coma, the mother-in-law, overwhelmed by grief, finally awoke three incense sticks' worth of time. She slowly sat up and asked, "Where am I?"
"This is the Imperial Hospital. You're finally awake. The general went to see His Majesty and instructed me to take good care of you."
Having not heard the eunuch's soft voice for a long time, the mother-in-law felt a mix of emotions.
The eunuch brought her a cup of water and relayed Meng Yuxiu's instructions: "Your health is fine. The imperial physician said it's just that you were overheated and a little weak, which is why you're like this. Please don't worry too much."
The mother-in-law nodded, sat for a while longer, then looked at the glazed tiles outside the window and asked, "May I go out for a walk?"
"You can joke, of course, but don't leave the Imperial Hospital. There are too many people and too many eyes outside."
Supported by the eunuch, the old woman walked out of the courtyard where the Imperial Hospital was resting. This place was originally prepared for the imperial physicians. It was inside the Imperial Hospital. Outside, there were imperial physicians and medicine boys coming and going, as well as palace maids and eunuchs from various palaces. No one paid much attention to the simply dressed old woman. They probably thought she was an old woman from some palace.
After all, this place is quite a distance from the inner palace, so it's not heavily guarded, and there are usually many other people around.
As the old woman walked around the Imperial Hospital, no one paid attention to her, and no one noticed the tears welling up in her eyes when she touched the red wall.
She asked the eunuch beside her, "Is this place far from where the Emperor and Empress reside?"
This eunuch was good-natured and treated her like an old lady entering the palace for the first time. He said, "You're still far from being in the palace. You need a waist token to go further in."
The mother-in-law feigned surprise and said, "Really? The palace looks quite new."
"It needs repairs almost every year, and a major overhaul every five years. I've heard that repairing palaces is a very lucrative job..."
His mother-in-law interrupted him with a smile: "You haven't been in the palace long, have you?"
"I am sixteen years old this year, and I have been in the palace for three years."
The mother-in-law nodded, no wonder she didn't know the unspoken rules of the palace. She slowly said, "Those things that happened just now shouldn't be told to outsiders, right?"
The eunuch suddenly realized, "Oh, I forgot all that. I was just thinking about complaining to you. Thank you for reminding me, sir."
The mother-in-law quickly pretended to be embarrassed and said, "How would I know about this? I was a servant in someone else's house before, so I only know about a few masters. I suppose there are more rules in the palace."
The eunuch didn't think much of it and helped her walk slowly. He heard the old woman ask again, "I wonder where the emperor and the others live?"
"This palace has over a thousand rooms. His Majesty usually resides in the Hall of Mental Cultivation, while the Empress resides in..."
Hearing these unfamiliar names, the mother-in-law felt a pang of heartache.
The palace remains the same, but new people move in, and no one knows how many withered bones and beautiful women are buried there.
When the eunuch who was supporting her ran off to help pack the medicine, leaving her all alone, the old woman finally couldn't hold back her tears.
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