Chapter 222 Self-reliance
After getting used to the vibrations in his ears, Xiao Jingfan raised his hand and rubbed them expressionlessly, thinking to himself, "Who is the boss of Chunmanyuan? Tell me quickly!"
[Hey, it's a well-hidden secret. Does the tyrant know about this? ]
Xiao Jingfan: If you know it, why would I wait for you to tell me?
[I probably don't know, the system doesn't mention it.]
Chu Liuzheng flipped through the system and found it more and more interesting.
[Tsk tsk, it turns out that lamps produced by the royal family are not very fuel-efficient. This guy has done a lot of things in secret, and he knows how to hide his shortcomings. His brain is no less than that of a tyrant.]
Xiao Jingfan's face darkened. From the sound of it, besides those two restless Prince Cheng and Prince Li, someone else has emerged?
He held his chin with one hand and began to count which of his uncles, brothers, nephews, and nephews was the most suspicious, while listening to their inner voices at the same time.
[Wow, Chun Man Yuan and Wan Fang Lou are competing for business, and the two bosses are actually good friends. Is this what it means when people are divided into groups?]
[Wait, that's not right. If he's the boss of Chun Man Yuan, how could he, given his character, do something like forcing a woman of good character into prostitution? This doesn't make sense.]
Xiao Jingfan silently added the screening criteria of 'good moral character'.
A large group of people were instantly screened out based on their impressions.
Chu Liuzheng didn't know that a certain emperor was using the process of elimination to support himself. She pondered the reason for a while and suddenly thought of a possibility.
【Maybe it’s related to that incident.】
She quickly searched the system.
Oh, here, here!
She read it carefully and then sorted out the related gossips.
[Oh well, there really is a connection. The timings match perfectly, so that makes sense.]
[Tsk, he's a pretty good person, just a bit unlucky.]
Bad luck?
There were still about ten people left in Xiao Jingfan's mind, and he couldn't really filter them out using the condition of "unlucky".
In his impression, these people seemed to have some bad luck.
He waited for the next cue, but… the voice was gone.
He sat and waited for a while, not knowing what Chu Liuzheng was doing, and he had no idea what he was doing.
Xiao Jingfan: "..."
It's okay, I'm used to it.
He ground his back teeth hard, walked to the study with a gloomy face, and holding a pen in his left hand, wrote down the names of the people who were left after the screening.
It’s just a dozen people, he can check it himself!
At the same time, Yiran Garden.
Yuzhui, who was resting, saw Chu Liuzheng eating half a plate of dates in one go. Worried that she would get a sore throat from eating too much, she quickly took the dates away and pulled her up to ask her to help think of the menu for the New Year's Eve dinner.
Chu Liuzheng had no choice but to give up eating the melon and hold his tea to seriously think about what to eat for the New Year’s Eve dinner.
Yuzhui leaned his head against her shoulder and said, "The New Year is just two days away. I wonder what kind of rewards I can expect this year."
Chu Liuzheng said, "Sister Moxiang said that the rewards given to those serving in the imperial court are always two cents higher than those in other palaces. This has been the case every year, and this year should be no exception."
Hearing this, Yu Zhui smiled and said, "I will save the reward and give it to Xiaoyue as a dowry in the future."
Chu Liuzheng lowered his eyes to look at the head resting on his shoulder, "All of this will be given to Xiaoyue as a dowry, what about you?"
Yuzhui sat up and said, "I'm already 25 when I left the palace. Who wants an old maid? I don't expect to get married, so I won't be despised by others."
"Twenty-five is a perfect age, how can you be considered old?" Chu Liuzheng saw that she didn't really want to get married, and smiled, "Anyone who can make it to twenty-five and leave the palace is more well-mannered and knowledgeable than the ladies of a noble family. It's just that others rush to marry her, so how could she be despised?"
"None of those who come here to seek a wife are serious about marrying. They all want to be taken home as concubines." Yu Zhui curled her lips. "I don't want to be a concubine in those wealthy families. If I were to marry, I would find an honest and decent man who would only stay with me for the rest of his life."
"What's with the words wife or concubine? Can you just chat about them?" Moxiang came in with medicine and looked at the two of them helplessly.
Yuzhui muttered, "There's no one else in the room."
"It won't work without outsiders." Moxiang said to Chu Liuzheng as she fed him medicine, "If you say you're used to it, you might start talking nonsense when outsiders are around. How will it end then?"
Yuzhui couldn't answer and said awkwardly, "I won't say it anymore."
"You'd better keep it in mind." Moxiang stuffed a candy into the bitter-faced Chu Liuzheng's mouth, and when she saw her brows relax, she said, "The jade pendant is fine, but why did you join in the conversation?"
Chu Liuzheng admitted his mistake immediately and behaved very well.
Moxiang poked her forehead helplessly, then turned to Yuzhui and said, "If you really want to, you can ask His Majesty for mercy before leaving the palace. Ask His Majesty to arrange a marriage for you. Even if the family is not wealthy, they will definitely not let you down."
Yuzhui was surprised: "Your Majesty, can you agree?"
"As long as you serve wholeheartedly, His Majesty will grant your request," Moxiang said. "Last year, when Aunt Yuyu left the palace, she begged for mercy from His Majesty, and His Majesty agreed to marry her to Lord Shen, the clerk of the Ministry of War. They are now living happily together, and she is three months pregnant."
Yuyu is Moxiang's master, and it was she who trained Moxiang.
Yuzhui was somewhat tempted, and she took Moxiang's arm and said, "Sister, please teach me more in the future. I also want to..."
She didn't say the rest of the words, but Chu Liuzheng and Moxiang understood what she meant. She was going for grace.
Moxiang also hoped for her well: "As long as you do your part, His Majesty will see clearly and will not fail to see it."
Yuzhui nodded, "I understand."
Moxiang raised her finger and pointed at Chu Liuzheng: "Liuzheng has done a good job. If you can learn a little bit from her, you won't have to worry about this grace."
Chu Liuzheng blinked when he was suddenly called out. She wasn't asking for mercy, so what was there to learn from her? Was she slacking off at work?
*
The next day, the weather was sunny.
Youlan Residence.
The young eunuch rushed in and reported, "The emperor has gone to Changchun Palace."
Gaopin waved her hand to let him leave, stood in front of the dressing table, and personally added the final stroke of perilla to the end of her eyes.
"Look for yourself."
Zi Su turned her head and saw a face that was both familiar and unfamiliar reflected in the bronze mirror.
Her lips opened slightly in surprise. Is this her?
Gaopin placed her hands on her shoulders, put her head close to her face, and asked, "Do they look alike?"
Shisu nodded.
Gaopin straightened the silk flower on her bun and said, "Change your clothes."
Zi Su went behind the screen and changed into a palace dress of imperial concubine color.
She turned around in front of Gaopin, who nodded in satisfaction: "Seven points."
Thinking of what she was going to do soon, Zi Su felt uneasy and couldn't help but say, "We finally found out His Majesty's whereabouts. Why don't you take this opportunity to meet His Majesty? They say that love blossoms when you meet someone. Concubine Yun was faking her pregnancy. It's been so long since the incident, His Majesty's anger should have subsided."
"It's not time yet." Gaopin had her own plans and waved her hand at her, "Go quickly, be smart."
Zi Su could only bow and say, "I'll take my leave."
*
The imperial sedan chair slowly went towards Changchun Palace. Xiao Jingfan didn't get enough rest last night and was leaning against the armrest, feeling drowsy.
Zhou Yuande gently reminded: "Your Majesty, Changchun Palace is just ahead."
"Yeah." Xiao Jingfan opened his eyes and was about to walk downstairs to wake up from his nap when he suddenly heard a noise coming from the front.
It sounds like cursing.
He frowned and ordered Zhou Yuande, "Go see what's going on up ahead."
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