Chapter 427 Temperament is indeed impossible to imitate
【Oh, we know each other.】
Chu Liuzheng looked at the group of people coming over.
The figure in the center, dressed in a luxurious smoky purple gown, her hair adorned with pearls and jade, was considerably thinner than before. Her eyes, a pair of alluring and affectionate, were as graceful as ever as she walked. She was Consort Dou, the noble lady who had been ordered by the emperor to confine herself to the palace for self-reflection.
Minister Dou had done an exceptional job providing snow disaster relief, contributing both manpower and money and grain. After repeated pleas from him, the emperor finally relented and lifted Dou Jingwan's ban three days ago.
"May you be blessed, my noble sir." Everyone bowed.
"Everyone, get up." Dou Jingwan looked at the eunuch in charge, her eyebrows slightly furrowed. "The Imperial Garden is a quiet place for enjoying the scenery. Why is it so noisy?"
The eunuch in charge glanced at Chu Liuzheng standing in the crowd and briefly recounted what had just happened. Of course, his words were mainly biased towards Chu Liuzheng, and he put all the blame for the quarrel on the young eunuch.
The young eunuch dared to be angry but not to speak, but Chu Liuzheng showed no expression.
Dou Jingwan's eyes moved and she winked at Xianglu.
Xianglu immediately shouted, "Who is Chu Liuzheng?"
Chu Liuzheng stepped forward and politely bowed: "Your servant Chu Liuzheng greets the noble, may the noble be blessed."
"So it's you, you're really a restless person." Dou Jingwan looked him up and down. Seeing Chu Liuzheng dressed neatly, a flicker of regret flashed across her eyes. She looked at the eunuch in charge and said, "The palace rules are fair. Since two people caused trouble, there's no reason to punish only one person."
[Tsk tsk, it really is coming for me.]
Chu Liuzheng was not surprised at all. No matter how stupid the people in the palace were, if they wanted to bully a newcomer like her, they would wait and see for a few days. How could they just act like the little eunuch and start a fight without caring about anything?
They also pulled her hair and tore her clothes. If the young eunuch succeeded, and her masters saw her with disheveled hair and untidy clothes, she would immediately be charged with a serious crime of disrespect. The lighter punishment would be a slap in the face or a beating in the court, or the worse would be demotion to the laundry department and lifelong hard labor.
The eunuch in charge secretly groaned. How could he dare punish someone whom Chief Eunuch Zhou had personally ordered him to look after? Yet, he dared not disobey Dou Jingwan's orders. While a nobleman might not be a threat, Dou Jingwan's father was the Minister of War, and he had recently made a great contribution, earning the emperor's favor. He had to consider this.
Just as they were in a dilemma, Chu Liuzheng suddenly knelt down before Dou Jingwan and said respectfully, "Your Excellency, please allow me to report."
Dou Jingwan looked at her with a sneer in her eyes, "You want to excuse yourself?"
"I dare not," Chu Liuzheng said, "Your Excellency, there is one thing I do not know. What I am wearing is a gift from the Emperor. This little eunuch wants to destroy it. He is so audacious that he deserves to be beheaded."
Everyone was shocked when they heard this, and they all looked sideways, carefully examining the clothes Chu Liuzheng was wearing.
Sunlight filtered through layers of leaves, scattering across the flared hem of her skirt. The plain, moon-white fabric shone with shimmering light, its silvery veins coming alive. The half-closed peonies slowly blossomed, a truly exquisite sight.
It turned out to be Moonlight Satin.
Only ten pieces of Yunjin can be obtained every year, and Yuehua satin is even more precious. In the entire harem, only the Empress Dowager has three pieces, and the Empress and Concubine Shu have one each. Even the favored Concubine Chun has no piece, and now it is worn by a slave.
Dou Jingwan's eyes widened, her sharp nails pierced her palms, and she was so angry that she almost vomited blood!
His Majesty actually rewarded this lowly maid Yuehua with satin to make clothes, even she didn’t have any!
At the time, she was still a noble concubine. She was dissatisfied with this matter and insisted that the emperor reward her with Yuehua satin. However, the emperor said that the empress was the master of the six palaces and that the concubine had contributed greatly to the birth of the princess, so this was a special reward. She asked the emperor twice but he did not give in, so he had to give up.
Fortunately, neither the Empress nor the Consort had ever worn Moonlight Satin in front of her, which was an eyesore, so her resentment gradually subsided. But now she saw it on a despicable servant girl, how could she feel?
Damn you slut!!!
The eunuch in charge was delighted. Although there were many imperial gifts in the palace, and the ladies had even more, such as clothes and jewelry, if they were really damaged, no one would really hold on to this mistake and accuse the person of destroying the imperial gifts and make him beheaded.
But it's an excellent excuse.
He immediately said, "Chu Liuzheng has done a good job in protecting the imperial gift. Although he did cause some trouble, his merits and demerits can be offset. What do you think, Your Excellency?"
What he said was equivalent to giving Dou Jingwan a way out. As long as Dou Jingwan took the step down, the matter could be put to rest.
But Dou Jingwan snorted coldly: "One thing is one thing, merit should be rewarded, and fault should be punished, and they must not be mixed up!"
Everyone could hear that she was determined to make Chu Liuzheng look bad.
Chu Liuzheng sighed inwardly. This matter really wasn't going to be so easy to get over. But... she quietly opened the system and took a look. It had taken this long enough.
In order to demonstrate her fairness and justice, Dou Jingwan also punished Chu Liuzheng by making him slap himself thirty times. If no sound was heard, it would not count, and if the sound was too small, it would not count.
"I obey your command." Chu Liuzheng raised his hand, closed his slender fingers, and fanned his right cheek.
When the palm touched the cheek, there was a loud shout: "His Royal Highness Prince Rui has arrived!"
“Bang!”
Chu Liuzheng gently slapped to death a mosquito that tried to bite her face, and scratched her skin with her fingertips, feeling a little itchy.
At this time, everyone's attention was no longer on her, and they all looked at the young man who was walking slowly towards them.
After more than half a month of meticulous recuperation, and with the magical gift of the Heavenly Lotus Fruit, Prince Rui was no longer the frightening, skeletal figure he once was, but had regained some of his former elegance. His posture was erect, and his soft, azure silk shirt set off his complexion, his eyebrows and eyes smiling, making him approachable.
He held a landscape fan in his hand, the white jade pendant swaying gently as he walked, the cloud pattern on the hem of his clothes fluttering, and he slowly walked in front of the crowd, carrying a faint medicinal fragrance.
Wow!
Chu Liuzheng couldn't help but starry eyes.
Even with seven or eight layers of gauze, the fake one still looks as elegant and handsome as the real one, wearing only a simple silk shirt. It's true that temperament is something you can't imitate.
"What's going on?"
The voice, like the gentle dew in the rain, brought everyone back to their senses, and they all bowed in unison: "His Royal Highness Prince Rui, good health."
Dou Jingwan knelt and bowed: "Long live the prince."
King Rui gently asked everyone to stand up.
Dou Jingwan felt a tightness in her chest. When she was still a noble concubine, Prince Rui had to return her half of the courtesy.
When everyone was standing, Chu Liuzheng and the young eunuch, the two kneeling people, stood out.
King Rui seemed to have just noticed the two men and asked, "What crime have they committed? Why are they kneeling here?"
Dou Jingwan said, "They left their post without permission and were chasing and fighting in the Imperial Garden, violating palace rules. This maid went even further, deliberately injuring someone. Her intentions are truly vicious. I will punish her with thirty slaps as a small punishment, but I hope your forgiveness for disturbing His Majesty."
"Liu Zheng has always been a man of integrity. Your Excellency's words are probably biased." Prince Rui smiled at Chu Liu Zheng, "Get up first."
"Thank you, Your Highness." Chu Liuzheng immediately stood up, bent down to pat the fallen leaves on her skirt, and quietly made a "yeah" gesture in her heart.
(End of this chapter)
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