The princess raised her hand: "Come here and let me see your hands. Hmm, they're clean and neat, and the calluses on your hands are from cooking."
"From now on, when you go to your respective masters, you must be attentive, do your best to share your masters' burdens, and take good care of yourselves. Do you all understand?"
“Yes, we understand,” Zhu and He replied again.
They didn't give Li Chenjiao and Wu Gege any chance to refute them.
Of all the people in the room, Song Gege's gloating was the most obvious. She could still laugh and say, "As expected of the Fujin, she is kind and considerate, even thinking about these things so thoroughly."
Li Chenjiao pursed her lips and looked at Song Shi opposite her with a playful smile: "Does Song Gege also want such a perfect solution? I've been in good health lately, so I don't lack such capable people. Why don't you send someone to Song Gege's place, since the eldest princess's health also needs recuperation?"
Madam Song hadn't expected to get herself into trouble, and now her smile became forced: "This is the Princess's good intention, how can I take away what someone else loves? Don't joke around."
Li Chenjiao's smile just now was merely polite, but upon hearing this, her brows furrowed, and her expression clearly showed displeasure as she spoke: "So, what Song Gege is saying is that the Fujin (Prince Consort) was not considerate enough and didn't think of the Eldest Princess and Song Gege?"
Li Chenjiao's words were somewhat unreasonable.
As expected, Madam Song had no choice but to stand up and quickly explain, "That's not what I meant. Your Highness is pregnant, how could I bear to let you work so hard? Taking care of your health is a long-term process, there's no need to rush it."
When the upper-ranking concubine heard Song's last words, her brow twitched involuntarily.
idiot.
Li did it on purpose, deliberately dragging Song into it in order to find an excuse to refuse.
The princess raised her hand and gently pressed her temples, feigning exhaustion as if to echo what Madam Song had just said, before coughing lightly twice.
But before he could finish speaking, Princess Wu interrupted him.
“What Consort Song said is very true. Taking care of one’s health is a long-term process and cannot be rushed. Right now, the people in the manor who most need to take care of their health are the First Lady and Consort Li. I just heard that the First Lady is coughing. Wouldn’t it be better if I kept He Shi and Zhu Shi here?”
However, Wu's words were clearly intended to extricate herself from the matter, and for the first time, she referred to herself as "Consort Li," obviously hoping to get the consort to focus her attention on Li Chenjiao.
After Song finished speaking, Li Chenjiao didn't say anything more, waiting for Wu to speak.
Unexpectedly, Wu Shi spoke like this directly in order to protect herself—
Li Chenjiao glanced at Madam Wu, then sneered without any politeness: "I never expected that Consort Wu would care so much about the Fujin."
The wife of the emperor was also getting a headache from listening to this. She raised her hand and patted the table, saying, "There's no time for concern. I've already chosen a cook. Li and Wu don't need to argue. Just take her back to your own courtyard and use her."
After hearing this, everyone could understand that the whole commotion today was a deliberate attempt to get her and Madam Wu to take in these two cooks.
Li Chenjiao had gotten up late and hadn't had breakfast yet. She was already thirsty from the heated debate with the scholars in the main courtyard and was getting impatient.
Li Chenjiao chuckled lightly, her words laced with a hint of mockery: "Then I thank you, Madam."
After saying that, Li Chenjiao swayed her slender waist, lazily got up, and walked gracefully to the two cooks.
The princess frowned again, about to reprimand him.
But then Li Chenjiao pointed lightly at Madam He in front of her and said, "You will do."
After Li Chenjiao finished selecting the people, she raised her hand to cover her nose and said, "I am not feeling well. The other day, Physician Zhou said he would come to take my pulse today, so I will go back first."
Li Chenjiao raised her hand, and Qiu Hu behind her bowed to the Fujin at the head of the table, then followed her with her mistress's hand warmer.
He, whose name had been called, trembled. Seeing Li Chenjiao leave, she was unsure whether she should follow.
The Fujin suppressed her anger and said casually, "This Li Shi is still as frivolous as ever. Since the Consort has chosen you, He Shi, you must serve the Consort well from now on and make sure that the Consort's pregnancy is healthy and without any problems."
Madam He naturally understood the warning in the Fujin's words, and she also knew that this was a difficult task. She could only grit her teeth, bow, and leave.
Since Li Chenjiao had already accepted it, Wu Shi had even less reason to refuse.
Moreover, with Li Chenjiao gone, Wu Shi was left all alone, and in the end, she had no choice but to reluctantly agree.
As Li Chenjiao stepped out of the main courtyard, she took a deep breath.
Qiu Ci remained outside. When she saw that her master, He Qiu Hu, was followed by a woman after he came out, she became wary. However, since she did not hear any instructions from her master, she did not make any rash moves.
She simply lagged behind her mistress, keeping He Shi away from her mistress who was speaking.
Li Chenjiao caught a glimpse of it out of the corner of her eye and just chuckled.
“If Madam Wu hadn’t said those things, I might have been able to stand with her today and refuse to let those two cooks in, but—”
However, Wu's words absolved herself of all responsibility while almost dragging Li Chenjiao into the mess.
Li Chenjiao is not a person without a temper.
As for why the He family was chosen?
At first glance, Li Chenjiao didn't notice anything wrong with either of the two cooks. However, after getting closer, she took a closer look at their hands and finally chose He Shi.
Both cooks naturally had calluses on their hands from handling food, but the cook Zhu's hands looked like they had been treated with ointments or something similar.
Li Chenjiao didn't understand these things, but when she approached, Madam He clearly showed nervousness, while Madam Zhu seemed much more composed.
This is the reason why Li Chenjiao chose He Shi.
He was nervous because she was timid, and He's reaction after Li Chenjiao chose her confirmed Li Chenjiao's thoughts.
Qiu Hu, despite hearing her mistress's words, couldn't hide her worry: "But after all, they were all chosen by the Fujin (principal wife). What if they develop disloyal intentions and become a major threat to our master—"
Li Chenjiao waved her hand: "I know what I'm doing. Besides, aren't you and Qiu Ci keeping an eye on things? What else do I have to worry about?"
Hearing the ease in her princess's voice, Qiu Hu smiled helplessly.
Li Chenjiao yawned: "I'll rest for a while after breakfast. As for Madam He, you've arranged her accommodation yourself. Don't bother with her or see her for now. If she wants to see me, just say I've been busy learning kung fu these days and haven't had time to see her."
Li Chenjiao naturally understood the importance of putting on a show of power.
Let's give He a cold shoulder for now and see if she can sit still. We can also get some insight into her character from this.
After returning to the East Courtyard, Qiu Hu told Qiu Ci what Li Chenjiao had said. The girl was furious after hearing it, and then, as if facing a formidable enemy, she personally arranged He Shi's accommodation with Qiu Hu.
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