Chapter 23 Chapter 23 That’s another price.
Li Shuyao still didn't know what others were thinking.
All I know is that when Concubine Tong finished speaking, Song Fuwen, who was kneeling not far away, had red eyes and glared at her fiercely.
Stare, what are you staring at?
She didn't say that. If you have the guts, go glare at Concubine Tong and the Emperor!
Li Shuyao opened her eyes wide in anger and glared back.
Song Fuwen suddenly became more and more furious, cursing Li Shuyao in his heart as a monster. Not only did she confuse the emperor, but even Concubine Tong fell for her bewitching skills!
She clenched her knuckles, wanting to speak again.
On the other side, the emperor was already feeling deeply impatient and irritated. He raised his chin and glanced at Liang Jiugong.
Liang Jiugong understood what he meant instantly. He waved his whisk and two guards came forward. They grabbed Song Fuwen's arms, one on the left and one on the right, covered her mouth, and dragged her out without mercy.
Judging from the direction they left, they should have been sent to the Ministry of Punishment.
Li Shuyao was startled by the guard's sudden action. She lifted her skirt and quietly moved away, fearing that the guard would arrest the wrong person and send her to the Ministry of Punishment as well.
"Okay, as for that Dongzhu..."
The emperor knocked on the handle of the dragon throne, his eyes turned deep, thinking that it would be fine if Li Shuyao never had the chance to speak.
It's just an oriental pearl. He has plenty of them in his private treasury. He can just ask someone to send a few to Concubine Tong later.
So I wanted to keep the matter vague.
Unexpectedly, Guo Luoluo Qingyao suddenly stood up, her figure light and graceful, her hands on her waist, and she slowly bowed to him. Then she said, "Your Majesty, Concubine Tong, I just saw that when the palace servants were searching for the Dongzhu, they all knelt on the ground and searched inch by inch. It's not on the ground, but on the table, or on the chair?"
"Also, when changing clothes, the Empress must wash her hands, so is it possible that the Dongzhu has been left on the shelves and in some cabinets?"
Most of the people present were kind-hearted and had seen Song Fuwen's "performance". They were certain that the Dongzhu must have been taken by this person.
However, they did not expect that Guo Luoluo would suddenly put forward a different point of view, so they were all a little surprised. They thought about it again, could it be that the palace maid surnamed Song was really not the one who stole the Dongzhu?
...So what is her purpose in making such a fuss today?
However, some people firmly believed that what they had seen with their own eyes before was that Dongzhu must be in Song Fuwen's hands.
Concubine Niuhulu first glanced at the man on the dragon throne, then stood up and looked down at Guo Luoluo Qingyao, her voice filled with displeasure: "How dare you! Are you questioning the will of His Majesty?"
Guo Luoluo Qingyao and the kneeling Li Shuyao's expressions froze at the same time, and great confusion appeared in their two pairs of black and moist round eyes.
Ah, is this what Qingyao meant just now?
After hearing this, the emperor also frowned, looking a little surprised.
Concubine Tong, who was standing next to them, was speechless.
But it was not directed at Guo Luoluo Qingyao, but at Concubine Nianhulu.
At this moment, she firmly believed that the Dongzhu was in the emperor's hands, and she only wanted to turn the page quickly and end the banquet. After returning to Chengqian Palace, she would send someone to invite the emperor to admit his mistake and get the Dongzhu back.
Guo Luoluo Qingyao suddenly stood up and said that. She simply thought that the two girls did not understand the implicit meaning of Nanny Gong's words and mistakenly believed Song Fuwen's sophistry. That's why she wanted to give her some advice to help her find the oriental pearl.
She originally thought it was a bit troublesome, but she didn't think so the next moment.
The Dongzhu must not be searched out of Song Fuwen's body, but what if... the emperor sent someone to put it in a side hall in advance, or in an inconspicuous corner of the Qin'an Hall?
Wouldn't this save both the emperor and herself?
Thinking of this, Concubine Tong cast a satisfied look at the two little girls below.
She turned around and spoke a few words to the emperor in a soft voice.
The emperor took the ladder handed to him by Guo Luoluo and Concubine Tong without hesitation, waved his hand, and was about to order Liang Jiugong to send people to search again.
As he opened his mouth, he suddenly remembered something and nodded at Li Shuyao and Guo Luoluo Qingyao from a distance, saying, "You two have a lot of clever ideas. You always think of places that others can't think of. Why don't we go with you and look for it? Maybe you can actually find it?"
That's natural!
Li Shuyao jumped up from the ground happily. If she hadn't been concerned about being in ancient times, she would have almost stood at attention, saluted the emperor, and said: I guarantee to complete the task!
Li Shuyao held Qingyao's hand and followed Liang Jiugong and other palace maids out of the door, searching this side hall and that side hall.
Finally, he followed the crowd back to the Qin'an Hall and searched the tables and chairs of the concubines in a serious manner.
"Found it!" Li Shuyao squatted in front of Concubine Tong's desk, stretched out a white finger and dug at the silk cloth hanging on the table.
After digging for a long time, he finally dug out a large, lustrous, white Dongzhu from a very hidden embroidery fold at the corner of the silk cloth!
It actually fell here!
The concubines present were all shaken in their previous beliefs, so what on earth was Song Fuwen here for?
The emperor was also a little surprised. He suddenly understood why Guo Luoluo had praised Li Shuyao for rolling well and rolling wonderfully when they were in the imperial garden before...
Well, I can only say that it is indeed unexpected, yet somewhat reasonable.
His eyes drifted towards Li Shuyao's face.
...It seems that he is not that stupid, and he still has some quick wit.
Only Concubine Tong was present, her pretty face turning pale and blue, blue and pale again.
…
After returning to Chengqian Palace, Concubine Tong sat in front of the mirror, holding the lost and recovered Dongzhu in her hand, her eyes deep in thought for who knows how long.
A palace maid walked in from outside, holding a wooden tray in her hand. On the tray was a bowl of brown soup that was steaming and had an unpleasant smell of Chinese herbal medicine.
The palace maid put the medicine on the table, took a bamboo fan and fanned it from time to time.
Seeing that the Empress had not put the Dongzhu away since she came back, she asked in a puzzled voice, "Empress, is there something wrong with this Dongzhu?"
Could it be that someone switched it?
Concubine Tong came back to her senses, and with a loosened fingertip, the Dongzhu rolled roundly onto the table. She absentmindedly reached out to the bowl of medicine, "Is this the tranquilizing soup?"
The palace maid quickly held the bamboo fan across to prevent Concubine Tong's fingertips from touching the hot edge of the bowl.
Immediately, she took Concubine Tong's hand and placed it on the table, saying, "This is the tranquilizing soup prescribed by Doctor Fang. I thought that since your Majesty had such a great shock today, she deserves a bowl of tranquilizing soup so that she can sleep peacefully at night."
"Well, you are thoughtful." Concubine Tong glanced at her and her eyes fell on the Dongzhu on the table again.
The palace maid asked her, "Your Majesty, you haven't told me yet, but what's wrong with this pearl?"
Concubine Tong shook her head: "There is nothing wrong with it. This is indeed the pearl that the emperor gave me."
"Then...?" The palace maid wanted to ask Concubine Tong what she was thinking about just now.
Concubine Tong seemed to have anticipated her question. She clutched the Dongzhu in her palm and said calmly, "I was just wondering how this pearl ended up in the gap between the silk cloths. Does the Emperor know about this? And what about that palace maid surnamed Song?"
"There is also Guo Luoluo and that Li Shuyao..." She paused here.
The palace maid showed a curious expression, "Is there something wrong between Miss Guo Luoluo and Li Shuyao?"
Concubine Tong fell into deep thought and did not speak for a long time.
The palace maid didn't dare to disturb him. She pursed her lips and squatted quietly beside him, fanning the medicine carefully.
After a moment, Concubine Tong said: "So that's what happened!"
She finally figured it out and realized that she might have been wrong before. It was true that Song Fuwen stole the Dongzhu and framed Guo Luoluo and Li Shuyao, but before the incident, Guo Luoluo and Li Shuyao had already been alert and placed the Dongzhu in the gap of the silk cloth beside their table in advance, and then returned to their original position to continue eating and drinking.
He had a natural, innocent look on his face, but in fact he already knew what was going on.
In fact, it is not a very clever counterattack.
However, she was misled by her first impression of Guo Luoluo and Li Shuyao, so she had not thought in this direction.
After thinking it through, Concubine Tong should have been angry.
But for some reason, the image of Li Shuyao's angry look that he had caught a glimpse of when he was standing on the high steps of Qin'an Palace suddenly appeared in his mind.
It suddenly reminded her of someone at home.
She was playing with the Dongzhu in her hand and asked the maid beside her with interest, "Do you think that Li Shuyao looks like someone?"
The maid looked up blankly, "Like a person? Your Majesty, are you referring to..."
Tong Fei imitated Li Shuyao, secretly biting her lower lip and then puffing out her cheeks. "That's it. Who do you think she looks like?"
The maid looked around for a moment, then suddenly revealed an expression of sudden realization: "Oh! Your Majesty, are you talking about the Second Young Miss?"
She was referring to the second daughter of the Tong family, Tong Ruoxue, the younger sister of Concubine Tong, who was only six years old this year.
The palace maid said dejectedly, "How can they be similar? The Second Miss is still so young, but that Li Shuyao is already sixteen or seventeen."
She shook her head quickly. "Not at all."
Concubine Tong continued slowly, "Do you remember the last time we went to the temple in the suburbs with my mother to burn incense? Because it suddenly rained heavily, we forgot to buy her candied haws and small sugar figurines. After we returned home, she stood behind the door like this, holding onto the door frame, looking at me angrily?"
The palace maiden looked hesitant, obviously recalling the situation at that time.
Concubine Tong continued, "And last time, Longkodo maliciously dressed her in men's clothes and took her to school. However, the teacher found out and punished them both by making them face the wall and reflect on their mistakes. When I went to pick her up, she was also so angry that she kicked Longkodo's legs and cried, 'I will never trust my brother again'..."
The palace maid nodded slowly: "I seem to have some impression."
Concubine Tong continued, "There was also the time when her mother forced her to learn the rules, when the food sent from the kitchen contained garlic, which she hated the most, when Ruowan from her uncle's family dragged her to compare heights and called her a 'short and fat', and after she knew I was going to enter the palace..."
At the end of her words, Concubine Tong's voice suddenly dropped.
The maid hesitated for a moment and asked her in a low voice, "My Lady, do you miss the Second Young Lady?"
Concubine Tong nodded. "In the more than a year since I entered the palace, she hasn't come to see me once. Fangsu, do you think Ruoxue is still angry with me? Angry that I sneaked into the palace while she was sleeping that day?"
this……
The palace maid could not say anything to comfort her.
She held the bamboo fan and squatted silently for a while. Seeing that the medicine was getting cold, she hurriedly brought it over and helped the empress drink it.
Trying to change the subject, "But Your Majesty, that Li Shuyao is not the Second Miss after all. If she had offended Your Majesty in any way, Your Majesty should have reported back to the Emperor long ago."
Perhaps because she was talking about her younger sister, Concubine Tong's aura became much softer.
She smiled gracefully at the maid, "That's not necessary. She's just a maid, but I'm already a concubine, and will soon be a noble concubine. It's not like I can't even control a maid."
After she finished speaking, she stood up and casually threw the Dongzhu that she had finally gotten back onto the table: "Just this once, there won't be a next time." After she finished speaking, she turned around and walked back to the dormitory.
*
Palace of Heavenly Purity.
Li Shuyao and Qingyao bid farewell to each other reluctantly and returned to their own rooms. They had a dreamless night.
The next day, as soon as Li Shuyao arrived at the tea room, she heard a few young eunuchs whispering outside the room, mentioning the Ministry of Punishment and Song Fuwen in their conversations.
Li Shuyao couldn't help but feel curious. She walked to the door, waved to the eunuchs, and asked, "What are you talking about?"
When the young eunuch saw her coming out, he was so frightened that he dared not utter a word. He walked up to her and knelt down with a plop, begging repeatedly, "I was wrong. I shouldn't have gossiped outside the door. Please, Miss Li, forgive me."
What is going on?
Li Shuyao was very disappointed that she couldn't eat the melon.
Seeing the young eunuchs crying bitterly, he couldn't help but touch his cheek and asked doubtfully, "Am I terrible?"
It's more than scary.
Before you arrived, there was no palace maid serving tea in the tea room.
Less than a month after she arrived, the other palace maid who served tea also disappeared.
In the morning, Chief Steward Liang called all the palace maids serving in the Qianqing Palace over and gave them a lecture in a very serious tone.
You are the only one left out.
Is this still knocking?
Isn't this a clear warning to those palace maids not to offend you?
It's not a palace maid coming to the tea room, it's clearly an invisible master!
The young eunuchs were filled with sadness, fear and anger, but they appeared to be very submissive, with their heads lowered, their backs hunched, their eyes dodging, and they dared not look at her.
Li Shuyao suddenly felt a little bored and could only wave her hand, "Forget it, you guys go about your business, I'll ask someone else."
If they had gotten the news through normal channels, they would have definitely said it on the spot.
They were so hesitant because they probably heard it through grapevine. They probably didn't believe it themselves and were too embarrassed to tell her.
Li Shuyao eats any kind of melon except rotten ones.
So he generously let the young eunuchs go, and peeked around the door of the tea room. When he saw a figure in a navy blue palace robe, his eyes suddenly lit up and he ran over happily.
After running over, he saluted the man first, then asked in a clear voice, "Eunuch Liang, it's time to go on duty. Has Song Fuwen returned from the Ministry of Punishment?"
In the original novel, Wu Yalianchu and another palace maid were imprisoned in the Ministry of Punishment. Because both of them were suspects, the old maids in the Ministry of Punishment tortured them very rudely, such as pricking their nails with needles, pulling their hair and slapping them. This left a great psychological trauma on Wu Yalianchu.
But precisely because there were two suspects, the Ministry of Punishment was afraid that they would not be able to find the murderer, and they were also worried that the punishment would be too severe, which would cause another innocent person to be implicated.
So they resorted to some very psychologically traumatic methods, such as taking them to see some truly bloody scenes, and locking them up in cells with a thick smell of blood and no light at all...
The main point is to destroy the psychological defense line.
So after Wu Yalianchu was released, he only rested for a few days and then returned to his post to continue working hard.
Li Shuyao thought that when Song Fuwen was in the Qin'an Palace yesterday, his behavior was just a little suspicious, his words were a bit dirty, and he was making random comments... and the person he was talking about was her, an ordinary palace maid in the Qianqing Palace.
In addition, among the many people present in Qin'an Hall, no one saw her committing the crime with their own eyes, and the Dongzhu was indeed not with her.
Therefore, the Ministry of Punishment would probably just ask a few questions and search, and once Song Fuwen's suspicion was cleared, he would be released soon.
Facing her pair of clear and shining big eyes, Liang Jiugong fell into a rare state of speechlessness.
It took him a long while to find his voice again, "Are you still hoping she'll come back?"
"Ah? She can't come back! Why?" Li Shuyao was very surprised.
Liang Jiugong: "..."
He gathered his thoughts for a moment before continuing, "Don't you hate her for trying to attack you yesterday?"
Li Shuyao nodded and said naturally, "I hate it."
Is this the attitude one should have when hating someone?
Liang Jiugong frowned, looked at Li Shuyao with some doubt, and said, "Then why are you still looking forward to her coming back?"
Li Shuyao was startled and replied subconsciously: "If she doesn't come back... who will make tea for the emperor?"
Liang Jiugong was so disappointed that he said, "Aren't you still here? Aren't you the palace maid serving tea in the tea room?"
“I am, but I’m not…” Still on probation?
Seeing Liang Jiugong's eyes, Li Shuyao wisely swallowed the last few words back into her stomach, then pointed at herself exaggeratedly, "Me?"
"What else?" Liang Jiugong said unhappily.
"I, I, I, will I be able to do it..." Li Shuyao didn't expect that Song Fuwen would not come back, and she felt like crying but had no tears.
Liang Jiugong held his whisk, his back straight, and glanced down at her condescendingly. "If you can't do it, how about we go and make tea for His Majesty ourselves?"
That's really... too bad...
Li Shuyao held back what she wanted to say with a wronged look on her face. She was so devastated by the news that her eyes became dull and she walked back to the tea room in tears.
Liang Jiugong looked at her back, stood there in silence for a moment, and then sneered: "What are you thinking about?"
*
So Li Shuyao ushered in the busiest period since her time travel.
Perhaps to show her appreciation for Li Shuyao, Nanny Gong took the initiative to hand over all matters in the tea room to Li Shuyao for arrangement.
It was not until this time that Li Shuyao realized that there was actually a little leader among the palace maids serving tea.
In the past, Song Fuwen was the team leader among the tea-serving palace maids. In addition to arranging the shifts of each group of tea-serving palace maids and handing over the work to the imperial tea room, he also had to go to the Imperial Household Department on time every month to collect the latest tribute tea from all over the country. After leaving the amount needed for the Qianqing Palace, Cining Palace, and Shoukang Palace, he would send it to the harem in batches and quantities according to the ranks of the concubines in the harem.
You need to be familiar with the storage and brewing methods of the more than 20 existing types of tea.
You also have to remember the preferences of the concubines in each palace and the three big bosses above you, so as to ensure that when the concubines come to the Qianqing Palace to accompany the emperor, they can be served their favorite tea as soon as possible.
In other words, we must ensure to the greatest extent possible that when the Emperor "dates" with the empresses, both parties are fully immersed in a joyful atmosphere...
Li Shuyao complained silently.
She was busy studying for half a month, and finally felt that she had gotten the hang of it, when suddenly someone sent by Nanny Lin stuffed several extremely thick account books into her hands, each as tall as a one-dollar coin standing upright.
Li Shuyao was a little dazed as she held the account books. After a while, she finally remembered to ask the palace maid who had delivered the account books, "Did Nanny Lin give any other instructions?"
The palace maid smiled at her and said briskly, "Nothing much. I just want you to compare the contents of these account books with the archives at the Ministry of Internal Affairs."
Oh, it’s just reconciliation.
This is part of the accounting job.
Isn’t it just addition, subtraction, multiplication and division?
Li Shuyao felt that as a top student from a 985 university, it would only take her a while to check the account books, which should be a piece of cake.
Then she discovered that it was indeed "as easy as pie", but it was just the palm of the Tathagata Palm -
After receiving a new task from Nanny Lin and setting a time with the palace maid to hand over the account books, Li Shuyao casually picked up a book and flipped through it again and again...
She closed the book in her hand in disbelief, put it on the table, picked up another book underneath, and flipped through it again.
Immediately, his face turned pale and his heart began beating so fast that it seemed as if it would burst out of his throat at any moment.
I was careless. It's all classical Chinese characters, mixed with some words that I don't know whether they are Manchu or Mongolian.
Li Shuyao opened another one, brought it close to her eyes, and carefully identified it for a long time. Finally, she got some vague clues. These account books seemed to record the amount and list of names of teas awarded to officials from all over the country in the past few years after the emperor officially took charge of the government.
She could recognize half of the numbers, but the list was a bit difficult.
This was because the officials of the Qing Dynasty were spread all over the country, and the characters they used were complicated and varied. Some were written in Mongolian, some in Manchu, and more were written in traditional Chinese characters with messy handwriting.
How do I see this?
Oh, no, I don’t want her to look at it, I want her to check the accounts.
Li Shuyao quickly found a young eunuch and asked him to go to the Ministry of Internal Affairs to help her get the corresponding archived account books.
Then he returned to his room, full of confidence.
Wow, the account books sent from the Ministry of Internal Affairs are all written in clear "simplified Chinese".
The word "simplified" is used in comparison with the fonts on the account books that Nanny Lin brought over. At least Li Shuyao could barely recognize the account books from the Ministry of Internal Affairs by relying on the racial talent engraved in her genes, but the books that Nanny Lin brought over were almost indistinguishable from heavenly books.
Li Shuyao had no expression on her face and closed the two account books with a "snap".
Reconciliation is simple, but accounting and translation are another cost.
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