Chapter 204: The King of a Lost Nation 4
Que'er walked a distance from the cold palace, looked around, and made sure that there was no one around. She turned and walked to a sparsely populated pavilion.
The eunuch in charge of the Fifth Prince's meals was standing in the pavilion, holding a dust whisk, with his back to Que'er.
Jue'er stepped forward and whispered, "Eunuch, I've asked around. Eunuch Guisheng has caught a cold and is in need of herbs."
The eunuch pretended to wipe his eyes and sighed, "How pitiful. Guisheng and I have known each other for so many years, and I know his difficulties. This herbal medicine was prescribed by the imperial physician when I caught a cold before. Later, I recovered early, and this medicine was left. You
can give it to Guisheng." A trace of struggle flashed in Jue'er's eyes, but thinking of the eunuch's promise, she gritted her teeth secretly, smiled and took the herbs: "Eunuch Gui is so lucky to have a friend like you. If it weren't for your concern, he would not have survived this time."
The eunuch had been in the palace for so many years, and he could still not hear that Jue'er was pretending to be stupid. Just to make his conscience feel a little better? But it is precisely because there are many people like Que'er in the palace that he can act so smoothly.
After Que'er got the herbs, she did not return to Changxin Palace immediately. She stayed outside for a long time before pretending to be in a hurry and walked quickly towards Changxin Palace.
The gate of Changxin Palace was not closed, but only half-closed.
This should be the door that the third prince left for her. Que'er stepped over the steps and pushed the door open.
In the weedy courtyard, the third prince sat cross-legged under the persimmon tree. Hearing the movement, he slowly raised his head, and his black and white eyes looked at Que'er.
His eyes were very clear, with a kind of clarity that was not tainted by dust, as if they could reflect the dirtiest thoughts in other people's hearts.
Que'er felt very uncomfortable when he looked at her, and she lowered her head subconsciously.
But soon, Que'er raised her head again and forced a smile: "Your Highness, you must be anxious waiting, right?"
She brushed her messy hair and panted: "I asked many people for help and thought of many ways. I finally got a prescription."
The third prince stepped forward to take the herbs, but Que'er subconsciously avoided him: "Your Highness, I'll go to the kitchen to boil the medicine."
"Your Highness is no longer a member of Changxin Palace, how can I trouble you to do work."
Que'er forced a smile: "Your Highness, this is too much for me. As a servant, I have to work wherever I am."
"Que'er, do you still remember Aunt Chunyu?" The third prince suddenly changed the subject.
Jue'er panicked, afraid that the Third Prince would notice something unusual, so she walked past him and went into the kitchen to get busy: "Why did your Highness suddenly mention Aunt Chunyu?"
The Third Prince blocked the door of the kitchen and slowly helped her recall .
"A year ago, you were working in the needlework room and accidentally wet the Sixth Prince's new clothes, which made the Imperial Concubine very unhappy."
"The female official in the needlework room was criticized by the Imperial Concubine, so she vented her anger on you."
"Aunt Chunyu didn't know that the Imperial Concubine was in the needlework room, so she rescued you, but angered the Imperial Concubine. In the end, she was beaten to death instead of you, and you were kicked out of the needlework room, dying, with nowhere to go."
"When Guisheng went to help Aunt Chunyu collect her body, you begged him to take you back to Changxin Palace. Guisheng felt sorry for you and brought you back." The
Third Prince turned around and looked at the persimmon tree full of fruits behind him. "When you arrived at Changxin Palace, I had just eaten the last persimmon on the tree. I said that next year when the persimmons on the tree are ripe, I would invite you to try the first batch, and you cried and agreed."
"Que'er, now that persimmons are ripe, do you still want to eat persimmons?"
Que'er didn't know why he was talking about persimmons. She was confused and said casually: "Your Highness, you can keep them for yourself. I have no shortage of food at Concubine Li's place."
The third prince looked deep: "Okay, I know."
He asked Yao Rong in his heart: "What's the problem with this herbal medicine?"
Yao Rong had already scanned the relevant data. After hearing what he said, she replied: [Most of the herbs in it are symptomatic, but when they are combined together, they will aggravate the condition and hurt the lungs.]
[If Guisheng drank this bowl of medicine without taking Luoshui Pills, he might not survive tonight.]
The third prince closed his eyes and turned to walk out of Changxin Palace.
He turned left and right, walked for a long time, and came to a deserted bush.
There was a wild shrub.
The flowering period was about to end, but the shrub was still in full bloom.
The third prince reached out and picked off a shrub.
"Can you help me?"
***
It was getting dark outside, and Que'er finally boiled the medicine.
She poured the boiled medicine into a bowl and was about to give it to Guisheng when the Third Prince appeared from nowhere and held her hand: "You just arrived at Concubine Li's palace. You've been out for so long, won't you be punished?"
Que'er looked at the sky and became a little anxious: "I'll go back after feeding Eunuch Gui the medicine."
The Third Prince said: "Guisheng hasn't woken up yet. When he wakes up, he will need something to take the medicine. Put the medicine down and go back quickly. It's not convenient to walk around in the palace at night."
Que'er was reluctant to feed Guisheng the medicine herself, so she put down the medicine bowl as the Third Prince said.
But she was a little worried, and reminded the Third Prince: "Your Highness, you must remember to feed this bowl of medicine to Eunuch Gui."
Realizing that her tone was too anxious, Que'er held her hair and said: "I am also worried about Eunuch Gui's health. The sooner he drinks the medicine, the sooner he can recover."
The Third Prince finally loosened his hand that was holding the petals.
With the cover of the sleeve, the petal of the bamboo peach fell into Que'er's waist, flashed lightly, and turned invisible.
Watching Que'er go away, the Third Prince closed the door of Changxin Palace, and came to the persimmon tree with the medicine bowl and the earthenware jar.
He squatted down, picked up a wooden stick beside him, and dug a wooden pit with great effort. He put the medicine bowl and the earthenware jar in, and buried it carefully.
After doing all this, the Third Prince did not care about the dirt on the floor. He sat on the floor, hugged his knees with his arms, and looked lonely: "There is only one earthenware jar in the kitchen. What should I use to cook and decoct medicine in the future..."
[The system gave me a clay jar.]
The Third Prince was startled.
[The system gave me a candy.]
The Third Prince: "..."
The third prince looked at the solitary candy in his palm, his eyes widened: "Just one?"
[It's getting dark, be careful not to eat too much candy and damage your teeth.]
The third prince unpracticedly tore open the bag and stuffed the soft candy into his mouth. The
sweet milky aroma spread from the tip of his tongue, a taste he had never tasted before.
"Can I have another one?" the third prince suddenly asked.
[Exchange it with persimmons.]
The third prince suspected that he had heard it wrong: "What."
[I want to taste the first batch of persimmons.]
The third prince's nose was sour, and he rushed into the house with his head down.
An eight-immortal table with half a leg missing was placed in the corner, and on the table were two bright red persimmons.
These were picked by the third prince yesterday.
The one on the left is picked for Guisheng, and the one on the right is picked for himself.
The third prince picked up the persimmon on the right and asked cautiously: "Is this one okay?"
[This one is good. ]
A white light flashed, and the persimmon in his hand turned into a bag of candy.
***
Before the taskers enter the mission world from the Space-Time Administration, their consciousness will stay in a place called "Infinite Space".
This place is equivalent to a transit room between the mission world and the Space-Time Administration.
During this time, Yao Rong has been staying here.
She was sitting on the sofa, and a persimmon suddenly appeared in the palm of her hand.
The system turned into a palm-sized pigeon, flapping its wings vigorously, and shouted in her ear: [Things from the mission world are not allowed to be brought back to the endless space. Do you know how many points it will cost to smuggle it back? 】
The persimmon was already very soft. Yao Rong tore off a layer of peel and took a bite of the flesh: "It's okay, I can still afford that little point."
System: Humph, I hate every point rich man equally.
In the Spacetime Administration, every time a tasker completes a task, the tasker and his system can get a certain amount of points. The higher the completion rate, the more points you get.
It's a good thigh, the 001 system is the richest system in their department.
But everything is afraid of comparison.
For example, its good thigh has been in the top ten of the Spacetime Administration's points list for many years. After entering their department, it has jumped to the top of the points list. Every time the system secretly looks at the points of the rich woman, it will feel dizzy because of counting numbers - it has no head and no eyes, it is just jealous and envious.
[I know you are not short of points, but this is not just a matter of points. This is a violation of the regulations. If the main god finds out, he will definitely deduct your task completion. ]
Speaking of task completion, the system immediately became nervous.
No.
I can't let its host deduct task completion because of such a small matter!
Its host is still a god with 100% completion.
The system produced a keyboard of appropriate size, and used its pigeon wings to clatter the keys frantically, and said worriedly: [I'll help you cover it up, it should not be discovered by the main system.]
Yao Rong silently tilted her head to glance at the system.
Smuggling persimmons is against the rules, but it is actually not a big deal.
In comparison, her system intended to deceive the main system, the problem is obviously much bigger, right?
If the main system knew, it would not only be a matter of mission completion.
Forget it, seeing that the system was almost done, Yao Rong silently took back the complaints in her heart.
She found a knife, lowered her eyes to peel the persimmons, and began to taste the persimmons.
***
The third prince took out the herbs rewarded by the system, boiled them in a new clay pot, and brought them into the house.
Guisheng has woken up.
After a day's sleep, his mental state was much better than that morning.
"Your Highness, it's all my fault that I asked you to do these things for me."
The third prince shook his head.
Guisheng always called him "Your Highness" and called himself "old slave", not letting him do too much rough work, but over the years, he and Guisheng have depended on each other, and the relationship between the two has long surpassed that of master and servant, and is more like family affection.
How can the little he did for Guisheng compare to what Guisheng did for him.
If it weren't for Guisheng and Aunt Chunyu to protect him, he would have no way to grow up safely in the cold palace.
Guisheng took the medicine bowl and suddenly remembered something: "Just now, I was in the room, and I seemed to hear Que'er's voice?"
"Yes, Que'er came."
"Your Highness, Que'er..." Guisheng opened his mouth, not knowing how to organize the language to tell the third prince about Que'er.
"I know everything." The Third Prince didn't want Guisheng to worry, so he concealed everything and only said, "She sent some things over."
Guisheng thought that the food and herbs he had eaten in the past two days were sent by Que'er, and he felt a little relieved and buried his head in the medicine.
After Guisheng finished drinking the medicine, the Third Prince handed him the candy: "Here to sweeten your mouth."
Guisheng smiled: "Your Highness, keep it for yourself."
The Third Prince said: "I have a lot more, I have just eaten a piece, you can try it too."
Guisheng took it.
As soon as the candy entered his mouth, it diluted the bitterness in his mouth and sweetened his heart.
Guisheng smiled and said, "Where did you get this candy from? I have never eaten anything sweeter in my life."
The Third Prince followed up with, "Yes, I have never eaten anything sweeter either."
After chatting for a few sentences and confirming that the Third Prince had a good time in the past two days, Guisheng lay down to rest with peace of mind.
Yao Rong then spoke: [I have finished eating persimmons.]
The Third Prince asked expectantly: "Is it delicious?"
Yao Rong imitated their sentence pattern: [I have never eaten persimmons sweeter than this.]
The Third Prince was amused.
The setting sun was setting, the sunset was about to begin, and the red and yellow persimmons were covered with a layer of soft light by the setting sun.
The third prince pointed at the persimmons on the tree: "Do you want to eat more? I'll treat you."
He emphasized: "You don't have to give me candy or anything this time."
Yao Rong ignored the angry system and agreed with a smile: [Okay, then give me another one. Thank you for the persimmon.]
The third prince breathed a sigh of relief and smiled even more.
Persimmons are certainly not a rare thing for the powerful system. But this is the only thing he can take out to share and exchange.
Fortunately, the system did not dislike it.
***
Que'er hurriedly returned to the Yuzhuang Palace where Concubine Li was before the sun set.
As soon as she stepped into the palace gate, she saw the food eunuch waving at her not far away.
Que'er walked over carefully.
"Is everything done?"
"It's done."
"Did you see him drink it with your own eyes?"
Que'er hesitated and nodded.
The eunuch didn't notice her hesitation, nodded with satisfaction, and handed her a purse.
Que'er took it and pinched it secretly.
It was very light and not thick, and it contained banknotes.
"Here are fifty taels, and there are fifty taels left. I have asked someone to send it out of the palace. I promise that it will be delivered to your mother."
"Thank you, eunuch."
"The fifth prince can't leave without someone, you can go back."
Que'er was the lowest-ranking maid in Yuzhuang Palace. She lived with three other people. When she returned to the room, the other three were also there.
Que'er said hello to them and went out with the basin to wash. After turning off the lights and lying on the bed, she quietly opened her purse.
Inside was a fifty-liang banknote.
Que'er touched the banknote lightly with her fingertips, tears welling up in her eyes: For one hundred liang... just for this one hundred liang...
The palace maid beside her suddenly turned over. Que'er was so scared that she dared not make any more movements until the surroundings became quiet again, and her body slowly relaxed.
The next day, before dawn, everyone in the room got up to clean the palace.
The fifth prince was six years old this year and was temporarily living in a side hall of the Yuzhuang Palace and had not moved to the prince's palace.
When Que'er was cleaning near the fifth prince's bedroom, she suddenly felt something slipping from her waist. She touched her empty waist, then looked down at the empty ground, thinking she was having an illusion.
She quickly cleaned the area and hurried to another place.
Not long after she turned and left, a faint light lit up in the grass, and a pink petal lay quietly on the ground.
Half an hour later, the fifth prince got up.
After washing up, the fifth prince was going to have breakfast with Concubine Li.
He had just walked out of the side hall and set foot on the only way to the main hall when a gust of wind blew in his face.
The pink petals were blown up by the wind and blew in front of his eyes, gently hitting his eyelids, making him unable to help but close his eyes and reach out to pick them up.
The petals were picked up by him and the fifth prince lowered his head, not yet able to see the specific patterns on the petals——
"Your Highness, throw it away!"
The head maid stared at the pink petals closely, her expression solemn.
"How come there are petals of Prunus mume in our palace?"
Prunus mume is a very poisonous flower, which can kill people if eaten by mistake, so few people grow Prunus mume as an ornamental plant.
But the Royal Concubine likes Prunus mume very much, and there are many Prunus mume planted in the palace where she lives and nearby.
Concubine Li and the Royal Concubine do not get along. What the Royal Concubine likes, Concubine Li certainly cannot like. There is no Prunus mume in the Yuzhuang Palace.
This Prunus mume petal must have been brought in from outside by a palace maid.
Judging from the freshness of the petals, they should have been picked from the branches not more than two days ago, which means that a palace maid in their palace had just been near the Royal Concubine's palace and accidentally got the petals on her and then dropped them here .
A petal was not worth making a fuss about, but since it involved the Fifth Prince and the Royal Concubine, the head maid could not help but pay attention to it.
She quietly suppressed the matter and took the Fifth Prince to see Concubine Li.
While other palace maids were helping the Fifth Prince to wash his hands, the head maid walked to Concubine Li and quietly reported the whole thing.
Concubine Li attached great importance to this matter. The Fifth Prince was her lifeblood. How long could the emperor's favor last? When she was old and her beauty faded, she would still be able to rely on her own son.
"Go check who was away from Yuzhuang Palace for a long time yesterday. Especially the people who serve the prince, we must check them thoroughly, and we must not let the noble concubine take advantage of them."
Two hours later, a list was presented to Concubine Li.
Concubine Li looked at the four names on it and narrowed her eyes: "Have you found out clearly where these four people went yesterday?"
The head maid first mentioned the other two people, and then said Jue'er: "This maid named Jue'er came the day before yesterday. She was originally serving the prince in the cold palace. Yesterday she said she went to deliver something to the prince."
If the head maid hadn't mentioned it, Concubine Li would have forgotten that there was such a prince in this palace.
Concubine Li frowned, as if she remembered something unlucky: "Is it the third prince who was born unlucky and killed his own mother?"
The maid nodded in agreement.
Concubine Li was unhappy: "Why did you call a maid who served that kind of thing into our Yuzhuang Palace?"
She pressed the corner of her lips with a handkerchief, temporarily put aside her dissatisfaction, and signaled the maid to continue.
The head maid said, "When she went out yesterday, she was indeed carrying a basket with a lot of things in it. The only suspicious thing was that she stayed outside for a long time. She went out at noon and did not come back until the end of the afternoon. There was a gap of two or three hours in between." "
But she just arrived at Yuzhuang Palace the day before yesterday, and her rank is too low. It doesn't seem like someone planted by the noble concubine."
Concubine Li nodded and pointed to the last eunuch in charge of the fifth prince's meals and asked, "Where did he go yesterday?"
The head maid said, "He was not feeling well, so he went to the Imperial Hospital and asked his apprentice to prescribe some medicine for treating the cold. But I found out that in addition to yesterday, he also disappeared for a while the day before yesterday."
Concubine Li narrowed her eyes and smiled coldly: "It seems that there is a problem."
The head maid asked: "My queen, what should we do?"
Concubine Li said coldly: "Just arrest him and torture him severely. We must find a way to pry open his mouth. As for the other three... Although there is no suspicion, just in case, we should drive them out of Yuzhuang Palace."
Where can the palace maids who made mistakes and were driven away by their masters go?
Of course, they can only go to the laundry department with the worst environment, washing clothes for the eunuchs day and night, winter and summer, and will never get out.
Maybe in the eyes of Concubine Li, she did not take Que'er's life directly, which was considered merciful. But when Que'er heard this decision, he felt that the sky had fallen.
She grabbed the maid who came to inform her and asked repeatedly: "Sister, could it be that you made a mistake? I just came to the palace, how could I have upset the queen."
The maid said: "You know where you went yesterday. The queen doesn't like servants who miss their old masters."
Que'er's hand loosened and fell to the ground.
She was not missing her old master...
but how dare she say what she did yesterday...
Yes, it was all the fault of the food eunuch. If he hadn't provoked her and asked her to do these things, how could she have left her post without permission and returned to Changxin Palace!
She wanted to find the food eunuch and let him help her. Even if she couldn't continue to stay in Yuzhuang Palace, she wanted him to transfer her to other palaces.
Thinking of this, Que'er immediately got up from the ground and took a few quick steps outside. Just as she was about to walk out of the servants' living area, she saw the food eunuch who was so high and mighty yesterday, now looked ashen and was dragged away like a dead dog by several people.
Que'er was so scared that she covered her mouth and trembled, not daring to say a word, let alone have any evil thoughts. She went back to her room and packed her things. That day, she moved out of Yuzhuang Palace and lived in the laundry department.
From the perspective of the environment alone, the environment of the laundry department is slightly better than that of Changxin Palace.
Apart from this, there is nothing in the laundry department that can compare to Changxin Palace.
Although Que'er was not well fed and clothed in Changxin Palace, she did not have heavy work that she could never finish, and no one would punish her or exclude her.
After she spent a day in the laundry department, her hands became frizzy because of rubbing clothes in ice water for a long time.
After two days in the laundry department, Que'er couldn't stand it anymore.
She took fifty taels of silver and tried to find a connection to transfer herself away.
But she was punished by Concubine Li to come to the laundry department, and which palace maid would dare to risk offending Concubine Li to transfer her away from the laundry department.
There was a courageous eunuch who took her money directly but didn't help her with the work.
Que'er wanted to get the money back, but was severely reprimanded by the manager of the laundry department.
Lying on the cold and hard bed, Que'er found that her last way out was to return to Changxin Palace to serve the third prince.
Eunuch Gui was so seriously ill that even without her bowl of medicine, he would not have many days left. Although she had done something that was not good for Eunuch Gui... but after going through all this, she would definitely take good care of the Third Prince and make up for her mistakes with her own practical actions.
Que'er kept convincing herself in her heart, and found an opportunity to sneak out of the laundry bureau and go to Changxin Palace again.
When she arrived at Changxin Palace, the Third Prince was leaning against the window and drowsy.
"Your Highness."
Que'er did not enter the house, but knelt in the corridor across the window.
"Please save Que'er!"
The Third Prince opened his eyes, his eyes gradually fixed, as cold as spring water: "What happened to you?"
Que'er concealed the matter of the eunuch in charge of food, and only said that in order to deliver things to the Third Prince and find medicine for Guisheng, she had annoyed Concubine Li and was thrown into the most difficult laundry bureau.
She raised her hands and cried, "Your Highness, look, my hands have been soaked in cold water for two or three days, and now they are red and swollen. In addition, the manager of the laundry department always beats and scolds me, and there are several bruises on my arms. If I stay there any longer, I may not be able to survive this winter..."
The third prince slowly sat up and interrupted her complaints, "What do you want me to do for you?"
Jue'er bit her lip, "I want to be transferred back to Changxin Palace from the laundry department to continue taking care of Your Highness."
The third prince said lightly, "A few days ago, you tried every means to leave Changxin Palace without informing me and Guisheng in advance. Now you kneel down and beg me to come back."
"I know that His Highness must still be irritated with me."
Que'er began to play the emotional card, talking about what she had done for the Third Prince.
Guessing that the atmosphere was almost heated, Que'er began to admit her fault.
"A few days ago, my younger brother sent a message to me, saying that the harvest was not good this year and my mother was sick again. He also said that they had arranged a marriage for me, so that when I leave the palace in a few years, I will not be without support."
"I have my own selfish reasons for going to Yuzhuang Palace. If I can get more rewards, I can support my family and provide for myself in the future."
After talking about her selfish reasons and difficulties, she changed the subject and said in tears: "But Your Highness, please think about the situation in our Changxin Palace. There is a lack of food and clothing, and winter is the most difficult. If I stay in Changxin Palace, I can only watch Your Highness starve and freeze. Yuzhuang Palace, I can also send some food and cloth to Your Highness, and help you and Eunuch Gui privately."
As if he had heard something interesting, the third prince slightly lifted the corner of his lips: "I have no power in the palace, and even if I speak up, the manager of the laundry department will not listen to me."
His voice was light and gentle, but as long as Que'er looked up, she would find that his eyes were cold.
But at this moment, Que'er was lowering her head and speaking out the speech she had prepared in advance: "No. After all, you have the blood of His Majesty flowing in your body. If you really open your mouth and make a fuss, the manager of the laundry department will definitely agree to this request."
"Then I will completely offend Concubine Li."
"Your Highness."
Que'er took two steps on her knees and came to the window. She stretched out her body to grab the third prince's hand: "To put it bluntly, if this is considered an offense, then Your Highness would have offended Concubine Li long ago. Don't forget, if it weren't for delivering food to Your Highness and finding medicine for Eunuch Gui, I would not have been expelled from the Yuzhuang Palace..."
"Que'er."
The third prince grabbed Que'er's wrist with his backhand with great force. Jue'er raised her head in pain, and happened to meet the fierce and angry eyes of the Third Prince, which frightened her.
"Since you came in, have you ever asked about Guisheng's situation?"
Que'er's face was pale: "...I forgot."
"Did you forget, or did you feel guilty so you didn't dare to ask?"
Que'er shivered all over, a chill rising from her tailbone all the way up, making her scalp numb.
The scream pressed in her throat, and Que'er pulled the corners of her lips unwillingly, with a sense of luck: "What do you mean by that, Your Highness? Why didn't I understand?"
"Didn't you understand?" The third prince raised his head and looked at the persimmon tree in the northwest corner of the courtyard.
Que'er followed his line of sight.
Next to the roots of the tree, there was a piece of soil that was not too big or too small, and it was obviously just renovated.
"The things you sent are buried in it." The third prince shook off Que'er's hand, "I gave you a chance."
Que'er fell to her knees and looked at the third prince in shock.
The third prince let out a deep breath and said, "I've given you many chances."
But in the end, Que'er still handed over the bowl of steaming hot medicine.
So he put the petal of the bamboo peach on Que'er, and used the bamboo peach to guide Concubine Li's sight, so that Concubine Li could thoroughly investigate the personnel of the Yuzhuang Palace and find out the food eunuch.
If the food eunuch couldn't stand the torture, he would confess his accomplices.
Maybe he would confess Que'er, maybe not.
But whether he confessed or not, Que'er would not worry about his life - Concubine Li was not upholding justice, she would not kill Que'er because Que'er intended to murder an insignificant eunuch. But Concubine Li would not let Que'er continue to serve in Yuzhuang Palace.
"Guisheng is not dead, so I did not take your life."
"But this is my last kindness to you. Don't talk about any feelings in front of me in the future, it will make me feel ridiculous."
Que'er didn't know how she left Changxin Palace.
She had mixed feelings in her heart, regret, fear, and regret...
When she came to her senses, she was already standing outside the palace gate.
The dilapidated but tall palace wall blocked her outside, and there was only the tall persimmon tree, with several branches extending from the wall, and a few half-ripe persimmons hanging on it.
Somehow, Que'er suddenly remembered the question of the third prince.
The persimmons that I didn't eat last year will never be eaten again.