Then Liu Quan said in a trembling voice, "Your Majesty, Her Majesty the Empress..." He glanced at the drunken Chu Nian with a hint of speechlessness before mustering his courage to continue, "The Regent buried two jars of plum wine in the backyard of the Imperial Kitchen three years ago. Because he needed them tonight, he summoned me to dig them up. But when I went to dig, I found..." He glanced at Chu Nian again, "The two jars of plum wine are completely... completely gone."
"Burp!" Chu Nian let out a burp.
Liu Quan glanced at Chu Nian again, thinking to himself that this master was really bold, daring to take anything, as if the imperial kitchen was his own backyard!
Unexpectedly, just as this thought flashed through his mind, Chu Nian, seemingly drunk and disorderly, mumbled, "Why...why is the Regent's wine buried in the backyard of the Imperial Kitchen? Does he think the Imperial Kitchen is his own backyard?"
The emperor was already quite angry, and upon hearing Chu Nian's words, he glared coldly at Liu Quan without saying a word. But his silence was even more intimidating than his words!
In fact, the wine was not buried by the Regent. Even if Li Xiao coveted the throne, the palace was not his home. If he had any good wine, he would bury it in his own backyard.
This wine was actually brewed and buried by Liu Quan. To curry favor with the Regent, he had told the Regent three years ago that the Imperial Kitchen had plum wine and when would be the best time to dig it up and drink it. And now, the Regent had just remembered that the plum wine Liu Quan had mentioned was ready for drinking, and had asked Liu Quan for some.
Liu Quan trembled with fear and said, "This servant...this servant cannot afford to offend the Regent! Please, Your Majesty and the Empress, save this servant!"
This guy is truly cunning and shrewd. These words could easily give the impression that he's not part of Li Xiao's faction, but since he's asking for help from the "Empress," Li Xiao's close friend, he won't actually offend Li Xiao.
Chu Nian thought to herself: Those who can become the chief steward in this deep palace are all talented people!
The Empress finally spoke, her voice heavy: "The Regent's wine is missing. You can send people to look for it. Isn't it enough for me to manage the affairs of this palace? Do I have to interfere in the affairs of the Regent's residence as well?"
This answer was also quite cunning: if you were going to ignore it, why did you ask Liu Quan to send someone to look for it?
The emperor wasn't stupid; he naturally understood that the empress was trying to avoid offending either side. Trying to be a peacemaker was better than directly siding with the regent as before, which offered him some comfort.
This is where Chu Shu is superior to the real Chu Susu.
Chu Nian had only been living in the palace for a few days when she already felt it deeply: it was really tiring to survive in a place like this!
Liu Quan said urgently, "But Your Majesty, it was... it was Consort Lian who took the Regent's treasured wine."
Upon hearing this, both the Emperor and Chu Susu were startled. They exchanged glances and immediately understood.
Chu Susu was still a little skeptical and asked Chu Nian, "Nian Nian, did you dig up the wine from the backyard of the imperial kitchen?"
"Mmm!" Chu Nian nodded in response like a good child.
Chu Susu then asked, "What about the wine?"
Chu Nian said, "I just drank some." She pointed to the wine jar next to her.
Chu Susu felt somewhat speechless: she and the emperor had enjoyed drinking this wine quite a bit!
Chu Nian pouted again and snorted, "Do the three of us palace masters need to ask the Regent for permission to have a drink?"
These words pleased the emperor greatly, and the anger he felt from being dragged into the wine-stealing incident by Chu Nian immediately dissipated.
Chu Nian glared at Liu Quan, who was kneeling there trembling and wiping away sweat: "It's just wine. If the Regent wants to drink, just send someone to deliver a few jars and say that His Majesty rewarded him. Does he dare to disobey the imperial decree, or send people to search the palace to find those jars of wine you buried?"
"How many...how many jars?" Liu Quan was immediately jolted awake. He remembered the wine buried elsewhere, which he had buried five years ago. It was even more difficult to brew and more precious than this plum wine—his intuition told him that something terrible was about to happen.
But soon, he remembered the last few words of Chu Nian's words: "The wine you buried!" He mustered his courage and peeked at the emperor's face. Sure enough, the emperor's face had turned as black as the bottom of a pot.
If Chu Nian hadn't said anything, the emperor wouldn't have even considered that possibility. He still thought the regent was going too far, burying his wine in the emperor's backyard.
Chu Nian's words were like a wake-up call: "That's right, even if Li Xiao covets the throne, he wouldn't bury good wine in the palace."
So this wine was buried by Liu Quan to curry favor with the Regent. What's the meaning of bringing it out now? Is he trying to use these two jars of wine to trick me?
From the conversation between Chu Nian and Liu Quan, Chu Susu realized that Liu Quan had probably buried more than just these two jars of plum wine! She found the situation somewhat amusing and secretly lowered her head to avoid the emperor seeing the smile on her lips.
The emperor said coldly, "Liu Quan, go and tell the regent that I have bestowed those two jars of wine upon the empress and the imperial concubine."
Chu Nian, drowsy and drunk, slumped on the table, facing the Emperor. She thought to herself, "Wow, Emperor! Just two jars of wine and he's managed to cause so much trouble!"
If Liu Quan were to relay the emperor's words, it would make the regent think: "Oh, the wine you promised me has now been offered to the emperor instead!"
In this way, in Li Xiao's mind, Liu Quan could instantly transform from a Li Xiao supporter into a royalist and become his enemy.
Liu Quan was so frightened that he kowtowed repeatedly, crying and begging, "Your Majesty, spare my life! Your Majesty, please spare this servant! From now on... from now on I will obey Your Majesty's orders. Please, Your Majesty, spare this servant!"
Seeing that the emperor remained silent with a livid face, he turned to the empress and said, "Your Majesty, Your Majesty, I beg you to spare my life for the sake of my many years of devoted service. I will never dare to do it again."
Chu Susu asked coolly, "What won't you dare to do in the future?"
Liu Quan was taken aback. How was he supposed to answer that? The Empress and the Emperor were on opposing sides!
Chu Nian suddenly pointed at him and said, "This guy's cooking is terrible. He even makes dishes that are unsuitable for the emperor to eat. He's obviously up to no good..."
As if remembering something, she asked the emperor, "Your Majesty, you haven't coughed at all today, unlike before when you were coughing so badly in the Chengqian Hall."
"It must be this guy..." she said, pointing at Liu Quan, "The food His Majesty eats in his own palace is all served to him by this guy's people, there's definitely something wrong with it. My sister Empress's food is all taken directly from the Imperial Kitchen by myself, that's much safer."
The emperor said quietly, "I do feel better now than during the day. I think there must be something wrong with the food I eat in my palace." As he spoke, his gaze toward Liu Quan became increasingly cold and fierce.
Actually, for some reason, he didn't want to appear too sickly in front of Chu Nian, which is why he didn't pretend to cough as badly as before.
His diet is perfectly fine.
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