Chapter 28 World 2 (4)
Deng Qianqian had the four treasures of the study spread out before her. She rested her arms on the table, her brows furrowed, a look of sorrow and worry reflected across her face. Directly in front of her lay a stack of rice paper, a Duan inkstone smeared across it, its original glutinous rice color obscured by large blotches of ink. Deng Qianqian glanced around. Several maids were standing around, either waiting or standing around. She only glanced briefly, but the graceful figure she was looking for was nowhere to be seen.
"Where's the precious fan? Why can't I see her?"
Hua Qing walked into the room and heard these words. She hurried to Miss Deng's side and collected all the rice paper with unclear handwriting on it, with a familiar smile on her face.
"She was timid and was almost blamed by the prince. As soon as she came back, she fell ill on the bed and can't get up yet."
Miss Deng was surprised for a moment, as she had not expected Baoshan to be so weak.
She pinched her sore wrist bones. She had been a little angry with the treasure fan because of copying the scriptures.
It was clearly just a small matter. If Baoshan hadn't insisted on reporting the crime, she wouldn't have been punished. Yuwen Xuan was really something. She had prepared the meal with good intentions, but because she accidentally lost her manners, she had to suffer the ordeal of copying it a hundred times.
But after hearing that Bao Shan had suffered a lot, his anger dissipated.
Hua Qing came out of the palace with Miss Deng, and they had some friendship with each other. She knew Miss Deng's temper and knew that she would definitely not want to spend time on these scriptures, so she gave her an idea. She told her to find a scholar to copy all the scriptures so that she wouldn't have to worry about it anymore.
Miss Deng's eyes lit up slightly. She had already thought about asking someone else to copy it for her, but it was just in this palace.
Except for the housekeeper and the like, the rest of the maids and servants could only recognize a few words at most.
If they were asked to copy scriptures, they would surely soak the rice paper with large clumps of ink, and in the end it would be impossible to tell what they were copying.
Deng Qianqian was a little hesitant to ask the housekeeper to copy it for her, so she gave up and tried to copy it herself.
When she heard Hua Qing's suggestion, Deng Qianqian suddenly realized that she had only thought about finding help in the palace, but forgot about the world outside the palace.
"Then help me find someone outside the palace. I want someone with beautiful handwriting, someone who looks like a woman."
Hua Qing looked at the joy on Deng Qianqian's face and naturally agreed.
It would naturally cost a lot of money to hire someone to help copy it, and she could even keep some of the money after it passed through her hands.
Everyone in the palace was busy. After Baoshan took a few doses of medicine, her complexion gradually returned to normal. At her concerned urging, Jinxiu hurried back to Miss Deng's side to get busy.
Baoshan was covered with a thin lotus-colored shirt, and her slender figure was faintly visible under the thin clothes.
Although her eyes were filled with sorrow and she looked frail, the previous sickly aura was gone.
There was a round piece of oil paper placed in the corner. Baoshan opened it and the aroma of the Fuling cake seemed to be the same as usual, but the color was no longer fresh and had become much darker.
Baoshan's eyes grew darker, and he no longer carefully kept the dirty Poria cocos cake, but threw it into the waste.
She was already feeling better, as if the ice and fire and fainting she had experienced a few days ago had all been a dream.
But Baoshan knew that it was not a dream, it was her destiny——
Like an ant, lowly and ready to be slaughtered.
Baoshan lowered her delicate head, and the figures of everyone in the palace passed through her mind. She must leave Miss Deng as soon as possible and leave with a legitimate identity.
Now, using illness as an excuse, although I can temporarily avoid Miss Deng, it cannot put an end to the problem.
Hua Qing will certainly delay in every possible way and find many excuses for her so that she cannot appear next to Miss Deng.
But Miss Deng's mind is ever-changing. If one day she suddenly thinks of her and summons her to her side, all these things will return to the starting point.
Baoshan already had several ideas in mind to leave Miss Deng forever.
If a maidservant does not serve her master carefully and makes a serious mistake in front of her master, she will naturally be blamed. Such a reckless and ignorant maidservant will definitely be separated from her master and asked to do other work.
However, this idea had just appeared in Baoshan's mind when she passed it over.
This move is too risky and will damage her reputation.
The mistake could be big or small. If it was a small matter, Miss Deng might not get so angry that she would think of kicking the person out of her life.
If the mistake is too big and the housekeeper finds out, his life may not be saved.
Even if she was lucky enough to receive the punishment and escape unscathed, the maids would gossip about her all day, and she would also be branded as clumsy and inconsiderate. If this method didn't work, there was another option. She could find a more powerful master and ask for her to leave, or she could take the treasured fan away.
——As for this second method, if anyone in the palace holds the highest position of power, it would be Yuwen Xuan...
Ever since Baoshan entered the palace, Yuwen Xuan rarely took care of the affairs of the rear quarters, leaving them all to the housekeeper to arrange.
Once Yuwen Xuan started to comment on the affairs of the harem, there would inevitably be bloodshed and panic among the servants.
Bao Shan had already made up her mind, even though she was afraid of Yuwen Xuan. She was determined to rely on Yuwen Xuan's words to help her avoid disaster.
How could she, a mere servant girl, possibly earn Yuwen Xuan's attention and have him speak up for her? The treasured fan gently lowered her eyebrows, concealing the gloom beneath her eyes.
If you want to get close to someone, you must be familiar with his likes and dislikes, and then prescribe the right medicine.
However, not only the precious fan, but even the housekeeper in the mansion only had a vague understanding of the prince's joys and sorrows.
In Baoshan's mind, the most important thing now is to understand the prince's likes, dislikes and aversions.
Hua Qing was humming an unknown little tune, with joy in her eyes and brows.
She found a poor scholar for Miss Deng, who had a beautiful handwriting and looked very much like a girl.
Miss Deng was very pleased and rewarded her a lot, and also asked her to give more silver to the scholar.
Shang Yinhuaqing would of course give it to him, but she only gave a part of it to the scholar.
After all, he just wanted some money to buy books and paper, and this was enough.
Hua Qing was very happy, so she paid money to have the chef in the palace prepare special meals for her.
After simmering for several hours, the oil spots were skimmed off and the egret chicken was served in the soup bowl. It was said that this chicken was extremely plump, with tender and juicy meat. After being boiled into soup, the juice seeped into the chicken soup, and a slight smell would make one's mouth water.
Hua Qing had just put the tray on the table when she saw her smiling face, looking at her precious fan. Her arms were crossed, and through her thin lotus-colored shirt, her jade-like wrists and arms as white as snow were visible.
Hua Qing's heart couldn't help but tremble. She missed Bao Shan's sight and sneered in her heart: She is not one of those lustful men out there. Who is Bao Shan looking at with such charming and affectionate eyes?
Look at that skin that shouldn't have been born on her body. If there really was a man in this room, he would have wanted to take the precious fan into his arms and love it as his treasure.
"Did Sister Hua Qing encounter any good things?"
Hua Qing, who was serving chicken soup, paused slightly when she heard the words. Thinking of the source of the money for this small kitchen, she couldn't help but feel a little moved.
She glanced at Bao Shan secretly, only to see her eyes were clear and without malice. Hua Qing secretly disdainfully thought: "What a fool! She really is. She took her place because she was a personal maid, and because she had the opportunity to be close to her every day, she was able to offer good advice and gain so many benefits."
Thinking of this, Hua Qing looked at Bao Shan's beautiful face again, and the bitterness in her heart eased a little.
What does it matter if she is beautiful? She was born with a stupid brain and can only stay in this small house all day, drinking bitter yellow soup. How can she be like her and enjoy the reed catkin chicken soup?
"It's nothing good, I'm just happy."
Hua Qing easily avoided the word "good thing". She naturally would not tell Bao Shan that she had found someone to copy the scriptures for Miss Deng, and Miss Deng was happy for a while, so she had this bowl of nourishing chicken soup to drink.
Baoshan lowered her eyebrows, her eyes filled with sadness, making people wish they could take her place and relieve her sorrow and worries.
"These past few days, I've been drinking yellow soup, and every day my mouth is filled with a dull bitter taste. After drinking too much, I feel like there's only one taste in the world: bitterness. I've forgotten all other flavors, such as sour, sweet, spicy, and pungent.
Sister Hua Qing didn’t know that the doctor said that for this fever, dietary restrictions are the most important thing, so he repeatedly told me not to eat spicy and greasy foods.
Otherwise, the disease will drag on and on, and I don’t know when it will be cured. Although I am not keen on food, I just...”
Two blushes spread across Baoshan's cheeks, bringing out the shyness in her heart. She lowered her voice, perhaps because she was too ignorant. Even Jinxiu could see Hua Qing's ill intentions, but because they lived in the same room, she unconsciously felt some genuine affection for her.
“Only after giving up those meals did I realize that each of the four flavors, sweet, bitter, and fresh, has its own distinct taste.
I couldn't stand the bitter yellow soup today, and just now I wanted to eat some of my usual meals.
Fortunately, Sister Hua Qing came in time. As soon as I smelled the delicious soup, I felt full in my stomach and didn’t want to eat anything else.
If I think about it carefully, once the symptoms are cured, I can use whatever I want, so why should I be so anxious now?
When Hua Qing heard Bao Shan's words of gratitude, her heart was suddenly filled with mixed emotions.
She never thought that by asking for the reed catkin chicken soup, she would actually stop Baoshan from enjoying her food and allow her to recover from her illness as soon as possible.
Just now she was still secretly proud of herself, enjoying the delicious meal alone, while Baoshan could only drink the bowl of yellow soup pitifully.
Who would have thought that it was because of her actions today that she helped Baoshan.
Hua Qing naturally didn't want Bao Shan to recover from her illness soon. She had been staying with Miss Deng these days. She had clearly told her many times that Bao Shan was unwell and she was afraid that she would bring the disease with her, so she didn't come to serve Miss Deng.
But Miss Deng would still mention it occasionally. Hua Qing, who had received many rewards, naturally thought that staying with Miss Deng was a good job, and there was no way she would return the things in her hands.
Naturally, she wanted to firmly occupy the seat next to Miss Deng and not give Baoshan a chance to return.
The chicken soup was still steaming. It took a long time to boil several bowls of water to get this nourishing and delicious soup.
The cost of this chicken soup was even equivalent to Hua Qing’s most treasured silver hairpin.
But after weighing the two options, Hua Qing endured the pain in her heart and brought the chicken soup to Baoshan.
"Sister Baoshan, those scholars all say that it is better to open up than to block.
If you want to drink chicken soup, drink it all at once. After you have satisfied your stomach, think about other things.
This chicken soup is for you. You are so weak, you must nourish yourself well."
Bao Shan's eyes flickered slightly, as if hesitant: "But, the doctor said, don't eat greasy things."
Hua Qing personally poured the chicken soup into a small bowl and placed the rest of the side dishes from the kitchen in front of Bao Shan.
She half coaxed and half persuaded, and only used 50% of her strength to coax Miss Deng.
When persuading Baoshan to eat, he was very energetic and finally persuaded Baoshan to give in.
But Baoshan had a very small appetite, so he only had a bowl of reed chicken soup, a few side dishes, and two small shrimp buns.
Looking at the food that seemed to have never been touched, Hua Qing sighed in her heart: Why is there so little? I need to eat more.
But no matter how much she persuaded him, Bao Shan refused to give in. Hua Qing could only give up and comfort herself in her heart -
She has violated the dietary restrictions anyway, so it doesn't make any difference whether she eats more or less.
The remaining food was still warm, so Hua Qing ate it while it was hot.
Baoshan sat next to them, chatting softly with Hua Qing.
Hua Qing thought she was easy to fool, so she simply asked about trivial matters and answered all of them without having to hide anything.
After coming out of the palace with Miss Deng, Hua Qing knew much more than Miss Deng did.
Especially regarding Yuwen Xuan, there were many things that were rarely known in the palace, but there were many rumors in the imperial palace.
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