Chapter 19 Ah Zhu, quickly bring His Majesty a cup of green tea. ? ...
? ? ?
What does it mean that good things have already reached the prince's side?
Guifu glanced at Xiao Huizi, who was keeping everyone in suspense.
"What other treasures does Guangyang Palace have that I don't know about?"
Looking at the smug Guifu, Xiao Huizi secretly spat in his heart—what the hell do you think you are?
A scoundrel who abuses his power.
Those sordid affairs in Guangyang Palace were probably instigated by you, you shrew.
Despite the insults, Xiao Huizi outwardly maintained a smile.
Seeing Guifu acting arrogantly, Xiao Huizi straightened up, looked around, and then moved closer to Guifu.
“Your Excellency, sir.”
"Not long ago was the selection of palace women, which happens only once every six years, and my godfather personally led a group of palace servants there..."
Sigh, what are you even talking about? Is that all?
The noble eunuch, whose appetite had been whetted by Xiao Huizi's affected manner, snorted coldly.
He leaned back in his chair and picked up his teacup.
"Whoever came to Guangyang Palace, do I need you to remind me?"
"Yes, yes, how could the affairs of Guangyang Palace escape your discerning eyes, Your Excellency?"
The young Hui man, who had casually offered a compliment, said unhurriedly, "It doesn't matter to others, of course."
"But among the people my godfather led to Kunning Palace this time, there were some personally selected by the Empress."
Upon hearing the name Kunning Palace, Guifu, who had been leaning against the back of his chair, straightened up.
He frowned and warned Xiao Huizi, "It's fine if you make fun of us, but if you dare to use our master's name to spout nonsense..."
"Oh, Your Excellency, how dare this servant fabricate stories about your master to deceive you?"
The little Hui boy, who had been looking miserable, straightened his back.
"This little palace maid was personally selected by the Empress for our prince in the inner palace."
"On that day, it was my godfather who led people to deliver it to Kunning Palace."
"You know my godfather, he rarely talks about anything."
"But when he came back that day, he kept muttering about that little palace maid."
Guifu leaned forward slightly.
"real?"
"Absolutely true!"
The young Hui man patted his chest, held his head high, and repeatedly assured his master, "Even if you don't trust this servant, you should know my godfather."
"Even he, the old man, couldn't help but repeatedly exclaim that it was one in a million, a top-quality item; how could it be anything less than excellent?"
"Bang—"
Guifu dropped the tea lid back onto the teacup, not even bothering to wipe away the spilled tea.
He stared straight at Xiao Huizi: "What's her name?"
Without thinking, Xiao Huizi blurted out, "A-Zhu!"
"Ahem, Your Excellency, this little palace maid is called A-Zhu."
"A-Zhu..."
Guifu, muttering the name of the boy, glanced at Xiao Huizi, who was chuckling to himself. He then put on a stern face, "I'll go and see for myself. If you dare to spout nonsense..."
"Then just tear my mouth off, old man!"
"Alright," Guifu said with a smile as he got up and patted Xiao Huizi on the shoulder as he walked out.
"If what you're saying is true, as long as our Prince is happy, you'll definitely get your share of the benefits."
"Oh, thank you, Eunuch Xie."
Seeing that Eunuch Guifu had reached the door, Xiao Huizi slapped his forehead and hurriedly chased after him, calling out, "Eunuch Guifu, Eunuch Guifu!"
Gui Fu paused, his gaze falling towards Xiao Huizi.
"You're not going to tell us that what you just said was something you made up to amuse us, are you?"
"How dare I, your servant!" Xiao Huizi explained, "It's just that my godfather originally forbade me to speak out about this matter, for fear of displeasing my master and making things worse. You see..."
That makes sense.
Grandpa Guifu's expression relaxed, and he nodded.
Their prince was recently reprimanded by the Empress for those lowly maids... It seems the Empress truly cares for their prince.
Since it was the Empress who personally selected the person... he had to think carefully about how he could both avoid displeasing the Empress and still get a share of the credit.
But Guifu naturally wouldn't tell Xiao Huizi about this plan.
He simply said, "We know what we're doing," and then hurriedly left.
Not long after Eunuch Guifu left, Eunuch Kang returned carrying a box in his hands.
As soon as he entered the room, Eunuch Kang said with a smile, "Thank you for waiting so long, Eunuch Gui. However, the enamelware will indeed take some time to be fired. I went out of my way to find some..."
"Godfather."
The grinning little Hui boy trotted up to him and said, "That old tortoise left a long time ago."
"They're gone?" Eunuch Kang subconsciously looked outside.
Xiao Huizi followed along, looking curiously, and asked, "Godfather, what are you looking at?"
"I think the sun is setting in the east."
"This fellow just left empty-handed?" Looking at the young Hui man in front of him, Eunuch Kang's expression darkened slightly as he thought of something.
"Could it be that you, you little rascal, offended him and made him leave in a huff?"
"How could I dare?"
Xiao Huizi shook his head repeatedly: "I served the tea properly. Eunuch Guifu was originally asking for enamelware, but as soon as we mentioned Prince Rui... Eunuch Guifu seemed to remember something and left in a hurry."
After thinking it over carefully, Kang Gonggong couldn't think of anything else, so he picked up the box and walked out again.
"No, now that he's gone, I feel uneasy and uneasy. I'd better go and urge them to finish firing the enamelware as soon as possible."
Xiao Huizi didn't dare to say anything more. He simply stepped forward, took the box from Kang Gonggong's hand, and followed Kang Gonggong out of the house.
......
Guifu left the Imperial Household Department empty-handed, while Huichun and Lüxiu carried boxes full of candles.
They received a whole season's worth of candles for the entire palace, a heavy weight in their hands, but on the way back to Kunning Palace, neither of them spoke a word, nor uttered a single complaint.
The servant, accused of gossiping and slandering his master, was beaten to death in front of everyone.
After delivering the candles and registering them in the warehouse, I returned to the west room and found that Ah Zhu had already woken up. He was sitting on the tatami mat, leaning against the wall, eating small bites of thin porridge.
Seeing that Huichun and Lvxiu looked really bad, Azhu subconsciously put down his bowl.
"What happened?"
Even Green Sleeves wasn't in the mood to say anything about what had happened to the Imperial Household Department. Seeing Ah Zhu's concerned gaze, she even forced a smile at him.
"I just went to the Internal Affairs Department to collect the candles; there are really, really too many..."
Upon hearing this, A-Zhu assumed that the two of them had been watching her for a while, so she didn't press them about the embarrassing matter. She simply said, "Next time I'll go with you to collect it. More people means more help."
Greensleeves would have nodded in agreement before, but today she shook her head.
“A-Zhu, you are now in the tea room.”
"Serving the master well is the most important task."
With a look of unspeakable panic and fear, Green Sleeves stared straight at Ah Zhu, her eyes filled with a glimmer of hope that even she herself wasn't sure how much.
"A-Zhu, if you ever..."
Huichun tugged at her sleeve, and Lüxiu bit her lip, lowered her eyes, but still couldn't stop her tears. Embarrassed, she covered her face and left the room.
Yunzhu, who bumped into Green Sleeve when she entered the room, looked completely bewildered.
"What's wrong? Greensleeves, she..."
Huichun shook her head and said, "Let her cry for a while. How can we servants not suffer grievances?"
These words silenced everyone in the room.
Huichun stepped forward and tested Azhu's forehead.
"Your fever has subsided. Take your medicine and get some sleep later."
Huichun said no more, but everyone knew that in this palace, those of low status had to be mindful of others' feelings... and even Azhu, who went to the tea room, didn't fare well.
Ah Zhu suffered a huge loss this time.
You can happily watch the show, or laugh and curse Ah Zhu for being stupid, shallow, and brainless.
She admits it!
But I just couldn't swallow this insult; it felt like a fire was burning inside me.
A couple of days ago, Ah Zhu, who had a fever, was somewhat clenching her teeth when she was half-conscious: "Wait, wait until she gets better, wait until she goes back to the tea room..."
In such an unfamiliar environment, people from the same place are naturally more likely to stick together.
Moreover, Ah Zhu, who has been feeling unwell these past few days, has benefited greatly from their care.
A-Zhu gripped the bowl tightly, looking at Hui-Chun, then at Yun-Zhu, and thinking of Lü-Xiu, who had run away crying.
After a long pause, she simply nodded and said very seriously, "Don't worry."
She had lost even more weight, curled up in a small ball on the couch, looking somewhat sickly, but her eyes shone like a fire, so bright it seemed to burn into one's heart.
A sudden pang of emotion welled up in Huichun's nose, and she awkwardly turned her head away, trying to stop the tears.
Yunzhu wiped her eyes, smiled, and gently nudged Azhu's arm.
"What are you doing? You're making my eyes sore."
Huichun quietly wiped away her tears, lowered her head, took the bowl from Azhu's hand, and quickly left the room: "I'll take it to wash."
With plenty of food and sleep, and by taking her medicine on time, Ah Zhu, who was holding on with all her might, recovered in just a few days.
As soon as she recovered, she didn't waste a moment and went straight to the tea room.
......
The tea room was not busy, the benefits were good, it was easy and respectable, and the atmosphere was usually nice, so the palace servants there were always particularly xenophobic.
Moreover, being able to show one's face to one's master is a rare opportunity that many people would fight tooth and nail for.
You, A-Zhu, have been showing off and trying to steal the spotlight since you arrived. You're such a shameless fool. How can the palace servants in the tea room resist messing with you?
Seeing Ah Zhu once, he fell for it, all because of his gluttony... The people in the tea room almost laughed their heads off.
As for Ah Zhu, who returned to the teahouse after recovering from a serious illness—
People in the inner palace all say that A-Zhu is a sycophantic villain.
It is said that she shamelessly fawned over the older palace maids or the nannies who were in charge of them, flattering them resoundingly.
This saying is quite fitting for the tea room today as well.
Therefore, the tea room, which usually has a relaxed atmosphere, has been acting strangely these past few days...
Caught off guard by the dangerous figure not far away, Su Qiao quickly turned around, grabbed the tea set, and pretended to be busy, but of course, she still couldn't escape it—
"Sister, could you please tell me again what kind of tea this is?" Holding the box, A-Zhu followed Su-Qiao, asking, "The book says it's Baihao Yinzhen, every single one of them is..."
Seeing that Suqiao had been caught, the others hurriedly avoided her as if she were a plague—they had been harassed by Azhu quite a bit these past few days.
It's impossible to start a fight in this tea room.
As for A-Zhu, what's the use of just scolding her if you don't hit her and make her feel the pain?
If a few words of abuse were effective, why would so many people in the Yeting Palace, over so many years, cling to the name "Black Charcoal Ball" and relentlessly attack her?
Ah Zhu is a real "skinny guy".
Su Mei, who was extremely annoyed, had already scolded A Zhu from the beginning, but what kind of person was A Zhu?
When he was scolded, A-Zhu just accepted it calmly.
The main point is: you can criticize all you want, I'll ask my questions.
If Su Mei didn't answer her question, she would mutter something like: Aunt Nianqin instructed her to study hard in the tea room, and next time Aunt Nianqin asked, she would...
You can't hit her, and scolding her doesn't bother her at all.
She would even pester anyone who insulted A-Zhu the most.
Of course, those who don't criticize her also won't get any credit.
If anyone was free, A-Zhu would ask them.
Even when Ah Zhu asks you a question and you can't answer or remain silent, she'll look at you with a certain kind of... gaze.
She then immediately turned to ask someone nearby.
If anyone could answer, she would exclaim with admiration, "Sister/Father-in-law, you even know this! You're so amazing! It's not like... cough cough cough, you don't even know this."
The eunuchs in the tea room were hopeless; they couldn't help but chime in on Ah Zhu every time.
It's not just that it's annoying like a piece of dog skin plaster.
What's even more despicable is that Ah Zhu stayed at the tea room almost day and night.
Before dawn, she would begin memorizing the classics on tea.
When the other people from the tea room arrived, she was still diligently reciting in front of everyone.
Once she had memorized most of it, she started pestering him again.
When the others were about to finish their shifts, she started boiling water and making tea again, diligently practicing her tea-making skills.
She wasn't going to argue that the tea leaves in the tea room shouldn't be wasted, so she just picked up the crumbs to practice...
If Ah Zhu were to shirk his duties and try every means to avoid being lazy, others would just mutter a few sour remarks and let it go.
But with Ah Zhu honing his skills so relentlessly, working day and night, who in the teahouse could possibly sleep?
Who can sleep tonight?!
Okay, if you can't resist, go ahead and practice secretly. As long as A-Zhu sees you, she'll look at you with a... look and start yelling.
She can chuckle and say "Oh~" or "Ah~" in a way that's incredibly varied, even coming up with eighteen different syllables!
Who can be as shameless as Ah Zhu?!
Who could withstand this?
That scoundrel!!!
You bitch!!!
In just half a month, the entire tea room was worn down by Ah Zhu's antics.
When Nianqin arrived today, everyone else was a beat behind.
Ah Zhu, on the other hand, looked delighted and busied herself serving tea, saying solicitously, "Please take a seat, Aunt."
Nianqin smiled and waved her hand, giving instructions to Azhu in front of everyone.
"You must be careful not to make any mistakes when you serve tea to the palace tonight."
A-Zhu nodded repeatedly with a serious expression: "Don't worry, Auntie."
After Baba saw Nianqin off, Azhu returned to the tea room with her head held high, not saying a word, and looked around the tea room with an air of arrogance.
Those who had been secretly watching this scene looked away, cursing Ah Zhu in their hearts.
Pooh!
You sycophantic bastard, your time to fall will come!
A note from the author:
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Pat, my daughter will grow up.
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