Chapter 179 Unraveling the Mystery
Shen Qingyue was a little nervous.
But under Shangguan Jin's gaze, she still mustered up the courage to speak her mind.
"Since it happened thirty years ago, and it involves the late emperor's harem at that time."
That's something only the older generation would know.
Moreover, these older generation members had to be the kind who could enter the palace.
This is one way.
Furthermore, since it involves the palace, these matters must have been handled by some of the palace's older women and men.
Therefore, if we want to find new clues, we should start from these two aspects.
"That means all we need to do is gather information from the elderly members of those noble families."
In the entire capital, there are only a handful of older people who are still qualified to frequently enter the palace.
The old lady of the Changsheng Marquis's mansion is one of them.
My grandmother was one of them.
Also counts is Madam Xu, the wife of Prime Minister Xu.
Another one is the old lady of the Duke of Anguo's mansion.
"We're not counting on the Duke of Anguo's mansion, so we'll see if we can get any information from the other old ladies," Shangguan Jin added.
Shen Qingyue nodded, and then continued.
"Actually, things in the inner palace would be much easier if the Empress were willing to lend a hand."
Even if she is the Empress Dowager, the Empress is now in charge of the inner palace.
If a few palace servants are summoned, or if some palace servants are punished for making mistakes, then that would be justified.
Shangguan Jin immediately understood what it meant.
Shen Qingyue is quite something!
Empress Xu would certainly be happy to find fault with the Empress Dowager.
Moreover, to some extent, Empress Xu actually hoped that Shangguan Jin would bother her with these matters...
"The key now is to figure out who to contact!"
Mother, that's all I can think of.
"As for the specifics of how to do it, I haven't thought of that," Shen Qingyue said softly.
Shangguan Jin and Hua Yueniang smiled at the same time.
"It's already good that you can think this far. If you hadn't reminded me, Mother would have been stuck in a dead end."
"That's right, Miss Shen is incredibly intelligent, better than both of our family members combined."
Miss Shen, don't worry. Once you've given me your solution, I'll know what to do.
"Don't worry, we'll definitely have news in a few days," Hua Yueniang said with a smile.
Shen Qingyue smiled and nodded.
If the owner of Wan Hua Lou says he has a way, then he must have a way.
The more Hua Yueniang looked at Chen Qingyue, the more she liked him.
When will my daughter be able to become like that?
No matter what happens, they can always come up with a solution.
Instead of me encountering a problem and telling my daughter, her first response is, "Mom, I'll go kill him!"
Or the second thing to say is, "Mother, I'll go to Father; he'll definitely be willing to help."
Hua Yueniang didn't want to think about it anymore!
It's the same old saying: the best kids always seem to belong to other people; our own kids always seem to be lacking something...
Now that things have come to this point, both Hua Yueniang and Shangguan Jin know what to do.
After the two discussed in hushed tones for a while, Shangguan Jin took Shen Qingyue home...
......
Two days later, Chun Buwan suddenly sent invitations to many distinguished guests, saying that he had acquired a new batch of overseas tea from Jiangnan.
Because the quantity was limited, only a few distinguished tea-loving guests were invited to come and taste the tea.
Madam Shangguan, Madam Huangfu, Madam Xu, and Madam Shen were all among those invited...
As the person in charge behind the Spring Festival Gala, Shangguan Jin naturally also showed up to accompany them...
Hua Yue Niang personally brewed tea for these elderly ladies and even demonstrated a tea ceremony where tea soup was used to create paintings.
When they heard that the person brewing the tea was Lian Qianli's mother, everyone was almost speechless with astonishment.
So young? She looks like she's not even twenty yet...
After drinking several cups of fragrant tea and eating a few snacks, the elderly ladies were completely relaxed.
"When it comes to tea tasting, in the whole capital, whose tea is as good as Chun Bu Wan's?"
Whose wife is as skilled at brewing tea as Chun Bu Wan?
"It's not that I'm exaggerating, but even in the palace, we don't have tea this good," said Madam Huangfu with a smile.
Hua Yueniang quickly smiled.
"You flatter me, Madam. My skills are but a few trifles; how could I possibly compare to those of the great masters in the palace!"
"Hey, why can't we compare?"
In terms of skill, you are really no worse than those masters.
Furthermore, the tea masters in the palace prioritized stability when brewing tea; as long as they didn't make a mistake, it was fine.
As for showing off their skills, those masters all approached it with the attitude of "doing nothing is better than doing something good." Old Madam Shangguan also said.
Madam Xu didn't speak, but just smiled and nodded.
Upon hearing this, Madam Shen quickly replied, "You are all very refined. I don't know anything about tea."
Any tea that makes me happy is a good tea.
Also, tea tastes better when I'm in a good mood.
When you're in a bad mood, even the Jade Emperor's fragrant tea would be unpalatable.
Upon hearing this, everyone immediately agreed.
Yes, when I'm in a bad mood, nothing tastes good...
Seeing that everyone had made a fuss again, Old Madam Shangguan suddenly spoke.
"Actually, there used to be people in the palace who knew how to brew tea."
Of course, not the imperial harem of today.
In the imperial harem today, there are almost no people with good tea-brewing skills.
The Empress Dowager was particular about everything, except for tea.
If someone makes tea specifically for her, she'll scold them.
Back when the late emperor was alive, everyone in the harem would savor the fragrant tea.
"Huh? Why is that? The ladies in the harem like to brew tea, so it must be because the late Emperor loved tea!"
"As the late Emperor's empress, the Empress Dowager should also extend her love to the people associated with her!" Old Madam Shen immediately said.
Madam Shangguan sighed, took a sip of the fragrant tea beside her, and shook her head.
"The late emperor loved tea because his favorite concubine, Consort Wan, was skilled at brewing tea."
As for the Empress Dowager at that time..." Old Madam Shangguan fell silent.
Hua Yueniang and Shangguan Jin exchanged a glance without making a sound.
Are we finally getting to the main topic?
"Consort Wan? I still remember her!"
She was the empress who once brewed a cup of fragrant tea that attracted butterflies from the Imperial Garden.
That lady loves to laugh; I've visited the palace to pay my respects several times.
They were very kind to us noblewomen and never acted arrogantly towards us.
"It's such a pity..." Old Madam Huangfu shook her head and sighed.
"Madam, is this true? We of this generation didn't even know about it," Shangguan Jin hurriedly said.
“That’s right, old sister, tell us about it. I was farming in the countryside back then, and I had no idea about these things in the palace!” Old Madam Shen hurriedly added.
Madam Huangfu liked Shangguan Jin, and she also got along well with Madam Shen, so they talked a lot.
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