"Is anyone there?" There was a sudden knock on the door from outside.
"I'm here!" Kong Wenjie hurried over to open the door, and seeing Chen Qingxuan standing outside, he immediately clasped his fists and said, "Mr. Chen, long time no see!"
"Guard Kong, why are you here?" Chen Qingxuan looked surprised. Obviously, he didn't expect to see Kong Wenjie here.
"Oh. Isn't that okay? I was bored, so I came to visit you." Kong Wenjie laughed. Then he changed the subject, "Mr. Chen, what are you doing here?"
"Oh. I brought some garlic over," Chen Qingxuan pointed at the donkey cart behind him, "freshly dug from the ground. Very fresh. Grandma asked me to bring some to make pickled garlic for Grandpa and Madam."
"That's fine. I thank you and Grandma Chen on behalf of my master and my wife," Kong Wenjie hurried forward. He unloaded the garlic from the donkey cart and moved it into the yard. He turned back to look at Chen Qingxuan, who looked surprised, and said, "Mr. Chen, do you want me to go to the backyard to inform my master and my wife?"
"No, I have something else to do. I won't bother you anymore." Chen Qingxuan waved his hand and got on the donkey cart.
"Goodbye, Mr. Chen!" Kong Wenjie also waved and closed the door.
Chen Qingxuan looked back at the two closed doors. He felt strange no matter how he looked at them. He knew the backgrounds of Kong Wenmin and Kong Wenjie. In the past, even the prefect was very polite to the two brothers, because they were from the capital. But now Kong Wenjie appeared in Nanshan Villa, saying that he came to take a look. But from Kong Wenjie's attitude, it was obvious that he treated Zhong Mingwei and Mei Ya as his masters.
What on earth is going on?
While driving the donkey cart, Chen Qingxuan couldn't help but look back at Nanshan Villa. He couldn't figure it out. Then he shook his head, turned around, and drove the donkey cart back.
…
The tenth day of the seventh month in the thirty-third year of Jiasheng
Imperial study.
Zhong Zhiheng looked impatiently at the Imperial Noble Consort Zhao who was kneeling on the ground and chattering non-stop. He waved his hand and interrupted Zhao's words: "Let's not talk about other useless things. Let's talk about why Huipin suddenly had a stomachache? What have you found out these days?"
That day, Huibin suddenly had severe abdominal pain and was about to faint. Fortunately, Qin Lu arrived in time, gave Huibin acupuncture, and made her drink a decoction. Huibin finally calmed down, but she still had to lie in bed for a few days to save the dragon seed in her belly. Even though her health improved, Huibin was frightened and had nightmares for several days. She looked very thin and looked very pitiful.
That day, Zhong Zhiheng asked Huipin about the cause of her illness. Qin Lu asked Huipin's personal maid about her recent diet and found nothing unusual. When he was puzzled, he saw half a tray of persimmon cakes left on the small table. He was immediately shocked and asked Huipin. He learned that Huipin had eaten a few more persimmon cakes during the day. Persimmon cakes are very cold and are not suitable for pregnant women. Huipin was pregnant, so the imperial kitchen was cautious. How could they send persimmon cakes to Changchun Palace? No one said anything for a while, but everyone knew that some lady might have made a wrong decision again.
Zhong Zhiheng was furious and asked Imperial Noble Consort Zhao to investigate the matter thoroughly. Zhao immediately accepted the order and came to the imperial study today to report the matter.
"Your Majesty, I have already found out about Huipin's accidental eating of persimmon cakes," Zhao said hurriedly. Looking at Zhong Zhiheng's gloomy face, she said with an embarrassed look, "I had no clue at first. There must be dozens or even hundreds of servants going in and out of the imperial kitchen every day, so I had to bite the bullet and use a stupid method. I gathered all the palace servants who went in and out of the imperial kitchen on July 7th and asked them to testify. In the end, I found out that a total of ten people had touched the persimmon cakes. I continued to track down the whereabouts of the persimmon cakes. Nine of them were traced, but the plate of persimmon cakes that Cuiqing, the little palace maid of Zhong Cui Palace, took was missing. Cuiqing was very stubborn and insisted that she ate it, but I felt it was quite strange."
"Tell me, what's so strange?" Zhong Zhiheng said with a serious face.
"Your Majesty, please understand. There are eighteen persimmon cakes on such a large plate. How can a skinny palace maid like Cuiqing eat them all in one day?" Zhao said hurriedly.
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