Late December.
It had started snowing heavily again. Guan Zhiyue had been staying in the Cold Palace for the past month. When Li Qiji heard from the guards that Guan Zhiyue stayed in her room every day and didn't go out, he couldn't find out what she was doing there. So Li Qiji told them to stop watching Guan Zhiyue.
Guan Zhiyue wasn't just playing around in the house; she was actually exercising every day to lose weight. She did all sorts of exercises in the house, such as running, skipping rope, yoga, dancing, body shaping, etc. She used almost everything that could make her sweat, and she was also very careful to control her diet. The charcoal fire in the house kept it warm.
"Your Majesty, should we increase the amount of charcoal in the fire?" Bilian asked, feeling the room was already as hot as a steam room.
Guan Zhiyue was drenched in sweat at the moment, still swinging the simple jump rope in her hand without stopping. Ever since she discovered that her weight had remained at 162 pounds.
She started a crazy diet and has lost a lot of weight. Her stomach, face, and thighs have become much thinner. She was amazed but didn't dare to weigh herself, so she focused solely on losing weight and didn't look at the scale.
Do you need to add more charcoal to this room?
Guan Zhiyue looked around and nodded. "Add some more, so the room doesn't get too cold."
After getting the answer, Bilian closed the door for Guan Zhiyue and went to the kitchen to find charcoal.
"Aunt Bilian, we've run out of charcoal in the kitchen."
"What? It's gone? Didn't the Emperor bestow a hundred catties of it last time?" Bilian looked at the little eunuch in front of her with disbelief, as if the person in front of her had swallowed it whole.
The young eunuch bowed and explained somewhat aggrievedly, "Aunt Bilian, please don't disbelieve me. Our Lady burns almost four charcoal braziers every day, so naturally she uses them up faster than at other times."
"That hundred catties of charcoal was a gift from the Emperor last month. It's almost the end of this month, so it must have been used up by now."
Bilian nodded knowingly, and braved the blizzard, dressed in thick clothes, as she left the Cold Palace.
"Knock knock knock..."
The eunuch guarding Chaoyang Palace looked out through a small door and saw a person holding an umbrella, wearing a large hat, and huddled up in a small ball.
"Who is it? It's freezing cold."
"I am Bilian, who serves Her Majesty the Empress." Bilian's voice was soft, and she seemed a little embarrassed.
Upon hearing that it was someone from the Empress's side, the eunuch guarding the gate quickly opened the door.
"Aunt Bilian, what are you doing at our Chaoyang Palace on such a snowy day instead of staying in the palace?" the gatekeeper eunuch asked, inquiring about her origin.
Bilian smiled somewhat awkwardly and said, "I came to see the Prince of Xiaoyao. I wonder if His Highness is in the palace?"
The gatekeeper eunuch led Bilian into the hall, had someone bring her a cup of tea, and then left.
Fu Gui also rushed over upon hearing the commotion. Seeing Bi Lian sitting in the hall waiting, he quickly went up to ask her some questions before running off to find his own prince.
"This servant greets the carefree prince."
"No need for formalities!"
"Is this Yue'er? What brings you to me?"
Bi Lian suddenly knelt down in front of Li Qishang, who was startled and asked in confusion, "What happened? Was Yue'er bullied?"
"No, it's just..."
Bilian suddenly felt embarrassed to ask for charcoal in the dead of winter. Wouldn't that make the winter even harder for them?
Just say it directly.
Bilian gritted her teeth and said directly, "Our lady's charcoal has run out. Could Your Highness lend her some?"
After speaking, Bilian lowered her head nervously, waiting for Li Qishang's reply.
"I thought it was something important. Fugui, bring Bilian fifty catties of gold thread charcoal," Li Qishang said nonchalantly.
"Thank you, Your Highness! I am so grateful for your kindness!" Bilian quickly knelt down and bowed.
Fu Gui, accompanied by two eunuchs, carried in a bag of gold thread charcoal and placed it in the hall. Bi Lian looked at the large bag and seemed a little embarrassed.
"I'll have to trouble you, Eunuch Fugui, to lend me these two for a while!" Bilian pointed to the two eunuchs carrying the gold-embroidered carpet.
"That's for sure, then we won't see Miss Bilian off any further." Fugui said to Bilian as he escorted her to the gate.
Bilian nodded to Fugui, signaling him to stop. The three of them carried fifty catties of golden charcoal to the Cold Palace, three kilometers away.
"Aunt Bilian, the charcoal has been delivered. We servants will now return to report."
"Alright, then I'll trouble you." Bilian said, taking out two taels of silver from her sleeve and handing them to the two eunuchs.
After the two eunuchs left, Bilian had someone carry the charcoal into Guan Zhiyue's room, and then she began to add charcoal to Guan Zhiyue's food.
"Where did you go? Why did it take so long?"
Bilian dared not hide the truth and had to answer honestly, "Our palace's charcoal has run out, so I went to Prince Xiaoyao's place to borrow fifty catties of charcoal."
Guan Zhiyue glanced at the charcoal brazier that had just been brought in, nodded dismissively to indicate that she understood, and then continued exercising without stopping her hands.
After adding the charcoal, Bilian closed the door. Her mistress had been using a lot of charcoal lately, so she needed to find a way to get some more sent to the palace.
Bilian not only thought about this, but also took action on it.
Guan Zhiyue is now focused solely on exercising; she hasn't bothered to discuss or even think about anything else.
After a day of exercise, Guan Zhiyue finally collapsed on the ground, completely exhausted. When Bilian came in, she saw Guan Zhiyue lying on the ground and quickly ran over to shake her.
"Your Majesty, are you alright?"
"Your Highness, please don't frighten this servant!"
"Your Majesty..."
Guan Zhiyue was jolted awake by Bilian's shaking. She looked at Bilian with a dazed expression and some surprise.
"What's wrong?"
"This servant was just about to ask what happened to Your Highness. When I came in, I saw you lying on the ground. I thought you..."
Guan Zhiyue shook her head and looked at Bilian, saying, "Then it's alright. Go and prepare some bath water for me."
Bilian obediently went to prepare water.
After taking a shower, Guan Zhiyue looked at the changes in herself, took a deep breath, took out the electronic scale from the wardrobe, and stood on it somewhat nervously, her eyes never daring to look at the numbers on the scale.
"Guan Zhiyue, come on! It's just a string of numbers, you can do it." Guan Zhiyue encouraged herself in her heart.
She took a deep breath and looked down. The scale, which used to show three digits, now showed only two. She couldn't believe it...
"ah!!!!!!!!!!!!"
"Ninety-two catties."
"This is 92 pounds! Did I lose 70 pounds? 70 pounds! My God!" Guan Zhiyue burst into wild laughter in the room.
"Little Tuantuan, have I lost seventy pounds?" Guan Zhiyue called out to Little Tuantuan in the space with great joy. Little Tuantuan was almost pierced by Guan Zhiyue's voice.
Xiao Tuantuan glanced at the numbers on the electronic scale and nodded with some admiration. "Congratulations, host! You've successfully lost seventy pounds. Not bad for this month of crazy weight loss. Should we upgrade the space now?"
"This upgrade will take five days. After all, the upgrade area and coefficient are quite large, and there are many things that need to be unlocked, so we need to wait." Xiao Tuantuan also really admires Guan Zhiyue.
"Okay, I'm willing to wait. Go upgrade! I look forward to seeing you in five days."
"Hmm! Good luck, host!"
Before Guan Zhiyue could respond, she could no longer detect the existence of space in her consciousness. Guan Zhiyue excitedly wandered around the room.
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