Chapter 30
At other times, Chu Huan might still be in the mood to look at the beauty and get close to her.
She is now anxious to get penicillin to save lives, so naturally she tries to delegate the tasks as much as possible to save herself some effort.
If the more than one hundred officials in the Ministry of Revenue had not been used to the extreme and no more money could be squeezed out, and the account books from four years ago had not been settled yet, she would not have thought of recruiting people from outside.
As for the accounts and funds in the Ministry of Revenue, will they be exposed?
That is something that the Second Prince, the Minister of Revenue and others should consider.
Besides, if she can work in the Ministry of Revenue, why can't the second prince's family?
As long as they can be offered a reward that makes them excited.
Chu Hua: [No woman is willing to hide in the backyard, waiting for her man to come back every day, unless she is in love.]
Queen: “…”
The Second Prince's Consort: "..."
Although I'm not sure if "lovesickness" is what they meant, I still feel like I was being mocked.
The system holds a pessimistic view: [The requirements for women in ancient times were very strict. You won't agree, right?]
Chu Huan smiled and said, "I'm already dressed as a man to attend court. With such great conditions, I should definitely do something for my fellow women."
The system suddenly understood: [So you want all the beauties in the Second Prince's backyard to leave?]
Chu Hua: [They don't have to wait on men or raise children. They have nothing to do on weekdays. How boring is that? If any of them want to jump out of the backyard, I'll help them.]
The system threw flowers and applauded vigorously: [Sister Huan, you are awesome!]
Queen: “…”
The Second Prince's Consort: "..."
The two of them didn't know and weren't sure how much change "going to court" would bring to people, but Chu Huan's thoughts and actions were obviously different from theirs.
The queen did not get the lifelong companionship that the emperor had promised her. She was angry, sad and helpless, and could only have a cold war with the emperor.
She was the mother of a country, with dignity and power granted by the law and the emperor. She could do anything as long as it did not violate the laws of Da Sheng and the royal reputation, but she never worked for the welfare of other women.
Chu Huan knew how to help other women when she was thirteen years old, but now she is thirty-six years old and a grandmother, but she only has eyes for herself and the emperor. Her relationship is no longer pure, and she often quarrels with the emperor.
The queen suddenly felt very bored.
The Second Prince's wife was also reflecting on herself.
She only knew how to hang out with those beautiful sisters in the second prince's backyard, but she never thought that a woman's life is so short. These sisters don't get the second prince's favor, have no men and children, do they have any other demands?
Is it because of her status as the Second Prince's consort that the sisters dare not tell her their true feelings, so they join in her mischief and play with her daughters?
Ask yourself, if she can't treat other women's children as her own, why can her sisters?
She seemed to subconsciously believe that women would be confined to the backyard for their entire lives, and that she had all kinds of special privileges because of her status as a prince's consort, which no one else had.
The Second Prince's wife was shocked. How could she do this?!
Even the maid Biyu beside the queen, the six Jinyiwei, and the young masters of Chunfeng Tower showed a thoughtful expression.
So, is this the correct way for a woman to dress up as a man and attend court?
—To purge the court of corrupt officials, return honest and upright officials to the people, and seek the welfare of fellow citizens.
Chu Huan spoke a few words to the system, and the thoughts that had been lingering in her mind for a long time were spoken out casually without having to think too much about it.
Because of this, she realized something was wrong.
She had already spent quite a bit of time arguing with the system, but the Second Prince's wife hadn't responded.
No one said anything, so why did everyone present look as if they had heard something and had a thoughtful look on their faces?
Chu Huan also became thoughtful.
Suddenly, Chu Huan said, "Tong'er, let's share some gossip about the Second Prince's wife."
The system replied immediately: [Okay, I happen to have one here, she...]
Just as the beginning began, the Second Prince's wife had already realized that this was not the time to be in a daze!
"Lord Chu."
The smile on Chu Huan's lips gradually deepened: "I am here."
The Second Prince's wife looked at Chu Huan's smile and felt that something was not right, but she couldn't put her finger on it.
"Want to pick out a pretty girl?"
Chu Huan: "Okay."
Just as he finished speaking, there was a knock on the door of the box. It was the twenty young men that the Second Prince's wife had called in advance, and they arrived. There were all kinds of people, fat and thin.
The Fengyuqing box was quite large, but it couldn't accommodate nearly forty people.
Chu Huan took the initiative to ask, "Is the Furong Noodles across the street still empty?"
"Empty."
"I'll go over there." Chu Huan took two Jinyiwei with her as she left.
The Queen and the Second Prince's wife watched her enter the private room facing Hibiscus, waved and greeted them with a smile, mouthed "please feel free" from a distance, and then slammed the door shut.
The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law looked at each other.
There were too many people in the box, so the Second Prince's wife ordered ten of them to leave, and the Queen also ordered the remaining twenty to leave.
Biyu took out a few gold bars from her purse, and the young men who had some complaints left without saying a word, and the box suddenly became quiet.
Queen: "Why are you here?"
The Second Prince's Consort said, "Your Highness is worried that the Queen Mother can't handle it."
It was the Queen's first time in such a place, and she was indeed a little overwhelmed, so she didn't say much after hearing this.
"Did you hear any noise outside?"
This was not said in detail, but the Second Prince's wife could understand, "Not very clear."
That’s good, the queen felt relieved.
No matter how emotionally conflicted she was with the emperor, she would unconditionally stand on the emperor's side on such major issues concerning Dasheng and the court.
The young waiters left, and Chu Huan also left. The Queen and the Second Prince's wife stared at each other, not knowing for a moment what the two of them were doing there.
At this time, a faint sound was heard coming from the opposite side.
Chu Hua: [Tong'er, this room is truly a hibiscus room. It's filled with hibiscus flowers and beauties. It's breathtakingly beautiful.]
"Tell me, how did the Second Prince and his wife learn the art of sex in a place like this, with the right time, right place, and right people, and not practice it right there?"
The moment she heard it clearly, the Second Prince's wife's face turned red like a big tomato.
She had long since learned from the Second Prince that Chu Huanai and the system were talking nonsense, and she also knew that the Second Prince was extremely embarrassed in front of the civil and military officials. She had secretly made fun of the Second Prince several times.
But the same thing happened to her, it was real... She wanted to fly out immediately and cover Chu Huan's broken mouth!
The Queen was as curious as Chu Huan, and subconsciously guessed: Maybe she thinks this place is dirty?
At least she didn't dare to use the bed that no one knew how many people had slept in it and no one knew how it had been used.
The system, perhaps distracted by the melons, replied after a long while: [Because of mysophobia, they wouldn't dare mess around in a place like this.]
Chu Hua: [I guess so.]
The Queen was slightly surprised: "Huh? You guessed it right."
The Second Prince's wife couldn't help but regret having listened to the Second Prince's request to come and help today, otherwise it might not have been her who was embarrassed.
I thought this difficult time would last for a long time, but unexpectedly Chu Huan stopped eating melons and instead shared with the system what the advantages of Chunfeng Tower's snacks were.
Half an hour later, the group left Chunfeng Tower naturally. The Queen, the Second Prince's wife, and Chu Huan left in their own carriages.
One of the four Jinyiwei following the queen slowly retreated and returned to Furong's side.
He carefully checked the entire box for a long time and found nothing unusual, so he left.
On the other side, Chu Huan returned to Qianhuaju smoothly and changed clothes and washed up with the help of Qingzhu.
Qingzhu took out a palm-sized notebook from his official robe. A small charcoal pencil was tied to the side of the notebook. The charcoal pencil seemed to have been written with many words and was a bit short.
"Miss, would you like to change to a charcoal pencil?"
Chu Hua: "No need."
Qingzhu put it down and said, "Yes."
That was the small notebook Chu Huan used to record her inspiration for the storybook. She would write down whatever she thought of. Qingzhu and the others would not peek at it without permission.
Hongmei came in holding a bowl of bird's nest, "Miss, would you like some bird's nest?"
"Okay." Chu Huan drank the bird's nest slowly and leisurely.
The system screamed frantically in her ear: [How could this happen?! How could I make such a mistake?!]
[No wonder! I was wondering why the melon energy was depleting so quickly. Turns out I accidentally turned on the sharing feature. Every time I talk to you, I don't need melon energy, but when I share with them, I do.]
[No wonder I showed you the search page and Shi Zhanjiao's photo. It only took a second or two, but it cost so much Gua Energy. It must have been shared with everyone within a 50-meter radius! How could that not be expensive?!]
The system was so angry that it was about to jump up and down, but Qingzhu Hongmei didn't react at all, as if it didn't hear anything at all.
In fact, they really couldn't hear it, because after the system discovered its oversight, it had turned off the sharing function, and now only Chu Huan could hear it.
More than half an hour ago, in the private room of Furong Noodles, Chu Huan asked Cai Gang to guard the door and asked Jia Yi to order a pot of tea and some snacks.
While she was alone in the box, she used the small notebook and charcoal pencil she carried with her to have a simple written communication with the system.
System, look at this, don't make any noise.
Just eat the melon normally, and be careful not to expose yourself.
Is there any possibility that our conversation could be heard by others?
The Queen and the others seemed to have heard it.
Since her conversation with the system continued, Cai Gang did not become suspicious and did not insist on staying in the room.
At that time, Chu Huan's words scared the system half to death. It cooperated with Chu Huan to fool the system and kept checking itself afterwards.
It read the rules and regulations of the melon-eating system from beginning to end, and checked all the functions it had enabled, and only then did it know where the problem lay.
Chu Huan said while drinking bird's nest: [In other words, from the moment I bound you, everyone else heard and knew everything we talked about?]
The system made a mistake, and the reply was particularly weak: [Yes. Sister Huan, I'm sorry, I didn't mean it.]
Chu Huan certainly knew that the little guy was just a small system that had just been produced. It had no experience, so it was normal for it to make mistakes.
Furthermore...
Chu Hua: [Now take a look. Besides the two Jinyiwei in the courtyard, do we have any other Jinyiwei in our family?]
The system checked: [Hey, there really are some! There are over twenty of them.]
"Oh, they appeared on the first day I bound you, and then they transcribed all our conversations and sent them to the emperor and all the officials."
[Eating melons is fine, but they even copied down my exam questions and complaints? They're going to tear their hands off, right? Hahaha, they even recorded my laughs. I'm dying of laughter!]
[At first, it was the Imperial Guards, but later, they couldn't keep up, so they had to change them frequently. When you were working at the Ministry of Revenue, you used eunuchs transferred from the Twelve Wards. Here, they're all Imperial Guards. Recording our conversations was one purpose, but more importantly, it's to protect you.]
Chu Huan: "Heh."
There are two of them in public, and ten times more in secret. The emperor is afraid that she will die quietly.
It seems that the emperor and all the officials knew that the system would leave after her death, and they made a decision.
After some calculations, it turned out that Jia Yi and Cai Gang came at that time.
Qingzhu and Hongmei looked at Chu Huan, who was drinking bird's nest and smiling, and were confused: Is today's bird's nest particularly delicious?
The system is confused: [Sister Huan?]
Chu Huan said with a smile: [I was wondering why the emperor suddenly promoted me and transferred me to the Ministry of Revenue.]
The system responded quickly this time: [The promotion was to allow you to attend court every day, and the transfer to the Ministry of Revenue was for my corruption? ]
Then he didn't quite understand. "But even if you don't attend court, and we're at home enjoying the melons, wouldn't the Imperial Guards upload the contents? It doesn't matter where we are, right?"
Chu Hua: [There are a few possibilities. One is that it's more fun to eat melons in person, and the second is that they don't want me to go anywhere else.]
[Just like how the Empress came to ask me to go to Chunfeng Tower today, the Second Prince's wife also came. They're doing double insurance. They're afraid that our secret will be known to more people.]
[The third is to conduct a rehearsal in advance to prevent me from suddenly going to a crowded place. If so, the Jinyiwei would be caught off guard and it would be difficult to make arrangements.]
[Also... now that I know the Empress and the Second Prince's wife, eating the melons from the harem and the Western Rong spies will save melon energy.]
System: [Then I'll turn off sharing so they can't eat the melon!]
Chu Hua: [Isn't that the same as telling them that I already know?]
The system thought for a moment and said, "Then let's agree on a code. If you want them to know, share it. If you don't, just chat privately."
For example, if you want to share, call me Tong'er, and if you don't, call me Xi'an.
Chu Huan put down the completely finished bird's nest and wiped her mouth. "That's too obvious. How about this, we keep it private. I'll open it when I want them to know, and then we can act it out together."
Isn't that the Drama Queen? This one is familiar!
The system rubbed its hands in anticipation: [Great!]
Chu Hua: [As punishment for hiding this from us for so many days, today we're going to turn everything upside down for them.]
The system got excited when it heard the troublemaker's tone: [Okay, okay, Sister Huan, whatever you decide, I'll definitely cooperate!]
The more people it affects, the wider the scope of the impact, and the greater the impact, the more melon energy it can obtain.
It’s much more than what you can get by doing imperial examination questions late at night!
Chu Huan explained everything, and the system remembered it clearly, not forgetting a single word.
After dinner, Chu Huan entered the laboratory that Qianhuaju had spent three days to clean up.
Here are the experimental instruments such as flasks, beakers, culture dishes, etc. that she asked the glass factory to urgently make, as well as crude thermometers that are not very accurate. The laboratory conditions are very simple.
Autumn is the season for eating oranges. The entire Chu family eats oranges and has accumulated a pile of orange peels.
The laboratory is heated day and night to keep the temperature at around 25 degrees, and a basin of water is placed to maintain humidity.
If you leave fresh orange peel here for a few days, many small hairs will grow on the side with the orange peel. When it turns green, it is Penicillium.
Chu Huan did not graduate in microbiology. She was a chemist in her previous life. She found out about Penicillium because she knew that the mold on the surface of rotten oranges was Penicillium, so she looked into it out of curiosity.
She didn't know whether the temperature and humidity were correct, nor did she know whether Penicillium could be produced in this way, and whether it could be used if it was produced. She could only experiment and try again and again without getting tired.
I hope I can get it done before the oranges are out of season, otherwise I will have to go around looking for that old mustard greens brine that has been stored in a corner for years and has not been thrown away and has completely turned into water.
That was the earliest edible penicillin.
It was just that the possibility of finding it was slim, so Chu Huan asked someone to look for it while also trying it herself.
After placing the first batch of orange peels used in the experiment in blocks according to temperature zones and making sure that everything was in good condition, Chu Huan returned to her room.
[Tong'er, making penicillin is too expensive. I'm a little sad.]
System: [Then... let's eat some melons to cheer ourselves up?]
Chu Hua: [I'm a little tired of eating green hat melon.]
System: [The corrupt official also ate a lot of melons in the Ministry of Revenue during the day.]
Chu Hua: [Is there a big scandal involving corruption, murder, bribery, high-ranking officials, and other factors?]
The system waited for a while, then pulled out the giant melon it had prepared long ago: [Of course! Ding ding ding ding, today we're eating a super-sized melon!]
The Emperor's younger brother, Prince An, was the late Emperor's youngest son, born through fertility. He was deeply favored from childhood. The late Emperor allowed him to choose a fertile fiefdom, and he chose Zhouzhou, the most prosperous province in Jiangnan. Since then, more than half of Zhouzhou's annual taxes have gone into Prince An's pocket.
Chu Huan: [Hiss—The Emperor doesn't care?]
The Chu family and the Embroidered Uniform Guards: Hiss—Prince An is so arrogant!
System: [The Emperor wanted to intervene, but Bai Yueguang obtained an imperial decree from the late Emperor before his death. Now it is the late Emperor's will. Unless Prince An rebels, the Emperor cannot take action against him.]
He was the local emperor of Zhouzhou. Everything from food, clothing, housing and transportation was subject to the emperor's standards. The emperor sent the Jinyiwei to investigate, but he had the secret guards given by the previous emperor, and they were killed one after another.
The emperor stopped him, and he became even more arrogant. Every three years, he would select beautiful girls and take them home. He even took married girls away. He beat the husband of a successful candidate half to death and raped the girl in front of him while he was dying. The husband was so angry that he died with his eyes wide open.
The girl was less than three months pregnant when her husband died, leaving her child dead. Her parents-in-law went to the yamen to file a complaint, but were beaten to death by yamen runners. In despair, the girl hanged herself in the wedding dress she had embroidered with her husband.
Afterwards, King An heard that the woman who hanged herself in red would become a fierce ghost and come back for revenge, so he ordered her to be dismembered and suppressed, using extremely cruel methods.
Chu Huan's fists stiffened upon hearing this: "If this idiot Prince An falls into my hands, I'll definitely give him a kick that will kill him and leave him without a single child!"
The system nodded vigorously: [That’s right! ]
The Chu family: "..."
Jinyiwei: “…”
Many men felt a chill in their crotch, and had to say: For a beast like King An, a few hits are not enough!
System: [Furthermore, this girl... is the real princess who was abandoned by Concubine Wang in a brothel, later given away by the madam, and raised by an elderly, childless couple who sold tofu.]
People from the Chu family:!!!
Jinyiwei:!!!
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