Chapter 12 Chapter 12 Palace Maid's Twelve Days
After Pepe came, Shen Qingqing's work became much easier, but not having to clean the yard meant that she spent more time with Du Baolin.
Du Baolin was released from disguised confinement in early June. After staying in Siguozhai for a few days, he couldn't wait to go out for some fresh air.
She wanted to go out for a walk, and when she thought about the possibility of meeting someone she hated who deliberately came to laugh at her, she asked Shen Qingqing to put on some beautiful makeup for her. Even if she lost, she would not lose the battle. Du Baolin did not want to be looked down upon at a time like this.
A sign of weakness? Not happening.
After Shen Qingqing finished putting makeup on Du Baolin, Du Baolin admired her and asked someone to bring out her most beautiful clothes. The weather was already hot in June, but these ladies' clothes were made of the best materials. They were not only thin, but also had a good drape and did not appear to be too transparent or frivolous. Instead, they were cool and elegant.
Because Du Baolin's clothes are green, they make her look verdant and fresh, like a refreshing touch of bright color in summer.
Her hair accessories were simply decorated with corals, and she did not use any gold hairpins or hairpins, which actually suited her at the moment.
There is absolutely no problem with Du Baolin and Shan Hu's aesthetic taste.
Shen Qingqing asked: "Master, do you want me to go with you?"
Du Baolin: "No need, Shan Hu can just follow me out, you stay in Siguozhai."
Shen Qingqing: "Yes."
Du Baolin and Shanhu happily left the Siguozhai. It was not until they reached the corner and could no longer see their figures that Shen Qingqing went back through the door.
She first brewed a pot of tea to quench her thirst and asked Peipei to drink it with her. Du Baolin had a lot of tea in stock, and she distributed the tea she didn't like to the palace servants, because Shen Qingqing was in charge of tea and she got the most.
Pepe is a quiet little palace maid. She has just arrived at Siguozhai for a short time and just buries herself in her work.
Because the work was divided up, Shen Qingqing often brought things to share with Pepe.
The two looked at each other in silence and just dozed off together.
However, Du Baolin had been out for an hour and had not returned yet. Shen Qingqing finally realized something was wrong and murmured, "I'll go out and look for Baolin."
Peipei stopped her and said, "Sister, if the master can't come back after encountering something, what can we little maids do?"
Well……
Shen Qingqing looked up at the sky. Although it was true, she still felt uncomfortable, so she found a compromise: "I'll wait for Baolin at the gate of Siguozhai."
If Baolin came back and saw her doing nothing, he would definitely be angry. Moreover, she didn't know what had happened to Baolin. She couldn't help but think about it anxiously.
Shen Qingqing stood at the door of Siguozhai, looking into the distance again and again. As time passed, her originally worried mood gradually became anxious.
She followed her heart and walked out, and suddenly saw Shan Hu who was supporting Du Baolin coming back. Du Baolin had dull eyes, chapped lips, clear slap marks on his cheeks, and one of his hair accessories was missing.
Shen Qingqing hurried over, supported Du Baolin's other arm, and asked anxiously: "Master, what happened?"
Coral seemed to have suffered a severe blow. She only said, "The master went to the imperial garden..." and then she was overwhelmed with sadness and could not utter the rest of the words.
Du Baolin glanced at Shen Qingqing sideways, his eyes so detailed that it seemed as if he was scanning her face inch by inch.
As if assessing whether she was really worried about her master.
Du Baolin's mind was in a mess, with great emotional ups and downs, most of which were related to Gao's family. When he saw Shen Qingqing, he was also a little judgmental. Once he felt uneasy, he thought everyone was guilty.
Shen Qingqing swallowed quietly. She had to show it at this moment, so tears of distress came out in a flash: "Master, I will go get the imperial physician for you!"
Du Baolin grabbed Shen Qingqing's hand and said, "No need." Then he looked away, as if he couldn't bear to see the palace maid's tears anymore.
Shen Qingqing and Shanhu helped Du Baolin back to the Siguozhai, and then helped Du Baolin to the bed.
Du Baolin hugged his knees in a daze.
[I won't let you go, Gao! ]
The sound was like nails scratching on worn-out guitar strings, unbearable and harsh.
Shen Qingqing was startled, and followed Shanhu out of the dormitory to find medicine. She found the right opportunity to ask Shanhu, "Sister, I just went out for a walk, what happened?"
Shanhu was in a daze, but when she encountered Shen Qingqing's question, she chose to tell the whole story: "The master has been in the Siguozhai for so long, just going out for a walk when the weather is good, and has avoided the places where the concubines often go, but was still blocked by Concubine Gao. Concubine Gao hated the master for slapping her twice, so she found an excuse for insubordination to slap the master's mouth, and also made the master kneel for an hour on the busy palace road."
"The master refused to acknowledge it. It was Lady Gao's people who forced the master to kneel. Even I was stopped. The master suffered a great humiliation!"
Lady Gao knew that Du Baolin cared most about his face, so she stepped hard on her face to avenge her past unhappiness.
Shen Qingqing let out a sigh of relief. It was all because Du Baolin had been so unkind before. Once he lost his position, he got revenge on her. But in front of Shan Hu, she still had to show the right attitude.
"This lady Gao is so abominable!"
Coral found the medicine and said hurriedly, "Who said it wasn't?" Then she hurried in.
Shen Qingqing went to fetch some water, took a clean handkerchief and went in to serve Du Baolin.
Du Baolin still had that dazed look on his face. Shanhu knew Du Baolin's temper very well and didn't dare to say anything to him at this moment. She just accompanied Du Baolin silently with pity in her eyes.
Shen Qingqing squatted for a while holding the basin. After a while, she would become unstable. So according to the changes in Du Baolin's heart, she found the right time and whispered softly: "Master, there is a long way to go."
Shanhu seemed to have just woken up from a dream, and she also tried to comfort him: "Master, think about your plan, there is no need to worry about Lady Gao. She couldn't beat you in the beginning, and she won't be able to beat you in the future!"
Du Baolin pursed his lips and finally came back to his senses from the great humiliation.
Every word he said was profound: "You are right. I will repay you a hundredfold for today's shame someday."
Shen Qingqing lowered her head in silence, feeling relieved and ignoring Du Baolin's madness.
If she could take revenge on Lady Gao, she would probably dare to do anything now.
Shanhu washed Du Baolin again, applied medicine on his knees, then looked at Du Baolin's face and frowned.
It was unknown how long Concubine Gao had practiced those two slaps. Although she was a powerless concubine, she still managed to slap Du Baolin so hard that his cheeks were swollen.
Shanhu was at a loss for the moment. Chaolu, who was the best at medicine, was not around. She could only ask Du Baolin, "Master, how about we ask the imperial physician?"
Du Baolin raised his eyebrows and sarcastically said, "Don't you think you haven't made enough jokes?"
Coral was silent.
Du Baolin looked at Shen Qingqing and said, "Wanxia gave you all the beauty recipes?"
Shen Qingqing said yes. She had been doing Du Baolin's facial skin care for the past few months and was familiar with several commonly used prescriptions.
"Wanxia has a recipe for Yi Mu Cao Ze Mian. Please prepare it. I need it. As soon as possible."
The motherwort herb formula can improve chapped skin, and this is almost the case with Du Baolin.
Shen Qingqing took the order and left.
The main ingredient of the Motherwort Noodle Recipe is Motherwort Powder, but Siguozhai doesn't have this stuff, so she has to go to the Pharmacy to look for it.
When Pepe heard that she was going to look for motherwort powder, he immediately put down the work in his hands.
"Sister, I know where motherwort grows in the palace. I'll take you there."
Shen Qingqing's eyes lit up. With Du Baolin in this situation now, she would definitely be blocked if she went to the Pharmacy to get something, and things would not be done. Du Baolin couldn't cause trouble for the Pharmacy, but could he not deal with her?
She doesn't want to mess with Du Baolin now.
Shen Qingqing: "Okay, you come with me."
Peipei led the way and left Siguozhai together with Shen Qingqing.
After walking for about a quarter of an hour, Shen Qingqing was about to ask Pepe why she hadn't arrived yet when she heard laughter from across the wall. She looked up and saw three words on the plaque on the garden gate: Yiqu Garden.
Looking inside the garden, a woman in palace dress was picking flowers with the palace maids, occasionally competing to see whose bouquet was prettier and more fragrant. The woman had a face like a silver plate and eyes like water apricots, and was lively and gentle, able to move and be still, and full of blessings.
Shen Qingqing was stunned. This beauty had a different style from Du Baolin. She just didn't know which lady in the palace she was.
She turned around to look for Pepe, but she didn't know when Pepe had left, and she didn't know where the place where motherwort grew that Pepe said was, so she was stunned for a moment.
As she was circling around, a maid from Yiqu Garden spotted her and came out to ask, "Which palace are you from? Why are you wandering around here?"
Shen Qingqing bowed and recognized this lady as a senior maid based on her attire, so she explained honestly, "I am a maid from Siguozhai. I came out with someone to look for motherwort. When I heard the voices here, I was a little distracted. When I turned around, I couldn't find the maid who came with me."
The senior palace maid Xuancao understood: "There is no place in the palace except the Ministry of Pharmacy to grow motherwort. I'm afraid you have been deceived."
Shen Qingqing was surprised and thought, Peipei was brought back by Xiao Dingzi, the possibility of him lying to her was extremely low, she might be hiding something... But she is a palace maid, why would she tease her?
Shen Qingqing blinked, still a little confused, and said hesitantly: "Thank you, sister, for your guidance."
Once Pepe is found, everything becomes clear.
"Don't believe it?" Xuancao saw that the little palace maid didn't completely believe it, so she rolled her eyes and said kindly, "Since you are a palace maid in Siguozhai, I'm sure my queen will be very interested in your affairs. Wait, I'll go and tell her!"
Then he didn't give Shen Qingqing any chance to stop him and ran away very fast.
Shen Qingqing had never seen such a lively palace maid. Before she could stop her, before her hand was still stretched in the air, Xuancao had already run towards the lady with her skirt lifted up, and her hairband fluttered in the air.
Shen Qingqing was waiting anxiously at the gate of Yiqu Garden.
At this time, when she was visiting the garden, there were many palace maids serving her, so she could boldly guess the higher position. At the right time, an empress popped up in her mind, the virtuous concubine.
Is Concubine Xian so young?
Shen Qingqing suddenly remembered that the Emperor ascended the throne not long after Concubine Xian entered the Prince's Mansion. It was normal for her to be young, and one should not question her age just because she was made a concubine at such a young age.
-
In Yiqu Garden.
Xuancao approached Concubine Xian, calling her "Your Majesty" repeatedly, and explained what had just happened.
Concubine Xian was puzzled: "Xuancao, you little girl, just because she is from Siguozhai, you think I will be interested in her?"
Xuancao was so spoiled that she said, "My lady, I don't know who is interested in that Du. She keeps talking about it. My ears are almost callused."
The virtuous concubine swept the flowers in her hand over the daylily and said, "You are disrespectful. I am Du Baolin. The emperor doesn't like people who are unruly."
Xuancao quickly shut up, but Concubine Xian pondered and said, "Today Du Baolin suffered. As one of the high-ranking concubines, I should care about her. Please ask her in. I will ask Du Baolin if she is doing well."
Among the emperor's concubines, the most senior one had not stayed with the emperor for three years. It was hard for Du Baolin, who had occupied the emperor's favor for two years, not to attract attention.
Moreover, she went out today because she heard about Du Baolin being punished by Lady Gao to kneel, but halfway through the journey, she realized something was wrong, so she changed her route and came to Yiqu Garden.
Concubine Xian was born into a noble family. Even though she was taught to be virtuous and not to be suspicious or jealous, she could not help but envy Du Baolin for being able to receive the emperor's long-term favor.
And she...she thought that if she took care of the palace affairs well, the emperor would pay more attention to her.
How could she expect so much from such an outstanding and noble man, when she was not his wife?
Although Concubine Xian was sad, she still put on a smile to avoid making the palace people nervous, but her eyes were a little dim.
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