Chapter 9 Chapter 9 Palace Maid Ninth Day
Later, Shen Qingqing went to the Shanggong Bureau to get two sets of second-class palace maid's clothes. Although Du Baolin had suffered an unexpected change and was in a very bad situation, Shen Qingqing was not so closely bound to Du Baolin and did not feel any gap for the time being.
It's just that life is inevitable.
The job of running errands outside for Siguozhai, such as fetching water for meals, fell to Xiao Dingzi, while the job of sweeping the courtyard was done by Shen Qingqing and Xiao Dingzi together. Because Shen Qingqing's activity area now included the main house where Du Baolin lived, the task of cleaning Du Baolin's utensils was also assigned to her, but Shanhu would also help her with some of the work.
In addition, Shen Qingqing also had the task of making tea and putting makeup on Du Baolin.
Even though she had fallen into such a state, with a gloomy face from time to time, Du Baolin did not want to be unkempt and lose her luster. However, considering her current situation, it was not appropriate to be too ostentatious. In the end, she only asked Shen Qingqing to put on light makeup for her.
Because of Du Baolin's inner voice, especially when Shen Qingqing was putting makeup on her, because the distance was too close, the voice seemed to be ringing in Shen Qingqing's ears, extremely intimate, which made her particularly uncomfortable.
The first time, because Shen Qingqing was in a daze, Du Baolin called her twice, but she didn't hear it. It was not until she wondered why Shen Qingqing didn't answer that she came to her senses and apologized quickly. In the end, Du Baolin rolled his eyes. It was not until she finished putting on her makeup that Du Baolin was reluctantly satisfied with her.
Afterwards, whenever Shen Qingqing thought about it, sweat would break out on her forehead.
Compared to Shen Qingqing's strong adaptability in Siguozhai, Shanhu's situation has plummeted. Now she not only needs to serve Du Baolin, but also needs to listen to Nanny Fang's orders. Nanny Fang must have been used to being served by little palace maids, and she would order her around without mercy.
Originally, Nanny Fang wanted to pinch Shen Qingqing, but Shen Qingqing ignored her and just asked, "Nanny, I'm so busy here that I don't have time to do what you ask. Come on, make way for me."
Nanny Fang left with a gloomy face, and then started to look for Shanhu when giving instructions. Shanhu complained bitterly, but because Du Baolin was demoted, she was not as confident as before, so she had to obey.
Moreover, because Du Baolin was closer to Shanhu, he asked Shanhu to do the daily dressing and hair-combing for him. Shanhu was promoted from a second-class maid to a senior maid, so she was skilled in these tasks. The more capable you are, the more work you do, and the more tired you are. The daily chores were placed on Shanhu, causing her chin to become much sharper in a short period of time.
When Shen Qingqing saw that Shanhu was becoming increasingly exhausted, she dared not work so hard and tried to slack off as much as possible.
When her colleague Xiao Dingzi saw how well she was doing, he began to teach her the necessary skills for palace servants to slack off.
Because there was no one to supervise or compare with, Shen Qingqing, who used the correct method, actually felt a lot more relaxed at the end of the day than when she was a third-class maid in Zhiyun Palace and worked with four other maids.
All of a sudden, the friendship between Shen Qingqing and Xiao Dingzi developed rapidly.
Because Du Baolin was a favorite concubine, she had a lot of good things. At least Shen Qingqing had never used inferior products to make tea for her, and she also paid for the broken porcelain on the first day out of her own pocket.
The key to Du Baolin's warehouse is in Shanhu's hands. Perhaps only Shanhu knows how much Du Baolin's resources are.
What a pity! If Chaolu didn’t leave, the key to the warehouse would most likely fall into her hands. After all, she had followed Daimao before, and Daimao was in control of the warehouse.
Daimao left because she had not fulfilled her duty of persuasion, and the matters in her hands would definitely fall into Chaolu's hands.
But perhaps he felt that Du Baolin had no future, so he left very quickly.
Du Baolin would learn the palace rules with Nanny Fang every morning and afternoon, and wait for the time to go out for some fresh air. She had been stuck in the main house for the past few days, but as the situation remained unchanged day after day, she gave up and no longer held on to the false illusion that the emperor would still remember her. So she stopped staying in the house and came out to get some fresh air, silently watching Shen Qingqing work.
Du Baolin has been favored for a long time, but the longer it lasts, the more uncertain she feels.
Compared to others, she was indeed favored more after entering the palace, but it was also said that she was not conspicuous compared to others. She could only see the emperor four or five times a month, and only once every six or seven days. Even if she saw him, she might not be favored. With such a short number of meetings, and the emperor's indifference, Du Baolin could never figure out the emperor's temper and could not find the reason why the emperor favored her.
Unable to find the cause, she didn't know what to do and could only order people to deliver nourishing soup to the emperor every day.
Du Baolin only knew that every time she was with the emperor, her heart would be touched, and every time she was favored, she was happy and joyful. Perhaps this was love.
She loved the Emperor deeply and was willing to show the side of a woman that men liked to see the most.
When she was young, she did not understand her mother's methods, but now she has mastered them. However, a person's nature is determined at birth, and she will teach anyone she dislikes a lesson, such as the concubines who competed with her for favor, and the two palace maids who committed crimes. So she tried every means to destroy the former's methods of flattering the superiors, and asked Liu Shun to teach the latter a lesson.
But Du Baolin really didn't want the two palace maids to die. There are many ways to teach them a lesson. Who knew that Liu Shun, the dog servant, misunderstood and killed them, leaving her speechless.
Although he grew up in the harem and later entered the palace, Du Baolin only learned petty tricks. She would scold him for having a vicious heart if she met him, as he could kill people with his attacks.
After hearing Du Baolin's complete thoughts, Shen Qingqing hesitated for a moment and then believed them. After all, who would lie about their thoughts?
Rather than temporarily serving a concubine who didn't even spare the palace maids, she would rather believe that this matter was a misunderstanding from the beginning to the end.
But even though it was a misunderstanding, the injustice of two lives was actually blamed on Du Baolin.
It was difficult for Du Baolin to recover.
Because Du Baolin was watching her, Shen Qingqing gave up being lazy and worked extra hard.
Du Baolin stayed there for a quarter of an hour. She thought that this little maid was loyal, and the first step to regaining her strength was to win the hearts of her subordinates, so she waved to Shen Qingqing: "Come here."
Shen Qingqing put down the broom, trotted in front of Du Baolin, and stood at the bottom of the steps: "My lord, what do you want me to do?"
Du Baolin took off the fine jade ring on his hand and said, "Here, I give it to you as a reward."
Shen Qingqing took it and thanked her in a cheerful voice.
Hearing the girl's voice, Du Baolin, who felt mature, felt the long-lost vitality and narrowed his eyes: "Go."
In fact, it has only been half a month since Du Baolin became a concubine with great vigor and vitality.
After Shen Qingqing left, Du Baolin said to Shanhu beside him, "It's not easy to make up your mind to follow me. Shen Qingqing and Xiao Dingzi will each receive five taels, and you will each receive ten taels. I order you to keep thirty taels per month to deal with emergencies in Siguozhai. Shanhu, you've been tired these days. In addition to the ten taels, I also promise you to pick an item from the storeroom."
Shanhu knelt on the ground, looked up at Du Baolin, and couldn't help but shed tears: "I will follow my master for life."
Du Baolin was naturally moved and helped her up personally.
Shanhu said in a tearful voice: "Master, I think you haven't lost yet. As long as you fight for it, you can regain your favor in no time!"
Du Baolin: "With a loyal servant like you around, how can I be decadent? I just have to go through the same path again. Why should I be afraid?"
This unexpected incident made Du Baolin calm down and no longer lose his temper as he did before. Something deeper was hidden in the depths of his eyes.
Coral was excited and felt that the suffering she had endured in the past half month was nothing.
The reward money given by Du Baolin was distributed by Shanhu personally. She used to be in charge of so many people, and what she was best at was how to help her master to show favors. After some persuasion, she made it clear how difficult it was for Baolin and how he still cared about them. If she were a soft-hearted person, she would definitely shed tears.
Shen Qingqing lowered her head, looking deeply moved, but as for tears, there were none.
Before entering the palace, she was the daughter of a good family. Although she became a servant after entering the palace, she could not even see her master, and no one would tell her to be a loyal servant. She only felt the majesty of being a master.
When the memories of her past life awakened, she just wanted to sing loudly, "Rise up, people who don't want to be slaves!"
What loyal servant? She is the people!
The world is bustling with people all because of profit. Shen Qingqing believes that the majority of people in the palace are selfish. The master is not her biological parent, so how can anyone be loyal to her regardless of everything?
Shanhu bet on Du Baolin, but she was not optimistic.
But Du Baolin is giving her a reward now, so Du Baolin is a good person, so within the scope of morality and palace rules, Shen Qingqing is willing to do her best for Du Baolin for a few months.
Any more will be gone.
If five taels of silver could buy one person's loyalty, all the queens in the world would laugh their heads off.
After Shanhu gave the reward money to Shen Qingqing, she went to find Xiao Dingzi.
After receiving the reward, Shen Qingqing observed quietly for two days and found that Xiao Dingzi was still the same as usual. She was not so grateful as to go to Du Baolin to express her loyalty. So she sighed that they were fellow travelers and went back to work.
Shanhu knew what the people under her were thinking, but Du Baolin's situation did not allow her to have such high expectations. She only hoped that Du Baolin would be able to regain his favor successfully, and then the people under her would be united. For this reason, she went to the clothing department of the Shangfu Bureau several times and spent a lot of money to get back a stunning red dance costume. Every night, she would help Du Baolin clear his muscles and bones.
Du Baolin has been practicing dancing since childhood, so even though he hasn't practiced in the past two years, it's not a big problem for him to pick it up again now.
Moreover, Du Baolin had prepared a dance before entering the palace. It was a dance choreographed by the Du family who hired the most powerful dancer in the capital, and they were just waiting for an opportunity to dazzle everyone.
Unexpectedly, she didn't have the chance to take it out when she was favored, but now it became her life-saving straw.
It’s the time and the fate.
Both the master and the servant avoided Nanny Fang when doing such things. Du Baolin would get angry whenever he mentioned Nanny Fang.
But the affairs of Siguozhai could not be hidden from the powerful concubines in the harem. Concubine De was in charge of the Shangfu Bureau, and the people under her reported the matter to her immediately.
Inside the Yongshou Palace, Concubine De sat in a comfortable armchair, leaning over the desk to look through a thick stack of account books, holding a thin brush in one hand. The small incense burner on the desk was lit, and a faint aroma filled the air.
Defei listened attentively to the report of Siyisi, a sixth-rank official in the Siyi Department, and wrote a word on the account book after listening.
"I understand."
Si Yi bowed and retreated.
Shi Liu, the chief maid of Concubine De, said in dissatisfaction, "The people from the Clothing Department handed the clothes to Siguozhai, and then the Clothing Department reported it to Your Majesty. Why didn't Your Majesty find fault with the Palace Department?"
Concubine De smiled and said, "The Clothing Department is not a solid iron network. The palace maids have their own thoughts. Mrs. Du is generous. It is normal for something to go wrong. Why should she be punished? It just happens that I can take this opportunity to properly rectify the Clothing Department. Wouldn't it be better if I could control the Clothing Department in my hands?"
Shi Liu said in embarrassment: "Is it because I am not good enough, or is it because Your Majesty has the right way to control people?"
Concubine De smiled with an ambiguous meaning: "Pass the news of Siguozhai to Lady Gao of Mingyue Pavilion. With her temperament, she will know what to do."
She murmured, "Ms. Du needs three months to reflect on her mistakes. The Qixi Festival banquet on the seventh day of the seventh month should be very lively. The more she wants to rise again, the more I will make her fall harder."
There was probably no concubine in the palace who did not envy and hate Du Mingyi.
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