Chapter 22: Demotion and Humiliation
[Chen Yanzhi has been poisoned. Please remove the poison within two days, open the system mall, and prepare for the drought in the next two years.]
The cold mechanical sound exploded in my head without warning, dispersing the warmth in the room.
Song Qingyuan paused slightly as he was teasing the baby in his arms.
She lowered her eyes to look at the two children's pink faces. The smile on her lips did not fade, but her eyes were clear.
The system disappeared for so long, and it dropped a big job as soon as it came out.
In the plot, the male protagonist Shen Yanzhi was indeed poisoned by a Gu, but that was a month later, at the Queen's birthday banquet, by the female protagonist Wen Yue.
At that time, Shen Yanzhi was obsessed with love. In front of all the civil and military officials, he used his outstanding military achievements to ask for a concubine position for Wen Yue.
Now, the plot has been advanced.
Song Qingyuan understood. It seemed that she had demoted Wen Yue to a lowly concubine after she came here, and the other party was desperate and had done something desperate.
"Can't you wait?" she whispered to herself with a hint of subtle mockery.
Just as he was thinking about what excuse he could use to get Shen Yanzhi to take the Marrow Cleansing Pill without anyone noticing, he suddenly heard hurried footsteps outside the house.
"Fuling! What if you're so impulsive and disturb the aunt and the two young masters?"
Zi Su's reprimanding voice came from a low voice, and he was almost bumped into by the reckless Fu Ling.
Fuling didn't even bother to apologize, and breathlessly leaned against the door frame: "Sister Zisu, something terrible has happened! I must report this to Auntie immediately!"
Song Qingyuan handed the child to the wet nurse, walked out of the inner room slowly, and looked at the two people in the yard with an indifferent expression.
"Why are you so panicked?"
When Fuling saw her come out, she fell to her knees with a plop, her voice filled with tears: "Auntie! Wen...Auntie Wen has regained her favor! This morning, the prince issued an order to promote her to a noble concubine!"
Zi Su's face darkened instantly.
Song Qingyuan didn't react at all. He just picked up the teacup on the table and gently stirred the floating leaves.
She had guessed this as early as when the system prompted her.
Fuling saw that her master wasn't anxious, but she was almost dying of anxiety. She gritted her teeth and blurted out the rest of her words: "The prince also ordered... to demote you... to the status of a lowly concubine!"
As soon as the words fell, the room fell into dead silence.
"What?!" Zi Su was so angry that she was shaking all over and her voice was changing.
"What do you mean, Your Highness? You just promoted me to a noble concubine, and the next moment you demoted me to a lowly concubine? Isn't this a slap in your face?"
A lowly concubine climbed up, but my own lady was stepped on. How could I swallow this?
"Miss, there must be something fishy going on here!" Zi Su was so anxious that her eyes turned red.
Song Qingyuan finally raised his eyes. There was no trace of humiliation or anger on his face. Instead, he chuckled.
"What's the trick?"
Of course there is something fishy, a huge fishy thing.
He couldn't think of any other reason why a man could be so obsessed with a woman except that he was poisoned.
She put down the teacup, and the porcelain made a crisp sound when it collided with the table, which also struck the hearts of the two maids.
"What's the rush?"
Song Qingyuan stood up slowly and straightened the wrinkles on his sleeves. "It's just a title. If it's lost, it's lost. Anyway, it won't cost you a piece of meat."
Compared to this, she cared more about the system mall and the severe drought in those two years.
A false reputation is not as important as your life and property.
Seeing that Zi Su was still indignant and ready to rush out to argue with someone at any time, Song Qingyuan suddenly spoke.
"Perilla."
"The servant is here."
"Go to the small kitchen and tell them that I, your new 'humble concubine,' would like to make a bowl of nourishing soup for the prince as a token of my appreciation."
"Miss?!" Zi Su was puzzled. Shouldn't she avoid the attack at this time? Why was she taking the initiative to move forward?
The corners of Song Qingyuan's mouth curved slightly, and a hint of cunning flashed in his eyes.
"Isn't he doting on Wen Gui's concubine?"
"Then I will let him see how a humble concubine like me can be 'virtuous and virtuous'."
It just so happened that she was still worried about how to send the marrow cleansing pill away.
Look, the pillow was handed to me.
Chapter 2
The small kitchen was filled with steam, mixed with oil smoke and the fishy smell of food, making people dizzy.
The chef, Aunt Zhang, was a plump woman with a pair of triangular eyes that were shrewd and mean.
As soon as she saw Song Qingyuan and his servant come in, she lazily knocked on the stove with a greasy spoon.
With a forced smile, he said, "Oh, isn't this Song... Oh, look at my memory, it's Concubine Song who's here.
This small kitchen is full of smoke and it's not a place for a noble like you to come."
The little girls who were working on the fire behind her were also whispering to each other, their eyes full of contempt and gloating.
Zi Su was so angry that her face turned pale. She was about to step forward to argue, but Song Qingyuan raised his hand to stop her.
Song Qingyuan's gaze calmly swept across the smoky kitchen, finally landing on the bird's nest porridge he was warming for Wen Yue. His tone was so calm that it was impossible to tell whether he was happy or angry: "I'll make a bowl of soup for the prince."
"Stew soup for the prince?" Nanny Zhang laughed exaggeratedly as if she had heard a huge joke, and the fat on her face was shaking.
"Song Guifei, I'm afraid you haven't woken up yet. The prince's meals are now personally prepared by Wen Guifei. How can it be your turn? The best ingredients are reserved for Wen Guifei!"
As she spoke, she deliberately straightened her chest and pointed to a blood swallow of excellent quality placed in a brocade box on the chopping board beside her. The meaning of showing off was self-evident.
"Really?" Song Qingyuan didn't comment and slowly walked towards the chopping board on the other side.
"What are you doing!" Aunt Zhang was furious when she saw that she dared to ignore her. She rushed forward to stop her, and her saliva almost sprayed on Song Qingyuan's face.
"You think you can touch the things here? Don't be so shameless!"
At this point, even Zi Su could no longer tolerate it and raised her voice: "How dare you, a servant, disrespect your master!"
"Master?" Nanny Zhang sneered, her eyes growing more contemptuous. "How can a lowly concubine who is despised by the prince be considered a master? I advise you to recognize your own status as soon as possible, otherwise..."
Before she could finish her words, there was a loud bang, which silenced the entire kitchen.
Everyone looked towards the source of the sound in horror.
Song Qingyuan had picked up a sharp boning knife at some point, pointed the tip downward, and hammered it into the pear wood chopping board in front of her. The handle of the knife still made a buzzing sound.
The knife was only a millimeter away from Aunt Zhang's outstretched fingers.
The cold blade reflected the fire from the stove, and when it was reflected in Song Qingyuan's calm eyes, it revealed a heart-pounding chill.
She raised her hand and gently brushed her slender neck with her fingertips. Her movements were graceful and slow, but her voice was like ice: "My life is really worthless now."
She paused, her gaze slowly shifting from the blade to Aunt Zhang's pale face, a strange smile curling up at the corner of her mouth.
"But no matter what, I am still the prince's concubine.
If a 'humble concubine' like me were preparing soup for the prince, and was accidentally bumped by some blind servant, and my hand slipped, and the knife was deflected... do you think the prince would feel sorry for me, a humble concubine, or would he skin that servant alive to uphold the rules of the palace?"
She spoke these words very softly, but they were like a heavy hammer, hitting everyone's heart in the kitchen.
The room was dead silent, with only the crackling sound of firewood in the stove.
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