Chapter 149 Attending a Birthday Banquet
Consort Su gracefully stepped forward, slightly curtsied, and bowed to the Empress: "Your sister greets Your Majesty the Empress. May Your Majesty enjoy peace and happiness."
The Empress still leaned on the Emperor's shoulder, smiling gently as she looked at Consort Su: "Consort Su, please rise. I have been unwell for many years, and I am very grateful to Consort Su for helping me manage the harem. You have worked so hard. Now that I feel much better, from today onwards, I will personally manage the harem and take charge of the Phoenix Seal. Consort Su will no longer need to work so hard."
Consort Su's face changed drastically upon hearing this. What! The Empress actually wanted to regain control of the harem and seize power from her. How could she accept that? She looked at the Emperor with a wronged expression. She had been in charge of the harem for five years and had tasted the sweetness of being in power. How could she be willing to give it up!
"Your Majesty!" Consort Su called out "Your Majesty" in a roundabout way, making the Emperor want to raise his pole again. He gave Consort Su a wink. Just now the Empress was about to die, but now she seemed to be fine. He guessed it was a last burst of energy before death. Since she wanted to regain control of the harem, then let her be. It was none of his business if she worked herself to death.
The Emperor gently patted the Empress's hand and said, "Hehehe, since the Empress wants to take control of the harem again, I will let you have your way. However, you must balance work and rest, and don't overwork yourself. It will worry me, and Hao'er will worry too. Hehehe, the Empress has just recovered, so I won't bother you here with Consort Su. The Empress should rest well and take her medicine as advised by the imperial physician. I will come to see you again tomorrow."
The Empress sat up straight and bowed her head: "Your Majesty, I respectfully see you off."
Consort Su, with a smug look on her face, bowed to the Empress and said, "This concubine takes her leave."
The Emperor left with Consort Su. The ministers, concubines, and the Empress's family members who had been kneeling at the entrance of the Empress's palace also left. The maids and eunuchs left the palace and stood at the door to serve.
The Empress raised her eyes, filled with hatred, took out the cloth bag given to her by Prince Xuan from under her pillow, gently opened it, took out a ginseng root that she had already bitten, took another bite and ate it. She was certain that this ginseng had saved her life, otherwise she would have died, just as that vile woman had wished!
At this moment, the eunuch at the door whispered, "Your Majesty the Empress, His Highness Prince Xuan has come to visit you."
The Empress carefully wrapped the ginseng and hid it under her pillow, saying, "Please come in."
King Xuan entered the Queen's bedchamber and conspired with her for two hours before hastily leaving the palace.
Three days passed in the blink of an eye. During these three days, Bai Zilin and his men continued to go up the mountain every day. They didn't catch any deer, but they managed to catch quite a few pheasants and rabbits every day, which they sold for a lot of money.
After selling today's prey, Liu Ye paid Sun Erdan and the others their wages. When she got home, she paid Da Hu and the others their wages as well, 20 taels of silver each. Da Hu held the silver in his hand, somewhat puzzled. Erdan and the others only received 3 taels of silver each. Why did Liu Dongjia pay them so much?
"Boss Liu, why are you paying us so much?"
Liu Ye looked at the three of them and said, "The reason I paid you so much is because it's two wages. One is the guard's monthly wage, and you've hunted quite a lot of game. From now on, your monthly wage will be 20 taels."
Walnut scratched the back of his head and said, "Master Liu made us work as guards, and the wages he paid were too much. When we worked as guards in the Chen family, we only received three taels of silver a month. This is many times more than that."
Bai Zilin then looked at the three men and said, "Whatever you three say goes. Besides, your martial arts skills are not low, so you're worth the price. Alright, stop dawdling. Tomorrow we'll go up the mountain and drive the oxcart. Walnut, you're in charge of gathering a cartload of grass and bringing it back."
Walnut smiled and replied, "Yes, it's the boss."
Da Hu and the other two happily returned to their rooms. Bai Zilin looked at Liu Ye and asked, "Tomorrow is the day of the Zhao family's birthday banquet. Why don't you come up the mountain with me? It would be bad if Young Master Zhao sent someone to invite you and you didn't go."
Liu Ye nodded: "Okay."
Suddenly there was a knock on the door. Liu looked at Bai Zilin in confusion: "Who could it be?"
Bai Zilin got up from the kang (a heated brick bed): "I'll go open the door."
Bai Zilin arrived at the gate and opened the bolted gate. He saw a carriage parked outside. A servant from the Zhao family bowed to Bai Zilin and said politely, "Greetings, Young Master Bai. My master asked me to tell you to arrive early tomorrow. He will personally welcome you."
Bai Zilin nodded expressionlessly: "Okay, we'll go early tomorrow. Thank you for making the trip."
"No trouble at all, no trouble at all. Then this servant will not disturb you any longer." The servants of the Zhao family drove the carriage away, and Bai Zilin, in a bad mood, locked the door and went back to his room.
Liu Ye asked curiously, "Who is it?"
Bai Zilin said speechlessly, "It's a servant from the Zhao family. Young Master Zhao told us to go early tomorrow. He must have guessed that we might not go, so he sent someone over. It's so annoying. I really don't want to go. If we go, we'll have to prepare gifts, but what are we going to give?"
Liu Ye didn't want to go either. Anyone who could go to celebrate Old Madam Zhao's birthday must have a very important status. Young Master Zhao's father was the prefect. She and Brother Bai had no status, and if people found out, they would definitely be ridiculed. But Young Master Zhao had insisted on inviting them, so it wouldn't be good for them not to go.
"Just send her anything. Madam Zhao is the prefect's mother; she's seen all sorts of good things. I doubt she'd even like what we send her. The fabric you brought back from the south is quite nice, so let's just send her a piece of fabric."
Bai Zilin hesitated for a moment and then nodded: "I'll listen to you... How about I go to the jewelry store now and buy a jade hairpin? I'm afraid I'll be kicked out if I just give away a piece of fabric..."
Liu Ye rolled her eyes and said domineeringly, "No buying it. What's the point of buying a jade hairpin? I'd even think it's too much if you gave us a piece of cloth. We have no status whatsoever. Even if you gave them a mountain of gold, they wouldn't respect us. Since we're already looked down upon no matter what, let's just keep our money down."
Bai Zilin agreed, "Alright, then let's send a piece of cloth."
Before she knew it, it was the next day. Liu Ye got up early to wash and dress up, changed into a brand new light blue dress, put on the shoes she had just bought a few days ago, and wore the silver hairpin that Bai Zilin had given her. She looked at herself in the mirror and thought she looked like a beauty who had stepped out of a painting, so beautiful that she was practically bubbling with ecstasy.
Now she doesn't need to cook anymore. Walnut can cook, and it tastes pretty good. Now he cooks all three meals a day.
At this moment, Bai Zilin came in from outside dressed in new clothes. When he saw how beautiful Liu Ye was dressed, his eyes widened: "Liu Ye, you are so beautiful. Why don't you not go? I'll just say you have diarrhea..."
Liu Ye chuckled and nudged Bai Zilin's chest: "You're the one with diarrhea. Since I'm going, I'll go looking my best so people won't laugh at me for being shabby. Brother Bai looks handsome today too. This black outfit makes you look even whiter, like some young master. You might attract a lot of admirers. Maybe I should tell you you have diarrhea and you shouldn't go..."
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