All the gods in the palace
It was this face that saved her in the underworld. That day, she was wearing the skin of Miss Lin, which led to her not recognizing her.
Hongxiu hurried back to the banquet without staying. She knew that the Painted Skin Demon was far more powerful than herself. After returning to the banquet in a hurry, Hongxiu found a chance to tell Yuanli.
Looking at Concubine Xiao's amiable demeanor, she must be determined to win over the Crown Prince and the Lin family so as to make plans for the future.
The Painted Skin Demon must have had some idea about the jade hairpin, so he skinned the ordinary-looking Lin Lian'er. Because the jade hairpin was involved, Yuanli was reluctant to kill the demon.
As soon as she returned to the palace, Tianshu was waiting for her in her room. There were evil spirits causing trouble in the world, and several mortals who had not yet reached the end of their life span had died one after another, so Tianshu was sent down to take a look.
"Isn't it a little late for the Heavenly Realm to come now? Matters concerning the lifespan of the living should be discussed with the Underworld. What did the old Emperor of Heaven steal from the King of Hell? This is not good. What is destined to be yours will eventually come to you. If it is not destined to be yours, don't force it. You still have to return it to the owner and don't hurt the relationship."
Faced with Yuanli's earnest and witty words, Tianshu felt a little embarrassed. "Well, it's really not easy to return it. I've already been admitted to the immortal realm."
Yuanli showed a disdainful expression and said disdainfully: "Tsk tsk tsk, how shameless."
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For several days, the Painted Skin Demon hadn't caused any trouble, and the Crown Princess's appointment remained undecided. But Yuanli wasn't idle either. First, Housekeeper He was getting old and needed help, and the new housekeeper they had found would be arriving today. Second, the old lady who made the pearl hairpins had also arrived.
Ziyun led her into the room. The old lady knelt down and bowed, then took out a few wooden boxes from her arms and placed them on the table. Her old hands were trembling and she was a little nervous.
The box is very new, perhaps newly made. Although it has no patterns, the rough edges have been rubbed into a patina, and it feels very good. When you open it, you can smell only the fragrance of wood, and no peculiar smell.
The hairpin body is in the shape of a thin snake, and the scales are lifelike. Two small agates are used to embellish the snake's eyes on the snake's head. There is a ball of red mist in the center of the translucent slightly purple agate. The snake's mouth is slightly open, holding a hollow auspicious cloud palace lantern in its mouth, and there are tassels under the lantern.
It is impossible to make such a delicate hairpin in a short time. It must be an old item from the past.
"What are these snake eyes made of?"
"Princess, this is ice-floating agate. This hairpin was made a long time ago, and the materials used are all top-quality. Don't worry, Princess, it's not a bad product."
Yuanli opened the next wooden box with satisfaction. Inside was a dragonfly hairpin. Its wings were a faint blue, and the patterns were somewhat similar to bird wings. The dragonfly's body was made of pearl and gold flower gaskets.
The remaining three boxes contained a lotus hairpin, a silver-bodied, gold-leafed, red agate, and magnolia hairpin, and a plum blossom hairpin. However, it looked like jade, but was grayer. Yuanli could not tell that it cost only ten taels.
Yuanli picked up the plum blossom hairpin and asked, "What is this made of?"
"My princess, this is the front tooth of a distinguished guest. Over ten years ago, we met a man from the Western Regions. The distinguished guest he brought with him died of old age, and he asked us to make some hairpins for him as a souvenir. He then gave us the other tooth."
"Which one is made of ten taels of silver?"
The old woman pushed the wooden box containing the dragonfly hairpin forward and said, "It only cost silver to make this hairpin. The blue part is the emerald feathers of the dragonfly. When my family was rich, we kept dragonflies. The feathers they shed were beautiful, so we carefully kept them."
Yuanli thought for a moment and then made an agreement with her: she would pay for the shop, and the shop owner's name would be used as that of the grandmother's family. When the pearl hairpins were introduced to the ladies and young ladies of Kyoto and even the imperial palace, if the business was good, they would split the profits 40% to 60%, with Yuanli taking 40% and the grandmother taking 60%.
At first, the old lady was unwilling to take any dividends other than her wages, until she mentioned her identity as Princess Wen, she finally agreed.
After confirming that these were what the old lady was willing to sell, Yuanli asked about how much silver they could be sold for, then called Ziyun over and grabbed a handful of golden melon seeds for her. The old lady didn't know what to do with the golden melon seeds, holding them in her hands as if they were hot potatoes.
"Don't be nervous. This is what you deserve. Anything extra can be considered a reward. It's also a starting capital. You said your daughter works in the palace. What's her name?"
"Thank you, Princess. My name is Xiaotao."
Yuanli was stunned. No wonder Xiaotao was so skilled. It turned out she had been working with pearls and hairpins since she was a child. She loved Xiaotao's craftsmanship very much and was reluctant to return it to her grandmother. After thinking it over, Yuanli called Xiaotao over.
When Xiaotao saw that it was her mother, she paused, her face filled with joy but her eyes were moist. After explaining the situation to Xiaotao, Yuanli asked her whether she wanted to go home with her mother to reunite and make hairpins, or stay in the palace.
Xiao Tao glanced sideways at her elderly mother, then turned and said firmly, "The princess treats me well, and I see it with all my heart. I am willing to stay by your side and serve you for the rest of my life to repay you for your kindness to my family."
"There's a vacant room in the backyard of the palace. Why don't you, Xiaotao, help your mother and her family move in? First, you can take care of the family, and second, it will be convenient for you to make hairpins for me, and I won't have to worry about them getting lost."
Yuanli didn't wait for Xiaotao and Grandma to refuse, and directly ordered the servant to clean up the backyard and move in in the afternoon.
Yuanli was in a good mood and half lying on the couch, imagining that the pearl and hairpin shop would make a lot of money, and she could use the money to build a temple for herself, so that she would not have to worry about not having incense and merit.
Just as he was happily swinging his legs, Butler He came with the new butler to pay his respects.
"Slave Heqi, I pay my respects to Princess Wen."
After seeing clearly that He Qi was indeed the Demon Lord, Yuanli quickly sent Butler He away, leaving only He Qi in the room, but the door was still wide open.
"Why did the Demon Lord become my new butler?"
"The demon world is so quiet, I have nothing to do, and seeing you are looking for a housekeeper, I decided to give it a try. Food and lodging are provided, and there's A-Li too, so why not? A-Li, don't you welcome me?"
"No, no, if Heqi wants to stay here, he can come as a distinguished guest. There's no need to be a housekeeper."
Heqi's hurt expression instantly vanished, and he conjured a thousand-year-old Ganoderma lucidum out of thin air and said, "If you were a distinguished guest, with my outstanding appearance, I'm sure Aliya's mortal husband would be furious. I picked this up when I passed by the flower world and used it to make soup."
After saying this, He Qi stood up, bowed, and left the room. As they were alone, it was not appropriate for him to stay in there any longer and let others say dirty words to slander her.
The weather is good today, the imperial examination is over, and the warm sunshine feels particularly comfortable on my body. Most of the magnolias in the yard were buds yesterday, but today they have all bloomed.
The two top-quality peach blossoms moved out from the princess's mansion a few days ago are in full bloom. Thinking that Wen Yici will be returning home today, Yuanli climbed up the bamboo ladder and picked half a basket of peach blossoms.
While picking the fruits, Ziyun held on to the ladder tightly, fearing that the princess would fall. She anxiously shouted, "Princess, please come down. Gao, I will pick them for you." Several servants and maids gathered under the tree, all holding out their hands to prevent the princess from falling at any time.
She washed every peach blossom carefully, and made everything from the filling to the crust by hand, shaping them all into the shape of flowers. The pink and tender crust looked very beautiful.
After setting the dishes and preparing the tea, Yuanli sat in the room waiting. After the water boiled several times, she could no longer wait and went to the palace gate to wait.
As soon as he walked out of the house, he saw a beggar kneeling on the ground holding a sign, and a corpse covered by a straw raincoat was lying on the straw mat in front of him.
Yuanli took off a silver hairpin and handed it to Butler He, saying, "How pitiful! Buy him and let him work as a servant or guard in the mansion. It's also a way to make a living."
"It's just a small matter. I'll go." He Qi took the silver hairpin from Butler He's hand and walked towards the beggar.
The closer he got to him, the stronger the fairy air he felt. When he saw the reflective glass bead in the straw mat clearly, Heqi couldn't help laughing out loud. He tilted his head and looked at Yuanli, who looked worried, and then he squatted down.
The moment they looked at each other, they were both a little confused. One didn't know why the other was there, and the other didn't know why the other was working so hard and dressed so shabbily.
"Could it be that the Tianshu Xingjun's mansion has been punished by heaven? Is he so destitute that he had to sell himself to bury his father and sneak into the palace to eat at the expense of his fellow immortals?"
Seeing that the other party ignored him, He Qi immediately joked, "Yaoguang Jun, a fallen corpse can't carry the glass jade pendant."
After saying that, a pair of dusty hands slowly stretched out from the straw mat, groping and quickly pulling back the small glass jade pendant. Tianshu just wanted to bury him for real, what a stupid teammate.
"Then what is the matter, Lord Demon?"
"I'm here for the same reason you came. If the Star Lord is willing to owe me a favor, I will immediately buy the Immortal Lord and work with him in the palace."
Heqi took out a silver hairpin and handed it to him. Tianshu had no choice but to take it.
Wen Yici's carriage stopped steadily in front of the door. Yuanli looked at the carriage with joy, until she saw the person she had been thinking about day and night standing there, and she felt it was real.
He walked quickly to her, gently caressing her cheek and wiping off the imperceptible amount of flour. "My dear, I'm back."
Perhaps it was because she hadn't seen him for a few days, and the accumulated longing was too great, Yuanli's nose felt a little sore. She pulled Wen Yici's arms apart and snuggled into his embrace, rubbing his chest and saying, "Aci, I can't sleep when you're not home."
Wen Yici was stunned for a moment, then a smile appeared on his face, and he carried her into the mansion like a child.
Behind them, He Qi and Beggar Shu looked longingly at the two people who were so inseparable. He Qi tilted his head slightly and said, "After 70,000 years, you're still willing to be friends? It's ridiculous. I would rather it was you. Maybe then I wouldn't have lost her."
Tianshu didn't say anything, but his expression already betrayed his unwillingness.
Two sleek bay horses pulled a black nanmu carriage and slowly stopped at the door. The accompanying eunuchs bent over and lowered their heads to help the nobleman out of the carriage.
Butler He respectfully invited him in. Yuanli was nestled in his arms, feeding him peach blossom cakes. Ziyun hurriedly invited the two of them to the main hall.
"Royal sister, I want to stay with you for a while. Being a prince is tiring. I don't want to marry a woman forced upon me by the powerful, but I am in a high position and my marriage is not decided by me."
"Does the Crown Prince have a favorite woman? My sister thinks it is more important to choose a woman who shares your feelings."
The prince stared helplessly at the worn cloth shoes on his feet. His mother had passed away long ago, and he had relied on his elder sister since childhood, but his sister was married. He had been a prince who cared about the people for too long, and he wanted to be free to do what he wanted for once, like other children, with his mother and sister making decisions for him.
But he cannot be willful, as any move he makes will affect the whole body. He only has his sister, and only by being in the highest position can he protect her for her whole life.
Wen Yici interrupted, "My elder sister is like a mother. If the Crown Prince is unwilling, you can ask Madam to come forward and choose the Crown Princess. Even if it goes against the wishes of those behind the scenes, with me and the Crown Prince here, no one will dare to say anything."
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