Chapter 40

  The morning breeze brought a faint fragrance, and when the window was opened, the flower trellis outside was full of roses, as if it had been embedded in the field of vision, lush and thriving. The Kang Shuang Wang Fu sent over the quarterly accounts and dividends, Quan Pei counted the silver tickets, exactly eight thousand taels. She set aside two thousand four hundred taels to have someone deliver them to the Kang Shuang Wang Fu's wife, and then set aside another one thousand taels to open a new shop in Tianxiang Pavilion, one thousand taels to open a foreign goods store, and the rest were temporarily locked away in a box.

  The several older brothers outside have already had a fixed number of residences for a long time, and they have been collecting rent all along, just waiting for the emperor to give the order to move. I estimate it won't take too much longer. It's said that at the time, they will be given relocation fees, but I'm afraid that the cost of attacking Galdan will be too high, so when the time comes, there won't be much left in hand, and some silver will still need to be set aside for use.

  "Unexpectedly, the profit from sea transportation is so high......" He said as he handed the account book to Quan Pei: "And unexpectedly, we're no longer short of silver."

  Quan Pei smiled and asked Xiao Yue to lock up the account book. Yin Zhen sat down beside her and saw that she was reading Ming history again, so he took the book into his own hands: "Always like reading books."

  "Isn't this good?"

  "It's fine." He seemed like he wanted to say something, but didn't know how to start now. Guan Pei looked at him a few more times: "What is it?"

  Yin Zhen lowered his head and played with the fingers of Quan Pei's hand: "I just want to ask what's going on with Madame Wu's feet?"

  Quan Pei smiled slightly and leaned back against the embroidered peony-patterned headrest: "What do you think is going on?"

  "Has someone tampered with it?"

  Quan Pei gradually gathered up the smile on her face: "Does Master think I'm not good at managing the inner courtyard?"

  Yin Zong raised his head and looked at Quan Pei: "It's not that kind of meaning......"

  "What does Grandfather mean? Aren't all matters of the inner courtyard supposed to be handled by me? Now Grandfather asks this question, isn't he suspecting me again?"

  "This is completely not the development direction that Yongzheng had expected. He slightly furrowed his brow: 'Just wanted to ask, don't overthink it.'"

  "From now on, if everyone speaks a few words in front of you and you turn to question me, what will I become? If you think I'm not managing well, you can just call someone else to manage."

  Quan Pei seemed to have never been so angry before, and Yongzheng only realized now that he had touched Quan Pei's reverse scales. Everything could be negotiated and resolved, but absolutely could not arbitrarily infringe on her rights and doubt her abilities. She was obviously a woman, but she was stubbornly strong-willed.

  Yongzheng was somewhat at a loss: "Don't be angry, it won't happen again."

  Qian Wan lowered her eyes: "There won't be a next time."

  Yin Zan hastily agreed, seeing Quan Pei get up and walk inside. He quickly followed: "Why must you be so angry, it's not good for your body..." Quan Pei didn't say a word, walking straight into Bao Ge's room. Yin Zan wanted to save face, so in front of his son he stopped talking about this, just watching as Quan Pei played with Bao Ge.

  The Western-style clock on the floor struck a few loud notes, and Bao Ge'er stared wide-eyed around him. Yongzheng smiled and replied to Quan Pei, "Look, it scared our Bao Ge'er."

  Ba Ge sat on the kang and threw a cloth tiger far onto the ground, Yongzheng hurriedly bent down to pick it up, Ba Ge threw again, Yongzheng picked it up again, teasing Ba Ge into laughter. Yongzheng also said to Quan Pei: "This little guy is a naughty one!"

  Until Bao Ge'er was tired and fell asleep, Quan Pei got up, and Yin Zhen hurried to follow. Quan Pei turned around and almost bumped into Yin Zhen, and stopped in her tracks: "Master, don't you have anything else to do?"

  "You can't compare with him in big things."

  Kuang Pei's mind was a bit dazed, Yun You had also said such words to her before. The crowded and dense pear blossom tree seemed to be covered with accumulated snow. On the young man's face, warm sunlight fell, revealing a row of clean white teeth as he smiled: "Even in big things, I'm not comparable to you." At that time, she never thought of cherishing it, her heart and eyes were only filled with Jie Ze.

  Quan Pei's gaze gradually softened, and she let out a light sigh: "Forget it."

  Yuan Yan finally let out a long sigh and was willing to have a good talk with him.

  Quan Pei changed her clothes, washed her hands, and brewed a pot of Bi Luo Chun tea. Her own heart calmed down, and Yongzheng's mood also became more peaceful. After they finished drinking the tea while sitting facing each other on the couch, Quan Pei finally spoke up about the matters of the inner palace: "If Master wants to live a peaceful life, it's best not to casually inquire about the affairs of the inner palace. If everyone comes to Master to complain and report grievances in the future, and Master judges based on his own preferences, then there will be no more peaceful days, and troubles will never end."

  Yongzheng had already lost the heart to test Guo, and always felt that he was making trouble for himself: "I understand what you said, I won't interfere with the affairs of the inner palace, I believe in your ability."

  "Since you asked about the Wu family's affairs, I'll say a bit more. She's not a simple character, how could she easily let herself get hurt? I'm just turning a blind eye, hoping things will pass by happily like this. Not asking doesn't mean I don't know, it's just that these matters should have a method to resolve them in the most beneficial way for the imperial household, rather than following personal preferences."

  Yin Zhen furrowed his brow: "You're saying her injury..."

  "Grandfather mustn't underestimate any woman from a humble background. Those who can survive here aren't really simple."

  "I know everything you said, but what I think is most complicated is you."

  Wei Zifu smiled and said: "I know you're praising me."

  Quan Pei smiled and Yin Zhen's heart relaxed a lot: "You can take care of them, naturally you are the most capable." After a pause, he said warmly: "From now on, I won't interfere again."

  Now that it's been said, Yongzheng won't ask about these things anymore. Even if he knows Wu Ruoxi has some issues, he doesn't want to get involved. If he doesn't like something, he just won't go; if he likes it, he'll go more often. Why bother looking for trouble and making Quan Pei unhappy? It's really not worth it. He had already discarded his initial small thoughts and changed his clothes, preparing to go out.

  Since we have become partners in cooperation, we will be interacting with each other for a long time. Prince Kang personally sent an invitation to Yunzhong to gather together and get familiar with each other. Quan Pei reminded him a few words: "Don't drink too much."

  "I understand."

  The peony in the bottle was still in full bloom, Wu Ruoxi sat in front of it with her head down doing needlework, the sun had already risen to the top of the house, and the room was getting warmer and warmer, the maid came in from outside, and tiny dust particles floated in the sunlight.

  "Grandpa stayed in Mrs. Fu's house for a whole morning and just left."

  Wu Ruoxi's hand stopped, and a pair of lively mandarin ducks under her hand had already become more than half: "Didn't you say anything?"

  "Nothing was said."

  Last night, Mingming clearly said he would take charge for her, why didn't he say anything? Yongzheng is the real master of this backyard, if Yongzheng speaks up, Fuhui might have to obey too, has something happened that she doesn't know about?

  Even if she becomes the target of criticism in the backyard because of Yongzheng, it's still better than being trampled on and unable to turn over. As long as Yongzheng takes charge for her, no one in this courtyard dares to look down on her again. But what will happen if things don't develop as she expected?

  The little maid standing outside the house shouted: "Madam is calling for Princess."

  Yin Zhen just left, and Fu Jin immediately called her over, what would she say in the end?

  Wu Ruoxi thought for a moment and then stood up with a smile: "I'll change my clothes and go over right away."

  The butterfly on the hairpin fluttered its wings as if to fly, Wu Ruoxi took it off after admiring it for a few moments and replaced it with an inconspicuous blue palace flower. The cherry blossom-colored chrysanthemum-patterned cheongsam was ordinary to the point of being unnoticeable, even Wu Ruoxi's usual liveliness seemed to be obscured by it.

  The lady sat on the kang, with several thick books placed on a purple sandalwood kang table, and a few bright chrysanthemums inserted in a bean green double-ear bottle, making people's eyes shine brightly. The embroidered peony satin was casually laid out beside her, yet somehow exuding a sense of comfort.

  Wu Ruoxi bowed respectfully.

  Quan Pei raised an eyebrow and sized up Wu Ruoxue for a few moments before calling out.

  Wu Ruoxi stood by with her hands down, and the only sound in the room was the ticking of the clock. Wu Ruoxi felt a bit nervous, but she couldn't help thinking: Did Master tell Madame something? Is Madame angry because Master is biased towards her? Does she want to take advantage of Master's absence to punish her? Madame has always been a noble and dignified person, would she really lose her composure this time?

  It wasn't until a long while later that Wu Ruoxi heard a faint noise, and Xiaoyue walked in from outside. The madam sat on the kang, holding a book, with a maid servant waiting by her side to help her wash her hands. It was only after half a moment of silence that the madam slowly spoke up: "You want to establish yourself in this rear courtyard, I won't oppose it, but do you think just because others don't know about the things you've done, you can speak as you please?"

  This faint tone, however, made Wu Ruoxue's whole body tense up. Things seemed to be not as she had thought, and for a moment, she didn't know how to distinguish: "Slave..."

  "You want to get Grandfather involved, but you've forgotten that this household is mine to manage, and Grandfather won't interfere."

  The Empress knew the truth, and Yongzheng didn't plan to intervene further, so things took a turn for the worse. Without Yongzheng's public protection, she openly offended the Empress.

  She had to defend herself: "Master asked me what was wrong with my foot, I finally said it was because of the shoes, nothing more, then Master said he would take charge for me, I couldn't persuade Master at all, and didn't think of getting Master involved, I didn't think that because of twisting my ankle I would get someone else into trouble, it's been so long since we last spoke......"

  Wu Ruoxi's intention was that she had been wronged in the matter of twisting her foot, and when Yongzheng asked her, she simply told the truth, without doing anything out of line. As for what Yongzheng would do, that was his business, and as a slave, she couldn't interfere.

  From the beginning of the ankle twist to now, Wu Ruoxi has done almost everything flawlessly, and even now it seems that nothing can be blamed on Wu Ruoxi. Although Wu Ruoxi is tense, she doesn't seem worried, but she seems to have forgotten one thing - she's facing Quan Pei, not someone else.

  Xiao Rong brought in a bowl of freshly made lotus seed porridge, Quan Pei tasted it and nodded slightly, Xiao Rong's face flashed with joy, and gradually her cooking had finally gained the approval of Madame Fu.

  Quan Pei drank a few sips of porridge before stopping, wiping her mouth and rinsing it again.

  It was not Guan Piao who spoke, but Xiao Yue standing beside her: "Does the princess really think everyone else is a fool? The shoes you wore that day, from being put in the cabinet to being worn on your feet for the first time, were never left unattended. Although they were twisted onto your feet that day because of the shoes, it wasn't someone else's doing. Only the princess knows why, perhaps there's no need for me to say more."

  "Wu Ruoxi finally became flustered: 'Miss Xiaoyue, you can't talk nonsense.'"

  Xiao Yue sneered: "You were afraid that Li Gege would take action against you, so you chose a good opportunity to take action against yourself. At that time, who saw that you twisted your foot and didn't think it was Li Gege's doing? Everyone thought Li Gege would be the biggest beneficiary. Li Gege was also afraid that Fugui would think she had taken action against you, so she didn't dare to act rashly again. You twisted your foot, but resolved your own crisis, and ultimately didn't suffer any loss. Originally, this matter should have ended here, but you are too greedy and not satisfied, do you still want to counter-accuse Li Gege?"

  The lady sat comfortably on the kang, with a few threads of laziness and casualness between her eyebrows. She thought that this was a big deal, but it seemed that Lady Fugui had never taken it to heart. She thought that her plan was flawless and meticulous, and in Lady Fugui's eyes, she was just like a clown, not worth mentioning. If she hadn't provoked Lady Fugui, would this matter have continued like this? She thought that Lady Fugui didn't know, and Lady Fugui wasn't bothered to make things difficult for her.

  The author has something to say: Yesterday I was given six votes! My confidence suddenly increased! A girl voted for five, and I really don't know how to thank her!

  But everyone has also forgotten what kind of flower it is, o(n_n)o~ more is better!