Chapter 29

  In the small house of the Wu family, the girls from the neighboring courtyards were all standing and smiling at Wu Ruoxi sitting on the wedding bed. The bright candlelight highlighted her beautiful face, with her eyes cast down and a hint of shyness and tension, tightly clutching the handkerchief in her hand. Song Shi carefully examined her, took a light breath, and didn't expect that such an outstanding beauty would enter their household.

  She suppressed the unrealistic thoughts in her heart, turned around and smiled to greet everyone: "Look, we're all here, let's go outside, it's almost time for dinner!"

  The crowd turned around and walked out, chatting about Wu Ruoxue as they went. Nalan Mingyue, who was in the crowd, felt uncomfortable upon hearing this, lagged behind the crowd by a few steps, and waited until everyone had left the house before turning back.

  Nalan Mingyue walked two steps around Wu Ruoxue, looking down at her with a sweet smile on his face: "Since you're here now, we can be considered companions. I'm a few days earlier than you, sister. If there's anything in the future, just come find me!"

  She said so as if she were in a very high position in this courtyard.

  Wu Ruoxi still lowered her eyelids, a faint smile: "Then thank you."

  Wu Ruoxi's performance seemed to have left Nalan Mingyue somewhat dissatisfied, she slightly retracted the smile on her face, and her voice was also a few degrees higher: "Sister doesn't know the rules of this courtyard, in the future, be more careful when doing things, if you really break the rules, don't say that sister doesn't cherish old feelings, won't speak for you!"

  "Don't bother."

  Nalan Mingyue gathered the last hint of a smile on her face, and coolly glanced at Wu Ruoxue. She flicked her colorful embroidered sleeve with a butterfly pattern: "You, will eventually suffer a loss."

  Nalan Mingyue walked out of the bridal chamber with Zi'er, a sweet smile gradually spreading across her face as if nothing had happened.

  A cold wind blew in through the lifted door curtain, and Yulan hastily handed a satin-covered hand warmer to Wu Ruoxi's hands. Only then did Wu Ruoxi feel her hands gradually warming up. She heard Yulan say in a slightly discontented tone: "......She's also too arrogant as a new bride."

  Wu Ruoxi's eyes trembled, compared to Nalan Mingyue, her family background was too thin. Nalan Mingyue had entered the mansion first and occupied the house in the front yard, while she not only lived in a humble dwelling but also resided in the servants' quarters, the road ahead seemed to be getting increasingly difficult...

  Li had been pregnant for nearly six months and avoided going to noisy places. Zi'er came in from outside, warming up the cold air on her body, before standing beside Li and saying: "......The new concubine is really beautiful, it's hard to find another one like that in these few courtyards......" Zi'er had only spoken half of what she wanted to say when she realized it wasn't quite right, and she became flustered again, looking at Li: "This servant was just talking nonsense, she can't compare to the master."

  Li smiled lightly: "I'm not some kind of national beauty, so what if someone is better-looking than me?" She used her hairpin to stir the ashes in the hand warmer and paused for a moment: "Is Madame Fu or the new princess more beautiful?"

  "How can she compare with Fu Jin? In my opinion, she is even more beautiful than Fu Jin."

  The beauty of the imperial concubine is not just about being stunningly beautiful, but rather she has a special aura that only women can possess, as if all the precious qualities of femininity have been distilled into one, creating a unique and unparalleled beauty that is hard to surpass, and will only become more refined and charming with the passage of time.

  Li sighed softly and put the hand warmer on a low table beside her, her tone tinged with melancholy: "If only I could have a bit of the noblewoman's demeanor..."

  "Master is already very good now, none of the other princesses can compare!"

  Qinger's straightforward and honest words made Li smile softly, and at that time she was willing to accept this maid precisely because of her honesty and lack of deceit, as she didn't want to encounter another Yan Yu.

  It was cold on winter days, and everyone went to bed early. Yongzheng didn't drink much wine, after drinking the hangover soup he felt quite spirited, and took out official documents to read while sitting on the kang. Quan Pei came out of the toilet and sat beside him: "Can't you even rest for one night?"

  "Guo Shilong is quite formidable. The Guo family's daughter married several people from the imperial clan, and many of them came to me to plead their case. He bribed too many people, and I heard there was even a special ledger for those who had been bribed by him, making them all nervous and wanting to stop him." Yinzhen spoke with a hint of solemnity about Guo Shilong.

  She gently lifted her scattered long hair, and a faint fragrance wafted out: "This isn't difficult. First, don't discuss whether the account book exists or not. Just spread the rumor that it's been found, but was burned before anyone could see it. Water that's too clear has no fish; there's no official who can be completely clean. Leaving a way out for these people is also leaving one for myself. People outside won't care whether they believe it or not, but at least they'll know my intentions and that they won't be implicated. They'll naturally want to stay out of trouble and avoid getting entangled in this mess."

  Yongzheng pinched a handful of Quan Pei's hair and put it under his nose to sniff: "What a wonderful fragrance."

  "Some lavender fragrance was added to the water for washing hair."

  A faint smile of relief appeared between her eyebrows and eyes, she kissed the cheek of Quan Pei and got up: "You rest, I'll go to the back."

  Ruan Wan smiled lightly: "Father isn't reading official documents anymore?"

  "What's the point of looking at official documents when you have such a good idea?"

  The man in front of him had a clear and angular face, with deep and narrow eyes that shone with a few strands of clear and elegant light. The few threads of coldness on his face made him seem even more profound and unpredictable. He lifted his robe and walked to the side of Wu Ruoxue, who hastily stood up: "Slave will serve master."

  Yin Zhen glanced at him slightly, a hint of satisfaction in his eyes, and nodded lightly.

  The faint fragrance of jasmine tea added a touch of elegance to the warm room, and Song Shi respectfully presented a bowl of tea to Fu Jin. Seeing Yongzheng bring in Wu Ruoxue, he hurriedly stretched out his hand to support Fu Jin, and Li Shi with her big belly and Nalan Mingyue also stood up together, looking at Wu Ruoxue who was lowering her face.

  Yongzheng sat up straight with his hands clasped together and his head bowed, sitting at the top seat.

  Wu Ruoxue, with a few points of shyness, wore a silver-red cotton-padded jacket and tied a cyan cotton skirt. The crimson gold butterfly hairpin on her head trembled slightly, shining with luster. She nervously accepted the scrutiny of the crowd.

  She knows how to show weakness and humility, this outfit is beautiful but doesn't make people feel dazzling.

  It was just like when Nalan Mingyue entered the house, everything seemed very harmonious and peaceful, to the point where Wu Ruoxi felt it wasn't quite real. As she saw Nalan Mingyue's courtesy, she became even more cautious, lowering her eyes and calling out "sister". Nalan Mingyue happily came over to pull her hand: "I lived with Wu sister during the selection of concubines, we got along very well at that time. Later, when I heard that we could serve Master and Madame together, my heart was filled with joy. I entered the house a few days before Wu sister, so Madame told me to take care of Wu sister."

  Wu Ruoxi's voice tightened, and she wanted to pull out her hand that was being held by Nalan Mingyue even more. The red gold bangle on her wrist collided with Nalan Mingyue's sheep fat jade bangle, making a clear and crisp sound.

  The exquisite sheep fat jade bangle broke into two pieces and fell to the ground, shattering even more thoroughly. Wu Ruoxi's face turned pale in an instant. On the first day of entering the door, she had already broken a piece of jade, which was extremely unlucky. She knew that Nalan Mingyue didn't like her, but she hadn't expected Nalan Mingyue to be so ruthless, wanting to strangle her in the cradle from the very beginning.

  Everyone's eyes were on Quan Pei, who took a sip of tea and stood up: "I'll see you out, sir." Yongzheng also stood up, and Wu Ruoxi hesitated for a moment before following behind the crowd to send him off. Nalan Mingyue seemed not to have expected that Quan Pei would completely ignore her, while Yongzheng didn't want to get involved in this matter.

  On the table, there was a pot of emerald green bamboo, which seemed out of place in this season. Madame Fugui slowly stirred the golden osmanthus honey with her hand. Next to the table lay Wu Ruoxue's broken bracelet. Wu Ruoxue and Nalan Mingyue stood by, hands hanging down, not daring to speak, making them feel even more suffocated.

  Until the maid brought water to serve Madame Wang and she had washed her hands, did she hear Madame Wang say in an offhand manner: "Whatever grievances you two have with each other I don't want to get involved, but don't let something like this happen again."

  Nalan Mingyue shivered, wanting to retort, but Quan Pei had already stood up. The crystal curtain swayed slightly, and only the sweet fragrance lingering in the air was visible.

  Outside, it was unknown when the wind started blowing, and Nalan Mingyue and Wu Ruoxue both shivered. They looked at each other, then quickly lowered their eyes. The dissatisfaction and hatred that were about to be released were not suitable for this moment. As they walked to the corridor, they went their separate ways, one forward and one backward.

  The girls looked at each other's expressions and went into their master's room respectively.

  "Just looking at his face didn't seem quite right, and hadn't heard any other noise."

  That is to say, none of the concubines were spared by Fugui, but neither were they severely punished. On the first day of entering the house, such a thing happened. If it were in the hands of other concubines, who knows how they would take advantage of the situation to suppress the beautiful concubine? This is probably the good fortune of all of them, and also the good fortune of Wu Ruoxi.

  Inside the house, a warm charcoal brazier was placed, and the warm air inside contrasted sharply with the cold outside, almost causing Wu Ruoxi's legs to weaken and fall. Fortunately, Yulan supported her from the side, and she changed into tired clothes, lay on the kang but couldn't sleep for a long time...

  Nalan Mingyue was also restless, what did Furen's words mean? It seemed that she saw through everything about her, and the few points of impatience left on herself also explained something. Didn't sister say that even if the plan was clumsy, Furen was willing to play along with her, but why wasn't it like that...

  Ling Pu glanced at Wang Lan standing beside the prince, and saw Wang Lan's almost imperceptible nod. He then took a step forward and said in a low voice: "There's news circulating outside that the Fourth Master didn't go to look for that account book of Guo Shi Long, but instead had someone spread the word that the account book has already been burned..."

  "Has the account book been burned?" The prince's voice rose a few degrees: "He really has guts."

  As a result, outsiders generally didn't care about Guo Shilong's affairs. After all, the emperor had also ordered a strict investigation at that time, and no one wanted to get involved in this trouble, so they naturally kept their distance as much as possible.

  The prince was playing with an ancient jade said to be from the Song Dynasty, and raised an eyebrow: "No wonder the emperor valued the fourth brother, it turns out he really has some skills."

  Ling Pu hurriedly leaned forward again: "Then we......"

  "Don't make things difficult for him anymore; in the future, he will also be doing things for Lao Gong. If you go too far, it will hurt brotherly feelings."

  "It is..."

  Ruan Yu wore a large red fox-fur-lined cloak with white fur trim, and on her feet were embroidered red sheepskin boots with gold thread. She went to the Fushang Pavilion with Empress De, who smiled at her: "Look at you all dressed up, and it hasn't even snowed yet."

  "The weather is gloomy today, isn't it afraid of snow?"

  Passing through the Imperial Garden, they met Empress Yifu and Wu Fu Jin's entourage at Chengrui Pavilion. Empresses De and Yi walked ahead together, while Wu Fu Jin followed behind with Quan Pei. Wu Fu Jin said, "The empress dowager usually enjoys watching plays, but when so many people are called together like this, it's not often."

  "Really?"

  "No, I haven't seen such a big scene in a long time, according to Princess Yi."

  Wu Fu Jin said a few words and then whispered her grievances, Quan Pei looked at the stone road under her feet, her eyes gradually deepened, this was just a banquet for others, but for her it was an unbeatable war, what was supposed to come still came...