After her luck was taken away, she fell in love with the woman who traveled through time.

"Maybe the Ministry of Internal Affairs saw that I was out of favor, so they gave me some not-so-good ones." Liang Tan said lightly.

Upon hearing her say this, the imperial physician hurriedly bowed and said, "Don't overthink it, Madam. Even if it's the same box of spices, the flavors can be light or strong. Maybe it's just..."

After he finished speaking, he saw some broken pieces in the spices, which were obviously inferior spices. The imperial physician instantly understood why the taste of the spices was weak. It turned out to be just as Liang Tan said, giving her inferior spices.

The fact is this, but it cannot be said. The doctor could only bite the bullet and continue: "Maybe it was just a coincidence that he scooped some powder that was not so fragrant."

"Well, you have a point," Liang Tan said, looking at him indifferently, "So the spices are okay?"

The imperial physician quickly replied: "The incense burner is fine. I was just overthinking. I hope Your Majesty will forgive me."

Liang Tan smiled and said, "The imperial physician is also concerned about my safety, what crime has he committed?"

The imperial physician smiled in gratitude, and the two exchanged pleasantries for a while before the imperial physician left in a hurry.

After he came out of Chenshi Palace, he did not return to the Imperial Hospital first, but went to Fengxi Palace where the Queen was, and reported Liang Tan's condition to the Queen.

"He is actually sick." The queen raised her eyebrows.

The imperial physician lowered his head and said, "The Empress Chen's condition is serious and her illness is very easy to spread, so I ask her to stay at home and recuperate to avoid infecting others."

"Then let her stay in Chenshi Palace and not go out until she is fully recovered." The queen said lightly.

The imperial physician responded and was about to leave, but suddenly remembered what happened to Cui Ling in Chenshi Palace, so he reported this as well.

The Queen sneered upon hearing this: "Who in the palace doesn't know that she brought the youngest son of the Cui family into the Chenshi Palace? She seems to be aloof from the world, but she is more sinister than anyone else. Now she can't help herself and calls the son of her former enemy to her side to torture him? I pity the kid from the Cui family. I'm afraid he won't live for many days."

The imperial physician was silent for a moment when he heard this, remembering that Cui Ling, whom he had just seen, had red lips and white teeth, and was neat and clean, and did not seem to have been tortured. However, he then thought that Cui Ling had just been castrated less than a month ago, and it was likely that his wounds had not yet fully healed when he started working. It seemed that he must have suffered a lot of torture behind the scenes.

On the other side, Chenshi Palace.

After the imperial physician left, Liang Tan first dismissed the rest of the palace servants, then asked Cui Ling to close the door. He breathed a sigh of relief when they were the only two left in the room.

Cui Ling also felt much more relaxed and silently wiped the sweat from his palms onto his clothes.

"You were sneaking around with Eunuch Li just now, were you discussing getting new spices?" Liang Tan looked lazily at the child at the table.

Cui Ling raised her lips and said, "I just heard that the imperial physician has come. I suddenly remembered that I didn't change the spices after picking the whip pot yesterday. If I use it again today, the taste will definitely be much lighter. I am afraid that the imperial physician will find out, so I asked Eunuch Li to find some more whip pots from the spices in the warehouse. I thought that if the imperial physician finds out, I will find a way to add it in."

"But if you add enough whip pot, the taste shouldn't be so bland." Liang Tan curled his lips.

Cui Ling replied modestly: "So in addition to the whip pot, some inferior spices were also added."

"You are indeed smart." Liang Tan did not hide his admiration for him.

Cui Ling, who had only suffered some flesh wounds and had not yet experienced castration and humiliation, had the same mentality as before entering the palace. When he heard Liang Tan's praise, his face heated up for a moment: "Not smart. If you were smart enough, you should have made full preparations beforehand instead of remedying it afterwards."

"You are so young, it's not easy for you to achieve this. Don't force it," Liang Tan said, looking at him leisurely, "It doesn't matter. The most important thing for you right now is to go back and apply the medicine."

"Apply medicine?" Cui Ling was puzzled.

"Your fingers must have been scalded, right?" Liang Tan said helplessly. "There's a small spoon on the table where the incense burner is placed. You can just stir it with that. Why use your fingers?"

"...In order to avoid being discovered by the imperial physician, I have to stir it as quickly as possible." Cui Ling didn't expect that she was still thinking about her fingers, and felt a little subtle.

Liang Tan smiled and said, "Go down quickly and remember to apply the medicine."

"Yes." Cui Ling responded and left in a hurry.

The first thing he did after returning to his room was to find the unused ointment and carefully apply it on the glittering blisters on his fingertips.

After that day, Cui Ling changed into the gray-blue clothes of a second-class eunuch, and began to learn the rules from Eunuch Li. When facing Liang Tan, he no longer called himself "I", but "slave". Liang Tan felt a little complicated after hearing this, and wanted to tell him that he didn't need to do this, but thinking that there were so many rules in the palace and many people who found fault, it would be better for him to adapt to the identity of a eunuch as soon as possible.

During the period of "recuperating behind closed doors", Liang Tan used the excuse of being sick and upset to drive all the palace servants who served in the room out to serve in the courtyard. He only left Cui Ling to accompany him on weekdays, and left the rest of the matters to Eunuch Li.

She did this to avoid being seen by the spies in the palaces as feigning illness, but in the eyes of outsiders, she was torturing Cui Ling on purpose. So rumors started to spread in the palace, saying that although Empress Chen looked kind and peaceful, she was actually a difficult person. She even spared a teenager because of old grudges.

The rumor soon reached Liang Tan's ears. She immediately asked Eunuch Li to find out the attitudes of the concubines in the various palaces and the emperor. It turned out that no one cared about the story of the unfavored concubine torturing the little eunuch. At most, they treated it as a joke and talked about it. She was immediately relieved.

However, this incident had a negative impact on Cui Ling.

People in the palace are used to flattering others, even the Chenshi Palace, which is deserted and servants are as unfavored as their masters. When the palace servants saw Cui Ling going in and out of the master's bedroom every day, they thought Liang Tan was deliberately making things difficult for him, so they followed suit.

However, Cui Ling was born a rich young master, and even now he has his own temper. When he saw those people deliberately provoking him, he would not give in at all, and would not accept unreasonable requests such as helping them wash clothes and cook meals. For this, he was bullied and humiliated many times.

Late one night, he was sleeping soundly when the door of his room suddenly creaked. He was startled awake, and before he could react, a quilt suddenly covered him.

Cui Ling struggled immediately, but the quilt held him down tightly, and at only thirteen years old he couldn't resist at all.

"You little bastard, you really think you are the son of the former minister. Today we will let you know that being a slave is not that easy!"

"You're being stubborn! Come out if you have the ability!"

Fists rained down on him, and the wounds that hadn't healed yet were torn open, and the piercing pain spread from his skin to his heart. He was so angry that his eyes turned red, and he struggled desperately with gritted teeth, but he was only hit harder.

After a long time, the quilt on him was torn off, and a pile of dirty clothes fell directly on him.

"Wash it for me tomorrow, otherwise you will know what it means to be in trouble." Several eunuchs left with a sneer.

Cui Ling's chest was filled with blood, his lips and fists were shaking, his white undergarment was stained with blood from the torn wound, and the dirty clothes with the smell of urine surrounded him completely, but he didn't even have the strength to raise his hands to throw them away.

After a long time, he took a deep breath, limped towards the yard with the dirty clothes.

The next morning, the weather was good again.

A few eunuchs walked into the yard, chatting and laughing. Just as they were about to start working, they saw a pile of familiar things in the corner. When they stepped forward to take a look, they couldn't help but screamed -

These are the clothes they delivered to Cui Ling’s room last night!

"Ouch! It's all rotten, all rotten!"

The clothes were torn and soaked in water and were completely unusable. Several people shouted and screamed, which attracted a scolding from Eunuch Li. In the end, he could only grit his teeth and swallow his anger.

In the master bedroom, Liang Tan got up and quietly put on a layer of powder to make sure her face was as pale as before, then she asked someone to bring in breakfast.

The people delivering the food filed in. Liang Tan looked at the end of the team from the bedside, but did not see the familiar little figure. She paused, and when everyone had finished setting up their plates and were about to leave, she asked, "Where is Cui Ling? Why hasn't she come to serve us yet?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Cui Ling came.

Liang Tan restrainedly raised the corner of his lips, and waited until everyone else left before immediately asking him to sit down: "Today we have osmanthus porridge. Didn't you say you wanted to drink it a few days ago? Come sit down and eat some."

During this period, Cui Ling always accompanied her for dinner.

Cui Ling was already used to eating at the same table with her, so he thanked her and sat down.

Liang Tan glanced at him and couldn't help but sigh: "You're obviously well fed and well cared for, so why don't you look fat at all?"

Not only has he not gained weight, he has not grown taller either. Will he not grow taller in the end? Liang Tan just felt a little worried, but then he remembered that he was about 1.86 meters tall in the original text, and he felt a little relieved.

Cui Ling was unusually silent today. Liang Tan chatted for a while and then noticed that his hand holding the spoon was shaking slightly.

Liang Tan's face changed: "What's wrong with you?"

Cui Ling paused and said, "Your Majesty, I am fine."

"What do you mean nothing? Let me see." Liang Tan said, and pulled open his sleeve without saying anything. When he saw the bruises and scars on his arms, his expression suddenly became ugly, "Who did it?"

"No one." Cui Ling answered with his head down.

"Why don't you tell the truth?" Liang Tan's voice suddenly became higher.

Cui Ling's eyes turned red for a moment, and after a long while, she slowly spoke: "My queen..."

As soon as he called her, he was a little speechless. After a moment of silence, he continued, "This is my private matter. Can you let me solve it myself?"

"You are just a kid, what can you solve?" Liang Tan frowned. "There are only so many people in Chenshi Palace. You should know them all. Who did it? Tell me the name and I will deal with him."

"Please let me solve it myself, Your Majesty." Cui Ling said, kneeling down in front of her.

He looked so persistent that Liang Tan couldn't help but have a headache. After a long stalemate, he sighed: "Take off your clothes and let me see if the injury is serious."

Cui Ling paused: "I'm fine."

"Are you going to disobey me even on such a small matter?" Liang Tan was displeased.

Upon hearing this, Cui Ling could only silently undress, revealing the mottled purple bruises and the wounds that had split open to reveal red flesh.

Liang Tan took a deep breath and spoke slowly after a long while: "Is it because of the rumors outside that I treated you harshly that they dared to humiliate you like this?"

"It's none of your Majesty's business." Cui Ling knelt straight.

Liang Tan frowned: "It was my negligence."

"It really has nothing to do with the Majesty," Cui Ling gradually calmed down, "I am a newcomer, and whether the Majesty favors me or not, they will cause trouble for me."

When he was the son of a minister, he witnessed how the servants fought among themselves. He knew then that the more difficult the situation, the more people like to make things difficult for them. This is a bad nature of human beings and an instinct that cannot be changed.

Liang Tan looked at him with a complicated expression, and spoke after a long time: "Even if they embarrass you because of the rumors, I can't explain the rumors, and I can't be too nice to you in front of them."

"I understand. Eunuch Li cleansed me and dismissed all the people in the silkworm room. If the queen treats me too well, they will suspect that the cleansing was a lie." The thirteen-year-old boy's voice has not changed yet. His voice is crisp and pleasant, but his words are very steady.

Seeing that he understood everything, Liang Tan did not explain too much, but just said: "Although I can't favor you openly, there are ways to deal with them."

"These people are spies from various palaces. Your Majesty must not act rashly." Cui Ling advised again.

Liang Tan pursed his lips and said nothing.

Cui Ling had no choice but to beg again. Liang Tan couldn't bear to see him kneeling with injuries all over his body, so she compromised and agreed. However, she didn't let him leave that night.

"Sleep in the outer room, don't go back." Don't go back and get hurt.

Cui Ling smiled and said, "But I can't stay away forever."

"If you want, I can keep you from going back." Liang Tan glanced at him.

Cui Ling was curious: "Why is the Queen so kind to me?"

"You've asked this question many times," Liang Tan said with a smile, "Just think of it as fate. I liked you the first time I saw you, so I wanted to treat you well."

"I know, the queen said before that she wanted to adopt me as her godson," Cui Ling paused after saying this, "but it's not possible now. I am not worthy of you."

"Whether you are an emperor or a beggar, you all have two eyes and one mouth. There is no such thing as worthy or unworthy. Just remember, never belittle yourself at any time, so that others can respect you." Liang Tan said slowly.

Cui Ling was stunned for a moment, then murmured after a long while: "I understand."

"You can call yourself a slave, but here," Liang Tan said, pointing his finger at his heart, "remember you can't really think of yourself as a slave. You have to move up to justify all the suffering you're going through now."

Cui Ling looked at her for a long time before asking, "Can I go up?"

"Of course, as long as you are willing, there is nothing wrong with it. Of course, the most important thing now is to deal with those people who bullied you first," Liang Tan couldn't help but sighed when he mentioned this matter, "So, at least tell me what you are going to do, and don't make me worry all the time, okay?"

Cui Ling pursed her lips: "Actually, I don't know either." At least not now.

Liang Tan: “…”

"But I think I can handle it," Cui Ling looked up at her, the candlelight dancing on his face, "Your Majesty has helped me so much, I don't want to trouble you anymore, not to mention that I can trouble you for a while, not forever. One day I will have to face these things myself."

Although Cui Ling insisted on going back, Liang Tan still kept him for three nights and let him go only after his wounds had healed.

"If you dare to get hurt again, I will definitely take action." Cui Ling warned in advance before leaving.

Cui Ling smiled and said that he had figured out what to do.

After leaving the master bedroom, he did not go directly back to the side room, but went to find Eunuch Li and gave him all the rewards that Liang Tan had given him during this period.

"You are quite capable, kid." Eunuch Li glanced at him with a satisfied smile on his lips.