You are my golden finger

Everything was ready, and Lin Xijin got on the carriage that came to pick her up from the palace, and entered the palace accompanied by Nanny Tao and Ruxiu.

On the way, Lin Xijin took out a bottle of Snow Ginseng and Jade Dew Pills from her backpack and gave it to Aunt Tao, and a bottle of Beauty Pills for Ruxiu.

The two men held the medicine bottles with their eyes wide open.

"My Lady, you can't do this. I can't accept such a valuable gift. You should take it to the palace and present it to the Empress Dowager!" It was Nanny Tao who spoke first, and Ruxiu echoed her.

"How do you know the price of these medicines?"

"The old lady of the Duke of Anguo's Mansion is the Empress Dowager's elder sister. She brought this medicine into the palace and gave it to the Empress Dowager. It is said that her grandson bought it for two silver coins per bottle."

Lin Xijin was a little surprised. Shangguan Rui actually sold the medicine at such a high price?

Although the medicinal materials of this medicine are rare, the cost of one bottle is only a few dozen taels. How can this be sold for more than ten times the price? What a profiteer! Although I have made a profit, I can't help but sigh.

"This beauty pill is something that the empress in the palace can't buy even if she wants to. It costs several hundred taels of silver!" Ruxiu also said.

Lin Xijin was too lazy to complain anymore. Well, as long as the food and medicine prices for the common people were not raised, the nobles in Kyoto were stupid and rich, so they should just clean their necks and let Shangguan Ruizai kill them.

He told them that the medicine was made in his own pharmacy. Although the medicinal materials were very rare, he still had some on him, so it was no problem to give two bottles to the Queen Mother and the Emperor. He just asked them to keep them well and not to take them out easily, because he didn't have much and was afraid that the Queen Mother in the palace would come to ask for them.

When the two heard Lin Xijin say this, they agreed immediately and accepted the gifts with peace of mind.

When they arrived at the palace, there was already a long line of carriages at the gate. But since Aunt Tao had the token given by the Queen Mother, the carriages drove straight in.

Although the people in the queue were very curious about the person in the carriage and talked about it, no one could answer who was sitting in the carriage.

The carriage did not change into a sedan until it entered the inner court, and then headed straight for the Yining Palace where the Empress Dowager lived.

Although I have visited ancient palaces in modern times and have seen many in costume dramas, this is the first time I have walked through it and experienced it in person. The palace is full of pavilions, towers, carved beams and painted phoenixes, magnificent and magnificent, and indescribably solemn and luxurious.

Lin Xijin didn't look at it any more. After getting off the sedan chair, she lowered her head and followed Nanny Tao into the Yining Palace.

When I entered the hall, I saw the empress dowager sitting high on the main seat, majestic but kind. Next to her sat a man in his fifties wearing a dragon robe, who I guessed was the emperor.

Murong Xu sat at the bottom. Today, he was not wearing the prince's clothes, but a general's clothes, looking extraordinary and heroic. When the guy saw Lin Xijin coming in, his eyes were as bright as stars, and he stared at her without blinking with his mouth corners raised.

Lin Xijin didn't bother to pay attention to him and stepped forward to salute!

"Lin Xijin pays respect to His Majesty the Emperor and the Empress Dowager. Long live the Emperor! Long live the Empress Dowager! Thousand years of life, Cheers!"

"Stand up! No need to be so polite." The emperor replied kindly.

At the Queen Mother's signal, Nanny Tao hurried forward and helped her up.

He took his backpack from Ruxiu and took out two boxes of gifts and presented them to the Empress Dowager and the Emperor.

The gift box contained a 500-year-old wild ginseng, two 200-year-old ganoderma lucidum, and two bottles of snow ginseng jade dew pills, which were worth tens of thousands of taels. But for Lin Xijin, she could easily take them out of the space, so she didn't feel bad.

"You girl, these are valuable items that cannot be bought with money, and you just gave them away. You are so generous." The Queen Mother was delighted when she saw the gifts opened by the nanny.

"It's not worthy of the Queen Mother's praise, I just happened to have it on hand."

After a few pleasantries between the three, the emperor and Murong Xu took their leave and went to the front court to receive the male guests.

After the two left, the Queen Mother held Lin Xijin's hand affectionately, patted her and said, "I will call you Jin'er from now on. You are such a pretty girl, and you are also very capable. No wonder Xu'er can't let you go. Thank you for saving Xu'er's life twice!"

Lin Xijin blushed at the Queen Mother's bluntness, and could only smile awkwardly: "It's not worthy of the Queen Mother's praise, it's just a coincidence."

After a chat, the two found that the Queen Mother was kind and wise, and Lin Xijin was knowledgeable and well-informed, and they got along well with each other. Lin Xijin felt lucky for Murong Xu, because although his mother died young, he had a wise and sensible grandmother.

Seeing that the palace banquet was almost over, the two of them led a group of maids and palace maids to the Yongle Palace. Many palace concubines, court ladies, and noble ladies had already gathered in the palace.

"The Empress Dowager has arrived! County Lady Jiahui has arrived!"

As the shouts came, Lin Xijin felt countless eyes focused on her. She knew that this was because she and the Queen Mother appeared together, and this move was tantamount to attracting hatred on the spot!

But she didn't care. She wasn't money, and it was impossible for everyone to like her. Making others feel uncomfortable but unable to do anything about it was the highest state of life!

Led by Ruxiu, she sat down on a small table below the Queen Mother. Looking around, she noticed two malicious eyes from the opposite side. Following their gazes, she saw a beauty in peach pink and a beauty in goose yellow palace dress staring at her coldly. The eyes were filled with contempt and hatred, like a sharp blade. If eyes could kill, she would have been stabbed with holes.

The two of them were all wearing gorgeous clothes and pearl hairpins, and their faces were beautiful and delicate, but their poor expression management made their makeup distorted, which completely lowered their temperament.

Lin Xijin asked herself that she had never crossed paths with these two people, and she really didn't know where the hostility between them came from. But she didn't want to bother with such people, as the saying goes, "If you are not hated by others, you are mediocre!" Not convinced? Just do it.

"The Emperor has arrived! The Empress has arrived! The Crown Prince has arrived!"

Everyone greeted each other again, and Lin Xijin had no choice but to follow mechanically.

At the beginning of the banquet, the old emperor explained the purpose of holding this banquet and rewarded the soldiers who had won merits in the battle against the Northern Qiang. Finally, he emphasized: "Tonight, we will also specially reward an outstanding soldier who made outstanding contributions in this battle against the Northern Qiang!"

"County Lady Jiahui accepts the order!"

Lin Xijin was listening carefully to the emperor's speech when she suddenly heard the voice of Eunuch Gao.

She hurried to the emperor and knelt respectfully.

""By the providence of Heaven, the Emperor proclaims: There is a man named Lin Xijin from Shiziwo Village, Qing'an Town, Qingyuan County, Fengbei County. He is a man of great talent, diligent, modest, and virtuous character. In the battle against the Northern Qiang, he contributed 30,000 shi of military rations, 10,000 jin of medicinal materials, 5,000 bottles of finished medicine, and 3,000 cattle and sheep. He provided timely supplies to our border troops. He also went to the border in person to teach medical skills, treat soldiers, and reduce casualties. He offered advice and suggestions to defeat the enemy and made many outstanding achievements. He is now canonized as 'Jiahui County Lady', and Qingyuan County is granted as his fiefdom, and he is rewarded with a Jingdu County Lady's mansion, a thousand mu of manor, 1,000 taels of gold, a bushel of jade beads, and 20 bolts of silk..."

Lin Xijin felt a little numb in both her feet and head as she listened to the long reward. She didn't know what Murong Xu had whispered to the old emperor to earn her such a large reward.

However, the happiest thing for her was that Qingyuan County became her fiefdom, where she could do whatever she wanted.

"Thank you, Your Majesty. Long live the Emperor! Long, long live the Emperor!"

After expressing his gratitude, Murong Xu personally stepped forward and helped her up. The cold and murderous aura he had when he first entered the scene disappeared, and the corners of his mouth raised slightly, with a smile on his face.

With a "bang", Murong Xu put his legs together and gave her a modern standard military salute.

Everyone felt a little puzzled when seeing such a strange etiquette, but they also thought it was damn handsome, and they just wished it was themselves standing in front of Murong Xu.

Seeing this scene, the noble ladies below gnashed their teeth, jealous and hateful, and wanted to rush to Murong Xu to pull Lin Xijin down and replace her with themselves. But they were secretly glad that it was just a reward and not a concubine, and they still had a chance.