They are all concubines, so of course they choose the future emperor.

Aunt Sun carefully checked all the charcoal and found all the problematic ones.

Fortunately, the number is not large, less than half a basket, and they are just mixed in various baskets, making them difficult to find.

While checking, Aunt Sun started talking to her two apprentices.

"There are many kinds of wood used for charcoal making. High-quality wood includes red wood and sandalwood, while low-quality wood includes willow and pine. There is nothing wrong with it, but the process of charcoal making requires a lot of knowledge."

"The charcoal that ordinary people use at home is made by burning the wood once. Put the sun-dried wood into the kiln, burn it, and take it out after cooling. It's that simple. But these pieces of charcoal are obviously different from other charcoal. In addition to being darker in color, the biggest problem is its smell."

When Jiang Wanyue heard this, she picked up a piece of charcoal and smelled it.

Aunt Sun waved her hand.

"You can't smell it when it's cold, but when it's burning, there's a distinct smell, which is similar to orchids, but with a sweet scent."

Jiang Wanyue suddenly raised her head.

"Musky?"

Aunt Sun laughed.

"It seems you know a lot! But your family won't let you use musk, right?"

Jiang Wanyue put down the piece of charcoal.

"I read some medical books at home and made some incense myself, but I didn't use musk because it was too expensive. Also, my mother said that musk is not good for women."

"It's not that it's bad. Musk is a great medicinal material and a spice. It can invigorate the mind, activate blood circulation, reduce swelling and relieve pain. It is mainly used to treat paralysis, sores, swelling, sore throat, blood stasis and amenorrhea. But it's too expensive, so most of the time it's replaced by other medicinal materials. It's more often used as a spice. But only princes and nobles can afford it."

Xiuchun asked worriedly, "I heard that musk can cause infertility..."

"Musk can prevent pregnancy, but it has to be used for a long time and in large quantities to be effective. Smelling it occasionally won't have much of an effect. As for pregnancy, as long as it's not ingested, there won't be much of a problem."

Aunt Sun found another piece of charcoal, turned around, put the charcoal on the table, pointed at it and said.

"This thing is not made of musk, but a kind of red musk orchid. It looks like an orchid, but its color is dark red and it smells like musk. It is slightly poisonous. It is not from our Great Zhou, but is produced on some islands in the South China Sea. You already know its effects."

Jiang Wanyue looked solemn.

She had never heard of this thing in her two lifetimes.

The Lu family... has a really deep foundation!

Aunt Sun then talked about some of the characteristics of the red musk orchid and the related prescriptions, and asked the two to write them down. Then she looked at Jiang Wanyue and got down to business.

"What are you going to do?"

Jiang Wanyue pursed her lips.

"Hold still for now, so as not to alert the enemy. Godmother, I'd like you to prepare the medicine I mentioned earlier as soon as possible."

Aunt Sun was not a shy person. Since she had already agreed, she would not say any more words of advice.

She had refused to agree at all before because she was worried that Jiang Wanyue would use her to scheme against others.

But now... it was Jiang Wanyue who was plotted against first. If she hadn't discovered by chance that there was something wrong with the charcoal, and if it hadn't been used for another month or two, Jiang Wanyue would probably never have been able to get pregnant for the rest of her life.

When she thought of this, Aunt Sun became very angry.

At the same time, he felt more sympathy for Jiang Wanyue.

The people in the backyard of the palace seem to be living a smooth life, with no worries about food and drink, no lack of wealth and splendor. However, the surging crisis beneath the dark tide is invisible to outsiders.

Aunt Sun sighed and quickly cheered up.

"Don't worry, I'll deliver it tomorrow."

She stayed for a while until night fell, and then left the palace under the escort of Xiuchun.

After the two of them left, Jiang Wanyue returned to the main house.

The maids had already cleaned up and replaced the charcoal with new one, and there was no strange smell in the house.

Jiang Wanyue sat down at the table, staring at the pot of charcoal, the red flames reflected in her eyes.

And, the frightening coldness.

When Xiuchun came back, Jiang Wanyue had returned to normal.

This incident did not seem to leave any shadow in her heart.

She ate, drank, and slept as usual, and when she went to pay her respects, everything was just like usual, with nothing different.

The next day, Aunt Sun brought the medicine over.

It was a rough pill, and quite large in size.

After checking, Jiang Wanyue asked Xiuchun to put it away.

Prince Jing came over that night. Jiang Wanyue didn't say anything. She accompanied Prince Jing for dinner and then went to bed after chatting for a while.

This went on until the Laba Day.

Laba is not a big festival, and no banquets were held in the palace before. But because several young princesses helped the queen in the palace with a lot of things this year, the noble concubine took the lead in holding a banquet and inviting several royal families to the palace.

This is just a small banquet in the palace.

But for Princess Jing, it is a rare opportunity to show herself.

She started preparing two days in advance, and on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, she was fully prepared. She urged Prince Jing several times, and the two of them left in the afternoon and headed for the palace.

There was no tiger in the mountain, so other people in the mansion relaxed a little.

There was still some time before dinner, so Jiang Wanyue invited Cui Yan and the others to go to the garden to enjoy the scenery and drink tea.

Cui Yan had a good relationship with her and was the first to agree.

The second one is Guan Rou.

Next came Xie Lanxi and Luo Yudian.

In Luo Yudian's words, since there was nothing to do anyway, they might as well get together and chat, which would make it more lively.

There is a pavilion in the garden, right next to the lotus pond. It is cool and pleasant in summer, but a bit cold in winter.

Jiang Wanyue had thick curtains added to block the cold wind, leaving only the leeward side for enjoying the scenery.

The pavilion is very large, with a round table, three charcoal stoves, and some other entertainment items, and it is not crowded.

After a few people sat down, the maids served tea.

Jiang Wanyue raised the teacup.

"Speaking of which, I was the last one to arrive at the mansion, so I should call you sisters. I am young and not easy to get along with, so please bear with me. Today, I will use tea instead of wine to toast you sisters."

After saying that, she took the first sip of tea.

Since she said so, the others didn't want to refuse and each took a sip.

"This tea has a mellow flavor and tastes sweet, not bitter at all!"

Xie Lanxi's eyes lit up.

"This is kumquat tea. If you like it, I'll ask someone to bring some to you later." Jiang Wanyue said, "I'll also ask the kitchen to make some snacks for everyone to try."

The maids came in one after another, bringing a lot of exquisite snacks, both sweet and salty, taking into account everyone's taste.

Cui Yan started eating first.

Soon, everyone relaxed and started chatting and laughing.

As long as Prince Jing was not mentioned, they actually did not have that many conflicts. They talked about things in the boudoir, trivial matters from their childhood, as well as the scenery of the north and the customs of the south of the Yangtze River. It was quite lively.

Such a big commotion in the garden attracted a lot of people's attention.

Not far away, Madam Lu stood in the shadow of the corridor, listening to the laughter in the pavilion. She frowned and waved to call a little maid.

"Go over there and listen to what they are saying."

The little maid hurried over and found a hidden corner to eavesdrop.