A piece of Japanese incense

Yutuan and Yuyi looked at me blankly, and I seemed to see question marks above their heads.

He brought in a chair from the yard, wiped it clean, sat down opposite the two of them, waved his hand, motioned for them to come closer, and whispered, "Let's do this, borrow a knife to kill someone~"

I looked at them smugly. Yu Tuan stood up and shook her head involuntarily. She put her hands in front of her and waved them repeatedly: "Murder! No, no! Girl, it's not that serious!"

"Yes! Girl! I... I'm fine, I'm not wronged!" Seeing Yutuan's exaggerated behavior, Yuyi stood up in panic, stunned for a few seconds, gathered her messy hair with her hands, looked at Yutuan, then looked at me, her eyes wandering, not knowing where to look.

I rolled my eyes and said speechlessly, "What's wrong with the two of you? Why don't you just listen to what others are saying?"

"Oh oh oh, girl, you say."

Yu Tuan sat sideways, put one arm on his knee, supported his chin with his hand, and said mischievously: "Come on! Please tell us what you think."

I smiled wickedly and said, "She said the water in the pond is always turbid, so we spread the word that someone actually found silver in the pond and deliberately made the water turbid to get more silver."

"So what does this have to do with murder?"

"Oh~ Isn't this an exaggeration, metaphor or personification~" I glanced at Yutuan with disdain.

"Oh." Yutuan put his hands to his mouth with a cross.

"If you heard that silver appeared out of nowhere, what would you think?"

"Then I must go and see what's going on!"

Yuyi's eyes lit up, "Oh~ Miss, you want everyone in the palace to shift their attention to the pond in Miss Fang's yard, and let everyone go looking for silver, so as to distract Miss Fang's attention!"

I snapped my fingers, "Bingo!"

"Ah...so what?" Yu Tuan asked thoughtfully.

"Everyone wants to get the silver, including the owner of the food box. He is afraid that his connection with people outside the palace will be leaked, so he must be more eager than anyone else to get the things in the pond."

Yu Tuan clapped and cheered: "I understand! The girl wants to use the person behind the food box to deal with Fang Juexia! The girl is smart!"

"According to Miss Fang's personality, once she finds out there is silver in her pond, she will definitely order people to clean out the water in the pond in a big way. If she wants to get the silver piece without anyone noticing, she will definitely try her best to focus on Miss Fang. By then, Miss Fang will be too busy to take care of us."

I high-fived Yuyi and exclaimed, "Yuyi is awesome!"

"Alas! It's a pity that I couldn't personally avenge Yu Yi's slap...!"

"Yutuan, you are so bold! You still want to beat up the young lady of the Marquis' Mansion!"

Yu Tuan rubbed his hands and said, "No, no, I was just joking, hehe."

"It would be best if we could expel this Miss Fang from the palace. That way, we won't be bullied by her anymore."

"That's right! She and the people around her are all bad people!"

"We are all people trying to make a living, earning our hard-earned money. How can we say that we are good or bad? If I ask you two to help me poison someone one day, will you not help me?"

"How can they be compared? A girl's actions are naturally her own!"

A sweet smile spread across Yuyi's lips: "Girl, in short, Yutuan and I will always be on your side."

The corners of my mouth curved up and I made a face.

On the second morning, the cool sunlight shone gently on everything through the light mist.

With disheveled hair, I searched for Yutuan and Yuyi, but the yard was empty.

I curled up back into bed and wrapped myself tightly in the quilt.

"Girl, why are you awake?"

"Yuyi, where did you go so early in the morning?"

"Yu Tuan has been thinking about the fact that the young lady didn't eat much yesterday, so he got up at dawn and went to find Xiao Duan early in the morning to ask him to buy some food outside the palace for the young lady."

"Didn't we just buy a lot from outside the palace?"

"Girl, you should hurry up and wash up. You finally got up early for once. Don't be the last one to arrive again."

"I forgot yesterday. Please pack the handkerchief I bought at the 'Embroidery Garden' for me. I want to give it to someone."

"Okay! Young lady, Her Royal Highness the Princess just sent someone to pass on a message, saying that she has spread the word to all the palaces, and from now on no one can arbitrarily deduct your food, clothing and other expenses, so you can rest assured."

"Oh. Daddy didn't say anything?"

"Never."

After the first class, I placed the brocade box containing the silk handkerchief on Princess Qi's desk and smiled, "Thanks to Princess Qi's handkerchief, otherwise my sleeves would have been in trouble."

Princess Qi looked flustered and pushed the brocade box to me: "It's okay, I said, you don't have to return it."

I opened the box and showed it to the princess: "This flawless white texture will shimmer softly in the sun, look!" I took out the handkerchief and waved it in the direction of the light: "It's like a piece of pure snowflakes. I fell in love with it at first sight. I think this silk handkerchief is very suitable for the princess' temperament."

I waved the handkerchief over the princess' nose again. The princess raised her head and blinked her big eyes: "Why is it so fragrant?"

"Hehe, I specially fumigated this handkerchief for a day and a night."

"What kind of fragrance is this? Did you mix it yourself?"

"Of course! In ancient times, if people saw a ball of white snow on the tip of a plum blossom in winter, they would regard it as a letter from the next spring. Therefore, this fragrance is named "Spring Letter in the Snow". The most precious ingredient is the "snow between plum blossoms" that has fallen on the center of the plum blossoms and has been stained with a little bit of flower meaning. Just for this little bit of snow, I spent five years of patience and waiting!"

"In that case... I can't accept it, it's too precious!"

"Don't worry! I just think that only this way can I be worthy of the princess! If I leave it to myself, I think it would be a waste."

Princess Qi still pushed it back to me. I held her hand and said sincerely, "Princess, please don't refuse. It's just a piece of silk handkerchief. Please accept it." I threw her a coquettish look.

Princess Qi clutched the book tightly with both hands, her face flushed, she lowered her head and said "hmm" softly.

As they were talking, several eunuchs came in carrying two large screens that were more than one person tall. They placed them in the middle of the classroom, separating the male and female seats. Everyone rushed into the classroom, whispering.

Yutuan leaned over the window and called me in a low voice. I turned my head and was about to respond to her.

But a eunuch said in a loud voice, "It is said that the Empress said: Recently, I heard rumors in the palace that the students in the upper study room are restless and do not want to make progress. I hereby issue this imperial decree to punish all students to read and copy the Book of Rites to correct the wrongs and set a warning for the future. I hope that you will restrain yourself, be respectful and cautious, and strictly observe etiquette in the future. In addition, Grand Tutor Pei will also strengthen the assessment and supervision to ensure academic progress."

(Oh my goodness, you can avoid the Book of Rites, but you can’t avoid the Book of Etiquette and Ceremonial, right?)