This palace comes back in this life, only to be Nian Shilan

Chapter 81: One sentence is worth forty taels of silver

An Lingrong's voice was very gentle, as soft as a spring breeze, but every word was as sharp as a knife. Baojuan was so frightened that her knees went weak and she knelt down to apologize.

"My lady, I dare not! I spoke out of turn! Please forgive me, but I am really doing this for your own good!" Baojuan tried hard to prove her loyalty.

An Lingrong neither said anything nor let Baojuan get up. She just let her kneel there while she concentrated on embroidering with needle and thread in her hands.

Seeing that An Lingrong showed no joy or anger on her face, Baojuan did not dare to get up.

Baoque was helping An Lingrong to pass a golden thread along, with his head down and silence as if he were a transparent person.

The master and his two servants stayed in silence in the hall until An Lingrong finished embroidering the remaining eye of the tiger head and bit off the silk thread. Only then did An Lingrong put down the embroidery frame and helped Baojuan up.

"I'm not blaming you, it's just Baojuan, when I was not favored by your lady, you and Baoque went to the Ministry of Internal Affairs to get things. It was because of Shen Guiren's face that you didn't get harassed." An Lingrong took a sip of the teacup with a calm expression. It was still the Liu'an Guapian that Shen Guiren had given her. When she knew that I loved to drink it, she gave me all the tea in the palace.

"Now that Concubine Shen has just fallen from power, if we kick her when she is down, what will happen to our reputation if the palace maids and eunuchs all know about it and the emperor hears about it?"

An Lingrong seemed to be mocking Baojuan for being ungrateful, but also seemed to be protecting her own reputation. There did not seem to be any intention to protect Shen Meiyu in her words.

After hearing this, Baojuan could only praise, "My lady, you have a far-sighted vision." She did not dare to say anything more.

Baojuan felt that An Lingrong had changed since she became favored by the emperor. She was no longer the daughter of the county magistrate who did not even have a dowry maid when she first entered the palace. The timid and submissive air in her body had long since faded away. Baojuan didn't understand, could it be that dragon energy really nourishes people?

At this moment, An Lingrong's tone was gentle and her eyes were kind, but she always felt like there was a knife on her back.

"It's good that you know my plan. It's a bit cold in spring now, and it's still a bit cold at night. Go get the quilt that the Queen gave me last time. I'll use it at night."

After saying this, An Lingrong went back to her embroidery work. There was a strong sense of alienation around her, which made Baojuan dare not say a word.

After Baojuan walked away, Baoque said, "This tiger head embroidered by Miss Mei is so lifelike. No matter whether it is a prince or a princess born by Miss Mei in the future, it will look good wearing it."

"You are really smart." An Lingrong praised Baoque and said nothing more.

Now, she also knew that the two palace maids around her were spies for others, but Baoque was easier to use than Juan, so she decided to turn a blind eye.

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The next morning, when Concubine Hua had just gotten up and was getting ready to put on her makeup, Linglong ran in crying.

Concubine Hua didn't have time to change her pajamas, so she could only go forward and pick up Linglong to comfort her: "Linglong, what's wrong? If you encounter anything unhappy, tell Concubine Hua."

It is very difficult for a woman who has a child to dress up, and Concubine Hua also understands this.

“Empress Hua is lying. My mother has clearly been confined by the Emperor. The Emperor doesn’t want my mother, wuwuwu…” Linglong cried intermittently, her nose twitching and she was gasping for breath, “The Emperor doesn’t want Linglong either… wuwuwuwu”

Hearing Linglong say this, Concubine Hua's frown relaxed, the fish finally took the bait.

"Who said that?" Hua Fei's voice was as cold as frost.

The servants in the palace all lowered their heads even more, fearing that Concubine Hua would come looking for them.

"Your Majesty, today Princess Linglong woke up and ran to the small kitchen by herself. I and Lanzhi failed to keep an eye on her, and when we came back, Princess Linglong was already crying." Guizhi reported bravely.

"Really? Then call all the palace maids and servants working in the small kitchen to come to me, now! Immediately! Immediately!" Hua Fei's words were loud and clear, and no one was allowed to argue.

In an instant, the servants from the small kitchen knelt in the main hall of the Yiku Palace, with a pot of boiling water on the stove and a wooden barrel beside them.

"Tell me, who leaked the news that Concubine Xin was under house arrest." Concubine Hua had a bad temper. After holding it in for a few days, she finally had a place to vent.

Everyone knelt on the ground and no one dared to answer.

"It's fine if you don't say anything." Concubine Hua hadn't eaten breakfast in the first place, so her stomach was empty and she was even more angry. "You guys who work in the kitchen, it doesn't matter if your mouths are dirty, but your hands must be clean. I see that your hands are not very clean either, so I'll wash them for you."

Concubine Hua sat in the main seat, tracing the armor on her hands. "Zhou Ninghai, clean the hands of these people underground for me. After they are clean, drive them out of Yikun Palace and never enter the gate of Yikun Palace again."

"Whoo."

The water in the copper kettle on the stove had already been boiled to a boiling point, and now even the bottom of the kettle was red. If you put your hand on it, you would be burned immediately.

Zhou Ninghai limped forward, picked up the copper kettle, and walked straight to the first palace maid on the left. His apprentice Xiaolouzi followed behind and was about to grab the palace maid's hand and put her on the wooden barrel.

The copper kettle was lifted high. Just when Zhou Ninghai was about to fall, the maid was so frightened that she retracted her hand and knelt down to crawl to Concubine Hua's feet:

"I say, I say, Madam Hua Fei, spare my life! It was me and Xiao Yuzi. We received 20 taels of silver from Kang Luhai, and Eunuch Kang said that as long as we say a word in front of Princess Linglong, he will give us another 20 taels!"

Xiao Yuzi, who was hiding in the corner on the other side, also crawled out, "I know I was wrong! I know I was wrong!"

"In one sentence, it's only worth forty taels of silver. This deal is tempting even for me." Concubine Hua kicked away the maid Hui Xiang who was holding onto her flower pot-soled shoes. "You are really good. Forty taels of silver can pry open the second-class maid beside me. I really treat you poorly."

Hua Fei leaned closer to Hui Xiang and raised her chin with her index finger. "You have been with me for so many years, but you are still so careless!"

Hua Fei's eyes suddenly became fierce as she spoke, and she pushed Hui Xiang out. Hui Xiang didn't dare to kneel down on the ground.

"Empress Hua, please forgive me this time!"

"Drag them out, and soak their claws in this copper pot. They are not allowed to come out until they are rotten. Let the servants in Yikun Palace watch them carefully. I want to see who will be the one who betrays his own people!"

At Concubine Hua's order, Zhou Ninghai raised his hand to signal the servants behind him to drag Huixiang and Xiao Yuzi out.

Soon, the wails of the two echoed throughout the Yikun Palace, and the screams of pain fell into the ears of every palace servant.