The Self-cultivation of a Salted Fish Concubine

After Xie Run watered the flowers, he went back to the house to wash his hands and serve the gentleman.

Seeing Prince Jing sitting on the couch, she immediately covered her head and pretended to have a headache, saying softly, "Prince, can we not play chess today?"

"When I woke up this morning, I kept thinking about last night's chess game. It made my head hurt."

"I haven't said anything yet," King Jing said leisurely. "If we don't play chess, it's still early, so what should we do?"

Xie Run's eyes turned, "I have recently taken a liking to calligraphy, and I would like to ask Your Majesty for some guidance."

After saying that, he looked at King Jing eagerly.

But when he met those eyes that looked as clear as water, King Jing really couldn't harden his heart and just regarded it as another kind of boudoir interest.

He waved his hand and said, "In that case, write two words first."

After a moment, the smile on King Jing's face completely disappeared, replaced by an indescribable look.

"Is this called a word?"

Xie Run said with a guilty conscience, "I once said that I only know a little bit about music, chess, calligraphy, painting, poetry, wine, and camellia."

"That's not even a little knowledge." King Jing was almost laughing in anger, and said bluntly: "In my entire life, I have never seen such ugly handwriting."

Xie Run widened his eyes, a look of grievance instantly appeared on his cheeks, and tears welled up in his eyes in the blink of an eye, about to fall.

She reached out, tugged at King Jing's sleeve with her slender fingers, her voice soft and full of twists and turns.

"My Lord, I don't know how to do this. Can you teach me?"

"When my handwriting becomes more beautiful, I will write a longevity painting for you on your birthday..."

King Jing couldn't help but burst out laughing.

"A picture of a hundred longevity characters? Even if you dare to give it to me, I dare not accept it." King Jing thought of Xie Run's ugly handwriting that showed a hundred longevity characters written together.

By then it will really be... ugly in all kinds of ways.

Xie Run: “…”

King Jing's expression of disgust was so obvious that she was hurt.

Seeing Xie Run looking depressed with his head down, King Jing waved his hand and sat down on the chair with an elegant posture. "Forget it. I'll ask Shi'an to go to the storehouse and get you some calligraphy books to practice. At least..."

King Jing glanced at Xie Run's words and immediately looked away, as if he had been poisoned.

Xie Run tried to salvage some of his dignity, "My handwriting isn't this ugly even at home. It's... the ink isn't good, and the pen isn't good either!"

King Jing suddenly burst into laughter, thinking that Xie Run's stubborn look was so funny.

Her peach blossom eyes were watery, her rosy lips were tightly pursed, and her cheeks were puffed up with grievance (actually because of anger), which made her inexplicably playful and cute.

King Jing couldn't help it and raised his hand to pinch Xie Run's face.

Xie Run widened his eyes and looked at King Jing in astonishment, with an expression of disbelief.

The dignified and upright King Jing actually made the gesture of pinching someone's face. Doesn't this ruin his character a bit?

King Jing also realized that he had lost his composure. He clenched his fist and coughed twice, pretending to be serious: "In this case, let Shi'an take some new ink and a new brush. If it still doesn't work, what do you say we should do?"

Xie Run: "...Then the punishment is to write ten big characters every day from now on?"

King Jing raised his eyebrows, "Then it's as you said."

In the end...Xie Run was punished as expected.

King Jing made no secret of his words and said, "The Xie family is a family of scholars after all. How come their daughter's handwriting is so shameful?"

If an ordinary woman in ancient times heard this, she would be so embarrassed that she would die.

Xie Run was now shameless and said confidently, "It was my father and brother who were studying, not me. I studied for two years, and before I could practice writing a few times, my mother kept me at home to learn embroidery..."

King Jing: "How about your embroidery? I've been in the palace for so long, and I haven't seen you embroider anything for me..."

After King Jing asked this question, he suddenly realized that Xie Run was too quiet.

He looked at Xie Run and said with a half-smile, "It seems that you are not very good at embroidery..."

Xie Run opened his eyes, looked at King Jing innocently, and refused to speak.

She doesn't know any of these things, and the original owner... was also a half-baked person.

It’s better not to know.

King Jing was amused by Xie Run's foolishness. "Well, in addition to punishing you by writing calligraphy, I will also punish you by making you embroider a purse for me. I won't make it difficult for you. I will send someone to pick it up in a month."

Xie Run: “…”

Strange to say.

There are so many women in the backyard, and their personalities are different.

Some are as serious as the princess, some are as coquettish and clingy as Concubine Fang, and some are as timid and cowering as Concubine An.

Xie Run is unique. He seems ordinary, but he always has something different about him.

Normally he is gentle and considerate, but occasionally a little stubborn. If he is annoyed, he will have a bad temper, but he is not sharp at all. He will just stare at you angrily, as if he dares not speak out.

King Jing may not love her very much, but he feels comfortable with her. He can smile knowingly from time to time and feels relaxed.

I just felt that this person looked like a living person with vitality.

To put it in a clichéd way: King Jing hasn't laughed like this in a long time.

This time, King Jing rested in Linxuan Pavilion for four consecutive days.

On the fifth day, the Ministry of Revenue had something to do and was busy, so he didn't go into the backyard.

Xie Run has always maintained friendly relations with Fang Yuaner, sending some medicinal herbs there from time to time, and also receiving a lot of gifts in return.

Fang Yuan'er was really generous. She gave him boxes of gold hairpins and jade rings, not to mention silver.

Xie Run instantly realized the benefits of making friends with rich people.

A month passed like this, and Fang Yuaner came to visit Linxuan Pavilion after she finished her confinement.

Xie Run knew that Fang Yuan'er didn't completely trust her last time, and was afraid that she might try to find out more information this time, so she prepared tea and was on high alert.

As soon as the two met, they asked each other about their well-being.

Of course, it's all pretend.

While chatting and laughing, Fang Yuaner took out a box and said, "Thank you, sister. I got something new recently and I want you to help me take a look at it."

Xie Run held the tea and blinked innocently, "Sister Fang's things are naturally good, why do they need my approval?"

Fang Yuaner smiled mysteriously, "This thing is different."

As she spoke, Qiuxiang came over with a small box.

Fang Yuaner opened the box and pushed it in front of Xie Run.

As soon as Xie Run saw the soap in front of him, a sentence suddenly rang in his mind.

She’s here! She’s here! She’s finally here!

Xie Run didn't show any curiosity. He just took a closer look and said softly, "Is this... ointment? It smells quite nice to me."

Fang Yuaner kept looking at Xie Run's expression and couldn't see any disguise at all.

She smiled and said, "This thing is called soap."

"Soap?" Xie Run asked curiously, "What is this? Is it used for bathing, just like soapberry?"

Fang Yuaner nodded slightly. "That's right. This stuff has similar effects to soap, but it's much easier to use and can be blended into various scents. I want to open a soap shop in Beijing, and I wanted to ask Sister Xie if she'd like to join me?"

Xie Run was stunned and gently reminded: "Sister Fang, you and I are both from the palace. According to the rules... we can't open a shop privately."

Fang Yuaner's bright smile froze.

She came from a book and didn't have a good understanding of the rules of this era.

Moreover, Fang Yuan'er had dozens of shops as her dowry before she entered the mansion, but she never knew that a concubine could not open a shop.

More than that.

If Xie Run could speak, he would probably tell her that not only could she not open a shop, she couldn't even have private property.

After all, concubines are the private property of the palace.

Have you ever seen anyone with private property who can still own private property?

Fang Yuaner smiled nonchalantly and said, "This is a small matter. There will always be a way."

Xie Run reminded her again, "It's okay if Sister brings a dowry before entering the mansion. But if she does business without informing the mansion after entering, she will be severely punished if she is discovered."

Fang Yuan'er seemed to be lost in thought. "Thank you for reminding me, sister. I will consider this matter carefully."

But in my heart I felt a little disgusted with Xie Run for being so timid.

On second thought, if Xie Runruo was really a pure ancient person, it would be normal for him to be afraid.

Fang Yuaner whispered, "Xie Meijie, the Fang family is very good at business. Do you think if I present this recipe to the prince, I might win his favor again?"

Xie Run pretended to be innocent and timid and shook his head, "This... I don't know either."

Logically, Fang Yuaner shouldn't have asked Xie Run such a question.

Now that he was asked, no matter if it was sincere or just a deliberate test, Xie Run pretended not to know.

Using the word "stupid" can block everything.

Seeing that she could not get any information and did not see any clues from Xie Run, Fang Yuaner went back to the courtyard.