Lock and secure

Why hasn't the princess starved to death yet?

Wang Guangcheng was depressed.

It has been more than ten days since the princess last left the West Courtyard. These past few days, the prince has been spending all day in the Machinery Bureau working on gunpowder, and sometimes he doesn't return to the palace for two or three days.

The prince is not in the palace, the princess does not leave the main gate or the secondary gate, the kitchen has completely forgotten about the princess, the princess does not have to serve the prince, so she has no food to eat...

It's been over ten days now, and those guarding the West Courtyard say everything is normal there, and they haven't spotted any suspicious people. How come the princess hasn't starved to death yet?

Wang Guangcheng was lying alone by the lotus pond, feeding the fish while staring blankly at the gate of the west courtyard.

Could the princess be a monster? Wang Guangcheng thought.

This thought had been on his mind for many days, causing him to not dare approach the West Courtyard...

Wang Guangcheng withdrew his gaze melancholy, grabbed a handful of fish feed and threw it into the lotus pond, then left with an unhappy look on his face.

Since the prince was away, everything in the mansion was managed by him. After leaving Yong'an Garden, Wang Guangcheng planned to go to the front hall. After taking two steps, he suddenly thought of something and walked towards the laundry room.

He had been so busy these days that he had forgotten about the little maid!

The sound of laughter could be heard from far away in the laundry room.

"You know what, it's really fun..."

A guard sat on the washing machine, stirring the pedals with his feet like a Hot Wheels.

That oddly shaped machine is a foot-operated washing machine.

There's a footrest in the front, a washing tub in the back, and a seat on top of the washing tub. That seat is even a recliner...

"So fast! You are worthy of being Brother Danniu!" The three maids next to him shouted excitedly, one of them was Yun Qing'er.

The guard named Daniu blushed and continued to speed up.

"Who is faster, him or me?" Another guard was unconvinced and quickened his pace.

"You're so fast, you're leaving an afterimage!"

"I told you you couldn't beat me, Daniel!"

Heh, man. You two are pretty fast!

Qing'er sat bored on a small stool, one hand supporting her chin, admiring the bizarre scene of two men competing to see who was faster...

Ever since the eldest young master had given him this foot-operated washing machine, those two bullying maids had become her henchmen. And from that day on, the three of them had less and less time to actually do the laundry, because there was always a man trying to outdo her in terms of speed...

The two guards refused to give in to each other and mocked each other.

This was the scene Wang Guangcheng saw when he came in.

"What are you doing?!"

The two guards hurried down, and Qing'er and the two maids also stood up quickly.

"Meeting Steward Wang..."

"What is this?!" Wang Guangcheng pointed at the strange machine.

The two maids and the guards all lowered their heads and dared not speak.

Qing'er raised her head, not at all timid: "Report to Butler Wang, this thing is a washing machine."

"Is this how you guys mess around in the laundry room? You can actually clean this pile of broken wood?!"

"It's indeed clean, even cleaner than hand washing..." a guard retorted in a low voice...

"Great! You're not standing guard, maids and guards, but you're having fun together. I think you've grown bolder now that the prince is not in the palace!"

Speaking of Bei Zhenting, no one dared to speak anymore.

Wang Guangcheng saw that the few people were silent, so he kicked the strange-looking machine hard. Unexpectedly, the machine was very strong and filled with water, so it didn't move at all. Instead, Wang Guangcheng almost fell to the ground.

The action of forces is mutual...

"My foot..." Wang Guangcheng took two steps back, holding one foot and hopping on one leg...

All five of them lowered their heads, and none of them could hold back the smiles on their faces.

Wang Guangcheng didn't want to embarrass himself here, so he quickly fled the scene. He limped to the door of the laundry room and turned around again, "I will report today's events to the prince. Just wait for me!"

After Wang Guangcheng walked away, several people burst into laughter.

After they had laughed enough, one of the maids said worriedly, "If the prince knew about this, would he..."

"I don't think so. These days, this pedal washing machine has been released on Tiemu Street, and many people are using it, which proves that this washing machine is really useful."

The two maids and Qing'er felt relieved after hearing what Brother Da Niu said.

In the Imperial Garden, Bei Zhenming got his new toy.

Seeing that His Majesty, apart from sitting on the Dragon Throne during court, spends the entire day lying on a reclining chair, even having the chairs at the Imperial Study and Longxin Hall thrown into the storeroom to gather dust, I was puzzled: "Your Majesty, is this reclining chair really that comfortable?"

"You don't understand." Bei Zhenting narrowed his eyes. He had to review memorials on weekdays and was often busy until the middle of the night. His head and neck really couldn't bear it. Having this reclining chair with adjustable height and backrest angle was really great.

Bei Zhenming thought of that foot-operated washing machine and reminded him, "Remember to give that washing machine to the laundry department."

"Yes, it's already being matched, and it will be complete in a while."

Bei Zhenming frowned, and the thought popped up in his mind again: I shouldn't have granted Bei Zhenting and Luo Yao a marriage in the first place...