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It was getting dark. After dinner, Qing'er lay on the bed. According to the rules of the palace, it would be her turn to rest in two days.

Thinking of going back to the West Courtyard and seeing the eldest young master, Qing'er rolled around on the bed excitedly.

I must have hotpot again this time!

Qing'er was reminiscing about the delicious hotpot she had last time when there was a sudden knock on the door.

"Sister Qing'er, come out and collect the clothes, it's going to rain!" The voice outside the door sounded very anxious. Hearing "it's going to rain", Qing'er quickly got out of bed and opened the door. A strong wind rushed into the room. The sky was gloomy and dark clouds were pressing down. The two maids looked anxious.

The three of them quickly ran to the backyard to collect the clothes.

The sky was covered with dark clouds, as if they were about to collapse. The wind was blowing so hard that many clothes were blown to the ground.

The three of them divided the work in an orderly manner, separating the fallen clothes from the intact clothes, and bringing them back into the house in batches.

As the last batch of clothes were moved into the house, a few drops of rain fell and suddenly it was pouring down. The three of them looked at each other and laughed.

If they were slower, the clothes would have gotten wet!

Several people took shelter from the rain under the eaves and waited for a long time. The rain did not stop and it was already dark. The three decided to go back in the rain.

They rushed into the rain with their hands covering their heads. After a short distance, they returned to the house all soaked.

"Hurry up and change your clothes. Don't catch a cold. You have to get up early tomorrow to wash the clothes that fell on the ground." Qing'er reminded the two maids.

"Sister Qing'er, go to bed early."

The three of them went back to their rooms. The two maids lived in one room, and Qing'er lived in a separate, narrow little room on the side.

After returning to the room, Qing'er changed her wet clothes, dried her hair and prepared to go to bed. Just as she lay down, the door knocked twice.

"What's wrong?" The clothes have been put away, why are these two little girls still not sleeping? Qing'er was puzzled.

It was raining heavily outside the door, and the sound of the rain was very loud. I didn't know whether the person outside was talking or not, and I didn't hear any response, but the door knocked twice again.

"Here I come!" Qing'er simply tied her hair that had already let down behind her head, got out of bed and opened the door.

The door opened, a gust of wind blew out the candlelight, and a dark shadow appeared.

"Who...ah!" Before Qing'er could see who that person was, a piece of cloth was quickly stuffed into her mouth.

There was something on the cloth, and Qing'er suddenly lost the strength to resist.

The person outside dragged Qing'er into the room sideways, threw her on the bed, and pressed her under him like a hungry tiger pouncing on its prey.

Qing'er stretched out her hand and grabbed around randomly. During the random fumbling, she touched the fleshy nub on the figure's ear. Her body stiffened and she knew the figure's identity instantly.

Wang Guangcheng, in the palace, she only saw a piece of meat protruding from Wang Guangcheng's ear!

"Woo... Woo... Wang... Guangcheng..." Qing'er hummed those sounds with a nasal tone.

The person on her body heard her shout out this name and lowered his voice: "Bitch, you'd better not make any sound. You don't want others to hear it!"

"Wuwu...Wuwu!" Qing'er struggled desperately, trying to call for help with the whimpering in her mouth.

Wang Guangcheng slapped her in the face, "Scream again! You don't think that killing a spirit fish and washing clothes for three months is enough to atone for your sin! If I hadn't pleaded for you, even your death wouldn't be enough!"

There was a loud bang of lightning and thunder outside the house, and the strong white light of the lightning illuminated the house. Qing'er saw Wang Guangcheng's face on her body, and Wang Guangcheng also saw the skirt that Qing'er was wearing.

"Only my woman can wear clothes bought with my money!" Wang Guangcheng ripped Qing'er's skirt like a madman. A flash of lightning illuminated the room again, and Qing'er's tender, fair skin seemed to glow beneath her red bellyband. Wang Guangcheng's eyes were filled with animal desire, and he bit down on that smooth skin. The room returned to darkness.

On a quiet rainy night, the rain poured down, the sound of the downpour drowning out all the sobs and gasps...

Late in the night, a torrential downpour poured down at the entrance to the West Courtyard. A figure stood for a long time before the closed gate, reaching out several times to knock, but ultimately retracting his hand. The torrential rain continued all night without abating. Another roar erupted from the sky, and lightning streaked across the night sky, illuminating half the sky with white light. The figure at the West Courtyard gate had vanished without a trace...

-

"Yesterday was such a thrill! If we hadn't been quick, all these clothes would have had to be washed again!"

"you do not say!"

"Sister Qing'er, you're up so early. Are you washing the bed?"

Qing'er sighed, "I came back from the rain yesterday and didn't have time to take a shower. I just changed my clothes. Today, the quilt is a little damp. I want to wash it!"

"That's true. I feel my bed covers are a little damp today. I'm going to wash them soon!"

"I'll wash it too. I went to bed with wet hair yesterday!"

The two maids ran into the room and prepared to take out their bed covers to wash.

When they brought out the quilt, Qing'er's quilt had already been washed.

They all got up early, washed their beds, and rewashed the clothes they had dropped yesterday, finally making sure they hadn't missed out on today's laundry. When the maid, Huang Po, came in to see what was happening, they had already started washing their load. She took a quick look, saw the wet clothes in the backyard, and, remembering yesterday's heavy rain, saw that they had already washed them again. She left without saying anything.

At the hour of Si, maids, servants and guards took turns going to the kitchen to eat the big pot of rice.

After Wang Guangcheng had eaten and drunk his fill, he passed by the laundry room and thought of the fragrance from last night, so he walked into the laundry room.

In the laundry room, Qing'er was the only one still sitting on the washing machine, stepping on the pedal. The other two maids had not returned from dinner yet.

When Qing'er saw Wang Guangcheng, an emotion flashed across her eyes. She got down from the washing machine obediently. She didn't stand firmly and sprained her ankle. She thought she was going to fall, but Wang Guangcheng helped her up.

Qing'er stopped and bowed to Wang Guangcheng.

As soon as Wang Guangcheng saw her lowered brows and submissive look, and even her usual fierceness was restrained, he knew that this girl didn't dare to tell anyone about what happened last night. Then, seeing her look like a well-behaved young wife, he immediately felt in a good mood.

"Get up, there's no rush for these clothes. I'll find two guards to step on them for you later!"

The two maids saw it when Wang Guangcheng was helping Qing'er.

"Butler Wang is actually quite gentle."

"Indeed, he probably didn't know the benefits of this washing machine last time. Look, last time we had an incident, I didn't hear that he actually went to the prince to report it."

The two maids came forward and saluted Wang Guangcheng, who nodded slightly when he saw them.

After Wang Guangcheng left, the two maids came up to Qing'er, their faces full of gossip and teasing.

"Hey~ Sister Qing'er, we all saw Butler Wang helping you up just now."

"I didn't expect Steward Wang to be so gentle. He actually called two guards over for me!"

The other maid had a crazy look on her face.

Qing'er smiled faintly.

After a while, two guards came, the same two guards as last time.

The three maids still had a small stool each and sat on one side to watch the show as before.

Qing'er propped up her head and stared at the rapidly rotating pedals, her mind wandering...

Qing'er is from Khanzhou in the north. The north is dry and rainy, with few rivers. Qing'er was born in a family of dry tobacco farmers in the arid area.

In their Hanyan Village, there is a kind of medicinal stone, and the villagers make a living by collecting the medicinal stone. I heard from the elders that if the medicinal stone is collected and calcined, a white stone will be obtained.

Several households in a village typically share a single calcination kiln. Because the firing temperature is so high, a sufficient quantity of medicinal stones must be collected before the kiln can be opened for calcination. The stones burn for seven days and seven nights before being taken out of the kiln. The calcined medicinal stones turn white, and they are sold to pharmacies.

Although it is a medicine, everyone in the village knows that it is poisonous.

One year, a severe drought wiped out all the crops. The imperial relief grain hadn't arrived yet, and many people starved to death. A madman in the village, driven mad by hunger, rushed into the kiln, grabbed a handful of the medicinal stone powder, and swallowed it. Soon, he began convulsing and bleeding from all seven orifices... By then, Qing'er's parents had already starved to death at home. Qing'er, like the madman, wanted the medicinal stone. Hiding in the kiln, she witnessed the madman convulsing, bleeding from all seven orifices, and dying!

"Qing'er, Qing'er, who's faster between us?!"

Since it's medicine, there must be some medicinal stones in the clinic...

"Sister Qing'er? Sister Qing'er?" The little maid beside her waved her hand in front of Qing'er.

"Ah? What's wrong?" Qing'er came back to her senses and looked at them in confusion.

"Brother Daniu asked them who was faster!"

"Oh...it's all pretty fast..."

"I think Brother Da Niu is the fastest!" muttered the little maid.

"Danniu can't be faster than me!" another guard protested.

On the other side, on Dacheng Street, the Empress Dowager's birthday was approaching, and local dignitaries had returned to Beijing to prepare to celebrate the Empress Dowager's birthday.

When these people came to the capital, they had to pay for everything, including accommodation, meals, and travel. For a time, the capital was extremely bustling.

Among these officials who returned to Beijing, there were two who were talked about the most by the people.

One of them is Jiang Zecheng, the King of Southern Xinjiang.

As the only king of a different surname in Dacheng, Jiang Zecheng is said to be as handsome as Pan An, with a handsome appearance and approachable personality.

Although many children in the capital have never seen him in person, many male protagonists in novels are based on the King of Southern Xinjiang. In fact, this man just turned 30 this year and is still unmarried.

The second one is the story told by Fan Yun Teahouse about the envoy He Zeguo coming to Beijing to celebrate his birthday.

At this moment, a lot of people have gathered in Fan Yun Teahouse. They are all listening to Luo Dabiao telling the story of the Puro people in Heze Country.

He then talked about the strange behavior of Heze Country in recent years, starting with myths and legends. "This half grassland and half water refers to Heze Country. There are countless rivers in Heze Country, but in recent years, they themselves dare not drink the water in the rivers!"

"Why is this?" someone in the audience was puzzled.

Luo Dabiao grimaced. "I heard a few years ago that a strange creature with pincers, ten pairs of legs, and a very hard shell suddenly appeared in the river there. Within a year, it had crawled all over the river. It's said that when it was dried, it turned blood red. It was very scary!"

Everyone took a deep breath, and after a long moment, someone stood up and asked, "I heard that He Zeguo has found a treasure and wants to present it to our Queen Mother. Mr. Luo, do you know what it is?"

"This……"

Fatty Luo had no idea what the treasure was, and this question stumped him.

Seeing that he didn't know, the people below exclaimed "Huh" and stood up and dispersed.

"Hey! Don't leave, this treasure... To know what happens next, please wait for the next chapter! Remember to come to my Da Biao Teahouse next time!"

Yesterday, He Zeguo's envoy entered the city, and the Ministry of Rites received and settled him in the Vassal State Office. As a person who likes to take advantage of the popularity, Luo Dabiao certainly wanted to take advantage of the popularity. However, He Zeguo's popularity was only a few taels of silver.

Watching everyone disperse, Luo Dabiao turned around with regret, put away the few taels of silver, and looked at the silver in his hand. Luo Dabiao sighed: "If I had known earlier, I should have talked about the recent Xingchen cosmetics today!"