Help! The cunning and treacherous minister and I were reborn together!

The palace maid led Yuanzhi into a small room with walls on several sides, except for a small window on the top of the north wall.

The sunlight filtered through faintly, but it was far from enough.

Yuan Zhi said, "It's too dark. I'd like to trouble you to light the lamp for me, sister."

The palace maid went out for a while and returned quickly with a dim yellow oil lamp.

Yuan Zhi frowned, and the other party explained, "Madam, please don't be angry! Consort Liang manages the six palaces and forbids extravagance and waste. All the palaces use this kind of candle."

Bullshit!

Yuan Zhi's eyes flickered slightly. Consort Liang was known for being timid and afraid of the dark. If she lit this kind of candle, she would be scared to death in less than a night!

Consort Dun was clearly trying to make things difficult for her, and since she was outnumbered and outmatched, it was not advisable for her to clash with her.

"I see! As the old saying goes, frugality cultivates virtue. Consort Liang set an example by her own conduct, and her subordinates followed suit. From then on, the six palaces were harmonious and joyful, which will surely be a model for future generations!"

Palace maid: "..."

I wanted to make her resent Consort Liang, but instead she started praising her?

The palace maids continued to dig traps, but Yuan Zhi, quoting classical texts and speaking eloquently, refused to fall for it.

The palace maid, her throat parched from talking, turned to go out and pour tea. As the water dripped down, she suddenly realized she had been tricked.

Madam Xiao is stalling for time!

She threw down her teacup, went back into the house, brought out a basket of silk threads of different colors, and took out needles of different sizes and lengths, and began to knit haphazardly.

"Madam, please look. The silk threads in the basket come in nine main colors: red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, purple, black, and white. Take red for example; it is further divided into dark red, maroon, coral red, and so on. You will need to select them one by one from darkest to lightest."

The main color is threaded with long stitches, the lightest color with short stitches, and each long stitch is threaded with two main color threads, plus short stitches…

Yuan Zhi propped her head up with her hand, wearing an expression that said, "You speak, I'm listening," but in reality, she didn't hear a single word.

After the palace maid finished speaking, seeing her nodding repeatedly, she asked, "Has Madam remembered everything?"

Yuan Zhi paused for a moment and said, "No, repeat it again."

The palace maid was so angry she felt like her lungs were about to explode; she had finally finished weaving it!

"Then I'll say it again, Madam, you heard me clearly!"

After saying only two sentences, Yuan Zhi feigned surprise, "Wait a minute! What you said, sister, is different from what you said before?"

The palace maid gasped, "What did I just say?"

Yuan Zhi recited it like a memorized text, and the palace maid gritted her teeth: "Didn't Madam forget it?"

"Oh! I'm slow-witted, it takes me a moment to process it. I really didn't remember when you asked me."

The palace maid said, "Then Madam, please hurry up and get ready, it's getting late!"

Yuan Zhi hummed a little tune as she picked up a needle and threaded it.

What she just said was all made up. At this point, it doesn't matter what color it is, just find the eye of the needle and stick it in.

The palace maid looked at it more and ... of the palace maids of the and the ofshoulds, the more and more of

"Madam, you're dressed incorrectly!"

"Where is wrong?"

How can a long needle be threaded with two colors?

"You said it!"

"Impossible!" the palace maid said coldly. "The one with two colors is a short needle!"

The Empress said she wanted to cause trouble for Madam Xiao, but even if it was really her who said it, she couldn't admit it!

She pulled the thread from the needle. "Madam, please thread it again as I instructed!"

Anyone would be angry if something they worked so hard on was ruined by someone else.

Yuan Zhi's hand, holding the needle, trembled slightly as she aimed and stabbed the palace maid in the back of her hand. The maid jumped up with a cry of "Ah!" and asked Yuan Zhi, her eyes red, why she had hurt her.

"Sorry, sorry, I just wanted to borrow your light, sister. My hand was shaking, probably from threading too many needles." She walked towards her with the needle in hand. "Sister, is your hand alright? Is it bleeding? Let me see!"

Fearing she would be pricked again, the palace maid covered her hands and ran out.

Yuan Zhi laughed and threw away the needle, then nestled in the chair for a short nap. When she woke up, she blew out the candle and tucked it into her sleeve.

When the time came, the palace maid came to inspect the results and found that the needles and threads on the table were exactly the same as when she left. She was so angry that she almost fainted.

With a gloomy face, she escorted Yuan Zhi to Fengnian Palace, fearing that her master would punish her after returning from the banquet, so she rushed back to finish her work.

Xiao Zong waited at the door for a while. When he saw Yuan Zhi slowly walking over, he asked, "Why are you so late?"

Yuan Zhi glanced at him sideways, "Thanks to your childhood sweetheart, I spent an hour threading a needle, and my eyes are blurry from exhaustion!"

Xiao Zong's eyes were filled with dark ink. When the Prince of Kang sent someone to invite Jiang Rou, he also sent someone to inform Wei Xueyao. Could it be that he missed it?

He caught up with her, wanting to check her injuries, when suddenly his eyelids twitched, and a suspicion arose.

Few people know about Xiangxiang's relationship with him, so how did she find out?

"Madam, tell me, who is my childhood sweetheart?"

Yuan Zhi's heart stopped beating. Realizing she had misspoke, she quickly made amends: "I heard from Granny Zhao that when my husband was serving in the army in Liangzhou, my mother-in-law, along with Rong'er and my brother-in-law, worked for a wealthy family surnamed Zheng."

Two years ago, His Majesty inspected Liangzhou, and among the people he brought back were members of the Xiao family and Consort Zheng. Both from Liangzhou, of similar age, and mistress and servant, who would believe you if you said you didn't know each other? So, I said she was your childhood sweetheart, wasn't that right?

Xiao Zong smiled enigmatically, "I never realized before that Madam had such a talent for deduction and solving cases."

Yuan Zhi took a sip of tea and said sarcastically, "Not as good as my husband."

The two fell silent. With a shout of agreement, Li Kai led his concubines to their seats. Yuan Zhi followed the others in paying her respects. As she rose, she looked towards the high seat but did not see the Empress or the eldest grandson of the Emperor.

The music and dance began, and Yuan Zhi took out a candle from her sleeve, lit it, and placed it on the table. Then she extinguished the candles on the lamp stand behind her and sat up straight.

Xiao Zong watched her bustling about and asked, "What are you doing?"

"Don't worry."

Yuan Zhi uttered three words, poured himself a glass of wine, and drank it down in one gulp.

Officials and their families took turns toasting His Majesty. When it came to Xiao Zong, Li Kai stared at the dark figure and his expression changed slightly.

"Who's in charge of turning on the lights? The entire lamp stand is off, can't you see?"

A young eunuch knelt down tremblingly, "Your Majesty, it is this servant."

Just as Li Kai was about to punish him, Yuan Zhi stepped forward, bowed, and knelt down.

"Your Majesty, please calm down. Don't blame this eunuch. I was the one who extinguished the candle."

Li Kai lowered his eyes. The woman kneeling in the hall was graceful and beautiful, with a hint of arrogance amidst her gentle charm, which attracted his attention.

Why did you extinguish the candle?

Consort Dun and Zheng Xiangxiang exchanged a glance, a bad feeling creeping into their hearts. Xiao Zong gripped the cup in his hand tightly. If His Majesty were a reincarnated being, would he bring Yuan Zhi back into the palace?

Yuan Zhi kept her eyes straight ahead. "Half an hour ago, I visited Consort Dun's palace, and the candles lit there were the same kind I brought. I learned that since Consort Liang took charge of the six palaces, the palace has been advocating frugality and avoiding extravagance."

"With the empresses setting such an example, we, as the families of officials, should follow suit. Therefore, we brought the remaining candles to offer our advice to Your Majesty."

Consort Liang's eyes widened. "Your Majesty, I didn't..."

At this moment, someone jumped out to object, "The candlelight is so dim, how can we old people with failing eyesight see anything? It's a small matter if it hurts our eyes, but if it interferes with state affairs, can Madam Xiao bear the responsibility?"

"Exactly! Can our great nation really not even afford a candle?"

"How petty! Utterly absurd!"

……

Yuan Zhi bowed again, a slight smile playing on his lips.

"It was my oversight that caused Your Majesty and the other officials to laugh at me."