After Ji Changze returned, he discovered that Jiang Xinyan was not there.
Of course, Chunzhu is not here either.
He didn't need to guess to know that they had been brought into the palace.
From time to time, people outside said that the empresses in the palace were really kind. They were afraid that the married Ninth Princess and her commoner prince-in-law would not get along well, so they would call the Ninth Princess into the palace every now and then to show their favor.
But only Jiang Xinyan and her maid Chunzhu knew that they would be ridiculed and tortured every time they entered the palace.
Often at this time, Concubine Yang would specially call Wang Cainu to admire her expression of pain because her daughter was being made trouble for.
Ji Changze was quite curious. Logically speaking, Concubine Yang had a high status, so why did she always have trouble with Wang Cainu, who had a low status
If Wang Cainu was a maid from her palace, she would not hate her so much if she felt that her maid had seduced her man.
Ji Changze kept this in mind for the time being, looked at the ten dishes packed back, and told Xianglan, who was looking around as soon as he entered the door:
"You take out seven dishes from here and heat them up. Let me arrange the remaining three dishes more beautifully. I want to take them to my friends."
Xianglan bowed again and said delicately and weakly, "I'll go right now."
Ji Changze thought for a while and added: "By the way, when you heat the dishes, you should heat them one by one. Don't put them together, otherwise the taste will change."
Pandan's expression changed slightly: "Slave, put the vegetables on the steaming plate to steam them. The taste will not change."
"How about that?"
Ji Changze's face was full of rejection: "I'm not from the countryside, I'm a high-ranking prince-in-law."
"Of course my food can't be heated in the way of country hot food."
Xianglan: “…”
Before she came, she had heard from the Fifth Prince Consort that the Ninth Prince Consort was from the country, he was inferior and arrogant, and he liked to do things to show off that he was a noble Prince Consort, rather than an ordinary person from the countryside.
Xianglan had a plan in mind to deal with such people.
People with low self-esteem and arrogance are particularly easy to deal with. All she needs to do is act polite, act like she admires the other person, and blow a few more rainbow farts.
It was guaranteed that Ji Changze was so coaxed that he was dizzy.
As a result, Xianglan never expected that the way Ji Changze used to flaunt his noble status was actually in the details of such hot dishes.
She had planned a route before and she would definitely treat Ji Changze like a god.
After all, this is what this kind of man does.
As long as he behaves like, "What you said is right, what you said is so good, I really don't know," Ji Changze will definitely be satisfied.
So Xianglan raised her head and smiled softly at Ji Changze:
"What the Prince Consort is saying is, why didn't I think of this before?"
It stands to reason that with her attitude and appearance, the Ninth Prince Consort should have a nicer attitude toward her. Not to mention immediately falling in love with her, he should be a little unreasonable.
After Ji Changze heard this, he just looked matter-of-factly:
"Of course, you are a slave and I am the consort. How could you be more rigorous than I think?"
Xianglan: “…”
She reluctantly continued to smile and said, "That slave will cook you one dish after another."
Ji Changze: "You don't want to change just one dish after another. After you heat up a dish, you have to brush the whole pot again, so that the taste of the previous dish is not still there, and the taste is mixed again, right?"
Xianglan: “…”
I've said it before.
The emperor only gave this daughter 500 taels of settling money, which seemed like a lot of money, but as Princess Jiang Xinyan, this money was no different than sending a beggar.
In the capital, this money is only enough to buy a small house.
The kitchen is very ordinary, with a stove and a big pot.
The point is, the "big" pot.
Cleaning the pot every time is a laborious task.
When the fifth prince-in-law was not married, Xianglan was the personal maid in his yard. She said she was a maid, but in fact she only had to do some light work every day.
Even outside, the Fifth Prince Consort had a little maid beside her.
At most, when the five princes-in-law came, she would do the cooking herself. The maid would do things like washing the vegetables and setting the fire. All she had to do was put in the vegetables and stir-fry.
Panlan had never done work like washing pots before.
But she just decided on the strategy route and knew that Ji Changze had low self-esteem and arrogance. This kind of person would hate to have others argue that what he said was wrong or wrong. How could he dare to say no
So I had no choice but to walk into the kitchen with two boxes of food.
Ji Changze was still shouting at her in the yard: "Hurry up and heat it up. If the princess comes back without seeing hot dishes and rice, I won't speak for you if I want to drive you away."
Xianglan: “…”
She felt indignant, but she could only speed up. She put a dish into the pot to heat it up, then took it out to clean the pot when it was hot, and then put in another dish.
For ten dishes, she washed the pot ten times.
The pot was so big that she had to bend down deeply to reach it. By the time the ten dishes were heated up, Pandan was already sweating profusely and her lumbar spine ached.
She felt extremely aggrieved, but thinking of the tasks entrusted to her by the Fifth Prince Consort, she could only bring out the plates with a smile:
"Prince-in-law, the dishes have been heated according to your instructions."
"Um."
Ji Changze sat in the yard, holding a storybook and reading.
Seeing Xianglan speaking in a soft tone while placing the plates of dishes, a look of satisfaction appeared on his face:
"Yes, she is worthy of being my servant girl."
The tender expression on Xianglan's face almost failed her.
But he could only force an expression like "I'm so happy and shy after being praised", and smiled delicately and shyly at Ji Changze.
However, the Ninth Prince Consort who came from the countryside didn't understand what she meant at all, and only looked at her with a puzzled expression:
"Why are you still standing there? Since the dishes are done, why don't you go clean up the house?"
"The table needs to be wiped and the floor needs to be wiped. Hurry up and finish it before we finish eating."
Xianglan was stunned.
Just do the work, what the hell is it that you finish before eating
Soon Ji Changze told her what the hell was going on.
"After we finish eating, you have to wash up, otherwise it will be dark and you won't be able to wash it off. It's so dirty."
Xianglan: "???"
She asked: "Prince-in-law, when will this slave eat?"
"Have a meal?!"
Ji Changze looked quite shocked: "You actually want to eat?"
Xianglan: "... slave, can't you eat?"
Ji Changze looked her up and down and said in a surprised tone:
"I heard that the eunuchs beside my father stay with him twelve hours a day and never have to eat. Aren't you the most capable person around the five princes? You can't even do this?"
Xianglan: “…”
How can a person not eat
I guess it was because the eunuchs around His Majesty only spent a very short time eating some cold cakes and drinking a little water in order to obey His Majesty's call all the time, just to save time.
This puts it bluntly.
Even if the competition for positions is too stressful, His Majesty is the biggest person in the world. In order to consolidate their status, it is understandable for these eunuchs to do this.
Otherwise, if one day His Majesty asks so-and-so to come, other eunuchs will come over and say, "Your Majesty, so-and-so can't come. He has gone to eat."
Can His Majesty still wait for the other party to finish eating before coming to do things for him
This Ninth Prince Consort, even if he wants to imitate the life of a powerful man, he will not learn it well.
Why are you always staring at these
She was cursing in her heart, but she said the above very gently on her face.
Ji Changze: "Ah! So that's it!"
Seeing the sudden realization on his face, Xianglan thought that he finally realized how unreliable her request was, but she saw the other party said with great interest:
"Then can't you just do what those eunuchs did?"
"Hard pancakes, right? I'll buy them for you. You can eat as much as you want, but remember, you have to eat them where I can't see you. Learn from the eunuchs around my father and create a kind of atmosphere that you don't need at all. Come out looking like you’re eating and drinking.”
Xianglan: "???"
Xianglan: “…”
Her eyes were filled with disbelief. She opened her mouth to say something, but closed it silently.
After a pause for several seconds, he said:
"Prince-in-law, those father-in-laws have all practiced their skills at a young age. I am afraid that the servants are not as good as the father-in-law."
"It's okay. It doesn't matter if you don't learn well now. Just learn slowly."
Ji Changze was patient: "If you study for ten or eight years, you will always be as good as the eunuchs in the palace."
Xianglan: “…”
She regretted it.
She doesn't want to do it anymore.
Is it too late to go back now
Of course... it's too late.
Ji Changze was already urging her to get to work:
"If you are hungry and there is a pancake left in the kitchen last night, you can eat it while cleaning."
"By the way, be careful when eating and don't leave any crumbs in the house, otherwise I will fine you a monthly fine."
Xianglan: “…”
With a heart full of speechlessness, she saluted Ji Changze and silently went into the house to work.
Not long after Xianglan entered, the door opened from the outside.
Jiang Xinyan walked in with Chunzhu, with a look of exhaustion on his face.
She was very surprised when she saw the dishes on the table.
The prince-in-law doesn't look like someone who knows how to cook.
Ji Changze immediately stood up and came over to greet him, smiling and saying:
"Did the princess enter the palace? I thought you should come back by this time. Let me tell you a good thing. The fifth brother-in-law gave me a girl. In the future, the princess will no longer have to do these chores. Someone will do it."
"Girl?"
Jiang Xinyan was pulled to sit down by Ji Changze. Hearing this, his face was full of hesitation.
She knew very well how the fifth princess treated her.
She didn't believe that the fifth prince-in-law had such good intentions.
But seeing Ji Changze looking so happy, she didn't say anything in her heart. She just hid her uneasiness and asked:
"Where is that girl? Why didn't I see her?"
Ji Changze pointed to the room nonchalantly:
"She's cleaning inside, don't worry about her, let's eat first."
"These are the meals I brought back from Tianhe Tower. They are all intact. The princess has been in the palace before she got married. She hasn't eaten the food from Tianhe Tower yet, right?"
Jiang Xinyan couldn't help but have a shy smile on his face as Ji Changze pinched a piece of meat, and slowly shook his head.
There are many delicacies in the palace, probably no worse than the Tianhe Tower.
But those delicacies are only available to the favored empresses and princesses.
In the case of her and her mother, it would be a good idea if the imperial kitchen did not bring cold food.
"I knew the princess hadn't eaten it. No, today I had the opportunity to bring it back to the princess."
Ji Changze's smile reminded Jiang Xinyan of the time when the two had just gotten married.
The prince-in-law was also like this at that time.
If she had felt aggrieved when she first learned the news, but when she met her husband-in-law and realized that she was like a goddess in the sky in his heart, those grievances disappeared.
No matter how bad her marriage was, the consort truly loved her and that was enough.
Jiang Xinyan also smiled at Ji Changze and gave him a chopstick of food.
"Thank you, Prince Consort, I will have a good meal."
The two of them started eating the food one bite at a time.
I have to say that the food in Tianhe Restaurant is really good, and it tastes good.
This was the first time in more than ten years that Jiang Xinyan had eaten such delicious food, and she couldn't help but have a look of enjoyment on her face.
Chunzhu sat on the small table next to her. On the plate in front of her was the food that Jiang Xinyan had given her first, and she ate without raising her head.
Ji Changze had something else to do, so he only ate a few bites with him and then went out with his food box.
Naturally, you should report this before leaving:
"Didn't Uncle Hub's home at the entrance of the alley suffer a disaster? I'll bring the food to his house to have a drink with him."
Jiang Xinyan was not surprised either.
She knew that the prince-in-law always got into trouble whenever he wanted.
The Prince Consort liked his status as Prince Consort, and he wanted to show it off in front of others when he got the chance.
Jiang Xinyan's temperament is very low-key, and she personally doesn't like to do this.
But since it was the consort's hobby, she wouldn't say much.
Ji Changze did not forget to warn him before he left:
"By the way, after you finish eating, ask the girl in the house to come out and wash up. You don't have to call her to eat. She has a way of eating without having to eat in front of others."
After Jiang Xinyan nodded, Ji Changze went out.
As soon as he left, Chunzhu immediately raised his head and said to Jiang Xinyan:
"Princess, these dishes are delicious. I have never eaten such delicious dishes."
"It's delicious."
In fact, Jiang Xinyan felt the same way, but she was embarrassed to say it.
She gestured to Chunzhu to hand over the almost-empty plate: "Here, I'll give you some more dishes. Which one do you like?"
Chunzhu grew up with her, and their affection was naturally different from ordinary people. She was not shy and quickly ordered the dishes on the table happily:
"This, and this, princess, I want this too, thank you princess."
Chunzhu, who got another plate of food, sat back and started to enjoy the food. She felt that this was the happiest day after following the princess out of the palace.
Jiang Xinyan smiled and watched her eating without raising her head, and slowly continued eating.
Inside the house, Xianglan finally finished wiping the floor, held down her waist and hammered her a few times, with a look of discomfort on her face.
The room was not big, but mopping the floor was a strenuous task, and she had to bend over and lower her head all the time. If she raised her head for a long time, her eyes would go dark.
I really never expected that the Ninth Prince Consort would be a bumpkin and easy to fool in the future. It turned out that it was precisely because the Ninth Prince Consort was a bumpkin that he always cared about things that made her suffer.
She stood up with difficulty holding on to the table.
When he looked up, he saw the master and servant eating in the yard.
Forget it about the princess.
That person is obviously dressed as a girl, why does she eat so deliciously
She was also a girl, so why did the Ninth Prince Consort ask her but not the other party
Xianglan was already dizzy from wiping tables and floors, but now she saw that the other maids in this family could actually eat normally, and they were eating the food brought back from Tianhe Tower, and she almost fainted on the spot.
The scent drifted to her nose on the wind.
She was really greedy, thinking that the Fifth Prince Consort said that the Ninth Princess was weak and could be bullied, so she adjusted her posture and stood by the door.
Sure enough, the ninth princess heard the movement and looked up.
Xianglan waited expectantly for her to ask her to come over to eat, even if she shared the same plate with that girl.
As a result, the other party took one look, lowered his gaze again, and went to eat.
Xianglan: “…”
No, it was said that the weak Ninth Princess could bully the very talkative one.
She didn't speak at all!
Jiang Xinyan was actually not as calm as he appeared.
After seeing Xianglan's appearance, she was immediately shocked.
With such good looks, it is clear what the five consorts' intentions were in sending Xianglan here.
But she couldn't say anything yet.
There are not enough maids in the family, so as the brother-in-law of the Fifth Prince Consort, he kindly sent one over. If she didn't want Xianglan because of her appearance, I'm afraid it would not just be as simple as being called to the palace every day and scolded.
And the prince-in-law seemed to have completely accepted this maid.
But the good news is that the consort doesn't seem to have any sympathy for her.
While Jiang Xinyan was eating, she was thinking about one thing or another.
So now comes the problem.
There were only two rooms in the house.
One room was occupied by her and her consort.
One room is for spring bamboo sleeping.
Where will this new girl sleep
If you sleep with Chunzhu, Chunzhu's room is small and the bed is only big enough for one person.
what should I do.
Jiang Xinyan was very distressed.
There was no other place for her to sleep at home, so she couldn't just build a temporary room, right
Ji Changze, who came back from Uncle Huber's house, heard this question and immediately started laughing at Jiang Xinyan:
"How come the princess can't even figure out such a simple thing?"
"There are only two bedrooms in the house, but isn't there a firewood shed? We don't have much firewood, and the place over there is big enough. It would be nice to let Xianglan sleep in the firewood shed."
Jiang Xinyan: "... After all, she is the girl given to me by my fifth brother-in-law. Isn't it not good to sleep in the woodshed?"
"What's not so good is that it would be nice to have a place to sleep. If this were in our hometown, the girl would usually sleep next to the pig's nest, so it's easier to get up in the morning and feed the pigs."
Xianglan, who was listening next to her: "..."
She endured washing the pots, it was just a bit harder anyway.
She endured mopping the floor, since the house was not very big anyway.
Sleeping in the woodshed? ?
"Prince-in-law, Xianglan has been fair-skinned since she was a child, and it will become extremely red and swollen if touched. The woodshed is ventilated, and there are probably mosquitoes, snakes, and ants. If she sleeps there, she will definitely be bruised and red."
Xianglan said coquettishly and timidly, while rolling up half of her sleeves, exposing her fair and beautiful arms underneath.
Ji Changze's eyes widened.
Just when Pandan was proud.
He opened his mouth and said: "Aren't you the most capable girl around the fifth brother-in-law? She said that she was sold to their house since she was a child. You have been a girl for so many years, why are you still so fair? Are you lazy? "
Xianglan: “…”
She forced a smile dryly: "How could that be? It's just that I'm a personal servant. I only do some chores in the house. Other girls do all the hard work."
"now it's right."
Ji Changze clapped his hands: "So you are not born with this at all, but a bad problem that you have developed since you have not suffered much since you were a child."
The corner of Xianglan's mouth stiffened: "Bro... is it a problem?"
"Of course it's something wrong. You see, you are a girl, but your shoulders can withstand the hand but not picking. I asked my fifth brother-in-law why he is so kind and insists on giving me a girl. It seems that he thinks you are useless. Then I just found an excuse to send you out."
Xianglan: “…”
She opened her mouth to explain, but was interrupted by Ji Changze:
"Hey, you don't need to tell me! Don't worry, I am different from my fifth brother-in-law. He will abandon you when he sees that you are useless. I will not abandon you. I am a special person..."
Xianglan had hope in her heart and looked at Ji Changze with hope, hoping that he would say the words "love the fragrance and cherish the jade".
Ji Changze: "Don't waste it."
Xianglan: “…”
"Although you haven't been able to learn the correct behavior as a girl before, I can teach you. You don't have to worry. Unless you really can't teach me, I won't sell you."
"Even if I sell you, I will sell you to a good place. Let me tell you, the neighbor of Huber's house where I just went has an old man who is over sixty years old and has not yet married a wife. If I If you sell you to him, he will definitely be very kind to you."
The old man... in his sixties... is a wife...
Xianglan's whole body felt bad.
She was panic-stricken, and quickly thought of ideas in her heart, and immediately knelt down and begged:
"Prince-in-law, please don't sell Pandan. Pandan is willing to serve the Prince-in-law all his life. You ask me to go east but not to the west. I will definitely do whatever you ask me to do, as long as I don't sell Pandan. , Pandan is willing to do anything.”
Think about it, a beautiful woman begging with tears in her eyes and promising to do anything.
What should the implored man do
What kinds of things would be running through his mind.
While Xianglan was crying, she secretly looked at Ji Changze's face.
Sure enough, I saw that his expression had softened, and there was even a hint of comfort.
really.
She knew that no man could resist her hinting like this.
Xianglan listened to Ji Changze ask: "Are you really willing to do anything as long as I keep you here?"
She immediately covered her face as if she was shy, struggled deliberately for a few seconds, and then nodded slowly.
"Yes, Xianglan is willing to do anything. Please don't drive Xianglan away."
"good!"
Ji Changze's tone instantly became gentle: "Xianglan, what I want you to do is actually not very difficult. You just need to cooperate a little bit. However, I am going to wrong you a little."
Xianglan: Hey, man!
But her face was still shy: "Yes, Xianglan listens to the consort. Whatever the consort asks Xianglan to do, Xianglan will do it."
Ji Changze nodded:
"Then I'll build a pigsty, and you can live next to the pigsty."
Xianglan: "???"
She raised her head in disbelief: "Pig, pig pen??"
Ji Changze: "Yes, after thinking about it, it is better to raise pigs at home. If you live next to the pig pen, you can easily feed the pigs in the morning. If the pigs are uncomfortable in any way, you can find out as soon as possible."
"Hey, why are you looking like this?"
"Didn't you say that as long as I let you stay, you would do anything?"
"I just let you live next to the pigsty and feed the pigs!"