Xiao Yichen opened his mouth and wanted to say something, but stopped. He turned his head and looked at Ji Lingxue beside him. That day, Ji Lingxue and Ruge sneaked into Ji Yuqing's room. He was lurking on the roof and saw Ji Lingxue pull out a bag of jewelry from under Ji Yuqing's pillow and sprinkle suspicious powder on it. He thought Ji Lingxue had used some chronic poison, but it turned out to be a hair loss agent.
Ji Lingxue blinked, "Your Highness, why are you looking at me like that? Don't you see how your sister has become like that? Why don't you quickly ask a doctor to treat your sister?"
Ji Yuqing finally found a piece of cloth to cover her head. At first glance, she looked like a country girl. "Hurry up and call a doctor. I want the best doctor."
Which woman doesn't love beauty? Hair is as important as one's life. Otherwise, how could there be the ancestral motto "The body and hair are given by parents. One should not damage them. This is the beginning of filial piety."
This was the heaviest blow Ji Yuqing suffered today. A piece of her hair fell out while she was eating, but it was nothing, as every woman loses a few hairs every day.
But after returning to the palace, Ji Yuqing's head began to itch. At first, she scratched it with her hands and it felt okay, but later on, no matter how hard she scratched, it was of no use. She scratched her hair so hard that it became a mess. The jade hairpin on her head could not withstand such tossing and turning, and it fell to the ground and shattered.
Ji Yuqing didn't feel the itchiness stop until her hair was all messed up, but she saw a monster with a bald head in the bronze mirror.
Ji Yuqing was very pleased to see Ji Lingxue speak up for her. The sister whom she had never liked very much finally did something to show her concern. When she recovered from her baldness, she would definitely find out who was targeting her.
The doctor came quickly. Bai Mo had gone back long ago, so the doctor who came was from the city. After seeing Ji Yuqing's bald head, he shook his head and said, "This is a bald spot with no hair follicles. I'm afraid it will be difficult for hair to grow again. I'm sorry that I'm not a good doctor and can't do anything."
Ji Yuqing was so angry that she threw the doctor out with a pillow, saying, "What a quack, all of them."
As a result, Prince Chen's mansion became bustling all of a sudden, with different doctors coming to visit every day, but in the end they all left with their heads shaken in helplessness. Suddenly, rumors spread that Prince Chen's concubine was losing her hair at such a young age, and that she might have offended the gods.
The ups and downs outside had no effect on Ji Lingxue. She was sitting at the table looking through the restaurant account book and listening to the gossip that Mo Xiang had heard.
Mo Xiang said, “Princess, your method of promoting the restaurant business is very effective. Now our restaurant is busy every day… By the way, the prince has been visiting the restaurant recently when he has nothing to do. I heard from Xiao Si that he wants to meet the restaurant owner… Even the children in the city know that Concubine Qing suddenly became bald. They even made up a nursery rhyme, 'Prince Chen's concubine was a talented woman, but she became a nun after losing her hair… Hahaha.”
Ji Lingxue calmly turned the page, her fingers quickly moved on the abacus, and said, "My sister didn't become a nun because of her baldness. I heard that the prince invited the divine doctor Bai Mo, but he still couldn't cure her baldness. It seems that she really offended the gods."
Mo Xiang said, "I just returned to the palace and saw Concubine Qing wearing a gauze hat and accompanied by Zi Ye. She probably wanted to calm down the message."
Ji Lingxue nodded. This matter had become a big deal. Even the Ji family knew about it and specially sent some tonic medicine to Ji Yuqing. Xiao Yichen also sent some tonic medicine to show that he did not ignore Ji Yuqing.
Ji Lingxue guessed correctly. Ji Yuqing deliberately wore a gauze hat when going out today to listen to the comments in the market. Then she took off the gauze hat in front of everyone and let her black hair flutter in the wind, in order to calm the comments.
It happened that Yiyun also went out for a walk with her maid that day. The two talented women seemed to have a lot to say to each other, so they chose a teahouse to have a long chat.
Yiyun has not recovered since the sunset in the lake. She was weak to begin with, and was choked by the lake water. Now she is afraid of water. She attributed all her bad things to Ji Lingxue.
Ji Yuqing has been investigating the cause of her hair loss, and finally thought of the emerald bead flower. She got this emerald bead flower from Ji Lingxue. She believes that her baldness must be caused by the emerald bead flower. That means Ji Lingxue is taking revenge on her. Although she can't find any other evidence, she is convinced of this.
Originally, Ji Yuqing was not very friendly to Yiyun, a talented woman who was equally as talented as herself. The two women had a common enemy and suddenly became allies.
Yiyun said, "The plum blossoms in my house will bloom in a few days. There will be a half-plum blossom viewing party. You and the princess can come together. I have my own way to deal with her."
Seeing that Yiyun didn't want to reveal the plan, Ji Yuqing smiled and said, "Okay, I'll wait for good news from sister Yiyun."
The two women clinked their glasses with tea instead of wine, looked at each other and smiled at each other in friendship.
Ji Yuqing did not return to the palace, but went back to her parents' home to cry and seek comfort from Feng.
That night, Feng used a comb to comb Ji Yuqing's hair. Seeing that there was a piece of hair missing from the top of Ji Yuqing's head, her eyes suddenly turned red. "Qing'er, have you found out whether it was that bitch who did it? I shouldn't have been soft-hearted and spared her life. Now she is not only alive and well, but she also made you so miserable. What if the King of Chen dislikes you? What should we do?"
Ji Yuqing turned around and threw herself into Feng's arms, "Mother, you must pay for your daughter. My daughter has a miserable life. If it weren't for her, I would be the Princess of Chen now, not some concubine. If it weren't for her, I wouldn't be laughed at by everyone in the capital... Woo woo..."
There was a hint of ruthlessness in Feng's eyes. She was willing to pay any price for her daughter's bright future.
Ji Yuqing said: "Now that bitch has been living in the yard next to the prince and is well protected. It is impossible for us to hire someone to kill her." If killing Ji Lingxue was so easy, the mysterious man would not have not made a move until now. Everything he wanted is still in his hands.
Feng said, "I will go to Prince Chen's mansion tomorrow and tell him that his father is ill and ask her to go to her parents' home."
Ji Yuqing hurriedly shook her head and whispered, "This is not a good reason. Isn't her biological mother's death anniversary coming soon? She should go to pay respects to her. Then you can hire a killer to assassinate her..."
Feng slapped her thigh and said, "This is a good plan, daughter. That woman is too tough. How about hiring some more killers?"
Ji Yuqing shook her head. She had already contacted the mysterious man, and he would also take action. Two waves of killers. Ji Lingxue, I want you to die. Never appear in front of me again!
"A-choo!" Ji Lingxue rubbed her nose, closed the account book and stretched. Suddenly she sneezed and rubbed her nose. Ji Lingxue murmured, "Who is thinking about me at this time?"
There was a knock on the door, and the next moment Xiao Yichen pushed the door open and walked in front of Ji Lingxue with a cold night air. "Do you have any specific plans for the cooking competition you mentioned?"
Ji Lingxue's eyes lit up. She wanted Xiao Yichen to fund a cooking competition, not only to promote the popularity of Qingfeng Yashe, but also to make a fortune from it. The only thing she was interested in now was gold and silver.
Xiao Yichen had been in a cold war with her for two days, but Ji Lingxue didn't feel anything. She was used to being ignored by Xiao Yichen. But Xiao Yichen couldn't hold it back and came to find Ji Lingxue first.
Ji Lingxue said: "Your Highness, what plans do you have? Why don't we discuss it together?" As she said that, she poured a cup of hot tea and pushed it to Xiao Yichen to warm his hands.
Xiao Yichen said: "Today, I went to the palace and mentioned this to my brother. He was very interested in it and kept asking me about the specific plan."
Ji Lingxue: It turns out that we are going to organize an official cooking competition. That would be a good idea. With the emperor in charge, the fame would be even higher.
Ji Lingxue said, "The cooking competition can be open to all regions. We can first announce it to the world through the emperor's decree, so that chefs from all over the country can participate enthusiastically. Many people will come to watch the ceremony, which will make the capital lively, and the business of inns and restaurants will improve. In addition, the venue of our cooking competition should be spacious so that the people can see the emperor having fun with the people. We can charge a fee for the first ten rows of the audience seats, so that the money raised can fill the national treasury. We can also set up mobile stalls around the venue to sell some fruits and meals. We can charge rent for these stalls, which can be a certain amount of silver per day. Although the price is expensive, the harvest per day is considerable, and those merchants will rent them... That's all I can think of for now, and I'll leave the specific implementation plan to you, my Lord."
Xiao Yichen was so excited by Ji Lingxue's idea that he already had a preliminary idea in his mind, especially when he thought that if this cooking competition was successful, he could make a lot of money from it.
Xiao Yichen asked, "What do you think the prize for this cooking competition should be?"
Ji Lingxue pinched her chin, thought for a while and said, "That depends on our emperor." She shrugged her shoulders. It was not something she should think about anyway.
Xiao Yichen curled his lips and smiled. Ji Lingxue was becoming more and more cunning. "Okay, my beloved concubine, thank you for your hard work. I will take care of the rest of the details." He patted Ji Lingxue's shoulder, turned around and went out to do his work in a hurry.
Ji Lingxue sat there for a long time before she realized that Xiao Yichen actually changed his way of addressing her to "My beloved concubine", which sounded so corny.
Ji Lingxue yawned, turned over and went to bed.
The next day, Feng came to Prince Chen's mansion in person. As the mother-in-law of Prince Chen, Feng looked very proud. Sitting on a chair in the living room, she said to the maid in front of her, "Go and wake up your princess to see me."
The maid was embarrassed. It was only daybreak, and the princess was probably still sleeping. If she went there rashly, she would be punished by the prince. The prince had issued an order a few days ago not to disturb the princess and to be respectful to her.
Feng raised her eyebrows. She couldn't even summon the maids in the palace. She immediately stood up and said, "Lead the way. I will go find her myself. Your princess is my daughter."
The maid tremblingly brought Feng to Ji Lingxue's yard, and happened to meet Xiao Yichen who had just got up and was about to go to court.
Seeing her son-in-law, Feng stopped being domineering and greeted him with a smile, "Isn't this my prince's son-in-law? Where are you going?"
Xiao Yichen frowned and looked at Feng. From a distance, he heard Feng calling her "I am the princess's mother" repeatedly. She didn't care about the time when she would see her daughter. She could see her whenever she wanted.
Xiao Yichen said, "Feng, Qing'er went back to her parents' home yesterday. Why are you coming to the palace so early in the morning to make trouble? Could it be that Qing'er is not with you?"
(End of this chapter)