At the gate of the palace, Ji Yuqing happily held Yiyun's hand and looked around, but she didn't see a carriage for the princess to go out. She turned around in confusion and saw Ji Lingxue walking out slowly, "Sister, where is the carriage?"
The princess and the prince have standard carriages in the palace, but the concubines do not. If a concubine wants to go out, she has to ask the prince for permission, but the princess does not necessarily have to use it, so she instigated Ji Lingxue to go shopping together.
Ji Lingxue looked up at the weather and said, "The weather is nice today. I think walking is good for your health. I have already told the housekeeper not to use the carriage for now. The carriage will come out to pick us up an hour later. What do you think?"
Ji Lingxue: No matter what you want to do, if you want to go shopping with me, be prepared for your feet to tremble with soreness.
Three black lines slid down Ji Yuqing and Yiyun's foreheads at the same time. Although the palace was relatively close to the street market, it would still take half an hour to walk there.
Ji Yuqing and Yiyun were both well-to-do girls who never left the house. How could their feet bear the strain of walking to the street? Both of them wanted to back out.
Ji Lingxue's eyes twinkled, and she smiled and said, "My two sisters need to exercise more. How can you give birth if you are weak and frail?"
Ji Yuqing was a proud person, and couldn't stand being provoked. "Just walk, Ziye, go get some umbrellas. The sun is so strong, don't burn the princess' face."
Yiyun covered her stomach and said, "Princess, I have a stomachache. I won't go shopping with you today. Let's do it another day."
Want to back out
Ji Lingxue smiled and said, "Sister Yiyun, why do you have a stomachache just when you are about to go out? Did you eat something bad? We all ate the same food just now, why do you have a stomachache? It just so happens that my personal maid knows medical skills, Moxiang, go and check on Sister Yiyun."
Mo Xiang responded and walked towards Yiyun. Yiyun was pretending to be sick, so she didn't dare to let Mo Xiang take her pulse. What if she was not sick but he said she was seriously ill and randomly gave her acupuncture? That would be bad.
Yiyun put her hands behind her back and said with a smile, "No need, I feel much better now, sister, it's getting late, let's go to the street."
This was not the first time that Yiyun had suffered a loss in front of Ji Lingxue. Whenever she saw Ji Lingxue's face, she felt like she was sinking in the cold lake again. The raging lake water rushed into her nostrils and it felt like it was about to fill her brain. The feeling of being on the verge of death and suffocation would always appear in her dreams at midnight.
Ji Lingxue took the lead, followed by Yiyun and Ji Yuqing, who were escorted forward by their respective maids holding umbrellas.
A quarter of an hour later, Ji Yuqing was sweating profusely. Zi Ye took out a handkerchief to help Ji Yuqing wipe the sweat off her forehead. The handkerchief was covered with thick rouge. Looking at Ji Yuqing's face again, it was white and mottled, and the tip of her nose was greasy, which looked a bit funny.
Yiyun's legs and feet were weak, and she was supported by the maid beside her and leaned against a shady wall, fanning herself with her wide sleeves and breathing. Her makeup was light and not smudged. She looked with more resentment at Ji Lingxue who was still walking in front of her with her clothes fluttering in the wind.
Ji Lingxue was not unaware of the two resentful gazes behind her. She stopped in front of a tea stall and said to Mo Xiang, "Go get two bowls of tea and send them to the two concubines to quench their thirst."
Mo Xiang responded and walked into the tea stall. Soon the waiter came happily towards Ji Yuqing and Yiyun with two bowls of tea.
Ji Yuqing's eyes lit up. Her throat was burning at the moment, and the bowl of water brought by the waiter was like timely help.
Evian waved his hand to indicate that he didn't need it.
Ji Yuqing took the water handed to her by the waiter and drank it in one gulp. When she returned the empty bowl to the waiter, she heard the waiter grin and say, "Madam, a bowl of water costs one tael of silver." Then he spread his hands.
Ji Yuqing almost choked on her own saliva. What? One tael of silver for a bowl of water? Why didn’t he just rob it
The waiter said, "Madam, you are dressed so elegantly, you don't have even one ounce of silver, do you?"
Zi Ye said, "Waiter, you sell this bowl of water for one tael of silver, are you robbing me?"
The waiter nodded and said as a matter of course: "I'm just robbing, what's wrong with that?"
Zi Ye was speechless, "You are such a rip-off, waiter!"
Yiyun waved her hand and said, "Sister, don't bother with such servants. You will get sick from being angry." Then she took out a purse from her sleeve and took out one or two taels of silver to give to the waiter.
The waiter tossed two taels of silver and asked Yiyun, "Miss, don't you want some water?"
Evian shook her head. She couldn't afford such expensive water.
The waiter nodded, turned around and left with the empty bowl.
"This guy..." Ji Yuqing looked unwilling, as if she had stepped on dog shit. She turned to Yiyun and said, "He actually wants to sell a bowl of water for one or two taels of silver. We should report him to the government."
Yiyun shook her head and said, "Sister Yuqing, think about your status and stop worrying about these trivial matters. Besides, if we go to the government and the prince finds out, he will definitely blame us for being embarrassing. For those who need it, a bowl of water can be worth a lot... not to mention our status... it's not a lot of money."
After being comforted by Yiyun, Ji Yuqing looked much better. She asked Zi Ye to help her tidy up her appearance and set off again.
Yiyun looked around and said, "Hey, where's Sister Princess? Wasn't she sitting in the teahouse drinking tea just now?"
Ji Yuqing turned her head and looked over. There were only a few men drinking tea and chatting in the tea stall, and there was no sign of Ji Lingxue.
"A feint to the east and an attack in the west... She abandoned us and ran away?" Ji Yuqing gritted her teeth, holding a grudge against her for deliberately abandoning her in the street last time. She turned her head and looked at the road behind her.
Ji Yuqing was secretly annoyed. Her legs were almost sore after walking for half a day, and the carriage had not come to pick them up yet. She was really angry.
Ji Yuqing turned to look at Yiyun and asked, "What should we do now?"
Yiyun said, "We're all out now, let's go find a place to rest." They came out with Ji Lingxue, and she would not be willing to go back like this.
The two walked forward side by side, and the maids followed with their tired bodies.
Not far away, Ji Lingxue and Mo Xiang turned out of the alley and watched Ji Yuqing and Yiyun walk away.
Mo Xiang said: "Finally got rid of them."
Ji Lingxue said: "Go find Xiao Si and the others, and ask them to come to Wangshan Tower to find me."
Mo Xiang nodded and said, "Yes, I'll do it right away." Then she turned and left.
As soon as Mo Xiang left, Ji Lingxue said to the empty air: "Come out!"
Although she had no martial arts skills, her intuition was always accurate and she knew someone was following her secretly.
Soon, two men in black appeared and knelt in front of Ji Lingxue to greet her, "Greetings, Princess."
Ji Lingxue nodded, "What are your names?"
"I am An Qi and An Ba. What is the princess calling us out for?" the two secret guards said in unison. It seemed that Xiao Yichen had arranged for her to replace An Ge.
Ji Lingxue nodded and said, "Well, you saw where Ji Yuqing and Yiyun went, right? Use Qinggong to take me there."
"Yes." The two secret guards held Ji Lingxue on the left and right, and they landed on the roof together. Then they pointed their toes and flew in the wind like a swallow.
In a certain inn, Ji Yuqing and Yi Yiyu, who were too exhausted to walk, entered the Jixiang Inn, asked for a room, and lay down on the bed to rest.
Ji Lingxue and two secret guards lay on the roof of the opposite building and waited quietly. The inn was doing good business with people coming and going.
Ji Lingxue still remembered that Ji Yuqing had secretly met with a man in black, but the man in black did not show his face, so his identity was difficult to check.
Ji Lingxue yawned out of boredom, but still didn't see any suspicious people. Ji Lingxue sighed, "It seems that I overestimated Ji Yuqing."
If she wasn't coming out to meet the man in black, what was Ji Yuqing planning
Ji Lingxue let the secret guard help her get off the roof. At that moment, someone wearing a gauze hat came out from the Jixiang Inn opposite. She took off the gauze hat with her bare hands and looked around. Yiyun lowered her hands and turned into the alley beside her...
Ji Lingxue was sitting in a private room on the second floor of Wangshan Tower. Xiao Yichen's signature calligraphy in the middle of the tower had been replaced by a majestic landscape painting, with cranes flying over waterfalls and surrounded by cedars, giving people a sense of being there.
Ji Lingxue looked at the landscape painting thoughtfully. Not long after, Mo Xiang brought Xiao Si in. Xiao Si looked at Ji Lingxue happily and said, "Miss, what do you want me to do?"
Ji Lingxue pointed to the seat opposite and said, "Take a seat."
Xiao Si rubbed his hands and took the seat disrespectfully. He only dared to sit on half of the seat and his expression was a little restrained. This was his first time to drink tea with a girl face to face and he was a little nervous.
Ji Lingxue said, "I have been away from the capital for more than ten days. I want to hear what you heard. Just tell me what you have to say. Don't be restrained."
Xiao Si nervously picked up the teapot and poured a cup of tea. After thinking for a while, he said, "Nothing special has happened in the capital recently. I believe the girl knows about the faceless female corpse case that shocked the whole city, right?"
Ji Lingxue nodded.
Xiao Si continued, "The faceless female corpse case happened repeatedly, and the second faceless female corpse turned out to be the wife of Prince Chen. This alarmed the emperor, and in order to appease Prince Chen, the emperor gave the beautiful girl Yiyun, who was originally going to enter the palace, to Prince Chen as a concubine. This was suggested by the uncle of the emperor, and the news spread among the people."
Ji Lingxue's hand holding the cup trembled. It turned out to be the king's uncle again. Why was he everywhere? Could it be that Yiyun was the king's uncle's man
Ji Lingxue felt sad for Xiao Yichen in her heart, and looked at the tigers and wolves around her, how pitiful and sad he was.
Xiao Si was still talking incessantly, but Ji Lingxue didn't hear a word he said.
Xiao Si: "Miss, the things purchased for the restaurant are ready. Everything is ready. We just need a chef to open the restaurant. But where can we find a chef?"
Ji Lingxue regained her composure and said with a smile, "The cooking competition will be held in half a month, and we will be able to pick the best chef then. By the way, is Mrs. Liu's injury better?"
Xiao Si nodded, "She came to Qingfeng Yashe to look for the girl. When she learned that the girl hadn't been there for a long time, her eyes looked a little sad. She also told us that the girl was the best girl in the world, and whoever marries you in the future will be blessed."
Ji Lingxue smiled and asked Xiao Si if he was short of food and clothing. Xiao Si shook his head and said that he had enough food and clothing now. Ji Lingxue handed Xiao Si a list and said, "This is the New Year's goods I listed. You and Mo Xiang go buy them."
Xiao Si nodded, turned around and went out to do some work with Mo Xiang. Ji Lingxue was holding a cup of tea and slowly opening the box. At this time, a scholar in a blue shirt stood opposite her and saluted her.
(End of this chapter)