The next day, when Xiaosun came to serve Zi'an, she found the Hu man Ah-chun standing in Zi'an's room. She was surprised for a moment and then said admiringly: "You are here quite early to serve the princess."
Ah Chun nodded and went out.
Zi'an looked at his back and smiled. He helped him to dye his beard in the morning. He spent the whole morning there. It seems that it needs some improvement. It is not easy to dye his beard every morning.
"Did the princess order him to go out and do something?" Xiao Sun asked when he saw him go out.
"Yes, I told him to go out on errands during the day and he would keep watch here at night."
Zian always had to find a reasonable reason to explain why he appeared in his room every morning.
"Watching the night? Doesn't the princess always need no one to watch the night?" Xiaosun asked in surprise.
"Well, it was in the past, but there have been some anomalies in the capital recently, and I had an accident before, so I think it's okay to be more careful. Okay, I have to go to the princess's mansion later. Please help me comb my hair first. My head was itchy last night. I don't know if the shampoo I made is not good."
She couldn't comb her hair because the hairstyle of the princess in this dynasty was very complicated. Sometimes when she attended formal occasions, she had to sit in front of the dressing table and let them do her hair for an hour.
Xiaosun asked, "Didn't you just wash your hair the night before? Why is it itchy again?"
Xiaosun used a horn comb to separate her hair and then combed it. As she was combing, she suddenly cried out in surprise, "Oh my God, Princess, do you have lice? Did Prince Li infect you?"
Everyone knew that Prince Li had his head shaved bald due to fleas caused by the Jin Dynasty. When Zi'an had lice, Prince Li was the first to be suspected.
Zi'an's face turned pale with shock, "Lice?"
"Yes, I'll catch one for you." Xiaosun's fingers quickly parted her hair, caught a louse, and pinched it to death with her two thumb nails.
Zi'an felt a little dizzy. It must be Lao Qi. How long has it been since he washed his hair
No wonder he was caught all night last night.
Zi'an said helplessly, "Don't put your hair in a bun. Just use anything to tie my hair up so it's easier to scratch."
It will be difficult to scratch the itch when I turn my head back after I have my hair in a bun.
Xiaosun muttered, "I haven't interacted with Prince Li recently, how did he get lice?"
Zi'an felt a little guilty. Prince Li had been accused of this crime in vain. People would no longer have lice after shaving their heads.
Zi'an wrote a prescription and asked Xiaosun to get the medicine and boil water to wash her hair. She specifically instructed, "Boil water in the evening. Add more water. It's best to boil a large pot."
"Can it remove lice?" Xiaosun asked.
"Of course, it will be gone after two or three washes."
Xiao Sun burst out laughing, "Then Prince Li's hair was shaved in vain."
Zi'an also smiled, "Okay, go ahead. By the way, please send someone to the palace to invite Madam out. As for Concubine Liang, I'll ask Concubine Mei to send someone else to serve her."
The nanny has been with her for some time, and everyone knows that the nanny is now loyal to her. If she is left alone in the palace, she might be attacked.
"Yes!" Xiaosun replied.
After breakfast, Guiyuan came over to check the accounts.
"Have you got it all done?" Zi'an looked at Guiyuan. Ever since entering the palace, the child has grown rapidly in height and now looks to be around 1.78 meters tall.
Guiyuan said shyly: "The accountant taught me well. I am familiar with it now."
"Do a good job." Zi'an opened the account book and saw that each item of expenditure and income was very clear. He could not help but nod and praise, "You are doing a good job."
The expenses of the palace are now under control, especially after the departure of the noble concubine, Prince Nan Huai was granted another palace to live in, and the expenses are even less.
Zi'an felt that there was no need for so many servants in the mansion. After thinking for a while, he said, "Send Master Yang over later."
Lord Yang was a retainer in the mansion, and he took care of all the affairs in the mansion for her.
"yes."
Zi'an discussed with Lord Yang early in the morning about the issue of whether the servants in the mansion should stay or go. All the servants serving the noble concubine had to be fired and given severance pay.
Lord Yang said, "Princess, I bought all these by selling my body. If you don't think you need them, why not sell them? We can still make some money."
Although Lord Yang knew that the princess acted strangely, it was really stupid for her to not make any money but to give money to send the servants away.
Zi'an said, "No, we won't sell them. Let them go their separate ways, either to find a job or go back to the countryside. If they want to sell themselves again after leaving the palace, it's their own choice."
After all, she was a modern person, and she couldn't sell human beings with a clear conscience.
After finishing his business in the mansion, Zi'an went to the princess's mansion.
She was in a good mood today, so she brought a pot of wine and asked someone to call Huanxi over.
Liu Liu was also called, but Liu Liu said that she had to accompany Xiao Tuo back to her parents' home today and so she didn't come.
Hu Huanxi shouted as soon as he entered the room, "What good thing happened today? You specially asked me to come over for a drink."
Zhuangzhuang smiled and said, "I don't know either. The princess said there was something good. I thought about it and wondered what good thing there was right now."
Hu Huanxi took a look and asked, "Liu Liu is not here?"
"Liu Liu, forget it. Xiao Tuo is back, so she has to stick to Xiao Tuo today." Zi'an sat down, put the wine on the table, and said with a smile.
"That's a pity. Qinzhi made Jade Pearl Cake today. It's her favorite."
"She doesn't care about you now. In her eyes, nothing can compare to Xiao Tuo's deliciousness?" Hu Huanxi said with a smile.
"Isn't it?" Zi'an hadn't mentioned the wedding yet. When he saw Hu Huanxi, he remembered Sun Fang'er's request. He took out the Baiyu Guanyin and handed it to her. "Sun Fang'er asked me to give this to you. She said she is not worthy of this jade now."
Hu Huanxi took it over, "What's going on? I thought I liked her before."
"She is in Xiwei Palace now. She has lost a lot of weight. I don't know what she is doing."
"She said she is not worthy of this jade?" Hu Huanxi felt strange.
"Yes, that's what she said. If you ask too much, she won't say a word." Zi'an remembered that she asked him to send Linlin and his mother away as soon as possible. It seems he has to believe her and let his mother leave the capital tomorrow.
However, I have to leave suddenly and I don’t know where to go. Maybe I can go to seek refuge with Academician Yuan.
Zhuangzhuang opened the bottle and took a sniff. "Aged osmanthus wine. I spent a lot of money on it. Tell me, what good news is going on today?"
Zi'an kept it a secret, "It's a good thing, but it's not good for me."
Hu Huanxi was surprised and said, "It's not your fault, but you are still eager to bring wine to celebrate? The sun is rising from the west."
"It's worth celebrating anyway." Zi'an poured wine and saw Qinzhi bringing in cakes and pastries. "Qinzhi, go get some side dishes. These cakes don't taste right with wine."
"That's really too much." Zhuangzhuang rolled his eyes and said to Qin Zhi with a smile, "Just listen to her and make a few dishes and some fried lamb chops."
"The princess has been thinking about lamb chops all the time. Okay, I'll get them right away. When they're done, I'll also listen to what the happy event is and whether it's worth eating the lamb chops." Qin Zhi said, then turned around and went out to get busy.
(End of this chapter)