Madam, she always wants to run away

Chapter 23
Without the exhaustion and drunkenness of the big wedding night as a cover, in the bedroom this night, Li Ying and Xiao Lian stared at each other with embarrassment, they didn't know where to put their hands.

"Do you want to take a bath?" Seeing that it was getting late, Xiao Lian started a conversation.

Li Ying purposely looked into the mirror and slowly untied the hair ornament on her head: "Why don't you go first."

"Okay." Xiao Lian picked up his coat and was about to walk towards the clean room.

"Wait." Li Ying suddenly changed his mind: "I'll go first."

Xiao Lian stopped in his tracks: "Okay."

Li Ying's heart was up and down, she was fooled by herself last night, but what should she do tonight?You can't get yourself drunk, can you?
In the clean room, Li Ying soaked in the wooden bucket thinking hard, while Xinzhu at the side wiped it carefully for her. After about a quarter of an hour, Xinzhu said, "Little... ah, no, ma'am, it's okay."

So fast?She hasn't figured out a countermeasure yet, how can she go out and face the big man in the room?

"Let's wash it again."

The monk Zhang Er in Hsinchu couldn't figure it out, so he had to wipe it again carefully.

It was half an hour after Li Ying came out of the clean room with her wet hair hanging loose. She really hoped that Xiao Lian would have fallen asleep when she entered the room, or that the yamen was called away because of some urgent business. Or he got impatient and slammed the door and left.

But there was none, Xiao Lian was sitting peacefully in front of the desk reading a book.

He heard the sound, looked up and saw that her hair was not dry, and asked, "Do you want me to help?"

"No, no, I'm used to doing it by myself, you go take a bath."

"Ah."

Soon there was the sound of splashing water in the clean room, and Li Ying was terrified when she heard it. She was secretly anxious, what should I do, he will come out soon!

As the sound of water disappeared, Li Ying judged that Xiao Lian had come out of the barrel, and it took only half an hour before and after, so he must have taken a bath too quickly!

Seeing that Xiao Lian was about to go back to the room, Li Ying closed his eyes and turned his attention. He simply blew out the candle, got into the bed with a veil still wrapped around his head, and pretended to be asleep.

When Xiao Lian stepped in, he was taken aback by the dark scene in front of him, fell asleep so quickly?
He walked lightly towards the bed in the dark, with a "bang", he seemed to hit the corner of the table, the pain made him grin his teeth, but he didn't dare to make a sound.

After finally lying on the bed, in the darkness, Xiao Lian could not help but find it funny when he heard her irregular breathing with his surprisingly good hearing ability trained on the battlefield.

A man full of oppression lay beside him, and Li Ying breathed nervously. She was trying to take a deep breath to slow down her heartbeat, when she heard him smile narrowly, and said, "Why are you pretending to be asleep?"

Li Ying answered no, and no answer, Xiao Lian could only hear her breathing more and more quickly, and finally complained in a voice that was about to cry: "You don't care about me!"

Xiao Lian sat up and lit the candle, only to see the little man wrapped himself into rice dumplings, with a square scarf on his head and a quilt on his body, turning his back to him as if angry.

"stand up."

"doing what?"

"The hair is not dry yet."

"None of your business."

"If you don't get up by yourself, don't blame me for doing it."

Li Ying sat up after hearing the words, "I don't want to trouble you."

Under Xiao Lian's "coercion and lure", Li Ying sat in front of the mirror and let him dry her hair little by little with a handkerchief. After this tossing, half of the hour was over.

Li Ying couldn't help but yawned, this time, she was really sleepy.

Xiao Lian looked at Li Ying who was in tears in the mirror, rubbed her head and said, "Go to sleep."

When Li Ying heard this, she was startled sober again, what did he mean by saying this?Is it literally, or does it imply something else...?
Seeing Li Ying's absent-minded look, Xiao Lian knew where she was going.Forget it, my wife, what else can I do besides pampering her?
Li Ying squeezed her neckline, climbed onto the bed uncomfortably, Xiao Lian blew out the candles generously, closed her eyes and fell asleep without saying anything.

Seeing that Xiao Lian didn't move at all, Li Ying's worries just now gradually dissipated, and a sense of drowsiness came over her, making her drowsy.

Until she was about to fall asleep completely, the person beside her seemed to say something, she didn't even think about it, she responded indiscriminately, and fell into a deep sleep.

*
The next day, Li Ying was refreshed and woke up early in the morning.I thought I was working hard, but I saw that the bed beside me was already empty.

Is he old and doesn't need to sleep?Waking up earlier than chickens and sleeping later than eagles every day, Li Ying complained.

She was about to call Hsinchu to change her clothes when she suddenly recalled that he seemed to have said something to her before going to bed last night.

At this moment, when Li Ying used her sober mind to recall what Xiao Lian said, her face turned red.

She remembered what he said: "Don't worry, I won't touch you until you nod your head."

……

Fortunately, there are still many things waiting for Li Ying today, so she doesn't have to be ashamed of Xiao Lian's words for too long.

When she finished changing and walked to the dining room, Xiao Lian was already waiting for her.

"Did you sleep well last night?"

Li Ying tried her best to restrain her cranky thinking, and replied, "Yeah."

"Come over for breakfast."

Needless to say, there was another table full of dim sum.Li Ying was full, Xiao Lian swept his tail and said: "If you are free today, you can get acquainted with the palace. The gifts we received for marriage are still stored in the warehouse. Previously, Uncle Chang was in charge of everything in the palace. , Uncle Chang is also getting old, so I will trouble you next time."

Of course, Li Ying had also learned how to manage Zhongfu from Zhao Minyi when she was not out of the cabinet, but having learned it did not mean that she could do it. She was a little apprehensive for a while: "I'm afraid I can't do it well..."

Xiao Lian was about to pick up a piece of Li Ying's leftover jujube paste yam cake, when she heard her say such a sentence in a soft voice, she suddenly thought of making fun of it.

"I didn't expect that there are things in this world that Miss Li thinks she can't do well?"

Li Ying was a little flustered at first, but Xiao Lian disturbed her so much, that worry turned into a determination to prove it to him.

"It's nothing, I'm just being modest and humble. No matter how big the palace is, I will definitely hand over the accounts to you clearly and clearly."

Xiao Lian waved his hand funny: "Don't give it to me, these are all yours."

"mine?"

"Where do I need the gold and silver jewelry, cloth and spices in the warehouse? You can use what you like, or give away or sell what you don't like. It's up to you to dispose of it."

"I'm afraid this is inappropriate?"

"What's wrong, please remember, your current identity is the princess, and the entire Prince Zhong's mansion is yours."

In the busy past few days, Li Ying never had a chance to think about this matter. After being reminded by Xiao Lian, she realized that she was really no longer the eldest lady of the Li family, and she was now a loyal princess.

She suddenly felt the responsibility and pressure on her shoulders.

"I see, I try not to lose face for you."

Xiao Lian can always be choked by her shocking words: "What shame is there? If I want you to be good, the whole palace is good, I don't care what others think."

"Oh……"

Xiao Lian wanted to touch her head again, but saw that she had combed her hair into a bun, and her outstretched hand stopped in mid-air.Xiao Lian put down his chopsticks and said, "Go and do your work."

Uncle Chang, the housekeeper of Prince Zhong's Mansion, is an old man in the mansion left by the old prince. He looks a little old, with a medium build, plain clothes, and gray beard and hair. After the frontier, he has been in charge of this huge palace alone.

For so many years, it was also the first time that Uncle Chang saw a woman in the palace, and this woman was the princess.

Uncle Chang saluted Li Ying politely, and Li Ying hurriedly helped him up: "Uncle Chang, I still need your guidance on all matters in this mansion from now on, so you don't have to be polite to me."

"My concubine is serious. If there is something useful for this old slave, my concubine can tell you." The wrinkles on Uncle Chang's face when he smiled, not only did not scare people, but added a bit of kindness, he looked very easy to get along with.

On this day, under the leadership of Uncle Chang, Li Ying was able to see the whole picture of the legendary Prince Zhong's mansion.This Prince Zhong's mansion is really big, and it took a whole morning to walk. In the autumn day, Li Ying was sweating all over before he could walk around.

But at the same time, this palace is also surprisingly ugly.While leading the way, Uncle Chang complained to Li Ying: "Princess, look, the prince has been back to Beijing for three years, but how can there be people living in this huge palace?"

Li Ying looked in the direction of Uncle Chang's finger, and sure enough, he saw that the palace was bare, except for a few stones and a pond, not even a single flower could be seen.

Sure enough, he is an uninteresting idiot, Li Ying thought to himself.

Walking to the storeroom, Uncle Chang took out a bunch of keys and handed them to Li Ying respectfully: "Princess, all the belongings of Prince Zhong's mansion are here. The prince is a hands-off shopkeeper and doesn't care about anything. Reason, but I can't do what I want, and I will rely on you from now on."

Uncle Chang said that Li Ying was a little curious, all his belongings?how much is that

Until Uncle Chang opened the warehouse in front of her, Li Ying almost lost her breath.

I'm afraid this warehouse is not made of gold, is it?At a glance, there were gold, silver and bronze wares everywhere, and some expensive-looking jewelry were thrown on the ground casually. Li Ying opened a box casually, and even saw a piece of Suzhou embroidery in it, which was a tribute from Suzhou, but because it was damp, It's so moldy that it can't see the original shape...

Violent waste, violent waste!Li Ying was heartbroken seeing it, no wonder Xiao Lian wanted to take care of it by himself, otherwise these good things would be buried in the dust forever!

Xiao Lian was worried about his official business today, so he went to the Sanju Judiciary again. He wanted to deal with some urgent errands and return to the palace earlier, but he didn't care about the time when he was so busy. , It's Haishi.

When Xiao Lian returned to the mansion, the candles in the bedroom were brightly lit. On the desk where his military books were piled up, there was a book like a small mountain bag, and there was still a musty smell.

Xiao Lian subconsciously fanned the smell with his hands, but was caught by Li Ying: "Why, it smells bad?"

Xiao Lian didn't know what was waiting for him ahead of him, so he replied honestly: "It's a little bit."

"It's fine if it smells bad. I'll take you to the warehouse another day. You won't feel unaccustomed to it."

Xiao Lian vaguely felt that something was wrong, why did he seem to be angry?Is it because I am late?

"I forgot the time when I was dealing with official business today, so I came back a bit late..."

"I don't care when you come back?"

"...What's the matter, a smell of gunpowder?"

Li Ying hummed and ignored him.

Xiao Lian leaned over and sat next to Li Ying, seeing her flipping through the account book page by page, and asked, "But is there something wrong with the account book?"

"No."

"So Uncle Chang made things difficult for you?"

"How could it be, Uncle Chang is very good."

"Then I can't figure it out, why is Madam angry?"

Li Ying moved away from him and said, "My lord, do you know how many things in your warehouse are wasted?"

"waste?"

"Yes. Today I saw with my own eyes that Su embroidery was damp, cloth moths, and gold wares were broken. These things were originally priceless treasures, but they were piled up in the warehouse like this and never saw the light of day."

It was like this, Xiao Lian said indifferently: "Throw it away if it breaks, why get angry."

After hearing this, Li Ying became even angrier: "Your Majesty, do you know how many people are suffering from cold and starvation, and it's better for you to exchange for a hundred taels of silver for just one thing, just ruin it like this."

Xiao Lian was taken aback, why did he bring up the suffering of the common people?

"Our family is not a wealthy family. My parents taught me to be frugal since I was a child. Every year, I save some money every year. If I meet someone who wants to build a shed for the victims of the disaster, I can do my part. Your lord Well, you were born with a golden spoon in your mouth, and as a member of the royal family, you could have helped and influenced more people, but you didn't do that, you just... didn't do anything."

No one has ever said these words to Xiao Lian.He has always felt that he has done his best for the imperial court externally, and that he has no luxury in food and clothing internally, so he has a clear conscience.

Until Li Ying accused him of "doing nothing is a mistake" in front of him, he was shocked, but after thinking about it carefully, it was all reasonable.

Xiao Lian's face turned red and then turned white, and it took him a while to recover from the shock, and said: "Ma'am, you are right. From now on, with you by my side, I can rest assured that all the property of the palace will be yours." If I can help the common people even a bit, then I, Xiao Lian, have done good deeds."

Li Ying choked on Xiao Lian's words, did she dig a hole for herself?
"By the way, your palace is really ugly. It doesn't look like there's anyone living there. I want to decorate it properly. Do you have any objection?"

"No, no, it's all up to Madam."

Xiao Lian's eyes were full of smiles, why did he like her more and more like her "dominating" look.

(End of this chapter)