The Empress Arrives: Rebirth of Concubine Hua

Chapter 79: Become a Monkey
When Yinzhen heard about what happened to Duan in the evening, he just said it indifferently.

"I am very busy, and you have worked hard, Madam. Su Peisheng, go to the storehouse and pick out some good things and send them to Madam."

After a pause, he said again.

"Pick two more things and send them to Concubine Jin as well."

Su Peisheng took the order and went to do the job.

An Yi appeared in the study.

Yinzhen looked at him and spoke.

"I know that you need to reply to the Emperor every few days. I don't care about that. But now you are my man, and you must do your best to do what I send you to do. Otherwise, I will report to the Emperor, and you can go back."

They knew exactly what the returned secret guards would have to go through.

An Yi looked at Yinzhen in surprise.

I heard that this prince is quite shrewd and never shows his emotions, but he speaks... so frankly.

Yinzhen did not miss the surprise in An Yi's eyes, he smiled.

"I won't let you do anything like killing or robbing. You just need to help me keep an eye on those who want to harm my second brother. You also know that the situation in the court is complicated now. I just want to keep my second brother safe."

An Yi said yes respectfully, took a piece of paper from Yinzhen's hand, and disappeared again.

An Er only followed Yinzhen during the day, pretending to be his personal follower.

An San was sent by Yinzhen to protect Nian Shilan's Cheng'en Garden.

There is also an An Si, a woman.

Yinzhen twisted the black chess piece in his hand and looked at the endgame in front of him. He was playing a game with himself.

Nian Shilan had just washed her face and hands, and stretched out her hands for Songzhi to apply hand cream on them.

She looked at the scar on Songzhi's hand.

"Didn't I ask you to ask Doctor Wen for medicine? Why is the scar still so obvious?"

Songzhi had just applied hand cream to Nian Shilan and spread it evenly.

She raised her hand to look at her scar and replied with a smile.

"Master, rest assured, my scar is healed now. Doctor Wen has already prescribed scar-removing medicine for me, but it will take some time for my hand to recover as before."

Nian Shilan then lay down on the bed peacefully.

Nian Gengyao was still in his study late at night. The news he received allowed him to continue opposing Prince Yong in the court.

It was the end of the month, and Xiao Linzi went out of the house early in the morning with his partner's card. He wanted to buy rouge and powder for his concubine.

After leaving the palace and walking through two streets, Xiao Linzi entered a small alley. When he came out again, he came out from the other end of the alley and had changed his clothes.

Xiao Linzi was less than thirteen years old, but he was tall. Nian Shilan did not restrict the servants in his courtyard from eating.

After serving Nian Shilan for more than half a year, Xiao Linzi has grown a lot taller.

But no matter how much he ate, he just couldn't gain weight, so Xiao Linzi always wore another layer of clothes under his clothes when he went out.

Manager Wu of Xianzi Tower was waiting in a small courtyard. Xiao Linzi looked around and saw that there was no one around, so he gently pushed the door open and went in.

"Boss, this is a great place you found. It's a quiet place in a bustling city."

Xiao Linzi started laughing as soon as he saw Manager Wu.

"You naughty boy, this is called hiding in plain sight."

When Shopkeeper Wu saw Xiao Linzi, he also smiled.

Xiao Linzi looked around and asked Manager Wu.

"Why is there only one shopkeeper?"

Shopkeeper Wu just smiled and said nothing, and walked towards a small house in the yard. Xiao Linzi followed him like a busy monkey.

When they got into the house, Manager Wu closed the doors and windows tightly and turned on the lights. Only then did Xiao Linzi see a person lying on the kang, a woman.

Xiao Linzi went closer to take a look. The woman had a calm face and was lying on her back. She must have fallen asleep or fainted.

Xiao Linzi looked at Shopkeeper Wu suspiciously.

"Is this the person you found for the master? Did you drug her?"

Shopkeeper Wu slapped Xiao Linzi on the head in annoyance, and Xiao Linzi quickly shrank his neck.

"Don't talk nonsense. This is the person the master is looking for. How dare I drug him? I'm not a kidnapper."

Shopkeeper Wu said as he walked to the wall. There was a door there. Xiao Linzi didn't see it at first, but he saw it now. Shopkeeper Wu bent his fingers and knocked on the door. The door creaked open, and it was another room.

There was a middle-aged man dressed rather strangely in the room, busy preparing medicine. There was a pile of messy jars on the table.

The child who opened the door stared.

"My master doesn't like to be disturbed when he's preparing medicine."

Shopkeeper Wu bowed and said with a smile.

"Okay, okay, I just want to ask, does your master need anything else?"

The little boy turned around and looked at his master, but the middle-aged man didn't even turn his head.

"No need, close the door."

Xiao Linzi stuck out his tongue behind Shopkeeper Wu and followed him back to the room where the woman was lying.

"Come on, thank you for your trouble. Come with me to Xianzi Tower again. I need to bring back some things so that I can report to the master."

When Xiao Linzi returned home with a few boxes of rouge and powder, she took them out at the gatehouse and showed them to the guards at the door, and then ran back to Cheng'en Garden happily.

Nian Shilan listened to Xiao Linzi speaking in her ear.

"Master, I have found the woman you were looking for. From my observation, she already looks 50% like the one you asked the painter to draw. However, there is still a scar on her chin that has not healed yet. She still needs to be nursed back to health."

Nian Shilan smiled and looked at her nails casually.

"No hurry, you want Shopkeeper Wu to support her, and you don't have to let her go out for the next two years, but she must learn the art of music, chess, calligraphy and painting. Do you understand?"

The nails are still dyed with bright red marigolds. The color has faded from the last time I dyed it, so this one was newly dyed yesterday and it looks much brighter than last time.

These nails are getting better and better.

News came from the front yard in the evening that Feng would serve as the emperor's concubine today.

Nian Shilan was enjoying tea, fruits and snacks leisurely in Cheng'en Garden.

A dish of freshly made pea yellow, a dish of her favorite crab roe pastry, a dish of crystal hibiscus cake, Songzhi took the kettle and poured freshly made milk tea for Nian Shilan.

Xiao Linzi reported that the master went to Feng's Jianjiaxuan, and now she lives there alone. It is said that the master saw that the place was simple and intended to let the princesses and concubines live with the concubine and the mistress, just like in other royal palaces.

However, there is only one concubine, Duan, in Prince Yong's mansion now. As she is pregnant, she is allowed to live in the main courtyard of the wife's house as an exception.

The two princesses lived together in Liufang Pavilion, and their living conditions were pretty good.

Feng is living alone now, and the master says that it is against the rules.

Nian Shilan ate the crab roe crisps in her hand. Now is the season to eat crabs, and the crab roe crisps are even more delicious.

Nian Shilan took the milk tea handed to her by Songzhi, and the thick milk melting in her mouth made her feel very comfortable.

After Hanlu took the handkerchief and wiped Nian Shilan's hands, she slowly spoke.

"I am the only concubine in this mansion. Do you want to stuff them all into my Cheng'en Garden? If the master really wants to do this, then just point Feng. I don't think she is the kind of person who would meddle in other people's business."

After saying that, he looked at Xiao Linzi's clothes, which had become shorter at the hem.

"Songzhi, give Xiao Linzi some money tomorrow, and go get some new clothes from the housekeeper. He's dressed like this, so people won't think I'm poor in Cheng'en Garden."

Xiao Linzi looked down at his clothes, then scratched his head with a wry smile.

"Master, you have a keen eye. I haven't noticed it yet. I am ashamed of you. Hehe, my clothes have always been short in the past few months. I am growing a little fast."

Hanlu was also covering her mouth and laughing.

"I've been looking at Xiao Linzi all day and didn't notice him. Now that you mention it, I realize that he has really grown taller. But he still looks skinny, like a monkey."

Xiao Linzi smiled with his eyes narrowed.

"Sister Hanlu is really good at teasing me. If I were a monkey, I would perform monkey tricks for my master every day to amuse him."

Nian Shilan also laughed.

"You are such a chatterbox, I think you'd be a bad monkey even if you turned into a monkey."

Nian Shilan chatted and laughed with the servants for a while, and then Songzhi helped her wash up and go to bed.

But in the middle of the night, Hanlu quietly tied a note to the pigeon's feet and returned to the house.

This time, An San quietly caught the pigeon that had just taken off.

　It should be said that Nian Shilan has always been good to servants who are loyal to her.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)