Queen's scheming

Chapter 38 Counting (Part [-])
"My lord, the Buddhist beads you want have been made and sent to the palace." Yumei said with a low eyebrow.Shen Qingwan stopped trusting Yumei after she entered the palace and was beaten by the queen, and then she gave Yumei to Qian Tianhai as a counter meal, and Yumei came back to serve her, becoming more obedient and giving her many ideas.For example, framing Yulan for stealing Xuegui's tassel hairpin caused the confrontation between Xuegui's concubine and Shen Qingyi. After that, Shen Qingwan slowly let go and let Yumei get in touch with some things.

Shen Qingwan glanced at it. The jasper agate bracelet was translucent and shiny. It consisted of [-] beads the size of a thumb. Each bead was engraved with a plum-blossom script "Heart Sutra". of light.Shen Qingwan raised her hand to stroke it, then frowned in disgust, and while washing her hands with warm water of jasmine flower juice, she said, "The texture of agate is really good, it's warm to the touch, but this sandalwood is too pungent."

Shen Qingwan likes to use spices the most, jasmine is her favorite, and the simple and elegant sandalwood is the smell she can't accept the most. She really doesn't understand why people who worship Buddha like sandalwood so much.The nearly one month she spent in the Buddhist hall really drove her crazy.After leaving the Buddhist hall, she took a full bath for three days before she felt that the sandalwood scent on her body faded.

Yumei hurriedly placed the black lacquer and gold tray in her hand on the small table farthest from Shen Qingwan, and replied, "This sandalwood is made of the most precious spices from Yan Zhi Hua Fang, and only a small amount is needed every year. If the young master doesn't like it, the servants can order the carvers to replace it, but the queen mother likes sandalwood."

"Forget it, when did I say I'm going to change it? Anyway, it's not what I mainly use." Shen Qingwan frowned and glanced at the bracelet, "Hurry up and help me change my clothes, and pick this thing up early so that I don't get smoked." Broke my Warmer."

By the time Shen Qingwan packed up and took the warm sedan chair to Cihui Palace, it was only time for two cups of tea.

Yumei helped Shen Qingwan up the stairs, and reminded softly, "My lord, the Empress Dowager advocates frugality. If you bluntly say that this thing was made by a skilled craftsman outside the palace and cost a lot of money, I'm afraid it will make the Empress Dowager unhappy. Why don't you follow me, my lord?" The Empress Dowager made it clear that this is carved by your own body with all your efforts? This will not only show your filial piety, but also won’t make the Empress Dowager think you are extravagant. What do you think, my lord?”

Shen Qingwan took a deep look at Yumei, "I have my own opinion."

When Yumei heard this, she lowered her eyebrows and said nothing more, as long as Shen Qingwan returned to the Queen Mother, this was made by herself, and if there is any problem with the jasper and agate bracelet in the future, it will be Shen Qingwan's fault up.

After Shen Qingwan saluted the queen mother humbly, after exchanging a few words of pleasantries, she ordered Yumei to bring up the bracelet.

The queen mother was very pleasantly surprised when she saw this item. She often wiped the beads and read the "Heart Sutra". It’s worth a lot, right? To waste money on the sake of Aijia, who is half buried in the ground, is really reckless.”

"The queen mother is very young. On the day of the queen mother's birthday, the wife of the Ministry of Rites asked the concubine whether you are only 30 years old. Besides, this agate is indeed more precious. The most special thing is that the sandalwood is slowly exuding from the inside of the agate. The taste that came out was presented by an official during an inspection by the concubine's father. The father didn't dare to enjoy it alone, so he specially ordered someone to make these eighteen beads. In fact, the father's original intention was to send the concubine to the empress. Yes, but my concubine feels that this thing is precious, and this "Heart Sutra" is your favorite, the queen mother, so she kept it privately, took a bucket of Dongzhu that mother gave to my concubine, and gave it to the empress." Shen Qingwan was gentle and gentle. road.

Yumei was startled, and looked at Shen Qingwan. She didn't say that she made this thing herself, so it has nothing to do with her if the problem is discovered in the future.Shen Qingwan still doesn't believe her?
Shen Qingwan glanced at Yumei and smiled slightly.Let her say that the beads are made by herself. If the Queen Mother rises up and asks her to carve one on the spot, if she can't do it, then she is not a criminal deceiving the emperor, she is not that stupid.She wanted to tell the Empress Dowager that Shen Qingyi loves to be extravagant and loves to use these precious things. Her father even specially found those delicate things and sent them to the palace for her to enjoy, but she, Shen Qingwan, was Loyalty and filial piety, on the one hand, exchanged their own dowry for this thing, on the other hand, they did not hide their personal interests, so they picked up such a valuable thing and presented it to the Queen Mother.

"You have a heart." The queen mother nodded in satisfaction. This Feng Guogong is the one who can teach his daughters, and each of his daughters is so caring.

In the middle of the night, the inner hall of Yuhua Pavilion.

"Even if the Empress Dowager finds out that the bracelet is inappropriate after a few days, she will not be involved!" Min Bin bit her lip, suppressing her anger.

Yumei also gritted her teeth with hatred, "I thought that after such a long time, she would no longer shy away from her servants and trust her servants. I didn't expect her to change her mind temporarily."

Concubine Min was silent for a while, then sighed and said, "Forget it, I will look for opportunities in the future. You have done enough this time, and this is the money I promise you." Mei came forward.

Yumei pushed back the bank note, and said indifferently, "The servant girl said earlier that it's not for the gold and silver. Besides, what's the use of gold and silver if the servant girl is in the current situation?" She has to serve Qian Tianhai when she is on a job. It doesn't matter if she has money, she can't escape Qian Tianhai's clutches no matter what.

Concubine Min looked at Yumei sympathetically, and wanted to help her out of the predicament, but she couldn't avenge her own child, let alone help others.After deliberating for a long time, he finally said, "Even if you don't use it yourself, you still need money to buy people's hearts. If you can make everyone in Xuehua Pavilion be at your disposal, wouldn't it be twice the result with half the effort?"

Yumei didn't shirk it, she reached out to take it, and said worriedly, "The Queen Mother will definitely find out soon, when the time comes..."

Concubine Min stared in the direction of Xuehua Pavilion, and said unwillingly, "The Queen Mother will not act rashly as this matter involves Duke Feng's Mansion. This matter can only be left alone. Don't worry if we can't find out about it."

Just as Concubine Min expected, the Empress Dowager realized something was wrong three days later and urgently summoned Emperor Li Tianyou.

"What is this?" Li Tianyou looked at the jasper and agate bracelets on the tray and asked in confusion.

The Queen Mother took a deep breath, "This item was donated by Shen Ronghua a few days ago."

Hearing this, Li Tianyou casually played with it in his hand, and said perfunctorily, "The tentacles are warm, and the carving is exquisite, which can be regarded as top-grade. Shen Ronghua has a heart." Li Tianyou said in his heart, the Queen Mother will definitely persuade him to get wet with rain and dew again. Under the pressure of the Queen Mother, he had already spoiled Concubine Xuegui for a while, but now that Concubine Xuegui was grounded, the Queen Mother wanted to persuade him again to favor Shen Qingwan.

"Ai's family often feels chest tightness and shortness of breath these days. After doctor Lu's pulse diagnosis, he finally found this." The queen mother pointed to the jasper agate bracelet.

"This..." Li Tianyou took a closer look at the bracelet, but he didn't find anything wrong, it was just that the sandalwood smell was strong.

The Empress Dowager looked at Li Tianyou's puzzled eyes, nodded and said, "That's right, it's this one. After examination by Imperial Physician Lu, the gold powder on this Buddhist bead was mixed with chronic poison. The Ai family kneaded this Buddhist bead every day, and some of the poison seeped into the body."

Li Tianyou looked gloomy, raised his eyebrows and said, "This Shen Ronghua is really bold, dare to poison the Queen Mother!"

The queen mother shook her head, and said a little tiredly, "According to what Shen Ronghua said, this item was specially made by the Duke of the Kingdom, and it was going to be given to the queen. She thought it was special, so she took her own dowry and replaced it." Use this thing to honor the Ai family."

Li Tianyou was very surprised, "The empress dowager said that Lord Fengguo intends to take the empress..."

Li Tianyou didn't go on, but the queen mother knew what he meant, she nodded silently, and said with a deep breath, "If it weren't for the doctor Lu coming to Ai's house every day to ask for a safe pulse, I'm afraid it would be difficult to find out. It only took three days, the toxicity is still light, and it came back after a few doses of medicine. It's just that the queen is young, she is healthy and she is absolutely unwilling to summon the imperial physician. If this thing is really given to the queen by Shen Ronghua, I'm afraid it will be discovered By the time it was too late."

Li Tianyou really couldn't understand, "Qing Yin is the daughter of Duke Feng's direct relative, how could he do it? Tiger poison doesn't even eat children!"

The queen mother sighed, this is the sorrow of the rich and powerful, family affection, love, friendship, everything is fake, only power, money is their lifelong pursuit.The Empress Dowager has been taking good care of Li Tianyou, Shen Qingyi, Mi Yurou and others, and doesn't want them to go through this, but she still can't stop them.

"A queen who can't give birth to a prince is useless. Duke Feng wants more power, so he will naturally do something." Everyone said that she was reborn as a daughter of a wealthy family, but who knew how sad this daughter of a wealthy family was? .

Li Tianyou was furious, and he slapped the table beside him with his palm, and the old pit jade finger on his thumb shattered, "This old man, if it wasn't for Qing Yi, I would have killed him for what he did all these years. A few heads are enough. I have always cared about him being Qing Yi's father, and I endured it in every possible way, but I didn't expect him to ignore it and send a daughter born to a concubine into the palace, just to replace Qing Yi's position !"

Li Tianyou strode back and forth, his chest heaving sharply, knocking the bright yellow dragon-patterned white-glazed teacup on the small table to the ground, making a sound of shattering, his eyes seemed to burst into flames, and said loudly "His calculations are sound. He wants Shen Qingwan to jump into the dragon gate and become a concubine and empress. He also wants to see if I am happy. I will drive his concubine who has high hopes out of the palace, and I will Look, what is his expression? I just want to tell him that if he hadn't had a daughter like Qing Yi, I would have deposed him long ago!"

(End of this chapter)