Sure enough, as Jiang You said, from that day on, a large wooden basket would appear at the corridor of Lixiang Courtyard every morning, filled with all kinds of food for the day.
There are so many varieties and varieties in it, it is simply more luxurious than Mu Rongruo's previous life.
Since having those meals, Jiang You was called into the house by Mu Rongruo to eat with them every day.
Gradually, Jiang You began to look forward to the arrival of daily lunch.
As time passed, Mu Rongruo began to wonder who was the person who brought the food?
She asked the little maid in the yard to keep an eye on her several times, but the basket of food suddenly appeared in the corridor without her noticing.
Therefore, the fairy mother-in-law mentioned by the little mirror is even more real in the hearts of the maids in Lixiang Courtyard.
Only Mu Rongruo, because she didn't find the person delivering food every time, made her feel that it was man-made rather than divine help.
Not only that, she already had a target of suspicion in her mind.
At this lunch, Jiang You was called into the back room by Xiao Ai to eat as usual.
Halfway through the meal, Mu Rongruo suddenly put his nose to Jiang You's body and smelled it carefully again and again.
Jiang You was startled by her approach and felt a pleasant fragrance coming to his nostrils. He was in a daze and dropped his chopsticks to the ground.
Just when Jiang You wanted to pick up the dropped chopsticks, Mu Rongruo grabbed his hand, put it on the tip of his nose and smelled it again.
Jiang You was completely panicked this time. He quickly pulled his hand back and stood up straight, his heart about to jump out of his chest.
Jiang You didn't understand what Mu Rong wanted to do, so he stood there nervously without saying a word.
Xiao Ai and Yan'er also looked at Mu Rongruo strangely.
Mu Rongruo seemed to have confirmed something at this moment, and said firmly: "It turns out it's really you!"
Xiao Ai and Yan'er didn't understand even more, and asked her young lady: "What is him?"
"The person who brings us food every day is Jiang You."
"It's him?!"
The two maids looked at Jiang You in disbelief.
"Why me?" Jiang You's expression softened.
Mu Rongruo explained: "First, when you said that the food would be delivered one after another and would never be cut off, your tone was very firm, and I began to doubt you. Second, a basket of food could be put in this yard. Sending it in quietly will definitely alarm you. After all, you are responsible for the safety of our courtyard. However, you are not worried at all about the people who can enter the courtyard without your eyes and ears every day. This is so unreasonable. Chapter 1 Third, the snacks at Lianxiangzhai are rich in fragrance, and the fragrance is still lingering on your body, and the fragrance is even more fragrant on your fingertips. It can be seen that you have personally selected the snacks, and there is no artificial hand. In summary, Xiaojing is grateful every day. The fairy mother-in-law is Jiang Wewei."
"It's actually Jiang You!" Xiao Ai and Yan'er were greatly surprised.
"But there are so many delicious foods... Jiang You, where do you get the money to buy them?"
Xiao Ai still didn't quite believe it. In her eyes, a little guard couldn't buy so many delicacies with a small salary.
"If Jiang You has a priceless bracelet, why can't he have a lot of money to buy food?"
Mu Rongruo walked up to Jiang You and looked at him with alert eyes.
"You are not a simple little guard, nor are you a refugee fleeing from the border? Who are you?"
Jiang You was caught off guard by the question, but he didn't want to lie to Mu Rongruo.
After thinking for a long time, he said: "I did escape from the border to the imperial capital. On the way, I met the leader of the juggling class who was heading north. Seeing that I was all alone, he kindly left me in the juggling class to do some odd jobs. As for giving you The money I spent to buy food was a white jade item I pawned. It was made of the same jade as the white jade bracelet I gave you. It was carved carelessly when I was a boy. The pawn shop owner thought it was not a serious thing. It didn’t sell for much money.”
"How can you, a small border citizen, have such precious white jade material?" Mu Rongruo asked again.
"My mother was originally a noble from Nanli. Later, the family fell into decline. My mother died and I became an orphan. I fled to the border alone. After that, wars broke out frequently on the border, so I followed my leader to the Imperial City."
Jiang You spoke sincerely, and when he talked about his biological mother, there was even more sadness in his eyes.
Seeing Jiang You's expression, Mu Rongruo quickly pulled him to sit down, feeling a little more pity in his heart.
"You have been wandering outside for so long that you are not willing to pawn the things. Now you are exchanging such precious things just to satisfy my appetite. How can you let me feel at ease?"
Xiao Ai also put down his bowls and chopsticks, looked at the table full of food, and suddenly lost his appetite.
"If you know that you exchanged your own treasure for these meals, I would rather not eat them."
Jiang You's eyes glowed when he looked at Mu Rongruo.
"My most precious thing has been given to you. As for the white jade object that was pawned, it is really not a treasure, otherwise it would not be exchanged for only five hundred taels of silver notes."
"Anyway, you have been carrying it with you for a long time. Please tell me which pawn shop it is from first. When I have the money, I will redeem it for you."
Mu Rongruo felt that she had taken advantage of Jiang You by accepting the white jade bracelet on her hand, and now she was letting one of his guards spend money on her food. How could she feel guilty?
"Let's talk about it then!"
Jiang You looked at the dishes on the table and quickly changed the subject: "Eat quickly! I have to stand guard after eating."
Prince's Palace.
Dressed in gorgeous clothes, wearing a phoenix crown, and a majestic look on her face, the Queen of Chu sat in the center of the hall.
Next to her stood the prince Xiao Yunyuan, standing with his hands down, his eyes downcast and silent.
Standing under Xiao Yunyuan was an old man of medium height, wearing a military officer's court uniform, and with slightly gray hair.
His eyes were sad and his face was haggard. It seems that I have been wronged a lot and have nowhere to complain.
There was silence in the hall for a long time, and then Chucai slowly spoke: "How does the prince plan to deal with it?"
Xiao Yunyuan saw Empress Chu speaking, so he replied casually: "Hasn't it been dealt with already?"
"Has it been dealt with?"
The Queen of Chu was so angry that she stood up from the big gold-plated chair, pointed to the old man with his head hanging down in tears and said: "Old General Cheng has been guarding the border for our Daxi country for many years. He has experienced life and death many times during his military life. Your Majesty also treated him many times. Compliment. Now that I am old, I just want to take care of my children and return to the imperial capital to enjoy a few years of family happiness, but the young master was killed by an unknown soldier? As the prince of Daxi Kingdom, why don’t you blame the boy with a flat head? Instead, you killed all the guards of General Cheng’s family? Is this the result of your treatment? As the prince, didn’t you make me feel cold?”
"Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu"
Empress Chu spoke clearly and clearly, and Cheng Lian, who was at the bottom of the story, cooperated so much that she burst into tears.
Upon seeing this, Empress Chu quickly walked to Cheng Lian and personally gave him the hot towel handed by the maid to wipe his tears.
When Cheng Lian raised his teary eyes to thank him, the corners of Queen Chu's eyes were just right moist.
"Thanks to the Queen's mercy, my son is really unjust to death!"
Xiao Yunyuan felt very unhappy when he saw the two people acting.
If his mother had not been present, he would have kicked Cheng Lian out the moment he stepped into the Prince's Palace.
Now that he brought his mother to investigate, Xiao Yunyuan was even more angry with him.
"That Chengyu fell headfirst at the mouth of his own well and fell to death. Aruo has already sent someone to inform me about this. I can't blame the young man. As for the married guards, they attempted to commit murder in the city and were lawless. And..."
Xiao Yunyuan paused, and his eyes suddenly showed murderous intent.
"The most hateful thing is that they dared to tease A Ruo in the street. It is an unforgivable crime. I asked the governor of Shun'an Prefecture to sentence them all to be executed. It was an advantage for them!"
In fact, Xiao Yunyuan didn't care about the previous charges at all, just because Mu Rongruo was bullied and he had to kill them to vent his anger.
"In the end, it's all for Mu Rongruo!"
Empress Chu scolded: "You have made enemies of me for that girl several times. Do you know that I am your biological mother? That girl has only been studying with you for a few years. Why do you have a deeper relationship with her than with me?" ? What's more, her father Mu Kuo has always been on good terms with Xiao Yunhuan, and Your Majesty relies heavily on him. If he says a few more words for Xiao Yunhuan in front of Your Majesty, His Majesty will not be able to depose you as the crown prince!"
Speaking of this, Xiao Yunyuan also became anxious.
"Since my mother knew how powerful it was, why didn't she just go to the emperor and ask for a marriage? As long as we and Mu Xiang are good friends of Qin and Jin, why wouldn't he help his son-in-law fight for the throne?"
Empress Chu sneered: "Do you think His Majesty will be happy to see your marriage to the Prime Minister's house?"
As soon as these words came out, Xiao Yunyuan couldn't help but tremble in his heart, and a chill hit his heart.
"Mother, do you mean..."
The words were not spoken simply because there were outsiders present.
Empress Chu looked at Cheng Lian, who was only wiping away tears, but was actually already observing the situation in the palace. She couldn't help but walk to his side, and her tone became a little softer.
"General Cheng was once the first fierce general under your grandfather's command, and his wife, Yuan, was your grandmother's adopted daughter. Later, General Cheng was sent to guard the border, so there was less interaction between us. In the past few years, your grandfather My grandmother died of illness one after another, and the border wars continued. General Cheng couldn't leave, but he still sent his wife and daughter to mourn. General Cheng and we are family members, so there is no need to avoid talking about anything."
Upon hearing this, Cheng Lian immediately stopped the tears in his eyes, knelt down and looked solemnly, and said sincerely: "When the Protector was alive, he was kind to my family. My current success is inseparable from his promotion in the past. , this kindness and love will be unforgettable. In the future, as long as the Queen Mother says a word, I will go all out to assist His Royal Highness in ascending to the throne."
"General Cheng, please get up quickly..." Empress Chu diligently helped Cheng Lian up, her eyes becoming wet again.
"Dad only has one daughter, me, and I don't have any brothers or sisters who I can rely on. Since the old man died of illness, my mother and son's life in the palace has been really scary and cautious. Fortunately, my sister is back now, and I There is also a caring person who can talk. In the future, I will ask my sister to take Yumei to come to the palace often and talk to me."
"Your Majesty, the Queen expresses your love." Cheng Lian bowed and saluted.
Sometimes Xiao Yunyuan really admired his mother's ability to win over courtiers. From a high-ranking official to a palace servant, it was really easy for her to win someone's heart.
Just...except for his father.
If it were him, he would really be too lazy to spend all this time getting close to anyone.
Except...Mu Rongruo.
