third chapter
Once he figured this out, Xie Lingyu felt as if a big stone had been lifted from his mind and he felt much more relaxed.
With this relief, she also felt a little hungry.
She has been ill these past few days and has been living mostly on liquid food and decoction without eating anything.
"Pass the breakfast," Xie Lingyu ordered.
When Chunxi heard this, he couldn't help but look happy. His Highness took the initiative to order a meal. He must have really gotten better.
I know I'm hungry.
Xie Lingyu leaned on the beauty's couch, looked at the diamond-shaped flower window in front of her, and suddenly said: "Open the window to get some air, it's very stuffy in the palace."
Chunxi was surprised: "Your Highness, although there is no wind outside, it is still February after all, and your body is still..."
Xie Lingyu glanced at her again. The look in his eyes was not so sharp, but it made Chunxi's heart tremble.
So she didn't dare to say anything, walked over and half-opened the flower window.
It is true that there is no wind today, but it has just passed February, and it is still very cold outside. Fortunately, the ground inside the temple is so hot that it does not feel cold even if the window is opened.
"How about I go get the white fox fur shawl newly given by the saint years ago?" Chunxi was still worried.
While he was talking, the palace door was opened again.
"Oh, my little ancestor, why did you get up just now? Didn't I tell you to lie on the bed and take care of me for the rest of your life?" The words had already arrived before the person arrived.
Xie Lingyu raised her eyes and saw a woman dressed in gold and silver arriving in front of her. Behind her was a maid, carrying a carved mahogany food box in her hand.
"Chunxi, you are the same. The girl is sick, and you don't try to persuade her. Ouch, why are you opening the flower window?"
The woman chattered on and on.
Xie Lingyu looked at her lips moving up and down, holding her chin with one hand, and laughed unconsciously.
"Girl, what's wrong with you? Why are you looking at this old slave like this?" Aunt Hua kept talking for a long time before she realized something was wrong in Xie Lingyu's eyes. She looked half-smiling but not smiling, as if she was waiting to see a joke.
Xie Lingyu really wasn't looking for jokes, but when he saw an old friend, he felt a sense of absurdity.
This Aunt Hua was not her wet nurse, but the nanny who was specially assigned to her by her mother-in-law when she went to Shanghua Palace to stay a few years ago.
She suddenly left the palace and lived alone in Shanghua Palace, feeling quite unaccompanied and lonely.
Aunt Hua even took the opportunity to please her in every possible way.
Xie Lingyu naturally gradually trusted her, but she didn't know that this person was the eyes and ears placed by her mother and concubine from the beginning.
The most important thing is that in the previous life, in addition to the secret letter found in her study, there was also a witness.
That person is Grandma Hua.
She is an old man who has served Xie Lingyu for many years. Her testimony is enough to prove Xie Lingyu's crime of rebellion.
Now that he saw her so diligently trying to please him, Xie Lingyu just wanted to laugh.
"The old slave specially asked someone to make a ginseng soup." Grandma Hua opened the food box and took out the small bowl inside like a treasure: "You'd better drink it while it's hot."
Chunxi looked at the ginseng in the bowl and suddenly said: "Isn't this ginseng just gifted by the saint yesterday?"
"You little girl, you are very discerning," Grandma Hua said in a rather relaxed tone.
Chunxi pouted: "Your Highness hasn't seen the wild ginseng given by the saint yet, so I asked you to stew it first."
Aunt Hua glanced at her: "What are you talking about? I am thinking about our girl's body. Although the ginseng given by the saint is very precious, can it be as precious as the girl's body?"
Chunxi bit her lip angrily, regretting that she couldn't come up with such quibbling words.
They are all people who serve His Highness, how could she not know the style of this flower nanny, who is more pretentious than anything else.
As for this wild ginseng, Chunxi can guarantee with her head that when Aunt Hua asked someone to make ginseng soup for His Highness, she must have already drank it. She did this not once or twice.
He even called it a good name, testing the poison for His Highness.
Nonsence.
"Chunxi, bring it here," Xie Lingyu suddenly said.
Only then did the two of them realize that they were quarreling in front of Xie Lingyu, so they shut up and didn't dare to speak anymore. Chunxi quickly took the soup cup from Granny Hua's hand, tested the warmth with her fingers against the wall of the bowl, and then handed it over carefully. To Xie Lingyu.
Xie Lingyu quietly drank a few mouthfuls of ginseng soup, while the others did not dare to speak.
Although she didn't speak, her thoughts didn't stop.
In fact, the virtue of the subordinates depends on the master.
Although Xie Lingyu has a cool temper, he is not a mean master, and is even a little overly indulgent.
She was afraid that if someone gave her a thumbs up, she would have a reputation for being harsh on her servants, which would lead to unwarranted disputes.
Besides, Aunt Hua always flattered her, and it was her mother-in-law who gave it to her personally. She even gave her an extra three points of noodles just for her mother-in-law's sake.
It's just that some people are born not knowing how to advance or retreat. Three-point thin noodles can allow her to open a dyeing workshop.
There is only one master in Shanghua Palace, Xie Lingyu, and Aunt Hua here is quite a bit like one person is inferior to ten thousand people.
Until there was a faint noise outside the window, Xie Lingyu looked up. Through the half-open window of the Linghua window, someone seemed to have broken into the courtyard, but was quickly stopped by other maids guarding outside the palace.
Between the entanglement of the two, the person struggled hard and made a whimpering sound.
"Who's out there?" Xie Lingyu raised his voice slightly.
When the people outside the palace heard her voice, they were so excited that they broke away from the drag of other maids and shouted loudly: "Your Highness, your maid Yuetao has been wronged. Please make the decision for your maid."
At this moment, several people in the hall had different expressions. Chunxi was naturally surprised. He didn't expect who dared to be so bold.
When Grandma Hua heard this voice, she immediately said: "I don't know who doesn't follow the rules and dares to come here and act wild. I'll wait for the old slave to take care of her."
Seeing how eager she was, Xie Lingyu became interested.
She curved her lips and smiled: "Since she dared to come here, why not just listen to her grievances."
With that said, Xie Lingyu stood up and walked out of the hall.
Xie Lingyu came to the door and looked at a maidservant who was fifteen or sixteen years old. She looked somewhat delicate and pretty. When she saw her, the maidservant raised her head with tears in her eyes filled with sadness and indignation.
Xie Lingyu lowered his eyes: "What do you want me to do?"
The maid crawled forward a few steps and knelt on the ground: "Your Highness, Xue Gui, the head of Shanghua Palace, failed to force the maid to accept him, so he sent someone to break the leg of the maid's father, with the intention of forcing the maid's family to yield."
Before Xie Lingyu could speak, Aunt Hua next to her said angrily: "How outrageous! You are a little maid who doesn't want to be a errand. You didn't care that the girl was still ill. You barged into the inner hall like this. Now you dare to slander the master." , are there any rules in this Shanghua Palace?"
"Come here, drag this slave girl down for me."
As soon as she spoke, the maids on both sides immediately stood up and worked together to drag Yuetao down.
"Your Highness, this servant is yours. Even if there is a mistake, it should be decided by Your Highness," Yuetao knew that her fate would be inevitable if she was really dragged away, so she struggled desperately and shouted quickly and quickly. .
When Grandma Hua heard this, she became even more angry: "What a sharp-tongued little servant girl, shut her mouth."
A maid immediately took out a handkerchief and tried to cover Yuetao's mouth.
At this moment, Yuetao's hands were tightly clamped, and when she saw that the handkerchief was about to cover her mouth, despair finally appeared in her eyes.
Xie Lingyu looked at all this with cold eyes and couldn't help but think of how weak he was in the past.
Aunt Hua is a slave, but her performance is even greater than hers.
As soon as these maids heard the order, they took action in front of her without saying a word.
"Wait a minute."
A cold female voice suddenly sounded.
These two words that came out of nowhere made Yue Tao's eyes light up again.
"Let her go," Xie Lingyu looked at the maid on the left and right who was still holding Yuetao, and ordered, "Let her continue talking."
"Your Highness, I know that Xue Gui's hands and feet are not clean. He resells the items in Shangyang Palace because he told his maid that if he marries him, he will enjoy endless glory and wealth in the future. But he is similar in age to the maid's father. He is a lustful person by nature, how can I commit myself to him?"
When she said this, Aunt Hua immediately became anxious: "Girl, this servant is so unruly, you can't just listen to her words."
"It's a one-sided statement," Xie Lingyu raised his eyebrows slightly and said lightly: "Send someone to Xue Gui to search, and you can tell right from wrong with just one search."
"Chunxi, go to the Shanghua Palace Military Office and pass my message to him to lead a team of guards to search Xue Gui's residence immediately."
As soon as these words came out, not to mention Aunt Hua, even Chunxi was shocked.
Who knows that although His Highness has a noble status, he has an overly tolerant temperament. Even if someone does commit an offense in Shanghua Palace, it is usually done by minimizing the serious matter and letting it go lightly. His Highness has never been seen acting so resolutely.
After Chunxi left, Granny Hua wanted to speak again, but Xie Lingyu was the first to raise her hand.
She looked at Nanny Hua: "There's no need to say anything, Nanny. Since I sent people to investigate, I intend not to unjustly accuse a good person."
"I won't spare a bad person."
Grandma Hua's expression suddenly changed.
*
Less than half an hour later, Chunxi rushed back and reported that the guards had finished searching Xue Gui's residence and had brought him back together.
It happened that Xie Lingyu had just finished breakfast. She stood up easily and had a chair moved and placed under the eaves of the corridor outside the hall.
Xie Lingyu came out and saw people kneeling in the courtyard.
Joining the army on the side came forward: "Your Highness, these are the account books found at Xue Gui's residence. Please take a look at them."
Xie Lingyu reached out and took it, flipping through a few pages with her long and beautiful fingertips.
Until she chuckled: "You are quite brave."
Xie Lingyu laughed angrily. She knew that she, the Shanghua Palace, was nothing but a colander.
The records in this account book are all evidence that Xue Gui is greedy for ink. From medicinal materials to clothing materials, from porcelain utensils to tea cakes and spices, there is nothing that he dare not put his hands on.
"Your Highness, I'm wronged. I don't know how something like this could appear in my residence." Like framing a villain."
At this moment, Aunt Hua finally seized the opportunity and spoke again: "Girl, Master Xue has always been loyal. You must never wrong such a loyal servant. If this is the case, won't others criticize the girl and say that she doesn't know right from wrong?" , it will be harmful to the girl’s reputation.”
As the saying goes, a servant bullies his master, and she has really seen it happen.
Xie Lingyu felt a little ridiculous at this moment.
She ended up like that in her previous life, and now it seems that she is not entirely to blame for others.
She was a fool herself, and she only wanted to have a good reputation, fearing that others would think she was not sitting on the throne properly. It was precisely because of this that she was completely manipulated by people like Aunt Hua.
But she doesn't understand that as long as she is a woman, this criticism will never go away.
Instead of being afraid of this and that, it would be better to completely make others fear her and never dare to say a word again.
Xie Lingyu held the account book in his hand and lowered his eyelashes slightly.
When Aunt Hua saw this, she thought Xie Lingyu had softened her heart again. She knew that the person in front of her would change her temper so easily. She wouldn't have dared to punish him more than she had to say a few words.
She secretly breathed a sigh of relief, but heard Xie Lingyu say in a calm tone: "Drag Xue Gui into the courtyard and beat him with a cane for thirty years, regardless of life or death."
Perhaps he was still ill. Xie Lingyu's voice was not loud, and sounded softer and softer. However, the words were filled with the fierceness of life and death.
It shocked everyone in the courtyard.
Xue Gui, who was still shouting that he was wronged, suddenly collapsed to the ground when he heard these words.
When he came to his senses, he shouted desperately: "Sister, save me, please save me."
He shouted this towards Aunt Hua.
He and Aunt Hua are closely related, otherwise he would not be so bold in Shanghua Palace and dare to get his hands on anything.
Joining the army on the side didn't care about these kinship matters. Now that he had the order, he waved his hand and asked the guards to come forward. He first covered Xue Gui's mouth and then dragged him out.
"Girl," Grandma Hua was really panicked now and wanted to plead.
Xie Lingyu glanced over casually. His eyes, which were born with half-wine, no longer had ripples of water in them at this moment. Instead, they looked as if thin ice had condensed. He looked down at her with a kind of alienated indifference.
"Mommy, that's wrong."
Grandma Hua didn't know what she was going to say, so she subconsciously looked up.
She saw Xie Lingyu staring straight at her: "Mommy is an old member of the royal family and knows the etiquette and rules best. When it comes to addressing me, I don't know the dignity."
This king.
This is the first time Xie Lingyu has called herself this since she woke up.
Aunt Hua was never like other maids. She always addressed her as "His Royal Highness Xie Lingyu" to a girl. She said it sounded nice to show her closeness, but in reality it was just to show that she was different from others.
If she really was the wet nurse who had taken care of Xie Lingyu since she was a child, Xie Lingyu would not care and would treat her respectfully.
But this Auntie Hua is a vicious servant who bullies others, and Xie Lingyu doesn't want to indulge her anymore.
Under Xie Lingyu's gaze, Aunt Hua was so frightened that she couldn't help but kneel on the ground: "Your Highness, spare your life."
As soon as she knelt down, the muffled sound of a board hitting someone was heard outside the courtyard again.
One after another, it seemed to hit the hearts of everyone in the hospital.
All the maids unexpectedly knelt down at the same time and shouted loudly: "Your Highness, please calm down."
Xie Lingyu stood in front of the steps under the eaves of the corridor, looking at this scene with calm eyes. Her heart felt like a stone had been thrown, causing ripples that could not stop for a long time.
This was actually the first time in two lives that she felt that she was King Yongning instead of a puppet.
