Cen Xijin looked at Cai Xin with a complicated expression and saw that her figure was thin and thin, but her hands were covered with calluses, and her clothes were old and shabby in many places.
Yes, Rao Caixin is so smart and intelligent, but she is just an eight-year-old girl. Thinking of this, Cen Xijin's heart softened, and he sighed: "You are always very smart. If you want to defend yourself, I will give you a chance."
Seeing Cen Xijin's expression of pity, several maids and eunuchs around him began to whisper.
Cai Xin didn't care about that. She kowtowed and cried: "Auntie, I was framed. Fertilizer is not like this! Our palace is in Beizhili, in the north! In this cold winter, how can those fertilizers be used like this? How about retting it overnight? Someone must have compromised my job and my aunt's plan, so they poured the conditioned fertilizer into the ground!"
Cherry curled her lips in disgust: "Maybe it's the excrement you threw that smells bad!"
Lu'an also nodded and echoed in a low voice: "Yes, feces and so on, but we saw with our own eyes that she was shamed by others! Isn't that stuff smelly enough?"
Cai Xin glared at them fiercely. Although she was still kneeling on the ground, her fierce and powerful aura made both Yingying and Luan shut their mouths obediently. They only heard her raise her voice and argue: "No matter how smelly the feces is, It was also mixed with stems, weeds, green manure and water. It only lasted one night, but how could it produce such a sour and strong smell! There must be someone with evil intentions!"
"That's your fault too! If you had been more careful, how could you let others take advantage of the loophole to frame her?" Cen Xijin's words were stern and his eyes were stern, but the meaning behind his words was obviously to excuse Cai Xin.
Although she didn't understand land reclamation and fertilization, she did know some biological knowledge. Cai Xin's argument for herself was very valid. Yes, in such a cold winter and still in the north, how could retting be so fast!
Cen Xijin knew better that they were not there for the cabbage, but for her.
Just like before, Qing Zao framed her to get involved with Wang Xiang, but now that person wanted to get her involved through Cai Xin.
That person might be Feng'er, or someone else.
It's a pity that others are in the dark but she is in the open. Cen Xijin only hates that she has no evidence. Even though she knows that Cai Xin is suffering on her behalf, in order to appease everyone, she can only harden her heart and punish Cai Xin: "Even if you say everything It's reasonable, but if you accidentally offend others, this is also your negligence, and you should still be punished."
Cai Xin knelt on the ground angrily, tears falling unsatisfactorily. She was also spirited, her face was covered in tears, but she didn't cry at all.
Seeing this, Cen Xijin sighed and turned to talk to Zhou Dafu: "Eunuch Zhou, you are the chief eunuch of the Jianxian Pavilion. In order to show fairness, it is up to you to decide how to punish Cai Xin."
Sometimes, it’s really hard to make a decision, and you’re still in a dilemma. That's why Cen Xijin played a trick and put this matter on Chow Tai Fook's head.
Chow Tai Fook is worthy of being an old fox for many years. He pushed a little, but when he saw that he couldn't push the errand away, he pondered and decided on the punishment: "Although this matter is not Cai Xin's fault, it is Cai Xin's carelessness, so I will punish him." She must hold the lamp for seven consecutive days."
Holding the lamp is really neither light nor heavy, neither painful nor itchy. Especially in a small place like Jianxian Pavilion, holding a lamp is much easier than in other palaces.
Cai Xin bit her lip and nodded in agreement, but she was still embarrassed. Seeing many people looking at her playfully, she immediately ran out of Jianxian Hall with red eyes, probably looking for a place to cry.
Seeing her like this, Cen Xijin felt uncomfortable, but in her position, it was not easy to be partial.
Especially when she has no evidence.
Only forbearance.
Cai Xin closed her eyes tightly and just ran out. At this moment, she didn't want to care about anything.
The wind is very cold, very cold, and walking through the cold wind seems to be refreshing like mint ointment.
She doesn't like the wind in the palace, nor does she like the palace. It's different from her hometown.
The wind in my hometown changes with the four seasons, such as the earthy smell of wheat seedlings growing in spring, the fragrance of cotton that every household takes out to dry in the summer, and the smell of maltose sugar wafting in the wind in autumn. Sweet smell, for example, in winter, the wind in my hometown must have the smell of smoky sausages and the smell of firecrackers set off by children. It is unpleasant, but kind and touching.
Cai Xin stopped and stood beside the vermilion palace wall, facing the cold wind in winter, and wiped the tears from her eyes fiercely.
She can't be weak!
I remember that two years ago, her parents were gone and her younger brother was sick. Both her eldest and second uncles said that the only way out for her was to follow the traffickers. It was both her way out and her brother's way out.
But she really didn't dare to think whether her eldest uncle, second uncle, and the others had spent all her money on her younger brother.
When her mother left, she told her that her younger brother was a boy and expensive, and she was a girl and a sister. Taking care of her younger brother was a matter of course.
She did so.
So she was resold along the way and worked as a fire girl in a large mansion. She also washed people's clothes in a brothel. She once begged for food on the street and even snatched food from dogs during times of famine.
The warmth and coldness of human relationships made her shrewd and clever.
Later, she was sold into the palace, and then she knew what heaven on earth was.
Why are you afraid of being beaten and scolded in the morning and evening? When one day, even food and clothing are no longer enough, the so-called beating, scolding and humiliation don't even count.
At least she won't be hungry in this palace.
After some time in the palace, she met Cen Xijin, a man of the same origin as her but with different circumstances.
She looked up at her as if looking up at another self, feeling happy and sad at the same time.
She regards her as her idol and her motivation, and hopes that she will become stronger and stronger. She also hopes that one day she can be as strong, confident, respected, and can stand proudly in the world like her.
However, just now, when she was being framed, Cen Xijin was so miserable that she couldn't say a word.
Rather than Cen Xijin excusing her, she wanted to see Cen Xijin's aura as a palace maid. She always felt that such a magnanimity, overlooking all living beings, was what she had been eagerly looking forward to in her life.
It was dusk when Cen Xijin found her by the palace wall.
"Cai Xin, why are you doing this? Come back with me!" She leaned down, almost begging.
Cai Xin squatted on the ground in embarrassment. After hearing this, she looked up at the almost black sky, cried and laughed, "Where are you going back?"
Of course, Cen Xijin would not be stupid enough to answer "Go back to Xianguan", but Cai Xin looked really lonely and helpless. She sighed slightly, and the corners of her eyes were a little wet: "You should be angry, if it weren't for you Being on my side won't hurt you. I know that you are blaming me, blaming me for not clearing your grievances, blaming me for not being able to help you. But to be honest, I really can't help you today !”
In the end, she can only choose between selfishness and justice.
Cai Xin stood up with a sneer, and her eyes had regained a shrewd look: "Auntie, I once heard a saying when I was delivering food to others in the village school, a big act does not care about the small details, and a big gift does not hesitate to make small concessions. Although I couldn't explain it, I understood it in the end. I was wronged and wronged, but because my aunt had no evidence, I had no choice but to let it go. In the end, she even punished me. Doesn't my aunt think it's ridiculous?"
Seeing that she had regained her consciousness, Cen Xijin felt relieved, and he only agreed indiscriminately: "This is my fault, just blame me."
"I don't blame you, I just can't see it. Cen Xijin, you are a first-class palace maid, why do you have to smile and kowtow to those lowly people!" After saying that, she sneered, "Look, I call you You don’t know what to say about your name! With your simple temperament, it’s a dead end in the palace. You don’t plot against others, and you don’t know how to fight back when others plot against you. Besides forbearing and giving in, what else will you do? ? At this moment, you, a dignified maid, are being reprimanded by the humblest, lowest and most despised maid, what can you do?"
Cen Xijin's face gradually became serious.
She was not angry, but truly felt the crisis.
Cai Xin is right, absolutely right!
When she is a little taller than others, others will be jealous and do some crazy things because of it. But if she is much taller than others, those people can only look up to her.
Seeing that she had listened, Cai Xin grabbed her arm tightly and became more and more excited as she spoke: "Auntie, the evidence and everything are all trivial. It's just a trivial matter that I was framed, but if Auntie continues to be like this If you are weak and friendly, it will be serious! After this time, there will be another time, and it will be someone else if it is not Feng'er! The key lies in His Highness, His Highness the Second Prince!"
"Your Highness?" Cen Xijin turned away, her expression gradually becoming complicated. Of course she could guess what Cai Xin meant, but she never dared to think that way.
"Yes, everything else is nothingness. Only His Highness the Second Prince is the real master of the Jianxian Pavilion. No matter how respected the eldest palace maid is, she is just a servant. Only by holding him firmly and gradually controlling his heart can I stand firm In an invincible position!" Cai Xin licked her lips excitedly, squinting her eyes and calculating, "For example, if one day, my aunt can be His Highness's pillow..."
