Before the end of the seventh month, Yu Shu drew up a list of the palace consorts to serve the Emperor and gave it to Jing Chen to look over.
Jing Chen only skimmed through it once and then stamped a large seal at the end of the booklet. Next to her seal, there were two thin sheets of paper wrapped in ginger wood and coated with a secret wax paste. It was called the Book of Kun and was personally safeguarded by Jing Chen. At the end of the month, the Palace Internal Affairs Commission would send someone to retrieve it.
Although she expected that Jing Chen would not have any objections to her arrangements, Yu Shu still dutifully reported to him: "I referred to the secret booklet of the Kun Ling Bureau for the past three years. According to their positions, I first recorded the dates of the Empress and the three official consorts, then the consorts and noblewomen. Based on the lunar calendar, those with conflicting birthdays are staggered. Those with impure bodies are not recorded. Because the next month is the first month, we need to set aside the seventh and nineteenth to avoid ancestral taboos."
On the surface, the schedule that Yu Shu had arranged was meticulous and could be said to be standard. In reality, there was a hidden mystery. For example, Noble Consort Xue and Noble Consort Shu both had three days, but Noble Consort Shu had one day scheduled on the fifteenth. There was a banquet in the Palace on the fifteenth of the eighth month. Emperor Zhao Qing would definitely be drunk. The banquet would end at the third watch and there would be morning court the next day. He would not have the energy to be intimate with Noble Consort Shu. He probably wouldn't even be able to say a few words before washing up and sleeping.
There was another Sun Guiren, who was below the position of consort, but when Ren Qiming had been in charge of the Kun Ling Bureau, she had gotten two days in a row in three months. Before Yu Shu had entered the Palace to see Noble Consort Xue, she had felt that there was something fishy about this. After Noble Consort Xue's guidance, she had learned that this Sun Guiren was actually a palace maid in the Empress's Pepper Hall. If she continued to investigate, the Empress was middle-aged and had no children. Emperor Zhao Qing also favored young beauties. This Sun Guiren's position was very interesting.
When it came to Yu Shu, Sun Guiren was also queued up for two days. Coincidentally, one day was after Honored Consort Shu, which was on the sixteenth day of the Mid-Autumn Festival. The night before, Emperor Zhao Qing had rested at Concubine Shu's. The next day, he would see his lovely concubine. He would probably relax a little. The next day, he was in front of another young and beautiful Concubine Zhao. Emperor Zhao Qing was already in his forties. He was no longer as promiscuous as when he was young. If Concubine Zhao got wet, there would be nothing for Sun Guiren to do the next day.
No one could find fault with such an arrangement. Half of it was Noble Consort Xue's idea, and the other half was Yu Shu's "revenge in public" — Didn't Consort Shu warn me not to abuse my power for personal gain? I'm plotting, this is private. If you have the ability, come and bite me.
If Empress Shu knew that her threat had no effect at all. Instead, it caused Yu Shu to sneak up on her. Would she regret it?
Jing Chen couldn't see that Yu Shu had done something to the August "Great Earth Register". After listening to her report, he said to her, "It involves the private affairs of the palace maids. As a man, it's more convenient for you. You can draw up the future Great Earth Register and give it to me to stamp. Originally, my position as the Right Commander was also an acting one. "
Yu Shu could tell that he wanted to be a hands-off boss. How could she not be willing? She raised the corner of her mouth and gave him a rare smile, "Okay."
Jing Chen looked at her smiling face, his thoughts drifting away. When he came back to his senses, she had already left.
.....
Yu Shu hadn't seen Xue Rui for several days. She had been busy arranging the list of attendants in the past few days and didn't have time to think about it. Once the official business was finished. She kept thinking about him.
She went to Wangji Tower to look for him but didn't find him. Instead, she heard two maids say something —
"The gentleman that the girl brought a few days ago. I don't know how he found the Feng Shui pool you set up on the balcony. He sneaked in once and we bumped into him. "
Yu Shu "picked up" Xin Lishan near Xin's Mansion and got the secret of Yun Hua's relics out of him. Seeing that he had nowhere to go, she arranged for him to live in Wangji Tower. She had been busy for seven or eight days and didn't have time to care about him.
Xiaoqing and Xiaodie were dedicated to serving Yu Shu. When she was not there, no one ordered them. According to Yu Shu's instructions, they changed the spring water of the Feng Shui pool with crystal stones every day and cleaned the dust. So, they caught Xin Lishan immediately.
But they worried that he was Yu Shu's guest, so they kindly asked him to leave. Unexpectedly, Xin Lishan was so thick-skinned that he didn't feel ashamed when he was discovered. Instead, he wandered on the top of the third floor every day, which made the two maids always guard against him. They couldn't sleep well at night and were miserable.
After listening to their story, Yu Shu smiled happily. She found Xin Lishan's room, knocked on the door and went in.
It was dinner time, and Xin Lishan hadn't served the dishes yet. He was lying under the window with his legs crossed in a daze. A string of shiny crystal beads was hanging on his hand, shining under the light. It was the reward he got for helping Yu Shu make the Mujiang fan.
When he saw Yu Shu coming in, he just twisted his neck and didn't get up.
"Fifth uncle, are you used to living here?"
"The food is good, and I can avoid disasters. I'm used to living here." Xin Lishan squinted at her. "Why? Do you think I'm eating and drinking here and want to kick me out?"
Yu Shu was still wearing the blue kale official robe. She lifted the corner of her robe and sat opposite him. She smiled and said, "It's nothing to eat and drink for free. Wangji Tower has a lot of money, so we don't need these meals. I treat fifth uncle as a guest, but you don't treat yourself as an outsider."
These words were so sarcastic that Xin Lishan touched his nose. "Did the two little girls tell on me?"
Yu Shu looked serious. "Fifth uncle comes from the family of Yi Xue. You know the rules of Yi Xue better than me. Don't you know that it's a taboo to pry into other people's secret?"
Xin Lishan was a Great Yi Master from a family of creators. She used the Eight Gates Life and Death Tactics of Taoist Qing Zheng for the Feng Shui pool upstairs. Others couldn't understand it, but he might.
"Look at what you said. It's not so serious." Xin Lishan sat up straight and said with an embarrassed face, "I'm just too curious and can't help but want to see it. Even if I see it, I will only think about it and keep it in my stomach. I will never reveal it to you."
Yu Shu snorted. If she didn't believe in Xin Lishan's character, she wouldn't let him live here. Xin Lishan was not a villain since he could leave home for his old friend who died twenty years ago.
"Do you really want to see the Feng Shui pool where I raise the crystal?"
Xin Lishan's eyes brightened when he heard that she left room for negotiation. "Are you willing?"
"It's not impossible, but the technique taught by my master is unique in the world. How can I easily share it with others?"
Xin Lishan knew that she was deliberately keeping him in suspense and that she must have a request later. But when he thought of the mysterious Fengshui land upstairs that was waiting to be excavated, his heart itched unbearably. Curiosity won over him and he continued, "What do you want?"
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