Hongli indeed noticed the chain on her hand and said: "I remember that you were wearing a string of pearls on your wrist before, why did it become this string again?" After a pause, he said again: "These two
Bracelets are worth a lot of money, how can you, a little palace maid, have them? Tell me, where did they come from?"
"When I return to the emperor, the pearl bracelet was given to me by my mother. It is also the most valuable thing in the house. When I miss my mother, I will take it out and wear it. However, that day, after the emperor left, the beads
The chain was broken, and the slave didn't even have a bead.
After I get it back, when I see my mother... I don't know what to say to my mother." At this point, Cai Ling couldn't help but cry, and her tears fell one after another on the gold bricks as smooth as a mirror.
"Sister Aluo saw that slave was sad, so she gave this bracelet to slave."
Hongli frowned and said, "Even if the bead is broken, the bead will not be found. What happened?"
Cai Ling opened her mouth, then shook her head vigorously, pretending to be flustered and said: "No, nothing happened. Those beads rolled too far, so I couldn't find them."
"You said that the beaded chain was given to you by your mother, and it represents your deep longing for your mother. How could you ignore it just because you were far away? And if that is the case, there is no need for you to cry here. Tell me,
What happened after I left, and is it related to the pure concubine?"
Cai Ling's expression became more and more panicked, and she repeatedly said: "No, it has nothing to do with your Majesty. I accidentally tore it off myself. Your Majesty, she has never done anything, nothing..." After saying this, Cai Ling's voice gradually faded.
It got smaller and smaller until finally it was replaced by crying.
Seeing this, Hongli still didn't understand, and said in a deep voice: "Tell me what exactly Chunbi did to you. If you refuse to tell me, I will go and ask Chunbin myself."
Cai Ling said hurriedly: "No, the emperor doesn't want it, everything is... it's my fault." After a moment of pause, she said intermittently: "After the emperor left that day, the empress was very unhappy and said that the slave brought a pearl bracelet back.
There are embroidered clivias who want to charm the master and seduce the emperor, so they broke the slave's bracelet and drove the slave to wait outside the palace."
Hongli's face darkened and he said: "I just asked for your name. Have you ever done anything to be charming and beguiling the Lord, and have you ever seduced me?"
Cai Ling wiped her tears and said: "I said no, but the master doesn't believe it. He must say that I have bad intentions. I really can't help it."
Hongli snorted coldly: "No wonder you don't want to go back to Yikun Palace. I'm afraid you won't have a good life if you go back. Pure concubine has gone too far this time."
Cai Ling said quickly: "It's none of the master's business, it's my fault. If I hadn't served tea to the emperor that day, so many things wouldn't have happened."
"Huh, at this time, you still say good things for her, I think..." Hongli did not continue what he said later, which made Cai Ling a little disappointed, but she soon made up for it with the next words, "In this case,
Just stay, you and A Luo are on good terms, right? Then go to the tea room."
Cai Ling was really happy this time. After kowtowing and thanking her, she left the Yangxin Hall with satisfaction. She immediately went to the imperial tea room to find A Luo. The latter was also worried about her and saw her coming.
, asked quickly: "How's it going? What did the emperor say?"
Cai Ling's eyebrows were dancing and she said: "The emperor not only forgives my sin, but also agrees that I can work in the imperial tea house like my sister."
"That's great! That's great!" A'luo said happily, then he stroked his chest and said, "Now that you are fine, I can finally let go of my heart. I almost didn't worry to death just now."
Cai Ling said gratefully: "Sister, if it weren't for you, I wouldn't be so lucky. I really don't know how to repay you."
"Look at you, you said such unscrupulous words again. You already said that we are sisters. Whatever I do for you is what I should do. From now on, I will work hard to win the favor of the emperor and get rid of my status as a slave as soon as possible. Do you understand?"
Cailing nodded and said, "It's getting late now. I'm afraid the Fifth Eunuch doesn't have time to arrange your accommodation, so you can
Come with me first. Please tell me about the specific errands, residence and monthly schedule. I will ask the Fifth Eunuch tomorrow. In addition, you have to tell Tang Jiu." At this point, A Luo said somewhat unhappily: "You
Why have you never told me that Tang Jiu is your cousin? It’s so hard to hide it from me, or maybe you don’t regard me as a sister at all.”
Cai Ling quickly denied: "No, that's what I meant. I just forgot to mention it before, but then I thought it was nothing, so I didn't mention it deliberately. Sister, don't blame me."
A Luo glanced at her and said, "Am I such a stingy person? I was just a little surprised when I first found out about it. Do you remember that you must tell me something if you have something in the future? In short, I will never harm you.
of."
Cai Ling narrowed her eyes with a smile and said softly: "I know that my sister is the best person to me. Meeting her is really the blessing of my life."
A Luo tapped her forehead lightly and said dotingly: "It's good if you know. Okay, I don't have anything to do here. I'm going to get a few snacks to put your belly in, and then go back to sleep."
That night, Cai Ling slept very peacefully, but Su's side was tossing and turning. She asked people to look for Cai Ling, but Cai Ling was not found, and Tang Jiu didn't come back either. None of them knew where they were.
After tossing and turning for an hour, Mrs. Su sat up irritably, slapped the bed hard and said, "Here comes someone!"
After a while, Ying'er walked in from the small door next to her and said nervously: "Master, what happened?"
Mrs. Su said coldly: "It's okay, I can't sleep. Please help me go outside for a walk."
Ying'er agreed, and after helping Su to dress, she helped her to the courtyard. It was autumn now, and the chirping of autumn insects could be heard everywhere. Su was already upset, but when she was noisy by these insects, she became even more upset.
I was so annoyed that my chest felt tight, so I called the palace attendant who was responsible for keeping watch at night and said, "Why are there so many bugs here? Send someone to drive these bugs away immediately. If you can't drive them away, I will kill them."
Although the palace servants felt that Su's request was quite excessive, they dared not even say no in front of Su. They immediately called up all the palace servants who were resting, and drove them to hide in the grass with lanterns.
After a period of fussing, the sound of the insects finally became quieter, but it was still there after all.
Facing the helpless palace servants, Su shouted angrily: "They are all a bunch of losers. I asked you to look for them but you can't find them. Now I ask you to drive away the insects and it doesn't work. What on earth can you do?"
The palace servants all knelt down and said, "This slave deserves to die. Please forgive me, Master!"