First Concubine

Chapter 242: Kill the chicken to scare the monkey (1)

Shui Linglong went to the wet nurse's room to see her sleeping sister and brother, and then returned to the bedroom. On her way back, she learned that on the day of Yao Xinyu's death, Leng Youru stayed in front of the bed all day, and Zhuge Liuyun was there. The General Mansion stayed with the critically ill Shangguan Qian for the whole day, which was... too shocking. From Zhuge Liuyun's point of view, he could return home at any time, and there was nothing wrong with him accompanying the seriously ill Shangguan Qian. Unfortunately, what he did was wrong. In addition, he had a guilty conscience and did not dare to reveal his whereabouts. If he had been more calm and left a verbal message saying where he had gone, Leng Youru would not be able to find anyone. Although Shui Linglong was not at the scene, it is not difficult to guess that Yao Xinyu died with regrets.

Zhifan also heard about the conversation between the prince and the eldest lady in the carriage and realized that something like this had happened. She sighed slowly, "No wonder Mother Cui ignored the slave. I think she was so anxious that she didn't notice the slave at all."

Shui Linglong blinked suspiciously, with a hint of melancholy appearing between her brows, "It's strange, the prince and I didn't tell the prince that my wife was living in the general's mansion. How did the prince know? And it happened that night. Got it, that’s too fast!”

Zhifan waved his hands subconsciously, "I'm not a slave, Miss! I was not here when you and the Crown Prince talked about my wife. I sent Liu Lu back to the main courtyard. I only heard you and the Crown Prince talk about it today on the carriage. of!"

"I didn't say it was you." Shui Linglong pressed her eyebrows, and the confusion in her eyes became more obvious.

Zhi Fan winked at Ye Mao. Ye Mao was stunned for a moment, then shook his head, "It's not a slave. After Zhi Fan and Liu Lu left, the slave went to the small kitchen to help Mother Zhong make dinner."

The character of these two maids was naturally trustworthy. She picked up a longan, gently peeled off the shell, and said thoughtfully: "The problem should still be in our yard. The prince only told me that , we never mentioned it again, that is to say, if we really want to leak the news, we can only think about it this time, maybe someone accidentally heard it and leaked it? "

Ye Mao thought carefully about what happened in the past few days and shook his head, "I have no memory of this."

Zhi Fan's eyes moved. She still remembered the events of that day relatively clearly. She left the house and welcomed Liu Lu back. The three of them chatted in the room. After the chat, she sent Liu Lu to the main courtyard. When she met Cui's mother, she took the initiative to say hello but was ignored. After holding back her anger, she returned to Mo Heyuan angrily. As soon as she crossed the hall, she bumped into Bai Mei again. The old one ignored everyone, and the young one bumped into others. She I feel so unlucky...

etc! Bai Mei is a first-class maid, and she has learned the rules perfectly. Why did she hit her so rashly? She is in a bad mood and doesn't look at the road. Is Bai Mei the same? After thinking about this, Zhifan expressed the doubts in his heart: "Miss, the slave came back from the main courtyard. Bai Mei bumped into the slave. She looked very panicked and said 'I'm sorry' to the slave."

Baimei and Zhifan were not in love, and Baimei had an arrogant temper. She apologized to Zhifan, which was indeed suspicious, especially when she rushed out of the inner courtyard... Shui Linglong only thought about it in her mind and felt that Baimei was very suspicious, but this The prince will not come out to testify, and Bai Mei can stand even if the prince is involved. The prince is the master of the palace, so what is wrong with Bai Mei tipping him off? If he really treated her for this matter, he would be slapping the prince in the face.

 It was night, Liu Lu asked for grace from Zhuge Liuyun, and returned to Mohe Courtyard as an errand. Liu Lu's return caused an uproar in Mo Heyuan, and the servants were all talking about it.

“You tell me, why did Liu Lu come back?”

"Is it because the prince doesn't like her and is tired of her? Look, he's not even allowed to use her name! She used to be the aloof Miss Zhaoyun, but now she's just like the rest of us, a country chicken covered in feathers!" Bai Mei gloated.

 “Bah, bah, bah! You are the chicken!”

"But then again, how could she have the nerve to come back? How did she seduce the prince and crawl into his bed in the first place? How could she be so arrogant when she left?"

"That's right! When she was here, my boss made us do this and that, but I was lazy and went back to the house to sleep! How annoying!"

Bai Mei smiled sarcastically, "Haha! People have the capital to sleep, do you? Do you have such a coquettish figure, such a charming face, or such dirty methods?"

Everyone turned away and shook their heads. Out of jealousy, no one was willing to admit that Liu Lu was better than them. Only by criticizing Liu Lu as useless could they prove that they were lotus flowers that emerged from the mud and remained unsullied.

"That's too much!" At the corner, Zhi Fan heard the malicious slanders from the maids headed by Bai Mei, and was so angry that he blew his beard and glared, "What nonsense are they talking about? Who seduced the prince? It's obviously the prince who likes you."

Before Liu Lu came back, she had anticipated the various criticisms she might encounter, one of which was bad words. From the young lady's point of view, today's society is a patriarchal society, and laws and morals are all biased towards men. Men who are romantic are called "suave", and women who are secretly in love are called "shameless". The prince summoned her to the main courtyard because she was charming and seduced him; the prince sent her back to the Mohe courtyard because she was incompetent and favored him. In short, the prince is always right.

It’s not that I don’t feel uncomfortable, but competing with those people will only make it even more uncomfortable. After comforting herself, Liu Lu began to comfort Zhifan: "Forget it, don't be angry. Being angry is to punish yourself for other people's mistakes. Why bother?"

Zhifan looks generous on the surface, but is actually petty. Just because she didn’t dare to get angry before doesn’t mean she’s not really angry in her heart. It just means she has no right to be angry. Now she is the number one maid next to the eldest lady. It’s not impossible to punish a character like Bai Mei. Method. Zhi Fan frowned and said, "Okay, just don't take it personally. I'll go to the kitchen to get the ingredients."

After Zhifan left, Liu Lu looked at the group of people who were laughing and joking and taking pleasure in trampling on her reputation. A cold light flashed in her eyes, and then she slowly walked towards them and smiled lightly, "Hey, you all have nothing to do, right? That's fair. Very happy! Just in time, the Crown Princess has ordered the orchids in the backyard to be moved to the front yard, and the jasmine potted plants should be moved there, everyone, please hurry up! "

Most people subconsciously obeyed her orders, but Bai Mei sneered, "Hey, who is it? It turns out to be Miss Zhaoyun who is beside the prince. She was not having enough fun at the prince's place, so she came to our Mo He again. Is the hospital trying to show off its power?"

After her reminder, everyone remembered that things were different now. Liu Lu was no longer the Liu Lu she was then. She, a second-class maid from the Mohe Courtyard, was just on an equal footing with most of them. Everyone stopped moving again. Looking at her haughtily.

Liu Lu's face changed slightly, "Bai Mei, what did you say? Be careful that Feng Da bites his tongue!"

Bai Mei is also surprisingly courageous for some reason. In the past, even if she hated Zhi Fan and Liu Lu, she would often sarcastically say it, but she never said such heart-wrenching words, "Haha... It's a concubine of a rich family, the master is tired of playing with it." This is the first time I have seen someone who can at least live a long life and be demoted as a maid again. Especially our prince is such a good and responsible man. What a disgusting thing you must have done to be sent away by the prince. Come back! Just come back. No one will make things difficult for you if you keep your tail between your legs, but you took the chicken feathers as an arrow and treated everyone as a fool!" The maids on the side burst into laughter.

Liu Lu's face turned red and white. She twitched her lips and said coldly: "The imperial concubine asked me to do some work. Why is there so much nonsense? Don't you want to be an errand in Moheyuan?"

Everyone was startled, their laughter suddenly stopped, and some timid people began to move potted plants.

Bai Mei snorted: "Liu Lu, this is not the first time that you have pretended to be a public servant. You always impose the tasks assigned to you by the Crown Princess on us. Now you are not even as good as me and Bai Ju. The Crown Princess really wants to order everyone Will you be allowed to communicate when you are doing something? Ye Mao and Zhi Fan are not here?"

Sure enough, as soon as these words came out, a few bold maids immediately put the half-moved potted plants back to their original places, and Bai Mei smiled proudly.

Liu Lu spat at her, resisted the urge to kick her away, and picked up a potted jasmine plant and walked to the backyard. As soon as she left, some maids who didn't dare to risk their futures also moved potted plants. They were just doing some physical work. They had long been used to it, so they would rather believe it or not!

Bai Ju was one of them. She rolled up her sleeves and bent down to lift the jasmine potted plant. Bai Mei looked at her coldly and hummed, "What are you doing?"

Baiju answered honestly: "Well... move the potted plants."

Bai Mei frowned, "Of course I know you are moving the potted plants, I mean why are you moving them? Why should you listen to her?"

Bai Ju was stunned, "This... is idle anyway..."

Bai Mei snatched the potted plant from Bai Ju's hand and put it on the ground, then patted the dust on her hands and said, "Okay, follow me back to the house and let her do it by herself!"

Bai Ju looked at Liu Lu who was sweating profusely, frowned, and quietly ran out of the house while Bai Mei was taking a bath, and moved the potted plants again.

The orchids in the backyard were moved to the front yard, and the jasmine in the front yard was moved to the backyard. Including cleaning up the dust, it took a full two-quarters of an hour for everyone to complete the task. Before they had time to disperse, they saw Shui Linglong coming back.

 “Blessed is your concubine!” Everyone bowed in unison.

Shui Linglong paused, her cold eyes swept across the orchid pots in the front yard, and found that the sweeping utensils on the ground had not been removed. She couldn't help but frown slightly, "The work efficiency is so low. What I ordered when I went out has not been done yet." Clean it up?"

Liu Lu was busy doing her body good, and said seriously: "This is to inform the Imperial Concubine, there is someone cheating in the yard and not doing anything, so the time is slower than expected. Please be careful, Imperial Concubine." The truth seems to be more than that.

The maids looked at each other in shock, with cold sweats all over their bodies. After a while, you and I complained one by one.

"I would like to report to the Imperial Concubine, after receiving the order, the slaves wanted to move the potted plants immediately, but they didn't expect that someone was lazy and stopped the slaves from doing their work. They wanted to ask the slaves to make a backrest for her!"

"That's right! She has been causing trouble here for a long time, making it impossible for the slaves to do anything! Everyone saw it with their own eyes. Bai Ju obviously moved the potted plant, but she put it back in the same place! Isn't that right? , Baiju?”

Bai Ju lowered her head, not daring to answer. Everyone was exaggerating, but they were consistent. Bai Mei did prevent everyone from listening to Liu Lu's words, but everyone seemed...not doing their best. It's just that now that the Crown Princess is being held accountable, no one wants to be punished, so they push Bai Mei out to be taken advantage of. As expected, people are all selfish.

Seeing Bai Ju lowering his head and saying nothing, another maid said: "Bai Mei not only snatched the potted plant from Bai Ju's hand, but also took Bai Ju back to the house. Fortunately, Bai Ju was upright and hardworking, so he came back soon." Gave it. White chrysanthemum, a sweet date.

Bai Ju is fighting with her friends in the future. How can she not understand that Liu Lu wants to take the opportunity to defeat Bai Mei? Perhaps, this was also what the Crown Princess meant. The Crown Princess deliberately did not let Ye Mao or Zhi Fan pass around, just to test Bai Mei and Bai Mei's status in everyone's minds. She helped Liu Lu testify, and maybe she would become a successful person from then on, but Bai Mei had taken good care of her these years, and it seemed too unkind to push her into the water rashly, so she chose her friends and kept silent.

Liu Lu sneered in her heart. In this situation today, whether Bai Ju is a witness or not, Bai Mei will not be able to escape the blame. Bai Ju really thinks that the Crown Princess lacks a witness like her?

Shui Linglong glanced at the silent crowd, closed her sleeves, and said calmly: "Call Bai Mei."

A maid walked to Baimei's room and pulled her out, yes, because Baimei had just finished bathing, she hadn't even dried her hair, and she was only wearing a thin piece of obscene clothing. Such a dress Somewhat embarrassing.

 Bai Mei knew she had hit a brick wall as soon as she saw this posture. Liu Lu was a newcomer and a second-class maid. How credible could her words be? The Crown Princess simply wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to punish her, how disgusting! She completely forgot that if she didn't have evil intentions, why would Shui Linglong bother her?

Liu Lu pushed her and scolded: "Why don't you kneel down quickly?"

 Bai Mei almost dropped her head and chewed mud. She turned her head and glared at Liu Lu fiercely. She knelt on the ground unwillingly and said, "My slave, please give my regards to the Crown Princess."

Shui Linglong gently stroked the wide sleeve of her right hand with her left hand, and asked with a faint smile: "Everyone said that you disobeyed my orders and openly challenged me?"

Everyone recited Amitabha silently in their hearts, just don't make any mistakes. The rest can be distorted by the Crown Prince.

Bai Mei calmed down and replied: "Hui Shizi Concubine, it's not that she is openly challenging her, it's because Liu Lu has too many criminal records. She always takes the work you tell her to do and lets the slaves do it. The slaves think that she is like before, she is I didn’t believe her.”

This may not be an attempt to bring everyone into the same camp, but Bai Mei has forgotten that there is a saying called "the scar is healed and the pain is forgotten." Who would be stupid enough to beat the crown prince just to vent the bad temper he had two years ago? board?

A maid said: "Liu Lu has asked us to do things before, but she has never pretended to be the concubine. Your suspicion today is totally unreasonable!"

Bai Mei was so angry that she was half-dead. Why did one and two of them speak ill of Liu Lu behind her back just now? Now the wind has changed, and it’s faster than turning the page in a book!

Shui Linglong slowly moved her eyelids, "In the palace, what should I do if I disrespect my master?"

Liu Lu replied respectfully: "According to the rules of the palace, anyone who disrespects his master will be punished with thirty sticks. Then, based on the actual situation, we will consider selling or expelling him from the palace."

Shui Linglong raised the corners of her lips slightly, "In that case, let's carry out the execution."

Bai Mei looked horrified, "Prince Concubine! You can't treat this slave like this! I have always done my job conscientiously, and I only made one mistake, but you use such a severe punishment on my slave, you will chill everyone's heart!" Again! Form a clique!

Shui Linglong smiled speciously: "You dare to talk back, you are so unruly! Who gave you the courage to talk to me like this? Execution, immediately!" After saying this, Liu Lu immediately took a bench and a board from the utility room. , then Ah Si and Ah Ji pressed Bai Mei on the bench.

Bai Mei's face turned pale instantly, and she shouted uncontrollably: "Slave... this slave has been pointed out to the madam by the prince! This slave is the madam's maid, and you are not qualified to deal with the slave beyond the madam!"

 It is indeed her! Shui Linglong's eyes as deep as a deep pool narrowed slightly and said sternly: "It's full of nonsense! I don't know if my father pointed you out to Madam? You are the maid of Mohe Courtyard. If my father really wants you, Why don't you tell me in advance when you go to Madam? Even when I asked Liu Lu to go to the main courtyard, my father told me first, and Liu Lu learned about it later."

Liu Lu hurriedly agreed: "That's right!"

Shui Linglong waved her hand, "Gag her mouth! Execution!"

"Prince Concubine... you can't... um..." Before Bai Mei could finish her words, Liu Lu stuffed a rag into her mouth. Immediately afterwards, two rough servants raised the boards in their hands and hit Bai Mei hard.

The execution was being carried out here, and Shui Linglong looked at Bai Ju over there and said in a cold voice: "You actually ran away halfway through the work. The words of a maid are more reliable than the orders of my master. You are derelict in your duties. It is an unforgivable crime. Beat me." Ten boards, send them to the laundry room!"

Bai Ju was shocked. She...she had obviously come back to do something. How...how could she still not escape punishment?

Everyone looked at me and I looked at you, and all lowered their heads. Only at this moment did they truly understand that the master's orders are greater than heaven.

　　　Bai Mei died when she was hit on the twenty-seventh board. This servant's life was despicable, and no one really expressed her sorrow or shed tears for her. Even Bai Mei's parents only shed two symbolic tears when they came to collect Bai Mei's body and thirty taels of silver pension.

In the evening, Shui Linglong sent Mrs. Zhong to the main courtyard to report Baimei's situation to Zhuge Liuyun. Zhuge Liuyun didn't say anything, and it would be useless to send Shangguan Qian to Shangguan Qian if he didn't take things seriously.

Shui Linglong sat at her desk and planned out Xun Feng’s gift to Yao Xin. The wedding is scheduled for next month, and there are many things that need to be prepared. In addition to the wedding ceremony, the layout of the house, the decoration of the new house, and the wedding process must be detailed and reviewed one by one.

 (End of this chapter)