Chapter 14
Chapter 14
The sound of people outside the hall faded, the candle flame burned out, and the hall was dark.
Gu Yi had a frightening experience earlier, so now she couldn’t sleep and closed her eyes to fake sleep. Xiao Yan couldn’t sleep and rolled over, facing Gu Yi’s side face, seeing her eyelashes fluttering slightly.
Gu Yi would continue to fake sleep, but his breath was close, and her ears were so itchy!
“Open your eyes if you can’t sleep.” Xiao Yan said displeasedly.
Gu Yi opened her eyes and laughed dryly, twisting her head to look at him, “Your Majesty can’t sleep either.” She stretched her hand to rub her itchy earlobes.
Xiao Yan saw her bright, round eyes in the dark and remembered that she deliberately wore a Yuehua dress today. He recalled that Noble Lady Gong also wore this dress that day and said it implied her maiden name, so he asked Gu Yi, “What is your maiden name?”
Is this dress also implying her name?
How can she know what Gu Yi’s maiden name is? It’s not in the book!
Gu Yi momentarily weighed the situation and said, “Your Majesty can call me Xiao Yi.”
Xiao Yan: “Xiao Yi?”
Hey, nephew! Gu Yi laughed secretly.
T/N: Xiao Yi ( 小仪 ) is pronounced like Xiao Yi ( 小姨), which means little auntie.
Xiao Yan: “What are you laughing at? Which Yi character is it? Is it Yi as in Happy?”
Gu Yi wrote in the air, “Yi as in ‘lìng yí lìng sè.’ Not the Yi of Xiu Yi Hall.”
Xiao Yan chuckled, “lìng yí lìng sè? Gu Changtong is sending such high hopes to you?……”
T/N : lìng yí lìng sè means beautiful appearance.
Gu Yi weakly kept quiet. Xiao Yan thought she was shy. After waiting for a moment, he heard her ask, “Your Majesty, because it is not the Yi of the Xiuyi Hall, can I not live in the Xiuyi Hall?”
Xiao Yan raised his eyebrows, “Oh, why?”
Borrowing the moonlight outside the window, Gu Yi fixed her eyes and took a closer look at Xiao Yan. Seeing that he had straight brows and did not seem to be angry, she boldly said, “I’m afraid of Noble Lady Wang. I’m afraid she will make me copy the palace rules again tomorrow.”
Although she would like to live closer to Beauty Qi, she couldn’t stand Noble Lady Wang’s palace-fighting brain. It would be good if she could have a separate place to live!
Xiao Yan saw that she was indeed jealous but also somewhat aggressive. She was implying that she was unwilling to live in Noble Lady Wang’s place.
“Then, should I promote you to be a Noble Lady and give you an empty hall?”
Really?
Gu Yi straightened up, “Your Majesty is serious?”
Xiao Yan: “When the Son of Heaven speaks, he naturally takes it seriously.”
Gu Yi kowtowed happily, but the bed was narrow, and her forehead hit Xiao Yan’s hard chest. “Thank you, Your Majesty, for your great favor!”
Her monthly salary was raised!
Xiao Yan pressed her head back into the pillow. “What title do you want? Rou? Jia? Wei?”
Gu Yi hurriedly said, “Why would a Noble Lady have a title? Just call me Noble Lady Gu!”
He must forget about Xiao Yi immediately. She would be exposed if the Gu family visited the capital to report on their duties and disclose her real name! It’s good that Xiao Yan didn’t pursue this further.
Gu Yi, who had just been verbally promoted, had a moment of agitation in her heart and then turned her head to look carefully at Xiao Yan. The moonlight shone into the curtain. His eyebrows and eyelashes were as dark as a crow’s feather; his temples were as sharp as a knife, and a shallow scar lay across his forehead.
She can’t talk about that; she’d better talk about something else. Caring about the leader’s daily life is the safest way.
Gu Yi: “I see that the bottom of Your Majesty’s eyes is blackish recently. Even though you’re busy with political affairs, you need to pay attention to rest and sleep more peacefully.”
Xiao Yan laughed coldly, “Officials protecting each other, how can I sleep peacefully!”
Speaking about selecting officials, the storm between the old and new parties.
Gu Yi gave him a bowl of chicken soup, “His Majesty has a million chances to promote exemplary governance with thunderous means, but you can also take your time. His Majesty is gifted. In time, the court will be in the hands of the Son of Heaven. As His Majesty said, under the Pu Tian, there is no place that is not the king’s land, and in the land, everyone is the king’s subject — ”
Don’t worry! The book arranges it clearly; although he was heartless, he was a successful emperor!
Xiao Yan watched her talk non-stop, her lips moving, showing her white teeth and red lips.
Gu Yi was still improvising, but Xiao Yan suddenly reached his index finger over her mouth and said in a deep voice, “Silence, flatterer.”
Okay. Gu Yi wanted to roll her eyes but still had to keep smiling.
Then, she fell asleep without realizing it. At dawn, Xiao Yan got up to go to court. Gu Yi briefly woke up in a daze and rolled over to sleep again.
Gu Yi was officially promoted to Noble Lady Gu as soon as she woke up, and she was specially bestowed the Heluo Hall’s side hall. However, because there was no one else, there was only one Noble Lady Gu in the entire palace.
The pillow talk was indeed effective! It’s not deceiving me!
Tao Jia led the palace staff to prepare for the move with great joy. We will move today, right away!
Gu Yi didn’t want to fight with Noble Lady Wang, so she went to Heluo Hall first and asked Tao Jia to tell Beauty Qi that she could come to Heluo Hall to look for herself at any time!
Beauty Gu became Noble Lady Gu overnight.
After hearing the servant girl’s message, Noble Lady Gong of Zhaifang Hall laughed, “Wang Xiu, ah Wang Xiu—one reward for another, ah. She pretended to have a disease that day, tricking His Majesty into giving up Noble Lady Gu. Now, Noble Lady Gu claimed to have a head disease and drew His Majesty to give up Wang Xiu. In the end, Noble Lady Gu is the powerful one. In the blink of an eye, she became a Noble Lady and moved into the ownerless Heluo Hall. What a great show!”
Chunya: “The slave girl also heard that last night, a doctor from the Imperial Hospital did go to the west side of the Xiuyi Hall to check Gu Gu’s pulse. Perhaps Gu Gu is indeed suffering from a head ailment.”
Noble Lady Gong smiled lightly, “In that case, I will prepare some gifts to visit this newly appointed Noble Lady Gu in Heluo Hall.”
Meanwhile, Noble Lady Wang in the main hall of Xiuyi Hall was laughing coldly, “Bitch, let’s see how long she can jump around?”
Based on Noble Lady Wang’s character, she should be furious enough to slay the Heluo Hall; now she was still in the Xiuyi Hall sitting properly, Huang Li was puzzled: “Noble Lady, why don’t you go to the Heluo Hall to teach her a lesson?”
Noble Lady Wang had recommended Wang Zibo, according to the family letter. After settling this vital matter, she wasn’t particularly annoyed. Besides, Noble Lady Gu was only a nobleman. Gu’s Family lived in Fuzhou, that place of shit, so what status can she have? She thinks she can fly to the sky if she becomes a Noble Lady! As for herself, after the mid-autumn palace banquet, she will be promoted, and she’ll smash her!
“A place like the He Luo Palace isn’t worthy of me!”
*
Heluo Hall has no master. Gu Yi’s chamber was on the east side, while the study and living room were in the main hall. There was a small garden behind Heluo Hall, with flowers and trees, and a round stone pond with several golden carp inside.
Palace people were busy in and out, and Gu Yi, afraid she would be in the way, stood in the garden to feed the fish. The golden carp were only the size of a palm, swarming up fiercely when eating.
After Gu Yi had enjoyed the fish for a while, Tao Jia said, “Noble Lady, Noble Lady Gong has come to the Heluo Hall.”
Noble Lady Gong, just in time! She was worried about how to pull the plot back to the main line!
Noble Lady Gong had yet to take Zhao Wan as a personal palace maid, and many subsequent plots couldn’t be realized.
Gu Yi pondered momentarily and asked, “Where is that dress rack? Has it been moved to the room?”
Tao Jia: “Not yet. It is in the living room of the main hall.”
“En, then hang up that Yuehua dress from yesterday. And then lead Noble Lady Gong to drink tea in the living room.”
Tao Jia received the order and left.
Gu Yi stood in place briefly before slowly walking to the living room. Once she entered, she saw Noble Lady Gong’s gaze fall onto the dress rack.
Gu Yi smiled, “Sister Gong is here. We had just moved into this hall. Things are messy, which makes Sister laugh.”
Noble Lady Gong smiles lightly, “It’s fine. I heard Sister Gu is sick, so I came to take a look.”
“Thank you for your concern. Last night, I suddenly had a headache. I already drank medicine according to the doctor’s prescription and have been better.”
Noble Lady Gong nodded, “That’s good.”
Stood behind Noble Lady Gong, Chunya bowed, “Greetings, Noble Lady Gu.”
Gu Yi waved her hand, “Rise.”
After sitting down, she asked Noble Lady Gong again, “Does sister like this flower tea?”
Noble Lady Gong put down her teacup, “The tea is good.” She looked at the Yuehua dress on the wooden shelf, “But I think this dress is better.”
Gu Yi laughed, “Sister has good eyes. His Majesty also praised this dress! As a result of this praise, I even reward the headmaster of the Clothing Department.”
“Oh? Is that so?” Noble Lady Gong turned back to her eyes. “The headmaster’s craftsmanship is unique, and it is indeed unrivaled.”
Gu Yi smiled again, “Sister is extremely right. I intend to let her enter the Heluo Hall to take charge of clothes and become a first-class personal palace maid. Compared to her current rank, it shouldn’t be worse.”
Noble Lady Gong nodded and changed the topic. They chatted briefly before Noble Lady Gong took Chunya and hurriedly left.
Tao Jia hesitated to speak, looking reluctant, so Gu Yi opened her mouth first and said, “I was hoping that Noble Lady Gong would enroll Zhao Wan in the Zhaifang Hall.”
Tao Jia: “Why?”
Gu Yi smiled, “To cherish talent.”
Noble Lady Gong hurriedly walked, and Chunya followed closely. “Noble Lady is trying to go to the Clothing Departmentstore?”
Noble Lady Gong: “It’s a matter of getting there first.”
Chunya frowned: “However, I feel that Nobel Lady Gu is deliberate.”
Noble Lady Gong laughed, “Whether she is intentional or not, Zhao Wan is indeed a usable person.”
After a few days, Zhao Wan entered Zhaifang Hall as a first-class palace maid, and the stone in Gu Yi’s heart landed.
It was afternoon. It drizzled last night, so the weather was not too hot, and the breeze brought coolness. Gu Yi wanted to feed the fish. Not waiting for Tao Jia to get the fish food, there was a sound from outside the palace: “His Majesty arrives.”
Gu Yi saw Xiao Yan walk into the hall in his court dress and immediately bowed, “Greetings, Your Majesty.”
“Rise.” Xiao Yan looked at her in leather boots and asked, “Are you going out?”
Gu Yi said, “I’m going to the garden to see the fish.”
After Xiao Yan exited the court, he went straight to Heluo Hall. “Then I will also go and take a look. I haven’t visited this Heluo Hall.”
Gu Yi immediately bragged, “Many thanks for Your Majesty bestowing the Heluo Hall on me. This hall is very great! There is a garden and a pond, and I heard that the grapes on the vine will bear fruit next month, so if they are delicious, I will offer them to Your Majesty.”
Xiao Yan looked at her flower-like smile and hummed. She was indeed a flatterer.
After Tao Jia got the fish food, a large group went to the garden to watch the fish. Usually, it was comfortable for one or two people to surround the pond. However, now, with Gu Yi, Xiao Yan, Tao Jia, and four or five palace staff, this place was crowded.
Xiao Yan looked at the few golden carp in the pond and expressed some impatience while Gu Yi was still excitedly throwing food.
Eunuch Gao Gui’s ability to detect words and observe expressions was perfect, so when he saw the emperor’s face, he immediately proposed: “Your Majesty, why don’t you go to the Imperial Garden to enjoy the fish? I heard that there are 100 carp there. If you like to enjoy the fish, wouldn’t it be better? Besides, the Peach Garden also bears fruits, which are the most delicious in the summer. It’s fun to enjoy the scenery!”
Xiao Yan looked at Gu Yi, who had stopped to look at him. “That …… is also possible.”
Then, palace staff sang: “Move to the imperial garden.”