Chapter 67: Delighting in Others' Misfortune

  Chapter 67: Gloating Over Others' Misfortunes

  "I brought you something to eat..."

  "Try some of this..."

  They both spoke at the same time and then burst out laughing.

  Hu Xiang peeled an orange and stuffed a slice into Chao Sheng's mouth: "You can't usually eat this, have a quick taste."

  The tangerine is really sweet, not like the saying "golden outside and rotten inside", it's delicious to eat. One bite and your mouth is filled with sweet and slightly sour juice.

  "Delicious! This is a rare and precious thing, where did you get it from?"

  Incense

  "Eat this fruit."

  The tide brings five-color glutinous rice balls, made extremely delicate, each one shaped like a flower, just right for one bite. Red flowers with yellow stamens and green sepals, looking at them makes people feel happy in their hearts.

  "This looks good, I'm a bit reluctant to eat it." Huan Xun picked one up and put a lotus-shaped fruit in her mouth, mumbling: "I got a reward early this morning, I haven't had time to count it yet, can you help me see how much it is?"

  He took over the tide and weighed it accurately: "One or two."

  "Hmm, still quite a few." Huang Xun asked: "Did you get it?"

  "Same here."

  It's been like this every year, it's become a habit. I also got one last year.

  Xiang Xun smiled and pinched the silver ingot: "It would be great if every day was a New Year's Day."

  "It sounds nice." Chao Sheng bai gave her a glance, but she also said with a look of infatuation: "I also want to celebrate the New Year every day. You see, one day is one or two taels, and 365 days in a year is 365 taels, ten years would be 3,650 taels."

  "Miser." Xun Ying's eyes sparkled with excitement: "How do you plan to spend it?"

  Chao Sheng shook his head, at a loss.

  She used to want to save money, but saving money in the palace was too insecure.

  At the time of Yunxia Palace, she also saved some money, and there was that golden hairpin awarded by Chen Fei, which weighed about two coins. But who knew those things would eventually be cheapened by whom?

  She asked Han Xun: "Then how do you want to spend it?"

  Han Xun blinked: "I haven't thought it through either."

  Look, having money is one thing, but spending it inside and outside the palace is quite different.

  A young woman outside the palace, if she had a bit of spare money, would probably make herself a new skirt with a few yards of cloth, buy a box of rouge that she had been eyeing for some time, or get a silver hairpin to wear. None of these things were any use inside the palace...

  Rouge and powder can't be used during festivals, the dresses are all similar styles, like uniforms, how can you dress up in unusual clothes. As for accessories - at most you can wear a bangle or a pendant, other palace maids can't even wear those.

  However, there are also places to spend money in the palace. The low-ranking eunuchs often have their monthly salary and reward money deducted by those with higher status, so even if they have a little bit of money, they still need to constantly spend it to curry favor. The palace maids are slightly better off, although deductions are common in the palace, but Yiqiu Palace is not keen on this practice.

  Chao Sheng has almost become a conditioned reflex, as long as he is talking with Huan Xun, he must look left and right, front and back, for fear that the Second Prince will jump out from some corner again.

  "What are you looking at?"

  "Nothing..."

  The second and fourth princes went out together with Zhu Bajie, so they can't be here at this moment.

  "By the way, about this money..." Chao Sheng took out the loose change he had been saving for these days from his pocket, together with the copper coins he had just received this morning, and handed them over to Han Xun: "You help me keep it."

  "What's wrong?"

  Chao Sheng never told Han Xun about the meat arrangement, nor did he mention the recent speculation about the empress.

  Han Xun and Cai Zhen have worried about her for long enough; now that things are finally settling down a bit.

  Tell them, they might just bring trouble upon themselves.

  If she's like last time, at least this money won't be cheaper for others.

  "I've been careless lately and keep misplacing things, I turn around and they're gone again. Can you hold onto this for me?"

  Han Xun nodded and said, "Alright. Don't be too tense, take a break when you need to, why work so hard? Who's going to give you a raise or promote you?"

  Chao Sheng laughed and said: "That's not necessarily true, who knows when I'll make a fortune. At that time, I will definitely not forget to bring you along."

  Han Xiang suddenly sighed: "It's not that I expected anyone to fly high, just being safe and sound is good enough. By the way, I heard them mention that the Empress Dowager was ill and hadn't shown her face during the New Year's celebrations. On the other hand, the Noble Consort had returned from the Western Palace - it's said she suffered a lot in that cold palace, now she's much more restrained than before. All these matters during the New Year were taken care of by the two consorts, Xian and Gui."

  "Really?" Chao Sheng had never heard of it before.

  The queen fell ill, which was actually good news for her.

  The person who is ill can't be bothered with troubling a little palace maid like her, right?

  Uh... Qián's complexion isn't looking too good either, could it be related to the Empress's illness?

  Of course, when the master is ill, it's natural for his subordinates to worry.

  But isn't Qi Yu worrying too much?

  There may be other reasons.

  Because of hearing this good news, Chao Sheng's mood was not bad for the whole day, until the fourth prince and the second prince returned together. The second prince rarely had a happy face, I don't know if he encountered something good - or perhaps...

  Chao Sheng guessed, did the second prince also rejoice because of the queen's illness?

  Yes, it's a bad thing to be happy about someone else's misfortune - but the person who's down on their luck is an enemy, so the Second Prince being pleased is only natural.

  Even Lian Chengzhen was secretly delighted in his heart when he heard that the Empress Dowager had fallen ill.

  The fourth prince looked a bit tired, and from outside the house he seemed fine, but once inside, his true state was revealed, and he flopped down onto the soft couch. The several pillows on the couch were made by Chong Sheng during his free time in autumn, using unremarkable materials that didn't look luxurious, lovely, or exquisite, but the feel... whoever hugged them would know. At least the fourth prince liked them very much, and now he was hugging one with another under his leg.

  Chun Mo personally brought in the tea, and Chao Sheng took over the massage, sitting on a footstool to rub his legs. Although the Fourth Prince didn't say his legs were sore - but Chao Sheng was considerate of others, at the Emperor's place he probably hadn't sat down, during the ancestor worship ceremony it was standing for one or two hours, coming and going, the Emperor had a sedan chair, they probably all followed on foot.

  Can't this leg not ache?

  Suddenly, Chun Mo asked the Fourth Prince: "Your Highness, I heard that the Empress is ill... Can you attend the ancestral worship today?"

  "The fourth prince was probably enjoying being pounded and half-turned his body, indicating that Chao Sheng should change places to pound him."

  Chao Sheng muttered "the evil ruling class" in her belly, and sighed, no wonder the palace maids with a bit of charm all wanted to be their own masters.

  Sometimes I fantasize about not serving others and having others serve me instead.

  Just thinking about it.

  "Tomorrow can finally have a good rest." Chun Mo felt some heartache: "Your Highness, don't read books for the next few days, eat more nutritious food, sleep more, and take care of your spirit."

  The fourth prince said: "What's for dinner tonight?"

  Chao Sheng said: "I just saw Auntie Li preparing dishes, including willow bean curd, five-color bowl, Gui roasted bamboo shoots, and steamed pine mushrooms."

  The fourth prince thought for a moment: "Tai Su, tell Auntie Li to cook a Pipa chicken and also get some Buddha's hand spare ribs."

  Chao Sheng was taken aback - Fourth Prince had always been a light eater, what's going on today?

  Chun Mo also asked: "Your Highness, how did you think of this? Didn't eat well at noon?"

  Although others may consider these two dishes as New Year's food, the Fourth Prince has never liked them.

  "I haven't eaten much since yesterday." The fourth prince patted his belly: "Last night I only drank, and today it's almost like I've gone hungry for a day. Luckily, I had two pieces of pastries in my sleeve to fill me up. Those dishes on the table were greasy, cooled down quickly, and after blinking, a layer of white, flower-like lard had solidified on the rim of the bowl. Who could eat that?"

  No wonder you suddenly want to eat chicken and meat, it turns out that you are hungry.

  But thinking about it, the emperor's banquet is a grand occasion, but I estimate that except for the table in front of the emperor, the dishes on other tables can only guarantee quantity, and quality is hard to say. Even if the dishes are edible, in front of the emperor, everyone has to present their best side, who dares to open their mouth and eat wildly?

  Chao Sheng hurriedly said: "Then I'll go tell Auntie Li to add more dishes."

  "You stay here and keep kneading, I'll go take a look, and also see if there's anything new in the kitchen."

  Chao Sheng responded with a sound and sat down to continue kneading.

  The kitchen is now packed to the brim with food prepared for the New Year. However, if you're looking for something fresh, there's probably not much - in winter, vegetables are limited, and except for the four princes' share, everyone else can only have radish one day and cabbage the next, with more cabbage than radish because eating radish leaves a strange taste, so it's not as suitable as cabbage. Everyone is fed up with seeing cabbage everywhere.

  What can you do? You have to eat anyway.

  Fortunately, there's always something to eat in the kitchen, even if it's just a taste of several dishes - after tasting a few dishes, you can still get half full, and the varieties are quite rich.

  The fourth prince asked: "Is that pastry prepared by you?"

  Chao Sheng said: "Spring Ink sister instructed me, I just remembered, for a while also can't find other, so wrapped two pieces of snowflake cake."

  The fourth prince stroked his chin, as if savoring the flavor of the dessert: "It's quite convenient and fills my hunger, but it's a bit too sweet."

  That's right, the main ingredients of this cake are glutinous rice and sugar, as well as sesame seeds, peanuts, apricot kernels, and lard, which are pressed tightly together. The outside won't leak oil either, making it really suitable to be carried around for emergency use.

  She lowered her head and continued to swing her beautiful fist, one high and one low, one up and one down, humming the general's order in her heart. Just as she was getting into the rhythm, the Fourth Prince suddenly said: "Don't forget what you promised yesterday."

  The tide was born out of a sudden stop, the beautiful woman's fist in her hand suddenly went into disarray, and with a loud crash, she hit nothing but air.

  The fourth prince...

  Isn't he drunk?

  The tide was born with suspicion and uncertainty, tightly grasping the wooden handle in his hand, as if this could bring more safety.

  The fourth prince got drunk last time and said a lot of things. The next day, he woke up as usual and didn't mention it again. Chao Sheng thought that he didn't remember anything after getting drunk - many people are like this.

  Yesterday he was also drunk, and Chao Sheng dared to talk nonsense...

  But the fourth prince, he actually remembers?

  The tide was suddenly struck by a thunderbolt, and she was completely stunned.

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  Wishing you all a happy Mid-Autumn Festival～～～

  Today I saw so many reviews and felt HAPPY, really hope every day can have so many reviews.

  By the way, can I get some votes?...

  More and more don't want to eat mooncakes, but if you don't eat them, it's like you haven't celebrated the festival.

  When I was a kid, our family would make mooncakes with sesame filling by ourselves. So I always thought that eating mooncakes is what you're supposed to do during the festival, but now even smelling the ones bought from outside feels too greasy.