Eunuch's Declaration of Loyalty

Chapter 19

Seeing that the New Year's Eve was approaching, the weather was beautiful and it was sunny for several days.The snow that had accumulated a while ago melted, and dripped down from the bright glazed tile eaves.

Taking advantage of the rare good weather in the next few days of the new year, Sui Yi led all the maids in the Ci'an Palace to clean up the entire Ci'an Palace, bedding, clothes, and her books were all dried. For several days, today even the bulky things in the cabinet were turned upside down to dry.

The maids in the yard were busy going in and out to clean, and the little eunuchs also helped to move things, and had to sort out the flower pots and sundries in the huge yard.

Liu Qingtang was leisurely leaning on the deckchair basking in the sun, separated from the bustling scene by a green vine wall, the sound came to her without seeming noisy, the vague voices and laughter sounded quite interesting. .It was as if she heard the bustling streets before she entered the palace, it was real and lively.

Maybe it's because she has insisted on being a competent queen mother all these years, putting on airs and keeping a solemn face everywhere.Over time, this Ci'an Palace became more and more quiet, and all the maids and eunuchs in this courtyard spoke softly and quietly.No matter who it is on weekdays, when entering the Ci'an Palace, they have to talk less, and speak in a low voice, which seems to have become an unwritten rule.

In fact, Liu Qingtang didn't care about these things, but she realized that she had become like this when she came here, so she didn't bother to say anything more.

Holding a pot of freshly brewed tea, Suiyi walked in from outside the green vine wall and said with a smile: "Master, it's a bit noisy up front, why don't I let this servant move you to the back garden? It happens that there are two wintersweet plants It's open, it's fragrant."

Liu Qingtang waved her hand, "No need, I'll just lie here for a while, and it won't make too much noise. You don't have to hold them back, let them relax as the Chinese New Year is coming, they're all little girls."

"Pfft...Master, you are speaking as if you are old. Master, you are only 21 after the new year...you are still young like a flower bone." Tao Ye also walked in, and looked at her with her big eyes narrowed with a smile. She is very charming.

Liu Qingtang shook her head and couldn't help laughing. Where is she twenty, she was already thirty in her previous life.But this couldn't be said, Liu Qingtang asked again: "Taoye, you are back, does that mean everything is done?"

"Hey... Tomorrow's New Year's banquet is almost ready, and I'm used to it in previous years. There are no new tricks in the palace, it's just the same as last year. The excitement is quite lively, but it's you, master. I have to work hard, several banquets take turns, and I have to eat from morning to midnight..."

Zhuiyi poured a cup of tea and handed it to Liu Qingtang, "Most of the dishes at the banquet are greasy, and after serving them for a long time, a layer of oily flowers will soon form in this winter, so you can't eat them. Master, I will prepare them for you as usual. Have some snacks."

Thinking of these few days every year, Liu Qingtang feels annoyed. Tomorrow's [-]th, there will be a plum feast for the wives and officials of the aristocratic family from morning to noon, and a luncheon to reward officials until evening. Have a family banquet with the royal family in the Pavilion of the Last Year, and have to keep vigil until midnight.

"Hey, I'm going to be tired again tomorrow, so I'd better take advantage of the time to rest now." Liu Qingtang rubbed the cup in her hand and sighed. "I have nothing to do here, you go about your own business."

Liu Qingtang thought of something after finishing speaking, and said aloud: "When Qin Shu comes back, let him come to me directly."

"Yes, master, we will know even if you don't tell us..." Taoye said with a smile, winking so that Zhuiyi couldn't help but tap her forehead, shook her head and dragged her away helplessly.

Liu Qingtang put a sip of tea on the small table, tapped her toes on the ground, and the rocking chair started to shake quietly.Covering the eyelids with one hand, looking at the blue sky and white clouds in the sky through the gaps between the fingers.The clean and clear blue and soft white make people feel at ease, and even the mood that becomes a little irritable when thinking about the banquets tomorrow has calmed down.

After looking at the sky for a while, Liu Qingtang looked at the green vine wall next to it, which was honeysuckle vine.In April and May of spring, the place will be full of honeysuckle, and it will be beautiful at that time, and the fragrance will be strong, and she can smell it in the house.I won a lottery of gold and silver, there are quite a few flowers in this palace, and there are many palace roads.

The court ladies like to soak these flowers in water to drink, and bathe and wash their faces to make sachets and pillows, and they also make these for her every year.Lying there, Liu Qingtang thought about it, and thought of the female celebrity that her daughter's family should meet, and couldn't help stretching out her hand to look at the few red dots on her fingertips.

She didn't know what she was thinking a few days ago, but when she saw Qin Shu coming from behind with her hands in her sleeves every day, and her hands were still a little red and swollen from the medicine, she wanted to make him a pair of sleeves.

In fact, she asked people to go to the women's workshop and told them to send it when it was ready, otherwise she would have many beautiful and handy maids in front of her, and they could do it too.But she didn't know what happened at that time, but she suddenly wanted to make a pair for him with her own hands.

Nuhong, she is very good at dressing clothes and peach leaves around her. Every year, she makes obscene clothes, casual clothes, shoes, hairbands, pillowcases, sleeves, sachets, etc., but Liu Qingtang herself can't do it at all.Her mother left when she was one or two years old, and her father had a deep affection for her mother, and he never remarried afterwards.There was no mistress in Liu's mansion, and her father was a big man who didn't know how to raise his daughter, so in the mansion there were only some nuns who could teach her, but she couldn't suppress her temperament at all, Liu Qingtang grew up very freely. Let alone a female celebrity, she basically knows nothing, except for calligraphy and painting that she practiced from childhood to adulthood because of her interest.

She doesn't know how to do it, so she can only let Xiu Yi teach her.As a result, when Zuiyi said this, she dropped the teacup in her hand in surprise, and she still had an expression of disbelief when teaching her how to make sleeves.

Seeing her expression, Liu Qingtang was somewhat uncomfortable.She never felt that she should learn those things to please a man who would become her husband, so she never cared about it since she was a child.Later, when she entered the palace, she only saw her titular husband, the late emperor who was sickly lying on the bed.

As a result, now she took the initiative to learn this, in order to make sleeves for Qin Shu... The more Liu Qingtang thought about it, the more awkward she felt, and she flinched a little.But suddenly thinking of that time, Qin Shu continued to study silently, holding onto a hand stove that had been cold for a long time.

It's just that she probably really doesn't have talent in this area, and the needle and thread flying in the hands of Cuiyi Taoye and the others became extremely disobedient as soon as it came into her hands, causing her to prick her hands several times.As a result, the thumbs, index fingers and middle fingers of both hands are now covered with small red dots from the needle point, and it hurts even when pinching something.

Fortunately, the sleeve was ready before her patience ran out.Although it was very different from what Zhuiyi and the others did, but at least she did it by herself, so Qin Shu shouldn't dislike it no matter what.Liu Qingtang inexplicably felt that she couldn't give it away, so the sleeve had been lying on her bed for two days.

Before going to bed every day, she stared at the unattractive pair of sleeves. She wanted to call Qin Shu over several times and threw the sleeves to him, but she felt that she couldn’t open her mouth. Throw it under the pillow and don't look at it.

In fact, even if Qin Shu had been loyal to her and died for her in her previous life, she didn't have to.She can give money, power, everything, but now that she thinks about it, giving these things is actually the easiest.

At the beginning, she was complacent about how much that fool Qin Shu thought about her, and she almost gave her his whole body in front of her.As a result, thinking about it now, Huo's reaction came to her senses, she wasn't about to sink herself, she was still proud of it every day.

If she wasn't interested in Qin Shu, why would she care about whether his hands and feet are cold, whether he has enough things, and whether he will feel uncomfortable because of some of her words.But if it is true, she didn't become sentimental and emotional as in the story book, and she often loses her mind because of thinking of the other party, let alone worrying about gains and losses as mentioned in the book.

Emotions are really weird, and they come as soon as they are said, and she hasn't figured out what it is yet.

Liu Qingtang recalled the problems that bothered her these days, and couldn't help frowning her eyebrows.

Just as he was thinking, a figure in a dark blue robe walked in behind the green vine wall.

"Greetings, Empress Dowager, the servant is back."

Seeing Qin Shu coming back, Liu Qingtang, who was so far away from the sky, was shocked, got up from the rocking chair and waved to him. "How is it? Is everything in order?"

"Yes, the construction supervisor said that in less than half a month, the new residence of the second prince outside the palace will be ready."

Because he planned to replace Eunuch Ning, the current head eunuch of Ci'an Palace, in the next year, Liu Qingtang recently started to get Qin Shu involved in these matters.Just like his previous life, he was both open and secret, and was mainly responsible for conveying her will, doing things for her that were inconvenient for her, and managing some private affairs. After all, this palace has not always been so peaceful. In two years, her nephew, the little emperor, will have to enter the harem, and it will be lively then.

Thinking of the smoky harem in the previous life, Liu Qingtang smiled lazily.She wants to be her kind and gentle old queen this time, but she doesn't want to help the emperor's nephew clean up his harem.It's better for her to get along with this guy in front of her more, and she doesn't have so much free time to deal with the little emperor.Thinking about it, Liu Qingtang raised her eyes to look at Qin Shu.

He was dressed in a new navy blue robe, a black brocade crown, and a knot hanging from the back of his head. He was standing under the green vine wall in short boots, which made Liu Qingtang pleasing to the eye.

There is a sentence in the story book that she still has to admit, "Beauty is in the eyes of a lover." Doesn't she think Qin Shu is like this, she used to think that he was gloomy and dull, but now he has become shy and inferior, even the ruthless handling of things in the previous life The spicy method has now become decisive after thinking about it.

In that case, it's not surprising that she likes this man.Like is like, in this case, how close should they be.Liu Qingtang tapped on the armrest of the rocking chair and clicked her tongue.

Standing there, Qin Shu looked calm on the surface, but was actually worried.After feeling that the Empress Dowager's gaze had not moved away, he began to constantly think about whether he had said something that made the Empress Dowager feel bad, or whether the Empress Dowager was dissatisfied with what he had done.

"Qin Shu, come here."

Hearing these words, Qin Shu realized that the empress dowager just wanted to see his embarrassed expression again.A feeling of helplessness and tenderness suddenly filled his heart, so he replied in a low voice: "Yes."

(End of this chapter)