roccoschili Chapter 215: Destruction, Jiang takes the blame
Chapter 215: Destruction, Jiang takes the blame
"Master Beitang?"
This was the scene that Eunuch Defu saw when he pushed the door open.
Four maids were kneeling on the ground, either with droopy faces or red eyes. Two teacups were broken on the ground. Mu Lianzhi was half leaning on the couch, looking sick and with a very bad complexion. Beitang Yi was standing not far in front of the maids, half sideways, with one hand behind his back and the other hand he wanted to raise but didn't. It was obvious that he had just been furious.
Eunuch Defu was obviously startled.
Before he could say anything, Beitang Yi's impatient and emotional voice came over:
"What are you here for?"
"grown ups--"
He instinctively wanted to bow, but when he moved, he remembered that he was holding the imperial edict in his hand. Defu was about to bend his body, but he straightened it again:
"In reply to Master Beitang, I am here to deliver the imperial edict. I don't know what these people have done to make you so angry. Please calm down."
Hearing this, Beitang Yi's angry expression finally subsided:
"Why are you all kneeling there like idiots? Didn't you hear what the eunuch said? Why don't you help your wife down to receive the order?"
Eunuch Defu had never seen Beitang Yi so angry before, and his heart was pounding. He glanced around unconsciously from the corner of his eye. Finally, Chunmiao and Lengyun stood up to help Mu Lianzhi, and the other two maids turned around and knelt down, while Beitang Yi just bowed and clasped his fists to perform the salute of a military officer.
Eunuch Defu did not dare to make any complaints about the emperor who came with an important mission. He unfolded the imperial edict and read it out.
The general meaning is that after resigning as the imperial physician, Mr. Mu also had a kind heart. When he heard that the emperor was praying for the people and needed to collect several century-old items, the older the better, he voluntarily offered his own ancestral wooden hairpin. In order to commend and thank the emperor, he rewarded him with gold, silver and jewelry as compensation.
De Fu came to convey the emperor's order and take the ancestral wooden hairpin.
After he finished reading, Eunuch Defu waved his hand, and behind him, a row of eunuchs holding exquisite jewelry and head ornaments lined up, including a large box full of large, unmounted pearls.
"Second Madam, please accept my order."
Upon hearing this, Beitang Yi was really confused. He never thought that Eunuch Defu would come with such a big ceremony just to ask Mu Lianzhi to hand over a wooden hairpin.
So he tilted his head and looked at Mu Lianzhi on the ground with a questioning look in his eyes.
Mu Lianzhi also raised his eyes in pretended surprise, his mouth obviously open, and then the three of them stared at each other, no one moved for a long time, one was completely confused, one was half confused, and one was pretending to be confused.
After holding it for a long time and seeing that Mu Lianzhi didn't move, Eunuch Defu felt that something was wrong:
"Second Madam, you are not going to disobey my order, are you?"
As soon as he said this, he felt that this was impossible. Even a fool would not disobey the order in public. An idea suddenly flashed in his mind, and he raised his voice:
"You haven't destroyed or disposed of the hairpin yet, have you?"
But don't.
The emperor ordered the dispatch of more imperial guards. Although he didn't know the specific reason, he knew that this thing must be very important. If there was any mistake, it would be a big trouble.
He shook his head like a rattle, as if he had suddenly come to his senses, and then Mu Lianzhi said hesitantly:
"That's not the case. It's just that..."
Mu Lianzhi hesitated, which made Eunuch Defu very anxious:
"Madam, please speak clearly. This concerns the emperor's will."
At this time, Beitang Yi interrupted:
"Father-in-law, could you please let her get up and answer first?"
"Yes, yes, I am sorry for my negligence. Madam, please get up quickly."
He bent over and wanted to help, but Beitang Yi had already stretched out his hand to pull Mu Lianzhi up. Then, Mu Lianzhi said faintly:
"Father, to tell you the truth, I didn't know my father had presented the hairpin to His Majesty, nor did I know you would come to take it today. Last night, my sister-in-law said there was a thief in the yard and brought people to search. After they searched the yard, I found this morning that the hairpin and the box were gone."
"There was so much noise last night that I didn't pay any attention. Now that I think about it, I'm so angry."
"Although the wooden hairpin is not valuable, it is an irreplaceable commemoration passed down from my ancestors."
"I took it off and put it in a wooden box beside me. I was afraid that the searchers would damage it with their rough hands, so I stuffed it into the quilt. I didn't expect it to be taken away by someone."
"This hairpin has probably been taken by my sister-in-law. You'll have to ask her for it."
As soon as Mu Lianzhi finished speaking, Eunuch Defu couldn't even wait to send someone to call him. He stuffed the imperial edict in his pocket, turned around and ran away in a panic.
……
At this time, in the room, Jiang finally opened the wooden box and looked at the pitch-black wooden hairpin inside. It was inlaid with a large pearl, but there were flaws all over it visible to the naked eye. After looking at it over and over again, Jiang still couldn't understand it.
Why is it such a broken thing?
Why is this thing hidden so secretly?
She felt something was wrong, so she studied the wooden box again. The box was delicately carved and lined with soft cotton padding. It was obviously valuable. The small lock was also ugly. The box was so good, it shouldn't contain worthless things.
He played with it but didn't see anything. The more he looked at it, the more upset he became. He was also afraid that Mu Lianzhi would come and ask for it when she remembered it.
She just folded it with force.
She has already taken it, if she can't get it, she can't let others get it for free.
"stop!"
Eunuch Defu came in and heard a slight "click" sound. Seeing this scene, he took a few big steps forward and snatched the wooden hairpin away.
"How dare you, a shrew, destroy a sacred object?"
When Eunuch Defu saw that the wooden hairpin was broken, sweat broke out on his forehead. He asked someone to hold Jiang down, put the hairpin into a wooden box, and turned around and left angrily.
Eunuch Defu first went back to ask Mu Lianzhi for confirmation, and then quickly returned to the palace with the belongings to report.
The moment she saw the wooden hairpin, Mu Lianzhi's heart skipped a beat, because she noticed that the cracked hairpin seemed to be hollow, and there seemed to be an iron rod supporting it. Suddenly, she wondered if the real secret of Mu Dongzhu might be inside. She couldn't help feeling annoyed, but also a little doubtful, because the natural texture and shape of the pearl that she had copied and reproduced was indeed a real map.
She even asked around tentatively. There really was a place called "Bai Shan City" in the past. It was said that there were hundreds of mountains of all sizes around it, so it got this name. As for whether there was a mountain called "Bai Shan", no one could tell for sure.
Her thoughts were turning over and over, and in the end she could only silently suppress the restless emotions in her heart.
The hot potato has been thrown out, and she can only accept it whether it is true or false and wait and see.
……
In the imperial study, the two elders of the Mu family had not left. The emperor was eager to try while drinking tea, and kept looking at the door, obviously anxious.
Finally, Eunuch Defu returned to report. When the emperor heard that the wooden hairpin was stolen by Jiang and slightly damaged, he slammed the table and wished he could cut the Marquis Pingyong into pieces.
"The emperor is happy or angry."
In the end, His Majesty still said nothing. Seeing that the hairpin was intact, he looked at Madam Mu first:
"Madam, could you please take a look and see if this is it?"