allonlinenovel Chapter 131: Stunned
Chapter 131: Stunned
He held the teacup, hummed a little tune and drank tea, feeling so happy and comfortable.
After finishing his tea, he called the eunuch to pour him more tea.
The young eunuch poured the tea nervously. He asked anxiously, "Eunuch Cheng, do you think anything will happen if the blood swallows of Yuanchen Palace are suddenly cut off?"
Normally, he was in charge of the blood swallows for the imperial concubine. How could he not be afraid when Eunuch Cheng suddenly stopped him from doing so?
If the Imperial Concubine were to pursue the matter, he would be in trouble as well.
Upon hearing this, Eunuch Cheng couldn't help but sneer: "What are you worried about? I'll take care of everything. It won't affect you, a small fish in the pond."
"Little Li... you've only been in the palace for a short time, so you might not understand the customs and rules here. Once you've been here for a long time, you'll understand the intricacies of it."
"Your Majesty hasn't set foot in Yuanchen Palace in over ten days. He must be tired of the Imperial Concubine after such a long absence. Your Majesty has treated all the concubines in the harem equally...but only left out the Imperial Concubine. Tell me...if this Imperial Concubine hasn't fallen out of favor, then what else could it be?"
"How could a concubine who has fallen from favor be worthy of eating the incomparably precious blood swallows? Don't worry, the Imperial Concubine won't dare to cause a commotion. She should know better than anyone what it means that His Majesty hasn't visited her Yuanchen Palace for over ten days. How could she possibly have the guts to make a big fuss at this critical juncture of her falling from favor?"
"If the incident gets out of hand and reaches His Majesty, he'll definitely dislike her even more. He might even demote her and banish her. She doesn't have the guts to make a scene. Has our family seen this happen so many times? Any smart person wouldn't dare say a word."
He was certain that the imperial concubine would swallow her anger and suffer this loss in silence.
He didn't know how many things like this he had experienced over the years.
Every time, the concubines dared not speak out, for fear of being disliked by His Majesty again.
If Concubine Yu dares to be as arrogant as before, the Empress Dowager will not forgive her.
Since the Empress Dowager entered the harem, everyone knew that she disliked Concubine Yu.
Now that Concubine Yu has lost the emperor's favor and no one is protecting her anymore, if she doesn't behave herself, she would be extremely foolish and will only be in trouble.
He has been immersed in the harem for many years and is familiar with all the rules.
It was precisely because he was so confident that he dared to cut off Concubine Yu's blood swallow.
Eunuch Cheng was drinking tea and shaking his legs... He touched the bag of golden melon seeds in his arms, and he looked so proud.
He told Little Leo to do what he was supposed to do, and nothing serious would happen. Even if something did happen, there would be taller people to take care of it, and he would not be implicated.
Only when Little Li saw that Eunuch Cheng was so confident did he slowly breathe a sigh of relief.
Unexpectedly, just as he stepped into the imperial kitchen, he heard a bang and the door seemed to be kicked open by someone.
His expression changed and he quickly looked up.
Even the head maid of Yuanchen Palace, Qiao'er, came over with several palace servants in a menacing manner.
Little Leo's eyes flickered slightly, and he couldn't help but straighten his back, curled his lips and smiled as he walked towards Qiao'er.
"Miss Qiao'er, why are you here?"
Qiao'er recognized the little Li who made the blood swallows for the Empress. Her face darkened slightly as she looked at him coldly, "I heard that the blood swallows that the Imperial Concubine makes every day are suddenly out of stock?"
Little Leo looked at Eunuch Cheng who was basking in the sun not far away with some fear.
"Yes, it is indeed... it is indeed out of stock. Blood swallows are precious. Looking at the entire harem, only the Queen Mother, the Empress... and the Imperial Concubine can drink them. Now that the Queen Mother has returned to the palace... the blood swallows are in short supply, so they are temporarily out of stock."
He answered according to what Mr. Cheng said.
Eunuch Cheng stood up from the recliner and walked over with a teacup in his hand.
He glanced at the broken door, his eyes full of mockery: "Miss Qiao'er is really angry today. You came to the door of the Imperial Kitchen without even knocking, and directly kicked it down. You are really arrogant... I will report this to Concubine Wan later. Yuanchen Palace must compensate tenfold for the damage to the door of the Imperial Study."
Qiao Er didn't even glance at Eunuch Cheng. She swung her arm and slapped Little Li Zi in the face. "Is it out of stock, or are you deliberately not supplying blood swallows to my Imperial Concubine? I'll find out once I check. Get out of the way, don't get in my way..."
Leo was stunned by the slap.
He quickly knelt on the ground with a plop: "Miss Qiao'er, please calm down. This servant... this servant is only doing what Eunuch Cheng ordered."
Qiao'er snorted coldly, and her sharp eyes swept towards Eunuch Cheng.
Eunuch Cheng's expression was extremely grim, his eyes filled with anger: "How dare you hit someone from my imperial kitchen?"
Qiao'er's eyes were full of contempt and disdain.
"I'm targeting those of you in the Imperial Kitchen who flatter the powerful and bully the weak... If you're dissatisfied, you can report it to the higher authorities. Everything I did was in accordance with the Imperial Concubine's orders..."
After she said this, she ignored Eunuch Cheng and immediately looked at the several palace maids she brought with her.
"A few of you go search the warehouse of the imperial kitchen. Whoever can find the blood swallow will be rewarded with five taels of silver."
The eyes of several palace maids lit up. They had never thought that they would get paid for following Sister Qiao'er to do work here. The Imperial Concubine was really generous, and the palace maids immediately became very motivated.
They quickly responded and turned to walk towards the warehouse.
Eunuch Cheng's face turned pale with anger. He stood in front of the palace servants and said, "This is the imperial kitchen, not a place where you can act so recklessly. Someone, stop them here... Send someone to notify Concubine Wan and the Queen."
The people who manage the harem now are Concubine Wan and Concubine Shu. Concubine Shu has been ill these days, so Concubine Wan is in charge.
But the matter concerned Yuanchen Palace, and he was afraid that Concubine Wan could not suppress the Imperial Concubine, so he had to ask someone to invite the Queen.
The people in the imperial kitchen responded immediately. Some went to report the news immediately, while others rushed over and blocked Qiao'er and the others' way.
Qiao'er narrowed her eyes and smiled. She glanced at the palace servants who were blocking them, then looked at Eunuch Cheng's ugly and arrogant face, and she directly took out the imperial concubine's token.
"I am following the orders of the Imperial Concubine... I want to see who dares to stop me."
"Is it impossible to search a mere imperial concubine in the imperial kitchen?"
When the palace servants in the imperial kitchen saw the token in Qiao'er's hand, they suddenly became timid and hesitant.
The imperial concubine has the highest status in the palace except for the emperor, the empress dowager and the queen.
The imperial concubine's token is also quite intimidating.
Qiao Er continued, "If anyone in the Imperial Kitchen can find the blood swallow, I'll reward each of them with ten taels of silver... Not only will they get the silver, but they'll also be able to appear before the Imperial Concubine. You'll definitely receive benefits in the future."
"It's not something anyone can achieve for the Imperial Concubine to hold this position in just over a month. Everyone in the palace is saying that our Imperial Concubine has fallen from favor, but how could a pregnant Imperial Concubine fall from favor? Besides, today, our Imperial Concubine only wants justice."