With a hint of melancholy, Fang He took out the sticky rice cake and honey three-slice dessert she had specially bought from Qufu, turning her sadness into appetite, eating until she was full, and then burping as she fell asleep.
Unexpectedly, the next day at the third watch, Wei Zhu specifically ran over to the quarters.
“Sister, Li Dequan asked me to pass a message to you, saying that the Fifth Prince had a fever last night and needs to rest for a few more days in front of the Empress Dowager, so you should continue your normal duties for now.”
After he finished speaking, he hesitated, his round eyes fixed on Fang He, blinking as if he wanted to say something but held back.
In fact, as soon as the Emperor returned to the palace, he had only spent half an hour in Cining Palace, chatting with the ancestors, and did not give any face to the concubines, directly returning to Qianqing Palace, bringing Suo E Tu and Nalan Mingzhu into Hongde Hall.
They worked through the night, dealing with the backlog of state affairs, and the master and the officials had just gone to bed when they had to get up an hour later to prepare for court.
Everyone knew the Emperor was busy; even if the Fifth Prince really had a fever, with the Empress Dowager watching over him like a precious child, no one dared to disturb the Emperor at night.
Moreover, Wei Zhu was on night duty and had not heard anyone come in from outside.
Li Dequan seemed to have foreseen this and called him over to deliver the message, while he himself was carrying several different desks into Hongde Hall.
This made Wei Zhu feel something was off.
But serving in front of the emperor, regardless of Liang Jiugong, Supervisor Gu, or even his godfather, and even his sister, had repeatedly reminded him not to let down his name; he couldn’t let a single word that shouldn’t be said slip from his mouth.
After the earlier incident with the rhyme, Wei Zhu was even more aware of the gravity of the situation.
He believed that his sister, knowing him well, would surely see that he was trying to express something was wrong in front of the emperor, and that Li Dequan had ulterior motives.
Fang He nodded at Wei Zhu with understanding, realizing that something was off in front of the emperor, and the master had ulterior motives!
She cautiously said, “Then I will wait until after court to find Liang An Da; he hasn’t assigned me any duties yet, and since I don’t need to go to the study, I should be on night duty.”
She thought to herself, it was time for her to watch the grand action movie… cough, no, it was time for her to serve the master faithfully!
Wei Zhu couldn’t help but smile; he knew that he and his sister were indeed in sync.
Fang He did not wait idly.
When she was first mentioned in front of the emperor, Liang Jiugong had instructed that when it was time to serve, she could refrain from getting involved, but she still had to watch from the side.
After being surprised by those toiletries, she had not understood before being thrown to learn the three hundred thousand, and it was time to reconnect.
However, when she arrived in front of the emperor, she found something subtly wrong.
She was unable to enter Zhaoren Hall at all.
The palace maids and eunuchs in front of the emperor were indeed very polite to her, even to the point of being somewhat respectful.
“Manager Liang has instructed that we must not tire the young lady; she can enter Hongde Hall to serve at the si hour.”
“Yes, Deputy Eunuch Li specifically warned us that we new palace maids must not take advantage of the young lady’s good nature to bully her; any tasks can be handed over to us.”
“Exactly, if the young lady is afraid of being bored, she can return to the tea room and chat with Cui Wei and the others; they are all familiar faces…”
The last sentence came from one of the beauties presented by the Cao family, who had renamed herself Wen Ling.
Although she had already entered the banner, how she came was known to Kangxi; she hadn’t even been given the rank of an official woman, yet was still called to lead the duties of the palace maids.
If Fang He heard correctly, Wen Ling’s tone even carried a hint of suppressed laughter… or rather, it was laughter directed at her.
No matter how dignified she was in front of the emperor, the duties of serving in front of the emperor were one carrot per hole; did Fang He think she could meddle in?
In her dreams!
She should take a good look at what her past and present appearances were.
Fang He said nothing, turned around, and went to the kitchen, handing a two-tael silver coin to the little eunuch in exchange for a large plate of fried pumpkin seeds.
Why was she so cheap, insisting on serving the stingy boss?
Let whoever wants to go, she would rather lie in the tea room with double the monthly allowance.
If only she could lie there until she left the palace!
With Wei Zhu’s reminder, if Fang He still couldn’t see that after her earlier encounter on the dragon boat, Master Kang was simply too busy to pay her any attention, yet didn’t want her to be too carefree, deliberately leaving her hanging, then she had wasted half a year battling with the overseas royal family of a five-star hotel.
Although she had only been out for two months, Fang He’s mindset had changed significantly.
With less superficial pretense and awkward caution, she felt more calm and leisurely.
She carried a two-layered diamond-patterned food box, filled with freshly baked pumpkin seeds, and the little eunuch from the kitchen sweetly called out to her as he handed over a plate of dragon beard peach crisps, smiling as she entered the tea room.
Seeing Cui Wei, who was yawning and preparing to get busy, Fang He plopped down beside the tea cabinet, smiling at Cui Wei with a hint of shyness.
“Oh dear, Liang An Da is worried about me just returning, so he won’t let me work hard. Since I can’t sit still, I thought I’d come back to see you all and chat for a bit!”
Cui Wei: “……RE!”
At this moment, they were busy boiling water, brewing tea, and preparing mouthwash tea and tea for the morning court; there was no time to deal with this annoying girl who had too much free time!
Fang He opened the food box, carefully holding the falling pastry, and looked at Cui Wei’s lips.
The so-called dragon beard was actually maltose made only in the palace during the twelfth month, wrapped in starch and lightly fried in vegetable oil until golden, symbolizing good fortune, then wrapped in a milk pastry and stuck to the pot to steam.
It felt hard on the outside but was soft and sweet when eaten.
The sugar inside also had a fragrant crunch of white sesame, becoming chewier the more you chewed, and it didn’t stick to your teeth.
To make it easy for the masters to eat, each piece was made to be bite-sized.
As long as the pastry didn’t fall apart, this crispy and soft sweetness could be fully wrapped in the lips and teeth, ensuring no good flavor was missed.
Even if Cui Wei was glaring in anger, she couldn’t resist the aroma of the dragon beard peach crisps, swallowing one whole and mumbling for Fang He to behave and wait until they were done before eating… no, wait until they were done before chatting!
Fang He grinned and nodded obediently.
Since she sensed the exclusion from the palace maids, she would have to endure until the si hour before serving.
Cui Wei and the others would be done around the hour of the dragon, and there would still be time to chat leisurely.
Sure enough, with Cen Ying and Yu Lian watching in front of the emperor, as soon as the morning court ended at the most solemn time, Cui Wei returned to the tea room.
She plopped down next to Fang He, snatching a dragon beard peach crisp from the food box and stuffing it into her mouth.
“The morning court is over; aren’t you in a hurry to serve in front of the emperor?”
“No rush; if they need me, Liang An Da knows where to call me.” Fang He smiled, but her hands were not slow as she snatched a piece of peach crisp from Cui Wei’s arms and pulled out some pumpkin seeds.
Now she was the ancestor in Liang Jiugong and the others’ mouths; if it was Kangxi’s order, then she was officially slacking off.
If it wasn’t Kangxi’s order… well, Liang An Da and Li Dequan, including those in front of the emperor, probably thought she was easy to bully and were likely in need of eye medicine.
She couldn’t shake her professional habit; she liked to satisfy such unreasonable demands from others.
However, just as she finished speaking, Li Dequan’s urgent figure appeared at the door, and upon seeing Fang He, he hurriedly urged her.
“Oh my ancestor, why are you here? Shoukang Palace is summoning you to meet; hurry and go with the Chief Manager of Shoukang Palace!”
Cui Wei was delighted; she was growing fonder of Liang Jiugong and Li Dequan.
She smiled sweetly, holding the food box Fang He brought, standing up respectfully, and smiled at Fang He, looking even more bashful than when Fang He arrived.
“Oh dear, I know you just came back and are worried about me guarding the tea room for months; next time, don’t bring anything!”
“The tea room is your home; there’s no need to be so polite. Even if you come empty-handed, Cen Ying and the others will chat with you nicely. Of course, if you come empty-handed, don’t blame your Aunt Cui Wei for not serving you, haha!”