Chapter 21: Eunuch 21 (The Jiang family is innocent)

Eunuch 21 (The Jiang family is innocent)

Jiang He let her chase and hit him a few times, then he examined her up and down, suspiciously asking: 'Could it be that the palace maidens of your cohort were especially ugly?'

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Character: Jiang Yuner nearly fell over backwards from his anger, feeling she couldn't bear it.

Character: Jiang Yuner stormed back to her room in anger, heading straight for the washbasin; after washing her face, she fiercely smeared the pearl cream on her face, having forgotten that this tiny bottle cost one hundred taels of silver.

She muttered while applying it, cursing: 'Who's ugly?' She swore she would make Jiulang swallow those words back!

Jiang He followed over, seeing her bold and unrestrained manner, he couldn't help but feel a pang of sympathy.

"Qijie, are you painting the wall? This stuff is expensive, use it sparingly."

This little bottle of pearl cream is really not cheap; he made it with many precious medicinal ingredients, some of which are hard to find and absolutely cannot be bought. Like the main ingredient of the pearl cream, the pearls produced from the thousand-year-old clam essence he bought from the system mall, which is exorbitant, costing him a large sum of points.

Upon learning the host's thoughts, the system couldn't help but chuckle.

Actually, it's just being stingy; to the host's vast wealth, that pearl is nothing but a drop in the bucket.

Speaking of this, the system envied the system of the pearl-selling clam essence, hearing that its system never lacks money; if it ever ran short, the host clam essence would simply transform into its true form, shed its shell, and pour out handfuls of pearls into the basin, each time they were put in the mall they'd sell out.

Those female hosts valued their faces greatly; they didn't care at all about the expensive points, only wanting to keep their faces moist and smooth, like a sixteen-year-old maiden.

The System Cat sitting nearby glanced disdainfully at the human host who couldn't produce pearls.

Other hosts dote on their System, buying whatever they want, while this host only makes it work for low wages—no wonder they're used to being capitalists in missions!

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Character: Jiang Yuner's motion froze; she hurriedly poured the excess liquid back into the bottle carefully.

After carefully wiping her face, she shoved the hidden gold at him, saying, 'If you have no money, just tell me; take the gold, anyway I and Character: Mingzhi have nowhere to spend it in the Cold Palace.'

Jiang He shoved the gold back, saying, 'Just keep this money for yourself; maybe it'll come in handy someday.'

Having said that, he rose, picked up the wooden bucket from the ground, and went to the vegetable patch to water the plants.

Character: Jiang Yuner followed over to help; she actually felt sorry for her brother.

Jiulang has recently been frequently given a hard time, surely exhausted; she couldn't just stand by doing nothing, having grown accustomed to busy days—having nothing to do really felt off.

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Their conversation covered not only Jiang He's duties in the Hougong, but also Character: Mingzhi's education and future arrangements.

"Ninth Lord, are you thinking..." Character: Jiang Yuner glanced at the child inside the room, leaned in and whispered, 'Do you really intend to let Character: Mingzhi appear before the emperor? You know, his brothers are none of them easy to handle.'

Jiang He gave her a reassuring smile, saying, 'It's still early to talk about this; I haven't trained Character: Mingzhi yet.'

He looked at the vegetable patch under the moonlight, feeling especially satisfied; it seemed his gardening skills hadn't slipped, the greens he grew were so tender and tasty—well, tomorrow would be a good day to eat water-pickled vegetables.

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This vegetable patch used to be tended by them mother and son, done very meticulously, but for some reason it just wasn't as well tended when Jiulang did it. No wonder Jiulang could work in the Imperial Flower Bureau; earlier Jiulang said he was living quite comfortably there, and now she finally believed it.

Hearing him mention water-pickled vegetables, Character: Jiang Yuner instinctively swallowed a mouthful of saliva.

"Water-pickled vegetables are also quite tasty." She said from experience, "Stir-fried pork belly should be good."

"Pickled sour vegetables work too." Jiang He raised his hand, and a large ladle of water precisely sprinkled onto the vegetable roots, "If they grow too much and aren't eaten, they'll get old."

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"Ninth Lord, don't change the subject." She quickly steered the conversation back, "Character: Mingzhi is so young; if people discovered he has Jiang family blood..."

Jiang He couldn't help but roll his eyes; indeed, he shouldn't have revealed his plans to Character: Jiang Yuner so early.

Back when she regained her memory, she had wanted to reunite with her grandmother.

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The child sitting under the lamp read seriously; a chubby cat lay on the small bamboo mat beside him, and whenever the light dimmed a little, it would meow twice.

Character: Jiang Yuner knew the Jiang family and the old emperor were locked in a bloody feud, and she wouldn't mind risking her life for the Jiang family's revenge. But Character: Mingzhi is still so young—only eight years old in traditional age—she really couldn't bear it.

Character: Jiang Yuner reluctantly said, 'Character: Mingzhi was born in the Cold Palace; he poses no threat to them...'

Character: Mingzhi snapped back to attention, once again focusing his thoughts on the book.

With wise and courteous elders, the Jiang family's inner household is harmonious, and the men are also ambitious and promising.

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"Seventh Sister, Character: Mingzhi will grow up sooner or later; even if he isn't a threat, he's still a good pawn."

He actually wanted to run over to eavesdrop, but a fat cat lay nearby watching; every time he tried to sneak off, it would drag him back and even tattle on him.

On spring nights, the air seemed to carry the distinctive fragrance of flowers.

Jiang He spoke with deep meaning; in the original story, Character: Jiang Yuner died early, and as the Fifteenth Prince, Li Character: Mingzhi was killed by the Seventh Prince to frame the Second Prince, giving the Second Prince the crime of fratricide.

Character: Jiang Yuner recalled her life in the Jiang family during her girlhood.

But now there is her son's reading voice, the cat's cries, and the occasional faint 'beep-boop' of the wick...

Sure enough, at that moment the Three-Colored Cat extended a paw and lightly tapped him: 'Don't get distracted, keep reading.'

His little iron rod, though never ground into a fishhook, eventually found its purpose: each night he diligently trimmed the wick.

If nothing unexpected happened, when she came of age, her grandmother and mother would pick a kind family for her; perhaps she would marry and raise children, living out her life in peace...

The clear reading voice came through, the child still carrying a milky tone; to her, it was more pleasing than the sound of strings and bamboo.

There are so many rats, and they're so fat; she had heard a folk tale of a child having half his face gnawed away by rats.

Poor original host spent her whole life unaware that her sister and nephew, related by blood, passed her by; she drifted half her life, with nowhere to set her heart.

The child is her everything; if anything happened to Character: Mingzhi, she truly wouldn't know if she could hold on.

But they hadn't yet had a chance to reunite when her grandmother died; among the severed heads rolling at the market gate was her grandmother's.

After trimming the wick, Character: Mingzhi couldn't help but glance outside, muttering, 'Mom and Uncle, what exactly are you discussing?'

As she spoke, even she didn't believe her own words, and she felt somewhat helpless.

Perhaps they had already discovered it, but Character: Mingzhi is now too weak; he isn't even qualified to be a pawn.

Grandmother was kind and gentle, always smiling as she watched them play rough; they grew up carefree by her side, stable and content.

Character: Jiang Yuner unconsciously pulled the weeds beside the vegetable patch, falling into contemplation.

Character: Jiang Yuner looked at the dilapidated Lenggong under the moonlight; she always felt this place was too desolate, especially on silent, voiceless nights—each time she heard her own heartbeat, she felt afraid.

The hidden cellar was not only comfortable, it also gave her a strong sense of security; unlike before, when she would often be awakened at midnight by the rustling sounds mice made, she would frightfully clutch the child and dare not sleep the whole night.

At that moment the child would put down his book, pick up a small iron rod, and trim the wick.

It was said that the seventy-year-old grandmother, until her death, would hold her head high and loudly shout at the noisy crowds: "Heaven as my witness! The Jiang family is innocent!"

He calmly analyzed the situation for her: "Seventh Sister, fear is useless; we must consider Character: Mingzhi's welfare. Do you really think you're safe in Lenggong? The old emperor's health is still fine, and those princes below cannot help but stir up trouble—can you guarantee they will never discover Character: Mingzhi in their lifetimes?"

Adults are always like this, liking to hide everything from children.

She was the youngest daughter of the second branch; her mother and aunt were both busy, so she spent most of her time with her grandmother, who raised her.

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