Chapter 865: Chapter 865: Grandmaster
Lian Musu was willing to destroy his past achievements and potential fame, just to stand alongside his family, drumming and crying out against injustice, ready to face the legal consequences, determined to clear the Lian Family name.
Such individuals would earn a good reputation, not a bad one, wouldn’t they?
The Emperor was not worried about Lian Musu; instead, he was concerned about the Shuntian Prefecture. If the punishment for Lian Musu was not properly measured, it might not end well.
But he couldn’t absolve him of guilt entirely—after all, Lian Musu did indeed commit impersonation; otherwise, future generations might imitate him and falsely claim injustice to cheat in exams, leading to chaos in the imperial examinations.
However, he absolutely could not impose a severe punishment. Ignoring his connection as a Little Concubine, such a talented individual could not be heavily penalized by the Emperor. Moreover, under such circumstances, a severe punishment would incite public resentment, which is inappropriate.
Fortunately, the Emperor had other plans; he decided to summon the person first and discuss later.
Cao De wanted to boast about his achievements but ended up feeling embarrassed and disappointed.
Seeing that the Emperor was ignoring him, he sat to one side, drank a cup of tea, and prepared to leave after patting his backside.
Before reaching the door, he casually remarked, "By the way, your third brother-in-law is quite clever—a good seedling, I’ve taken a liking to him. I’ll bring him into the Internal Guard Bureau, consider it done."
As if fearing opposition, he quickly rushed out.
Inside the study, the Emperor paused his writing and looked up in surprise, finding him already gone without a trace.
The Emperor was pensive; someone praised by Cao De for their intelligence is rare indeed.
Regarding the brothers of his Little Concubine, it seems he doesn’t know enough yet. The Lian Family producing someone like Lian Musu is already quite rare, let alone someone who can catch Cao De’s eye, hmm...
Thinking this, he summoned someone and gave a few instructions, and the person hurried away.
Meanwhile, Cao De, after leaving the Canglan Court study, walked outside.
Not gaining any advantage from the Emperor, he felt quite dejected as he strolled slowly past the Main Hall, when suddenly he smelled a fragrant scent.
He sniffed around and immediately heard a voice, a hint of surprise showing on his face.
"Oh! Isn’t that the Little Beauty’s voice? They say she’s still recovering, yet her voice is so loud and strong already?"
He raised his fox-like eyes, thought for a moment, altered his steps, and headed toward the Main Hall, reasoning that since he couldn’t get any advantage from Yuchi Zhao, he might as well try with the Little Beauty.
From that day on, Lian Hua found it quite bewildering; a certain handsome face occasionally appeared in Canglan Court, lingering in front of her from time to time, either trying to swindle her food or some other thing, all quite disorderly.
She remembered seeing this handsome face before, the first time being when he wanted to steal her fish, unsuccessfully; the person was both bad and foolish.
The second time was when he appeared as they caught those evil ones releasing the serpent; His Majesty told her not to judge by appearances, saying this handsome face might not look trustworthy but was reliable in action.
The third time was the second day after she woke up, when His Majesty was busy with state affairs; she lay bored, having filled her belly with porridge and medicine and feeling much warmer, her body seemed to have recovered significantly.
She asked Xiao Qing to support her for a walk in the courtyard; as she walked, she felt something was missing, making her uneasy, so she asked Xiao Jizi and Xiao Linzi for advice.
Finally, she suddenly had a great idea: She wanted to roast sweet potatoes to serve as snacks for His Majesty and Nanny Qi as a supplement!
Winter and roasted sweet potatoes were simply a perfect match!
And so she set to work, the stove was already made and prepared for this very day. She searched around wanting to roast in the pavilion, but the others, fearing she might catch cold from staying too long, firmly opposed.
In the end, after much deliberation, they chose the spacious Main Hall dedicated to receiving guests and dining, with its doors wide open; they placed smokeless silver thread charcoal into the stove, which was said to be very expensive and came from her palace allowance.
The stove had two layers, the lower one was for roasting sweet potatoes, and as they roasted, she thought the upper layer looked lonely indeed.
So, she had a clever idea and instructed Xiao Qing to start roasting meat and flatbreads on the upper layer, creating a wonderfully appealing sight.
As she extended her head, continuously swallowing saliva, she estimated the Shichen and reckoned the first sweet potato must have been done roasting.
In a hurry, she said, "Xiao Jizi, quickly turn over what’s on top and pull out the sweet potatoes from below. It’s done now. Xiao Qing, be careful placing the flatbread on the stove; don’t burn your hand."
"Yes." Xiao Jizi obeyed, first turning over what was roasting on top, then used a fire stick to pull out the roasted sweet potatoes from the stove’s lower layer. After dusting off the ash, he placed the sweet potatoes into a tray with a set of cutlery.
Xiao Qing swiftly used a pair of tongs to stick the finished flatbreads to the inner walls of the stove one by one.
Lian Hua was watching with drooling mouth, but alas! She still couldn’t eat...
However, His Majesty had never tasted roast sweet potatoes; having him try it, her biggest goal these days was to fatten up His Majesty and Nanny Qi for winter, adding back their lost weight.
Let Xiao Linzi carry up the roasted sweet potatoes, she looked at them carefully. Very good, they were roasted just right, and she finally resolved fiercely to wave her hand, "Quickly move; while they’re warm, serve them to His Majesty."
If they didn’t hurry, she might not be able to resist herself. To restrain herself, she hadn’t allowed them to roast extra, making sure each serving had a designated place, leaving herself with no chance to eat.
Ah well, drifting off topic... It was then, that handsome face entered, sporting a wicked rogue smile, looking bad, yet familiarly squatting by the stove helping to roast the meat.
Seeing that his mind was set on her roasted meat, flatbread, and sweet potatoes, she thought this handsome face was peculiar, chatting with her about irrelevant topics, boasting thoroughly about how to make the meat taste better, what spices fit best, and which wine pairs optimally.
Such words were quite useless; she knew much more than him and had no time to bother with him.
Still, remembering his past help catching the evil ones, she reluctantly exchanged a few words with him.
But as soon as she spoke, the handsome face became displeased, reacting sourly when she called him Xiao Dezi, then when she called him handsome face, he was even unhappier, insisting she should address him as ’Master Teacher’ according to hierarchy.
At that moment, her eyes lifted from the roasted meat and flatbreads as she weighed whether this handsome face was crazy, thinking this face looked bad and foolish, but unexpectedly it seemed a bit mental too.
Perhaps her expression was too obvious, for the handsome face appeared aggrieved and almost jumped up, asserting he truly was her Master Teacher, then talked about his connection with her master.
Her master had visited the Capital City; Lian Hua was aware of this, as her embroidery was taught by her master. She hadn’t seen her master for many years and missed her dearly, hoping His Majesty could find her master some cherished trinket and looked forward to seeing her master.
Cao De had never realized how hard it was to make someone change how they addressed him—the Little Beauty seemed simple, yet she was unexpectedly difficult to fool.
After entering, she barely glanced at him, her gaze was fixated on that stove and wouldn’t budge, nor did her Palace Maid and eunuch react much.