"Greetings to Your Majesty." Yan Qingshu put down the food box and bowed.
"Get up quickly. I heard from Li Dahai that you've brought something for me again. What is it?" Di Yunjian put down his pen and looked at her with a smile in his glazed eyes.
Yan Qingshu stood up, placed the food box on the table, and opened it.
"Your Majesty, summer is approaching. I've made a bowl of ice cream for you." As she spoke, she took out the ice cream from the food box.
These days, many small countries have paid tribute with a lot of fruits. Among them, a country in the southwest has offered a fruit called mango. Cutting it into small pieces and putting it into the ice cream makes it a unique treat.
There are also lychees from Guangnan. One bite and you'll feel refreshed.
Coincidentally, Yan Qingshu had received a basket of mangoes and lychees as a reward from Di Yunjian. Looking at the bowl of ice cream, it was filled with crushed ice at the bottom, covered with mangoes and lychees. Then Yan Qingshu took out the iced mung bean soup boiled with bamboo sticks from the food box and poured it into the bowl.
"Your Majesty, please have a try." Yan Qingshu looked at him with a beaming smile and voluntarily picked up an ink stick to grind ink for him.
As she moved, a faint fragrance wafted from her.
"That Western perfume is truly extraordinary. Unlike some of the strong - scented incense in the palace that makes people nauseous, this fragrance suits you well," Di Yunjian said with a smile and took a bite of the ice cream.
"I also think it smells nice. It's a fresh fragrance," Yan Qingshu said, looking at him with a wronged look in her eyes.
"Your Majesty, didn't you say you would teach me to read and write?"
Di Yunjian lifted his lips. Seeing her aggrieved face, he stretched out his long arm and pulled her into his arms. "Can you recognize characters?"
Yan Qingshu pretended to hug his neck and buried herself in his arms, then nodded obediently. "I can recognize a few characters."
"This is the calligraphy copybook and some easy - to - understand books I've chosen for you. Read them on your own first. I'll teach you after I finish reviewing these memorials," Di Yunjian said as he took out the things he had prepared earlier from the side and put them into her arms.
Hearing this, Yan Qingshu didn't care about being affectionate with him anymore. She immediately took the copybook and books and ran to the side to figure them out on her own.
Her childhood dream was to study.
Unfortunately, she didn't have the qualification. She could only eavesdrop on the tutor of the Noble Consort Xian. She had secretly memorized a few characters while hiding in the corner.
Seeing her eager look, Di Yunjian curled his lips. He finished the ice cream and continued to review the memorials.
Yan Qingshu frowned and struggled to understand the content of the books. When she encountered something really difficult to understand, she circled it and waited for His Majesty to explain it to her.
After Di Yunjian finished reviewing the memorials, he saw that she was still burying herself in her studies. He tiptoed forward. Seeing her frowning in distress, he couldn't help but curl his lips.
He quietly sat behind her and said in a deep voice, "How much have you understood?"
Yan Qingshu was startled by the sudden voice. She covered her cheeks with the book, and her beautiful eyes were shy.
"Your Majesty, I don't understand this part," Yan Qingshu said as she leaned into his arms.
Di Yunjian looked down and saw that there were many marked places in the book, all of which she had difficulty understanding.
"Have you understood the rest?" Di Yunjian asked as he pulled her into his arms.
Yan Qingshu nodded.
Di Yunjian took the book and carefully explained the parts she didn't understand. Seeing her beaming with enthusiasm and her beautiful eyes shining,
he seemed to see himself. When he was five years old, he got his first enlightenment book. He almost wore out that book.
Before he was five, he never had a good day. It wasn't until his mother passed away and he was raised by the Empress Dowager.
Only then did he start to study and learn the six arts of a gentleman, all for the sake of competing for the throne.
Yan Qingshu was eager to learn. With the parts she had understood before and the explanations from Di Yunjian, she finally understood the book thoroughly.
"Now the weather is getting hotter. I'm planning to go to the summer resort outside the palace to escape the heat," Di Yunjian said.
Seeing her concentrating so much that she didn't even spare him a glance, he reached out and took the book from her hand.
Yan Qingshu finally came back to her senses from the book. She nestled softly in his arms.
"Do you want to go?" Di Yunjian reached out and lifted her delicate face, then couldn't help but lean down and give her a kiss.
Yan Qingshu's eyes lit up. She reached out and grabbed his arm, her voice sweet.
"I want to go."
Just as Di Yunjian was about to speak, Li Dahai came in from outside to report.
"Your Majesty, Lord Zhu, the censor of the Surveillance Censorate, is outside asking to see you."
Yan Qingshu sensibly got off him, bowed and said, "Your Majesty, I'll take my leave first."
After saying that, she stuffed the copybook and books into her bosom.
Before she entered the palace, she had overheard her father talking with someone. He had mentioned this censor of the Surveillance Censorate. It seemed that he was investigating something that threatened the Zhenyuan Marquis Mansion, which was why her father had that conversation.
Di Yunjian nodded and sat back behind the table.
Yan Qingshu curtsied to the official and then left the imperial study with Zhu Yao.
Inside the imperial study, Zhu Liangcai, the censor of the Surveillance Censorate, knelt down and bowed.
"Greetings to Your Majesty. May Your Majesty be in good health."
"Please rise, my dear minister. Have you found out anything?" Di Yunjian said in a deep voice.
"Your Majesty, there has been a drought in the northwest since a year ago. It hasn't rained for a long time. The news from the northwest officials said that they had properly resettled the disaster - stricken people.
"The silver from the national treasury approved by the Ministry of Revenue was also sent to the northwest, and the local taxes in the northwest were also reduced. The news reported was that the disaster situation had improved. But since it hasn't rained for a long time, even sending a large amount of silver to the northwest would be of no avail.
"My subordinates found that along the way from the northwest to the capital, many disaster - stricken people outside the official roads starved to death.
"If the situation was really as reported by the northwest officials, how could there be disaster - stricken people starving to death along the way from the northwest? There must be a big problem.
"And this matter of disaster relief in the northwest involved Chen Wenji, the director of the Ministry of Revenue, who is a relative of the Zhenyuan Marquis."
Zhu Liangcai reported the information his subordinates had found out truthfully.
Di Yunjian twirled the ring on his thumb. The Zhenyuan Marquis...
"The Zhenyuan Marquis has a close relationship with the director of the Ministry of Revenue. How could he not be involved?" Di Yunjian sneered.
"If it's as you said, it means that the northwest officials may be covering up for each other. Investigate thoroughly for me!"
In Di Yunjian's mind, Yan Qingshu's face appeared.
Maybe he could find out something through her.
Di Yunjian sent many secret guards to the northwest. Looking at the memorials from the northwest officials on the table, he snapped the writing brush.
——
On the way, Yan Qingshu looked at the food box and the smile on her lips deepened.
On the way to the imperial study just now, she checked the points mall in her mind and found a pill called the Desire - Relieving Pill. Its effect was to make His Majesty less potent or even have no interest when favoring other concubines within five days.
Only when he was with her could His Majesty regain his virility.
Yan Qingshu didn't hesitate to exchange 5 concubine points for this pill. The system said it was from the gift package that came with her promotion.
She put it into the bowl of ice cream.
While the Noble Consort Xian was in trouble, she had to establish her foothold.
At least when the Noble Consort Xian wanted to deal with her, she would have to think twice.
When she returned to the Guanghan Palace, Xiaoluzi was waiting inside the palace. Judging from his expression, Yan Qingshu knew that someone among those people had taken the bait.
Zhu Yao sent a few people away from the main hall.
"Your Ladyship, I've been secretly watching them. Tan Yun has been behaving herself, but both Xianshu and Shihua have entered the storeroom one after another," Xiaoluzi said.
"Zhu Yao, go to the storeroom quietly and see what's missing," Yan Qingshu said as she leaned on the pillow and flipped through a book.
Zhu Yao went to the storeroom. When she came back, her face was very pale.
"Your Ladyship, the cat - eye hairpin is missing. Nothing else is gone," Zhu Yao replied.
"They're quite cautious," Yan Qingshu said.
"Keep a close eye on them. Notice who has the smell of agarwood on them," Yan Qingshu said slowly as she turned a page of the book.
When Zhu Yao had placed the jewelry in a prominent place, she had smeared some agarwood on it. The agarwood had a faint fragrance that would last for many days and was hard to detect.
Zhu Yao nodded. Her cold eyes fell on the side room.