Han Zhao was holding the lotus leaf and dried tangerine peel tea brought by Yue Ru. He paused slightly outside the door. The dainty figure had already gone far away.
When Du Gu Qing heard that Yue Ru was ordered by Mei Qingxue to bring him something to help with digestion, he was overjoyed. But as he didn't see Han Zhao coming back, he had to call out himself.
"Han Zhao, what are you holding? Hurry up and bring it here! I've got indigestion!" In fact, he didn't have indigestion at all. It was just that the thing was brought by Mei Qingxue, and he didn't want to waste it.
"Oops, I'm being rude, my lord!" Han Zhao quickly brought the small cup in his hand to Du Gu Qing. Du Gu Qing happily took it and drank it up.
"My lord, you just drank it like that?" Han Zhao opened his mouth in surprise. The princess was so tricky. She had been so attentive tonight. There must be some scheme. Who would have thought that the lord just gulped it down.
"Alright, go and rest. Don't nag in my ear."
As for the things brought by Mei Qingxue, even if they were poison, he wouldn't frown. It was from her. Although he knew she had some ways to play tricks on people, they basically didn't work on him. Du Gu Qing was truly immune to all poisons now.
"I know you're a loyal one, my lord. I appreciate your loyalty. There's really nothing wrong now. I checked just now, and there's nothing amiss." It was just that it had been a while since it was brought from the kitchen, and it was a bit cold.
"Yes." Han Zhao stepped back and sat cross - legged to rest. Du Gu Qing also lay on his side and went to sleep.
When Du Gu Jue returned to his mansion, he flew into a rage.
"Damn it! When I achieve great things one day, I won't spare any of you!" His face was full of malice, and his eyes were cold and heartless. He had originally planned to get some handsome young male servants, but unexpectedly, he saw the Sixth Prince and his princess.
Why did they have to go to his Yuexiang Tower? It made him lose all his face. Even after beating a few servants to death with a cane, he still couldn't calm down. If he didn't get rid of the Sixth Prince and that Miss Mei, he wouldn't be able to feel at ease. They not only damaged his reputation but also asked for mental compensation. She really had the nerve to come up with that and ask for it.
"Your Highness, don't be so angry. You'll hurt your body." The charming voice of Du Gu Jue's concubine came from behind him. A pair of snake - like jade arms gently wrapped around his waist. At this moment, his anger was at its peak. Generally, no concubine would dare to come and tease him. Only the woman named Yu Xue in front of him dared to do so.
"Yu Xue, get out of the way!" Du Gu Jue suppressed his anger. He didn't yell at her or break free from her arms. He just said in a low voice, trying to hold back his rage.
"No. Your Highness, why are you getting angry here by yourself?" Yu Xue's voice was a bit seductive. Du Gu Jue didn't push her away but quietly listened to her. For some reason, when Yu Xue was by his side, no matter how angry he was, he could calm down.
"Do you have a good idea?"
"I think, Your Highness, you can make them feel uncomfortable too." Yu Xue rolled her eyes and whispered a few words in Du Gu Jue's ear.
"Hmm!" After hearing Yu Xue's words, Du Gu Jue's eyes were uncertain, and the gloom on his face dissipated a bit. "Your method is quite self - defeating."
"I don't care about benefiting myself. If this method involves you too, they won't suspect you. Think about it?" A flash of pride passed through Yu Xue's eyes, and the corners of her mouth curved upwards.
"Do as you said." The gloom in Du Gu Jue's heart completely dissipated. He picked Yu Xue up horizontally and walked towards the inner room.
A flash of disgust passed across Yu Xue's face, but it disappeared in an instant. Du Gu Jue strode into the inner room and didn't see Yu Xue's expression.
The charming smile reappeared on Yu Xue's face. "Your Highness, you're so naughty."
"Haha, I'll be even naughtier later."
After a while, Yu Xue got out of bed. Her legs were weak and wobbly. Where Du Gu Jue couldn't see, her face was full of resentment and hatred. That man was lying on the bed, sleeping soundly and contentedly.
"Go and tell the master to act according to the plan!"
Yu Xue turned towards a dark corner and quickly gave a few instructions.
"Yes!" A hoarse voice replied. Soon, it was quiet again. Yu Xue slowly walked back. She had been tortured by that man until she was on the verge of fainting. She had endured it with all her might not to pass out. She soaked her body in a fragrant bath full of flowers. Touching the bruises on her body, two tears rolled down Yu Xue's eyes. Then she quickly regained her composure.
She was still that charming concubine.
When Du Gu Jue woke up in the morning, he was in high spirits. But just thinking about the silver he had to send to the Sixth Prince's mansion today made his heart ache. Du Gu Qing was just a prince without real power or fief. He only received a fixed monthly allowance as a prince. That Mei Qingxue really had the nerve to ask him for money. Wasn't she afraid that he would get angry and kill them?
"Someone!"
"Yes, Your Highness!" A maid walked in. Yu Xue was combing her hair and didn't even turn her eyes. Du Gu Jue wasn't angry either.
Looking at her beautiful back, with a smile on his lips, after last night's passionate encounter, he was in a great mood. "Go and tell the steward to prepare 180,000 taels of silver and 1,000 taels of gold for this prince and send them to the Sixth Prince's mansion."
"Yes!" The maid got up and was about to go find the steward.
Du Gu Jue seemed to remember something and called out to the maid. "Hey..."
"Your Highness, please give your orders!"
"Tell the steward to send all the silver in 5 - tael ingots and the gold in 1 - tael gold leaves."
"Yes!" This time, when the maid turned around, Du Gu Jue didn't call her to stop.
Yu Xue slowly turned her head. She was still inserting hairpins into her hair. "My lord, why are you doing this?"
She didn't understand why such a large amount of money couldn't be sent with banknotes. Why did it have to be in small pieces?
Du Gu Jue reached out and pinched Yu Xue's pink cheek. "Silly girl, I just want to make him uncomfortable."
Yu Xue let out a soft laugh. She didn't expect this demon to be so childish.
"But you're not giving less money!"
"Yes. But I'm still not happy. I'll get back this anger in the future."
"But that won't happen overnight. Your Highness, you'd better get ready to go to court quickly." Yu Xue took out Du Gu Jue's court clothes and helped him put them on. Then she continued to tidy herself up.
"I'll deal with you when I come back." Du Gu Jue reached out and roughly grabbed Yu Xue's hand for a while before going out. He couldn't be late for court. He still wanted to change his father's impression of him so that he could be chosen as the crown prince.
Hearing the sound of Du Gu Jue going away, Yu Xue put down the comb in her hand. The beautiful woman in the mirror looked angry and resentful, and it was hard to tell what her emotions were.
"Report to the princess. The steward of the Third Prince's mansion has personally sent 180,000 taels of silver and 1,000 taels of gold." Uncle Fu stood in front of Mei Qingxue and reported to her.
"Really?" That was good news. She had just gotten up, and there was money coming in today.
"But..." Uncle Fu hesitated. "That steward is so strange. He could have just sent banknotes. Why did he bring them in carts?"
Mei Qingxue covered her mouth and laughed. "Don't tell me it's 180,000 taels of copper coins. Pull them in and have a look."
"Yes." With the princess's order, Uncle Fu invited the steward of the Third Prince's mansion to the side. The amount of money was quite large, and it had to be carefully checked before the steward could go back and report to the Third Prince. Now the steward had no choice but to follow behind the carts.
Looking at the nineteen large wooden boxes being carried in, Mei Qingxue was delighted.
"Open them and check. Uncle Fu, find someone to check them one by one in front of the steward of the Third Prince's mansion. I'll just watch." Nineteen large wooden boxes. Du Gu Jue really had an idea. It was a pity that Du Gu Qing had also gone to court. Otherwise, she would have asked him to come and count with her.
"Count the smaller box first." Mei Qingxue casually pointed to a slightly smaller wooden box.
The steward of Du Gu Jue stepped forward. "Report to the Sixth Princess. This box contains 1,000 taels of gold leaves."
Gold leaves were a bit bigger than gold nuggets and were relatively easier to count. It took about an hour to count the 1,000 taels of gold leaves. The steward was already fidgeting. There were still eighteen boxes. When he saw those boxes, his face looked like he was about to cry.
Mei Qingxue pretended not to see. "May I ask your name, steward?"
"My name is Zhu Cai." The steward wiped the sweat off his forehead.
"Prepare a seat for Steward Zhu and bring him a cup of tea." Mei Qingxue ordered. She wasn't a stingy person. Since Du Gu Jue liked to play tricks, she would play tricks on his people.
"Thank you, Princess!" Zhu Cai carefully sat down on the stool. He didn't dare to drink the tea in the Sixth Prince's mansion. Now he even wanted to go to the toilet, but... Zhu Cai secretly glanced at the eighteen large wooden boxes and almost fainted. Even if it took an hour to count three boxes, it would still take six hours. These small pieces of money had taken him the whole morning to prepare. Now he still had to watch them being counted one by one. It was worse than killing him.
Mei Qingxue saw that Zhu Cai's face was flushed and then turned purple. His two feet were trembling. Later, he even stepped on his right foot with his left foot and vice versa. She secretly laughed in her heart. She already knew what was going on because she had gone to the back hall to relieve herself twice.
Seeing that Zhu Cai didn't dare to speak and didn't dare to drink the tea, Mei Qingxue showed a slight anger on her face. "Steward Zhu, are you afraid that the tea in my Sixth Prince's mansion is poisoned? You're not giving me face?"
Zhu Cai's face was so red that the sweat was rolling down one by one. "I'm not... thirsty!" He was almost peeing in his pants, and the princess still asked him to... drink tea!
"Hmm?"
Mei Qingxue glanced at him, and Zhu Cai's body trembled. He tremblingly picked up the cold tea and drank it with a crying face.
"Thank you, Princess!"
Zhu Cai was sweating all over his face.
"Yue Ru, refill his cup!" I'd like to see how long you can hold it, Mei Qingxue thought, trying to hold back her laughter. She directed Yue Ru to refill the tea.
"Yes, Princess." Yue Ru knew very well her princess's mischievousness.
"Steward, you look so sweaty. You must be really thirsty. Drink it quickly. I've got some cold tea here!" Yue Ru patted the teapot in her hand. Just now, she had specially gone to the back to fill a big teapot!