Mei Qingxue glared at the copper lock on the door resentfully. There wasn't even any treasure inside, yet the lock was so firmly secured. Uncle Fu stood behind Mei Qingxue, using his sleeve to wipe the sweat off his forehead.
"Is this your lord's hiding place for his mistresses? Why is it locked so tightly?"
"No... no!"
Uncle Fu didn't dare to say much. His lord had always been in poor health and was not interested in women at all. Even the young lady with strange fetishes he had married before didn't even get the title of princess consort and was directly sent to the side courtyard.
Now that the young lady from the prime minister's family had become the mistress of the mansion, it was obvious that the lord liked her very much. Otherwise, he wouldn't have let the princess consort do whatever she wanted.
"Really not?" Mei Qingxue looked at Uncle Fu, who was sweating profusely, in confusion.
"Really not." Uncle Fu was sweating like rain.
"Then why are you so nervous?" The more nervous he was, the more it proved his guilt. Or maybe he was just too scared of her. But she was just a delicate young lady without the strength to even bind a chicken. How could she be scary?
Mei Qingxue slowly walked towards her main hall, which she had named the Qingxue Pavilion. It was a pity that no one appreciated it. Whatever she did, that guy would always say it was good. Her parents and elder brother couldn't visit her casually. Mei Qingxue almost wanted to lose her temper. What stupid rules!
It was said that her elder brother was an unmarried man and they needed to avoid suspicion. Why didn't they also avoid suspicion between husband and wife? A single man and a single woman together could be considered improper!
Uncle Fu followed closely behind Mei Qingxue. Since the princess consort walked slowly, he also walked slowly.
When they passed by the koi pond, Mei Qingxue's eyes lit up. "Uncle Fu, these koi aren't some rare and precious breed, are they?"
She thought they looked no different from the ones she had seen in the park before. Yue Ru quickly gave Uncle Fu a look, but the old and dim-sighted butler didn't notice.
"Reporting to the princess consort, these are the extremely rare Golden Snow Jade Dragon Koi in our country. Their numbers are very limited."
Thinking of these koi, Uncle Fu seemed to have opened a floodgate of words and introduced them in great detail. However, the princess consort didn't seem to care much about whether the fish were precious or not.
"Can these koi be eaten?" Uncle Fu saw a glint of green light in Mei Qingxue's eyes.
Uncle Fu was completely stunned! Mei Qingxue glanced at him and answered herself, "Anyway, they're all fish. Let's try them first!"
Yue Ru was so anxious that she was jumping up and down behind Mei Qingxue. The more precious the thing was, the more likely the princess consort would take action. She had just tried her best to give Uncle Fu a look, but that guy didn't even see it.
"Princess consort..."
Just as Yue Ru was about to shout, Mei Qingxue looked at her and gave an order.
Now that the young lady had made up her mind, not even the Son of Heaven could change it. If her father, Mei Zhenguo, and her mother came, she might reluctantly agree.
"Go and find a grill for this princess consort, and also find a charcoal brazier." Mei Qingxue sat down in the shade and calmly looked at the butler and her maid.
"Yes!" Yue Ru replied with a long face. Now she seemed to be involved in every bad thing. If her master and mistress found out, they might think that she had instigated the young lady.
"Uncle Fu, find someone to bring the calligraphy and paintings from the lord's study. The princess consort needs something to start the fire for roasting the fish!"
"Princess consort, please spare this old servant!" Uncle Fu knelt on the ground with a thud.
"If the lord blames anyone, this princess consort will take full responsibility. You don't need to be afraid. Go!" After getting Mei Qingxue's repeated assurances, Uncle Fu hesitantly left.
Not long after, a large pile of books was piled up at her feet. Mei Qingxue slightly squinted her eyes and remembered the times when she had roasted fish and meat in her previous lives. Although those lives were short, there were still some memories worth cherishing. It was estimated that no one else would be able to be reborn with the memories of nine lives like her.
When Yue Ru brought the things Mei Qingxue had asked for, she saw a large pile of fire-starting materials piled up at the feet of her princess consort. When she got closer and took a look, she was almost scared out of her wits.
"Princess... princess consort..."
These were not just ordinary fire-starting materials. They were clearly the books from the lord's study. It seemed that they would have to ask the master and mistress to come forward.
After putting down the things the princess consort had asked for, Yue Ru turned around and ran back to the prime minister's mansion.
"Sister Yue Ru, you haven't been back for a long time." The guards at the gate greeted Yue Ru affectionately when they saw her.
"Xiao Qian, Xiao Zhu, guard the gate well." Yue Ru took a deep breath and walked straight in.
"Sister, what are you in such a hurry for? The master and mistress aren't at home!" Xiao Qian knew that if it weren't for something related to the young lady, Yue Ru wouldn't be so nervous.
Hearing this, Yue Ru turned back.
"Is the eldest young master at home?"
"The eldest young master isn't at home either. Sister, what's wrong with the young lady?" Xiao Zhu quickly asked. Today, the master had taken the mistress out of the city to fulfill a vow and pray for blessings and hadn't returned yet. The eldest young master was still on duty in the palace.
"The young lady is fine. If the eldest young master comes back, please send a message to the Prince Liu's Mansion. I have something important to ask the eldest young master to bring back the master and mistress."
After giving these instructions, Yue Ru rushed back to the Prince Liu's Mansion in a hurry. Fortunately, the two mansions were not far apart. Otherwise, Yue Ru would have been exhausted.
As soon as she entered the mansion, she saw Han Chao's figure walking towards the study.
"Hey..." As soon as Yue Ru made a sound, Han Chao heard her and stopped.
"Miss Yue Ru, did you call me?"
"Guard Han Chao, when will the lord return to the mansion?" This was the first time Yue Ru had talked to Han Chao so closely. As she spoke, her face turned bright red. She didn't even dare to look at Han Chao's face.
"The lord will be back in a few days." Han Chao felt a little disappointed when he saw that she only asked about the lord.
"Oh." Yue Ru took out a sachet from her sleeve. "The Dragon Boat Festival is coming soon. I embroidered a Five Poison Sachet for you. Don't dislike it. My embroidery skills aren't very good." After saying that, she lowered her head almost to the ground.
Han Chao happily took the sachet. "I like it no matter what. Do you have anything else to say? If not, I'll go to the lord's study to find some books for the lord!"
"You... you'd better not go. The books are all by the koi pond."
"Why are they there?" Han Chao was confused and couldn't figure out the reason. He could only wait for Yue Ru to explain.
"The princess consort took them to roast the koi..."
"What?"
This was terrible! Han Chao was eager to stop the princess consort, but he remembered what the lord had said about letting the princess consort do whatever she wanted. However, now the princess consort had actually used the lord's collection of books to roast the koi.
Well, if she wanted to roast the koi, so be it. Han Chao turned around and left. Now he had to report this to the lord. Maybe he could still save a few books.
"Why did you let the princess consort think of roasting the fish?"
"It's all my fault. When I was leading the way today, I wanted the princess consort to relax. Who knew that when we got to the koi pond, the princess consort just wouldn't leave... And then..." The lord's study was in trouble. Yue Ru didn't dare to say that the princess consort had tried to break the lock of the collection pavilion but failed, so she had vented her anger on the koi.
"What... what?" Han Chao staggered. He hoped that he had just misheard. "Yue Ru, say it again."
"She's roasting the koi." Just as Yue Ru was about to say something else, Han Chao had already run away.
Yue Ru stared at him in disbelief. "This guy, he just ran away like that."
Since Mei Qingxue wasn't sure whether the koi could be eaten, she didn't even scrape off their scales. She just had someone catch them, skewer them on the grill, and then had someone tear the lord's books one by one and use them to start the fire in the charcoal brazier to roast the fish. Anyway, in the end, not a single fish was left, nor was a single book left. Even the precious rare and incomplete books were gone.
Yue Ru stood in the distance and saw the ashes all over the ground. She was so worried that she was jumping up and down. What if the lord got angry and divorced the young lady? How could the young lady live then?
However, Mei Qingxue wasn't afraid at all. With her own properties, it would be easy for her to support a whole family, and she could even find a good marriage for her elder brother. She wasn't really the kind of delicate young lady in ancient times who never left the inner chambers. With the experiences of her previous nine lives, she was determined to live her own life this time.
Yue Ru naturally didn't know what her princess consort was thinking. She was still worried about her.
"Yue Ru, I'm tired. Help me back to rest." After roasting the fish for a long time, she was exhausted. And today the sun was too strong, making her feel sleepy. It would be just right to go back and take a nap. It was just perfect that Du Guqing wasn't back.
"Princess consort, what about these fish?" Uncle Fu bent down nervously.
"I'm not sure if they can be eaten. Well, bury one fish under each tree. Use them as fertilizer. That's that."
Watching Mei Qingxue's back, Uncle Fu's legs went weak and he almost fell to the ground. This fish pond was the lord's favorite, and those books were all the lord's collections. What should he do now?
Uncle Fu stood in front of the empty study, tears streaming down his old face...
The lord had first married a woman with strange fetishes who preferred women to men. Now this princess consort, he really didn't know what to say...
With a long face, he buried all the fish under the trees as Mei Qingxue had ordered, using them as fertilizer for the flowers. He felt a chill on his body. It was over. When the lord came back, he was definitely going to be in trouble.
"Where are the books you were supposed to get?" Looking at Han Chao with empty hands, Du Guqing's face showed a faint look of displeasure. He had to stay in this hot spring villa for several more days.
If Han Chao didn't bring him some books to kill time, how could he pass the days?
"My lord, it's not that this subordinate didn't want to get them!" How could Han Chao tell the lord about this? With a sudden burst of courage, he blurted out, "My lord, the princess consort is roasting fish in the back garden."
"Let her do as she pleases." Du Guqing was slightly stunned, and then he burst into laughter. It turned out that his little wife could be so naughty. As long as she was happy, he would let her do whatever she wanted.
"However... all your books have been taken by the princess consort to the koi pond to roast... the koi!" Han Chao said while observing his lord's expression. Strangely enough, his lord wasn't angry. Instead, he seemed... very happy.
"Give her the key to the collection pavilion." Du Guqing said it casually.
"Ah?" Han Chao was so surprised that he couldn't answer. His lord had really gone crazy since he met the princess consort. "But the collection pavilion is full of your favorite treasures."
"As long as the princess consort likes them." Thinking of how she must be secretly snickering after doing something bad, Du Guqing could almost see the lively and cute face of that spiritual young woman making a face in front of him.
"But..." Han Chao was about to say something else when Du Guqing said another sentence that almost drove Han Chao crazy.