Chapter 118: Searching for Relatives

  Chapter 118: Searching for Relatives

  This matter is not trivial for the Cheng Wang Fu.

  Many people had already planned their future paths. Suddenly, there were more attendants by the king's side——

  No matter what the status is, from now on, Cui Feng and Shu Hong will no longer be slaves. They will have their own house and their own servants to serve them. If they gain favor, they will also enjoy wealth and glory in the future. Those who cannot get close to the prince and princess, those who are not satisfied with their current situation, those who do not even have the opportunity to show their face...

  Those thoughts have all come alive.

  As a result, Wang Ye did not take her in.

  It was almost a done deal, and many people had started looking for connections to get a new job, but now everything is stuck.

  Some people think it's because Master Wang is young and has a thin skin.

  Some people also say that since our king has read so many sacred and wise books, he shouldn't be one who loves women.

  Some people say that Wang Ye didn't take a liking to Cui Feng and Shu Hong.

  Among the three sayings, the latter has many supporters.

  To say that young people have thin skin, but there are also servants in the Shouwang and Changwang palaces. What's wrong with that? Is it worth being embarrassed about this?

  Besides, those who read books know the reason. Is it possible that all those people in the city who take concubines and have young wives haven't read books and don't know the reason? It's unlikely that those doctors, professors, and white-bearded scholars from the Chongwen Academy don't have many beautiful concubines at home. They are truly elegant and refined, with a beauty that surpasses others.

  So it seems that Cui Feng and Shu Hong didn't catch the king's eye.

  Who didn't love being romantic when they were young? But were Cui Feng and Shu Hong the most beautiful maids in the Wang Mansion?

  No.

  Anyone with eyes can see that, not to mention the Cao Sheng who serves in the Wang Ye's study, even the Chun Mo girl who was by Wang Ye's side before, is better than Cui Feng and Shu Hong. Even if these two are not mentioned, the people sent from the inner courtyard look decent too.

  Cui Feng and Shu Hong, what's so great about them? Isn't it just that they're good at listening and obeying orders?

  What good would it do them to listen to the queen's words, compared with others?

  Especially the old people who originally lived in Yiqiu Palace were even more resentful about this.

  After the princess arrived, all these people who originally served the king closely had to step aside. Many people couldn't even see the king's face. If they can't see their master, what can they rely on to get ahead?

  In his heart, there was naturally resentment and longing.

  Now the king wants to take people around him, if he takes people around the queen again, can they reach out their hands?

  If it were one of the pretty maids who used to be in the same palace as me, that would be a different story. After all, we've been through thick and thin together for years, and there's some camaraderie between us. If one of our own people got promoted, they'd want to find someone to help them with their new role, and they'd likely choose someone they already know. With this kind of favoritism, what can't be accomplished?

  Although there are many people in the mansion, the princess did not choose or ask any of them, but instead chose someone from her own dowry.

  After some thought, it seems that most people who came out of Yiqiu Palace felt that the king was right in not accepting the queen's invitation.

  Otherwise, the entire backyard of the Wang Mansion would be filled with people from the Wen family. They have nothing to do with anything. Everything is controlled by Princess Wang. These people, whether they are one or two years older or younger, will all be cleared out and sent far away to the countryside, making you call out to heaven but receive no response, and call out to earth but receive no echo for this lifetime.

  The others in the mansion, of course, each had their own thoughts.

  In Mr. Wen's household, there was an old and experienced daughter-in-law and mother who deeply understood that the current situation of the Wen family was not good.

  Although the royal family did not abandon wives without children, there were women who were neglected due to jealousy - and quite a few. A woman's dignity is partly supported by her natal family, but mostly it depends on whether her husband gives her face or not.

  Chao Sheng believed that if she hadn't been in the study, ordinary people wouldn't have come to this place, and her ears would not be quiet.

  Fortunately, the fourth prince was busy today and didn't stay in the mansion all day, sparing Chao Sheng's embarrassment.

  She didn't go to the small kitchen today either, just because she didn't want to see those people with a smiling face and whispering behind her back.

  In the evening she went to look for Aunt Li, the weather warmed up and no longer burned the kang. Chao Sheng helped Aunt Li pack away all the thick winter clothes.

  "Look, these people coming and going the past two days, they've all got more powder on their faces than usual." Aunt Li clucked her tongue and shook her head, saying: "They're all hoping to get hit by a pie falling from the sky, it's really ugly people being jealous."

  Chao Sheng tied up his bundle: "As Auntie said, there are no ugly people in our mansion."

  "Otherwise, if they were really ugly, they wouldn't have such wild fantasies. Each of them thinks they're a flower..."

  Although Cai Sheng's ambition is not here, she doesn't mean to look down on others.

  Everyone has their own aspirations.

  For many maids in the mansion, life inside is like heaven. Take those maids in the main courtyard for example, relying on Madame Wang's good fortune, they dress and eat elegantly, even more dignified than young ladies from ordinary families outside. Ordinary families outside can't afford to eat meat and fish every day or wear silk and satin clothes all the time. They have already gotten used to life inside the mansion, how could they adapt to a thatched cottage with an empty bed if they were to leave? Not to mention other things, just the sanitary conditions alone would be unbearable for them. If they left, could they still wash their hair and take baths as frequently as they do now? Where would they find enough firewood to waste on such luxuries? And what about cleaning the toilets... even Cui'er couldn't imagine how those delicate hands, so used to being pampered, would be able to hold a toilet brush.

  Not to mention material things, even spiritually and psychologically, I couldn't bear the gap.

  The imperial palace is so dignified, and the people who come and go are all of a certain kind. What they hear, see, and say are all different. After leaving, it's all noise, vulgarity, pettiness, and filth...

  So Qingwen in Hong Lou, "heart is higher than the sky", but can't bear to give up the identity of a maid in Yihongyuan, saying that if she wants to go out, she will die by hitting her head.

  Leaving doesn't necessarily mean you can't survive, it's just a different way of living than now.

  The tide has thought many times, if she could go out, how would she live.

  She has a skill, so she's not afraid of not being able to make a living. And there's the house, although her uncle is no longer around, but the house is still here, and she has a place to live. As for the future... getting married... those things she doesn't think about much.

  What kind of person will you marry?

  Every time Chaosheng thought of this problem, he instinctively avoided it and bypassed it.

  She didn't know what kind of person she was going to marry.

  She also didn't think that she could truly find a satisfactory marriage in this era.

  Yes, marriage.

  Not love.

  Love is too unrealistic.

  Even in his past life, Chao Sheng felt that love was too precious and too hard to find.

  And now it's even more impossible.

  "What's on your mind? Frowning one moment and sighing the next."

  Chao Sheng came back to his senses, handed the peeled melon seeds to Li Auntie: "I was just calculating how much money I had saved up, and whether it would be enough for me to start a small business in the future. If not, Auntie will have to help me out."

  Auntie Li looked at her without saying a word.

  The tide has been wanting to go out for a long time, and it's not just once or twice that it has said so. It has also thought about it for more than one or two days.

  She also plans to support her aunt Li in her old age.

  But Aunt Li knew... Chao Sheng couldn't get out.

  With such a face, if she were to leave the palace and attract unwanted attention, how would she protect herself?

  Ordinary families can't afford to marry her off, but with her background, she's also unlikely to become the legitimate wife of a wealthy family.

  But stayed in the Wang Fu ——

  Li Aunt thought about Wen's temperament...

  Life is not easy to get by.

  In the inner courtyard, sword lights and shadows, often killing people in a subtle way, it's just a miniature version of the harem.

  If Chao Sheng wasn't so outstanding, the Fourth Prince wouldn't have been so biased towards her either. Perhaps her days would have been better. But she was born too well, and the Fourth Prince's treatment of her was also different from others. How could Madame Wen tolerate her?

  Can the side of the bed tolerate others sleeping soundly? Now, Wen Shi is afraid that she has already regarded Chao Sheng as a great enemy in her heart. If Chao Sheng were really taken in by the Fourth Prince, then Wen Shi would immediately regard her as a thorn in her eye and a stab in her flesh, wanting to pull it out and feel relieved afterwards.

  In the quiet alleys, undercurrents are surging, and everyone has their own thoughts.

  The next morning when the tide was born, she heard the birds chirping on the branches outside the window. When she pushed open the window to look, the magpie surprisingly didn't fly away with the sound, still standing on the branch, dragging its long tail, just standing in the morning light, and after a while, it flew over the wall and disappeared.

  Xiao Shun heard her say this and chuckled: "This is a good omen... probably you'll have some happy event, congratulations!"

  What can be considered good news?

  Chao Sheng made a gesture to slap him: "Don't talk nonsense."

  Xiao Shun dodged slightly, laughing and saying: "Look at you, what's wrong? Hmm, if you get any reward, don't forget about me. I've already congratulated you, so don't forget to give me a share later."

  What reward can be obtained without hard work and dedication?

  But Chao Sheng didn't expect that something really happened at noon.

  It was Xiao Yuan who came to report that someone had come to the Wang Fu looking for someone.

  Seeking is just life.

  Xiao Shun was taken aback: "Who is it?"

  "He said his surname is He and he's the uncle of a girl from Chaozhou."

  "Ah yo." Little Shun had completely forgotten about this uncle.

  This man has been out of contact for several years, and Xiao Shun even went out of the palace to find him for Chao Sheng, how could he not know this person?

  Xiao Shun thought that Uncle Chao Sheng was probably already gone, and even if he was still alive, he hadn't contacted them for so long and didn't care about his niece at all, making him unreliable.

  "How did he come? What kind of person is he? What did they say? Tell me in detail."

  Luo Xiaoyuan didn't dare to be slow with Xiao Shun: "He looks like he's in his thirties or forties, quite sturdy and tall, dressed neatly and cleanly, not like a poor person at all. He said he had something outside and was delayed, and only when he returned home did he learn that his niece had entered the palace. After asking around for some time, he finally found our mansion."

  That's enough for him to find out. After Chao Sheng entered the palace, she encountered many difficulties, and this person could still find out that she is now in the Wang Fu - probably also having some connections.

  But why hasn't this person sent any news for so long?

  "Don't be a scammer."

  "Doesn't look like it..." Ruo Xiao Yuan carefully chose his words and said cautiously: "Looks... somewhat like a military man, like a martial artist. His face is very square, doesn't look like a petty thief."

  Xiao Shun thought for a moment, then instructed him: "You go first and lead that person in, but don't let others know yet... hmm, lead them to the courtyard next to the outer tea house, don't be slow, I'll go ask Chao Sheng and then we'll talk."

  ——————————————

  Yes, uncle is here～～～～

  I don't know why but I suddenly thought of Uncle Long Legs, heh~~~

  It's the end of the month, vote for me.

  The cold is almost gone, but there's still some coughing left.