CHAPTER 757: CHAPTER 757: SIMPLE ON THE OUTSIDE, CUNNING ON THE INSIDE

Heh, but there’s nothing to be done; who let their own mistress look so tender and simple-minded, with an air of naivety? She’s been underestimated by those concubines, who all want to bully her. But our mistress has been quite generous. If the situation were reversed and those people had won something of our mistress’s, would they have returned it so easily? I doubt it. Thus, our mistress is truly the better person.

Xiao Jizi thought for a moment and felt it necessary to remind, he lowered his voice and said, "Master, it seems she’s still not willing to rest easy, you must be extra cautious today." The words were cryptic, but everyone knew he was referring to the Noble Consort and the Plum Blossom Hairpin.

Lian Hua nodded in strong agreement. She shared the same view as Xiao Jizi, that the Plum Blossom Hairpin couldn’t be unrelated to the Noble Consort. She didn’t know how she had incited the Noble Consort, what grudge was there? Each and every time the Noble Consort would provoke her, both openly and in secret. She better not anger her, but if she truly made her angry, then she would...uh, a Beauty hitting a Noble Consort, that seems a bit inappropriate... Oh well, she would deal with it when the time came.

However, Lian Hua stroked her chin and thought, "Beauty Zhao is also not quite right." She hadn’t thought much of it before, but now that she followed that thought, she could see some clues.

"Ah?" Everyone was astonished; what did she mean by that? They couldn’t see it at all.

Lian Hua had sound reasons: "It was she who suggested playing toss-pot, no? Despite her being stingy, she gambled away a sheep fat white jade bracelet to lure me in, as if she was afraid I wouldn’t play, and even added an extra wager. In the first few rounds, she deliberately missed, and I’m not close to her. Our last altercation wasn’t pretty, if she’s acting this way, it must be either a sickness in her head or she’s up to something bad."

The implication was that if it isn’t madness, then it is a sinister motive.

Whether those who served her were sincere, whether their intentions were friendly or hostile, Lian Hua was very sensitive to this. She seldom looked at superficial efforts, and judged people based on their true benefits. Even with Concubine Fang, she wasn’t welcoming from the start; only after she felt that Fang’s hostility had faded and her sincerity became evident did she slowly acknowledge her, allowing herself to address her as Sister Fang.

As for someone like Beauty Zhao, though she appeared to be honest and spoke nicely, every encounter with her subtly aided the Noble Consort in targeting her—Lian Hua could never trust her. How could she let down her guard? Without thoughtful consideration, nothing seems amiss, but upon reflection, everything became a flaw. Every action was filled with purpose.

Everyone had a sudden realization, the more they thought about it, the more it seemed to fit. These details had escaped them even though they were in the midst of it all.

Xiao Jizi exclaimed with admiration, "Our mistress has truly keen eyes and a clear mind." Simple on the surface, but crafty inside. This last sentence, however, he dared not voice, lest he receive a beating.

Lian Hua was proudly smug, boasting, "Of course." Dream on about tricking her—not going to happen!

Xiao Linzi’s mind flashed brightly, and he suddenly interjected, "Mistress, did you deliberately win until Beauty Zhao wanted to cry?" He saw it clearly; Beauty Zhao’s eyes were red from losing, and many other concubines’ eyes were red too.

"Ah, that...," Lian Hua felt a bit troubled. She wondered if she should admit it. Winning was certainly intentional; otherwise, how could she swindle silver?

Xiao Qing also added, "Did you also deliberately have her sign an IOU?" The mistress had clearly seen Beauty Zhao’s stinginess, but still had her sign an IOU; it must have been intentional.

"Um, that...," Lian Hua frowned, wondering if admitting it would damage her image.

Xiao Jizi put in another word, "And even more so, you gave her the problematic hairpin on purpose, didn’t you?" Using her own tactics against her? A strategic move to disgusting lengths?

"Oh my, oh my..." Lian Hua’s face wrinkled up, as if they were making her out to be bad. She couldn’t admit to that, could she?

Everyone gave a thumbs-up, summarizing in unison, "Master is wise indeed!"

"Ah?" Lian Hua was startled, then her brows unfurled into a smile as she burst into laughter: "Far from it, far from it..." If she was regarded as wise in the eyes of her juniors, she might as well accept it!

Her face glowing with joy, she kept repeating, "Humility is key when away from home, I’ll brag once I’m back, hahaha..."

Her words prompted a burst of laughter from the others.

Apart from the matter of defrauding Silver, Lian Hua hadn’t thought too much about other things. At that time, she simply followed her intuition. She did as she thought. She was actually unhappy when Beauty Zhao pestered her to play the arrow throwing game. If she was unhappy, she wanted others to feel the same. And since Beauty Zhao was so "generous," she decided to let others be generous as well.

The fact that she had told Beauty Zhao not to worry about the debt acknowledgment was also because thanks to Beauty Zhao and Changzai Zhou, she had won so much Silver. There should be a reciprocity of favors, it was only right.

But having told them twice not to worry about signing a debt acknowledgment, and with Beauty Zhao still refusing, she wasn’t good at these things. Just from convincing Kong Yinyin to accept the golden melon seeds, she had already racked her brains, and she was anxious to count the Silver mentioned in the debt acknowledgments, where would she find the time to persuade her again? So, she just went along with it.

As for the incident with the blackwood hairpin, it was a lucky fluke. She had just seen Beauty Zhao sneaking glances at her with a peculiar expression, and she handed it over on a whim without much thought.

"Sister, why are you still outside? Why don’t you come in?"

All eyes turned, and they saw Consort De smiling at them from the Qianqiu Hall plaza.

"Sister!" Lian Hua called out excitedly. It was always heartwarming to see Consort De. She gestured to those around her, "Come on, let’s go to the banquet!"

The Longevity Event banquet began!

In the former court’s Taiji Hall, the Emperor sat at the head, raising his cup to toast. After a few words, he drained his cup in one gulp and told the Princes and officials to enjoy themselves to their heart’s content. The great hall instantly became lively, as the ministers all knew that the Emperor, usually stern, was much easier-going at banquets. Never too concerned with how his subjects conducted themselves, this was the best time to speak to him.

Accordingly, represented by Xu Hu, these leaders of the soldiers recklessly made the most of this opportunity, going from group to group, toasting. Following tradition, they all first offered a round of toasts to the Emperor. The large and tall soldiers, with their long arms and legs, stood in line, each wanting to step forward and toast, one cup per person.

The Emperor played along. The first few to toast all drank, and after a few cups, he was slightly tipsy. Glancing at the line of soldiers neatly arranged, he looked at Xu Hu with a barely suppressed smile.

Realizing he had been figured out, Xu Hu suddenly felt uneasy. He had never seen the Emperor drunk, who regardless of the occasion, always remained composed and self-assured, maybe just with slightly reddened ears. He had been too stir-crazy staying in the General’s Mansion these days, and on someone’s dubious suggestion to get the Emperor drunk, he had become a bit too bold. But now, he had been seen through at a glance.

He hurriedly scolded the men to scatter, loudly declaring that on this Longevity Event, he must drink merrily with the dignitaries, drink joyfully, and drink until none returned sober. After he dispersed the crowd, he exchanged a few smiling apologies with the Emperor and quickly slipped away.

The Emperor chuckled, turning to see Minister Fan and a group of old men staring intently at him, and he inwardly sighed, the inevitable had arrived.

Raising his cup and toasting once more, he expressed his reliance on them. The group of old men promptly stood to express their thanks, moved to the point of wiping away tears, their mouths repeating auspicious phrases about the prosperity of the family, the nation, the people’s peace, and the grand order of the world. Their words rolled in and out, filled with heartfelt satisfaction.