The next day, the Empress Dowager invited all the concubines in the harem to taste lychees together.
Since Qin Lan had been staying up late these days, Qin Huaiqiu let her continue to catch up on sleep in the palace. He then dragged Ziyun along and went himself.
Compared to Yalan, Ziyun was more meticulous and calm. She quickly helped Qin Huaiqiu choose a nice dress. When it came to makeup, Qin Huaiqiu even playfully asked Ziyun to make his makeup a bit thicker than usual. After all, he planned to meet the Noble Consort Shu alone later. Although he was not as tall as the Noble Consort Shu, he couldn't lose in terms of presence.
Thinking of this, Qin Huaiqiu asked Ziyun, "Ziyun, do you think I've grown a bit taller recently?"
Ziyun tilted her head and thought for a while, then replied, "It seems so. Your Ladyship has grown a lot. When this servant first came to serve Your Ladyship, Your Ladyship only reached this servant's shoulder. Now you're almost as tall as this servant."
Qin Huaiqiu pouted. He had been in the palace for quite a long time. From the cold early spring to the Minor Heat yesterday, it had been almost half a year. Boys of his age were in the stage of development. It didn't really matter if he grew taller. He was just afraid of his voice changing. If that happened, no matter how hard he tried to cover it up, it would be impossible.
However, so far, his voice seemed to have remained unchanged. It still sounded androgynous.
He sighed silently in his heart and cursed Qin Huailian in his mind once again. Then he stood up and said, "Let's go."
This time, the Empress Dowager took them directly to the imperial garden. The eunuchs helped set up new canopies, and the maids served up one lychee after another that had just been chilled in the cellar and were still giving off wisps of cold air. These lychees were rushed here on fast horses from Sichuan. Qin Huaiqiu had rarely eaten such things when he was in the border area. After all, to ensure the freshness of the lychees, the transportation time couldn't exceed six days. The road from the Protectorate General to Sichuan was far more difficult than the road from the capital to Sichuan. It was impossible to reach within six days. Moreover, if the royal family wasn't willing to do it, no one would engage in such a high - cost and high - priced business.
The concubines all arrived one by one. After some pleasantries, they made the Empress Dowager laugh heartily. She quickly invited everyone to taste the lychees together.
Naturally, Qin Huaiqiu sat next to the Empress Dowager. Not only did the Empress Dowager like him, but during the spring hunting last time, he and the Emperor had been assassinated together. Amid the danger, he had also helped the Emperor a great deal. The Empress Dowager had long learned about this from Sikong Ting, and her fondness for Qin Huaiqiu had increased a bit more.
Seeing Qin Huaiqiu bury his head and peel another lychee before even swallowing the previous one, the Empress Dowager asked with a smile, "Did Lian'er eat lychees before?"
Qin Huaiqiu answered honestly, "I only ate them a few times when I was a child."
The Empress Dowager said with a beaming smile, "Then eat slowly. Later, I'll ask them to send some to your palace."
Hearing this, Qin Huaiqiu's eyes instantly lit up. He said, "Really? Thank you, Mother."
Seeing Qin Huaiqiu's expression, the Empress Dowager was even happier. She said with a laugh, "I'm glad Lian'er likes them."
The Empress Dowager thought for a while and then said, "A few days ago, the Emperor told me that a delegation from Loulan will enter the palace soon. Although I usually don't like to interfere in such matters, this is no small matter. The barbarians from Loulan are wild - tempered. All of you had better stay in your own palaces recently."
Everyone nodded in agreement.
The Noble Consort Shu asked, "Can those people from Loulan walk around freely in the palace?"
The Empress Dowager replied, "In principle, they can't. But those barbarians are used to being arrogant and domineering, and they've never been to the Central Plains before. I'm just taking precautions."
The Noble Consort Xian sighed and said, "I heard that the Emperor has been busy until dawn these days. I wonder if it's related to this matter."
Concubine Zhang was naturally quiet and didn't know what else to say, so she just echoed a few words after the Noble Consort Xian.
The Empress Dowager said, "I don't know much about it either. But all we can do is to ensure that there are no problems in the Emperor's harem and not add to the Emperor's troubles."
After saying this, everyone got interested in other topics. They started chatting about a new batch of brocades from the south of the Yangtze River that had been offered as tribute, and then they got to the Xiahong rouge that had become popular in the capital today. The women chatted merrily.
Although Qin Huaiqiu didn't understand these things, to avoid embarrassment, he also nodded, smiled, and ate lychees. After all, if he said something, he would surely show his ignorance. He really didn't understand anything about rouge or powder. Before long, there was a big pile of lychee shells in front of Qin Huaiqiu.
Seeing this, the Empress Dowager quickly stopped him and said, "Oh, Lian'er, that's enough. Eating too many lychees will cause internal heat."
"Ah? Internal heat?" Qin Huaiqiu had just peeled a lychee. He looked at the white lychee pulp in his hand, not knowing whether to eat it or not.
"Sister, don't eat this one," the Noble Consort Xian looked at him and said, "Eating too many lychees can also cause diarrhea..."
"It's not that easy," Qin Huaiqiu smiled, stuffed the lychee into his mouth, and said to the Noble Consort Xian, "Sister is in good health."
Just as he finished speaking, everyone heard a "growl" sound.
Qin Huaiqiu's movements suddenly froze, and then his face turned green.
"Growl" came another sound.
Cold sweat broke out on Qin Huaiqiu's forehead. The pain hit him, and he suddenly covered his stomach.
"Oh!" The Noble Consort Xian covered her mouth and quickly stood up, saying, "Ate too much, ate too much."
The Empress Dowager also quickly said, "Quickly, someone, summon the imperial physician!"
"This servant... this servant..." Qin Huaiqiu was extremely embarrassed in front of so many people for the first time. Blushing with pain, he said, "This servant is not feeling well. Can I..."
The Noble Consort Shu beside him looked at Qin Huaiqiu's embarrassed look and couldn't help but gloat.
"Hey, it's okay, it's okay," the Empress Dowager quickly said to Xu Fu beside her, "Quickly, send him to the private room in the Kunning Palace."
Qin Huaiqiu was helped onto the sedan chair by Ziyun. His stomach was churning like crazy, and the pain made it hard for him to speak clearly. Not to mention the embarrassment he had just suffered in front of so many people. Now he just wanted to find a hole to hide in.
A young eunuch carried a chamber pot and ran over from not far away. Running beside the sedan chair, he said, "Miss Ziyun, this servant has come by the order of the Empress Dowager."
Ziyun looked at him. Seeing that he was a new face, she habitually asked, "Okay, thank you for your hard work. What's your name?"
"This servant's name is Chang Lin. I'm a miscellaneous attendant eunuch of Eunuch Xu Fu," Chang Lin said with a smile.
Ziyun nodded. At this time, Qin Huaiqiu finally couldn't bear it anymore. Holding back his voice, he shouted, "Hurry up!"
"Yes! Yes!" The men carrying the sedan chair quickly exerted all their strength and rushed towards the Kunning Palace.
"Hurry up," Ziyun also followed beside them, urging as she ran.
This might be the most embarrassing day in Young Master Qin's life so far. He shrank in the soft sedan chair, on the verge of tears. Covering his stomach with one hand, he gritted his teeth and endured the pain as the sedan chair jolted. It wasn't until the sedan chair arrived at the Kunning Palace that he let out a sigh of relief. He was helped into the palace by Ziyun with unsteady steps.
Ziyun stood at the door of the room waiting. Not far from her, the young eunuch named Chang Lin was standing with his head down.
Chang Lin's appearance was among the top among the eunuchs in the palace. He had a slender figure and stood upright. There was a scholarly air about him that was different from ordinary eunuchs.
Ziyun sized him up for a while and couldn't help but ask, "Chang Lin, are you following Eunuch Xu?"
Hearing this, Chang Lin nodded and said, "Replying to the miss, yes. This servant is an eighth - rank attendant eunuch."
Like Qin Lan and Yalan, Ziyun was a personal maid of the Noble Consort De. Their official rank in the palace was the fifth - rank, three ranks higher than Chang Lin.
Ziyun smiled and said, "You look so delicate. Why did you enter the palace to be a eunuch?"
Chang Lin paused for a moment. His eyes flickered, and he sighed softly, "My family declined. I just came here to find a place to have enough to eat. Eunuch Xu has been very kind to this servant. This servant is content."
Hearing this, Ziyun couldn't help but feel a sense of empathy for the person in front of her. Different from Yalan who voluntarily entered the palace, Ziyun's life experience was quite miserable. She was sold to a brothel as a child to do odd jobs. When she grew up, although she was originally a corvée laborer, because of her good looks, the madam forced her to receive guests. Coincidentally, the palace was recruiting maids, so she sneaked into the palace to save herself.
Although entering the palace also meant serving others, Qin Huaiqiu was much better than her previous masters. Ziyun looked at Chang Lin, nodded, and said, "The palace is not bad. I think you have a natural air about you and are not as pedantic and boring as ordinary eunuchs. Keep following Eunuch Xu well. Maybe you'll have a bright future."
Chang Lin lowered his head and blushed shyly. He said, "The miss has overpraised me."
Just then, Qin Lan yawned and walked out of the room. Seeing Ziyun and a strange young eunuch standing in front of Qin Huaiqiu's door, she asked, "Who is this?"
Ziyun quickly introduced, "This is Eunuch Xu's attendant eunuch."
"Attendant eunuch? What's he doing here?" Qin Lan asked curiously.
Ziyun had no choice but to tell her what had just happened in detail. Qin Lan held back her laughter. After hearing that Qin Huaiqiu's stomach had growled, she finally couldn't help but burst out laughing.
"How could you be so silly, haha!"
"Qin Lan!!!" came Qin Huaiqiu's extremely angry voice from inside the room, "Shut up!"
After Qin Huaiqiu had sorted himself out, he walked out of the door and said to Chang Lin, "You, go in and clean up."
Chang Lin bowed and went into the room to carry out the chamber pot.
After Chang Lin left, Qin Huaiqiu pointed at Qin Lan's nose and scolded, "I even brought back lychees from the Empress Dowager, thinking of letting you taste them, but you still laugh at me!"
"Haha," Qin Lan covered her mouth and said, "I just couldn't help it."
Qin Huaiqiu stamped his foot in anger and said to Ziyun, "Call Yalan over to eat together. Eat them all. Don't leave any for Qin Lan."
"Oh, oh, good Your Ladyship. This servant was wrong. This servant won't laugh anymore," Qin Lan couldn't help but rub Qin Huaiqiu's head.
"Humph!"