Palace Fighting Naive Concubines’ Ascent to Power
Chapter 547

Chapter 547: 547

Beggars were usually found in the city, as begging in the countryside could not fill one’s stomach. It was unclear why these two were here, seeming like they had slipped away from the city.

The village they walked through was called Liba Village, not a very large village, recorded in the government’s documents as having only a few dozen households. Most of the people they saw were of working age, with fewer elderly, women, and children.

As soon as the two entered the village, they caught the attention of the blacksmith at the village entrance.

The blacksmith, with his strong arms bare, swung his hammer to strike the iron, beside a glowing furnace. Seeing the two pass by, he stopped his work and stared sharply at the newcomers.

Walking slowly into the village, everyone they saw watched the two foreign beggars with wariness. Several married women and young sisters-in-law immediately went into their houses to lock up their chicken and duck cages. An old man who had just strolled out of his house saw this scene and quickly slipped back inside, shutting his doors as if fearing trouble.

The rest of the men stepped out of their houses, keeping their eyes on the two.

The two beggars walked slower and slower, their backs bending unconsciously. They had nearly alerted everyone at the village entrance, with every household’s able-bodied men stepping out and standing in front of their doors.

The blacksmith swung his hammer and leisurely followed behind them, as more robust men gradually gathered around.

The two beggars, terrified, dared not look around anymore and hurried their steps to try to get out of the village, but a wall of people blocked their way. The vagrant looked up and, frightened, stepped back two steps; the two clung together tightly.

The blacksmith’s eyes were fierce as he asked, "What are you doing here?"

One of them, in a Northern Liaoning accent, nervously replied, "My lord, we brothers offended a local gangster in Ximu City, couldn’t survive there and came out to find some food."

He carefully took out a chipped bowl from his bosom, holding it up with a bashful smile.

The other beggar nodded, trembling and hiding behind as if he were petrified, not daring to speak.

The blacksmith eyed them for a long while, then gave a signal with his eyes to someone in the crowd.

That person immediately stepped forward and roughly shoved the two beggars from behind, causing them to stumble forward as their bowl flew out of their hands and shattered on the ground, with one of the beggars’ faces plowing into the dirt.

After shoving them, that person shook his head at the blacksmith.

The two beggars scrambled to their feet, the quiet beggar having fallen hard and struggled a few times before getting up.

The one who had spoken first quickly begged for mercy, "My lord, spare us, my lord, spare us..."

The other beggar kept nodding, curling up and avoiding eye contact.

The blacksmith looked at them disdainfully and said fiercely, "There’s no food for you here. Get lost."

With that, he picked up his hammer and headed back to his smithy.

The other robust men also dispersed, leaving one like they were driving pigs, shooing the two out of the village entrance.

The two beggars ran out of the village in a panic, not stopping until they were far away, then looked back at the distant village.

The one who had spoken spat out the mud in his mouth and asked quietly, "Brother Wei, what now?" still with a Northern Liaoning accent.

They had not gotten far into the village before being driven out, having gleaned no information about it.

Chen Wei looked towards the village with a grave expression, just as the Ancestral Master had predicted, they had encountered tough resistance.

These days, they had been following the Grain Transport Team northward. As soon as they entered this region, the Grain Transport Team disappeared without a trace, never to be seen again.

As they were about to enter the village, Ancestral Master suddenly realized something was amiss and hurriedly led them to retreat to a safe place.

He and Old Liu, who was skilled at disguising, disguised themselves and came specifically to explore the situation, but they had not expected the circumstances to be much graver than they had anticipated.

Chen Wei whispered, "Let’s go, let’s go back and report to Ancestral Master first."

Having said that, the two of them carefully bypassed the village and quickly retreated toward a patch of woods.

...

Meanwhile, in Canglan Court.

Lian Hua sat at the dressing table like a well-behaved student, earnestly flipping through a notebook, murmuring, "Face as if powdered, lips as if rouged, eyes full of longing... Hmm, not this line, it’s written like a young mistress, how could I forget to cross it out?..."

"Gentlemen should only see paintings, of this only I know the essence... this sentence is too long, it seems written for talent, not this one either."

"Dressed impeccably, handsome in appearance, erudite and talented, with unmatched intelligence... Ah, not this one either, where did I remember it wrong..."

The Emperor had already seen clearly what was written in her notebook, and even recognized many of the phrases.

Widely knowledgeable, unmatched intelligence, as elegant as a jade tree facing the wind, extraordinary demeanor, graceful young gentleman, unparalleled in the world...

Weren’t these the same phrases she had used to compliment him in the past?

His face drew into a frown, and a vein throbbed on his forehead as he quickly understood the purpose of this notebook.

This little trickster was blatantly cheating, no wonder her compliments had gotten sweeter; she had been reciting from the notebook all along, how could it not be sweet?

Yet, how could she still forget when it was time to use them?

He took a deep breath, trying to get angry but failing, finding the situation strangely amusing, as every encounter with his Little Concubine never seemed to be a serious affair.

Even the incident where she was victimized today had turned into a joke for his Little Concubine, treating complimenting him like cramming for an exam. Thus, it was not surprising at all.

No matter when or where, his Little Concubine always managed to distract him from other thoughts, making him want to tease her thoroughly, as it seemed if he didn’t tease her for a while, she’d become itchy for it.

He squinted, looking at the person engrossed in the notebook before him. Those words on it, he recognized them; they were hers.

Little did he expect that the little trickster, in her efforts to flatter him, could be so diligent in her studies. It was not easy at all, both perfunctory and meticulous, like heartfelt praise, yet it also seemed like a calculated move just for show, really hard to describe clearly.

The Emperor spoke in a cool tone, "You’ve written quite a lot, Nannan, you’ve really worked hard copying this notebook, haven’t you?"

Hearing this, Lian Hua didn’t even lift her eyes from the notebook, and without turning her head, she casually responded, "It is quite tiresome indeed, I’ve never been this serious even when I used to study. It took a lot of effort to collect these phrases."

At this, she finally glanced slightly away from the notebook, shaking her head in admiration and wonder, muttering to herself, "I am really clever, hehe, luckily Xiao Linzi has a good memory, he helped me remember these regularly, and we copied them down together when we had time, truly wonderful."

These phrases came from daily life, the poetry she had learned before, available books, and from Nanny Qi, Xiao Jizi, and others, whenever seen, mentioned, and Xiao Linzi remembered them, later when they had time, they copied them all down, primarily if it was difficult, they’d treat it as calligraphy practice.

This self-praise left the Emperor speechless for a long time, his heart a mix of emotions.

Indeed, his Little Concubine never wasted a thing, exploiting the young eunuch’s talents thoroughly, not using them for serious matters, but all on these trivial pursuits.