Dong Gong Mei

Chapter 363 Borrowed warmth

Zhao Xi smiled faintly: "Thank you, Concubine Shu, for your reminder."

Concubine Shu said "Yes", and a maid brought a warm hand stove over. Concubine Shu held her in her arms and slowly stroked it, just like stroking a baby, gentle and demure.

Zhao Xiwei was in a daze for a moment, feeling that she was just an ordinary woman in front of her, and she was a different person from the concubine who was talking about favors.

Perhaps it was the function of the hand stove. When Concubine Shu picked up the teacup again, her wrists no longer trembled.

Her smile was also more gentle, and she said carefully: "I know you are young, and you may not be able to hear some words now, but I think, we are a family, although I have a shallow relationship with you, but in the end I'm looking forward to your well-being."

She already had a cowardly attitude, and she spoke so softly and authentically that no one could feel hostility.

Zhao Xiwei responded with a smile, seeing that her tea was getting cold, she continued to refill the hot water calmly: "Thank you for your reminder, I have no relationship with my family since I was a child, and no one can tell me these things In other words, I am truly grateful for your empress’ willingness to treat me like this.”

No matter what she thinks of Concubine Shu in her heart, they all have the surname Zhao, so they should be consistent on the surface.

Concubine Shu nodded, smiled and stretched out her hand to hold her palm: "Before, my hands were cold, and I was afraid that I would freeze you. With the warmth of this stove, I dared to hold your hand."

The palm is like cotton, the fingertips are like jade, warm and soft.

Zhao Xiwei subconsciously thought of Li Xuanye.

Li Xuanye is also the kind of person who is willing to warm her, but he is different from Concubine Shu.

What is the difference, Zhao Xiwei couldn't tell for a while.

It wasn't until a long time later that she realized that Concubine Shu was cold in nature.

The borrowed warmth is like a flash in the pan, so how can it warm people's hearts?
Zhao Xi held Concubine Shu's fingertips back slightly, and said with a smile, "Your Majesty is serious!"

Concubine Shu smiled slightly, with soft brilliance in her eyes, and finally got to the point, explaining the main matters of this palace banquet.

Chariots and horses, ceremonial guards, dresses, utensils, dishes, servants, etc., Zhao Xiwei listened carefully and memorized every word in his heart.

These are all arranged by Concubine Shu, Zhao Xiwei just needs to be familiar with the process.

Concubine Shu didn't arrange well, so Zhao Xiwei needed to take care of it.

For example, the arrangement of menus and the customization of dresses.

Concubine Shu read the names of several commercial firms, and carefully ordered: "The shopkeepers of these companies have been in charge of dealing with the people from the Second Bureau of Shangshi and Shangyi in the palace. The ingredients and cloth needed for our palace banquets are all provided by them. You have to deal with them more these days."

Zhao Xiwei understood in an instant: "Your Majesty wants me to be in charge of shopping?"

Concubine Shu nodded appreciatively, and said softly: "I see that you are smart and calm, it is best to entrust this procurement task to you."

Zhao Xiwei thought about opening a shop by himself, and just took this opportunity to get acquainted with the various shops, so he nodded and said: "What your mother said is very true."

"I'm not in a hurry for anything else. It's just that there is a sweet soup for the palace banquet this time. It needs to use a kind of herb that grows by the sea, called fairy grass. It's already cold winter, and there are not many existing stocks on the market. You have to Go to the pharmacy to see for yourself, and buy as many as you have, and it is better to make a decision as soon as possible."

"Immortal Grass?" Because of the Nanxing pollen poisoning incident last time, Zhao Xiwei became a little wary of these flowers and plants, and asked, "What kind of sweet soup, do you have to have this herb?"

"It's called Immortal Grass Fruit, hasn't the Crown Princess eaten it?" Concubine Shu smiled and briefly explained how to make it.

Zhao Xi smiled and said: "It turned out to be this. This is a common sugar water among the people. It's just that ordinary people can't afford this precious fairy grass. They usually pick the sapling fruit from the mountain to make it."

"Yes." Concubine Shu sighed, and said worriedly: "Actually, the sweet soup at the palace banquets in the past was made with sticky ointment, but you also know that this year is flooded and iced. The crops in the Central Plains and the Central Plains are not good, and the hundreds of thousands of troops in Liangzhou are worth money and food as soon as they reach out... We organize the palace banquet, whether it is good or not is second, and the main thing is to share the worries for His Majesty..."

"Since that's the case, why don't you use the succulent fruit?" Zhao Xiwei was a little puzzled.

The succulent fruit is cheaper than the fairy grass, and it is easy to buy...

Concubine Shu shook her head: "This succulent fruit is a folk thing, and those princes and ladies are the most picky. If they use succulent fruit to deal with it, I am afraid it will damage the dignity of the royal family."

Zhao Xiwei thought about it for a while, but the suspicion in his heart has not dissipated.

After finishing her explanation, Concubine Shu hesitated for a moment before saying: "After all, you are young and inexperienced. Although I want to teach you personally, I live in the palace after all, and it is inconvenient to help you with many things at any time. .So I have asked His Majesty to choose a reliable person from among those ministers and family members to assist you, what do you think?"

Zhao Xiwei was a little taken aback: "The minister's family?"

"Well..." Concubine Shu smiled softly, and said slowly: "Is it difficult to say that this purchase is difficult, and it is not easy to say, besides, the person I selected is the most shrewd and has the experience of being a director. Wouldn't it be much easier for you to help you?"

With a shrewd mind and experience in running a family, could she be the first wife of some minister?
Without waiting for Zhao Xiwei to respond, Concubine Shu said again: "Your Majesty has already agreed to this matter, and I have already arranged it. If I change my mind now, it may not be very good..."

Zhao Xiwei didn't think much about it, and said with a smile: "Since everything has been arranged, let's listen to your mother."

The corner of Concubine Shu's mouth curled up into an appreciative smile: "You are indeed a reasonable child, no wonder His Royal Highness only dotes on you, it's just—"

She paused, looked into Zhao Xiwei's eyes, and said specially: "Sometimes, being reasonable is not enough, and you have to be bearish, so that it can last for a long time."

Zhao Xiwei was stunned again.

Take it easy?

When a woman appeared behind the screen, she knew what Concubine Shu meant.

The golden hairpin in red is charming and moving.

The "minister's family" arranged by Concubine Shu to assist Zhao Xiwei was not a noble lady, but the eldest lady of the Gu family, Gu Yuci.

Concubine Shu could not hide the embarrassment in her smile.

Zhao Xiwei immediately understood that the Zhao family and the Gu family had formed an alliance.

It's just that, behind this alliance, is she to be looked down upon?
She felt a little uncomfortable for a moment.

With Concubine Pei losing power, the Pei family is naturally no longer a threat, but the Empress Dowager holds the military power and the treasury, her power is as strong as an iron barrel, which is hard to shake.

Relying on Zhao Ziyi's strength alone is still too small.

And Gu Yong is not a kind person, how can he be willing to make wedding clothes for others?
To keep a relationship absolutely stable, the best way is to bundle interests.

Thus, Gu Yuci once again shouldered this mission and appeared in front of her.

(End of this chapter)