The Empress Arrives: Rebirth of Concubine Hua

Chapter 20 Sending the Letter
This was Xiao Linzi's fifth year in the palace. His master finally found a way for him to work for the concubine.

Xiao Linzi was on duty at the gate of Jinglan Courtyard. When he saw Songzhi waving at him, he hurried over.

Songzhi took out some change and gave it to him, and also handed him an envelope and asked him to keep it close to his body.

He was told to find a way to go out and deliver a letter to the Nian Mansion.

Xiao Linzi smiled and said, "Sister Songzhi, it is my duty to run errands for the concubine."

Songzhi also laughed: "Little guy, go quickly. Use this change to buy something to eat."

Xiao Linzi received the assignment and first went back to the servants' room to take off the eunuch's clothes he wore on duty.

He put on the casual clothes that the concubine had given him before, and then put on the eunuch's clothes again with a lot of effort.

He folded the envelope again and again and hid it close to his body.

He lowered his head to see if there were any flaws, then ran to the stable.

His master, the middle-aged eunuch, was named Zhou Anhai.

He was sitting in a room next to the stable drinking tea. The tea leaves looked like black leaves, but the water brewed from them was light in color.

Xiao Linzi came close to Zhou Anhai, whispered to his master, and took out the little change and gave it to him.

Zhou Anhai looked a little happy, "You are a filial boy. Tell me, how long will you be out?"

Xiao Linzi smiled ingratiatingly.

"To be honest with you, I'm out on an errand, but I can't go through the main gate at this moment. Please be flexible. I'll be back in an hour."

Zhou Anhai said.

"Well, if we don't love you, who else can we love? Come on, follow me."

Zhou Anhai took Xiao Linzi to the back of the stable, where there was a pile of winnowing baskets and some broken bricks and stones piled up at the foot of the wall.

Zhou Anhai squatted down with difficulty, but because of the inconvenience on his right leg, the squatting posture looked funny.

He dug out the bricks and stones, and carefully moved away a few winnowing baskets, revealing a small hole in the wall.

It was almost noon when Xiao Linzi crawled out of the small dog hole and appeared in a narrow gap in the wall.

Following Zhou Anhai's instructions, he first took off the eunuch's outer robe and hid in a corner, then looked around and found a stone to press it down. When he could no longer see what was under the stone, he felt relieved and rubbed his way out through the gap to the street.

The main street where the palace is located is home to many high-ranking officials and dignitaries. The road Zhou Anhai was referring to happened to be the street behind the palace.

Xiao Linzi's thin body squeezed out from the gap without being noticeable. He blended into the crowd, crossed two streets and arrived at the gate of Nian Mansion.

The gatekeeper looked at Xiao Linzi and let him in through the side door without asking any questions.

Nian Xialing took the letter in his hand, looked at it, and pondered for a while.

He asked the butler to send Xiao Linzi out through the back door. Before he left, the butler gave Xiao Linzi a silver ingot and a few copper coins.

Xiao Linzi left the Nian Mansion and turned into a busy street. He used the copper coins to buy a few meat buns and put them in his arms.

Before returning to the palace, he put on the eunuch's outer robe and then tiptoed back to the dog hole.

He immediately gave the meat bun to Zhou Anhai. Although he had no worries about food and drink in the palace, Zhou Anhai liked the meat buns from this shop on the street.

Ever since Xiao Linzi followed Nian Shilan, he would buy a few meat buns to honor his master every time he came back from doing business.

Xiao Linzi said to Zhou Anhai with a smile.

"Master, Master Nian has rewarded me with a silver ingot. I will give it to you as a gift after I report it to Concubine Concubine."

Zhou Anhai also laughed: "You little monkey."

It was only a quarter before 5 p.m. when the little Linzi returned to Jinglan Courtyard to report, which was exactly when Nian Shilan was taking a lunch break.

But she stood in the yard teasing a white-feathered parrot under the porch, feeding the bird with peeled melon seeds in her hand.

After hearing Xiao Linzi's detailed report, Nian Shilan felt relieved and sent someone to the front yard to inquire about his master.

In less than a quarter of an hour, the eunuch who went to inquire came back and reported that the master had taken the antidote and now had a high fever all over his body, but was still unconscious.

After listening to the young eunuch's words, Nian Shilan sat there in a daze for a while.

Thinking back to this time in her previous life, it was Ulanara who took care of Yinzhen day and night, and she was scolded by Ulanara because she insisted on seeing her master when he was ill.

This time, don't be reckless.

(End of this chapter)