Ask the Nine Ministers

Chapter 148: Show off
Xue Sui stared at the soft smoke screen on the vermilion lacquer box and smiled slightly. Suddenly, he heard Guo Yunrong beside him cough softly.

"If you ask me to guess, this box must contain lychees from Lingnan. I just saw water stains on the edge of the box when the maid held it. I think lychees are often stored in solid ice, so this guess is very relevant..."

Lu Xi glanced at her, with the corners of his mouth slightly raised.

"Let me guess first."

She was very confident. She gently stroked the soft smoke with her fingertips, then started writing on the green jade paper with a wolf hair brush.

[Fine southern fruits hang on branches, round and mellow like pearls reflecting the sun]

The ink had not yet dried, but she gently pushed the jade paper and handed it to Madam Sili with a hint of pride in her tone.

"Is such a simple riddle worth the bother?"

The girl from Wang Yushi's family quickly agreed: "Since Miss Lu is so sure, there must be lychees in the box..."

Someone else looked puzzled, "Maybe it's bayberry?"

For a moment, all the ladies in the room were talking about it.

You have your say and I have my say, each of us has our own opinion.

Lu Xi turned his head and his eyes fell on Xue Sui.

"Mrs. Ping An, don't you want to guess?"

Xue Sui shook his head: "I can't guess."

You just spoke so arrogantly, but you refuse to answer in the first round?
Lu Xi snorted contemptuously.

Several noble ladies looked at each other and smiled behind their handkerchiefs.

At this time, more and more people gathered around to watch the game of guessing covers.

Many eyes were on Xue Sui. Everyone was talking to each other, whispering, and all of them were discussing her...

Lu Xi listened and raised his eyebrows.

"If you don't want to guess, then reveal the question."

Lift up the soft smoke screen covering the vermilion lacquer box.

There was a small ice-blue porcelain pillow lying inside. The porcelain was delicate, the glaze was crystal clear, and it emitted a faint green light, which really fits the metaphor of "ice soul containing light".

"So it's a pillow. Bingpo Hanguang lies in the brocade palace - lies? You want a pillow... Good boy, isn't it right!"

Guo Yunrong clapped his hands and laughed loudly, "It seems that none of us guessed it right. Sister Lu, I'm really sorry. It's all my fault for talking too much and misleading you..."

Lu Xi's expression changed slightly, and he placed the pen in his hand heavily on the inkstone, very dissatisfied.

Seeing this, Nanny Sili glanced at him slightly.

Two maids brought up the second vermilion lacquered box.

The nanny in charge of ceremonies said, "Please answer the second question. The poem on the question is: The golden light shines brightly in the magnificent hall."

With the ice-blue porcelain pillow as a prelude, the girls became more and more interested and eager to try.

Some say it belongs to Jin Ruyi.

Some say it is a coral bonsai.

This time, Xue Sui did not hesitate. He calmly took a piece of jade paper, dipped it lightly in ink, and wrote down the poem:
[The phoenix cries as it shatters its jade at Kunshan, and holds its pearl in its mouth and weeps in the dew until dawn]

Lu Xi's face changed and he stopped dipping the pen in ink.

Xue Sui looked at her, "Second Miss Lu, why don't you write anymore?"

Lu Xi's face didn't look very good, and he forced a smile.

"My answer is the same as Mrs. Ping'an's."

Everyone found it strange, but they didn't ask any more questions and just shouted loudly.

"Open, open, open!"

The maid stepped forward again and lifted the soft smoke screen of the second vermilion lacquer box.

In an instant, a jeweled hairpin with a phoenix holding a pearl came into everyone's sight. The gem on the hairpin was dazzling and emitting a dazzling light, as if illuminating the entire courtyard.

However, the end of the hairpin was engraved with the imperial emblem——

The whole court was in uproar.
It was not because Xue Sui guessed it right, but because it was a royal tribute.

The daughter of Wang Yushi asked, "Last year, His Majesty gave Princess Ruihe a marriage and awarded her an identical phoenix hairpin. Could this be..."

She didn't continue.

When Princess Ruihe got married, she wore just this kind of phoenix hairpin. Many people present saw it with their own eyes, and they could remember it with just a little reminder, not to mention the emblem.

Guo Yunrong's face turned pale——

Doesn't this clearly mean that Duke Zheng's Mansion has hidden tributes and even stolen the princess's dowry?
Someone deliberately framed me!

Guo Yunrong turned around and asked anxiously.

"Where did the hairpin come from? This is not the lucky charm I prepared."

There was silence.

Except for the maid who was so scared that she knelt down and begged for mercy, no one responded to her questioning.

During the awkward silence, Xue Sui smiled gently.

"In the West Market, there are all kinds of imitation hairpins and rings. What's so strange about that? When the palace fashion is popular, the people will also imitate it. This is normal..."

She looked as if she was used to it.

Guo Yunrong immediately gave her a grateful glance, then scolded the girl, "Take down this imitation hairpin and start a new question."

"Wait a minute..." Lu Xi raised his eyebrows, took the hairpin, examined it carefully, and said, "This filigree pattern is clearly the work of the inner court craftsmen, and it doesn't look like a replica..."

She looked at Guo Yunrong with a smile, "The third lady wants to take it away. Are you trying to destroy the evidence and cover up the truth?"

The courtyard suddenly fell into deathly silence.

Are these two girls at odds?
To compete for the Crown Princess of the Eastern Palace?

Everyone looked at each other, not daring to breathe.

Xue Sui glanced at Guo Yunrong's clenched fist in his sleeve, which was trembling with anger, and suddenly smiled.
"Miss Guo San, I hit the target, so the winnings belong to me. Does it still count?"

Guo Yunrong gritted his teeth: "Of course."

Xue Sui said, "That game of guessing covers is just for fun. I don't care whether it's a replica or not. The item belongs to me."

After saying this, she put the phoenix hairpin into her sleeve, looking calm.

"Mammy, please ask the third question."

Everyone looked at her in surprise.

Guo Yunrong breathed a sigh of relief.

Lu Xi glared at her with a complicated look. She didn't know why Xue Liu could guess what was in the box, and she didn't know why she had to smooth things over for Guo Yunrong. The Duke of Zheng's Mansion didn't marry into the Xue family, which was a slap in the face of the Xue family. Shouldn't she be resentful?
The nanny in charge of ceremonies said, "Please answer the third question. The poem on the question is: Stone marrow will eventually turn into snow after a thousand years."

Lu Xi was about to start writing when Xue Sui spoke first.

"Salt flowers condense into thousands of grains of jade, and all flavors depend on this."

She wrote as she spoke, easily writing on the jade paper...

As soon as he finished speaking, he threw down his pen and took the lead.

Lu Xi gritted his teeth secretly and looked at her blankly.

The stone marrow finally turns into snow after thousands of years, which is a metaphor for the formation process of salt mines. It is undoubtedly salt.

But it was clearly she who bribed the nanny in charge of ceremonies, predicted the prize, and secretly replaced the contents of the second vermilion lacquer box. How was Xue Liu able to guess it correctly?
No, not only did she guess it right, she seemed to have seen through her secret.

Did Guo Yunrong secretly tell her the answer?

Or is there something wrong with that nanny... ?
No one gave Lu Xi an answer. Under Guo Yunrong's urging, she had no time to think about her words. She just said, "Madam Ping'an has taken the lead again."

Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, she gritted her teeth and said, "My answer is still the same as Madam Ping An's."

One the same.

The other is still the same.

Isn't this a joke?

Guo Yunrong glanced at her and said, "Open, open, open, open quickly!"

The maid lifted the soft smoke curtain covering the red lacquered wooden box...

There was only a dish of coarse salt inside.

Guo Yunrong announced loudly without waiting for the master of ceremonies to speak.

"Mrs. Ping An shot!"

Several noble ladies laughed quietly.

"I guessed it right, but it's a pity there's no prize..."

"Yes, isn't there a dish of coarse salt?"

"Why don't you take the salt back to cook, Madam Ping'an?"

Amidst the boisterous laughter, Guo Yunrong suddenly took off the jade ruyi from around his waist and stuffed it into Xue Sui's hand.

"There's a prize! How could there be no prize? This jade ruyi is my favorite thing, it adds to Madam Ping'an's wit!"

Everyone let out a wow.

I hit two in a row, both are valuable items!

Some people are envious and some are jealous.

Xue Sui became the center of attention, won the prize, and earned a reputation for being extremely intelligent, but he was not at all arrogant. He let Xiao Zhao accept it, then thanked him and left with a bow.

Lu Xi followed in anger and questioned in a low voice.

"Xue Liu, what are your intentions?"

From the moment she uttered this name, Xue Sui knew that in Lu Xi's eyes, she was still the same person she was ten years ago, the one who could be trampled on at will.

Xue Sui smiled faintly, "I told you, you can't beat me."

Lu Xi gritted his teeth and said, "Why do you have to meddle in other people's business?"

Xue Sui looked at her and raised his eyebrows slightly, "Didn't Miss Lu invite me here?"

Lu Xi was speechless and said bitterly: "You are a married woman, do you want to be the crown princess?"

Only then did Xue Sui understand Lu Xi's little thoughts.

For Li Zhao? Playing dirty tricks?

Xue Sui suddenly became cheerful, his eyes and eyebrows curved in laughter.

"I can't bear to see people using these little tricks to harm innocent people."

The atmosphere at the banquet gradually became lively again, but Lu Xi felt uneasy. She left the banquet early, using the excuse of feeling unwell. Xue Sui looked at her leaving figure, and a barely perceptible sneer appeared at the corner of his mouth.

By the time the guests had gradually left, dusk had already fallen.

When Xue Sui came back from changing his clothes and passed by the Chuihua Gate, he saw Guo Yunrong chasing him with her skirt lifted up.

She took Xue Sui's hand with gratitude.

"Mrs. Ping'an, I am grateful to you for being here today. Otherwise, I would have no way to defend myself..."

Xue Sui comforted her gently, "Don't worry, Third Miss. Today is your coming-of-age day, and everything should go smoothly as you wish."

Then he asked Xiao Zhao to take out the jade ruyi and return it to Guo Yunrong.

"This jade ruyi is Miss Guo San's toy since she was a child. It is not convenient for Xue Liu to take away someone's love. You can take it back."

Seeing that she was open-minded and behaved very appropriately, Guo Yunrong accepted it with tears in her eyes and bent down to salute solemnly.

"Thank you, Madam. If you need Yunrong in the future, please let me know."

Xue Sui smiled slightly.

"Will do."

Sitting in the carriage back home, Xue Yuechen rubbed his brows and sighed softly.

"The Guo family is even more turbid than I thought. It was right for Eighth Sister not to marry into the family. With her terrible temper, she would have been eaten to pieces..."

Xue Sui smiled but said nothing.
Xue Yuechen lifted a corner of the car curtain and looked out.

The blue brick road in front of the red lacquer gate of the Duke of Zheng's mansion was filled with carriages from various mansions. Behind them were the servants of the Grand Tutor's mansion.

"Sixth sister, do you think that Miss Lu is really acting this way out of personal feelings?"

Xue Sui twisted the handkerchief and smiled gently.

"It may not be a personal relationship, but selfishness is real."
-
East Palace.

Li Zhao sat at his desk, listening to the spy's report, his eyes slightly narrowed.

Ever since he learned what happened at the coming-of-age banquet at Duke Zheng's mansion, he has had this expression, which is indescribably meaningful.

Lai Fu chuckled twice and moved forward.

"Master, why are you so happy today?"

Li Zhao played with the warm ring in his hand, with the corners of his mouth slightly raised.

"Xue Ping'an is jealous of me, isn't it worth being happy?"

Lai Fu almost stumbled.

Madam Ping'an helped Miss Guo San out of trouble. What does it have to do with the Crown Prince?