maidservant

After Yunshan returned to the pharmacy, she sat at the desk with a frown on her face, her mind full of doubts.

Concubine Yang had always been good at hiding her weaknesses. She always used others to do things, controlling them from behind, like a chess player hiding in the dark.

But now his style of doing things is completely different and he is no longer timid. Why is that?
This question kept circling in her mind, and she couldn't find the answer for a long time.

Until Li Mi hurried over when no one was around and chatted with her privately:
"Have you heard? The Yang family's son passed the imperial examination. His Majesty, mindful of his sister's constant presence since the Emperor's reign and her current position as a concubine, bestowed upon the Yang family's son the rank of Fourth Rank Junior Official of the Dali Temple a few days ago."

Yunshan nodded slightly, as if thinking about something. "This position is very attractive. No wonder Concubine Yang has been so happy these past two days."

Li Meng came closer, lowered her voice, and had a playful look in her eyes.

"That's not all! The Minister of Justice resigned due to his advanced age and returned to his hometown to retire. He recommended Concubine Yang's father for promotion to the third-rank Minister of Justice. His Majesty not only approved it, but also conferred the title of third-rank County Lady on Concubine Yang's mother."

"Yesterday, the Yang family sent an invitation to my father, inviting my father and brother to attend the promotion banquet." After saying this, Li Mei sighed softly, with a complicated expression on her face.

"This is truly like a flying dragon in the sky, with boundless glory!" Yunshan sighed, with a complicated look in her eyes.

"Who says it's not?" Li Mi took over the conversation while holding the prescription and carefully checking the medicine prepared by the medicine servant.
"I still remember when she was young, her mother would always find excuses to take her to flower shows and embroidery workshops hosted by various ladies. Back then, her mother would tell everyone that we were of similar age and 'got along', and she would always insist that she sit with me."

Li Meng paused, a slightly sarcastic smile appeared on her face, and then she continued:
"But yesterday, the invitation sent by the Yang family only invited my father, the Minister of the Central Secretariat, and my eldest brother, the Prince Consort. As for my second brother Li Bai and me, the 'rebellious girl who refused to marry', I'm afraid they won't be interested~"

After that, the two smiled at each other and shook their heads slightly. Yunshan subconsciously looked around and saw that no one was around, so she whispered:

"Niannian, the palace is not like the Li Mansion. Walls have ears. You must never say such things again in the future. If you are not careful, you may bring disaster upon yourself."

"Yes Yes Yes"

The two stopped talking and started chatting about other things.

Yunshan asked curiously, "The eldest princess should be five months pregnant now, right?"

Li Meng smiled and nodded, "That's right, my eldest sister-in-law is really good to me. I can now live comfortably in this pharmacy, all thanks to this understanding sister-in-law."

"Ever since she became pregnant, she's been extra careful with everything. Besides Doctor Zhang coming every two days to check her pulse, she always has to ask me about every single thing, including her daily diet and flowers, before she dares to use them. Naturally, I have to be extremely careful and not slack off in the slightest."

Once the chatterbox opened, Li Mei couldn't stop, and continued with a beaming smile:
"What makes me happiest is that after my eldest sister-in-law became pregnant, my eldest brother gradually focused his attention on her and her mother. Before every court session, he would always ask if my eldest sister-in-law was feeling well. On his days off, he would stay with her in the courtyard all day."

"A few days ago, my eldest brother felt the baby's movements in my eldest sister-in-law's belly for the first time. He was so excited that he kept spinning around in circles in the yard. He even pulled me along and threw off his hairpin. At that time, he looked like he had lost all the airs of the 'eldest son of the Minister of the Central Secretariat'."

Yunshan listened quietly, feeling a warm warmth in her heart. Master Li and the princess were both kind people, and they deserved this peaceful life.

"Hey? Oh right, there's one more thing that's jaw-dropping!"

As Li Miao spoke, she wiped her hands with a handkerchief. Then, with great interest, she leaned over, leaning close to Yunshan's ear, and whispered mysteriously, "Did you know? The young prince just established his mansion and he built a massive Taoist temple. He even invited many officials from the four east and west streets to listen to his so-called 'way to immortality.' This is truly bizarre. I wonder what he's up to."

"Which officials went?" Yunshan asked casually when she heard it, with a hint of curiosity on her face.

"It seems like quite a few people are going to join in the fun. The Gu family from East Street is a well-known aristocratic family in Kyoto, and there's also the Sinanbofeng family. Both of these families took the lead and gave the young prince enough face and went there openly."

"But what's interesting is that their greetings only wrote 'congratulations on the establishment of the government', but did not mention a single word about the 'art of immortality'. The censors were helpless about this matter." Li Mi described it vividly.

"I heard that these families are aristocratic families in Kyoto that have been passed down for four or five generations. It seems that they are also related by marriage to the concubine's mother's family?" Yunshan frowned slightly and said thoughtfully.

"Yes, that's exactly what happened. So perhaps they're giving the young prince so much face because of this relationship."

"But since my father and brother didn't go to join in the fun, I had no way of finding out just how lively that 'dojo' was. Alas, it's a pity that there's only one me, Li Meng, in the world, and I can't split myself up to go and find out what's going on. What a pity~"

Li Mei sighed with pretended regret, but there was still a hint of smile on her face.

The two were chatting enthusiastically when suddenly, someone from Concubine Gao's palace came over and said they wanted to check the food and clothes sent by her parents' home to see if there was anything that was harmful to the fetus.

When the Minister of Medicine learned about this, he sent Li Mi to deal with the matter.

Li Mei shrugged helplessly and said to Yunshan, "Okay, this task has come again. Let's continue the conversation next time!" After that, she hurriedly followed the visitor and left.

As soon as Li Meng left the pharmacy, the chief pharmacist began to hang around Yunshan like a ghost.

She was wearing a turquoise shirt, the color was so bright and dazzling that it made her feel upset and her eyes felt more and more dizzy.

Yunshan knew that the Medicine Minister had always disliked her and usually avoided her. Now, suppressing her inner discomfort, she put on a respectful smile and asked:
"Master Yao Cheng, what are your instructions?"

Yao Cheng pretended not to hear and did not directly respond to Yun Shan's question. Instead, he asked a question without thinking:
"What have you been busy with lately?"

Seeing this, Yunshan had no choice but to answer patiently one by one, and explained in a clear and orderly manner her daily work content in the Pharmacy, such as preparing medicinal materials and supervising the process of boiling medicine.

These tasks were nothing more than the most common and insignificant chores in the pharmacy. As the Medicine Minister listened, he became a little impatient and waved his hand suddenly, signaling Yunshan to stop talking:
"Alright, alright, let's not talk about this anymore. I want to ask you, why does Concubine Bian Liang not want you to continue making the medicine?"

Hearing this question, Yunshan's heart skipped a beat and she instantly became alert, staring at Yao Cheng with eyes like a hawk.

Yao Cheng felt a little guilty when she looked at him like that. He subconsciously avoided her gaze for a moment, then forced himself to remain calm, put on a seemingly casual smile, and explained:

"I hope you didn't make any mistakes on this mission and bring shame to our pharmacy. Did you fail to do your job well and end up being disliked by Concubine Liang? If this gets out, our pharmacy's reputation will be tarnished." As he spoke, he shook his head slightly in feigned worry. (End of this chapter)