It’s Better to be the Empress Dowager - Chapter 13

Master Tang put down the pen, and before he could rub his sore wrist, he hurriedly lifted up his skirt and got up to go outside.

However, as soon as she left Baoxia, she was stopped by Liu Ji.

“Miss Tang.” The father-in-law looked at and smiled, but what he said was not kind at all, “Your book hasn’t been copied yet, where are you going?”

Master Tang stepped aside and pointed to the table at the back: “My father-in-law, I have already copied all the two books you just gave me. Can I go back?”

Liu Ji glanced inward, and there were two stacks of paper neatly placed on the table, apparently just written. Liu Ji stayed quiet and said: “The girl copied the book faster, not worse than the tribute who copied the book outside. The girl can rest for a while, but she can’t leave.”

Master Tang’s eyes widened: “Why? I obviously finished copying.”

“There is the next one.” Liu Ji said with a smile, “The slave and maidservant neglected the girl because of inconsiderate thoughts. The girl is not impatient, so the slave and maid will get you some other copies.”

Master Tang understood that copying the book was just a cover, in fact, what they had to do was trap her. Regardless of whether Master Tang has copied it or not, they will not let Master Tang go out.

Master Tang suppressed a smile and asked, “The little girl is dull, so the father-in-law might as well give a clear message. The father-in-law is holding the little girl, what does he want to do?

Liu Ji shook his head and smiled, seeming to point out: “Girl, you just came here, and you don’t know how to serve people. How can we as slaves go earlier than the master?”

Master Tang was stunned, Liu Ji silently glanced in and looked at Master Tang with a smile: “Girl, the most important thing for serving people is to have flexible eyebrows, be diligent, and know how to share worries for the master.”

Master Tang understood, she pulled the corners of her mouth stiffly, and said to Liu Jifu: “Little girl understands. Xie Gonggong.”

“The slave and maid knew that the girl was a smart person.” Liu Ji smiled, without moving his eyebrows, and said sharply, “Miss Tang, please.”

Shishi Tang returned to Baosha, and soon the young man sent a few other books. This time there is a huge pile, no need to worry about being idle anyway.

But this time, Master Tang was not in a hurry to copy the book. Anyway, no matter how much she writes, she has to stay in the study for a whole day, so why is she busy? It’s better to linger around for a day, and when the time comes, just copy a few pages.

Master Tang’s movements are not hurried or slow. She knew now that Jing Wangming wanted her to come to the study to wait for the pen and ink, but actually wanted to trap her here. The study’s eyes are so heavy that Master Tang can’t do anything at all. In this way, you don’t have to worry about being confused by her.

The conscience of heaven and earth, Master Tang was really wronged. You can’t be prejudiced against her just because she looks good. She is not a vixen, the real vixen is clearly Zhou Shunhua.

Zhou Shunhua and Zhao Zixun stayed together all day. Why did King Jing only guard her and not Zhou Shunhua?

There is no reason.

Master Tang was angrily grinded, drawing extremely heavy strokes. If King Jing doesn’t leave, the people in the study can’t leave. Master Tang also has to stay in the Baosha, and can’t even go back to rest. At first, Master Tang was still acting, but finally found that no one was paying attention to her at all. Master Tang was lazy and upright, and finally fell asleep directly on the table.

Zhao Chengjun’s study is an independent courtyard. The five upper rooms on the front are opened up, occupying a huge area, and the inside is partitioned back and forth, and they are not connected and do not interfere with each other. Three rooms stepped out behind the main house, and they were built into a small pavilion. The place where Shishi Tang is located is the three embossed buildings at the back.

The Baoxia is shaded, the light is dim, and the place is low and small. When the door is closed, no one notices it. It is generally used as a utility room or a Buddhist hall. After Master Tang fell asleep, there was no sound, and people coming and going outside had forgotten that there were people inside.

At night, the study was quiet and quiet, Zhao Chengjun was tired from looking at the maps, closed the book and rested his eyes. He closed his eyes and looked motionless, but he still kept sketching the terrain in his mind.

Zhao Chengjun was thinking about how Suzhou would platoon troops, and it was about to fall, and he needed to guard against Tatar attacks. In addition, Anji Timur recently went privately with Tubo Fan, and he also had to guard against Hamiwei.

While thinking about it, Zhao Chengjun suddenly heard breathing in the study. Zhao Chengjun opened his eyes instantly, the light in his eyes was deep, there was no trace of sleepiness.

Zhao Chengjun stood up with a sullen face, and walked to and fro with the sound calmly. He had already pressed his hand on the saber, and even began to check who it was in his heart. The assassin sent by Anji Timur? No, Anji Timur did not have such courage. Is that Tatar? Tufan? Zhao Chengjun even thought of the Queen Mother Yao.

Zhao Chengjun stopped at Baoxiakou and opened the door without warning. Master Tang was sleeping in a daze. He heard an alarm sound dimly, and the door was pushed open by someone. Master Tang was frightened awake, and when she opened her eyes, she saw a person standing at the door. She couldn’t see who it was. She stared at each other for a long time. In the end, her paste-like brain finally returned to work.

Master Tang hurriedly knelt and bowed in empty salute: “See the prince.”

When she was talking, her body shook. She just woke up, couldn’t even tell her direction, and almost fell to the ground. Master Tang hurriedly knelt upright and bowed his head respectfully.

Zhao Chengjun looked at her for a long time and asked, “Why are you here?”

Master Tang also paused, and said quietly, “It’s your order, let me copy the book here.”

Zhao Chengjun thought for a while, and vaguely remembered that he had mentioned a random sentence, asking Master Tang to copy the book, and he was not allowed to leave if he could not finish copying. Unexpectedly, she was really copying.

After tossing such a big battle, the result was just a misunderstanding, and Zhao Chengjun didn’t know whether to be angry or to relax. He stared at Master Tang, not letting go of any expression on her face.

Master Tang didn’t know what Zhao Chengjun was looking at. She couldn’t help thinking in her heart, could it be that she didn’t pay attention when she slept, and now she has become ugly? Oops, she just slept on the book, did she make a mark on her face?

Master Tang secretly raised his hand to rub his face, Zhao Chengjun glanced at her, approached calmly, and lowered his head to look at the paper and ink behind her. After Zhao Chengjun walked to the back, Master Tang immediately looked in the mirror and tried to look at his face.

“You wrote this all?”

Master Tang was secretly arranging his hair. Hearing Zhao Chengjun’s voice, he instinctively responded first, and then reacted, and quickly said: “The prince, please forgive you. If you return to the prince, they are all copied by the young lady.

Zhao Chengjun looked down at Master Tang’s handwriting and looked at how old and new his pen and ink were. These were indeed written one after another within a day. She didn’t pretend to be crazy, but really fell asleep.

Zhao Chengjun was a little relieved. He picked up the stack of paper and turned it over, saw a place, and asked: “Have you studied the Four Books and Five Classics?”

Master Tang didn’t know, so he subconsciously nodded: “Yes.” After saying that, Master Tang felt strange, and asked cautiously: “Why does the prince ask this?”

Zhao Chengjun pointed to a line on the paper and said: “This is a sentence from “The Golden Mean”. The original copy has a wrong word. You have corrected it here. I guess you probably have learned “The Golden Mean”.”

Teacher Tang was surprised, she didn’t even realize it, but she didn’t expect Zhao Chengjun to recognize it at a glance. Master Tang asked: “How do you know that the original copy was wrong?”

Zhao Chengjun glanced back at Master Tang. Although he didn’t say anything, Master Tang inexplicably read that he was disgusted.

It seems that Master Tang is stupid to ask this question.

Zhao Chengjun put her manuscript back on the case and said casually: “This king’s book, this king has naturally read it.”

Master Tang was stunned for a long time, and flattered against his will: “The prince has a good memory, and the little girl admires it.”

Zhao Chengjun didn’t speak, but smiled softly. Obviously, he knows all these methods of women well. He grew up in the palace and was used to seeing women with their mouths and swords, and he did nothing to fight for favor. This kind of flattery is also one of them.

Today was just a false alarm. Zhao Chengjun was relaxed, and it was much harder to say a few words: “You have read the Four Books and Five Classics. This king is not to belittle you, but…you really don’t look like it.”

Master Tang stood up from the ground and stood on one side with his hands tied. When she heard Zhao Chengjun’s words, she chuckled: “The prince is right. The little girl is really not a book-loving person. I read four books, all to please my fiancé.”

Zhao Chengjun was startled slightly: “Husband-in-law?”

“The former husband-in-law is no longer.” Tang Shishi lowered his eyes and said, “Before the little girl entered the palace, she had set a baby kiss. The other party was a child of my mother’s handkerchief. He was diligent and motivated since he was a child, and he reads very well. In order to please him and show him that I am different from my sister, I bite the bullet and finished the four books. It’s a pity…”

Master Tang didn’t finish talking, but Zhao Chengjun already knew it. Later Tang Shishi was selected as a show girl, and then sent to the court. As soon as I entered the palace gate as deep as the sea, I entered the Forbidden City, naturally I could do nothing.

The marriage contract is no longer a marriage contract, the family is no longer a family, and even the parents are no longer parents.

The light in Baoxia was dim, and the lamp on the table was extinguished when Master Tang was copying the book. Only the light from outside was shining in, and Master Tang stood in the half-bright and half-dark candlelight, like fine porcelain. After all, this is a young and beautiful woman. Zhao Chengjun had always felt that Master Tang was eager for quick success and quick profit and was unscrupulous. Now, looking at her drooping eyebrows and calm expression, Zhao Chengjun actually gave birth to a little pity.

Not from the beginning, Tang Shishi was such a utilitarian temperament. She also had a soft girl feeling, and she was shocked, reading the book that the brother of the family friend had read, walking the path he had walked, just to get closer to him. It’s a pity that good luck tricks people, but in the end, she was forced to this step.

She is also in the game, involuntarily involuntarily. Being selected into the palace, sent to the fief, and dedicated to King Jing, all of these are not her options. What she did was just to make herself live better.

Zhao Chengjun’s tone gradually eased, and said: “If you like him, wait another two years, this king can release you out of the house in advance.”

After the palace maid reaches twenty-five years old, she can release her from the palace and marry herself. Although Tang Shishi was not a court lady, she had already been given to King Jing. If King Jing agreed to let Tang Shishi go out one or two years in advance, it would be a matter of one sentence.

When Master Tang heard this, he stood quietly and suddenly smiled, “Thank you, Lord. But no need, he has already married another beautiful woman.”

Zhao Chengjun was startled and heard Master Tang continue to say: “It’s my sister.”

Zhao Chengjun opened his eyes unexpectedly, then frowned: “Absurd. Your parents allowed this kind of thing?”

“Why not?” Teacher Tang still said in a nonchalant tone, “Isn’t the daughter raised up to be so spoiled to win over a good son-in-law? One daughter enters the palace to gamble on her luck, and the other daughter marries to a family friend’s family to consolidate contacts. If you are lucky, you will have one more son-in-law as an official in the future. Which merchant will miss this kind of profitless business?”

Teacher Tang used such a light tone to describe his past, and Zhao Chengjun was speechless. The two were silent for a moment, and Zhao Chengjun asked, “What about your mother?”

Only a regular wife can be called a “mother.” Listening to Master Tang’s tone, her biological mother should be a full-time wife. Her father is a businessman and has interests in mind, so does her mother leave it alone?

“Mother?” Speaking of her mother, Master Tang lost her eyes for a moment. After three years of absence, she hadn’t remembered Lin Wanxi for a long time. Teacher Tang quickly returned to his senses, and continued to bow her head respectfully, and said, “My mother is weak. From the eyes of the noble ladies in the capital, she is probably very useless. She fought, but I didn’t think it was necessary. Please enter the palace.”

Zhao Chengjun didn’t understand the situation of the Tang family, and he didn’t want to understand, but just by listening to these words, he could probably guess what kind of environment Master Tang lived in when he was a child. There are wolves all around, no wonder she has grown into this character.

Zhao Chengjun couldn’t say anything. He saw Master Tang pick up the pen and wanted to continue copying, saying, “You don’t have to copy, you can go back.”

“But Grandpa Liu said…”

“If he asks, you just say it was ordered by the king.”

Master Tang bowed and saluted: “Yes, thank you, Lord.”

After Zhao Chengjun finished speaking, he turned around and returned to the study without taking care of Tang Shishi. Shishi Tang squatted on the ground and waited for Zhao Chengjun to walk away completely before getting up, sorting out the pen and ink on the desk casually, and then turning around to leave.

Master Tang thought that Zhao Chengjun would have been a rare compassionate when she let her go. He didn’t expect that after going out, a maid carrying a lamp saluted her and said warmly: “Hello, girl Tang. The slave maid will send Girl Tang back to the house by the order of the prince.”

Master Tang was quite flattered. She looked back and saw that the light in the study was still on, which seemed to last a long time. As a prince, he was more diligent than his servants.

Master Tang only took a look, then withdrew his gaze. She nodded slightly to the maid, and said, “I have work.”

“Girl please.”

It was late, there were so many trees in the palace, and the road was dark and scary. The maid only raised a lamp, like a soybean, swayed by the wind. When the corridor was turning, the person on the opposite side didn’t pay attention to the movement here, and rushed directly to them.

Master Tang was hit by someone and almost fell. The other party held on to Master Tang, bowed his head and said no, and quickly ran away. The maid carrying the lantern was so angry that she cursed, “Who is this? Doesn’t you walk with eyes long?”

Master Tang stopped the maid and said, “No matter, it’s getting late, let’s go back and talk later.”

The maid bowed her head and promised. After returning to the yard, the servants in the yard heard Master Tang’s return and hurried out to greet him. Master Tang quickly walked into the room. She gave the lantern maid a reward, gave a casual confession, and sent the people away.

After everyone left, Master Tang walked to the inner room, opened his palm, and there was a note in it.