[R18] The stars are brilliant, so lucky even (The stars are brilliant, the moon rises over the sea) – Chapter 85 of “The Stars Are Brilliant, Even Lucky (The Stars Are Brilliant·The Moon Rising Over the Sea)” [English]

Chapter 85

The leader of the Queen’s personal attendants is a kind and thin-faced eunuch named Cao Cheng. He manages the affairs of the palace, declares the Queen’s will, and performs the duties of guiding Zhan. He is a man with an official rank of two thousand stones. In addition to the palace maids, he is also in charge of many Huangmen orders, Xiaohuangmen and Zhonghuangmen.However, the empress was by nature a pure and dignified person, and did not like to interfere in the affairs of the government, nor did she like to frequently summon married women to the palace for gossip. Therefore, Cao Dachangqiu’s work was very leisurely. In addition to the daily operations of the huge palace, he organized several grand banquets for the empress every year.

Although the queen is not dissatisfied with Cao Cheng, she has a temperament that does more than does less. Trivial matters in the inner palace are often settled nearby. However, now that Zhai Yu is getting older and lacks energy, and Luo Jitong’s wedding is approaching, the time to stay in the palace is getting less and less. In addition, the queen intends for Shao Shang to learn how to manage affairs and use people, so the time and place are favorable, and Shao Shang takes over.

At first, Shaoshang was uneasy in the palace because he was unfamiliar with the place and the social status of the male and female boss was too high.If you make a mistake with the eldest sister, the most you can do is get a slap in the face or be kicked out of the billiards room. If you make a mistake with the teacher, you can only get a scolding and write a test report, which will be reported to the whole school. But the empress is the supreme male and female in the world.

Now that she has gained their recognition for her efforts, her caution and fear have gradually disappeared, and Shao Shang naturally begins to reveal her true nature. Although she did not do it intentionally, she will inevitably show traces in daily interactions. As time goes by, everyone in Changqiu Palace knows that this seemingly delicate and frail Mrs. Cheng is actually a narrow-minded and sinister person.

There was a fight between two maids, and they both said that the other one made the first move. Shao Shang asked them to fight again to show her without saying a word. They both wanted to show weakness, so one of the maids extended his fist and lowered his hand more slowly, as if a movie was replayed in slow motion, and like the Love Mian Mian Knife and Gan Chai Li Huo Palm were making moves. All the maids in the palace and Xiao Huangmen were laughing with abdominal pain.

After the fake punch, Shao Shang asked them if they wanted to file a complaint. The two of them also said that they would ask Shao Shang to bring justice to them. Shao Shang smiled and sent them to Huang Menling, who was in charge of punishment under Cao Cheng – don’t be ridiculous, she is just inexperienced and not stupid, okay?No matter how gentle the queen is, she can’t be so gentle. In a place like the palace, if the palace maids have a dispute in private, they will not cover it up but rush to make it happen. Don’t you think she is not in the aisle?

Another two maids who were planting flowers in the outer courtyard were arguing about a beautiful young civet cat. One said how she had carefully raised it after picking it up from a corner of the palace wall, and the other said how hard it was to save food rations to feed it. Both of them were hoarse.Shao Shang said: “This is easy to handle. What you both said makes sense. Let’s cut the civet cat in half. How about half of it for each of you.”

After saying that, he asked the eunuch to bring the sword. The two maids were stunned at first, and one of them immediately cried and knelt down, saying repeatedly that the civet cat was not his, but indeed another person.The other maid was still hesitant to speak.

Shaoshang imitated Mr. Bao in holding court, and solemnly announced that no matter who the original owner was, the civet cat should be returned to the owner who loved it more, and this court would not accept the appeal again.

The queen looked on coldly and couldn’t help but hum, “You are quite quick-witted.”

Shaoshang: Don’t dare, she just stands on the shoulders of children’s books.

Fifteen or six more maids were secretly angry because of trivial matters. They divided into two camps and faced each other. They made sarcastic remarks and had constant verbal disputes for days.This kind of thing is very annoying. It does not escalate into a specific conflict, but it affects the atmosphere in the palace.

Shaoshang asked someone to find a piece of hemp rope as thick as his own wrist, which was more than ten feet long. Then he divided the two camps in half and formed a team, and then let them tug of war.

For the first bet, Shaoshang will get five coins for each person who bets on the winning team.

How could the girls join forces with the “enemies” who had been at odds with each other for several days? They exerted some effort, and finally let the team with greater combined strength win.

For the second bet, Shaoshang will get ten coins for each person who bets on the winning team.

Seeing the winner just now receiving the clanking coins in his hand, the eyes of the girls from the other team widened. Shao Shang divided them into teams again – they were still equally divided between the two camps, but this time no matter which team they were in, they used all their strength.

For the third bet, Shao Shang raises the bet to the winning team and each player will receive twenty coins.

The girls’ eyes were red. Even in the palace, this was a lot of money. This time, the girls in the same group no longer cared about the old grudges. They all worked together, shoulder to shoulder and foot to foot, and worked together to exert their strength.

At this time, something unexpected happened. Although Shaoshang had just received a windfall, he did not take it with him, so he borrowed money from Zhai Yu for lottery. However, when the third bet was reached, Zhai Yu’s purse was empty, so Shaoshang had to ask someone to go home to get it.Unexpectedly, a moment later, a young man from the Huang family held up a heavy box half an arm wide with a smile on his face, and inside it was nearly three hundred five-baht coins.

“…Lord Ling already knows what’s going on here. He said that your empty promise would be a disappointment, so he will send you some money. If it’s not enough, he will ask someone to go and get it quickly.”

The young Shang held the money box and was stunned, so she finally lived a life of spending money from men?

After three rounds of tug-of-war, the girls were exhausted. They could no longer gamble and they all got some money. They were all happy. Even the four most unlucky girls who had never won any money, Shao Shang also rewarded each of them with five coins.Then, she kept a straight face, cited facts and reason, and said many high-sounding words about unity, friendship, mutual assistance, and mutual respect, which brought most of the maids to tears – almost catching up with the speech of the Salmon League Party Secretary back then.

After showing kindness, it’s time to show force.

Shaoshang also named several palace maids who were usually the leaders in the two camps and punished them by giving them ten blows each as a warning to others.

At first, Shao Shang just acted according to the plan, but as the tug-of-war became more intense, the surrounding little yellow gates and palace maids gathered around to laugh and cheer, and some pumped fists to cheer for the girls they had made friends with. Even the queen couldn’t help but stand in the corridor and watch the game with a smile. She couldn’t help laughing out loud when she saw the highlights. When she saw that Shao Shang solved the problem with kindness and power, she lowered her head and said to Zhai Yu: “Don’t worry, Shiyi Lang’s mansion will not be messy in the future.”

When she turned back to the inner hall, the queen saw Shao Shang still holding the half-empty money box and standing quietly in the corridor with a cold expression.The queen couldn’t help being slightly stunned, and for a moment she seemed to not recognize her.

In fact, this girl was not always so bright and decisive when she was on the board of directors.

A few days ago, there was a young palace maid who missed her deceased family member and cried incessantly at night. Shao Shang stopped the eunuch who wanted to chastise her, and patiently asked her where she was from. Then he drew a sketch of the state and county, pointed to the little palace maid’s hometown, and told her that the war there had gradually subsided, and there might still be some starvation. But in the future, as long as we cultivate well, there will no longer be children without fathers and mothers who are displaced and trafficked.

——Things will naturally not be like this. The queen lost her father when she was young, and has also experienced wars and wars. She knows the world very well. How can there be no people in the world?However, in this lonely palace, some false but beautiful words are enough to give a little palace maid with no relatives the courage to live a good life.

The queen went to see Shao Shang again.She has two soft eyebrows, neither thick nor light, scratching on the snow-white skin, like the traces of confused mist and rain. Her eyes are clear and beautiful, and it seems like there are water waves flowing in her eyes when she looks at people. After just one short summer, the little girl’s appearance is even more prosperous.Coupled with such a contradictory and complicated temperament, it is no wonder that he fascinated his adopted son.

…

After getting up from his nap, the young Shang was ordered to go to the outer hall of the Shangshu Terrace to get two bamboo slips. After respectfully bidding farewell to the Huangmen servant who was in charge of the library hall, the young Shang walked back calmly, but did not want to run into Yuan Shen, whom he had not seen for many days, in the palace alley.

In fact, since she entered the palace for “further study”, including this time, she has met Yuan Shen in the palace alley three times.

The first time, she and Ling Buyi walked slowly one behind the other, Yuan Shen sidestepped to avoid them, and then looked at them coldly without saying a word; the second time, she was held by Ling Buyi’s hand firmly and walked side by side, Yuan Shen met them on the road, looked at the hands they held and let out several short sneers. As a result, Ling Buyi’s gaze back was colder than this laughter.Shaoshang turned his head and didn’t want to look at them.

When he met Yuan Shen this time, Shao Shang was stopped by Liang Qiufei who was chasing him. The young guard was running with sweat on his forehead and handed her a flat lacquered wooden box with canangzhi pattern in his hand.As soon as Shaoshang took it, he almost smashed the box on his feet. When he opened it, he saw fifty gold ingots stacked neatly. The pure gold exuded an attractive luster. Each one was cast into a horseshoe gold as thick as a thumb. They were small, exquisite, and sparkling.She couldn’t help but open her mouth.

Liang Qiufei smiled and said: “…Young Master said that you have a lot of things to do in the Changqiu Palace now. It is okay to reward the maids with some copper coins, but it is not okay to reward eunuchs with official rank. You can just keep these in the palace and take them as you need, and entrust them to Zhai Yu for safekeeping on weekdays.”

“What, how can this be so embarrassing?” Shao Shang breathed hard and laughed a few times – when the man bought a bag and clothes for you, you could justly refuse and firmly advocated financial independence before marriage, but the man directly transferred the ownership of a house to you.She felt like she couldn’t control herself.

Liang Qiufei frowned and said, “Young lady, don’t say such disrespectful words again. Last time you refused to take in those two good horses, which caused my brother to receive a scolding from the young lord. This time, please don’t harm your humble position.”

“Don’t worry, I won’t do it.” Shaoshang sighed helplessly.

After Liang Qiu flew away, Yuan Shen, who was dressed in a light robe with slow straps, was graceful. When he approached slowly, he saw the golden girl whose face was illuminated by the gold ingots in the box. He couldn’t help but ask questions. After the eunuch behind Shaoshang answered, he sneered again: “I didn’t expect you to love these yellow and white things.”

Shao Shang immediately said: “All the gold ingots in this box are yellow. There are no white ones. Don’t talk nonsense!”

Yuan Shen choked: “…So you were bribed? You have always pretended to be a virtuous and virtuous person, but now everyone in the capital is praising you, saying that your conduct has finally been raised by the queen.”

“Why does bribery sound so ugly?” Shaoshang handed the box to the eunuchs beside him, and then motioned for them to step back.

“Without these gold ingots, can’t I learn to be virtuous and virtuous? Besides, this is what my future husband-in-law gave me. I can’t use anything I can’t use.” Some words, as expected, become more and more righteous the more I say them. “Also, it’s none of your business whether I am virtuous and virtuous, and whether I have been bribed! I eat your corn, I use your wealth and silk!”

Yuan Shen was not angry this time. He looked at her and said, “Have you noticed that since we met, the most common thing you have said to me is, ‘It’s none of your business.'”

Shaoshang was stunned,…it seemed so, “That’s because you always come to meddle in other people’s business for no reason!”

Yuan Shen stroked the jade belt around his waist and whispered, “How are you doing now?”

“Of course!” Shao Shang smiled proudly, “The little lady of the Cheng family who was looked down upon by everyone back then, even when I went out to attend a banquet, some people would jump out and say that I was vulgar, uncivilized, rude and rude. Will it still happen now? Now that I am in and out of the palace, even the princes and princesses are polite to me. How dare those people come to embarrass me again!”

Yuan Shen hummed: “Actually, I think you were pretty good before.”

Shao Shang sneered: “Master Shanjian, let’s stop here. You have to pick and choose your own wife, no matter how virtuous a wife is, what good etiquette…why should I have to be vulgar all the time!”

“Just pretend to be in front of others. How can you really learn etiquette?” Yuan Shen said bitterly.

Shao Shang suddenly understood and said with a sneer: “Oh, that’s it. One way of doing things before others and another thing behind others. Mr. Shan Jian, is this how you behave yourself?… Hey… Why should I learn etiquette and be good at it? What does this have to do with me?”

Yuan Shen ignored her provocation and asked again: “You haven’t answered me yet, how are you doing? Not in front of others, but behind others? Are you happy?”

Shaoshang raised his eyes to look at the palace wall and said calmly: “I know what you want to ask. However, I also want to tell you that no matter what, I will always make myself live a good life. This has nothing to do with others or anyone else.”

Yuan Shen stared at her for a long time: “These days, there are more and more little girls who love to talk big. So, I will wait and see.”