Chapter 182 Mutual Calculation

Chapter 140 "Pfft—what? Say that again?"

Leng Youyou, playing the Empress Dowager, blinked, took the handkerchief from the mama beside her, and wiped her mouth repeatedly to cover up her gaffe as she looked at the person who had come.

"Reporting to the Empress Dowager, this old servant came to this conclusion after much investigation and deliberation."

The little eunuch kneeling on the ground didn't dare to raise his head as he answered Leng Youyou.

The little eunuch felt like he would be silenced after saying these words: "Empress Dowager, think about Changfu and Changshou, the eunuchs who personally serve His Majesty… There really are almost no palace maids among those who serve His Majesty closely."

"Is that so?"

Leng Youyou had never thought of it that way, but then again, the Jing'an Emperor had never had any children all these years.

Afterwards, the four princes he raised were also selected from the sons of the imperial clan. If he really didn't have problems in that area, did he really prefer eunuchs, or perhaps have *nanfeng* (male-male affection)?

But the secret about the Jing'an Emperor in the lunchbox she ate didn't say that he kept a beloved beauty of the Jing'an Emperor in the Cold Palace?

Leng Youyou played with her finger guards. Seeing this, the people around her took the others down, leaving Leng Youyou alone in the palace to think. Finally, Leng Youyou suddenly realized—"Oh, could it be that the beauty in the Cold Palace is actually a beautiful man?!"

Once the brainstorm started, Leng Youyou felt that this was even more likely!

If it wasn't a man, why would a beautiful woman be kept in the Cold Palace for no reason?

Even if they were guarding against her, guarding against the Noble Consort, it wouldn't be to the point of being put in the Cold Palace, right?!

"Achoo!"

Mingmei, who was being thought of by Leng Youyou, had just taken a small snack in her hand when she couldn't control a sneeze.

Just now, she was watching Lu Xiaoyao tell Mu Chen about the black deeds of the eunuch named "Zhu Changshou," and then her nose itched.

Mingmei looked at Mu Chen, who was looking down at the memorial in the live broadcast room, and she shamelessly thought—could it be that Mu Chen was secretly thinking of her in his heart?

"Your Majesty! How can you have such people around you… ugh~ and even put, put ugly people next to you?"

Lu Xiaoyao immediately stopped herself from saying "beautiful woman," fearing that mentioning a beauty would attract the other party's attention. She directly changed her words to "ugly people," and angrily said, "Isn't this sincerely adding to Your Majesty's troubles! It's like looking and walking, looking and then suddenly looking up, oh my god! It's blinding!"

Mu Chen listened to Lu Xiaoyao's words and silently raised his head, staring at Lu Xiaoyao, who had rich expressions and wonderful body language. Although he didn't speak, Lu Xiaoyao felt that she seemed to understand what the person in front of her meant.

Mu Chen: You're hurting my ears.

Lu Xiaoyao, who was frozen by Mu Chen's stare, gave a dry laugh, quietly retracted her movements, and then saw the other party playfully ask her, "You also think this is Zhu Changshou's own idea?"

With Mu Chen's prompting, Lu Xiaoyao instantly understood that Zhu Changshou was being instructed by someone!

"Huh? Someone dares to make a move beside Your Majesty?" Lu Xiaoyao immediately put on a righteous and indignant, angry and unbearable sycophantic look, and said, "Who else is more worthy of following than Your Majesty? Isn't the entire palace…"

As she spoke, Lu Xiaoyao's mouth opened, and the words in her mouth instantly disappeared. She realized that she seemed to… this might be related to Leng Youyou?

In that entire palace, besides the Emperor, wasn't the Empress Dowager's status also very impressive?

Damn it… Lu Xiaoyao stood there with a look like she was about to cry. Did she just坑 (keng, screw over) her friend?

Mu Chen looked at Lu Xiaoyao's funny face change, and he deliberately asked, "You seem to know something?"

Lu Xiaoyao: "…"

What should she say?

If she said she didn't know, she might be the one in trouble.

If she said she knew, Leng Youyou was afraid she was going to be in trouble.

Comparing the two harms, take the lesser one.

Lu Xiaoyao immediately smiled brightly and said, "Hey~ Isn't the Empress Dowager also doing it for Your Majesty's own good?"

Mingmei: "Pfft~"

Mingmei laughed when she saw this, and the barrage in the live broadcast room was also filled with hahahaha.

[Worthy of you, selling teammates is lightning fast!]

[What are teammates for? Aren't they just for selling (dog head)?]

[You can't say that, our崽崽 (zai zai, darling) really hasn't teamed up with anyone, and it's normal to think that eliminating hidden opponents is normal, right? Don't think of崽崽 (zai zai, darling) too complicatedly, she doesn't deserve it.]

[Pfft! Are you guys fans or haters? So mean!]

[If you're not mean, you'll be pissed off if you worry about her, so let her play freely (a vicissitude of life, smoking a cigarette) ~]

……

"Oh? So, you know it was the Empress Dowager who did it?" Mu Chen was still wondering if Lu Xiaoyao would say something irrelevant to him in order to protect the other party, but Lu Xiaoyao hesitated for three seconds and sold her out completely.

Without him even asking, Lu Xiaoyao said it was the Empress Dowager.

When Mu Chen asked this, Lu Xiaoyao was stuck. Oh, she reacted too quickly and sold Leng Youyou out, sold her out without any evidence.

"That… cough, in this palace, the only one who can worry about Your Majesty is the Empress Dowager, right? This servant is just guessing, guessing, hahahaha~"

Lu Xiaoyao smiled awkwardly. Mu Chen didn't have any hope for Lu Xiaoyao's shoddy acting skills. He twitched his lips and silently chanted in his heart that he was blind and couldn't see it, couldn't see it.

Although Lu Xiaoyao's acting skills were terrible enough, Mu also knew what she said today. He knew that Zhu Changshou's character was originally someone close to the Empress Dowager. The most important thing was that the other party didn't take any action. Now, Mu Chen silently raised his head and turned his gaze to Cining Palace, and he already had some ideas in his mind. m..oΓg

Not only did Mu Chen have ideas, but Julian also had a lot of things to do this month.

"Is the news from Chen Zhihan confirmed?"

Julian sat in the study, the doors and windows were tightly closed, and he couldn't see his expression as he sat at the desk.

"Your Highness, Chen Zhihan's message did indeed reply that Prince Yong plans to transfer him from the Hanlin Academy to the Ministry of Revenue in a few days."

"Stupid."

Julian suddenly pursed his lips, and the person kneeling below was slightly stunned. He could only see Julian's silent eyes when he looked up, and he didn't understand why he said this.

"He probably aroused Prince Yong's suspicion in some way. Let him be safe these few days. By the way, when his wife contacts Prince Yong's consort again, let her reveal some information about the good relationship between Prince Yong and Prince An. It doesn't need to be too deliberate, just let Prince Yong's consort hear it, and I will naturally take care of the rest..."

After Julian finished speaking, he waved away the person who came, stretched out his hand and kept tapping the table with his fingers, his mind was spinning.

Zhen Hu's reason to Chen Zhihan was a few days later, but most of the people in the Ministry of Revenue were Zhen Hu's forces. If the Jing'an Emperor took action to suppress the transfer of a small editor, then it would not be a problem that could be solved in a few days.

If the Jing'an Emperor did not take action, Zhen Hu would not need a few days to do this.

The only reason for him to wait a few days was the palace banquet in a few days. When he got the mysterious merchant's lunchbox, he could confirm whether Chen Zhihan was really loyal.

Therefore, Chen Zhihan must have aroused Zhen Hu's suspicion in some way.

If he could confirm that Chen Zhihan could really be used by him through the lunchbox, then he would reuse the other party and knock on a door for him to win over children from poor families.

"Since you have the support of noble families, why be greedy?"

Julian murmured. Mingmei accidentally saw Julian's reaction here, and then thought of Yuan Fang, who had almost the same plan as Julian.

Mingmei felt that she would be able to end this game after selling all the lunchboxes this time~