Chapter 11 The Boxed Lunch Business

That night, Mu Chen finished reviewing the memorials much faster than usual, and in the end, he personally escorted Mingmei back through the secret passage.

As soon as the two of them emerged from the secret passage entrance, Mingmei was startled by the palace maid who was standing there. This palace maid was usually nowhere to be seen, except when it came to meals and snacks.

"Your Majesty."

"What is it?"

"While the Lady was visiting you, two groups of people came to Cold Palace to inquire about information."

When Mingmei heard that someone was inquiring about her, she looked at the palace maid, who continued, "According to your instructions, the Empress Dowager's people were detained, and one person was sent back to deliver a message, arranging for the Lady to meet with the Empress Dowager here tomorrow night at zi shi (11 PM-1 AM). As for the Consort Gui's people, they have been dealt with directly."

Mingmei: ???

"You may leave."

Mu Chen waved his hand, dismissing the palace maid. Seeing the bewildered Mingmei looking up at him, he smiled like a bright Akita, saying, "We agreed to help you sell boxed lunches first, didn't we?"

"Ah... is that so?"

Mingmei blinked, and before she could be dazzled by his good looks, she said, "The way you're doing this makes it seem like I'm up to no good."

Detaining people, sending back messages; dealing with them completely.

Just listen to those words; they sound so villainous!

"Up to no good... heh. Once you sell them the boxed lunches, and the boxed lunches speed up the plot, the players will soon go crazy and create trouble, wouldn't that be considered doing bad things?"

Mingmei: ...

No, she wouldn't take the blame for that!

It's just boxed lunches; the players are the ones causing trouble because they need to, right?

Why are they blaming her?

Mu Chen smiled and put his hands behind his head, completely lacking the imperial majesty he displayed in front of outsiders. He then said to Mingmei, "In these few days, guess what those players have been up to?"

"What have they been up to?"

Even though Mingmei could see the various players' perspectives, she couldn't watch all seven of them all the time.

"Not to mention those outside the palace, even the two in the palace are trying to use my hand to get rid of Lu Xiaoyao."

"Ah?" Mingmei thought of Leng Youyou and Bai Xiao, stunned. "Why? What harm could Lu Xiaoyao possibly cause?"

Mingmei was speechless.

"Is this bullying the weak?"

Mingmei couldn't understand why they would target Lu Xiaoyao. Moreover, based on the livestreams she watched, Leng Youyou and Bai Xiao had no reason to deal with her.

"The Empress Dowager found out about the private dealings between Lu Changfu and the Consort Gui," Mu Chen revealed the reason for the Empress Dowager's actions. "She has always wanted to win over Lu Changfu. However, she discovered that Lu Changfu wasn't loyal to me, but had already been secretly working for someone else. She intentionally leaked this information through her spies here in my palace these past few days."

"She could have used this to blackmail him, giving a message to one person is no different than giving it to two," Mingmei thought this would be more beneficial. However, she remembered the rules of this round and chuckled softly, shaking her head to reject her own suggestion.

"You're right, no one can ride two boats at the same time. Then... what's Bai Xiao's reason?"

"Isn't it simple? Didn't she buy your boxed lunch?" Mu Chen chuckled. "The braised pork meatballs can be used to test the loyalty of the people around her. Guess how likely Lu Xiaoyao was to be loyal to her at the time?"

One moment Mu Chen was calling him Lu Changfu, and the next he was calling her Lu Xiaoyao. Mingmei, combining Lu Xiaoyao's livestream and his personality, looked at Mu Chen and couldn't help but laugh.

"With Lu Xiaoyao's personality, she probably wouldn't dare to take sides and would just wait for your cue, right?"

"Mm."

"Then her death wasn't unjust..."

Mingmei was amused by Lu Xiaoyao's actions. Logically, based on her persona, she should be on the Consort Gui's side, so the player playing Consort Gui would definitely take care of Lu Xiaoyao.

However, the players playing the Empress Dowager and the Third Prince were also friends of Lu Xiaoyao, giving her a natural advantage of familiarity. At least in the early stages, as long as Lu Xiaoyao didn't court death or expose the fact that she had "allied" with the Consort Gui, the Empress Dowager's forces wouldn't make things difficult for her.

But now, Lu Xiaoyao's play was quite explosive!

First, she exposed "herself" as being Consort Gui's person, and then Consort Gui discovered that she wasn't loyal at all. Amazing!

"By the way, the day after tomorrow is the Empress Dowager's birthday banquet. At that time, the various princes will also bring their families into the palace to attend the family banquet. You're meeting with the Empress Dowager tomorrow night. Given the alliance between the Empress Dowager and Zhen Po, you should at least be able to meet Zhen Po the day after tomorrow. If the other players are quick-witted and have good information channels, you might be able to meet them all the day after tomorrow and make a fortune."

Hearing Mu Chen's words, Mingmei immediately beamed with joy. Earning credits was a good thing!

Mu Chen smiled when he saw her smile, but Bai Xiao, whose people had gone and not returned, wasn't in a good mood.

[The Secret of Emperor Jing An: Emperor Jing An hides someone very important in the Cold Palace.]

Bai Xiao sent people to investigate the Cold Palace, and when no news returned even by dawn, she realized that the people she had sent out were likely dead.

Bai Xiao wrote this message into a secret letter and secretly sent it out of the palace.

Leng Youyou, relying solely on the memories of the Empress Dowager's character, also sensed that Emperor Jing An seemed to have some secret in the Cold Palace.

So, she also sent people, and only one returned, bringing back an appointment to meet at the Cold Palace at zi shi (11 PM-1 AM) tomorrow night.

And the person who made the appointment wasn't Emperor Jing An.

Filled with curiosity and caution, Leng Youyou, wrapped in a black robe, couldn't help but exclaim "Merchant miss?" when she saw the woman in a white dress and veil appear before her again.

This outfit wasn't exactly the same as what Bai Xiao had described that day, but the features were very consistent!

Mingmei nodded slightly after hearing this, acknowledging that she was the boxed lunch seller. This process was even shorter, and she directly initiated the transaction. Leng Youyou directly bought a box of eggplant with minced pork, two servings of lion's head meatballs, and rice.

After buying them, she stared at Mingmei and asked, "Merchant miss, do you live in the Cold Palace?"

Mingmei didn't directly confirm, but pretended to be mysterious and looked at the moon in the sky, adding, "I just like to take walks near the Cold Palace on nights with good weather."

After speaking, Mingmei turned around and left, no longer concealing her excitement and joy.

She had made it so obvious, what reason would the remaining players (except Lu Xiaoyao) have not to come near here tomorrow night?!

Hahahaha!

Hands-on-hips laughter.jpg

However, what none of them expected was that the weather wasn't good the next day, and it started raining as soon as it got dark.

The players attending the family banquet that night: "..."

Mu Chen: "..." Miscalculated.

...

"Why is the atmosphere so low tonight?"

The players in the banquet hall were already eating without relish and chatting without lively topics under Mu Chen's visibly low air pressure, and the meal became more and more depressing.

Finally, Zhen Po leaned towards her brother and whispered about this matter.

Zhen Hu silently took a sip of wine, also expressing his confusion about Emperor Jing An's sudden low air pressure tonight. However, he knew why they themselves were unhappy, but what did that have to do with Emperor Jing An?

Thinking about it, he glanced at the Empress Dowager, who was smiling and eating her meal, wondering if he was angry with the Empress Dowager?

But the Empress Dowager's expression didn't seem like she had offended him either?

On the other hand, they themselves, Zhen Po retracted her gaze and looked towards Yuan Fang and Julian, who were also secretly looking towards them, smiling wryly. Everything was understood without words!

They had finally managed to enter the palace tonight, but it was raining, so how could they find the mysterious merchant?

Throughout the entire banquet, probably only Lu Xiaoyao was standing there, witnessing all the players with forced smiles and blank looks!

This was supposed to be a happy birthday banquet, why did everyone look like the Empress Dowager was doomed?