Palace Fighting: Naive Concubines' Ascent to Power-Chapter 475: Great Changes

Xiao Qing nodded sincerely in agreement.

Lian Hua didn’t feel sorry anymore, not in the least. She even thought about setting a fire, reminiscent of that time when His Majesty thought there was a fire and hurried over, but then she reconsidered.

No burning. It would make too much noise, and what if it drew His Majesty over again? Haha.

Walking past the pavilion, Lian Hua touched her chin, "Xiao Qing, what do you think about planting a circle of wax plum trees under this pavilion? When they bloom, we can set up a brazier in the pavilion. Outside, it will be snowing, while inside, we gather around to eat hotpot, slicing the mutton very thinly and swishing it in the bubbling soup before dipping it in the sauce to eat. Truly delicious!"

Xiao Qing swallowed her saliva, "My Lady, we could do that right now, couldn’t we? What does it have to do with planting wax plum trees?"

The hand touching Lian Hua’s chin paused, she pondered for a moment, feeling that made sense, "It seems there’s no connection."

The most important things were whether the lamb was good, whether it was fresh, and whether the sauce was fragrant. These had nothing to do with whether the wax plums bloomed or not.

If the plum blossoms were vibrant, her meal would be delightful; if they didn’t bloom, her meal would still be delightful. Thinking this way, planting the plum trees indeed seemed pointless.

The two of them were pragmatists, after all. No matter how beautiful the scenery, it couldn’t compare to good food.

"However," recalling a book she had read before, she added, "isn’t there a refined phrase, ’brewing snow to make tea’ or something? I read in a book that snow caught on wax plum flowers is supposed to be fragrant, and using it to brew tea will impart a wax plum fragrance into the water, making it taste different and better than normal water."

His Majesty was so fond of tea, she considered whether she should prepare it for him in that way.

Xiao Qing wasn’t sure about this either but was puzzled, "My Lady, if you want the fragrance of plum blossoms, why not just pick some and soak or boil them in water directly?"

Lian Hua was also at a loss, "Indeed, why not?"

She thought hard about it and finally arrived at a conclusion, "Perhaps the book’s author was foolish and didn’t think of this better method. When the plum blossoms bloom this winter, we’ll go to the Imperial Garden to pick some for His Majesty and make him tea. We’ll see what’s different then."

"We’ve also tried drinking the dew from the flowers before and didn’t find it any different. Water is just water, with no other flavor. It should be the same with snow. Odd, why would the book specifically say that snow from the plum blossoms makes for good tea?"

Xiao Qing shook her head; she hadn’t tasted the snow from a plum tree and didn’t know its flavor.

Lian Hua was full of investigative spirit and wanted to find an opportunity to try it out for herself.

After waiting a long time for the snow to fall and the wax plums to bloom, she remembered this matter and gave it a try, only to find it tasteless and no different.

She reached a conclusion: books can mislead people. Picking snow from plum blossoms to brew tea is purely a pastime for those with too much time on their hands, moreover freezing one’s hands and feet in the process. Only fools would do such a thing.

Hearing this, the Emperor laughed heartily, agreeing with her that indeed, only a fool would do it.

At that moment, she smiled through squinted eyes, and it was only after a while that she realized the Emperor was making fun of her. She couldn’t help but glare at him coquettishly and snatched the tea from his hands, refusing to let him drink anymore, which only provoked an even louder laughter from the Emperor. freeweɓnovel.cøm

But that’s a story for another time.

The two continued walking until they reached an open space close to the Main Hall, where they could faintly hear the sound of constructions.

Lian Hua looked up at the eaves revealed over the other side of the fence, murmuring to herself, "When will it be finished?"

Looking at the Main Hall, she felt no shadow in her heart. She had long let go of the incident with the snake, especially since the Emperor had protected her so well afterward that she didn’t feel any lingering shadow.

"I heard it should be done before this winter, so quite soon," Xiao Qing also looked towards the Main Hall. She had heard something, "My Lady, they’re renovating the Main Hall, and I heard that all the scenery inside will be completely redone. When you move over there, the scenery around the Side Hall will also be revamped."

"Hmm, His Majesty has mentioned that to me. Once we move, Nanny can live in the Side Hall."

Nanny Qi’s room is small, and for now, there isn’t much that can be done. She can only endure it for a while. Once she moves to the Main Hall, she will let Nanny Qi move to the Side Hall.

The scenery of the Main Hall is also to be overhauled, which she is aware of. His Majesty even asked her if she had any requests. She said she’d like to keep some space for fruit trees so that there would be fruits to eat throughout the four seasons, and as for the rest, she’d let His Majesty decide as he sees fit.

Now, this stumped His Majesty. In the Capital, from winter to spring, there are hardly any seasonal fruits, which caused His Majesty to furrow his brow.

She could not help but smirk playfully as she watched His Majesty struggle, finding it quite amusing. After a while, His Majesty noticed and could not help but embrace her and teased her on the nose for being naughty.

Latter, she suggested alternating the planting of flowers that bloom even in winter so that there would be flowers to see all year round, and those fruit trees that also blossom beautifully from summer to autumn.

So, she knew a bit about it, but as for how exactly the Main Hall would be renovated, she didn’t have any particular ideas, leaving it to His Majesty to handle it.

Once everything was ready, whatever she wanted, she could tinker with herself, such as... setting up a grape trellis and a swing!

"My lady, my lady."

There was a calling from behind, sounding like Xiao Linzi’s voice.

Both turned to look and saw Xiao Linzi jogging over, telling them the Side Hall was ready and Nanny Qi was asking her to come back.

Lian Hua’s eyes lit up immediately, and she grew excited again, filled with anticipation. Without delay, she led the two of them toward the Side Hall.

Nanny Qi looked over the details of the Side Hall, nodded her head, and seemed satisfied. With such decoration, it might seem very luxurious to those like Lian Hua’s Clan Aunt who had a little knowledge from smaller places.

She knew Lian Hua’s Clan Aunt had read some books and came from a small household in a small place and had some experience.

Therefore, she didn’t follow the customs of the Noble families by using low-key luxury items that commoners couldn’t spot, but made everything in such a way that Lian Hua’s Clan Aunt could notice the luxury while also finding them practical and comfortable to use.

She had wanted to help Lian Hua refurbish earlier, but Lian Hua said it was too much trouble and it wasn’t necessary since she would move to the Main Hall later.

Now, she took this chance to have everything redone, making the living space more comfortable for Lian Hua and the Emperor.

All those cumbersome chests and other items that took up space inside, she had them all replaced and rearranged everything. Now, the inner chamber was much more spacious than before.

The dressing table, bed, and the Emperor’s desk were left unchanged. Both the dressing table and bed were made from pear wood with beautifully carved flowers and did not need replacing.

"Nanny, you’ve worked hard."

Before seeing her, they heard her voice, and Nanny Qi turned to look. She saw Lian Hua, with a smile curving her eyebrows, walking into the Side Hall.

Nanny Qi asked, "With the wind blowing out there for so long, you haven’t caught a chill, have you?"

Lian Hua walked over and held Nanny Qi’s hand, "Not at all, the sun is nice today, basking in its warmth."

Nanny Qi felt her hand and, indeed, it was warm, which reassured her.

Now Lian Hua had the chance to look around, and upon doing so, her eyes widened in astonishment, "Huh... is this really the place I lived in daily?"

The entire place had changed completely!

Nanny Qi watched her with a smile, letting her look around.

Lian Hua clicked her tongue in wonder, twisting around to look. She exclaimed in surprise, "And there’s carpet laid out, everywhere!"