novelraw Chapter 229 The Princess?
Chapter 229 The Princess?
"They wouldn't actually feed it to the other brothers, would they?" Feng Xi said, looking at the two people beside him.
Zhao Wu shrugged.
Ah Qi shrugged.
Liu Quan's voice soon came from the courtyard.
You could hear his loud voice even through a wall.
"Come, come, try the snacks the Prince gave you..."
Then came Sun Shang's voice, "Line up... one piece each... don't rush... there are plenty available..."
Ah Qi walked to the door, glanced outside, and then shrank back inside.
"Liu Quan called out everyone from the duty room."
Intermittent sounds could be heard from outside.
"Is it tasty?"
"Delicious, delicious..."
"It's especially delicious..."
The three people inside finally couldn't help but laugh again.
The three of them burst into laughter, the sound carrying from the duty room and drifting into the courtyard.
It was all mixed up with the voices of praise from outside, making it impossible to tell whose were they.
……
Su Wuli walked back alone.
Someone just reported that someone from the Ministry of Revenue had arrived, so Yu Chen had no choice but to go.
She walked slowly along the corridor.
The afternoon sun shone through the pillars, casting its light on the ground like painted squares.
Her hair was disheveled; a few strands had fallen out while she was busy in the kitchen. She casually picked up a chopstick from the chopstick holder and tied it up, leaving a few stray hairs hanging down beside her face.
He was wearing his own clothes, which seemed out of place in the courtyard with its blue bricks and gray tiles.
As she rounded a corner, she faintly heard crying.
The other person seemed afraid of being overheard, and cried in a somewhat suppressed manner.
She stopped and followed the sound.
There was a little maid squatting by the wall, wearing a light blue vest with a section of white undergarment showing at the neckline.
At this moment, he curled up into a ball, his shoulders shrugging.
Su Wuli visited the Prince's Mansion quite a few times, but she always stayed in Yu Chen's courtyard.
They only met people around Yu Chen, and among the maids, they had only met Chu He and Qiao Sheng.
Su Wuli stood there, looking at the pitiful little maid squatting by the wall, crying.
I couldn't help but take a step forward.
The maid seemed to hear footsteps and suddenly looked up.
Her face was covered in tears, and her eyes were swollen like peaches.
The maid was stunned when she saw Su Wuli.
He then hurriedly stood up, took two steps back, and wiped his face with his sleeve.
There was panic, fear, and doubt in his eyes.
"What's wrong?" Su Wuli asked softly.
The maid shook her head, tears welling up again.
Su Wuli didn't urge her, but just stood aside and waited. "It's okay, calm down first."
The young maid was somewhat stunned upon hearing this.
After crying for a while, she sniffed and finally spoke haltingly.
It turned out that Manager Liu from the Foreign Languages Department had deducted her monthly salary, and she went to argue with him.
Not only was he scolded, but he was even spanked.
She said she touched her lower back, then pulled her hand back.
Seeing this, Su Wuli paused for a moment.
Looking at the little maid's still-childish face, some images suddenly flashed through her mind.
My breath hitched.
Now I see the little maid standing by the wall, her face covered in tears.
She suddenly felt as if those memories from years ago were coming back to her...
However, now that they've met again, Su Wuli still instinctively wants to help the other person.
She couldn't turn a blind eye, and besides, this was Yu Chen's palace; if she couldn't resolve the situation in the end, she could still turn to him.
"Take me to him," Su Wuli said firmly, looking at her.
As soon as she finished speaking, the little maid froze, tears still clinging to her eyelashes.
She spoke timidly, "Miss, Manager Liu, he—"
As she spoke, she met Su Wuli's fearless gaze, which, for some reason, gave her inexplicable courage.
The young maid bit her lip and pointed in a direction.
……
The accounting office in the outer courtyard is located outside the second gate, consisting of three rooms in a row.
From the middle accounting room, the sound of abacus beads clattering could be heard.
When Su Wuli walked in, Manager Liu was sitting at the table, holding an account book in one hand and using an abacus in the other.
He went back to his hometown to visit relatives last month.
My mother was sick at home, and I went back to take care of her for more than 20 days before returning to the mansion yesterday.
I was away for a month, and two entries were missing from the accounts, which bothered me.
Su Wuli walked in, and he happened to look up.
An unconscious look of amazement flashed in her eyes.
However, when the gaze fell on Su Wuli, who was dressed in simple clothes and had a bamboo chopstick in her hair.
He had served in the Prince's Palace for so many years and had never seen such attire before.
"Who are you?" Manager Liu put down the ledger.
Leaning back in his chair, he raised his chin and glanced at Su Wuli's face with a mixture of scrutiny and disdain.
He glanced at the chopstick in her hair and his lips curled down slightly.
Not even a decent hairpin, using chopsticks to hold back hair, what a poor and pathetic sight.
The little maid shrank behind Su Wuli, not daring to look up.
Steward Liu noticed the little maid with his sharp eyes, and his brows furrowed even more.
"What, you've got someone backing you up?"
He snorted, his tone clearly sarcastic.
"Let me tell you, it's no use bringing anyone in. The deduction from your monthly pay is the deduction, and the rules are the rules. Last month you were lazy and didn't move two boxes of stuff. Did I kick you out? Deducting two months' pay and giving you a few lashes is already me being lenient."
Su Wuli looked at Steward Liu's face.
His body was thick with fat, his mouth turned down, and his eyes looked like slits when he squinted.
It looks disgusting no matter how you look at it.
"Is there any evidence that she's slacking off?" Su Wuli asked.
Manager Liu looked at her, as if he hadn't expected her to speak.
Who are you?
He asked again, this time in a louder voice, with impatience.
"Which courtyard are you from? From the manor or from outside?"
His gaze swept over her clothes again.
Looking at his attire, he had a better understanding of the situation.
That wild girl from who-knows-where, meddling in other people's business.
He straightened his back and raised his chin even higher.
"Without evidence, you deduct people's monthly wages and beat them," Su Wuli's voice rose a few decibels. "Is this your rule?"
Manager Liu's expression changed.
He had never been talked back to like this by some random blonde girl.
He stood up from his chair, tapping his fingers on the table with a loud thud.
"Who do you think you are? What right do you have to tell me what to do? Who do you think you are? A princess?"
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