tallest building

The night was already quite late, and the croaking of frogs could be heard everywhere.

Consort Hui was still awake; she was waiting.

Finally, the sound of light footsteps approached from afar, and Steward Hu walked in.

"How is it?" asked Granny Xia, her tone somewhat anxious, her old eyes gleaming with hope.

“I found that Eunuch Song from the laundry department. He and Wei Fu were originally from the same hometown and worked together for several years before,” said Steward Hu. “He said that Wei Fu is most afraid of eggplant flowers. He sneezes and gets itchy all over whenever he touches them. Your Majesty, why don’t we give it a try?”

"It wouldn't hurt to give it a try. This is the time when eggplants are in bloom, so it won't be hard to find them." Consort Hui thought it was easy. "I'm thinking of confirming his identity first, and then we can talk about other things."

"Better safe than sorry, Your Majesty is right," said Granny Xia. "I'll go and test her myself tomorrow. If it's really as Eunuch Song said, then we should have it in the bag."

Most people wouldn't react this way to eggplant flowers. If Zhang Ma can't stand it, then it's pretty much certain that she's Wei Fu.

The next day, Granny Xia found a few eggplant flowers, put them in her sleeve, and went to find Zhang Ma with a little maid.

Zhang Ma was a good cook. After the Empress had a meal with him, she appointed him to be in charge of all three meals a day. As a result, he spent almost all his time in the Imperial Kitchen and was not allowed to go anywhere else.

Granny Xia came to see Zhang Ma, ostensibly to see her old sister.

The people in the imperial kitchen naturally recognized her, and they all greeted her and offered her a seat when she arrived.

Granny Xia said, "I won't sit. I've come to see my elder sister."

As she spoke, she walked over to Zhang Ma and said, "I know you're a very busy person, so I don't dare to bother you easily. But I have to come and see you, and also to fulfill the friendship between us old sisters."

He then pointed to the little girl and said, "I have no gold or silver to give you, but I made a pair of shoes by hand. Please try them on, and if they don't fit, I'll have them altered."

The little girl was holding a pair of shoes in her hands, big and chubby.

Aunt Zhang glanced at them and said, "These shoes are quite nice. Thank you for your trouble, but I can't try them on now. This place is dirty, and they'll get dirty if I try them on."

Granny Xia hadn't intended for him to try on the shoes. She went around behind him and said, "Look how busy you are, your hair is all messed up. Let me fix it for you! You've got both your hands occupied."

Aunt Zhang was preparing fish there, top-quality Songjiang perch, which were still lively even after being gutted.

Zhang Ma didn't remove the fish's heart when killing it, so the fish remained alive until it was cooked.

Zhang Ma didn't mind. While Xia Mama was fixing his hair, she used the eggplant flowers she had in her sleeve to wipe Zhang Ma's neck.

After fixing his hair, he quietly walked over to Zhang Ma and started talking to him.

"It's hot these days, so please be careful not to get heatstroke. I have some Liu Yi San (a traditional Chinese medicine), I'll get some for you to drink every day." Granny Xia continued to fawn over her.

“I have some medicine to relieve summer heat.” Zhang Ma said without looking up. “I don’t like the taste of Liu Yi San (a traditional Chinese medicine), it’s too astringent.”

At this moment, a young eunuch from the imperial kitchen quickly brought a small stool to Granny Xia: "Please sit down, don't stand."

They brought her a bowl of tea and some freshly roasted pumpkin seeds.

Granny Xia spoke a few more words to the young eunuch, but she kept a close eye on Zhang Ma. After a while, Zhang Ma felt an itch on the back of her neck, but she couldn't scratch it.

I rubbed it hard with my collar, but the more I rubbed, the itchier it became.

"Old sister, what's wrong?" Granny Xia asked.

"It's nothing," Zhang Ma said, but the itching on her back got worse and worse, and gradually, her entire neck was covered with red papules.

When Granny Xia saw him like this, she knew what was going on, but she still said, "Oh dear, could it be that you were bitten by some poisonous insect? Poisonous insects are more likely to appear in this weather. One bite and you'll get rashes all over your body."

The people in the imperial kitchen were startled when they saw this and said, "Quickly, go and fetch the imperial physician!"

By this time, Zhang Ma already knew what had happened, but she didn't say anything. She endured the discomfort, cleaned the fish, put it on the steamer, and washed her hands with clean water.

He said, "It's alright, just rub it with coriander leaves."

As she spoke, she went to the kitchen, grabbed a handful of coriander, and rubbed it back and forth on the back of her neck. Sure enough, the rash gradually subsided.

"Oh my, this is a folk remedy!" Granny Xia said with a smile, trying to make conversation. "It really gave me a fright just now."

Aunt Zhang said nonchalantly, "This is an old problem; I've had it since I was young."

Granny Xia finished her tea and grabbed a handful of pumpkin seeds, saying, "Seeing that you're all getting busy, I won't add to the trouble. Older sister, come talk to me whenever you have time. If you need anything or anything, don't hesitate to tell me."

“I’m busy, so I won’t see you off,” Zhang Ma said casually. “You know my temperament; I never make a fuss. Besides, if I don’t see you off, someone else will.”

Sure enough, two people escorted Granny Xia out.

Granny Xia kept eating melon seeds as she walked, always choosing shady spots. By the time she returned to the palace, she had finished eating all the melon seeds.

Just then, Consort Jing came to talk to Consort Hui. When Granny Xia entered the room, the two were chatting.

They chatted for quite a while before she left. After she left, Granny Xia said to Consort Hui, "Your Highness, this time it's practically a sure thing."

"You've tried it?" Consort Hui's eyes lit up.

“That’s right. I pretended to fix his hair and rubbed eggplant blossoms on the back of his neck. Sure enough, after a while, he started getting an unbearable itching and a rash,” said Granny Xia. “There’s no way I could be wrong. What other coincidence could there be in the world?”

“Since that’s the case, the rest will be easy. We just need to make the Empress suspicious of him, and then we can verify his identity,” Consort Hui said. “If we catch him, the rest won’t be able to escape either. They’re all in the same boat.”

"In this way, Your Highness will have done a great service," said Granny Xia happily. "This will make it even easier for our Imperial Uncle to become Prime Minister."

"And you're right, the previous dynasty is in complete chaos right now. A few days ago, everyone was clamoring to promote Lü Fengming, and then the matter of Lü Fengming encroaching on the street by his private residence was brought up again. It was also said that he kept more than a dozen singing girls at home and that his behavior was improper."

Then Wang Cong rushed to the front again, and someone accused him of driving his maid to her death, being cruel and incapable of shouldering great responsibilities. "That's why I told my brother there was no need to rush forward; let's wait until those people ahead have finished tearing each other apart." Consort Hui said with a cold laugh, "That's why I told my brother there was no need to rush forward; let's wait until those people ahead have finished attacking each other."

"Your Majesty is right. In my foolish opinion, it's best not to be the first to act. After all, good things come to those who wait!" Granny Xia said with a smile.

"Let's not talk about anything else for now. The right thing to do is to subdue this Zhang Ma. They say outward strength is less important than inner strength; if we can maintain our position in the harem, that's better than anything else," Consort Hui said. (End of Chapter)