tallest building

Chapter 333 Mistake upon Mistake

Aunt Zhang kept rambling on and on.

Yu Lu had no choice but to interrupt him: "I understand what you mean. This is not a difficult matter. I will talk to the Empress later and ask her to reward the eldest princess with a meal of the dishes you prepared. That way, the eldest princess will have both face and substance, and it will be fine."

Zhang Ma was delighted and thanked him repeatedly, "Manager Yu, thank you so much for your wisdom! I must treat you properly later! How about tonight?"

Because Wen Mingqian and his mother had limited living space, Zhang Ma did not live with them after entering the palace.

Instead, he lived in a small courtyard not far from the imperial kitchen, keeping company with several of the kitchen maids there.

That evening, Zhang Ma prepared a table full of her signature dishes and invited several managers from the imperial kitchen, as well as Yu Lu, to come over.

Yu Lu sat as the chairman, with the others accompanying him.

"I've been in the palace for a while now, and I've been wanting to invite you all to a meal. I've troubled you all quite a bit. Although it's late now, thankfully the weather is cool. Thank you all for gracing me with your presence. I'm a rough woman, and I'm grateful for your understanding. Whether it's Steward Yu, the other eunuchs, or my old friends, they are all my benefactors." Zhang Ma picked up the wine pot and filled everyone's cups. "I'm not good with words, but this meal is my heartfelt offering."

The next day, when Yu Lu was serving the Empress, he brought up the topic: "The eldest princess is truly filial. She thought that Zhang Ma was now serving His Majesty and the Empress three meals a day, so she said that she would eat vegetarian food from today onwards and asked Zhang Ma not to prepare meals for her anymore."

Zhang Ma told the servant about this, and the servant thought it probably couldn't be done, since Her Highness the Princess was quite weak at the moment, and continuing to eat vegetarian food would only harm her health.

The Empress nodded and said, "You are right. One of the reasons I called Zhang Ma into the palace was to adjust her diet. Although she and Gang'er are no longer husband and wife, firstly, her status is still there, and secondly, it was Gang'er who made her tired. I have always felt bad about it. Now that she has come back to the palace, I can't let her feel that I have neglected her."

“It seems that Your Highness and I have the same idea. In that case, let’s bestow a lunch upon the Princess in Your Highness’s name. It will all be prepared by Zhang Ma, and I will personally deliver it.” Yu Lu pressed his advantage.

"Very good, let's do it that way. With you all handling this matter, it saves me a lot of trouble." The Empress was very satisfied with Lu's actions.

Sure enough, at noon that day, Yu Lu brought people to deliver lunch to the Princess.

"Your Highness, this is a special gift from Her Majesty the Empress, all made by Zhang Ma. Her Majesty the Empress said that the weather is hot these days, so Your Highness must take good care of yourself and be careful with your diet," Yu Lu said with a smile.

"Steward Yu, did you all enjoy your meal and drinks last night?" The eldest princess asked with a half-smile.

The eldest princess also learned that Zhang Ma had invited Yu Lu to dinner.

Today, Yu Lu brought the Empress's decree, clearly indicating that Zhang Ma had told him about yesterday's events.

This made the eldest princess even more uncomfortable.

She, a royal princess, couldn't even be in charge of her servants anymore.

Yu Lu couldn't directly respond to the eldest princess's words, so he just smiled and said, "Your Highness, please take good care of yourself and don't let down the Empress's kindness."

"Then thank you very much, Your Majesty. I will personally go and express my gratitude later." The eldest princess couldn't make a scene in front of Yu Lu.

After Yu Lu left, the eldest princess didn't even glance at the dishes on the table. She instructed the servants around her, "Go and invite Zhang Ma over. I want to reward her with something." Zhang Ma arrived and, as was customary, waited at the bottom of the steps outside the door. The person who had gone in to report was slow to come out.

After waiting for what felt like the time it takes to eat a meal, Zhang Ma was getting dizzy from the sun when someone finally came out, holding a string of coins in his hand: "This is a reward from His Highness, saying that you've gone to great lengths."

After receiving the money, Zhang Ma kowtowed to express her gratitude as per custom.

He fell ill with heatstroke after returning home.

Consort Hui was originally staying with Consort Jing, but Consort Jing had been ill these past few days. The two had always had a good relationship, and since Consort Jing had no children, Consort Hui went to keep her company.

So she was unaware of what was happening here.

When Yu Lu heard that Zhang Ma was ill, he took some time to come and visit her.

Zhang Ma had just finished drinking her medicine, and there was a strong smell of patchouli in the room.

Upon seeing Yu Lu arrive, he struggled to get up: "Steward Yu, what brings you here? The smell here is unpleasant, please don't be offended by the stench."

"Oh dear, what are you saying, sister? I saw you were fine at noon today, how did you suddenly get heatstroke?" Yu Lu was very puzzled.

"Alas, I must say, it was my fault after all," Zhang Ma sighed helplessly. "His Highness is still angry with me."

Upon hearing this, Yu Lu understood, recalling the words the eldest princess had spoken with a forced smile when he had gone there earlier that day.

He clearly felt that Zhang Ma and he were behind this, using the Empress's name to pressure her.

“His Highness has always been like this,” Yu Lu said, both to comfort Zhang Ma and himself. “You don’t need to worry about it too much. Maybe he’ll be fine in a few days.”

"Oh dear! I really have no other choice. It was Her Highness the Eldest Princess and Consort Hui who recommended me. I'm afraid people will think I'm repaying kindness with enmity." Zhang Ma wiped away a tear as she spoke. "Besides, I've also implicated you, Steward. My sins are even deeper now."

"Sister, please don't say that. What do you mean by 'implicate'? We servants are all devoted to our masters, aren't we? In my opinion, you should relax. Whether the master beats, scolds, or punishes us, we should just accept it and be prepared for the worst. Eventually, things will get better." Yu Lu comforted him.

After hearing his words, Zhang Ma wiped away her tears and said, "Manager Yu, you are a reasonable and worldly person. I believe you."

"Alright, you should take good care of yourself! I'll go tell the Empress that you should rest for a couple of days. You can get up and serve the masters again when you're feeling better." Yu Lu said and left.

When Consort Hui returned and heard that the eldest princess and Zhang Ma had a conflict, she couldn't help but say, "You're being too impatient. What's the big deal? Is it worth arguing with a servant?"

"I just can't stand how they treat people differently based on their status! Yu Lu even tried to intimidate me with the Empress's name. Does he think I'm stupid?"

"Your Highness can't blame His Highness for being angry. Zhang Ma and Yu Lu are now in cahoots, and Yu Lu keeps calling Zhang Ma 'old sister'," Xia Mama said from the side. "And that Wen Mingqian, they've really won Yu Lu over."

A single sentence reminded Consort Hui that they might be using Yu Lu to achieve their ulterior motives.