After the rebellion was successful, I realized that this place was the Red Mansion

Chapter 133 Embroidered Words on a Bellyband
Day two.

Ping'er, along with Bao-guniang, Qin-guniang, and Madam Zhu, returned to Rongguo Mansion in sedan chairs.

The group arrived at the west gate of the palace. The eunuchs first invited the two young ladies into the sedan chair, then asked with a smile, "Which one of you is Miss Ping?"

“Yes, it is,” Ping’er said.

The eunuch hurriedly pointed to a sedan chair with a canopy and said, "His Majesty has decreed that Miss Ping should ride in this sedan chair alone!"

Upon hearing this, Baochai, Baoqin, and Li Wan all smiled and said, "Ping-Miss, please get into the sedan chair!"

Ping'er blushed, knowing they were teasing her. She couldn't openly mention that she had served the emperor in bed, so she gave a vague reply. After thanking the emperor in the direction of Linjing Hall, she got into the sedan chair that the emperor had specially ordered for her.

It was exactly the same sedan chair that the two girls were riding in.

Li Wan, however, was still hiding her identity, so she continued to ride in a sedan chair with Ying'er, Xiao Luo, Su Yun, and others.

About half an hour later, the group returned to the Rongguo Mansion. They entered through the East Corner Gate, disembarked in front of the Hanging Flower Gate, and Baochai, Baoqin, and Li Wan went to inform the Old Madam. Ping'er returned home alone.

She had kept her trip to the palace a secret from the old lady and the madam.

However, after sitting at home, Ping'er kept thinking about her trip to the palace, serving the emperor, having the second mistress embroider words on her bib, receiving rewards, and taking back the money. These things kept lingering in her mind.

"How am I supposed to tell Second Madam about this? Embroidering those shameful words on my undergarment, she'll definitely scold me to death!"

Ping'er couldn't think of any good ideas for a moment. Right now, Second Madam was probably staying with the Old Madam and would come back after she finished talking to Miss Bao.

Just as she was lost in thought, she suddenly heard a commotion outside, followed by a large group of maids and servants rushing out, their faces beaming with joy.

Congratulations, Sister Ping'er!

"Miss Ping, we've come to congratulate you!"

"Ping'er, come out with us quickly!"

"Where?"

Ping'er was pulled away by Xiren, and even Yuanyang, who served Jia Mu, came along, and together with the old women, they escorted her out.

Yuanyang laughed and said, "Don't you know? The Emperor gave the young ladies a reward, and you were given one as well. Go out and receive your reward to express your gratitude. The old lady knows about it and is very happy!"

"Where is our grandmother?" Ping'er asked hurriedly. The emperor had already told her about the rewards, so there was nothing unexpected. What she cared about was her second grandmother!

This reward absolutely had to be shown off in front of Sister Feng, otherwise it would be going against the Emperor's will.

"Second Madam is here too, hurry up and go, the fathers-in-law are all waiting."

Surrounded by people, Ping'er arrived first at Grandmother Jia's courtyard. Everyone smiled when they saw her and said, "Our Miss Ping has arrived!"

Ping'er felt embarrassed and glanced at the Second Mistress. She saw that the Second Mistress was also smiling, but when their eyes met, Ping'er sensed something was off in her eyes, as if she were saying:
I'll settle the score with you when I get back!
The old lady, the madam, the first madam, Aunt Xue, and the young ladies were all there, so Ping'er didn't say much and just waited.

After a while, Xiangyun came in, first paying her respects to Grandmother Jia, and then smilingly asked Baochai, "I didn't go to the palace this time, so why did His Majesty the Emperor still give me a reward? I can't accept a reward without merit, so I feel embarrassed to take it again."

She received two rewards from the emperor.

Baochai smiled and said, "The Emperor saw that your account book was perfectly in order, so he rewarded you, Yun'er."

Xiangyun felt even more embarrassed, because she had only glanced at the account book; her grandmother and second aunt had mostly helped with the calculations.

But she couldn't refuse the emperor's gift, so she accepted it and planned to thank him later when she went to the palace.

So the group went out to the main hall, where a group of eunuchs were waiting. When they saw the many young and beautiful girls coming over, they hurriedly stepped forward, bowing and greeting them, and asking with smiles which girl was which.

Wang Xifeng saw it clearly: where was the arrogance of these eunuchs? They were practically kneeling before the girls, trying to curry favor!

Back when Yuan-chun returned home to visit her family, the palace eunuchs and ladies-in-waiting didn't treat the Jia family very well, handling everything strictly by official procedures.

Later, several eunuchs, including Xia and Zhou, sent people to borrow several hundred taels of silver, which have yet to be repaid.

Now that Yingchun, Tanchun, Baochai, Xiangyun, Daiyu and others have entered the palace, these eunuchs have become opportunistic. Knowing that the girls from the Jia, Xue and Shi families will be favored in the future, they all come to curry favor with them.

snort!
Just as she was cursing in her heart, Wang Xifeng remembered what her aunt had said last time. Upon closer inspection, she realized that none of the girls from the Wang family had entered the palace...

After Xiangyun, Baochai, Baoqin, and Ping'er received their rewards and expressed their gratitude in the direction of the palace, a eunuch stepped forward and said with a smile, "Grandpa Xia sent me to serve Miss Ping!"

No one knew what was going on except the three people who had entered the palace. Ping'er quickly said, "Wait outside the second gate. I have something to discuss with someone."

The eunuch naturally dared not say anything, led his men out of the second gate, sent the other eunuchs back, and left only three or four to wait to carry out their duties.

Grandmother Jia and the others noticed something, but because it was related to the palace, they didn't ask too many questions.

……

Ping'er and Fengjie returned home.

"Please, Miss Ping, take a seat!"

Wang Xifeng was supporting Ping'er's hand, originally just teasing her, but Ping'er took the opportunity to sit in the main seat that Wang Xifeng used to sit in, glancing at her.

Wang Xifeng was greatly surprised. Ping'er was really trying to step on her head!

Ping'er smiled and said, "Grandma invited me to sit, how could I refuse? At least I have received a reward from the Emperor, but Grandma has not."

Wang Xifeng looked at her for a while before laughing: "Good girl, you've really climbed up a high branch and become a phoenix. I can't keep such a big Buddha like you here!"

Ping'er laughed and said, "Don't be modest, you'll have a good future ahead of you."

Wang Xifeng said, "Are you saying this for my own good?"

"If not for Grandma's sake, then for whom?" Ping'er smiled as she stood up and pulled Wang Xifeng to sit down: "Please take a seat, Grandma. In the future, Grandma will still be the mistress!"

Wang Xifeng wanted to ask more, but Ping'er changed the subject and said, "The eunuch just asked me about the matter that the Emperor wants to decide for Grandmother."

Upon hearing this, Wang Xifeng immediately forgot her earlier displeasure and hurriedly pulled her aside to ask, "Did the Emperor send an eunuch to retrieve my silver?"

“That’s right.” Ping’er avoided looking at her. “Eunuch Xia said to send a few people to the yamen to get the silver back!”

"Perfect! I'll send two old women with them, just in case they don't know the way!"

After a few words of discussion, Ping'er didn't linger. She went out and called two old women to go to the second gate with her, instructing them to follow the eunuch.

After returning home, I told my second grandmother that I had already gone to collect the debt.

Wang Xifeng was very pleased with herself. Leaning on the couch, she chatted with Ping'er with a smile: "After I returned the twelve thousand taels of silver, I paid back three thousand taels to the government, and I still have nine thousand taels left. Even if I leave the mansion in the future, I can still buy a house to settle down!" Ping'er drank her tea without answering.

Wang Xifeng glanced at her and saw that her eyes were full of spring and her makeup was more glamorous than before. She guessed what had happened and looked at her sideways, laughing, "You are indeed favored in the palace. No wonder the emperor has given you a reward!"

Ping'er blushed, but still remained silent.

Wang Xifeng was amazed: "After coming to the palace, you are like a Buddha statue covered in gold, and you also become very majestic."

Ping'er asked her with a smile, "Grandma, can you still do needlework?"

Wang Xifeng didn't understand what she meant, so she didn't reply. She secretly wondered why Ping'er, that little vixen, asked such a question for no reason.

Ping'er couldn't sit still, so she lifted the curtain and went out to Yihong Courtyard to talk to Xiren.

In the afternoon, an old woman rushed into Yihong Courtyard: "Miss Ping, Second Mistress wants you to go to the second gate. Those eunuchs have brought several people with them!"

Upon hearing this, Ping'er hurriedly took her leave, but Xiren also stood up and said with a smile, "I'll go with you to see what's going on."

Ping'er couldn't refuse, so she went with her to the second gate.

Upon arrival, they saw Wang Xifeng ordering a servant to bring a chair. She sat on the door, her face stern as she looked at the several people kneeling outside, while seven or eight eunuchs watched with smiles.

The kneeling men, their faces bruised and swollen, were crying and begging for mercy.

"You came?"

Upon seeing Ping'er arrive, Wang Xifeng pointed to the people outside and said, "Come and see who these people are? Ha, they borrowed money from me and now they want to renege on their debt?"

"Second Madam, spare my life!!"

Zhao Kui, Wu Ren, and the others hurriedly kowtowed, while Wang Xifeng sat in her chair, sneering repeatedly.

Xiren gradually figured out what was going on. She glanced at Ping'er and thought to herself, "Sure enough, Ping'er is different now that she's been favored."

Seeing that their heads were bleeding from kowtowing, Wang Xifeng's anger subsided a little. She asked, "Did you bring my money? You bunch of scoundrels, I lent you the money I had painstakingly saved up, and you dare to renege on it!"

These words were said to Xiren and the other old women to show that the money belonged to her and had nothing to do with the government.

Zhao Kui and the others hurriedly replied, "Grandma, please be lenient for a few days. We only have a few thousand taels of silver at home, and we still owe four or five thousand. Please be lenient with us for a few days, and we will come to pay you back as soon as we have enough!"

Wang Xifeng nodded and asked the eunuchs, "Where's the silver?"

The eunuchs looked at Ping'er.

Ping'er stepped forward and instructed, "Carry the silver into the mansion. After Second Mistress informs Miss Bao and Miss Lin, then deposit the silver into the government's coffers."

"What?!!"

Like a bolt from the blue, it startled Sister Feng so much that she stood up from her chair and stared at Ping'er with her phoenix eyes.

The eunuchs nodded, went to the back room to move out several boxes of silver, carried them only to the second gate, opened the boxes to verify their contents, and handed them over to several strong old women.

Seeing Wang Xifeng's stunned expression, Ping'er instructed the old woman, "Move the silver to the storeroom first and hand it over to Lin Zhixiao. After Ying'er comes to check it, it will be deposited into the government coffers!"

The women carried the boxes away as instructed, and the amount of silver was counted. No one dared to touch anything.

Xiren smiled and took her leave, turning back to Yihong Courtyard.

Ping'er took Second Grandmother's hand and returned home.

"My money!!"

Wang Xifeng seemed to wake from a dream, clutching a handkerchief in her hand, burying her face in her hands on the low table and wailing. She was filled with heartache, even more so than if her husband had died. This caused Qiao Jie, who was in the next room, to want to see what was wrong with her mother, but fortunately, her wet nurse took her back.

Ping'er laughed and said, "Grandma is really blinded by greed. She never imagined that there would be such a good thing in the world: why would His Majesty issue a special decree to ask for money for Grandma for no reason?"

As she spoke, she glanced at her twice, and Ping'er blushed, saying, "Grandma doesn't let the Emperor sleep with her many times."

Wang Xifeng sat up in surprise, turned to look at her, frowned, and wondered if she had misheard: "What are you saying, you little hussy?"

Ping'er gritted her teeth and said again, "I said, Grandma has not yet served the Emperor in bed, so there is no reason for the Emperor to bestow favor upon Grandma!"

Wang Xifeng's fair face, which had been flushed with spring-like blush, slowly turned red. She was both ashamed and annoyed, and then looked at her suspiciously.

Ping'er is not the kind of person who doesn't understand etiquette, yet she is humiliating her in front of her!
"grandmother……"

Ping'er stood up, facing south, and said, "By His Majesty's decree: Wang Xifeng, daughter of the Wang family, receive the imperial edict!"

Wang Xifeng was quite surprised. Seeing that she didn't seem to be joking, she stood up and waited for the imperial decree.

Ping'er blushed and said, "Order Wang Xifeng to embroider a tube top and a bodice, and embroider four words on it: 'Feng Nu is guilty.'"

Phoenix Slave?!
Wang Xifeng was shocked and pointed at Ping'er, her fingers trembling with anger and shame! She seemed to suspect that Ping'er had forged an imperial edict!

Ping'er, however, braced herself and said, "Wang Xifeng, quickly accept the imperial decree!"

She was addressed by her given name because she was conveying an imperial edict.

Seeing that the Second Mistress was furious, Ping'er quickly whispered, "The Emperor knows you lend money at high interest rates. He said he hates usury the most. If this were in Jinling, Mistress would have been beheaded long ago..."

Wang Xifeng's fear overcame her shame and indignation, and she hurriedly and respectfully replied, "This concubine accepts the imperial decree."

Ping'er found it novel and interesting that the Second Mistress had referred to herself as "this concubine" for the first time.

After delivering the imperial decree, Wang Xifeng slumped onto the soft couch, speechless for a long time.

Ping'er sipped her tea slowly, waiting for her grandmother to come to her senses.

After a while, Wang Xifeng turned pale and asked her, "Did the Emperor really issue such an edict? Ordering me to carve those four characters on my undergarment...?"

Feng Nu is guilty...

Let alone embroidering those four words, just hearing them or saying them out loud is enough to make one blush with embarrassment.

Ping'er said, "Grandma, even if you gave me ten thousand lives, I would not dare to forge an imperial edict. What the Emperor said was indeed the four words 'Feng Nu is guilty'!"

Feng Nu...

Wang Xifeng's heart skipped a beat. What did this damned emperor take her for?!

(End of this chapter)