Pampered Poisonous Royal Wife Chapter 118

Chapter 118: Her Wish Fulfilled 

Only after talking for quite some time did Steward Qin finally, though still unsatisfied, bring himself to stop.

“These are the silver earnings from these past days. Take them back and deliver them to Wang Ye.”

The moment Yu Yi saw the amount on the banknotes, he could not help but be shocked.

“So much?”

The tea house had not even been open a full month, and yet it had already earned this much silver?

Steward Qin could not help feeling a trace of superiority. Casting Yu Yi a sidelong glance, he said, “It is only thirty thousand taels. Is that really worth such astonishment?” Miss Mu was a little golden treasure. With her, however much silver they needed, they would surely earn it back.

Yu Yi swallowed hard.

“Steward Qin, do you think we ought to open a few tea houses in Yuexi as well?”

“In Yuexi, it is already a blessing if the common people can fill their stomachs each day. If we opened tea houses there, who would go to drink tea?”

“If not Yuexi, then somewhere else! Jiangnan has so many rich and prosperous cities. If we opened one in each place, then our master would never need to worry about silver again!”

“For now, it is better to first run Bu Xian Lou properly. As for anything else, we still have to wait for Miss Mu’s arrangements.”

Steward Qin sighed inwardly. He himself would have loved nothing better than to open Bu Xian Lou all across the Great Li dynasty at once, yet as for how such a thing should actually be arranged, he had not the faintest idea. Still, so long as Miss Mu was properly treasured, perhaps that wish would be fulfilled before long. So he really ought to write once more to Old Cheng and tell him to urge Wang Ye on all the more.

A great passion for tea swept across Jingling City, and Steward Qin smiled until his face nearly split with delight. In the imperial city of the capital, Eunuch Xu was smiling just as broadly.

He had brought back the tea Mu Yunyao had given him, and recalling how clear and settled his mind had felt after drinking tea in Jinxiu Garden, he found himself brewing it whenever he could steal a moment. Every time he drank it, he felt refreshed in spirit, and even the oppressive weight in his heart seemed to ease a little.

The Chief Eunuch had caught a chill, so Xu Li had taken his place serving at the Emperor’s side these past few days. Recently, one of the newly favored ladies in the harem had lost her child, then, half-mad, stumbled into a pond and drowned. At court, there had been endless clamor and argument over it, leaving the Emperor’s temper in an even darker state.

If Xu Li had not seen with his own eyes how seriously ill the Chief Eunuch truly was, he might have suspected the man had simply wished to dodge the danger and pushed him forward instead. Because of this, Xu Li was especially cautious whenever serving tea, terrified of provoking the Emperor’s displeasure.

Yet after the Emperor took one sip, he suddenly set the teacup down sharply upon the table and swept Xu Li with a piercing look.

“Palace attendants are forbidden to wear scent. Are you ignorant of that?”

Xu Li was already an old hand in the palace. If he had been an ordinary young eunuch, the Emperor would likely have ordered him dragged out and beaten to death on the spot.

Xu Li at once dropped to his knees, cold sweat soaking through him.

“May Your Majesty see clearly: even if this servant had courage enough to reach the heavens, I would never dare violate palace regulations. This servant has never worn any scented perfume.”

“Then where does the lotus fragrance on you come from?” The anger in the Emperor’s tone only deepened, and the pressure in the room was so heavy that Xu Li nearly wished to flatten himself against the floor.

Xu Li could not stop himself from trembling. Thinking of the tea he had drunk before coming in, he inwardly groaned with misery. Had he known, no matter how greedy he was for one cup, he would never have indulged himself.

“Reporting to Your Majesty—the lotus fragrance you speak of should come from the tea I drank. It is all this servant’s fault. A craving for tea came over me, and I could not restrain myself. I beg Your Majesty for mercy!”

“You say tea?” The Emperor’s anger still had not entirely faded. “How is it that I have never heard of tea in the palace carrying a lotus fragrance?”

“It was given to this servant by Mu Yunyao when I returned from Jingling City.”

“Mu Yunyao? Is she not the one who opened Ni Yun Fang and taught embroidery techniques to the women of Jingling City?”

Some time ago, even the censors had submitted memorial after memorial over the burning of Ni Yun Fang, almost as if it were their own embroidery workshop that had been destroyed. A few had spoken with particular vehemence, blocking him so completely that he could neither swallow his irritation nor spit it out. Yet since these censorial officials could not be condemned merely for speaking plainly, he had finally said, out of sheer annoyance, that if Mu Yunyao desired anything, he would compensate her by imperial decree. That remark had enraged the censors so badly that they had nearly jumped up on the spot.

“It is she. Not only is Miss Mu’s embroidery skill exquisite, but her tea-brewing is uniquely remarkable. This servant once had the good fortune to drink tea brewed by her own hands. Upon drinking it, it was as though pure lotus filled the mouth, all vexations vanished, and the whole body felt soothed and refreshed. That is why this servant, unable to resist, secretly drank one cup before attending on Your Majesty today. The tea fragrance then lingered upon my person. I shall never dare do such a thing again. I beg Your Majesty for mercy.”

“All vexations vanish, and the whole body feels soothed and refreshed? Is this tea some sort of immortal elixir?”

Yet his words had clearly piqued the Emperor’s interest, and some of the anger in his tone subsided.

“Go fetch some. Brew it and bring it for me as well. Let me see whether it is truly as good as you claim.”

Once the Emperor had spoken, the palace servants scrambled in great haste. Nearly half the Imperial Medical Bureau was brought over. One by one, the physicians carefully examined the tea leaves, and only after determining that there was nothing amiss did they permit Xu Li to brew the tea and place it before the Emperor.

“Your Majesty, the tea is ready. Please have a taste.”

Fortunately, the palace stores still contained some dew gathered from lotus leaves and blossoms. Yet as Xu Li smelled the tea, he could not help but feel that it still fell short by several parts compared with tea brewed by Mu Yunyao’s own hands.

The instant the tea was carried in, the Emperor caught that unique fragrance. It was indeed much like the scent that had clung to Xu Li, only fresher and more far-reaching. Unable to resist, he lifted the cup and took a light sip. At once, lotus fragrance seemed to fill his mouth, and his spirit stirred. His brow relaxed slightly.

“It is indeed uncommon.”

Xu Li let out a long, heavy breath of relief. At that moment, he was more than happy to do Mu Yunyao a good turn.

“This servant’s hands are clumsy, and I cannot compare with Miss Mu’s skill in brewing tea. When she brews tea, flowers and birds can be made to appear within the cup. That day, when this servant lifted the lid, I saw the tea leaves in the cup form a lotus. With the slightest stir, it changed again into the shape of a flying bird, pure vapors rising, cloud-like mist curling in the air. It was truly marvelous beyond words.”

The Emperor’s interest deepened further. Looking down into the teacup before him, he could not help feeling a trace of regret.

“Does she not run an embroidery workshop? How is it that she has now opened a tea house as well?”

Xu Li could not quite read the Emperor’s thoughts and answered all the more cautiously.

“I imagine it is because she wished to spread the art of tea-brewing as well. The tea house has taken in quite a number of people to learn together. And the name she gave it is even more interesting. Though the tea house is opened in a garden, she has called it Bu Xian Lou.”

“Bu Xian Lou? That Mu Yunyao truly has a mind. Jingling City, after all, was the native place of the Tea Sage Lu Yu. He once wrote the Song of the Six Envy-Nots:
I envy not golden cups, nor cups of white jade.
I envy not entry to the ministries at dawn, nor audience halls at dusk.
Of all things, I most envy the waters of the West River,
for they once flowed beneath Jingling City.
For her to use Bu Xian Lou as a name may indeed be counted a thoughtful touch.”

“Yes. When Miss Mu received Your Majesty’s reward, she was so overwhelmed that she repeatedly kowtowed toward the capital in gratitude for Your Majesty’s grace. She even said she would work all the harder, in hopes that one day she might open Bu Xian Lou in the capital, and then have the chance to come there in person and kneel outside the palace walls to give thanks.”

“She asked for nothing else, only for a piece of my calligraphy. That, too, may be counted as sincerity. Prepare brush and ink.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Xu Li quietly wiped the cold sweat from his brow and hastily ordered the writing materials to be brought.

Not long afterward, Xu Li emerged carrying two sheets of large calligraphy in his hands, one reading Ni Yun Fang, the other Bu Xian Lou.

“Official Su, His Majesty has issued a verbal order. These two inscriptions are to be sent to Jingling City and delivered into the hands of Miss Mu Yunyao.”

“Please report to His Majesty that this subordinate will personally convey His Majesty’s calligraphy to Jingling at once.”

Xu Li smiled and nodded.

“Official Su means to go in person, then? In that case, do carry one sentence to Miss Mu for me: tell her that her tea has already been presented before the Emperor.”

Su Qingwu’s heart stirred slightly.

“I shall certainly deliver the message.”

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