Shao Wanru’s heart jumped, and immediately remembered the story that Mingqiu Nun had told her before. She had only heard it once, so she hadn’t remembered it as clearly Yujie who had witnessed it herself. It was not a thing of the Central Plains, so that was why she thought it smelled weird, but she didn’t know what kind of powder it was. She had been exposed to a lot of medicinal materials in the past, but she had never smelled it, which indicated that it was very rare.
“Is that the disease caused by the use of joss-stick?” Yujie reminded her. Shao Wanru immediately remembered it, and her face changed slightly. “Yes, it was the joss-stick!” Yujie said with a heavy face.
There was silence in the room. Compared with other triggering methods, the triggering of joss-stick was even more difficult to prevent. Shao Wanru’s gaze fell on a copper censer on the window counter. There was incense in the censer, and a faint scent came out from the mouth of the censer, which was refreshing.
“Is this kind of incense all right?” Shao Wanru asked slowly. Yujie nodded and her face turned pale. “Miss, what should we do now?”
“Put away this protective talisman and place it in…” Shao Wanru muttered.
“Miss, can I bury the protective talisman?” Yujie’s eyes lit up. Since this protective talisman was not good, burying was the best way to get rid of it.
Shao Wanru shook her head, “Don’t bury it!” She remembered what had happened to Madam of Duke Xing. Nanny Sheng had buried the oil paper in the soil. Newly turned soil was very suspicious, especially in places like Chuxiu Palace. There was no one here, but there were so many now.
If someone found the traces of a new burial, they would find something wrong with it. When it started an investigation, they would trace it back to her easily. The palace was always an eventful place. Shao Wanru could be sure that it would go far beyond the scope of a protective talisman and cause endless disasters! But it was not appropriate to put it here.
“If we don’t bury it, it’s not appropriate to put it here. If someone secretly tampers with the incense, you will be in trouble, Miss!” Yujie said anxiously. Although Shao Wanru had just gotten this protective talisman and it would not a big problem even if someone lit up the incense, but she didn’t dare to risk it. She had seen the lady who had a malignant illness because of the incense. There was no good place all over her body. It was all covered with black bubbles. Even after Mingqiu Nun cured her, she was left with many scars.
Her face was ruined.
“Go get a purse.” Shao Wanru ordered. Yujie nodded, got up, and went to look for the purse in the package they brought. Soon she came out with a purse. After Shao Wanru put the protective talisman in it, she thought about it and asked again, “Did you bring the mint?”
“Yes, I will bring some right away!” Yujie was stunned at first and then overjoyed. She hurriedly turned around, went into the room again, and took some mint out. When the two of them entered the palace, they had also prepared some ordinary medicines. The mint was prepared by the two of them early.
“Miss, if you hadn’t mentioned it, I would not have remembered it.” Yujie put the mint on the protective talisman, then tightened the purse pocket and tied it up forcefully. After the medicine on the protective talisman was mixed with a special fragrance, it would cause acne spores to appear on the person who smelled it, and they would break and fester. There were also many other similar symptoms. But no matter what, neither of them dared to risk it. Now they could neither throw it away nor bury it.
Suppressing it with mint was the best way. When Mingqiu Nun treated the poor lady, the main medicine she used was mint. Later Mingqiu Nun said in a small chat that the mint flavor could suppress this scent and refresh the smell. Mingqiu Nun had mentioned it by chance. Yujie hadn’t thought of it for the same reason. She was secretly thankful. Fortunately, they had brought mint. Otherwise, where would they find the mint?
They hung the mint bag outside the back window. It was the last room inside, and no one would come near here. There was just a small partition wall next to it. No one would find out. After they closed the window, the two of them calmed down. Shao Wanru sat down again, and Yujie served tea. “Miss, this protective talisman was given to you by Third Miss. Is it possible that Third Miss wants to hurt you?” Yujie put down the tea, stood beside Shao Wanru, and asked in puzzlement.
“It shouldn’t be her! If she hurts me, she won’t get any benefit!” Shao Wanru shook her head and said. She was not so sure that Shao Caihuan couldn’t hurt her. She just felt that there was no interest between Shao Caihuan and her. Even if something happend to her, Shao Caihuan wouldn’t get any benefit.
She wasn’t someone in Shao Caihuan’s way. “But this is from Third Miss!” Yujie said, puzzled.
Shao Wanru was silent for a while. She didn’t believe that Shao Caihuan would go after her now. She slightly narrowed her eyes. The palace was a dangerous place. It was only the first day, and her enemy had tried to hurt her. She didn’t even know who the enemy was. But this Buddha incense reminded her of someone!
Even though this person showed no malice towards her, she could not prevent the people around her from trying to hurt her. The dinner was four dishes and one soup, which was not bad. After dinner, the eunuch brought some pots of hot water for her to take a bath.
After they freshened up, it had completely darkened outside. The two were tired from a long day, so they went to bed early. The light in Shao Caihuan’s room also went out soon, and she had gone to bed.
Shao Yanru sat under the lamp but didn’t sleep. She had a letter in her hand, and a smug smile appeared on the corner of her lips. She had just received this letter, and she had read it several times. After reading it, she picked up the letter paper and lit it on the lamp, then watched it turn to ashes. “Miss… Is this true?” Shuqi hesitated, as she cleaned up the ashes. This letter was just brought by a little palace maid.
“It’s true!” Shao Yanru said affirmatively. Her smile grew bigger. Shao Wanru’s beautiful looks had always worried her, but she was not worried right now. She hadn’t thought that someone had planned it for her even before she arranged it herself. It saved her some calculations. In the court draft, Shao Yanru regarded Shao Wanru as her biggest opponent.
“But… this is the palace?” Shuqi was a little worried and reminded her carefully. “This is the palace, so what! It’s even better. Rui’an Great Elder Princess isn’t in a position to intervene!” Shao Yanru snorted coldly.
“But…” Shuqi wanted to say something but was interrupted by Shao Yanru unceremoniously. “Since this was not something we thought of, it will naturally not be triggered by me in the future. No matter what happens to Shao Wanru, it has nothing to do with me! Be careful not to give the show away.” Her sullen eyes fell on Shuqi. Shuqi hurriedly winced in fright and didn’t dare to say more.
The young lady’s temper was much more violent than before. The lady had used to take her advice at first. Now she was arbitrary, and her temper was getting more and more violent in private. If she hadn’t waited on the young lady all the time, she would almost have thought that the young lady was a different person. Shuqi felt that the young lady’s temper was calm before. She was not very angry no matter what and was able to control her emotions.
The first day after entering the palace had passed silently. Early the next morning, the eunuchs delivered breakfast on time to the door of the ladies who stayed. After breakfast, they gathered again. This morning, everyone followed the Nanny in-charge to learn the rules of the palace.
It was a very painful thing for the ladies who had never studied them or who had not studied them properly. If they were wrong, they would be reprimanded by the Nanny in-charge in public. But those who had not studied the palace rules and etiquettes were often some ladies who were not valued or not powerful enough. Most of the ladies had studied them, but they were just not so standard. It was rather easy for Shao Wanru and Shao Yanru as well as the aristocratic ladies of several power ministers. In the end, there was nothing to do, so they sat nearby and watched the Nanny in-charge scold those ladies who did not learn the rules well while chatting.
Zhang Qilan went to Shao Wanru again, and the two of them looked for a place and sat down to have a chat. “Fifth Miss, do you have this?” Zhang Qilan whispered, and when no one noticed them, she pulled a thread from her cuff.
She had happened to see the familiar thread yesterday, and she nodded slightly. “Third Sister gave me one!”
“I thought you didn’t have one, so I bought one for you. Since you have one, then forget it!” Zhang Qilan lowered her head and carefully stuffed the thread into her cuff, and looked around, for fear of being discovered.
“Did you get it from Nanny in-charge?” Shao Wanru asked.
“Yeah, this is something I specifically inquired about. They probably sold it to me for my father’s sake, but Duke Xing’s Mansion is also powerful, so they probably will give one to you for the sake of your family!”
Zhang Qilan glanced sideways at the several nannies standing in the middle. When she saw that they hadn’t noticed them, she leaned over and whispered. “Where did they get them?” Shao Wanru heard something meaningful and asked calmly.
“Do you know there is a Buddha hall in the palace?” Zhang Qilan asked. Shao Wanru nodded. She was the second person to ask her the question since yesterday.
“I heard that the Buddha hall in the palace is getting more spiritual now. I don’t know who went there first to ask for the protective talisman. Later, they said it was pretty effective. It’s just that the protective talisman in the palace is not easy to get, so it is getting more and more precious!” Zhang Qilan curled her lips. “I don’t believe it!”
“There was no such protective talisman before?” Shao Wanru was surprised and curious.
“I have never heard of it before, but I just heard it this time. I also heard that it is very prosperous,” Zhang Qilan said disapprovingly.