Chapter 37: The Emperor's Handwritten Inscription

Chenxiang Pavilion.

Inside the room.

Ziling woke up and sat on the bed, stretching lazily. With sleepy eyes, she watched Qianqian mopping the floor.

The little maid was focused and serious.

She didn't even notice that Ziling had woken up.

After watching for a while, Ziling couldn't help but interrupt her, "Are you planning to make the floor so slippery that mosquitoes can do splits?"

Qianqian startled and turned around, revealing a radiant and bright smile.

She walked over with the mop and exclaimed happily, "Miss, you're awake! I made the mop you mentioned, and it works great. It requires no effort at all, and the floor becomes exceptionally clean."

"I can tell," Ziling replied.

On the way back to Chenxiang Pavilion after being punished to kneel at the ancestral hall, many maids were kneeling and wiping the charcoal ashes.

They didn't dare to criticize her openly, but they glared at her with resentful eyes behind her back.

Qianqian suddenly turned around and caught one of the maids red-handed, scaring the maid to the point of almost collapsing, begging for mercy while kneeling on the ground.

How dare she glare at her mistress behind her back? Qianqian wanted to teach the little maid a lesson, but Ziling stopped her.

Upon returning to Chenxiang Pavilion, Ziling saw all the maids and old maids kneeling on the ground, wiping the floor. It made her feel stiff and sore just by watching them.

After inquiring, she found out that they had no idea what a mop was.

Ziling described the mop in detail, intending to benefit the hardworking maids who cleaned the floor. However, the maids ignored her words as if they went in one ear and out the other.

Ziling didn't mind. If they were willing to work hard, she wouldn't stop them. But Qianqian was infuriated.

"If they won't do it, I will!"

Sure enough, while Ziling was asleep, Qianqian made the mop.

And the more she used it, the more satisfied she became, praising it endlessly.

And then... this little maid became crafty.

Ziling's loss in the charcoal business was a thorn in the side of the little maid.

She wouldn't let it go.

She tried to pull Ziling back from the path of losing money.

"Miss, this mop is so useful, it will definitely earn more than selling charcoal. Why don't we stop selling charcoal and sell mops instead?" Qianqian suggested, leaning on the mop.

"...."

"What about all the charcoal? How should we deal with it?"

"I've thought about it. We can sell mops and give charcoal as a bonus."

"...."

At that moment, footsteps approached, and Qianqian turned around to see Gu Yunfeng walking in. She said, "Master is back."

Seeing his unchanged expression and calm footsteps, Ziling smiled and said, "Looks like he wasn't punished."

Gu Yunfeng walked to the bedside and handed the inscription he held to Ziling.

Ziling reached out to take it.

Looking at the majestic five characters above, she twitched at the corner of her eye.

Is this guy so full that he's gone crazy?

But then she thought again, it was highly unlikely. He actually didn't agree with her selling charcoal.

"This couldn't be written by you, right?" she asked.

"The emperor personally wrote it," he replied.

"..."

"In the future, you'll be the supplier of charcoal in the palace."

"..."

"The business you helped me secure?" Ziling asked through gritted teeth.

Her eyes were blazing with anger.

She was already looking for a knife.

Seeing her murderous expression, Gu Yunfeng promptly denied, "It was the emperor who took the initiative to take care of your business."

Ziling felt like she was going insane.

"Miss?" Qianqian asked.

"This time, I have to sell charcoal no matter what."

Tears welled up in Ziling's eyes.

She was moved to tears by the emperor, who was always busy with state affairs. He found time to look after her business, and she had no way to repay him except by immediately sending the charcoal accumulated in Chenxiang Pavilion to his study.

Qianqian looked at the mop in her hand.

It was said that money in the palace was the easiest to earn, and with the emperor taking care of her business, it shouldn't end up in a disastrous loss.

But she still thought selling mops would be better.

The palace was so big, it definitely needed mops too.

Qianqian looked at Gu Yunfeng and said, "Young master, can you go into the palace and ask the emperor to change the inscription to 'The Best Broom in the World'?"

Ziling "..."

Gu Yunfeng "..."

Why did she want to die so badly?

Although what Qianqian said was not entirely impossible.

Of course, she wasn't talking about selling mops but changing the inscription.

Ziling looked at Gu Yunfeng.

Gu Yunfeng guessed her intention and didn't give Ziling a chance to speak. He raised his hand to stop her and said, "That's the emperor's words, written on paper as an imperial decree. It can't be changed so easily."

What's more important was that he had asked the emperor for this inscription. If he went back to ask the emperor to change it, wouldn't that be asking for trouble?

"Since it's about selling charcoal, there's nothing wrong with this inscription," he said.

"But I'm selling charcoal for applying on the face, not for burning," she said.

"..."

Was this woman really planning to have people apply charcoal on their faces?

Was there anyone that foolish?

Gu Yunfeng massaged his forehead.

Ziling took a deep breath to calm herself down.

She handed the inscription to Gu Yunfeng and said, "I'm giving this inscription to you. Open a shop and sell charcoal, but make sure you sell it to me at a loss."

"No, you'll supply me unconditionally."

Gu Yunfeng "..."

With this thought, a large amount of raw material costs were saved.

The slight unpleasantness in Ziling's heart vanished.

Feeling better, Ziling said, "Opening a shop requires money, and my husband doesn't have any."

Whose side is this maid really on?

Ziling got out of bed and tapped her on the head, "Your master has become a master himself. With just a casual move, he can earn more money than robbing, so he can completely support himself."

Qianqian nodded repeatedly, "The master excels beyond his teacher. The Marquis knows that and must be pleased."

Gu Yunfeng "..."

Dongling Marquis's residence.

Dongling Marquis laughed heartily.

Holding a cup of tea, he trembled with laughter upon hearing that Ziling and Gu Yunfeng robbed The Duke of Nan'an County. Only half a cup of tea was left from all the laughter.

Tangshi took the tea cup from him and scolded him, "Did our daughter corrupt her husband? Is it that amusing?"

"Our daughter has good taste, and I'm delighted when she follows me," Dongling Marquis said.

Tangshi had the maidservant wipe the table and said, "Do you feel uncomfortable if you don't stick a few gold pieces to your face every day?"

Dongling Marquis coughed lightly and looked at Zhou Qingyu.

Tangshi also noticed that Zhou Qingyu seemed a little unhappy.

When he was happy, he could talk endlessly.

When he was unhappy, he became taciturn.

"What's wrong?" Tangshi asked.

Zhou Qingyu frowned and said, "Those fat lambs were the ones I had my eye on. I planned to strike as soon as my face healed, but my brother-in-law beat me to it. He didn't even leave one for me."

He should have acted in time.

Zhou Qingyu sighed.

The few sheep that had already lost their fat sneezed in unison.

...

Ziling washed her face with cold water, drank half a cup of tea, and then rubbed her neck as she left the inner room.

In the courtyard, the maidservants had already started mopping the floor.

Before, they didn't take Ziling's words seriously. After Qianqian finished preparing the mop, she intentionally dragged it across the corridor, which provoked a remark from a little maidservant claiming that she was showing off.

But regardless of what was said, mopping was actually quite good, and it wasn't difficult to do.

The young mistress's maidservants definitely wouldn't do this kind of rough work. They were the ones who would end up with sore backs and aching waists from the labor.

There was no reason to be angry and have a grudge against oneself.

So they all imitated—colorful mops looked nice.

It's just that the quality wasn't that great.

As they mopped, they ended up with just a stick in their hands.

The mop head remained in its original place.

Maidservant "...".