Chapter 17 Little White-eyed Wolf

Zhang Qing caught on, realizing that the his Majesty was too embarrassed to directly ask Young Master Lian. Thus, he raised his voice and said, "Your Majesty, the Dew Tea has run out."

Focused on practicing her calligraphy, Lian Hua perked up her ears upon hearing the words "Dew Tea."

In the past, to curry favor with the Noble Consort, Lian Hua had painstakingly prepared an entire box of tightly packed tea, which the Emperor drank for many days, and now it had finally run out.

The Emperor asked seriously, "Why hasn't anyone been sent to purchase more?"

Zhang Qing, with a mournful expression, lamented, "Your Majesty, people have been sent to the Imperial Merchant and various major tea merchants, but this tea is nowhere to be found in the market. All possible methods have been tried; your servant is incompetent and truly deserves death."

A drop of ink dripped from the tip of her brush onto the paper, smudging the characters she had just written, leaving Lian Hua's mind in disarray.

Whether Dew Tea was available in the market, Lian Hua knew best; it was a unique specialty of the Lian Family, and the secret recipe was not divulged. How could it possibly be available elsewhere?

She was torn about whether to proactively make some tea to offer to His Majesty, but the process of making Dew Tea was complex and exceedingly troublesome. She, alone, was always exhausted after preparing each batch.

Lately, His Majesty had indeed treated her quite well, showing a pleasant demeanor and providing her with a continuous supply of cooking ingredients.

Thinking about this, Lian Hua felt conflicted. She neither wanted to tire herself nor feel guilty. Her feelings were at war.

In Lian Hua's heart, her expectations of the Emperor were extremely low, merely that he would provide her with ingredients without her having to spend silver, and that he would not punish her for minor illnesses and infractions. To her, this was already quite excellent!

As for being promoted or receiving rare and valuable rewards, those were out of the question. She dared not even dream of such things, let alone expect them.

Seeing that the Little Concubine remained indifferent, the Emperor could not help but feel annoyed. He had hinted so clearly; how could she still not take the initiative to offer to make the tea?

The previous two times, the tea had been taken from her by force, rather than given willingly. Now, even if the Emperor had a thick skin, it felt inappropriate to directly ask again, so he had hoped to hint at it, encouraging her to offer voluntarily, yet she completely ignored the prompt.

The Emperor thought bitterly, "Humph, after all the kindness I've shown her these days, it's been wasted on her, truly an ungrateful wretch. This won't do, I must turn up the heat."

So, he said to Zhang Qing, "Since the tea cannot be found on the market, where did it come from then?"

Zhang Qing, bowing and wiping sweat, thought to himself that His Majesty was truly wise and martial, possessing far superior acting skills than the average person. He answered, "Your Majesty, have you forgotten? This tea was originally presented to you by Young Master Lian!"

Lian Hua inwardly ranted: No! I didn't! Stop lying! It wasn't willingly presented; it was taken by force, outright robbery, blatant and clear, twice!!!

Noticing that Lian Hua still appeared unresponsive, acting as if she hadn't heard, the Emperor couldn't help but feel both annoyed and embarrassed.

Pretending not to hear—what was she thinking? Her brush had stopped moving for so long, ink splattering on the paper, yet she remained motionless. Anyone else would not need the Emperor to hint; they would have already taken the initiative.

The Emperor spoke calmly, "Daying Lian, is this true?"

Lian Hua pouted, turned around, and respectfully responded, "Responding to Your Majesty, indeed it is so."

What else could be done but to go along and admit that it was her own offering? Could she actually argue that it had been taken by the Emperor?

She wasn't foolish. Over these days, she had come to understand the temper of His Majesty quite clearly. Regardless of whether she was right, she couldn't openly contradict him, or else she would be punished at bedtime, feeling as if her skin had been peeled off the next morning. His Majesty's ability to settle scores after autumn was indeed formidable.

The Emperor tapped his fingers on the desk and then said, "Now that it is finished, what should be done?"

Lian Hua's heart cried and bled, as she finally understood that this was an overt plot by His Majesty, and she was inevitably caught in his trap.

Thus, with a pained expression, she respectfully replied, "Your Majesty cherishes Dew Tea, and it is a servant's honor to make it for you. Your servant will prepare to make the tea tomorrow. However, as the process for making Dew Tea is quite extensive, I ask for Your Majesty to wait a few more days."

The Emperor ignored her facial expression and nodded in satisfaction.

This Little Concubine was simple-minded, everything written on her face. She might say one thing while thinking another, but he was long accustomed to this; moreover, he thoroughly enjoyed seeing her dejected, watching how she could never escape from the palm of his hand. It was exceedingly satisfying.

Feeling generous due to his happy mood, the Emperor thought to give her a few pointers.

He walked over to her calligraphy desk to take a look, and wondered; she had been practicing for many days now, hadn't she?

The brush, ink, paper, and inkstone had all been taken from Zhang Qing, and he had seen it with his own eyes. Yet, after practicing for so long—even a butcher becomes adept at reciting poems through sheer repetition—how come her characters still looked like a dog's crawl, without any improvement? She was indeed quite dense!

Flipping through her character practice book, the Emperor was startled—it was a copybook of cursive script by Master Liu from the former court, extremely rare and very precious.

The Emperor picked it up and began to appreciate it closely. The more he examined, the more he couldn't put it down, his heart lamenting that having such a treasure fall into the hands of this Little Concubine was a complete and utter waste. If Master Liu knew, he would surely spit blood in his coffin.

No wonder she hadn't improved despite such long practice; the Little Concubine was trying to run before she could walk—her characters were bound to be poor!

Without changing his expression, the Emperor said, "This copybook is not suitable for you. I will confiscate it and replace it with another."