Chapter 176 Musk Scented Box

Chapter 176 Musk Scented Box

Taking advantage of the good weather, Osmanthus Garden had a thorough cleaning.

The cellar had been ready and was empty long ago. Ji Yunqing directed everyone to move the precious big pot, as well as some rice, flour, oil and other things into it.

There are also some dried vegetables and pickled vegetables that were harvested last summer.

The pickled vegetables tasted good. Ji Yunqing often took some out to eat with porridge, and the maids in the yard also often ate them.

Now the several jars of pickles are almost empty.

Ji Yunqing looked inside and said, "Let's pickle some more when the vegetables grow this year!"

"Yes"

The maids were all very happy. They had originally thought that their master had made great progress this year. Since she would not be confined to her room, they did not plan to pickle any more vegetables, otherwise they would not be able to eat them.

After all, the maid’s meals are definitely not as exquisite as their master’s. Sometimes they are even the practice meals of new chefs, and pickles are also good to go with the rice.

Besides, pickles have that precious salty taste, who wouldn’t like them?

Ji Yunqing glanced at the happy maids and said, "Don't be too happy too soon. You have to work hard when the time comes!"

Hongdou smiled and replied: "Servants also have to work on weekdays."

There is still a small amount of dried vegetables left to eat, mostly because there are fewer fresh vegetables in winter, so I ate more.

When it comes to other seasons and there are fresh vegetables to eat, I rarely think about these things.

Throw away the moldy and rotten ones, and keep the rest for now. Eat them whenever you want to. If you don’t remember, wait until they go bad and throw them away.

Everyone does this, supposedly to avoid waste.

It seems that we should dry less vegetables and make more pickles this year.

She glanced again at the maids who were working diligently.

Forget it, there are more people eating this year, so I still need to prepare more.

Hemerocallis personally carried the sealed half jar of salt into the cellar and placed it in a small room alone.

This thing is extremely valuable and cannot be easily touched by a clumsy little maid and spilled.

After finishing these, Hemerocallis quickly looked to see if there was anything else to clean up.

There is also a warehouse. The master has a lot of things, so they need to be kept an eye on. But Nanny An is watching it, so I don't think anything will go wrong.

Ji Yunqing laid out all his ideas, and then he received a small task, which was to look after Ruirui.

The wet nurse had to take the maids to count Ruirui's things, including clothes, shoes, socks, hats, swaddling clothes, bibs, jewelry, mattresses, cushions, etc., as well as his toys and other things.

The little guy is not big, but he has a lot of things.

The mother and son stared at each other in this noisy environment.

It’s not that Ji Yunqing didn’t want to take the child back to the room to play, but when Ruirui saw the nanny rummaging through his things, he refused to leave and insisted on staring at her with his big black eyes.

Afraid of losing some of my belongings.

Just as the nanny was carefully counting the little guy's diapers and the little guy was staring at her with serious eyes, Ji Yunqing finally couldn't help it.

"Well, there's no need to check diapers so carefully, right?"

Who would steal something so stinky?

As soon as she opened her mouth, the wet nurse, the maid, and the little one all looked at her.

The nurse smiled and picked up a diaper like a treasure: "Master, this is a good thing, you can't miss it."

Ruirui also said "ah" seriously, as if she agreed.

Ji Yunqing: "Then you take it and I'll count it."

The wet nurse could only count “one, two, three, four, five”, and then start counting again, using her fingers and toes with difficulty, but she still couldn’t count clearly. Ji Yunqing felt tired just watching her.

Hearing that Ji Yunqing was willing to help, the nurse was pleasantly surprised: "Thank you, Master. I was worried that I couldn't count them all."

She slapped her chest with her strong hands, making a loud noise. She looked thankful: "If I rely on myself, it will probably take me half an hour."

Ji Yunqing thought to himself, half an hour is not enough, according to this standard, you have to count for at least an hour!

Actually, Ruirui had two wet nurses originally, but one of them got into trouble and died. Ji Yunqing felt that this wet nurse was quite dedicated, so he didn't pick another one.

Anyway, the child can't drink too much milk, and the maid can do other things.

Of course, the work of two wet nurses was originally done by one wet nurse, and Ji Yunqing did not treat her unfairly. He was considerate and gave her a raise.

Most of the monthly salary originally given to another wet nurse was given to this wet nurse, and the rest was distributed to the maids who were also taking care of Ruirui.

Everyone is happy now.

When the child grows up and his appetite increases, he can eat complementary foods.

Just like now, Ruirui can eat some thin noodles, egg custard and the like every day, and can also drink some rice soup. This child is easy to raise and he is not picky about anything.

Ji Yunqing quickly counted the number of diapers, "A total of eighty-three."

Hearing the number, the nurse was amazed: "So fast? The master is really wise and powerful."

Ji Yunqing: There’s no need to praise these mere diapers so much, right?

The nurse took out a palm-sized booklet from somewhere and started flipping through it.

Ji Yunqing glanced at it and remembered that there were some strange symbols on it, but Ji Yunqing didn't recognize any of them.

"Oh! Master, something bad has happened!"

The nurse was horrified.

Seeing the nurse so excited, Ji Yunqing quickly asked, "What's the matter?"

Did something happen?

She’s watching, it shouldn’t be possible…right?

Ji Yunqing's heart was lifted.

Then the nurse said sadly, "Two diapers are missing from the young master's diaper!"

Ji Yunqing: “…”

It's just a matter of two missing diapers, but you talk like it's some valuable item missing!

"It's okay, just make up for it if it's missing, maybe you remembered it wrong."

With the nurse's level of math, it's normal for her to make mistakes.

The nurse firmly denied that she had made a mistake: "How is that possible?"

The nanny kept muttering to herself and counted everything again, but couldn't find any other diapers, so she had to give up.

Ji Yunqing saw the little guy staring at the people working. She was racking her brains to think of how to take the child out for a walk, when she happened to hear Nanny An's voice outside.

"Rui Rui, let's go out and see if anything important has happened?"

She coaxed the child in a coaxing tone, and continued in the child's confused eyes: "Think about it, it's not just this small area that needs your inspection, there's also a huge area outside."

Ji Yunqing was heartbroken: "At your age when you need to strive, why don't you go and have a look?"

The little guy, who was less than one year old, was carried out of the room by his mother in a daze.

Outside, when Nanny An saw her master, her eyes immediately lit up.

She took a few quick steps and came in front of Ji Yunqing.

Holding a box in his hand: "Master, please take a look"

Ji Yunqing glanced inside and saw that there were only some bracelets and hand strings. "What's the matter?"

In order to save space, not all jewelry has a separate jewelry box. Some sturdy and less valuable pieces are stacked together.

Wait until you need to give it away, or wear it yourself, and then decide based on the circumstances.

Nanny An came closer and looked around. She found that there were too many maids running back and forth in the yard, so she stopped again.

He lowered his voice and said, "Master, let's go in and talk."

Ji Yunqing knew that he was going to tell her some little secrets, so she didn't hesitate and turned around and walked towards the room with the child in her arms.

"come on"

After finding a quiet place, Nanny An placed the box on the Huanghuali Eight Immortals Table in front of Ji Yunqing.

"Master, look"

Ji Yunqing reached out to pick it up, but was hurriedly stopped by Nanny An.

"Master, you can't touch this!"

She frowned, retracted her hand, and pulled back the cub's restless fat paw: "Mammy, what's the matter? There's nothing in here."

Nanny An looked unhappy: "Master, this box smells like musk, and it is mixed with a lot of other spices. Most people will only smell it and will not think of other things.

It should have been marinated with musk and other spices for a long time, that’s why…”

Musk?

Even if Ji Yunqing didn't have much knowledge, he knew about this thing. It was often used to play tricks in palace fighting dramas.

It usually causes infertility or miscarriage.

Ji Yunqing frowned: "Who sent this thing?"

Nanny An said slowly: "I just looked at the booklet, which was issued by the mansion."

Every month when the palace distributed materials, they would also give out some simple jewelry. They were not very expensive, but this also ensured that some poor concubines would not be too embarrassed.

Sent by the government?

The affairs of the palace are all managed by the princess, so this jewelry box is also...

Ji Yunqing spoke slowly: "Did the princess do it?"

Nanny An fell silent immediately.

She didn't dare to say that.

Not only that, Nanny An also opened the door very vigilantly to check and make sure that no one was eavesdropping before returning to her master with peace of mind.

Ji Yunqing glanced at Nanny An and said, "Don't look so grim. Think positively. I've already given birth to Ruirui. What if this was sent to the wrong place? Haha."

Nanny An lowered her eyes and said nothing.

How could such a big thing be delivered to the wrong person?

"Master, if you hadn't suddenly ordered to clean up today, no one would have noticed it. If these things were sent out one day and caused trouble..."

Apart from anything else, the maids normally couldn't see the problem at all, and she was not the only one who saw it.

This box smells of musk, and things stored in it for a long time will be stained with the musk. No matter which yard it is sent to, it will be blamed for something else.

By then, Ji Yunqing will also become the target of public criticism, and even if he has a child, he will not escape punishment.

Just like Concubine Li, her children are already so grown up, and she also has a little girl, but they were all sent to the Buddhist temple by the prince. If she didn't have any other circumstances in a few years, she might die one day.

Or if Ji Yunqing picked one or two necklaces to wear on a whim, it would harm himself or others, which would not be a good thing.

Ji Yunqing closed her eyes and thought for a while: "Mammy, this may not be the princess's doing. If she wanted to do it, it would be easy. It wouldn't be so complicated."

The princess is in charge of the affairs of the palace, so it would be easy for her to take action if she wanted to.

If she were a princess now and had only one daughter, would she be in a hurry to eliminate others?

No, having more children is a good thing, but it is not necessarily a bad thing either. In any case, the prince and princess will have the most pressure if they don’t have children.

But if it was someone else in the mansion, who could have done it?

Figures appeared one after another in Ji Yunqing's mind. She thought about it again and again, but couldn't figure it out, so she gave up for the time being.

Looking at the box again, it was ordinary in every way, just like the most ordinary box, not noticeable at all.

As he watched, Ji Yunqing felt something move.

"Auntie An, please get some chopsticks or tongs. I want to take everything out."

Nanny An wanted to persuade her master to get rid of this thing, as it would be bad for the body to be in contact with it for a long time, but she swallowed the advice and went to prepare it.

Soon, Nanny An brought over a pair of chopsticks and a food box.

"Master, let me do it. You just watch from the side. It's not good to put this thing directly on the table. It's better to find a place to put it."

She wanted to use chopsticks, so she found a food box to put the food in.

It's quite thoughtful.

Ji Yunqing had no objection. She just watched Nanny An operate silently.

It can be seen that Aunt An is very skillful in using chopsticks. In a short while, she has picked out all the jewelry in the box.

The bottom can also be seen at this time.

Ji Yunqing did not hesitate: "Tear down all the sides and the bottom."

At this time, Nanny An also noticed that the bottom and the surrounding areas of the box were too thick, which was not normal.

After opening it, the two were speechless when they looked at the small paper packages inside.

There were a dozen small paper bags placed in such a small space. One could tell with a simple guess that there wouldn't be anything good inside.

Without Ji Yunqing's instructions, Nanny An opened one of them and found that it was a gray-brown unknown medicinal powder.

"What is this?"

Nanny An shook her head and said: "I can't recognize it either. I still need a doctor to see it."

She didn't specialize in medicine, but she had a lot of experience in the palace, so naturally she knew a lot.

"Master, would you like me to quietly take this medicine package out of the mansion and ask at a pharmacy?"

In this situation, no one knows what's inside, but everyone knows it's not a good thing.

The master should hold back for the time being and wait until the mastermind reveals his flaws before making further moves.

Ji Yunqing's face was also very serious. She thought for a moment and said, "No, put this thing here first. Put it all in this food box. Don't make any noise."

Nanny An understood that the master was definitely planning to play the long game and catch the big fish.

The fact that she could deliver this thing to the yard quietly shows that she is no ordinary person. If she can be tripped, the master will be able to get rid of a great threat.

Ji Yunqing watched Nanny An put the box into the food box. The food box was quite large, enough to hold several dishes and soups on a daily basis.

Now I am very motivated and have put the box and the things inside into the box.

The master and his servant went out and saw the maid in the yard was still busy.

"Everyone has worked hard today, so I'll give you a little extra money."

The maids immediately became happy. Their monthly salary was only five taels of silver, and the head maid received ten taels of silver. If they could get an extra tael of silver now, it would be a lot.

Who would be unhappy?

Seeing others laughing, the little guy didn't know why, but he also started giggling, looking very happy.

Ji Yunqing said, "Other people are happy when good things happen to them, why are you so happy? I said I'd give you some milk."