Chapter Sixteen: Waterwheel

  "Little master, why haven't you taken your medicine yet?" Putting down the things in her hand, she saw that the medicinal soup on the table was still untouched. Green Bamboo shook her head helplessly and said, "The imperial physician said that your body is still very weak, so he specially gave you a lot of nourishing medicine. If the emperor finds out that you haven't taken it, we servants will be in trouble."

  Qilin poked her ear, and Lüzhú's nagging was about to start again. But wasn't she not drinking it? Those smelly and unpalatable medicinal soups were really hard to get close to.

  Her body is so strong, no need for supplements, just a lot of good food will do.

  Well, for the past three days, Feng Changqing has been taking good care of her in terms of food. Whatever she wants to eat, she just needs to say it out loud and it will be ready within ten minutes. Moreover, the dishes are all from the menu she wrote herself. Emma, happiness is indeed a matter of attitude.

  The only thing I dislike is taking medicine three times a day.

  The key is that after drinking that medicine, the bitter taste takes a whole day to dissipate, and even the hair feels like it has a medicinal smell.

  Hugging her head and lying on the dresser, she said anxiously, "Green Bamboo, you pour it away, look, I can still jump around, neither of us will say anything, absolutely no one will find out, right?"

  Green bamboo shook her head helplessly, put her hands on her waist and said sternly "Impossible. Young master, if you don't drink, I'll tell the emperor the truth, at that time something will happen that young master should know about."

  "Huh? Qi Lin was taken aback for a moment. Her time drinking medicine would definitely increase indefinitely, haha... rather die than do that."

  But it's really too hard to drink.

  "Master, Green Bamboo knows you don't like taking medicine, so I've prepared your favorite mung bean cake and some fruit." Handing the medicine to Qilin, she smiled kindly and said "Be good, Master."

  "Green bamboo, are you treating me like a kid?" Because of pinching his nose, his voice was somewhat strange. He avoided the medicine bowl and said wordlessly, "Fine, I'll drink it, but go prepare some bath water for me."

  Lu Zhū gave a "gotcha" look at Qí Lín, who could only lift up her bowl and take a small sip. She closed her eyes in pain, looked at Lu Zhū with a smile, and said: "After drinking this, I always sweat, my whole body smells like medicine, it's so uncomfortable. So go prepare the bath water quickly."

  "Yes, I'll go." She looked at Qilin with some suspicion, but after taking a sip, she shouldn't do anything, and then turned to leave.

  After seeing the green bamboo leave, Qi Lin painfully stuck out her tongue and ran to the potted plant to pour away the medicine. Anyway, the house was full of medicinal smell, so it wouldn't be discovered.

  When did this green bamboo get bought by the emperor? How could he force her like that???

  However, I slept for two days and had a very long dream during those two days, but it was fragmented and I couldn't recall it all. It seemed like something else happened too.

  Qilin has a strange habit. During high fever or when the fever just subsides, she will unconsciously do some things, but after recovery, she remembers nothing.

  This is what her mother said to her.

  But anyway, it's not a big deal, so... This time shouldn't be a big deal either. Green Bamboo and the others also said that nothing strange happened. If something really did happen, wouldn't it cause a huge stir?

  Wait a minute, this isn't the time to think about these things. The Empress's orders haven't been carried out yet, what should we do? What about that location?

  "Milord?" Seeing Qilin walk out of the house, Jinyu hurriedly went over to support Qilin and said "Whatever milord wants, just give the order and I will go take care of it immediately."

  Qilin smiled slightly, although she felt recovered, her physical strength had not fully recovered. The medical technology in ancient times was not so advanced, and she had been injured before at Zuihuatang, and it took a month for her to recover under the good care of Yu Mu's medical skills.

  "I have nothing to do with Elm."

  Huh? What's this thing? It seems like I recall someone saying something in my mind, was it in a dream?

  "Master?" Looking at Qilin's pale face, Jinyu said with some concern.

  "It's nothing." He waved his hand and stretched, the weather today is not bad. "Jinyu, accompany me to Qianli Chi for a walk."

  Jing Yu slightly hesitated for a moment but still nodded in agreement.

  The Thousand Carp Pool is located in a higher place of the imperial palace. Although it's beautiful, due to strong winds here, there are few visitors, only some lower-ranking servants who take care of it.

  The real reason is the taboo of the imperial palace. The former second prince, Bai Qianyan, this Thousand Carp Pond was once his birthday gift to the empress dowager. Since Feng Changqing ascended to the throne, he has never come here, so naturally the concubines will not come to a place without the emperor.

  However, someone has taken a step ahead today.

  "Jinyu, you go down first."

  After Jingyu stepped down, Qilin pulled her cloak and walked to the side of the lake, saying "Long time no see, how have you been?"

  "Nothing wrong? You don't look so good." Bù Yāo said without turning her head. "I heard you were ill, almost died."

  Qilin smiled coldly, stretched her waist, twisted her waist, and smiled, "Life is infinitely good, I'm not willing to die yet."

  As for Qilin's reaction, Buxiao really wanted to walk up and slap her to death, but because of her special identity, Feng Changqing actually cherished Qilin's existence so much that if Qilin had an accident at this time, she would have died in a more miserable way.

  "Shall I see you off?" Turning around to walk towards Qilin, even if she didn't think so in her heart, but she also wanted to see Qilin's flustered expression. She raised her hand and said "There are very few people from the palace who come here, your maid won't be able to arrive in time even if she knows about it, and even if I do know, I'll make sure to silence her. How about we say you slipped and fell into the water? Who knows, you might even get a posthumous title."

  "I'm really looking forward to it then." Qilin slightly raised the corner of her mouth, not retreating but instead taking a step closer to Bu Yuxi, continuing "Anyway, you've already killed me once, do you still care about the second time?"

  Bai Yu was taken aback for a moment, and a surge of anger rose up in her heart. If she hadn't been worried about so many things, she wouldn't have endured it like this.

  "Hmph, putting on a good face, you think you're so great. But in the end, you're still a murderer." Only then did she realize she had misspoken, turning her back to Qilin and continuing, "Qilin, how long do you think your identity can remain hidden?"

  Although the topic was quickly changed, Bai Yao could still feel Qi Lin's suspicious gaze, which had never left her side.

  "If it wasn't for you snatching my case, I wouldn't have ended up in this godforsaken place. Isn't that the same as killing me?" With a guilty conscience, she turned around and raised her voice. Feng Changqing had said before that if Qilin found out about this matter, she would die a hundred times. Strongly and calmly, he said "Qilin, now is not the time to think about these things, have you thought about what would happen if your true identity were to be exposed? That would be a crime of deceiving the king."

  Qilin slightly furrowed her brow, and Yuxiao's reaction was a bit too big. However, she had thought about the question Yuxiao asked before, but there were only two or three people who knew her true identity.

  "As long as you don't go off on a tangent, I think it's still safe. Shrugging her shoulders and showing an air of nonchalance, she smiled slightly and said, 'Bu Yao, we're two grasshoppers on the same string. Even if you do go off on a tangent, don't forget that when you first said we were fellow townspeople, I was the first to know your true identity. You helped me deceive him together, this sin is not small either.'"

  Baiyu was slightly stunned, she just wanted to use this to warn Qilin, so that Qilin wouldn't have any prejudices against her, but unexpectedly she was bitten back.

  "Qilin, don't push me." Her eyes glared, as if she wanted to glare Qilin into a million holes. Then, her eyebrows relaxed and she smiled, saying "Qilin, Long Ye loves me dearly, the Emperor treats Long Ye like a brother, he abandoned his most beloved Lan Fei for Zi Yu, do you think he won't abandon you for Long Ye? You're just a concubine, while I am Long Ye's official wife."

  Si Qi Lin looked at Bu Yao with a skeptical face and said, "I say, Bu Yao, why are you so excited? I was just joking, feeling guilty?"

  "Uh? Being said to be self-centered, Yu Wan unconsciously avoided Qilin's gaze and said "I... I didn't."

  After finishing speaking, her cheeks were hot and she felt even more guilty.

  "Alas, after all, we're the only ones who can understand each other. Why must it be like this?" With a sigh of helplessness, recalling the events at Drunken Flower Pavilion, Qi Lin continued, "I really didn't know what was going on that time. All I knew was that when I woke up, I was already with..."

  "Don't explain anymore." Cutting off Qilin's words, she didn't want to recall the shame of her life for a moment. Glaring at Qilin, "From now on, we'll rely on our own abilities. I, Bu Yao, will absolutely not yield and will definitely become the queen here, and also obtain the highest power."

  "Bang bang bang."

  Bù Yáo stared at Qí Lín in surprise, "You... what do you mean?"

  Qilin blinked her eyes, stopped applauding, and smiled slightly, saying "I'd like to congratulate you in advance."

  "You!!!" Some exasperation, gritting teeth "Hmph, you continue living your mediocre life, I don't have the American time to accompany you to blow cool breeze."

  Having said that, he turned and left.

  Zi Lin pouted, going through the motions of daily life. If only it were that simple, at least she wouldn't have to think about these annoying things. She gazed out at the lake's surface, where a gentle breeze stirred up ripples and occasionally revealed red carp breaking the water's surface.

  She walked closer to the lake and squatted down, stretching out her hand to touch the water's surface. The carp immediately floated up, startling Qilin into quickly withdrawing her hand. She found that they had merely gathered around her. With a faint smile, she stretched out her hand again, still able to feel their slippery bodies. Occasionally, some of the carp would even nip at her fingers, making her giggle uncontrollably.

  Before long, all the carp gathered together, and the water surface was a sheet of red, very spectacular.

  "Wow, young master, what's going on? I've never seen such a scene before." Jingyu looked at the lake in surprise, and the carp began to swim around in circles as if they were dancing.

  Qilin smiled slightly, and this scene was like a kaleidoscope. If there was a camera, taking a picture of it would definitely win some kind of award.

  Really?

  A scene suddenly flashed in her mind, Qilin abruptly sat up straight, under Jinyu's astonished gaze, she quickly walked to the other side of the Thousand Carp Pond, looking left and right, finding a branch, while observing the surroundings, drawing a diagram on the ground.

  Jingyu stood aside and didn't dare disturb her, but no matter how she looked left and right, she couldn't tell what the painting was of.

  An hour later, Qilin finally finished, on the ground was a slow calculation formula, and a simple diagram of a windmill.

  How could she have forgotten this thing? If it weren't for the carp, she really wouldn't have thought of using this method again.

  "Fantastic! It's really fantastic."

  Qilin smiled slightly and continued, "It's just that the project is a bit large in scale, but after completion, it will save a lot of manpower and resources, so..."

  "Don't worry, I will naturally lend you a helping hand." Putting down the drawings in his hands, Feng Changqing looked at Qi Lin with great satisfaction and asked, "How did you think of such a wonderful method?"

  Qilin raised an eyebrow and said, "A clever person must have a clever method. Why does Your Majesty need to mind the process, as long as I can produce this result, isn't that enough?"

  Feng Changqing nodded and continued, "What about the Empress Dowager's side?"

  "Just find a carpenter to make this model, and then experiment it for the empress to see." Zilin knew that no one would easily believe her, so she just had to do it. "Practice is the standard for testing truth."

  "What?! I don't understand a single word you're saying?!"

  Uh... Qi Lin looked away awkwardly...