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What’s going on?

Why is it these useless trinkets?!

Nanny Qi looked over, counted the items on the tray, and became more certain of her conjecture, the young girl really did empty out her entire family’s savings!

Only Lian Hua couldn’t resist the temptation, excitedly reaching out to touch the glittering gold and silver on the tray, unable to tear herself away.

She picked up a piece, weighed it, and looked at the Emperor like a begging dog, excitedly saying, "Your Majesty, about that matter, that matter needs silver, all the silver I’ve saved is here, you can take it all."

The Emperor lifted his eyelids to look at her, somewhat bewildered, what matter is that matter?

How could he not grasp the thought process of his Little Concubine?

Lian Hua glanced at Nanny Qi, then made faces at him behind Nanny’s back, hinting, "It’s about the thing you promised to help me with on the way back, remember?"

His Majesty was to help her find her parents and brother; her family owed a lot of debt, and she couldn’t just do nothing, she had to contribute too, letting His Majesty take the silver to pay her parents’ debts.

This silver had always been meant for her parents, and now she had put it all out, with the gold from the exchanged hairpins neatly placed at the bottom of the tray, topped with the silver she had saved.

Her monthly salary and the silver left over from swindling His Majesty, all were piled here, including silver ingots and broken silver, stacked up high.

The Emperor suddenly realized, so her meaning was that he would find her parents for her, and she would give him silver in return.

He felt displeased, his Little Concubine was too alienated from him, even trying to placate him with silver, what kind of notion was that?

The whole world was his, did he need her little bit of silver?

Faced with a reality that fell far short of his expectations, the Emperor’s expression soured, and he sat down without a word, silent.

Nanny Qi watched and listened quietly from the side, her brows knotted in concern.

What on earth had the Emperor agreed to help the young girl with, that she would need to give silver to accomplish it?

He was the Emperor, was he in need of that little bit of silver?

The silver she was swindled out of was all the girl had!

What were they trying to do!

Lian Hua, oblivious, thought that the Emperor felt it was not enough; she also felt it was not enough. She had originally wanted to save more, but now that His Majesty was helping her look, it seemed best to hand it over.

Lian Hua wanted to explain clearly, but with Nanny Qi beside her, it was awkward to speak plainly.

After thinking for a moment, she approached the Emperor, tugged at his sleeve, and hinted in a low voice, "Your Majesty, about that.

.. cough cough... I probably owe a lot of that, take this silver for now, help.

.. cough... pay it off, if it is not enough, please cover it for me, when I have more silver later, I will give it back to you. "

After finishing, her face turned slightly red, as if it was uneasy asking His Majesty for both money and assistance.

Hearing the words "owe" and "repay," the Emperor reacted, suddenly understanding a bit of her meaning.

Allowing himself to guess, her half-clear, half-muddled sentence, if he was not mistaken, meant complete, "Your Majesty, my parents might owe a lot of silver, take this silver for now, help them pay it off, if it is not enough, please cover it for me, and when I have more silver later, I’ll give it back to you. "

She replaced the words for her parents with coughing.

Having thought it through, everything made sense; he had misunderstood earlier. His Little Concubine wasn’t being polite about helping her with her matter. Instead, she was saying to help pay it off first, and she would repay him when she had the silver.

In her view, it was right for her to repay her parents’ debts, she didn’t expect him to pay it all off, truly honest, having offered all her own silver.

She was unwilling to let Nanny Qi find out about this matter, so all she could do was to hem and haw in response.

No wonder, when he entered the room just now, his Little Concubine hesitated upon seeing Nanny Qi. It turned out she had only told him about it, only spoken to him alone.

He really did understand his Little Concubine well.

Indeed, the one who knew her best was still him!

With this thought, the Emperor’s anger subsided, and a smile began to form on his face. Just as he was about to refuse her, a "slap" sound of a hand hitting the table suddenly came from the side, causing him to swallow his words back immediately.

He and Lian Hua simultaneously turned to look, only to see that it was Nanny Qi who had slapped the table.

After listening for so long, Nanny Qi finally understood what the Emperor intended to do and, in a burst of anger, smacked the table directly, looking absolutely furious.

She saw through it clearly, how the Emperor charmed the naive girl into believing she owed him a lot of silver, allowing him to hold onto it first, and if it wasn’t enough, she could owe it for now and repay him once she had more silver.

The gold in this tray, once converted into silver, was worth at least a few thousand taels. Even that wasn’t enough, so would the little girl’s monthly salary have to fill the Emperor’s pockets for a lifetime?

Was he planning to have the little girl trapped in his debt for her entire life?

Look at the little girl’s pitiful appearance, not daring to speak out directly, only mumbling and stumbling, her face turning red with the effort.

The girl was naturally simple, and when she was swindled, she still counted the silver for the swindler.

Look at this, the little girl rushed to give the Emperor all she had, still fearing it wasn’t enough.

And what about the Emperor? At first, he looked displeased, was that because he found it too little? Otherwise, why would he smile only after hearing the girl say she would give more when she had it?

The Emperor was being utterly ridiculous, even if playing a joke there should be a limit!

As an Emperor, was his vision really so narrow? To actually fixate on the little girl’s bit of silver!

The more Nanny Qi thought about it, the angrier she got, so angry that she smacked the table and sat there with a stern face, not speaking.

The Emperor and Lian Hua, seeing Nanny Qi’s huffy appearance, quickly exchanged glances, seeing confusion in each other’s eyes, both somewhat puzzled at what was upsetting her.

Lian Hua began to fidget nervously with her sleeves. The nanny was so angry, could it be that she had made some mistake?

Oh dear, she had reason to think this way. Her past experiences told her that when her mother and teacher were angry, it was definitely her fault, and when the master was angry, it was often her doing as well.

Therefore, whenever Nanny Qi got angry, Lian Hua would instinctively blame herself.

Sometimes Nanny did scold her, but usually not so severely. This time Nanny seemed a bit fierce, almost like when they first arrived at Canglan Court.

Racking her brains, she began to reflect. Nanny had been fine just before, but became angry when she gave the silver to His Majesty, could Nanny be blaming her for not talking about her parents?

With this thought, she felt somewhat guilty and lowered her gaze, not daring to look at Nanny Qi’s face.

The Emperor, seeing Lian Hua cower, seemed to understand something, thinking she must have done something during the day to annoy Nanny Qi. He quickly tried to mollify the situation, "Nanny Qi, everyone makes mistakes, who can be without fault?"

He said reassuringly, glancing at Lian Hua, then continued, "Moreover, today is the joyous occasion of the Mid-Autumn Festival, it’s not appropriate to be angry."

Lian Hua eagerly nodded, "Right, right, Nanny, please don’t be angry."

Seeing this situation and listening to the Emperor’s sophistry, Nanny Qi grew even more irritated.

They say the girl is foolish, and truly she is, actually helping the Emperor count money even after being sold. Standing up, she couldn’t help but pointed at Lian Hua’s forehead with a hand in a ’why don’t you understand anything’ gesture and said, "Girl, you... you..."