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Repeatedly saying "you", she couldn’t continue, fearing that being too harsh might scare the little girl and being too gentle would fail to clarify the situation, so she simply let go of her hand and sighed deeply, deciding not to say anything at all.

Lian Hua, shrinking her neck, stole a glance at Nanny Qi. Her gaze fell on the hand Nanny Qi had slapped on the table and she couldn’t help but ask, "Nanny, did your hand hurt from slapping the table just now?"

As she spoke, she gingerly took Nanny Qi’s hand and gently blew on it, saying, "Nanny doesn’t hurt, Nanny isn’t angry."

While blowing, she kept an eye on Nanny Qi’s expression.

This gesture tugged at Nanny Qi’s heartstrings so strongly that she couldn’t help but pull Lian Hua to the side, looking at her with affection for a while before turning her head to glare fiercely at the Emperor.

She couldn’t hold back any longer, feeling the need to vent for the little girl, and directly scolded, "Your Majesty, I did not wish to speak out, but as the ruler of a nation, you’ve actually stooped to extorting silver from your consorts, what a great achievement!"

"Ah?"

"Hmm?"

Lian Hua and the Emperor voiced their surprise simultaneously.

Lian Hua was surprised because she thought Nanny Qi was about to scold her. She had intended to divert attention but Nanny Qi saw through it, pulling her to sit down, making her think it was to sit still for a reprimand.

Used to bracing for the storm, she quickly sat down with her head bowed, adopting the posture of obediently listening to the scolding, hoping that Nanny Qi would scold her less seeing her compliant demeanor.

Meanwhile, the Emperor, seeing Nanny Qi’s manner, also thought she was about to scold Lian Hua. He was about to intervene on her behalf when Nanny Qi turned her head to rebuke him, leaving him dumbfounded.

Both were somewhat dazed:

Lian Hua stared blankly at Nanny Qi: Which consort did His Majesty extort silver from?

The Emperor was stunned for a moment, then, looking at the silver on the table, he suddenly realized something. Had Nanny Qi misunderstood him to be coveting the Little Concubine’s silver?

Nanny Qi didn’t care about the Emperor’s reaction; she became more serious and said, "I still have some savings, if Your Majesty wishes to take those too, then go ahead, don’t just extort one person."

As soon as she said this, it confirmed the Emperor’s assumption. He explained, "Nanny, you’ve misunderstood, I didn’t..."

How could he extort the Little Concubine’s silver? This gold was specifically exchanged for her; how could he possibly want it back?

Moreover, he cherished his Little Concubine too much to even think about extorting her!

The words he had used earlier were too vague and ambiguous, leading to such a misunderstanding.

But even if his words were vague, how could Nanny form such an assumption, thinking he would covet that small amount of silver?

Could there be some misunderstanding regarding his character?

Nanny Qi didn’t want to listen to the Emperor speak; she turned her body away from him and patted Lian Hua’s hand, saying, "Silly girl, you only have so much silver, and you still need to reward your servants and spend it on other things. What will you use if you give it all away?"

"Ah?" Lian Hua opened her mouth wide in surprise, not having considered that. Accustomed to eating and drinking at His Majesty’s expense, she had forgotten about the need to reward others.

Seeing her reaction, Nanny Qi knew that Lian Hua hadn’t thought things through when she took out the silver, and looked at her disapprovingly.

Lian Hua looked at Nanny Qi, then at His Majesty, who appeared helpless, still not understanding the situation.

She scratched her head and tentatively suggested, "How about we make a note of it for now?"

The Emperor looked at Lian Hua, trying to interject, "Nannan..." He didn’t want her silver, there was no need for any note...

"Nonsense, which master rewards by making notes!" Hearing Lian Hua’s suggestion, Nanny Qi was even less approving.

The Emperor was interrupted and could only look towards Nanny Qi, attempting to struggle, "Nanny, it’s not what you think..."

"Then what should we do? I have an urgent need." Lian Hua also became worried. Silver certainly had to be taken, but how would she manage the expenses of Canglan Court?

"What’s the urgent need that you have to take out everything?" Nanny Qi pressed, unable to understand what kind of spell the Emperor had cast on the little girl to make her act like this, speaking on his behalf and rushing to give away silver.

The Emperor, feeling weary, watched the two of them, listening to his Little Concubine who could easily be led astray, listening to their conversation veering more and more off track.

He tried to interject several times but was interrupted, ignored by everyone, and finally he simply closed his mouth and remained silent. ..

He could understand the meaning of his Little Concubine and also the intent of Nanny Qi, but the old and the young, as if he did not exist, had no intention at all of listening to him.

He had never experienced this situation before, where the identity of the Son of Heaven was utterly useless in front of the old and the young.

Hearing this question, Lian Hua began to hesitate and couldn’t help but look up at the Emperor, stammering, "Nanny, that is... it’s for His Majesty, he’ll know once he has it..."

The Emperor raised his hand to his forehead, great, Nanny Qi would misunderstand even more now—he really couldn’t bear to watch anymore.

Sure enough, Nanny Qi turned her head back, glaring at him fiercely, and asked directly, "Emperor, what do you plan to do now?"

She still wanted the silver!

Lian Hua also raised her head and looked at the Emperor with a somewhat pitiful gaze. She didn’t know what to do either. Should she leave a small ingot of silver just in case?

The Emperor had no desire to say anything further, since no one was listening anyway. He simply stated, "Nanny, I will not take Nannan’s silver."

Then he called out to the outside, "Where is Feng Ji?"

Xiao Jizi, who was outside, heard the shout and quickly jogged to the entrance, bowing as he said, "Servant is here, what does His Majesty command?"

The Emperor was decisive and pointed to the tray on the table, "Take this silver back to the treasury exactly as it is."

"Yes." Xiao Jizi took the order and immediately picked it up to leave with great speed.

This tray of silver was quite heavy; he carried it straight out without daring to ask more or take a second look.

Nanny Qi nodded in satisfaction—The Emperor’s stance was very good, direct and clear, very good.

Lian Hua watched the actions of everyone and suddenly realized, quickly standing up to say, "Xiao Jizi, stop, don’t take it away!"

This silver was for her parents to pay off debts. How could she do that if it was taken away?

Xiao Jizi had just crossed the threshold, only half a step outside, but when he heard the call, he hurriedly halted and looked back.

He saw his master, anxious, saying to His Majesty, "Your Majesty, you must take it. Otherwise, how... how... Oh, in short, you must take this silver."

She insisted on giving the silver to His Majesty, her face becoming anxiously flushed.

And His Majesty, with a helpless expression, walked over and half-embraced his master into his arms, coaxing her in a soft voice, gesturing with his eyes for Jizi to leave.

Just as he was about to lift his foot to leave, his keenly observant master noticed, and she started to struggle over to stop him.

A tug of war ensued, and he did not know what was happening nor whose instructions to follow, to go or to stay; his head grew heavy.

Nanny Qi stood up as well, joining in to earnestly persuade, "Girl, you have so little silver, and he is the Emperor—the amount of silver he has is immense. He won’t miss this little bit.

The Emperor is reeking of alcohol tonight.

Whatever he has said, it’s all playful talk, drunken babble that should not be taken seriously. Don’t mind him."

Words like "Should not be taken seriously" and "playful talk" crashed into Lian Hua’s ears, and she exclaimed, "Ah!" as she opened her mouth and looked at the Emperor.

The Emperor really wanted to sigh to the heavens; this was truly an incomprehensible situation...