Chapter 1306: Good maintenance!

Looking at these precious medicinal herbs, Pei Zhixiu liked them very much and intended to take them for himself, but when Pei Zhixiu glanced at Bai Yuanyuan beside him, he couldn't help but refuse:
"Sister Bai, I won't accept gifts without merit. The things you gave me are too valuable. Please forgive me for not accepting them!"

Bai Yuanyuan was a little surprised to hear Pei Zhixiu say this. After all, she really felt Pei Zhixiu's liking for these things from the changes in Pei Zhixiu's expression.

Hearing Pei Zhixiu's refusal, Bai Yuanyuan thought Pei Zhixiu was trying to be reluctant, and cursed in her heart that the bitch was just hypocritical. She also smiled and said:

"Sister Zhixiu, you are too polite. These things are just some nourishing herbs, not gold, silver or jade. How can they be called precious? If you ask me, you should accept these herbs. Only in your hands can these things be put to good use!"

"So, sister Jixiu, don't refuse it anymore, just accept it!"

Bai Yuanyuan thought that she had given Pei Zhixiu a way out, and Pei Zhixiu would accept her gift "reluctantly", but what she didn't expect was that Pei Zhixiu still refused righteously:
"Sister Bai, I appreciate your kindness, but I really can't accept these things. You know I'm not going to Changshan Medical Clinic anymore, so even if I accept these things, I have nowhere to use them!"

Feeling Pei Zhixiu's firm attitude, Bai Yuanyuan realized that Pei Zhixiu was not playing any tricks with her, but really did not give her any face at all······················
Bai Yuanyuan's smile gradually faded after realizing this, and her expression turned a little ugly. She didn't expect that Pei Zhixiu, this bitch from the palace, would be so arrogant. She had delivered the gift to her door, but she was still so stubborn.

Thinking of this, Bai Yuanyuan also had the urge to leave in anger, but thinking of her father's repeated instructions in the letter, Bai Yuanyuan suppressed her impetuousness, sorted out her emotions, and thought of an excuse. She forced a smile on her face and said:
"Jixiu, actually I came here to ask for a favor!"

After hearing this, Pei Zhixiu secretly thought that it was true. She knew that Bai Yuanyuan would not come to the house if she was fine. She immediately became alert in her heart, but on the surface she still smiled and said:

"Sister Bai, it's too formal for us to ask for favors. If you have something to ask, just tell me!"

Listening to Pei Zhixiu's words, Bai Yuanyuan also said softly:

"Since you said so, Sister Zhixiu, I won't be shy with you. Can you teach me some tips on how to maintain my beauty?"

After hearing this, Pei Zhixiu was also somewhat surprised and asked back:

"What maintenance method?"

Upon hearing this, Bai Yuanyuan first looked at Pei Zhixiu carefully, and then said with envy:

"Sister Jixiu, you are already thirty years old and have given birth to two children, but look at how well you have taken care of yourself. Your skin and waist are still as smooth and moist as those of a young girl in her twenties!"

"My sister is a few years older than you. Look at me now. If I weren't relying on some rouge and powder to support myself, I would be simply unbearable to look at. The Marshal has only stayed at my place twice since he returned from his southern tour..."

At the end, Bai Yuanyuan's expression became somewhat resentful. Although asking for advice on how to maintain her appearance was an excuse she came up with on the spur of the moment to get Pei Zhixiu to accept the gifts, how to maintain her appearance was indeed a concern for Bai Yuanyuan.

Bai Yuanyuan is the oldest among Ye Mingsheng's many wives and concubines, a few years older than Ye Mingsheng. In addition, she gave birth to Xingtong and Jingheng for Ye Mingsheng. Therefore, even though Bai Yuanyuan used many expensive things and various methods to try to maintain her face and figure and reduce the traces of time on her body.

But unfortunately, in recent times, Bai Yuanyuan's signs of being middle-aged have become increasingly obvious, and this has led to a significant decrease in the number of times Ye Mingsheng went to her place to rest. In the past, Ye Mingsheng could go to her place two or three times a month, but now Ye Mingsheng only goes there once a month. Moreover, even when Ye Mingsheng goes to rest, he does nothing but simply rests!
Although Ye Mingsheng didn't say anything, Bai Yuanyuan, as a woman, was quite sensitive in this regard, and she knew what this meant.

Although Bai Yuanyuan knew that sooner or later she would grow old and Ye Mingsheng would no longer be interested in her, she was still very depressed when that day really came. She wanted to change everything, so she paid more attention to maintenance. Unfortunately, in the face of time, these maintenance methods seemed very pale and powerless...

And the worst thing is that the new emperor Ye Mingsheng will start a talent show after he ascends the throne. By then, in front of all those young and beautiful newcomers, there will be no place for Bai Yuanyuan!
Bai Yuanyuan knew very well that men tend to get bored with the old and love the new. No matter how sincere those vows and sweet words were in the past, they are forgotten so quickly now.

By then, among those young and energetic bodies, let alone whether Ye Mingsheng can maintain the frequency of seeing her once a month, I am afraid that by then he will simply forget about me.
When Bai Yuanyuan thought of this, she felt extremely tormented and depressed, but at this moment she also noticed Pei Zhixiu.

She was surprised to find that Pei Zhixiu looked the same as she did back then, with almost no changes. Her waist was still as slender as before, without a trace of fat, her skin was moist and smooth, and there were no crow's feet at the corners of her eyes.

Bai Yuanyuan was also very surprised about Pei Zhixiu's situation. Although Pei Zhixiu was a few years younger than her, she was already 30 years old this year. Like her, she had given birth to two children, a son and a daughter for Ye Mingsheng. How come the years did not leave any traces on her, but instead made Pei Zhixiu's temperament more gentle and feminine?
Thinking of this, Bai Yuanyuan felt that God was unfair, and at the same time, she thought that Pei Zhixiu was not simple and must have some unique method to maintain her youthful appearance, which made Ye Mingsheng forget about her and only favor her among so many women in the harem... After realizing this, Bai Yuanyuan couldn't help but think that if she could learn Pei Zhixiu's maintenance methods, could she also maintain her youthful appearance like Pei Zhixiu and restore her figure and skin to that of her girlhood!

When Bai Yuanyuan thought of this, her heart was filled with excitement. If her figure and skin could be restored to those of a girl, combined with her years of experience, she believed that Ye Mingsheng would definitely be obsessed with her, and it might not be impossible for him to even replace Pei Zhixiu and become the most favored concubine in the harem.

At this moment, Pei Zhixiu didn't know what Bai Yuanyuan was thinking. She was really surprised. Bai Yuanyuan's request for help meant that she wanted to ask her about maintenance issues. Pei Zhixiu thought that Bai Yuanyuan's request for help was about something psychological and was thinking about how to refuse!
However, looking at Bai Yuanyuan's serious expression, Pei Zhixiu realized that Bai Yuanyuan was not joking with her, she really wanted to ask her how to maintain her beauty.

In fact, if Bai Yuanyuan hadn't said it, Pei Zhixiu really didn't pay attention to her figure and appearance, and she didn't have any special methods.

The reason why she hasn't changed much is that her martial arts have reached a certain level and can delay aging. Secondly, Pei Zhixiu had a better mentality and lived a healthier life in the past. She was not like An Miaoyi, Murong Qingwu and others who were scheming against each other in the Ye Mansion all day long, so she doesn't seem to have changed much.

But at this moment, facing Bai Yuanyuan's question, Pei Zhixiu didn't know how to answer. After all, she couldn't tell Bai Yuanyuan that she was actually a hidden master.

So Pei Zhixiu hesitated for a moment and answered vaguely:
“Sister Bai, I don’t have any secret recipe for maintaining my looks. I just have a good attitude and I’m a vegetarian. I don’t have any special methods…”

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While Bai Yuanyuan was visiting Pei Zhixiu, Ye Mingsheng was concentrating on reading a memorial in his study. This memorial came from the Internal Guard and recorded some of Cui Shao's recent movements.

When Ye Mingsheng received the news that Cui Zibo had contracted syphilis during his southern tour, he was very angry about this matter and felt that Cui Zibo, as a minister of the Ministry of Justice, not only disregarded the dignity of the court by visiting brothels to seek pleasure from prostitutes, but also failed to take proper safety measures. He was simply throwing the dignity of the court into the gutter!

Although Ye Mingsheng did not directly dismiss Cui Zibo from the post of Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice for the sake of Cui Shao's face, he did suspend his duties, allowed Cui Zibo to return home to recuperate, and promoted Zhang Mang, an official with good performance in the Ministry of Justice, to replace Cui Zibo's position as Vice Minister.

At that time, Ye Mingsheng did not think too much about this matter. He just thought it was an isolated incident and did not continue to investigate the matter in depth.

So when Hu Ming proposed to stay in Jiangnan to be responsible for coordination, Ye Mingsheng did not think much about it and allowed Hu Ming to stay in Jiangnan.

When Ye Mingsheng returned to Yijing, the Internal Guard Coordination Office told Ye Mingsheng that the reason why Cui Zibo went to the brothel and lived a dissolute life was because of the influence of Hu Ming, which led him to this path of no return. At that time, Ye Mingsheng realized that Cui Shao would not give up, but Ye Mingsheng was planning to ascend the throne at that time, so he did not pay too much attention to this matter·························

And now the situation has developed just as Ye Mingsheng had expected. Cui Shaozheng ordered his Cui faction men to secretly collect and investigate the evidence of Hu Ming's crimes in an attempt to put the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue to death.

Ever since Hu Ming was promoted by Ye Mingsheng to become the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, he has been restless, making friends with various forces and expanding his personal network to pave the way for their Hu family. According to the General Coordination Office, Cui's men are using this as a clue to impeach Hu Ming for forming a gang for personal gain, and have listed more than a dozen crimes, big and small, against Hu Ming!
Although Cui's faction in the court has not yet formally launched an impeachment, Ye Mingsheng is currently considering it after learning about the situation.

To be honest, when Ye Mingsheng promoted Hu Ming, he knew that Hu Ming was not a very clean person and he could do many things!
The reason why Ye Mingsheng promoted him was because Hu Ming was still valuable. The Hu family behind him had considerable influence among the merchants in Jiangnan. Hu Ming and the Hu family also contributed to Ye Mingsheng's trip to the south, helping Ye Mingsheng to publicize Ye Mingsheng's policies to those Jiangnan merchants, as well as Ye Mingsheng's ideas of encouraging the development of industry and commerce!

Hu Ming himself is also widely regarded as a spokesperson for Jiangnan merchants in the Yijing court, and those merchants in Jiangnan can convey their voices to the court through him.

Therefore, if Hu Ming were really to be killed, it would definitely be a huge blow to the enthusiasm of Jiangnan merchants to participate in the reform.
However, Ye Mingsheng knew that Cui Shao would not let it go if he didn't kill Hu Ming. After all, in Cui Shao's eyes, Hu Ming might be the culprit who caused the death of his son Cui Zibo. Cui Shao wanted Hu Ming to pay for Cui Zibo's life. Ye Mingsheng even suspected that Hu Ming had realized this a long time ago, so he deliberately stayed in Jiangnan and did not return to Yijing with him.

Ye Mingsheng was also in a dilemma about the current situation, but after some thought, Ye Mingsheng felt that if Cui Shao really impeached Hu Ming, he could agree to Cui Shao's impeachment and kill Hu Ming to give Cui Shao an explanation, but the prerequisite was that Cui Shao could give up giving up and stand up to lead the reform work!
Hu Ming himself is not clean. He has been colluding with G merchants all day long. Although he is usually careful in his work and does not leave any obvious flaws, it is not difficult to collect evidence of his crimes given the power of Cui's people.

By then, Cui will send people to present evidence in the court. Even if Ye Mingsheng wants to protect him for the sake of the impact on Jiangnan, it will be difficult for him to do so. Moreover, if he is protected by force, not to mention Cui Shao's opinion, it will probably cause a lot of criticism in the court.

So it is not worth it for Ye Mingsheng to do this for Hu Ming!

Therefore, if Hu Ming could be used as a price to make Cui Shao restrain his bad attitude caused by not becoming the prime minister of the cabinet and take the lead in the various reforms of Daqian, it would be a very good thing for Ye Mingsheng. After all, the reform has now entered the deep water zone, affecting the interests of many people, and the resistance to reform is also very great!
Even if Ye Mingsheng wanted to promote reform, he had to take some factors into consideration...

(End of this chapter)