The maidservant is too charming. I want to help her become the queen.

Chapter 155 Taking the Initiative

Lu Qingqing was speechless for a moment, not knowing how to explain further.

She knew that Li Xuansheng had spent a lot of energy and effort to promote Dasheng Tongbao some time ago. But wasn't her Mixue Ice Palace also her hard work?

Circulating counterfeit money is clearly a frame-up! As long as Li Xuansheng believes that he is innocent, can't he find out the truth before rectifying the situation? Must he throw the baby out with the bathwater and completely close down the Mixue Ice Palace?

Lu Qingqing knew that she had said something wrong and was a little emotional just now. She pondered for a moment to sort out her emotions and planned to tell her grievances.

"Your Majesty, do you not believe me? I opened the Mixue Ice Palace outside the palace because I felt that the people who had toiled all their lives were too pitiful. They worked hard all their lives, working on the land every day. I opened the Mixue Ice Palace just to let them taste the sweetness."

Crystal clear tears were rolling in Lu Qingqing's eyes, like a pool of rippling autumn water. She looked at Li Xuansheng with tears in her eyes.

Her white teeth gently bit her red lips, and she tried hard to hold back the tears in her eyes from falling.

Li Xuansheng couldn't help but look up, and their eyes met. His eyes sank instantly, and his thoughts were brought back to memory by Lu Qingqing's words.

Yes!

Qingqing's original intention of opening the Mixue Ice Palace in the capital was to allow the blessings of the royal family to benefit the people. Now that this kind of thing has happened, she must be sad.

But in a moment, Li Xuansheng changed his mind and thought that, after all, it was the Mint that seized more than 900 counterfeit coins in the Mixue Ice Palace, and Qingqing was not free from the responsibility.

"The counterfeit money came out of your shop. You are not free from responsibility."

His tone was stiff and a little unhappy.

Lu Qingqing lowered her head and spoke softly, feeling a pang of sadness in her heart. She explained softly:

"But Your Majesty, to mint counterfeit coins, you need ore, furnaces, molds, and a group of coin-minting craftsmen. The people in my shop can only shake milk tea, so it is impossible for them to master the craftsmanship of minting coins..."

Lu Qingqing's words were straightforward and clear, and Li Xuansheng also thought of this.

Minting coins not only requires a lot of manpower and material resources, but is also a highly difficult technology, and the coin minting process is kept secret by the court.

He looked a little flustered and seemed unnatural.

It was all my fault for being too impatient and eager to promote the Dasheng Tongbao among the people. I could not tolerate any mistakes. If the people heard that there were fakes in the new currency, they would definitely lose confidence in the new currency, and the promotion of the new currency would be greatly hindered.

So, when he heard that counterfeit money had flowed out of Mixue Ice Palace, he instantly became furious.

However, in this matter, even if he did not investigate Lu Qingqing's responsibility, the officials of the court would not let Lu Qingqing off easily.

As the owner of the shop, Lu Qingqing was not a good manager. He received counterfeit currency and allowed it to circulate. He must be to blame!

He raised his eyebrows slightly, and his voice returned to its original coldness as he spoke to Lu Qingqing.

"As the owner, don't you have any responsibility at all?"

Lu Qingqing lowered her head and stammered, her eyes darkened instantly, a few strands of black hair hung down from her ears, covering the slightly red corners of her eyes, and her voice was as small as a mosquito.

"Your Highness... Your Highness is indeed responsible for this matter..."

"I want to make amends, find the source of the counterfeit currency, and then apologize to the people of the capital."

At this time, Li Xuansheng's anger had mostly subsided.

At first, he didn't really want to punish Lu Qingqing by putting her under house arrest. It was just that since the counterfeit money incident happened, he had to do this to show the world so that he could give an explanation to the previous dynasty and the people.

His punishment of Lu Qingqing was just a test. If Lu Qingqing refused to obey and shirked responsibility, it would mean that her love for the people was fake.

Fortunately, Qingqing is willing to take the initiative to take responsibility.

Li Xuansheng felt relieved and his tone softened.

"I am very pleased that you are willing to take the initiative to take responsibility. It's just a form of house arrest, so you still have to do it."

Li Xuansheng took Rulu Qingqing into his arms with his powerful hands and patiently explained his plan to her.

"I did this to save you from the criticism of the previous dynasty."

"But you may not be able to find the source of the counterfeit money by yourself. I will assign you an assistant to assist you in this matter."

Lu Qingqing's delicate body was hanging obediently on Li Xuansheng's chest. She nodded slightly and responded softly.

"Thank you for your trust, Your Majesty. I will investigate the source of the counterfeit currency thoroughly."

Her eyes immediately flashed from gentle to firm, and she secretly made up her mind.

Now that we have gained Li Xuansheng's trust, this matter will be much easier to accomplish.

Regarding the counterfeit money, it was obvious that someone had set her up, and she had to find that person!

After returning to Yinglan Pavilion.

I saw that the courtyard outside Yinglan Pavilion was surrounded by a team of guards. Each of them was wearing soft armor, holding a red spear, and standing guard outside with a serious expression, creating an appearance of house arrest and martial law for the palace people passing by.

In fact, Li Xuansheng had already given secret orders to the guards leading the team.

This house arrest is just a show. It only ensures that Concubine Ming does not step out of Yinglan Pavilion. The rest of the palace servants can still come and go freely, and correspondence and delivery of things can continue as usual.

Lu Qingqing held Lu Panpan's hand, and they both sat on the chaise longue, reviewing the whole story of the counterfeit currency incident again.

Lu Panpan propped up his head and carefully recalled the scene when the bearded man openly reported that the change coins were fake.

Suddenly, she remembered a detail that she had not yet had time to tell Lu Qingqing.

Lu Qingqing shook her sister's sleeves and said excitedly:

"Sister! I remember now! When the bearded man found out that the copper coin was fake, he said that he was an escort for a bank, so he could tell at a glance that the copper coin was fake!"

A bodyguard?

Perhaps, the escorts for the money houses have unique skills in identifying the authenticity of copper coins?

Lu Qingqing pondered in her heart, she seemed to have heard the word "bodyguard" somewhere before, and it seemed that she also knew an acquaintance who was engaged in bodyguarding.

Suddenly, she suddenly remembered that when the sisters of Xuguan had confided in her, they said that their father used to be a bodyguard, but after he retired from the underworld, he was forced by Zhao Ning to do smuggling for him.

Thinking of this, Lu Qingqing immediately stepped down from the imperial concubine's position, stood up and headed for the East Hall of Yinglan Pavilion.

Lu Panpan didn't understand what was going on. She just saw Lu Qingqing get off the imperial concubine, so she followed her down and left the palace with Lu Qingqing.

Lu Qingqing was secretly delighted.

God really helps me!

The Xuguan girl lived with her in Yinglan Pavilion, one in the east hall and the other in the west hall, very close to each other. After a few steps, she arrived at the door of the Xuguan girl.

Lu Qingqing was familiar with the route. She greeted the maid of Xu Guannu and then strode into the hall. She called softly:

"Ming'er, Yue'er, help me!"