Chapter 32 The Virtuous Queen

"Bath in Tangquan Palace? Jianqiu, are you right?"

The queen was sitting in front of the dressing table, gently combing her hair. When she heard Jianqiu's words, her hands paused.

"Your Majesty, I've learned everything clearly. The Emperor has specially granted me the hot spring bath, and there's also..."

Jianqiu didn't know whether she should tell everything she heard. She had been with the Queen for so many years and knew very well how she felt about the Emperor.

"Go on, I've been through so much, what can I not bear?"

"I heard that red lanterns were hung throughout the palace, and that the Emperor wore red nightgown last night. Furthermore, it seems that dragon and phoenix candles were lit in the room."

"What? This is ridiculous. No matter how favored Zhen Huan is, she is still just a concubine. How can she deserve to be treated like this? The Emperor is truly confused."

Yixiu slammed the table hard. This was far beyond her expectations.

It seems that things have become more difficult. When she thought about the first time she saw Zhen Huan's appearance, she had already thought that it was only a matter of time before she would be favored, because she looked so much like Chun Yuan.

At that time, Yixiu was still thinking of winning her over to her side, but she didn't expect that Nian Shilan would get there first. This put her in a very unfavorable situation.

Yixiu closed her eyes to hide her intense anger. She needed to think carefully. It seemed that some things needed to be prepared early, otherwise it would be too late.

Although Nian Shilan did not see the queen's mood with her own eyes, she could guess a little bit even in the Yiku Palace.

"Songzhi, let's go to Jingren Palace to pay our respects to the Empress."

Although she had already realized that the queen's mood at the moment was definitely not good, she still wanted to go and see it in person, otherwise how could she be worthy of her burning heart.

After all, the Queen's current situation was caused by her own hands, so she had to go and inspect the results.

"Your Majesty, Concubine Hua is here with us."

The queen was writing seriously, and the big word "忍" (forbearance) on it seemed to be exactly what she was thinking at the moment.

When Jianqiu heard Jiang Fuhai report that Concubine Hua wanted to see her, she knew that this person definitely had bad intentions, but she could not stop him, so she had to bite the bullet and report to the queen.

"She came here at this time just to make fun of me. Am I afraid of her?"

In the past, Nian Shilan was often late even on days when she had to pay her respects, let alone on this non-holiday day. According to her behavior, she would probably not even be willing to step into the gate of Jingren Palace. But now she took the initiative to see her, and her thoughts were really not concealed at all.

"Then will Your Majesty still see her? Or should I tell Her Majesty that she is not feeling well and ask her to go back first?"

"Forget it, let her in. Telling her I'm not feeling well now will only make her laugh."

Yixiu also wanted to see Nian Shilan's expression after learning that Zhen Huan was favored. After all, she would not tolerate anyone taking away the emperor's favor, so she asked Jianqiu to call her in.

However, during this period of time, Nian Shilan seemed to have become a little different. Although she was still as arrogant and domineering as before, she didn't seem to care so much about who the emperor invited to sleep with her.

She wanted to see what Concubine Hua was planning. Who knew if her current change was just another disguise?

"I pay my respects to Her Majesty the Queen."

Nian Shilan, dressed in emerald green, walked in with light steps, and bowed casually as usual when she saluted.

"Hurry up, Jianqiu, and take a seat."

The queen waved to her and asked her to sit down beside her.

"Sister, how did you find time to come to my place today? What happened?"

Nian Shilan laughed secretly in her heart when she saw the queen's dignified smile.

Yixiu, Yixiu, you pretend to be a virtuous mother of a country all day long, but you don’t feel tired at all.

"I don't have any big things to do. I just stayed in the palace all day. Sister Wan was taken to the temporary palace by the emperor. I was really bored, so I thought I would come to the Queen's palace to sit for a while. I hope the Queen doesn't mind?"

Nian Shilan's words, coupled with the casual expression on her face, made Yixiu even more angry.

But she still had to respond with a smile: "How could it be, my sister can come here to talk to me, of course I am happy."

Looking at her unchanging expression, Nian Shilan sneered in her heart.

If she hadn't just caught the micro-expression on the queen's face, she would have thought that she was calm inside.

"Yes, Concubine Wan is now serving the Emperor. With her youthful appearance, she is naturally able to please the Emperor. This is her blessing."

"Your Majesty is truly virtuous. If Sister Wan knew that the Queen values ​​her so much, she would definitely be overjoyed."

How could Yixiu not hear the sarcasm in Nian Shilan's words, but she really didn't know how to refute her.

"Your Majesty, Concubine Qi is here."

At this time, Jianqiu came over and whispered something in Yixiu's ear.

"Let her in."

"Your Majesty, I heard that the Emperor granted Concubine Wan a hot spring bath last night. How could she..."

Originally, the Queen thought that the arrival of Concubine Qi would be a good opportunity to divert the topic of Nian Shilan, but she didn't expect that this idiot would speak with a panicked voice before she even walked in.

When Concubine Qi learned that Zhen Huan was so favored, she only thought about whether her life would become more and more difficult in the future.

She was not favored by the emperor to begin with, and was only granted the title of concubine because she had the third prince. However, she knew her own children very well and did not have the ability to fight for anything, so she could only cling closely to the queen.

"Concubine Qi, how can you be so noisy and fussy?"

The queen felt depressed when she heard what she said. Nian Shilan was already laughing at her, and this idiot was still making a mess of herself.

For a moment, the queen felt that her headache was getting worse.

"Your Majesty..."

Concubine Qi was startled by the Queen's tone. She didn't know how she had made the Queen angry again.

"Okay, if there's nothing important, you can go back. I'm a little tired."

The queen wanted to send Concubine Qi away quickly, otherwise she didn't know what would come out of her mouth.

Although Concubine Qi was surprised by the Queen's behavior, she never dared to refute the Queen's words, so she bowed and took her leave.

"Since the Queen is unwell, I will not disturb her any further. Please rest in peace."

Yixiu waved her hand and let Jianqiu help her into the inner hall.

After walking out of Jingren Palace, Nian Shilan could no longer control her smile. What should she do? It would be a pity if she couldn't share such a good mood with others.

"Let's go to the Broken Jade Pavilion."

Judging from the time, Zhen Huan should have returned from the palace by now, so she had to go and have a good chat with her.

Concubines usually go to Jingren Palace to express gratitude on the second day after serving the emperor. I didn’t see Zhen Huan in Jingren Palace just now. I guess this life is the same as the previous one. The emperor exempted her from paying respects today.

In this case, Zhen Huan must be in her palace at this time, and she should go and spend some time with her good sister.