Chapter 56: Punishment under pretext

Early in the morning, an imperial edict was delivered to Jiangxuexuan in Jinxiu Palace.

Because of her meritorious service in sleeping with the emperor, Concubine Shen was promoted to Noble Lady Shen.

Chen Zhuxin's personal maid Cuisheng was very happy about this. After all, the young lady was the third newlywed to serve the emperor in bed, and also the third to be promoted.

Cui Sheng carefully folded the imperial edict and said happily, "My lady, it's good to enter the palace early. There are not many people in the palace yet, so you have many opportunities to sleep with the emperor. As long as you are promoted to the ninth concubine before the newcomer enters the palace next year, and you can occupy one palace, the rest is just a matter of gaining experience. In the end, you won't be far behind."

Chen Zhuxin didn't have much to say about this. She had been reading all night long, her mind full of account books, and she was almost obsessed.

She walked out of the inner hall with unsteady steps to prepare for dinner, and suddenly she saw a painting on the table in the outer hall that caught her eye.

She walked closer and took a look.

Last night, His Majesty said not to disturb her while she was settling accounts, so he stayed in the outer hall.

Since they have to be the monarch and his subject, His Majesty has no intention of letting her sleep with him, but His Majesty said that he would give her respect and would stay in her palace all night.

At first she remembered that it was time to ask His Majesty to rest early, but then she was so focused on the account books that she forgot about it.

It seems that Your Majesty was painting in the outer hall last night.

Chen Zhuxin walked closer and saw that there was a woman in the painting.

Although the facial features were not described, the woman's demeanor still made people feel that she was somewhat childish.

She had bangs in a girlish style, and her long black hair was not completely tied into a bun. Instead, she had a small flower bud-shaped bun on each side, and the rest of her hair was braided and hung on both sides.

The girl is holding a basket of flowers, with her hairbands fluttering in the wind, looking bright and lively.

Although there was no face, Chen Zhuxin was certain that the person in the painting must have been smiling brightly at that time.

Is this... the Jiang Yingli from the past?

She looks like she hasn't reached marriage age yet.

The clothes and hair accessories are drawn in great detail, and do not seem to be fabricated out of thin air. Instead, it seems as if they were clearly remembered and drawn according to memory.

Chen Zhuxin looked at the painting and couldn't help thinking that such a lifelike painting, in addition to superb painting skills, also requires very delicate emotions to be painted so movingly.

She felt a chill running down her back.

His Majesty said last night that he gave her two choices, but in fact she had no choice at all.

With Jiang Yingli, the person in the painting, here, would Your Majesty really need another woman?

......

The news that Chen Zhuxin was promoted to the throne by serving the emperor in the palace made Su Qingrong of Qixiang Palace so angry that she lost her temper early in the morning.

"Why?! I helped His Majesty solve such a huge problem yesterday, yet His Majesty turned around and looked for another woman..."

She relieved His Majesty's worries so that He could have more free time to accompany her.

It was her Su family's private vault that was blown up, not her Shen family's. How could Chen Zhuxin get the advantage?

Su Qingrong paced back and forth in the hall and glanced at Lan Xiang: "Isn't Lady Shen's father employed at the Ministry of Revenue?"

Lan Xiang nodded, "Yes, my lady, Concubine Shen's father is the Minister of Revenue and works for the master."

"Humph, his father has to keep his tail between his legs in front of my father, and she actually dares to make trouble for me?"

Su Qingrong could no longer tolerate this, so she immediately found an excuse to call someone over.

When Chen Zhuxin arrived at Qixiang Palace, he bowed politely to Su Qingrong, who was sitting in the upper seat in the hall.

Since Su Qingrong had been demoted to a concubine, and Chen Zhuxin was a noble lady, only one rank lower than her, she only needed to half-squat.

But this position was uncomfortable, and Su Qingrong had no intention of letting her get up.

Chen Zhuxin didn't find it strange. After all, she knew it was not a good thing from the moment she received Su Qingrong's invitation.

After all, Su Qingrong was in the limelight these days, but His Majesty suddenly went to her palace. Given Su Qingrong's personality, how could she possibly tolerate that?

Su Qingrong looked Shen Zhuxin up and down, her smile full of contempt: "No wonder I have no impression of my sister. Yesterday, the emperor was ordered to go to Concubine Shen's palace, but I couldn't remember who this Concubine Shen was. When I saw her today, my sister looked so dull, it was really hard for me to remember her."

The derogatory implication was too obvious, but Chen Zhuxin was not very angry.

Who among those who could enter the palace was not beautiful? Their dullness was simply a result of comparison.

Song Zhaoyi was flamboyantly beautiful, Xin Jieyu and Liang Meiren were gorgeous, Zhao Chongyi was like a flower adorned with morning dew, delicate and gorgeous, and there were also those like Zheng Baolin and her who represented "blandness".

Different styles, no comparison.

Besides, as a minister, it is useless for her to be beautiful.

So Su Qingrong's derogatory words sounded insignificant to Shen Zhuxin.

"Sister is so beautiful and charming. Naturally, I cannot compare to her." Chen Zhuxin replied indifferently.

Seeing that she was not annoyed, Su Qingrong continued to sarcastically say:

"My sister's beauty has caught His Majesty's eye. I guess she must have some other special talents and has put in a lot of effort."

This statement implies that Chen Zhuxin deliberately seduced her.

Chen Zhuxin smiled and said gently, "Your Majesty, who you choose to be your favorite is determined by your Majesty's heart. How dare I, a concubine, presume to guess your Majesty's intentions?"

Seeing her stubborn attitude, Su Qingrong became even angrier.

She was just angry that His Majesty didn't care about her kindness in giving up the Su family's private treasury and ran away to another palace. If she said that someone else seduced His Majesty, she would feel better, but Chen Zhuxin said that it was His Majesty's own decision.

Isn't this a slap in her face?

Su Qingrong looked at Chen Zhuxin, who was still squatting, with resentment, then leaned slowly on the armrest of the chair and asked Lan Xiang to fan her.

It was obvious that he wanted to make things difficult for Chen Zhuxin.

Chen Zhuxin's legs and waist had begun to ache at this moment, and her movements were a little shaky, and Cuisheng was the same beside her.

Chen Zhuxin knew when she came here that this trip would not be easy, and she had already prepared for some difficulties. She wanted to satisfy Su Qingrong as soon as possible so that she could go back to do the account book earlier.

After squatting for about a quarter of an hour, Su Qingrong finally spoke.

"It's hot, bring the iced lychee drink to Lady Shen."

Lan Xiang winked at the young palace maid, and soon a long-necked white-glazed porcelain vase was brought up.

The young palace maid poured a cup and placed them all on a tray before Chen Zhuxin.

"Your Excellency, please."

Chen Zhuxin looked up, shook her body, and tried to pick up the cup, but unexpectedly, the little palace maid used the tray to push Chen Zhuxin back.

Chen Zhuxin's legs were already sore, and now she could no longer stand. The little palace maid pretended to pull her forward, and it looked like Chen Zhuxin had pounced on the little palace maid.

The white-glazed porcelain vase was shattered all over the floor.

Chen Zhuxin fell to the ground and Cuisheng hurried to help her.

Su Qingrong stood up in shock.

"My white glazed porcelain vase! This was a gift from my grandmother when I came of age. How could it be broken like this?"

The young maid quickly begged for mercy: "My lady, please forgive me. It was...it was Concubine Shen who lost her balance and pushed me..."