Chapter 15 Maneuvering "Don't worry, I have no feelings for her."...

Su Yuzhao brushed aside the maid's hand that was trying to help her, braced herself against the carriage wall with one hand, used the low stool for leverage, and jumped off the carriage.

“I didn’t expect to run into His Highness the Crown Prince here,” she said, looking in Shen Mi’s direction, “and Consort Shen as well.”

Shen Mi was unwilling to show any weakness in front of these two people. She supported Cuiwei's hand and stood up despite the pain in her ankle. She had twisted her ankle and had difficulty walking. She was still in front of the palace's carriage gate. Further ahead, carriages were not allowed to enter the palace. There was no place to rest or change clothes nearby. She had difficulty moving and it was very difficult for her to walk to the Empress's bedroom.

With this concern in mind, and considering that Gu Zhan had occasionally been kind to her over the past two weeks, she tried speaking up: "Your Highness, I have accidentally twisted my ankle."

Gu Zhan's expression darkened. "What did you just say?"

Gu Zhan was four or five steps away from her. Because of her timidity and uncertainty, she lowered her voice. Just as she was about to explain, a middle-aged man in a purple robe came over from the other side and greeted Gu Zhan. Gu Zhan turned around and exchanged pleasantries with him.

Purple robes are reserved for officials of the third rank and above, and those who wear them must be high-ranking officials, naturally more important than her. Shen Mi knew this well and dared not let Gu Zhan lose face in public. She stood there reluctantly until Gu Zhan and the purple-robed gentleman were about to leave, then she curtsied and said, "This concubine respectfully sees Your Highness off."

After Gu Zhan left, Shen Mi finally couldn't hold on any longer and almost collapsed into Cuiwei's arms.

Seeing that something was wrong, Su Yuzhao quickly walked over to Shen Mi and asked, "Is Consort Shen feeling unwell? Do you need my help?"

Shen Mi shook her head gently, "It's nothing, I just twisted my ankle a little."

"You look pale; you don't look alright at all." Su Yuzhao supported her other arm and glanced ahead. "After passing the carriage gate, there's a side hall about ten steps away. I'll have my men go and fetch Physician Cheng. Can you walk there by yourself?"

Shen Mi was stunned for a moment. She didn't expect that Gu Zhan would ignore her and now it would be Su Yuzhao who would help her. For a moment, she suddenly felt that even if Su Yuzhao really entered the Eastern Palace and became the Crown Princess in the future, it wouldn't be a bad thing.

Su Yuzhao looked worried. "Is it not allowed?"

Shen Mi finally came to her senses. "Thank you, Miss Su. It's just a few steps, no problem."

Su Yuzhao didn't ask any questions. She and Cuiwei each helped her to a side hall behind the carriage gate. Not long after, Su Yuzhao's maid brought Cheng Lin over.

Cheng Lin helped Cuiwei recover from her sprained muscles and bones, and instructed her to apply some medicine. After a short rest, she could move around freely.

But today's visit to the palace wasn't just for a banquet; she also had to pay her respects to the Empress. She had already wasted a lot of time waiting for the imperial physician after her accidental injury, and if she arrived late, she would inevitably displease the Empress. Therefore, she didn't dare to linger in this side hall. After Cuiwei applied medicine to her wound, she immediately straightened her skirt and headed towards the Empress's bedroom.

Shen Mi thought Su Yuzhao would also be meeting the Empress, but the two parted ways at a pavilion not far from the Empress's bedroom, Kunning Palace.

Gu Chiying and her maid were sitting in the pavilion when they saw Su Yuzhao. Gu Chiying immediately stood up and waved to them, calling out, "Sister Su!"

Su Yuzhao nodded slightly to Shen Mi, then turned and walked quickly toward Gu Chiying, calling her by her maiden name affectionately, just like Gu Zhan, "Chiying, it's so cold, why are you waiting here? You could have waited for me at Yilan Palace."

Gu Chiying put her hands on her hips: "You have the nerve to say that? I waited and waited before coming out, didn't I? Yilan Palace has already prepared your favorite peach blossom pastries and plum-scented cheese. Hurry up, hurry up. You don't know how bored I was in the palace these past few months while you were with Prime Minister Su on Pingjiang Road. Although Mother Empress also found a few noble ladies to come into the palace to keep me company, they were all incredibly boring. From childhood to adulthood, you and I still get along the best!"

Shen Mi stood outside the pavilion, listening quietly with her eyes lowered. Gu Chiying was the youngest daughter of the Emperor and Empress, and Gu Zhan's only sister. She was spoiled and pampered growing up, and her reputation for being spoiled and willful was well-known among the noble ladies of Bianjing. Yet Su Yuzhao could call her by her name directly. No wonder Gu Chiying could speak to Gu Zhan like that before.

She had no intention of getting involved, but out of politeness, she nodded to Su Yuzhao: "In that case, Miss Su, I will go to Kunning Palace to pay my respects to Her Majesty the Empress."

Gu Chiying seemed to only then notice Shen Mi. She glanced at Shen Mi with disdain and then asked Su Yuzhao, "Sister Su, why are you with her?"

Shen Mi immediately lost face, but Gu Chiying was Gu Zhan's sister after all, so she could only clench her fists quietly and remain silent.

She heard Su Yuzhao change the subject, "Alright, it's too cold. Let me go to your Yilan Palace to take shelter. Don't stay here any longer, or you'll catch a cold. The Empress will scold you again, and I won't smooth things over for you this time."

Gu Chiying immediately took Su Yuzhao's hand and left from the other side.

After they left, Cuiwei finally couldn't help but speak up for Shen Mi: "I thought that Miss Su was a good person, but I didn't expect her to be so arrogant and domineering in front of Liangdi."

Shen Mi frowned and glanced at her, then tugged at her sleeve and lowered her voice: "This is the palace, don't talk nonsense. Hurry up and go to Kunning Palace to pay your respects to the Empress. As His Highness's concubine, it would be bad if I were late."

Although Cuiwei was dissatisfied, she could only swallow her anger and muttered in Shen Mi's ear: "She is already behaving so intimately with Princess Roufu in front of you now. Who knows how she will make you suffer after she enters the Eastern Palace."

Shen Mi did not respond to this.

Although this place is not far from Kunning Palace, Shen Mi's ankle injury has not fully healed and her auspicious clothes are heavy, so she has to walk slowly in order to maintain a dignified posture.

When she and Cuiwei arrived at Kunning Palace, the Empress was already there. The palace was filled with a large group of noble ladies, imperial relatives, and concubines. Shen Mi had been away from the palace for a long time and did not know many people. It was only yesterday that Gu Zhan had someone send her portraits of some important figures so that she could recognize them and not be completely unfamiliar with them.

The Empress took a sip of tea, then looked up at her. "Consort Shen has arrived?"

Unlike her previous visit to the palace to express her gratitude, the Empress did not call her "good child" or address her by her name directly. Instead, she addressed her as "Consort Shen" with extreme distance. Even if Shen Mi was slow-witted, she could tell that the Empress was angry because she had arrived late. However, she also knew that the Empress had never shown any favoritism towards her. No matter how she explained herself now, it would only be a sophistry, so she might as well admit her mistake directly.

She withdrew her hand from Cuiwei's, changed her curtsy to a kneeling bow, and respectfully bowed to the Empress: "I am late, please forgive me, Your Majesty."

The Empress gestured for her to stand up and find a seat.

A woman to her right covered her lips with a handkerchief and laughed, “Why does Your Majesty blame her? Everyone knows that Consort Shen and His Highness are newlyweds, and the young couple is very affectionate. It is normal for them to get up a little late in the morning. Unlike me and Prince Wei, who have been married for three or four years and are already an old married couple. Which of us here is as young as Consort Shen?”

The speaker was Princess Consort Wei, whom Shen Mi recognized. Although Prince Wei was not born to the Empress, he was two years older than Gu Zhan and had been involved in court affairs earlier. He had also made contributions in some important matters, and although he was not the Crown Prince, he was deeply trusted by the Emperor. As for Princess Consort Wei, although she said that she had been married to Prince Wei for three or four years and that there were one or two concubines in Prince Wei's household, Prince Wei had only one daughter born to Princess Consort Wei so far, and no other sons or daughters born to concubines. This showed how shrewd Princess Consort Wei was.

Shen Mi remembered Gu Zhan's words to her. She had wanted to avoid direct contact with Princess Wei as much as possible, but she was still pushed into the eye of the storm by Gu Zhan's words.

The Empress remained silent, but the Duchess of Rongguo continued, "Indeed! Speaking of which, on the Laba Festival, I went to Kaibao Temple to pray for blessings and saw His Highness with Consort Shen. I also seemed to have seen that new scholar who got engaged to the daughter of Prime Minister Li this year. I wonder what he came to pray for?"

"Now that you mention it, the Shen and Chen families used to have close ties in Bianjing. I never imagined that the daughter of the Shen family would eventually enter the Eastern Palace, and the son of the Chen family would marry the daughter of Prime Minister Li."

Princess Wei said, "That's right. I just don't know what mistake Chen Jun made. He was doing well in the Hanlin Academy, but suddenly he was demoted to Huazhou as a sub-prefect."

The crowd went back and forth, and although they didn't say it directly, they drew the fire to Shen Mi. This kind of silent suspicion is the hardest to explain.

Shen Mi composed herself and revealed a gentle and harmless smile. "Is that so? That day, Your Highness accompanied me to Kaibao Temple to light eternal lamps for my deceased parents and brothers, and we listened to the high monks preach. I didn't notice if there were any other people around. I don't know much about the affairs of the outer court, so I didn't ask Your Highness any questions."

This matter concerned the face of the imperial family, and after a few words of discussion, the Empress stopped talking.

Not long after, a message came from the front that the banquet was about to begin and invited these noble ladies to attend. When Shen Mi arrived, Gu Zhan was already seated. Beside him was a man whom Shen Mi did not recognize, but she vaguely felt that his eyebrows and eyes were somewhat similar to Su Yuzhao's.

She was about to greet Gu Zhan when she heard him say to the man, "Don't worry, I have no feelings for her."

After Gu Zhan finished speaking, he realized she had arrived. He glanced at her and said, "You've come? Please sit down. This is Xingjian, Yuzhao's elder brother."

A note from the author:

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The second male lead, Su Xingjian.