Chapter 66: The Concubine's Favor Returns

Yonghe Palace.

The sudden cold wind blew up the yellow leaves of the maple tree in the courtyard, which swirled and fell at the feet of the concubine who was leaning against the door frame of the bedroom.

She raised her head slightly, looked at the moon alone, and let the cool breeze ruffle her hair.

Yingxiang put a cloak on her shoulders and said distressedly:

"Your Highness has been standing at the palace gate for an hour. You have been weak since giving birth, and the imperial physician told you not to be exposed to the wind. Why don't you go back to the palace and rest?"

The concubine still held her head high, showing no intention of going back.

She asked Yingxiang, "The emperor will come to see me, right?"

Yingxiang was speechless for a moment when she heard this.

It's almost midnight now.

Zhang Jiugui replied earlier that he saw Song Zhao wearing the magnolia hairpin with his own eyes.

If Jamel Xiao wanted to come, he would have come a long time ago...

After a brief silence, Yingxiang looked around and said something else,

"Your Majesty, why don't you go back to the palace and wait? If you get hurt again because of this, the Emperor will be worried about you."

The Concubine Chen remained unmoved and continued to stare at the bright moon.

Strangely enough, she and Xiao Jingheng had watched the moon together countless times before.

Looking at it, it is as round as a silver plate, and I feel that the reunion of people and the moon is a very perfect thing.

But today the moon is still full, but the Concubine Chen only sees it hanging alone in the sky and feels infinitely sad.

She murmured in a lost voice,

"Yingxiang, do you think the emperor doesn't like me that much anymore?"

Yingxiang said hurriedly, "Your Highness, you are overthinking. The Emperor treats you so well that even the Empress would be jealous. How could she say that she doesn't like you?"

"But if he likes me, he should believe me. Although I don't like him favoring other women, the Phoenix Pipa is a relic of the Holy Mother Empress Dowager. How can I bear to destroy it and make the emperor sad?"

Concubine Chen knew clearly why Xiao Jingheng ignored him.

He blamed the broken pipa string on her.

So she felt even more wronged.

She didn't understand since when she had become such an unbearable woman in Xiao Jingheng's heart.

It was obvious that even if she made a mistake in the past, Xiao Jingheng would always stand by her without hesitation.

As I thought about it, I felt sad and my vision started to blur.

Warm tears fell from the corners of her eyes.

She raised her hand, palm up, wiped away the tears, smiled bitterly, shook her head and sighed,

"That's all. That's all."

Concubine Chen helped Yingxiang and turned to return to the palace with her support. Suddenly, she heard a familiar male voice behind her:

"It's cold, why are you standing alone in the porch?"

The sound penetrated her ears, mixed into her blood and reached her heart.

The heart that was cold just now warmed up in an instant.

Concubine Chen looked back with joy and saw Xiao Jingheng striding towards her.

The silver moonlight sprinkled on his bright yellow dragon robe, and the gold thread on the embroidery reflected a faint light.

But in the eyes of Concubine Chen, this light was so dazzling.

She didn't care about the manners of a concubine, and hurried to Xiao Jingheng, tightly hugged his thin waist, buried her head in his chest, and couldn't help crying and said:

"I thought the Emperor would never come to see me again..."

Jamel Xiao also hugged her.

His broad palms pressed against her back, patting it gently.

"I have been busy with state affairs these past two days and have neglected you. Please don't take it to heart."

The Concubine Chen knew very well whether it was due to the busy state affairs or whether it was unintentional neglect.

But she couldn't care about anything.

She couldn't even explain to Xiao Jingheng that the broken string of the Phoenix-head Pipa had nothing to do with her.

After all, Xiao Jingheng never made this matter clear from beginning to end.

If she told it now, it would be like she was trying to cover up her guilt.

"It's good that Your Majesty is thinking of me in his heart. I am afraid that Your Majesty will find a new love and forget the old one."

Only Concubine Chen would dare to say such presumptuous words to Xiao Jingheng when she was being petty.

Xiao Jingheng did not blame her, but wiped away her tears considerately and smiled:

"Look at you, your nose is frozen red from standing in the wind."

He protected Concubine Chen on his right side to shield her from the wind, and walked towards the bedroom holding her hand, saying:

"The Yangzhi Ganlu in your palace is the best. I'm a little hungry now. Have you ever..."

"If the emperor likes it, I will prepare it every day."

Before Xiao Jingheng could finish his words, Concubine Chen had already started calling Yingxiang to go down and prepare.

That night, Xiao Jingheng stayed in the Chenfei Palace.

The people in Yonghe Palace have always been tight-lipped, so this matter did not reach the ears of other concubines.

The next day, when Song Zhao went to pay his respects to the Queen,

It was strange that Xiao Changzai, who had not appeared in public for a long time, came for the first time.

The concubines in the palaces had not seen her for a long time, so even if their greetings were insincere, they had to say a few words of greeting.

Shu Fei said, "It's good that you are willing to come out and walk around. Sometimes you may feel sad, but you still have to live your life, right? I have also just experienced the pain of losing a child, so I can naturally understand you."

Ying Fei said: "You haven't come these days, and we miss you."

Concubine Yun also said: "The scar on your face is not that serious. You can't see it unless you look closely."

Facing the concern expressed by everyone, Xiao Chang thanked them one by one and said:

"Thanks to the Queen for not looking down on me. She has been taking me to worship Buddha and chant sutras every day these days. When I comprehend the Buddha's teachings, I can see through many things."

The Queen Duanhe smiled and said, "It is because you, Xiao Changzai, have a connection with Buddhism. If someone else came to my place, they might find the incense smell too strong and they wouldn't even be able to sit still."

The person who 'can't sit still' as the Queen referred to was naturally Concubine Chen.

She didn't come today, so Concubine Ying continued the Queen's words and said:

"Why is the Concubine Chen late again today? She used to be favored, so it was okay for her to be late to serve the Emperor. But now that the Emperor doesn't even bother to pay attention to her, who is she showing off to?"

Concubine Yun also sneered, "Some people are used to having no rules, so you have to set some rules for them. Queen, you can't always give in to her like this, you have to teach her a lesson so that she will remember it!"

"The Concubine Chen pays her respects to the Empress."

As they were talking, they suddenly heard a solemn announcement from the eunuch outside the door.

Everyone looked in the direction of the sound and saw Concubine Chen walking slowly towards them, surrounded by a large group of palace servants.

Her people stopped outside the palace gate and did not come in. Only Yingxiang supported her and walked inside with lotus steps.

Today she was wearing a crimson cloak with a pattern of hundreds of birds welcoming the sparrows, and around her neck hung a floating cloud pearl that looked very similar to the Dongzhu. Her entire body was covered in jewels and looked extremely bright and luxurious.

The pattern of "Hundred Birds Greeting the Sparrow" imitates "Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix", while the floating cloud master imitates the oriental pearl.

These two things can only be used by the Empress.

Even though the concubines were already accustomed to the domineering behavior of Concubine Chen, the fact that she came in such a gorgeous dress today was obviously intended to show the Empress a warning, and the concubines couldn't help but change their expressions.

Song Zhao secretly glanced at the Queen's expression.

She still smiled, calm and composed.

The Concubine Chen walked towards her without even glancing at the concubines on either side.

When he stood at the bottom of the hall, he simply bent his knee lazily as a gesture of respect.

Without waiting for the queen to ask her to stand up, she faced everyone's gazes and sat down in her seat with an air of pride.