Chapter 33 Chapter 33 Palace Maid Thirty-three Days

According to custom, the new concubine had to pay her respects to the empress on the second day after entering the palace. On the day when the concubines came to pay their respects to her, the empress wore a loose phoenix robe, a pair of phoenix hairpins on her head, and only had light makeup on her face.

At dawn, at the middle of the Mao hour, most of the concubines had already arrived to pay their respects. The Queen then appeared and sat on the highest throne.

The concubines stood up and saluted the queen, and all eyes in the room fell on the queen.

The queen didn't seem to notice. She looked normal, with a smile on her lips and looked graceful and elegant.

Being the queen for half a year gave her a sense of majesty and a royal noble demeanor.

Because it was the first time for the new concubines to pay their respects, they were more or less nervous. Some of them had a faint blue color under their eyes, probably because they didn't sleep well. After looking at the queen, they didn't look around. The old man in the palace glanced at the queen's abdomen, and then paid attention to the newcomer.

Yupin's eyes fell on Lady Yan. It was hard not to be on guard against such a beauty.

Lan Jieyu looked straight ahead, ignoring the beauties in the room. Her cold attitude invisibly separated her from the other concubines.

The concubines who were paying attention looked at the position belonging to Concubine De in the room. It was empty and happened to be right below the Empress, so it was hard for the Empress not to notice it.

Zheng Cairen was puzzled, so she whispered to Zhou Cairen, who was traveling with her when she paid her respects. Zhou Cairen was a concubine who entered the palace three years ago and knew the palace very well.

Lady Zhou also wanted to strike up a conversation with the new concubine, so she said, "That's the seat of Concubine De. I heard that she was not feeling well and hasn't come to Kunning Palace to pay respects for a long time. Look, Concubine De's seat is covered with dust."

The dust on the chair is a figurative metaphor used by Zhou Cairen. The palace servants in Kunning Palace are not idle, so how could they just leave the dust alone?

Zheng Cairen blinked quickly: "I see."

It seems that Concubine De is even more arrogant than the Empress. She doesn't have to come to pay her respects if she doesn't want to, and as for the statement about not feeling well, that's just a lie.

Otherwise, why didn't she hear Concubine Li worrying about this when she was with her in Chuxiu Palace? Concubine Li was the cousin of Concubine De and lived in the same palace with her. They had such a close relationship, it made no sense for her not to know about Concubine De's physical condition.

Zheng Cairen looked around and it seemed that Concubine Li did not come to pay her respects.

Realizing this, she opened her mouth slightly. If it was like this, and the Queen still didn't punish Concubine De - even if she couldn't, there was still Concubine Li as a soft persimmon. Then the Queen's position in the palace really made people think about it.

The Queen was sitting at the very top, so she could naturally see the whole scene. She was surprised that Concubine Li did not show up.

[Well, my goal today is to muddy the waters in the harem, stir up the desire of the concubines to compete for my favor, and make them stop focusing on my belly.]

[It doesn't matter if Concubine De and Lady Li are there now. When she has time, Concubine De will have Lady Li as her weakness, so she won't have to worry about it.]

The palace maids began to serve tea to the concubines. Shen Qing chose an inconspicuous position and stood there, just in time to see the expressions and movements of Zheng Cairen and He Cairen.

As soon as the two entered Kunning Palace, their tests began. Who is more worthy of training and resources will be decided today.

The queen began to encourage the new concubines, praising them for their youth and beauty, saying that the emperor liked such women and hoped that they would bring new things to the harem. Of course, she also did not forget the old ones in the palace, asking them to work harder and tempting them with more vacancies for high-ranking concubines.

After hearing these words, all the concubines became warm-hearted and stopped smiling.

Seeing this, the Queen smiled with satisfaction and looked at Concubine Xuan and Concubine Chu: "You two are the highest-ranking among the new concubines, and the Emperor also remembers you. In this way, you should set an example for the new concubines, serve the Emperor well, and give birth to many children for him."

Noble Lady Xuan and Noble Lady Chu stood up, bowed and said yes.

The concubines' gazes fell on them subtly.

Shen Qing heard Zheng Cairen snort and muttered softly, "Being one step ahead doesn't mean being ahead every step." But he was already feeling a little resentful towards the two nobles.

Shen Qing pursed her lips, realizing that the Queen was trying to stir up trouble everywhere and lift up the new concubines in order to protect the safety of the royal heir in her belly.

Sure enough, the Queen's next sentence pointed to Concubine Yan.

"Miss Yan's appearance is indeed stunning. There are probably few concubines in the palace who can compare to you. No wonder the emperor couldn't forget you after seeing you during the palace selection."

Lady Yan felt the subtle malicious gaze falling on her face, and she froze involuntarily, saying neither servilely nor arrogantly, "Your Majesty, you are too kind."

Shen Qing's eyes were a little dim.

The concubines sitting below are not fools. There are always one or two of them who can figure out the queen's intention. Even if they can't figure it out, they will feel that something is wrong after being praised so highly, and they will probably be afraid of the queen in the future.

Over time, you will end up in a situation where you are isolated and helpless.

The Queen's words now fell on Concubine Chen. Concubine Chen was somewhat similar to Concubine Lan, but one was gloomy and the other was cold.

With the favor of Concubine Lan, Lady Chen's future will not be bad.

So the Queen teased Concubine Chen and Concubine Lan, making everyone subconsciously put them together.

Concubine Chen had noticed Concubine Lan a long time ago. When she heard the Queen's words, she nodded slightly to Concubine Lan, but was ignored by her.

The Queen tried to smooth things over, saying, "Lan Jieyu has always had this kind of temper. Lady Chen doesn't have to worry about it."

Concubine Chen showed some sadness: "I originally thought that Concubine Lan didn't like me. Now that I hear that Concubine Lan treats everyone like this, I can't help but feel guilty for my narrow-mindedness just now."

Her voice had a just-right mellowness, which made it seem a little different from Lan Jieyu's.

In the palace, only by having your own characteristics can you go further.

Lan Jieyu looked at Concubine Chen expressionlessly. She looked fierce when she wasn't smiling.

Concubine Chen pretended to be surprised: "Lan Jieyu looks at me like she wants to eat me."

The new concubine was not surprised to see Concubine Chen's appearance. Her weird temper seemed to be natural and she did not hold it back at all. And because of her temperament like orchid, her smug look when she made people speechless by being weird did not seem vicious at all.

The Queen spoke, biased towards Concubine Chen: "Okay, Concubine Lan, we are all sisters in the palace. Concubine Chen has just entered the palace, you should give in to her."

Lan Jieyu, who was suppressed by the crowd without saying a word, felt very depressed, so she sneered: "Mrs. Chen is so eloquent, is there a juggler at home?"

Just a beauty, but he is stepping on her head. How abominable!

Concubine Chen was questioned about her family background. Instead of getting angry, she asked suspiciously, "Didn't Sister Lan listen to the Queen's words? If she ignored you in Kunning Palace, how could she ignore you outside of Kunning Palace..."

He Cairen added silently in his heart: He even less takes the Queen seriously.

Everyone was stunned by Concubine Chen's fearlessness. Concubine Lan frowned and said, "Queen, I have no such intention. Concubine Chen is really going too far."

The Queen emphasized: "Okay!"

Concubine Chen lowered her eyes, as if the dispute just now was not started by her.

Lan Jieyu's chest was heaving heavily, and her hands even grasped the corner of the table before she could barely swallow her anger.

This is too much!

Concubine Chen was born into a humble family and was born out of wedlock, so she was lowly. However, she was lucky enough to enter the palace because of her good looks. If she were outside the palace, the Chen family would not even be worthy of carrying her shoes.

Lan Jieyu had not suffered such injustice for a long time. Although the Gao family was not outstanding among the families of the concubines in the harem, they still had a minister. However, the Chen family of Concubine Chen was just a farming and reading family with mud on their feet. Her father was just a ninth-rank official who could not even enter the door of a high-ranking official.

Now that there is such a palace concubine, let alone currying favor with concubines of higher rank than her, at least don't contradict her.

Lan Jieyu was very angry and decided to instruct her father and mother to set a trap for the Chen family when she wrote to her family this month. If she couldn't control Lady Chen, could she not clean up the Chen family?

Shen Qing watched He Cairen express admiration for Chen Meiren, and he understood He Cairen's ambition.

I couldn't help but smile, having already anticipated the chaos in the palace.

If the queen wants to stir up trouble, He Cairen is the perfect choice.

However, if other people want to imitate Concubine Chen and act like this, the concubines in the palace will not just sit there and do nothing. They will be accused of disobeying a high-ranking concubine and will not be able to protest.

It seemed that Concubine Chen only wanted to anger Concubine Lan for a moment, and then she would calm down.

The Queen was naturally unhappy about having her reputation tarnished in this way. The smile on her lips disappeared and she scolded Concubine Chen and Concubine Lan.

However, after this incident, the concubines no longer put Concubine Chen and Concubine Lan together. Although they had similar temperaments, their behaviors were very different.

At this time, a eunuch called out, "Madam Defei, Lady Li is here—"

Concubine De and Lady Li entered Kunning Palace, bowed hastily to the empress, raised her head and said, "I am late."

Before the Queen could even say excuse me, he took his seat.

【Dog temper.】

Concubine Li followed beside Concubine De, wearing a light blue palace dress. She did not steal Concubine De's limelight. She apologized to the Queen, "I woke up late this morning, which caused Concubine De to accompany me late. I am guilty. Please punish me, Queen."

【Li Meiren took care of Concubine De. 】

Given the empress's forgiving image, she would naturally not punish Concubine Li. She asked her to take a seat and did not make things difficult for her.

Shen Qing followed Concubine Zheng and Concubine He, and when she saw Concubine Zheng's eyes light up when she saw Concubine De and she showed envy towards Concubine Li, she knew she was wrong.

Perhaps Zheng Cairen thought that the Queen would not dare to offend Concubine De, and that Concubine De was so powerful that she did not take the Queen seriously. Therefore, Concubine Li, who followed Concubine De, was treated leniently by the Queen, so following Concubine De had a better future than following the Queen.

However, the discord between the Queen and Concubine De was due to an old grudge. Since Concubine De was not the Queen, she could naturally give up on her own. However, the Queen was pregnant and needed to avoid Concubine De temporarily. She did not want to confront Concubine De at all costs.

If Concubine De was punished just because she was late in paying her respects, wouldn't that push her to the camp of Concubine Xian and the Queen Mother?

Now the situation of the three major powers, the Queen, the Virtuous Consort and the Virtuous Consort, is very good. They are involved with each other and guard against each other.

Today, Concubine De could have chosen not to pay her respects as usual, but she came reluctantly. This shows the role of Concubine Li. Concubine Li is important to Concubine De, so the Queen would not act rashly and force Concubine De into a corner.

Besides, Concubine Li has shown a good attitude, so why punish her?

After the time for paying respects, everyone left. Shen Qing watched Concubine Zheng leave without looking back, fearing that she would be involved in something with Kunning Palace. He found it funny and reported the matter to the queen.

The queen took off her hairpins and rings and didn't care about this fence-sitter. After all, she didn't invest anything in him.

"What do you think of He Cairen?"

Shen Qing considered and said, "He Cairen has great ambitions."

The Queen: "Then she is the one. Although her appearance is not what the Emperor likes, her makeup and hair can be done in that direction."

The emperor already has a template for his preferences. For example, Mrs. Du in the cold palace, Concubine Ning, and Concubine Chu are all beautiful and bright. He has no requirements for their personality.

As for the beautiful lady Yan, who was bestowed with a title by the emperor, she is so charming and charming that every man would like her.

The queen's eyes fell on Shen Qing. As she had always been under her eyes and had always dressed up properly, she had only subconsciously thought she was beautiful. At this moment, with just a quick glance, she realized that Shen Qing had been born with white skin without knowing when. Her bright eyes made people unconsciously fascinated. Her waist seemed to be slender and could be held in one hand, and her chest was bulging.

Her face was smooth, her features not yet fully developed, but she had already acquired a unique delicacy, tenderness, and charm.

But because Shen Qing kept her eyes downcast, that sense of tenderness was somewhat reduced.

Unfortunately, she is not the type that the emperor likes.

The queen was absent-minded and felt a little regretful.

Shen Qing's long and thick eyelashes trembled slightly and her heart was beating fast.