tear——
The rice paper in Liu Ruyan's hand was torn into two pieces, and the elegant plum blossom she had just painted was cracked in the middle.
Liu Ruyan thought she had heard it wrong.
"Imperial Concubine?" Liu Ruyan frowned slightly. According to the etiquette and rules of the royal harem, the ranks of the concubines in the harem, from high to low, are: Queen, Imperial Concubine, Four Imperial Concubines, Imperial Concubine, and Honored Lady.
The title of Imperial Noble Consort had never existed in the Kingdom of Qing.
Of course, "Imperial Noble Consorts" have existed in history. For example, Emperor Ai of the previous dynasty had his government controlled by powerful ministers, and Emperor Ai was forced to marry the minister's daughter as his queen. But Emperor Ai's favorite was a concubine, and he could not disobey the powerful minister, so he created a new position of "Imperial Noble Consort".
The Imperial Noble Consort has the same status as the Vice Empress and also symbolizes the emperor's favorite. As long as the queen dies, the imperial concubine can sit on the throne of the queen rightfully.
“Imperial Concubine, Imperial Concubine…” Liu Ruyan covered her chest with her hands, her heart aching, tears slowly emerging from her beautiful eyes.
Sad and aggrieved.
Back when the Emperor was still the Prince of Yan, during the time when Liu Ruyan and the Prince of Yan had the best relationship, the Prince of Yan never thought of abandoning the Princess and making Liu Ruyan his principal wife.
But Shen Wei did it.
Liu Ruyan closed her eyes and tears fell down, wetting the ink plum painting on the table.
Liu Ruyan spent the day in a daze and did not sleep a wink all night. At dawn the next day, the palace servants brought Liu Ruyan's auspicious clothes, and Liu Ruyan slowly changed into the bright and gorgeous golden-red auspicious clothes.
When she was demoted from a concubine to a royal concubine, the quality of her auspicious clothes naturally became worse. Liu Ruyan looked at herself in the mirror, her eyes were dark and haggard, and her features were no longer as charming as they once were.
She hated the gorgeous wedding dress, but had to wear it.
"Let's go to Yongning Palace." Liu Ruyan came to Yongning Palace in a daze, feeling unwilling.
The weather is fine today, the sun is shining, and everyone in Yongning Palace is filled with joy.
Liu Ruyan was wearing auspicious clothes and standing silently in the concubines' seat. The ceremony of enthroning the Imperial Noble Consort was grand, only slightly inferior to the ceremony of enthroning the Empress. Officials from the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Works held the imperial edict, treasures, gold and silver, and the Grand Secretary and the Minister of State performed the enthronement ceremony.
The guard of honor led the way and escorted the newly-appointed Imperial Noble Consort Shen Wei to receive the ceremony.
Liu Ruyan stood on both sides of the road, looking at Chen Wei, who was wearing a gorgeous auspicious dress embroidered with a phoenix in gold and red. The spring sunshine was shining on her, and she was as gorgeous as a phoenix.
The auspicious dress that Shen Wei was wearing took at least half a month to make. Today is another rare auspicious day - it can be seen that the emperor had planned to enthrone Shen Wei a long time ago, and all preparations have been made.
"Auspicious dress embroidered with a phoenix." Liu Ruyan murmured to herself, with a look of bitterness in her eyes.
There is an order of hierarchy in the harem, and only the queen can use the phoenix totem.
The emperor made an exception specifically for Shen Wei.
The investiture ceremony is lengthy and involved many steps. Liu Ruyan watched the entire ceremony numbly and kowtowed only after being reminded by the master of ceremonies from the Ministry of Rites.
This long and tedious enthronement ceremony ended near noon. The concubines left with their own thoughts. Liu Ruyan stood at the gate of Yongning Palace and looked back at Shen Wei in the courtyard. The courtyard was shaded by green trees, and only a ray of sunlight fell on Shen Wei, making her look as bright as a jewel.
Even the sun favors Shen Wei.
Liu Ruyan had to admit it.
She was jealous.
Liu Ruyan has always prided herself on being noble and looked down upon ordinary people and vulgar women. But in reality, when she saw the radiant and glorious Shen Wei, she still felt a pang in her heart.
"Why? How could she win the emperor's love?" Liu Ruyan couldn't understand. The lowly peasant girl whom she once looked down upon slapped everyone in the face time and time again.
Every time when everyone thought that Shen Wei would completely fall out of favor, Shen Wei would always survive and get up again, standing higher and higher.
In the boring and tedious harem, Shen Wei is always full of vitality.
Liu Ruyan sighed deeply, she knew she had lost completely. Liu Ruyan walked away step by step with tired steps.
Another person who was as distracted as Liu Ruyan was Concubine Liu Qiaoer. Liu Qiaoer attended the ceremony today, and looking at the glorious Shen Wei, the bitterness and resentment in her heart almost overflowed.
After returning to her palace, Liu Qiaoer felt uncomfortable all over. She could only comfort herself that the emperor's love was short-lived.
Even though Chen Wei is enjoying her glory now, she still has a long way to go. It is easy to fall hard from a high place - maybe one day, Chen Wei will fall from a high place.
"Wait, wait. I'm waiting for the day when she falls into the quagmire." Liu Qiaoer closed her eyes and hid in the gloomy darkness.
...
...
The ceremony of enthroning the Imperial Noble Consort was grand and the sound of music could be heard throughout the entire harem.
The Changxin Palace was filled with a strong smell of medicine. Lu Xuan leaned against the head of the bed, looking sick. The palace maid Xiaoqi was holding a bowl of bitter medicine and carefully feeding it into Lu Xuan's mouth.
"It's so noisy outside. What happened in the palace today?" Lu Xuan looked tired and her face was as pale as wax.
His face was filled with death and his eyes could hardly be opened.
Xiao Qi didn't dare to tell Lu Xuan about Shen Wei's canonization, and tried to brush it off: "The emperor received the meritorious officials today, it was a bit lively."
Lu Xuan coughed violently twice.
Lu Xuan said slowly: "You don't have to hide it from me. The ritual bell rang twelve times, which should be a happy event... Ahem, tell the truth."
Xiaoqi pursed her lips.
Lu Xuan said weakly: "Now you don't even listen to me?"
Xiaoqi lowered her eyes and whispered to Lu Xuan: "The Emperor has appointed Concubine Chen as Imperial Concubine... Today is the appointment ceremony."
Lu Xuan tilted her head and murmured to herself: "Royal Consort...Royal Consort...The Emperor doted on her so much, why did he only give her the title of Royal Consort..."
Lu Xuan covered her mouth and suddenly began to cough violently. Her throat tasted fishy and sweet, and she vomited large mouthfuls of blood. Xiaoqi jumped up in fright and hurriedly took out a handkerchief to wipe Lu Xuan.
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