Chapter 100: Zhen Huan's title changed to Concubine Xi
Zhen Huan had anticipated that the Emperor would definitely inquire about this matter, so she had already prepared her words in her mind.
"Your Majesty, I have no intention of causing trouble for the Imperial Household Department. It's just that the clothes they sent me were a little damaged. I know that in an occasion like this, I must not make any mistakes, lest I lose my composure. I thought that the Imperial Concubine might have suitable clothes, so I asked to borrow them temporarily."
Zhen Huan stood up respectfully and saluted the emperor, then took the set of clothes provided by the Ministry of Internal Affairs from Jin Xi who was standing beside her and showed it to the emperor.
The emperor noticed at a glance that something was wrong with the dress, and he slammed the table in anger.
"How dare you! This is Empress Chunyuan's old clothes. Is this how the Imperial Household Department does things? They actually delivered such clothes to Concubine Wan."
The Emperor had never been so angry in public since he ended Prince Dun's rebellion.
"Your Majesty, please forgive me. I didn't know this was Empress Chunyuan's dress. I just thought it was accidentally damaged and presented it to Your Majesty."
Zhen Huan seemed to be frightened by the emperor's wrath and quickly knelt down to plead for herself.
"Alright, Concubine Wan, this isn't your fault. How could I punish you? Hurry up and get up. You just gave birth. Please take care of yourself."
After comforting Zhen Huan for a few words, the emperor turned around and looked at the queen. The deep meaning in his eyes made the queen feel uneasy for a moment.
"Your Majesty, today is a joyous day. Concubine Wan has given birth to a son and a daughter for Your Majesty. Your Majesty must not let other things disturb your joy."
Nian Shilan raised her glass to toast the emperor, and she secretly glanced at the queen.
As expected, she is still the same as in her previous life, always doing these stupid things. It seems that the queen has no other choice but to take out Queen Chunyuan's relics from time to time to test her weight in the emperor's heart. It is really ridiculous.
"Yes, congratulations, Your Majesty. Congratulations, Your Majesty! Our palace will become more and more lively from now on."
Concubine Duan, who rarely spoke on her own initiative on weekdays, also raised her glass to toast the emperor.
The emperor's originally somewhat angry mood was calmed down a lot after hearing the words of the concubines.
"I have been very happy these days. Not long ago, Concubine Hui gave birth to Princess Jinghe for me, and now Concubine Wan has given me Hongzhou and Lingxi. I am very happy."
As the emperor's complexion improved, the hall became filled with singing and dancing. Everyone drank heartily and immersed themselves in joy. After a long time, they dispersed, leaving only Zhen Huan to accompany the emperor.
"Su Peisheng, how's the investigation going?"
After returning to the Yangxin Palace, the emperor immediately asked about what had just happened.
"Your Majesty, I just asked the servant from the Imperial Household Department who delivered the clothes to Concubine Wan, and he said, he said..."
The emperor was even more furious when he saw Su Peisheng hesitate to speak: "Tell me, is there anything I don't know?"
"That servant has always claimed that he knew nothing about this matter. Queen Chunyuan's belongings were all kept by the Empress, and he was only responsible for delivering them directly to Yongshou Palace."
"Your Majesty, I'm lucky I didn't wear this dress today, otherwise I would have accidentally bumped into Queen Chunyuan, and I would have been blamed for it."
When Zhen Huan heard Su Peisheng's words, she knelt down before the emperor without waiting for his reaction, her face full of fear and trepidation, which made the emperor feel distressed.
"Hanhuan, this has nothing to do with you. You were innocently implicated. How could I vent my anger on you?"
The emperor stepped forward and helped Zhen Huan up, but the expression on his face was obscure and difficult to understand.
"Perhaps the Empress is too busy with her daily affairs to notice these little things. Please don't blame the Empress, Your Majesty."
Zhen Huan knew that the Emperor would not do anything to the Queen just based on this incident, but she was determined to pin this incident on the Queen and let the Emperor's patience with her slowly disappear.
"What do you mean by busy? It's just that she has her own little thoughts. I didn't bother with her about many things before, but I didn't expect her to become even more presumptuous now."
The emperor was not unaware of the queen's thoughts, but many times he didn't want to argue with her for Chun Yuan's sake.
"Su Peisheng, the Ministry of Internal Affairs has failed to perform its duties properly this time. All relevant personnel will be taken to the Ministry of Punishment."
“Yeah.”
"Your Majesty, this matter has passed. Please do not harm yourself over it. Even if the Empress did make a mistake, it must have been unintentional. I heard Aunt Jianqiu say before that I and Empress Chunyuan have some similarities. I think the Empress must have made this mistake because she missed Empress Chunyuan."
When the emperor heard what Zhen Huan said, a rare strange look appeared on his face.
"Do you know that you look somewhat similar to Chun Yuan?"
This was something the emperor had not expected. Everyone in the harem knew that Chun Yuan was the emperor's taboo name, and no one should have mentioned it in front of Zhen Huan. He did not expect that such obscure things would be heard from Jingren Palace.
"Your Majesty, please forgive me. I overheard Aunt Jianqiu say this once. I think she said it carelessly. I understand how the Queen misses her sister."
Although Zhen Huan was trying to excuse the Queen in her words and deeds, everyone in the palace knew that Jingren Palace had always been very tight-lipped. Since such words came from Jianqiu's mouth, it must have been instructed by the Queen.
"Huanhuan, I didn't tell you about this before because I didn't want you to think too much. You and Chunyuan do have some similarities, but I know very well in my heart that you are you and Chunyuan is Chunyuan. After all, you are different. You have been by my side these days, and I can see your feelings for me. Now we have Hongzhou and Lingxi, which are incomparable to others."
Zhen Huan didn't believe the emperor's words, but she looked at him with deep affection: "Your Majesty, I don't think about anything else. I just want to serve you in the future. That's enough for me."
Seeing the love in Zhen Huan's eyes for him, the emperor's heart couldn't help but soften, and he felt even more indebted to Zhen Huan.
"Hanhuan, you always make me happy like this."
The Emperor thought for a moment and said, "Since this is the case, I do not want you to have any more worries. The past is dark and cannot be retrieved, but the future is bright and glorious. I will change your title to Concubine Xi. Is that okay?"
"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your grace."
Zhen Huan felt that this change was quite good. In fact, no matter which woman she was, she would definitely care about being a substitute for someone else. Now that her title had been changed, it sounded much more pleasant.
"How does your Yongshou Palace look? Is there anything you don't like? Do you still like it?"
"What the Emperor does for Huanhuan is naturally the best. Huanhuan is very happy."
No way!
Zhen Huan spoke insincerely with a sweet and tender face, and just wanted to leave quickly. She hadn't talked with Concubine Hua and Sister Mei for a long time, and she missed them very much.
"Okay, I still have some things to take care of, so Huanhuan, please go back first. I'll come see you later."
"I'll take my leave."
Zhen Huan bowed and left without hesitation. In her opinion, all these arrangements were just the emperor's means of balancing the power of the harem, and she would not let herself devote herself to these empty loves.
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