After they finished their meal, Song Ping left first, using the excuse of paying her respects to the Empress Dowager.
After Song Ping left, Concubine Feng called Ru Yuan in and asked unhappily, "What did you see when you went to Chaoyuan Palace today? Why are you so flustered? Fortunately, Song Lang didn't ask too much, otherwise, with your little tricks, who could you have hidden from?"
Ru Yuan didn't tell the truth out of consideration for Concubine Feng. Now, when she heard Concubine Feng's words that sounded like blame, she felt very aggrieved.
So she told him in detail how she met Lu Wan coming out of Chaoyuan Hall today and how she found out what happened in the hall.
Seeing Concubine Feng's thoughtful expression, she said carefully, "Your Majesty, I feel that Lord Song pays too much attention to Lu Wan. Don't you think so?"
The implication is that if Concubine Feng wants to keep Song Ping's heart, she'd better not mention Lu Wan in front of him.
The moment she heard that the little emperor and Lu Wan had met, Concubine Feng naturally wanted to tell Song Ping about it, but after hearing Ru Yuan's subsequent words, she hesitated.
After thinking about it, Concubine Feng quickly made a decision, "Although I don't think Song Lang would lie to me, what you said makes sense."
Seeing that Concubine Feng seemed to have more to say, Ru Yuan hurriedly asked, "So what do you mean?"
"Of course, I'm going to meet Mr. Lu."
There was a flash of coldness in Concubine Feng's eyes, but when she looked again, she had returned to a smile. She said to Ru Yuan, "I remember we haven't visited the Queen Mother for a long time."
Ru Yuan immediately understood and added, "It's been more than half a month. The Queen Mother is busy with government affairs, so the Queen Mother often says it's not good to disturb her."
"Although state affairs are important, the Queen Mother's health is more important. Today is worse than tomorrow. Let's go and pay our respects to the Queen Mother today."
After Concubine Feng finished giving the instructions, Ru Yuan hurriedly ordered the palace servants to go down and prepare.
Not long after lunch, Concubine Feng came to Shoukang Palace with gifts.
"Greetings to the Empress Dowager."
The Queen Mother was obviously very surprised to see Concubine Feng. "Why are you here at this time?" She asked her to sit down beside her.
Concubine Feng was much more obedient in front of the Queen Mother. She smiled and said, "A few days ago, my father sent a Hetian jade bracelet to me and asked me to present it to you. I was busy but forgot about it. Today, I happened to have some time, so I took the opportunity to pay my respects to you and present it to you."
After Concubine Feng finished speaking, Ru Yuan hurriedly took out a brocade box from behind her and Concubine Feng presented it to her with both hands.
The Empress Dowager did not like gold and silver, but she liked jade the most. When Concubine Feng said that it was a gift to her as a filial honor, she did not refuse. When she opened it, she saw that the jade was as white as fat and warm to the touch. Even the Empress Dowager, who was used to seeing treasures, could not help but reveal an expression of fondness.
"This is really good jade. It's hard for your father to find it. Please tell your father that I like this bracelet very much."
"It is a blessing for this bracelet that you like it."
Concubine Feng was saying flattering things on the side. She secretly glanced at the Queen Mother's expression and saw that she was in a good mood. Then she continued, "The Queen Mother and Your Majesty are the masters of this world. Naturally, everything should belong to you and Your Majesty. Your Majesty has treasures presented by the court officials outside, so naturally you have nothing to lack. So I will come to show my filial piety to the Queen Mother more often."
"You are so well behaved. I really did not choose the wrong person."
The empress dowager praised Concubine Feng. There were five women from official families who were selected to enter the palace that day, but Concubine Feng was the only one who was given the highest position. One reason was because of Feng's father's official position, and the other was because Feng Wan was the most pleasing to the empress dowager.
As soon as the Queen Mother finished speaking, Ru Yuan smiled and said, "The Concubine is the most devoted to the Queen Mother, but Your Majesty also has devoted ministers. When I went to deliver the medicine today, I happened to see Lord Lu——"
In the middle of her words, Concubine Feng suddenly coughed and interrupted Ru Yuan. She turned around and scolded, "How dare you be so rude in front of the Queen Mother?"
Ru Yuan listened to the rebuke and hurriedly knelt down to plead guilty, "Please forgive me, Queen Mother. It was my fault for being rude."
The Queen Mother just waved her hand gently and said with a smile, "Get up. I am not some monstrous beast. There is no need to be so respectful."
Although she said this, the Queen Mother's tone suddenly changed, "You said you met Lord Lu, which Lord Lu?"
Ru Yuan did not dare to answer immediately. She just glanced at Concubine Feng carefully, as if she was struggling with whether she should speak.
Seeing this, Concubine Feng frowned and said, "How can you be so hesitant in front of the Queen Mother? Since the Queen Mother is willing to listen to your gossip, why don't you quickly tell her everything you saw?"
Being urged like this, Ru Yuan quickly lowered her head and said, "I only saw Lord Lu coming out of Chaoyuan Hall, and heard that Lord Lu and His Majesty had a very pleasant conversation, so I said this."
"Yeah?"
The Queen Mother responded casually and then remained silent for a long time.
Concubine Feng lowered her eyes to hide her uneasiness. She knew that she shouldn't play tricks in front of the empress dowager, but concubines were not allowed to interfere in government affairs. Apart from coming to the empress dowager, she had no other chance to meet Lu Wan, a foreign minister.
So even if the Queen Mother suspected that she did it on purpose, Concubine Feng had to take the risk.
Ru Yuan was naturally more nervous than Concubine Feng. She pretended to be relaxed and knelt down to apologize, saying, "I deserve to die for gossiping in front of the Queen Mother."
After she said this, the Queen Mother finally spoke.
"Get up, I asked you to tell me, how come you are the one gossiping?"
Ru Yuan glanced at the Queen Mother nervously, and when she saw that she really didn't seem angry, she mustered up the courage to stand up.
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