The Emperor's arrival at Chengqian Palace had been announced to Jinyang beforehand, so Chi Xiexiang was already waiting at the palace gate.
She was still holding a thin cloak in her arms. It was only the beginning of September, and the weather hadn't gotten cold yet. However, Chi Xiexiang was very worried because the Emperor had just recovered from a serious illness and was only now feeling better.
When the Emperor arrived, Chi Xiexiang had been waiting at the palace gate for a while. She smiled as she watched the Emperor alight from the carriage. She took two steps forward and stopped in front of the carriage.
She gave a slight curtsy: "Your Majesty, you must have caught a chill on your journey. Your cold has just subsided, so it would be good if I could go to Funing Palace. You must have had a long and arduous trip."
Pei Yuanhui gave a soft "hmm" and raised his hand to support Chi Xiexiang's arm: "You too, what are you doing waiting here all day?"
Chi Xiexiang's hands weren't too cold. She personally draped the cloak she was holding over the Emperor's shoulders, showing genuine concern for his health.
Pei Yuanhui had already fully recovered, and now with a thin cloak draped over his shoulders, he felt an immediate surge of heat.
However, Pei Yuanhui did not immediately dismiss Chi Xiexiang's kindness. He waited until they reached the corridor of Chengqian Palace before taking off his cloak, which Jin Yang, standing beside him, quickly reached out to take.
Consort Chi saw this from the side, her smile froze slightly, and in the end she said nothing.
"Has Your Majesty had dinner yet? The kitchen has prepared ginseng soup; I'll go and fetch a bowl."
The two entered the inner hall side by side: "We've had dinner. You've worked hard these past few days, Consort. Please bring your lady a bowl of ginseng soup as well."
Chi Xiexiang smiled and said, "It's nothing. It's all what I should do."
The two sat together, drank ginseng soup, and chatted for a while.
They were talking about ordinary things, but Pei Yuanhui suddenly asked about Consort Chi.
"I heard that Consort Zhou was disrespectful to you?" Pei Yuanhui lowered his head and took a sip of tea.
Chi Xiexiang was slightly taken aback, and first raised her hand to wipe the water stains from the corner of her mouth: "This is not... Consort Zhou is just childish, and besides, she entered the palace late, so I should be more tolerant of Consort Zhou. Besides, how could Consort Zhou's behavior be considered disrespectful?"
Chi Xiexiang's words were clearly not what she really meant.
Pei Yuanhui stared intently at Chi Xiexiang, seeing right through her heart.
[This isn't the first or second time Consort Zhou has been disrespectful; the Emperor has even rewarded her, so what more is there to say? The Emperor's information network is too efficient; it reached his ears so quickly. If Consort Zhou continues like this, someone will eventually deal with her.]
Pei Yuanhui remained noncommittal, finding it somewhat amusing at most: "So that means you've been wronged."
Upon hearing the Emperor's words, Chi Xiexiang, overcome with emotion, couldn't help but raise her hand and place it on the back of the Emperor's hand.
"Your Majesty is too kind to me. There is really nothing to feel wronged about."
The candlelight shone on Chi Xiexiang's face in the night, making her already beautiful face even more rosy.
Just when it seemed the time was right, Fang Kui suddenly entered from outside the palace.
She realized as soon as she entered that she had come at the wrong time, and immediately lowered her head very low, clearly feeling somewhat frightened.
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, Huai-ge'er is crying terribly in the side hall. The wet nurses have tried to soothe him for a long time but to no avail. As a result, Huai-ge'er has not slept well during the day. The wet nurses are at their wits' end, so they have come to ask Your Majesty and Your Majesty for your opinion."
Chi Xiexiang immediately withdrew her hand. She hurriedly stood up, and then remembered the official standing beside her.
"Your Majesty..." She panicked as soon as she heard that the Second Prince was not sleeping well.
Pei Yuanhui also stood up as Fang Kui finished speaking: "Let's go see Huai Ge'er first."
The second prince was just over two years old and was born at full term. Among the princes and princesses, he was the easiest to take care of, which shows that Chi Xiexiang took very good care of him.
Chi Xiexiang is always most concerned about anything related to the Second Prince.
The second prince didn't sleep well, but he seemed quite energetic when he saw Chi Xiexiang.
Well, I'll have to appease this little devil first tonight before thinking about any other arrangements.
Once we've appeased that little devil Huai-ge'er, it'll be even later. At that point, there's no need to think about anything else; we can settle things directly.
So the emperor didn't need to think about anything else; he had other things to do tomorrow.
Pei Yuanhui had actually been holding back for a while. Ever since Huo Qinghe secretly came to see him at night, he had been burning with desire, but he had suppressed it until now.
Because of what happened with Huai Ge'er at Chengqian Palace the night before, Pei Yuanhui thought about it after finishing his work the next day and decided to go to Cao Shanlu's Zhongcui Palace first.
Even if Pei Yuanhui was angry, he could still restrain himself from having sex for a few days.
Even a noble imperial family has this much sense of propriety.
Cao Shanlu is eight months pregnant, and her belly is getting bigger and bigger every day.
Pei Yuanhui had been having Jin Yang visit Zhongcui Palace every day lately, and he had seen how big a woman's belly was when she was pregnant. However, seeing Cao Shanlu's condition, he told her not to do anything.
Cao Shanlu was pregnant, and although Consort Xie was in the side hall, Cao Shanlu clearly refused to let Consort Xie serve the Emperor.
So Cao Shanlu kept the emperor talking until late at night, and then slept soundly all night again.
On the fourth day, the Emperor was not in good spirits when he came out of Zhongcui Palace. He forced himself to listen to the morning court session and returned to Funing Palace. Pei Yuanhui yawned twice first.
"Go and call **Yu here."
Jin Yang had just served fresh tea when he heard the commotion and immediately bowed his head: "Your Majesty, you have appointed Scholar Song as the examiner of the examination papers at the Imperial Examination Hall. It seems that Scholar Song has already entered the Ministry of Rites since yesterday. Then... this servant will secretly go and invite Scholar Song here?"
The examination paper inspector at the examination hall was responsible for grading the examination papers for the autumn imperial examinations and determined the fate of the candidates.
Pei Yuanhui had really forgotten about it. He cursed under his breath and took a sip of tea.
"Do you think I'm a tyrant? Let's talk about this after the autumn imperial examination is over."
The Emperor could still distinguish between what was important and what was not. Pei Yuanhui raised his head and covered his face with the memorial, concealing the very low sigh that followed.
With so many things to do, he couldn't even find a moment of peace.
Thinking of the relief, Pei Yuanhui suddenly put down the memorial in his hand, clearly having thought of a suitable person.
"I'll go pick up Xiao Huo this evening. The weather has been bad these past two days, so I've asked someone to prepare a blanket in Feng Luan Chun En's car."
Pei Yuanhui suffered quite a bit of cold on his way to Chengqian Palace yesterday.
Although Xiao Huo was riding in the Phoenix Spring Grace Carriage, Pei Yuanhui was so concerned that he still felt Xiao Huo would be cold if he came to Funing Palace at night.
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