Although Huo Yiyun was neglected due to being confined to her quarters, and the Imperial Household Department was somewhat negligent, she had been in the palace for many years and had her mother's subsidies, so she was not short of money. Money makes the world go round, and her life was not much different from before her confinement.
She was, after all, a Noble Consort of the Third Rank, and anyone who wanted to take advantage of her decline would have to think twice.
When Cuiqiao entered, Huo Qinghe was inside the hall studying Buddhist scriptures, which were to be sent to Cining Palace on the day of the Empress Dowager's birthday.
"Where did you go? What's going on outside?"
Huo Yiyun heard footsteps, but she didn't look up.
Cuiqiao walked closer and first reached out to test the teacup. It was still warm, so she guessed that the maids had just changed it.
"My lady, the Emperor has sent word that he has granted you permission to go out on the day of the Empress Dowager's birthday, out of consideration for the Empress Dowager's birthday. You will no longer be confined to your quarters that day."
Huo Yiyun, confined to her quarters, hadn't paid any attention to what was happening outside. Hearing the voice, she subconsciously asked, "Whose concubine did the Emperor choose last night?"
Why would the Emperor possibly think of her? She hasn't even had anyone speak up for her before the Emperor.
Huo Yiyun knew she was under house arrest, and Huo Qinghe, that stupid and clumsy girl, was even more hopeless. She had never counted on Huo Qinghe and had never asked her to pass on any messages.
In her eyes, Huo Qinghe, that idiot, was lucky to even be able to protect herself.
She's expecting Huo Qinghe to speak up for her? She must be dreaming.
Cuiqiao hesitated for a moment, but still honestly told him, "Last night the Emperor summoned Consort Huo, and this morning Miao Xi, who is by the Emperor's side, sent someone to deliver a message. I reckon it's probably..."
"Who wants that idiot to plead for me in front of the officials? Do you think I need her to plead for me?"
As soon as Cuiqiao said this, Huo Yiyun was angered by some word, and she immediately flung her sleeves.
The teacup fell to the ground and shattered into pieces, splashing tea and the teacup itself everywhere.
The half-copied scriptures Huo Yiyun had copied on the table were also stained with tea, making them clearly unreadable.
Huo Yiyun was such a proud and arrogant person. She could be humble and subservient to the emperor, but she would never allow the emperor to show her any leniency because of Huo Qinghe, that lowly and despicable woman.
"What is her status? Her mother was just a lowly dancer who won my father's favor with her looks, but was soon forgotten by him. If it weren't for me standing up for her, would she have been able to enter the palace to serve the emperor? And now she's the one pleading for me? What is she? She doesn't deserve it."
Huo Yiyun felt her chest was filled with anger.
Seeing her wife like this, Cuiqiao didn't dare to utter a sound.
Only after his wife stopped talking did he immediately pick up the broken pieces of porcelain from the ground.
"My lady, please calm down. His Majesty has always felt sorry for you, and it just so happened that Consort Huo brought it up, so he was just going along with her. In the end, all the affection His Majesty shows Consort Huo is because of you, my lady. Just as you said, Consort Huo is not worthy to be compared to you."
Huo Yiyun wasn't so easily fooled.
She chuckled and said, "If His Majesty truly cares for me and has me in his heart, then he could have used the Empress Dowager's birthday celebration to lift my confinement. Why just lift it for one day? What's the point? Are you going to let me go out and be laughed at by Zhou and the others?"
Cui Qiao was speechless for a second.
"I'm afraid His Majesty hasn't forgotten what happened to Consort Fu last time. Besides, His Majesty is a man who values rules the most, and you know that better than I do. Moreover, if His Majesty really uses the Empress Dowager's birthday celebration to lift your confinement, I'm afraid Consort Zhou will go to the Empress Dowager and make a scene."
This matter is difficult to resolve. With Consort Zhou punishing a palace maid and being confined to her quarters as a precedent, Huo Yiyun has now injured a palace concubine, so it's even more impossible for her to let it go so easily.
Upon hearing this, Huo Yiyun started bringing up old grievances again.
"At that time, I was just thinking that I could use this commotion to get Lady Fu to move out of Xianfu Palace. I attacked Lady Fu, and given her fiery temper, she should have fought back long ago. Who knew she would be like a block of wood that day. The fact that she didn't fight back made me even angrier."
Cuiqiao sighed helplessly, "My lady."
Huo Yiyun waved her hand, and her previous anger subsided somewhat.
"Go to Yanliang Pavilion and tell Huo Qinghe to stop pleading for me. From now on, before she does anything, she must have someone come and report to me first and wait for my approval. Who knows how recklessly she pleads for the Emperor and angers him, and then I'll have to clean up the mess for her."
Cuiqiao agreed, and at the same time, she secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
She did not tell Huo Yiyun about the Emperor's gift of flowers and trees to Huo Meiren.
Firstly, she naturally didn't know exactly what the emperor had bestowed upon her.
Having learned from the previous example of the Emperor bestowing a red jewel, the peonies from Consort Yang's bath that the Emperor bestowed upon Huo Qinghe this time were secretly delivered to Huo Qinghe's Yanliang Pavilion. Everyone in the flower room was warned, and not many people in the palace even knew that Huo Qinghe had received a reward.
Furthermore, Cuiqiao had finally managed to calm her mistress down, so naturally she didn't want to continue discussing matters related to Huo Meiren.
This is nothing more than a tiny reward from the Emperor to Consort Huo. Hasn't my own wife received enough in the past? What's so surprising about it?
The emperor's favor towards Xiao Huo seemed to be just a fleeting moment.
The next day, the Emperor went to see his old flame again, this time visiting Consort Cao.
The crowd couldn't figure it out, so they pondered for a while longer the day Consort Yi's confinement was lifted.
No one paid any attention to Huo Qinghe.
In reality, it was just that the Emperor thought he had gone too far with Huo Qinghe last night, and if he were to summon Huo Qinghe again tonight, Huo Qinghe might really not be able to handle it.
Therefore, Pei Yuanhui did not summon Huo Qinghe tonight. The desire that Huo Qinghe had aroused last night had not subsided, but he had lost interest. So he decided to go and see Consort Cao, who was pregnant.
Consort Cao was pregnant, so it was naturally inconvenient for her to serve the Emperor.
That night, the Emperor rested in the main hall, while Consort Cao rested in a side room that had been prepared in advance.
Needless to say.
In the following days, the emperor was troubled by matters in various places, and he did not enter the inner palace for several days.
Huo Qinghe didn't need any treatment; it took her two days to fully recover after that one time she was summoned by the emperor.
After recovering, she had some free time to admire the few pots of Yang Guifei peonies.
If Huo Qinghe were a painter, she would surely have painted Yang Guifei's peony.
She didn't have the opportunity to learn it when she was young, but her younger brother would teach her some things when he came back from the Imperial Academy every month, but she only learned the basics.
Thinking of her younger brother, Huo Qinghe's eyes warmed slightly.
The emperor didn't enter the inner palace, so Huo Qinghe wasn't in a hurry.
She hadn't finished reading the books the officials had sent her, and she still had to learn to play the pipa, as well as pitch-pot, chess, and now flower arranging and painting. Huo Qinghe didn't have the energy to go outside.
But even though she doesn't go outside, there are always people who can't sit still.
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