When Huo Qinghe returned to Yanliang Pavilion, it was almost time for dinner. The maids dared not wait outside Yanxi Palace, otherwise, if Consort Zhou of the main hall saw them, they would not know what would happen. They could only wait in front of Yanliang Pavilion.
Green Cloud, with her sharp eyes, spotted her mistress first. She pulled Green Locust and said, "My mistress is back! My mistress is back! Baosheng, hurry inside and set the table, and then go and get some hot water."
Green Locust's voice was lower: "My lady returned so late. I thought she would stay in Funing Palace."
Green Cloud had a different idea: "Madam has already spent half a day in Funing Palace. If she stays overnight, all eyes in the palace will be on our Yanliang Pavilion. How frightening would that be? Besides, being able to stay in Funing Palace for half a day is already an honor."
The two maids walked up to Huo Qinghe while talking.
Granny Wang walked a little slower: "Madam must be tired after half a day. Why don't you go back to your room and rest? I know a little about massage, let me give you a massage."
Huo Qinghe's eyes lit up upon hearing this: "Alright, then I'll trouble you to massage me, Granny. I'm not very hungry right now, so you can go and have something to eat first. You don't need to stay here to serve me. I'll have dinner later."
Granny Wang stepped forward to support Huo Qinghe, and Green Seed, seeing this, silently let go and stepped back.
Huo Qinghe and Granny Wang went into the inner room. She first massaged her arms: "Granny, please massage them for me. I'll also watch and learn from you."
Seeing this, Granny Wang was somewhat surprised, then smiled and said, "In all my years in the palace, this is the first time I've seen someone as eager to learn as you, Madam. But you are the mistress, so these things are..."
As she spoke, Huo Qinghe had already taken off her shoes and climbed onto the small couch. Leaning against the large cushion, she sighed comfortably, "Isn't it true that it's always good to have more skills? Just like you. Besides, I can only learn the basics now, and whether I'll need them in the future is another matter."
Huo Qinghe is indeed quite free now, so she is willing to learn more.
She didn't have much opportunity to learn things like music, chess, calligraphy, and painting while she was in her boudoir. Now, when she's accompanying the emperor, she can still be called foolish, after all, her background is what it is. But as time goes on, it will be impossible to hide her ignorance.
Huo Qinghe is currently learning whatever she doesn't know, but she won't bite off more than she can chew, so there are some things she won't rush to learn right now.
For example, in today's game of pitch-pot, she could tell that the Emperor was just playing around with it. She didn't know how good the Emperor was at pitch-pot, since he played it very casually today.
But her health wasn't very good, and she had just recovered from a serious illness, so naturally she wasn't in a hurry to practice pitch-pot...
Wang Mama nodded secretly as she listened to Huo Qinghe's words: "But Madam has had a hard day, so you should rest well."
As she spoke, she lowered her head and rubbed her palms together. When her palms were warm, she looked up and found that her wife had already closed her eyes and fallen asleep.
After all, serving the emperor naturally requires one to be on their toes and constantly think about how to respond.
Only after returning to Yanliang Pavilion did Huo Qinghe finally relax.
Granny Wang gently pulled up Huo Qinghe's sleeves, only then noticing that her mistress had some red marks on both sides of her forearms, likely caused by frequent bending and rubbing. Given Huo Qinghe's fair skin, the marks looked rather alarming.
However, such marks should not be caused by sexual intercourse. Wang Mama also remembered that the Emperor was not the type to indulge in debauchery during the day. So how could his companion have ended up like this?
Granny Wang swallowed her doubts and gently massaged her mistress.
Huo Qinghe was too tired to have dinner, so she ate late, while Consort Zhou in the main hall was also not having dinner at the moment.
"Your face has improved a lot these past two days. With the medicine sent by the Empress Dowager, you can rest assured that it won't leave a single scar," Yu Zhi gently comforted her from the side.
Consort Zhou sat in front of the dressing table, holding a bronze mirror in one hand and carefully touching her face with the other.
"What does it matter whether it can be cured or not? It'll just happen that the rash will break out on my face soon anyway."
At this time, Consort Zhou was not wearing a veil. Her originally fair face was covered with several red rashes, which, when applied with ointment, made her look somewhat less frightening.
Consort Zhou is much better now than she was two days ago; those two days were truly frightening.
Yu Zhi stood behind her and continued to persuade her, "Why don't you tell His Majesty that you can't eat oysters? If this continues, the imperial physician has already said that you can't go on like this."
Consort Zhou held up the bronze mirror for quite a while, not complaining of getting tired: "Do you really think the Emperor doesn't know I can't eat oysters? The Emperor just loves to see me having to eat oysters even though I clearly can't. What does it matter if the Emperor doesn't like me and I suffer a little? One day the Emperor will feel sorry for me because of this."
This wasn't the first time Yu Zhi had heard her wife say such things, but she still felt sorry for her: "You've really suffered so much."
Upon hearing this, Consort Zhou finally put down the bronze mirror and sneered, "Feeling wronged? What's there to feel wronged about? If it weren't in the palace, it would be in some deep mansion. I'd rather be in this palace, at least I have my aunt's protection."
Everyone outside says that Consort Zhou is domineering and arrogant, but in reality, Consort Zhou is not completely brainless.
She is indeed impatient, but when her aunt is around, she is more likely to listen to advice, which is why she hasn't been causing trouble for Xiao Huo lately.
Thinking of Xiao Huo, Consort Zhou snorted again, crossing her arms in a gesture of displeasure.
"Little Huo from the side hall is back?"
Yu Zhi nodded in agreement: "Consort Huo has been back for a while now. It seems she hasn't had dinner at Funing Palace."
Consort Zhou twitched her lips; she was actually a little hungry at the moment. "These past two days, with Consort Fu moving to the palace, Consort Chi and Consort Yi have certainly been giving His Majesty a lot of trouble. Little Huo has been staying in the Funing Palace for so long today; who knows what those two sisters will whisper in His Majesty's ear one after the other."
What others could think of, Consort Zhou naturally could also think of.
"Even if you still can't stand that bitch Huo's behavior, just pretend she doesn't exist for the next couple of days. If we cause a scene here, Xianfu Palace will have an excuse to complain. I'd like to see what else Fu Shi can do. She can persuade the Empress to move her palace. I underestimated her the other day."
Yu Zhi exclaimed, "They're about to start a fight, this is a good opportunity for you, my lady."
Consort Zhou stood up with her arms crossed: "I'm a little hungry. The most important thing right now is to take care of my face. You can go to the Funing Palace to invite the Emperor in a couple of days."
Her face couldn't be scarred, but it still needed to be seen by the officials; however, it couldn't be too ugly.
That's why she hasn't made a fuss lately.
“One batch of new talents after another, and now it’s that bitch Huo who has come out on top. Does she even deserve it with her illegitimate daughter’s status? I’ll wait and see how she falls hard.”
Consort Zhou walked towards the flower hall, each word uttered through gritted teeth.
She hadn't forgotten why she was confined to her quarters, or that the last time the Emperor came to her place, he ended up going to Little Huo's place.
She's trying to curry favor with the officials by taking advantage of her fame; even a young Huo like her doesn't deserve it.
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