Consort Zhou spent half a day peeling lotus seeds outside the Funing Palace. When she finally returned to Yanxi Palace, her hands were already red and her nails were chipped.
She had worked hard all day, and it would have been fine if the Emperor had seen her. But the Emperor and several senior ministers discussed state affairs until dusk, and then the Imperial Kitchen had prepared dinner in advance, and the head of the Imperial Hospital was waiting to check the Emperor's pulse.
It was already difficult enough to squeeze into the Funing Palace, and with Consort Xie and Consort Fu watching closely from the side, Consort Zhou, who had been peeling lotus seeds for half a day, really didn't have the strength to argue.
Somehow the news got out, and the entire palace praised Consort Zhou's sincerity in caring for her during her illness.
As expected, only the Emperor could suppress Consort Zhou's arrogance. In the past two days, the concubines attending to the sick have suffered a lot from Consort Zhou's torment and squeezing, especially Consort Ding, who felt extremely happy to know about this.
But even the Empress Dowager couldn't say anything on Zhou Pin's behalf in this matter.
After all, Consort Zhou was attending to the sick, so she should have done her best. Moreover, everyone in the palace was praising her, so there was no reason for Consort Zhou to complain.
Moreover, there is currently an undercurrent of power struggle between the old aristocratic families and the imperial family, making it even more inappropriate for the Empress Dowager to intervene.
The next day, Consort Zhou did not go to Funing Palace, but since she had already peeled lotus seeds yesterday, it would be inappropriate not to peel them today.
However, since she didn't go to Funing Palace, she could have the maids peel lotus seeds for her, which made things much easier.
Consort Zhou returned late last night, so she went to bed late and got up even earlier the next day. However, she had already sent someone to peel lotus seeds for her today.
However, Huo Qinghe got up very early the next day because it was her turn to attend to the sick. She had just gotten up and dressed when Consort Meng arrived.
The two ate breakfast together, but because they were keeping track of the time, they ate it hastily.
Huo Qinghe wasn't in a hurry, but Meng was in a rush, so she didn't say anything and just followed Meng.
But on the way from Yanliang Pavilion to Funing Palace, Huo Qinghe finally spoke up: "It's not too hot today, Sister Meng, please walk slowly and be careful not to sweat. I would love to wipe your sweat for you."
Meng was prone to sweating, something Huo Qinghe had noticed carefully during the previous visits Meng had made to Huo Qinghe's room.
As soon as she said that, Meng subconsciously raised her hand to wipe her forehead, and at the same time slowed down her pace.
"I wouldn't dare trouble you to wipe my sweat, sister. Let's walk slowly then; we shouldn't be too late today."
Huo Qinghe didn't mention the kneeling and chanting of scriptures yesterday, but by bringing it up, she was able to slow down her pace.
Otherwise, she really wouldn't be able to keep up with Meng's pace.
After Meng Meiren said this, Huo Qinghe naturally nodded obediently.
When they arrived at the Funing Palace, the Emperor had already gotten up and had breakfast. However, their timing was unfortunate, as the Emperor was summoning his officials for a talk, so they accompanied him to prepare the medicine again.
Inside the main hall, Pei Yuanhui and the Minister of Rites finalized the schedule for the autumn imperial examinations and the chief examiners from various regions.
Because of the taboo against having relatives or friends, candidates for the autumn imperial examinations had to return to their hometowns to take the exams. However, every year, some candidates would use their household registration or place of origin to try to take the exams in Bianjing (Kaifeng). Because Bianjing was under the emperor's nose, more candidates could get a spot regardless of whether it was the spring or autumn imperial examinations.
The chief examiners also had to be careful about their conduct. They could not serve as chief examiners in their place of origin, and the chief examiners had to be personally selected by the emperor just before the autumn examination.
“Grand Tutor Zhou is devoted to the country, so let’s choose him.” Pei Yuanhui pointed to the location of the capital on the map through the screen.
The eunuch standing nearby quickly wrote down what the emperor had said, and a junior eunuch handed it out to the outer room where it was passed around for several senior officials to read.
"Your Majesty is wise."
Pei Yuanhui remained noncommittal and quickly finalized the selection of several other examiners.
Because he had already secured Grand Tutor Zhou, even though the other examiners were not from prominent families, they all nodded in agreement.
Among these individuals, there are quite a few who come from humble backgrounds.
By the time all the arrangements for the autumn imperial examinations were finalized, it was already past noon. The senior officials left the Funing Palace, and **Yu chatted with the Emperor for a while before being personally seen off by Miao Xi.
Jin Yang brought the ginseng tea into the hall and said in a low voice, "Your Majesty, it is Consort Huo and Consort Meng's turn to attend to your illness today."
Pei Yuanhui gently lifted the lid of the ginseng tea, not expecting that it would be Xiao Huo's turn to attend to the sick today.
He took a sip of ginseng tea, and his throat finally felt a little better: "Call Xiao Huo here."
Fighting those old foxes for half a day was really exhausting.
The Emperor's words clearly meant that he would no longer call her Consort Meng. Jin Yang bowed and personally went to the side hall to invite her.
"His Majesty has finished his meeting and thought that Lady Huo's locust flower tea was the best, so he specially sent me to invite her. Lady Huo, please come with me," Jin Yang said.
Jin Yang naturally used a way of speaking that wouldn't embarrass Meng Meiren too much, but Meng Meiren, who stood up because of Jin Yang's arrival, still couldn't help but feel a little awkward on her face.
She reached out and took Huo Qinghe's hand: "Since the Emperor enjoys your tea, I should try it another day. Go ahead, I'll stay here and watch over the medicine being prepared."
Huo Qinghe nodded slightly to Meng Meiren. Anything she said at this moment would seem somewhat insincere, so she turned and followed Jin Yang into the main hall.
Huo Qinghe walked rather slowly after entering the main hall, but it wouldn't be noticeable unless you looked closely.
However, Jin Yang, who was ahead, did not notice.
Pei Yuanhui raised his eyes: "You're here."
His cold had actually almost completely healed, but for the sake of planning for the autumn imperial examinations, he still had the imperial physician say that he wasn't fully recovered.
Huo Qinghe gave a slight curtsy, which made the stiffness in her body, or rather the stiffness in her knees, even more obvious.
Pei Yuanhui waved his hand, and Jin Yang silently withdrew.
"His Majesty."
"Come sit down, what's wrong with your knee?" Pei Yuanhui pointed at Huo Qinghe's knee from a distance.
Huo Qinghe slowly moved to the Emperor's side: "I'm relieved to see that Your Majesty is in good spirits today. I'm fine, but yesterday, Lady Zhou asked me to recite scriptures and pray for blessings..."
Pei Yuanhui was surprised that Huo Qinghe would be so honest in telling the whole story. He thought that Huo would be foolish enough to keep it a secret for Consort Zhou.
He laughed inexplicably: "You're quite honest."
Huo Qinghe's eyes widened slightly, and she slowly leaned forward to get closer to the Emperor: "I am actually willing to serve you while you are ill, but I feel that chanting scriptures might disturb you. I would be fine with chanting something else. I just don't dare to contradict Lady Zhou, so I can only tell you... Is this considered complaining? It's just that kneeling to chant scriptures does make my knees hurt a bit. It's not that I'm not sincere. Your Majesty knows how sincere I am."
She deliberately used a slow and deliberate tone, and her voice carried a hint of coquetry.
Huo Qinghe felt a little embarrassed after saying it.
But what she said was indeed adorable. Whether it was a complaint or not was no longer important; the emperor would know who made Huo Qinghe kneel anyway.
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