The emperor had removed Concubine Chen's green card. When Sun Shurong and Guo Zhaoyi received the news, they were carrying gifts and preparing to go to Huayi Palace. When they were about to arrive at Huayi Palace, they hurriedly changed their route and went to Liangxiao Palace.
Xi Jiaorong lived in seclusion and rarely went out. In order to allow her to better take care of her pregnancy, Empress Dowager Hengle allowed her to not go to the Cining Palace to pay her respects.
Guo Zhaoyi and Sun Shurong hadn't seen Xi Jiaorong for more than half a month. When they saw her today, they felt that Xi Jiaorong was gentle and quiet, and her temperament was very different from before.
Before Xi Jiaorong became pregnant, she was full of spirit, with bright eyes and curiosity about everything.
After becoming pregnant, she became much more dignified and her mind was more mature than before.
The gifts the two brought included cakes and ornaments. Xi Jiaorong didn't even need to give any instructions, as the maids took the initiative to come forward and check the gifts they brought.
After confirmation, the ornaments were taken away and sealed, and the food was distributed by the palace maids.
Xi Jiaorong sat in the host seat, Guo Zhaoyi and Sun Shurong sat in the guest seats, Agui stood beside Xi Jiaorong, and there were also two strong maids who were observing the guests' movements at any time.
Xi Jiaorong and Guo Sun were not familiar with each other. The three of them had no common hobbies when they were together, and the topics they talked about were not of the same interest.
Sun Shurong looked at the sky outside and gently waved the fan in her hand.
"The Great Heat is approaching, and the weather is getting hotter day by day."
"The weather is hot, Concubine Xi, you must take care of yourself." Guo Zhaoyi said a few polite words.
Xi Jiaorong smiled and replied, "Thank you both for your concern."
"Xi Fei, you take a rest first, we will go back first."
Concubine Xi felt relieved, and her expression when seeing off guests was more relaxed than when welcoming them.
"Take care, both of you. I'll be free later..." Don't come here too often when you're free. It's too tiring to entertain you.
"Come and visit us when you have time." Concubine Xi smiled and told Agui to send Sun and Guo out.
As soon as Sun and Guo left, Xi Jiaorong took off her headdress, changed into casual clothes, and sat by the gauze window eating grapes.
The grapes sent by Empress Dowager Hengle were what she liked best. Agui fanned her gently with a fan. The inner hall was quiet. Xi Jiaorong finished eating the grapes and read quietly.
In the evening, after the emperor finished his government affairs, he came over to talk to Xi Jiaorong.
During their conversation, Xi Jiaorong mentioned that Sun and Guo had come to visit her during the day.
Sun Shurong and Guo Zhaoyi put on new clothes and makeup, their excitement was beyond words.
Zhu Bifeng sat upright, while Sun and Guo listened attentively with their hands lowered.
"I want a new dress..." Before Zhu Beifeng could finish his words, Guo Zhaoyi immediately replied, "Your Majesty, I am good at embroidery."
Sun Shurong patted her chest and said, "Your Majesty, I am willing to sew new clothes for you myself."
Zhu Bifeng nodded in satisfaction, but said, "In that case, I'll have to trouble you two beloved concubines."
If Zhu Bifeng wanted to make new clothes, he only needed to tell the people in the Shanggong Bureau, but he left the task of making clothes to Sun and Guo.
Sun Guo and his partner thought that the emperor had ulterior motives, but in fact the emperor just wanted to restrict the actions of Sun Guo and his partner by making clothes.
The emperor knew that Sun and Guo were better friends, so he praised one and criticized the other. A rift immediately developed between the two of them, and they began fighting among themselves, leaving them no time to harass Xi Jiaorong.
Sun Shurong was particularly attentive to the task assigned by the emperor. She invited five skilled embroiderers from the Shanggong Bureau to supervise her embroidery.
Guo Zhaoyi and Sun Shurong had a dispute. The other party hired five embroiderers, and she hired ten.
All ten embroiderers are skilled in embroidery and can be said to be the backbone of the Shanggong Bureau. The enthronement ceremony of Concubine Chen is about to be held, and she stopped working after only finishing half of the embroidery.
Concubine Chen took them to the Shanggong Bureau to see the new clothes, but Director Ruan hesitated and couldn't explain anything.
"Your Highness, please wait a few days. The embroiderers are busy right now. Once they finish their work, I will immediately arrange for someone to make new clothes for you."
After hearing this, Concubine Chen's face turned very ugly. She rushed into the embroidery room and found that most of the embroidery frames in the room were empty, with only the young embroiderer embroidering with her head down.
"Master Ruan, why haven't the embroiderers in the embroidery room started work yet?"
Envoy Ruan had no choice but to tell the whole story. After hearing this, Concubine Chen was furious and planned to teach Sun and Guo a lesson.
Do two small fry need so many embroiderers? It's not like they are embroidering a dowry. I'd like to see what they are up to.
Sun Shurong sat in front of the embroidery frame with her head bowed, asking questions after each stitch. The embroiderers were so annoyed by her questions that they almost pushed her aside and shouted, "Step aside, let me do it."
"Master, Concubine Chen is here to visit."
The palace maid came in to announce it, and Sun Shurong stepped forward to greet her, "Empress Chen Guifei, what brings you here?"
Concubine Chen did not answer but asked, "Sun Shurong, are you bored? You can't even embroider a flower in half a day, and you let five embroiderers watch over you. Aren't you ashamed?"
"Embroidery, I am busy embroidering the emperor's nightgown."
Come on, Sun Shurong not only has a poor brain, but also has poor hearing. Concubine Chen clearly asked, "Sun Shurong, are you ashamed?", but Sun Shurong heard it as "are you embroidering?"
Concubine Chen rolled her eyes and put her hands on her hips. "You can embroider slowly by yourself. I will take the embroiderer away."
Sun Shurong argued, "Your Highness, if you need an embroiderer, you can go find Consort Guo. She already has over ten beautiful girls."
Concubine Chen asked, "Really?"
"I dare not lie to the Imperial Concubine."
Concubine Chen turned around and went to ask for the person from Concubine Guo.
In terms of embroidery skills, Guo Zhaoyi's craftsmanship is much better than Sun Shurong's.
Ten embroiderers surrounded Guo Zhaoyi, giving her suggestions from time to time. Guo Zhaoyi was good at embroidery, and with the guidance of a famous teacher, her embroidery skills improved by leaps and bounds.
Concubine Chen came in a rage to demand an explanation, but was impressed by Concubine Guo's strength.
She took off her armor, touched the embroidery on the frame, and an idea came to her mind.
"Guo Zhaoyi, since you like embroidery, you can sew the new dress I will wear when I am crowned."
Guo Zhaoyi was extremely unwilling in her heart. She entered the palace to compete for favor and share the emperor's love, not to do embroidery.
Concubine Chen glanced at him and asked, "Why, you don't want to?"
"I am willing. It is my great honor to serve the Imperial Concubine."
"If you work hard, I won't treat you unfairly."
No compensation was paid, just some verbal promises and the man left quickly.
Guo Zhaoyi looked up at the sky, and only her wounded world appeared.
The palace maid consoled him, "Guo Zhaoyi, those who are capable should do more work."
Guo Zhaoyi complained in her heart, "The capable ones will die from overwork."
When night fell, many concubines fell asleep. Concubine Guo embroidered by candlelight, stitch after stitch without stopping.
Apart from not being favored by the emperor, Guo Zhaoyi was quite outstanding in appearance, figure and talent. The concubines in the harem were just too idle, which made it easy for them to fight. Zhu Beifeng was inspired by the incident between Guo and Sun, and he planned to carry out a reform in the harem.
He planned to make full use of the idle people and idle resources in the harem, reduce treasury expenditure, and mobilize the enthusiasm of everyone in the harem.
Zhu Beifeng was a wise ruler. His reforms started with himself.
After listening to Zhu Bifeng's idea, Gu Yinwei felt that it was feasible and was willing to cooperate with him to implement the reform.
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