The weather has been especially hot and humid these past few days. It's estimated that it will rain soon, otherwise the sun will be baking people. Xingxing is pregnant and wearing a heavy dragon robe, so she feels unbearably hot.
There was no shortage of ice in the palace, but she was pregnant and couldn't use too much ice, so she could only use a small amount, which made her suffer a lot.
Although there were two palace maids fanning her, the air was so hot that the fanning was useless. At night, Zhu Lin could take her into the mustard seed space so that she could get a good night's sleep, but there was no way to do so during the day.
"The late emperor's temporary palace has been repaired, so we can go there to escape the summer heat next year." The late emperor Zhu Lin was referring to was not Xingxing's father, Emperor Taikang. Emperor Taikang was unlucky; during his reign, the country was always plagued by natural disasters, so he didn't have extra money to build any temporary palace.
That palace was built by Emperor Taikang's father, who was also Xingxing's grandfather. Emperor Taikang was busy with state affairs all day long and had no time to go to the palace. The palace had been unused for many years and was already dilapidated. It was uninhabitable without repairs.
Having acquired the silver mine, the national treasury is now overflowing, and building a temporary palace is within our means.
At this moment, the chief eunuch came in to report, "Your Majesty, there is a woman at the palace gate who calls herself Song Jiao. She claims to be an old friend of Your Majesty and wants to see you. We servants originally did not want to pay attention to her, but the guard who delivered the message said that the woman spoke with certainty and said that she had something important to tell Your Majesty. We servants dare not make a decision on our own, so we came to report."
The head eunuch was the same one who had served Emperor Taikang before. He was an old servant of the palace and a confidant of Emperor Taikang. Before leaving, Emperor Taikang instructed Xingxing to continue to keep the head eunuch by his side to serve him.
"Song Jiao?" Xingxing hadn't heard this name in a long time. Her memory of Song Jiao was still from many years ago, when she first returned to Beijing.
I heard from my brothers that Tie Qingfeng refused to acknowledge his marriage to her, which was a waste of Song Jiao's infatuation. At the time, Xingxing felt sorry for her, but she never thought that they would meet again.
Why would Song Jiao come to see her? Did she know that she had become the emperor and wanted to curry favor with her? But back in Yegou Village, their relationship was far from good; they even disliked each other.
"You've got some nerve. Aren't you afraid I'll hold a grudge from when we were kids and take revenge on her?" Xingxing said, looking at Zhu Lin.
"Since he's someone we dislike, let's just get rid of him. We won't see him," Zhu Lin said in a low voice.
Xingxing thought for a moment, "I should still meet her. After all, we've known each other since childhood. I wonder what she looks like now, and how she'll react when she sees me?"
Okay, she admits she did have a bit of a desire to show off. After all, Song Jiao's deepest impression on her was that she loved to show off and had that arrogant attitude that looked down on people from the countryside. She really wanted to see if Song Jiao was as arrogant and difficult to get along with as she was back then.
What kind of expression would Song Jiao, a vain person, have when she has to kneel and grovel before someone she once looked down upon?
"Hiss," Xingxing shook her head slightly. Her current thoughts were rather wicked; she actually wanted to see others suffer in silence.
However, Song Jiao came to us herself, so we can't blame her.
Before long, the palace servants led Song Jiao into Chang'an Palace. Song Jiao kept her head down and dared not look around. After entering, she respectfully knelt down and prostrated herself on the ground, saying, "This commoner greets Your Majesty, long live the Emperor!"
Xingxing looked at the woman kneeling on the ground below and remained silent for a moment. Song Jiao held her breath, and cold sweat almost dripped from her forehead. At this moment, she regretted it. How could she have had such a brain fart to enter the palace and even think of pleading with the emperor for her help?
Now that the Emperor had given her a little warning, she immediately came to her senses. Back then, her relationship with the Emperor was very ordinary, or even nonexistent. She had been so confused before, because she had assumed that the Emperor would definitely help her since she knew him, after learning that he was Zhou Linglong, whom she had known before.
Where does her confidence come from? Who gave her the courage?
"Rise."
Just as Song Jiao was panicking and unsure how to end the situation, she suddenly heard a clear, cold female voice above her. She shakily got up and stood there with her head down, at a loss.
The current Xingxing is no longer the naive and easily bullied peasant girl she once was. Now she is an empress above all others, the most noble being in the world.
Thinking of this, Song Jiao shuddered violently.
"I heard you claim to be an old friend of mine and insist on seeing me, saying you have something important to tell me. Now you may begin." Xingxing sat upright at the head of the table, his face cold and stern, exuding a majestic and domineering aura.
"This humble woman, this humble woman actually has nothing of great importance to say. This humble woman is guilty, please forgive her, Your Majesty. This humble woman knows she was wrong and should not have disturbed Your Majesty for no reason." As she spoke, Song Jiao knelt on the ground again.
Song Jiao seems to be around twenty years old this year. Judging from her girlish hairstyle, she is not married yet. Today, she is dressed in pink with a gold hairpin in her hair. Although it is not as flamboyant and gorgeous as it was when she was a child, her overall temperament is simple and elegant.
So she can be afraid too. I used to think she was fearless because she always talked with her nose in the air.
That makes sense, though. This is the imperial palace, not the common people. Song Jiao is in front of the emperor now. If she dares to act recklessly, Xingxing will cut off her head. How could Song Jiao not be afraid?
Xingxing stood up from her chair, and Zhu Lin immediately helped her up, accompanying her to Song Jiao. "Since you've come looking for me, you must have encountered some trouble. It's not so easy for ordinary people to see me. According to the laws of the Great Jin Dynasty, commoners are not qualified to see officials without cause, let alone me. Song Jiao, your reckless actions are a major taboo. Do you know your crime?"
This chapter is not finished, please click the next page to continue reading!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
