Chapter 15 Extraordinary
The empress dowager's hands were tightly gripping the armrests of the chair, and Song Wanyan saw her indignant expression.
Song Wanyan disliked her more and more, and snorted in her heart - old witch, what are you planning?
His intention to harm others is written all over his face.
Empress Dowager Xue suppressed her anger for the moment and slowly said to the concubines who came to pay their respects: "Everyone, get up."
All the concubines stood up respectfully, "Thank you, Queen Mother."
"I've heard what happened just now. That Concubine Lu assaulted a concubine on her first day in the palace, completely disregarding the royal rules. She deserves this fate. It's all her own fault. You should all learn a lesson."
"Yes, I will remember the Queen Mother's teachings."
The Queen Mother put on a smile, her tone softening slightly as she spoke leisurely, "However, to be honest, Su Xiuyi has truly suffered an unprovoked disaster. She is the highest-ranking of your newcomers to the palace, and it is her duty to teach you. A few words of guidance are indeed due to her. However, Concubine Lü angered Your Majesty, and she has been implicated. Even if I wanted to see her today, I cannot."
These words made the concubines standing respectfully below breathe a sigh of relief.
Everyone saw how domineering Su Xiuyi was just now, but the Queen Mother said that she was implicated because of Your Majesty's anger towards Lu Cairen, which shows that the Queen Mother was dissatisfied with Your Majesty's confinement of Su Xiuyi.
When Song Wanyan heard the Queen Mother clearing Su Qingrong's name, she only regretted that she was standing too far forward and couldn't roll her eyes.
What kind of bullshit are you talking about? The Xue family is truly masters of conflating right and wrong.
In the corner, Lady Liang, who was standing in front of Zheng Baolin, rolled her eyes - who couldn't hear that these words meant the Queen Mother was supporting Su Xiuyi and also hinting that they should take Su Xiuyi as the leader?
Although she entered the palace to be His Majesty's concubine, His Majesty's foundation is too shallow. Now, the Queen Mother is dissatisfied with His Majesty, which means that the Xue family is dissatisfied with His Majesty. However, she won the throne by luck, but without the support of the aristocratic families, how long can she keep the throne?
If she wants to have a way out, she can tell whether to respect the Queen Mother or His Majesty.
So, Concubine Liang immediately responded, "Don't worry, Empress Dowager. Empress Xiuyi was frightened today, and it would be good for her to rest in the palace."
With just two or three sentences, the ugly incident of Su Xiuyi being punished with a month's house arrest as soon as she entered the palace was beautified as a period of rest.
The Queen Mother was very satisfied after hearing this and looked towards Concubine Liang in the crowd.
"Whose daughter are you? You look like a rare beauty."
Lady Liang stepped out with a smile, bowed, and said, "Your Majesty, my father, Liang Chongyuan, is the Minister of the Ministry of Works."
The Queen Mother's smile faded a little. She was not from a noble family.
However, he still has good vision and can tell who is the boss in this palace. If necessary, he will definitely be a good chess piece.
"Please stand up. I like you very much. Come forward and stand so that I can take a good look at you." The Queen Mother looked at her with a smile.
Concubine Liang won the Empress Dowager's favor with just a few words, and naturally some people envied her. Zheng Baolin bit his lip, feeling disgusted with his own poor tongue.
Concubine Liang suppressed the pride in her eyes, stepped forward and walked past the group of new concubines, walked to the front, and stood side by side with Song Wanyan.
Song Wanyan looked at her with disdain in her eyes.
Since Su Xiuyi and Jia Jieyu were not there, there was nothing to say, and after a while, the empress dowager asked everyone to disperse.
On the way back, except for Song Wanyan and Concubine Liang, the other concubines walked towards their own palaces in a low-key and cautious manner.
Concubine Liang stood in front of the Wanshou Palace, secretly admiring her own cleverness.
She has a low position and an obscure family background. If she wants to serve the empress dowager, she may have to wait for years. Now that she has the favor of the empress dowager, she just needs to seize this opportunity and ride the wind. Sooner or later, all the concubines in the palace will have to look at her face.
When Song Wanyan came out of Wanshou Palace, she saw Lady Liang standing there with a look of great ambition.
She rolled her eyes and bumped right past her.
Lady Liang staggered after being bumped into, and immediately looked up in dissatisfaction, but when she saw that the person next to her was Song Wanyan, she didn't dare to say anything.
Song Wanyan sneered when she saw her frustrated look.
He was so arrogant just now, but now he has to depend on her mood.
She hates the Xue family and people who curry favor with the powerful.
She hates those who curry favor with the Xue family even more!
"What are you looking at? Are you waiting for me to apologize to you?"
Lady Liang forced a smile and said, "How could that be? It was I who blocked the way of Empress Xiu Yuan. I know I was wrong."
"That's good to know. Next time, don't be so tactless and stand right in the middle of the road."
Others were cautious because of the empress dowager's appreciation and avoided her, but Song Wanyan was too lazy to indulge her.
After watching Song Wanyan leave, Lady Liang could not hide the anger in her eyes.
Isn't it just because of a good family background! But the Song family is against the other seven great families, and sooner or later they will fall!
At that time, she would have someone remove the arm that hit her and make her kneel on the ground and kowtow to admit her mistake!
The crowd in Wanshou Palace gradually dispersed, and the concubines returned to their own residences. Jiang Yingli stayed in the side hall of Baohua Palace for a while and prepared to return to Zhaohua Palace.
When she left Baohua Hall, the bluestone bricks outside had been scrubbed clean.
On the palace road in the distance, a concubine wearing a light green palace dress swayed her body and supported herself against the palace wall next to her.
"My lady, my lady, are you okay?"
Chen Zhuxin held his forehead and shook his head, "I'm fine, Cuisheng, let's go back quickly, otherwise we will lose our composure outside."
Cui Sheng quickly supported Chen Zhuxin and complained softly, "Really? Why did the master insist on sending the young lady to the palace? The young lady can't stand the sight of blood, and she just saw such a horrifying scene. It's really hard for our young lady."
Chen Zhuxin frowned, her tone weak but also a bit stern: "Daddy sent me to the palace, of course he has his reasons. Now that I have become your majesty's concubine, you should stop calling me Miss. If others hear it, it will be a disaster."
Cuisheng looked at Chen Zhuxin's pale face, with uncontrollable heartache in her eyes.
"Yes, I won't scream anymore. I just feel sorry for the young lady in such a hurry..."
Chen Zhuxin stroked the back of Cuisheng's hand and said, "I know. Let's go."
Cuisheng was just about to support the weak Chen Zhuxin forward when she heard a clear voice from behind.
"Is my sister okay? Are you okay?"
Cuisheng turned around and saw Jiang Yingli in a blue dress.
Chen Zhuxin quickly bowed with Cui Sheng, "I pay my respects to Concubine Jia."
Jiang Yingli was startled when she saw how pale Chen Zhuxin's face had turned. She helped her up and asked, "Why do you look so pale?"
"I'm fine, I just feel a little uncomfortable after seeing the blood. I'll be fine after a short sleep."
Seeing that she couldn't even stand steadily, Jiang Yingli continued to ask, "Which palace do you live in?"
Cui Sheng answered on behalf of Chen Zhuxin, "Your Highness, my mistress is Concubine Shen, and she lives in the Jiangxue Pavilion, a side hall of Jinxiu Palace."
Jiang Yingli had memorized the layout of the palace in the past half month, so she naturally knew that Jiangxuexuan was far away from here.
These were almost the farthest palaces, and it would take more than two quarters of an hour to walk there in a hurry. Shen Zhuxin was so weak now that it might take him even half an hour to get back.
"You're probably not going to be able to make the journey in your current state. Zhaohua Palace is very close to here. Why don't you go to my place and rest for a while, and then come back when you've recovered."
Cuisheng's eyes showed gratitude. Her young lady was indeed holding on for dear life and had no strength to walk so far.
However, before she could say anything, Chen Zhuxin spoke first, "Why should I trouble you, Concubine? There is a pavilion halfway along the way. I can just stop there and rest."
Jiang Yingli was not a very enthusiastic person, and when she saw that Chen Zhuxin was indeed not being polite to her, she gave up.
"Then you should be careful." After saying that, she led Lianqiao and Qiuxia towards Zhaohua Palace.
Cui Sheng saw them walking away and said distressedly, "Why bother, young lady? We are just going to take a rest. It won't cause any trouble."
Chen Zhuxin looked at Jiang Yingli's back and shook his head meaningfully.
"Today, Lü Cairen was beaten to death, and Su Xiuyi was confined to her house. Don't you understand?"
Cui Sheng was puzzled: "What should I understand, slave girl?"
"Forget it, just remember that we should stay away from Concubine Jia. As for the rest, just wait and see, and you will understand."
Chen Zhuxin walked forward step by step with Cuisheng's support.
Although her face looked weak and tired, her eyes were clear and insightful.
During the selection conversation, other concubines spoke of Jia Jieyu with disdain.
It was simply because they felt that, as the only woman who had served His Majesty for four years, even if she had no merits, she had worked hard, yet she only got the title of Jieyu.
Today, His Majesty had ordered her to the side hall, and everyone else thought she was going there to receive punishment. But she knew that His Majesty couldn't bear to let Concubine Jia hear Concubine Lu's screams and see the blood outside the hall.
Concubine Jia is extraordinary to Your Majesty.
Such meticulous protection cannot be summed up by the word "favored concubine".
Her intuition told her that those who looked down on Concubine Jia and those who were close to her would not have a good ending.
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