Chapter 25 Wishful Thinking
When talking about the past, Qiuxia talked a lot more.
"However, the former Majesty wasn't much better. In the deep palace, people often flatter the powerful and bully the weak. One winter, the Majesty even fell ill from a cold due to a lack of charcoal!"
Lian Qiao was somewhat incredulous. "No matter how disfavored Your Majesty was in the past by the late Emperor, he was still a prince! How could he be treated so harshly?"
Qiuxia was also indignant: "The emperor had a high fever for three days before the imperial physician arrived. The old maid in the palace said that the emperor had just lost his mother, who had been dependent on him for life, and he was already depressed. This illness almost made him die."
Lian Qiao covered her mouth in surprise and almost screamed.
She only knew that His Majesty's life was not as glorious as that of other princes, but she never thought that such a thing would happen.
None of her servants had ever been treated so harshly, yet His Majesty had suffered such hardship before and almost lost his life.
Qiuxia said quickly, "Just treat it as nonsense, but don't dare to tell anyone about it. Your Majesty is the emperor now, so it's better to keep these unbearable past events to yourself."
Lian Qiao also knew that these things couldn't be easily spoken of, so she covered her mouth and nodded repeatedly. "I know, I won't tell you."
Then, she looked at Qiuxia and said, "You have been serving here, so you must have suffered a lot."
Qiuxia didn't take it seriously. "I'm just a servant, so what's the hardship? Now that I'm in the palace, there are more servants and the work is not as hard, but I feel no less relieved than before. However—"
Qiuxia glanced around and her usually slightly furrowed brows relaxed a little.
"My lady, you now live in such a beautiful palace, with so many people waiting on you. I think it's great. However, there are more and more women in the palace. How long can Zhaohua Palace protect you?"
Looking at Qiuxia, who was sometimes happy and sometimes worried, Lianqiao comforted her:
"You are just too sentimental. Let's just live in the present. No one can predict what will happen in the future. Besides, I don't believe you can see that the friendship between His Majesty and the young lady is different from others."
Qiuxia glanced vaguely in the direction of the emperor and his concubine.
"That's true."
Lian Qiao waved her hand, "Alright, alright, let's adjourn the meeting. His Majesty and the young lady will wake up soon, and it will be almost time for dinner. Hurry and prepare it."
Qiuxia also put away her sad expression and got busy.
The Zhaohua Palace lived in peace and tranquility, but the Qixiang Palace was shrouded in dark clouds.
Su Xiuyi smashed two more vases, breaking them into pieces on the ground.
"Where's Zheng Baolin? It's already this late, why hasn't he come back yet?!"
Ever since Su Xiuyi thought of a way to take advantage of Zheng Baolin, she couldn't wait a moment and wanted to put Zheng Baolin in a bad light.
It was almost noon and Zheng Baolin had not returned to the palace yet.
Su Xiuyi pointed at the two palace maids at the door and said, "You, go! Guard the palace gate. As soon as Zheng Baolin returns, tell her to come see me!"
The palace maid immediately obeyed the order and did not dare to delay.
Zheng Baolin, who had just returned to the palace, had just stepped into the palace gate when he saw two palace maids approaching him with unfriendly faces.
She could probably guess that Su Xiuyi was taking her out on him.
This morning, Su Xiuyi was so angry that she didn't dare go back to the palace. Even though it was scorching hot outside, she would rather stay in the sun than come back.
I just wandered outside until noon and felt really uncomfortable. I wanted to bet that Su Xiuyi was taking a nap, but I didn't expect that she was waiting for me.
Zheng Baolin's face turned pale.
"Does Empress Xiuyi have any instructions?"
The palace maid was bullied by Su Xiuyi, but she also learned her domineering nature to the fullest. When facing the cowardly Zheng Baolin, this domineering nature was revealed.
The two palace maids grabbed Zheng Baolin's arms without saying anything, and said in a savage tone:
"Why all that nonsense? You'll know once you get there!"
Zheng Baolin was almost dragged away. She looked at the backs of the two palace maids and felt humiliated.
Lu Cairen beat and scolded her, and bullied her. It has been less than a day since her death, and she has not felt at ease for even half a day. Now even Su Xiuyi's maid comes to bully her.
What Baolin is, he is worse than the mud being trampled underfoot.
Qian'er hurried over to grab the two palace maids' hands, "Please walk slowly. My young mistress hasn't had a good rest all morning and is exhausted. How can she withstand being dragged like this?"
The palace maid on the left pushed Qian'er to the ground and sneered.
"Are you blind? You are so tactless! How long has Empress Xiuyi been waiting?"
Qian'er fell to the ground, and the palm of her hand was rubbed with blood, stained with sand and stones, and it was burning with pain.
When Zheng Baolin saw Qian'er being bullied like this, he felt more humiliated and sad, and he also hated his own cowardice and incompetence even more.
Two palace maids escorted Zheng Baolin to the main hall of Qixiang Palace.
As soon as Zheng Baolin entered the door, he saw the mess on the floor and his body trembled slightly involuntarily.
Seeing that she had finally arrived, Su Qingrong changed her previous anxious expression and a friendly but creepy smile appeared on her face.
"Sister, you really kept me waiting."
Zheng Baolin bowed: "I know I was wrong. I didn't know that Empress Xiuyi wanted to see me for something..."
"Ignorance is not a crime." Su Qingrong smiled, "Kneel down, I have something to tell you."
The ground was covered with broken porcelain. Zheng Baolin looked up with a pale face, and was glared back at by Su Qingrong with a threatening look.
Zheng Baolin had no choice but to slowly bend down and kneel on the broken porcelain. Sharp pain spread from his knees, and Zheng Baolin gritted his teeth.
"Please give your instructions, Empress Xiuyi."
Su Qingrong lifted her sleeves and sat on the chair in front of Zheng Baolin, signaling to the maid Lan Xiang on the left with her eyes.
"Go and get the things for Baolin."
Lan Xiang hurried there and brought back an exquisite long box.
"Give it to her." Su Qingrong raised her head towards Zheng Baolin.
Zheng Baolin took it without knowing why.
"Do you remember that you and Lü Cairen had a conflict at Yueqing Pond the other day? It was Concubine Jia who came to your rescue," Su Qingrong said slowly. "I figured someone like you wouldn't be able to offer anything decent as a thank you. Since I'm your mistress, I'll give you this."
Zheng Baolin suddenly felt that the box in her hand was as heavy as a thousand pounds, because she knew that Su Qingrong would never be so kind.
"What are you standing there for? Open it." Su Qingrong's tone left no room for questioning.
Zheng Baolin opened the box with his knuckles trembling slightly.
Inside was an extremely delicate hairpin inlaid with gold filigree and rubies, which was dazzling.
Seeing Zheng Baolin was a little dazed, Su Qingrong looked even more contemptuous, "If it weren't for me, you would never have touched such a good thing in your life."
Zheng Baolin bit her lip tightly, her eyes lowered. "How can I, a lowly concubine, use such a precious thing as the Empress's to offer to the Buddha?"
"Looking at you, you'll never be able to show up in public." Su Qingrong sneered, "This kind of thing is nothing to me. I'm giving it to you, so just accept it and give it to Concubine Jia as a thank you gift."
Zheng Baolin: "I am stupid and don't understand the purpose of your Majesty's actions."
After saying that, Su Qingrong stood up from her seat, walked to Zheng Baolin, and pressed her shoulders hard.
"You alone will not be noticed by His Majesty. I want you to use this opportunity to interact with Concubine Jia, steal her favor, and let His Majesty come to Qixiang Palace."
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