Chapter 85 An Lingrong 26
For three consecutive days, the Emperor went to the Xinghuachun Pavilion. It was natural for Lingrong not to meet Zhen Huan and Meizhuang.
By the time she finally had some free time, it was already May. Zhen Huan and the Emperor had already started a quarrel due to Cao Qinmo's provocations.
She stood in the corridor, holding a small bag of high-quality pet snacks produced by the system, and occasionally fed two to Wuxue and Sanbao on the shelf.
"I heard that Concubine Cao somehow found out about the private details of Concubine Wan's encounter with the Emperor, and with just a few words, she caused a rift between the Emperor and Concubine Wan."
Ziyuan stood below and waited for her master to finish feeding the birds before handing her a handkerchief.
"Sister Wan will surely resolve this matter with some clever words." Lingrong wiped her hands with her handkerchief, and in her heart she thought Cao Qinmo was truly a wonderful person. She was admirable in judging the situation, two-faced, ruthless, and able to see the big picture from subtle details. She admired such an ambitious and capable woman.
Most importantly, she has an obvious weakness - Princess Wen Yi.
Such a subordinate, even if he is a poisonous snake that will bite his master, will make people excited and want to use him for their own benefit.
But this did not prevent Lingrong from plotting against her.
"Go and have the servants prepare it, and then go give Sister Wan and Sister Mei an invitation. I'm going to hold a small banquet tomorrow, in the pavilion over there."
Ling Rong pointed with her bare hand and saw a square pavilion with double eaves not far away, facing the fields in the distance and backed by an apricot forest. It was indeed a good place for a banquet.
The next day, seeing that the weather was good, the two decided to go sightseeing first before heading to Lingrong's Xinglinchun Pavilion.
As soon as they crossed a bridge, they met Cao Qinmo and others.
"What a coincidence! I was just about to go look for Concubine Wan." Concubine Cao bowed first, the regret on her face seeming to come from the bottom of her heart. "I heard that because of your careless words that day, you caused a rift between me and the Emperor. I beg you to forgive me for my unintentional mistake."
"It's just a small matter. The Emperor and I don't take it to heart. Sister, there's no need to be so."
"That's right. Concubine Wan is favored by the emperor, so naturally such words are nothing to her." Concubine Xin praised with a smile. Concubine Qi next to her had a bit of jealousy on her face, but she didn't say anything.
"Although it's a small matter, I feel really bad about it. Look, I specially set up a banquet in my palace and invited Concubine Qi and Concubine Xin. Sister, please give me this opportunity to apologize."
Cao Qinmo said, and then looked at Shen Meizhuang: "I heard that my sister's piano playing is extraordinary. As the saying goes, the master of the house is the most diligent in attracting guests. Unfortunately, I am just an ordinary person. I can only ask the noble lady Shen to play a song for us to keep the guests."
Having said that, it was difficult for the two of them to refuse. However...
Just as Zhen Huan was about to speak, she heard a voice behind them: "This servant pays respects to Concubine Xin, Concubine Shen, Concubine Wan, Concubine Cao, and Concubine Qi."
Everyone turned around and saw He Ronglu, the head aunt of An Lingrong's palace, standing there, greeting the ladies.
"Hey, aren't you from Concubine An's palace? Why are you here instead of serving your master?" Concubine Qi exposed her intelligence as soon as she opened her mouth. Concubine Xin beside her was speechless and couldn't understand how such a fool could sit on the throne of a concubine.
"I'm here on my master's orders to look for Concubine Wan and Concubine Shen," He Ronglu said calmly, neither servile nor overbearing. "Our young master had an appointment yesterday to entertain the two young ladies at the Xinghuachun Pavilion. Seeing that it was getting late, and fearing they might miss the meeting, she sent me here to look for them."
This is a bit embarrassing.
Although the guests from Concubine Cao's side were of higher status, Concubine An had already made an appointment with the young sisters yesterday. If they insisted on inviting them, it would seem impolite.
"Since it was Noble Lady An who invited us first, then naturally it's first come first served. Sister Cao can just find another time to invite us again." Concubine Xin was the first to speak, and then she left first on the pretext that she had something to do in the palace.
Concubine Qi had a distant relationship with Lady Cao, so naturally she would not deliberately support her, and she took her leave immediately.
Seeing this, Cao Qinmo had no choice but to make an appointment with Zhen Huan for the next day. She watched them leave unwillingly, with inexplicable and captivating emotions rolling in her deep eyes.
………
As soon as he entered the pavilion, he saw Ling Rong, who had been waiting for a long time, coming forward to greet him.
"It's rare that Lingrong would actually take the trouble to treat us to a banquet." Meizhuang smiled and joked with Zhen Huan, "Since coming here, she's been free and unrestrained. She always turns down every invitation."
Zhen Huan also pretended to be annoyed: "That's right, she has become a hermit living in the mountains, a free and easy hermit. How could she remember us sisters in this world?"
"I'm here to apologize to my two sisters." Ling Rong took their hands and waved them flatteringly. "Besides, I don't like socializing. The scenery of Xinghuachun Pavilion is enough for me to enjoy carefully. Why go somewhere else? If I run into other concubines, there will be no doubt that there will be another lawsuit."
"That's quite true. We're facing a serious lawsuit today." Mei Zhuang frowned, and seeing Ling Rong's suspicious expression, she explained, "You don't know, on the way here today, we met Concubine Cao, accompanied by Concubine Xin and Concubine Qi, who insisted on hosting a banquet to apologize for Huan'er's crime. If we hadn't happened to have an appointment with you, we would have had to attend her banquet."
Servants filed in, bringing out plates of exquisite dishes, all served on palm-sized plates. There were dozens of different kinds of dishes.
"That's strange." Ling Rong poured apricot blossom wine into their glasses. "She didn't do it on purpose that day. Why would she go to such lengths and come and apologize to Sister Wan?"
"I also suspect that she has bad intentions, but I can't think of what she is planning at the moment." Zhen Huan felt that something was wrong at the time, but after thinking about it carefully, she really couldn't guess the other party's purpose.
"Hey, sister said she also dragged Concubine Xin and Concubine Qi along?" Ling Rong seemed to suddenly think of something: "Hasn't she always followed Concubine Hua's orders? How dare she drag Concubine Qi, the Queen's messenger, to ask for help from her sister who has a long-standing grudge against Concubine Hua..."
"So, I'm afraid Concubine Hua behind her is also involved this time." Mei Zhuang also thought of this: "But what kind of conspiracy could have allowed Concubine Cao to use Concubine Qi as a raft?"
"Concubine Qi, Concubine Xin, Cao Qinmo...offspring, their plans must be related to offspring!"
Zhen Huan glanced at Mei Zhuang fiercely, instantly realizing the problem. "Wen Shichu isn't here, Fang is being sent off from Jiangcheng, Liu Bin from Jizhou suddenly appears, and the concubine who was once pregnant, said they wanted to invite me to the banquet but insisted on inviting Sister Mei to attend... This time they're not going after me, they're clearly going after..."
"...I." Mei Zhuang's face had turned pale. The two of them sat at the table, losing their appetite for the delicacies in front of them. A breeze blew by, causing them both to shiver. It turned out that a layer of cold sweat had appeared on their backs.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com