Chapter 301 Wei Yanwan 41
"My Lord, the Emperor has sent Eunuch Jinzhong to invite you to the Yangxin Palace."
Li Xin's unconcealed smile was so piercing to Jin Yuyan's ears that she almost subconsciously scolded him, "What are you yelling about? Are you afraid others won't know that the Emperor has summoned me? You're so frivolous!"
The smile on Li Xin's face quickly tightened. Only then did she notice the pale faces of Concubine Jia and Zhen Shu. She thought to herself, "My Lord, I know I was wrong."
"Never mind, I can't blame the master for being angry. You're an old man serving the master, so why are you so startled? The master is pregnant and weak, so how could she withstand your yelling?"
Zhenshu took a step forward and took out the eight-treasure beads and stuffed them into her sleeve pocket while pretending to support Jiafei. Jiafei then closed the brocade box and placed it on the table.
"Alright, you two, hurry up and help me with my dressing. Don't keep the Emperor waiting."
Li Xin followed behind Concubine Jia one step behind. She glanced at the brocade box without thinking much and was about to pick it up and put it back in the Buddhist hall, but she was startled by Zhen Shu behind her:
"What are you doing? The Queen is waiting for you to do her hair, go quickly."
"Oh, here it comes."
Li Xin walked around the screen and when she turned around, she seemed to see Zhen Shu staring at her, which made her feel inexplicably frightened.
…
In the Yangxin Palace, the emperor picked up the string of eight-treasure Buddhist beads and looked at it carefully. Wei Yanwan, who was sitting beside him, didn't even glance at them, but was fascinated by the calligraphy in her hand.
"How can you sit still? I will ask Concubine Jia about this matter in person soon, and you don't care?"
Hongli touched the bead that was supposed to be an agate. A hint of thought flashed across his eyes, but when he looked up again, he was choked by Yanwan's indifferent attitude.
Yan Wan quickly raised her head upon hearing his voice. Seeing that the emperor's expression was calm and not frightened, she smiled and said, "I only care about your Majesty's reputation. As for others, what does it have to do with me? Their handwriting is not as beautiful as yours."
"I've never seen you so dedicated to calligraphy practice before. Why did you suddenly want my calligraphy copybook today?"
Hongli felt refreshed by her flattery, but he still had to maintain his dignity as an emperor. He just asked in a seemingly casual tone, but honestly put the eight-treasure beads in the box in his hand, obviously not caring much.
"This morning, I paid my respects to the Imperial Concubine and chatted with her about calligraphy. I learned that she not only mastered Madam Wei's hairpin-flowered small regular script, but also could imitate the Emperor's calligraphy to a remarkable degree."
Wei Yanwan sighed as she spoke, "I think the Emperor and the Imperial Noble Consort were childhood sweethearts. Perhaps the calligraphy was taught by the Emperor himself. I'm not that lucky, but it's nice to be able to admire your calligraphy."
"So it's because you drank the rose vinegar from the Yikun Palace. I was wondering why it was so sour."
Hongli laughed heartily and pulled her into his arms, whispering to her, "What's so difficult about this? If you want to learn, I can teach you everything, stroke by stroke."
"Your Majesty, Jia..."
As soon as Li Yu came in, he wanted to poke his eyes out and was about to leave.
Wei Yanwan's already rosy earlobes were bleeding even more, and the blood even spread to the back of her neck, turning it pink.
Hongli's hand, which was originally around her shoulders, slid to her neck. He couldn't help but pinch it, but in his heart he was thinking about Yanwan's seductive body.
It is the same charming color as the back of the neck, like peach blossoms.
"Your Majesty, Concubine Jia is here."
Wei Yanwan pushed Hongli, but he just nodded nonchalantly: "Let her in."
When Concubine Jia entered the palace, she did not expect that Wei Yanwan was also there, sitting with the emperor and behaving intimately.
"Your Highness, I pay my respects to you... Your Highness, I pay my respects to you."
"Sit down."
Concubine Jia glanced at the specially brought embroidery stool, and Zhenshu helped her carefully sit down. The emperor then paid some attention to her: "Has the child been well these past few months?"
"Your Majesty, the imperial physician has been visiting me every day and says that my baby is very healthy."
Concubine Jia sighed as she spoke, what a pity! If it was the Imperial Noble Concubine sitting here, her words would have been even more powerful. Thinking of this, she glanced at Wei Yanwan beside her, but saw that she didn't even raise her head, but reached out to grab the beeswax bracelet on the emperor's wrist. The emperor didn't react at all, and held out his hand to let her take off his bracelet.
"I wonder why the Emperor has summoned me here at this time?"
Concubine Jia, who no longer wanted to stay, lost her temper and spoke first.
Hongli didn't even raise his eyes. Seeing that Wei Yanwan liked it, he simply put the beeswax bracelet on her wrist. Hearing this, he just said casually: "No hurry, I asked you to come here, of course there is something."
Wei Yanwan waited for the emperor to adjust her bracelet, then looked at him with sparkling eyes and shook her moon-like wrist. "Does it look good?"
"It looks good. If you like it, I'll have Li Yu send the ivory necklace I got yesterday to your Yongshou Palace. It suits you better."
After saying this, Hongli finally humbled himself and gave Concubine Jia a proper look.
Jin Yuyan felt panic rising as Hongli looked her over with emotionless eyes. She began to wonder if the emperor's words were a warning to her.
Bracelet, bracelet!
She was terrified when she thought that the blessing bracelet given to her by the prince was replaced by the eight-treasure bracelet she intended to use to slander the imperial concubine without anyone noticing.
"Speaking of this, Concubine Jia, I remember you also had a beeswax bracelet brought from your hometown. Why don't you wear it today?"
"Your Majesty...your concubine..." Jin Yuyan was thinking frantically in her mind, wondering how to answer so as to avoid this situation.
She looked at Wei Yanwan, who was leisurely playing with the bracelet given to her by the emperor, and the smile on the corner of her mouth was annoying no matter how she looked at it.
"Why, is this question difficult to answer?"
Jin Yuyan simply pretended not to know: "I was in a hurry to come here just now, so I forgot to put it on."
"What a coincidence! I heard from the Emperor that the beeswax bracelet was part of your dowry, and you never put it down except when you're resting. How come you forgot about it when you saw the Emperor today?"
"Your Highness, you may not know that I have not been in good health since I became pregnant with this birthmark. I often lose things. That bracelet is my favorite thing, so I am afraid of losing it, so I put it away first."
Wei Yanwan nodded, with a look of sudden realization on her face: "So it was my sister who put it away."
"Since you are keeping your own, I guess this one must be fake?" Hongli also raised his eyebrows and threw the beeswax bracelet in the box into Concubine Jia's arms. He did not miss the flash of panic on the other's face, which made his already dark eyes even deeper.
"This, your concubine..."
Seeing that Concubine Jia was hesitant to speak, Wei Yanwan had to kindly remind her: "Since it is Concubine Jia's favorite, how can you not tell whether it is real or fake?"
"This beeswax bracelet is indeed a personal item of mine."
Time was so tight that she hadn't prepared a similar bracelet to replace it. Concubine Jia's mind raced, knowing she couldn't shirk responsibility, so she had to take the initiative. A look of surprise and doubt appeared on her face: "I was just wondering how my personal belongings were in the hands of the emperor?"
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