Concubine Jing's face turned cold and she ordered her personal maid, Qian Dai, "Go out and tell His Majesty that I am not feeling well and cannot serve you. Please go back."
Qiandai was a little hesitant. The master and the emperor had been in conflict for a long time. The master was also very sad to see the emperor leave in anger and turn to favor other people. But why was it that every time the emperor took the initiative to see the master, the master still refused to see the emperor?
She tried to comfort him: "Master, the emperor..."
However, before she could finish, Concubine Jing interrupted her: "No need to say more, go ahead."
Qiandai had no choice but to go out to stop the emperor and convey those words to him.
Outside the hall, although Gu Qilan thought of this result, he still couldn't help frowning. Why didn't Xiang'er forgive him after so long?
He was drunk and accidentally favored a maid in her palace. It was wrong of him, but so much time had passed and he had taken the initiative to bow his head. Moreover, he was the emperor.
There are so many women, and Xiang'er once said that she would understand him. Why is she holding on to a little palace maid now?
He was about to turn around and leave like he had done several times before, when he suddenly saw the jade hairpin in his hand. He pursed his lips, ignored Qiandai who was blocking his way, and went straight into the bedroom.
Concubine Jing in the palace was feeling sad when she suddenly saw the emperor rushing in. The sadness in her eyes had not yet faded away as she stared at him in a daze.
Seeing this, Gu Qilan's heart trembled. The two hadn't seen each other for a long time, and when they met suddenly, they didn't know what to say for a while.
There was silence in the hall for a while. Gu Qilan took out the jade hairpin and broke the silence: "Do you still remember this hairpin?"
Concubine Jing looked at the jade hairpin and was surprised for a moment. How could this jade hairpin be with the emperor? She remembered that it was snatched away by Lan Juan before.
"Why is this jade hairpin here with the emperor?"
"I got it from Lady Lan."
Sure enough, Concubine Jing suddenly remembered the time when Lan Juan snatched the jade hairpin. It was her sixteenth birthday, and it was the prince's emperor who gave her the hairpin as a birthday gift.
They grew up together as childhood sweethearts, so their feelings were naturally different from those of others. At that time, they had already expressed their feelings to each other and were just waiting for Gu Qilan to ask the emperor for an order to grant their marriage.
She still remembered what the emperor said when he gave her the jade hairpin. He said, "Xiang'er, today is your birthday. This jade hairpin is a birthday gift for you and also a token of our love. Tomorrow I will ask my father to issue an order to grant us a marriage."
At that time, her eyes were full of happiness and expectation, and she treasured the hairpin very much. After she returned, Lan Juan saw her and took it away from her when she failed to get it.
She has never cared about anything. Lan Juan has robbed her of many things since she was a child, but she doesn't care about those material possessions. The only thing she wants to do is get this hairpin back after it was robbed.
At that time, her grandfather and father had passed away, so she and her mother relied on her second uncle, Lan Juan's father. But even though Lan Juan threw a tantrum at the time and her mother persuaded her to let it go, she was determined to get it back.
But what happened later was that the next day the emperor issued an edict to grant a marriage between the then prince and the current queen. The imperial edict had been issued, and the emperor, as a prince, was powerless to change it.
Later, he came to her and told her about his difficulties and helplessness. Concubine Jing could understand. Her grandfather, who was a Taifu, and her father, who was a third-rank official, died of illness one after another.
Her uncle was incompetent and was only a fifth-rank official at the time. Her status at the time was indeed not worthy of the emperor, who was a prince.
Later, she let Lan Juan take the jade hairpin. The person she was engaged to was no longer around, so what was the point of clinging to the token of love?
Although the emperor later became the crown prince and took her as his concubine, and still doted on her as the most favored woman in the Eastern Palace as before, she could not resist his successive women.
She knew his helplessness as the crown prince and now as the emperor, and she could understand and sympathize with him, so she was content to be his concubine, but she rarely felt truly happy since then.
Thinking of this, Concubine Jing's heart, which had been slightly shaken, hardened again: "Of course I remember this jade hairpin, but I have given it to someone else. It will be different now that I have it back."
"How is it different? I gave it to you originally, and I'm giving it to you again today. If you find it objectionable because it's been worn by someone else, I'll give you another one."
Concubine Jing curled her lips and said, "No, I am not feeling well and cannot serve Your Majesty. Your Majesty, please go back."
"You..." Gu Qilan was furious. No matter what he said, it was useless. He didn't blame her for giving the hairpin he gave her to someone else.
Concubine Jing stopped looking at him, turned around and picked up the book on the table and started reading with an indifferent expression.
Seeing this, Gu Qilan's face instantly darkened with anger. At this moment, a surprised voice rang out from the door: "Ah, why is the emperor here too? I pay my respects to the emperor."
Gu Qilan turned his head to look at the person who came, and saw that it was Concubine Lan. He didn't want to pay attention to her, and his face was sullen and he didn't say a word.
Concubine Lan said to herself, "It's really unfortunate that I came here. I've noticed that my sister has been feeling a little weak lately, so I wanted to send her some tonics to help her recover. I didn't expect the Emperor to be here with her."
As she spoke, Concubine Lan looked at Concubine Jing with a smile on her face: "Since that's the case, I'll leave the tonic here. I'll leave first so as not to disturb the Emperor and I from spending a wonderful night together. Sister, you have to take the tonic. You're weak, so you have to nourish yourself well, otherwise the Emperor will be distressed."
After saying this, Concubine Lan was about to turn around and leave. At this moment, Gu Qilan suddenly strode over and embraced Concubine Lan: "Your sister is not feeling well. I will go to your place today!"
Lady Lan seemed startled. She said with a hint of surprise, "Your Majesty..."
However, Gu Qilan did not give her time to react and directly embraced her and walked out of Yunqing Palace.
Concubine Jing calmly watched the two of them leave together. Qian Dai beside her said anxiously, "Master, Concubine Lan has gone too far.
She clearly came here on purpose to intercept the Emperor. When has she ever cared about you? She said she was sending you supplements, but it's obvious she did it on purpose because she saw the Emperor coming!"
Concubine Jing twitched the corner of her mouth in self-mockery: "Whether it's intentional or not, if I don't keep the emperor, there will always be people rushing to invite him over. Why should he stay here and have to rely on me?"
Qian Dai didn't know how to respond to this. She said with a hint of worry: "Master..."
Concubine Jing changed the subject: "Okay, I feel a little hungry now. Go see if there is any food and bring some over."
Hearing that her master wanted to eat, Qiandai immediately put all these things behind her and hurriedly went out to get food for her.
As soon as Qiandai left, Jing Fei's tears slowly fell in the empty bedroom. It was her sorrow to have feelings for an emperor.
On the other side, Concubine Lan was embraced by Gu Qilan all the way to her own bedroom. She kept smiling all the way. As she guessed, if she wanted to gain the emperor's favor, she had to rely on her good cousin.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
