Chapter 147 We must respect everyone's unique preferences.
Upon hearing the sound of kowtowing, Shui Xian turned around and saw Consort Yun tearfully admitting her mistake.
The Noble Lady Yao to her right seemed to be spitting fire in her eyes, clenching her teeth, unwilling to admit her mistake, much less kowtow to her, her former servant.
Consort Wan looked troubled. She naturally didn't want to kowtow to Narcissus, but her body couldn't hold on any longer. She was afraid that if she knelt down any further, her legs would be ruined.
Shui Xian waved for Consort Yun's maid to come and help her. The maid then ran forward and reached out to support Consort Yun. Consort Yun, with a pained expression, held her knees and bent over, slowly moving towards the outside of the palace.
Consort Yun was beautiful, but now she couldn't care less about her appearance, only feeling excruciating pain below her thighs.
Consort Wan was still hesitating, but seeing Consort Yun's hesitant manner, she was afraid that her legs were really ruined, so she immediately kowtowed to Narcissus.
He touched the ground with his forehead, then immediately pulled away, as if that would make it not count.
"Today, I was confused and lost my sense of propriety, and I deserve to be punished. I apologize to Consort Jin."
Consort Wan's voice was also very soft, but Shui Xian could still vaguely hear it clearly.
"I hope Consort Wan will remember what she said today."
Shui Xian nodded and gestured for Consort Wan's maid to come and help her.
Unlike Consort Yun, Consort Wan did not rush to get up. She first took the hand of her maid and stood up from where she was. Then she waited quietly for a while until she could feel her legs again. Only then did she walk out of the main hall of Lihe Palace with a limp, supported by her maid.
Therefore, Shui Xian set her sights on Consort Yao.
Yi Shuyao's expression changed repeatedly, and Shui Xian could see that she was visibly conflicted. In the end, Yao Guiren lowered her head and knelt there silently.
She would never apologize and kowtow to a former servant of the Yi family!
The thought of that scene filled Yi Shuyao with humiliation... She would rather die than apologize!
Moreover, Yi Shuyao recalled the worried expression on Emperor Zhaoheng's face when he entered the inner room earlier.
She had a good idea. Although it was Emperor Zhaoheng's order for them to kneel here, he had said that they should kneel until Consort Jin was satisfied.
If Narcissus made her kneel until dawn, she would pretend to faint after a while.
She could avoid kneeling there until dawn, and at the same time make Emperor Zhaoheng think that Shui Xian was harsh and inhumane!
She felt her plan was flawless, so she stubbornly refused to apologize to Narcissus and kowtow.
Looking at Yi Shuyao's stubborn expression, Shui Xian didn't care why Yi Shuyao wouldn't kowtow to her.
If you want to kneel, then kneel here until the morning meeting.
Shui Xian didn't say anything more. As she turned to leave, she suddenly noticed that Yi Shuyao had her eyes closed and seemed unable to support herself; her body swayed slightly.
She raised an eyebrow slightly and strode over.
Yi Shuyao had her eyes closed, feeling that she should show some signs of strain so that her sudden fainting later wouldn't seem too fake.
As she closed her eyes and was acting, she suddenly heard hurried footsteps approaching her!
Yi Shuyao was startled and subconsciously opened her eyes, only to be met with Shui Xian's concerned face.
"How are you?"
Shui Xian's sudden concern made Yi Shuyao instantly forget that she was still acting.
"Uh...it's alright."
As soon as she finished speaking, Yi Shuyao's face turned ugly.
Shui Xian, however, seemed oblivious to the change in her expression, and said with a smile, "Although Consort Yao says she's feeling well, I am, after all, a considerate person..."
Staring at the smile on her lips, Yi Shuyao felt a chill run down her spine for no apparent reason.
Sure enough, the next line from Narcissus was...
"Shu'er, go to the Imperial Hospital. Physician Pei should still be here. Ask him to come back and check on Consort Yao every incense stick's time."
Seeing Yi Shuyao's increasingly pale face, Shui Xian said in a light tone, "Punishment is punishment, but His Majesty just told me that everything should be done with your health in mind."
She's a devil! She must be a devil!
Yi Shuyao opened her mouth, and for a moment, she even had the urge to apologize to Shui Xian and kowtow.
However, Narcissus did not give her that chance.
Narcissus hurried back to her inner room. A maidservant lifted the curtain for her, and after Narcissus entered the inner room, the pearl curtain fell behind her, concealing her slender and upright figure.
Yi Shuyao was on the verge of tears. If she weren't completely numb, she would have collapsed to the ground immediately!
Several hours later, after getting up and dressing, Shui Xian gracefully stepped out of the inner room and immediately saw Yi Shuyao kneeling in the hall, her body limp.
Pei Jichuan also stayed up all night, but since he entered the Imperial Hospital, he has become very used to staying up late. Today happened to be his shift, so he slept very well yesterday.
Pei Jichuan is only a little tired now, but his body can still hold up.
Yi Shuyao was different. She leaned against the maid's arms in a daze. If the maid hadn't been supporting her, Yi Shuyao would have almost slipped to the ground!
Next to Pei Jichuan, there was an incense holder. Just as the narcissus appeared, one stick of incense burned out.
Pei Jichuan skillfully pulled out the silk handkerchief used for taking the pulse of the concubines. Without him even giving any instructions, the maids of the palace bowed down and, ignoring Yi Shuyao's struggles, forcefully held her down to take Pei Jichuan's pulse.
"Damn it! I will not allow you, a eunuch, to touch my hand!"
Yi Shuyao cursed repeatedly, and only then did Shui Xian realize that she even looked down on eunuchs who had been castrated. Therefore, when Pei Jichuan reached out to take her pulse, Yi Shuyao struggled repeatedly.
Shui Xian couldn't help but sigh. Originally, she only wanted Yi Shuyao to suffer one set of hardships, but unexpectedly, it turned out that it was Physician Pei who was on duty tonight, and Yi Shuyao ended up suffering twice as much in one night.
Pei Jichuan remained expressionless, as if he had long been accustomed to Yi Shuyao's disdain.
He took Yi Shuyao's pulse through a silk handkerchief before turning to Shui Xian and bowing, saying, "Reporting to Consort Jin, Consort Yao is in good health. Apart from not sleeping all night and being a little tired, she is generally fine."
Yi Shuyao was still trembling. She remembered that two hours earlier, she had tried to faint on the spot when Pei Jichuan wasn't paying attention.
She had barely tilted to the side when Pei Jichuan pulled out a whole set of gold needles from his medicine box.
This is abuse! This is torture!
This is... her own fault!
Yi Shuyao finally broke down. She cried and reached out her hand towards the narcissus, "Consort Jin... I was wrong, I was wrong, I was so wrong!"
As she spoke, Yi Shuyao kowtowed three times to Shui Xian on the spot.
Hearing the three crisp cracks, Shui Xian couldn't help but recall what Pei Jichuan had just said: Yi Shuyao's physique... was indeed quite good.
It's truly remarkable that someone could have such strength and energy after staying up all night.
"Consort Yao, why did you insist on doing this last night... I didn't originally intend to punish you."
Narcissus casually remarked, then waved to Yi Shuyao's maid, signaling her to take Yi Shuyao back.
Seeing that she could go back, Yi Shuyao was quite excited and was about to stand up.
But she forgot that she hadn't been kneeling for an hour, but for an entire night.
Splat!
Yi Shuyao fell to the ground the next moment, her hands instinctively bracing themselves on the ground, and her palms immediately turned bright red.
"Alright, hurry up and help your little master walk."
Narcissus, too lazy to watch this farce any longer, leisurely left the main hall and went to the side hall next door for breakfast.
Tinglu had been waiting there for a while, intending to serve the meal.
Hearing the commotion outside, Tinglu couldn't help but go to the window and immediately saw Yi Shuyao being helped out by a maid while tumbling and crawling.
"Tsk, why bother?"
Tinglu returned to the table, serving food to Shuixian while remarking with a sigh.
It could have ended last night, but they insisted on kneeling until this morning.
He kowtowed, apologized, and knelt for several hours longer than the other two!
As she ate her sweet soup, Narcissus said in a soft voice, "Sometimes, we need to respect everyone's unique preferences."
"If she's willing to kneel, then let her kneel."
Tinglu burst out laughing; she was happy to see Yi Shuyao suffer.
From the time when Yi Shuyao regained favor and was even granted the title of Yao Pin, she looked down on the servants below her.
Especially those in the palace, whenever Tinglu happens to run into her on the street, she gets a sarcastic rebuke.
Seeing Yi Shuyao suffer now makes me happier than if she herself had received a reward!
Soon after, the morning meetings resumed as usual at the Lihe Palace.
When most of the concubines entered, they came to Shui Xian and respectfully greeted her, showing no trace of their previous disdain.
They had once speculated that Emperor Zhaoheng's favor towards Consort Jin had faded, but the emperor's anger last night, and the punishment he imposed on everyone from Consort Wan to Noble Lady Yao, all demonstrated that the emperor still cared.
In this harem, even without a family background, but with the Emperor's favor, no one dared to look down on Consort Jin, who was currently enjoying great imperial favor.
Moreover, the concubines who had been waiting outside the palace for a long time had already seen Yi Shuyao limping away from Lihe Palace.
Don't mess with Consort Jin!
This thought simultaneously crossed the minds of many lower-ranking concubines. When they came to Lihe Palace to participate in the morning meeting, they no longer had their former carefree attitude, fearing that they would become the second Yi Shuyao.
In the Lihe Palace, unlike the gentle and unassuming Consort De, when Narcissus spoke, almost everyone present held their breath and listened intently to her instruction.
Even Consort Wan, who knelt for an hour last night and arrived this morning with dark circles under her eyes, was surprised to find that:
The narcissus was surprisingly imbued with the air and majesty of the Empress!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com