Chapter 142 Spring Tent
Since Emperor Zhaoheng ordered that the two imperial concubines jointly manage the six palaces, he has never visited Lihe Palace.
Upon hearing the announcement from outside, Narcissus paused for a moment before checking her appearance in the mirror.
She caught a glimpse of a bright yellow figure entering through the palace gate. She slowly walked to the door of the inner chamber, bowed her head, and half-squatted, saying, "Your Majesty, I pay my respects."
"Your Majesty's arrival was sudden, and I failed to greet you at the palace gate. This was truly impolite, and I hope Your Majesty will forgive me."
Because the narcissus was about to retire for the night, only a few palace lanterns were left on in the outer room, making the room somewhat dim.
The warm candlelight shone on her from the side, making her slightly protruding pregnant belly and her thin body, which had not yet recovered from the morning sickness she had recently experienced, even more noticeable.
She lowered her head, staring at the brick floor in front of her. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Emperor Zhaoheng approaching and finally stopping in front of her.
How have you been feeling lately?
Emperor Zhaoheng did not explain why he had previously allowed her to manage the six palaces alone, but a few days ago he suddenly changed her to manage them together with Consort De.
He simply asked about her health.
"It's alright, thanks to Physician Pei's meticulous care."
Narcissus's attitude wasn't particularly enthusiastic, but overall it was rather mild.
Even so, it was still beyond Emperor Zhaoheng's imagination.
Since the Empress recommended Shui Xian as her successor during her illness, Emperor Zhaoheng realized that the scales in his heart had tipped in favor of Shui Xian, and he couldn't help but feel a profound sense of crisis.
Even if she could bear him a child, she shouldn't hold such weight in his heart.
He decided to give Narcissus the cold shoulder for a while, and even when he ordered the two imperial concubines to jointly manage the six palaces, he did not personally come to the Lihe Palace to explain.
Emperor Zhaoheng believed that when they met again, Shui Xian would question him about why he wanted to share power, whether out of anger or confusion.
He deliberately chose to come just before bedtime today because he didn't want to feel impatient with her pestering him during dinner.
However.
To his surprise, Narcissus neither cried nor made a fuss.
If the imperial edict hadn't been issued by him personally, and if Emperor Zhaoheng hadn't heard Feng Shunxiang say that the morning meeting where the two imperial concubines jointly managed the six palaces had just ended, he would have doubted whether any of this had actually happened.
Emperor Zhaoheng felt a sense of relief; no one wanted to face the questioning.
But then, a few questions surfaced deep within his mind.
Emperor Zhaoheng was well aware of the importance of power in the harem. Why didn't Shuixian question him about the fact that such important power had been divided in half?
It wasn't until they entered the inner room hand in hand that Emperor Zhaoheng realized that the calmer Shui Xian was, the more he couldn't help but let his mind wander.
Emperor Zhaoheng suddenly arrived late at night, so the bed naturally had to be made up again.
Today, Shu'er was serving in the outer room, and in less than half an incense stick's time, the bed was made up again.
After doing all this, Shu'er and the other palace servants bowed and left the inner room, leaving only Emperor Zhaoheng and Shui Xian in the room for a moment.
Narcissus was the first to get onto the bed. She had already taken a bath and changed into her nightgown.
Emperor Zhaoheng stood before the bed, watching Shuixian remove her sleeping shoes by the bedside. As she moved, the fabric of her sleeping robe rode up slightly, revealing her fair skin. In the flickering candlelight, she disappeared into the depths of the bed.
Since she became pregnant, Emperor Zhaoheng usually summoned people to help him change his clothes, and had not ordered her around for a long time.
But tonight, watching her sleep on the inside, facing his direction, with her eyes quietly closed, her eyelids were so thin that if the candlelight hadn't been so dim, one could definitely see the thin veins on them.
"Come here and help me change my clothes."
Emperor Zhaoheng suddenly spoke, in a low voice.
He was taken aback as soon as he said it, but he quickly masked it with his calm and composed gaze.
Shui Xian hadn't expected Emperor Zhaoheng to act so strangely today. She could have predicted that Emperor Zhaoheng would think of her attitude, but Shui Xian did the opposite.
Does she resent being deprived of power?
Of course I resent it.
However, the power to assist in managing the six palaces is ultimately limited to that of an assistant. If she were to quarrel with Emperor Zhaoheng over such a matter, it would be of no benefit to her.
Since her rebirth, Narcissus has considered the situation in the harem many times.
She knew that the Empress had promoted Consort De to the position of Noble Consort De because Noble Consort De was not only a member of the Empress's family, but also came from a good background, making her the best candidate to rival her, a concubine with a son.
However, Shui Xian couldn't understand why Emperor Zhaoheng, who had been so affectionate with her just a few days ago, would suddenly elevate Consort De to a position where she could share power with her without any discussion.
Narcissus did not believe that the Queen had coerced him; something must have happened that she was unaware of.
She remained calm and observed the situation, trying to find out why Emperor Zhaoheng had suddenly done this. However, the man was even more composed than she was, only looking at her with his dark eyes without saying a word.
Narcissus lifted the quilt and slipped on her night shoes to get out of bed.
She came before Emperor Zhaoheng and skillfully helped him change his clothes. She was originally a servant, and she knew how to serve others by heart.
Emperor Zhaoheng looked down at her, watching her slender white fingertips brush against his clothes, watching her delicate fingertips undo his hidden clasp, and he suddenly felt a surge of emotion in his heart.
It's her.
She made him so unlike himself.
Why is she so calm? That's so irresponsible.
The waves grew longer and larger.
It made him feel extremely hot, and an undeniable rage burned in his chest.
There was a difficult spot inside her blouse that was hard to untie. From Narcissus's angle, it was a bit hard to see, so she could only lean forward slightly. Just as she was about to try and find out what was tangled in the fabric that was preventing her from untying it...
Her slender white wrist was suddenly grabbed. Before Shui Xian could react, Emperor Zhaoheng led her quickly toward the bed.
The button was difficult to untie; it burst open with a single pull.
A neatly made bed becomes a mess as soon as you roll around in it.
He didn't say anything to her, only fiercely restrained her. Narcissus was confused; from her perspective, the man's anger seemed completely inexplicable.
She touched his damp cheek, the stubble that had appeared out of nowhere brushing against her palm.
"emperor......"
Narcissus wanted to see the emotions hidden deep in the man's eyes, but in her trembling state, she could only see a blushing, alluring lookâhis desire for her.
Her eyes were extremely beautiful, both in shape and color.
Those beautiful eyes were now glistening with tears, reflecting his out-of-control face like a mirror.
Emperor Zhaoheng gritted his teeth, covered her eyes with his burning palms, and let himself be completely immersed in her warmth.
......
The sky begins to lighten, and the spring curtains have just been lowered.
Exhausted, Narcissus could only manage to take a bath. After barely washing herself, she collapsed into the soft quilt and fell into a deep sleep.
The man, however, did not fall asleep; his body had just been satisfied, and his mind was still somewhat excited.
Looking at her graceful figure from behind, Emperor Zhaoheng reached out his hand, but did not touch her. Instead, he traced her outline from all around.
He will not be influenced by women, absolutely not.
Emperor Zhaoheng withdrew his hand and his gaze. He lay quietly by the bed for a while, feeling that the bedchamber was filled with her fragrance.
After an unknown amount of time, Emperor Zhaoheng heard Feng Shunxiang's voice outside the tent and realized that it was time for court.
He actually kept his eyes open until dawn.
Emperor Zhaoheng sat up, feeling a heaviness in his forehead and some discomfort.
Hearing the rustling sounds coming from inside, Feng Shunxiang did not go into the inner room to serve, but waited in the outer warm pavilion until Emperor Zhaoheng came out, dressed in his robes.
Seeing Emperor Zhaoheng get up in the morning, he subconsciously wanted to call someone in to help Emperor Zhaoheng change his clothes and comb his hair, preparing everything for his court session.
However, when Feng Shunxiang glanced up and saw Emperor Zhaoheng's slightly haggard face, he unconsciously stopped raising his hand.
"......emperor?"
Feng Shunxiang organized his thoughts, "Didn't you get a good rest last night?"
Emperor Zhaoheng glanced at him sideways, "How could I not have rested well?!"
He won't be affected by the narcissus. If he doesn't get enough rest while she's around, it's definitely not her fault!
Emperor Zhaoheng silently recited something in his heart, seemingly reaffirming some kind of belief. Ignoring Feng Shunxiang's worried gaze, he directly ordered someone to come in and prepare for the morning court session.
After Emperor Zhaoheng had dressed and eaten breakfast, as he was about to leave Lihe Palace in his imperial robes, Tinglu noticed that even though the emperor was about to depart, her own concubine had not yet gotten up to see him off.
Although Tinglu knew that the Emperor and Empress had asked for water many times last night, she was, after all, an innocent young girl and did not know just how troublesome that matter could be.
Tinglu's thoughts were all about how she feared that her mistress's lack of manners might anger the Emperor, who had recently become colder towards her.
She crouched down, about to take advantage of the Emperor's inattention to go to the inner room to wake the Empress, when Emperor Zhaoheng's deep voice came from behind her.
"There's no need to call you 'Your Majesty'."
He casually tossed out this sentence, still remembering his thought that he would no longer care too much about Narcissus, and walked away from Lihe Palace with a cold face.
Tinglu: ? ? ?
Was she still dreaming when she woke up so early in the morning?
Is this what they mean by "serving a ruler is like serving a tiger"?
Is the Emperor really this fickle? One moment he seems to care about his empress, and the next he's coldly leaving.
What is all this nonsense?!
To Tinglu's astonishment, Narcissus slept until late morning and didn't even attend the morning meeting.
The concubines, who had arrived very early, waited for a long time outside the gates of Lihe Palace. Seeing that it was almost noon and Lihe Palace still hadn't opened, the concubines became impatient.
Consort Kede was still guarding the door, which meant that the morning meeting had not been canceled.
Consort Wan frowned and said, "Yesterday was only the first morning meeting, and Consort Jin is already putting on airs today?"
She couldn't help but scoff inwardly. No wonder she was a lowly servant girl who had been borrowed from a humble background; she was so arrogant after suddenly gaining power.
Consort Yun smiled and said, "Perhaps Consort Jin has some urgent business..."
Yi Shuyao, also known as Consort Wen, heard yesterday that the Emperor was staying at Lihe Palace. She thought she might run into the Emperor outside Lihe Palace this morning, so she dressed delicately and lightly.
However, since the Emperor hadn't seen her and she had been standing in the freezing cold for so long, how could Yi Shuyao not resent it!
Consort Wen sneered: "This kind of person... will be... sooner or later..."
She gritted her teeth, clearly filled with hatred, but the hierarchy of status could not be ignored, and with so many people around, she could only swallow her curses.
The Lihe Palace opened its doors amidst the resentment of the concubines.
Tinglu stood at the palace gate and bowed to the concubines according to etiquette.
"According to the Emperor's decree, my lady went to bed too late last night and it is inconvenient to wake her this morning... So let's cancel today's morning meeting."
As soon as Ting Lu finished speaking, an incredulous buzzing sound arose in the room.
"Arrogant because of favor, truly arrogant because of favor!"
"She slept too late... How strange! How could she be so late when she was to serve the emperor? She must be making excuses."
Upon hearing the sound, Consort De slowly turned around, raised her hand, and the scene quieted down in an instant.
"Since Consort Jin says so, then let's adjourn the morning meeting today."
All the concubines agreed, and unlike their previous impassioned state, they all became obedient.
Tinglu saw all of this.
Turning around, she reported everything to Narcissus, who was getting ready in the morning.
Upon hearing this, Narcissus gently placed the jade comb on the dressing table.
"Tinglu, accompany me to the Qianqing Palace."
I tormented her so badly last night, and this morning I made Tinglu not wake her up early, which made her miss her morning meeting...
It's time to settle the accounts!
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