"Yuping." The queen called after returning to the bedroom.
Yuping came over and asked, "What does the Queen want?"
The Queen fiddled with her gilded phoenix-patterned armor, her lips curled slightly. "Send the acacia incense to Bai Lan, and tell her to tell the Imperial Concubine to act quickly."
Hearing this, Yu Ping lowered her head and said in a low voice:
"Your Majesty, the Empress, do not want to see the Imperial Concubine again? Well, it seems that the Imperial Concubine does not have the Emperor's favor, and the Emperor does not seem to have any affection for her. If we act now, the Emperor will surely be furious, and the Imperial Concubine will surely die."
There was a calm expression on the queen's eyebrows and eyes, as if a life meant nothing to her.
She chuckled lightly, her voice cold and thin.
"After she was crowned Imperial Concubine, she became arrogant and looked down upon me. This was simply because her mother's family was on the rise, while mine was declining. She thought that since she was constantly summoned by the Emperor, she would sooner or later be favored by him and give birth to a prince. With her son's status as a mother, she would then be able to take my place..."
The queen's eyes gradually turned colder, completely different from her usual gentle and dignified appearance, making people feel cold all over.
She added,
"I thought she was so brave and formidable! I didn't expect her to be worse than a straw bag. I just had someone trick her with a few words, and she took the bait. She's too greedy and doesn't have the brains to distinguish between truth and falsehood. The imperial concubine is seeking her own death, so I'll just send her off."
Yuping stood aside solemnly and nodded silently.
And so, a few more days passed.
Su Wanti still insisted on delivering snacks to the Cining Palace.
And in the imperial concubine's palace, everything was still the same as before.
The imperial concubine either punished the palace maids or cursed Concubine Wan behind closed doors. Nothing serious happened.
Listening to Yuping's report, the Queen became puzzled. "Yuping, has the Hehuanxiang been given to Bailan?"
Yuping nodded.
"Then Bai Lan gave the Hehuanxiang to the imperial concubine?"
Yuping thought for a moment and nodded.
"When the Imperial Concubine gets angry, she always beats the palace maids. Bai Lan is the most favored maid by her side, so she is not immune to being beaten and scolded. Before, Your Majesty, you asked me to check on Bai Lan more often, so I went to see her and found that there were few healthy patches of skin on her body."
"Last time, because of Concubine Wan's incident, the Imperial Concubine slapped Bai Lan in the face. Bai Lan was almost disfigured. It was only after I gave her the scar removal cream from our palace that the scar on her face faded."
"Because of these things, Bai Lan hates the Imperial Concubine to death. She hopes for her death even more than we do."
"only……"
The Queen frowned, "Just what?"
Yuping took a step closer and whispered, "I went to see Bai Lan yesterday and asked her when she would start. Bai Lan said that the imperial concubine was overjoyed after obtaining the Hehuanxiang, but now the emperor never goes to the imperial concubine's palace or summons her. The imperial concubine went to the Qinzheng Palace, and the emperor was busy and had no time to see her."
"Now, the imperial concubine is extremely worried. She wants to find an opportunity to see the emperor and use the love incense, but there is no chance at all!"
"Huh——" The queen felt that this imperial concubine was too useless and was so angry that she laughed out loud.
"This imperial concubine is truly clueless. Her tiny brain is now being used to frame the young palace maid."
The queen leisurely drank a sip of tea, her beautiful eyes moving around, and a plan came to her mind.
"I have come up with an idea that will allow the Imperial Concubine to act and at the same time make that coquettish little maid a laughing stock in the palace."
She hooked her jade-white finger at Yuping, and Yuping came closer.
The queen whispered something in Yuping's ear, and Yuping frowned and nodded repeatedly.
————
The first day of December, Fengzao Palace.
Today is the day when the concubines in the harem pay their respects to the queen.
After the concubines paid their respects to the queen politely, they took their seats according to their rank.
The queen sat at the top, followed by the imperial concubine, the imperial concubine Rong, the imperial concubine Wan, and then several talented ladies and maids.
The other concubines were all speaking politely to each other, but the imperial concubine remained silent.
Normally, the Imperial Concubine is the most arrogant, but she would still say a few words, especially to the Empress, Rong Fei, or Wan Fei. But today she was quiet.
The queen smiled faintly and took the concubine's performance into consideration.
"My dear sister," the Queen said, smiling at her. "Do you have time these days?"
When the imperial concubine heard the queen calling her, she quickly raised her eyes, and a flash of desire and uneasiness flashed across her eyes.
After meeting the Queen's gaze, she regained her usual haughty demeanor, "I don't know what the Queen is going to do, but no matter what it is, I am busy."
The imperial concubine said with her neck stiffened.
These days, she was thinking about how to trick the emperor into coming over, use the love fragrance, so that she could gain the emperor's favor and become a real imperial concubine.
I thought about it for several days but couldn't find a suitable solution. I was worried about how I would have the time to take care of the queen.
Bai Lan, who was behind the imperial concubine, touched her imperceptibly.
Someone suddenly touched her lower back. The imperial concubine frowned and was about to turn around and scold Bai Lan when she suddenly remembered what Bai Lan said to her yesterday.
Now when the Emperor comes to the harem, he only goes to Weiyang Palace. If he sends Concubine Wan away...
There was a gleam in the imperial concubine's eyes, and her mind moved slightly.
She leaned forward, sat up straighter, and then her beautiful eyes moved around, the corners of her mouth twitched, and she put on a smile.
"Oh, I was anxious just now. I don't know if the Queen asked if I was free. Is there something you want to tell me?"
The Queen seemed not to mind what she had said before, and said with a good-tempered look and a gentle smile,
"It's the end of the year, and the palace is holding a ritual to exorcise evil spirits and usher in good fortune, and they need to copy scriptures. Aside from me, the Imperial Concubine holds the highest rank in the harem. My sister, the Imperial Concubine, was promoted directly from the rank of Talented Lady to Imperial Concubine. I heard that my sister's brothers-in-law have gained favor with the Emperor. I think my sister is a rare and blessed person, and if the scriptures are copied by her hand, they will be more effective."
Hearing this, the imperial concubine's eyes turned and her red lips opened slightly.
"Your Majesty, I think that in this harem, Concubine Wan is the most blessed."
The imperial concubine's eyes were quite cold as they fell on Su Wanti. Su Wanti was not afraid. She put her hands in her pockets, met the imperial concubine's gaze, and looked back at her quite coldly.
The imperial concubine looked away and said, "Your Majesty, I think it's better to let Concubine Wan copy the scriptures. She is the most suitable."
"This..." The queen looked at Su Wanti with some embarrassment, but she was only embarrassed for a moment.
Before Su Wanti could answer, the Queen said:
"Your Highness is right. Concubine Wan is the most favored of the harem, so she's naturally the most blessed. It's only fitting that Concubine Wan should copy the scriptures. This is a meritorious act of praying for the country, and I'm sure Concubine Wan won't refuse."
Su Wanti pursed her lips, looked at the Queen, then at the Imperial Concubine. Her intuition told her that something was wrong. She wanted to see what these two were up to, so she took back her refusal and sat quietly without saying a word.
Seeing that she was just sitting there quietly, looking at her, the Queen thought she agreed, so she said:
"Time is running out, so let's start copying from today. After everyone leaves, Concubine Wan will go to the Buddhist Incense Pavilion to copy the scriptures. There are quite a lot of them, so Concubine Wan must be prepared to copy for several days."
After she finished speaking, Su Wanti noticed that the queen glanced at the imperial concubine vaguely, and her doubts grew even stronger.
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