The sun was shining brightly in the early morning.
The red bricks and green tiles outside the Zhengde Hall reflect a rainbow of colors in the sunlight, attracting birds to stop and chirp.
Ye Zhi, who was guarding outside the hall, was keeping track of the time and looked a little anxious.
A palace maid beside her became even more anxious and reminded Ye Zhi.
"Sister Ye Zhi, today is the day Her Majesty pays her respects to the Empress. If Her Majesty does not rise now and misses the appointed time, will the Empress blame her?"
Yeats knew he couldn't delay any longer, or it would really be too late.
She made up her mind, knocked gently on the door, and called out first.
"Your Highness, Your Highness, we need to pay our respects at Fengyi Palace today, don't be late."
After waiting a while and hearing no movement from inside, Ye Zhi gave a brief instruction to the young palace maid.
"You all wait here, I'll go in and wake Her Majesty."
"yes."
Yeats's shouts still reached Liu Lingxi's ears through the curtains. She twitched her eyelids and finally managed to open them.
When Liu Lingxi woke up, the spot beside her was already cold.
She heard Yeats's shouts outside the curtain, and after finally regaining her senses, she asked.
"Yeats, what time is it now?"
As soon as she spoke, she and Ye Zhi were both stunned. There was no way around it; her voice was just too hoarse to be anything but normal.
Finally, Ye Zhi was the first to react and reply, while quickly pouring a cup of Biluochun tea and letting it cool.
"Your Majesty, it is now the second quarter of the hour of Mao (5:45 AM). In a little over half an hour, we will be going to Fengyi Palace to pay our respects to the Empress."
"Okay, get up."
Having received confirmation, Ye Zhi then beckoned the palace maids outside the door to come in and help the Crown Princess with her toilette.
A slender, jade-like hand reached out from behind the curtain, gently parting it to reveal a stunningly beautiful face.
Yeats was mesmerized.
After finally regaining my senses, I thought to myself, the Crown Princess seems to have become even more radiant after receiving the Emperor's favor. She has been completely transformed and is so beautiful.
No wonder I watered her five times last night. The Crown Prince is really too unkind to women.
"Master, please have some tea."
"Um."
After drinking the tea, Liu Lingxi felt like she had come back to life, and her voice was no longer so hoarse and weak.
She moved even slightly, and felt like her body was falling apart.
Thinking of Sheng Changfeng's madness and tenderness last night, Liu Lingxi's face turned red and then white, then white and then red again.
It seems I need to be more restrained in the future.
However, this is just the Crown Princess's unrealistic fantasy. Would our Crown Prince, who has already tasted the forbidden fruit, agree to it?
...
When they arrived at Fengyi Palace, all the concubines in the palace had already arrived.
It is worth mentioning that although Sheng Jin never took on any new officials after ascending the throne, he never held any talent shows.
But he still had quite a few women before he ascended the throne.
Some were bestowed by the late emperor, while others were sent by his brothers and officials; he could not refuse them at the time.
He never favored any of these people, always using Jiang Qiuyue's jealousy as an excuse to fob off those who wanted to investigate.
That's why Sheng Jin trusted the Empress so much and even compensated the Jiang family.
After all, because of his excuse, it was difficult for the other women in the Jiang family to get married, and the marriages of some of them were no longer happy.
well.
All of that is from the past.
The women in the palace now are all those who have been with Sheng Jin since his time as a prince.
How could an emperor's woman remarry? Even if she wanted to, no one dared to marry her.
Fortunately, they were open-minded. In the palace, they enjoyed the treatment of concubines. The Empress was kind and allowed them to eat and drink well, and there were people to serve them.
Consider it an early retirement.
Today, everyone except the Empress is present to pay their respects.
They didn't have much fun in the palace. They had all heard about the commotion at Chonghua Palace last night, so they came a little early today.
I mainly wanted to watch the excitement!
Sure enough, some people couldn't sit still any longer and started striking up conversations with others.
"Sister Yu Pin, have you heard that yesterday the Crown Prince dismissed all his concubines?"
The person speaking had slanted eyes, willow-leaf eyebrows, and a crooked mouth. He wasn't very good-looking, and to make matters worse, he loved to gossip.
After she finished speaking, she looked at the woman beside her with an expression of anticipation, hoping that she would say something.
The woman named Consort Yu was dressed in a light blue palace gown, exuding an aloof and cold air; she didn't seem like the type to discuss such matters.
Sure enough, as soon as she opened her mouth, she shut him up.
"This concubine does not know."
"Pfft, hahaha, Consort Xi is really interesting. Everyone knows that Consort Yu dislikes gossip the most. Why ask her of all people?"
The woman in the dark blue palace dress covered her mouth and laughed, but it was obvious that she was trying to defuse the situation.
"Then, Consort Liang, do you know anything? Please tell me."
Consort Xi, who was the first to ask the question, was not annoyed. Instead, she turned to Consort Liang and continued to ask.
"Oh, I heard about it last night, but it's all related to the Crown Princess. Oh dear, I dare not speak carelessly."
The concubines burst into laughter, knowing full well that this was not a compliment, since jealousy among women was a major taboo.
Before they could finish speaking, the Empress had already arrived.
"Her Majesty the Empress has arrived!"
"This humble concubine greets Your Majesty the Empress. May Your Majesty enjoy boundless blessings and peace."
Upon hearing that the Empress had arrived, everyone fell silent, knelt down in unison to pay their respects, and dared not utter another word.
This shows that Jiang Qiuyue was quite capable as the empress.
At least everyone around her respects her; no one dares to criticize or contradict her. She's as obedient as a kitten.
"Get up."
"Thank you, Your Majesty."
Everyone returned to their original seats and listened to the Queen's instructions.
"I hear my sisters talking quite animatedly, but I wonder what they're discussing?"
Well……
Upon hearing the Empress's question, the concubines exchanged glances, unsure whether to speak.
They were all afraid of being accused of slandering the Crown Princess, which would be disastrous for them.
However, there was one particularly bold one among them, namely Consort Xi.
She's always been a blabbermouth; whatever she finds out in the palace, she has to chime in, which has ruined her reputation.
After all, nobody wants to be on good terms with her, lest they get dragged into trouble...
Consort Xi then stood up, bowed, and began to speak.
"Your Majesty, the concubines were discussing the matter of Chonghua Palace dismissing its maids yesterday."
"Oh, you've all heard about this?"
The Empress did not blame her; instead, she asked the same question.
Upon hearing this, the concubines below knew that the Empress was dissatisfied with the Crown Princess.
"Yeah yeah."
"Yes, I've heard about it too."
As she listened to their lively discussion, a hint of a smile finally appeared in the Empress's eyes.
"Alright, Consort Xi, please sit down. Where is the Crown Princess?"
He called out, but there was no response.
The Empress pretended not to know that the Crown Princess had not yet arrived and called out again in an even louder voice.
"Where is the Crown Princess? Is she not here?"
Still no response.
Seeing that the Empress's face was getting darker and darker, Jiang, the nanny serving by her side, lowered her head and replied.
"Your Majesty, the Crown Princess has not requested leave, so she should still be on her way."
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