She was facing away from Lianhuan, who was massaging her shoulders. Perhaps Lianhuan thought she couldn't see his facial expression from this position, so he curled his lip in disdain.
This Lianhuan, although she was a maid, had ambitions that reached the heavens. From the moment she entered the palace, she dreamed of rising to prominence and becoming a concubine favored by the emperor.
Chu Nian couldn't criticize her thinking. After all, people strive for higher positions, and water flows downhill. For women entering the palace, even as maids, the chance to "get rich overnight" was to latch onto the emperor, a "tycoon." Who would give up such an opportunity?
But as long as you think and fight, it's wrong to betray your master and reveal his information to his rival, Chu Susu.
Lian Huan thought Lian Nian was unaware of this matter, but in fact, Lian Nian had already learned about it yesterday. However, Lian Nian discovered that the emperor was no longer the one who doted on her, but had developed feelings for Chu Susu. Feeling utterly hopeless, she jumped into the lake without thinking of anything else.
It has to be said that since transmigrating, Chu Nian has encountered countless people with love-obsessed minds, but the original owner of this body was the most serious of them all.
Fortunately, she didn't make any wishes related to romance, otherwise Chu Nian would probably be in a lot of pain.
Therefore, Chu Nian felt that this mission would be quite comfortable for her, and she was naturally very happy.
After bathing, it was getting late. Nowadays, Xukun Palace was no longer as favored as before. Due to confinement, the small kitchen had been shut down, and the palace servants could only go to the main kitchen to get their food boxes, just like the palace maids and eunuchs in other palaces.
After a long while, Lian Huan returned with a maid carrying a food box. She opened the food box with a guilty look on her face and saw that it only contained two steamed buns, a bowl of porridge and two dishes of pickled vegetables. The head of the palace, Lian Xi, was also an adopted son of the Lian family, but unlike Lian Huan, who was eager to curry favor with the emperor, she genuinely cared for Lian Nian.
Her anger flared instantly, and she cursed, "What does the Imperial Kitchen mean by this? Even if our Consort has been demoted, she's still a concubine, the Emperor's woman..."
"Cough...cough cough..." Xi Xi's words "the emperor's woman" almost made Chu Nian choke, and she coughed twice.
Seeing this, Lian Xi quickly asked with concern, "Your Highness, are you feeling unwell? You just fell into the water and caught a chill; you must be careful." Turning to a eunuch, she said, "Xiao Chu, didn't I tell you to go and talk to the guards outside and ask them to send a royal physician to examine Her Highness?"
In fact, this young eunuch was named Zhang Yunjing. Because of her clean appearance and quick wit, she was chosen by Lian Nian to enter her palace. She gained the emperor's favor as soon as she entered the palace, which was naturally different from the situation of Chu Susu, who was the empress but not favored.
She had always loved the emperor deeply, but also wanted to compete for the position of empress. Jealous that the empress, despite not being favored by the emperor, was able to hold such a high position, she deliberately changed the name of this little eunuch to "Xiao Chu" in order to embarrass Chu Susu at any time.
In the past, Chu Susu was not favored by the emperor, and people would only mock her behind her back when they heard her name.
Now, Chu Susu is not only the emperor's favorite, but also the regent's favorite. Her status and position are incomparable to what they used to be. Everyone who hears this name, especially Zhang Yunjing herself, is terrified, fearing that one day the empress will bring up this name.
The only one who probably feels comfortable being called "Xiao Chu" is Lian Xi, who is wholeheartedly devoted to Consort Lian.
Honestly, after carefully recalling everything that happened after the original owner entered the palace, Chu Nian's feeling about her could be summed up in two words: she was a troublemaker!
Upon hearing Lian Xi's question, Xiao Chu quickly replied, "Sister Xi Xi, I've already gone to instruct the guards, but they said that our Lady is not allowed to summon the physician during her confinement..."
"Huanhuan, go!" Chu Nian suddenly interrupted Xiao Chu, her voice cold.
To be honest, this was the first time the master had given a clear order since returning from outside. Before, it was Lianxi and the nanny who were in charge of making arrangements.
Lianhuan had already heard from outside why his master had been confined to his quarters, and he broke out in a cold sweat: if this master died today, then all the servants in their entire Xukun Palace, if not hundreds, would lose their heads.
Lian Nian never thinks about the consequences of her actions. Lian Huan has served her for so many years and has long understood this point. Otherwise, why would she have thought of climbing the high branch of the Empress?
Chu Nian knew that the original owner was too willful and unreliable in handling affairs, but she had no complaints about the servants in the palace. Therefore, no matter how wrong the original owner was, it was not up to these servants to say anything.
She stared coldly at Lianhuan.
Lianhuan trembled under her glare, and replied "Yes" before heading towards the door.
Suddenly, Chu Nian said calmly, "Go tell those guards that I want to eat the good stuff, and I won't eat these. If it doesn't work, I'll cut off one of your hands."
Lianhuan's heart skipped a beat. She turned around and knelt down in front of Chu Nian, crying, "Your Majesty, these dishes were prepared for us by Eunuch Li from the Imperial Kitchen. The guards outside have no say in these matters. Even if I were to tell them..."
Chu Nian interrupted her, saying, "No matter what you think, my order has been given. If you can't complete it, then think carefully about which hand I should chop off. The left hand or the right hand?"
After she finished speaking, she smiled, a smile that seemed completely harmless, yet it sent chills down the spines of everyone present: they all felt that today's Empress Lian was like a female ghost who had returned from the dead to seek revenge!
Lian Huan gritted her teeth in anger, but dared not complain, and only said, "Then, about the imperial physician..."
Chu Nian said, "There's no need for the imperial physician; I'm perfectly fine."
After Lianhuan left, Lianxi couldn't help but ask in a low voice, "Your Majesty, are you really going to cut off Huanhuan's hand?"
Chu Nian reclined comfortably on the chaise lounge, smiling languidly, "You don't need to worry about her, she'll get the guards to agree." They're all the Regent's men, they're all in the same boat!
These dishes were simply a way for the Imperial Kitchen to find that Xu Kun Palace had fallen out of favor and wanted to rely on the Empress for support. Everyone in the palace knew that the Empress and Xu Kun Palace were not on good terms, so the Imperial Kitchen naturally wanted to take this opportunity to show the Empress their stance.
In reality, the Queen had no time for such trivial matters. However, if the guards were to report this to the Regent…
Before gradually regaining military power, the Regent was very wary of the hundreds of thousands of Lian family soldiers, and at this moment he would not wrong her, the Consort Lian, too much.
In the original storyline, the regent used the original owner's suicide to force the emperor to punish the Lian family. He first seized the original owner's father's military power and regained control of the capital's defenses. Only then did he gradually dismantle the Lian family and reclaim all military power.
Sure enough, Lianhuan returned in less than a quarter of an hour and reported, "Your Highness, the guard commander said he would report this matter to the Prince first thing tomorrow morning."
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