Suhe hurriedly said, "Your Majesty, we don't need to be afraid of her..."
"No need for further words!" Chu Susu said sternly, her voice slightly harsh. "Why haven't you invited Lady Lian in yet?!"
Suhe could only respectfully reply, "Yes." She then ordered the palace servants at the gate to quickly open the door and invite Consort Lian into the palace.
Chu Susu tried hard to control her breathing so that no one would notice her nervousness.
She didn't understand why her heart skipped a beat and began to pound uncontrollably when she heard someone outside shout, "Consort Lian has come to pay her respects to Her Majesty the Empress." The image of Consort Lian nestled in her arms for warmth after she drowned herself in the lake kept flashing through her mind.
Her clothes were soaked that day, and she was clearly very cold, but now, thinking back to that day, why does her whole body feel hot?
She felt her face burning, but quickly suppressed her emotions and silently recited the Heart Sutra like the original Chu Susu did, which made her feel the fever subside slightly.
Soon, she saw Chu Nian, dressed in extremely flamboyant and eye-catching attire, walk in surrounded by a group of palace servants, her smile exceptionally ostentatious and radiant. Before she even got close, Chu Susu could already hear her giggling laughter.
Chu Susu felt she should be angry; according to everyone, the other party was clearly showing off. But for some reason, she found the other party's laughter exceptionally pleasant, like that of a lark; and she was even infected by the laughter, almost laughing along with it.
It took her a long time to suppress the urge to get up, go to meet him, and reach out to hold his small hand.
As soon as Chu Nian entered, she saw the needlework on the table and said with a familiar smile, "Oh, are you doing needlework, sister?!"
"Ah, I just had some free time, so I did some simple work!" Chu Susu said, quickly picking up the half-finished needlework and handing it to the maid beside her, gesturing for her to put it away. Chu Susu realized she was a little afraid that Consort Lian would discover that her needlework was subpar.
Chu Nian didn't bother with the formalities and sat down in the empty seat opposite her. Although it wasn't the main seat, it wasn't a seat she, as a Noble Consort, should be sitting in either. Besides, did the Empress allow you to sit there?
The people in Kunning Palace all showed anger.
Only Chu Susu hadn't noticed anything amiss; on the contrary, she was quite pleased that Chu Susu was sitting so familiarly across from her.
Chu Nian said, "I came to see my sister so we could have snacks and chat together."
Chu Susu was puzzled and asked in surprise, "Snacks?"
Chu Nian: "It's just some delicious food besides regular meals."
Chu Susu seemed to understand something and immediately ordered, "Oh, quickly bring some snacks and tea for Consort Lian."
"Tsk!" Chu Nian said helplessly, "What kind of snacks are you serving?" Then she said to Su He, "Go and bring the snacks from the small cabinet on the left side of your empress's inner palace. Your empress and I will eat them together."
Suhe said angrily, "That cabinet is where Her Majesty the Empress stores her valuables; it doesn't contain the snacks that Consort Gui mentioned."
Chu Nian: "Just go get it when I tell you to! Why all the nonsense!" In her eyes, these palace servants were like little devils in the underworld, always treating her like a fool and taking a trivial matter as an order. That's why they say, "It's easier to see the King of Hell than to deal with his underlings!"
Chu Susu said gently, "Consort Lian, that cabinet is indeed where I store my valuables, but there is no food inside. What would you like to eat? I will order the servants to fetch some from the Imperial Kitchen right away."
Chu Nian said, "The chefs in the Imperial Kitchen are very cunning. They keep the really good food for themselves, so why would they bring it here? Don't worry, sister, just let Suhe go and check the cabinet."
Chu Susu was a little puzzled by her words, so she gave Suhe a wink.
Suhe had no choice but to go to the inner hall and open the cabinet. Sure enough, she found a pile of melon seeds and peanuts, as well as some very rare dried and fresh fruits inside.
Next to the fruit were several huge wine jars. Suhe almost fainted when she saw them: these wines were tributes from all over the country, extremely precious and rare. Even the emperor only used them on important days or when entertaining envoys.
These items were clearly the same ones the imperial kitchen had reported missing, and they were actually in the Empress's bedchamber... This...
Suhe immediately thought of Consort Lian. How did she know there was food here? A frame-up! A classic case of a frame-up!
She gritted her teeth in anger, turned around and went back to the outer hall, where she saw Consort Lian giggling and telling the Empress about what had happened in the Qianqing Palace. She mentioned Regent Li Xiao: "I really didn't expect that this famous Regent would be so handsome, no less so than our Emperor. It's a pity that our Emperor is sickly, and he pales in comparison to the Regent's healthy and strong body."
Suhe was startled when she heard this, but her empress was unaware that these words were treasonous. She nodded in agreement and smiled broadly, looking very happy.
She had no choice but to step forward and whisper in the Queen's ear.
But no matter how low her voice was, could it escape Chu Nian's ears? Chu Nian said helplessly, "What frame-up? I moved those things from the Imperial Kitchen and placed them here with my sister, the Empress, intending to come and have a drink and chat with her today."
Suhe remained bent over, still whispering to the Empress, staring at Chu Nian whose eyelids and lips were twitching uncontrollably. She was utterly astonished: "You talk as if you're so close to our Empress." Was this woman admitting that she stole the valuable fruits that went missing from the Imperial Kitchen? She… she actually confessed so readily?
Just then, a palace servant announced from outside: "Your Majesty, Consort Dong and Consort Xiao have come to pay their respects!"
Consort Dong and Consort Xiao were originally consorts of the same rank as Consort Lian, each with their own family background, though neither could compare to the Lian family. They were not as favored in the palace as Consort Lian had been, as evidenced by the fact that they, unlike Lian Nian, were not personally bestowed the title "Lian" by the emperor. They had long harbored resentment towards the arrogant Consort Lian.
Yesterday, upon hearing that Consort Lian had been demoted to Consort Lian and placed under house arrest, the two women were overjoyed. They had originally planned to visit Consort Lian at Xukun Palace as soon as her confinement ended, to pay their respects to this former classmate who was now of lower rank and required to pay her respects. However, they were surprised to find that Consort Lian's rank had risen again after only one day of demotion, and she was even one rank higher than them.
The two women were furious, and as soon as they received the news, they gathered together, discussed it, and then ran to find the Empress.
Chu Nian knew that these two concubines, who were just as troublesome as the original owner, would definitely cause trouble, so she was glad that she arrived a step earlier.
She pretended not to know their purpose and asked with a smile, "Oh, aren't you two sisters afraid of disturbing Her Majesty the Empress's afternoon nap by coming at this time?"
"Didn't you come too?" Suhe, who disliked her, almost yelled.
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