Chapter 334 Competing for Favor
Xie Shang poured water, not quite hearing what she said, and helped her up to feed her water, saying, "Ruan Ruan, drink water."
Jiang Fenghua closed her eyes, licked her tongue, and then gulped down the water. Only after feeling satisfied did she say, "I'm so sleepy, I want to sleep."
After saying that, she pushed him away and fell asleep.
Just then, Granny Wang knocked on the door from outside, saying, "The hangover soup is ready."
"Bring it in!" Xie Shang wrung out a handkerchief and wiped her face.
Seeing this, Granny Wang said, "Let me do it!"
"Granny Wang, go ahead with your work. I can take care of the Crown Princess." She had also taken care of him when he was drunk.
After Granny Wang left, Xie Shang took off her shoes, socks, and clothes before letting her sleep peacefully.
He stared at her face and kissed her. "Little vixen, you want to sleep after teasing me, Ruan Ruan. Happy seventeenth birthday."
Finally, without disturbing her, he went to the bathroom to wash himself clean before going to bed and lying down next to her.
He held her fingers and closed his eyes, completely absorbed.
Both of them slept soundly until dawn.
In the early morning, Jiang Fenghua felt a hand on her waist. Her eyes were tightly closed, and the hand became increasingly restless, starting to touch other places, until she let out a groan and her lips were covered by someone's kiss.
She suddenly opened her eyes and saw Xie Shang's face in front of her, his eyes filled with lust. She said, "Your Highness, how could you..." But before she could finish speaking, Xie Shang deepened the kiss.
Immediately afterwards, Xie Shang crawled into the bed and climbed on top of her. She knew that he had stripped her naked under the covers...
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After the birthday banquet, Jiang Fenghua was already making arrangements for the imperial concubine selection. She acted quickly, looking through all the portraits of the candidates sent to the palace, and personally presented a list to the Empress for her review.
She naturally had her own selfish motives. A woman like Qin Yunyan would never be able to sneak in under her nose in this lifetime. After making her selection, she even sent someone to personally inquire about the situation of the candidates. Those like Tang Qianran who had fiancés were also eliminated to avoid adding more lovesick men and women.
After reviewing the list, the Empress did not interfere excessively. She was still willing to listen to advice, and her attitude softened considerably. "It's fine for the Crown Princess to make the decision."
Even so, Jiang Fenghua still had to report everything to the Empress, lest she have something to say.
Jiang Fenghua said, "Back then, the Empress Dowager selected five concubines for His Highness to enter the palace, but only three of them eventually became concubines. Their family backgrounds were all quite prestigious."
My daughter-in-law's main purpose this time is to select some women from respectable families to enter the palace. Regardless of their fathers' official rank or position, as long as they are kind-hearted and virtuous women, I would like to invite them to the palace for His Highness the Crown Prince to see. If he likes any, he can select ten to reside in the Eastern Palace. After all, he is still only the Crown Prince, and too many would not be appropriate.
Empress Cheng said, "Ruanruan, you decide. What Ruanruan chooses is naturally the best."
Jiang Fenghua smiled and said, "Now the Eastern Palace is also full of happy events. Although Consort Zhu's child is gone, Consort Song is pregnant. My daughter-in-law has arranged for someone to take care of her so that Consort Song can give birth to a healthy and lovely grandson for the Empress Dowager."
Since that day, Xie Shang has never come to Kunning Palace to pay his respects to the Empress. She was afraid that her son would not believe her, or even hate her like the Emperor did.
Empress Cheng personally handed a cloak to Jiang Fenghua, saying, "This is a cloak I made myself. The weather is getting colder and colder. Give it to the Crown Prince, but don't say it's from me."
Jiang Fenghua took it and handed it to Lianye, saying, "I will definitely give it to the Crown Prince." Now she realizes her mistake, but it's too late.
Jiang Fenghua knew Empress Cheng very well. Her current show of weakness was simply to get Jiang Fenghua to speak on her behalf to Xie Shang. However, once she gained Xie Shang's trust, she would become arrogant and domineering again.
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Soon, the ten young ladies of the East Palace also moved in. Jiang Fenghua arranged for them to live in some empty palaces, and also arranged for two of them to live in Tang Qianran's and Zhu Zhenzhen's palaces. Since the East Palace had limited space, it was common for several young ladies to live in the same courtyard.
Jiang Fenghua did not arrange for them to meet Xie Shang, because they had just entered the palace and still needed to learn many rules.
Two months passed in the blink of an eye, and winter arrived, with the weather getting colder and colder.
The two young mistresses of Yuling Palace and Yuxiu Palace became increasingly flustered when they saw people enter. The key issue was that neither of them was pregnant yet, and if they didn't hurry up, they would be ridiculed by the newly arrived young mistresses.
His Highness the Crown Prince rarely summons them to his bedchamber. Since the Crown Princess's birthday banquet, the Crown Prince has been busy with official duties during the day and goes to Chenxi Palace to be with the Crown Princess at night. According to the palace maids of Chenxi Palace, the Crown Princess gets up very late every day.
The Empress exempted her from paying her respects at Kunning Palace, and she and the Crown Prince became even more unrestrained, making the young ladies of the Eastern Palace extremely envious.
That day, just as darkness fell, Zhu Zhenzhen learned that Xie Shang was still busy in Taihua Palace, so she dressed up, took the gloves she had made, and went to Taihua Palace.
She thought: Now is the perfect time to give gloves as a gift.
Wu Xin caught sight of Zhu Zhenzhen from afar, then glanced into the hall. Since he had already accepted Tang Liangdi's money, he decided to be more professional and took the initiative to greet her, "This servant greets Your Highness."
"Since Eunuch Wuxin isn't serving Your Highness, is Your Highness still busy?" Zhu Zhenzhen also tactfully had Meixiang offer a tip.
Wuxin didn't answer, but honestly replied, "Tang Liangdi is inside."
Zhu Zhenzhen thought to herself, "It's Tang Qianran again. Why is she always here?"
She didn't know that Tang Qianran was quite generous, spending a lot of money each time she bribed Wuxin.
"Please inform His Highness that I have something important to give him." She took the purse from Meixiang and handed it to Wuxin, then took off a gold bracelet from her wrist and placed it in Wuxin's palm. "I will be relying on you, Eunuch Wuxin, from now on."
Wu Xin felt that if he stayed in this position for the rest of his life, he would definitely become a rich man, even richer than Chief Eunuch Cao. Currently, Chief Eunuch Cao was the richest eunuch in the palace. No wonder the master made him join Cao De and recognize him as his godfather. He also had to hand over all this money to Chief Eunuch Cao as a sign of respect. Since he followed the Crown Prince, he had no idea about the situation with the Emperor.
Without intention, he led her forward.
Just as she reached the door, she heard Tang Qianran's sweet laughter from inside, "After Your Highness's revisions, I think it looks much better. I'll make it exactly like this, and I'm sure the Crown Princess will like it. Thank you, Your Highness."
"You're so kind, Lady Liangdi," Xie Shang said.
"Your Highness hasn't had dinner yet, has he? These are some dishes I prepared myself. Please try them and see if they suit your taste." Tang Qianran was prepared; she and the Crown Prince had met here countless times.
She thought that if she took the initiative, she would eventually be favored by the Crown Prince.
She also catered to his preferences, knowing that the Crown Prince's favorite person was the Crown Princess, so she found various excuses to successfully enter the Taihua Palace.
Xie Shang had no interest in dealing with her. Her father held the high-ranking position of Minister of Justice. Staring at Tang Qianran's face, he could only think that the position of Minister of Justice was very important.
At this moment, Wuxin entered and said, "Your Highness, Consort Zhu requests an audience."
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