Concubine Shu chuckled softly, a sly glint in her eyes. "Sister Jiafei is indeed the Empress Dowager's darling. Not only is she beautiful, but she's also so generous. Concubine Sheng won't leave. Do you want to continue embarrassing yourself here?"
Sheng Xiyan slowly stood up and listened to the two men kicking her like she was a filthy thing, feeling an indescribable sadness in her heart.
Although they all became women serving the emperor after entering the palace, how could there be any fairness here? Just like the big fish eat the small fish, the small fish eat the shrimp, the harem is a place where people are eaten without leaving any bones.
The two Caizhangs led the way, Sheng Xiyan followed behind, and the group gradually walked away. And behind them, behind a dense bush, a figure in a black star-shaped dragon robe quietly emerged.
Xuan Ling was followed by seven or eight guards with swords. He stared quietly at the figure in front of him.
Eunuch Fu carefully observed Xuan Ling's expression and asked softly, "Your Majesty, would you like me to call Young Master Sheng over?"
Xuan Ling gently stroked the jade ring in his hand, his gaze still lingering on the receding figure. He said calmly, "No need. Send someone to Zhongcui Palace to keep a close eye on them. If anything unusual happens, report it to me immediately."
"Yes, Your Majesty." Eunuch Fu responded respectfully.
After Xuan Ling left the morning court, he planned to go to the training ground to practice horseback riding and archery, and take a walk, so he did not ride in the imperial carriage.
When he walked to the central garden, he accidentally caught a glimpse of a scene happening on the roadside not far away, and at the same time clearly heard the conversation between several people.
As an emperor, he was keen on secretly observing the words and deeds of his ministers, and for this purpose he established his own intelligence network, and the same was true for the harem.
At this moment, Xuan Ling was filled with doubts: Could Sheng Xiyan be a pawn deliberately arranged by Concubine Shu to enter the palace to consolidate her favor? If so, then the two of them had undoubtedly behaved in front of him with such audacity that they had committed the heinous crime of deceiving the emperor.
In this case, Sheng Xiyan is not trustworthy. However, he is very conflicted in his heart. On the one hand, he wants to find out whether there is a collusion of interests between her and Concubine Shu, and on the other hand, he is eager to understand what kind of person she is.
At the same time, in Zhongcui Palace, a palace maid came in with a basin of water. After washing her hands, Concubine Shu lay on her side on the huanghuali couch to rest.
"Your Majesty, this is red date and longan tea. It has the effect of warming the uterus and replenishing qi. In addition, it contains angelica and astragalus, which can also maintain youthful complexion and soften the liver."
Concubine Shu slowly picked up the bowl with a white background and a yellow dragon pattern and drank half a cup. She remembered that day in the Queen's Palace, the tea cups she used were all precious bright yellow porcelain with dragon patterns.
In the harem, according to their rank, the queen could use precious bright yellow porcelain bowls, while other concubines could only use porcelain bowls with white inside and yellow outside, yellow dragon on blue background, purple dragon on green background, etc.
The lower the grade, the less yellow it is.
Concubine Shu felt more and more that there was too little yellow on the porcelain she was using, so she left half a cup without drinking any more.
Sheng Xiyan waited outside the palace to be summoned, but after waiting for a long time, she only saw palace maids coming in and out, and she was not allowed to enter.
She knew that this was Concubine Shu's deliberate attempt to suppress her. Fortunately, the shoes she wore today had thin soles, so she wasn't too tired from standing.
Hua Xia couldn't bear to watch this and grabbed a palace maid who was about to leave the palace gate, "Why hasn't Concubine Shu summoned our young master yet? It's been a long time."
The palace maid said arrogantly, "Your Majesty is tired and is resting. Please keep your voice down and don't make any noise."
After standing for half an hour, Sheng Xiyan stopped pretending, put down a silk handkerchief, and sat directly on the steps at the door. The palace maids in Zhongcui Palace all laughed secretly. How could a master act like this? He didn't care about his image at all.
After about a cup of tea, Hongxiu came out and said, "Master Sheng, please go in."
Hua Xia helped Sheng Xiyan stand up, entered the main hall, walked through the flower hall and came to the inner hall, where incense was burning and the fragrance was rich.
"Thank you for your help today, Your Majesty. You saved me from kneeling down and being punished."
Shufei seemed to have anticipated her embarrassment today, and her expression was full of contempt and disdain, as if Sheng Xiyan was lucky enough to enter the palace and was dreaming of becoming a favorite concubine.
"Does Concubine Sheng know what kind of incense I burned today?"
Sheng Xiyan knew that this incense was the moon-companion incense, which was recorded in "Nanzhou Ji".
"I have no knowledge of fragrance."
On her long fingers, Concubine Shu wore a two-inch-long gold armor that matched her position as a concubine, with patterns painted on it and an oriental pearl inlaid.
The longer and more expensive the armor sleeve was, the more favored the concubine was, and the armor sleeve became a symbol of status.
She gently stroked the curling fragrance from the incense burner, "This incense is called Banyuexiang, it was given to me by the emperor."
Sheng Xiyan smiled and said, "The Emperor has allowed Her Majesty to accompany Yuexiang. He must like Her Majesty to serve him."
Concubine Shu was very satisfied with her answer and asked with a proud smile, "Did you really go to the Yangxin Palace so early this morning?"
"Yes, I received the Empress's order and went to the Yangxin Palace to wait at four o'clock in the morning. I went in to give the Emperor acupuncture around five o'clock."
He is lying with open eyes. If you don't believe me, go to the Yangxin Palace to investigate.
Concubine Shu didn't talk about this topic anymore and asked, "Concubine Sheng, for Ah Yan's sake, I wanted to take care of you, but you are really not a decent person."
Sheng Xiyan knew that she was talking about the incident of intercepting the emperor on his birthday. It was obvious that she was the one who started to sow discord in front of the emperor, and she did not allow anyone to fight back. This showed that Concubine Shu only took advantage and did not suffer any loss. She would not even give others the soup when she ate the meat.
"Your Majesty, it was the Emperor who went to Chuxiu Palace on his own that day and scolded me. I was wronged, and I didn't know it was your birthday. I only heard about it the next day."
Concubine Shu narrowed her eyes, not quite believing it. That night, the palace maid came back and said that the emperor did look unhappy when he left Chuxiu Palace. Could it be that he had been scolding Sheng Xiyan? There was no way to verify this.
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