Chapter 5 Conflict
Jiang Ling remained almost completely silent and composed throughout. Su Yue observed this, which reminded her of her stepmother, Madam Li.
My father came from a poor family and was only able to study thanks to the help of his teacher. He married his junior schoolmate, Ms. Li. He was an average student and failed the imperial examinations for many years. In the end, he relied on his wife's family to secure a position as a county magistrate.
Li was unable to have children, so her father took her birth mother, Chen, as a concubine, and they had Su Yue and her younger brother.
Her father fawned over his wife's family, becoming obsequious before Madam Li. She prided herself on coming from a scholarly family and having her maternal family's support, maintaining the airs of a first wife. Aunt Chen and her siblings bowed and scraped before her, trying to please her at every turn.
Just like Jiang Ling, Li never hit or scolded them, and never even raised her voice.
All because she never took them seriously, completely ignoring and despising them.
Su Yue's smile was about to fade, but it was a habitual smile, with a hint of ferocity in her expression.
"Even the Emperor praised the grapes highly, but Sister Jiang didn't like them and wouldn't touch them."
Su Yue slowly reached out and snapped a branch of osmanthus with a crack. She lowered her eyes, slowly pinched off a flower bud, and casually flicked it away.
"The grapes were given to me by Consort De. Sister Jiang, are you looking down on the grapes, or on me, or do you suspect the grapes are poisoned and want to harm you?"
Not only Emperor Yuanming, but also Consort Zhao was brought out. Jiang Ling was stunned and forgot to answer for a moment, staring blankly at Su Yue, not understanding where she got such great hatred.
"Are you mute?!" Su Yue became increasingly angry when she received no response from Jiang Ling, and couldn't help but ask in a shrill voice.
"I'm not mute." The question was too simple; Jiang Ling could answer it, replying to Su Yue quickly and confidently.
Su Yue was so angry she almost fell over. Her beautiful eyes widened, she flung the branch in her hand away, sneered twice, raised her chin, and said, "Since my good intentions are being taken for granted by Sister Jiang, then why should I be polite anymore? The ink chrysanthemums are precious, so they are more suitable to be placed in the main house. Hurry up and tidy up, don't waste any time."
Jiang Ling understood; Su Yue was trying to use Mo Ju to forcefully seize the main house.
Generally speaking, Jiang Ling doesn't compete with others. But she has a fatal flaw: whenever she gets nervous to a certain extent, her mind becomes uncontrollable, and she instinctively and decisively says, "I won't move."
Previously, Su Yue looked down on the main house of Xiefang Pavilion, thinking she could move to a better palace.
Emperor Yuanming only favored her once before forgetting about her. Although she had allied herself with Consort Zhao, she couldn't simply choose a palace and move in.
Although Xiefang Pavilion is secluded, the main house is still the main house. If Jiang Ling were more sensible, it wouldn't be a problem for her to stay there. But now that she's being so impolite, why would Su Yue let her stay?
Su Yue thought she had the victory in her grasp, after all, Jiang Ling was out of favor and had no backing in the harem, so she dared not refuse.
Unexpectedly, Jiang Ling was so arrogant that he didn't even bother with pleasantries and directly refused!
Su Yue's face darkened, and her eyes flashed with coldness. "You... fine, fine! You won't listen to reason, so don't blame me for not showing you any mercy!" With that, she turned and stormed off angrily.
Xueyan, who was standing by, glared at Jiang Ling and quickly followed.
Jiang Ling raised her hand, trying to ease the tension, but Su Yue didn't turn around. She was never one to make things difficult for herself, and quickly gave up.
A'Ruo Fanghe, who had been watching from the sidelines, quickly stepped forward. Both of them looked unwell. Fanghe said nervously, "Lady, you must apologize quickly! We can't afford to offend Lady Su!"
Aruo said anxiously, "That's right! If you don't have a powerful backer in the harem, you'll live a life worse than us servants."
Jiang Ling glanced at the two of them, then went back into the house without saying a word.
Both of them followed him inside with uneasy expressions. Jiang Ling sat down on the couch and poured tea.
The tea in the teapot had long since gone cold. A'Ruo hesitated before stepping forward and said, "My lady, I'll go and brew some fresh tea."
Jiang Ling was used to drinking ice water, so he moved his hand away to avoid it, poured half a bowl of tea, and started eating.
Seeing that Jiang Ling had no expression, Fanghe quickly stepped forward and picked up the teapot: "The tea is gone, I'll go and brew another pot."
Aruo felt a chill in her heart and dared not say anything more. She then bowed slightly and hurriedly retreated.
Jiang Ling didn't want to pay attention to them. Now that she was alone, her mind was working exceptionally fast.
The fact that she hadn't eaten the grapes could only be told to Su Yue by Aruo and Fanghe. Whether Su Yue noticed their odd behavior and pressed them for answers, or they told Su Yue on their own initiative, it was all the same thing.
She had said long ago that if something happened to her, the two of them would definitely be caught in the crossfire.
Although she didn't want to hold a grudge, things didn't go as planned. If she went to apologize, Su Yue might not forgive her, and might even become more arrogant and look down on her again.
Jiang Ling used to prefer avoiding trouble and voluntarily gave up the main house. But after being pointed at and ridiculed by Su Yue, even a salted fish would jump up and down; how could he so easily give in to her wishes!
Everyone here is a talented person, and she already lives in the main house, so Su Yue is living in Xiefang Pavilion by virtue of her.
Even if Consort Lin and others were in charge of palace affairs, they still had to inform Emperor Yuanming if they wanted her to vacate the main room.
The only person who could persuade her to move out was Emperor Yuanming!
Jiang Ling rubbed her hands together, waiting for Su Yue to make her move. If Su Yue could get orders from Emperor Yuanming or Consort Lin, she would quickly kneel down and move out.
Over there, Su Yue, with a gloomy face, returned to the west courtyard with Xue Yan. After whispering and discussing for a while, they went to Funing Palace.
Upon reaching the palace gate, Su Yue paused slightly, and her usual smile instantly appeared on her previously somber face.
There were many things to do during the Mid-Autumn Festival. After finishing her work, Consort Zhao was gently massaged on the legs by two young palace maids. She rested her head on her hands, leaned against a soft cushion, and closed her eyes to relax.
With Granny Huang attending to her, she saw the maid Xiangli, who was running errands, peek in and quietly walked out.
Xiangli whispered, "Granny, Consort Su has arrived. Does Her Majesty wish to see her?"
Granny Huang frowned slightly, glanced back into the warm pavilion, and said, "Her Highness is tired. Consort Su comes to Funing Palace every few days, but she doesn't have anything important to do. Let her come when she has free time."
As Xiangli was about to leave, Consort Zhao parted her lips slightly and asked, "Who's outside?"
Granny Huang hurriedly came in and replied, "Your Highness, it's Consort Su who has arrived. I thought Your Highness rarely gets a break, and since Consort Su has nothing urgent to attend to, Your Highness can see her when you have some free time."
Consort Zhao gave a half-smile and a soft "hmm".
Although Su Yue was chosen by Emperor Yuanming, she only did it for novelty and abandoned him after just one time.
It's a useless thing after all. If it could gain favor, why would it have taken all these years!
Consort Zhao didn't mind the extreme flattery she received; she used her for amusement and to pass the time, which was somewhat useful.
Seeing this, Granny Huang gestured for Xiangli to go and inform Su Yue. Xiangli arrived at the side room and said, "Her Highness is busy right now. Consort Su, please come back when Her Highness has some free time."
Su Yue paused, lowered her eyes to conceal the emotions in them, and smiled, "The capable are always busy. Your Majesty is very capable and can't sit still all day. However, Your Majesty should take good care of your health and must not overwork yourself."
Xiangli said yes, not wanting to say more. Just as she was about to turn around, she heard Su Yue say again, "I didn't come here for anything else. Do you know if the Empress has any ink chrysanthemums left that she gave me? I'll shamelessly ask for another pot to take back."
"This servant is only responsible for running errands and delivering messages. As for Moju's matter, you will have to ask Granny Huang," Xiangli said.
Su Yue's expression changed, she sighed, took two steps forward, and said with a wry smile, "Her Majesty gave me several pots of black chrysanthemums, which I really like and have been treating like treasures. The west wing is cramped, and the sun only shines on them for a short time. I thought that since the main house is sunny, Sister Jiang could also enjoy the chrysanthemums there, so I planned to move the black chrysanthemums there for a while. Who would have thought..."
At this point, Su Yue stopped, bit her lip, and looked embarrassed.
Seeing that Su Yue had stopped and seemed hesitant to speak, Xiangli quickly asked, "What happened?"
Su Yue sighed several times before continuing, "Sister Jiang was sarcastic, saying that it was just a few pots of black chrysanthemums, and that I was just too naive to appreciate them. Seeing that she was unwilling, I didn't say anything more to her and went back to the west wing. Who would have thought that she would insist on coming with me to the west wing, saying that she wanted to see just how precious the black chrysanthemums were. When we got to the west wing, she looked left and right, and before I knew it, she reached out and plucked the flowers. Mid-Autumn Festival hasn't arrived yet, and the black chrysanthemums are all bare, with only branches and leaves left."
Xiangli was astonished. From Su Yue's words, the conflict at Xiefang Pavilion was related to Consort Zhao.
Su Yue looked up at her and said helplessly, "Although I was reluctant, I thought that Sister Jiang just liked flowers, so I kept quiet. Sister Jiang took the flowers and threw them away before even leaving the west courtyard. That's when I remembered that a while ago, Her Majesty gave me some grapes as tribute. After I took them back, I shared a few with the sisters in Xiefang Pavilion, saying that Her Majesty was thinking of us sisters and wanted us to have a taste. Sister Jiang didn't touch a single one and threw them all away."
She twisted her handkerchief in her hands, becoming indignant: "I've thought about it over and over, and something just doesn't seem right. Sister Jiang is just jealous; she's unhappy with the Empress's favor!"
Xiangli's expression darkened slightly. Consort Zhao was very particular about etiquette, so she didn't say much, only saying, "This servant understands. As for the matter of Moju, this servant will have to go and inform Granny Huang."
Su Yue thanked her and left, saying, "Then I won't bother you any longer. I'll come again when Your Highness has time."
Xiangli dared not delay and hurried to the warm pavilion to relay Su Yue's words clearly and fluently, without missing a single one.
"Such a thing is true?" Granny Huang was astonished. She pondered for a moment and told Xiangli to wait.
Back in the warm pavilion, Granny Huang whispered, "Your Highness, Consort Su mentioned some things about the Fragrant Pavilion earlier."
Consort Zhao opened her eyes slightly and waved for the maid to leave. Granny Huang quickly called Xiangli into the room, saying, "Tell Her Majesty what happened."
Xiangli quickly repeated what Su Yue had said.
Consort Zhao sighed, listening silently. After a moment, she smiled faintly: "Xiangli, go to Xiefang Pavilion and invite Consort Jiang to Funing Palace for tea."
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