August 20, 2013
The capital.
Yanxi Palace.
"That bitch hasn't come out of the Palace of Heavenly Purity yet?" Concubine Zhao sat in front of the dressing table, staring coldly at her reflection in the bronze mirror.
Concubine Zhao is not young anymore. After all, the third prince Zhong Mingzheng is already 22 years old. As a mother, she will be 39 years old after the Chinese New Year. Even if she takes good care of herself, she doesn't look like a young girl who just entered the palace, especially her eyes that have experienced the vicissitudes of life. At this moment, these eyes, which are covered with frost, stare straight at herself in the mirror, with a strong sense of hostility and ferocity.
"Yes. That Hui... Hui Changzai has been in the Qianqing Palace since last night and has not come out yet." The personal maid said cautiously. The hand holding the red jadeite pearl phoenix head gold hairpin was trembling slightly, her teeth were chattering slightly, and she continued after a long time. "My queen, please let me dress you up."
“Snap!”
The next second, Concubine Zhao suddenly swept all the cosmetics and jewelry on the dressing table to the ground. With a "crackling" sound, all the palace maids in the palace suddenly knelt down. They pressed their faces to the ground, not even daring to breathe.
"Your Majesty, calm down! Your Majesty, calm down!"
"Get out! Get out! All of you get out of here!" Concubine Zhao screamed hysterically.
"Yes, I'll take my leave! I'll take my leave!" A group of palace servants hurriedly crawled out, stumbling.
When the third prince Zhong Mingzheng arrived, he saw a group of palace servants kneeling outside the palace trembling. Zhong Mingzheng's face immediately darkened: "What's going on?"
"Your Highness, you are finally here!" Concubine Zhao's personal maid hurriedly came to greet him and led him to the corridor, whispering to Zhong Mingzheng, "The Queen is very angry because of the newly favored Concubine Hui!"
"Is it the maid who used to serve in the Cining Palace?" Zhong Mingzheng frowned. He had always been very attentive to the affairs of the palace. Moreover, it only took Hui Changzai three days to rise from a lowly maid to a dignified sixth-rank maid. Now, everyone in the palace knew that Hui Changzai was extremely beautiful. Zhong Mingzheng knew this, so he snorted coldly, "How did this bitch offend my mother?"
"Concubine Hui didn't provoke the empress, but the emperor has been asking her to sleep with him for several days in a row. Until now, she hasn't come out of the Palace of Heavenly Purity," the personal maid whispered, lowering her voice even more. "I heard that the emperor is very fond of Concubine Hui, and the empress..."
"That's enough!" Zhong Mingzheng interrupted the maid coldly, paused, then frowned and said to the maid, "Take everyone away. If anyone dares to spread what happened today..."
"I dare not! Please rest assured, Your Highness." The personal maid kowtowed hurriedly.
"Okay, go down," Zhong Mingzheng said in a deep voice, and walked towards the main hall. Suddenly he stopped and said to the maid, "Go make a bowl of soothing soup for the queen."
"Yes, I obey your command." The maidservant bowed and retreated.
When Zhong Mingzheng entered, Concubine Zhao was still sitting in front of the dressing table, but her back was no longer as straight as before. At this time, she bent her waist slightly and stared at the woman in the bronze mirror. The more she looked at the woman who had not dressed up and even washed her face, the more she felt that she was dishevelled and old. She looked at the haggard woman in the mirror in disbelief. For a long time, she fumbled on the dressing table and finally found a charcoal pencil. Then she was busy drawing eyebrows in front of the mirror. However, her fingers were shaking so badly that how could she draw well? So she became more anxious, rubbing her hands randomly, and then started drawing again. After a while, half of her face was gray, but she was still drawing again and again, like a madman.
"Mother!" Zhong Mingzheng stood at the door and watched for a long time. He was frightened again and hurried forward to snatch the charcoal pencil from Concubine Zhao's hand. "Mother, what are you doing?!"
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