Chapter 20 Li was demoted
Song Zhao had calculated the time.
Xiao Jingheng was very satisfied with her performance last night. In addition, she was the first concubine who refused to sleep with him. Even if Xiao Jingheng was not concerned about her health, he would come to Yaohua Palace to find out out of curiosity.
Song Zhao already knew how long it took to walk from Chaoyang Palace to Yaohua Palace after entering the palace for a month.
That's why she asked Yunshan to report to Concubine Yao's palace a quarter of an hour later.
She expected that Concubine Yao would come to visit her because she was afraid of being blamed, and she also expected that Concubine Li would follow and blame her. She also expected that when Xiao Jingheng arrived, he would happen to see Concubine Li throwing a tantrum.
Everything is interconnected, without any error.
Concubine Yao and Concubine Li hurriedly bowed towards the main gate. Song Zhao also forced himself to get up from the bed and said with them:
"I pay my respects to His Majesty. May His Majesty be blessed with good health."
After Xiao Jingheng entered, he heard Song Zhao cough, and his eyes were all on her.
At this moment, Song Zhao was wearing a plain nightgown, with her knees bent weakly.
She had a fair complexion to begin with, and the heat from the high fever made her cheeks flush, as if she was a little tipsy.
Feeling Xiao Jingheng's gaze directed at her, Song Zhao shook her body slightly, pretending to be weak.
The thin, sick and aggrieved figure, like a duckweed drifting with the current, makes people feel even more pity for him.
Xiao Jingheng took a big step and walked to her side and took her hand.
"Why are your hands so hot?"
As he was about to touch her forehead, Song Zhao covered his mouth and nose and took a step back, dodging him.
"Your Majesty...I am too ill to see you. It would be a sin if I passed my illness on to Your Majesty. Please take care of yourself, Your Majesty, and don't..."
"Nonsense." Xiao Jingheng did not let go of Song Zhao's hand. Instead, he secretly exerted force and pulled the willow-like girl into his arms.
He touched Song Zhao's forehead with the back of his hand and found that Song Zhao had a high fever. He felt more distressed and blamed himself.
He helped Song Zhao sit on the couch, and then called out to the door,
"Jiang Deshun, go and call Doctor Chu over to me."
When it came to Imperial Physician Chu, Song Zhao and Li Guiren didn't know who he was. Only Concubine Yao felt a tightness in her heart when she heard the words.
Doctor Chu was the chief physician of the Imperial Medical Bureau and he only treated Xiao Jingheng. Who else could order him around?
Yaopin immediately understood Song Zhao's position in Xiao Jingheng's heart.
Whether it was for the sake of novelty or her youth and beauty,
In short, at this moment, Song Zhao is more important to Xiao Jingheng than her and Li Guiren.
Otherwise, Xiao Jingheng would not have come in for so long and allowed them to be so formal.
So Concubine Yao immediately said, "As the head of Yaohua Palace, it is my fault that I did not take good care of Sister Song. Please forgive me, Your Majesty."
For such a small matter, Xiao Jingheng certainly would not punish Concubine Yao, so he said:
"You have been busy tending to the Queen these past two days, so I don't blame you for being negligent. Please stand up."
Just as he called Concubine Yao to get up, he heard Song Zhao cough twice in a very restrained manner. Xiao Jingheng then personally took the teacup on the small table, added a cup of water to Song Zhao's mouth, and
"If you want to cough, just cough it out. I am not an outsider. Drink some water to moisten your throat first."
Song Zhao said shyly, "Thank you, Your Majesty."
All of this was seen by the still polite Li Guiren.
Ever since Xiao Jingheng entered, she has been acting politely. Not only did Xiao Jingheng not let her get up, he didn't even look at her straight in the eye.
Of course she felt aggrieved.
Clearly, she had caught a cold a few days ago, so why did Xiao Jingheng ignore her but care so much about a concubine?
Feeling unhappy, she also coughed twice in a pretentious manner.
This cough actually caught Xiao Jingheng's attention.
However, there was a hint of gloom in his eyes when he looked at Li Guiren:
Zhang Jiugui just told him that after Song Zhao had served him in the imperial court yesterday, he somehow angered Concubine Li, who punished her by making her stand in the rain for most of the night, which was why she caught a cold.
He is the emperor. He promised Song Zhao yesterday that his favor would not bring any danger to Song Zhao.
But today, he broke his promise.
By this calculation, isn't it that Concubine Li slapped him in the face?
Xiao Jingheng glanced at Li Guiren and said in a dull tone, "Your illness is not healed yet?"
Li Guiren thought that Xiao Jingheng liked women like Song Zhao who pretended to be pitiful and weak, so she pretended more and more.
"Your Majesty, cough cough...I have been weak since childhood, and I have caught a cold for seven or eight days and it hasn't gotten better, cough cough..."
"Oh? But when I heard you talking to Song Cheng just now, weren't you still very confident?"
"I...I didn't..."
"How could Song Yingda get sick? Don't you know?" Xiao Jingheng said angrily, "You live under the same roof with Song Yingda, and you start to find trouble with her as soon as you enter the palace. You are so jealous as a woman, but I don't know how your father taught you in the mansion before."
Li Guiren hurriedly cried out, "Your Majesty, please understand! The fact that Song Da Ying caught a cold has nothing to do with me. If you don't believe me, ask her!"
Song Zhao pursed her lips delicately and nodded, "I am sick because I am weak. It has nothing to do with Sister Li. Sister Li has always been very good to me. Your Majesty, please don't blame Sister Li."
To Xiao Jingheng, Song Zhao's words in defense of Concubine Li were just out of kindness.
So he raised his hand to interrupt Song Zhao's words, "I only believe what I see and hear."
Li Guiren was completely panicked now. She knelt on the ground with a plop and kowtowed like crazy.
"Your Majesty, please understand! Your Majesty, please understand! I really didn't do it, I really didn't do it!"
"Didn't you just say that you weren't fully recovered from your illness? How come you can talk to me so fluently now without even coughing?"
Xiao Jingheng suddenly straightened his back, his upright posture further demonstrating the majesty of an emperor, "Your father never told you, what is the punishment for deceiving the emperor?"
Now Li Guiren had no room for quibbling.
After all, she really lied to Jamel Xiao just now.
She had been pampered since she was a child, how could she have seen the power of the emperor? At this moment, she was so frightened that she lost her soul and banged her head on the ground, saying that she knew she was wrong.
Seeing that her forehead was broken, Xiao Jingheng showed no sympathy at all and just said:
"I consider that your father was a meritorious official, so I will punish you lightly today so that you will remember it.
"Pass on my decree to demote Concubine Li to a concubine and fine her for half a year. If you continue to be unrestrained, I will have no choice but to send you out of the palace and let your father teach you personally."
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