Chapter 22 Virtue and Virtue
Xiao Jingheng left, but the fire in his heart was completely ignited by Song Zhao.
The fire started, and after Song Zhao's help failed, he naturally had to find someone to put it out.
So Song Zhao asked Yunshan to call Xiying in.
After the last incident when Song Zhao gave Xiying a severed finger, Xiying became very afraid of Song Zhao.
He no longer dared to be careless in his daily work, and when serving Song Zhao in private, he dared not make the slightest mistake.
When she saw Song Zhao at this moment, she lowered her head with flickering eyes and looked very flustered.
Song Zhao smiled and joked: "What are you afraid of? Can I eat you? Raise your head."
Xiying slowly raised her head and looked at Song Zhao tremblingly, "What do you want, young master?"
Song Zhao said, "Tomorrow when you go to report back to the Concubine, tell her that the Emperor wanted to stay with me tonight, but I insisted on persuading him to go find her. Do you understand?"
"I obey your command!"
Xiying nodded her head in a daze, and Song Zhao casually waved his hand and sent her away.
Yunshan asked: "How did you know that the emperor would go to see the concubine tonight?"
Song Zhao sneered and said, "He can find whoever he wants. How can a small promise from me influence his mind? I did this just to let Concubine Chen know that I am on her side in my heart. That's enough."
*
Late at night, the lights in Fengluan Palace were brightly on.
The queen was sitting cross-legged on a warm seat, needle and thread in her hands, carefully embroidering a pattern on a bright yellow cloth.
It was a lifelike five-clawed golden dragon. Every scale on the dragon's body had to be embroidered seven or eight times using the flying needle technique to achieve this shimmering texture when viewed from a distance.
It can be seen that the queen put a lot of effort into embroidering this dragon.
She was so focused on embroidering that she didn't even hear the sound of the head palace maid Shuangruo pushing the door open.
"Hail, Queen."
Shuang Ruo Chong blessed the Queen and took two candles to place in front of the table so that the light in front of the Queen would be brighter.
"Sewing is very laborious, so you must be careful, madam."
The Queen nodded with a smile, but she did not stop her movements. "The Emperor's birthday is in a month. I had a relapse of my heart disease a while ago, which delayed my birthday. I have to speed up my movements."
Shuang Ruo said, "The queen has been preparing this nightgown since New Year's Eve, and it has already taken eight months. The golden dragon embroidery is complicated, and the queen refused to let others do it. I feel really sorry for her when I see it."
"These are my gift to His Majesty. If His Majesty is comfortable wearing them, I am happy and don't feel tired."
After the queen finished drawing an inch of the border, she asked, "What do you want to see me for?"
"In reply to your Majesty, the Emperor has just demoted Concubine Li to a concubine and fined her half a year's salary."
"Oh?" The Queen stopped moving her hands. "Isn't she quite liked by the Emperor? Why was she demoted for no reason?"
Shuang Ruo said, "Li Changzai is too flamboyant and doesn't think before speaking. He offended Shu Fei when he was paying respects the other day and he didn't know what was going on. I heard that he was reprimanded by the emperor for deceiving the emperor this time. People in front of the emperor are always tight-lipped, so I don't know what happened exactly."
The Queen looked indifferent and continued to work on her needlework. "Last time she offended Concubine Shu, I was able to make amends for her, but this time she offended the Emperor, and I can do nothing about it. Let her fend for herself."
"Empress, the Emperor is here!"
The palace servant outside the door reported hurriedly, which brought out the joy on the queen's face.
She hurriedly handed the unfinished embroidered nightgown to Shuangruo and asked her to keep it. After fixing her hair and makeup in front of the mirror, she hurried to the main hall to greet him.
When he arrived, Xiao Jingheng just stepped into the palace gate.
The Queen knelt down and bowed, saying, "May the Emperor be blessed with good health."
Jamel Xiao put his arm around her and helped her up. "Are you feeling better today?"
The queen smiled gently and said, "Thank you for your concern, Your Majesty. I am much better now."
She took the purple jade pot and wanted to pour tea for Xiao Jingheng, but he stopped her.
"Every time I come to your palace, you are always busy serving me. These tasks are done by servants. You are the queen, so you don't have to do this."
But the queen said: "It's okay. It is my duty to serve the emperor. I dare not lose my duty as a wife."
As he spoke, he poured a cup of tea for Xiao Jingheng, and then took a soft cushion and placed it behind Xiao Jingheng, wanting him to sit more comfortably.
After finishing all this, he began to instruct Shuangruo and the others to prepare some snacks and snacks.
Xiao Jingheng watched her efforts silently, and instead of feeling moved, he felt annoyed.
The queen followed the rules of a legitimate wife, being generous and magnanimous to the concubines, and taking good care of him.
Because of this, they lost a lot of the fun between husband and wife.
When the queen finally finished her work and sat down opposite Xiao Jingheng, Xiao Jingheng said to her:
"Just now, I demoted Li from Yaohua Palace to a concubine and fined her salary. As the head of the harem, I want to inform you of this matter."
Concubines were not allowed to inquire about the emperor's news. Although the queen had known in advance that Li had been demoted to a concubine, she still had to pretend that she knew nothing in front of Xiao Jingheng.
"Hmm? Doesn't the Emperor like Li very much? Why did he suddenly make this decision?"
Xiao Jingheng said: "She doesn't know the rules."
The Queen said, "Li Changzai is a little impetuous, but she doesn't seem to have any bad intentions. The Emperor has demoted her, which is a severe punishment. But if he wants to deduct her salary for half a year, it means that Li Changzai will not receive a monthly salary for the entire winter and New Year. I think her life will be hard."
Xiao Jingheng raised his eyebrows and glanced at her. He gently rubbed the ring on his thumb with his left hand placed under the small table. After a while, he said:
"What does the Queen think?"
The Queen has always been virtuous and kind, and as a good wife, she naturally has the grace to tolerate others. Listen to her:
"How about a three-month salary deduction as a minor punishment?"
Xiao Jingheng nodded in agreement and replied calmly, "Then I'll do as you say."
After saying this, Shuang Ruo led the palace servants to serve the evening meal.
These snacks are what Xiao Jingheng likes to eat on a daily basis. The Queen knows Xiao Jingheng's preferences, so these snacks are prepared every day. As long as Xiao Jingheng comes, she can present them all to him at the first opportunity.
"Your Majesty, last time you said you liked this shredded chicken and bird's nest soup, I have improved it a bit and added fish maw and bamboo fungus. Would you like to try it?"
The queen brought a bowl of steaming hot soup to Xiao Jingheng.
But he didn't answer at all. "I had enough dinner, so I'm not hungry now. Queen, please eat by yourself. You are sick, I won't disturb you to rest, I'm leaving now."
After saying this, he stood up and left without even responding to the Queen's farewell greeting.
Shuang Ruo helped the dazed queen up from the cold ground and whispered, "You too, Queen, Li Changzai has offended the emperor, why are you still speaking up for her?"
The Queen herself was also puzzled.
She was clearly persuading Xiao Jingheng to be lenient with Li, trying to show off her virtue, so why did she make Xiao Jingheng unhappy?
But she forgot one thing:
Xiao Jingheng only told her that he demoted Li to a concubine and fined her salary. But he did not tell her how much salary he fined Li.
Since he didn't say it, where did the Queen get this accurate information?
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