Chapter 90: Birth Mother and Old Friend
Rui'er is the nickname of Song Zhao's biological mother.
Only people who are extremely close to her would call her that.
Song Zhao hadn't heard the name that the empress dowager vaguely uttered for many years.
Song Zhao inherited almost 80% of her beauty from her biological mother, Bai.
Especially the eyebrows and eyes of the mother and daughter, which are almost carved from the same mold.
But compared to Bai's gentleness, Song Zhao was more bright and beautiful.
At that time, she looked at the Queen Mother politely and replied tentatively,
"My biological mother, Lady Bai's nickname is indeed Rui'er. Does the Queen Mother know Lady Bai?"
The Queen Mother paused for a moment, her eyes filled with even more joy.
She held Song Zhao's hand, exempted her from the ceremony, and said in an excited tone:
"You are actually Rui'er's daughter..."
Before he could utter a word, his eyes started to turn red.
The Queen Mother was always dignified and self-possessed, and rarely lost her composure.
Therefore, her current behavior not only dumbfounded the concubines, but even Xiao Jingheng was confused.
He asked, "Are the Queen Mother and Concubine Song's aunt old acquaintances?"
The Queen Mother took a deep breath, tried her best to calm her excited emotions, and nodded slowly.
"My mother's family lived in Hangzhou, in the Jiangsu and Zhejiang area, and they were engaged in the silk business. At that time, the Bai family and my mother's family were separated by only a wall, and they happened to be engaged in the embroidery business, so the two families had frequent exchanges."
As she spoke, she tightly grasped Song Zhao's hand, "I and your mother have known each other since childhood. We are both the only daughters in our families. Our brothers always have fun for boys and are unwilling to take us with them, so we find our own fun.
When I was young, I often lived in the same room with your mother, sharing a cup of tea and lunch, and at night I would always climb up to the roof to look at the stars for fun."
When the Queen Mother said this, there was a slight smile on her lips, and a gleam of light flowed in her empty eyes.
It can be seen that this childhood memory is infinitely beautiful to the Queen Mother.
People have been trapped in the deep palace for decades, living the same life day after day, and have to observe etiquette and rules. Naturally, the older they get, the more they yearn for the unattainable freedom.
She continued, "Later, I was ordered to enter the palace, and since then I have lost contact with Rui'er. I also sent many letters to the Bai family's old address, but there was no response."
Song Zhao explained: "I heard from my aunt that after my uncle died, the Bai family had internal strife, and my uncle drove my aunt out of the mansion, and the family no longer did the embroidery business. After my aunt left the mansion, she traveled to many places and came to Kyoto, where she opened a small embroidery workshop and still made a living by embroidery."
The Queen Mother suddenly remembered something after hearing this, "You are the daughter of the Duke of Protectorate, so Rui'er married the Duke of Protectorate?"
Song Zhao nodded in agreement, and the Queen Mother said, "I didn't expect that we would be in the same capital for so many years, and we would miss each other again. The legitimate wife of the Duke of the Guardian has come to the palace to pay her respects to me several times. If I had known earlier that Rui'er was married to the Duke of the Guardian, we would have met each other over the years."
She smiled and looked at Song Zhao, and asked gently, "Is your mother okay now?"
Hearing this, Song Zhao's originally agreeing smile faded.
She lowered her long eyelashes, shook her head with a hint of sadness, and said in a very weak voice:
"Your Majesty, my aunt passed away ten years ago..."
"This..." The Queen Mother felt a lump in her throat and pursed her thin lips sadly, wanting to say something but stopping herself.
After a long pause, she held Song Zhao's hand tighter again.
"When I was ill, I often missed the late emperor and recalled the friendship with your mother when I was young. Rui'er and I have been close friends for more than ten years. How could I not miss her? I thought we would meet again while we were still alive, but unexpectedly..."
The Queen Mother's voice gradually choked up, and Song Zhao hurriedly tried to comfort her.
"The deceased is gone. If my aunt were still alive, she would definitely not want to see the Queen Mother cry for her."
The Queen Mother let out a long sigh and raised her hand to push the loose hair behind Song Zhao's ears.
"Luckily, Rui'er has a good daughter like you. You are just like your mother, graceful and elegant. No wonder the emperor likes you."
Xiao Jingheng originally thought that the Queen Mother would be in a difficult situation when she first met Song Zhao.
But I didn't expect that there was such a connection between the two of them?
The Queen Mother really liked Song Zhao. She had been holding her hand since she saw her.
Xiao Jingheng also took the opportunity to say a few good things about Song Zhao to the Queen Mother.
"Mrs. Song is gentle, considerate, and sensible. She is a very good person."
The Queen Mother smiled and said, "She is just like her mother, with a gentle temperament. I feel relieved to have her taking care of the Emperor."
The Queen Mother was relieved, and Xiao Jingheng was also happy to see this.
But how could the other concubines not be jealous?
Even though she was as noble as the Queen, she had never been so close to the Empress Dowager.
Everyone was silent and didn't dare to show their displeasure.
The wind just started to blow, and the Queen took two steps forward and said with a smile:
"I didn't expect that there is such a fate between my mother and Concubine Song. Concubine Song, you must take good care of the Queen Mother when you go to the Hot Spring Villa."
Song Zhao bowed and said yes. The Queen said, "It's windy. Your mother is not feeling well and you dare not stand in the wind. Why don't you get in the carriage first?"
The Queen Mother looked back at the Queen, nodded with a smile and said, "Then I'll have to trouble the Queen to take good care of the affairs of the harem."
Then he said to Song Zhao, "Girl, you don't mind riding in the same carriage with me, right?"
The Queen Mother called Song Zhao "girl" instead of "changzai", which shows that she really liked Song Zhao.
The other concubines were all jealous at this moment, but Song Zhao didn't care what others thought of her.
If she could get the Queen Mother's attention and gain her protection, then this guarantee would be much more reliable than Xiao Jingheng's verbal promise to "protect her".
So she immediately said, "It is my blessing to serve the Queen Mother. Why would I mind it?"
While helping the Queen Mother get into the sedan chair, Song Zhao asked with concern, "It's cold, Queen Mother, can you warm up the hot water bottle?"
She winked at Yunshan, and when she reached out to take the hot water bottle handed to her by Yunshan, she knocked it over without leaving a trace.
Although the water rolling over her body was warm, it would still emit steam like scalding water in winter.
Song Zhao was frightened for a moment, and hurriedly bowed and said, "My concubine is rude..."
Yunshan also knelt on the ground, kowtowed and confessed: "I am a clumsy servant, and I offended the Queen Mother and the young lady. I beg for forgiveness from the Queen Mother and the young lady..."
When the hot water bottle was knocked over, the Queen Mother saw it all.
In order to prevent the boiling water from splashing on her, Song Zhao turned sideways to block all the splashes.
This made the Queen Mother feel even more favorable towards the daughter of this old friend.
Everyone in the palace knows that the Queen Mother attaches great importance to rules.
But this time, instead of being angry with Song Zhao, he carefully asked her if she was hurt.
Xiao Jingheng also stepped forward to show concern for Song Zhao, "Are you burned?"
Song Zhao shook his head with a guilty look on his face, and Xiao Jingheng said, "Your clothes are all wet. The Xuanli Hall is right next to you. Go change your clothes and don't catch a cold."
The Queen Mother also glanced at Yunshan, who was kneeling on the ground and trembling, and said with special kindness:
"Don't kneel anymore, follow me and serve your young master."
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