Chapter 82: Attendant in the Palace
"Long live the emperor."
Song Zhao saluted Xiao Jingheng and asked with some doubt:
"It's a cold snowy night. Today is the fifteenth day of the lunar month. The Emperor should be in the Empress's palace. How could this be..."
It seemed that Xiao Jingheng didn't listen to what she was saying at all.
He just looked at the delicate beauty kneeling and shivering in the snow, and felt extremely reluctant to let her go.
He bent down, gently put his arm around Song Zhao's waist, and tried to help her up from the snow.
Song Zhao subconsciously wanted to refuse, but unexpectedly Xiao Jingheng's hand became even stronger, and he lifted her up and held her in his arms.
"Praying for blessings sincerely will be answered. If the gods and Buddhas in the sky want to see you frozen to death before they bless me, then there is no need for everyone in the world to chant the verse 'Buddha has mercy on me.'"
Song Zhao knelt in the snow for a long time, and his body was covered with fluffy snow stains.
Especially the pair of white and tender hands. When bowing, she needed to support herself on the ground with both hands, and her whole hands were immersed in the snow, which were now red from the cold.
Xiao Jingheng saw this and frowned, visibly distressed.
He personally helped Song Zhao brush off the snow stains on her body, and then held her cold little hands in his palms, rubbing them gently.
"Your hands are so cold, do you really want me to feel sorry for you?"
His movements were very gentle, but it still made Song Zhao hiss in pain and he unconsciously wanted to pull his hand back.
After noticing something was wrong, Xiao Jingheng took her hand and looked at it carefully, only to see that her hand was not only red from the cold, but the fingertips were already slightly purple, perhaps because they had been buried in the snow for too long.
He hurriedly said, "I'm afraid you're going to get frostbite. Come back to the palace with me and I'll help you apply medicine."
He didn't dare hold Song Zhao's hand anymore, for fear of hurting her, so he moved his palm up and grasped the girl's slender wrist.
Song Zhao did not dare to disobey and had to let him lead him forward.
Jiang Deshun hurried to Xiao Jingheng's side and asked in a very weak voice,
"Your Majesty, but Concubine Chen's place..."
"Foolish thing. Just say that when her palace people came to report, I had already gone to bed with the Queen.
"Xiao Jingheng interrupted Jiang Deshun's words with a cold voice. After a moment of silence, he gave another instruction, "Send her a cup of imperial soothing tea when you go. This is the best tea for treating nightmares."
After hearing this, Song Zhao asked, "But is the Empress Chen not feeling well?"
"She was scared by the snake encounter. She has been having nightmares lately. It's not a big deal."
Xiao Jingheng replied perfunctorily and took Song Zhao into the sedan chair.
On the way back to Chaoyang Palace, Song Zhao urged Xiao Jingheng to go see Concubine Chen.
But Xiao Jingheng had just seen her praying for him in the snow without caring about her own safety, and he was so moved that he had no time to care about others.
Besides, he could still tell whether the Concubine Chen was really unwell or was deliberately being petty.
Judging from Xiao Jingheng's attitude, he was determined to keep Song Zhao by his side tonight.
As such, Song Zhao stopped saying anything to spoil the mood and snuggled in Xiao Jingheng's arms like a cat, letting the sedan chair go all the way to Chaoyang Palace.
Today is the fifteenth, and on the fifteenth of every month, Xiao Jingheng would stay in the Queen's palace.
With the quarrel between Concubine Chen and the Queen, Song Zhao expected that she would play tricks on him, and tried every means to "invite" Xiao Jingheng out of the Queen's palace.
If Xiao Jingheng really abandoned the Queen and left, he would have to pass through Meiyuan to go to the Yonghe Palace of the Concubine Chen.
That's why Song Zhao insisted on praying in the snow in Meiyuan tonight.
Song Zhao clearly wanted to cut off the favor of Concubine Chen.
But she is not the former Concubine Xiao, who was so open and aboveboard in snatching favors from others, which made her seem extremely brainless.
Tonight, Xiao Jingheng decided to leave the Queen's Palace and go to the Concubine Chen's Palace to take a look.
When passing by Meiyuan, he himself saw Song Zhao kneeling in the snow, so he stopped the sedan chair and went forward to check what was going on.
He 'happened' to hear Song Zhao's prayer, and saw her body covered in snow and her red, frozen hands.
She felt pity for him and was determined to bring Song Zhao back to the palace.
No matter how you look at it, it doesn't seem like Song Zhao is deliberately vying for favor, but rather that Xiao Jingheng unilaterally cannot control himself from her.
Of course, Song Zhao made this move to leave himself a way out.
When the sedan chair stopped outside Chaoyang Palace, she said to Xiao Jingheng with concern:
"Your Majesty, I am very frightened. You were supposed to stay at the Empress's palace tonight, but the Empress Chen was unwell and you met me on your way to visit her. Now you let me stay in Chaoyang Palace, and I will neither go back to the Empress nor visit the Empress Chen. The fifteenth day is the full moon day, and I am of low status, how can I monopolize your favor?"
Xiao Jingheng has always known Song Zhao.
This delicate beauty never liked the harem disputes, and she never fought for anything.
Even if I was favored by him, I was always very nervous.
But the more she was like this, the more Xiao Jingheng loved her from the bottom of his heart.
He took Song Zhao's hand and looked at her with warm and firm eyes.
"I am with my beloved woman, and others dare not comment on me. If you are afraid that my favor will cause you to provoke others' gossip, when you sleep with me tonight, do not ask the Jingshifang to record it."
As he spoke, he stroked her hair and asked with a smile, "Why? You don't want to accompany me?"
Song Zhao lowered her eyes shyly, and her weak and soft voice hit Xiao Jingheng's heart like a hook.
"I am willing..."
Since there was no record of today in the Jingshifang, no one knew that Song Zhao had slept with the emperor tonight.
In order to protect her, Xiao Jingheng would definitely keep it a secret from both the Queen and the Concubine Chen.
The Queen would think that Xiao Jingheng left her to find Concubine Chen.
And the Concubine Chen would think that Xiao Jingheng didn't care about the Queen's illness in order to accompany her.
In this case, won’t they hate each other even more?
Song Zhaocai ignored all this.
Anyway, the more they quarrel, the more Jamel Xiao will distance himself from them.
After all, how can a jealous woman be more lovable than a woman who is willing to sacrifice her own life to pray for him?
That night, Song Zhao stayed in Chaoyang Palace as expected.
She almost didn't sleep all night. At four o'clock the next morning, Xiao Jingheng got up very quietly, for fear of disturbing her.
She didn't open her eyes and continued to pretend to sleep.
After all, she had sex with Jamel Xiao three times last night, and she felt sore and tired, so she wanted to lie down for a while.
Moreover, as a woman, you should know how to show weakness in front of men.
The more she sleeps today, the more Jamel Xiao feels that he was very brave last night.
Although Xiao Jingheng was indeed very capable in that matter.
Song Zhao closed his eyes and listened to the noise in the room.
When Jiang Deshun was helping Xiao Jingheng wash and change clothes, he heard Xiao Jingheng tell him,
"This winter is cold. I am thinking of taking my mother to the hot spring villa for a short stay in a few days. Please ask the queen to arrange for the concubines to accompany us."
Jiang Deshun responded in a stammering voice, and then heard Xiao Jingheng add,
"Tell the Queen to let Song Changzai go with them."
(Ps: One update today, three updates tomorrow.)
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