Chapter 89: First Meeting with the Queen Mother
Song Zhao had already thought of Xiao Fuzi and Yunshan's analysis.
But the difficulty lies in the fact that even if she can foresee the situation, she cannot easily avoid this disaster.
She only had one court dress, and she had to wear it when she met the Queen Mother today. Otherwise, if everyone else wore it but she didn't, it would be a great disrespect to the Queen Mother.
But if she really wore this court dress, when she got off the carriage at the hot spring villa, she would appear in a bright yellow dress, wouldn't that be like having one foot in the grave?
We have to go to Ninghua Gate to meet up with the team at noon, and there is less than half an hour left. It will be even more troublesome if we are late.
In a hurry, Xiao Fuzi helped Song Zhao come up with a solution.
"Why don't you just wear this wet court dress? Anyway, as long as it's wet it will still be dark brown and you won't be able to tell anything. Then you can bring another piece of clothing with you. We'll be traveling alone in the carriage, so you can just change your clothes in the carriage, right?"
Yunshan also responded, "Then I will go find a piece of clothing for you that is easy to change into."
"No need." Song Zhao stopped her and said solemnly, "It's against the rules for me to go to the hot spring villa. The Queen Mother will definitely think that I am a seducer. If I have to change clothes while sitting in the carriage, won't the Queen Mother dislike me even more?"
"What should we do? I don't know which evil-hearted person wants to scheme against my young master like this!"
Song Zhao was too lazy to guess who was plotting against her.
Anyway, in this harem, either you harm me or I harm you, and there are few places where you can be worry-free.
After a brief silence, Song Zhao's expression suddenly became calm.
She took up the court dress calmly and said, "Xiao Fuzi is right. I do need to change my clothes, but I won't do it on my own initiative."
She asked Yunshan to help her change into court clothes, and asked Xiaofuzi to prepare a hot water bottle.
After changing his clothes, Song Zhao wet the dried corner of his clothes again, and saw that it immediately turned from bright yellow back to dark brown.
At the same time, Xiao Fuzi also warmed up the hot water bottle.
Yunshan was eager to take the hot water bottle from Xiao Fuzi, but Xiao Fuzi dodged.
Unfortunately, the movement was a bit too big, and the water in the hot water bottle spilled out.
Yunshan blamed him a little, "The threads are not tight, you let me hold it like this, what if I burn you?"
She grabbed the hot water bottle and tried to tighten the copper lid, but found that the water that had just spilled out was not hot, but warm.
She looked even more helpless now. "Why are you so impatient? The water in this hot water bottle is warm. How do you want the young lady to keep warm?"
"Give it to me." Song Zhao smiled, took the hot water bottle and held it in his hand, then nodded to Xiao Fuzi, "Well done."
Xiao Fuzi scratched the back of his head a little embarrassedly, "My young master is smart. He can come up with a great idea in such a short time."
Yunshan saw the master and servant were talking in riddles to each other, and it took him a long time to come to his senses.
She slapped her forehead hard and said in frustration:
"I am a fool! The young lady first greeted the empress dowager in her court dress, and then accidentally spilled the water in the hot water bottle before getting on the carriage. It was freezing cold in winter, and the emperor would definitely feel sorry for the young lady's wet clothes, and would take the initiative to let the young lady change clothes! In this way, even if the empress dowager saw it, she wouldn't say anything."
Song Zhao smiled but did not answer. He stood up, took Yunshan's hand and said, "Let's go. Don't waste time."
We hurried all the way and finally arrived at Ninghua Gate in time.
Although there were only four people, Song Zhao, Chen Fei, Shu Fei and Xiao Guiren, accompanying them today, all the concubines were present because they were going to see Xiao Jingheng and the empress dowager off from the palace.
Among the crowd, the pregnant Concubine Xiao became the focus of the whole crowd.
Everyone surrounded her and asked her questions insincerely. No one noticed Song Zhao, so she stood aside and waited quietly.
Another person who doesn't like to join in the fun is Concubine Chen.
She rolled her eyes at the crowd and walked away.
When he passed by Song Zhao, he whispered, "How many of those people who are surrounding Concubine Xiao and asking about her well-being are harboring evil intentions and want to kill the heir in her belly?"
Only the Concubine Chen would dare to say such words.
Of course Song Zhao didn't dare to answer, he just lowered his head and listened silently.
Later, Xiao Jingheng also came.
The concubines all greeted him, and the queen led everyone in saying some auspicious words of farewell. After Xiao Jingheng called out Ping, she took two steps forward and handed Xiao Jingheng the amulet she had drawn herself.
"Your Majesty is going to the hot spring villa. I can't take care of you by your side. I hope everything is well with you."
"You are so thoughtful." Xiao Jingheng accepted the amulet and held the queen's hand tightly. "Heart disease is easy to occur in winter. It snowed the other day, and you went to Yuntai to pray for me. I will keep your kindness well."
The queen smiled shyly, but did not take all the credit. Instead, she glanced at Song Zhao with a smile.
"It's not just my intention. I put this amulet there for worship, and Concubine Song took it back personally."
"Oh?" Xiao Jingheng looked back at Song Zhao, his eyes full of tenderness, "Why didn't I hear you mention this yesterday?"
Song Zhao hurriedly said, "It is my blessing to be able to pray for the Emperor and the Empress and bring them good fortune."
Xiao Jingheng smiled and said, "I understand what you are thinking, but this is really hard. It is even harder to move on the Cloud Terrace after the snow. I will take risks for these things in the future."
Xiao Jingheng's two words of concern instantly attracted the attention of all the concubines.
Isn't it obvious that the Queen said all this in front of everyone in order to make Song Zhao "ostentatious" and arouse jealousy?
Fortunately, the Queen Mother arrived in time, and the Queen wanted to lead everyone to pay respects to the Queen Mother, so she didn't say anything else.
This was the first time Song Zhao met the Queen Mother.
As she knelt down, bowed her head and lowered her eyes, he secretly glanced at her out of the corner of his eye.
Although the empress dowager was over forty years old, she was well maintained and looked very energetic, without showing any signs of old age.
She was wearing a fox fur coat with five bat wings, and she was wearing nothing but gold and silver.
But elegance comes from the bones, and one's temperament is naturally extraordinary.
The new concubines who entered the palace had never met the Queen Mother.
The Queen introduced to the Queen Mother with a smile: "Queen Mother, this is Concubine Xiao."
Concubine Xiao was called forward and knelt before the Empress Dowager.
The Queen Mother looked at her for a moment, then smiled and said, "You are pregnant, so there is no need to be polite."
The queen then looked at Concubine Liu who was standing next to Concubine Xiao and said, "This is Concubine Liu."
Liu Changzai was also very polite, but the empress dowager only glanced at her, said "hmm" indifferently, and did not comment too much.
When the Queen mentioned Song Zhao to the Queen Mother,
Song Zhao immediately stepped forward, bowed and saluted, and said respectfully:
"I greet the Queen Mother. May the Queen Mother live a thousand years of happiness and good health."
Although the Queen Mother never left the palace, she knew that Song Zhao was Xiao Jingheng's new favorite.
It was against the rules for Song Zhao to go with them to the hot spring villa, and the empress dowager attached great importance to rules, so when she first looked at Song Zhao, her eyes were filled with displeasure.
But the moment her eyes fell on Song Zhao's face,
Her mood suddenly changed.
The hostility in his eyes immediately dissipated, replaced by a starry look of surprise.
She stared at Song Zhao for a long while, then muttered in a trance,
"Rui'er?"
These two familiar words, carried by the cold wind, entered Song Zhao's ears and hit her heart heavily.
She suddenly raised her head and looked at the Queen Mother, her heart trembling uncontrollably...
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