Chapter 156: Meeting Again in the Imperial Garden
The Queen had such concerns mainly because since the incident with Concubine Li, Xuanyuan Ling was indeed not as perfunctory to the Queen as before. She came whenever she wanted and had never called for help before. The Queen knew in her heart that the Emperor did not like her. Later, after Concubine Yu had a miscarriage, the Emperor obviously guessed something and had long been resentful towards her and really did not want to touch her.
She felt sad and useless, but it was one thing for the emperor to rest in Qianyuan Palace, and it was another thing for him not to come for Shen Qing's birthday.
If the emperor really went to Shen Qing's place tonight...
Chen Qing has always been respectful to the Queen, and she seems to be harmless to the Queen for now. Even now that Shen Qing is obviously favored by the Emperor, the Queen feels that there will be new people entering the palace in the future, and if it's not Chen Qing, there will be someone else. Instead of having someone else, it's better to have Chen Qing, who is sensible.
But if the emperor doesn't give her face because of Shen Qing, then this sensible person can be discarded and replaced with another one.
Compared to the Queen's emotional ups and downs, Chen Qing was fine. Xuanyuan Ling would not come. If he came blatantly on a day like this, he would harm her. Wouldn't it be a waste of his protection for her all these days?
Chen Qing didn't care about this, but a group of eunuchs and palace maids in Zhaohua Palace didn't know that today was Chen Qing's birthday until Zhao Hai pointed it out. Since the emperor couldn't come, the master's birthday was also a big deal.
So everyone urged Shen Qing to have a good birthday. After all, things were different now. She was the head of a palace, so it was okay to have a lively birthday.
Naturally, Shen Qing didn't have many good friends in the palace, but the people in Zhaohua Palace got used to it the more they got along with each other, and Shen Qing allowed them to make a fuss.
So when Xuanyuan Ling didn't come, the people in Zhaohua Palace held Shen Qing's birthday on their own.
Some were setting up the decorations, some were preparing the food, and Wang Lu was the most capable. He even went to the imperial kitchen to make a bowl of longevity noodles for Shen Qing.
Shen Qing was a little surprised: "You still have this ability?"
Wang Lu was still a little nervous. He had seen Shen Qing love to eat good food in the past. To put it bluntly, he knew that Shen Qing was picky about food. However, he still did not regret making this bowl of noodles: "I just wanted to have a good intention, so I made a long and thin noodle, which is enough for the queen to eat for a day."
Shen Qing smiled: “You are thoughtful.”
After saying that, he picked up the noodle and asked him, "Can't you bite it off yet?"
Wang Lu nodded.
Shen Qing ate it. Wang Lu didn't cook much. It was just enough for her to eat for one day. There was only one noodle. She ate that noodle for one day and then drank the soup. It was made with fresh chicken soup. It was very good. Shen Qing even praised him: "Wang Lu didn't realize that his cooking skills are really good."
Chunhua teased Wang Lu: "I saw that he spent a long time making that one noodle. I wonder how many of them were broken to get such a complete noodle."
Wang Lu felt quite embarrassed to call Chunhua, but seeing that Shen Qing had even finished the soup, he was very happy.
The atmosphere on Chen Qing's side was good, with a group of people surrounding Chen Qing. The Queen finally waited for Xuanyuan Ling to ask Zhao Hai to pass on a message, saying that she had to deal with government affairs and would not come.
The Queen agreed, but her expression was so bad that she couldn't even remember how many times she had done that.
Jinzhi felt distressed when she saw the Queen's expression, but she couldn't comfort her because it was really hard to explain.
The Emperor had not come for quite some time. He might not come on the first and fifteenth days of the lunar month. Sometimes he would come for meals, but gradually he did not come for meals at all, let alone stay overnight. The Empress was actually looking forward to the Emperor's coming, but was also afraid that he would really come.
He hadn't come for so many days. If he happened to come today, the queen would have to wonder if the emperor was afraid that she would embarrass Shen Qing, so he came specially. But now the emperor is not coming, just like before, and she feels bad.
The queen's heart was twisted into a towel that had been squeezed dry.
In short, Shen Qing had a very comfortable night, but after the excitement faded, she lay in bed and couldn't sleep. Sometimes people's emotions are uncontrollable. When there are many people outside, she is happy. They are all around her to celebrate her birthday. How can she not be happy? But when she is alone, she can't suppress the loss in her heart.
Inevitably thinking of his parents, Shen Qing's heart, which had been strong for so long, suddenly felt empty. He wondered how they were doing...
Shen Qing really couldn't think any further, she buried her head in the blanket and curled up.
The next day when Chunhua went to see her, she found that Chen Qing's eyes were red and swollen, as if she had been crying. She was misled for a moment. Because the emperor did not come yesterday on the fifteenth day, Chunhua thought that Chen Qing and the emperor had a perfect relationship. However, Chunhua thought that Chen Qing did not care. It turned out that she cared so much that her eyes were swollen from crying.
There were even tear marks on the pillow. Chunhua felt bad seeing this, but she didn't know how to comfort her, for fear that saying anything would make Chen Qing even sadder.
My lady, you look like you can handle anything, but in reality, you are still just a 17-year-old girl.
I could only go get an ice handkerchief and ask Shen Qing to apply it to reduce the swelling.
As soon as Shen Qing went out in that state, everyone in Zhaohua Palace saw that they all thought the same as Chunhua.
Chen Qing was actually fine at the moment. Last night, she was moved by the scenery. Now, when she looked up at the sky, she could only see the high palace walls. Occasionally, two birds flew by, but nothing else.
As lively as Zhaohua Palace was yesterday, it is as quiet as it is today.
Chen Qing was quiet, while Concubine Li wanted to go out for a walk again. The two servants around her tried to persuade her, but Concubine Li was very angry when she saw Chen Qing and Xuanyuan Ling that day. She didn't think she was fat at first, but when she realized that she didn't even dare to appear in front of Xuanyuan Ling, she felt that her current situation was really not acceptable.
Still have to walk.
Concubine Li insisted, and the two servants had no choice but to serve her. However, Concubine Li was tired of their persuasion, so she went into the Imperial Garden, found a pavilion to sit down, and asked them to wait at a distance.
She was really feeling suffocated and angry. She didn't feel it before, but now that she was pregnant, the two palace maids sent by the queens kept asking her to stay in Luhua Palace and not come out. She didn't feel anything at first, but now her fetus seemed stable, so why couldn't she come out?
What a coincidence, Chen Mianmian also came to the Imperial Garden.
Chen Mianmian met Xuanyuan Ling last time, and she wanted to come out today to meet him by chance, but she didn't see Xuanyuan Ling, but saw Concubine Li.
She couldn't help but step forward and bow, then asked casually, "Why are you alone today, my beauty?"
Lady Li was angry and originally didn't want to pay attention to Chen Mianmian, but now that she was talking to her, she couldn't just turn her face away, right?
After all, she is from the Empress Dowager's palace.
"It's so suffocating in the house."
Chen Mianmian showed an understanding expression when she heard this: "Beauty should go out for a walk more often. The last time I saw you, I realized that you were pregnant and had taken supplements. Now it should be in time for you to walk more."
When she said this, Lady Li remembered the time when Chen Mianmian stared at her belly. She couldn't help but feel a sudden rush in her heart: "What do you mean?"
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