The Empress publicly rejected the Emperor? The concubines were surprised, but it didn't seem like anything was strange about it.
The chubby orange said, "In that case, Your Majesty, please rest well. I will go somewhere else."
After saying that, he walked down and stood next to Zhen Huan, reaching out to pull her away from this sad place.
As Zhen Huan was being led out, she turned back for a couple of reluctant glances. The entire hall was filled with an awkward silence, as if water were about to freeze over.
Only Sun Miaoqing and Hongzhou were still leisurely eating and drinking. Sun Miaoqing didn't care at all, and Hongzhou simply didn't understand the affairs of adults.
After the emperor and empress left, the family banquet also ended.
Sun Miaoqing returned to Changchun Immortal Pavilion and waited until Hongzhou was fast asleep before taking a bath, changing clothes, and preparing to rest.
Linglan applied the nighttime perfume to Sun Miaoqing, saying, "The perfume sent by Consort Jing is truly a fine product. Your Majesty's skin is even more moisturized after using it."
"And the smell is indescribably pleasant. Falling asleep with this scent at night helps me sleep better."
Sun Miaoqing said, "That's because Lingrong is skilled. It would be such a waste not to turn such talent into silver. It's a terrible waste."
Liuli laughed, "Your Majesty, everything looks like silver now. You are the person who has the least shortage of money right now."
"You don't need it?"
Sun Miaoqing laughed and said, "This is nothing at all!"
“What I’m doing is just small-time stuff. Those salt merchants, Anhui merchants, Shanxi merchants, Wenzhou merchants, and the like are the ones who are really rich.”
"The storeroom in my house where I keep gold, silver and winter melons is probably bigger than this Changchun Immortal Hall."
(In ancient times, wealthy people melted down gold and silver into pieces the size of winter melons to prevent theft. Each piece weighed several hundred kilograms and was as tall as a person. Even if someone wanted to steal it, they couldn't move it.)
Liuli exclaimed in amazement, "That must be an enormous amount of gold and silver!"
Linglan said, "So Your Highness intends to make and sell all the cosmetics and honey that Consort Jing gave you?"
Sun Miaoqing nodded, "That is the plan. With my current resources, opening a cosmetics shop in the inner city is not a big deal."
"But if we're going to do it, we should do it big and go for the high-end market. Besides these few things, we need to prepare more items to sell."
"I'll go talk to Lingrong tomorrow. If we manage these things well, we'll be raising a flock of golden goose."
Linglan asked, "Then should we let Uncle arrange this?"
Sun Miaoqing thought for a moment, then shook her head and said, "No, my uncle has been working hard on the business of Honey Candy Shop, so he deserves his share. But money is a powerful motivator, and many people are envious of him."
"The Zhang and Sun families alone cannot possibly take such a large share of the benefits."
Liuli said, "But what about the Emperor? Would they dare to go against the Emperor?"
Sun Miaoqing said, "What's there to be afraid of? As long as the benefits are enough, there will always be people who can't resist."
"If explaining doesn't work, can't we resort to underhanded methods? Even the Emperor can't just kill everyone."
Liuli asked, "Then who is Your Highness looking for? Could it be Consort Hua, or some other official?"
Sun Miaoqing said, "Consort Hua won't do, and the Nian family can't accept this right now. As for who to find... my two nephews should be getting engaged soon. Ask my brother if they have any girls they like. If not, don't rush to find them any."
Linglan smiled and said, "Yes, Your Majesty. The two young masters look just like their mistress, and they are excellent in both character and talent. The master and mistress are also easy to get along with. I wonder which young lady will be so fortunate."
*
Sun Miaoqing, Linglan, and Liuli chatted enthusiastically, becoming more and more energetic as they talked, until they were so sleepy that they fell asleep late into the night.
Back at Bitong Academy, the chubby orange cat spent several trips to enjoy the scenery with Zhen Huan, which finally eased his depression.
Lying in bed, he even had the energy to say a few words to Zhen Huan.
"At the family dinner just now, Consort Qi and the others were all extremely jealous, but you didn't seem to care much?"
Zhen Huan had anticipated his question, and said with a hint of bitterness, "It's not that I don't care, it's just that I can't show it in front of the other sisters."
"Otherwise, when Si Lang left, he wouldn't have called me along, but instead went to Consort Hua's place."
Having received a satisfactory reply, Fatty Orange smiled, but considering Consort Hua's performance today, while she was beautiful, she had truly surprised him.
"Consort Hua was indeed unexpected tonight. I only knew her as a jealous person, but I never thought she could be so magnanimous."
Zhen Huan smiled and said, "Consort Hua has been favored by the Emperor for many years; there must be a reason for it."
"What happened today must be because after the new concubine entered the palace, the Empress thought that the Emperor had neglected the old concubines, so she brought out Chang'e."
"This beautiful young lady is more beautiful than flowers, and her pipa skills are extraordinary. I like her very much."
"Consort Hua has excellent taste; she truly put in a lot of thought..."
At this point, Zhen Huan rolled over and lay on the chest of the chubby orange, her hands tightly gripping his nightgown.
"The Emperor has a new concubine, but he must not forget his old flame, Huanhuan."
The chubby orange cat said, "What new or old? She's just a tea-serving maid. Nothing special, how can she be compared to you?"
"Don't overthink it. I only accepted it out of respect for Consort Hua, because I couldn't refuse."
"It's late, go to sleep."
Once the chubby orange cat was fast asleep, Zhen Huan turned around with a heavy heart and lay down to sleep with her back to him.
She's not blind, can't she tell whether he accepted it reluctantly or not?
He was clearly very happy, but he didn't say a single truthful word!
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