In the absence of Consort Hua, Shen Meizhuang and Sun Miaoqing were equally busy, one working late into the night and the other having no free time during the day, causing complaints throughout the harem.
For example, Consort Li was quite favored when she was in the Prince's residence, but since the new concubines entered the palace, she has never been summoned to see anyone.
Sun Miaoqing was someone she couldn't afford to offend, nor dared to, but Shen Meizhuang still dared to say a few sarcastic remarks. That day, after paying their respects to the Empress, the two happened to bump into each other in the Imperial Garden, and Consort Li could no longer suppress her jealousy.
When Shen Meizhuang saw that Consort Li was giving her a cold look, she could only bow respectfully to her out of respect for their rank, saying, "This concubine greets Consort Li."
Consort Li impatiently said, "No need for formalities," then turned to Consort Cao and said...
"With winter here, even the servants in the Imperial Garden have become lazy, and they haven't forgotten to trim the weeds in the roadside flowerbeds."
"Taking advantage of Consort Hua's illness, they dare to cheat and sly; they are truly despicable."
Consort Cao said, "Sister Lipin is worried about Consort Hua's health, so everything makes her feel upset."
Consort Cao was extremely embarrassed. She had been in the palace for several years, but she had only grown older and not more shrewd. It was one thing for her to be foolish, but why did she have to drag her into such an offensive situation!
Consort Shen is now the Emperor's new favorite, and she doesn't want to offend anyone for no reason.
Cao Guiren gave Shen Meizhuang an apologetic smile, and Shen Meizhuang naturally understood Cao Guiren's intentions. This veiled criticism was entirely Li Pin's doing and had nothing to do with her.
However, although Consort Cao tried to smooth things over, Consort Li was not buying it. Given Consort Hua's personality, if Consort Chen Meizhuang, who was so favored, hadn't fallen ill, she would definitely have tried every means to make things difficult for her.
In Consort Li's view, once Consort Hua recovers from her illness, she will definitely not let go of Consort Shen, that vixen who took advantage of her illness.
She and Consort Shen were in a difficult position not only to alleviate her own resentment, but also to understand Consort Hua's urgent needs and to show her loyalty to Consort Hua.
Consort Cao is so timid. She has given birth to a princess for the emperor, yet she is afraid of a consort who has just entered the palace.
No wonder he has an empress as his backer and is still a noble person, but he's useless!
Consort Li persisted, saying, "Empress Hua only caught a minor illness and was resting for a few days. These servants are so careless in their work. Once Your Highness has recovered, I will definitely speak to Your Highness and have you punish those unruly servants severely."
Both Caixing and Caiyue were indignant at such harsh words. Caiyue wanted to say something in her defense, but Shen Meizhuang stopped her.
Suppressing her anger, Shen Meizhuang said without changing her expression, "Consort Hua, who was in charge of managing the six palaces, suddenly fell ill. The Empress had no one to help her, so the servants below inevitably had some shortcomings, which offended Consort Li's eyes."
"It's just that the winter is cold and the servants are working hard. They probably didn't mean it. Please, Your Highness, be magnanimous and don't hold it against them."
Consort Li glared at Shen Meizhuang with an unfriendly expression. "I'm going to make a fuss about this. You're just a lowly noble lady. Do you think you can make decisions for me? I won't listen to you. What can you do about it?"
Shen Meizhuang almost had a heart attack from these words, but her foundation was unstable. Consort Li was easy to mess with, but Consort Hua behind her was difficult to deal with.
Even if one is extremely angry, if one's status is inferior, one can only suppress it for now; if one wants to vent one's anger, one can only...
"Your Majesty is right. I was just offering my advice when I encountered this situation. Ultimately, the decision is yours to make."
Seeing the scene was truly unsightly, Consort Cao advised Consort Li to leave. There were so many people around; if word got out, people might think it was Consort Cao and Consort Li who were jealous of the new favorite's favor and were bullying her!
“Sister Lipin, didn’t we agree to visit Consort Hua? It’s getting late. The grass in the flower bed has grown out; just have the servants pull it out. Why bother with this?”
As she spoke, she pulled Consort Li, wanting to leave. Consort Li saw that Shen Meizhuang was only giving in, and while she was pleased, she also felt that no matter how favored she was, she was still just a lump of dough, not interesting to mold.
The Emperor's favor these past few days is merely a novelty; once that novelty wears off, she'll be nothing more than a lowly Consort Jing, with little presence and no ability to cause any trouble.
Consort Li said, "You're right. Paying our respects to Consort Hua is more important than wasting time here."
After speaking, Consort Li and Noble Lady Cao went directly to Yikun Palace. After they left, Shen Meizhuang's face was extremely ugly.
Caiyue said, "Your Highness, Consort Li's words are really unpleasant. It's a wonder she's a high-ranking official. I don't know what the Emperor sees in her."
Shen Meizhuang said, "The Emperor has taken a liking to Consort Li, so there must be good qualities in her. How can you or I speak of them so casually?"
"Just bear with it and it will pass. With her personality, even if Consort Hua supports her, her fate won't be any better."
Caixing said, "This servant feels sorry for you, Your Highness. You have always treated me with courtesy since you entered the palace, but they have become even more unreasonable. This servant is worried that next time, they might come up with some bad ideas."
Shen Meizhuang knew that this was not uncertain, but certain.
Consort Hua currently has no time to deal with her, but as long as the Emperor's favor towards her remains, once Consort Hua recovers, she will definitely see her as a thorn in his side. Unfortunately, until Consort Hua makes her move, she simply cannot think of a way to counter her.
Shen Meizhuang sighed. It was still because of her low rank. If she were a concubine, she wouldn't have to walk on thin ice with every step she took.
Huan'er was clever enough to see the big picture from small details and understand the difficulties and dangers in the palace. So she avoided their sharp edge from the beginning, in order to plan for the future.
Shen Meizhuang said, "Let's talk about the future later. Consort Hua might not do anything to me anyway. At least, Consort Cheng is so favored, and Consort Hua is on good terms with her, isn't she?"
Cai Xing and Cai Yue both nodded hesitantly. Consort Cheng was truly an exception. They didn't know what kind of magic she possessed, but everyone in the palace treated her with kindness and gentleness.
If the young ladies had the same abilities as Consort Cheng, why would they need to worry about this?
*
Sun Miaoqing was unaware of the little incident in the Imperial Garden; she was busy, battling wits with the needle and thread in front of her.
This isn't ten characters, it's not one hundred characters, it's 5130 characters!
That's a whopping 5130 words!
Besides paying her respects and spending time with her beloved dog, she had to spend an extra five hours each day embroidering. During this period, she got up earlier than the chickens and went to bed later than the dogs, which took a heavy toll on her both physically and mentally!
You big fat orange, you just wait! I swear I won't rest until I get my revenge!
With exactly ten days left until the Emperor's birthday celebration, her embroidery skills have improved at a visible rate thanks to her tireless work day and night.
The remaining thousand words should be manageable if we hurry up.
Liuli came in and reported, "My lady, Consort An has arrived."
Sun Miaoqing said happily, "Quickly, let her in."
After An Lingrong entered, Sun Miaoqing stood up to greet her and said warmly, "I was just about to have someone invite you over, and here you are. This is what you call being of one mind."
An Lingrong smiled shyly, "I thought you were working too hard on this Diamond Sutra all by yourself, so I came to help out."
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