Chapter 19 Chapter 19 Palace Maid on the Nineteenth Day
Concubine Xian and Concubine De ended their open and veiled greetings, and then Concubine Gao arrived late.
Mei Cairen, who was sitting below Lady Gao, asked, "Sister Gao, why are you so late?"
Concubine Gao gave her a cold look. It was not that she was targeting Concubine Mei, but she looked at everyone like that, no matter their status. It was probably only in front of the Emperor that the coldness in her eyes would melt away.
"Your Majesty invited the imperial physician for me, and then returned to Mingyue Pavilion to change clothes, which delayed me."
Mei Cairen was full of bookish air, her brows were relaxed, and she looked very kind. Upon hearing this, she flattered him, "The emperor really cares about my sister."
Lady Gao nodded.
The conversation between the two did not escape the ears of the concubines in the room. Noble Lady Wei was still looking at Concubine Xian, and the smile on Yan Xiuyi's face deepened. Concubine Xian and Concubine De remained unchanged. Instead, Noble Lady Hui said casually, "The wind in the lake pavilion is cool. Lady Gao has been here for so long. Why not drink some hot tea to warm herself up?"
Lady Gao suddenly looked at Concubine Hui and said, "Thank you for your concern, Concubine Hui."
She rushed from the lake pavilion to the Mingyue Pavilion, and then from the Mingyue Pavilion to the Qianqing Palace for the banquet. How could she be cold? It was nothing more than Concubine Hui mocking her.
The palace maid served Gao Meiren a cup of hot tea. The hot steam rose up and blurred one of her earrings, but from beginning to end, she neither looked at nor touched the tea, pretending it did not exist.
Concubine Hui was contented, as if she didn't notice Concubine Gao's bad temper, and she even tasted the sweet soup.
There was a moment of joy in the hall until the loud voice of the emperor arrived. Then the concubines stopped talking and stood up to welcome the emperor.
Ji Chen walked from the side of the hall to the main seat, and everyone in the hall shouted: "Your Highness, I pay my respects to you. May your Highness be well and safe."
As soon as the voice fell, Ji Chen raised his eyes and glanced at everyone in the hall: "Everyone, please sit down."
Everyone then returned to their previous state, but because the emperor was present, they became much more reserved. They kept looking upwards, hoping that the emperor would notice them.
Next, the Emperor spoke, followed by Concubine De and Concubine Xian. When the sound of stringed instruments began, the banquet began.
Shen Qingqing followed beside Concubine Xian, and together with other palace maids, paid attention to Concubine Xian's needs, handed her water and handkerchiefs, and there was nothing else to do. It was relaxing, and she could even look up and enjoy the palace performances.
Du Baolin's dance performance was obviously not at the beginning. When the audience heated up, she appeared on the stage in a red dress and a thin veil, accompanied by the sound of bells.
She was wearing red embroidered shoes and white silk socks, with a crisp bell tied around one ankle. She spread her arms like a bird, and standing on one foot, she did several neat spins, showing her skills.
The eyes in the hall slowly fell on her, and the concubines who were originally eating put down their chopsticks.
Shen Qingqing looked at Du Baolin. The result of Du Baolin's preparations for several months must be good. In addition, she was talented and a master choreographer, so she brought it into the palace as a trump card. Although she was not as skilled as the court dancers, she was more creative and eye-catching.
While dancing, Du Baolin revealed her graceful, slender white neck, as if a crane was dancing. Everyone then suddenly realized what was going on and looked at the emperor.
Sure enough, the emperor's eyes also fell on the dancer.
Concubine Yu said, "Isn't this Du Baolin? I didn't know that Du Baolin was good at dancing. I thought Du Baolin looked down on these skills. How come he is dancing today? It's really strange."
Her voice was not loud, just loud enough for everyone to hear.
Mei Cairen suddenly thought of something and said in annoyance, "Last year, when Du Baolin was still a junior, he accidentally destroyed Sister Yu's pipa and said a lot of unpleasant things to humiliate Sister Yu, as if being able to play the pipa was a low status."
Ji Chen's sight fell on Concubine Yu. When Concubine Yu heard Concubine Mei reminiscing about the past, she couldn't help but redden her eyes and looked towards the Emperor.
She blinked, trying hard not to let the tears fall.
[How did Concubine Yu and Concubine Mei get together? Their relationship with Concubine Gao is not bad.]
Shen Qingqing thought that it was probably Du Baolin's power. Du Baolin had offended these three before. Ever since he was humiliated by Concubine Gao last time he went out, Du Baolin has never left the Siguozhai since then. Concubine Yu and Concubine Mei wanted to make trouble for Du Baolin, but they would never come to his house to humiliate him.
Otherwise, if the news reached the emperor's ears, they would be in an inferior position, as if they were no longer innocent, even though it was clearly Du Baolin who had offended them deeply.
Now Concubine Yu's behavior also confirmed that she always remembered what Du Baolin did to her.
Ji Chen immediately sent a plate of imperial meal to Concubine Yu to comfort her a little, which was his response to this matter.
Concubine Yu received the imperial meal, tasted a bite, smiled at the emperor from afar, and her eyes seemed to brighten.
Mei Cairen controlled her expression and continued to focus her gaze on the dancing Du Baolin.
At this time, Du Baolin's dance was coming to an end. She performed a difficult move again to show her slender waist, then stopped, walked towards the emperor, took off a corner of her veil, revealed her face, and bowed: "Your concubine greets the emperor, may the emperor be well."
Du Baolin looked straight at the emperor, his eyes were as clear as autumn water, a smile on his lips, and a sense of complacency on his little face.
[The Emperor actually wants to hand Madam Du a cloak. Does he like it so much? ]
[Do you love her so much that you can overlook her mistakes? ]
Shen Qingqing raised her eyes and saw that the emperor's hand was indeed on the cloak, but the cloak was embroidered by an embroiderer in batches of time. The material was also good and looked quite heavy. Similarly, it was also very heavy for the weather in July.
Moreover, Du Baolin had just finished dancing and sweat was pouring down. Although not so much that her makeup was blurred, it was definitely very hot.
At this time, adding a cloak is really unthinkable.
But as an emperor, there is no need to be so mischievous. Maybe he is really worried that Du Baolin will catch a cold after dancing. Does this mean that the emperor still values Du Baolin?
As she thought about it, Shen Qingqing secretly proved to herself that even so, she did not regret leaving Du Baolin. Du Baolin had a special hobby, but she did not like pain. Normal people naturally could not stand Du Baolin, and leaving was a matter of time.
I just don't know what it's like between Du Baolin and the emperor in bed. Du Baolin should be restrained.
Shen Qingqing had completely forgotten that she was not old enough to think about these things. When she came back to her senses, the atmosphere in the hall had already reached freezing point, a level that even the melodious music could not save.
Sure enough, the emperor did not ignore Du Baolin. Instead, he walked down from the main seat, holding a cloak in one hand, put it on Du Baolin who was still in a greeting posture, and tied a knot for her.
Du Baolin became excited.
Concubine Yu covered her face in embarrassment, but the tear finally fell and was wiped away with her fingertips. After a few breaths, her demeanor returned to normal.
Defei frowned and glanced at Concubine Gao, thinking that she was a waste who couldn't even handle such a small matter.
Gao Meiren was a bit confused. She had clearly had someone destroy Du Baolin's dance costume, so how could this happen? She asked Du Baolin to finish the dance in peace.
After seeing all kinds of people, Concubine Xian's mouth curved into a gentle arc as usual, except that her eyes gradually became dim.
【emperor……】
The virtuous concubine loves the emperor.
Shen Qingqing concluded that because none of this had anything to do with her, she could analyze it all more rationally.
But this is also very reasonable. Concubine Xian married into the Prince's Mansion at a young age and became one of the highest-ranking concubines in the harem in a very short time. Moreover, this most noble man in the world is about the same age as her and has an extremely superior appearance. He has the knowledge of a scholar and the martial arts of a warrior. He has a calm and composed temperament, a tall and handsome figure, and better skills in bed...
Even if he is not often favored, he will still make the virtuous concubine miss him all the time.
Looking at Yan Xiuyi again, she lowered her eyes and didn't look, as if she didn't care at all who the emperor favored.
After putting on his cloak, Ji Chen stood up and said, "No need to pay respect to me. Go back to the meditation hall and reflect on your mistakes."
Du Baolin's face turned pale. She looked up at the emperor, not knowing why. "Your Majesty?"
Ji Chen didn't say anything, just looked at her calmly, without showing any fondness at all. However, Du Baolin didn't look up and didn't notice it until now.
The concubines' emotions fluctuated again, and their eyes, waiting for the show, fell on Du Baolin.
Du Baolin bit her lip, knowing that if she couldn't win back the emperor's heart this time, there would never be another chance, so she threw herself at the emperor, delicately and tenderly put her arms around his arm, her snow-white forearm sticking out from Du Baolin's cloak.
She lowered her head and looked at her disheveled dance costume, only to realize that she had been tricked. So she hurriedly let go of her hand and clung to the cloak the emperor had given her.
She was tricked, but perhaps her dance costume broke at the wrong time. It did not break when she was dancing, but instead broke when she was bowing. The emperor discovered it and came down to wrap her in a cloak himself.
"Someone is plotting against me." Du Baolin immediately realized that this was a perfect opportunity to prevent the emperor from driving her away and to make the evildoer who plotted against her suffer the consequences, so she decisively shed tears, "I beg the emperor to make a decision for me. Someone destroyed my dance clothes and wanted me to embarrass myself in public. But I am the emperor's person. If I embarrass myself, wouldn't that be a slap in the emperor's face and show that he doesn't take me seriously?"
Tears of fear rolled down like beads that had fallen off a string. At the same time, Du Baolin spoke clearly and grasped the key points firmly.
The emperor heard this and asked her, "Do you want to check?"
Shen Qingqing felt strange. This voice was too rational, so rational that it seemed to be asking Du Baolin, "Do you want to die?" But it was still a little polite.
Du Baolin looked at the emperor and seemed to be inspired. She said loudly: "Cha, I want justice!"
As if he were a completely unyielding victim.
The emperor returned to the main seat and summoned a eunuch to give him instructions. Judging from his attire, he was a senior eunuch of the same rank as Qian Quanzhong, probably Wang Jigui. If Wang Jigui's back was not naturally bent, he would look more like a scholar in the guild hall than a eunuch.
Wang Jigui received the order and took the eunuch to investigate.
The musicians stopped what they were doing and retreated with their instruments. The concubines in the hall all sat quietly, with expressions of confusion or deep thought. Only Du Baolin was still standing there, with crystal tears hanging on his eyelashes, which was quite adorable.
But no one felt pity for her, including the emperor who might have once treated her like a pearl and jade.
The emperor looked like he was in a state of being able to take any wind or rain.
Shen Qingqing complained in her heart. According to the routine of palace fighting novels, if the emperor is sincere, he will definitely entrust it slowly and not give it to anyone except the heroine. Du Baolin is not like the heroine. What he has received may be the false affection and meager favor of the emperor.
Holding the emperor's little bit of affection for her, she entrusted her whole heart to him.
Concubine Yu was smart, but she also felt extremely honored to receive a dish of imperial dish bestowed by the emperor, and she received the emperor's mercy and comfort.
Let me ask, did Du Baolin really receive much true love from the emperor in the past?
However, Shen Qingqing also felt that there was only one emperor and so many concubines, and it was not necessary for the emperor to be sincere. If they did not love, they would be truly invincible. Concubines had money, free time, and people to serve them. If they worked hard, they could also have the emperor whore them, and they could even bicker with beautiful beauties on a daily basis...
Of course, this is Shen Qingqing's feeling as a palace maid. If she had started out as a concubine, she might have been accustomed to the daily life and felt that the palace walls trapped her. She would either be lonely until death or insist on having a true heart.
As the saying goes, one step back opens up a new world. As long as she thought about the fact that she was fortunately not a eunuch in the beginning, the identity of a palace maid would not be so difficult to accept.
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