Chapter 26 Chapter 26 Palace Maid on the 26th
After the fifteenth day of the lunar month, the huge imperial palace returned to its former appearance.
After that day, Shen Qing received a box of gold ingots from Wang Ding on behalf of Wang Jigui. There were sixteen in total, arranged in four rows and four columns, with one ingot and one silk pit placed in the box. Each one was so round and cute, and felt heavy when picked up, giving off the luster of real gold, making the wooden box look like it was stained with noble golden light.
Shen Qing likes it so much that he has to touch them several times every night before he can fall asleep.
At the same time, his favorable impression of Wang Jigui increased a lot. No wonder he is a eunuch and is so generous.
After the new year, the first task facing the queen is the general election. But before the general election, the positions of the concubines in the palace have to be moved to some extent. If the newcomers suppress the positions of the old ones, the old ones in the palace will complain.
The Queen brought up this matter when Ji Chen came to Kunning Palace.
Ji Chen said: "The Queen can make the decision herself."
Even though Ji Chen said so, the Queen still asked after careful consideration: "What about Yan Xiuyi, Yu Guiren and Gao Meiren?"
Yan Xiuyi is the niece of the Empress Dowager, so she must take this opportunity to be promoted. No one can be missing but she can be promoted, but how to get promoted is a difficult problem.
Xiuyi is already of the second rank, and the next level up is the second rank concubine. But now, among the four first rank concubines of Guishu, Dexian, and Xian, only Defei is occupied. If no one is promoted, wouldn’t it seem incomplete?
Selfishly, the Queen hoped that someone could suppress Concubine De's arrogance.
As for Concubine Yu and Concubine Gao, as the emperor's well-known favorite concubines, it would be best to ask the emperor for his opinion.
If the emperor is not satisfied afterwards, adjusting her position will make her appear inconsiderate as the queen.
Ji Chen thought for a moment and said, "Yan Xiuyi was promoted to Consort Xian, Consort Yu and Consort Gao were promoted two levels each, and Consort Gao was given the title of Lan."
"The west side hall in Concubine Hui's palace is empty. Lan Jieyu will be moved here."
The queen nodded gently and respectfully.
While in my heart I was frantically doing reading comprehension.
[Now they change the name of Concubine Gao to Lan Jieyu, but the title of Concubine Hui remains unchanged. Does this mean that Concubine Hui will not change anything? ]
[Placing Lan Jieyu, a 4th rank official, in the Jingyang Palace of Concubine Hui, who is the main concubine of Concubine Hui, means that if Lan Jieyu wants to become the master of a palace, she has to move to another palace. But now the emperor has just moved her here, which means that Lan Jieyu is at most a 3rd rank concubine. ]
[Besides, the west side hall of Jingyang Palace is the Zhiyun Hall where Lady Du lived when she was still a concubine. Lady Lan has a grudge against Lady Du, so moving into Zhiyun Hall is not an intentional attempt to irritate her.]
[All these aspects show that the emperor is dissatisfied with Concubine Lan. So when did this dissatisfaction start? Did Concubine Lan punish Du to kneel on the palace road, or did she do something stupid? ]
Shen Qing came to serve tea. As soon as he entered, he heard the Queen's loud suspicion. Then, looking at the harmonious scene between the Emperor and the Queen, he could not imagine what kind of problem the Emperor had given the Queen again.
The emperor likes to keep 30% of what he says to himself, so that the people below him will do things according to his wishes and even do them to perfection.
The Queen liked to dig out the hidden meaning in the Emperor's words and ponder them constantly in order to be thoughtful.
Therefore, the interaction between the two is more like creating an atmosphere of a wise ruler and a virtuous queen.
Shen Qing served the two their favorite tea and then quietly left.
The emperor left soon, and the queen began to prepare to promote the concubines in the harem.
The low-ranking concubines in the palace who were not favored by the emperor, Mei Cairen, Ma Cairen, Zhou Baolin, and Fang Baolin, would all be promoted one level. Gao Meiren would be promoted to Lan Jieyu, Yu Guiren would be promoted to Yupin, Hui Guipin would remain unchanged, Yan Xiuyi would be promoted to Xianfei, and Defei would remain unchanged.
By this calculation, there are really very few concubines in the harem. I hope the quality of this year's selection of concubines will be better.
After finishing these things, the queen asked someone to call Shen Qing over.
Shen Qing came soon: "Empress."
The queen sat on the armchair, with Qingyu placing a cushion behind her. She asked Qingyu to close the door, took Shen Qing's hand, and placed it on her belly: "Shen Qing, I think I'm pregnant."
Shen Qing opened her mouth slightly, shocked by the news. It's good to be pregnant! But shouldn't the emperor be the one standing here in her place?
Isn’t the joy of being a new mother something that should be shared with the husband?
Although it was a little strange, Shen Qing was still very happy. It seemed that he could feel the existence of a little life from the queen's flat belly: "Really, queen! Are we going to have a little prince?"
Although it would be very noble whether the baby was a princess or a prince, if it was a prince, the queen's position would be secure, and she would not even have to suffer the pain of childbirth anymore.
The Queen's smile widened and she nodded, a soft light shining in her brown eyes.
"Qing Gu knows how to feel my pulse. My period has been late for more than ten days, so I expected something. So I asked Qing Gu to feel my pulse, and he found that it was a slippery pulse."
Shen Qing then remembered the question he had just asked: "Why didn't Your Majesty tell the Emperor about this happy event when he came just now?"
Queen: "I want to wait until the imperial physician checks my pulse before I reveal this matter. It's early in the month, and it would be bad if it's a mistake."
Shen Qing affirmed: "It must not be a mistake. Your Majesty can tell from the first glance that you are a blessed person. God is blessing you."
Pregnant women are sensitive, and the Queen is no exception. All Shen Qing can do is to make the Queen happy.
The queen pointed at Shen Qing's forehead with her green onion finger and said in a feigned anger, "You."
"But only Qingyu Qinggu, you and I know about this. Even the nanny sent by the Queen Mother doesn't know. Don't let it slip, otherwise Xuancao will come to me and cry."
Shen Qing: "Sister Xuancao loves the queen the most, she won't do that. I will keep my mouth shut."
The Queen thought of the upcoming beauty pageant: "Later, let Qingyu take you to the storehouse to pick out some fabrics, and send them to the clothing department to have the embroiderer make you a set of spring clothes. In the upcoming election, some trivial matters that are not important enough for me to deal with will be handled by Qingyu and you. By then, it will be good for you to gain some experience."
The Queen valued her, so Shen Qing would never refuse, so she simply agreed: "I understand, thank you, Queen!"
The imperial edict to confer titles on all the concubines was passed on to the palaces of all the concubines. Concubine De had no room for promotion for the time being, so after hearing the decree, she asked Shi Liu to send the people away.
Concubine Hui of Jingyang Palace heard the excitement elsewhere and felt a mess in her heart. Her head ached. She smiled bitterly and said, "There are so many people in the palace, but I am the only one left behind. Do I deserve to be looked down upon because I have no favor?"
At that moment, she no longer had the intention to celebrate Yan Xiuyi's promotion to Consort Xian.
Hui Guipin's personal maid Feicui said angrily: "What does the Queen mean by this? She doesn't take you seriously at all."
At this moment, Concubine Hui's dissatisfaction with the Queen reached its peak.
She closed her eyes, and when she opened them again, her eyes were cold and expressionless: "Find the letter from home for me again."
Feicui said worriedly, "Your Majesty, don't you want to get involved in the affairs of the concubines?"
Concubine Hui laughed sarcastically, "If I don't fight for it, I'm afraid no one in the palace will remember me. While I still have some connections, I will transfer someone to Jingyang Palace. When that person becomes favored in the future, the emperor will remember that there is still a queen in Jingyang Palace."
Feicui was still worried. Lan Jieyu was already in the west side hall. If she were to move someone to the side hall, it might cause resentment.
Forget it, Your Majesty is still angry, so I will just do as you say.
Because there are high-ranking concubines involved in this enthronement, it will not be a hasty matter, but a formal enthronement ceremony will be held headed by Concubine Xian, Yan Yinghua. Other concubines of lower rank will also benefit from Concubine Xian's fame and be grandly enthroned together with her.
After this incident, it was revealed that the queen was pregnant, and people in the palace were in unrest.
But the queen had been prepared and managed Kunning Palace as tightly as an iron barrel. The spices in the palace were no longer burned because of Shen Qing's suggestion, and everything she ate, used, and touched would be checked by someone in charge.
The maid appointed by the Empress Dowager was ordered around in circles and had to check Kunning Palace three times a day.
Inside Yongshou Palace.
Concubine De sighed at the pomegranate for the third time.
Shi Liu was naturally as anxious as Concubine De was. Concubine De didn't care who the emperor visited in the harem or who was favored again. She was only focused on mobilizing manpower to find out what was happening in Kunning Palace.
"Tell me, why is she so lucky?"
The emperor only gave Kunning Palace three or four more months of respect after his wedding, but in such a short time, the queen became pregnant.
The emperor's first son is born to the Empress, so he must be particularly pleasing to the emperor.
Shi Liu remained calm and gestured: "Madam, do you want to..."
Concubine De understood what Shi Liu had not said, but she said, "No need to worry. The Queen is worried about not having any evidence against me. If she overthrows me, she will have no worries for the next ten years. I will not do what she wants."
They all held power in the palace, and it was easy for them to use that power to place people in the palace. Just as Defei didn't know how powerful the Queen was, the Queen would probably toss and turn in bed late at night thinking about who Defei might be hiding.
In this case, defeating the other party is the most permanent solution.
In Kunning Palace.
If Shen Qing hadn't suddenly received Cuihuan's message, she would have almost forgotten about this person. Looking at the time and place on the note, she knew that she had to go.
Shen Qing had no intention of betraying the queen, and that was why she wanted to know even more what Cuihuan was going to do.
If she didn't go, Cuihuan's plan would certainly fail, but she and the people behind her would still hide in the dark, waiting for the opportunity to deal a fatal blow to the Queen.
Shen Qing wrote down the information on the note, burned it to ashes with candlelight, and calmly walked out of the tea room.
Outside the tea room, a young palace maid glanced at Shen Qing's concealed movements and then closed her eyes.
Because Cuihuan's request was urgent, Shen Qing needed to go out for a while at noon before she could meet her, so she found an excuse to go to the Shishi Department to get makeup powder.
On the long palace road passing by Jingyang Palace, Shen Qing saw Cuihuan who was waiting for him.
"Sister Cuihuan."
Cuihuan was very satisfied with Shen Qing. Shen Qing had the opportunity but did not tell anyone about the news from Kunning Palace, including the Queen.
But this was expected. Shen Qingnian was young, so she was naturally afraid that the Queen would know that she was bribed, and she was worried that her current position would be unstable. So she could only try to get the skin of the tiger, making mistakes step by step.
As for regret and resistance, it can only be said that it is human nature. Apart from this, few people have the courage to burn their boats.
Cuihuan smiled slightly, not caring about the darkness in Shen Qing's eyes: "Sister Shen Qing, how are you?"
Shen Qing didn't say anything.
Cui Huan was relieved when she saw this: "I have something I want to ask for your help. As long as you can do it, I will not trouble you again. You can go on your way."
Shen Qing interrupted impatiently: "Let me make it short."
Cuihuan's face turned bad, but she felt happy when she thought that this person was being threatened by her. She handed a packet of medicine from her sleeve to Shen Qing: "This is what Concubine Gui gave me. It can make pregnant women lose their figure and get spots on their faces, but it will not endanger the life of the fetus. Concubine Gui only hopes that the emperor will dislike the queen, but she has no intention of harming the royal heir. So the risk to my sister is not great."
Shen Qing pretended to be relieved: "I want to see Concubine Hui."
"Can you see the Royal Concubine whenever you want?" Cuihuan said angrily.
Shen Qing held the medicine bag and said, "How can I follow your orders without seeing Concubine Hui?"
Cuihuan was the only palace maid who planned this. Even if it was exposed, Cuihuan would be the only one to take the blame and the person behind the scenes would not be hurt at all. Wouldn't her trip be a waste of time?
Can't even catch a big fish.
Cui Huan thought about it and realized that Shen Qing's hesitation was reasonable, so she handed the token with the three words "Jingyang Palace" on her sleeve to Shen Qing and flashed it under her eyes: "Believe it now, right?"
Shen Qing held the token tightly and refused to let go.
"What are you doing?" Cuihuan was shocked.
Shen Qing said honestly: "If I get it, you won't fail to protect me if the matter is exposed."
She looked up, wondering: "Are you going to push me out as a scapegoat?"
Cuihuan asked how it could be possible, and secretly competed with Shen Qing for the token, but Shen Qing's strength was so great for some reason that the token gradually moved towards her.
Cuihuan gritted her teeth.
Shen Qing took the token in his hand with great effort and quickly stuffed it into his sleeve, still looking dissatisfied: "You are so stingy. I promised to help you, and I am at the greatest risk. I must have some protection. Fortunately, it is not a plot to murder the heir to the throne. Otherwise, even if I am driven out of Kunning Palace, I will not help the noble concubine."
Cuihuan sneered in her heart, she was so stupid, she believed whatever she said.
It seems that Shen Qing is not so loyal to the queen.
"Then, I will wait for your good news."
Shen Qing snorted: "Of course."
No way.
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