When Concubine Rong woke up, it was already sunset.
"My lady, the sun is setting."
Rong Fei looked up and looked out the window and said, "Have you prepared the things I asked you to prepare?"
Zhu Er nodded, "Everything is ready."
On the other side, in the imperial study, Gu Yanwei was reviewing memorials.
"Your Majesty, Concubine Rong has arrived."
"Please ask her to come in quickly." Gu Yanwei put down his pen, and saw Xia Meng walked in in plain clothes, kneeling weakly in front of him.
"Your Majesty, I pay my respects to you."
"Please excuse me, Concubine Rong. This is your first day in the palace, so you can rest for a while."
"I am grateful to Your Majesty for taking such good care of me. I dare not rest for too long, so I personally made some cakes on the cauldron and brought them into the palace for Your Majesty to taste."
As he spoke, the cakes had already been brought to the emperor by Eunuch Li.
"Fei Rong is thoughtful. Your father died fighting for the court. You are his last wish. I will take good care of you. In this kilometer, you just need to be yourself."
"Thank you, Your Majesty."
At this moment, Xia Meng didn't know whether she should be happy or sad. She was happy because the man in front of her was the one she had always dreamed of. When Gu Yanwei went to the Xia Mansion for the first time, she was only fourteen years old and was attracted to this modest young man. Until today, he never dared to think that he could become his woman.
But now she has entered the palace as a concubine, which can be regarded as fulfilling her wish, but all this was exchanged for her father's life.
"If there is nothing else, you can go back to the palace and rest. You don't need to come to pay respects these few days."
"Thank you, Your Majesty."
On the way back with Concubine Rong, the maid Zhu'er said, "Your Majesty, the Queen's bedroom is ahead. According to the rules, we still need to pay our respects to the Queen."
Concubine Rong nodded and said, "Since we are here, we must follow the rules." As she spoke, the two of them arrived at the gate of Fengwu Palace.
When the two walked into Fengwu Palace, the palace maid Chun'er was watering the plants in the garden.
"Empress Rong."
Seeing Concubine Rong, Chun'er bowed and quickly ran back.
"Your Majesty, Concubine Rong is here."
"Concubine Rong?" Li Wanting frowned. She didn't know when a Concubine Rong appeared. In the past few days, she had been in a very depressed mood and had been staying in Fengwu Palace without going anywhere. Who would have thought that there was another Concubine Rong in the palace.
"Your Highness, you have seen her before, at the palace's spring banquet. She is the daughter of General Xia."
"You mean Xia Meng?"
Chun'er nodded. General Xia died in the battle with the Huns a few days ago and entrusted his only daughter to the emperor. In order to commemorate General Xia's spirit in heaven, the emperor conferred the title of Concubine Rong on Xia Meng.
"So that's how it is." After the two of them finished talking, Concubine Rong had already entered the palace.
"Your Highness the Queen!"
"Please stand up quickly, Concubine Rong. We are sisters, there is no need to be so polite!" Then he said to the palace maid beside him, "Please sit down quickly, Concubine Rong!"
Even though her mood had been getting worse day by day since her wedding, she was still a dignified queen in front of outsiders.
"Rong Fei, I feel very sorry for General Xia's matter. From now on in this palace, I will treat you like my own sister."
"Thank you Queen."
"You are too polite, sister. General Xia and my father are close friends. It is my duty to do this."
The two chatted for a while until Li Wanting yawned, and then Concubine Rong stood up and said, "How long have you been bothering me, Your Majesty? Go to bed as soon as possible. I will take my leave now."
Li Wanting nodded, "Okay, come and sit with me more often in your free time."
"yes."
Looking at Concubine Rong's back as she left, she was a little confused and frowned, saying, "Your Majesty, Concubine Rong and you have no relationship at all, but now you are both the emperor's concubines. One more person means you get more favor from her, so why are you so nice to her?"
Li Wanting smiled coldly and said, "Now, there are only three concubines in the harem: me, Defei and Rongfei. Naturally, I have to become friends with Rongfei first."
"Your Majesty, this is..." Chun'er suddenly understood what Li Wanting meant, nodded and said, "Your Majesty is really smart!"
Before he knew it, Shen Qingqiu had been in the palace for more than half a year, and in the blink of an eye, winter had arrived.
"Madam, it's very cold in the courtyard, you'd better go in quickly!" Suo Xin took a cloak and put it on Shen Qingqiu.
Shen Qingqiu wrapped his cloak around himself, shook his head and said, "I haven't seen such heavy snow in a long time. Don't you think it's beautiful? If we hide in the house, wouldn't it be a waste of such a beautiful view?"
Shen Qingqiu raised her hand, and a snowflake in the sky happened to fall into her palm, and then slowly melted. But she didn't know that at this moment, his obsession with appreciating the snow scene was seen by Gu Yanwei.
When seeing such a beautiful scene, the eunuch Li who came with him could not help but exclaimed: "The combination of the Empress Defei and this beautiful scene is truly a beautiful painting!"
Gu Yanwei smiled, glanced at him and said, "You can leave now!"
The moment Suo Xin looked up, he saw Gu Yanwei coming towards him. Just as he was about to speak, Gu Yanwei made a gesture to keep quiet. Suo Xin nodded helplessly, turned around and left.
Shen Qingqiu was immersed in the snow scene when suddenly someone slowly climbed up her waist from behind. Shen Qingqiu was startled at first, then she leaned her head on the person and smiled slightly.
"Your Majesty, when did you come?"
Gu Yanwei buried his head in her shoulder and said with his eyes closed: "I have been here for a long time. Seeing that you were so engrossed in appreciating the snow, I didn't disturb you."
Shen Qingqiu smiled and buried his head deeper.
In the past, she always felt that life must be lived with excitement, but now she suddenly felt that this kind of ordinary life was what she preferred.
The two stood in the snow for an unknown amount of time until the snow slowly stopped, and then Gu Yanwei spoke.
"Go back, or you'll catch a cold tomorrow."
In Danfeng Palace, Concubine Rong sat alone outside the window, staring at the falling snow. She didn't know how long it had been until a palace maid came over and called her softly.
"My lady, go and warm yourself up by the fire. You have been sitting here for two or three hours. If you continue like this, you will get sick."
Rong Fei finally reacted. When she turned around, she found that her vision was a little blurry. She had been looking at Xue for too long.
After helping Concubine Rong sit down, Zhu'er brought a cup of milk tea and placed it on the table, "Your Majesty, drink it quickly while it's hot to drive away the cold."
Concubine Rong took a sip and said, "This thing from the Western Regions is really good."
When I looked up again, I found that Zhu'er was hanging her head.
"What's wrong with you, Pearl?"
Zhu'er complained: "Your Highness has been in the palace for almost half a year, but the Emperor has only come two or three times. The Emperor feels only guilt and responsibility towards you, but he doesn't know how you feel about him..."
"Zhu'er!" Rong Fei interrupted Zhu'er and said, "I like the emperor, but I never thought that one day I could enter the palace to accompany the emperor. Now, I have entered the palace and become Rong Fei. What else can I ask for?"
"But the Emperor stays at Concubine De's place every day and rarely even goes to the Queen's place. I just think it's unfair." Seeing her own queen being so magnanimous, Zhu'er felt even more dissatisfied.
Seeing that the emperor only favors one person, how could Concubine Rong not be envious? But what could she do? She knew clearly that the emperor did not have her in his heart, and being able to enter the palace to accompany him was something she had never dared to ask for before.
"What fairness can there be in this palace? You can't talk about the queen in the future."
"Yes, madam."
What the two of them didn't know was that their conversation was overheard by Li Wanting who was walking outside the door.
"Your Majesty, I didn't expect that Concubine Rong would be even more intimate with the Emperor!"
Li Wanting sneered, "Then it will be easier for us." As soon as she finished speaking, the two of them walked in.
"Empress." Zhu'er saw it first and quickly stood up.
Upon hearing the voice, Concubine Rong also raised her head and saw the Queen.
"Your Majesty, the Queen, is here to see you."
"No need to be polite, sit down quickly!"
"It's so cold, why is the Queen here?"
Li Wanting smiled and said, "You must be lonely in the palace alone. It's so cold today, so I asked someone to prepare hot pot." As she spoke, the people behind her brought up various dishes.
"Some of the dishes here were specially brought back from Yan State by my father. They are very fresh, and I brought them here especially for my sister and I to taste."
"Your Majesty, you are so polite. I don't know how to thank you."
"We are sisters, why bother thanking each other?"
Before they knew it, snow had started falling outside the window. The two had almost finished their meal, so they asked someone to clear the table.
"Sister, you have been in the palace for nearly half a year, but there is really no good news from you?" Li Wanting deliberately looked at Concubine Rong's belly.
But before Concubine Rong could speak, Zhu'er spoke first: "Your Majesty, you don't know that although our queen has been in the palace for half a year, she has only seen the emperor two or three times in total."
"No way?" Li Wanting said in surprise, "The emperor has only come to Danfeng Palace two or three times?"
"That's right." Zhu'er muttered softly, "In fact, Chengchun Palace has become the emperor's regular residence."
"I know that Defei is favored. But you are the daughter of General Xia after all. The emperor will definitely not treat you like this. I'm afraid..." Li Wanting looked at Rongfei and was hesitant to speak.
Zhu Er immediately understood what she meant and said, "Madam, I also think..."
"Zhu'er!" Concubine Rong interrupted Zhu'er.
Li Wanting smiled and eased the atmosphere, saying, "This palace is just guessing. Maybe the emperor really loves Concubine De. Forget it. In the future, you and I sisters will rely on each other in this palace and be happy and comfortable."
The two chatted for a while and then Li Wanting left.
"Zhu'er, don't talk nonsense in front of the Queen in the future!"
"Your Majesty, I am not talking nonsense. Just now, the Queen clearly..."
"You can't say that either!"
"I understand. Do you really intend to live in this palace for the rest of your life? Who will you rely on in the future?"
Concubine Rong slowly lowered her head. How could she not understand that it would be extremely difficult to have peace in this palace without the emperor's favor.
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