Chapter 157 Chapter 157
[Chapter 157]
Aunt Jingqiao went to Fengyi Palace in person. No matter how seriously ill the empress was, she had to see her.
Ran Xia struggled to stand up, supporting the empress with distress in her eyes. The empress patted Ran Xia's hand and shook her head slightly.
The empress sat very straight on the couch, but her face was so pale that no makeup could conceal it.
Aunt Jingqiao walked in calmly and was slightly stunned when she saw the empress's appearance. She had thought that the empress was seriously ill, but she didn't expect that the empress would look like this now.
The Queen smiled gently at Aunt Jing Qiao, "Aunt, why are you here today?"
Aunt Jing Qiao came back to her senses, "The Queen Mother asked me to invite the Empress to come over to discuss matters. I wonder if the Empress is available?"
Ran Xia wanted to speak after hearing this, but was stopped by the Queen, "Since Queen Mother has something to do, I will go there in a moment."
Aunt Jingqiao said nothing more after hearing this and left the inner hall in silence.
After Aunt Jingqiao left, the Queen kept coughing, which made Ranxia and Qiyue's eyes red. "Why did the Queen have to agree? The Emperor knew about the Queen's health and spared the Queen from all the trouble. But the Queen Mother insisted on torturing the Queen and sent her to Shoukang Palace."
The queen smiled faintly, "How long has it been since the emperor visited the concubine's palace?"
Ran Xia didn't care about these things anymore. Instead, Qi Yue said, "It's been almost a month."
The Queen glanced at Ran Xia and said, "The Third Prince has been sent to the Purple Palace for quite some time. I heard that the Emperor has been holding the Third Prince in his arms during this time. However, the Imperial Concubine has not made any move. It's not that she doesn't want to, but that she hasn't thought it through. In this case, I will use the limited time I have to help her think more."
Ran Xia listened to the Queen's words. She had always been sensible and understood the Queen's intentions the best, but today she inexplicably wanted to ask:
Who will take care of the Empress's heart?
In the end, her rationality prevented her from asking the question. She helped the empress to get up and change her clothes and makeup. Apart from a hint of fatigue in her brow, the empress looked no different from before.
The empress sat on the ceremonial carriage, looking dignified and virtuous.
Before entering Shoukang Palace, the empress smelled a familiar scent of medicine, breathed a sigh of relief, and walked in.
Aunt Jingqiao was serving medicine to the Queen Mother. When she saw the Empress come in, the Queen Mother didn't say a word. After she finished drinking the medicine, she said, "It's here."
The Queen bowed gently and said, "I am late, please forgive me, Mother."
The Queen Mother raised her head, chuckled and shook her head, "Now I am also ill. If I punish you, wouldn't it be that I am too inhumane."
The Queen hurriedly said, "I dare not."
The Queen Mother waved her hands and said, "Forget it. Now is not the time to talk about this."
"Sit down."
The empress leaned on Ran Xia's body and then sat on the stool brought by Aunt Jingqiao.
The Queen Mother raised her eyes to look at the Queen, and saw that the Queen had fine lines at the corners of her eyes without her knowing when, and words that were hard to describe flashed through her mind.
When I first met the empress, she was still bright and lively, absolutely not the empress she is today, praised by everyone. When did the empress become such a different person?
The Queen Mother suppressed the uneasiness in her heart and said, "The selection is held every three years. The time is almost here. It's time for the Queen to prepare."
The Queen had expected the Queen Mother to say this, and said in a calm voice, "I mentioned this to the Emperor some time ago, but the Emperor said that the Yellow River floods have not been resolved, and the refugees in the south are not peaceful, so he said that there will be no selection this year."
The Queen Mother's brows tightened instantly, "Is this the Emperor's intention, or yours as the Queen?"
The queen was stunned, a little embarrassed by the queen mother's words, "I dare not make a decision for the emperor privately."
The Queen Mother was not prepared to let this go easily. "Concubine Yinggui made a big mistake. The Third Prince was raised in the Purple Palace in such an inappropriate way. You are still the Queen, the head of the harem. Even if the Emperor loves the Third Prince, how can he be raised in the Purple Palace? As his mother, if there is no suitable concubine in the harem to raise the Third Prince, the Third Prince should be raised by you."
The Empress was about to agree to the Queen Mother's words, but she continued, "The Emperor said he would not select concubines. Was it before he and Concubine Ying Gui were having trouble now, or after?"
The queen had no way of getting away with this, so she could only stand up and say, "We agreed on this at the beginning of spring."
The Queen Mother frowned slightly and looked at the Queen unhappily, "Since this was agreed upon before, how can it be finalized now?"
Whenever she thought of Concubine Ying, she couldn't help but think of Concubine Tao in the past, both of them were equally annoying.
The Queen Mother slowly began to fiddle with the twisting beads in her hand, "Concubine Ying has been ill for a long time, and she should be fine. She is helping you manage the Sixth Palace. If you are inconvenient, please ask Concubine Ying to talk to the emperor."
The Queen's breathing became more rapid. "I will go and talk to the Emperor about the selection of concubines myself."
She stood up and said, "Mother, please take good care of yourself."
The Queen Mother didn't have much affection for the Queen to begin with, and now after hearing the Queen say this, she became indifferent.
The Queen walked out of Shoukang Palace with a dull look in her eyes. "Is the Emperor in Zichen Palace now?"
Ran Xia nodded, "It should be. The emperor has not visited any other concubines except the Purple Palace recently."
The queen exhaled a foul breath, "In that case, let's go."
Ran Xia stopped the empress at this time, "Your Majesty is not in good health. Since the Queen Mother said that Concubine Ying Gui should do this, why don't you let Concubine Ying Gui do it?"
The Queen stopped in her tracks and said, "Why do you think Concubine Ying Gui wanted to send away the nanny from the West Third Residence? Why did she risk her life to go outside the palace to look for the family of Concubine Shu's personal maid? She had a better way, but it was just for the sake of a thought in the original palace."
Looking at Ran Xia, the queen did not blame her, and said softly: "You have done good things for me, and I will remember it in my heart, but I don't have much time left. She is a good girl, and there is not much I can do for her."
…
Purple Palace
Dongdong's crying only stopped when he saw Yan Shiyu step into the inner hall.
He picked up Dongdong skillfully. Dongdong only knew that the person in front of him was his father. He opened his mouth, blew bubbles and laughed.
Yan Shiyu looked at Dongdong with deep dark eyes, pinching his eyebrows, feeling a severe headache.
How could Wei Maoyuan not know why the emperor was like this? These days, the emperor always brought the third prince with him when discussing matters with court officials.
The dragon throne is not only occupied by the emperor now, the third prince also sits on it every day.
When the old ministers saw this, they always had to say a few words. Before the emperor even responded, the third prince started crying, making everyone feel uneasy.
Yan Shiyu saw that Dongdong's face looked very similar to Ruan Yun's, and he didn't know what Dongdong had learned from her to make him so fond of crying.
As he walked to the outer hall, the eunuch who came in hurried in and said, "Your Majesty, the Empress is here."
Yan Shiyu responded indifferently, "Let the Queen come in."
The eunuch walked out and said respectfully, "Your Majesty, please come in."
The empress lifted her skirt and stepped into the inner hall. What she heard was the emperor's deep voice spreading out, coaxing the third prince in his arms.
Dongdong raised his eyes and looked at the Queen, looking so cute and naive that the Queen smiled as she saluted him.
"The Third Prince's temper is exactly like that of the Imperial Concubine."
Wei Maoyuan brought a stool and asked the empress to sit down. The empress sat next to Yan Shiyu and stretched out her hand to tease Dongdong, making Dongdong laugh.
Yan Shiyu sneered coldly. If he really looked like that woman, he was afraid that his son would not be able to achieve anything great in the future.
But thinking of the moving appearance, Yan Shiyu felt that what the queen said was right.
The queen touched the little moving face and said, "The imperial concubine has been ill for a long time. I think she is missing the Third Prince and the emperor. If the emperor is free, why not go and see the imperial concubine? She will get better faster."
The silence in Yan Shiyu's deep black eyes disappeared, "Did she ask you to come?"
The queen was stunned for a moment and then shook her head, "It has been a long time since I have seen your Majesty."
Understanding the emperor's intention, the queen stood up and said, "Today, my mother called me over and said that the selection is held every three years and now is the time. Your Majesty should consider his offspring."
Yan Shiyu frowned, "I remember saying before that I'm not going to hold a talent show."
The Queen smiled faintly, "I also said the same thing to you, Mother, but you said that the Emperor has no one to please him and that he has few children. If I cannot persuade the Emperor, I am afraid the Queen Mother will send the Imperial Concubine."
Yan Shiyu listened to the Queen's words and said in a neutral tone, "Will she care?"
The queen's smile grew even brighter. "If the concubine didn't care, she wouldn't have been ill for so many days."
Seeing that the emperor did not speak, the queen continued, "The incident at the third prince's birthday banquet cannot be blamed entirely on the concubine. She also does not want to see the third prince get into trouble."
Yan Shiyu raised his hand to stop the Queen from speaking.
Dongdong was very curious. He held Yan Shiyu's fingers and giggled. Yan Shiyu had no choice but to take off the white jade ring in his hand and let him play with it.
"Since the Queen Mother wants to see the Imperial Concubine, then let the Imperial Concubine go to Shoukang Palace."
The Queen froze in place, "It's just that the Concubine's illness..."
Yan Shiyu knocked on the table and sneered, "She knows whether she is sick or not."
The Queen did not expect this, and bowed and said, "Yes, I understand. I will have someone tell the Imperial Concubine about this."
Yan Shiyu leaned back on the dragon chair with his eyes closed, his arms still protecting what was happening in his arms.
"You are not feeling well. Since the Queen Mother said that she wants to select beauties, then let's do it. Let the Imperial Concubine take charge of the selection."
The queen bit her lip, looking at Dongdong's carefree expression. She wondered if Ruan Yun would be sad if she heard it. "There are many things to do in the selection process. I think it would be difficult for the concubine to handle it alone."
Yan Shiyu's dark eyes suddenly opened, and his sharp gaze fell on the empress, "Ji Zhaoyi is on good terms with her, let them go together."
The Empress directly bypassed Concubine De and Concubine Xian, and she didn't know whether the Emperor knew the truth of the matter.
Not only when he was in the palace before, but also this moving birthday banquet.
…
Ran Xia went to Linxuan Palace in person for the selection of beauties.
Upon learning that the noble concubine was asleep, Ran Xia did not stay long. She told Ying Ning the emperor's order and then left.
As soon as Ran Xia left, Yingning and Tingxu looked at each other and looked towards the inner hall worriedly.
Ruan Jun has been very bored these days and really wants to move around, but she doesn't know whether the emperor has calmed down or not. She is afraid that appearing in front of the emperor would backfire, so she decided not to go for the time being.
Standing on the short stool, the emperor placed the sachet he had dropped next to her.
The emperor likes to wear this sachet the most, and Ruan Jun knows it.
Although she was not very good at embroidery, she always thought that she could embroider a belt.
Ying Ning walked in from the outer hall with a solemn look on her face. Before Ruan Jun asked, Ying Ning said:
"Your Majesty, the Emperor is going to select a beauty."
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