Chapter 79 From then on, the king no longer held court early
Zhang Dezi flicked the whisk in his hand, bowed, his face full of smiles, and spoke in a high-pitched voice: "Congratulations, sir. Congratulations, sir. All these things are rewards ordered by the emperor early in the morning. Each one was carefully selected by me. Please check them one by one."
"Thank you, Eunuch Zhang." Xi Helan nodded with a smile, turned around and ordered, "Roufeng, take the people to count and put them into the warehouse."
"Yeah!" Roufeng immediately responded with a smile, and took the tray forward with the palace maids and eunuchs in the yard.
After handing over the gifts, Zhang Dezi took everyone's leave. Not long after they left, the news spread throughout the harem almost instantly. Everyone knew that the abundant rewards were ordered by the emperor. All the concubines remembered that there was such a foreign princess in the palace because Xilan Palace suddenly received rewards.
Envy, jealousy, shock or disdain, all kinds of emotions are intertwined in everyone's hearts.
Of course, more people are curious about the reason why Concubine Lan became favored. It is impossible for her to suddenly become favored without any reason. After all, the emperor has three thousand beauties in his harem, and if she didn't have some tricks, she would have been forgotten long ago.
However, because the emperor had previously given an oral order, he exempted Concubine Lan from paying respects on the grounds that she was suffering from acclimatization problems. He also granted her the right to refuse visitors and rest in peace. Therefore, countless concubines in the harem could only arrange their confidants to go with gifts to inquire about the news, to see if they could get anything out of the maids in Xilan Palace.
Hard work pays off. It was finally discovered that Xi Helan's personal maid Roufeng stopped the emperor at five o'clock today and handed him a letter. Of course, the concubines did not think it was a simple letter. They all believed that it was a love letter expressing admiration.
A love letter could win the emperor's favor and attention. The concubines were envious and jealous. Soon, the matter escalated. Gradually, rumors spread that Concubine Lan was unwilling to be lonely and empty, and used obscene songs to seduce the emperor, corrupting the atmosphere in the harem.
Of course Jiang Zhen also heard about this, but she couldn't make up her mind. After all, the girl in Xilan Palace was Xie Fei's favorite. Although she didn't know why Xie Fei suddenly exposed Concubine Lan, she didn't want to offend him at all before she got pregnant.
It was not a good idea to punish, nor was it a good idea not to punish. After some hesitation, Jiang Zhen secretly sent someone to tell Nanny Song, who served the empress dowager. Sure enough, not long after, the empress dowager's decree came out. On the one hand, the empress was required to severely punish the palace maids and eunuchs who gossiped and correct the public opinion and customs in the harem. On the other hand, she ordered everyone in Xilan Palace to be under house arrest for a month, and accused Concubine Lan of misbehaving and not knowing etiquette, and punished her to copy the Women's Precepts and Virtues twenty times each.
Nanny Song first read out the imperial edict to the Queen, and then led a grand procession to Xilan Palace.
Xi Helan was born in modern times. She has a strong personality and a very strong self-esteem. In the past few months since she came to Da Qi, she has never kneeled to anyone. So when Nanny Song was about to read the imperial edict, she refused to kneel down and said bluntly that she, Xi Helan, kneeled to heaven, earth, and her parents, so why should she, a servant, kneel down?
Upon hearing this, Nanny Song's face turned green with anger. Although she was a servant, everyone in the palace gave her some respect. And this little nobleman insulted her bluntly. She immediately ordered someone to slap her ten times in the face and then forced her head to kneel on the ground.
Xi Helan had never suffered such an insult. The disdainful and mocking eyes of those people reminded her of how she was bullied in her previous life because of her ugliness. In addition, when she heard the empress dowager's edict criticizing her for all her shortcomings, she became so angry that her face turned ashen, and a raging rage burned in her heart, with hatred rushing to her head.
She wanted to fly into a rage, but was held down by the servant. She wanted to yell and curse, but her mouth was so painful and trembling that she couldn't utter a word. Finally, she glared and rolled her eyes, and fainted from anger.
Nanny Song snorted coldly, handed the imperial edict to the palace maid beside her, and left with her people. When she returned to the Empress Dowager's palace, she couldn't help but put on some eye drops again. The Empress Dowager was angry and also lamented that foreigners had no manners, so soon, the Empress Dowager assigned two teaching aunts to Xilan Palace. Of course, these two aunts were given a thorough explanation by Nanny Song before they left.
During the next month, Xi Helan lived a miserable life. What made her even more upset was that after this incident, the concubines in the harem had more or less increased their dislike values towards her. Although these dislike values were also part of the system task, and she also gained "Skin as white as jade" and "Slender and straight legs" from them, it also meant that she had moved from behind the scenes to the front of the stage, and had to endure a lot of pressure and persecution.
However, these things did not affect Jiang Zhen at all. During the past month, she seemed to have returned to the time when she was newlyweds. Xie Fei would go to her Kunning Palace to sleep every night, completely ignoring the ancestral rule that high-ranking concubines had to sleep for a fixed number of days. He only favored the empress, causing complaints from the concubines in the harem.
Finally, during a visit to the emperor's palace, a concubine who had not been favored for a long time expressed her dissatisfaction. Unexpectedly, this word reached the emperor's ears. Soon after, she was demoted to a concubine for disrespecting the empress and committing treason. She was imprisoned in Lengcui Palace for life. From then on, no matter how dissatisfied people were, they dared not speak out.
In Changle Palace.
Concubine Gao picked up a pastel-colored ceramic vase and smashed it hard on the ground. It shattered with a "crack". Xiangtan and Xiangyun, who were fanning themselves beside her, felt their legs go weak and fell to their knees.
"I'm so pissed off, I'm really pissed off! The emperor dotes on that vixen all day long. What's so good about her? He actually stayed with her for a whole month. I've become a laughing stock in the harem. Everyone is laughing at me!" Gao Baoxi said fiercely, clutching her handkerchief.
Aunt Luo came in from the outer room and saw the debris all over the floor at a glance. Concubine Gao was sitting on the couch with a gloomy face. She was breathing rapidly due to anger, and the pearl hairpins on her head were shaking.
"My dear queen, who has made you angry again?" Aunt Luo quickly walked up to Gao Baoxi and secretly winked at Xiangtan and the other person, who understood and retreated.
Gao Baoxi snorted coldly: "In the entire palace, who else dares to mess with me except Jiang Zhen?"
She pursed her lips and continued, "I really don't understand why the emperor suddenly changed his normal behavior and favored Jiang Zhen every day? Although she has always been the most favored concubine since she entered the palace, the emperor would come to my place several times every month, and sometimes even look through the green cards of other concubines. But for more than a month, the emperor has stayed in Kunning Palace every night. If any of the concubines dared to express dissatisfaction, they would be reprimanded and exiled, which made everyone angry but dare not speak out!"
"Your Majesty, others don't dare to do so, but you are different. Your Majesty is of noble status. If you take the lead in admonishing the emperor, it will definitely be effective." Aunt Luo said softly.
"Do you think I don't want to?" Gao Baoxi glanced at Aunt Luo and said coldly, "But my father's power was just taken away, and my mother came to the palace specifically to tell me to be obedient and not to cause trouble."
Aunt Luo's face darkened, then her eyes flashed, and she smiled slowly, "My lady, I have thought of a way..."
As she spoke, she leaned close to Gao Baoxi's ear and whispered. After a moment, Gao Baoxi's eyes rolled, and he raised his eyebrows and smiled.
…
Two days later, at dinner time, Xie Fei arrived at Kunning Palace on time as usual. Jiang Zhen held the bowl, holding the chopsticks in her right hand and pursing her lips. She secretly watched someone who was leisurely eating from the corner of her eye, and her thoughts gradually flew away.
When I went to the Cining Palace to pay my respects to the Empress Dowager today, she said a few words to me in a neutral tone, with a hint of blame for monopolizing the emperor's favor: "The queen of a country should be virtuous, generous, dignified and gentle, and must abandon selfish desires and jealousy. When the emperor favors one person, you should advise him to treat everyone equally, so that the harem can be peaceful and stable, and the royal family can continue. Otherwise, the officials of the previous dynasty will talk about it, and the harem will complain. How can the emperor be content with government affairs and expand the royal family?"
Jiang Zhen was lost in thought and didn't even hear Xie Fei calling her several times. It was not until Aunt Jiang quietly poked Jiang Zhen on the back that she suddenly looked up at Xie Fei and blinked blankly: "Your Majesty, are you calling me?"
Xie Fei glanced at her casually and asked calmly, "The Queen seems to like to daydream?"
Jiang Zhen pursed her lips, opened her mouth as if she wanted to say something, paused for a few breaths, finally closed her lips, shook her head, and ate in silence.
"What's wrong? Do you have something to say to me?" Xie Fei looked over with a smile in his eyes. A faint smile appeared in his eyes, and he smiled with a curve of his mouth. "Go ahead, I'm listening carefully."
Jiang Zhen put down her bowl and chopsticks hesitantly, and waited for a long time before she spoke softly, "Your Majesty, would you like to go to another concubine's place to rest? I have been serving Your Majesty for more than a month, and I am really tired and exhausted."
Halfway through his words, Xie Fei's gaze towards her gradually became cold and dim. Jiang Zhen's heart skipped a beat, and she bit her lip and lowered her eyes, avoiding his sight, and finished her words with gritted teeth.
For a moment, the whole room was silent and the atmosphere was a little weird. The palace maids stood there with their heads down, looking at their noses and their hearts, not daring to make a sound.
After a long silence, Xie Fei suddenly sneered and said coldly: "The queen is really virtuous and generous."
Jiang Zhen gave a helpless smile: "Thank you for the compliment, Your Majesty."
Then Xie Fei snorted coldly, stood up and walked away. Jiang Zhen didn't know why, but felt depressed and his nose felt a little sour.
She was still in a daze when she suddenly heard the shrill voice of Eunuch Zhang coming from the palace gate. It was a bit deafening in the quiet night: "Go to Changle Palace——"
It was just such a simple sound, but it was like a heavy hammer hitting Jiang Zhen's heart. She felt a little suffocated in her chest, and tears unconsciously filled her entire eye sockets, dripping like pearls on the back of her hand, burning her.
Aunt Jiang sighed, signaled the young palace maids to clear the dishes, and she and Guizhi helped Jiang Zhen back to the bedroom. Gui Xun brought warm water from outside the room, and she and Guizhi carefully helped her wash and comb her hair, then helped her to lie on the couch to rest.
In the empty bedroom, two candles were burning. Jiang Zhen closed her eyes tightly, but tossed and turned, unable to fall asleep. Tears rolled down from the corners of her eyes, and she couldn't help but cry softly.
She felt uncomfortable, extremely uncomfortable, and she didn't know why she was so sad. It felt like a huge rock was pressing down on her heart and she couldn't breathe. She opened her eyes and stared blankly at the carvings on the ceiling of the bed. She didn't understand why she hadn't been in deep love for the past year, but now, in just one month, she had become unlike herself.
Where's her sanity?
Why can't I help wondering if he will kiss Gao Baoxi as tenderly and lovingly as he did to me, if he will say to her the love words he said to me, if he will stroke her waist with his big calloused hands, if he will...
The more she thought about it, the more restless she became. A feeling of jealousy gradually welled up in her heart. Jiang Zhen frowned and turned over, only to see that there was nothing beside her, just like her heart, as if a piece was missing.
Habits are really terrible things, but after more than a month, I can't live without it.
Jiang Zhen gently stroked the pillow beside her, sighed softly, hugged herself tightly with one hand with some discomfort, and secretly warned herself - Jiang Zhen, don't give in, you are just doing this to have a baby.
Over and over again, as if hypnotizing myself.
The author has something to say: Jiang Zhen: Go away.
Xie Fei: OJBK~
Jiang Zhen: QAQ~~
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