Chapter 370 Reclaiming Yun Jiaoyue's Phoenix Seal
Today is the first day of the lunar month. According to the rules, the Empress should be the one to serve the Emperor in bed. Since there is no Empress, the Imperial Concubine will serve the Emperor.
Yun Jiaoyue made preparations two days in advance, and yesterday she went to the temple to pray to Guanyin, asking Guanyin to grant her a child.
In the evening, she bathed in milk and flowers, changed into a light gauze dress, and wore a light outer robe, revealing her breasts.
In December in Jiangnan, with charcoal fires burning indoors, you don't feel cold at all wearing light clothes.
She sat in front of the mirror, and two palace maids applied a thin layer of rouge powder to her face and gently massaged it in.
"You've all met my eldest sister today, haven't you? Who do you think is more beautiful, me or her?"
The palace maid immediately replied, "Of course, it is the Imperial Concubine who is more beautiful. With your phoenix crown and luxurious clothes, you are the first person I would see."
"That's what I think too. Princess Zhaoxue's clothes are plain, even worse than the maids'. She's more like your sidekick."
Yun Jiaoyue turned her face slightly to the side, looking at her beautiful face in the bronze mirror, and smiled gently.
The hard work of the past few months has paid off.
After returning to Lin'an, she paid special attention to skincare and body care, applying top-quality rouge such as pearl powder and peach blossom powder to her face every day, spending a lot of money.
The sunburn damage from the exile journey has only partially healed.
With careful care, she will surely regain her former beauty in time, and she will still be the most beautiful woman in the capital.
What is Yun Zhaoxue?
Everyone else paled in comparison to her.
Just as she was admiring her reflection in the bronze mirror...
A tall figure rushed in, and before the old women and maids guarding outside the hall could react, he had already rushed into the inner hall.
The emperor's expression seemed rather grim, and the palace maids, terrified, stammered and hurriedly curtsied, "Your Majesty, the Emperor is here..."
Upon hearing the voice, Yun Jiaoyue's face lit up with joy, and she quickly rose to greet the Emperor, saying, "This concubine greets Your Majesty."
After she finished her bow, before Zhao Xuan could even say "rise," she stood up on her own, intending to take his arm and say sweetly, "Your Majesty, I've learned a new massage technique. I'll let you relax in a bit."
Before I could even touch his arm, I was flung away.
"ah!"
Caught off guard by the sudden movement, she nearly twisted her ankle. A palace maid quickly rushed over to support her, "Your Highness..."
"Your Majesty, is something bothering you?"
Zhao Xuan suddenly turned his head, his cold gaze sweeping over her, "Why am I unhappy? It's because you made me angry. What have you been doing behind my back?"
"What have I done? I haven't done anything lately. Besides managing the harem, I've been taking care of my health, hoping to give birth to the future crown prince for Your Majesty as soon as possible."
"I order you to set aside past grievances, properly entertain the Xiao family, and keep the military officers in check."
The reason why the enemy army of Dajing was able to attack and capture the capital so quickly was because the Great Zhou Dynasty valued civil affairs over military matters.
His father was misled by the emperor in the capital and framed the Xiao family, which led to the fall of the north and his own capture in the enemy country, where he was subjected to the ritual of leading a sheep.
The people were angry at their lack of resistance and saddened by their misfortune.
The reason for the repeated defeats of the northern cities of the Great Zhou Dynasty can be summarized as an overemphasis on civil affairs and a neglect of military affairs.
The general who surrendered, disregarding his integrity, deserved to die, but the emperor also bore responsibility.
The Zhao imperial family had long lost the support of the people due to the Jiangnan uprising, and his throne was not yet secure.
If his generals don't listen to him, his reign as emperor is over, and his life is over.
To embarrass the Xiao family at this critical juncture...
She's lost her mind.
Zhao Xuan said in a deep voice, "Guards, take back the Imperial Concubine's Phoenix Seal and let Consort Liu temporarily manage the inner palace."
"No, Your Majesty, please let me explain! It's not like that. It was the people below who deceived me. I didn't know anything..." Yun Jiaoyue denied that she had done it and shifted the blame to the palace servants.
Upon hearing this, the palace servants inside the hall turned pale with fright.
Granny Cao was so frightened that she knelt down with her forehead touching the ground. Cleverly, she took the blame for her master first.
"Your Majesty, spare my life! It was my negligence. I will take men to clean the Prince of Zhenbei's residence tomorrow. It's all my fault, I deserve to die. This matter has nothing to do with the Imperial Concubine, it was my negligence..."
"Your Majesty, it was the palace servants' negligence. I was completely unaware of it. I even went out of the palace to welcome my elder sister, and we had a very pleasant conversation. Tomorrow I will go and prepare generous gifts to explain the situation and apologize to her, okay?"
Yun Zhaoxue must have done it on purpose. It's such a small thing, why not just have the servants clean it up?
"Elder sister is short of people to clean, why didn't you send someone to inform me? This is such a small matter, why do you need to handle it?"
Zhao Xuan: "It wasn't her who spread it, it was the common people who were spreading it. It reached the palace, and that's when I found out that you had done another stupid thing. You should take good care of your health. You don't need to interfere in the affairs of the harem for the time being."
“Sister Consort Liu will be distracted by taking care of Your Highness and won’t be able to manage it all, but I can help.”
"If you can't even manage the palace servants in your own palace, how can you manage the entire harem? Take out the Phoenix Seal. I don't want to say it a third time."
Yun Jiaoyue wanted to plead for mercy, but seeing the man's gloomy face, her lips moved, but she swallowed back the words that were on the tip of her tongue and had no choice but to take out the seal and hand it over to Eunuch Feng.
Zhao Xuan turned and left.
"Your Majesty, where are you going again? Today is the first day of the month."
On the first day of the lunar month, she was to serve the emperor. She prepared for this day two days in advance by burning incense and praying to Buddha, taking a bath, and eating medicinal food to help with fertility.
Why did he leave? Why did he just leave like that?
She rushed out, trying to hug his waist and keep him there.
Hearing her call, Zhao Xuan quickened his pace. By the time she chased after him, he had already reached the threshold and disappeared into the doorway in the next instant.
His actions clearly showed that he didn't want to see her, much less have her serve him in bed.
The palace gained more than a dozen concubines, all young and beautiful, and proficient in music, chess, calligraphy, and painting.
She could count the number of times she served the emperor in a month on one hand.
After finally waiting for the day's arrival, he left again. He left, and the Phoenix Seal was taken away.
Those women will definitely laugh at her behind her back.
She turned and swept the teapot, water glasses, and pastries off the round table, overturning the vases and flowerpots.
She rushed into the inner hall and swept the rouge and jewelry from the dressing table onto the floor.
"Crackling and popping!!!"
She was so angry she could barely stand. She braced herself on the dressing table, her face contorted in rage, gritting her teeth as she cursed, "Ah! Bitch, all of you bitches..."
She already had enough of those scheming women in the harem to deal with, and now Yun Zhaoxue was going against her as soon as she returned.
Seeing her distorted face in the mirror, she felt she had become very, very ugly.
No wonder the Emperor disliked her; even she herself disliked her.
This wasn't her. She opened a drawer, took out a wooden box, and smashed it against the bronze mirror. "Bang!" The bronze mirror shattered into countless pieces.
"Haha, it's broken, it's good that it's broken..." She smiled, but her smile was more like a grimace.
She smashed it again and again, knocking away all the remaining fragments of the bronze mirror that were still connected.
A palace maid, worried that the shards might cut her hand, stepped forward and grabbed her hand, saying, "Your Highness, Your Highness, please calm down..."
Granny Cao took the wooden box from her hand and had a maid help her to sit down by the bed. She advised, "Your Highness, please calm down. Although you have lost the Phoenix Seal, you are still the most honored woman in the harem. You must not be discouraged. Temporary gains and losses do not mean anything. If you become pregnant with the Emperor's child one day, you can plead with him again, and the Phoenix Seal will be back in your hands."
"Pregnant? How can I get pregnant by myself? He left without looking back and took the Phoenix Seal. Those bitches must be laughing at me behind my back. Liu Yiyi, that bitch, will be even more smug now that she has the seal and won't take me seriously."
"Your Majesty, you are the Emperor's first wife, and the position of Empress should rightfully be yours. You must behave well, obey the Emperor, and strive to conceive a royal heir as soon as possible. You will be the most honored woman in the harem, and no one should dare to dream of climbing over you. Don't worry too much about temporary gains or losses; the one who laughs last is the winner."
Yun Jiaoyue wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes, a cold glint appearing in her watery eyes. "Yes! I absolutely cannot admit defeat."
On the other side, Zhao Xuan took the Phoenix Seal to Rouyi Palace and handed it to Liu Yiyi.
Liu Yiyi had just put her daughter to sleep when Zhao Xuan suddenly arrived.
"Your Highness, why have you come so suddenly? Today is the first day of the month, you should be visiting the Imperial Concubine."
"I've come to see you and your daughter, and I'm also handing over the Phoenix Seal to you. For the time being, you will temporarily manage the Phoenix Seal and oversee the harem."
Liu Yiyi was flattered and surprised, but dared not show her joy. A look of astonishment appeared on her face.
Zhao Xuan didn't explain much, went into the inner palace, glanced at the little princess twice, and left.
"Rest well and take good care of Yun'er."
The little princess's full name is Zhao Qingyun. She is the eldest daughter of the emperor. When she was born, Zhao Xuan was very happy and would always find time to come and see her, no matter how busy he was.
His visits became less frequent after the newly arrived women in the palace became pregnant.
Liu Yiyi watched his departing figure, a hint of loneliness flashing in her eyes. Looking down at her own body, which had become fat due to pregnancy and childbirth, she felt disgusted and pinched the soft flesh of her abdomen.
She won't give up so easily.
Zhao Xuan left Rouyi Palace, intending to return to his own palace. He passed by Changle Palace next door, where candles were still lit.
We turned a corner and entered Chang Le Palace.
Su Wan'er learned that Yun Zhaoxue was returning today and thought that Zhao Jiu might come back with her, so she drew his portrait and sent her trusted palace maid out to check.
The palace maid returned and reported that someone in the group bore a resemblance to the person in the portrait, but she was unsure because Su Wan'er's painting skills were truly difficult to discern.
She felt both angry and happy; happy that he had returned, but angry that he hadn't come to see her.
Unable to sleep at night, she picked up a pen and paper and began to scribble and draw. The entire page was filled with the words "Zhao Jiu, Zhao Jiu, bastard," and she even drew a turtle and wrote Zhao Jiu's name on its shell.
They also wrote the words "turtle" on the forehead of his portrait.
She laughed as she wrote, "Haha!!"
I'll show these portraits to that bastard Zhao Jiu another day and make him furious. Who told him not to come looking for her?
I miss him so much! I wonder what he's doing right now, and if he's already forgotten about her.
Married and had children?
No way, he's such a blockhead. He's clueless about romance and a penniless bum. What woman would be blind enough to fall for him?
She rested her chin on her hand and idly scribbled on the paper.
A palace maid's greeting came from outside the hall: "This servant greets Your Majesty."
Su Wan'er was suddenly startled, her hand trembled, and the brush slammed onto the paper, spreading a large blot of black ink.
Why is he here?
What is he doing here?
Could it be that she came here to sleep with him?
She didn't want to; she didn't want to do that kind of thing with him.
She had a sudden inspiration and smeared ink on her face.
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