Concubine Xiao paused.
In this harem, she was the only one in power. Even the virtuous concubine, who was also a concubine, never dared to confront her head-on.
How many years?
How many years has it been since anyone dared to be so presumptuous in front of her?
Now, this ignorant country woman dared to scold her to her face? She couldn't refute it, and she couldn't refute it. If she did, it would be disrespectful and unfilial to Empress Taizu.
Is she daring or just ignorant and fearless?
She laughed in anger: "Mrs. Pei is indeed eloquent and good at making arguments!"
Su Li raised her eyebrows, her attitude nonchalant: "I am just being realistic."
Anyway, she is in cahoots with Princess Rongfu. Even if she doesn't kill her, she won't let her off easily. So why should she be respectful to her? If she offends her, then so be it.
Oh!
What a pragmatic approach.
Concubine Xiao sneered in her heart, knowing that she could no longer suppress her on the issue of her background. She took a deep breath and changed the subject.
"Alright, this matter was not carefully considered by me. I summoned you to the palace for another important matter."
"Princess Rongfu's birthday is coming up in a few days. I've heard you're particularly skilled in painting, having won first place in the Haohan Academy's painting competition. So, I'm thinking of asking you to paint her portrait. When the princess gets up, go to Changle Palace and paint for her."
At this moment, a maid came in and reported: "Your Majesty, the princess is here."
As soon as she finished speaking, Princess Rongfu, dressed in a gorgeous long dress, came in. Without even looking at Su Li, she walked directly to sit next to Concubine Xiao, and said in a friendly manner, "Your Majesty."
Concubine Xiao's face was full of love. She held Rongfu's hand and said in a close tone: "Qinglian, didn't you say that you didn't sleep well last night? Why did you get up so early?"
This intimate attitude is completely different from the attitude he just had towards his own son, Prince Chun.
Su Li secretly complained in her heart that people who didn't know would think that these two were mother and daughter.
Mother and daughter?
She was stunned, and suddenly a ridiculous idea came to her mind.
According to the relationship book, Prince Chun and Princess Rongfu were the same age, and their birth times differed by only half an hour, meaning Prince Chun was born half an hour earlier than Princess Rongfu.
She was thinking, could it be that Princess Rongfu is the daughter of the imperial concubine, and Prince Chun is the son of Empress Renxuan, and the real lucky star?
Suppose that in order to give her son, Prince Ning, a chance to compete for the throne, Concubine Xiao swapped Princess Rongfu with Prince Chun, who was born half an hour later, when she was born.
In this way, the child born to Empress Renxuan was changed from a prince to a princess. Even if the princess was a lucky star, she would not have the chance to compete for the throne, and Prince Ning also had the opportunity to compete for the throne.
If this is true, it would explain why Concubine Xiao has such different attitudes towards the two of them.
In the original novel, Concubine Xiao's attitudes towards her two sons, Prince Ning and Prince Chun, were also very different.
She fully supported Prince Ning in his bid for the crown prince position, but suppressed Prince Chun to the utmost. In the end, Prince Ning had no chance of becoming emperor, and she could not hide her disgust for Prince Chun.
It is undoubtedly puzzling why one person would be so disgusted with another person's son, as they are both his own sons and grew up together.
In the original novel, Prince Chun also asked about this at the end.
Of course, his original words were: Why is it that although both are sons of my mother, my mother only has my brother in her eyes?
There is no mention of Princess Rongfu at all.
In his opinion, it was not intolerable that his mother loved his younger sister whose mother had died early.
Concubine Xiao only said: Prince Ning is the eldest son of the emperor and should have inherited the throne. What's wrong with me supporting him? But you, as his younger brother, should have helped him instead of fighting for things that don't belong to you!
Prince Chun actually had some doubts about this.
He knew that Concubine Xiao's indifference towards him had existed since childhood, and it was not because she wanted to compete for the throne that she treated him like this.
But he no longer cared at that time, and he no longer had the idea of digging deep into the matter and demanding a reasonable answer.
The possibility that Prince Chun might be the real lucky star was just Su Li's sudden guess.
After all, if she were Concubine Xiao, even if the real lucky star was replaced by herself, she would definitely not let this lucky star who posed a threat to her son grow up safely.
But there are exceptions to everything. After all, Concubine Xiao is not her, so it's not strange that she has different ideas.
In fact, it is easy to confirm whether her guess is true.
Why not find an opportunity to let Taoist Kongxu check Prince Chun to see if there is any purple energy on him?
Princess Rongfu glared at Su Li and said pointedly, "I heard that some foolish people were making a noise in front of the palace gate of the Majesty, and even injured Madam Wen. I was worried about the Majesty, so I came to check on her."
Su Li acted as if he didn't hear her, as if he didn't understand what she was saying.
Princess Rongfu felt like she had punched cotton, feeling extremely frustrated and she frowned fiercely.
Concubine Xiao sighed inwardly. Even she couldn't argue with her. How could Rong'er, with his impatient temper, be her opponent?
She patted her hands soothingly and said to Su Li, "Mrs. Pei, go get ready and paint for the princess."
Upon hearing this, Princess Rongfu raised her chin and looked at Su Li proudly.
Humph! So what if I'm eloquent? So what if I'm sharp-tongued?
With her status and position, she will never be able to surpass them. Now, she has to listen to the Queen and follow her orders.
After a while, she will let her experience what it means to use power to oppress others!
Su Li knew exactly what the two men were doing. They were using all kinds of trouble to intimidate her, suppress her, and embarrass her, but she refused to take any of it.
"Your Majesty, I cannot paint for the princess."
“Bang!”
The sound of a teacup being dropped.
Concubine Xiao finally lost her patience and said, "Do you know what you are saying? Do you think you are going to disobey my orders?"
Princess Rongfu also glared at Su Li with her eyes wide open. "This damn bitch! She even dared to offend the Imperial Concubine. What an ignorant village woman! How could she be worthy of being the wife of a Duke?"
Su Li wasn't afraid at all. She raised the corner of her mouth and said calmly, "I just refused your Majesty's request. How can it be considered as disobeying an order?"
In the Jin Dynasty, although the imperial concubine had a noble status, she had no right to ask the court ladies to do things.
Of course, in order not to offend the imperial concubine, most ladies of noble birth would not refuse her requests and orders. Even if they did refuse, they needed to pay attention to their attitude and approach to avoid unnecessary disputes and misunderstandings.
But, does she need it?
In any case, Concubine Xiao and Princess Rongfu already regarded her as a thorn in their side. What difference did it make whether she refused or not, or whether she paid attention to her attitude or not? She might as well just do it the best she could.
No matter how higher your status is than hers, you still have to follow the rules and etiquette of the Great Jin, right?
"You! You're fine, you're fine..."
Su Li's words were well-reasoned and there was nothing wrong with them. Concubine Xiao had no way to refute him. She kept her lips trembling for a long time and could not utter a word of rebuke.
Princess Rongfu could no longer bear it and was about to start cursing.
The only thing she was scolding was about her background. Concubine Xiao was afraid that she would say something out of control, and Su Li caught her and stopped her immediately.
It seems that she cannot be dealt with today. There is still a long time to come, so she is not in a hurry.
"Mother?"
Princess Rongfu was puzzled.
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