Xiangling didn't seem to care much: "Look, Your Highness is quite content with such a leisurely life."
"Even if we are not restricted from leaving the palace, we can only freely enter and exit certain parts of the palace, so we don't have much freedom."
“But in that case, the young prince won’t be able to come and see our empress. He can only stand at the palace gate and talk to her.”
"They're as pitiful as can be."
Yun Jin pouted unhappily.
"The Empress Dowager has arrived!"
As the two were discussing, they were both taken aback when they heard that the Empress Dowager had arrived.
Yiqin Palace has been unvisited for a long time.
"Your Majesty, I pay my respects!"
May Your Majesty the Empress Dowager enjoy good health and happiness!
"Get up, all of you!"
Empress Dowager Hesheli gestured for everyone to rise and not to stand on ceremony.
When she reached the vicinity of Yiqin Palace, she heard the melodious sound of a zither coming from inside. The sound was plaintive and sorrowful, tinged with a hint of resentment.
"Thank you, Your Majesty!"
The nanny helped Empress Dowager Hesheli into the front hall, with Miao Nanyan following behind. Yun Jin and Xiang Ling went to prepare tea.
Miao Nanyan looked at Empress Dowager Hesheli, not understanding why she would suddenly appear in the Yiqin Palace, a place everyone avoided like the plague.
When I first met Empress Dowager Hesheli, her eyes were sunken and she looked like she was about to die. Now, she seems to be aloof and superior.
Empress Dowager Hesheli, with the help of her nanny, sat down in the main seat and slowly said, "At the imperial mausoleum, it was you who saved me?"
Miao Nanyan nodded.
[So much time has passed, and now the Empress Dowager is asking her what she wants?]
She felt a little uneasy.
Could it be that, like Baili Yingfeng, they've come to demand an explanation?
"Your Majesty, are you feeling unwell?"
Miao Nanyan looked the Empress Dowager up and down, but saw that her complexion was rosy and she did not look like someone who was suffering from illness.
Moreover, there are imperial physicians and royal doctors in the palace, so there should be no need for her to treat the patient.
"You should address me as Empress Dowager."
The Empress Dowager was not angry at Miao Nanyan's disrespect.
Miao Nanyan was silent for a moment, then looked up at Empress Dowager Hesheli and slowly said, "This concubine is unworthy."
The Empress Dowager narrowed her eyes and remained silent for a long time.
Connecting the rumors and whispers in the palace with the sound of the zither in Yiqin Palace just now, she guessed what was going on.
"Tonight, I will stay here with you. Please take my pulse."
Miao Nanyan was stunned; she had never imagined that the Empress Dowager would stay at her place.
"But, Your Majesty..."
Miao Nanyan swallowed back the words she was about to say.
After all, the Empress Dowager was Baili Yingfeng's mother. He had ordered that no one was allowed to visit her, but his decree could not restrain his mother.
"You have already cured my illness before, so you must have a unique treatment method."
"Let's use the fumigation with medicine tonight!"
"Yes... Mother Empress."
Miao Nanyan hesitated for a moment, but still addressed the noble woman in front of her as "Empress Mother".
Empress Dowager Hesheli settled into her sleeping quarters, and the palace servants in the Yiqin Palace busied themselves setting off firecrackers.
As the saying goes, when disaster strikes, everyone flies away. Since Miao Nanyan was imprisoned, many of the palace maids and eunuchs in Yiqin Palace have left to find other places, leaving only five or six palace servants.
These people were busy fetching water, washing towels, preparing medicinal herbs, and setting up incense burners, all of them working up a sweat.
Two hours later, the materials for the fumigation were finally ready.
Miao Nanyan was so exhausted that her bones felt like they were about to fall apart.
Looking at the room filled with the aroma of medicinal incense and the Empress Dowager resting on the bed with her eyes closed, Miao Nanyan breathed a sigh of relief and leaned back on the soft couch.
"Your Majesty, please go and rest. We servants will be here to look after the Empress Dowager."
Yun Jin and Xiang Ling said to Miao Nanyang that they felt very sorry for Miao Nanyan, who was exhausted.
Miao Nanyan shook her head: "It's alright, I'll guard it myself."
"If so, so that we can adjust the herbal fumigation promptly if the Empress Dowager is feeling unwell."
Seeing that they couldn't persuade her, Yun Jin and Xiang Ling had no choice but to get a blanket to cover her up.
...
Before long, it was getting light, and the sunlight shone in through the window. Miao Nanyan squinted her eyes slightly.
The sunlight is so blinding...
Miao Nanyan rubbed her eyes and suddenly remembered that last night, in a half-asleep state, she seemed to hear the Empress Dowager wanting to drink vegetable porridge.
Was it vegetable porridge or millet porridge?
Miao Nanyan couldn't figure it out. She dragged her numb legs and sore shoulders to the small kitchen.
It was too early for anyone to be in the small kitchen.
She looked around and found the basket where the meat and vegetables were kept. She washed a piece of meat and a small handful of greens, chopped them up, and set them aside.
A pot sat on the wall shelf in the small kitchen, and she started a fire to cook rice.
Fortunately, she often cooked for herself in Hongxiu Kingdom and also frequently made food for Yunjin and Xiangling. She was already very skilled at chopping wood, starting a fire, and cooking.
Just as the porridge was almost cooked, someone came over.
"Who goes there?!"
When the changing guards of Yiqin Palace saw Miao Nanyan, they shouted in a shrill voice.
"Your Majesty, why are you out here?!" The guard on duty jumped up and down in anger.
"You are forbidden to come out!"
"I know, I just came out to cook a bowl of porridge."
"His Majesty said that if Your Majesty comes out, you will be sent to the Department of Torture!"
Torture Division?
Seriously? I just made a bowl of porridge, do I have to suffer physical pain again?
[Bai Li Ying Feng, you really are so ruthless...]
She didn't want to suffer any more physical pain!
Miao Nanyan held the vegetable and lean meat porridge in her hand, looking around to see if she could find a back door or window to escape quickly.
Just when I was in a dilemma, I heard a somewhat old voice.
"Who upset you so early in the morning?"
"Being so angry so early in the morning, be careful not to damage your liver."
The nanny who served Empress Dowager Hesheli came over.
"What, Her Majesty the Empress Dowager wants something to eat, so she sent someone to prepare it. Do you have a problem with that?"
"Should we go and see the Empress Dowager?!"
"Or perhaps we should go and inform your king?!"
"I deserve to die!" The guard broke out in a cold sweat when he heard that it was the Empress Dowager who gave the order.
"No objection, no objection, please go ahead, Granny. I'll take my leave." The guard bowed and walked away.
"Thank you, Granny." Miao Nanyan thanked the nanny. If the nanny hadn't appeared in time, she would probably have suffered a beating.
The old woman didn't speak, nor did she show any extra expression. She didn't look at Miao Nanyan and walked towards the bedroom without turning her head.
Miao Nanyan followed behind the nanny with her head bowed and eyes lowered.
Upon arriving at the imperial bedchamber, Empress Dowager Hesheli was already dressed and had her hair combed. She was then beginning her washing and grooming process with the help of palace maids.
"Your Majesty, the porridge is here."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
