Chapter 84: Paying respects to the Imperial Concubine 1

On the second day, Su Jingyao woke up slowly at noon.

She slowly opened her eyes, with a hint of drowsiness and tiredness in them.

When I woke up, Jun Zechen had already gone to court.

She went to bed so late last night that she only slept for less than three hours.

Jun Zechen slept even less, but who kept him so busy? Running back and forth between Zhaochun Palace and Yikun Palace, haha.

If the concubines from the harem had not come to pay their respects to her this morning, Su Jingyao really wanted to stay in bed and sleep until noon.

"My master, let me dress you up. In half an hour, all the concubines should be here." Miaoxia gently helped her up, her voice gentle.

Su Jingyao walked to the dressing table and sat down.

Miaoxia first combed all her hair carefully, then tied it up. Soon it formed a bulging bun that surrounded her small face.

She also carefully added red makeup to her face, which was just right, making her look more luxurious, elegant, dignified and generous.

This morning's palace dress was a bright yellow imperial concubine's dress, and Su Jingyao changed into it with Miaoxia's help.

After she put on this dress, coupled with her indifferent and distant look at the moment, she was just like the almighty Queen Mother of the West who had descended to the mortal world. She had both the otherworldly indifference of a goddess and the graceful and noble temperament of the Queen Mother.

When Miaoyue walked in, her eyes suddenly lit up, and her eyes were full of admiration.

"Master, not only are you the most beautiful woman in the harem, but your temperament and demeanor are also outstanding among the women in the harem!"

Miaoyun on the side also quickly said: "Of course, all the concubines in the harem should kneel at the master's feet!"

Su Jingyao raised the corners of her mouth slightly, revealing a faint smile, and then walked gracefully to Miaoyun.

She extended her index finger and gently tapped Miaoyun's forehead, with a hint of smile in her voice.

"Miaoyun is right."

Su Jingyao really enjoyed the feeling of being superior. Not only did she want the women in the harem to pay her respects and greetings every day, she also wanted ministers to pay her respects and people all over the world to visit her.

Her name will go down in history as a wise and virtuous lady.

This feeling makes Su Jingyao feel that everything she has been working for is worth it.

"Master, I have already spread the news that your Majesty went to Yikun Palace last night in a small circle." Miaoyun said softly.

The small scope that Miaoyun mentioned is naturally already known by those who should know it.

Su Jingyao nodded slightly and said nothing more.

But Miaoyue on the side had a look of confusion on her face and frowned.

"Master, last night was the day of your promotion. If you hadn't pretended to be asleep, His Majesty would definitely not have gone to the Yikun Palace. Why did Master let His Majesty go to the Yikun Palace?"

Su Jingyao tilted her head slightly, with a nonchalant look on her face and a slight twitch at the corner of her mouth.

"Didn't he come back in the end?" His tone was extremely calm.

Su Jingyao has a good grasp of some modern knowledge.

It is the transition period between spring and summer recently. The weather changed very quickly last night, and the wind was quite strong.

Looking up at the sky, the clouds are looking like cumulus clouds and are relatively low. It is obvious that this is severe convective weather.

Such weather conditions are very likely to cause lightning.

Such a good opportunity, naturally she would try it out more, not to mention, she had other plans.

Last night, Ling Yue called Jun Zechen over. Presumably, her self-torture tactics had been perfected to perfection during the confinement period.

However, even so, didn’t Jun Zechen still obediently return to Zhaochun Palace after hearing the thunder?

Ling Yue no longer posed any threat to her.

However, this did not prevent Su Jingyao from using Ling Yue to protect herself. Since she had decided to use her, she had to use her thoroughly.

There was a hint of ruthlessness in Su Jingyao's eyes.

Now that there are many concubines in the harem, she naturally has to find ways to make the situation more chaotic. By sitting on the mountain and watching the tigers fight, she will ascend to the throne of empress with a clear conscience.

"Master, the concubines have almost all arrived. Concubine Shangguan is the first to arrive today."

Miaoyun had a faint smile on her face, which hinted at her satisfaction with Concubine Shangguan, and she spoke in a slow and unhurried voice.

"Who hasn't arrived yet?" Su Jingyao raised her eyes slightly.

"The Concubine Shen hasn't arrived yet."

Miaoyun responded softly, her expression still calm, not showing the slightest surprise at Concubine Shen's late arrival.

After all, this was the master's order, and the master and Concubine Shen were "rivals" who could not tolerate each other.

When Your Majesty first ascended the throne, Concubine Shen came to seek refuge with the master, but the master had not yet completely established his foothold in the harem at that time, and Concubine Shen was extremely disliked by Your Majesty at that time.

Naturally, the master would not have any direct contact with Concubine Shen on the surface.

But behind the scenes, there will naturally be some obscure connections.

At first, the master's palace dress was stained with the juice of red-top red, which was poisonous. At that time, the master only revealed it to Concubine Ye and Concubine Chu.

Concubine Chu had just entered the palace, and her father, the Minister of Personnel, was her master's subordinate, so naturally she did not dare to attack her master.

But Concubine Ye's father was the Grand Commander, the chief military commander, so naturally he came to the palace wanting to compete for the highest position.

This is also the reason why the master set a trap for Concubine Ye, but Concubine Ye was extremely smart and did not let herself take action.

Concubine Yan was also a fool. The person her father, Doctor Guanglu, left for her in the harem happened to be one of the embroiderers who made the master's palace costumes, named Jinglin.

Not only did Jing Lin follow Concubine Yan's instructions and add vermilion juice to his palace dress, but in order to prevent himself from being exposed, he even brutally killed the embroiderer Jing Xin just to clear himself of suspicion.

However, the master's target in this palace dress incident was Concubine Ling, so naturally he would not let the matter get too escalated.

Although Concubine Yan was the concubine's daughter of Doctor Guanglu, Doctor Guanglu was also an important official in the court.

The master naturally could not allow Doctor Guanglu's daughter to be punished because of the master just after entering the palace, otherwise it would be very likely to damage the relationship between Doctor Guanglu and the old man.

Moreover, if Concubine Yan is punished, it will be easy to implicate Concubine Ye, and the matter will only get worse.

Later, the master asked Concubine Shen to reveal Zhu Dinghong to Concubine Lin. Concubine Lin's family was not in the capital, and the master originally wanted Concubine Lin to take the blame, but he did not expect that Concubine Lin would be able to get away with it.

Concubine Lin informed her close friend Shen Biwan (now Shen Cainü) from Jincheng about this matter. It is unknown what kind of deal the two made, but Shen Cainü actually took the risk of poisoning her mistress.

This means that the master's palace dress was actually poisoned by two groups of people, but this was only known to the master. How could anyone know that there were no other people involved?

And Shen Cainu was the one who took the blame in the end.

After finding out so much, the master naturally doesn't want Your Majesty to continue investigating. If he continues to investigate, no one will be well off.

When Miaoyue thought of this, she just hoped that Concubine Shen knew that she could only rely on her master for everything now and would not have any other ideas.

Su Jingyao didn't want to form cliques in the harem. After all, she was the imperial concubine, with the same status as the vice empress. In the absence of the empress, she was the master of the harem.

Naturally, these concubines must be treated equally, and no obvious favoritism should be shown to either Concubine Shen or Concubine Shangguan.

Lady Shangguan was fine, after all, her family background was ordinary, she was not favored by Jun Zechen, and her position was not high either.

But Concubine Shen is a hidden knife in her mind. This knife must be hidden in the dark, and now is not the right time to reveal it.

While thinking, Su Jingyao walked towards the main hall.

At this time, all the concubines had arrived, and Concubine Shen was the last one to arrive.

After Su Jingyao sat steadily on the magnificent phoenix throne, all the concubines stood up at once.

Except for Concubine Ling and Concubine Chu, all the concubines were in the palace at this time.

"Your humble concubine\/your humble concubine pays homage to the Imperial Concubine Jiayi. May the Imperial Concubine be blessed with good health." All the concubines said in unison, their voices echoing in the hall.

Su Jingyao straightened her back, sat upright on the phoenix throne, raised her chin slightly, and had a cold expression, yet with a hint of majesty and nobility.

"Get up."

"Thank you, Royal Concubine Jiayi." The concubines responded and then took their seats one by one.

Concubine Shen sat in the first seat on the left side of Su Jingyao with a hint of pride on her face. She was now the number one concubine.

Concubine Lin sat in the first seat to Su Jingyao's right, still as delicate and charming as ever.

Concubine Ye sat quietly below Concubine Shen with a peaceful smile on her face.

Concubine Bai sat below Concubine Lin with a gentle expression, while Concubine Shangguan sat below Concubine Bai with a look that showed a hint of flattery towards the Imperial Concubine.

"Isn't it too late for Concubine Shen today? We sisters have been waiting in Zhaochun Palace to congratulate the Royal Concubine."

The one who spoke was Concubine Bai. She tilted her head slightly, raised the corners of her mouth, and had a hint of provocation in her eyes. She spoke neither quickly nor slowly.

When Su Jingyao heard this, she slowly turned her gaze towards her, with a hint of reminiscence in her eyes.

When Concubine Bai first entered the Eastern Palace, she was also this eloquent when she paid her first respects.

Su Jingyao raised her eyebrows slightly. Although Concubine Bai had never been favored by Jun Zechen, her father was the Minister of the Central Secretariat, which gave her enough confidence.

As long as Concubine Bai didn't do anything wrong, no one would treat her easily even if she was a little harsh in words sometimes, and her status would naturally rise.

After hearing what Bai Guipin said, Concubine Shen was slightly stunned at first, and then she chuckled with a hint of disapproval in her laughter.

"Princess Bai, I just didn't sleep well due to the heavy rain last night, so I got up a little late."

As he spoke, there was a hint of arrogance in his eyes.

Then Concubine Shen turned her gaze to Su Jingyao with a smile on her face.

"The Imperial Concubine is very generous and tolerant. I don't think she would mind."

After hearing this, Shangguan Jieyu couldn't help but sneer, and then started to make sarcastic remarks.

"Shen Fei, the Imperial Concubine is generous and tolerant, but as a concubine you must be respectful and polite. The title of 'Shen' was specially given to you by the Imperial Concubine, Shen Fei, you must be careful with your words and actions."

Shangguan Jieyu said this with a sharp look in her eyes and a slight curl of her lips, even emphasizing the word "intentionally".

When Concubine Shen heard this, she no longer wanted to pretend to smile. No matter what the word "Shen" meant, she was the only concubine in the palace with a title, except for the Imperial Concubine.

The former Crown Princess, now Concubine Ling, would always call her "sister" when she saw her, haha.

Concubine Shen glared at Shangguan Jieyu fiercely and said with gritted teeth: "I used to think Shangguan Jieyu was a dull person, but now she has a backer and is bolder."

When Concubine Shen mentioned the word "backer", she deliberately glanced at Su Jingyao with a meaningful look in her eyes.