Imperial Garden

  "Zhen Pin's sister arrived quite early today," Ning Shunyi called out after waking up, and then smiled.

  Su Jing stood up, "The queen's banquet, the concubines dare not be late, but Ning sister arrived even earlier than the concubines, it seems that the concubines are not considered early either."

  "Hmph," Ning Shunyi snorted disdainfully. "Zhen Niang's mouth is getting more and more outspoken."

  Su Jing didn't get annoyed and revealed a genuine smile, "Didn't Ning sister always know?"

  "You" have an extremely gentle and elegant demeanor.

  Xian Fei originally regarded Su Jing as her second Shu Gui Fei, but now it seems that she can't hold back her temper after all. She's still young and impulsive. Thinking of this, Xian Fei slightly relaxed and walked into the pavilion, "Zhen younger sister is still young, just joking around, why must Ning younger sister take it so seriously?"

  Su Jingci stood on one side as a background after being called up for the ceremony.

  Ning Shunyi's face was still calm, but her eyes flashed with anger. She forced a smile and said, "This is to be expected, Zhen younger sister is still young and ignorant, how can concubines like us bother to argue with her?"

  A few people exchanged a few words in an insipid manner and returned to their seats, with Ning Shunyi occasionally casting a resentful glance at Su Jingfan, who secretly found it amusing.

  She's just a humble Shunyi, wanting to use her to show off is somewhat overestimating oneself. Moreover, yesterday even if the Emperor stayed at Zuiyun Pavilion, it was still about snatching someone from Consort Shu's hands. After all, the Emperor went to Chonghua Palace first, so what business does Ning Xueying have with her?

  I just don't know if Shu Guifei will also find trouble for her.

  "Her Majesty the Empress has arrived, and Consort Shu is also here," a eunuch's shrill voice rang out from the side.

  "Pay respects to Her Majesty the Empress, pay respects to Noble Consort Shu," all the imperial consorts knelt down and paid their respects.

  The queen took a few steps forward, with an elegant demeanor, "Ladies, please rise and take your seats."

  "Thank you, Your Majesty."

  Su Jing's position was in the middle, slightly to the back. She looked at the queen who wore a stone-blue brocade robe with large peony flowers embroidered with gold thread, paired with a phoenix hairpin symbolizing her status. The pearl hairpins on her head were extremely luxurious, and just one silver-plated golden gemstone-encrusted phoenix bird hairpin was worth a fortune. She looked dignified and majestic, without losing any of her majesty.

  Shu brocade is hard to come by, one piece worths a thousand gold, the empress actually made it into clothes and wore it outside, such a big hand naturally attracted everyone's attention. Latest chapter full text.

  Looking at Shu Gui Fei, she changed her usual elegant and simple appearance, a five-color embroidered silk dress made her look much younger, her eyes sparkled, her double buns were adorned with a celestial hairpin, and her makeup was exquisite, giving off an ethereal aura. This extremely showy outfit highlighted her delicate features even more, almost instantly capturing the attention of others.

  Even Su Jinglian was a woman, she couldn't help but admire that Shu Guifei's beauty was truly exceptional.

  The empress had run into Consort Shu on her way here, and at first glance, she knew what her purpose was today. Although she was angry in her heart, as the empress, she couldn't say much.

  Looking back on the nearly ten years of open and secret struggles between the two, the empress had always known that her appearance was inferior to that of Shu Guifei, and for the sake of the dignity of the legitimate wife, she had always dressed herself in a dignified manner.

  Shu Gui Fei used to be a side concubine, now even though she is Shu Gui Fei, she is still just a "concubine", cannot wear bright red clothes, and the patterns on her clothes also cannot use peony or phoenix. So naturally the Empress likes to wear these clothes that no matter how much she wants to wear them, for the rest of her life she will not be able to wear them.

  A sense of superiority is thus produced.

  "Alright, all you sisters are staring at Shu sister in a daze. Take a look at yourselves, not one of you is not young and beautiful, why be envious of others?"

  The queen's words implied that Shu Guifei was belittled, ridiculing her for being old and no longer beautiful despite her elaborate dress.

  The other consorts actually wanted to agree with the empress, but the reality was right in front of them, and the gap was too big. Moreover, Shu Guifei was not someone they could afford to offend, so they just watched from the sidelines, silently.

  The Empress Shu didn't seem angry either, she just smiled faintly, as if it was only a joke, and dismissed it with a smile.

  "It's not that, I sometimes look at these younger sisters and feel like I'm old," said the virtuous imperial concubine, easing the empress's embarrassment.

  In any case, she is still of the imperial queen's faction.

  The queen's complexion indeed improved a bit, "Bring out all the flowers and set up the banquet too."

  Du Wanru came in slowly, supporting the hand of a palace maid, and stepped into the pavilion. "I'm late, please forgive me, Your Majesty."

  The queen's expression didn't change much, but she said with her mouth, "Get up quickly, I've told you that the most important thing is to have a safe pregnancy, and it's not good to run around back and forth."

  "The queen is considerate of her maids, it's the maid's good fortune. However, since the queen has already excused the maid from paying respects in the morning, it would be ungrateful for the maid to waste another thought of the queen," Du Wanru slightly bowed and said.

  The queen's eyes showed a few points of satisfaction, "You have a heart, come in and sit down quickly. Huizhu, change Du Guiren's tea to water, pregnant women should not drink tea, you must pay more attention from now on."

  "Yes, I thank you for your reminder, Concubine Xie."

  Su Jingxiao silently ridiculed in her heart. Now that she's been pregnant for so long, it's not suitable to drink tea until now that you "remind" me, and you're really doing your job thoroughly.

  Everyone saw Du Wanru coming towards them, and they all subconsciously avoided her. After all, she was pregnant, and no matter how the child in her belly was doing, if something unexpected happened, it would be bad to get involved.

  "Sister," Du Wanru sat down in her own seat, casting a disdainful glance at Du Wanyan sitting below her, and called out affectionately, "I thought you didn't think I'd come, if I had known earlier, we two sisters could have traveled together."

  Du Wan didn't look at her either, lightly saying, "I left early, so naturally I'm not on the same schedule as Du Guiren."

  "Sister, you're being too hard on me. I'm pregnant with the emperor's child, and even if it's a bit slow, it's understandable. Sister..." She said, wiping away tears with her handkerchief, looking as though she was heartbroken and couldn't continue speaking.

  "What's wrong? Why are you crying all of a sudden?" He Lian Lingyu said, sitting across from her with an air of nonchalance.

  This shout drew everyone's attention to the Du sisters.

  Du Wanru dropped two tears, "Nothing, just the strong wind blowing into my eyes, sorry to trouble all of you sisters to care."

  Du Wan's lips were pursed, her face blushed with shame, and she didn't say a word.

  Everyone else can't stand Du Wanru's pretentious behavior, a beautiful woman like a pear flower in spring with rain, but it's only worth it if there's a man to appreciate it. Women have long been aware of these tactics and find them disgusting when they see others doing the same thing.

  "Nadou sister should rub her eyes well, there's still a prince in her belly, be more careful, it's not good to hurt the child after all," said Shufei, who was always one to speak out of turn.

  Du Wanru, unusually, didn't get angry, but instead smiled and said, "Princess Shu is right, younger sister will remember."

  The empress's fist hit the cotton wool, and she suddenly felt uninterested, and didn't continue the conversation.

  Everyone here chatted about jewelry and clothes, such as the emperor rewarding Ning Shunyi with a nine-turn agate bracelet made of red gold a few days ago, and rewarding An Liangdi with several pieces of Guang brocade fabric. After a round of implicit criticism, the topic gradually shifted to Su Jing's body.

  "Consorts heard that the Emperor went to Chonghua Palace yesterday and gave all the new Mao Feng tea that was offered this year to Sister Shu. The Emperor really dotes on Sister Shu," said Xiang Yuyue, putting down her teacup with envy.

  "Yes, in the palace, I haven't even seen a shadow of Mao Feng, fortunately, I don't like tea either. This tea, no matter how good it is, tastes all the same to me," said Xian Fei, following suit.

  Shu Gui Fei slightly hooked the corner of her mouth, Xiang Jie Yu saw that she didn't speak, and felt angry in her heart, continuing to say, "The Emperor seemed to have gone to Zhen Miao Miao's place last night, right? The concubines heard it from Zi Zhu this morning and thought they had misheard."

  This sentence is already very provocative.

  "Yes, Concubine thought that the Emperor would go to Shu sister's Chonghua Palace or return to Qianqing Palace, but didn't expect" Ji Xiaoyi said in a timely manner.

  This sentence has been made extremely clear already.

  Only two masters were present, one was gazing at them with a faint smile, while the other was holding his tea cup and gently stirring it, both remained silent.

  "Well, the Emperor's whereabouts are not for you to comment on," the Empress said calmly, and then pointed to the several pots of narcissus placed in front of her, "All of my sisters, take a look at the flowers."

  Qixiao Yi hooked the corner of her mouth, "The concubine heard that yesterday the emperor had someone send a pot of narcissus to Zhen's sister, and the empress dowager said that the pot of flowers was a rare variety, only one pot was obtained this year, but she didn't even take a look."

  This sentence is hinting that Su Jingfen was disrespectful to the Empress Dowager and also gained the Emperor's favor.

  "Yes, Sister Zhen didn't bring it out today either. Let's take a look with the other sisters. It's more fun to share than to enjoy alone. Sister Zhen shouldn't be selfish," Xiang Yurou said with a smile.

  The queen's face was already very bad, yesterday the emperor sent Su Shun to send flowers, she learned the news and smashed a set of fine cups, the emperor was slapping her in the face, with great difficulty today pretending to hold a banquet as if nothing had happened, but unexpectedly they brought it up again.

  But compared to those who were jealous and resentful, she obviously hated this "culprit" even more.

  Su Jingxi let out a long sigh in her heart, the empress's gaze was palpable even without looking up, and her face showed fear. "Whether it is a concubine or not, it is the emperor's reward, the concubine dare not take liberties, can only put it well in the Drunken Cloud Pavilion, and have someone serve it well."

  The emperor's rewards, whether it is the imperial concubines or the high-ranking officials in the court, the Imperial Household Department will register and record them. Unless they are gold or silver, all other items must be kept at home for safekeeping. If they are not properly preserved, it is a crime. Not only are they not allowed to be given away to others, but they are also not allowed to be pawned or traded. Otherwise, it would be considered disrespecting the imperial family and would be punishable by death of nine clans.

  "Yesterday, I heard the Emperor mention that there are several more pots in Zichen Hall, which are even more rare and valuable than mine. However, it seems that only the sisters like them, so why not go ask the Emperor?"

  Palace Concubine (Yi Shu)

  Gong Shu