In the evening, Chen Sheng got some information. Emperor Chunjia really went to Mian Fu Palace to look after Queen Mother of Honor, but Queen Mother Ji let him leave before long. According to the arrangement of the Empress, he should sleep at Rong Hua Weiâs residence in Yi Jia Palace.
Yun Fenghuang sneered, âIf so, Rong Hua Wei wonât talk to me jealously tomorrow⊠Well, I forget that we donât need to pay respects tomorrow.â
She was not very concerned about Queen Mother Jiâs health, because two days ago, Queen Mother Ji looked really well when she paid respects to her. It was estimated that she was at most had an ailment, such as cold. She would be fine in just three or two days, and the ailment wouldnât be a big deal.
So, after Chen Sheng finished reporting, she gave some tips to him and waved him to leave. She also enjoined Xi Le to leave. After that, she thought about the next step alone.
So far, her plan had proceeded smoothly.
The threat of her hostess had basically been resolved. Hu Zhu Palace, which had been commonly regarded as a bad place by all the people of the Imperial Harem, was comfortable to live now; and it was also under way to gain the trust of Empress Ji. The only person to worry about was probably Noble Consort Shu.
But Noble Consort Shu was not suitable to be the scapegoat for her future abortion.
After all, they were all sisters of Yun tribe. According to the rule of the Imperial Harem, only hostesses could be allowed to raise imperial children. Therefore, no matter how many children Yun Fenghuang and Yun Qingman would give birth, they couldnât raise their own children and must hand over them to a hostess, unless they were promoted to Jie Yu⊠So, who would be the better choice to raise their children than Noble Consort Shu?
In that case, from sentiment and reason, Noble Consort Shu would not target the two sisters on this issue. On the contrary, if her sisters were pregnant, she would become the most reliable protector.
After all, it could be said they gave birth to a child for her.
Given the reason above, plus the fact Noble Consort Shu was not as fool as Jie Yu Yue, Yun Fenghuang thought carefully and finally gave up the plan to direct against Noble Consort Shu.
However, Nian Xuanâs considerations were also reasonable. No matter what Emperor Chunjiaâs purpose was, he did live in Xi Xing Building for a few nights. The pregnant news came soon after Yun Fenghuangâs mother and aunt got married respectively, so if she also inherited such constitutionâŠ
Yun Fenghuang frowned. If the Emperor was in power, it would of course be a welcomed thing for a newly promoted consort or concubine to be pregnant. Not to mention the ambition to live long, a beauty would always lose her husbandâs love before she was old since ancient times. But if she gave birth to a child, regardless of male or female, for the royal family, she would be noble because of her child, thus having a foothold in the Imperial Harem ever since.
But at this time, Emperor ChunjiaâŠ
Given what happened to Noble Consort Shu and Jie Yu Yue before, even Noble Consort Gui, whose status was only lower than the Empress, was also afraid and hadnât dared to step out of Yan Lan Palace yet.
Yun Fenghuang was merely an insignificant Gui Ren and had no support behind her. Once she was pregnant, wasnât the news a nail in her coffin?
Noble Consort Shu would protect her?
Not to mention that Noble Consort Shu didnât make it to protect her own child. Even if she had learned the lesson with pains and would be able to protect Yun Fenghuang to safely give birth, what would happen to her after she gave birth?
Maybe it would be what Ms. Xie said before that the child would be kept while the mother would be killed.
Yun Fenghuang originally didnât have any affections to Emperor Chunjia, so she had no intention to risk her life for his offspring. Even if considering that the child was also her own child, she was only fifteen years old this year, too young to have a child eagerly, so she really couldnât sacrifice herself to keep her child.
Therefore, contraception and even abortion were imperative.
But just like what she extorted Yuan Lianniang. Why didnât she frame someone since she decided to do it anyway?
Maybe there would be unexpected gains?
Now that Nobel Consort Shu was not suitable, Yun Fenghuang recalled all the hostesses in the Imperil Harem, and suddenly thought of⊠Zhao Yuan Ji, the Empressâs cousin, had forced her to change her name before?
Although Zhao Yuan Ji didnât make it happen in the end, the grudges had been made.
If she didnât aim at her at this time, she would be shameful for her reputation of seeking revenge for the smallest grievance!
The most important thing was that Nian Xuan was once punished by Queen Mother Yuan, so Yun Fenghuang was still doubtful for her credibility.
But as for dealing with the concubine of Jiâs FamilyâŠâŠ it was estimated that even if Queen Mother Yuan knew it, it would be restrained for her not to help Yun Fenghuang, not to mention doing some damage!
Even if she wanted to do some damage, she would threaten Yun Fenghuang after the thing had been done. However, Yun Fenghuang was not afraid of it. After all, she didnât intend to allow Queen Mother Yuan and her niece to live that longâŠ
In a word, after she made the decision, she summoned Xi Le with satisfaction to serve her to wash, dress and finally was ready to go to bed.
âWe donât need to pay respects in the next three days. Tell them to clean up Zi Bei Hall hurriedly.â Yun Fenghuang threw the hot towel that had wiped her face back into the silver basin and looked at the bronze mirror, âXi Xing Building is indeed a little bit small, and it is really a little crowed with so many people living here.â
Xi Le agreed, and also made some trivial suggestions which were generally about reminding Yun Fenghuang that she could also ask for some decoration and the like with regard to her grade⊠Of course, she should ask the hostess for those things. Anyway, now Yuan Lianniangâs momentum was taken away, and it was just the time to get what she wanted.
The master and the maid discussed how to plunder something from Ning Bi Hall tomorrow for a while, and then Yun Fenghuang seemed to inadvertently ask, âBy the way, how is Liu Hong?â
âGui Ren, I think she works very diligently, only she doesnât like talking.â Xi Le looked at the basin and said softly, âBut she had been serving in Small Peng Lai before, and the master there hadnât gone there for so many days⊠I think because she just comes here, she may be worried that talks much means errs much. It may be better after she gets along with us for a longer time.â
Yun Fenghuang said âHmmâ and continued, âSmall Peng Lai is indeed a deserted place. Because she helped me, I thought that even though Xi Xing Building is not a great place, itâs more lively than Small Peng Lai. But my grade is still low now. With limited manpower, I canât afford to keep a lazy maid. If she is not diligent, although I personally asked Her Highness for her, I will definitely request Her Highness to send her away.â
Xi Le puckered in a smile, âGui Ren, if so, I should also serve you carefully, lest one day I would be rejected by you.â
âAlas, Iâm rejecting you now. Such a narrow-minded maid.â Yun Fenghuang joked, âI just spoke of Liu Hong, but you even thought of yourself.â
âGui Ren, I only got the courage to joke with you only because you are nice to us at ordinary times. Otherwise, how dare I?â Seeing her walking away from the basin shelf, Xi Le walked there hurriedly and said while cleaning up, âGui Ren, donât worry. There are a total of eight servants here now, so it can be seen clearly at a glance that who works carefully and who is lazy. If she is really lazy, I would be the first who wonât pardon her!â
Yun Fenghuang nodded, âOkay, itâs getting late. You can go to rest. Itâs kind of busy recently, and you must be tired to follow me here and there, so you donât have to serve me tonight. Xi Xing Building is small, and the place where you live is only several steps away from my bedroom. I havenât been needing to be served at night, and His Majesty is not here today. Letâs both share a free night.â
Xi Le declined a few times and agreed finally when seeing her firm attitude.
In the evening, Yun Fenghuang held her breath in deep concentration and waited for a long time, but nothing happened. She wondered whether Liu Hong was not familiar with the environment as a newcomer, so she could not act immediately?
It was pity that she had prepared a lot of words to answer Gongxiang Xiaoâs questions⊠What a waste of her feelingsâŠ
Yun Fenghuang fell asleep with pity. She got up early the next morning, commanded a few words about moving, and went to Ning Bi Hall to plunder something for her own use.
Yuan Lianniang still didnât show up this time. It was estimated that she was still struggling.
Yun Fenghuang had a few conversations with Auntie Zhu in the side hall. When she was about to cut into the topic, there was a prying servant in the outside room. Auntie Zhu frowned, apologized to Yun Fenghuang and went out to have a look.
Soon after, she came back with a glimmer of smile and congratulated to Yun Fenghuang, saying, âThe Titled Madams outside the palace learned that Queen Mother of Honor was ill. Those above Third-Grade all handed over booklets to pay respects. Queen Mother of Honor was moved by their concerns, so she allowed them to pay respects out of Mian Fu Palace and get together with the concubines in the Imperial Harem for a little while⊠Gui Ren, I heard that your adoptive mother, Ms. Xie, has also entered the Imperial Harem with Duchess Yi, and is now heading for Tong Xia Palace. Gui Ren, you should hurry up, or you wonât be able to talk much if you are late!â
Yun Fenghuang was quite surprised. Yun Qingman was still worried yesterday that the short reunion of the concubines with their families would be cancelled because of the illness of Queen Mather Ji. Out of their surprise, the illness even contributed to the advance of the reunion.
She didnât believe that it was purely because Queen Mother Ji was considerate and charitable. Queen Mother Ji probably had other considerationsâŠ
For example, she deliberately gave people of Ning Bi Hall an opportunity to communicate with people of Earl Xingningâs Mansion?
Earlier, Gongxiang Xiao and Yuan Lianniang both said that Queen Mother Ji and her niece Empress Ji had similar temperaments that they were both not satisfied with only taking charge of the Imperil HaremâŠ
However, Jiâs Family didnât like the Empress to interfere in the politics, worrying that if women shifted their ground and were disloyal to Jiâs Family, then it would be not good. The two also didnât dare to do it too obviously. Therefore, Empress Ji won Yun Fenghuang over to take the lead on behalf of her, while Queen Mother Ji⊠Was she planning something as well?
Yun Fenghuang frowned. She originally thought that things related to Yuan Lianniang would be quite smooth, but the situation seemed not positive at this momentâŠ
Although the purpose of the aunt and niece of Jiâs Family was the same, Yun Fenghuang didnât think she had any reason to have a good cooperation with the Queen Mother on her plan. After all, if Queen Mother Ji did everything the Empress wanted, then the Empress could achieve her goal without Yun Fenghuang. If so, would she continue to support a restless concubine who was commonly recognized to be restless by the Imperil Harem?
She had to disturb Queen Mother Jiâs plan!
The problem was⊠Yun Fenghuang couldnât get in touch with Queen Mother Ji at all except to pay respects to her. Besides, she knew nothing about what the Queen Mother did in privateâŠ
She sighed and decided to go to Tong Xia Palace to see Ms. Xie and others first.
âYou stay here to supervise Ning Bi Hall.â Yun Fenghuang first went back to Xi Xing Building to change clothes. During this period, she enjoined Xi Le, âAmong so many servants in Xi Xing Building, you are the one I trust the most and think highly of, so I can rest assured only when you are in charge of the overall situation now.â
But Xi Le said, âGui Ren, if you are not there, I can hardly get into Ning Bi Hall. At most, I can only watch who is coming, how long he or she has been staying, etc., but all of these things can be done by Xi Jing and Liu Hong. Guo Ren, I can accompany you to Noble Consort Shuâs residence, canât I?â
These words sounded like that a maid was competing for favor, but Yun Fenghuang suspected that Empress Ji didnât trust her, and told Xi Le to seize the opportunity to supervise her contact with the people of Duke Yiâs Mansion or Ms. Xie. So, she agreed after a pause, âAlright.â
She was now at the critical point of fighting for the Empressâs trust, and had no need to be suspected by the Empress for such trivial matters.
After Yun Fenghuang agreed to bring Xi Le, she glanced at Xi Jing and Liu Hong again, and said, âLiu Hong, you can also come with us.â
There was nothing wrong with this arrangement. Among the four maids, Nian Xuan was still lying on bed, and among the three maids who were able to work, Liu Hong only came here shortly. When only one capable maid would be left, of course Liu Hong would not be the choice.
But before Liu Hong answered, Xi Le further said, âGui Ren, weâve got many staffs to be packed. Iâm afraid that Xi Jing canât finish the work alone!â
Seeing Yun Fenghuang didnât immediately agree with her but frowned slightly this time, she knew that her master was not happy, so she explained immediately, âGui Ren, you just asked us to move some things to Zi Bei Hall first. Chen Sheng and others can move the ordinary things, but I think itâs better to let the maids move the things in your bedroom.â
Yun Fenghuang disagreed with these words, but considering Empress Jiâs face, she thought for a while and sullenly said in the end, âWell, do it as you said.â
Hearing the displeasure in her tone, the attendants did not dare to speak.
Xi Le lowered her head but didnât mean to ask for guilt.
A few moments later, the master and the maid came out of Hu Zhu Palace, and walked through a deserted and uninhabited road as usual, leaving only the two peopleâs sound of the footsteps on the long palace road.
Suddenly, Xi Le accelerated her pace slightly to stop Yun Fenghuang and said softly, âGui Ren, please wait a moment. Shizi is waiting for you over there!â