thebusnovel Chapter 97 If it were up to you, would you choose Consort Yuan or me?
Chapter 97 If it were up to you, would you choose Consort Yuan or me?
Consort Xian's leg had healed, and she was picking osmanthus flowers with Fei Hua to put in a vase. The osmanthus was indeed fragrant, but it was not as fragrant as the braised dish, which completely masked the fragrance.
She immediately burst into tears, completely bewildered. "Your Highness, what's wrong?"
When will I ever get rid of this habit of crying three times a day? Even the best fortune can't withstand crying every day; it's all washed away by tears.
"When will this end? Just smell this! It's so vulgar! It's a pity that I have to live with this butcher and be bothered by her smell every day. No wonder the Emperor doesn't come to my place anymore."
Fei Huaxin said, "Doesn't it smell wonderful? I'm drooling."
"Your Highness, I heard that Consort Qiong invited Consort Yuan to the Shouxian Palace. The Emperor might also be there soon. Why don't you go and join in the fun? You might even get to see the Emperor."
Ever since Consort Xian went to Qianyuan Palace to complain, the Emperor has never crossed the threshold of Jingfu Palace again.
"Why should I bother to invite this displeasure? If he doesn't come to see me, so be it. It's better if he doesn't come!" Consort Xian became sad again.
Fei Hua then fell silent.
Whatever.
How much money you get and how much work you do—the master himself doesn't have much of a future anyway.
Of all the palaces in the country, Zhaoyang Palace is now the best.
Unfortunately, it's very difficult for palace maids to switch jobs, especially senior palace maids, who are basically locked into their master's life.
As expected, Fei Hua was right. When it was time for dinner, they heard that the Emperor had gone to the Shouxian Palace.
The last time the Emperor visited Shouxian Palace, even Consort Qiong herself probably couldn't remember.
It came suddenly today.
No one at Shouxian Palace knew how to receive the emperor.
"Rise!" The emperor looked at the people kneeling on the ground, but only helped Shen Shixi to her feet and gave Consort Qiong a slight hand to help her up.
"I heard you make some delicious food here, so I've come to try it."
Li Yuanke was going to Zhaoyang Palace, but Li Fude said that Consort Yuan had been invited by Consort Qiong to make a new dish, so he had no choice but to come instead.
"I was just about to send it to His Majesty, but since His Majesty has arrived, let's have a meal together!" Consort Qiong was very confident this time.
Because Shen Shixi was the one demonstrating the whole thing.
This was the emperor's first time eating braised dishes. The flavor was unique and delicious. However, he was unfamiliar with pork offal, especially after it was sliced.
They ate with great relish.
He ordered wine, and Qiongfei and Shen Shixi accompanied him. Shen Shixi drank little, mainly rice wine, which he found uninteresting.
But Consort Qiong loved this drink. She drank it in large bowls with great gusto. When she got drunk, she became particularly uninhibited. "Your Majesty, come on, drink this cup!"
Shen Shixi was frightened by her.
Taotie also felt that her master was beyond saving; she couldn't even bear to look at him.
Li Yuanke was also very chauvinistic. He found it amusing to have his wives and concubines drink with him, but he was naturally displeased with Consort Qiong's attempt to get him drunk. "Consort Qiong is drunk. Help her inside to rest."
Taotie quickly apologized on behalf of his master and helped him inside with the others.
Li Yuanke only instructed, "Take good care of her," before leaving with Shen Shixi. When they passed Jingfu Palace, they saw Consort Xian waiting at the gate, unsure whether she was leaving or returning to the palace, and they bumped into each other.
Consort Xian bowed and then stared intently at the Emperor.
Li Yuanke showed no intention of getting off the imperial carriage. After the carriage paused briefly, he said, "You should go back first. I will visit you another day."
He pulled his cloak tighter and wrapped the person in his arms around him.
Consort Xian's tears fell like rain.
In the Longevity Palace, Consort Qiong drank a bowl of hangover soup, rubbing her head, feeling unwell as the hangover wore off.
Taotie cried anxiously, "Your Majesty, really, why did you drink so much? The Emperor rarely comes here, and instead of trying to keep him here, you insisted on drinking so much, making the Emperor unhappy."
"Do you think the Emperor would stay if I didn't drink like this? It's been so long since the Emperor last came, why would he come? Consort Yuan kindly taught me how to cook delicious food. If I were to take advantage of her to curry favor, what would I become?"
Taotie was still somewhat unwilling, "But the Emperor came to our palace today. If Your Highness hadn't gotten drunk, the Emperor might have stayed."
Consort Qiong smiled faintly, "The Emperor won't keep her. If it were you, would you choose Consort Yuan or me?"
Taotie thought of Yuan Jieyu's stunning beauty, and then looked at his own empress, who was emaciated, with sunken eyes and high cheekbones. She had been malnourished for a long time, and her hair had fallen out so much that it could barely support her hairpins. She looked like a ghost who had been starving for eighteen years. She was indeed unbearable to look at.
Although Consort Qiong was actually very beautiful, she was a stunning beauty before she became obsessed with cooking.
"Your Majesty, you should ask the imperial physician to take good care of your health!"
"Just eat better from now on!" Consort Qiong said. "I'm afraid that if my health isn't properly restored, I might die."
She inadvertently revealed to the Emperor that the Empress had been very kind to Consort Fan, which was tantamount to offending the Empress to the point of no return.
The Empress tried to kill her several times, but luckily she survived.
She deliberately sent the emperor strange and unusual foods to disgust him, and even made herself look like this, all to show weakness to the empress.
The Empress stopped, but this time, someone else poisoned her. Was it the Empress or someone else?
With Shen Shixi sharing the burden, her life should be a little easier from now on.
So, anyone who can survive long in the palace is no fool.
Although Shen Shixi was on good terms with Consort Qiong for the time being, Consort Qiong's current appearance was not much different from that of a skeleton, and she did not look down on her.
Consort Xian stood at the palace gate for a long time. The imperial carriage had long since passed by, but she remained motionless. The night was deep and the dew was heavy; her heart felt as if it had been broken into eight million pieces.
She deeply loved the emperor.
But how many women in the harem do not love the emperor?
In theory, the emperor is the husband of all the empresses and concubines.
"Feihua, the Emperor once favored me, but when has he ever treated me like this? Look at him, when has he ever treated me like this? I never knew he could be so kind to someone!"
Fei Hua had no intention of discussing such matters with her mistress, and advised, "Your Majesty, it's late, let's return to the palace!"
"I'm speaking to you, how dare you try to brush me off?"
The virtuous concubine was furious. Her pale face looked ghostly and somewhat ferocious in the dim light of the palace lamps.
Fei Hua knelt down with a thud. "Your Majesty, this servant dares not. It's getting windy, and this servant is afraid you'll catch a cold."
"In the past, the Emperor said that I recited poetry beautifully, that I wrote good poems, that my paintings were excellent, that my calligraphy was good, and that I looked lovely when I cherished flowers."
He said so many good things, he clearly likes me, so why does he also like someone like Lady Shen? Lady Shen is illiterate, what does the Emperor like about her?
Fei Hua lowered her head and thought to herself, "The Empress insisted on asking the Emperor if he was alright. Of course, the Emperor said he was alright. He just said 'alright.' How could the Emperor possibly say he wasn't alright?"
If it's not good, wouldn't it require saying a few more words?
Seeing that Consort Xian showed no sign of returning, and knowing that Fei Hua had frozen to death, they tried to distract her.
"Your Majesty, you should worry more about the Crown Prince. The Lady has brought messages several times asking you to plead with the Emperor on his behalf."
"Plead for mercy? Didn't I plead for mercy last time? The Emperor is already fed up with me! Yes, ever since I pleaded for mercy last time, the Emperor has stopped treating me well!"
He won't come anymore, he'll never come again, he'll never come again!
Consort Xian shed tears, looked at the bright moon in the sky, and recited: "The moon is lonely in the sky, the wind is sad on the wall. I raise a candle to look in the mirror, and my tear stains are on my makeup."
Does he despise me? It's not a flower, but he wants to punish my brother! How can I not beg him for help?
Fei Huaxin says, is that what you call pleading for mercy? You're clearly accusing the emperor of being fickle and unfaithful.
Anyone would prefer to be with someone like Yuan Jieyu. Who would want to watch you cry in the wind every day, pouring out your feelings to the flowers like a lunatic?
This is also the Emperor's fault. He insisted that Consort Xian's burying of flowers was good, and her poetry was good, making him seem like a madman. Now even he himself is disgusted with her.
The night was deep, the dew was heavy, and the wind was cold. The mistress and her servant stood at the palace gate. The wind from the long street blew in, making their clothes flutter as if they were about to ride the wind away at any moment.
Fei Hua couldn't help but sneeze several times.
Consort Xian finally realized how cold it was. But after returning home, she sat under the lamp again, repeatedly writing down the poems she had just recited. She wrote them, burned them, burned them again, and wrote them down again, tears streaming down her face.
The temperature dropped at night, and Shen Shixi snuggled into Li Yuanke's arms, as she was afraid of the cold.
Li Yuanke held her in his arms, and the two slept soundly.
She felt suffocated and became restless. Li Yuanke instinctively stroked her back like he was petting a cat.
The next day, after she got up, she asked Bai Ping to add a cotton quilt under the bed. "It's getting colder. Have Chao Yu ask Li Yuanyin if the stone ash has been dug out yet, and have him send some into the palace. I told him I needed some."
Chao Yu had gone to run errands. After finishing her meal, she went for a stroll in the Imperial Garden. She had just reached the Plum Garden when she heard a desperate cry coming from the direction of the artificial hill: "Let me die! Let me go! Let me die!"
Shen Shixi turned and left.