It took twenty minutes to walk from Consort Xian's Jinxiu Hall to Huaqing Palace. Li Zhu decisively declared that she would take a sedan chair there.
By the time Li Zhu arrived at Jinxiu Hall, the other imperial concubines had also mostly gathered.
At a glance, Li Zhu saw another cluster of exclamation marks, and she even spotted the original novel's female protagonist, Xu Guiyan. Truly, she had long heard of her name.
Li Zhu looked at them, and they looked back at Li Zhu, somewhat dazed.
From somewhere drifted an exclamation—"So beautiful."
Everyone said Li Jieyu was stunning, and seeing her today truly lived up to her reputation.
Under everyone's gaze, Li Zhu calmly stepped forward. "Greetings, Consort Xian."
"Please rise, Li Jieyu." Consort Xian wore a kind and gentle smile as she introduced, "You've already met Consort An. This is Xu Zhaorong from Yongping Houfu."
"Greetings, Consort An. Greetings, Xu Zhaorong."
"Please rise, Li Jieyu."
Consort Xian continued, "This is Imperial Concubine Sun, daughter of the Minister of Revenue."
(Zhaoyi, Zhaorong, and Chongyi are all second-rank concubines.)
"Greetings, Imperial Concubine Sun."
"Please rise, please rise." Imperial Concubine Sun's eyes sparkled as she looked at Li Zhu.
Li Zhu no longer needed to bow, as the other concubines held lower ranks than hers.
"Greetings, Li Jieyu. This humble concubine is Lady Li, daughter of the Grand Censor."
"Greetings, Li Jieyu. This humble concubine is Junior Consort Cui, daughter of the Vice Minister of War."
"Greetings, Li Jieyu. This humble concubine is Minor Consort Li, daughter of the Hangzhou Governor."
"Greetings, Li Jieyu. This humble concubine is…"
"All of you, please rise."
Greeting everyone once was truly exhausting.
Li Zhu let out a long sigh in her heart.
Consort Xian had organized this small gathering under the pretext of flower-viewing, so the concubines did not enter the hall but stood in the courtyard admiring the flowers.
"Li Jieyu, the milk tea you made is truly delicious! How did you come up with it?" Junior Consort Cui asked.
"When I was young, I had a neighbor from the north. They all drank milk tea there, but they added salt. I couldn't quite get used to it, but then I thought, perhaps adding sugar would taste better. When I tried it, it indeed did."
Junior Consort Cui sincerely praised, "Jieyu is truly amazing! If you ever think of any other delicious foods in the future, you must let this humble concubine know!"
Li Zhu smiled brightly. She didn't find Junior Consort Cui presumptuous at all; instead, she thought the girl was truly adorable.
"Certainly!"
Opening the exclamation mark above Junior Consort Cui's head revealed that from start to finish, it was all about food. Since childhood, Junior Consort Cui had spared no expense to buy various recipes for the sake of good food.
Even Li Zhu, a foodie herself, felt inferior in comparison.
Junior Consort Cui wanted to say more but was pushed aside by Imperial Concubine Sun, who had been watching intently.
"Li Jieyu, you are truly so beautiful!" Imperial Concubine Sun's eyes were full of admiration.
"Thank you, Imperial Concubine Sun. You are also very beautiful."
"Please don't misunderstand. This humble concubine has always loved beautiful people!"
The others looked at Imperial Concubine Sun strangely.
"No, no, no! This humble concubine simply enjoys looking at beautiful people! Li Jieyu, you are the most beautiful person I have ever seen in my life!"
Although what Imperial Concubine Sun said wasn't wrong, it truly sounded like flattery and sycophancy.
Su Jieyu looked at Imperial Concubine Sun with disdain, as if saying, "Is it necessary to curry favor to this extent?"
A trace of contempt also flashed in Xu Guiyan's eyes. Imperial Concubine Sun was truly too unrestrained.
But Li Zhu felt that Imperial Concubine Sun wasn't just being obsequious.
Opening the exclamation mark confirmed that Imperial Concubine Sun was indeed an appearance-obsessed person—incurably so.
The main reason she could enter the palace was because she had heard the Emperor was exceptionally handsome.
"Imperial Concubine Sun, thank you for your affection."
"Then, do you like me, Jieyu?"
Was this something that could be said aloud?
The imperial concubines exchanged bewildered glances.
Had Imperial Concubine Sun gone mad? She actually asked Li Jieyu whether she liked her! Shouldn't such words be directed at the Emperor instead?
At that moment, they finally began to believe that Imperial Concubine Sun truly admired Li Jieyu's… appearance.
As Li Zhu looked into Imperial Concubine Sun's expectant eyes, she felt that saying "no" would be terribly cruel.
But claiming to like her… when they had just met would seem hypocritical.
"Imperial Concubine Sun, you are quite adorable."
Imperial Concubine Sun felt both delighted and shy.
Li Jieyu said she was adorable~
"Imperial Concubine Sun, have you seen the Emperor before?"
Imperial Concubine Sun nodded, "Yes, His Majesty is also very handsome."
"Then between the Emperor and myself, who do you think is more beautiful?"
"Who is more beautiful…"
Imperial Concubine Sun struggled with the comparison for a long time before finally reaching a conclusion.
"Li Jieyu, you are more beautiful!"
Li Zhu proudly raised her chin – certified by a beauty connoisseur! She was even more beautiful than that damned emperor!
Their back-and-forth conversation left the other consorts utterly confused.
Something felt strange about the exchange, but they couldn't pinpoint exactly what.
Junior Consort Cui and Imperial Concubine Sun were so enthusiastic that the other imperial concubines didn't even get a chance to speak with Li Zhu. For once, Li Zhu experienced what it felt like to be fought over.
She was so pleased that she didn't even have the mind to seek out gossip.
In the end, the three made plans to meet again tomorrow at Huaqing Palace for another small gathering.
The flower-appreciation gathering concluded perfectly!