The next day, after having breakfast at the Palace of Heavenly Purity, Qing Luo was sent back to the East Courtyard of the Xianfu Palace along with her came a large pile of rewards.
Among these rewards were fashionable brocades, nourishing medicinal herbs, and the beautiful jewelry and silver that were never missing from any reward.
Who could blame Emperor Zhangping for having already decided in his heart that Qing Luo was a little money-grubber?
He hadn’t known it before, but now that he did, he naturally wouldn’t skimp on spending silver to make his Concubine happy, considering it compensation for the grievance Little Concubine had suffered this time.
The rewards were delivered openly, without any attempt to hide it.
After the Imperial Concubines learned of this, it was hard not to feel that the Emperor was deliberately slapping Consort Xi in the face.
“Look, the one you want to make things difficult for, I insist on favoring her, and I will favor her openly and above board.”
It was easy to imagine that if Consort Xi found out, she would be furious.
She had already regarded Attendant Pei as a thorn in her side, and now she would likely resent Attendant Pei even more.
Many Imperial Concubines planned to watch from the sidelines, coldly observing the battle between the two favored concubines—one an old favorite, the other a new favorite—to see where the Emperor’s heart ultimately lay, and whoever held it would have the last laugh.
The jewelry and silver were placed in wooden boxes.
As soon as the palace servant who delivered the rewards left, Qing Luo couldn’t wait to open the two boxes.
Every time she received rewards, she felt a sense of excitement, as if she were opening a blind box.
She didn’t know what was inside, but it was certainly good stuff.
Could anything brought out by the monarch of a country be anything less than presentable?
It must be grand, elegant, and high-class.
It just so happened that she was a vulgar person, and what she liked most were vulgar things.
One of the wooden boxes contained a few kingfisher feather hairpins, butterfly hairpins, and agate hairpins, plus two pairs of earrings: one pair was gold-inlaid pearl and jade earrings, and the other was pearl earrings.
The other wooden box contained silver ingots.
Each ingot was ten taels, neither more nor less, totaling twenty pieces, neatly arranged in two rows.
They glistened with silver light, and the sight of them put Qing Luo in a great mood.
Emperor Zhangping was really generous this time, even more so than the previous few times, Qing Luo thought happily.
It seemed that having Zhu Lan grow the lucky bamboo really wasn’t a mistake.
She could see herself getting richer and richer, and if this trend continued, becoming immensely wealthy in the future wasn’t impossible.
“It’s not just possible, it is certain. host, you must believe that there will come a day when you become a billionaire.”
“I’ll take your word for it.”
Just as she finished chatting with the good pregnancy system, Qing Luo suddenly heard Zhu Lan wailing.
“Little Master, you have suffered.”
From the moment Qing Luo entered the room, Zhu Lan had been wiping away tears non-stop, her eyes red from crying, her face full of heartache.
Qing Luo hurriedly and clumsily comforted her, “Don’t cry, look, Zhu Lan. Although I suffered a bit, the kneeling was worth it. There are so many rewards! And, you don’t know this, but the Emperor also gave me a special privilege. I won’t have to be punished for the same reason again in the future.”
“A special privilege? What kind of privilege, Little Master?”
So, Qing Luo told her about the special privilege Emperor Zhangping had given her.
After hearing it, Zhu Lan nearly dropped her jaw and muttered, “It seems the Emperor truly favors Little Master.”
A privilege like this, even the noble Empress might not have received it, right?
This was impossible to verify; both of Emperor Zhangping’s Empresses had passed away, and who knew how Emperor Zhangping had interacted with his Empresses in private?
After regaining her composure, Zhu Lan added, “Little Master probably doesn’t know yet, but yesterday the Emperor went to Jingren Palace, and afterwards Consort Xi was grounded. They say she is to be grounded for three months.”
Zhu Lan’s tone revealed an undisguisable gloating.
Consort Xi was grounded?
Qing Luo really didn’t know about this.
No one in the Palace of Heavenly Purity would tell her, and she hadn’t seen any gossiping palace servants discussing it in private.
Wasn’t Consort Xi one of Emperor Zhangping’s favored concubines?
Qing Luo was truly surprised.
She thought the special privilege Emperor Zhangping gave her was already quite impressive, but he even had Consort Xi grounded; he had done quite a lot.
But why would Emperor Zhangping do all this?
In this incident, she wasn’t entirely innocent or without fault.
Not only did Emperor Zhangping not punish her, but he also gave her rewards and had Consort Xi grounded—it was so unreasonable.
“What’s unreasonable about that? Isn’t the Emperor someone who reigns supreme? host, do you think Consort Xi punishing you was just that simple? She was using you to express her dissatisfaction to Emperor Zhangping; she was slapping Emperor Zhangping in the face. With the authority of the Son of Heaven offended, how could Emperor Zhangping not be angry? Once angry, Consort Xi was out of luck, and logically, you, the poor little thing, benefited.”
“Although Emperor Zhangping is sentimental about old times, he is even more of a cold and heartless monarch. Rewards and punishments are decided in a single thought.”
The good pregnancy system analyzed it logically.
Qing Luo sighed, thinking that the Emperor’s heart was indeed unfathomable.
No wonder there was a saying that accompanying a monarch is like accompanying a tiger.
She had heard that Consort Xi used to be greatly favored; whatever she wanted, Emperor Zhangping would give her, almost comparable to the story of Emperor Tang Minghuang and Yang Guifei, where the concubine smiled at the sight of the galloping horse.
And now?
Once she stepped on a landmine, she was punished just like that.
The most heartless place is the imperial household.
“That can only be called superficial favor; this kind of affection is more fragile than glass. True favor is not like that.”
Qing Luo felt that the good pregnancy system was quite right, but if that was the case, she feared that among so many concubines in the harem, none were truly favored concubines.
….
When the news that Consort Xi had been grounded for forcing Attendant Pei to kneel reached the ears of the Imperial Concubines, everyone realized with absolute clarity that the Emperor was truly intending to elevate Attendant Pei—not just putting on an act, but for real, just as he had elevated Consort Hui when she was still a palace maid.
No, there was still a difference; it was even more exaggerated than back then.
Consort Hui mainly had such great fortune and opportunity because she was pregnant with a dragon fetus.
If Consort Hui hadn’t luckily conceived a dragon fetus after the Emperor’s drunken favor back then, no matter how well she managed, she wouldn’t have reached the rank of Consort.
But Attendant Pei was different.
Given the degree of the Emperor’s affection for Attendant Pei, if Attendant Pei was fertile enough in the future, surely no one in the harem could compete with her.
There was no need to wait for the future; that was already the situation now.
Many Imperial Concubines thought back carefully and suddenly realized that over the past month, apart from Attendant Pei, no other Imperial Concubine had been fortunate enough to serve the Emperor.
Although Attendant Pei had only served him a few times, it was her every single time; it was as if she were exclusively favored.
Whether the Emperor was doing it intentionally or unintentionally, he had no other concubines in his eyes except for Attendant Pei.
At this point, the Imperial Noble Consort couldn’t sit still.
She didn’t mind seeing whom Emperor Zhangping elevated or favored, but Emperor Zhangping couldn’t just favor one and ignore all the other concubines.
How would the issue of heirs be resolved?
Was he just counting on one Attendant Pei?
That was really not very likely.
He still needed to favor a few more concubines, to cast a wide net.
There were still many young and beautiful concubines in the palace; surely one of them would be able to conceive.
For this reason, the Imperial Noble Consort specifically invited Emperor Zhangping to Qixiang Palace, tactfully suggesting and urging Emperor Zhangping that while he favored Attendant Pei, he should also share his favors evenly, give other concubines some opportunities, summon other concubines to serve him more often, and not keep his gaze solely on Attendant Pei.
Unexpectedly, Emperor Zhangping glanced at the Imperial Noble Consort, expressionless, and said in an indifferent tone, “Have the opportunities I’ve given in the past been few? Does it matter if there are a few more or less?”
Emperor Zhangping was extremely displeased at this moment.
Why did everyone jump out to express their dissatisfaction?
First, Consort Xi wanted to make things difficult for Little Concubine, and now the Imperial Noble Consort came running to urge him.
Had he done something so foolish that it warranted such earnest advice from the Imperial Noble Consort?
Could he not even decide for himself which concubine to favor?
It was simply absurd.
Emperor Zhangping’s two meaningful sentences left the Imperial Noble Consort speechless, and she instantly flushed with embarrassment.
These words were practically naming names, saying that so-and-so had served him so many times and still hadn’t conceived, so how could they blame a lack of opportunity?
Especially those who were jumping around; if they couldn’t conceive themselves, who could they blame?
Even if the Imperial Noble Consort wanted to urge him further, she had nothing left to say.
After all, she herself had never conceived.
When she was young, Emperor Zhangping had favored her for quite a long time, but unfortunately, her belly just wouldn’t cooperate, and there had never been any movement.
Now that she had been subtly insulted, she could only endure it.
…
Cining Palace.
Since they couldn’t count on the Imperial Noble Consort, many Imperial Concubines begged the Empress Dowager.
Taking advantage of the opportunity to pay their respects, the Imperial Concubines all spoke in circles before the Empress Dowager, trying to sow discord.
Their words implied that Attendant Pei of the Xianfu Palace must have fed the Emperor some kind of love potion, making the Emperor favor only her now, and no other Imperial Concubine had been summoned to serve him for a long time,their tone was as mournful as it could be.
The Empress Dowager casually dismissed this group of Imperial Concubines.
Her expression was calm, revealing neither joy nor anger, but there was a hint of annoyance in her eyes.
To be honest, this group of Imperial Concubines were all troublemakers.
Day after day, what was the use of fighting?
If they had the ability, they should give birth to a dragon son.
They didn’t have the ability to conceive themselves, yet they wouldn’t even allow the Emperor to favor other Imperial Concubines; it was truly a joke.
Even so, did they expect the Emperor to revolve around them every day?
They should weigh their own worth.
Even if the Emperor favored one Attendant Pei now, so what?
In the Empress Dowager’s view, it was no big deal.
Men were the most fickle; who knew how long this favor would last?
It was uncertain when it would fade.
In her opinion, it wouldn’t last long anyway; a few months would be about right.
Now that the Emperor was in the heat of it, let him be.
A few months wouldn’t make a difference in conceiving a dragon son; that was what the Empress Dowager thought.
Moreover, because of the adoption incident last time, there was still a rift between mother and son.
At this time, it wasn’t worth it for the Empress Dowager to wear down the mother-son bond to urge Emperor Zhangping; otherwise, the rift would only grow, and it would be difficult to mend in the future.
It was just her son favoring a woman, and Attendant Pei had always been well-behaved; she wasn’t some femme fatale or a demonic concubine causing the downfall of the nation.
Why should she rush to make herself disliked?
Don’t think she didn’t see that the Imperial Concubines wanted to use her as a tool.
She wasn’t that stupid.
Just like that, many Imperial Concubines in the harem could only watch as Emperor Zhangping rarely summoned anyone to serve him, and every time it fell to Attendant Pei of the Xianfu Palace.
They were privately red-eyed with jealousy, yet they were helpless.
Under such great favor, they couldn’t even avoid her, let alone compete with her.