Cuicui stood by, her face scrunched up in anxiety as she watched her mistress being surrounded and attacked by a group of women, yet being of low status herself, she could do nothing.
Her mistress had always been soft and gentle by nature, and would cry pitifully when wronged. These consorts were all formidable women who were not to be trifled with. She feared today would bring great trouble.
The great hall was filled with the consorts’ muffled laughter behind their sleeves. They would occasionally whisper among themselves, then burst into even louder, less restrained laughter.
Li Manman watched all of this without changing her expression, the gloom between her brows swept away as she lowered her head to sip her tea in excellent spirits.
It seemed she wouldn’t even need to lift a finger to crush that little vixen’s arrogance.
Su Tuan’er lowered her eyes halfway, her long lashes veiling the calm composure within—not a trace of panic.
She had originally thought that keeping a low profile would be the safest approach, but now she could see clearly that no matter how much she yielded, she couldn’t stop these women’s overwhelming hostility toward her.
She smoothed the stray hairs at her forehead.
Well then… they brought this on themselves.
“I did sleep a little longer indeed…”
She deliberately lowered her head with feigned timidity, her voice barely a whisper.
As Su Tuan’er’s words fell, waves of mocking laughter rang out.
Seeing her weak and pitiful appearance, the consorts’ eyes filled with even more contempt, as if saying: She’s cowering, she’s cowering, she’s cowering!
Consort De took a satisfied sip of her tea and exchanged a glance with Li Manman. Seeing Li Manman curl her lips into a smile at her, she felt encouraged, as if she had accomplished something truly great, her expression brimming with pride.
If not for this fox spirit entering the palace, the position of Guifei should have been hers.
It was this fox spirit who had cut off her path of advancement!
“Consort De seems to know exactly what time I rose from bed—could it be that you have an acquaintance in Chang’an Dian?”
Just as everyone was basking in their triumph, that soft, gentle voice sounded once more.
One sentence nearly choked Consort De on the tea she had just swallowed. She clutched her chest, coughing violently, and it took her a long while to recover.
“I am newly arrived and know few people in the palace. I am truly grateful for Consort De’s thoughtful attention.”
“Do tell me—who did you entrust to keep such close watch over me? Should I happen to meet that person next time, I would like to greet them and offer my sincere thanks.”
Su Tuan’er looked at Consort De with an utterly harmless expression.
Perhaps… the person outside the door last night was one of Consort De’s spies.
“Cough, cough, cough!” Consort De’s face flushed bright red, her eyes darting nervously as she said, “I was just speaking casually. Guifei, please don’t take it to heart.”
The others glanced at her silently, none daring to say another word.
Su Tuan’er had hit the nail on the head. Who would dare to respond to that? If one misspoke and caused trouble, they would surely face dire consequences.
All the consorts froze in their expressions, clutching their handkerchiefs and making various small gestures to feign composure.
Some lowered their heads to drink tea, barely concealing the panic that flickered in their eyes; others looked down and picked at their fingernails.
Who would have thought this little girl could wield such control over people?
And yet she wore a face of complete innocence, like a ball of soft cotton—you couldn’t even hit her with any satisfaction.
“Guifei attended to His Majesty last night, and with such a delicate constitution, it was only natural to guess she wouldn’t rise early today.”
Seeing Consort De at a loss, Consort Hui quickly raised her voice to help defuse the situation. “But this is, after all, your first day in the palace. You should have some sense of propriety yourself. How could you keep Her Majesty the Empress Dowager waiting so long? None of us sisters here would behave like Guifei.”
I don’t believe it—with so many of them, they still can’t handle one sickly weakling!
Consort Hui deliberately directed the fire toward the Empress Dowager, and sure enough, the Empress Dowager’s expression turned even darker than before.