After Zhen Huan and Hongli had their heart-to-heart conversation, the next day’s mourning ceremony arrived. During the rites, Qingying was quietly summoned away by Hongli’s personal eunuch, Li Yu.
At first glance, Zhen Huan noticed the small white flower pinned to the right side of Qingying’s hair.
Something about it felt off.
After looking around, she finally realized what it was.
Whether they were palace maids or consorts of every rank, everyone wore their mourning flower on the left side of their banner headdress. Even Zhen Huan herself and Fuca, the soon-to-be-invested Empress, did the same.
Tsk.
Was this some kind of protagonist privilege?
But of all occasions, why insist on being different at a funeral?
Speechless, Zhen Huan withdrew her gaze.
Unfortunately, this wasn’t a major issue. Even if she knew Qingying was deliberately trying to stand out, she couldn’t call attention to it. Otherwise it would only make her seem as though she were intentionally targeting Qingying.
Still, by this point, Zhen Huan’s favorable impression of Qingying had already dropped to zero.
Hopefully Qingying wouldn’t give her a reason to deal with her personally in the future.
Over the following days, the Ulanara woman in Jingren Palace stirred up trouble a couple more times. As always, she wanted to have her cake and eat it too.
This time, however, Hongli was no longer willing to indulge her every whim.
When she finally realized she truly couldn’t get everything she wanted, the hopeless romantic in her won out.
Ulanara chose to leave for the imperial retreat without title or rank, in exchange for the promise of being buried alongside the late Emperor after death.
After discussing the matter, however, Zhen Huan and Hongli still allowed her to retain the treatment and privileges of an Empress while residing at the retreat.
By a strange twist of fate, it ended up resembling the ending of The Legend of Zhen Huan.
Soon, the late Emperor’s funeral rites concluded.
The enthronement ceremony was held.
Lady Fuca became Empress.
Zhen Huan became the Holy Mother Empress Dowager and moved into Cining Palace.
The following day, Hongli’s harem came to pay their respects.
A new reign brought a new atmosphere.
Moreover, this was the first formal audience the imperial consorts were holding with the Empress Dowager.
Every woman wore a smile of one degree or another.
Except for one.
Qingying.
Fine.
Zhen Huan wasn’t surprised in the slightest.
Among a room full of smiling faces, Qingying’s drooping expression was particularly conspicuous.
Lady Gao offered a few flattering remarks. Though her words weren’t especially elegant, everyone politely laughed along.
Everyone except Qingying.
She continued sitting there with a gloomy face, staring straight ahead.
Even when the Empress Dowager spoke, she didn’t look at her once.
To make matters worse, she wore an ugly dianzi headdress that made her look even more like an aging dowager consort than Zhen Huan herself.
Chuckling softly, Zhen Huan took a sip of tea.
Then she suddenly turned toward Qingying.
“Ulanara, are you unwilling to see me?”
Caught off guard, Qingying nearly jumped.
At last she deigned to move her neck.
Looking at the Empress Dowager with a bewildered expression, lips slightly parted, she slowly replied,
“I am not. I do not know why Your Majesty would say such a thing.”
“You have worn a gloomy expression this entire time. I thought perhaps you were unhappy that the person sitting in Cining Palace was me rather than your aunt.”
Qingying hurriedly knelt.
“Your servant… your servant did not mean to appear unhappy.”
Zhen Huan laughed.
“You didn’t mean to appear unhappy? So that means you were indeed unhappy about it?”
Zhen Huan had never seen a palace-drama heroine with such poor logic.
No wonder Qingying had to be Hongli’s true love.
Without that plot armor, wouldn’t she have been written out in the very first episode?
Qingying’s mouth remained slightly open.
It was as though she hadn’t even understood the Empress Dowager’s words.
Blankly, she said,
“That is not what I meant.”
Perhaps unwilling to let the situation become too embarrassing on the very first day, Empress Fuca once again stepped in to smooth things over.
“Sister Qingying has always been filial and respectful. How could she possibly harbor dissatisfaction toward Imperial Mother? Perhaps she was simply nervous about today’s audience and slept poorly last night. Even I was anxious and restless.”
Qingying immediately seized upon the excuse.
“Just as the Empress said. I slept poorly last night and was somewhat distracted when answering. That was not what I meant.”
Zhen Huan merely hummed noncommittally.
Then she said,
“I can see that you didn’t sleep well. Your complexion looks worse than mine. When I first entered, I nearly thought one of the old imperial consorts had come along with the group.”
Qingying’s face reddened in humiliation.
Pouting slightly, she lowered her head as tears pooled in her eyes.
Waving a hand, Zhen Huan allowed her to sit down again.
Afterward, she chatted with the others.
She had no intention of making things difficult, and everyone else was eager to curry favor.
The atmosphere quickly returned to being harmonious and pleasant.
That evening, the Empress went to see the Emperor to discuss harem affairs.
After inviting Fuca Langhua to sit, Hongli asked,
“I heard Imperial Mother made things difficult for Qingying this morning.”
Fuca was momentarily stunned.
She had no idea how the Emperor had heard about it, but she still answered with a smile.
“How could Imperial Mother make things difficult for a junior? It’s just that…”
Hongli frowned.
“Just that what?”
“This morning everyone was chatting and laughing, but only Sister Qingying seemed unhappy. Imperial Mother asked whether she was dissatisfied with the handling of her aunt’s matter.
Sister Qingying then stumbled over her words and could not explain herself clearly. Only then did Imperial Mother become somewhat displeased.
Even so, she did not make things difficult for Sister Qingying. She merely reprimanded her a little.”
In truth, Empress Fuca herself had been dissatisfied with Qingying’s conduct.
Especially since she had been leading all the women of the harem, and this was their first formal audience with the Empress Dowager.
For Qingying to sit there making faces at who-knows-whom, then answer questions incoherently, only reflected poorly on the Empress’s ability to manage the harem.
Hongli’s frown deepened.
“Is that truly what happened?”
If so, then Qingying had indeed been at fault from the very beginning.
Since she was speaking the truth, Fuca remained calm.
“It is exactly as I have said. Everyone present can testify.”
Hongli sighed.
Then he suddenly asked,
“What about the day you all presented dishes to Imperial Mother? Why was she dissatisfied with Qingying then?”
Fuca had not expected him to bring up that matter.
She immediately stood and knelt.
“Speaking of that incident, it was entirely my negligence. I failed to inspect the dishes beforehand and nearly caused a grave mistake.”
After the event, the Empress Dowager had privately reminded her that serving meat dishes during a period of mourning was a serious offense.
When Fuca realized the implications, she had broken out in a cold sweat.
The meal presentation had been her idea.
The harem fell under her authority.
No matter how one looked at it, she could not escape responsibility.
Fortunately, the Empress Dowager had been kind enough not to publicize the matter.
Instead, she had comforted Fuca, saying that as long as the Emperor did not ask, the matter should simply be allowed to end quietly.
Hongli was startled by the Empress’s dramatic reaction.
He repeatedly told her to rise and answer, but she refused.
So he could only ask what had happened.
“It was my negligence. I failed to notice that several of the dishes prepared by the sisters were meat dishes.”
At this, Hongli frowned deeply.
Not a single subordinate had reported such a matter to him.
Had the Empress Dowager wished to make trouble for him, this alone could have caused him serious political difficulties.
Of course, Hongli would never admit that even if someone had reported Qingying’s ham-and-chicken soup, he himself probably wouldn’t have noticed anything wrong.
“At the time, Qingying presented Imperial Mother with a bowl of ham-and-chicken soup. Imperial Mother recognized it as a meat dish and naturally refused to eat it.
Yet because Imperial Mother is kind-hearted, she did not expose the matter. She merely said she had no appetite and wished the food removed.
Unexpectedly, Sister Qingying knelt and apologized while insisting that Imperial Mother drink a mouthful of the soup.
Imperial Mother refused, but Sister Qingying continued kneeling there holding the bowl.
Later, I served Imperial Mother a bowl of rice porridge. After taking a sip, she finally allowed Sister Qingying to rise.
Afterward, Imperial Mother personally advised me. She said that considering how busy I had been recently, a momentary oversight was understandable. The matter should end there.
She also said that Your Majesty had grown noticeably thinner from handling the late Emperor’s funeral and state affairs, and instructed me not to trouble Your Majesty with such matters.”
At this point, Fuca bowed again.
Her voice even trembled with emotion.
“It was my fault. I should have reported the matter to Your Majesty immediately.”
Hongli had originally heard only that Qingying had been wronged and had burned her hand.
He had never imagined the truth was like this.
With a crash, he hurled the teacup in his hand onto the floor.
Rage surged through him, yet he could not immediately decide whom to blame.
The Empress?
She had indeed been negligent.
But if he punished the Empress, could he really ignore the person primarily responsible?
As for the other dishes, he did not even know who had offered them, nor could he launch a major investigation now.
But Qingying…
Qingying was unquestionably guilty.
She had actually accepted the burn ointment he sent her with complete peace of mind.
She had silently allowed him to believe that the Empress Dowager had wronged her.
How dare she?