Palace Fighting Naive Concubines’ Ascent to Power
Chapter 381

Chapter 381: 381

Seeing Xiao Jizi’s cooperative attitude, Xia Liu’s mood finally settled a bit. She snatched the bag from him, her mouth unforgiving, "This is the finest bird’s nest in the world, specially reserved for Master Lian. How would you compensate if it was damaged?"

Xiao Jizi quickly admitted fault, "Yes, yes, sister is right; we were reckless. But sister, why are you coming back so late? Weren’t you just fetching some bird’s nest soup?"

Xia Liu’s heart skipped a beat and she said, "When I went there, the Chief steward of the Imperial Kitchen was not present. The key he carries is required to access this top-grade bird’s nest, so I waited."

Xiao Jizi appeared to understand suddenly, "I see, so that’s why. The Chief steward of the Imperial Kitchen wasn’t minding the kitchen and made sister wait so long. I will speak to Steward Zhang about this later to give him a piece of my mind, to take it out for sister."

Xia Liu immediately objected, "No need!"

She spoke too hastily and felt it was inappropriate; she gave an awkward smile and said, "I didn’t wait too long. After I left the Imperial Kitchen, I ran into a sister I used to work with. We had not seen each other for a long time and chatted a bit. Seeing that my handkerchief was old, she mentioned she had some fine cloth suitable for handkerchiefs and wanted to give me some, so I waited and that’s why I have just returned now."

Worried that Xiao Jizi might not believe her, she took out the cloth from the bag, "Look, this is it."

"Oh..." Xiao Jizi nodded, convinced, "That’s good, that’s good."

Xia Liu silently breathed a sigh of relief, her complexion no longer as troubled as before. She looked at Xiao Jizi, hesitated slightly, and asked, "Does Eunuch Ji have any other tasks? If not, then..." she gestured towards the direction of return.

Xiao Jizi suddenly realized and slapped his thigh, self-reproachingly saying, "Oh, I was enjoying our conversation and almost delayed sister’s work. Please, sister, go back quickly, so you do not fall behind on your tasks. Or should we help carry these things for you?"

"No need to send me, no need. It’s not heavy, there’s no need to trouble you; I’ll head back first," Xia Liu refused repeatedly, carrying her things at a normal pace and walking away without looking back.

Once Xia Liu was out of sight, Xiao Jizi allowed his facial expression to return to normal, frowning in contemplation. It all seemed to be in order; there was no obvious flaw in her words. Could he have missed something?

A voice from the side piped up, "Brother Xiao Ji, was I too rash?"

Xiao Jizi came to, only to see Xiao Linzi looking at him with a puzzled expression. He felt a headache coming on and patted Xiao Linzi’s shoulder, "It’s just a pretense in front of others, don’t take it seriously. But sometimes being rash isn’t necessarily a bad thing, it depends on the situation."

"Oh..." Xiao Linzi nodded, somewhat understanding.

Xiao Jizi looked at him, a thought striking him, "Fool, from your perspective, what’s different about the palace maid now compared to when she left?"

He felt something was odd; although the palace maid behaved normally, she seemed to be in a hurry to get back.

He didn’t notice anything else amiss.

This simple-minded fellow with a good memory might notice something unusual, he thought, prompting his question.

Xiao Linzi pondered for a moment and said, "There are some differences indeed; the clothing has shifted slightly, and the position of the plum blossom hairpin in her hair is a few degrees off from before. The flower is more slanted than earlier, and the third petal of the plum blossom hairpin was directly aligned... Hey, Brother Xiao Ji, why are you leaving?"

"I have other matters to attend to; don’t follow me," Xiao Jizi waved his hand impatiently, not looking back as he quickened his pace away from Canglan Court.

He must have been out of his mind to ask such a question of this fool.

When the fool began noting differences, he had been hopeful, only to find that even a slight displacement of clothes and accessories was considered a difference.

By this fool’s standards, even clothes flapping open in the wind would count as a difference; in that case, it would all be pointless talk–everything would be different.

He might as well check with the Chief steward of the Imperial Kitchen and with the sisters Xia Liu mentioned, to see if there’s an issue before deciding how to proceed.

In the Side Hall, Lian Hua sat in the small hall, pursing her lips, her face flushed red like crimson clouds, feeling that sometimes His Majesty really resembled a wolf...

The Emperor smiled, very satisfied with the "script" he had just put on. In a gentle voice, he asked, "Little darling, are you tired?"

Immediately, Lian Hua’s face turned beet red, and shooting a glare at the Emperor with indignation, she thought, His Majesty is far too lascivious in broad daylight!

The Emperor burst into laughter, unable to restrain himself, and scooped her into his arms, planting a firm kiss on her, causing Lian Hua to twist her face away in a struggle, yet she was unable to avoid it.

After a bout of laughter and teasing, Lian Hua’s mood had settled a lot, and she pouted, "His Majesty is really naughty."

The Emperor’s eyes were full of mirth as he looked down at her, "Hmm, does my little darling like it?"

Lian Hua turned her eyes away and suddenly fell silent, her face starting to heat up again.

That time, after reciting poetry with His Majesty, she couldn’t remember what she had said. She only recalled His Majesty’s warm kiss that became more and more fervent until they found themselves on the bed, where His Majesty complimented her beauty.

She was lost in His Majesty’s affectionate tenderness, in a daze she asked where the beauty lay. What followed was His Majesty, passionately and wickedly, showing her exactly where her beauty lay with his actions...

Ever since she found out she was pregnant, His Majesty had been very restrained. She hadn’t expected that they could still be like that, it was truly embarrassing.

The Emperor didn’t tease her further, fearing she would get annoyed. Holding her close, he changed the subject, "In the afternoon, when you and Fang..."

He paused, furrowing his brow when he suddenly realized that he couldn’t remember that woman’s name.

Lian Hua turned back to look at him, tentatively asking, "Is Your Majesty speaking of Consort Fang Pin?"

She was quite surprised, given Consort Fang Pin’s respectable status in the palace, it was notable that His Majesty could forget her?

The Emperor, a bit embarrassed, couldn’t admit that he had some vague memory of her but truly forgot her name, and even her position was a fuzzy recollection. He did, however, clearly remember her father’s name and his official rank.

Back then, he had people thoroughly investigate her family background and the situation within the palace to ensure there were no problems, and upon confirmation, he put it all out of his mind.

With so many concubines in the palace, he had never paid much attention to them before, so how could he remember them all clearly?

Not dwelling on the problem, he asked, "What have you been learning with her?"

Learning such weird things, she better not actually turn bad.

Becoming animated at this topic, Lian Hua was excited, having just mastered a new skill that was hot off the press; she was thinking about when she could show it off.

Sitting on His Majesty’s lap, unperturbed by being held and unable to fully demonstrate, she imitated Consort Fang Pin by covering her heart with her left hand and clenching the handkerchief with her right, her tone mournfully saying, "Your Majesty, do I resemble Xi Zi holding her heart?"

The Emperor wore a perplexed expression, repeating, "Xi Zi holding her heart?"

What is this nonsensical stuff? Is that what Consort Fang Pin is teaching his Little Concubine? Is she cursing herself?

Deciding that from now on, he wouldn’t allow that wretched Consort Fang Pin to visit again, lest she fill his Little Concubine’s head with ominous nonsense.

Lian Hua, unaware of the Emperor’s thoughts, continued with a worried furrow of her little brow, and with a face twisted in feigned distress, she imitated perfectly, "My heart aches, Your Majesty, shall I recite the poem, ’Voice Voice Slow’ for you?"