Palace Fighting Naive Concubines’ Ascent to Power
Chapter 387: Battle of Wits and Bravery

Chapter 387: Chapter 387: Battle of Wits and Bravery

This statement is not wrong, at that Shichen, Nanny Qi was indeed resting, just in Huaying Hall.

Upon hearing this, Lian Hua’s eyes lit up. A flaw had appeared. Nanny Qi’s rest time was nearly the same as hers, and she had woken up in the afternoon, yet Nanny was still resting. That’s not right.

Thinking she had found a flaw, she put down her chopsticks, suppressing her excitement as she asked, "Nanny, you never rested for so long before, why today—" Her tone was full of unfinished implications.

Nanny Qi remained unflustered, still chewing contently. Only after finishing her bite did she speak, "Today’s noon meal might have been a bit too much, I felt bloated. Having relieved myself once, it was quite a while after you rested that I finally went to rest."

She casually picked up a piece of meat and placed it in Lian Hua’s bowl.

"Oh..." That could make sense. Nanny Qi did say she needed to relieve herself earlier, which she had interrupted. All right then.

The first round ended without detecting anything unusual from Nanny Qi’s face. Lian Hua ceased her probing and picked up the chopsticks again, starting to eat the dish Nanny Qi gave her, while also picking up a bite for Nanny Qi and the Emperor, who was being left aside.

The second round:

As she ate, Lian Hua remembered something and casually started a conversation again, "Nanny, Consort Fang Pin came this afternoon, did you know?"

It was from here that she sensed the greatest incongruity. There was an outsider in the courtyard, yet Nanny Qi did not show up. That was one thing, but her task of preparing His Majesty’s clothes remained undone, so why would Nanny Qi neglect her without reason? This was suspicious!

Nanny Qi took a sip of soup, wiping her mouth with a handkerchief unhurriedly before she looked at her and answered indifferently with a single word, "Hmm."

"Eh? ..." Lian Hua widened her eyes in surprise. Nanny answered too nonchalantly. Was she about to reveal something?

Nanny Qi put down the handkerchief and spoke casually, "She’s just a sickly person, nothing worth seeing. Knowing that she came, I simply avoided the trouble."

"Oh..." Though she spoke, it wasn’t the confession Lian Hua was anticipating.

Sigh, there was nothing wrong with that response. Concerning Consort Fang Pin, Nanny Qi indeed had the prerogative to see her or not. There was no issue there.

With the matter seemingly resolved, Lian Hua didn’t pursue further and continued to eat sporadically.

The Emperor found it extremely amusing, watching this old and young pair engage in a battle of wits. He merely observed and did not interfere, finding it quite interesting.

His Little Concubine was already very clever, but she was still too green, deflected by Nanny Qi who countered every move. It even made him feel sorry for her.

The third round:

After two bowls of rice and while on the third, as the Emperor was helping Lian Hua wipe her mouth, she once again mustered her energies to ask, "Nanny, don’t you want to know what I did with Consort Fang Pin?"

Why wouldn’t she be curious? When she came back from outside before, Nanny Qi would at least inquire a little.

Not asking this time was unusual.

"What did you learn?" Nanny Qi was unperturbed, able to guess what she was pondering and thus plugged the gap, "I was planning to ask later. But if Master Lian wants to talk about it now, then go ahead."

"Oh..." So that was it. All the points she found off somehow seemed to be explained.

She frowned, thinking for a moment. Forget it, forget it. She might as well share the important things she learned today with Nanny Qi.

With this thought, she brightened up, eager to show off, "Nanny, I learned a poem ’Voice Voice Slow’ from Consort Fang Pin. Aside from the gaze, I learned the rest pretty well. Do you want to see?"

The Emperor almost choked, "Voice Voice Slow" again!

He placed the handkerchief on the table and clenched his fist to clear his throat, exchanging a glance with Nanny Qi with a complex expression.

Nanny Qi’s eyelid twitched, knowing it couldn’t be that simple, and said directly, "We’re still dining; let’s talk about it afterward."

"I see, okay then," Lian Hua reasoned, realizing the table was too cluttered to do anything and there was still so much food left, so she had to finish eating.

The Emperor sighed with relief.

After eating a couple of bites, Lian Hua mumbled to herself, "Could it be that I misjudged the situation? Hasn’t nanny done anything today?"

Pretending not to hear, Nanny Qi calmly continued her meal.

Fearing to cause a disturbance, the Emperor picked up some food with his chopsticks and placed it into Lian Hua’s bowl, "Eat without talking, focus on your meal."

"Oh, alright then..."

Thus, the dinner finally passed peacefully.

...

The Talented Lady Sun, whom Changzai Zhou and Liu Ying had mentioned, hadn’t died from an epidemic as they said but was actually being held in a cell of the Imperial Guard Prison.

After all, she was still the Emperor’s consort and not yet deposed, merely a fool exploited by others, so Cao De didn’t treat her too harshly. He had someone arrange a fairly clean cell for her, but the issue wasn’t settled yet, so they couldn’t release her for now.

The cell only had a small window above, leaking a bit of light inside.

Looking at the light above, Talented Lady Sun carved a mark on the wall with her hairpin, another day passing by just like that.

If you asked her what she regretted most in her life, it would be taking the advice of Changzai Zhou and the Noble Consort, resulting in giving a box of scented cream to Beauty Lian.

To this day, she still didn’t know whether Changzai Zhou or the Noble Consort was the one who had wronged her, whether it was a coincidence or a premeditated plan.

She should have been wary. How could it be such a coincidence that both Changzai Zhou and the Noble Consort, one after the other, gave her scented cream and asked her to present it to Beauty Lian as a congratulatory gift?

The scented cream from Baoxiang Pavilion was firstly given by Changzai Zhou. When she complained about not knowing what to give as a gift to Beauty Lian, whom she disliked, Changzai Zhou took out scented cream that even she coveted and suggested she offer it as a congratulatory gift.

At that time, she was rather reluctant and didn’t want to part with it. Changzai Zhou, noticing her hesitation, didn’t insist, merely remarking that it was just a box of scented cream and there would be more to come. It was up to her to decide.

Not long after, the Noble Consort summoned her and bestowed upon her another box. The Noble Consort’s words were very fitting, stating that although she should have been the top performer at the flower appreciation feast, she was wronged. The Noble Consort understood her grievances but insisted that enmity should be resolved, not prolonged. As the person in charge of the harem, the Noble Consort hoped for harmony among the sisters. Now that Beauty Lian was favored, she asked Talented Lady Sun to bear the slight and choose a suitable congratulatory gift for Beauty Lian, to put these feelings behind her.

At the moment, she was somewhat shocked. It felt like the Noble Consort knew about the words she had spoken against Beauty Lian in her own palace hall.

Feeling panicked and guilty, she confessed her fault. After returning to her palace and giving it some thought, looking at the box of scented cream from the Noble Consort, she seemed to understand something.

Although she didn’t like Beauty Lian, she had to put on a show for the Noble Consort. She kept both boxes of scented cream together and, when it came time to present the congratulatory gift, she gave one box while keeping the other for herself.

Later, when speaking with Changzai Zhou, she said that the gift she gave was the one from Changzai Zhou, and when speaking with the Noble Consort, she said it was the Consort’s gift. Anyway, neither of them knew she had two boxes, and as for which box she gave away, she couldn’t tell them apart.

It was because she coveted this petty advantage that she brought disaster upon herself. A long time after being detained in the Imperial Guard Prison, she was very afraid and only denounced Changzai Zhou, not daring to implicate the Noble Consort.