The Virtuous Concubine

Bai Xia was so frightened that his face changed: "My queen?!"

Malu pushed her and said, "I have something important to tell the prince in person. Go quickly. I wonder if you can still find it? It's the dress I wore when I was a palace maid."

Malu remembered that she had specially designed this dress with a pinched waist in order to meet Kangxi by chance, and also slightly modified the shoulders to show off the beauty of her figure.

But now, I have been living a life of luxury for many years, and my figure may not be as good as it used to be. I don’t know if I can still wear it.

Seeing Malu's resolute expression, Bai Xia dared not say anything more and turned around to look for it. She first ran to find Bai Fu and asked her to inform the kitchen to quickly prepare enough peony bird's nest, and to deduct the quota from the queen. Then she hurried to the storeroom to search through the boxes and cabinets, muttering to herself, what is the queen going to do again?

Forget it, as long as the queen is happy.

During this period, the children were not around, Imperial Physician Rong could no longer visit the Empress, and the Empress did not want to see Master Nalan, so the Empress must have been lonely.

I have to say, Bai Xia is telling the truth.

But as one of the people who doted on Malu the most in Yonghe Palace, she always pretended not to see Malu's occasional outrageous behavior and turned a blind eye to her.

In Bai Xia's heart, no matter what the matter is, as long as it can make the queen smile, it is enough.

Yonghe Palace was well maintained by Bai Xia, Bai Fu and others. For example, clothes were all stored in one place and carefully classified according to different seasons of different years. Because of this, Bai Xia found the clothes without much effort.

Malu looked at the dress and couldn't help but marvel at it: "I never thought that after so many years, the dress could still be preserved so brightly. It's really a reward."

Seeing her happy, Bai Xia couldn't help but smile: "Your Highness, this is what I should do. As long as it is yours, I should keep it properly."

Malu gently stroked the clothes, her eyes full of nostalgia. After a while, she said: "Bai Xia, do you know? When I wore it, my heart was full of expectations. At that time, I naively thought that as long as I could attract the emperor's attention, I could have a different life."

Originally, she shouldn't have said these words. But seeing Bai Xia, who had been with her in the palace for so many years, Malu couldn't help but confide in her.

Bai Xia was as considerate as ever: "Your Majesty, you have done it. You are now the most honorable concubine in the palace, and the emperor loves you very much."

Malu smiled bitterly: "Maybe. But sometimes, I still wonder, if I had..."

She shook her head. She still had to go home. There was no turning back. She had to gain a foothold in the palace. If she had failed to attract Kangxi's attention, she would have tried again. After all, if she could not become a concubine, given the situation of her Wuya family, a more miserable fate might be waiting for her.

Malu took the clothes and went into the inner room to change, Bai Xia helped. The palace maid's clothes were simple and she put them on quickly. Bai Xia mainly helped to untie the bun, comb a simple braid and then put the hair up.

Soon, everything was ready. Bai Xia smiled and helped Malu to the full-length mirror. Malu looked in the mirror and her face turned red.

She could wear the dress, as her chest had only become a little plumper over the years. But the dress was pinched at the waist and had modified shoulders. After so many years of growth and childbirth, her chest looked tight when she put it on. Even if she moved slightly, the fluctuation was very obvious, like a ripe fruit, gently shaking, tempting to pick.

Malu coughed lightly with embarrassment and scolded Bai Xia: "Look at you, how can you be so shameful? It's really embarrassing. Forget it, just change it."

Bai Xia smiled secretly and quickly comforted her: "My lady, I don't think there is any problem. Besides, there are no outsiders here, so you can just think of it as reliving the old days."

Malu glared at Bai Xia unhappily, but his gaze couldn't help but return to himself in the mirror.

But she didn't have time to hesitate, she had to hurry up and change her makeup. So she didn't change out of this seemingly innocent but exciting outfit, and hurriedly made up her face to look more youthful and tender.

Bai Xia had also dealt with the matters outside. Now that he had some experience in Yonghe Palace, those who were familiar with Malu went to the kitchen to receive their meals and wait for their rewards. The timing couldn't be better.

Malu carried the peony bird's nest dish that she had used today, hunched over, and tried her best to look more like an ordinary palace maid, as she followed Bai Xia towards Yuqing Palace.

When Jingyi received the dishes, her eyes were full of surprise: "Sister is so thoughtful and still thinking of me. I will go and thank you right away."

Bai Fu quickly stopped him: "What you said is outrageous. Besides, the queen is just grateful for your help in taking care of the princess. The queen is probably taking a nap already."

Yinzuo was much easier to deal with. He was worried about the Eighth Prince's affairs. When he saw the peony bird's nest sent over, his heart warmed: "Mother is always so thoughtful."

The Fourteenth Prince ate heartily: "Mother understands me and knows that I like to eat good food."

After receiving the dishes, Concubine Wenxi and Concubine Hui were also thoughtful. Concubine Wenxi thought that Malu was trying to show her favor, and thought that it would be more effective if the tenth prince showed his ability. Concubine Hui was indifferent. Now that the eldest prince had come out, she had someone to rely on, so she didn't have to be so close to Malu, the Concubine Dezhao, as before.

Malu didn't care about their reactions at all. After all, he was just providing cover so that he could meet the prince.

Along the way, her heart was pounding. The two walked along the path of the palace. Malu kept his head down as much as possible to avoid attracting the attention of others. Bai Xia led the way in front, always paying attention to the movements around him.

Suddenly, there were footsteps and laughter not far away. Bai Xia's expression tensed up, and she hurriedly pulled Malu to hide beside the water tank. It turned out that a few young palace maids were walking by with food in their hands. They were chatting while walking and did not notice Malu and the others.

After the young palace maids walked away, Bai Xia led Malu to continue walking forward. "Madam, we have to speed up to avoid unnecessary trouble." Bai Xia whispered. Malu nodded, and the two quickened their pace.

Finally, Yuqing Palace came into view.