This palace comes back in this life, only to be Nian Shilan

Chapter 10: The Queen's Character Collapses

In the early morning, a faint fruity fragrance wafted through the main hall of Jingren Palace.

The queen, supported by Jianqiu, walked through two rows of beautiful girls and turned to sit in the main seat.

"Your servant pays respects to the Queen." All the concubines paid their respects together.

When the queen saw that everyone had finished paying their respects, she felt relieved and put on her polite and gentle smile.

The Queen was secretly delighted. Concubine Hua had been ill for many days and had not gone out, so she was most likely not to come today.

Today is a good day for her to establish her image as a virtuous queen.

"Sisters, you all came so early today. Are you used to living in each palace?"

"Thanks to the Queen's concern, everything is fine." The concubines responded in unison again.

Before the concubines from various palaces took their seats, Jiang Fuhai's loud announcement came from outside the Jingren Palace.

"Empress Hua has arrived."

Just like in her previous life, Concubine Hua was wearing a rose-red palace dress and an eighty million-dollar kingfisher feather flag on her head. Supported by Songzhi's hand, she walked leisurely into the palace.

The only difference from her previous life was that in this life Concubine Hua did not wear heavy makeup.

I only applied a layer of pearl powder on my face and chose a light-colored lip balm to enhance my complexion.

The measure is just right.

He had just recovered from a serious illness and was forcing himself to pay his respects and show courtesy to the empress.

"I'm late." Concubine Hua raised her bare hands and rubbed her temples, pretending that her headache had not healed.

"Greetings to Concubine Hua." All the concubines paid their respects together.

When the queen saw this, the smile on her face almost disappeared.

She is obviously the queen.

However, the concubines of lower rank could not find any fault when they paid their respects to Concubine Hua.

"Greetings to the Queen." Concubine Hua stood in front of the Queen and bowed. She looked so pitiful.

The Queen was even angrier when she saw Concubine Hua with a plain face. Wasn't this clearly saying that she, as the Queen, was unsympathetic to the concubines in the palace, forcing them to come and pay their respects to her even when they were sick?

"Sister Hua Fei, you came so late, but you are not well yet?"

Concubine Qi wanted to mock Concubine Hua a few days ago, but the Yikun Palace was guarded like an iron barrel, so she did not get what she wanted.

Now seeing Concubine Hua leaving the palace with a pale face, Concubine Qi of course couldn't wait to open fire.

When the Queen heard what Concubine Qi said, she wanted to cover her mouth.

Is this to solidify his reputation of being unsympathetic to the imperial concubines?

"Sister Qifei is right. I still have a headache when I woke up this morning. But no matter how painful it is, I dare not fail to pay my respects to the Queen."

"The Queen is the model for the country, and the concubines in the harem are convinced of her. We should pay our respects to the Queen every day." Concubine Qi was very proud. This was the first time that Concubine Hua did not refute her.

The queen was thinking about whether to start the plan of getting rid of the mother and keeping the child ahead of time.

At this time, Xia Dongchun, who was standing in the group of young ladies, could no longer stand. She leaned to the side and bumped into Noble Lady Fucha, not hiding her loud voice at all.

"This Concubine Hua is so sick, yet she made such a big fuss. Who is she showing it to?"

Noble Lady Fucha rolled her eyes at Xia Dongchun and wished she was a hundred miles away from her.

Jiang Fuhai saw that the situation was not right, so he came forward to preside over the etiquette of the concubines' audience.

"All the ladies bow down to the Queen."

Zhen Huan and Mei Zhuang stood at the head of the two teams and, following the eunuch's instructions, performed the three-kneeling and nine-kowtow ritual to the Queen.

"All the young masters, please see Concubine Hua."

The ladies turned to Concubine Hua and paid their respects to her.

At first glance, Concubine Hua found Shen Meizhuang as dignified and elegant as ever, and Zhen Huan was dressed simply like in her previous life, but her beauty could not be concealed. But who did she look like?

As Concubine Hua was thinking, her eyes slowly slid to Xia Dongchun. Everyone else was following the etiquette of a concubine, but Xia Dongchun was the only one following the etiquette of a palace maid.

Concubine Hua looked at Xia Dongchun, who was holding his head high and looking around, with a sarcastic smile on her lips.

"Everyone, get up."

"There is a Consort Xia who I heard is very capable?"

When Xia Dongchun saw Concubine Hua mentioning her, she naturally felt that she had taken the lead over the new lady who had entered the palace.

She is favored by the Queen and also paid attention to by Concubine Hua.

Wouldn't I be the most favored person in the harem in the future?

Xia Changzai walked out, twisting her waist, and performed a courtesy to Hua Fei that was only used by palace maids.

"May the Empress Hua live in peace and happiness. This concubine is none other than Concubine Xia."

Xia Dongchun looked so low-key as he shook his head.

"Xia Changzai is very good at dressing up. This material is very expensive."

Xia Dongchun boasted that Concubine Hua understood her, and she wore the material given by the Queen today on purpose, as she was feeling depressed that she had no way to please the Queen.

Isn't this like someone giving you a pillow just because you want to take a nap?

"This is the material given by the Empress. I am wearing it specially for the audience today."

Although Xia Dongchun was responding to Concubine Hua, her eyes were always drifting in the direction of the Queen.

The Queen had just been very angry with Concubine Qi, and when she heard what Xia Dongchun said, she just wanted to beat him to death immediately.

The game of chess has just begun to be laid out. Is Xia Dongchun's obvious stance an act of moral blackmail?

"Mrs. Xia is thoughtful. But I saw that she just performed the etiquette of a palace maid to the Queen, and she also performed the etiquette of a palace maid to me."

Concubine Hua held a handkerchief over her nose to express her disgust, and the palace maids in the hall couldn't help laughing.

"You've been in the palace for so many days, but you haven't even learned the basic etiquette of a concubine?" Concubine Qi noticed it as soon as Concubine Hua pointed it out, and immediately fired back, "Xia, you are disrespectful to the queen."

When the Queen heard Concubine Qi's questioning, she choked again.

The Queen was secretly delighted that Concubine Hua was still finding faults and making things difficult for the palace concubines as usual. Then she could act like a virtuous wife and use her status as the Queen to say a few good words for Xia to make it seem like Concubine Hua was being persistent and mean to the palace concubines.

But now, the queen is in a dilemma.

Should he punish Xia Dongchun, follow the palace rules and etiquette, or smooth things over? If he smoothed things over, it would really make this stupid woman his own, and he would be unable to get rid of her in the future.

Just as she was in a dilemma, Concubine Hua spoke again, "Sister Qi Fei is wrong. The one who respects the Queen the most in the palace must be Concubine Xia."

"A few days ago, I sent Zhou Ninghai to deliver some gifts to the new sisters who entered the palace. Xia was shouting that the Queen's reward was unique and good, and it made my reward look even better than the one I gave her."

Hua Fei was indeed not lying. Xia Dongchun's loud voice was known to everyone in the palace. Some young palace maids and eunuchs even thought she was the queen's person and rushed to curry favor with her.

Xia Dongchun had already knelt on the ground nervously, regardless of etiquette, and kept asking "Empress Hua, please spare my life!" and "Empress Queen, please spare my life!"

The Queen regretted very much why she didn't just exempt Concubine Hua from paying her respects today.

After weighing the two options, the Queen said, "Forget it. Xia has just entered the palace, so it is normal for her to be unfamiliar with the palace rules and etiquette. She should learn the rules from the teaching nanny for three months before serving the emperor."

When Xia Dongchun heard that she would have to wait three months before entering the emperor's bedchamber, she secretly resented Concubine Hua for meddling in other people's business. She thought that Concubine Hua must be jealous of her beauty and would make her suffer when she gained favor.

It was originally a meeting to show her virtue, but after several rounds of tossing and turning, the queen felt uneasy at all. She gave the new ladies some cloth and jewelry and dispersed them.

With the help of Songzhi, Concubine Hua slowly stood up and bowed to the Queen with great "difficulty".

The queen no longer wanted to play along, so she waved her hand and asked them to leave.

The concubines found this greeting very strange. It seemed that Concubine Hua was suppressing them, but it also seemed that Concubine Hua was doing nothing.

She just came to pay her respects to the Queen on the pretext of illness, and pointed out a mistake made by Concubine Xia in etiquette.

Concubine Hua did not scold anyone, nor did she impose severe punishment. She even came to pay her respects to the Queen even though she was sick.

It is really...

Really, can't fault it.

When Concubine Qi saw that Concubine Hua was in a state of frailty, she felt very happy and left in a hurry.

Seeing that Concubine Hua was ill, Lipin wanted to take advantage of the fact that Concubine Hua could not sleep with her, so she followed him.

Cao Qinmo felt that today's behavior was not like Concubine Hua's usual style, so she watched her carefully from the side, trying to see if there were any flaws.

When Concubine Hua saw how pale she looked, Xin Changzai felt sorry for her and bowed to her, saying, "Take care, Concubine Hua." Then she left with her maid.

The other new ladies who entered the palace only felt that Xia was being punished, and they also began to fear the queen. In the future, they must not make mistakes when paying respects.

Zhen Huan thought of something, but didn't grasp it.

Shen Meizhuang and An Lingrong both felt that the palace people were spreading rumors and that Concubine Hua was not that scary.

After getting on the sedan chair, Concubine Hua sent away Lipin and went back to Yikun Palace herself.

On the way back, Concubine Hua asked Song Zhi and Xin Changzai about the specific reasons for their miscarriage.