Quick Wear: Cousin, Come to the Bowl Quickly

"This is too much! Who is Cen Zhu? She is just the daughter of a horseman and a runner. How dare she bully me?"

Inside Fuxue Hall, Mrs. Xie's face was filled with rage. She slammed the teacup in her hand down on the table. Some tea splashed out and landed on the back of her well-maintained hand, quickly leaving a red spot. However, she seemed unaware of it and continued to curse angrily.

"That Cen Ji was so arrogant and domineering that I haven't even settled the score with her yet. Yet she dared to summon me to the palace. She's not afraid that I'll stab her with a sword."

Pearl was sharp-eyed and saw the burn marks on the back of Xie's hand. She quickly held Xie's hand and shouted to the outside: "Go get some cold water and a can of burn ointment."

"Why bother? I'm fine." Xie was angry and naturally didn't care about the small burn on the back of her hand.

"Madam, no matter how angry you are, you have to take care of your body. Wouldn't you make your loved ones sad and your enemies happy if you act like this?" Zhenzhu comforted Xie while her hands kept moving. She rolled up Xie's sleeves, took off her rings and bracelets, took the cold water from the maid's hand, and handed it to Xie with lowered eyebrows.

After hearing what she said, Mrs. Xie managed to calm down her anger, dipped her hands into the copper basin, and sighed, "Of course I know this truth, but I was just angry for a moment. I haven't avenged Ting'er and Xixi yet, so I can't let Cen Zhu get angry to death."

"But what exactly is that person in the palace planning? She said she wanted to apologize, but half a month has passed since the night the prince and his cousin fell into the water. She didn't come to visit then, but now she wants to apologize." Zhenzhu thought of the angel's seemingly respectful but actually arrogant expression, and she really couldn't guess what Concubine Cen's intention was.

This morning, after Xie had breakfast, she was asking about the health of Zhenzhu, He Lanting and Lin Xi as usual, but suddenly she heard a report from outside that someone had come from the palace.

Xie was completely confused. Although angels often came to the Anguo Mansion to deliver His Majesty's rewards, why would the palace send someone to deliver them during this non-holiday season? But despite her confusion, Xie quickly washed and dressed to welcome the emperor, and rushed to the front hall.

When he arrived at the front hall, he found that the person waiting there was not the angel who usually followed Emperor Hui, but a strange eunuch with a round face, narrow eyes and a medium build. Looking closely, he did not have an imperial edict in his hand.

Xie was even more puzzled, but seeing that the inner official's clothes on the man did not look fake, she put on a dignified smile and asked, "The angel looks unfamiliar. Forgive my poor eyesight, but I wonder which nobleman beside His Majesty is this?"

When the eunuch saw Xie, he bowed and said, "I don't deserve to be called your honorable lady by the Duke's wife. I am the head of Jifu Palace. I came here today only to pass on a few words for the Imperial Concubine. Madam, just stand and listen."

Imperial Concubine Cen? Xie was startled, then sneered. How dare she come to pass on a message? Cen Ji had caused her son and niece to fall seriously ill, and she hadn't come to settle the score with her yet, yet she came here hastily.

But no matter what he thought in his heart, he didn't show it on his face, and said calmly: "Then I'll trouble you, my noble man."

"Pass on the Imperial Concubine's decree. In three days, please invite the women in your family to the palace to appreciate the flowers. Madam, please do not refuse." The eunuch stated his purpose.

"Flower viewing?"

"Recently, the Empress received a pot of green chrysanthemums from His Majesty. This flower is rare, and a gardener has spent three years cultivating just one. The Empress did not want to keep it all to herself, and she remembered that Madam is a chrysanthemum lover, so she reported it to His Majesty and invited Madam and other female relatives in the mansion to enjoy it together." Seeing that Xie was puzzled, the eunuch explained the reason.

Hearing the first half of the sentence, Xie sneered in her heart. Cen Zhu was indeed a person who had never seen the world. It was just a pot of green chrysanthemums. She already had one planted in her yard. How could she come here to show off? But when she heard the second half of the sentence said by the eunuch, alarm bells started to ring in her heart.

Considering how favored Concubine Chen was, she could have directly issued an imperial decree to summon people to the palace, but she chose to go to the extra mile to seek the emperor's consent. On the surface, this flower-viewing event was an invitation, but in fact, it was not something that Xie could refuse. After all, the emperor had already nodded his head. If she, Xie, refused, wouldn't she be slapping him in the face?

What a good Concubine Cen! Mrs. Xie gritted her teeth secretly, but she didn't show it on her face. She said respectfully, "I will definitely be there on time."

After finally sending the person away, he got furious when he returned to the house and kept scolding Concubine Cen. Fortunately, Zhenzhu came to comfort him and he gradually calmed down. He was about to go to the second room, but when he arrived at the gate of the courtyard, he bumped into Yu who was in a hurry.

Seeing that she was full of worry, Mrs. Xie stopped her and asked the reason. It turned out that Lanzhi suddenly broke out with acne last night and was feeling very uncomfortable. Lan Xue ate and slept with her sister, and although she had no symptoms now, she was also in great danger. Mrs. Yu took care of them both all night last night and finally made it until dawn. Seeing that the medicine didn't have much effect, she wanted to come and ask Mrs. Xie for advice.

"She never had acne when she was two years old. I thought it was the Buddha's blessing. But now she is so old, she suddenly has an attack..." Yu stayed up the whole night, her eyes were red, and she couldn't even shed tears.

"It would be okay if you had the pox when you were a child. Otherwise, the older you get, the more uncomfortable it will be when it breaks out. Don't worry, I know there's an imperial physician in the palace who specializes in this. I'll send someone to the palace to invite him." Xie hastily comforted her, and then she carefully told Yu some precautions during the pox period, and then the two separated.

Xie returned to Fuxue Hall, wrote a note and asked Zhenzhu to take it outside to ask someone to invite the imperial physician. Then she seemed to suddenly remember something, called the person back, and wrote another petition, saying that someone in her family had smallpox and she was afraid that it would harm the dragon fetus in the imperial concubine's belly, so she wanted to enter the palace to pay a visit after some time.

Originally, he thought this reason was foolproof, but who would have thought that the messenger came back with a verbal order from Concubine Cen, saying that she and everyone in her palace had had smallpox, and that it was not taboo. She also heard that the cousin in the mansion had fallen into the water and had been confined to the house a few days ago, but was finally well, so she took this opportunity to let her go out of the house to relax. Finally, she specifically emphasized that Emperor Hui would also be there that day.

This combination of soft and hard tactics was obviously a "Hongmen Banquet", but now that the request had been rejected, it would be extremely ungrateful to find excuses to shirk it, and it would certainly not be acceptable to the emperor, so Xie could not think of a solution for a while.

When Duke Anguo found out, he just advised her not to worry and just go with peace of mind. But Xie was not at peace at all. She endured two days of anxiety and anger, and finally took Lin Xi on the carriage to the palace.