Quick Wear: Cousin, Come to the Bowl Quickly

Xie and Lin Xi got off the carriage at Qianqiu Gate, where palace maids and eunuchs were already waiting. They walked through the long Yong Lane and around the winding corridor bridge before finally getting off the sedan in front of Jifu Palace.

"Greetings, Madam Anguo. Her Majesty has been waiting for a long time. Please follow me." A female official in dark blue standing at the palace gate bowed and saluted when she saw the two people getting off the sedan chair.

Xie and Lin Xi looked at each other and saw the comforting look in each other's eyes. After thanking her, they followed the female official into the house.

Jifu Palace is located in the southeast of the Forbidden Garden and south of the Taiji Palace. Its area is second only to the Empress' Hanzhang Palace. Concubine Cen has been favored for many years, and Jifu Palace has been renovated several times. Now it is a luxurious palace with magnificent buildings, carved beams and painted buildings.

It was the mid-autumn season now. When the group passed through the screen wall, they saw autumn chrysanthemums of various colors blooming all over the courtyard. There were the general flags with purple faces and golden backs, the Ruiyun Palace with clouds and snow, and the ten-foot-high curtains with unrestrained postures. Any one of them would be a rare treasure worth a lot of money outside, but in the Jifu Palace, they were like inconspicuous roadside weeds, piled casually on both sides.

A cold light flashed in Xie's eyes. She originally thought that Concubine Cen was just a person who had never seen the world. She wanted to show off in front of her just because she got a pot of green chrysanthemum. But now, seeing the garden full of chrysanthemums, many of which were rare, she thought it was not worth summoning her into the palace just for a pot of green chrysanthemum. She immediately became more alert.

"The wife of Duke Anguo is here!" Following the announcement from the female official, Xie and Lin Xi walked into the main hall.

"Your servant Xie and your servant Lin greet Her Majesty the Imperial Concubine. May Her Majesty be rich and prosperous, and live a thousand years of eternal youth." The two of them lowered their heads and knelt down to salute.

"Get up, no need to be polite." A lazy and gentle voice came from the seat at the top.

Lin Xi stood up with Xie, and suddenly heard the person at the top suddenly speak, "This must be the daughter of the late Lin Zhuozulang. She is really beautiful and charming. She makes people fall in love with her at first sight."

Hearing her praising herself, Lin Xi raised her head and looked at the person sitting at the top. After seeing the person's appearance clearly, she was a little surprised. She had thought that Concubine Cen must be a stunning beauty with extraordinary appearance and demeanor since she had been the most favored concubine in the harem for more than 20 years. However, although the person in front of her had a slim figure and attractive temperament, her face was only average. She was pretty enough, but not at all stunningly beautiful.

The palace concubines lived a life of luxury and naturally looked much younger than the women in the market. However, Concubine Cen was already thirty-six years old, but there was not a single wrinkle around her eyes or eyebrows. Her eyes were as clear as those of a young girl in her twenties, and you couldn't tell at all that their owner was a concubine who had been immersed in the palace for more than twenty years.

Today she was wearing a goose yellow palace dress, with no makeup on her face. She looked gentle and easy-going. If it weren't for the slightly bulging belly under the loose hem that was impossible to ignore, she would have been no different from an unmarried girl.

"Your Majesty, thank you for your praise. I am unworthy of it." Seeing Concubine Cen's eyes sweeping over her, Lin Xi avoided her sight and answered neither humbly nor arrogantly.

"Heh." Concubine Cen chuckled with an unknown meaning and asked the two to sit down. "Your Majesty rewarded me with a green chrysanthemum some time ago. I remembered that my wife loves chrysanthemums, so I wanted to enjoy it with her." After saying that, she asked the eunuch to bring in the flowers.

The green chrysanthemum was indeed growing very well, with thick rhizomes, luxuriant branches and leaves, and dozens of buds about to bloom among the branches and leaves. The ones at the top were in full bloom, blooming enchantingly. Although Xie and Lin Xi had something else on their minds, they had to put it aside for the moment. They stood up and pretended to admire the flowers, saying a few compliments from time to time.

"This flower is called Spring Water Green Waves because its color is fresh, just like the water in a pond in spring. It is very different from ordinary autumn chrysanthemums, which is why it is particularly precious." Concubine Cen walked down from her seat at some point, and was supported by a female official to stand in front of the pot of green chrysanthemums and spoke slowly.

Xie and Lin Xi looked at her slightly bulging belly, saying "Your Highness is indeed deeply loved by His Majesty" but they took a half step back at the same time, moving a little further away from her. Concubine Cen looked at their actions and didn't care, still talking to herself, "I heard that Miss Lin was promised to someone else?"

Lin Xi's heart trembled, thinking that the real drama was about to begin. A hint of sadness appeared on her face at the right moment. "I once had a relationship with Wang Zhuo, but later..." Her tone was gloomy, as if she didn't want to continue.

"I have also heard a little bit about this. It's better to divorce a man like that." Seeing the expression on Lin Xi's face, Concubine Cen spoke softly, like a very considerate elder sister, but then she changed the subject, "I also have a useless brother. He suddenly came to my palace a few days ago and said that he met a girl on Mid-Autumn Night and liked her very much. He wanted to ask me to marry him home."

Xie's face changed, and she finally understood what Concubine Cen wanted to do by causing such trouble today. She didn't care about the rules and etiquette, and smiled and interrupted Concubine Chen, "It is naturally a blessing for the girl to be favored by Master Cen. It's a pity that my niece fell into the water while boating on the lake on Mid-Autumn Night. I'm afraid she will not have the chance to meet Master Cen."

He said this to remind Concubine Cen, don't forget that your brother is the culprit who caused He Lanting and Lin Xi to fall into the lake. Now that the Anguo Mansion has not pursued him for revenge, it is already a favor outside the law. His Cen family must not take advantage of it.

But Concubine Cen seemed to have not heard the hidden meaning of Xie's words, and showed a bit of surprise on her face, "That's it, my brother said that he saw that girl that night and fell in love with him at first sight, but he didn't dare to approach her and offend her, so he could only follow her from a distance, hoping to find an opportunity to approach and talk to her."

"The girl got on the boat and fell into the water accidentally. He jumped in a hurry to save her, but the girl was quickly rescued. He had to return home in disappointment. He fell ill after returning, but he still couldn't forget the girl. Later, he found out that the girl was from the Duke of Anguo's mansion, so he came to me for help.

"I didn't believe it at first. My brother has very high standards and ordinary people are not worthy of his attention. But after seeing Miss Lin today, I know that only a beautiful woman like this can make him never forget her and think about her all the time."

Hearing her shamelessly distorting right and wrong, Xie became even more furious. What kind of person was Cen Ji? He was uneducated, indulged in drinking, whoring and gambling, and was a frequent visitor to brothels. He was also a widower whose original wife had died. It was said that his previous wife was angered to death by him. With such a bad reputation, no official family was willing to marry their daughter to him despite the fact that the Cen family was extremely honored and favored for so many years.

A guy like this wanted to marry Lin Xi simply because he was attracted by her looks, and thought that Lin Xi was now an orphan and would definitely not be able to resist. But Xie was not willing to marry Lin Xi to such a family. She only gave birth to He Lanting in her life, and her sister and brother-in-law died early. She loved Lin Xi as her own daughter. Cen Ji was just given face by He Lanting, but he did something like hiring someone to ram the boat. It can be seen that he is a vengeful person. If Lin Xi married him, she would definitely be tortured to death by him.