69novels Chapter 17 Unrestrained Sleeping Posture
Chapter 17 Unrestrained Sleeping Posture
Yunluo quickly covered Jin Meiren's mouth, stamping her foot anxiously, "Your Highness, you can't say that! This is the palace, not home."
But she felt wronged. Why was Shen Shixi able to serve the emperor for two nights in a row, while she could only serve him for one night?
Consort Rong was also weeping in the wind. It was the middle of the night, and she was dressed in a snow-white dress. Her fair face was slightly yellowed by the palace lanterns, and tears streamed down her face. Her voice was low and mournful. "He has been so heartless to me. I have been sick all these days, and he has not even asked about me once. If I had known this would happen, why would I have come in the first place?"
Fei Hua rubbed her arms together; they were a little cold and a little creepy.
There were no stars or moon in the sky. The palace lanterns in the distance shone over, the wind blew through the trees, and the shadows of the trees swayed. His master was dressed in white mourning clothes, as if weeping and lamenting. What difference was there between the world of the living and the world of the dead?
"Your Majesty, I've heard that things are rather unsettled in the Northwest lately. His Majesty is probably very busy. He will come to visit you in a few days."
"You don't need to say these comforting words to me. If he's always busy, how could he possibly have time to go to Zhaoyang Palace and stay there all day? I'm certainly not comparable to Consort Shen, a woman of gold and jade. I'm just a pitiful ghost living under someone else's roof! Waaah!"
A gust of cold wind blew by, and Fei Hua shivered, quite frightened. She looked around, afraid that something might suddenly appear. "Master, it's late, let's go inside!"
Just then, a strong stench blew in from the front, making Consort Rong dizzy and causing her to vomit.
Even non-flowers feel like vomiting.
If Shen Shixi were here, she would be surprised to find that this smells like snail rice noodles.
Qiongfei's innovation was a success.
Consort Qiong was quite happy at the moment. Ignoring the constipated expressions of everyone in the palace, she picked up a piece of pickled bamboo shoot, took a bite, and found it to be absolutely delicious.
"Taotie, you should try some too!" Consort Qiong said enthusiastically.
The head palace maid felt like fainting when she heard her name. She was a perfectly fine young lady, and the Empress had to give her such a disgusting name.
"Your Majesty, this servant does not like the taste."
She always felt that the Empress might be seriously ill; otherwise, why would she specifically eat things that smelled like an outhouse? (No offense to snail rice noodles and stinky tofu; the author also eats them frequently and even enjoys them. It's purely for plot purposes.)
"Try it, it really does smell bad, but it tastes delicious!"
Taotie felt nauseous at the smell and resisted it strongly. But Qiongfei insisted on feeding her, so she had to suppress her urge to rebel, took a bite, and then vomited.
Consort Qiong felt it was a great pity. "Tomorrow, send this to the Emperor to try!"
Taotie knelt down with a thud. "Your Majesty, this is unacceptable! The Emperor definitely won't like it!"
They might even drag her to behead her.
Consort Qiong was furious. "This food is so delicious, yet the Emperor didn't even try it. How do you know he doesn't like it?"
She fantasized, "The Emperor hasn't visited me in a long time. Only I can make such delicious vermicelli in the whole world. The taste is absolutely unique, whether in the imperial kitchen or among the common people. If the Emperor likes it, he will come to my palace whenever he wants to eat it."
Taotie knelt on the ground, sobbing uncontrollably. They were all palace maids, so why was everyone else's job just a little harder and more tiring, while hers was a job that involved beheading?
The next day, Li Yuanke had an early morning court session and did not expect Shen Shixi to get up and serve him as he dressed and washed.
According to the rules, Shen Shixi should sleep outside, so that he can serve tea and water to Li Yuanke at night, and he won't disturb Li Yuanke if he gets up at night.
But Shen Shixi's sleeping posture was so good that he could push Li Yuanke off the bed at night. Now, as soon as he opened his eyes, Shen Shixi's fluffy head was resting on his waist, with his two long white legs exposed.
He sleeps lying horizontally.
Li Yuanke quickly pulled her back, covered her legs with his own for a while, and then got up himself.
"Did your master used to sleep in this position too?" Li Yuanke couldn't help but ask.
Bai Ping was extremely worried, fearing that the Emperor would dislike her, but she dared not deceive the Emperor. After hesitating for a long time, she said, "When I sleep, I usually wrap myself up in a quilt, but sometimes I am a little less careful."
Li Yuanke understood what he meant; this little thing had always slept in such a wild and unrestrained manner.
"Keep an eye on her, make sure she doesn't catch a cold!"
"yes!"
Li Yuanke left before Shen Shixi woke up; she usually doesn't wake up until 30 a.m.
Li Yuanke went to court at dawn. Being an emperor was tiring; he had to get up earlier than the rooster.
Shen Shixi woke up at dawn, started exercising, ran laps, took a shower, changed her clothes, and happily and leisurely ate a hearty breakfast.
Having a small kitchen is great; you can eat whatever you want, whenever you want.
As for expenses, it's not that she can't afford them.
She fell and injured herself. Li Yuanke reminded her yesterday that it takes a hundred days to recover from a broken bone, so she could go more than three months without paying her respects.
Everyone was present at Fengyi Palace today, except for Shen Shixi.
"Lady Shen didn't come to pay her respects again today? She fell and got injured, how can she still serve the Emperor?" Consort Jin was dissatisfied. Before the Empress even arrived, she had already stirred up a wave of hatred for Shen Shixi.
Her intentions were obvious, but no one laughed at her; Shen Shixi was everyone's unanimous enemy for the time being.
Consort De smiled. As a high-ranking concubine, she naturally couldn't bring herself to participate in the battles fought by lower-ranking concubines.
Yuan Cairen said, "If Shen Cairen hadn't fallen and injured herself, Jin Meiren would have been the one to serve the emperor yesterday. Others who served the emperor would only be promoted one rank, but Jin Meiren was promoted two ranks. Only Consort Yin during the late emperor's reign had such an honor."
During the reign of the late emperor, Empress Wenzhen passed away early, and Consort Yin took charge of palace affairs.
Consort Jin was very happy, but also dissatisfied. Consort Yin was still a bit incompetent. If it were her, she would have already ascended to the throne of Empress.
Yuan Cairen is right about one thing: if it weren't for Shen Shixi, the Emperor would have summoned her yesterday.
Everyone could see through her intentions, so no one took her seriously anymore.
The Empress came out and added, "Consort Jin, you had a hard time serving me the other night!"
It felt like a hard slap across her face.
Consort Jin rose to express her gratitude, "I am not tired at all. If you ask who has had the hardest time in the harem, it is Consort Shen. She was seriously injured and still had to serve the emperor. That is truly hardship!"
The Empress angrily retorted, "Consort Jin, watch your words! When Consort Shen was injured, the Emperor went to visit her. Which eye of yours saw that the Emperor asked her to serve him in bed?"
The Empress was not protecting Shen Shixi from extortion, but rather trying to safeguard the Emperor's reputation.
Consort Jin hurriedly knelt down, "I misspoke, please punish me, Your Majesty!"
"You're to be punished by copying the palace rules ten times! And you'll be docked a month's salary!"
"Thank you for your grace, Your Majesty!"
Consort De said, "Speaking of punishments, I remember Her Majesty the Empress also punished Consort Shen by making her copy the palace rules. I wonder if she has finished copying them?"
The Empress looked at the head palace maid, Tingqin, and hurriedly said, "Consort Shen hasn't handed in her copy of the palace rules yet!"
"Go and ask in a bit. If they haven't copied it, then wait until the injury has healed before copying it," the Empress said.
Consort Qing laughed, "Her Majesty the Empress is truly kind and benevolent. She's followed the palace rules for so many days now, and it seems Consort Shen has no intention of copying them. She's relying on the Emperor's favor and doesn't respect Her Majesty the Empress at all!"
The Empress ignored Consort Qing's attempts to sow discord; she didn't take the daughter of a mere fourth-rank governor seriously at all.
Only after he had a son did he dare to act a little more in front of her.