ARTTEDSBGT Chapter 126

Late at night, the dew was heavy, the moon had set, and the stars were sinking. Li Zhizhi stepped back into her room under the frosty moonlight. Her maid, Yu Lan, was sitting by the light, dozing off, her head bobbing like a pecking chick. Hearing movement, she quickly stood up and called, “Miss.”

Rubbing her eyes and seeing Li Zhizhi clearly, she widened her eyes in surprise, “Miss, what happened to your hair? Did the hairpin fall out?”

Li Zhizhi vaguely responded, and Yu Lan came over to a.s.sist her, muttering, “I told Hai Tang before, that hairstyle she did looked nice, but it wasn’t st.u.r.dy. Luckily, it fell out here in the residence. If it had happened outside, what a disaster that would be!”

Yu Lan fetched a jade comb and carefully helped Li Zhizhi fix her hair, then noticed something odd, “Miss, your ears are so red. Is it too warm?”

Li Zhizhi reached up to touch her ears and found them a little hot. But her expression remained calm as she said, “I drank some wine tonight, got a little tipsy. Fetch me some cold water to freshen up.”

Yu Lan quickly obeyed, leaving the room silent, with only Li Zhizhi left alone. She looked at herself in the polished bronze mirror, her face reflecting back at her. Her cheeks were slightly flushed with a faint pink, the color of peach blossoms in spring. Her eyes shimmered faintly under the candlelight, as if holding autumn waters.

She stared at the mirror in a daze for a moment, then suddenly turned it face down and cursed softly, “Scoundrel.”

The room remained silent, with no one to respond. It was unclear who she was cursing.

…

Because of Xiao Rulei’s situation, the Grand Princess had initially planned to enter the palace and plead with Emperor Jing Ming for her, but she never found the opportunity. Before she knew it, the Longevity Festival had arrived, and the matter was set aside.

The Emperor’s birthday was on the 19th of August, celebrated with great pomp and ceremony. On that day, Emperor Jing Ming decreed that the court’s affairs would be suspended, and a grand audience would be held at the Hall of Heavenly Blessings. Afterward, a banquet for officials was hosted in the Hall of Great Harmony, requiring the presence of all officials ranked fifth and above.

In addition, n.o.blewomen were also required to pay their respects. n.o.blewomen ranked third or higher had to enter the palace to greet the Empress Dowager and the Grand Empress Dowager. However, since both had pa.s.sed away, and there was no empress, the n.o.blewomen would be received by the Virtuous Consort, who currently held the Phoenix Seal of the palace.

On the way, the Grand Princess carefully explained all this to Li Zhizhi, naming the palace consorts for her to recognize. Currently, Emperor Jing Ming had five consorts. Besides Consort Rong and Consort Chun, there were also Consort Shu, Consort Xian, and Consort Zhuang. Consort Xian had no children, and Consort Shu had only one daughter. She had once had a young prince, but he died early. As for Consort Zhuang, she was the mother of the former crown prince who had been deposed.

At this point, the Grand Princess sighed softly, “Years ago, the Third Prince angered the Emperor, who demoted him to commoner status and sent him to guard the imperial tombs in Zibei. It’s already been so many years.”

Li Zhizhi had heard some stories about the deposed Crown Princes but never in such detail. Aside from the Third Prince, now a commoner, the late First and Second Princes were both born of Empress Xiao Yuan. After their deaths, Empress Xiao Yuan remained bedridden until she eventually died coughing up blood.

Emperor Jing Ming had five sons in total, yet now, only two remained. Li Zhizhi instinctively recalled the rumors she had heard in her previous life: Xiao Yan was also deposed as Crown Prince for angering the Emperor. But what had caused it?

Li Zhizhi furrowed her brows lightly as she pondered, when suddenly she heard the Grand Princess calling her, “Zhizhi? Zhizhi?”

Li Zhizhi quickly snapped out of her thoughts. The Grand Princess reminded her, “The Marquis’s wife is speaking to you.”

The wife of the Marquis of Jianchang, dressed in the formal attire of a t.i.tled lady, was smiling warmly at her. She said, “It’s been a while since I last saw you. You’ve become even more beautiful, young lady.”

Li Zhizhi smiled shyly and said, “Madam, you look even more radiant than before.”

The Marquis’s wife beamed, clearly flattered, “You sure know how to speak, no wonder the Grand Princess adores you so much. If I had such a daughter, I’d keep her close every day too.”

“Madam, you’re too kind.”

The three of them exchanged pleasantries for a while before a palace maid came to escort them inside. They hadn’t arrived particularly early, and the hall was already bustling with people. At the head of the room sat a consort dressed in formal attire, who appeared to be around the same age as the Grand Princess, in her forties. She wasn’t exactly beautiful, but her features were pleasing, and her every move exuded warmth and kindness. This must be Consort Xian.

The group saw Grand Princess Yong Ning and Li Zhizhi enter, and everyone immediately stood up. Xian Fei greeted them with a smile, saying, “Grand Princess has arrived.”

She eagerly invited the Grand Princess to take a seat, exchanged a few pleasantries, but soon heard another announcement—Rong Fei and Chun Fei had also arrived. It was uncertain if it was a coincidence, but these two usually couldn’t stand each other, and now they appeared at the same time, making the atmosphere even livelier.

“Sister Zhizhi!”

Xiao Rulei poked her head out from beside Rong Fei, her face beaming with joy as she waved and ran toward Li Zhizhi, throwing herself into her arms and saying affectionately, “I haven’t seen you in so many days, A’yang missed you so much!”

The way she clung to Li Zhizhi, acting like a child with innocent affection, drew the attention of others. Li Zhizhi pretended not to notice, smiling, “I missed A’yang too.”

“She can be quite a handful,” Rong Fei said, though her face carried a smiling expression, “She repeats your name and the Crown Prince’s three times a day in my ear. My ears are getting calluses from hearing it.”

Xiao Rulei stuck out her tongue, but just then, a cold female voice chimed in from the side: “The Seventh Princess has always been mentally deficient, not like the others. If you lack the patience, why bother keeping her close?”

It was Chun Fei who spoke. Li Zhizhi frowned slightly, while Rong Fei rolled her eyes and retorted, “Who said I lack patience? I only lack it with people I dislike. Surely Chun Fei knows who I’m talking about?”

Chun Fei responded coolly, “You seem to dislike an awful lot of people.”

Rong Fei smiled sweetly, “Indeed, and Chun Fei, you’re right at the top of the list. Are you happy about that?”

The two faced off in a tense moment, and the others exchanged awkward glances, unsure of what to do. It was Xian Fei who finally spoke up, “Alright, if the two of you wish to chat, perhaps you could find another time for it.”

Only then did they quiet down, sitting apart from each other and ignoring each other completely. Rong Fei turned to Li Zhizhi and whispered, “Did you arrange everything?”

Li Zhizhi met her gaze and gave a slight nod, and both women shared a knowing smile. Just then, someone outside came in to announce, “The Princess Consort of Prince Sheng and the County Princess of Rong’an have arrived.”

The hall suddenly fell silent for a moment, but it was Xian Fei who quickly recovered, saying, “Let them in.”

Soon, an attendant in green led two women into the hall. The Princess Consort of Prince Sheng was dressed in formal attire, and beside her, Xiao Man, the County Princess, was also elegantly adorned. They walked forward gracefully, first paying their respects to the Grand Princess and Xian Fei, before taking their seats.

The atmosphere quickly returned to its lively state, with everyone engaging in eager conversations. However, what they were truly thinking remained unknown. Xian Fei smiled warmly at the Princess Consort and asked, “It’s been a long time. How has your health been, Princess Consort?”

The Princess Consort appeared somewhat reserved as she replied, “Thank you for your concern, Your Grace. Everything is well.”

The two exchanged a few more words, and Li Zhizhi glanced at Xiao Man. Today, Xiao Man had abandoned her usual flamboyance and appeared low-key and meek, sitting quietly beside the Princess Consort. Perhaps sensing Li Zhizhi’s gaze, Xiao Man looked up and met her eyes. Smiling, Xiao Man asked, “Why is the Princess looking at me like that?”

Li Zhizhi suddenly asked, “County Princess, do you know where Li Suwan has gone?”

Xiao Man was taken aback and replied in surprise, “I… I really don’t know.”

Li Zhizhi smiled faintly and said, “If you ever find out where she is, please do let me know.”

Xiao Man quickly responded, “Of course.”

Not long after, the sky outside began to darken, and a palace attendant entered to deliver a message: the banquet for the officials had ended, and the Emperor’s entourage had already reached the palace gates. Xian Fei quickly rose, leading the group to go out and welcome the Emperor.

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