Chapter 30 - The importance for a concubine to be able to fight

The palace hostesses were still on their way to Yan Fu Palace. Among the concubines in the side halls, the highest grade was Pin, Deputy Third-Grade, followed by Rong Hua, Fourth-Grade, Gui Ren, Deputy Fourth-Grade, and then Mei Ren, Fifth-Grade.

Since there were a small number of concubines in Emperor Chunjia’s harem, there was only one Pin called Ms. Yan who entered the palace in the Emperor’s wedding day and stayed with Fu Ren Yaoning. There were two Rong Hua. One was Ms. Dong who had been with the Emperor for many years in Consort Xin’s palace, just like Ms. Yan. The other one was Ms. Wei who was cordially invited in Yi Jia Palace recently. It was said that there were two Gui Ren before. Given they both “had died suddenly” in Hu Zhu Palace, there was no Gui Ren in the harem now. There were also several Mei Ren before. But because of various reasons, they had died. The existing three Mei Ren, namely, Yun Fenghuang, Yun Qingman and Mei Ren Xue were newly promoted this year.

Among all the high-grade concubines above, there was only Ms. Wei and Yun Fenghuang in the side hall now.

After all, other concubines had to follow their palace hostesses to be here. Ms. Wei did not have her palace hostess. Yun Fenghuang made her palace hostess Consort Yue be grounded and she did not please Noble Consort Shu this time, either. So, Ms. Wei and Yun Fenghuang were at the side hall at this time.

At present, some other concubines wanted to trouble Yun Fenghuang, so they naturally wanted Ms. Wei to take the lead. After exchanging glances, a concubine in silver and red spoke first. She was sitting on the right-hand seat next to Yun Fenghuang, raised her voice and said, “Rong Hua Wei is here. Why don’t you come forward to give a salute?”

In her opinion, if Yun Fenghuang was angry, she would surely ask them why they didn’t give a salute to her, the newly promoted Mei Ren. Then they would argue that Yun Fenghuang should give a salute to Rong Hua Wei before they saluted her.

By then, Rong Hua Wei could ramble a few words when Yun Fenghuang saluted until it was time to go to the main hall of Yan Fu Palace to greet the Empress, then Yun Fenghuang would have to accept the loss for no reason.

It was not because they could only come up with this kind of children’s trick to deal with Yun Fenghuang, but because Yun Fenghuang was higher than most of them in grade. Moreover, as Noble Consort Shu’s sister, Yun Fenghuang was from Duke Yi’s Mansion, and she also seemed to be favored by Emperor Chunjia… The concubines were not as well informed as the concubines in high grades. They were even more ignorant about the situation in the palace. According to hearsay, they thought Yun Fenghuang was very capable. Therefore, they wanted to vent their anger, but they did not want to blow up the affair.

After all, they were in Yan Fu Palace.

But when Yun Fenghuang heard this, she did not lift her head and said, “My legs are numb. I cannot get up. I am sorry that I cannot give a salute, Rong Hua Wei.”

Rong Hua Wei was still pondering how to handle the situation. Hearing this, she was immediately enraged to laugh out, “When Mei Ren came in just now, it seems that your legs were not numb!”

“Yes, it is true. My legs were not numb just now. After sitting here for a while, I feel numb.” Yun Fenghuang said in an idle way, “Rong Hua Wei, do you think I deliberately ignored you? You really think too much. Her Highness has praised me as a polite and sensible person. How could I do such a boring thing?”

Rong Hua Wei was about to ask when the Empress praised her like this. The praise went against the Empress’s will. Then she thought to herself, “Oh yes, the imperial decree for her promotion yesterday said so… However, there are conventional remarks when the Empress gave the concubines a promotion. For example, one was elegant, graceful, dignified and virtuous. How could Yun Fenghuang take it seriously? Shame on her!”

Then Rong Hua Wei avoided the topic and narrowed her eyes, “Oh? However, we always sit here for a while in the past few days and have never said that our legs are numb. Is it because you think the chairs here are not good? Or…”

With a chuckle, Rong Hua Wei paused on purpose, “Do you have any…other ideas about Yan Fu Palace?”

“I certainly have many ideas about Yan Fu Palace.” Yun Fenghuang said lazily, “For example, how to serve Her Highness better, how to share the worries for Her Highness, and how to be self-sustaining and not losing my composure after seeing the beauty of Her Highness later… Don’t you think so?”

Rong Hua Wei and others stared at Yun Fenghuang in astonishment. To tell the truth, because of the identity of the Empress and the power of Ji’s Family, there were many people in this palace wanting to please her, but at least they were euphemistic and subtle when pleasing the Empress. But at least they were self-respecting!

As for people like Yun Fenghuang… Could she be more shameless?

“I…” Rong Hua Wei signed after a pause, “Of course I think so.”

Yun Fenghuang looked at her distrustfully, “Is Rong Hua Wei cheating? You said just now that your legs have never felt numb when all of you sat in the side hall every day. What does it mean? It means that you did not pay attention to Her Highness at all. I saw it when I came in. You gathered in twos and threes to chat. You were happy at that time and did not show your love and care to Her Highness… If you really concern about Her Highness, you should be like me. I did not notice that my legs were numb because I was indulging in thinking how to serve Her Highness. Thanks to that sister who reminded me just now…”

She glanced at the concubine who spoke first just now (Cai Ren Gui), but saw her looking straight for fear of being pointed out. Yun Fenghuang smirked and did not expose her, but continued to say to Rong Hua Wei, “Without that sister’s reminder, I didn’t even notice that Rong Hua Wei is here. You can see I only care about Her Highness rather than those insignificant people.”

“…She means that I’m insignificant?” Rong Hua Wei thought to herself.

Rong Hua Wei took a deep breath, and then took another one. Yun Qingman, the younger sister of Noble Consort Shu and the daughter of Duke Yi, entered the palace for the first time as Mei Ren. Xue Xiaoge (Mei Ren Xue), Zhao Yuan Ji’s cousin and the daughter of an important official, was also a Mei Ren. But she was a Rong Hua, which could show that she had a powerful family.

In fact, the reason why she was assigned to live in Yi Jia Palace but not as a hostess was because Her Highness had assumed that she would be the hostess of Yi Jia Palace in the future.

It could be said that among all the concubines, she was the one with the clearest and most promising future.

After all, although Yun Qingman and Xue Xiaoge had their sister and cousin to rely on when they entered the palace, they would also be subject to the control of their sister and cousin. Even if they gave birth to the Emperor’s children, it would be difficult for them to get rid of control. Only Rong Hua Wei was one of the established future giants!

So, even if she knew that Yun Fenghuang was a tough enemy who could rely on Noble Consort Shu, why should she, Wei Hengyan, submit to such humiliation?!

“What you said is very reasonable…” Wei Hengyan pursed her lips, suddenly took the cup of tea that she had drunk, and poured it towards Yun Fenghuang!

Because there was no Gui Ren, the seats of Yun Fenghuang and Rong Hua Wei were next to each other. Rong Hua Wei did it in a sudden. When the maids in Yan Fu Palace at the door noticed that something wrong happened, it was already late for them to stop it. At that time, Yun Fenghuang pulled Cai Ren Gui in front of her to block the tea water for her.

Cai Ren Gui didn’t expect it at all. She screamed subconsciously, but her knees were kicked hard before she stopped screaming. Cai Ren Gui suddenly lost her balance, knocked Wei Hengyan down, and fell on the ground with her.

… After a while, Yun Fenghuang who was neatly dressed was kneeling down on the ground. Wei Hengyan was on her left side. She was disheveled and had a bruise on her cheek, crying out and covering her eyes with a hanky. Cai Ren Gui was kneeling down on Yun Fenghuang’s right side as she rubbed her wrist. Her clothes were almost damp for the tea water.

“…” The Empress on the phoenix seat rubbed her forehead and instructed, “Rong Hua Wei, you tell me first. What’s going on?”

Wei Hengyan was not completely mindless and she was not the one who purely bullied others by her family power. Before she started, she had thought about the reason. “Mei Ren Yun said that her legs were numb. I heard that when one’s legs are numb, he or she will soon recover after a shock. So, in order to avoid making a fool of Mei Ren Yun in front of My Highness, I wanted to pick up the tea cup and pretended to pour it on Mei Ren Yun to help her recover quickly. Who knows I failed to control my strength and spilled the tea out? But Mei Ren Yun was so vicious. She pulled Cai Ren Gui and then Cai Ren Gui knocked me down.”

She cried and added, “Although I didn’t expect that I would fail, I confirmed it before I started. The tea in the tea cup was not hot, so I definitely didn’t mean to hurt Mei Ren Yun. But Mei Ren Yun… Mei Ren Yun…”

Wei Hengyan really didn’t want to hurt Yun Fenghuang. After all, they did not hate each other so deeply. Moreover, she also worried that she would get a cruel impression as she newly joined the Imperial Harem, which was not good for her future. Consort Yue was the example. She used to have a bright future for all the advantages she had. However, she was lost in jealousy and did things ruthlessly. She was regarded as a monster by everyone in the palace.

Everyone thought that she was hateful.

Even her family, Yuan’s Family in Fu Yang, was also ashamed for that… Wei Hengyan had been repeatedly warned by her family before joining the Imperial Harem, and naturally she would not make the same mistake.

Anyway, based on her family background, as long as she did not cross the line, these bosses in the palace would never make her suffer.

As expected, although the Empress knew exactly what was going on, she still frowned when she heard these, and asked Yun Fenghuang, “You? As a Mei Ren, you don’t pay attention to serve His Majesty well, but treat your sisters in the Imperial Harem like this!”

What the Empress said had a bias towards Wei Hengyan, which was not very harsh. But then the Empress thought that this newly promoted Mei Ren should be given a lesson. Then she was gloomy and said, “Yesterday Queen Mother of Mercy praised that you are polite. Therefore, I gave you a promotion of Mei Ren. It is only a day after that. And now you show your true color?!”

Wei Hengyan and Cai Ren Gui understood what the Empress was indicating, so they both felt secretly pleased, and secretly prayed that Yun Fenghuang would be demoted to Cheng Gui by the Empress. By then, she wouldn’t be so swaggering and arrogant.

“My Lady, His Majesty wanted to go to Su Rong Palace himself yesterday, and didn’t mention Yi Jia Palace. I am willing to help Rong Hua Wei but unable to do so.” As a result, Yun Fenghuang showed her grievance and said, “Rong Hua Wei got angry with me for this. What can I say?”

Before Wei Hengyan and Cai Ren Gui defended, Yun Fenghuang immediately added, “Many of the sisters in the side hall were talking in a passionate way. But after I got there, they firstly ignored me and then whispered. Finally, Rong Hua Wei and Cai Ren Gui were willing to talk to me. However, they found fault with me… But I had nothing against them. Why did they do this to me? After thinking about it, I guess it was surely because His Majesty first went to Xi Xing Building last night and then went to Su Rong Palace. They thought it was me who persuaded His Majesty to go to Su Rong Palace.”

Yun Fenghuang raised her head pitifully, looking at the Empress with big watery eyes, “My Highness, they got me wrong deeply. I am just a Mei Ren and I do not have that ability. People in this palace are all about serving His Majesty. I do not have the ability to make a decision for His Majesty on the issue of where to go.”

“My Lady, Mei Ren Yun is talking nonsense!” Wei Hengyan and Cai Ren Gui finally learnt that one could be so shameless. They were almost about to spit blood. “I just felt that Mei Ren Yun was untamed, so I wanted to teach her a lesson. It doesn’t matter where His Majesty stayed last night!”

Cai Ren Gui said, “Mei Ren Yun is lower than Rong Hua Wei in grade. According to the rules, after entering the side hall, she should salute Rong Hua Wei first… This is what we have being done while waiting for the summoning at the side hall. But Mei Ren Yun ignored Rong Hua Wei and other concubines. Rong Hua Wei and I took the initiative to remind her for we are sisters in the Imperial Harem. But Mei Ren Yun ignored us. She lied that her legs were numb, and neglected Rong Hua Wei. My Lady, Mei Ren Yun’s obedience is only on the surface. She is rude and insolent. She is unworthy of the praise of Queen Mother of Mercy and My Highness!”

So, just went ahead and cancelled her promotion of Mei Ren…

Cai Ren Gui did not finish her words because Yun Fenghuang stopped her and said, “My Lady! I suffer wrongful treatment! My legs were numb at that time, so when Rong Hua Wei made an abnormal move, I pulled Cai Ren Gui to ask for help. Otherwise, why didn’t I stand up to avoid it?”

Pointing to Xin Qing who was kneeling behind her, she said, “I was also supported by the maid when I came here to kneel down. Cai Ren Gui called white black. My Lady, you are perceptive of the minutest detail. I am innocent!”

… How dared she say she was innocent?

“Do you think that I cannot figure out that you are the one to blame?” The Empress said to herself.

Her mouth twitched, and she was unwilling to listen to them arguing with each other, so she announced the results of the disposition, “Rong Hua Wei, Mei Ren Yun, and Cai Ren Gui shouted in Yan Fu Palace. I should punish them severely. But they are new comers and young, I will show them mercy.”

Rong Hua Wei was confiscated half a month expense, and Cai Ren Gui was punished to copy Rules for Women and Restrictions for Women ten times. While Yun Fenghuang…

The Empress groaned and said, “Previously, the palace hostess in Hu Zhu Palace didn’t behave well, so she was grounded. Mei Ren Yun will get the same punishment with your palace hostess. You will be punished to be grounded for a month.”

Rong Hua Wei and Cai Ren Gui were a bit angry at first, but when they heard this, they were immediately happy. They seemed to forget that they also had been punished by the Empress, and smiled ironically at Yun Fenghuang. Although Consort Yue was grounded, everyone knew that Emperor Chunjia would try every means to see and comfort her. What’s more, Queen Mother Yuan would take care of Consort Yue. Moreover, even if Consort Yue had been grounded in Ning Bi Hall, as the lover of the Emperor, she could still receive the treatment of a consort.

While as for Yun Fenghuang…

It would be interesting.