Chapter 50 - How time flied... End of story-telling!

Yun Fenghuang didn’t care how tangled and worried Yuan Lianniang was. She looked at the dazzling dishes in front of her, but didn’t take up the chopsticks. Instead, she looked around, and then sighed, “When I first joined the Imperial Harem, I served Jie Yu Yue for a meal here… How time flies. After so many… many days, I didn’t expect I am able to sit here to enjoy meals.”

How time flied. It seemed that she had joined the Imperial Harem for… well, for almost half a month?

Xi Le and Xi Jing were speechless.

Xi Le’s attitude had always been very correct and her response had been quick. She was the first to flatter, “Gui Ren, you are such a talent. Jie Yu Yue has few blessings and an unfortunate life. How could she be qualified to order you? See? As soon as she ordered you to serve her for a meal, she was degraded as Jie Yu immediately. She should appreciate that Her Highness is lenient. Otherwise, she should deserve to be degraded as an ordinary concubine! Gui Ren, it can be seen that you have great blessings and Jie Yu Yue can’t afford to be served by you. She deserves to be degraded!”

“That’s right!” Although Xi Jing was still a little bit grudged about Yun Fenghuang, she was more afraid of her now… Anyway, it had always been a routine that a hostess could summon some concubines in her palace to serve her, which was even considered to be a blessing of the concubine. Even if there were contractions in this process, wasn’t it the unspoken rule that the concubine should tolerate, tolerate, and tolerate again and again, and at most secretly extorting herself there would be ample time in the future for her to change her fate?

But within a few days, Gui Ren Yun had made her hostess disgraceful and even made her almost loss the identity of a hostess!

Besides, just because the hostess had asked her to serve a meal once, she forced the maids of Ning Bi Hall to set up a meal here just now in order to get back her dignity… With regard to the speed of promoting, Xi Jing could still secretly think that Yun Fenghuang just had good luck that Empress Ji happened to need a helper.

But with regard to her efforts to revenge, Xi Jing thought… “Forget it, I am just a maid. Why do I have to have trouble with my master?”

Especially her master sought revenge for the smallest grievance and revenged so quickly.

Xi Jing felt… she must mend her previous impression!

At the moment, she said eloquently, “Gui Ren, in my opinion, Jie Yu Yue doesn’t have the blessing to join the Imperial Harem, and she only benefits from the childhood time with His Majesty! But the benefit doesn’t belong to her in the final analysis. Look, this is her true fortune. Our Gui Ren is the real blessed one. Although your grade was not high when you just joined the Imperial Harem, you have a great future. Jie Yu Yue and others can’t be comparable to you!”

Empress Ji did know how to train her maids!

Yun Fenghuang smiled slightly. Xi Le and Xi Jing were just ordinary maids in Yan Fu Palace before, but their sweet words were exposing nothing but truth?

Under the praise of the two maids, Yun Fenghuang had a happy meal. Then, she let Auntie Zhu take the tea and mountain spring water, which could only be enjoyed by the hostess, to make tea to rinse her mouth. After that, she made Xi Jing go to watch Yuan Lianniang to start copying scriptures and she was supported by Xi Le and paced slowly in the courtyard, helping digestion.

The maids in Ning Bi Hall took the beating continuously, but they were afraid that if Yun Fenghuang was pissed off, she would revenge even more on Yuan Lianniang. Therefore, at the command of Auntie Zhu, they chose to go far away and not show up unless they were summoned.

In the quiet courtyard, the master and maid walked half a circle, and Xi Le couldn’t help asking in a low voice, “Gui Ren, do you think Jie Yu Yue will tell His Majesty about this?”

“She won’t.” Yun Fenghuang’s tone was very determined, leading Xi Le to question subconsciously, “But she seemed to believe your words just now…”

Yun Fenghuang said, “That’s exactly why she won’t tell His Majesty.”

Seeing Xi Le bit her lower lip and was hesitant, she couldn’t help but chuckled, “In her eyes, Queen Mother of Mercy, her family and herself are all not as important as His Majesty. Since she thinks that it will hurt His Majesty if she tells him, how could she do it? Not to mention that she won’t tell His Majesty by herself. Even if I tell His Majesty about this now and His Majesty goes to her for confirmation, I bet she will deny it.”

“I didn’t expect she loves His Majesty so much.” Xi Le sighed, but she immediately realized that the comment was not in line with her own position, so she added immediately, “It’s really surprising after seeing she keep causing troubles to His Majesty.”

Yun Fenghuang said again, “After all, His Majesty and her are sweethearts, and they engaged in the childhood. His Majesty is a noble emperor, and he has protected her over the years. Of course, she loves His Majesty. But I don’t believe what she has done is purely because she loves His Majesty so deeply.”

Xi Le said “ah” and curiously asked, “Gui Ren, what do you mean?”

“I told Jie Yu Yue just now that Yuan’s Family’s patience has reached the limit.” Yun Fenghuang chuckled lightly, “Do you know why she believed this? Because she can’t stand it anymore.”

“Jie Yu Yue’s identity is originally embarrassing. Since she joined the Imperial Harem, she has relied on the favor of His Majesty and Queen Mother of Mercy and offended the whole Imperial Harem. It can be seen that she is reckless and impulsive… How can you expect her to endure for too long?”

“Thanks to His Majesty who is gentle and considerate, she can endure for eight years.”

“But although His Majesty is gentle and considerate, after all, he can’t comfort her and coax her all the time, right? So, although Jie Yu Yue seems to be ignorant and domineering as usual, she begins to think that she can’t hold on… Given her character, do you think she will be willing to die quietly and not cause any trouble even if she doesn’t want to live?”

Xi Le immediately shook her head and pondered again, “Gui Ren, you mean that she has intended to die, so even if she believes that Yuan’s Family would like to take her life as a sacrifice, she doesn’t care?”

“It’s not the only reason.” Yun Fenghuang said, “It doesn’t matter if she doesn’t know this thing. Now she knows, but she still chooses not to tell His Majesty… Think about it, if His Majesty is really in power in the future and knows the ins and outs, is it possible that he will forget her in his life?”

“… But hasn’t His Majesty already been liking Jie Yu Yue?” Xi Le was puzzled, “Is it necessary for her to do this?”

Yun Fenghuang sneered, “Who knows? Maybe she thinks that His Majesty and her are still very young now, so she worries that after she dies, His Majesty may gradually forget her after a long time?”

She didn’t want to talk more about this topic. Seeing that Xi Le was still thinking about it, she diverged, “If things go well Jie Yu Yue will inevitably act as we planned… Make time to tell Her Highness later, lest there is any misunderstanding.”

Xi Le replied immediately, “Yes.”

She wanted to ask a few more questions, but Yun Fenghuang said again, “By the way, on our way back from Mian Fu Palace last time, I heard from Rong Hua Wei and Mei Ren Yun that the Prince Regent’s two sons have different mothers. Shizi is the biological son of Princess Yuan, but his second son who is about to be a student of Mr. Ling Shan is actually the biological son of the Step Princess?”

“Exactly.” Xi Le wondered why Yun Fenghuang suddenly mentioned this, but she added naturally, “It is said that the second son of the Prince Regent was born weak. The Prince Regent and the Step Princess never brings him to the Imperial Harem when they pay respects or go to the banquet. They said that they were afraid of spreading the son’s sickness to the Imperia Harem. On the contrary, after Shizi was chosen as the reading partner of His Majesty, he often comes in and goes out of the Imperial Harem, and sometimes lives here for a few days.”

This was the limitation of not having strong family background. Even an ordinary maid who was originally from Yan Fu Palace knew about this, but Yun Fenghuang knew nothing about it.

She was stunned and then asked calmly, “Oh? His Majesty has a reading partner? I don’t know about it… Is Shizi of Prince Regent the only reading partner?”

Xi Le said, “No, His Majesty has six reading partners in total. In addition to Shizi of Prince Regent, there are also Shizi of Duke Yi, the young legitimate son of Marquess Haixi, the third son of General-in-chief of the Cavalry, the nephew of Earl Xingning and the nephew of Minister of Rituals.”

Well, the Prince Regent, the royalists, Ji’s Family, powerful officials, Yuan’s Family and the scholars… All parties were there.

No wonder the Emperor was still “focusing on learning” after he ascended the throne for eight years. The Imperial Harem was like a sieve. Except for Queen Mother Yuan, Jie Yu Yue, and Noble Consort Shu, all other people were spies… It was impossible for the Emperor to take part in the Imperial Court. Even if he wanted to do something when he was studying, how could he act while he was being watched by so many reading partners?

Yun Fenghuang said in mind that she not only underestimated Queen Mother Yuan, but underestimated Emperor Chunjia!

How did the Emperor make it to be polite and humble for eight years?

If the Emperor was someone else who was a little less firm, Yun Fenghuang would admire him from heart only if he could stand it for three to five years without giving up.

No wonder Empress Ji did not believe that the Emperor knew his place.

Maintaining the role of a puppet as if treading on thin ice for such a long time without falling, the Emperor was still able to be self-disciplined, cautious and maintain his temper, keeping his role as filial, gentle and kind. Yun Fenghuang also didn’t believe that he would be easy to be dealt with.

If a little chance could be caught by this kind of person, he might thoroughly change the backwardness situation and make great things one day!

… So, Yun Fenghuang must kill him as soon as possible!!!

The young concubine’s eyes showed cold and fierce feelings, but she smiled and said, “I see! You can tell me the background about these people later. Let’s just talk about the Prince Regent family now… Rong Hua Wei said that the Prince Regent and Princess Yuan loved each other very much, but it was a pity that Princess Yuan was an ill-fated beauty. She happened to pass away shortly after the late Emperor died, leaving the young Shizi alone. It is fortunate that the Step Princess treated Shizi like her own son… Is it true?”

Xi Le suddenly realized that maybe Gui Ren Yun was going to start from the relationship between the two sons of the Prince Regent to share the Empress’s cares and burdens?

She thought that this master was really a restless model. She joined the Imperial Harem shortly, but she already wanted to stretch her hands to the Imperial Court? She should know that although the Empress had noble identity and family background, she still had to run the Imperial Harem honestly till now and had no quality to interfere any affair in the Imperial Court.

However, as the maid being carefully selected by the Empress to be specially sent to Xi Xing Building, Xi Le understood that Yun Fenghuang’s “aggressive ambition” was exactly what Empress Ji badly needed now.

So, she respectfully replied, “That’s what was spread outside, but who knows what the truth is? Anyway, Gui Ren, I’ve heard something from the sisters and Mammies who had been serving for a long time in the Imperial Harem. According to them, although Shizi of Prince Regent was quite sad and lonely for his mother’s death when he just entered the palace as a reading partner eight years ago, the Prince Regent picked him up in person at the palace gate every time he took a holiday and went back to Prince Regent’s Mansion, and they were very intimate. But gradually, the Prince Regent did not come and was replaced by the Step Princess. Later, the Step Princess was pregnant, so she was replaced by a leading eunuch. This was the case. A few years ago, maybe because the second son of the Prince Regent was so weak and sick that the Step Princess was too busy to come, there were a few times that Shizi waited at the palace gate for a long time but got nobody to pick him up. Without any choice, he had to request a reading partner who also took a holiday to detour to send him back… I once heard a little eunuch who once served in the front palace mentioned that Shizi had become more and more reticent over the past two years, and sometimes he didn’t even speak one word a day.”

She also said, “In the final analysis, although the Step Princess, Ms. Lu, is known to be born in a Marquess’s Mansion. Marquess Qingping was once a eunuch after all, so presumably she didn’t have good family education. Given this family background, she might be powerless to take care of Shizi while taking care of her biological second son.”

Yun Fenghuang meditated in silence and walked around the courtyard again. Then she stopped with a smile, “This is a bit interesting. I’ll need some time to think it over… Okay, it’s almost the time. Let’s go back and check Jie Yu Yue. She is pitiful, and she may be super sad at this moment.”

“Gui Ren, Jie Yu Yue has repeatedly regarded you as her target, but you still have mercy on her.” Xi Le said without hesitation, “Gui Ren, you are really magnanimous, generous and kind-hearted to return good for evil!”

Then Gui Ren Yun who was magnanimous, generous and kind-hearted to return good for evil said immediately when she saw Jie Yu Yue again, “Your father can’t live. He must die!”