Chapter 53 - Adding servants

Queen Mother of Honor looked well yesterday. How could she be sick over a night?

Although Yun Fenghuang and others were surprised, they still stood up and left.

When they went outside, they saw that the concubines who had followed their hostesses were coming out of the main hall one after another, and Yun Qingman was among them. When she saw Yun Fenghuang and Wei Hengyan, she came over to say hello.

“You were also sent out?” Wei Hengyan asked her in a low voice, “How about Noble Consort Shu and others?”

Yun Qingman said that they had to go to Mian Fu Palace with the Empress to take care of Queen Mother of Honor.

Yun Fenghuang asked about Queen Mother Ji, “She seemed to be okay yesterday, right?”

“Yes.” Yun Qingman was puzzled, “I don’t know what’s going on… Maybe she’s just a little sick.”

Queen Mother Ji had strong deterrent force in the Imperial harem, so they dared not speculate in public. They just talked a little and went out together.

Exiting the palace gate of Yan Fu Palace, Wei Hengyan and Yun Qingman inquired about Yuan Lianniang’s situation indirectly, “I heard all the concubines of the Imperial Harem pass on messages to you? Is it true?”

Yun Fenghuang smiled and said, “They all congratulated me on my promotion.”

“You have promoted several times since you joined the Imperial Harem. Why haven’t they congratulated you before?” Wei Hengyan glanced at her with a smile, “How is our lady Jie Yu now?”

“As usual.” Yun Fenghuang said lazily. “Even if she is demoted, she’s still Jie Yu. As an insignificant concubine, how can I do anything to her?”

Wei Hengyan covered her mouth and laughed, turning her head towards Yun Qingman and saying, “I wonder if anyone would believe what she just said.”

But Yun Qingman nodded sullenly and said, “I believe her. Fenghuang is the best-behaved one. How could it be possible that she would bully her hostess?”

Then she couldn’t help but laugh when she finished speaking, and sighed, “Alas, I don’t understand. Is it not good for everyone to live a peaceful life? Why do they have to fight against each other?”

Wei Hengyan glanced at her and said, “If only everyone thinks the way you do.”

She thought about something again and asked, “Oh, since such thing happened today, you haven’t got promoted yet?”

“Queen Mother of Honor is ill now. Who would care about this?” Yun Qingman shook her head. “It’s not a big deal. Even if I got promoted one grade, I am still a concubine. Just wait for this thing to pass.”

Wei Hengyan nodded, “Anyway, Noble Consort Shu will back you up, and you have no need to worry that no one will remind Her Highness.”

This sounded a bit jealous. Yun Fenghuang smiled and said, “Hope Queen Mother of Honor will recover from the illness soon. Otherwise, His Majesty may also go to serve her.”

If so, how could he have time to sleep with these newcomers one after another?

Hearing this, Wei Hengyan couldn’t help but glance at Yun Fenghuang with a bit of grievance. If Yun Fenghuang hadn’t made trouble as soon as she joined the Imperial Harem, the Emperor wouldn’t have gone to Hu Zhu Palace frequently these days, then how could they be treated coldly like this?

They chatted casually as they walked, and soon arrived at Yi Jia Palace. Wei Hengyan said goodbye to them, leaving only Yun Qingman and Yun Fenghuang. Then Yun Qingman seemed to have something to say.

Yun Fenghuang asked, “What’s wrong?”

“The day after tomorrow will be the day when my mother, my sister-in-law and aunt come the Imperial Harem to visit us.” Yun Qingman waved her hands to let the servants move away, and then whispered, “But now Queen Mother of Honor is ill. I wonder if the visit would be cancelled.”

Anyway, Yun Fenghuang’s mother was not in Dijing City. It didn’t matter whether Yun Fenghuang saw her aunt Ms. Xie or not. Hearing it, she comforted her causally, “Anyway, even if the visit is cancelled this time, you will be able to meet them again in a few days, right?”

Yun Qingman bit her lower lip and said, “It’s not the point… Alas… How to say…”

Yun Fenghuang didn’t care about her thoughts, so she smiled to distract from the topic, “I haven’t congratulated you that His Majesty went to your residence yesterday.”

“It’s just Her Highness’s arrangement.” Yun Qingman said with a little shyness, and whispered after thinking about it, “But His Majesty is really kind and gentle, and he is an excellent person.”

“Of course. Jie Yu Yue wasn’t stupid before. If he is not such a man, how could she be willing to come to Dijing City from Fuyang County since she knew that it’s hard to live in the Imperial Harem?” Yun Fenghuang narrowed her eyes and smiled, “You are not in Hu Zhu Palace, so you have no chance to witness that. His Majesty actually treats us normally, but he treats Jie Yu Yue really well.”

The smile on Yun Qingman’s face faded a little. She paused and then said, “I just heard Jie Yu Yue’s actions, and she really not…”

Thinking for a while, she didn’t find a suitable word, and Yun Fenghuang said, “She really not deserves His Majesty’s love for her?”

Yun Qingman quickly looked around and then nodded cautiously, “Although she is a few years elder than us, she is really not sensible.”

“Who cares? His Majesty just likes her.” Yun Fenghuang said indifferently, “Everyone likes a kind of flower… Anyway, as for them, one is willing to hit and the other is willing to suffer.”

With regard to her relationship with Yun Qingman, Yun Fenghuang thought she had reminded her enough about this.

If Yun Qingman still hotly fell into the unrealistic illusion of Emperor Chunjia… then let Noble Consort Shu worry about her.

“Fenghuang, I know you are doing things for Her Highness now.” Yun Qingman took Yun Fenghuang’s hands when they were about to say goodbye, and advised her in a low voice, “But you should leave yourself some ground for retreat… You also said Jie Yu Yue is really special in His Majesty’s heart. You see, although Consort Xin hates her so much, she never did anything to her in person. Now Her Highness lets you supervise her to copy scriptures, and she seems to think highly of you, but who knows what will happen in the future?”

Yun Fenghuang glanced at her unexpectedly. Yun Qingman led her to say that the Emperor treated Yuan Lianniang differently just now. Did she do that to persuade her to be merciful?

She said, “I have a sense of propriety, and you can rest assured.”

Yun Qingman still repeatedly advised her before she waved goodbye to her anxiously.

Obviously, she didn’t really believe Yun Fenghuang’s sense of propriety…

Returning to Hu Zhu Palace, Yun Fenghuang went to Ning Bi Hall as usual, and was told that Jie Yu Yue was not very comfortable and was still resting. As for copying scriptures, Auntie Zhu promised that when Jie Yu Yue got up, she would personally supervise her, and absolutely would not get Yun Fenghuang in a pickle.

Yun Fenghuang achieved her initial goal and wasn’t interested in staying in Ning Bi Hall all day, so she warned a few words and returned to Xi Xing Building.

Soon afterwards, people of Yan Fu Palace brought four people to her residence. Three eunuchs including an elder one and two younger ones were picked by the leading maid. The only maid Liu Hong was named by Yun Fenghuang herself.

“In the future, Chen Sheng will be the leading eunuch, and you will lead Chen Zhu, Chen Peng and Chen Jing.” The elder eunuch among the three new eunuchs surnamed Chen, and their names were all not elegant, so Yun Fenghuang simply changed their names together with the original eunuch, and gave them a new name respectively.

She had joined the Imperial Harem for a few days, so she had no hope that these people were loyal. Their abilities and nature must also be observed for a few days to be sure. At this time, she casually directed the oldest one Chen Sheng as the leading eunuch for the time being. She told them some of her requirements and rules, and said if the leading eunuch could act well, she would let him be the leading eunuch all the time, but if not, he would be replaced. Besides, if all of the four people couldn’t act well, they shouldn’t expect her to grieve herself. She had never been wronged by the servants since she was born!

In fact, even if she didn’t say so, these people didn’t dare to neglect her now. After all, although Yuan Lianniang had a reputation of being super cruel in the Imperial Harem, this master was promoted through suppressing Yuan Lianniang… Besides, Xi Jing who was sent here first was also a famous fractious maid in Yan Fu Palace, but she did not cause any trouble after she arrived here. It could be seen that the banner of “I am specially sent by Her Highness” was not useful for Yun Fenghuang.

Under such circumstances, who would be silly to jump out and fight against the master?

All of them kowtowed to express gratitude, and immediately went out to do things. Yun Fenghuang took up the cup, took a sip of tea, and then looked at Liu Hong.

This maid looked beautiful, and was a little gentler than Xi Jing and Xi Le. She behaved honestly, but her sense of presence was not very strong.

“I was taken care of by you in Small Peng Lai before. Her Highness wanted to add new maids for me this time, and I was not familiar with the people in this Imperial Harem, so I thought of you. I don’t know if you are willing to be here?” Saying the words, Yun Fenghuang herself even felt hypocritical. She had already asked the Empress to bring the maid over, and if the maid said she was not willing to be here, could she send her back?

Of course, this was only the polite formula for showing favor to Liu Hong.

After all, how could the wild place Small Peng Lai be as lively as Hu Zhu Palace?

Although the people from the hostess to the concubines of Hu Zhu Palace were not normal, and the palace did not seem to be able to prosper for a long time…

But Liu Hong still lowered her head and said, “Gui Ren, thank you for your appreciation.”

Yun Fenghuang said with a smile, “They are Xi Jing and Xi Le. I have a maid who accompanies me to join the Imperial harem called Nian Xuan. She is in bad health recently and is recuperating in the back room. I will call Xi Jing to take you to meet her later.”

She also said that there weren’t too many rules here. As long as maids could do things right, it was not hard to get along with her.

… Well, Yun Fenghuang didn’t find it hard to get along with her anyway.

Dealing with these miscellaneous things, she asked Xi Jing to lead Liu Hong around to familiarize with the environment. Yun Fenghuang thought for a while, and felt that she hadn’t paid much attention to Nian Xuan in the past two days, which was not in line with her character setting that “although she was truly ruthless and vengeful, she also valued the ties of friendship and was not a cold-blooded and cruel person”. So, she waved her hand, letting Xi Le do her own things, “I’ll go and see Nian Xuan. I am so busy these two days, and I don’t you know if she’s bored in the house?”

Of course, Nian Xuan was very board, so she was very surprised to see her in.

As for how Xi Jing took care of her in the past two days, she praised repeatedly. “Gui Ren, Her Highness’s maids are much more careful than me… Gui Ren, do not worry about me. I just fear that I recover too slow and encumber you.”

“How can you encumber me?” Yun Fenghuang disagreed, and told her, “If Xi Jing, Xi Le and Liu Hong who came here today don’t act well in the future, just tell me.”

Then she sighed, “Although these people serve me well, their relationship with me can’t compare with the affections between us… So, you shouldn’t improperly belittle yourself. When you recover, all the three of them will be managed by you!”

Nian Xuan hurriedly waved her hands, “I’m not capable to do that!”

“I say you can do it!” Yun Fenghuang twitched her mouth when she saw Nian Xuan was anxious, “Forget it. Anyway, you recuperate first. Let’s not discuss these things until you recover.”

She estimated that the condolences were almost enough, so she planned to say some polite formula and leave.

At this time, she heard Nian Xuan asking in a low voice, “Gui Ren, are these maids reliable?”

“They are all sent by Her Highness, and Her Highness is needing me to do things for her now.” Yun Fenghuang was wondering what kind of excuses she should make up to leave, so she said casually, “I don’t know how they will be in the future, but I think at least they are reliable now.”

Nian Xuan said, “Gui Ren, how about I teach them how to identify ingredients?”

“What?” Yun Fenghuang froze.

Nian Xuan reminded her in a low voice, “When I was at home, Madam Jiang arranged me to learn some rough pharmacology, do you remember? I beat about the bush in the past two days and found Xi Jing and Xi Le don’t know it much. Gui Ren, now you are at a dangerous situation, and I am afraid that someone will poison your diet… His Majesty has slept here many times in the past few days. I have counted the days. If there is any good news, after half a month, you may…”

Her cheeks were reddish, and she hinted at Yun Fenghuang’s belly.

“You remind me!” Yun Fenghuang stunned, and then nodded, but she enjoined her the following things, “My mother should have let you recite some harmless prescription of the avoidance to be pregnant or abortion, right? Write it to me now!”

In fact, Yun Fenghuang should have collected this kind of formula by herself, but although she had been clever and intelligent since childhood, she had also been very conceited and impatient to learn these things… Mainly because she originally thought that she would have married Qi Jiulu. Considering that she had enough skills to deal with her husband, she might have no need to use these methods. Furthermore, Qi’s Mansion and Xie’s Mansion had been two blocks away, so it had been very convenient to return to her natal family for anything. Besides, she could also ask her servants to do it for her.

Given her attitude, her trusted attendants at that time had been also lazy. Only Nian Xuan had been honest and sincere, and had learnt everything that Ms. Jiang ordered… But she did not expect it was really useful now.

After a while, Yun Fenghuang took the prescription given by Nian Xuan, but she pondered, “Who should do it for me…?”