Chapter 116 Daily life in the Imperial Harem

Before the sun rose in the morning the next day, Yi Xing’en went to Huan Hua Hall to pay respect.

She was the earliest one. When other Cai Nv who hadn’t slept with the Emperor last night came after a while and saw her, they were all stunned. Then they stepped forward to salute and asked her in a low voice, “Sister, why do you come so early?”

“Yes, sister. Jie Yu looks very kind, so she will certainly not blame you even if you come late for a while.”

Yi Xing’en just smiled and said, “Although Jie Yu cares about us, we can’t be pampered and disrespect her… Besides, His Majesty had to get up early to the levee. It was time to get up.”

Their conversations were quickly reported to Yun Fenghuang who was still dressing inside. Yun Fenghuang smiled and said, “It doesn’t matter. Let them go… By the way, are the rewards ready?”

Xi Jing immediately gave a positive answer and said, “My Lady, please have a look!”

Yun Fenghuang glanced from the bronze mirror. It was a pair of gilt bracelets resting on the brocade mat, which was carved with patterns such as crickets and lucid ganoderma, and embedded with a few medium-sized pearls. Although the bracelets were not super valuable, they were still a little prominent when matching with the current grade of Yi Xing’en. However, Yun Fenghuang felt that with a pretty face, Yi Xing’en would be promoted sooner or later as long as she was not as stupid as Yuan Lianniang. At that time, it would not be strange for her to wear them.

“Clean up the West Warm Room. Let them sit there when they come to Huan Hua Hall in the future.” Yun Fenghuang thought for a while and added, “It’s hot in the morning in this season. All of them are the concubines to serve His Majesty. Don’t let them be sunburnt. If they become ugly, His Majesty may not like them.”

After all, the concubines in Xuan Qing Palace were all used to give birth to children for her. If she didn’t take good care of them, wasn’t it a loss for her if the Emperor came less here later?

Yun Qingman’s child was of course important, but it would be more beneficial for her if there were more imperial children in her palace.

Anyway, she didn’t need to pay the money or find people to raise the imperial children.

The servants did not know Yun Fenghuang’s intention, so they praised her kindness in unison, “My Lady, it’s really a good luck for Cai Nu Yi and others to have such a good hostess!”

After chatting for a while, Yun Fenghuang dressed up. She moved to the parlor for breakfast, and by the way summoned some Cai Nv including Yi Xing’en and Qu Hongzhuan to serve her.

These Cai Nv had learnt the imperial rules for a short time when they were in Xiu Zhuo Palace. But after all, they were born in poor families, so they were very cautious and unfamiliar when they served her.

Yun Fenghuang didn’t care it, admiring a group of moon-like and flower-like concubines to please her. She felt that her appetite was a little better. By the way, she also looked beautiful! She was more skillful in serving meals than this group of Cai Nv who had learnt the skill in a short time. Why had Yuan Lianniang been displeased with her before?

No wonder that no one at the Imperial Harem had said any good word about Yuan Lianniang!

After a while, Yun Fenghuang wiped the corners of her mouth with a handkerchief and said, “Okay. Tell other concubines that it’s time to pay respect to Her Highness.”

Yun Fenghuang didn’t meet Jie Yu Jia on the road today, but met Jie Yu Lu walking behind her. Yun Fenghuang didn’t care about Jie Yu Lu at first. However, after she walked for a while, she found that Jie Yu Lu was slower and slower, even wishing to stop by the roadside and not entering Yan Fu Palace until Yun Fenghuang entered first… Well, did she fear that Yun Fenghuang would look for trouble to her when they met on the road?

Yun Fenghuang thought that Ms. Lu underestimated her too much. She was not a narrow-minded person!

When she got off the sedan, she flicked her lips before walking into Chong Chang Hall. At this time, Noble Consort Shu had not yet come, and the Empress was of course still dressing up, but Jia Jie Yu and Jie Yu Wei had been already there. Seeing Yun Fenghuang, Jie Yu Jia pretended to appreciate the tea cup in her hand, but Wei Hengyan came over and said “Sister Mao” with a smile. Seeing Yun Fenghuang respond with a smile, she let out a sigh of relief secretly and became more enthusiastic, “Sister, you look so good today. The ice on my sedan is not enough today so that I feel a little dizzy now. However, when I see you, I feel better!”

“You just please me.” Yun Fenghuang smiled and took a circular fan to touch Wei Hengyan, “It’s just because Her Highness’s palace is so cool that you feel better after resting for a while. You crack a joke to me.”

Wei Hengyan held Yun Fenghuang’s arms like a coquettish girl, “Sister, I am sincerest! If you don’t believe me, I can swear!”

Yun Fenghuang knew why Wei Hengyan tried to please her like this. It was because Jie Yu Wei, who first proposed that “we, the newly promoted consorts, should move forward together to fight against the experienced consorts”, did not say anything in the whole event yesterday. If Yun Fenghuang had suffered a loss in the end, Wei Hengyan could argue that she was to save her strength, avoiding all of them were defeated by the experienced consorts and lost their face in front of the newly promoted Cai Nv.

However, she didn’t expect that Yun Fenghuang not only overcame the difficulty smoothly, but in turn made Jie Yu Jia and others have nothing to say but suffer a loss. Wei Hengyan not only was afraid that Yun Fenghuang would seek revenge for the smallest grievance, but regretted that she didn’t help Yun Fenghuang yesterday. Therefore, she tried to make up for it now.

At this moment, seeing that Yun Fenghuang was not angry, Wei Hengyan felt happy on the one hand, but guilty on the other hand. She was not sure if Yun Fenghuang cared about her performance yesterday or not, so she could only flatter Yun Fenghuang even more. At this moment, she had no time to care about the newly promoted Can Nv. Instead, she thought hardly about the words of flattery.

When she was speaking, Yun Fenghuang approached her and whispered to her suddenly, “By the way, Sister Wei, do you know why did Concubine Xue target Noble Consort Shu yesterday?”

Wei Hengyan froze for a moment, knowing that Yun Fenghuang was giving her a chance to be reconciled with her. When she was about to speak, there were figures appearing at the door of the hall. Fu Ren Yaoning and Jie Yu Lu came in one after the other.

The three Jie Yu who arrived first in the hall quickly got up and greeted Fu Ren Yaoning.

Fu Ren Yaoning, who was born at a family of generals, was tall, graceful, pretty and valiant. She did not say too much or behaved enthusiastically to unfamiliar people. After she came in, she first said hello to Jie Yu Jia, then looked at Yun Fenghuang, and ignored Wei Hengyan directly.

“It’s such a hot day today…” Jie Yu Jia, who was rather embarrassed when Wei Hengyan and Yun Fenghuang talked pleasantly before, was relieved now. She immediately talked with Fu Ren Yaoning. However, before they talked too much, Consort Xin and Noble Consort Shu arrived one after another. Not long after the two just sat down and talked for a while, the maid inside came out and said that the Empress was about to come out.

After the Empress came out, she said the similar things as usual. Then she praised Yi Xing’en for her attentive serving to the Emperor last night. According to the imperial rules, Yi Xing’en could be promoted to be Feng Yi. After that, she said that since Noble Consort Gui had not yet come, she would not come today. “Let’s go to mother’s palace now. We didn’t go there yesterday. Although she is generous and doesn’t blame us, we should apologize to her.”

Everyone echoed.

Therefore, a group of people arrived at Mian Fu Palace. Before they entered, they heard loud sounds of caning mixed with the sobbing and groaning of the servants whose mouths were gagged in the rear hall.

The concubines were quite surprised. Although they did not think that Queen Mother Ji was the kind of person who couldn’t bear to punish servants, they had never encountered such a thing when they had come to pay respect before.

Because of this, after they entered the palace and saluted Queen Mother Ji, the Empress took the lead to carefully ask Queen Mother Ji who behaved as usual, “Mother, what happened in the rear hall?”

“It’s not over yet?” Since Queen Mother Ji was in the hall and the doors and windows were closed tightly to prevent the ice from melting too fast in the hot day, she didn’t hear the sounds as clearly as the Empress and other concubines who came in from the door. Hearing the Empress’s question, she stunned slightly and turned her head to ask her trusted attendant, “Have the indocile servants’ hands and feet been broken?”

The trusted attendant responded quickly, “Queen Mother Ji, they were being hitting just now. Presumably their hands and feet are already broken now.”

Queen Mother Ji nodded and said, “Throw them out after the hitting. Mian Fu Palace doesn’t welcome such kind of indocile servants!”

After hearing the words, the concubines thought that maybe big thing had happened. At this moment, Queen Mother Ji told the Empress immediately, “Do you remember that Minghui was scared by a toad in the Imperial Harem before and cried for a while after she came back? Because of this, I enjoined the Imperial Pet Department to put some cats in the Imperial Harem for catching snakes and rats, so as not to scare people… But guess what? In my palace, someone even dared to secretly feed those cats. They really thought that I am old now. Otherwise, how dared they to do such thing under my nose?!”

“Mother, don’t be angry.” The Empress quickly pacified her, “It is unworthy for you to be angry for such kind of insignificant servants. Now they have been punished and will be sent out afterwards. Let’s see who dares to follow suit in the future!”

Noble Consort Shu, Consort Xin, Fu Ren Yaoning, Jie Yu Jia, and Jie Yu Lu all agreed with the Empress.

Yun Fenghuang and Wei Hengyan, the newly promoted consorts, were unfamiliar with Queen Mother Ji. Besides, they both knew that she was not a very kind person, so they didn’t dare to speak out, and just nodded to show their agreement as others from time to time.

But…

Yun Fenghuang noticed that while Wei Hengyan was pretending to hold the attitude of “these servants daring to treat Queen Mother Ji like this”, she was scratching her sleeves unceasingly like a duck in a thunderstorm.

It seemed that Wei Hengyan was also not very friendly to the cats that Queen Mother Ji specifically enjoined servants to put in the Imperial Harem…

Well, the reason why she used the word “also” was of course that Yun Fenghuang enjoined someone to get all cats in Xuan Qing Palace out before!

After all, she didn’t like cats and dogs. Besides, Miao Cai died suddenly and quickly before. How could Yun Fenghuang not learn a lesson from it and extinguish the possibility that the cats would be utilized from the beginning?

She had done this thing before she had lived in Xuan Qing Palace, and she hadn’t heard that it was not allowed. But now Queen Mother Ji seemed to care about the free-ranging cats in the Imperial Harem so much.

Or… After she returned her palace, she set aside a few places to breed some cats to show her attention?

Anyway, the money and the people for breeding cats were both from the royal family…

“Actually, the cats are not just to catch snakes and rats.” After a group of concubines persuaded for a while, Queen Mother Ji was in a better mood and sighed. “I just think that the Emperor hasn’t had any son or daughter until now. I don’t know if Noble Consort Gui or Jie Yu Yue will be able to give birth to a child for the royal family at the end of the year… The common people give their children the names of cats and dogs to beg for life. I think that cats always give birth to many kittens which are easy to survive, so I hope these cats can bring good luck of having children for the Emperor. Alas…”

Since she said so, those servants who fed the cats must die.

Of course, no one cared about their death at this moment, and all people were just busy comforting Queen Mother Ji.

After being comforted for a while, Queen Mother Ji cheered up a little bit and asked about the reason why the concubines hadn’t come to pay respect yesterday.

Yun Fenghuang thought Queen Mother Ji must have heard of the event, but she still asked them at the moment. She was not sure if Queen Mother Ji planned to intervene. Thinking of this, she took a more obedient posture.

It was fortunate that after hearing the Empress’s introduction, Queen Mother Ji did not mean to renew the judgment. She only asked about the condition of Noble Consort Gui, “It’s so hot, and she is still pregnant. Why did she come out yesterday?”

The Empress said that everything was fine with Noble Consort Gui, except that she looked a little bit unhealthy. However, it was normal for a pregnant woman. She still looked in good spirits. Hearing this, Queen Mother Ji pondered for a while, and then said, “Can Noble Consort Gui go to the Temporary Imperial Palace to avoid the summer heat? We are going to leave before long and it’s so hot these days. To be honest, I am uneasy that both the two pregnant concubines stay in the Imperial Harem.”

“Em…” The Empress was stunned, and said, “Mother, I am also unsure. Maybe I can send someone to ask Noble Consort Gui and the imperial doctor who has always been taking the pulse for her?”

Queen Mother Ji responded and continued, “Besides, ask Chun Yong Palace and Hu Zhu Palace if they have packed up or not? And how about all of you? We have delayed a little bit this year, and we can’t put off anymore. Minghui has been complaining that it’s so hot and she couldn’t fall asleep these days. She, a young girl, can’t stand the summer heat, let alone the Empress Dowager. The ice is cool indeed, but it is still too cold, and Empress Dowager may not be able to bear it.”

Empress Ji nodded again and again, and ensured that they would leave on time and would not delay… After talking about this thing, Queen Mother Ji had no other instructions, so everyone left.

After going out of the door, Yun Fenghuang thought for a while, and followed the Empress’s carriage to go to Yan Fu Palace.