bayedsolid Chapter 144 On What Right!
Chapter 144 On What Right!
The news that Pei Yuanling had personally gone out of the palace to pick up the person had already spread throughout the imperial palace, and it had caused quite a stir in the court. Even though many ministers had jointly opposed it, Pei Yuanling still insisted on going out of the palace.
This incident aroused resentment among many ministers. As an emperor, his behavior was erratic and reckless, which was truly absurd!
Furthermore, most of them have daughters who are concubines in the palace. Now that Consort Qiao is the only one favored by the emperor, how are their daughters supposed to live in the palace?
Several high-ranking officials in the court, led by the Wang family, have decided to teach His Majesty a lesson this time.
As evening approached, the sky was ablaze with crimson clouds, a truly magnificent sight.
Empress Wang, accompanied by her concubines, waited at the entrance of the palace. Before long, the grand procession came into view.
Chu Qingyin followed Pei Yuanling off the carriage. She wore a simple yet elegant purple silk dress. Although she was without makeup, her delicate and gentle demeanor made her stand out among the other elaborately dressed concubines.
Empress Wang was the first to step forward and curtsied, saying, "Having heard that Your Majesty has found Consort Qiao and recovered Mingzhu, I have led my sisters to come and welcome you."
After saying that, she looked kind and gentle, her eyes crinkling as she gave Chu Qingyin an extremely kind smile, "Consort Qiao must have suffered a lot while she was away from home, and it was truly not easy for her to travel back so far."
"Thank you for your concern, Your Majesty. I am able to return safely thanks to His Majesty's blessing." Chu Qingyin smiled and gave a proper curtsy, without the slightest fault.
"It's good that you're back, it's good that you're back."
Empress Wang said "It's good that you've returned" several times, but her heart skipped a beat. The words were clearly words of gratitude, but they sounded particularly grating to her ears. She felt that the smile in Consort Qiao's eyes was very unsettling, as if she knew something.
Qin Rong'er and Consort De stood on either side of Empress Wang, exchanged a few private words with Chu Qingyin, and then said nothing more.
As for Qiao Qingling, she was young and talkative. Although she spoke words of concern, they were actually full of hidden barbs. The jealousy and hatred in her eyes were clearly visible.
Chu Qingyin simply had no intention of getting entangled with her. After hearing some trivial and sarcastic remarks, she ignored them.
"Your Majesty, I have prepared a welcome-back banquet for my Consort, to properly celebrate her miraculous survival."
Empress Wang smiled with genuine emotion, making outsiders believe she was truly happy for Chu Qingyin.
But everyone present was as shrewd as a shrewd person; how could they not see the undercurrents between the two?
No one dared to say it.
"Your Majesty is very kind."
Pei Yuanling said calmly, "I am truly exhausted from my journey, so let's postpone this welcome-home banquet for two days from now."
Having said that, he stopped exchanging pleasantries with everyone, took Chu Qingyin's hand, and strode towards the palace, completely ignoring the various gazes of the people behind him.
Having just returned to the palace and dealt with so many people, Chu Qingyin felt utterly exhausted. She curtsied to Empress Wang and followed her away.
"Respectfully seeing Your Majesty off." The concubines bowed as they saw him off.
Watching the two figures disappear into the distance, Empress Wang frowned. That wretched woman had been wandering outside for so long, yet there wasn't a single scar on her face. She just looked much thinner and her skin had darkened a bit.
His appearance and demeanor are becoming increasingly similar to Chu Qingyin's.
"Consort Qiao is truly blessed; she has survived such a calamity and yet returned to the palace unharmed." Consort De sighed deeply, speaking slowly and deliberately, which made one anxious.
"Indeed, after this, His Majesty's favor towards Consort Qiao will probably be even greater than before."
Qin Rong'er's words were pointed, and everyone present was understandably annoyed by them.
Many of them have never been favored by the emperor, and they can't even see him a few times a month. They probably won't see him again in the future.
Since Qin Rong'er tricked the Empress last time, she has rarely appeared in front of the Empress.
However, the fact that Lu Mingzhu was thrown back into the palace so mercilessly served as a reminder to the Empress.
The other party naturally dared not use this matter to make things difficult for her again, but there was a rift between Consort Qin and the Empress, and they were no longer as close as before.
"To gain His Majesty's favor so much, that must be her skill."
Empress Wang was starting to get impatient. She found their conversation increasingly noisy, but she maintained her composed demeanor. "Don't gossip behind people's backs. If you're really capable, you can just snatch the Emperor away from us."
"It's getting late, everyone should go home and get some rest."
Empress Wang waved listlessly and walked away with Lin Qing's help.
After bidding farewell to Empress Wang, everyone returned to the palace one after another.
Qiao Qingling remained standing there, her indignation growing stronger.
They are both daughters of the Qiao family, so why is it that Qiao Qingyin can be favored every day, while I can hardly even see His Majesty?
Why!
**
Xingyue Palace.
Xianglan, Kang Luhai, and the others were waiting at the door early on, and the maids and eunuchs in the hall were also kneeling on the ground.
Xianglan saw Chu Qingyin returning from afar, and her eyes immediately filled with tears. "Master!"
"This servant greets Your Majesty and Your Highness!"
The group bowed in unison, kowtowing repeatedly.
Xianglan's voice trembled, with a hint of sobbing, but she held back her tears for fear of losing face in front of His Majesty.
"Get up, everyone."
Pei Yuanling knew that these servants were extremely loyal to Chu Qingyin, so he naturally treated them with more kindness and gentleness.
"Your mistress has suffered a lot while she was away. You should prepare a bath and meals for her and take good care of her."
"The hot bath has been prepared long ago, and we are just waiting for Your Highness's return."
Tears welled up in Xianglan's eyes; she could no longer hide the excitement in her heart.
"Xianglan, I'm sorry to have worried you these past few days."
Chu Qingyin walked over and took her hand. This girl was already thin, but she had lost even more weight in the past few days, which was heartbreaking to see.
With their master out of the palace, the servants in the palace inevitably suffer from the harassment and ridicule of other palace servants. Although Pei Yuanling is still in the palace and others dare not be too arrogant, the mockery behind his back is inevitable.
Chu Qingyin glanced around briefly just now and noticed that in just a few days, several unfamiliar eunuchs and maids had already disappeared from Xingyue Palace. It seemed that they had all thought she wouldn't be coming back and had gone off on their own.
Everyone has their own ambitions, and Chu Qingyin wouldn't make things difficult for them, but she also wouldn't use them anymore.
"I'm not suffering, but Your Highness, you've lost so much weight." Xianglan wiped away her tears and looked at her mistress with heartache.
Chu Qingyin smiled casually, "It's okay to lose weight, I'll be back to my normal weight after a few days of rest."