“Consort Zhao is inviting me to the palace today?” Mo Xuetong asked in surprise.
Behind the satin curtains on the bed, Mo Xuetong woke up with her long hair spread out around her. Waking up in the morning was the laziest time of the day. She saw that Feng Yuran had left her side long ago and sat up with the help of Mo Lan.
“That’s right. The edict came early this morning. I heard that Consort Zhao wants to see you and even mentioned that she was helping Consort Xian take a look at her daughter-in-law.” Mo Lan also did not understand why Consort Zhao would suddenly think of Mo Xuetong. However, she did not dare to drag her feet and came to report to Mo Xuetong immediately.
Help Consort Xian visit her? A cold mocking smile appeared on the corners of Mo Xuetong’s lips. She grew more and more aware that Consort Zhao was not a good person. Why would she treat Feng Yuran from her heart? Of course, she could not be like what the rumors say, that she would help Consort Xian, who was as good as a sister to her, to take a look at Mo Xuetong.
However, just by this move she made, one could tell that she had skills.
She had done a great set up to get Mo Xuetong to enter the palace. First, she could show the Emperor that she and Consort Xian were as close as sisters. She could also express goodwill to Mo Xuetong. Perhaps, others would see that she was kind and friendly. After all, when Consort Xian was still alive, she was just an insignificant consort. After that, she was locked up in Mingyue Palace. Even though she was mysterious, not many knew of her.
She was now officially in the game with Feng Yuran!
“Did His Highness leave before the eunuch came to send Consort Zhao’s edict?” Mo Xuetong asked lazily as she sat in front of the make-up table after cleaning up.
“Yes, the eunuch entered right after His Highness left. It was as if he had timed this.” Mo Yu interrupted from the side.
Calculated? It was indeed calculated. That person was afraid that Feng Yuran might cause trouble. After all, Feng Yuran was known to the public as being unpredictable. He was a troublemaker and no one knew what he would do next. Even though he was much better now and was considered to be helping the Emperor in managing politics, who knew when he would go back to his old behavior?
It seemed that Consort Zhao was still afraid of Feng Yuran!
This also meant that Mo Xuetong was easily bullied!
“Then let’s leave after a simple meal lest the people in the palace wait for us.” Mo Xuetong said with a faint smile. There was a flash of darkness in her clear eyes. She wanted to meet this Consort Zhao as well and see if she could find out anything about what happened in the past. In her past life, Feng Yuran had used such intense methods against the He family. She felt a little worried and hope that she could find out what the He family had done to Feng Yuran before he did.
Since Consort Zhao asked for her, it would save her from trying to find a way to find out what happened.
The horse carriage was already waiting outside. Mo Xuetong left the manor and got onto the carriage with Mo Ye and Mo Lan after having some porridge.
The little eunuch from the palace had been waiting outside. When he saw Mo Xuetong, he sent her onto the carriage respectfully before following behind the horse carriage and entering the palace together with them.
After entering the palace, Mo Xuetong followed the little eunuch toward Mingyue Palace. Mingyue palace was a distance away from the main palace gates. It could be said that it was hidden in a corner. However, when she arrived at the palace, she found that the decorations of the palace were all extremely luxurious and beautiful. It was evident that Consort Zhao truly had the affections of the Emperor. There were some precious goods there that Mo Xuetong had once seen in the Princess Royal’s Manor.
Mo Xuetong stood outside the palace while the little eunuch reported her arrival. Soon, a beautiful palace maid who was about 20 years old appeared.
“I am Consort Zhao’s maid, Caichun. Greetings, Consort Xuan.” Caichun sized up Mo Xuetong and curtsied respectfully with a smile.
Mo Xuetong glanced at Caichun as well. She was certain that the woman was Consort Zhao’s lead palace maid. Under usual circumstances, palace maids of her age would have already been released from the palace. Only Consort Zhao could not find any close servants for the time being. Those who were still serving her had served her for more than 10 years. They were locked up deep in the palace, and just like that, many years passed.
“Dispense with the formality.” Mo Xuetong waved her hand. Caichun straightened up and led the way.
Mo Xuetong followed her, lifting her skirts up and walked up the steps. After entering, she saw Consort Zhao inside the main hall. Consort Zhao was seated on a pearwood high chair. Her eyes were lowered as she drank tea.
“Greetings, Consort Zhao. I am here to pay my respects to you.” Mo Xuetong went up and curtsied.
Consort Zhao looked up as if she had completely forgotten that her niece had been embarrassed by Feng Yuran. She smiled gently and said, “Rise, please sit.”
Mo Lan and Mo Ye who were following behind Mo Xuetong kowtowed formally. Consort Zhao waved her hand and gestured for them to get up.
Mo Xuetong sat down at the top seat with the help of Mo Lan. She glanced at the people in the room and saw that there were a few young palace maids standing behind Consort Zhao. They were all looking down and seemed very respectful. They seemed to be about 13 or 14. Mo Xuetong knew then that they were new palace maids sent by the Emperor to serve Consort Zhao.
Consort Zhao sized Mo Xuetong up. She saw that while Mo Xuetong was young, she seemed charming. Her eyes were as bright and clear as pools of water in spring. They gleamed when Mo Xuetong lifted her eyes. She was a beautiful woman. No wonder Feng Yuran would be attracted to her despite his philandering character. However, Mo Xuetong was still a little young and she lacked certain stability in her actions.
“Consort Xuan is indeed young and beautiful. My sister will be pleased even down below to know that Yuran has such a consort. I will burn incense and tell Elder Sister to not worry.” Consort Zhao sighed and wiped the corners of her eyes with a handkerchief. She looked as if she felt upset thinking about her elder sister.
One would not be mean to those who were kind to them. Furthermore, Consort Zhao appeared to treat Mo Xuetong with familiarity. Mo Xuetong looked up with her slightly childish and naive gaze. She said gently, “Consort Zhao, you are too kind. You are of noble status and you are also an elder. Please call me by my name.”
“Alright, then I will call you Tong’er. I think my ill-fated sister would definitely love you if she were still alive. You are a great daughter-in-law.” Consort Zhao sighed again.
The servants served tea. Mo Xuetong held her teacup but did not drink from it. She pondered about how to reply to Consort Zhao appropriately.
Consort Zhao, however, seemed to change the topic quickly. She put down the handkerchief and looked at Mo Xuetong. She said, “Tong’er, why aren’t you drinking tea? This is the new tea that His Majesty just granted. I heard that there is only about 1 kilogram of this tea leaf in the palace. I have quite a bit though.”
Mo Xuetong put down the tea and leaned forward respectfully. “Your Lady’s tea is very good. However, I had breakfast earlier and can’t drink it now. I have wasted good tea here.”
“It’s alright, take some back with you when you go back. I don’t usually drink tea anyway, it’d be a waste of this good tea. Yuran likes to drink tea. It’d be good if he can have a cup after dinner when he is resting.” Consort Zhao casually insinuated that they were closer than they were and even called Feng Yuran by his name intimately.
Indeed, Mo Xuetong only declined a little before accepting the tea.
“Tong’er, you are dressed so simply. You are already Consort Xuan, why are you dressed so simply? Those not in the know will think that Yuran is mistreating you.” Consort Zhao said, half-teasingly. She glanced at Mo Xuetong and her gaze stopped at Mo Xuetong’s hair. Then, she said to the palace maid behind her, “Go inside and bring that pearl phoenix hairpin with sapphires and wear it for Consort Xuan.”
“Yes.” The palace maid replied and went into the room. She emerged quickly with a beautiful hairpin. The blue top was the phoenix’s beautiful head feathers. It was also littered with tiny precious stones. There were also three long lines of pearls dangling from it. The phoenix’s eyes were made of rubies and seemed alive. It was beautiful.
One could tell from a glance that it was a very expensive and precious accessory!
Caichun took the hairpin and was about to put it in Mo Xuetong’s hair.
Mo Xuetong dodged awkwardly. Mo Ye went up and stood in front of Caichun, blocking Caichun’s hand.
“Do you think that the things here in my palace are no good?” Consort Zhao asked with a smile.
Mo Lan knelt down and replied, “Consort Zhao, please do not blame my lady. Our Lady is still in mourning and cannot wear such gorgeous things. We have disappointed you.”
“Oh, so that’s why. Caichun, let Consort Xuan take the hairpin back with her. Take it as a gift for our first meeting. I did not know about this and have disturbed Consort Xuan.” Consort Zhao said with a careless smile.
Caichun delivered the pin to Mo Ye and stepped backward respectfully. She stood behind Consort Zhao as if she had not been the one to behave rudely earlier.
“Many thanks for your understanding, Consort Zhao!” Mo Xuetong looked up, touched.
“Elder Sister is no longer around. There are only two of us women now. What’s there to not understand?” Consort Zhao behaved with even more familiarity. “If you are free in the future, come and visit me often. Only you all are my blood-related relatives. I wanted to see Yuran all these years. I did not think that he would already be married the next time I saw him. It reminds me of my ill-fated elder sister and I feel so sad about that.”
“His Highness also misses you. I heard that Consort Zhao and Consort Xian were as close as sisters. I was touched even when His Highness told me about it.” A trace of sadness appeared on Mo Xuetong’s beautiful face as she spoke softly. Her voice had the charm of a young girl. It was as if she were unaware of what was happening in the world and this suited her current age.
She also seemed as if she did not know how to please Consort Zhao.
Consort Zhao was secretly delighted when she heard that Feng Yuran mentioned how close she and Consort Xian were as well as when saw how Mo Xuetong was behaving. She touched her turquoise bangle and smiled at Mo Xuetong. “Biological sisters cannot be compared to other people. The blood that flows through us cannot be changed. How can we not be close? That is why if there is a family member who marries into the manor, that manor would be more powerful than the others.”
So that was what Consort Zhao wanted. This meant that she was in a hurry to bring someone in…
Mo Xuetong frowned slightly. Deep down inside, she thought it was funny even though she did not show it. She appeared not to have understood. She opened her lively and clear eyes wide open and looked at Consort Zhao confusedly. It was as if she did not know what Consort Zhao meant.
She blinked and appeared to comply with Consort Zhao obediently even though she did not know what was going on. She said, “That’s right. If a family member is to enter the manor, they can take care of each other.”
Consort Zhao smiled and nodded. “You are indeed a wife who cares for her husband. I heard that Yuran used to be a great philanderer. Tong’er, you have to watch him carefully and must not allow him to go out and flirt with girls anymore. He is a prince and is the prince whom His Majesty dotes on the most. He can have any woman he wants but he still goes out to create trouble. He might ruin the reputation of the royal family and draw the ire of His Majesty.”
She sounded as if she was on Mo Xuetong’s side. However, she also blamed Mo Xuetong for not being generous enough, sounding as if Mo Xuetong was making decisions for Feng Yuran.
“My Lady, did… did something happen to His Highness outside?” Mo Xuetong looked frightened and stood up suddenly. She looked at Consort Zhao tearfully while Mo Lan hurried forward to hold her.
“It’s nothing big…” Consort Zhao appeared to want to speak but stopped. She flicked her handkerchief and frowned.
“My Lady, please tell me!” Mo Xuetong’s face was pale with fright. The tears that gathered at the corners of her eyes seemed about to fall. She sniffled and her lips trembled. She said, “Please tell me what happened to His Highness!”
Consort Zhao had tried to be mysterious and appeared to be talking about something else other than what was on the surface. Mo Xuetong knew what Consort Zhao was going to tell her. However, she would make it so that Consort Zhao could say whatever she wanted!
