At the gate of Cining Palace, the Concubine Chen was standing there early in the morning. The eunuch guarding the gate was startled and hurried in to report. After Zhang Ma found out, she quickly notified the Empress Dowager.
"Her Majesty the Queen Mother, Her Majesty the Consort is here to pay her respects. She has been standing guard at the door!"
The Queen Mother was so happy when she heard this! She looked at Aunt Zhang and forgot that she had told the Emperor about closing the palace yesterday. She immediately asked someone to call in the Concubine Chen.
Since the consort Chen was not confined to her house, it proved that the emperor still listened to her. The palace was only closed for one night, and it was not even considered a confinement, but the emperor released the consort Chen. This also showed that the emperor valued her as his mother.
Thinking of this, how could the Queen Mother not be happy? Seeing the Queen Mother happy, Nanny Zhang, as an old lady who had served the Queen Mother for many years, how could she not know what the Queen Mother was thinking! She turned around and asked the Concubine Chen to come in.
Before daybreak, Concubine Chen had already appeared in the Empress Dowager's palace and asked Jia Jia to send a maid to inform Concubine Han and Concubine Liu to come and pay their respects as usual today.
"Greetings to my aunt, because she has been wronged by what happened."
The Queen Mother looked at the Concubine Chen and snorted, "You still know what I mean. Be more obedient in the harem from now on. I can't threaten the Emperor at every turn. Close the harem now."
The Concubine Chen smiled and pulled the Empress Dowager's arm and said coquettishly: "Oh, aunt, how could the Emperor watch you stay in the palace? Look, it's not so early, and he has given me a lot of things, saying it's compensation! I put them on my head, let me see them."
The Queen Mother laughed: "Love is just a bunch of crap, it makes my seclusion in the palace a joke."
Concubine Chen raised her eyebrows: "How can it be a joke! We can take advantage of today to see that those concubines who don't come to pay respects must not have you, my aunt, in their hearts."
This also makes sense: "Well, let's wait and see."
As time passed, Nanny Zhang came forward to report: "Empress Dowager, only Concubine Han and Concubine Liu are outside."
Only two people came, and it was the Concubine Chen who sent someone to notify them. The Queen Mother was in a bad mood. These people really didn't take her seriously.
"Go and invite them in, and wait with me."
She wanted to see if these people were so out of date. When Concubine Han and Concubine Liu came to pay their respects, they alarmed many people.
Everyone thought that the two of them couldn't get in! Who knew that they were invited in? This made things very serious, and everyone rushed to the Cining Palace to pay their respects.
As more and more concubines arrived, the empress dowager still couldn't smile. It turned out that none of these women had her in their hearts. Now these concubines were still waiting at the door!
Seeing that the Queen Mother was not in a good mood, Concubine Chen could not help but speak: "Aunt, don't be unhappy. This also proves that these people are obedient, but they are not well-informed. They don't even know that I was rewarded by the Emperor!"
Hearing this, the Queen Mother frowned and said, "Then what should we do to make them more informed?"
Concubine Han and Concubine Liu looked at each other and shuddered. They were trying to find a way to punish the concubines. The two did not dare to speak without authorization. Concubine Chen thought for a while before speaking: "I think we should punish them by making them walk in the Imperial Garden for an hour or two. Maybe they will get the news!"
The Queen Mother laughed and said, "Why is that? Why does one become so well-informed just by taking a walk in the Imperial Garden?"
The concubine said savagely: "Those people are not well-informed, it must be because they don't go out all year round, so if it's the other way around, they must be well-informed, right?"
This seems to make sense. Thinking of this, the Queen Mother said to Aunt Zhang: "Okay, go and invite all the concubines in."
All the concubines walked in one after another. The one walking in front was Imperial Concubine Yan. When Concubine Chen looked at Imperial Concubine Yan, she stood up from her seat.
"Oh, so Concubine Yan is here too. I'm sorry I took your seat just now. I'll get up now and let you sit."
Imperial Concubine Yan looked at Concubine Chen stupidly: "Oh, it's okay, you can sit down. It doesn't matter where I sit, since we are all here to pay our respects to the Empress Dowager."
What a grandiose thing to say. With that silly look, no wonder anyone would let down their guard against her! Seeing that Concubine Yan didn't care, Concubine Chen was a little sulky.
After returning to their seats, the concubines began to pay their respects to the Queen Mother: "Your servants, your servants pay their respects to the Queen Mother."
The Queen Mother waved her hand and said, "Everyone, get up and sit down. I am old and have no status. The weather is nice today. Let's all go to the Imperial Garden for a walk for an hour or two to wake up."
Huh? What does this mean? Why do they suddenly want them to sober up? The Queen Mother glanced at the three concubines and said, "You three, stay. I haven't played mahjong for a long time. Play a few rounds with me."
Then everyone understood that this was a punishment for them being slow to come and pay respects. The Queen Mother was too vindictive and unreasonable.
It was clearly her own fault that she asked not to come, and now that she was late, she actually punished them by making them take a walk in the Imperial Garden for an hour or two. Did she want to freeze them to death
Thinking of this, many concubines shivered. How could they survive an hour or two in such cold weather? Imperial Concubine Yan blinked her eyes and thought of something: "Let's go to the Imperial Garden."
Imperial Concubine Yan had already taken the lead, so the others had no choice but to follow. Otherwise, what else could they do? Imperial Concubine Ming, who was copying the scriptures, soon got the news.
I couldn't help but curl my lips: "It seems that copying scriptures is still beneficial? Didn't I avoid a punishment by not going out? It's so cold, I went to the Imperial Garden for a walk, I guess I went to get some fresh air."
But soon, Concubine Ming couldn't laugh anymore. She looked at the two maids who reported: "What did you say? They actually set up an iron pot in the imperial garden and asked people to prepare vegetables and meat, and made barbecue and hot pot? Whose idea was this?"
The maid quickly replied, "This was Concubine Yan's idea. She said that the Queen Mother only said that they should take a walk, but did not say that they could not eat. So because it was too cold, they prepared a hot pot."
Concubine Ming raised her eyebrows, somewhat confused. Was Concubine Yan smart or stupid? She really didn't notice it. Was this a punishment from the Queen Mother
This blatant disobedience to the Queen Mother, who knows what will happen in the end! Thinking of this, Concubine Ming shuddered and decided to keep a distance from this person in the future.
The Queen Mother had naturally received the news at this time, and looked at the palace maid in front of her: "Did all the concubines join the hot pot? Go and keep an eye on it, and write it down for me. Are there any who didn't join? Who else enjoyed the meal the most? Tell me last."
The Concubine Chen mourned for these people, why bother! The punishment she customized was to freeze for an hour or two, which would at most cause illness, but what about now? Being targeted by the Queen Mother, she really deserved it: "Second Tong, Aunt, do you want it?"
Concubine Han and Concubine Liu played very carefully, for they were afraid that they might accidentally win the empress dowager's money, which would make it difficult for them to leave.
So after playing for a while, the Queen Mother felt tired: "Okay, okay, let's stop playing, you guys go back. I don't know when Jiu'er will be back. Without her around, there's no one to play mahjong with."
Speaking of Qian Jiujiu, Concubine Chen did not dare to say anything: "Aunt, I will stay and have dinner with you."
The Queen Mother refused directly: "No, your hair is full of stuff, it makes people dizzy, you should go back too."
Concubine Chen understood that the Queen Mother was really angry. After everyone left, the Queen Mother looked at Aunt Zhang and said, "Aunt Zhang, do you think that Imperial Concubine Yan did it on purpose? I don't understand this woman at all."
How could a servant like Zhang Ma say such things? "If your majesty has any questions, you can ask Princess Bingjian. The princess will definitely know everything."
The Queen Mother nodded: "That's true, but you can't just ignore my orders and pretend nothing happened."
Two hours later, the maid who went to record came back and said, "Empress Dowager, from beginning to end, only the four ladies in the palace did not participate. The others all participated in Concubine Yan's hot pot."
The Queen Mother nodded and said, "I understand. Go and have someone notify Imperial Concubine Yan, and also notify those who ate the hotpot, to come and pay their respects to me at the beginning of the morning hour tomorrow."
You are made to walk as punishment. If you walk, you can stay warm and won't get sick, which is still considered good. But if you stand and freeze, these people will either freeze to death or get sick.
But the Queen Mother didn't care. These people were the first to disobey. Disobedient women should not appear in the harem. When the maid heard this, she swallowed her saliva. The beginning of the Yin hour, isn't it too harsh? Usually, they come to pay respects at the beginning of the Mao hour.
This is an hour earlier, and they still have to endure the cold. These concubines are really pitiful. But they deserve it. If they don't accept the Queen Mother's mercy, then they can expect to accept her wrath.
So the palace maid quickly delivered the message. Of course, it was not such a strong one, just to express that the Queen Mother would get up at the beginning of the morning hour tomorrow, and the person who arrived first would get a gift from the Queen Mother.
How could these women not want the Queen Mother's gift? Even if they didn't want it, they had to go. Otherwise, they would offend the Queen Mother. If they offended the Queen Mother, they would not be able to survive in the harem.
After receiving the news, these concubines all started to communicate with others. Some of them went to Noble Concubine Ming to report: "My Lady Noble Concubine, it is said that the Queen Mother will reward a gift tomorrow. The first person to pay respect to the Queen Mother can get it..."
The maid told the story again, and Concubine Ming looked unhappy. The old ones are still the best. Not only will these people be frozen, but they will also be accused of greed. How miserable! Then she remembered and asked, "Didn't you inform me?"