Hu Huanling walked in surrounded by a group of palace maids. She walked gracefully with her skirt barely fluttering. It was obvious that even though she was the daughter of a merchant, she had learned the etiquette.
"No need to be so polite, sisters!" She entered the palace the latest, and although she was the queen, she was younger than all of them. When the queen entered the palace, everyone knew that she was a gentle and humble woman.
However, her humility did not earn her respect because of her poor background.
As he was talking, he heard someone outside the door shouting, "The Regent Princess is here, the Grand Princess is here!"
When everyone looked over, they saw that Xia Zian was wearing the ceremonial court dress of the Regent Princess. Her red satin brocade palace skirt with fish pattern was embellished with flying phoenix embroidery, her fallen horse bun was wearing an elegant silver and kingfisher hairpin, and her earlobes had two East China Sea pearl earrings. It was so simple that everyone knew it was the work of Hu Huanxi.
The eldest princess was wearing very plain clothes today. There was only a dark cloud pattern on her skirt, small crabapple flowers were embroidered on her cuffs, and a few flowers were also embroidered on the front of her clothes with a green border, which was very elegant.
Hu Huanling had not expected that Xia Zian's appearance was so outstanding. In the past, the rumors he had heard about her were nothing more than how superb her medical skills were and how sharp her methods were, but he had never heard that her appearance was so outstanding.
She squeezed the handkerchief in her hand but maintained a decent smile on her face.
Zi'an's eyes also fell on the queen. She was somewhat similar to Hu Huanxi, but the curve of her face was softer than Hu Huanxi's. There was a faint smile in her eyes and brows. At first glance, she seemed to be a gentle, respectful, frugal and modest lady. However, Zi'an thought of the adjectives used to describe Hu Huanxi and couldn't help but secretly add a "sweet-mouthed, treacherous-hearted" to the end.
She looked over again and saw that Concubine Yi was wearing a yellow palace skirt with dark cloud patterns embroidered with oleander brocade. She had her hands tucked into her wide sleeves, and was lightly made up. Her hair was in a flowing bun, and a long golden cloth with golden tassels fell down, swaying slightly beside her ears.
She had an indifferent expression and stood quietly aside. The Seventh Prince stood beside her with the same expression as her.
Concubine Mei's makeup was a little heavier today, but it couldn't hide the palm prints on her face. It seemed that she was not only punished to kneel, but also slapped in the face.
She was wearing a green palace skirt today, with her hair tied up in a bun. She was not very outstanding, but she didn't dare to stand out. The Third Prince supported her with a calm and forbearing look on his face. Zi'an looked at him like this and thought of the Seventh Prince. Perhaps, he was like this when he was young.
Zi'an walked up to Hu Huanling and bowed slightly, "Xia Zi'an pays respect to Her Majesty the Queen!"
Hu Huanling smiled and held Zi'an's hand, "Zi'an, right? I've heard of you a long time ago, and you are indeed very pretty."
Zi'an smiled and said, "Your Majesty, the Queen is too kind. Zi'an's appearance is crude, how can he be even a fraction of the Queen's?"
Hu Huanling smiled even more, with a blush on her face, "Sister Zi'an is joking."
As they were talking, someone shouted, "Noble Consort Zhao is here!"
When everyone looked over, Zian discovered that many people had expressions of disdain, even contempt, on their faces.
When I saw Sun Fang'er in the past, she was always dressed very simply, but today she was wearing an elegant palace dress embroidered with intricate and delicate patterns. Her face was very fair, almost bloodless, with beautiful facial features, long and slender eyebrows, curved eyelashes, a delicate nose, and lips stained with lip gloss, which made her look indescribably delicate and attractive.
Even though he had met Sun Fang'er several times, Zi'an was always shocked by her beauty every time. Her beauty was like a fairy from another world, not stained by a single speck of dust. But she fell into this mortal world, and therefore seemed out of place.
She walked up to the queen and saluted, her voice cold and emotionless, "Your Highness, I pay my respects to you."
"Sister, are you feeling better?" The Queen looked at Sun Fang'er with pity and sighed softly, "You really need to take good care of yourself. Now that you are serving the Emperor, he can't do without you for anything, big or small. You must take good care of yourself."
What a caring and considerate look she has. It is hard to find any fault with her. She is clearly just the daughter of a merchant, but she has the demeanor of a mother of the country.
Sun Fang'er lowered her head and brows, "Thank you for your concern, Madam."
Zi'an was standing next to the queen, so she naturally had to salute. She bowed slightly, "May the noble concubine Zhao be well!"
Sun Fanger raised her eyes slightly and looked at Zian. There seemed to be a hint of mockery in her eyes, but she immediately concealed it and said calmly and gently as before, "You're back!"
"Yes!" Zi'an looked at her. Although her face was powdered, it couldn't hide her pale complexion.
"I have a few words to ask you, Princess, can I have a word with you for a moment?" Sun Fang'er asked.
Zian nodded, "Of course."
Zi'an walked to the side with her, and out of the corner of his eye he saw that everyone was staring at Sun Fang'er with resentment in their eyes.
I just heard from the Queen that Sun Fang'er was serving beside the Emperor. How could she not be envied by others for being the most favored among the harem? However, I am afraid that only Sun Fang'er herself understands that it is not honor and favor, but poison.
If everyone is responsible for their own choices, then Sun Fang'er should be no exception.
If she didn't want to get involved in these disputes and left the capital, she could definitely live a good life. However, she always wanted to prove something, and in the end, she went from having a choice to not having a choice.
Sun Fang'er twisted her handkerchief, biting her lips until they were almost broken, and then she asked with a red face, "Rouyao...what happened to her?"
Zi'an knew that she was asking about Rouyao, but he thought she would ask after turning back to greet him. He didn't expect that she would be so impatient to ask now. It can be seen that she also has Rouyao as her sister in her heart.
"She is missing and her life or death is unknown!" Zi'an told the truth.
Sun Fang'er's face turned pale for a moment, and after a moment, she gritted her teeth and said, "You took her there, why didn't you bring her back safely? Aren't you very capable?"
Zian asked, "How do you know she's in trouble?"
"I am serving the emperor, and I send you letters every day reporting your news in the Northern Desert."
Zi'an knew that the Seventh Brother also reported back, but he did not send a letter every day. This meant that the Emperor had ordered people to secretly monitor them ever since they left Beijing.
He learned everything about their situation in the Northern Desert.
If you say that the emperor completely trusts the seventh brother, that's bullshit!
"Murong Jie hasn't come back. Did he go to look for Rouyao?" Sun Fang'er asked.
Zi'an was slightly surprised, "This matter..."
So, the emperor doesn’t know the reason for their return
In other words, someone reported everything they did in Beimo to him, but no one reported what happened after they returned to Beijing. Could it be that someone from Beimo informed him? Was there any connection between the emperor and someone from Beimo
Seeing her thoughtful expression, Sun Fang'er knew she had said too much, so she said, "Forget it, just pretend I didn't ask. I don't care about these things anyway."
As soon as she finished speaking, she heard someone coming out from the corridor and shouting, "The Empress Dowager invites all the ladies, princesses and wives to enter the palace!"
Zi'an straightened his expression and was about to take a step when he heard Sun Fang'er whisper, "Be careful, this empress dowager is not easy to deal with."
Zi'an didn't expect that Sun Fang'er would actually remind her. He sighed in his heart. Sun Fang'er was really unpredictable.
(End of this chapter)