Chapter 23
Chapter 23
Chapter 23: Here Comes Her Highness of Imperial Concubine Yi
Translator: Flying Lines
But not long after Bai Qingqing came to the palace, she successfully captured the heart of that damn boy, whose evil intention must be watched out for .
Thinking of this, Liu Xiangyi pulled Qiulian and whispered to her . Hearing this, Qiulian was rejoiced on hearing that and she replied straightforward, “That’s a wonderful idea! I’ll get down to it now . ”
At the same time, Bai Qingqing who was chatting with the little emperor in the Palace of Harmony, felt a chill in the back and shuddered involuntarily . An ominous premonition somehow arose in her heart .
“Bai Jiejie (a respected way to address young girls by younger peers), is the sachet that terrific?” The little emperor, who hurriedly came back from the imperial court session in the early morning, longed for spending as much time as possible with his father . He claimed that he had been under the weather thus he had to take a break from the multitude of national affairs so as to recuperate in the imperial bedroom, which actually was the excuse for staying by his father’s side every second .
But his father was invited by Prime Minister Qin for something important to discuss . Though the little emperor failed to see his father, he turned to feel kind of sweet after seeing Bai Jiejie waiting to attend him to take medicine in the bedroom .
The mind of kids was always pure . Because he could instinctively tell who really loved him and who was hypocritical .
After receiving treatment for two days, his chill almost recovered, which validated the old saying, “Seek your salve where you get your sore . ”
His disease was not that severe, but it hadn’t been cured in that, on one hand, the little emperor refused to take medicine on purpose, and on the other hand, he pined for his father terribly that the depression made the disease more aggravated .
Now thanks to his ploy of inflicting himself, his father came back and even brought Bai Jiejie who sincerely loved him . That made the little emperor delighted and recovered without medical help .
Just then, Bai Jiejie gave him a palm sized sky-blue sachet which contained lots of rare medicinal materials . It could tranquilize mind and improve visual acuity, as well as increase sleeping quality .
Bai Qingqing came to herself and seriously told him, “I find you often frown when you are sleeping, and a little noise would wake you up . This is because you are always uptight, it’s only a matter of time till it wears you out . ”
“It has a small size but contains precious ingredients I collected painstakingly . There is only benefit for you to wearing it . And . . . ”
Bai Qingqing held his hand to feel the bottom of it and whispered, “There is an interlayer filled with psychedelic powder formulated by myself . It may save your life at the critical moment . ”
The little emperor’s eyes suddenly glowed and asked, “How to use it?”
Before Bai Qingqing answered, the voice of the Grand Eunuch Li came from outside, “Your Majesty, here comes Her Highness of Imperial Concubine Yi of Emperor Emeritus . ”
Hearing this, both the little emperor and Bai Qingqing were shocked .
A sweet fragrance drifted from outdoors, followed by her footsteps approaching before the two came to themselves .
Liu Xiangyi was draped in gold and silver, covered with her finery, as if for fear that others would not know her noble identity .
Bai Qingqing had no favorable impression on Liu Xiangyi from the old days . Then she learned from the little emperor that Liu Xiangyi, as an Imperial Concubine of Emperor Emeritus, often chastised flunkeys and palace maids depending on her own mood, which made her difficult to get close . Therefore, it was harder for her to approach Liu Xiangyi with good manners .
The little emperor’s smiley face also colored with a stroke of gloom on hearing her arriving .
He paid his respects to Liu Xiangyi symbolically, which seemed quite courteous, but was actually full of resistance and rejection .
Liu Xiangyi was not a fool and she could tell the dislike of the two to her .
However, she didn’t wear her heart on her sleeve, she put on a smile instead, and she went, “I’m so worried about the emperor after knowing he picked up an ailment, so I cooked a bowl of ginseng chicken soup for you . ”
She winked at Qiulian . Qiulian took the hint immediately and opened the food box and took a jade handless cup out .
Liu Xiangyi continued, “I put plenty of nutritious ingredients . Please enjoy it . ”
The little emperor frowned, seeming to say he has no interest in that chicken soup .
Bai Qingqing understood his thought and replied with a faint smile, “The emperor appreciated the kindness from Your Highness, but he had just taken herbal medicine so within two hours he’d better not eat anything . I’m afraid he has no luck to enjoy the soup . ”
Qiulian didn’t show unhappiness about Bai Qingqing’s rejection, but said gently, “Bai Guniang is approved and taken to the palace by Sacred Emperor in person, we definitely believe in your medical skills . ”
She continued, “As for the chicken soup, it was cooked by Imperial Concubine Yi of Emperor Emeritus herself . Now it isn’t the proper time, you can keep it for later and reheat it at the emperor’s convenience . ”
At the same time, she put on an act as if to put the jade handless cup back helplessly, but her arms shook and the handless cup was dropped on the ground with a pounding noise, making the chicken soup splash on the dress of Bai Qingqing, who stood nearest to her .
All the people present exclaimed, and Liu Xiangyi, the “arch-criminal”, shrieked the most out of everyone .
“You damn flunkey! Why are you so careless?” Liu Xiangyi pretended to scold Qiulian .
Qiulian realized her huge mistake, immediately kneeled down and begged, “Please pardon my offense, Your Majesty, Your Highness of Imperial Concubine Yi and Bai Guniang . Please pardon me . ”
Zhao Rui ignored her and hurried to check whether his Bai Jiejie was scalded by the hot soup . Then all flunkeys in Palace of Harmony flocked to ask her .
Liu Xiangyi behaved most exaggeratedly . She grabbed Bai Qingqing’s hands and reproached herself, “I’m so sorry, Bai Guniang . That’s her mistake to break the handless cup carelessly . Have you got scalded?” Then she turned to flunkeys and asked, “Go to the Imperial Academy of Medicine, call the imperial physician for Bai Guniang and flog the blind flunkey for twenty times!”
Bai Qingqing was caught unawares by this accident . She anticipated that Liu Xiangyi must have a scheme for such a move though she couldn’t figure it out just yet .
“Nothing serious . There is no need to call imperial physician . As for your maid, I believe that wasn’t done on purpose . ” Bai Qingqing said .
In fact, she knew the maid did it deliberately . But due to the fact that she was a new-comer in the palace and didn’t get the chance to crack the matters going on in palace, she decided to tolerate and wait for the cat to jump .
“But your clothes got dirty . ”
Liu Xiangyi said that in a self-condemned way, then said to Qiulian who was kneeling down, “Though Bai Guniang didn’t blame on you, you must make up your own mistake, treating her with more etiquette is the only way . Stop kneeling like a dummy and attend Bai Guniang to get changed . Serve her carefully in case that she catches cold . ”
“Yes, Your Highness . ” Qiulian answered .
She didn’t dare to snub, so she stood up and took Bai Qingqing to get changed .
Bai Qingqing kept feeling strange but she couldn’t figure it out at that time .
She knew Liu Xaingyi showed up with a hostile intention from the beginning, but she expected it be that chicken soup where went wrong .
Then no way did she expect that they should overturn the soup themselves, turning the suspicious object into useless junk .
Could it be said that Liu Xiangyi made such a farce simply for getting her clothes dirty using chicken soup?
But how could her clothes be so valuable?
At this time, the maid of Liu Xiang with some other maids led her to a hot spring pool in the northeast of Palace of Harmony and served her shower and changing clothes carefully .
They served with care and servility as if Bai Qingqing was their master .
After Bai Qingqing freed herself from the undue care of those maids, she stepped out with light steps, capturing the spirit of the little emperor .
Bai Qingqing wore a pink embroidered golden gown, which was full-length and had wide sleeves, giving an elegant feeling like the descent of The Fairy of Ninth Heaven into the world .
Though the little emperor had seen his Bai Jiejie had a beautiful and pleasing face, he was amazed by her stunning beauty after dressing up .
However, after a clear look at her pink embroidered golden gown, his face turned from amazement to fear .
“Bai Jiejie, change this gown now . . . ” the little emperor yelled .
Before he finished his words, Liu Xiangyi who was sitting aside and waiting to see the fun, stood and said respectfully, “Sacred Emperor, please accept my respects . ”
Everyone present looked back . A handsome man appeared at the door . That was none other than Sacred Emperor Zhao Yuchen .