boyutpedia Chapter 111 The undefeated beauty
Chapter 111 The undefeated beauty
After arranging everything for the winter banquet, Empress Dowager Xiao stood up with the help of her personal maid and walked leisurely to the octagonal pavilion nearby.
The pavilion was built on the east side of the Imperial Lake, surrounded by water on three sides and connected to the Imperial Garden on one side.
Surrounded by white gauze, one can feel the excitement of the Winter Solstice Banquet while keeping out the noise, making it a perfect place to relax.
After Empress Dowager Xiao entered the pavilion by the water, a palace maid immediately served her warm tea.
Empress Dowager Xiao waved her hands, covered her mouth and coughed a few times, then took a pill from her personal maid and swallowed it in one gulp with tea.
"Your Majesty, if you feel uncomfortable, let's go back to the Summer Palace first. The Princess Ning and Princess Ping are here for the Winter Solstice Banquet, so nothing will go wrong."
After Biluo helped Empress Dowager Xiao swallow the pill, she frowned and advised her.
Empress Dowager Xiao raised her lips slightly and revealed a helpless smile:
"Except for the two years of the late emperor's death, the Winter Solstice Banquet has been held every year, and I have personally organized every year.
I still feel a little uneasy about handing it over to others.”
"Moreover……"
Empress Dowager Xiao covered her mouth and pointed at the girls competing for beauty in the imperial garden. A soft light flashed in her eyes:
"All of them are coming to Haizhou. Who knows, there might be the future daughter-in-law of the Xiao family among them! As an elder sister, I have to take a look at them. How can I leave first?"
Since Empress Dowager Xiao said so, Biluo knew that she could not persuade her, so she did not mention the matter of returning to the Summer Palace anymore.
"Yes, yes, it would be best if we could find a good match for Master Xiao today, send him to the bridal chamber tomorrow, and give birth to a big fat boy the day after. This way, you, the queen, won't have to worry about him all day long!"
Biluo was Xiao Rui's maid who came with her as a dowry. She followed her all the way from the Xiao family to the Prince's Mansion, and then to the Summer Palace. She naturally understood what Empress Dowager Xiao was thinking.
She smiled and teased her queen, then glanced and saw Concubine Li walking towards the pavilion.
So he quickly frowned and put on a respectful and calm look.
Concubine Li's maiden name was Li Qiuhua. She entered the palace later than Empress Dowager Xiao, but was two years older than her.
Although time cannot defeat beauty, Concubine Li's face still shows some traces of time as she was forced to leave her hometown and was trapped in the deep palace without seeing the sun.
Fortunately, Li Qiuhua has a clear and profound understanding of his identity.
Since you are sober, you naturally don't care about things like honor or disgrace or appearance.
When Li Qiuhua saw Xiao Rui, he bowed respectfully with his eyelids lowered as usual.
After receiving Xiao Rui's signal, he sat down on the quartz round stool.
Empress Dowager Xiao and Concubine Dowager Li were chatting in a random manner, and as they talked they ended up talking about the autumn hunt.
"By the way, last time I heard that your brother also followed the little monkey from Prince Ning's family into Jiping Mountain. Is he doing well afterwards?"
When Li Qiuhua heard Xiao Rui mention Li Peiyan, her heart skipped a beat and the alarm bells immediately rang.
She tightened her fingers, thought for a moment, and finally said calmly:
"I sent someone to ask a few days ago, and it's nothing serious."
"Your Majesty, don't be fooled by the tender skin of Yan'er. He is a mischievous kid at heart. When he was little, he used to climb trees and catch birds, but he never failed.
It was only in the past two years, as I got older, that I finally calmed down.”
Li Qiuhua didn't know what Li Peiyan did during the autumn hunt. He only heard people say that he followed several young masters into Jiping Mountain.
So after thinking it over, I decided to choose a safer approach.
Since it is safe, there is no exaggeration, no hiding, and no concealment, so that no one can find any flaws.
After hearing this, Xiao Rui smiled and didn't say anything else.
But when she turned around, she asked someone to invite the young lady from the He family over, saying that she wanted her to meet Concubine Li.
Li Qiuhua had also heard before that the He family had a three-year-old girl who was taken to Jiping Mountain by Liang Yuanzhao, Li Peiyan and others, and who even howled in front of everyone when she was rescued.
This made the usually arrogant young master of Prince Ning's Mansion humble himself and use his personal jade pendant to coax her.
Not to mention the thank-you gift issue that caused a lot of controversy later.
However, although Li Qiuhua was curious, he was also well aware of the capabilities of the He family.
I thought she was just a three-year-old girl, how could she have the ability to cause such trouble.
The ones who were causing trouble were just the Xiao family and Prince Ning who were secretly plotting something behind the scenes but were only trying to cover it up.
According to the rules, Li Qiuhua could see the young lady of the He family or not.
As it happened, today, Empress Dowager Xiao invited the young lady from the He family over on the pretext of the autumn hunt, which made Li Qiuhua extremely alert and had to deal with it carefully.
As Zhao Mianmian followed Qin Shuyu and the palace maid to the pavilion by the water, the comments were still filled with people speculating on the reason why Empress Dowager Xiao specifically asked to see her:
[Need I say this? It's probably because of the Ji Pingshan Autumn Hunt incident that ruined Xiao Haizhou's plan. How can it be so easy to let it go?! ]
[No way, wasn't it the Xuanlin Guards who were involved in that matter? Empress Dowager Xiao is in the palace and in poor health, how can she care about things outside? ? ]
[You don't understand this, right? Although he is in the palace, his surname is Xiao after all. The Xiao family prospers together and suffers together. Even if Empress Dowager Xiao is in poor health and needs to rest, she can't just ignore Xiao Haizhou. ]
[That being said, don’t you think it’s a bit too much to mention the anchor in this “care”? ? ]
[Hahahaha, stop your conspiracy theories, maybe she just wants to see what her niece looks like? ? ]
[Pfft~~~If you hadn't told me, I would have almost forgotten that Empress Dowager Xiao is Father Xiao's biological sister! ]
【Hahaha, host: Dad Xiao can’t get over this joke, right?】
[What's the point of being a father? Once a father, always a father. Host, don't be an ungrateful person, we will look down on you! Hahahaha]
Zhao Mianmian:
【:)】
【goodbye!!】
Since the small pavilion by the water was not far from the Imperial Garden, Zhao Mianmian and Qin Shuyu followed the palace maid who delivered the message and walked over in a few steps.
Since the Queen Mother only summoned Zhao Mianmian, Qin Shuyu stopped ten steps away from the pavilion.
Qin Shuyu squatted down and straightened Zhao Mianmian's lotus-colored embroidered jacket. Her face was gentle and indifferent, but she lowered her voice and told her seriously:
"Inside are Empress Dowager Xiao and Concubine Dowager Li. Remember to be polite when you see them. Don't let others say that our He family's sisters don't know the rules."
"If the two madams ask anything, just answer truthfully. If you really can't answer, just say you don't know. The madams are generous and won't make things difficult for a little girl like you."
Seeing a hint of nervousness in Qin Shuyu's voice, Zhao Mianmian couldn't help but tremble in her heart and became nervous as well.
She nodded vigorously and replied to Qin Shuyu seriously:
"Mianmian knows, don't worry, aunt."
Having said this, she turned around and followed the palace maid who delivered the message into the pavilion by the water.