Chapter 427 – The wife that was with you during your tribulations (2)
The servant girl next to her answered, “Zhenyuan General recently entered the palace without prior notice, so the emperor doesn’t have the free time to see you for now. Once the emperor is free to grant Miss an audience, someone will come to show you the way. Miss, please wait here in Yushu Palace for now.”
Ji Man nodded and asked another question, “Where’s the empress? Can I go pay my respects to Her Majesty?”
The young palace servant girl shook her head. “The princess consort hasn’t been formally been promoted to empress yet. Right now, the emperor’s original princess consort is temporarily managing the harem. She’s to be referred to as Consort Shen.”
Ji Man continued, “Consort Shen and I are old friends. Can I go see her?”
The young palace servant girl shook her head again. “The emperor has ordered that you’re not allowed to see anyone else before he calls you over to see him. No one else can enter Yushu Palace either.”
He really did a good job with the protection measures. Ji Man inwardly sneered. These men were all the same. They forgot about their wives once they had a new love interest. At the very least, Shen Youqing had been with Zhao Zhe during his periods of glory and splendor as well as during his times of tribulations. It was one thing for him to not immediately promote Shen Youqing to empress once he ascended the throne, but he had made it worse by bringing a strange woman into the palace.
She had only come here to change Nie Sangyu’s fate to a happy one. She wasn’t interested at all in going from competing in the marquis’s estate to competing in the palace.
“Never mind then, I’ll just wait.” Ji Man walked to a bronze mirror to look at herself. She took down the dangling hair accessories as well as two golden hairpins. Her appearance looked much simpler with only one jade hairpin left in her hair.
A short while later, there were sounds from outside. Afterwards, the servant girl led her outside of Yushu Palace and towards Zichen Hall.
When they had walked halfway, someone shouted from behind them, “Stop!”
Ji Man’s heart slightly relaxed. When she turned her head to look, sure enough, Shen Youqing hadn’t failed to live up to her expectations. From a distance, she was coming over here with a group of palace servant girls trailing after her. She looked furious.
Shen Youqing clearly recognized her, but she still showed a poker face as she asked the servant girl next to Ji Man, “Who is this person? Why are you bringing her to the emperor?”
The palace servant girl was trembling as she knelt down and said, “Your Highness, please forgive me. The emperor ordered for this miss to be brought to him.”
When Shen Youqing’s gaze swept over her face, Ji Man immediately knelt down too. In a choked up voice, she said, “Consort Shen, please save me!”
Shen Youqing was taken aback. She had never seen a woman that was being brought to the emperor wailing like a ghost. She ordered the servants behind her to pull the other servant girl away, then strode forward in her shoes that was embroidered in golden birds. “How do you want this consort to save you?”
Ji Man knocked her head against the aground. Although her crying sounded wretched, there weren’t actually any tears on her face, so she didn’t dare to raise her head. “This humble woman’s heart already has someone. This one wasn’t willing to enter the palace. Who knows what kind of outcome awaits me once this one is brought to the emperor. Your Highness, please save me. Please allow this humble woman to leave the palace.”
Right now, Shen Youqing was in the best position to help her. As long as she bumped into her, she would have a layer of protection.
Sure enough, after hearing Ji Man’s words, Shen Youqing’s expression improved significantly. “Your heart already has someone?”
“Not only that, this humble woman was already married once before. Your Highness, you know this.” Ji Man did her best to pinch the tender flesh of her hand until she finally teared up from the pain. Then, looking very plaintive, she raised her head to look at her. “This humble woman can only hope that the emperor summoned me out a of a whim. This humble woman is hoping to go home afterwards to care for my child. Consort Shen, you have a benevolent heart, and you’re always thinking for the benefit of His Majesty. How about coming along with this humble woman to see His Majesty?”
Shen Youqing pursed her lips and very sympathetically helped Ji Man stand up. “Based on your words, it’s the emperor that’s acting inappropriately. Perhaps, he only summoned you to have a chat, but to have you bath in Yushu Palace first… That’s always been a place that only an empress can go to. Since you requested for this consort to come with you to see the emperor, this consort will come with you.”
Ji Man quickly thanked her for her kindness. During the rest of the way there, she acted like a timid weakling. Clutching her handkerchief, she quietly murmured, “Although the marquis had divorced this humble woman, after we spent the past several days in prison together, our fate has reconnected. This one wishes to return to the marquis’s estate and continue to serve him. How could a mere woman like me be considered adequate to serve the emperor? It’s only a noble, magnanimous woman like Consort Shen that’s worthy of being by the emperor’s side.”
Shen Youqing slightly smiled. “You’re surprisingly sensible.”
“This humble woman thinks the emperor is just distracted by novelty,” Ji Man said, “Your Highness, you should persuade His Majesty to look at the big picture. After all, Shen Clan should be rewarded for helping the emperor ascend the throne. You’re one of Shen Clan’s legitimate daughters and also the emperor’s main wife. He should be promoting you to empress.”
Shen Youqing repeatedly nodded. Nie Sangyu truly knew how to speak well. She had said aloud everything that had been in her own heart. If it wasn’t because they were on opposing sides, she really wanted to have a good chat with her.
When they arrived at Zichen Hall, Zhao Zhe was waiting with a heart filled with joy. But, when the doors were opened, he was shocked to see Shen Youqing coming inside with Ji Man.
“Greetings, Your Majesty.”
“You may rise.” His expression had sunk considerably. “Qing-er, why are you here?”
“This humble woman met the consort on the way here. It felt like we’ve known each other for a long time. We ended up talking all the way to here.” Ji Man’s face already showed no traces of tears. Brightly smiling, she continued, “Her Highness missed the emperor, so she came here with this humble woman.”
Zhao Zhe was unhappy. “This emperor ordered for only you to come here. Do none of the servants understand this emperor’s words?”
The palace servants that were originally responsible for leading the way here had already knelt down as soon as they entered the hall. They were trembling with fear and didn’t dare to say a word.
Displeased, Shen Youqing retorted, “Your Majesty, are you saying it’s not appropriate for this consort to be here after you summoned Miss Nie to see you?”