Palace Fighting Naive Concubines’ Ascent to Power

Chapter 73 - 73 73 The Handkerchief Embroidered with a Rooster

?73: Chapter 73: The Handkerchief Embroidered with a Rooster 73: Chapter 73: The Handkerchief Embroidered with a Rooster Changzai Zhou tugged at Talented Lady Sun, the last flower appreciating feast had not been a pleasant experience for those who attended.

With so many people in the palace, it was better to mention less.

Moreover, there was no need to make things difficult for a minor character, otherwise wouldn’t one become as foolish as Beauty Li?

Talented Lady Sun came back to her senses, turned her face away, and said no more.

Changzai Zhou always handled matters smoothly, playing the role of a peacemaker, and she did so at this moment too.

Seeing that Beauty Zhao did not ask anyone to get up, she looked at Beauty Zhao.

Beauty Zhao got the hint, and, stroking her hair, said, “You gave me a fright, get up.

What are you doing here?”

Lian Hua bowed her head and answered, “Thank you, Consort, we heard the Hundred Flowers Garden is beautiful, so this servant brought people here to appreciate the flowers.”

Changzai Zhou smiled softly, and said with a gentle tone, “Indeed, it is quite nice.

Now in autumn, flowers in other places have long withered, but the Hundred Flowers Garden still has many in bloom.

You have chosen a good time; the eunuchs of the Imperial Garden have also brought in many new varieties of chrysanthemums recently, you are in luck.”

Lian Hua replied respectfully, “Yes, thank you for the tip, Consort.”

Seeing that Talented Lady Sun was becoming impatient, Changzai Zhou then dismissed Lian Hua and the others, saying, “In that case, you may leave.”

Lian Hua answered with a “Yes,” led the others bowing their heads to the side of the road, respectfully watching the group leave.

The group walked on.

Beauty Zhao said, “The Hundred Flowers Garden is truly worthy of its name for growing all kinds of flowers.

Look how well the sweet osmanthus is blooming.

Huh, why haven’t these osmanthus flowers bloomed?”

Talented Lady Sun’s voice still carried annoyance as she said, “Perhaps the eunuchs of the Imperial Garden have been neglectful and failed to take proper care of them, hence these flowers have not bloomed.”

Changzai Zhou added, “There are even some on the ground; how strange.

Could it be that they have all fallen?

Indeed strange, let’s go look elsewhere.”

As they talked, the group gradually walked away.

Lian Hua stood up with Xiao Qing and Xiao Jizi, patted their chests, and breathed a sigh of relief.

That was close, they almost got caught.

Xiao Jizi felt somewhat heavy-hearted.

He didn’t have the carefree attitude of Xiao Qing or the Young Master.

From the conversation of the Consorts, he gleaned quite a bit of information, the most critical being that the Young Master might have truly fallen out of favor; the chances of His Majesty coming to Canglan Court were growing ever slimmer.

It was to be expected, after all, when the Young Master let the Chief Steward Zhang take away all of His Majesty’s belongings, unable to stop him, it must have angered His Majesty.

That no punishment had come was fortunate enough; it seemed unthinkable that His Majesty would visit again.

Alas, his foolish Young Master, how could she be so foolish.

By the time he understood her intentions that morning, it was already too late.

The words had been spoken, Chief Steward Zhang had already heard, and he couldn’t stop the Young Master right there to discuss the pros and cons with her.

In the end, he could only watch helplessly as Chief Steward Zhang and his men took away His Majesty’s possessions, without any means to intervene.

Alas.

Engrossed in his thoughts, Xiao Jizi sighed audibly before he knew it.

Lian Hua heard the sigh, glanced at him, and said, “Xiao Jizi, don’t be scared; we weren’t discovered, and we didn’t do anything wrong, so rest assured.”

Xiao Jizi, realizing that the Young Master thought he was worried about the recent osmanthus flower theft, forced a smile and replied, “Yes, Young Master is the most discreet, your servant will listen to you, it’s surely correct.”

Lian Hua felt relieved, and with a smile praised him, “Well done, Xiao Jizi, you’re quick to catch on.”

She had already digested the news just now; life must go on, and she could not let herself be tormented by things out of reach, unable to eat for grief.

She had no intention of creating troubles for herself.

Well, there was a bit of sadness, but she decided to ignore it; she could bear it.

“Young Master, what do we do next?” Xiao Jizi asked.

“Xiao Jizi, I just praised you, how can you ask such a question?

Of course, we continue picking osmanthus flowers while no one’s around.

Half a bag won’t be enough for anything,” Lian Hua said, leading Xiao Qing without looking back to pick more osmanthus flowers.

Xiao Jizi gaped, speechless with shock—steal again?!…

They had just passed by a few Palace Concubines and narrowly avoided being discovered.

The Young Master’s courage was truly admirable.

When the three of them returned from the Hundred Flowers Garden, Lian Hua was so sleepy she could barely keep her eyes open.

She pushed the door open, went into the inner chamber, kicked off her shoes, climbed into bed, hugged a pillow, and immediately fell into a deep sleep.

Xiao Qing secured the door for her and pulled Xiao Jizi aside by the wall, whispering, “Xiao Jizi, don’t you think the Young Master has been sleeping a lot lately?

Could there be a problem?”

While plucking osmanthus flowers, the Young Master started yawning, saying she was tired out of nowhere, and they had to stop before even filling the bag.

This didn’t seem typical of the Young Master at all.

Xiao Jizi, also confused, scratched his head: “It shouldn’t be a problem, right?

I’ve never heard of a disease that makes you sleep a lot, and the Young Master has always liked to sleep.

There probably isn’t an issue…”

After some thought, Xiao Qing agreed.

The Young Master was prone to sleepiness, and it was just that His Majesty’s recent visit had them getting up earlier than usual.

Maybe the extra sleep now was to make up for the previous early mornings.

The more she thought about it, the more it made sense, so she dropped the subject.

The two of them brushed aside their concerns and used a winnowing fan to spread the freshly picked osmanthus flowers to dry, also flipping over some maize.

Lian Hua slept until the evening and woke up feeling refreshed and alert, though a little hungry.

When she came out into the hall after waking up, she saw Xiao Qing had already prepared dinner, so they began to set the table.

Ever since they stopped claiming food supplies, they began practicing frugality.

The three of them were quite active during the day and had significant appetites, making their days tight and restricted.

Tonight’s meal was relatively rich, featuring a chicken soup with dried bamboo shoots—the bamboo shoots had been surreptitiously picked from Green Bamboo Garden a while ago and had been dried but not yet consumed.

Last night Lian Hua had a strong craving for chicken soup, with saliva practically dripping, so she instructed Xiao Jizi to trade for some chicken meat this morning.

They had it simmering in the pot until it was time for the evening meal.

After everyone had finished eating, Lian Hua reached for her handkerchief to wipe her mouth, only to realize that she had no idea when she had lost it.

Lian Hua turned to Xiao Qing and asked, “Xiao Qing, have you seen the handkerchief I usually use?”

Xiao Qing, about to take the dishes to the kitchen to wash, turned around and replied, “Young Master, didn’t you use it at lunch?

Some water was spilled, and you wiped it up with the handkerchief, then hung it out to dry later.”

“Is that so, where did I hang it?

I’ll go look for it.” Lian Hua tried to remember but couldn’t.

She scratched her head, feeling lately she had become forgetful.

Xiao Jizi stopped wiping the table, asking, “Young Master, are you talking about the handkerchief embroidered with a chicken?” He had seen it at noon.

“Chicken?

Uh…” Lian Hua was at a loss for words; she had embroidered a scene of magpies heralding spring.

It had been her first attempt at such a complex pattern, and she concluded that she was indeed not suited for such intricate embroidery.

But it wasn’t that bad, was it?

How could Xiao Jizi mistake it for a chicken…

Without arguing, Lian Hua just nodded silently, accepting the title.

Okay then, the bird did have a little bit too plump of an outline, it could be a chicken if one said so.

Xiao Jizi put down the cloth, “Yeah, after I came back from turning the maize at noon, I saw it hanging on a bamboo pole.

Afraid the wind might blow it away, I took it in before I left.

It’s on your dressing table, isn’t it?”