"I am of lowly birth, fit to be bought and sold."
How could that wretched Lady Ruan become a primary wife? How would she now threaten the lowborn offspring of that palace harlot to find a good marriage for her own daughter?
"Do you really think I was appointed as Minister of Ministry of Rites due to my own merits?"
Jiang, Minister of Rites looked at Lady Zhou and said, "Before Lord Zheng resigned, the name he recommended as his successor in his memorial to the throne was Wang Vice Minister of Rites."
The Ministry of Rites has one Minister, and one Left and Right Vice Minister each. Under them is the Office of Secretaries with one Secretary in charge of document management. The Ceremonial and Protocol Offices each have one Deputy Director, four Ceremonial Announcers, and fifty Ushers.
He was the Right Vice Minister, and his rival was Lord Wang who held the position of Left Vice Minister.
This windfall had suddenly landed on his head during the morning court session today. At first, he couldn't quite grasp what was happening, but after the Emperor summoned him for a private audience following the court session, the two engaged in a delightful conversation. They found many of their views on state affairs to be in surprising agreement.
During their talk, the Emperor mentioned Jiang Xinyue's concept of "Great Unity for All Under Heaven," which left him utterly astonished.
But now that his daughter had presented him with this ladder to advancement, there was no reason not to seize the opportunity.
Correspondingly, he would need to repay the favor.
In Hexi Palace—
Jiang Xinyue patted the little white dog's head, then took out an apricot-colored handkerchief from her sleeve. She wrapped it around her palm, releasing a rich fragrance of gardenia.
She stroked the little white dog's head with her covered hand, causing it to emit contented "purring" sounds as it lazily sprawled across its mistress's lap, basking in the sunlight.
Xi Que hurried in from outside: "My lady, we've leaked to Concubine Su that the Emperor will visit the Third Prince in the Princes' Quarters today."
Jiang Xinyue nodded, then tossed the handkerchief wrapped around her palm into the charcoal brazier, burning it to ashes.
Shuangjiang opened all the windows, allowing a cold breeze to blow in and dissipate the gardenia scent into the air.
"It just so happens that I had the imperial kitchen send over some fried chicken today. I might as well bring him a little snack!"
She stood up, cradling the little white dog: "Come here, would you like to go with sister? If you don't say anything, sister will take that as a yes. Be on your best behavior, alright? Sister will protect you."
The newly acquired puppy in Hexi Palace was named "Come Here."
Although spring had arrived and the weather had warmed considerably, the temperature difference between morning and evening remained significant. Jiang Xinyue still felt somewhat chilly.
She wore a plain-colored padded cape over her shoulders, with only a lilac-colored palace satin jacquard cheongsam underneath, giving her an elegant and demure appearance.
The spring flowers in the Imperial Garden were in full bloom, with a diverse array of species filling the air with their fragrances. Concubine Su felt that even the gardenia-scented palace satin brought by Lady Fang today wasn't as fragrant.
"My lady, it looks like Consort Zhen's sedan chair is up ahead," Shuhua reminded Concubine Su, hoping she would be sensible enough to greet Consort Zhen first and avoid foolishly provoking her.
Instead, Concubine Su quickly ducked behind the nearest artificial mountain. She had no desire to pay respects to that wretched Consort Zhen.
"Why is she here?" Concubine Su peered out from her hiding spot. "Could she also be trying to 'accidentally' encounter the Emperor?"
"That's unlikely," Shuhua replied. "Everyone in the palace knows that the First Princess, Second Princess, and Third Prince are extremely fond of Consort Zhen. She also cares deeply for the young royals and often brings snacks to the Princes' Quarters. I imagine that's why she's here today as well."
Consort Zhen had no need to spy on the Emperor's movements. She was already in his favor and on good terms with the Empress and others. If she wished, she could openly seek out the Emperor.
Unlike Concubine Su, who was not among the Emperor's favored consorts and had to resort to buying information about his whereabouts in secret, then staging chance encounters in hopes of gaining his attention.
"Hmph!" Concubine Su refused to believe Consort Zhen could be so kindhearted. Her eyes glinted with venom. "She's skilled at deception. Who knows, maybe she's been pretending to have a good relationship with the Third Prince just to get closer to the Emperor. There's no one truly pure-hearted in this palace."
Who says there isn't?
Consort De, the principal occupant of Yanqing Palace, was renowned for her kindness. In her decades in the palace, she had never been at odds with anyone.
Respectful to her superiors and gentle with her subordinates, it was for this reason that the Emperor praised her virtuous conduct and bestowed upon her the title of Consort De, one of the four highest-ranking consorts.
This showed that one could indeed have a long-lasting presence in the palace without resorting to constantly harming others or being harmed.
However, Shuhua dared not voice these thoughts to Concubine Su, and could only grumble silently to herself.
"Isn't that Consort Zhen's dog? What's it doing here?" A palace servant suddenly pointed at a small white puppy that had jumped out from the bushes. Finding it adorable, he tried to play with it.
The little white dog, however, ignored the young eunuch and instead circled around Concubine Su's feet, wagging its tail happily.
Once malicious thoughts began to surface, they became impossible to suppress, growing and spreading uncontrollably.
"All of you, leave!" Concubine Su commanded.
"My lady?"
"I said leave!"
Concubine Su suddenly burst into tears. "With Consort Zhen here, what place is there for me? Do you all want to stay and watch me make a fool of myself?"
Her words left no room for response.
They were all servants attending to Concubine Su; how could they dare to mock their mistress?
But when Concubine Su cried, she refused to listen to anyone. The others assumed she had been upset by Consort Zhen's presence and wanted to be alone, so they reluctantly withdrew.
With no one else around, Concubine Su watched the little dog happily bouncing around her. She found it increasingly reminiscent of the detestable Consort Zhen, and suddenly kicked the puppy far away.
The little white dog let out a piercing yelp, but having landed on the soft, damp earth by the edge of Liyu Lake, it wasn't severely injured and quickly got back on its feet.
However, the puppy couldn't understand why this "mistress" who smelled like its real owner had suddenly struck it. It crouched in place, trembling, with wet eyes, making pitiful whimpering sounds.
This cruel scene was witnessed in its entirety by Jiang Xinyue, who had "coincidentally" encountered the Xuanwu Emperor. She covered her mouth and exclaimed softly, "Xi... Xi Que, quickly rescue Come Here! She'll... she'll kill Come Here!"
Xi Que held back her mistress, who was about to rush forward, her face full of indignation on behalf of Jiang Xinyue: "Your Majesty, didn't you want to know why my lady used palace satin to teach Concubine Su a lesson? Perhaps if we follow and watch, you'll understand why."
"Xi Que, that's enough!" Jiang Xinyue pushed away her hand and appeared to walk forward without hesitation. In reality, she maneuvered skillfully, pulling the Emperor along as they discreetly followed Concubine Su. With reddened eyes, she said, "I've already failed to protect Little Ai Jiang. I can't fail to protect her child as well."
The Xuanwu Emperor was left completely bewildered by her words, but still obediently followed her lead: "What do you mean by that?"
"Does Your Majesty think that I'm treating Guo Lai as a replacement for Little Ai Jiang?"
Isn't that the case?
Guo Lai and Little Ai Jiang might not be exactly identical, but at least to the naked eye, there wasn't much difference between them.
Both were pure white and looked adorably sweet.
"Guo Lai is the offspring of Little Ai Jiang and another small white dog from the Rare Treasures Chamber of the Internal Affairs Department."
She wasn't treating Guo Lai as a replacement, but rather showing affection by association.
