After a romantic interlude, Song Zhao leaned against Xiao Jingheng's embrace.
The man's somewhat rough fingertips gently caressed her fragrant shoulders,
"You're afraid of thunder, so wait until the rain stops before leaving."
It was obvious to anyone that the rain today would not stop anytime soon.
What Xiao Jingheng meant between the lines was that he wanted to be intimate with Song Zhao again.
He understood restraint and seldom indulged in beauty.
Of all the concubines in the palace, only Consort Chen had received the rare honor of being favored twice in one night due to her excellent skills.
Song Zhao was expected to happily accept, but instead she said:
"Your Majesty, I cannot stay, or else people will certainly gossip tomorrow, saying that I spent too much time in Your Majesty's palace. Today is the first time I have served you, I don't want to attract too much attention..."
When she spoke, she sounded timid. With their skin touching, Xiao Jingheng could clearly feel the trembling of her delicate body.
He thought that perhaps the incident where Song Zhao's birth mother beat her aunt to death in front of her gave her tremendous psychological trauma.
That's why it led to her being extremely cautious and not daring to overstep.
But this was good too, a woman like her would not become arrogant due to favoritism.
Xiao Jingheng turned to the side and lightly kissed Song Zhao's forehead,
"Alright, I will have someone escort you back."
When Song Zhao got up to get dressed, Xiao Jingheng reclined on the couch, propping up his head with one hand. His fiery gaze shamelessly fell on Song Zhao's body.
He looked at her as if appreciating an exquisitely carved work of art. Every inch of the girl's body could stir his imagination.
He had felt this freshness towards beautiful concubines before, but his feelings towards Song Zhao were more intense.
"Be careful in everything, go back to the Queen Mother's palace tomorrow after leaving here today. If the 'rash' on your face has completely healed, it would arouse suspicion instead. If anyone asks how your face got better, just say that I called an imperial physician to treat you, and that's how it faded away."
After tying her sash, Song Zhao bowed and saluted, "Thank you, Your Majesty, for considering this so comprehensively for your concubine."
Xiao Jingheng beckoned her over, "Come here."
Song Zhao approached the couch as docile as a kitten.
Xiao Jingheng held her hand tightly, "Tomorrow when the thunder stops and the rain clears, I will summon you again."
Song Zhao nodded shyly, softly murmuring an "En."
Xiao Jingheng laughed heartily and pinched her slender waist, then called out towards the door, "Jiang Deshun."
The door of the bedchamber immediately opened as the head eunuch Jiang Deshun respectfully entered and kowtowed:
"Your Majesty, your order?"
"The wind and rain outside are heavy, escort Song Zhao out."
That day, Song Zhao was escorted out of Chaoyang Palace by Jiang Deshun all the way.
Jiang Deshun held an umbrella over her the entire way, getting completely drenched himself.
Standing outside the side gate of Chaoyang Palace, Zhang Jiugui was first stunned seeing this, then quickly fawned over Song Zhao as she was carried onto the phoenix-calling sedan chair, before quietly saying to Jiang Deshun:
"Eunuch Jiang, why did you personally escort Song Zhao out?"
As head eunuch, Jiang Deshun was literally the boss of all eunuchs in the imperial city. Even Zhang Jiugui, the steward of the attendance office, had to treat him with utmost respect.
Zhang Jiugui moved his umbrella over Jiang Deshun's head, obediently wiping away the water stains on his body.
Unexpectedly, Jiang Deshun glanced at him and grumbled, "You're getting better and better at your job. After sending Noble Consort Song back, go to the inner bureau and receive your punishment."
These palace servants had all become sly people.
With just a word from their master, or a look, they could grasp the unspoken meaning.
Other concubines would have servants specially prepare them before serving the emperor, yet Song Zhao was 'bare-faced' when sent into Chaoyang Palace. How could Xiao Jingheng not know that the attendance office had sabotaged this?
But since the matter was trivial, Xiao Jingheng was too lazy to investigate who exactly was behind it. Punishing Zhang Jiugui would make that person naturally know to restrain themselves.
'Boom!'
Sitting in the phoenix-calling sedan chair right now, Song Zhao heard the muffled thunder outside but her face showed no trace of the previous fear. In fact, a hint of a smile crept up at the corners of her lips.
Having lived through fiery waters since childhood, Song Zhao was not even afraid of hell, much less thunder.
But today in front of Xiao Jingheng, she had to be afraid, she had to give Xiao Jingheng a chance to cherish her. She had to let Xiao Jingheng gain a sense of accomplishment from her.
These emotional values, along with her bright face and charming figure, held equal value.
She wanted to get what she desired from Xiao Jingheng, so these were the chips she had to pay.
At this moment in Yao Hua Palace, Noble Consort Li, who had watched Song Zhao being carried away earlier, was sleepless all night.
She thought that with Song Zhao's status, being carried to serve the emperor would end with her being 'returned'.
Yet she did not expect that after nearly two hours, Song Zhao still had not come back.
Later, when it was almost the second watch of the night, she finally heard movement in the courtyard.
She hurried out and saw Song Zhao holding an umbrella, about to return to the West side hall. She called out to stop her,
"You were gone for so long?"
"Sister, you haven't slept yet?" Seeing her coming over without an umbrella, Song Zhao quickly gave her half of her own umbrella, "Sister, you're still ill, it's not good to get rained on."
Sharing an umbrella, Noble Consort Li was angry but reluctantly gave Song Zhao a disgusted side-eye.
But that one look allowed her to see Song Zhao's flawless, breathtakingly beautiful face clearly!
She was shocked, "Your face?"
Song Zhao stroked her cheek, somewhat embarrassed to say: "At the imperial audience today, seeing that the rash on my face wouldn't go away, Your Majesty happened to have an imperial physician come to take his pulse and wish him well. Your Majesty had the imperial physician take a look at me. With the physician's miraculous hands, after acupuncture and medication, the rash actually faded away. That's why I was delayed for some time before coming back late."
Hearing her explanation, Noble Consort Li was so angry her teeth itched.
Previously, Noble Consort Li had never taken Song Zhao seriously. In her eyes, even Liu Changzai and Xiao Changzai had a greater possibility of gaining favor than Song Zhao.
But after seeing her original appearance today, even the confident Noble Consort Li would secretly become jealous in her heart.
Not just Xiao Jingheng, even she couldn't help but be amazed at this face.
"Hmph." Noble Consort Li scoffed coldly, "His Majesty likes you a lot, doesn't he?"
Song Zhao changed the subject, "How could I compare to Sister? Just now when the imperial physician was treating me, Your Majesty knew that I live with Sister, and kept asking if Sister's health had improved, saying he was free to come visit Sister."
"I served His Majesty before you, so naturally my relationship with him cannot be compared to yours."
Just as they were talking, Noble Consort Li suddenly snatched the umbrella from Song Zhao's hand,
"I'm warning you! Don't think you can be on equal footing with me just because you served him once. I'm a Noble Consort, you're merely a consort. If you dare to seduce and confuse His Majesty, I'll tell the Empress and have her punish you!"
Having said that, she huffed and returned to the East side hall, leaving Song Zhao alone in the rain.
