The next day.
When all the consorts went to pay their respects to Noble Consort Chen, they heard that Xiao Jingheng had bestowed the snake-born child with a name, and they all hurried to flatter her,
"If I may say so, this child is also blessed by Noble Consort's good fortune. If it weren't for Noble Consort raising him, His Majesty's attitude towards him would not have softened."
"That's right, if Madame Xiao were still alive, with the child being raised by her side or sent to the summer resort, I'm afraid it would have been difficult for him to keep his life."
These flattering words were what Noble Consort Chen loved to hear the most.
But today her mind was not on it.
Yesterday was the grand day of her investiture as Noble Consort, Xiao Jingheng should have stayed in Yonghe Palace to accompany her.
But when night fell, Xiao Jingheng said he was busy handling court affairs, so he left in a hurry.
Noble Consort Chen felt empty inside, and early in the morning she heard Zhang Jiugui, the eunuch in charge of the bedroom, pass on the news that Xiao Jingheng had summoned Song Zhao to spend the night with him.
This made Noble Consort Chen angry.
At this moment, looking at Song Zhao's flawless beautiful face, she felt more and more irritated.
So she raised her hand to stop the consorts' congratulations,
"Stop flattering me, you can leave now."
After the consorts got up to leave, she stared at Song Zhao and said coldly,
"Concubine Yi, stay behind."
At first, Song Zhao looked confused, as if she didn't know why Noble Consort Chen had kept her behind,
After the consorts had withdrawn, she still smiled at Noble Consort Chen and said,
"Does Noble Consort have something to say to this concubine?"
"Of course." Noble Consort narrowed her eyes to look at her, the light in her eyes sharp, "They are busy congratulating me, but I am here to congratulate you. Your child has just been born and you haven't even finished your postpartum confinement, yet you've regained imperial favor again. Looking at all those new concubines, added up they still can't compare to your place in His Majesty's heart."
Hearing the jealousy in Noble Consort Chen's words, Song Zhao should have been afraid, but she lowered her eyes helplessly and shook her head repeatedly,
"If Noble Consort mentions this, it makes this concubine sad..."
"Sad?" Noble Consort Chen sneered, "What are you sad about? You must be dreaming!"
Song Zhao got up by herself and stood in front of Noble Consort Chen. She curtsied and looked around at the palace maids standing on both sides. Somewhat awkwardly, she said,
"May Noble Consort dismiss the attendants on both sides?"
Noble Consort Chen was silent for a while, then waved her hand to order everyone to withdraw.
When there were only Song Zhao and Noble Consort Chen left in the hall, she slowly unbuttoned the gold buttons on her sable robe one by one,
After taking it off, she continued without stopping to take off her inner robe.
Noble Consort Chen didn't understand her actions and looked at her with disgust,
"Have you gone mad? You haven't taken off enough clothes at Zhaoyang Palace, now you want to come to my palace and strip?"
Song Zhao didn't answer.
There were tears in her eyes, and she bit her lips tightly. Finally she revealed the light green belly wrap embroidered with colorful flowers, the last layer she was wearing.
She lifted the belly wrap little by little.
Noble Consort Chen glanced at her casually at first, but when she saw Song Zhao's abdominal skin, she was shocked and stared with her mouth wide open.
"This is..."
Song Zhao's skin was very fair, the exposed parts of her body were flawless, the envy of all women.
But now Noble Consort Chen saw that her lower abdomen was densely covered with light brown wavy stripes!
In the severe areas, even the skin was wrinkled together, looking like the shriveled and sagging hands of an old woman, shocking to behold.
Noble Consort Chen was very surprised. "What's going on? Weren't you well taken care of during your pregnancy? How could you have..."
While asking, Song Zhao burst into tears that she could not hold back.
Sobbing, she put her clothes back on one by one,
as if picking up her dignity again.
"This concubine also doesn't know why this happened. Yesterday when attending to His Majesty, although the lights were dimmed, His Majesty still felt it. Although His Majesty said he didn't mind, now that this concubine is like this, even I can't stand to look at myself, how could I expect others not to mind?"
It's common for women to get stretch marks after giving birth,
As the baby is born, the abdomen deflates rapidly, and wrinkled skin is normal.
With proper care, most will gradually recover, leaving only faint brown streaks at most, which can be covered with powder during attendance at night.
But severe cases like Song Zhao's were rare.
After seeing Song Zhao's abdomen with her own eyes, Noble Consort Chen knew that the best skin in the harem was now wrinkled, and it would be difficult for her to gain favor in the future. So her attitude toward Song Zhao became much gentler,
"Don't be so discouraged, get proper treatment and you will get better."
"This concubine is grateful for Noble Consort's concern."
Later, the two chatted casually about the prince's amusing affairs for a while,
when they suddenly heard Kang Yubin's voice announcing outside the door,
"Noble Consort, there is trouble on the Long Corridor."
Noble Consort Chen called him in impatiently, "What is it?"
Kang Yubin said, "Just now after the consorts had finished paying respects to you and were on their way back to their palaces, Consort Yin had some conflict with Noble Consort Ru for some reason. After Noble Consort Ru talked back a couple times, Consort Yin slapped her on the Long Corridor.
Noble Consort Ru was hit but would not settle down, she even dared to yell at Consort Yin, saying her father was the Mongolian King, and tried to use her status outside the palace to suppress Consort Yin. Hearing this, Consort Yin became even more angry, and directly ordered people to make Noble Consort Ru kneel on the Long Corridor and told her personal palace maid Anna to slap Noble Consort Ru's mouth ...one hundred times..."
"Oh? Haha~" Noble Consort Chen said gloatingly when she heard this, "This is interesting. The Long Corridor is where palace maids pass by. With Noble Consort Ru kneeling there being beaten, won't she become a laughing stock for all the servants?"
Kang Yubin said, "That's right. So I've come to ask what Noble Consort intends to do about this matter?"
Noble Consort Chen leaned lazily against the back of the chair and was silent for a long time without answering.
In her heart she had no intention of intervening in this matter, but as the head of the six palaces now, it was improper for Consort Yin to have Noble Consort Ru kneel on the Long Corridor and be slapped by a palace maid.
If she handled this matter now, it would be a good opportunity to undermine Consort Yin's prestige.
Just as Noble Consort Chen was about to get up from her chair, she suddenly heard Song Zhao say,
"Or maybe Noble Consort should go take a look? After all, Noble Consort Ru is a proper consort, being slapped by someone kneeling on the Long Corridor, it would be inappropriate if the servants saw it."
Then she added, "And Noble Consort Ru is of Mongolian descent, her features are somewhat heroic, a rare sight among the consorts. I think if she can restrain her temper in the future and serve at His Majesty's side, she can also gain His Majesty's favor. If her face gets beaten up now, wouldn't she lose the chance of imperial favor for life?"
Hearing her words, Noble Consort Chen's butt that had just been lifted was firmly seated again.
She rolled her eyes at Song Zhao and scoffed, "I see you are kind to everyone, a glib talker and no doer. Since you pity her so much, why don't you go handle this matter yourself?"
Noble Consort Chen leaned forward slightly, her palm propping up her chin, smiling ambiguously,
"But don't blame me for not warning you, Consort Yin is now the assistant head of the six palaces, if you get involved in this matter you would be overstepping. Are you going to disrupt the rules of the harem in order to save Noble Consort Ru, or are you going to do nothing and watch her get beaten, you decide for yourself."
"This..." Song Zhao looked troubled, hemmed and hawed for a while before curtsying to Noble Consort Chen,
"This concubine dares not overstep."
"Huh." Noble Consort Chen shrugged and sneered, "Now you know to protect yourself? Just empty talk and no action."
She gently stroked her hair, full of contempt, "I'm tired, you may curtsy and withdraw."
