The thunderstorm tonight was like divine intervention for Song Zhao.
After the Empress and Consort Chen, she became the third concubine who was allowed to stay overnight at Chaoyang Palace.
That night, Xiao Jingheng unleashed all his favor and love for Song Zhao until they were both exhausted and fell asleep near the third watch.
No matter how late he slept, Xiao Jingheng would always wake up on time at the fourth watch.
But today when he opened his eyes, he found that Song Zhao had woken up even earlier than him.
She was busy with something at the desk not far away.
With her back to him, Song Zhao didn't notice that he had woken up.
Xiao Jingheng also remained silent and just watched her quietly.
He saw Song Zhao take his court robes and neatly spread them out on the desk. Then she poured boiling water into a flat-bottomed bowl and used the bottom of the bowl to flatten out the tiny wrinkles in the court robes.
Curious, Xiao Jingheng asked, "What are you doing?"
"Your Majesty is awake?" Song Zhao looked back at him with a charming smile. "This concubine is helping Your Majesty flatten out the wrinkles in the court robes. When I was at home in the past, my mother would always help my father tidy up his official robes like this, so I'm trying to learn from her."
Xiao Jingheng didn't hear anything Song Zhao said after that.
His gaze remained fixed on Song Zhao's flawless beautiful face.
The Empress and Consort Chen had also spent the night by his side before, and he had seen what they looked like in the morning after waking up.
Without makeup and after a night's sleep, even a beauty like Consort Chen would have disheveled hair and a greasy complexion, losing some of her appeal.
But Song Zhao was different.
This woman was truly too beautiful. Even just after waking up in the morning and before washing up, her face showed no greasiness, only a rosy complexion.
It made people's hearts itch.
He got up from the bed and called Song Zhao to his side, taking her hand and saying,
"You worked hard to serve me last night. Why didn't you sleep a little longer after getting up so early in the morning? Let the palace servants do these things. I feel distressed seeing you do them yourself."
After speaking, he squeezed Song Zhao's hand tighter.
Song Zhao shook her head with a smile. "I don't feel tired at all."
She continued in a softer voice, "Serving my own husband will only make me feel happy in my heart. How could I feel tired?"
Not just once, Song Zhao had openly called him her husband in Xiao Jingheng's presence.
Such words were actually presumptuous.
In the vast inner palace, even the Empress did not dare to refer to Xiao Jingheng as her husband in private.
But Song Zhao dared,
and her daring happened to please Xiao Jingheng.
A man liked when his woman knew her place and propriety, but also liked a little different intimacy when interacting privately with his woman.
Therefore, Xiao Jingheng not only did not reprimand her, but instead went along with her words,
"Since your mother treated your father this way, and you treat me the same, I certainly won't betray your feelings."
After Song Zhao helped Xiao Jingheng change into his court robes, she escorted him all the way to the door of his bedchamber.
Xiao Jingheng stroked her nose and smiled indulgently. "You worked hard keeping me company last night. You don't have to go pay your respects to the Empress today. Last night you told me your cooking skills were very good. I will go to your palace at noon for a meal, to see if you were just flattering me."
Song Zhao smiled and agreed. She watched Xiao Jingheng get into his sedan chair until his figure disappeared from sight before the smile froze on her face.
To not go pay respects to the Empress after receiving favor was something only an imperial consort like Consort Chen would dare to do.
Song Zhao was very clear about her current position in Xiao Jingheng's heart.
His kindness to her was only because she was fresh and new to him; to put it bluntly, it was just lust.
That was why she would not let loose. At this critical juncture, she had to adhere even more strictly to etiquette and rules, not letting anyone pick out the slightest error or oversight.
When Song Zhao went to pay her respects to the Empress, the news about Xiao Jingheng staying overnight with her at Chaoyang Palace had not yet spread through the six palaces.
So no one made things difficult for her.
Same as before, a group of women gathered to chat about trivial things. After listening to Consort Chen snap at the Empress a few times, the respect-paying was considered over.
After returning to Yao Hua Palace, Song Zhao began preparing for the noon meal.
She had already found out early on what dishes Xiao Jingheng liked to eat.
But she could not cater too obviously to his preferences, or else it would make Xiao Jingheng suspect she had secretly investigated his likes.
So at noon she prepared eight dishes, two of which were Xiao Jingheng's favorites, and the other six were just dishes she was adept at making.
When the dishes were ready, judging that it was about time for Xiao Jingheng to arrive, Song Zhao did not hurry to receive him. Instead, she looked at a redwood table in the west side hall and said to Zhi Hua and Xi Ying:
"The lacquer on this table has peeled off. When His Majesty comes later and sees it, it will look unpresentable. Move it out for now and put it in your own room."
But the solid redwood table was too heavy for Zhi Hua and Xi Ying's delicate strength. After struggling for a while, they had only managed to shift it to the door of the bedchamber.
Seeing they were working slowly, Song Zhao said, "Yun Shan, come help me move it."
It was improper for the mistress to help servants with work. Yun Shan wanted to stop her, but Song Zhao had already trotted over to the table and grabbed the edge to start lifting upwards.
With four people's strength combined, they could barely lift the redwood table.
After shifting it to the courtyard, they suddenly heard the inner attendant at the palace gate announce:
"His Majesty arrives!"
Distracted, Song Zhao relaxed her strength. The redwood table slammed into the ground, banging her calf and immediately bringing tears of pain to her eyes.
Yun Shan and the others crowded around Song Zhao, asking her if she was okay. This scene happened to be seen by Xiao Jingheng.
He quickly said, "What's going on?"
Song Zhao wiped away her tears and endured the pain to explain, "It's nothing, Your Majesty. It's all because I was careless for a moment. The lacquer on this redwood table was peeling, and I was afraid you would see it and find it unsightly. So I asked them to move it out first. But the table was too heavy for them to shift easily, and I thought I could lend a hand. I didn't expect that I would also be clumsy and end up injuring myself."
In the summer, her skirts were thin. Xiao Jingheng vaguely saw what looked like blood stains showing through the fabric on Song Zhao's calf.
He hurriedly carried her in his arms to the inner hall and placed her on the couch to roll up her pant leg.
He saw a crescent-shaped wound on Song Zhao's fair and smooth calf, and his heart twisted painfully.
"Didn't you just promise me you would take good care of yourself? You're determined to make me worry. That redwood table is so heavy, how could a woman like you move it?"
Song Zhao instead acted as if it was no big deal, even joking,
"It's nothing, Your Majesty. Just a little scraped skin, no bother at all. And as I said, there are only women in my palace. Surely you don't expect Your Majesty to personally come help move tables for me?"
Xiao Jingheng had someone fetch golden sore medicine and applied it to Song Zhao's wound himself while saying,
"I can come help you move it, it's not impossible. But this reminds me that with no capable serving girl of strength by your side, there are many inconveniences. Let the Imperial Household Department select a capable inner attendant to wait upon you, to have someone to rely on."
Hearing this, Jiang Deshun, who was at the side, reminded, "Your Majesty... Lady Song's status is only a concubine. The palace rules are fixed. Female officials and concubines cannot have inner attendants serving them."
Xiao Jingheng dismissively said, "This is not difficult. Issue a decree allowing Song Concubine of Yao Hua Palace to immediately become a resident concubine."
Everyone present was stunned by these words.
