Kyoto had been raining for three days in a row, which killed the summer heat nicely.
Taking advantage of the clear weather that day, Chang Le Palace also released all the butterflies kept in glass bottles.
Xiao Jingheng valued Song Zhao greatly, so the flowers and plants supplied to Song Zhao’s palace were the most abundant varieties.
The garden of Chang Le Palace had become like a second Imperial Garden in the palace.
This was also one of the reasons those butterflies lingered after entering Chang Le Palace.
At the moment, Yun Shan and Chun Hua Qiu Yue were taking advantage of the nice weather to hang washed clothes to dry in a corner of the garden.
They had just finished half of the work at hand when Xiao Fuzi ran over with a blank look, waving at Yun Shan mysteriously,
“Pss pss, Yun Shan, come here for a second.”
Yun Shan glanced at him without responding and continued hanging up clothes,
“What do you want? Just say it.”
“Oh come on, you come over!”
Xiao Fuzi resorted to pulling and dragging Yun Shan when she didn't comply. He dragged her back to the dressing room and only let her go after closing the door.
Yun Shan was a little annoyed, massaging her wrist unhappily, “What’s with all the mystery? Letting others see us tussling like this, what would they think?”
Xiao Fuzi chuckled mischievously and suddenly pulled out a few flowers from his sleeve,
“Look what this is?”
Yun Shan saw the flowers had light purple petals and a peculiar cone-shaped center like a pine cone, with a refreshing fragrance.
She was not surprised at all, “Why did you pick so many purple coneflowers and bring them back?”
“Shh! Keep it down!” Xiao Fuzi looked left and right stealthily before saying, “Princess Ruo Xin lives in our palace now. She often misses Empress Chen. She goes to Yonghe Palace every day. Don’t you think our Empress will be unhappy seeing this? So I thought of a way to keep the Princess here and make her miss Empress Chen less.”
“What?” Yun Shan joked, “Just with these two flowers in your hand?”
Xiao Fuzi said, “Don't underestimate these purple coneflowers. Their nectar is butterflies' favorite. Doesn't the Princess like butterflies? We can't control where the butterflies fly. So I thought, if we soak our clothes in purple coneflower nectar, the butterflies will be attracted by the scent and flock here, right?”
After listening, Yun Shan pondered briefly, “Your idea is not bad. But these things cannot be on the young miss's clothes.”
“You're so dumb!” Xiao Fuzi lightly tapped Yun Shan’s head with the flower bouquet, “Who said anything about the young miss? We'll soak our own clothes. When the butterflies swarm around us, the little miss will definitely be happy seeing them! She'll be so happy playing that she might forget about going to Yonghe Palace.”
He moved closer to Yun Shan and lowered his voice, “Our Empress will be delighted then for sure. She won't forget to reward us.”
Yun Shan said, “It sounds feasible when you put it that way. Then let's hurry and pick more purple coneflowers to collect nectar to soak our clothes.”
The next day.
After paying her morning respects at Ning Wanshuang’s Palace, Song Zhao returned to her palace with nothing to do. She took one of Xiao Jingheng's military books left in her palace and started reading.
While engrossed in reading, she suddenly heard Ruo Xin's joyful laughter coming from the garden,
“So beautiful! Sister Chun Hua, walk slower. I want the butterflies to chase me too!”
Song Zhao looked out the window and saw swarms of butterflies dancing around Chun Hua and Qiu Yue as if they were flowers.
Ruo Xin followed them happily, jumping and clapping.
Curious, Song Zhao went to the garden.
Seeing her, Ruo Xin affectionately held her hand and smiled, “Mother, look, isn't it nice?”
Song Zhao smiled and stroked the girl's bangs, “Nice. Mother has never seen anything like this before.”
She asked Chun Hua and Qiu Yue, “What clever method did you two think of that makes these butterflies fly around you?”
Chun Hua said, “Replying to Empress, we thought that butterflies like the scent of purple coneflowers. So we picked a lot of them and soaked our clothes in the nectar. The scent stuck to us, naturally attracting the butterflies.”
Qiu Yue moved closer to Song Zhao and spoke softly, “The Princess has been running to Yonghe Palace these days. I thought of this method to keep the Princess in our palace and reduce her intimacy with Empress Chen.”
Song Zhao nodded frequently, seemingly very satisfied with their method. She asked Ruo Xin, “Ruo Xin, do you like the butterflies? Are you having fun playing with Sister Chun Hua?”
“Yes, fun!” Ruo Xin nodded vigorously, smiling gleefully.
Song Zhao then ordered Yun Shan, “Chun Hua and Qiu Yue's method is good, it also cheers up Ruo Xin. Go to my room and take some melon seeds to reward them.”
Hearing this, Chun Hua and Qiu Yue hurriedly expressed gratitude. But Yun Shan pouted looking rather unhappy, muttering softly,
“But Xiao Fuzi and I were the ones who thought of this method first. They must have eavesdropped on us and then...”
“Sister Yun Shan, don't falsely accuse people.” Chun Hua defended, “Everyone knows butterflies like the scent of flowers and nectar. How does that mean we copied you?”
Yun Shan sulked, “Whether you eavesdropped or not, you know clearly in your heart. Hmph, copycat!”
“You...”
“Alright.”
Seeing they were about to argue, Song Zhao immediately frowned and scolded, “I'm still here. What are you arguing about?”
Then she glanced at Yun Shan, her tone heavier, “And you, I'm just rewarding others some things, yet you're so unhappy about it?”
“This servant did not...” Yun Shan lowered her head aggrievedly.
But Song Zhao did not indulge her, “If not, then quickly take the melon seeds to reward them, don't stand there sulking for others to see.”
“Yes...”
Seeing Yun Shan leave with red eyes, Chun Hua and Qiu Yue looked at each other, their eyes full of smugness.
Song Zhao also spoke gently to them,
“It's been hot recently, everyone is irritable. Yun Shan is not bad by nature. Don't take offense at whatever she said.”
As she spoke, seeing Ruo Xin playing happily with the butterflies, Song Zhao's happy expression grew even more,
“Seeing the Princess like this, soak your clothes with nectar every day from now on. Keep the Princess happy, and I will richly reward you.”
The two quickly rejoiced, “Yes, we will surely live up to Empress's expectations!”
【Briefly going crazy, four updates today. Busy next month, so back to two updates normally. Will add more updates if time allows.】
