Xiao Fuzi and Yun Shan's analysis, Song Zhao had thought of long ago.
But the difficulty with this matter was that even if she could discern the opportunity in advance, she would not be able to easily avoid this disaster.
She only had one court dress, and she would have to wear it today to meet the Empress Dowager, otherwise if everyone else was wearing one and she was not, it would be extremely disrespectful to the Empress Dowager.
But if she really wore the court dress over there, as soon as she got off the carriage at the Hot Spring Mountain Villa, wouldn't her bright yellow, glittering appearance be like one foot stepping into the grave?
It was less than half an hour before Chen time when they had to meet up with the entourage at Ninghua Gate, and if they were late it would cause even more trouble.
In a moment of panic, Xiao Fuzi came up with an idea for Song Zhao,
"Why doesn't the young mistress just go wearing this wet court dress? Anyway, as long as it's wet it will still be dark brown and no one will notice anything wrong. The young mistress can bring a change of clothes with her, you’ll be riding alone in the carriage, so the young mistress can change clothes in the carriage?”
Yun Shan also chimed in, "This servant will go find a dress that is easy for the young mistress to change into."
"No need," Song Zhao stopped her, and solemnly said, "I am going to Hot Spring Mountain Villa which is already improper, the Empress Dowager will surely think I am a seductress bewitching the master. If I change clothes while sitting in the carriage, wouldn’t that make the Empress Dowager look at me even more unpleasantly?"
"Then what should we do? Who knows which villain is trying to plot against the young mistress like this!"
Song Zhao was too lazy to guess who was plotting against her at this point.
After all, in this palace it was either you harm me or I harm you, there were few with kind intentions.
After a brief silence, Song Zhao's expression suddenly became calm,
She unhurriedly picked up the court dress, "What Xiao Fuzi said makes sense, I do need to change clothes, but not on my own initiative."
She had Yun Shan help her put on the court dress, and asked Xiao Fuzi to prepare a hot water bottle.
After the dress was changed, Song Zhao freshly soaked the hem to make it instantly turn from bright yellow back to dark brown.
At the same time, Xiao Fuzi also warmed up the hot water bottle.
Yun Shan was anxious to take the hot water bottle from Xiao Fuzi’s hands, but Xiao Fuzi dodged a bit,
He dodged with too much momentum which spilled some of the water from the hot water bottle,
Yun Shan reprimanded him a little, "The lid is not tight either, giving it to the young mistress like this, if she gets burnt how can that be good?"
She snatched over the hot water bottle wanting to tighten the copper lid, but discovered that the spilled water was warm instead of scalding,
Now she looked even more helpless, "How can you be so reckless doing things? The water in this hot water bottle is only warm, how can the young mistress keep herself warm with this?"
"Give it to me," Song Zhao smiled and took the hot water bottle to cradle in her hands, then nodded at Xiao Fuzi, "Well done."
Xiao Fuzi somewhat bashfully scratched the back of his head, "It is thanks to the young mistress’ wisdom, to be able to come up with such a flawless plan in such a short time."
Seeing the exchange between master and servant, it took Yun Shan a good while to recover her senses,
Slapping her forehead in frustration she said,
"I belong to a muddled one! The young mistress is wearing the court dress and has paid respects to the Empress Dowager, then before getting on the carriage she accidentally spills out the water from the hot water bottle. On such a cold winter day, His Majesty will surely feel distressed seeing the young mistress' dress wet, he would take the initiative to ask the young mistress to change her clothes. This way even if the Empress Dowager saw, she would not say anything!"
Song Zhao just smiled without answering, and took Yun Shan’s hand saying, "Let’s go, we must not be late."
Rushing all the way, they finally arrived at Ninghua Gate without being late.
Although there were only Song Zhao, Consort Chen, Consort Shu, and Noble Consort Xiao accompanying today, they were sending off Noble Consort Xiao and the Empress Dowager who were leaving the palace, so all the consorts and concubines had arrived at the scene.
Among them, the pregnant Noble Consort Xiao had clearly become the focus of the crowd,
Everyone crowded around her asking superficial questions about her well-being, which also meant no one paid any attention to Song Zhao, allowing her to stand to the side and quietly wait.
Another person who did not enjoy the lively scene was Consort Chen.
She rolled her eyes at the bustling crowd and went to stand by herself to the side.
As she walked past Song Zhao, she muttered, "Out of those crowding around Noble Consort Xiao inquiring about her well-being, how many have malicious intentions in their belly, wanting to harm the imperial child in her womb to death?"
Only Consort Chen would dare to blurt out such words.
Song Zhao naturally did not dare to answer, only lowered her head to listen silently.
Later, Xiao Jingheng also arrived,
The consorts and concubines greeted him together, the Empress led everyone to say some auspicious farewell words. After Xiao Jingheng called for them to rise, she took two steps forward and handed him the peace talisman she had personally drawn,
"As Your Majesty is going to the Hot Spring Mountain Villa, your subject and wife cannot attend by Your Majesty’s side, I hope that Your Majesty will remain well in all matters."
"You are thoughtful," Xiao Jingheng accepted the peace talisman and squeezed the Empress’ hand tightly, "Illnesses are prone to occur in the winter days, the day before yesterday it snowed and you still went to the Cloud Terrace to pray for blessings on my behalf. I will certainly cherish your thoughtfulness."
The Empress smiled shyly, but did not claim sole credit, instead she smiled and glanced at Song Zhao,
"It is not only your subject and wife’s intention. I placed this peace talisman to pray, it was Consort Song who personally retrieved it."
"Oh?" Xiao Jingheng looked back at Song Zhao, his eyes full of tenderness, "Why did I not hear you mention this yesterday?"
Song Zhao quickly said: "To be able to pray for fortune and blessings for Your Majesty and Her Majesty, it is this concubine’s blessing."
Xiao Jingheng laughed, "I understand your thoughts, but it was truly arduous, the Cloud Terrace would have been nearly impassable after the snow, do not take such risks for these matters in the future."
Xiao Jingheng’s few words of concern instantly attracted the attention of all the consorts and concubines.
The Empress saying this in front of everyone, wasn’t it clearly to let Song Zhao 'shine prominently’, attracting jealousy?
Fortunately the Empress Dowager timely arrived later, the Empress had to lead everyone to greet the Empress Dowager, so she did not say anything further.
This was the first time Song Zhao had seen the Empress Dowager,
When she genuflected with lowered eyes and head to curtsey, she secretly peeked at the Empress Dowager.
Although the Empress Dowager was over forty years old, she was well maintained and very spirited, not showing any signs of an old woman’s decline.
She wore a fox fur cloak with five bats for longevity, dressed plainly without any gold or silver adornments, but innate nobility cannot be concealed. Her temperament was clearly extraordinary.
The newly entered consorts and concubines had never met the Empress Dowager before,
the Empress smiled and introduced them to the Empress Dowager, “Empress Dowager, this is Noble Consort Xiao.”
Noble Consort Xiao went forward to curtsey respectfully to the Empress Dowager,
The Empress Dowager sized her up briefly and said with a smile, "You are with child, no need for excessive courtesy."
The Empress then looked towards the other concubine beside Noble Consort Xiao saying, "This is Concubine Liu.”
Concubine Liu was equally polite in her courtesy, but the Empress Dowager merely glanced at her, the look in her eyes indifferent as she lightly hmmed, not praising her much.
When the Empress mentioned Song Zhao to the Empress Dowager,
Song Zhao immediately stepped forward, bowed deeply and respectfully said,
"This concubine greets the Empress Dowager. May Empress Dowager live for thousands of years with abundant blessings and excellent health and fortune."
Although the Empress Dowager did not leave the palace, she also knew Song Zhao was Xiao Jingheng’s new favorite. For Song Zhao to accompany the travel to Hot Spring Mountain Villa did not adhere to proper etiquette, and the Empress Dowager valued etiquette the most, so when she first looked at Song Zhao, her eyes held some displeasure.
But the instant her gaze fell onto Song Zhao’s face,
her mood changed abruptly.
The resentment in her eyes instantly vanished, replaced by a few shocked stars,
she stared at Song Zhao for a long time, lost in memory for a moment murmuring,
“Rui Er?”
These two familiar words, carried by the cold wind into Song Zhao’s ears, heavily hammered her heart,
she suddenly raised her head meeting the Empress Dowager’s gaze, her heart trembling uncontrollably...
