Chapter 11: Slap
The third group of people didn't come for a long time. Shen Yuqing felt impatient after waiting for a while, so she just went on stage herself.
Dealing with people like Madam Mi, Concubine Shen had quite a lot of experience.
She raised her eyebrows and looked sideways: "Who is this?"
The question was not directed at Madam Mi, but at Que Ri beside her.
Que Ri looked at her nose and looked at her heart. "Reporting to the queen, this is Madam Mi who was appointed by His Majesty two months ago."
"Is it the dancer from the Western Regions?" Concubine Shen still didn't look Madam Mi straight in the eye.
But she immediately confessed her sin in her heart. As a disciple of the Ming Cult who also came from the Western Regions, Shen Yuqing dared not look down on the Western Regions. But at this moment, in order to confront Madam Mi, she could only pretend temporarily. Well, I hope Ming Zun will not blame her.
Madam Mi was so angry that she trembled all over. She was obviously the Princess of Loulan.
What “Western Region dancer”?!! She is going too far!
Que Ri knew the character of her own master, and corrected her seriously. "Madam, not all Western Region women who can dance are Western Region dancers."
Two months ago, several small countries from the Western Regions came to pay their respects, and it was rumored that the emperor intended to take the Western beauties brought by the envoys of these small countries into the palace.
At that time, Shen Yuqing happened to start pretending to be ill and wandering around, actually wanting to sneak out of the palace to see if there was any difference between the Western Regions of this world and those of her Tang Dynasty.
As a result, Shen Yuqing missed the palace banquet attended by the people from the Western Regions, but later she heard quite a bit about what happened at the banquet.
For example, the Western beauties performed dances and other talents either in groups or individually. Later, the princess from Loulan won the emperor's favor with her Hu Xuan dance and was conferred the title of a second-rank lady as soon as she entered the palace.
In any case, Madam Mi did indeed dance, and being mistaken for a dancer seemed not so unreasonable. Although it was obvious that Shen Yuqing did it on purpose.
Just as Que Ri finished speaking, before Madam Mi could get angry, a few people finally made their way over.
"Today's Imperial Garden is truly lively; I didn't expect to see both of you here."
Joining the scene were the twin sisters of the Yu family, the elder sister Yu Pin and the younger sister, the newly entered Yu Zhaoyi.
Logically speaking, Yu Zhaoyi is the highest-ranking consort among those who entered the palace this round, second only to Rong-fei. However, she has yet to serve the Emperor and is not in a hurry, showing great composure.
It was previously mentioned that three years ago, Yu Zhaoyi missed the grand selection due to a sudden illness, likely due to her sister Yu Pin's interference. If Shen Yuqing could guess this possibility, Yu Zhaoyi, who is not foolish, would certainly have guessed it too.
Yet, she still acts very close to her sister, as if she knows nothing, making her quite difficult to deal with.
Apart from the Yu sisters, the rest were the palace maids following them. Four consorts were gathered around a small flowerbed, indicating that there was a good show to watch today.
Shen Guifei, the highest-ranking, stood calmly waiting for the other consorts to pay their respects.
Madam Mi just offended Consort Shen, and now they are helping to take a jab at Madam Mi, just to give Consort Shen some face. Without needing Shen Yuqing to say anything, Sister Yu Pin spoke up first.
"I just heard the two of you talking about the dances from the Western Regions? Last time when the envoys from the Western Regions came, it was a pity that Consort Shen was recuperating, otherwise, we could have gone together to see them. I still remember that time at the palace banquet when Sister Mi performed a dance that I had never seen before. It was truly beautiful."
Usually, if someone praised her like this. Madam Mi would definitely be happy. But having just been called a dancer by Shen Yuqing, she couldn't be happy upon hearing this.
Even the dullest person should have learned a few things after being in Dayan for two months. For example, dancing in public is not such a big deal in the Western Regions, but in Dayan, it's something only courtesans do. A proper young lady, even if she has learned to dance, would never perform for so many people. If she does dance, it would be for her family or at a matchmaking banquet for those noble ladies; and after getting married, she would only dance in the boudoir for her husband as a form of intimacy.
No wonder people say she's a dancer; no one explained clearly the rules of Dayan to her in advance.
After Yu Zhaoyi's sister finished speaking, she slowly added, "It's no big deal that the noble consort didn't go; it's just a matter of seeing something unusual. Sister is deeply favored by the Emperor. I've heard that the Emperor has already ordered the dancers in the palace to learn Western dances. If the noble consort wants to watch, she can do so anytime."
On the surface, it seemed like she was suggesting Shen Yuqing go watch the dancers, but the problem was that the dancers had just started learning and probably hadn't mastered it yet.
This "she can watch anytime" secretly meant that the emperor favored Shen Yuqing more.
If Shen Yuqing wanted to watch, the emperor might even have Madam Mi perform for her.
If that happened, it would be a tremendous humiliation.
As a concubine, not a dancer, how can she dance for others to see?
Just as Madam Mi had just arrived at Dayan and had just learned the art of speaking with hidden needles, she couldn't understand overly complex words at all. Otherwise, how could she have been so straightforward when mocking Shen Yuqing for not recognizing flowers, giving others a chance to seize on her words?
She thought that Yu Zhaoyi was just casually flattering Concubine Shen and didn't notice the malice, so she turned her attention to Yu Pin.
Shen Yuqing held a high position and was favored, so she couldn't be touched for the time being. However, Yu Pin was someone she could still deal with. A third-rank pin was just one rank lower than a madam. Moreover, Madam Mi at least had a title, while Yu Pin had nothing.
"Ayi, slap Yu Pin's mouth." Madam Mi snorted coldly.
The maid behind her immediately stepped forward and slapped Yu Pin's face without hesitation.
Yu Pin looked at her in disbelief, "You dare to hit me!"
This palace maid is the accompanying maid that Lady Mi brought from the western region, serving Lady Mi since childhood, loyal and devoted. Other maids wouldn't dare to make a move, but she's not afraid.
After two months in the palace, the rumors of Lady Mi's temper have long been known to all, in which, in addition to Lady Mi herself, the maid following her every order is also a great proof. No matter what Lady Mi orders, she will immediately carry out, and over time the lower concubines will not dare to face Lady Mi head on.
However, before that, all the concubines that Lady Mi had fought were lowly concubines, concubine Yu was a third grade concubine, although she hadn't become the head of the Long Drunken Palace, she wasn't far from becoming the head of a palace. She was not someone who could be bullied by anyone, not to mention the maternal family behind concubine Yu, who was the daughter of the Right Minister.
A hint of surprise flashed in Yu Zhaoyi's eyes, which quickly faded away as she worriedly stepped forward to support her sister, “Is everything alright?”
“Don't you fake kindness!” Being hit in the face, concubine Yu couldn't help herself at once, and not wanting to pretend intimacy with her sister, she pushed Yu Zhao Yi away.
“Sister!” Yu Zhaoyi's face did not change, still looking worried, turned her head to the eunuch beside concubine Yu and said, "What are you still standing there for? Quickly go fetch the physician, lah!"
Women in the palace exceptionally valued the face. Ayi learned a little martial arts, strong, ruthless; so after a while, concubine Yu's face was red and swollen. Although the swelling could also go down naturally, concubine Yu was nervous, afraid that her face would be ruined by a slap.
Now is the time when the new concubines are favored, these “old people” don’t get to share the favor often. So having a face injury or problem at this time is very inconvenient for Concubine Yu.
Shen Yuqing did not expect Lady Mi to come to play big, because the women of Dayan are all raised in the boudoir, very concerned about propriety, justice, honesty and shame, it is not possible to move their hands to beat people. The exception is Shen Yuqing, who beat up a few lowly concubines on account of the emperor, but she didn’t have to make a move most times because Manxing and Manchen would handle it for her.
Now things have gotten big, concubine Yu will not let it go. She would definitely go to the empress or emperor to cry about it.
Shen Yuqing can make decisions on small things, but concubine Yu will not let this matter unsettled. The doctor came over to see after applying some ointment, concubine Yu had to wear a veil. She was taken by the palace maid, then gritted her teeth and went to the Purple Palace.
Lady Mi isn’t aware of the great consequences that will affect her. She doesn’t think that the emperor would punish her if she had her palace maid hit a “lowly” concubine.
Yu Zhaoyi was busy helping her sister and hurriedly said goodbye to Shen Yuqing, and the Noble Consort was left in the imperial garden.
“The show ended so fast.” Shen Yuqing ate a melon and was satisfied. She thought for a moment and said to Que Ri, “Concubine Yu is afraid that she won't be able to see His Majesty. Lead the way, this one is going to Feng Yi Palace.”
The emperor is not in his bedchamber Zichen Hall at this moment, he is in the front court to deal with the government. But the Dayan rule was that concubines in the harem were not allowed to go to the front court through the forbidden door under the forbidden floor without an imperial decree, so there would be no such thing as concubines coming to the imperial study to pay their respects to the emperor. Concubine Yu could only go to the Zichen Hall to kneel and pay her respects, and if there was no one in the Zichen Hall, she would have to divert to the Empress to complain.
Spying on the emperor's whereabouts was a major offense, and concubine Yu didn't know where the emperor was at the moment, which was why she went to the Zichen Hall first to take her chances. But Shen Yuqing knew the emperor's routine, he would at least wait until meal time before returning to the harem.
If concubine Yu knelt longer, she might be able to run into the emperor. But if she couldn't wait, she wouldn't be able to see him.
Even if Concubine Yu did complain to the emperor, the emperor would still go to Feng Yi Palace. In this matter, the person in charge of the concubines is the empress; in the final analysis, the empress has the final say. The emperor would not overstep his authority.
It's hard to find an excuse to personally go to Feng Yi Palace, so Shen Guifei is very happy, her heart secretly feeling joy.
—Will the goal of having dinner together be achieved today?
Raising her head to look at the color of the sky, it was possible to start dinner early at this moment. The palace consorts eating an early meal is normal, only the emperor will be delayed because of the political affairs of the three meal times.
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