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Empress Dowager Zhuang said, "Aijia is fine. Aijia simply wants to be at peace so I invited people to check my pulse, that’s all."
"I see, I'm relieved then." Imperial Consort Zhuang responded, then sat down on the seat slightly below Empress Dowager Zhuang’s position.
Gu Jiao sat beside Empress Dowager Zhuang and continued to take her pulse.
Empress Dowager Zhuang never restricted Gu Jiao with palace rules, so Gu Jiao didn't know that this quilted bench was the exclusive seat of Empress Dowager Zhuang, and that ordinary people were not qualified to sit on it.
Whenever an imperial physician was taking Empress Dowager Zhuang's pulse, they had to kneel on the ground without exception.
Naturally, Imperial Consort Zhuang didn’t know that Gu Jiao had even slept in Empress Dowager Zhuang's phoenix bed, be it sleeping sideways, lying prone, drooling... you name it.
Gu Jiao finished taking Empress Dowager Zhuang's pulse and gently put her hand back.
"I told you Aijia is okay, didn’t I?" Empress Dowager Zhuang snorted. In fact, she didn't really summon her to Renshou Palace to take her pulse.
Gu Jiao replied, "No more eating sweets on the sly."
Empress Dowager Zhuang felt choked, "Ai, when did Aijia ever eat something on the sly?! Is it Qin Kun that vermin——"
Halfway through her speech, she realized that Imperial Consort Zhuang was still here. She changed the subject and said with a cold voice, "Aijia doesn't eat sweets, those are just for children!"
"Oh. Then it seems that there is no need to give this." Gu Jiao silently put back the candied fruits she had taken out of her pocket.
Empress Dowager Zhuang: Don’t, put, them, back!
Imperial Consort Zhuang:“…”
As a matter of fact, Empress Dowager Zhuang's dignified aura hadn’t diminished at all. Whether it was before or after she returned to the palace, it hadn’t changed much, not when she was Grandaunt and especially not when she was Empress Dowager Zhuang.
Even when speaking to Gu Jiao, one couldn’t say that her tone wasn’t harsh at all.
However, if she liked someone, she couldn’t hide it completely. For instance, when looking at that person, she would have a bright look in her eyes.
The last time Imperial Consort Zhuang saw her aunt become so fond of someone was when Princess Ning'an was still in the palace.
Even though Princess Ning'an wasn’t her aunt's biological daughter, she treated her more than her own flesh and blood. Her aunt had devoted almost all her affection to her.
Unfortunately, Princess Ning'an married to the far bitter cold land in the north for a man, regardless of Empress Dowager Zhuang's dissuasion.
Her aunt once told her, ‘if you dare to walk out of this door, I will cut all ties with you!’
Her aunt was so powerful that she could overturn the imperial court as well as the lives of the common people, wielding the might of heaven in her hands, and yet she was unable to control the marriage of her daughter.
Because she cared too much, she had a weakness.
When Princess Ning'an used her own life to threaten her, her aunt still lost.
Imperial Consort Zhuang would never forget that night many years ago—— outside the Renshou Palace where cold snow danced all over the sky, Princess Ning’an who was wearing her grand red wedding dress kowtowed three times, her face tear stricken as she said, ‘This daughter is unfilial... Unable to attend to imperial mother’s needs... Unable to stay by imperial mother’s side for the rest of her life… Asking imperial mother… to take care of her own health… This daughter bids farewell!’
Princess Ning’an got married.
And her aunt fell ill.
She almost lost her life.
After that, her aunt cut off the last trace of human kindness within her and became a power-wielding demon Empress through and through.
……
Imperial Concubine Shu returned to Changchun Palace with the Fifth Prince, and the more she thought about it, the more she felt that something was wrong.
She called Gu Jinyu over and asked, "Why didn't you mention anything about that girl's medical skills?"
Gu Jinyu drooped her eyes and responded, "Imperial concubine didn't ask."
Imperial Concubine Shu drew a breath!
"When did she know the Empress Dowager?" Imperial Concubine Shu knit her brows into a frown and continued asking.
Gu Jinyu shook her head, "I do not know."
"What's your use if you don't know anything!" Imperial Concubine Shu couldn't get any answers from Gu Jinyu and impatiently let her go.
Imperial Concubine Shu thought more and more that something was amiss. Wasn't that girl His Majesty's person? Why was she so close to the Empress Dowager when she was highly valued by His Majesty?
Could it be... She changed sides and was now under the Empress Dowager?
Oh.
Imperial Concubine Shu suddenly sneered.
Good. She was still worried that she wouldn’t be able to teach this girl a lesson. Now this was just handing a pillow to someone sleepy.
"Somebody."
"Imperial concubine?" A palace maid walked up to her.
"Where is His Majesty?" Imperial Concubine Shu asked.
"In the imperial study." The palace maid answered.
Imperial Concubine Shu raised her eyebrows and said, "Prepare a sedan chair. This imperial concubine is going to the imperial study."
She was going to put righteousness above family loyalty and expose that girl to His Majesty!
She simply wanted to laugh out loud, hahaha!
……
In the study hall, the Crown Prince was having his last class today.
Xiao Liulang's lecture was actually excellent. It was profound and simple, not boring at all, and was more vivid and easy to understand than Chancellor Han's lectures.
This wasn’t to say that Chancellor Han’s literary talent wasn’t as good as Xiao Liulang's, it was just that Xiao Liulang had several little troublemakers to help with homework at home, and whenever it was a little boring, the minds of these three would collectively wander off.
However, seeing Xiao Liulang's face, the Crown Prince couldn’t avoid falling into a trance as he couldn’t help but think of Xiao Heng who had already passed away.
"Your Highness the Crown Prince, please explain the meaning of the sentence just now." Xiao Liulang interrupted the Crown Prince’s thoughts for the 27th time.
The Crown Prince was stunned, "Huh?"
Xiao Liulang repeated his instructions.
The Crown Prince froze.
Just now, he was thinking about Xiao Heng. How could he possibly hear what he just read?
Xiao Liulang put down the book onto the platform and said, "Since the Crown Prince didn't understand, I'll read it again."
The Crown Prince felt a headache. It was already lunchtime, but because he was always in a trance, they couldn’t finish the class in time. If it were other literary officials, they might have ended the class early, not daring to delay the Crown Prince with their class.
But it happened that Xiao Liulang was quite stubborn and insisted on finishing the lessons.
The Crown Prince had to tighten his scalp and listen to it again.
This time, he listened carefully, and it was very rewarding. At the very least he was able to explain the meaning immediately.
Xiao Liulang conducted another test on several key points that he learned today. The Crown Prince knew that he hadn’t been very attentive, so when he answered all his questions correctly, he was very surprised.
When on earth did he learn all these?
Hadn't his mind been wandering about Xiao Heng the whole time?
Xiao Liulang said calmly, "That's all for today's class. Please take note of your homework."
Raz P.'s Thoughts
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