Chapter 216 - Who Didn't Want to Work Their Way Up?

When she returned to her mansion, Bai Ruo immediately stepped forward and took the cloak from Shen Ninghua. Seeing the smile on her face, she asked curiously, “Your Highness, did something interesting happen in the Palace?”

Shen Ninghua’s eyes were as crystal as jade. Her smile deepened even more when she heard what Bai Ruo said. “Her Majesty wanted to make a fuss about the princesses’ dowries. But it’s a pity that she went for wool and came home shorn in the end. I guess Xiao Qi will secure his position as the chief of the Internal Affairs Department.”

“Then congratulations to the imperial son-in-law.” Xiao Qi was an associate of Chu Junyi. If he took control of the Internal Affairs Department, Shen Ninghua would benefit a lot.

Shen Ninghua nodded and turned to look at the door. She saw Chu Junyi walking in with big strides.

“Ninghua, you’re back. Is everything ok?”

Shen Ninghua immediately laughed in her heart when she thought that whenever she entered the Palace recently, Chu Junyi and her maids would get worried as if she had gone to an extremely dangerous place. “What could happen to me? Has Xiao Qi done those things at your order?”

Chu Junyi smiled. “When the Xiao family kept neutral, the Empress would lose her influence on the Internal Affairs Department. How could she be willing to accept this? She would certainly want to find fault with the Internal Affairs Department. However, she did not expect that I had warned Xiao Qi earlier and he had taken over the Department smoothly. How could I let her succeed so easily?”

A trace of smile flashed in Shen Ninghua’s eyes. “You’ve prepared well. The Empress suffered a heavy loss this time. She wouldn’t accept that loss so easily. I’m afraid that the wedding ceremonies of Anning and Anqing will not take place smoothly.”

“Yes, we still need to make preparations in advance. After all, a lot of things have gone wrong recently. His Majesty has begun to pay more attention to Baili Anning and Baili Anqing. If something happens to their wedding ceremonies, he will probably be enraged.”

Shen Ninghua’s eyes darkened. “The Empress is hostile to us at the moment. It looked as if she had regarded us as a thorn in her side. I wonder if she will plot against us at the wedding ceremonies of the two princesses.” If she ruined the wedding ceremonies of Anning and Anqing because of them, they would feel rather guilty in their hearts. Baili Qingcang aside, after all, the wedding ceremony was a major event for a woman in her entire life.

Chu Junyi also frowned. “Although we have special statuses, we will only appear at the wedding ceremonies as guests. There shouldn’t be anything wrong with us. I’ll order my men to pay more attention to the upcoming events these few days. Don’t let your guard down. No matter where you go, you must bring Qing Que along with you.”

“Yes, I understand.”

In Ningkun Palace, Fangxue carefully wiped the wound on the Empress’ palms. Her eyes were filled with worry. “Your Majesty, even if you’re angry, you can’t do this to your body. It will take many days for this wound to heal.”

Zhao Huiying’s expression was cold as she knotted her eyebrows. “His Majesty actually warned me today.”

Fangxue’s action paused and she accidentally poured out more of the medicinal powder in her hand, causing Zhao Huiying to gasp in pain.

“Ouch…”

“Ah, Your Majesty, forgive me!” Fangxue knelt down immediately and hurriedly kowtowed to apologize.

Zhao Huiying took a deep breath and lowered her head to look at the wound on her palm. She frowned and said, “Get up. You have been serving me for many years. How can I punish you for such a trivial matter?”

“Your Majesty is magnanimous and has always treated me very well.” Fangxue didn’t stand up. She knelt on the ground while continuing to help Zhao Huiying clean the wound on her hand. Her movements became much more careful.

“Fangxue, go and tell my elder brother that he doesn’t need to worry about the Internal Affairs Department for now.”

“Yes, Your Majesty. But the Internal Affairs Department is in charge of many matters in the harem. If you can’t completely control it, something unexpected might occur.”

“How can I not know that?” Zhao Huiying coldly said. “It’s just that Xiao Qi is a member of the Xiao family. Unless he has made a serious mistake, I can’t easily take action on him even if I am the Empress.”

A palace maid’s report came from the door. “Your Majesty, Princess Anqing asks for an audience.”

“Is she here?” A smile flashed in Zhao Huiying’s eyes. She waved her hand and told Fangxue to take away the medical bottles and other items. Then she said, “Let her in.”

Baili Anqing wore a light pink Suzhou-style embroidered dress. The decoration on her head was extremely simple, and there was a faint smile on her face. She looked like winter jasmine. Although she didn’t appear enthusiastic, she was quite elegant and lively. “Greetings, Mother Empress.”

“Get up. Why are you here?”

Baili Anqing raised her eyes and put on a solemn expression. She suddenly knelt heavily on the ground. A muffled sound came from her knees. It could be seen how sincere this salutation was. “Mother Empress, thank you for your protection today.”

A satisfied smile appeared in Zhao Huiying’s eyes. “Fangxue, hurry up and help the princess up.”

Fangxue hurriedly stepped forward and said, “Your Highness, please get up quickly.”

Baili Anqing stood up with tears in her eyes. She hurriedly wiped the tears with her handkerchief. “Mother Empress, my mother consort was humble, so I did not dare to ask for the love of Father Emperor and Mother Empress. I originally wanted to marry an honest man and live a peaceful life and didn’t mind that my dowry was less than the norm. But I didn’t expect that Mother Empress would care about me so much. I am extremely grateful for that.”

Zhao Huiying gestured to Fangxue, who hurriedly brought an embroidered stool and let Baili Anqing sit down.

After she sat down, Zhao Huiying smiled and said, “You shall not underestimate yourself. Although your mother consort is only a junior concubine at the moment, there is still a possibility of her being promoted in the future. I am the Empress, the Mother Empress of all princes and princesses. I will surely protect you.”

Baili Anqing said with a grateful expression. “Thank you, Mother Empress, I was wrong before.”

Zhao Huiying turned around and Fangxue had already brought over a complete set of ruby head-ornament. “I said today I would give it to you. I originally wanted to send someone to deliver it to you. Now that you are here, you can take it away directly.”

As she spoke, she took a colored glass hairpin embedded with ruby and carefully put it in her head. “Look, only you flower-like age girls are worthy of such gorgeous jewelry.”

Baili Anqing hurriedly knelt and said, “Thank you, Mother Empress.”

Seeing her movements, Zhao Huiying lowered her eyes in satisfaction and took out a pair of emerald-wrapped golden bracelets with ruby and put them on her wrists. “As a princess, you should enjoy these things. Now that you are going to get married and your wedding date is not far from that of Anning, you shall be fully prepared. If you lack anything, send someone to tell me. Mother Empress will certainly take care of everything for you.”

“Yes, Mother Empress, thank you again for your kindness.”

“Alright, alright, I’m tired. Fangxue, ask someone to send the princess back. It’s cold at night. Let Anqing put on my mink cloak. Take care that she doesn’t catch a cold.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Baili Anqing withdrew from the palace with a face full of gratitude.

Zhao Huiying curled her lips and her eyes were filled with satisfaction.

When Fangxue returned and saw Zhao Huiying’s expression, she hurriedly smiled and said, “Your Majesty, your hard work has not been wasted.”

A light flashed in Zhao Huiying’s eyes. “She has always been in an obscure position. Now that she sees an opportunity to work her way up, how can she not do her best? As long as she is a useful pawn for me, I will surely reward her properly.”

“Yes, Your Majesty is kind-hearted. The wedding ceremonies of the two princesses will come in about ten days. Do you have any plan?”

“Is Spring Hiking Festival coming in a few days?”

“Yes.”

“Princess Zhaohua and the imperial son-in-law are very close because they have had some personal contact with each other before their marriage. The two princesses are getting married soon, so it’s fine for them to meet their fiancés in private. As the Spring Hiking Festival is approaching, let them go out and relax. After all, it’s not convenient for them to go out after they get married. Let the princesses take this opportunity to meet the imperial sons-in-law as well.”

“Your Majesty, do you want…?”

Zhao Huiying looked at the winter Jasmine on the table and the smile on her lips deepened. “Life is not easy for women. If they can’t marry a good man, they will have a miserable life. I remember that Baili Anqing’s imperial son-in-law is Imperial Counselor Yang’s legitimate grandson Yang Lin, right?”

“That’s right. His Majesty personally bestowed this marriage. It is said that this compiler Yang wanted to marry Princess Anning back then. However, he was overtaken by Qu Yi, who was a fourth-grade general. Then he followed His Majesty’s order to marry Princess Anqing.”

“Good, a young man always yearns for love. Order the persons of the Biyun Pavilion to take action. We must let Anqing see Yang Lin’s true face.”

Fangxue was stunned for a moment, then she understood, “Your Majesty, do you want Princess Anqing to cancel her marriage?”

“A simple cancellation won’t work. How could that implicate Shen Ninghua? Come here…” Zhao Huiying lowered her eyes slightly and whispered to Fangxue for a while. Then, she curled her lips

Fangxue nodded and respectfully retreated.

Zhao Huiying lowered her head and glanced at the wound on her palm. Her face was gloomy. Xia Jingyan, back then, I was able to kill you. Now I was also able to kill your daughter as well. She could blame nobody because she was too like you. How could I tolerate a thorn that was stuck in my flesh?

On the day of the Spring Hiking Festival, people in the capital put on their spring clothes and went to the suburbs to relax.

Two carriages were parked on the riverbank. A maid in green put a footstool on the ground and respectfully helped a woman in a light green dress out of the carriage. The woman wore a veil that prevented people from seeing her appearance clearly. But her exquisite eyebrows and beautiful eyes were enough to make people stop in astonishment.

The woman got out of the carriage, swept her beautiful eyes around, and then turned to look at the carriage. Everyone followed her gaze and discovered that two more slender women got out of the carriage. Although the two of them also wore veils, people could still see how beautiful they were.

Quite a few people sighed in their hearts. It was indeed a feast for the eyes. It was unknown who were the lucky guys to marry these three beauties.

These three were Shen Ninghua, Baili Anning, and Baili Anqing.

Qing Que followed behind Shen Ninghua. “Miss, the private room on the second floor is ready now.”

“Good. Anning, Anqing, let’s go up and have a rest.”

The Linbin Building was bustling with people. People craned their necks to look across the river. On the river, a stage was built near the bank. There were pink veils tied around it. Soon, dancers would come on stage to perform and compete for the title of Fairy Winter Jasmine.

Chu Junyi was dressed in cyan and walked up with a basket full of gifts. “Greetings, Your Highness.”

“Lord Chu, there is no need to stand on ceremonies.”

Chu Junyi looked at Shen Ninghua with a warm smile in his eyes and put the basket over. “These are what you asked me to prepare. Now I’ll give them to you.”

“Good.” Shen Ninghua nodded and looked at the freshly picked and pruned Jasmine flowers. “This year’s Jasmine blossoms are exceptionally good.”

Chu Junyi smiled and said, “The peach blossoms are about to bloom.”

Shen Ninghua’s eyes moved and she nodded. She turned to look downstairs. On the stage, there was already the sound of music.

Dressed in luxurious clothes, Yang Lin and Qu Yi stepped into the Linbin Building at the same time.