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Chapter 26
When Song Zhao suddenly received the news that she was conferred the title of Concubine Changzai, it quickly spread throughout the six palaces.
Apart from Xiao Jingheng, the consorts and imperial concubines of the various palaces also competed with each other to send her gifts.
Even Concubine Li, whose status had been lowered because of her, was no exception.
She sent an exquisite bi xi jade pendant of superior quality, completely changing her previously arrogant and aloof manner. In a gentle and harmonious way, she said to Song Zhao, “I heard that you have been conferred the title of Concubine Changzai. I am also very happy for you in my heart. If I was impatient before and offended you in any way, please don’t take it to heart.”
Song Zhao did not hold it against her either. She smiled and said, “Sister has always been good to me. How could there be any offense? In my selfish heart, I was even thinking that the previous incident was a misunderstanding of Sister by His Majesty. In the future when there is a chance, I will definitely explain it clearly to His Majesty and advise His Majesty to restore Sister’s status."
Concubine Li was just being polite. She naturally knew that Song Zhao was also perfunctory. So she smiled and nodded. As long as they could maintain face in front of each other, that was enough.
Not long after sending off Concubine Li, Song Zhao welcomed a distinguished guest in her palace.
Consort Shu walked in with a round pregnant belly. As soon as she entered, she laughed and shouted, "I said long ago that Sister is not an ordinary person. His Majesty cherishes beauties and loves beauties. He would never let such a bright pearl be covered in dust."
Song Zhao was also surprised to see her come in person. She quickly got up to greet her, "Why did Consort Shu come in person? Zhi Hua, Xi Ying, quickly attend to Consort."
Zhi Hua and Xi Ying went to Consort Shu's side, trying to support her, but were stopped by Consort Shu’s maid Qing Yue.
All the way, Qing Yue protected Consort Shu and helped her sit on the warm couch, and put a goose feather soft cushion behind her waist. During the whole process, she did not allow anyone to have physical contact with Consort Shu, for fear that something might happen accidentally and injure her mistress' unborn imperial child.
It made sense since pregnant women naturally had more concerns.
In fact, Song Zhao did not want to entertain her either. After all, if something happened to Consort Shu in her palace, it would be a headache.
So she did not let anyone serve tea to Consort Shu, and only said, "Consort should not drink tea during pregnancy. May I ask what kind of drinks Consort would like? This concubine will let the servants prepare accordingly."
"No need." Consort Shu smiled and waved her hand, "The imperial physician said that I should walk more these days. Today the weather was good so I went to the Imperial Garden for a walk. On the way back, I happened to pass by Concubine Yao's palace, so I dropped by to see you along the way."
Song Zhao said, "Actually, it should have been that this concubine goes to greet Consort. But Consort is pregnant, and His Majesty said not to disturb, so I was delayed."
She looked down at Consort Shu's belly and smiled gently, "About seven months, right?"
Concubine Shu nodded, stroking her belly, "Almost, the expected delivery date is in October. October is good, the weather will be cooler by then. Have you heard of His Late Majesty’s Consort Duan? She gave birth to the Eighth Prince in the hot summer. The Eighth Prince was slightly larger in the womb, and Consort Duan tore her vagina while giving birth. Because of the sultry heat and excessive sweating in summer, her wound never healed. She was tormented to death in the end..."
After listening, Song Zhao took a sip of tea without replying.
Discussing the previous emperor’s consorts openly was a serious crime. She did not want to get herself into trouble.
Seeing that she did not speak, Consort Shu also seemed to realize the inappropriateness. She quickly changed the subject and said,
"Look at me, why am I telling you all this? Qing Yue, quickly hand over the gift to Consort Changzai."
Qing Yue presented Song Zhao with a beautiful jade ruyi scepter.
The color of the jade was lustrous and translucent without any impurities. It felt warm to the touch. One could tell at a glance that it was valuable.
Song Zhao declined and said that she could not accept such an expensive gift. But Consort Shu said, "It's not just because of your conferment. At first sight of you, I felt close to you, only because you look very much like my younger sister in my family. Since I entered the palace, I have not seen my family again. That day when I first saw you, I was very excited in my heart."
She held Song Zhao's hand and forced her to accept the ruyi scepter, "You keep it as me recognizing you as a younger sister. In the future, come to my palace often to sit and chat with me when you are free, to accompany me and relieve my boredom. Is that okay?"
Since she was so enthusiastic, Song Zhao had to accept it lest she appeared unappreciative.
She had to accept the ruyi scepter and perfunctorily responded to her words.
Song Zhao was too lazy to care about Consort Shu’s calculations in her mind. Anyway, no matter what she said, Song Zhao would just treat it as a joke.
On this day, the previously deserted West Side Hall of Yao Hua Palace now had its doorsteps almost worn out by people.
Just the gifts she had received were enough to fill half a storage room.
After dealing with these annoying visitors, Song Zhao asked Xiao Fuzi to check one by one whether there were any problems with the gifts they brought.
Xiao Fuzi was quick and skillful. After half an hour, he came back to report to Song Zhao, "Replying to young miss, the gifts from the various consorts and imperial concubines have been checked and there are no abnormalities."
Song Zhao nodded in acknowledgement. Then she asked carefully, "I remember that the gift Consort Yun sent was 'Morning Congealing Fragrance Dew', right?"
Yun Shan said, "That's right, young miss. Morning Congealing Fragrance Dew is hailed as the king of ten thousand fragrances and is extremely rare. Among the consorts in the palace, only Consort Yun loves fragrances, so His Majesty gave her some. Her giving this to young miss shows that she also has the intention to get close to young miss."
From Yun Shan’s words, Song Zhao sensed something wrong. "Yun Shan, I remember you have two exquisite golden bells that are very beautiful. Will you give me one?"
Upon hearing this, Yun Shan immediately showed difficulty on her face. "Young miss... those were keepsakes from my mother to me. I can give anything else to young miss, but only..."
Song Zhao gave a cold laugh, "I see. The things your mother gave you, you naturally cherish them. As for the exclusive favor His Majesty gave to Consort Yun, how could she be willing to share it with me? Moreover, she also loves fragrances."
Yun Shan said, "Does young miss mean that you suspect something wrong with the fragrance?"
"Let me bring it to double check." Xiao Fuzi came and went in a hurry. He took out the Morning Congealing Fragrance Dew from the warehouse.
This time, in front of Song Zhao, Xiao Fuzi scooped out a small spoonful of fragrance powder and carefully examined it again. Still, he did not find anything wrong.
However, Song Zhao kept her eyes on the sandalwood box that held the fragrance. "Bring me the box. Let me take a look."
Xiao Fuzi handed her the box. Using a silver spoon, she stirred up the fragrance powder on top. Suddenly she said,
"Look, isn't the fragrance powder in the bottom layer slightly darker in color compared to the top layer?"
Yun Shan and Xiao Fuzi came over to take a closer look. "Oh! It really is! Usually when using it, the fragrance powder is scooped spoonful by spoonful and thrown into the censer. No one would specifically check the differences between the top layer and bottom layer..."
Xiao Fuzi took a spoonful of fragrance powder from the bottom layer and spread it out flat on the table to examine again carefully.
He discovered that coarser particles were mixed into the bottom layer fragrance powder. After sieving out the particles and examining them carefully, his complexion greatly changed.
"Replying to young miss, a small amount of patchouli has been mixed into the bottom layer of the fragrance powder!"
Looking at the fragrance powder on the table, Song Zhao gave a cold snort and asked,
"What is that? Is it poisonous?"