roccoschili Chapter 127 Age Issues
Chapter 127 Age Issues
The next day, Ji Anni woke up from her dream when she heard the sound of birds singing.
My head still hurts a bit. After thinking for a while, I remembered that I drank two glasses of wine last night. It was because of those two glasses of strong wine that I had a hangover. After patting her face, Ji Anni sat up from the bed. The low blood pressure after getting up made her brain still in a chaotic state. She sat on the bed blankly and tried to recall what happened yesterday.
First, she decided to go back to Pianyou Courtyard to visit Yizhen. Unexpectedly, Yizhen was not at home. However, she found a blessing bag hanging outside the door, and then she knew that Yizhen's birthday had come. So Ji Anni took off a wooden bead necklace and put it in the blessing bag, first as a birthday gift, and second to tell Yizhen that she had been there. Then Ji Anni returned to Pianyou Courtyard to prepare for the barbecue party. Unexpectedly, when she just picked up Yizhen to Pianyou Courtyard in the evening, she found that Bao Niangniang had been waiting for a long time. After a while, Tianning and Yunzhen also came, saying that they wanted to exorcise demons and ward off evil spirits. Later, Yunzhen drew a red light spell in the air, which pierced Ji Anni so that she couldn't open her eyes. At this time, Huarong and Die'er brought back the Nanhu County delicacies that had just been heated in the imperial kitchen. Princess Tianning couldn't resist the temptation of the delicacies, so she simply interrupted the exorcism ceremony and had a big meal first.
Unexpectedly, while eating, Princess Tianning said she wanted to drink in high spirits, but she had a bad drinking habit and talked nonsense after drinking too much. She pointed at Concubine Baogui and scolded her. Yun Zhen slapped her into the pond. After being soaked in water, she finally sobered up and ran away without saying anything harsh. Concubine Baogui, Huarong and Die'er all chased her. Ji Anni, Yizhen and Yun Zhen, who stayed in the right courtyard to wait for news, waited for a long time but did not wait for Huarong and others to come back. After Yizhen left, Yun Zhen talked a lot with Ji Anni. Including the engagement between Huarong and Kang Xiaorong, the agreement between himself and Concubine Baogui, and the origin of the peach blossom jade hairpin.
Oh, yes, peach blossom hairpin.
At this point in her recollection, Ji Anni finally came to her senses. What she wanted to do most now was to return the hairpin that Concubine Baogui had given her. No matter what Concubine Baogui's giving her the hairpin implied, Ji Anni could not accept this gift from Yun Zhen to Concubine Baogui.
Ji Anni jumped out of bed and quickly put on her clothes.
At this time, there was a knock on the door and Huarong called softly: "My Lady, are you awake?"
"You woke up early, Huarong, come in." Ji Anni was worried that no one would comb her hair, so she quickly opened the door and pulled Huarong in. "By the way, Huarong, when did you and Die'er come back yesterday? How is Tianning? Did she complain to the Queen Mother?"
Hua Rong helped Ji Anni to sit down in front of the makeup mirror, and while combing her hair, she said, "Your Majesty, don't worry. The Queen Mother never allows the princess to drink. Even if the princess was slapped, she would not dare to complain. But last night, she was alone in the room and made a scene. Madam Bao and the servants spent a long time trying to persuade her. Later, it seemed that it was late at night, and the princess was tired of making a scene. There was no sound in the room, and she must have fallen asleep. The maids in the Princess' Palace were afraid that the princess would wake up suddenly. Knowing that Madam Bao was a good person, they cried and persuaded Madam Bao to stay in the Princess' Palace to guard for one night. Madam Bao agreed. So the servant and Die'er went to the West Palace to pass on the message. This trip took time, and when the servants came back, the Majesty had already fallen asleep."
After listening to Hua Rong's narration, Ji Anni breathed a sigh of relief. As long as the Queen Mother didn't know about what happened last night, everything would be fine. It seemed that Yun Zhen was right. Princess Tianning suffered a loss this time.
"Your Majesty, what are your plans for today?" Hua Rong asked while combing Ji Anni's hair.
"Today? Today... I want to go to the West Palace to see Empress Bao and return something to her." It was the jade hairpin with peach blossom pattern.
But Hua Rong suggested, "Your Highness, it's better not to wander around today. Your Highness has just been appointed as the Imperial Concubine, and I'm afraid that many people will come to the Pianyou Courtyard to congratulate you in the next few days. If your Highness wanders around, it will be bad for those who come to congratulate you to wait for you. Didn't you make your Highness Bao wait last night? Your Highness, I dare to make a wild guess that the ladies from the Concubine Palace will probably come here in groups of three or five to visit from today on."
"No way?" Ji Anni felt uncomfortable when she thought of those concubines who deliberately tried to get close to her yesterday. Although she did like making friends, she was not surprised to be fawned over by others with ulterior motives.
Seeing Ji Anni was a little impatient, Huarong advised in a very elder-like manner: "Your Highness, although the status of the concubines is not as noble as yours, they are numerous and like to form cliques. As the saying goes, three people make a tiger, and a lot of gossip can melt gold. Their power should not be underestimated. If you offend them, I'm afraid you will get into a lot of trouble in the future."
Although Huarong was not much older than Ji Anni, she had much more experience than Ji Anni. She was just a little maid, but sometimes her tone of voice always had a hint of giving advice to the younger generation. Whenever she spoke in this tone, Ji Anni could feel that she was indeed the daughter of a university scholar and the daughter of the Xi family. As the saying goes, once you have seen the sea, you will never be satisfied with the water. She was a shining gem, and her brilliance could not be concealed even if she wanted to wear plain clothes and eat coarse food.
"Oh, what a hassle." Upon hearing that the concubines were coming, Ji Anni couldn't help but frown and muttered, "Yizhen is still the best. She doesn't form cliques or curry favor with others."
It was originally just a simple expression of feelings, but after saying this, Hua Rong suddenly fell silent.
"What's wrong?" Ji Anni realized that she had something to say.
"My lady, I have something to say, but I don't know whether I should say it or not."
"Just say what you want to say." Ji Anni doesn't like people hesitating.
"My queen, do you know how old Concubine Su was last night?"
"It seems to be sixteen." Ji Anni seemed to remember that Concubine Baogui had asked the same question. When talking about this issue, Yizhen's expression suddenly seemed a little uneasy. Concubine Baogui seemed to have a brief eye contact with Yizhen, but as for what they communicated, Ji Anni had no idea. Ji Anni wanted to ask more questions, but Concubine Baogui quickly changed the subject.
Is there really something wrong with Yizhen's age? Otherwise, Huarong and Baoguifei wouldn't have come to ask like this.
"Hua Rong, tell me honestly, is there anything wrong with Yizhen being sixteen?"
Hua Rong said, "Your Majesty, the daughter of an official family has five chances to enter the palace in her lifetime, at the ages of thirteen, sixteen, eighteen, twenty, and twenty-two. If Concubine Su Cong celebrated her sixteenth birthday last night, then that means she was only fifteen when she entered the palace half a month ago. Your Majesty, the selection of concubines is rigorous and meticulous, and it is absolutely impossible to allow a girl under the age of sixteen to enter the palace, even if she is still ten days away from turning sixteen."
"What exactly do you want to say?" It's not that Ji Anni couldn't guess, but she didn't want to guess.
"Your Majesty, although I know you don't like to hear it, I still have to say it... Concubine Su Cong lied. Yesterday was not her birthday at all."