"Have Huang Xia come and check if there is any problem with this Fuguang Brocade," Ning Wanwan instructed.
"Yes."
Huang Xia looked to be about sixteen or seventeen, with a cold and aloof disposition. Her features were delicate and clear, youthful yet pretty. What impressed Ning Wanwan even more was that someone so young could possess such medical skills; it was truly remarkable.
"Reporting to Your Majesty, there are no issues whatsoever with the fabric," Huang Xia reported calmly.
Seeing this, the Imperial Noble Consort put the items away.
"Lüqiu, what was that thing you mentioned about Concubine Li the other day?" Ning Wanwan asked with curiosity.
The last time Lüqiu brought it up, Pei Jinxiu had arrived halfway through.
"Were you referring to Concubine Li and Beauty Chan?"
"Right."
"Oh, I was up on the roof at the time and heard Beauty Chan say that Concubine Li's pregnancy was achieved through medicine, that it's a stillborn fetus, and that it had better be aborted as soon as possible, otherwise it would certainly be exposed later. Originally, Beauty Chan wanted to have Concubine Li frame you, Your Majesty, but as it happened, you and Your Majesty had gone out of the palace to travel, so she shifted her target to Consort Qing instead."
Hearing this, a raging fire burned in Ning Wanwan's heart. Ning Wanwan was genuinely angry now; does everyone want her cheap life, is that it?
Very well, Beauty Chan, just you wait!
"Speaking of Consort Qing—oh no, she should be called Talented Lady Zhong now—she really is wronged. Just because of a single flower, Concubine Li deliberately provoked her, and she fell right into the other's trap," Lüqiu said with a hint of schadenfreude.
"Shall we go to Zhong Qing's place?" Ning Wanwan stood up and strode off carelessly.
"Why is Your Majesty going to that cold palace?" Lüqiu asked, finding it inauspicious.
"What cold palace? Zhong Qing isn't in the cold palace, is she?" Ning Wanwan was puzzled. Wasn't Zhong Qing only grounded for a year? Pei Jinxiu hadn't said anything about sending her to the cold palace.
"What difference is her place from a cold palace?" Lüqiu said.
——
Ever since she was grounded, Zhong Qing had become somewhat unhinged, which Lüqiu said made her resemble the former Ning Wanwan.
Having grown familiar with the present Ning Wanwan, Lüqiu's boldness had grown quite a bit, and she even dared to joke with her.
"This maid isn't joking. You really were quite like her before, Your Majesty. Actually, the original you was even more similar to how you are now, but after entering the palace you changed, becoming irritable and quick to anger. It truly was quite frightening," Lüqiu said, a lingering look of fear still on her face. Fortunately, she had recovered.
Now it was Ning Wanwan's turn to be confused. What on earth was she like before, then? How come there seemed to be all these different accounts? Some said she was arrogant and domineering, while others said she was bright and flamboyant. Even in her dreams, she had a personality completely different from the present.
Could it be that the original owner, like Pei Jinxiu, suffered from multiple personality disorder?
As if remembering something, Ning Wanwan shook her head abruptly, seized by a sudden lingering fear.
"We're here." Lüqiu and Ning Wanwan stood before a desolate palace gate.
Dragging her ornate and heavy imperial noble consort garments, Ning Wanwan walked breathlessly.
"This clothing is far too grandiose and cumbersome. Don't make me wear this kind of thing again next time," Ning Wanwan frowned in disgust.
"This is a symbol of status. Countless people would want to wear it but aren't qualified. How can you be like this?" Lüqiu chuckled.
"Her Imperial Noble Consort has arrived—!" A eunuch raised his shrill voice to announce Ning Wanwan. This display made Ning Wanwan feel immensely majestic.
"What have you come here for?" Zhong Qing remained exceedingly proud; even though she was demoted and punished at the moment, she still did not lose the bearing of a lady from a distinguished family.
Come to think of it, apart from Ning Wanwan, Zhong Qing had the best family background in this palace. To have a legitimate daughter nurtured by a prestigious clan brought to such a state by someone else's vile schemes—how could one not sigh with regret?
"I've come to take a look at you. What, aren't people allowed to look?" Ning Wanwan spoke flippantly. Her peerlessly beautiful face and luxurious, dazzling attire made her look like a goddess high above, so noble she was beyond price.
Even someone like Zhong Qing did not dare to look her straight in the eye under the brilliance of her radiance.
"You've come to see me make a fool of myself, haven't you?" Zhong Qing sneered, her pale, pretty face full of mockery.
"Not entirely." Ning Wanwan smiled and pinned a seductively vibrant flower into Zhong Qing's hair.
Because she had been framed to such a state over a flower, Zhong Qing had developed an aversion even to such gorgeous blossoms.
Ning Wanwan hadn't been present, but upon hearing that this farce was actually caused by a flower, she instantly felt that such palace infighting was far too theatrical, falling short even of what people acted out in television dramas.
No matter how intensely angry and unwilling Zhong Qing might be, she didn't dare fall out with Ning Wanwan. Such supreme favor and family background were not things she could afford to provoke.
"Want to get out?" Lüqiu asked.
"Hey, why are you stealing my lines?" Ning Wanwan asked indignantly.
Lüqiu: "Oh."
"Of course I want to. I want revenge." Zhong Qing's eyes were filled with gloom, and her expression was somewhat distorted.
Ning Wanwan had no desire to go around fighting and scheming; living like that was simply too exhausting. When Pei Jinxiu didn't visit, she preferred researching culinary delicacies with Lüqiu and the others.
Perhaps this mindset was childish and spineless, but it certainly brought happiness. Moreover, given the Ning Family's current power and status, she had no need whatsoever to fight for favor.
"It only takes a single word from our Imperial Noble Consort for you to be able to walk right out," Lüqiu said.
Hearing this, Ning Wanwan was herself dumbfounded. She quietly asked Lüqiu where others couldn't hear:
"Am I really that powerful?"
She received an affirmative reply from Lüqiu: "Of course. His Majesty loves you so dearly."