Crossing the Palace Fighting Fox Harem

Chapter 339 Arriving at the Palace Gate

"Your Majesty, I'll take my leave first." Hua Rong said softly behind Ji Anni.

Only then did Ji Anni realize that Hua Rong was not a member of the farewell team and could not be with her at all times. From now on, she had to separate from Hua Rong and face this group of unfamiliar concubines alone.

"My queen, please try to speak less and just stand quietly by the side." Before Hua Rong left, she whispered in Ji Anni's ear.

Ji Anni replied in a low voice: "I know, don't worry, I won't do anything rash."

After hearing Ji Anni's assurance, Hua Rong left with peace of mind.

This group of concubines gathered together all had their own small circles. They gathered in groups of three or five to talk, and Ji Anni had no way of getting in on the fun, nor did she want to.

Ji Annie did not move forward, but just leaned against the edge of the yard, standing there silently waiting for the time to leave.

Just waiting was too boring, so she couldn't help but look around at the concubines in the yard, just to appreciate the beauties.

It's really strange. Among the four imperial concubines, only Imperial Concubine An came. Imperial Concubine Kang has a very close relationship with the princess and her husband. It's not surprising that she is in the princess's room now. Shui Furong is a king of lateness. Maybe she is still sleeping now. There is another imperial concubine... is... Ji Anni's mind suddenly went blank for a moment. For a moment, she couldn't remember who the fourth imperial concubine was.

At this moment, her eyes happened to glance at a corner of the wall opposite to her, and she unexpectedly found a lonely figure standing there.

The figure had a very weak presence, and in the dim light of the early morning, she looked like a female ghost. The moment she caught a glimpse of her, Ji Anni's heart suddenly contracted with fear.

After a brief moment of surprise, she finally saw the face of the figure. Although Ji Anni had only seen this face once on her first day in the palace, she had never forgotten it because it was so beautiful.

Who else could this beauty standing silently in the corner be but the icy beauty Concubine Gan?

In this courtyard where everyone was gathered in small groups, only Ji Anni and Concubine Gan were standing alone in opposite corners. The feeling of sympathy made Ji Anni suddenly want to talk to Concubine Gan. Before she made a decision in her head, her feet moved spontaneously and walked towards where Concubine Gan was.

"Noble Concubine Gan..." After arriving beside Noble Concubine Gan, Ji Anni called out tentatively.

Although her voice was very low, after these three short words, the courtyard suddenly became quiet. The concubines who were whispering together just now all fell silent, and turned their heads to look in the direction of Ji Anni. Perhaps they didn't expect Ji Anni to take the initiative to greet Concubine Gan, and they all wanted to hear what she wanted to say.

Although Concubine Gan was an icy beauty who looked cold to everyone, she nodded politely when someone called her. When she nodded, the corners of her mouth slightly moved upward, making her expression look not as cold as before, but if you want to call this "moving the corners of the mouth" a "smile", it still seems a bit far-fetched.

Ji Anni had been prepared to be turned down, but when she saw that Concubine Gan actually responded to her, she was so happy that she almost danced with joy. She took advantage of the victory and moved closer to Concubine Gan, and then asked, "Concubine Gan, what are you doing? Are you alone?"

As soon as he said this, he realized that he had asked two stupid questions. The reason why Concubine Gan was standing here was, of course, to see the princess off, just like him.

Just as Concubine Gan was about to answer, she suddenly heard a loud shout from the entrance of the courtyard: "Okay, okay, I get it, can you stop nagging? I'm not really late!"

This voice interrupted Concubine Gan's answer and drew the attention of everyone in the yard to the entrance.

Ji Anni, like everyone else, subconsciously turned around to look in the direction of the voice. In fact, she had already guessed the identity of the person at the same moment she heard the voice.

"Furong?" When Ji Anni saw Shui Furong's figure rushing in from the entrance, she was not surprised at all, but just whispered his name.

Shui Furong was followed by a young eunuch who was leading the way. The eunuch probably emphasized the issue of time a little, which caused Shui Furong to yell in dissatisfaction.

When the young eunuch saw Shui Furong was furious, he dared not say a word and walked away in shame with his tail between his legs.

After driving the eunuch away, Shui Furong turned her gaze to the courtyard and realized that she had already become the focus of everyone's attention. She growled, "What are you looking at? Have you never seen the imperial concubine?"

As soon as he finished speaking, someone in the crowd immediately said, "You've only been a concubine for a few days, but you're so arrogant."

This voice belonged to Liu Yingying, who had been a sworn enemy of Shui Furong since childhood. Now Shui Furong had been favored by the emperor, was pregnant with a prince, and became a royal concubine. Her worth had increased several times overnight, and Liu Yingying had long been jealous to the point of gnawing her teeth to the point of bleeding.

Shui Furong is the kind of person who will never swallow her anger if provoked. After hearing Liu Yingying's sarcasm, she was about to start a fight when she saw Ji Anni rushing over.

Ji Anni left Concubine Gan behind and rushed between Shui Furong and Liu Yingying, using her body as a barrier to separate the two high-destructive weapons that were about to open fire.

"Furong, Furong, come here first." Ji Anni pulled Shui Furong to the corner and asked in a low voice, "Did you see the emperor yesterday? How was his mood?"

Yesterday morning, Ji Anni confessed to Long Mohan the truth that she was not Zhao Ji. At that time, Long Mohan wanted to be angry in front of her but did not dare to, so he endured it in every possible way. It was heard that Long Mohan and Shui Furong had been having a close relationship recently and slept in the same bed every night, so Ji Anni wanted to find out some latest news about the emperor from Shui Furong.

"What's wrong?" Shui Furong blinked blankly, and seeing that Ji Anni's expression seemed very nervous, she suddenly understood and asked with a sly grin, "Did you have a quarrel with the emperor? In that case... he did not stay in the West Palace last night..." After saying that, she tilted her head to look at Ji Anni, as if she wanted to poke a hole in Ji Anni's anxious and nervous face.

"Alas, it seems that he has really lost his composure..." Ji Annie lowered her head and murmured softly, thinking that Long Mohan must have been alone in the bedroom all night, depressed, and maybe he didn't even sleep well.

"What's going on?" Shui Furong leaned her head closer.

There were many people here, and when Ji Anni was hesitating whether to tell Shui Furong, she heard the footsteps of a group of eunuchs behind her.

The ladies waiting in the courtyard knew that the time to set out was approaching, and they all subconsciously adjusted their headdresses and clothes.

Leading the way, an old eunuch with a kind face walked towards Concubine An, who had the highest status among the concubines.

Concubine An was like a proud peacock, holding her head high and waiting for the eunuch to pass on the message.

Behind the concubines, Concubine Gan stood silently in the corner, completely out of the matter and unmoved at all.

Shui Furong secretly leaned close to Ji Anni's ear and asked, "Xiao Zhao, what were you talking to her just now?"

Concubine Gan was notoriously the most difficult person to approach in the palace. Usually, people who wanted to talk to her would be frozen to death by her expression and gaze before they could even open their mouths.

"Oh, just a casual greeting." Ji Anni shrugged. In fact, Shui Furong had already arrived before she had a formal conversation with Concubine Gan.

As soon as Ji Anni finished speaking, the old eunuch who was delivering the message came to Concubine An, bowed respectfully, raised his voice, and said in a volume that all the ladies in the courtyard could hear: "My dear ladies, I am here to deliver a message to you on behalf of the Queen Mother. The guards and ceremonial guards are ready. We will set off in two quarters of an hour. Please follow me to the main gate courtyard and wait for departure."

"So soon?" Ji Anni looked up at the sky and felt that it was not bright enough. The Queen Mother wanted to show off Princess Tianning's wedding to the whole world, so they should wait until the sky was completely bright and more people gathered in the imperial city before setting off.

"It's too late. The wedding procedure is very complicated. By the time we officially set out for the imperial city, it will be almost noon." Shui Furong is much more experienced than Ji Anni.

While the two of them were whispering to each other, the other ladies had already lined up and followed the old eunuch slowly away.

Although no one organized the order, the concubines subconsciously arranged themselves according to the level of their respective status, from noble to humble.

Noble Consort An was in the lead, followed by Shui Furong. Behind Shui Furong should be the four imperial concubines, but Shui Furong and Ji Anni were whispering to each other. After the procession started, Ji Anni subconsciously followed Shui Furong, not realizing that she was just a minor concubine and should not be included in the list of noble concubines.

Although she was the mother of Prince Ming, her title was only a minor concubine. Logically, she should have walked behind the four imperial concubines. However, she had no idea that she had cut in line. She just followed the crowd in a daze, not noticing the gazes behind her that were like sharp swords, ready to pierce through the back of her head.

Concubine Gan fell behind at the end, unknown and without any sense of existence, like a female ghost, following silently behind everyone.

#

The procession to see Princess Tianning off was very long. From where Ji Anni was, she could not see Princess Tianning and Kang Xiaorong at all. All she could see was a bunch of guards holding flags.

These flags were all made of brocade, dyed a bright red color with a strong festive atmosphere, and embroidered with various auspicious patterns, including peacocks flying in the clouds, golden phoenixes hovering in the peony flowers, and gray-white flying dragons that were different from the emperor's golden dragon.

The team moved slowly along the Qinglan River towards the main gate of the imperial palace, stopping from time to time and making a few circles. There were long bell ringing to see them off and monks chanting along the way, making the scene very lively.

The first time Ji Anni attended a wedding in this world was the grand wedding of a princess. All she saw were new and interesting things, and time passed by unknowingly.

All the concubines were sitting in the carriage. Even if the time took a long time, they would not feel too tired. At most, they would just feel a little sleepy and bored.

Shui Furong yawned all the way and dozed off with her eyes closed from time to time, as if she hadn't had a good sleep for many days. No one knew what she had been busy with recently.