kingnovel Chapter 308 An unexpected encounter
Chapter 308 An unexpected encounter
"I...I, I...I'm here to visit Prince Ming..." Yizhen stammered. She was not very courageous to begin with, and standing in front of such a powerful guard, she looked even more timid. After she had finished speaking, she noticed that the guard's expression did not ease, so she hurriedly added: "Also...I'm here to pay my respects to Concubine An..."
After all, the East Palace was the residence of Concubine An, and it seemed a little inappropriate to come here just to visit Prince Ming, so Yizhen added half a sentence.
"Please wait a moment." The guard went in and reported.
After a while, a palace maid came out. Yizhen recognized her as the head maidservant beside Concubine An, named Ningshuang.
Ningshuang has served Concubine An for many years. Thanks to her master, although she is young, she is a very important maid in the palace. When other maids see her, they have to bow their heads slightly.
Ningshuang also knew Yizhen. She knew that she was a newly selected concubine who was born in Nanhu County and had a close relationship with Zhaoji. There were many conflicts between Zhaoji and Concubine An, so Ningshuang had an instinctive sense of wariness and hostility towards Zhaoji's good sister Yizhen after meeting her. She always looked at Yizhen with a very arrogant look, as if she was the queen and Yizhen was just a servant.
Yizhen was looked up and down by Ningshuang and lowered her head awkwardly.
Ningshuang retracted her gaze, bowed gracefully and said, "Ningshuang pays respects to Concubine Su Congfei - Madam, I heard that you are here to visit Prince Ming?"
Yizhen said, "I heard that Prince Ming was ill, so I brought some pastries with me and wanted to give them to Prince Ming to try."
Ningshuang's eyes fell on the basket covered with white cloth on Yizhen's arm. She seemed to be suspicious of the contents inside and asked with a smile, "Madam, can Ningshuang take a look?"
Yizhen nodded, and regarded Ningshuang's inspection as a fixed procedure rather than as Ningshuang's encroachment.
Ningshuang gently unwrapped the white cloth covering the basket and saw a few shortbreads inside. She couldn't help but curl her lips.
Shortbread is a folk food and is not worthy of the noble status of the Ming prince. No one would bring such things to visit the prince.
Yizhen saw Ningshuang's confusion and disdain, and hurriedly explained: "I heard from Concubine Zhao that the prince likes to eat shortbread..."
Ningshuang didn't care what Ji Anni said. She glanced at the shortbread in the basket and asked, "Your Majesty... did you bring this from outside the palace?" Seeing Yizhen's puzzled expression, she added, "Things outside the palace are not very clean. Prince Ming can't eat them."
The implication was that he was unwilling to let Yizhen go and return home with the basket.
Yizhen said quickly, "No, I just did it."
"Your Majesty, please don't make things difficult for me. If I give this kind of thing to Prince Ming, I will definitely be blamed by Concubine An." Ningshuang looked embarrassed.
Yizhen couldn't bear to embarrass her, so she stood there, not knowing what to do.
At this moment, a eunuch shouted from behind: "The Emperor has arrived."
Immediately, the two rows of guards outside the door knelt down in unison, and Ningshuang also knelt down hurriedly to welcome the emperor.
Yizhen hadn't reacted yet. Seeing that everyone was kneeling down, she wanted to kneel down as well. However, when she looked up subconsciously, her gaze met Long Mohan's.
It was hard to describe the feeling at that moment. It was as if something had suddenly sucked my soul away. My entire body was emptied out, leaving only a shell. I forgot everything, forgot to kneel down, forgot to look away, and just stood there like a stone pillar, staring straight at Long Mohan.
It was not until the people around her began to shout "Long live!" that Yizhen suddenly woke up. She knelt down in panic and shouted in a low voice with everyone: "Long live... Long live..."
At this time, Long Mohan had come to her side and said, "Everyone, stand up."
After everyone thanked him in unison, they all stood up, except Yizhen, who was half a beat slower because she saw Long Mohan's feet were right in front of her, and she didn't dare to raise her head to look up.
Seeing that Yizhen hadn't gotten up yet, Long Mohan looked down at her. He saw the shortbread in the basket. These shortbreads suddenly brought back some memories for him, and he couldn't help but be slightly stunned.
He didn't remember Yizhen very well, but he could tell from her attire that she was a concubine, so he said again, "You should also stand up."
Realizing that Long Mohan was talking to her, Yizhen was at a loss. After hesitating for a moment, she lowered her head and stood up. Most of her face was blocked by her drooping hair, and Long Mohan couldn't see her clearly.
"You dared to look at me straight just now, why don't you even dare to raise your head now?" Long Mohan asked curiously.
Yizhen stammered and replied, "I am intimidated by the majesty of the emperor, so I dare not... dare not raise my head."
Long Mohan laughed when he heard it and asked, "What's your name?"
"My humble concubine Yizhen is a concubine." Yizhen answered timidly, secretly looking up and glancing at Long Mohan.
"Yizhen..." Long Mohan murmured the name, remembering that there was indeed such a concubine named Yizhen in the palace. However, due to her humble family background and ordinary talent and appearance, he could not remember her very well.
Yizhen clenched her hands so tightly that her palms were sweating. She wanted to turn around and run away immediately.
At this time, Long Mohan asked again: "Yizhen, why are you here?"
Yizhen stammered, "I heard...I heard that the prince was ill, so I brought some pastries to visit him..."
"Is this the pastry you brought?" Long Mohan pointed at the three pastries in Yizhen's basket.
Yizhen thought that Long Mohan was trying to stop her like Ningshuang had done before, so she quickly apologized, "Your Majesty, please forgive me. I shouldn't have brought this kind of thing to give to Prince Ming... I will... I will leave now..."
Although she said she wanted to "step down", Yizhen didn't dare to leave without Long Mohan's consent.
Yizhen was anxiously waiting for Long Mohan to wave to her and say "Go away", but after waiting for a long time, what she got was another strange question.
I only heard Long Mohan ask, "Yizhen, did Zhaoji ask you to come?"
At this moment, Yizhen suddenly remembered that Long Mohan and Zhaoji had been married for five or six years. Since Zhaoji knew that Prince Ming loved to eat pastries, then Long Mohan should know it too.
Yizhen nodded hurriedly as if she had seen a savior, "Yes, it was Consort Zhao who asked me to come and visit Prince Ming."
I hope that in this way the pastry can be successfully delivered to the hands of Prince Ming.
"I'm sorry to bother you." Long Mohan smiled gently. He had heard that Zhao Ji had a good sister in the Dong Congfei Palace, but he had never had the chance to meet her. Since Zhao Ji entrusted Yi Zhen to deliver the shortbread, it proved that Yi Zhen was someone Zhao Ji could trust.
Thinking of this, Long Mohan became even kinder to Yizhen, which made Yizhen suddenly feel like she was in spring breeze.
Yizhen had always felt a little inferior about her background, and she always felt inferior among the concubines. But she had never expected that the emperor would be so humble and polite to her today, which moved her and made her feel a little yearning.
I am his concubine...his concubine...
Thinking of this, I suddenly felt very lucky. I couldn't believe that there was a bond in this world that connected me and him.
At this time, Long Mohan said again: "I am here to visit Ming'er as well, you can go with me."
Yizhen was flattered, surprised and happy, and stammered, "Yes... As you wish..."
Yizhen thought she would never see what the emperor looked like in her life, but today's unexpected encounter allowed her to talk to the emperor and visit Prince Ming with him. The wonderful fate added a touch of color to Yizhen's ordinary palace life. She suddenly felt that there was a little more expectation and sweetness in the palace.
She followed Long Mohan closely and walked into the East Palace. Her steps were a little shaky, and she couldn't believe it was real. She secretly pursed her lips to prevent others from noticing her smile. From time to time, she looked up and secretly glanced at Long Mohan, and her heartbeat began to speed up. The feeling of nervousness and happiness was something Yizhen had never felt before.
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When they arrived in front of Prince Ming's bedroom, the palace maids knelt down at the same time and shouted in unison: "Long live the emperor."
Hearing the shout, Concubine An hurried out from the inner room, bowed, and said, "Your Highness, I pay my respects to you."
As soon as she finished speaking, she saw an unfamiliar woman following behind Long Mohan. Concubine An was slightly startled, but soon calmed down and asked, "Isn't this Concubine Su Cong? How come you have time to come and see me today?"
"Concubine Yizhen pays respects to Concubine An..." Yizhen bowed to Concubine An obediently. Because she was a little afraid of Concubine An, her voice trembled slightly. Her current personal maid, Die'er, has been unable to speak until now, thanks to Concubine An. Whenever Yizhen saw Die'er, she couldn't help but sigh at Concubine An's cruelty.
At this time, Ningshuang walked around to Concubine An's side and whispered, "Your Majesty, Concubine Su Cong was entrusted by Zhaoji to deliver shortbread to Prince Ming."
"Shortbread?" Concubine An was stunned and her beautiful eyebrows were tightly furrowed.
Yizhen was afraid that Concubine An would stop her like Ningshuang did, so she hurriedly said, "Your Majesty, Concubine Zhao said that the prince's favorite food before returning to the palace was shortbread. I heard that the prince has a poor appetite recently, so she asked me to..."
Just when he was halfway through his words, Concubine An's face suddenly turned from sunny to cloudy and then gloomy.
Yizhen immediately realized that she had said the wrong thing, and quickly closed her mouth, swallowing all the words she had not yet finished.
In order not to worry the emperor, Concubine An had been deliberately hiding Prince Ming's condition. No one should have known Prince Ming's condition except for the imperial chefs in the imperial kitchen who were ordered to make all kinds of new dishes every day. But now... even Zhao Ji, who was confined to Wenhuayuan, knew that Prince Ming's condition had not improved, and sent someone to deliver noodles. Isn't this a slap in the face of Concubine An?