darknovel Chapter 52 Consort Rong said she had a chest pain.
Chapter 52 Consort Rong said she had a chest pain.
Li Fude brought over the food, and Shen Shixi thanked him. Then she turned to the princess of Xiqiang and said...
"Yu Long, have you no shame? Don't you know why your Western Qiang treated me like an honored guest? If you don't understand, why don't you ask your brother? I come from the Celestial Empire, I saved your brother's life. Don't even think about serving me a song and dance, you'd be more than a servant to wash my feet!"
[You dare mess with me? I'll make you furious! When it comes to insults, I've never lost!]
"Ah!" Yu Long angrily rushed towards Shen Shixi, raising her fist, which startled the man. The golden-armored warriors charged over, but Shen Shixi remained unfazed, standing firm. "What, did I say something wrong?"
[Dare to lay a hand on me, I'll beat you to a pulp! I fight all by myself, unlike you who only knows how to get your maids to help!]
Li Yuanke was both amused and exasperated, and glanced at her.
Are you getting smug?
Yu Long was so angry she almost cried. "You've humiliated me! I'm a princess, and you want me to be your foot-washing maid!"
Shen Shixi didn't really want to offend the envoy delegation. "I was just using an analogy. Do you understand human language? I am His Majesty's concubine, and you insist that I perform songs and dances for you. Who gave you the right to humiliate me first?"
"Is performing a song and dance afterwards an insult? When you went to my Western Qiang, my mother danced for you. My mother was the Queen of Western Qiang, wasn't she more noble than you?"
Everyone thought, "Yes, she is the Queen after all!"
"That's not necessarily true!" Shen Shixi shook her head. "Your mother was a shepherdess, but my parents cherished me like a treasure. Your mother ate simple meals, but look at my table full of delicacies. Your mother wore coarse cloth clothes, but I wear clothes made of fine gold."
Admittedly, your mother is your eldest son's legal wife, while I am merely a concubine of His Majesty the Great Zhou. However, the Great Zhou is a thousand times stronger than your Western Qiang.
Princess, you may argue about rank within your own territory, but outside, might makes right, and only the strongest nation has the right to speak!
The entire hall fell silent!
After a while, a variety of feelings arose in everyone's hearts.
The people of the Great Zhou were naturally filled with pride and arrogance.
Li Yuanke smiled, but he couldn't help but feel a little smug.
Shen Shixi smiled, poured himself a drink, and his carefree demeanor was both dazzling and undeniably brilliant!
[Yan Jun once wanted to repay my life-saving grace by marrying me. Tsk, back then I thought he was far inferior to Li Yuanke, but now that the two are compared, wow, it's like a pheasant facing a golden phoenix!]
Li Yuanke was stunned, then angry, then laughed.
The Western Qiang delegation knelt down with a thud. Yan Jun said, "Your Majesty, Consort Zhao, my sister had no intention of humiliating you. She is simply competitive and wants to compete with you in front of His Majesty, hoping to win a smile from you!"
The Empress Dowager said, "Since the princess is to enter the harem of my Great Zhou, she should strictly abide by the virtues of a concubine. From now on, she must change her competitive nature. There are rules in the palace. If you truly intend to serve the Emperor, the Empress will select a few good governesses to properly teach you the rules, so that you won't cause trouble after entering the harem!"
Li Yuanke's expression was calm, but his two sword-like eyebrows were rather close together.
"Yes, Your Majesty!" the Empress replied.
After this exchange, the envoys who had come from afar became even more respectful and ingratiating when toasting His Majesty the Emperor, kneeling and prostrating themselves, their submission far surpassing what it had shown before.
"Only strong nations have a voice"—the principle is simple, but not everyone understands it!
Saying it so bluntly, who can say it's not a threat?
With foreign powers submitting and his army subdued without a fight, Li Yuanke was extremely pleased with himself.
[You bastard, you've snagged two more beauties, and you're this happy! Hmph, there's no such thing as an ox that can't be worked to death, only land that's never worn out. You'll work yourself to death sooner or later! You're sacrificing your life for the country, and you're still so smug!]
He said, "Congratulations, Your Majesty! Congratulations! Two more elder sisters are entering the palace. This is truly a joyous occasion for our Great Zhou!"
Li Yuanke was annoyed by her sarcastic tone, glanced at her, and ignored her.
The Empress Dowager, however, was amused. "Shen is quite sensible!"
The Emperor said, "The Empress Dowager is right. It's rare to see Consort Zhao so well-behaved today!"
When he can't hear her cursing him in her heart?
The Empress said, "Among the sisters in the harem, Consort Zhao has always been the most favored by the Emperor. I hope that my two younger sisters will be the same after they enter the palace!"
Afterwards, the emperor conferred the title of Jieyu upon the two princesses. The title of the princess of Donghu was "He" and the title of the princess of Xiqiang was "Shun". If it weren't for Shen Shixi's unreasonable behavior, the two princesses could have easily become the ninth concubine.
But now, none of the nine concubines have been promoted.
The emperor clearly didn't like him.
Yang Tingyue had long wanted to marry the emperor, but her wish had not yet been fulfilled. Instead, two barbarian tribes had gotten there first, which made her furious. As soon as she left Qingyan Palace, she wanted to fight with Shen Shixi.
Shen Shixi raised her fist, then shrank back.
"Hmph, didn't your cousin like you that much? It's only been a few days, and another new person is coming in. No matter what, she's a princess. You can just wait to fall out of favor!"
"Yeah, I wish I'd fallen out of favor sooner, then all my affection would go to you!" Shen Shixi rolled her eyes at her. "I don't have time to waste arguing with you. You know I always prefer action to words. If you say another word, believe me, I'll slap you across the face!"
Shen Shixi wasn't full, so when she got back she kept asking for wontons with glutinous rice balls in them. She liked salty glutinous rice balls and didn't like sweet ones.
Get the small kitchen ready.
She took a bath to wash away the stench from her body, and then Li Yuanke arrived, asking her to prepare water so he could also take a bath.
Shen Shixi then asked the small kitchen to make another serving of cold noodles and a bowl of sweet fried dumplings.
After they ate, they lay down on the bed and went to sleep.
After tossing and turning for most of the day, I fell asleep almost as soon as I closed my eyes.
I woke up after 3 PM, which is around 5 or 6 PM, but in summer, the sun was still high in the sky.
It was dinner time again. Both of them were at an age where they could eat and drink a lot. They got up after a little fight in bed, washed up, dressed simply, and had dinner.
This meal was quite lavish, since neither of them had eaten a proper meal that day.
One dish is steamed pork ribs with taro, prepared by Shen Shixi. The ribs are tender and fall off the bone, and the taro is soft and melts in your mouth. Another dish is braised pork with quail eggs. The pork is blanched before being braised, so it is not greasy at all and is especially good for the brain. The third dish is a soup with peas, shredded pork, and eggs, which is refreshing and helps to cut through the greasiness. It also looks very tempting.
There were other traditional dishes, but Li Yuanke barely touched them.
Li Yuanke ate two full bowls of rice and felt quite stuffed, so the two of them took a walk along the lake embankment to digest their food.
Li Yuanke never liked people currying favor with him, finding it annoying. Therefore, wherever he went, people would clear the way. Even the concubines of Qingyi Garden dared not approach him, knowing that the emperor was passing by.
But Consort Rong fell ill, saying she had chest pains and wanted to see the Emperor.
Li Yuanke remained silent for a while.
Shen Shixi gave him a push, "Your Majesty, please go and see her quickly. I'm sure the imperial physicians can't cure this chest pain. I heard that Your Majesty must personally massage it for her to cure the ailment."
[Heartache? They've snatched the emperor's favor right here with me! Relying on the power of the Duke of Wei's mansion? The Duke of Wei's mansion won't last much longer! That heir is arrogant and reckless, a one-track-minded fool. The court actually appointed him to guard Tianfei Pass; he'll bring disaster to the country sooner or later!]
She was furious!
Even if she didn't want to argue, she couldn't back down at a time like this. If she gave in, anyone could take advantage of her!
She can't go back, so she'll just have to live one day at a time here.
The emperor was startled, but remained calm, tapping her head. "What nonsense are you thinking now? I never said I was going! Li Fude, issue a decree summoning Cen Yin to see me!"
"yes!"
[Miscalculation! I should have let that bastard Li Yuanke make me a princess and let me find ten or eight male concubines, so I wouldn't have to spend all my time arguing with these women!]
Li Yuanke's face turned ashen!
Male concubine?
"Go! If Your Majesty doesn't go, wouldn't it be seen as me being jealous and domineering? Not only will Your Majesty go, but I will also have to go with you to attend to Consort Rong when she is ill!"
Shen Shixi added, "Chao'en, go and tell the Empress that Consort Rong is suffering from chest pains! The Emperor and I are going to visit her!"
Li Yuanke couldn't handle her, so he grabbed her and said, "Stop causing trouble for me!"