Shocking Mountain Moon

Chapter 94 Concubine Yu’s Curiosity

This news was somewhat unexpected to Qiu Heng.

In the Daxia harem, beauties were low-ranking concubines and were not eligible for such trips.

Of course, there are exceptions to everything, such as the emperor's favor.

Is Lady Qiu favored?

Qiu Heng thought about this and asked Ling Yun, "Which other ladies will be accompanying the emperor?"

Ling Yun understood what Qiu Heng meant by asking this question, and said, "Noble Consort, Consort Shu, Consort De, and Consort Wu."

With three concubines and one Zhaoyi, Lady Qiu became one of the five imperial concubines accompanying the emperor, which was indeed quite eye-catching.

"Thank you, Brother Ling, for letting me know."

Ling Yun reminded him gently: "Tell me if you have anything."

It was hard to say whether it was a blessing or a curse for a low-ranking concubine to suddenly gain favor. As a member of the royal family, Ling Yun knew this very well. He was afraid that such a change would affect Qiu Heng, so he reminded her.

Qiu Heng thought she would see her elder sister soon, but she did not expect that after several days of stops and starts, Lady Qiu did not summon her, either because she was not aware that she had come with Prince Kang's mansion, or for other reasons.

It was not until they arrived at Dingbei Paddock and checked into the temporary palace that the noble ladies of each mansion went to pay a visit to the empress.

The temporary palace is different from the imperial palace because it has to accommodate accompanying officials and nobles, so the living space is inevitably cramped.

The five concubines lived in the same palace, making it convenient for ladies from other official positions to pay them visits.

Qiu Heng followed Princess Kang into the hall and saw two beautiful women sitting on the left and right of the throne.

Sitting on the left is Concubine Shu, the mother of the fifth prince.

The person sitting on the right is obviously Concubine De. According to the book, Concubine De had four daughters. The eldest daughter died young. The second and third daughters had already married at this time. The youngest daughter, Princess Jingwan, was only ten years old and it was too early for her to reach the age of marriage.

Qiu Heng glanced at Concubine De without leaving a trace.

When the southeast was in turmoil and Xi Jiang took advantage of the situation to ask the Princess of Da Xia to marry a foreign princess, Princess Jing Wan was not yet of marriage age, so the daughter of Prince Fu, Princess Rongning, was named a princess and went to marry a foreign princess.

She had seen Princess Jingwan, but the Princess Jingwan she had seen was already middle-aged.

Not having a good time.

Below the two concubines, on one side sat Concubine Qiu and on the other should be Concubine Wu.

Wu Zhaoyi was also a unique beauty, with a pair of slightly upturned eyes, quite romantic, and about the same age as Concubine Qiu.

Lady Qiu sat with her eyes lowered, not even glancing in the direction of Qiu Heng.

Among the four, Shufei was the leader, and she greeted the ladies from other courts who came to pay their respects.

"I haven't seen Rong Ning for a while. It seems that she has grown taller." Concubine Shu smiled as she looked at the girl standing next to Princess Fu.

Princess Fu looked at her daughter helplessly and said, "She has only grown taller. I think it's all because of playing Cuju."

Princess Rongning was not afraid of such an occasion, and she retorted with a smile: "What does it have to do with Cuju? It's obviously just like my mother."

"You are still talking nonsense in front of the ladies!" Princess Fu said in a reproachful tone, but she could not hide her love for her daughter.

Concubine Shu then spoke to Princess Kang: "Last year, Princess Kang didn't come, and I said it was a bit deserted."

Princess Kang said hurriedly, "Thank you, Madam Shufei, for your concern. Last year, Yun'er was still recuperating in the south, and Jiayi liked to stay at home, so she was worried when she went out."

"That's true. Fortunately, they all came this year." Concubine Shu's eyes fell on Qiu Heng, revealing a look of surprise. "I saw that the person next to the Princess of the County seemed to be Miss Qiu Liu?"

Qiu Heng was called by name and knelt down to salute: "Qiu Liu greets the queen."

At once, many eyes were cast in his direction.

Among the noble ladies present, some had seen Qiu Heng, but many more had not. But even if they had not seen her, they had heard of her.

Princess Kang explained calmly: "Some time ago, I adopted the sixth daughter of the Qiu family as my adopted daughter. This child likes to be lively, so I brought her along." Listening to Princess Kang's explanation, Princess Rongning's eyes flashed with disgust.

Qiu Liu is a person who is always trying to climb up the social ladder. When she thinks about Yun Yuan's admiration for her when they first met, and how he invited her to join the Yuantuan Society, she wants to slap herself in the face.

Fang Rui, who was standing behind Madam Fang, looked at Qiu Heng with an even more unfriendly look.

This country girl was able to even take part in the autumn hunt. I don't know what means she used to confuse the Prince of Kang.

Fang Rui felt cold at the thought that the graceful young man was only close to Qiu Heng besides Princess Jiayi.

Why does a wild girl deserve this? She doesn't deserve it!
"So that's how it is." Concubine Shu smiled at Lady Qiu, "Lady Qiu and Miss Qiu Liu are both here at the enclosure, so it's a good opportunity for them to get together more."

She had misjudged this pair of sisters.

When she first met Qiu Liu in Furong Palace, she thought that this girl knew when to advance and when to retreat. However, she didn't expect that the emperor would begin to favor Qiu Liu as soon as she entered the palace.

It would be naive to say that it has nothing to do with Miss Qiu Liu.

Concubine Qiu had been in the palace for many years without competing for anything, but once she became close to the emperor, she got all the wealth and honor. It was hard for her to believe that he was really a man who lived in peace with the world.

As a concubine, she was too lazy to deliberately make things difficult for lower-ranking concubines, but that little bit of goodwill she had for him disappeared without a trace.

Sure enough, women who enter the palace are the same sooner or later.

Lady Qiu then glanced at Qiu Heng and smiled, "The little girl is interested in different things from us, so I won't keep her by my side."

"The royal concubine has arrived——"

The eunuch sang loudly, and the hall suddenly became quiet.

Although the four concubines, namely Imperial Concubine, Virtuous Concubine, Virtuous Concubine and Wise Concubine, have the same rank, Imperial Concubine Yu is unique.

When ladies from other courts came to the palace to pay homage to the empress, Concubine Shu was the first to entertain them. It was not because Concubine Shu had more face than Concubine Yu, but because Concubine Yu was too lazy to deal with them.

The concubines in the harem live so freely as they please, which shows how favored she is. All the other concubines combined dare not challenge her.

For example, now, Concubine Shu, who was originally sitting, quickly stood up and greeted Concubine Yu who walked in.

She didn't mind lowering her posture in front of Concubine Yu. After all, Concubine Yu had no children, and there was plenty of time for her to grow up.

"It's really lively." Concubine Yu's beautiful eyes swept across and settled on Qiu Heng's face, "Did I see it wrongly? Why is Miss Qiu Liu here?"

This question was quite direct. If a shy girl heard it, she would probably burst into tears on the spot.

Seeing that Concubine Yu was looking at Qiu Heng when asking this, Princess Kang deliberately did not answer immediately.

For the sake of her two children's reputation, she couldn't show her dislike for Qiu Liu too obviously, but it was impossible for her to protect this girl everywhere.

Many people were waiting for Qiu Heng's reaction with the intention of watching the fun.

Qiu Heng remained calm and said in a sweet voice, "My stepmother loves me so much that she brought me here to see the world."

Princess Kang felt uncomfortable, but she had to continue: "Children of this age love to play, this is a rare opportunity..."

"The Princess is so kind." Concubine Yu glanced at Lady Qiu and said casually, "She cares more about me than Lady Qiu, her elder sister."

The noble ladies present were all shrewd people, and once these words were spoken they would understand that the Imperial Concubine disliked neither Lady Qiu nor Miss Qiu Liu.

Oh, it’s normal that you don’t like either of them, they are sisters from the same family.

"Beauty Qiu——"

"The maid is here."

"There are fewer restrictions outside the palace, so you sisters should get together more often." Concubine Yu said meaningfully.

She was curious, what would the emperor, who had favored the elder sister because of the younger sister, do if he saw the sisters every day?

(End of this chapter)