Tianliangyuan

Chapter 385 Provocation

The golden abacus bestowed by His Majesty the Emperor certainly could not be left lying around. Xu Zhaozhao ordered people to put it away and keep it safe.

The positions of the four female officials posed a challenge for Xu Zhaozhao.

The four female officials bestowed upon them by the Empress were not of high rank.

Two were of the sixth rank, and two were of the seventh rank.

I must take care of my two dowry maids; they deserve this respect.

Besides, Dingxiang is already married, so it's not appropriate, since the official position bestowed by the Empress is only for those who serve her personally.

That leaves only peony and perilla.

The crabapple blossoms haven't been here long enough; it's not the right time.

However, Zisu was originally a guard, and she rarely served Zisu's daily needs.

Xu Zhaozhao thought of Song Qing, whom everyone in the mansion called Aunt Qing.

However, Song Qing had a facial flaw, and according to the rules, she was not allowed to hold a female official position.

Therefore, Xu Zhaozhao had nothing left to worry about; only these few remained.

As for Granny Lin, she did want to get a share of the benefits, but she was also aware of her own limitations. There weren't enough people around the young master's wife to go around, so how could she possibly be willing to give her any?

Xu Zhaozhao believed that if the Empress was willing to reward her once, then there would definitely be a second time.

After all, she was just a member of the imperial family. No matter how many rewards she received, she would not allow herself to wield significant power, so the emperor was certainly at ease.

Once all four slots were filled, Xu Zhaozhao submitted her invitation to the palace ahead of time.

Although she had a jade pendant that would allow her to enter the palace directly, this time it was to express her gratitude, so she had to show the Empress the utmost respect.

The Empress truly liked Xu Zhaozhao, mainly because Xu Zhaozhao was insightful and knew exactly what she could and couldn't do.

"Anle, you seem distracted. Is something the matter?"

Xu Zhaozhao took the opportunity to bow and said, "Your Majesty, I do have something to report, but I really don't know how to bring it up, which is why I'm hesitant."

Empress Qu was a shrewd woman, so she naturally dismissed everyone, leaving only her two trusted confidants.

"Have you made up your mind now?"

Xu Zhaozhao smiled and said, "Your Majesty, I have thought of something, but I am too dull to figure it out until today when I saw that familiar female official, and that is when I remembered it again."

Female officer?

The Empress's expression turned serious. Was this an implication that there were spies in her palace?

"Anle, just say it."

"Yes, the lady-in-waiting who was standing opposite me just now looked somewhat familiar to me. After thinking about it carefully, I remembered that I had seen her outside the palace. At that time, a lady from the Prince An's mansion also entered the tea room with her. I am not good at recognizing that lady, but I heard the servants call her Madam Zhou."

At the time, I didn't pay much attention. However, later I heard arguing coming from inside the house. Then, a maid rushed over to report something, and Madam Zhou and the female official hurriedly left. About half a cup of tea's time later, I saw Princess An's carriage parked in front of the teahouse. Princess An didn't get out of the carriage; instead, she sent someone into the teahouse to buy some tea and snacks before leaving.

What Xu Zhaozhao was talking about seemed to be nothing more than a trivial matter.

It's just a few women getting together for tea.

In reality, although it seems to have no focus at all and does not mention any private matters, it has actually revealed too much.

Lady Zhou has planted spies in the Empress's palace, and it is highly likely that Lady Zhou is someone else's spy planted next to Prince An!

This realization quickly took shape in Empress Qu's mind.

"Princess Anle is very kind. I will have someone investigate this matter thoroughly. But does Anle still remember the name of that teahouse?"

“I remember, for a while, I thought the shopkeeper made two kinds of tea snacks very well, so I often went there. Later, my maid bought them and studied them for a long time before she was able to make similar tea snacks.”

When Xu Zhaozhao gave the name of the teahouse, she also made a point of explaining why she was there, in order to avoid arousing the Empress's suspicion.

After Xu Zhaozhao left, Empress Qu could no longer tolerate it and immediately ordered the female official to be arrested and interrogated.

The Empress, who oversees the entire harem, with its six bureaus and twenty-four departments, is bound to have oversights.

Over the years, no matter how much favored Consort Jiang was, at the height of her power, she was only an assistant in managing the harem, not the one in charge.

Until two years ago, the Jiang family had a series of misfortunes, especially after Jiang Yanhui's downfall, when Consort Jiang was stripped of her power to manage the inner palace and has not regained it since.

Even more remarkably, Consort Jiang was once demoted to the rank of Consort. The difference between a Noble Consort and a Consort, though only one character, represents a huge disparity in their social status.

However, His Majesty's favor towards her remained, and not long after, she was restored to her status as a Noble Consort. But when it came to matters of power in the harem, Emperor Yong'an never mentioned them again.

Since the emperor didn't mention it, Consort Jiang naturally wouldn't dare to volunteer.

In the past two years, Consort Jiang has been carefully serving His Majesty. Even knowing that she is getting older and her beauty is fading, she doesn't know if His Majesty will find a new favorite.

The palace was filled with beauties, and Consort Jiang never stooped to using underhanded tactics to deal with them.

Because she claimed to be the apple of His Majesty's eye, the special person whom His Majesty had once intended to marry as his principal wife.

Fate played a cruel trick on her; she was unable to become the principal wife and could only be a concubine.

Therefore, Consort Jiang never actively participated in those struggles, and even if other women tried to seduce His Majesty, she was still the one who served him the most each month, which is enough to prove how favored she was.

However, recently, His Majesty has clearly been bewitched by that Xu, not only frequently promoting his rank in a short period of time, but also showing a strong intention to rival him. How can Consort Jiang tolerate this?

Without Consort Jiang even needing to lift a finger, with just a little trickery, Consort Xu was punished by Emperor Yong'an, forced to copy palace rules and confined to her quarters for three months.

Consort Jiang was very satisfied.

Xu Zhaoyi has been punished for more than ten days, but she has remained well-behaved and has not caused any trouble, nor has she tried any other way to lure His Majesty there.

That's fine.

Consort Jiang thought that Consort Xu was a smart person and therefore should not be her enemy.

Consort Jiang summoned Zhao Yue today, mainly to inquire about Jiang Ning's recent situation.

As luck would have it, when Zhao Yue left, she saw a palace maid who had been beaten beyond recognition being dragged away by two eunuchs. The scene was bloody and frightening to Zhao Yue.

Zhao Yue failed to recognize the palace maid's identity and walked with trepidation. When she was about to leave the palace, she felt uneasy and turned back to Consort Jiang's place on the pretext that she had lost something.

The news of Zhao Yue being invited in was immediately sent to Empress Qu's palace.

"Returning after leaving? Ha! Send men to follow them secretly, without alerting them."