C44

In the blink of an eye, it was winter again. The Plum Tree in the courtyard was about to blossom, and during the year that the emperor had sent her over to the Plum Court, he had never summoned Zhuang Li again.

Other than the Dragon Boat Festival, mid-autumn, Zhuang Li had received the notice from the Department of Rites that everyone was going to attend the main palace banquet, she had almost never entered the main palace during the other times. She spent her time in the four corners of the Plum Court, and even if she went to the main palace to attend the banquet, she would only return after eating a few more expensive dishes. She did not have the opportunity to stay either.

Usually, only Whitey would visit Plum Garden. There was only one time when Prince Bi came over to chat, Zhuang Li reckoned that he went the wrong way.

In November, the first snow fell this year, followed by continuous snowy weather. Very quickly, the roof of Plum Garden was covered up. The temperature dropped day by day, and most of the time Zhuang Li and Qing You stayed in the house, warming themselves by a small stove. That Little Flower had eaten carrots and cabbage from Zhuang Li for almost a year, and they had become a big flower now. It was like a white-colored warm hand furnace.

When the snow finally stopped, Zhuang Li walked out of the house. Outside, she was already wrapped in silver, the branches of the plum tree had already bloomed, and even though the weather was extremely cold, Zhuang Li was still standing in the courtyard, looking at those bright little flowers, as if she was unafraid of the heavens and the earth blooming in the snow.

She tightened her cotton clothing, almost unable to resist the cold.

It's really too cold...

The winter of the Great Phoenix was not as cold as the winter season of West Cold, but it was a bit more moist, and instead made people feel as if the cold air drilled into their bones. The walls of the room were somewhat damaged, but they were also very thin. Even if the stove was simmering all night, it would still be too cold to sleep.

That was why Zhuang Li woke up very early. When she woke up, she went to the courtyard to bring out a pot of water and put it on the fire.

Qing You slept soundly while hugging the big flowers beside Zhuang Li, Zhuang Li was also not willing to wake her up. It was already close to the New Year, and the Plum Court was not the least bit festive, and Zhuang Li would occasionally stand at the door and look outside, and could vaguely see from afar that the palace pavilion had already set up big red lanterns, and eunuchs were leaning on ladders, and were patting the snow on the roof. Other than that, the atmosphere of the New Year was completely isolated from Zhuang Li. This place was filled with day and night, spring, summer, autumn, and winter, forever living her own life. She would be deceived by the palace, or perhaps there would be flashes of swords and flashes of light outside the palace, or perhaps it was a battle of flesh and blood. It has nothing to do with it.

Until that day when the two old nanny s arrived outside the Plum Court at noon.

At the start, Zhuang Li had still been thinking about why the eunuch who brought food today would come so early, but when she saw that the ones waiting outside the door were two unfamiliar old nanny s, he hurriedly bowed.

"Imperial Noble Lady Ya, obey."

Zhuang Li quickly kneeled down respectfully, and after seeing her kneel, the old nanny began to pass down orders.

"empress has ordered that the imperial harem, from the concubines to the Imperial Noble Lady, are all going to participate in this year's annual feast. You are not allowed to leave the banquet while holding an illness.

"Yes." Zhuang Li respectfully promised as before.

"It really isn't easy to find here. If it wasn't for the fact that there's a Imperial Noble Lady Ya on the list taken out by the Department of Rites, I think we wouldn't even know there's someone residing in this Plum Court."

"I'll have to trouble the two nanny s."

"Let's not talk about other things, because we didn't find your name on the list of women in the Gong Gong Palace. Only now do you report that this year's winter attire won't be able to be rushed out of the Clothing Department before New Year's Eve. You can just wear the same as before. You still have to be with everyone on New Year's Eve. "

"Yes, chenqie will obey the Empress's wishes."

As the two nanny s walked further and further away, Zhuang Li could still hear their whispers.

"If not for the fact that her name was still on the list that was sent over by the Ministry of Rites, empress would have thought that Princess of West Cold had died a long time ago!"

"Isn't it? Back then, the entire city was in turmoil, but the Emperor only sealed one Imperial Noble Lady and she was already thrown to one side. She was never lucky by the Emperor."

"She should just kill the spirit of West Cold like that. Look at how obedient she is now, she can't even tell that she was once a princess."

"Who cares about the Princess of West Cold. Once we're here, we have to listen to the empress."

Zhuang Li sighed and stood up, she had not seen the empress even once. She had stayed in the courtyard for so long that she thought she did not see the inner palace.

When he woke up on New Year's Eve, he saw that all the Plum Blossom had bloomed. There was only one tree full of them, and it was a crimson heavy Plum Blossom.

Qing You fed the big flower cabbage and leaves then swept the snow all over the ground, clearing out a path. Zhuang Li tidied herself up properly and wore a thin cotton garment with a veil. After noon, he would head to the palace.

He couldn't wear the thick layer of West Cold marten, and it was too eye-catching. Since he couldn't make out the winter clothes in the palace, he could only wear the thinner cotton clothes.

Qing You was even more familiar with the palace than Zhuang Li was, she took out a stove and followed behind her, all the while, they were decorated with lanterns and gold silk, the palace maids and eunuchs who were preparing for the banquet hurried past, Zhuang Li stayed in the palace for a year but she was not familiar with it, it was rare for him to see such a scene, it was rather strange.

Honestly speaking, this past year was not that easy for Zhuang Li. Living in the Plum Court that was almost forgotten, her mood was not as calm as it seemed on the surface. She did not know about the battle situation, did not know about what was happening around them, and felt no sense of security.

If they came out to investigate, they would be afraid of bringing disaster upon themselves, and if others were to find out that the Princess of West Cold was a fake, what kind of disaster would they bring to the West Cold?

Perhaps it was because the emperor was sure of her that he placed her within the Plum Garden without worry, and predicted that she wouldn't dare to act rashly.

The tranquility of the Plum Court gave rise to Zhuang Li's unfazed look. She walked past the people in a hurry, not bothering to care about what they were busy with, and only followed the instructions to return to her small courtyard after eating dinner. Although she did not know when such a day would come to an end, she did not know what it would be like.

It was the empress's order to do so several times but Zhuang Li had never seen the empress before. She only roughly knew that there was an empress and a Imperial Noble Consort, who were the head of the harem. It was probably the meaning of having the most honor.

In the Heart Nurturing Palace, Zhuang Li was only in the position of Imperial Noble Lady, so she could not enter the hall. She could only take a seat outside the hall, she was actually happy to sit with the palace maids, so she got some free time.

She didn't know how many harem concubines the Emperor currently had, but she did understand that the majority of the people sitting with her were Imperial Noble Lady and palace maids. Although they could be considered the emperor's women on the surface, most of the Imperial Noble Lady s were destined to never see the emperor again in their entire lives. Therefore, such a feast was naturally a rare opportunity for them. Each of them did their best to dress themselves properly and perhaps even prepared various programs. If the emperor really wanted to watch them, they naturally wouldn't miss the opportunity to show off a song in front of the emperor.

Zhuang Li was afraid that people would ask him about it, hence she tried her best to look normal. Lowering her head, she started to listen to the gossips of the surrounding women.

"I heard that the old nanny said that our emperor is very different from the previous emperor, that the previous emperor created more than ten concubines, even more concubines and Imperial Noble Lady as well as the current emperor only has two concubines, and the Imperial Noble Lady only has a few of us a dozen or so. Most of them are sealed by the Ministry of Rites and the empress, from the looks of it, I wonder if I will have the fortune to serve the emperor in my lifetime."

"This is a good thing. There aren't many women like this emperor, and it's always our turn. Right now, the emperor doesn't have any sons, and this is the biggest thing in the imperial harem. In less than a year, even the Ministry of Rites will pressure the harem." At that time, are you still afraid that you won't have a chance? "

Zhuang Li was shocked, but she did not say anything. This meant that the Emperor did not even have a son, how could he? Did he not have a concubine before he became the Emperor?

Zhuang Li didn't understand much about Wang Su becoming the emperor, so it was likely that he had long planned things out and planned things out step by step based on his personality. He didn't know what sort of twists and turns had happened.

When did he become the emperor? And what kind of wind and rain had he experienced? Was his queen his concubine when he was a prince? She did not know any of this. She only knew that when she entered Ge Ya's Xiao Imperial Palace that year, Wang Su had also returned to the Great Phoenix City through the secret profound pathway that he wanted.

The sky had darkened very early in the winter, and it was not even lunchtime yet. The sky was already completely dark, and the eunuch had already lit the candles in the lantern.

"minister Liu has arrived … General Li to... Prince Bi to... " After the eunuch finished reading, Zhuang Li raised her head and saw the Prince Bi walk past the entrance of the hall. He seemed to have glanced in his direction, and in the blink of an eye, entered the main hall.

The surrounding palace maids had already begun to whisper amongst themselves.

"This is the Prince Bi."

"I wonder if I can take a look inside."

"I heard that it's a man that looks like an immortal."

"I have the honor of meeting her once."

"How is it? And compared to our emperor? "

"They are blood brothers, of course they look like one."

"Have you heard? The former crown prince is now the Prince Bi."

The other maid immediately covered her mouth. "Don't say it, do you want to die?"

Zhuang Li was overjoyed to hear what they had said, she naturally did not understand anything about the matters of the palace. However, she had met that Prince Bi before. He seemed to be a person with many stories. He didn't understand.

As he was listening, the banquet had already begun.