Chapter 10 It felt great to be the one in charge

Since Consort Yue, the hostess of Hu Zhu Palace, was still grounded, Yun Fenghuang went to Tong Xia Palace with Nian Xuan after dressing up.

“Be careful later.” Noble Consort Shu let her in right after hearing the reporting, enjoining her while dressing, “The Empress has planned and informed Mei Ren Xue, the one lives in Zhao Yuan Ji’s palace, to be the first one among all of you to sleep with My Majesty. However, the Emperor suddenly said that he was going to see you. I don’t know about Mei Ren Xue’s temper since she is new here. However, the hostess of her palace is tough.”

If Mei Ren Xue (Ms. Xue) was an ordinary person, Zhao Yuan Ji might not be so concerned about her. While Ms. Xue, who got the title of Mei Ren firstly like Yun Qingman, was not ordinary. Her father and brother were prominent. Moreover, she was Zhao Yuan Ji’s cousin. There was a big chance that she would stand up for Ms. Xue.

Yun Fenghuang was aggrieved, “I didn’t expect My Majesty went to Xi Xing Building yesterday. I couldn’t stop him after all.”

Then she looked at Noble Consort Shu with pity, and said pitifully, “My lady, please protect me by then. Zhao Yuan Ji is one of the nine Jiu Pins, and she is the cousin of the Empress. If she wants to make things difficult for me, I won’t be able to protect myself.”

Seeing that Noble Consort Shu nodded, she smiled with satisfaction, secretly thinking that she was tactful enough not to go to Yan Fu Palace directly, but came to Tong Xia Palace first and took Noble Consort Shu as the shield.

They were not real sisters, and didn’t have much common topics. Yun Fenghuang achieved her goal and kept silent obediently. It didn’t take long for Yun Qingman to clean up. She was happy to see Yun Fenghuang, so she said, “Fenghuang, you are here. Did Consort Yue embarrass you yesterday?”

“Yesterday on the way back, I saw the servants of the Empress escorted many servants in Ning Bi Hall, which scared me and Nian Xuan.” Yun Fenghuang glanced at a bronze mirror not far away. Noble Consort Shu was of no response. Her dignified and graceful face was reflected in the mirror. She secretly smiled and tried to hide her gloat. “I don’t know if it is because of this. Ning Bi Hall has been quiet since then.”

Yun Qingman froze and said worriedly, “…Consort Yue hasn’t taken any measures yet. Will she make it harder for you later?”

“According to Noble Consort Shu,” Yun Fenghuang said with confidence, “Queen Mother Yuan will definitely keep an eye on her. Besides, after a while, maybe Noble Consort Shu will find a chance to change my living palace. Is that right, My Lady?”

Noble Consort Shu sat still, and said in harmony, “She is right. Qingman, you don’t have to be worried.”

Seeing Yun Qingman wanted to say more, Yun Fenghuang changed the topic, “By the way, when extending greetings, you can kneel in front of me to cover me.” She then repeated what Noble Consort Shu had said just now. “... I never thought that My Majesty would go to my place yesterday, and I don’t know how Zhao Yuan Ji and Ms. Xue would make things difficult for me.”

Yun Qingman was angry, “They are both daughters from the rich and powerful families. Moreover, Zhao Yuan Ji is from the tribe of the Empress. Why are they so narrow-minded?”

She then asked Noble Consort Shu to promise to protect Yun Fenghuang later.

Noble Consort Shu agreed with a sigh, and said that the two of them were so good in relationship, “It seems that you two are biological sisters, while I am not.”

“How could it be possible? We both know you care about us.” Yun Qingman acted like a spoiled child, “Moreover, the three of us are real sisters now… You are my best elder sister!”

In fact, she knew that Noble Consort Shu didn’t have such a close relationship with Yun Fenghuang, but Yun Fenghuang was her best friend. What’s more, it was Fenghuang who took her place and suffered for her. She felt sorry for that and couldn’t help trying to compensate.

Noble Consort Shu was just dressed up. Her hairstyle was almost messed up for her sister nestling in her arms. Feeling helpless, she tapped on her forehead, smiled and said “Naughty girl”. She then ordered the maids to fix her hair after Yun Qingman stood up. At the end, she had breakfast with her two sisters… The breakfast set up a table, but she didn’t eat much. After a few bites, she took tea and rinsed her mouth. Looking at the copper hourglass in the corner of the palace, she said, “It’s about time. Let’s go!”

Other concubines in Tong Xia Palace had gathered outside for a long time, but they did not dare to enter the palace without Noble Consort Shu’s permission. At this moment, they saw she was out, and then they were busy coming to greet.

Noble Consort Shu said a few words to them, mainly talking to some heading young ones about their health, and then she got on her sedan.

As they arrived at Yan Fu Palace, a servant went to report to the Empress, and they were quickly summoned.

At this moment, the concubines were almost here. Just Noble Consort Gui and concubines living in her palace hadn’t arrived. Noble Consort Shu took a seat in the right hand of the Empress. After a few words with the Empress, she changed their topic to Yun Fenghuang, “… Consort Yue is now grounded. According to the rules, people in her palace cannot get out freely without your permission. However, we all know that yesterday the Emperor slept in Fenghuang’s place. She didn’t dare not to express her gratitude to you. Therefore, she went to my place just before dawn.”

After hearing what Noble Consort Shu said, the Empress glanced at Yun Fenghuang, and saw that she was well-behaved. She was well-dressed and not flamboyant. Someone beside the Empress told her the origin of Yun Fenghuang’s hairpin. The Empress was clear that no matter what Yun Fenghuang thought in her mind, her attitude was good. She smiled, “She knows the rules well.”

Then she granted a reward to Yun Fenghuang.

Yun Fenghuang hurried forward to kneel and expressed her gratitude.

“It is customary in the palace that if the newcomer serves the Emperor attentively, she will be advanced.” The Empress said, “Although My Majesty hasn’t sent any message, I think he will award you since you are adorable.”

Then she gave her a promotion as Cheng Gui, the Six-Grade, on the spot.

Most of the concubines standing beside their hostesses were very jealous.

However, Cheng Gui meant nothing to the Empress and Noble Consort Shu. So, after Yun Fenghuang bowed, the Empress didn’t even say anything as a mere formality. She just let her go back to stand beside Noble Consort Shu, and then continued to chat with other consorts of high-grades.

What the Empress did reminded Yun Fenghuang something. When she was the beloved daughter of Xie’s Family, an inferior maid kowtowed with great satisfaction and loyalty to her for Yun Fenghuang said to promote her for she was a rapid maid, while at that time she just left without any patience. She would have forgotten that if she didn’t receive the same treatment as the servant girl.

It felt great to be the one in charge.

Yun Fenghuang thought sincerely that she was unfortunate for having a long way to go. The smooth life that had been arranged step by step was ruined halfway. At this moment, she could do nothing but be content to remain in a lowly position.

And it seemed that she had to bear it for a long time.

The more she thought, the sadder she was.

“Bao Lin Yun.” She still felt wronged, but some people felt she was too proud, and said to her slowly, “Oh I’m wrong. Now you are Cheng Gui Yun. I’ve heard your name is very interesting.”

It was Zhao Yuan Ji whom Noble Consort Shu had mentioned before. As one of the nieces of the Empress, she looked similar to the Empress and Queen Mother Ji. She was elegant for her disposition and outstanding for her appearance. It was easy to figure out that she was from a wealthy and influential family.

At this moment, she took an orange, peeled it slowly, and said unhurriedly, “Yun Fenghuang, right?”

Yun Fenghuang narrowed her eyes.

Her name was named after her sister, Xie Fenghuan. Xie Fenghuan’s name came from a compliment of her father to her biological mother, Ms. Qin, saying that when Ms. Qin was standing in the court waiting for him, she looked like a fairy. After Xie Fenghuan was born, Xie Jian excitedly gave his daughter this name as a memorial.

Later on, some of Xie’s Family thought that the name was too weak and indiscreet. But in Xie’s thriving family, a daughter of the concubine was not important. Therefore, even if someone thought of it, they didn’t bother to rename her.

As for Xie Jian’s legal wife, Yun Fenghuang’s biological mother, Ms. Jiang, she wanted to help with the name changing thing, but it was inconvenient for her to mention it. After all, she knew the origin of this name. Also, Xie Fenghuan’s mother was okay with the name. If Ms. Jiang mentioned to change Xie Fenghuan’s name, she would be wronged to be jealous.

Although Xie Fenghuan was raised as Ms. Jiang’s biological daughter, there was a difference in comparison with the way she treated her own blood, Yun Fenghuang. Ms. Jiang therefore just pretended not to know the implied meaning of the name. When giving name for her biological daughter, she decided to follow the name of Xie Fenghuan for showing their closeness. However, she specially chose “huang” as a part of her name to match “Feng”, which represented uncertainty.

“Huang” (“簧” in Chinese) represented bamboo.

Bamboo had a good implied meaning for it owned backbone and was modest when growing up. Bamboo grew fast. After a spring rain, the mountain would be covered by bamboo. In Ms. Jiang’s opinion, it was great.

As for saying that Fenghuang sounded like phoenix in Chinese, which standing for the Empress, at that time there was no one knowing that Yun Fenghuang would join the Imperial Harem in the future.

The north was distant from the capital, so the people there were not as deferential as those living in Dijing City or its environs to the royal family. Therefore, people in Xie’s Family had never considered that this name was kind of a taboo.

In fact, if Yun Fenghuang hadn’t changed her identity and continued to be the daughter of Xie’s Family, people no matter in the Imperial Court or the Imperial Harem wouldn’t think her name offending the Empress. Because Xie’s Family was not powerful, and they needn’t doubt about it. After all, there were many normal people named “Long” and “Feng”, which represented the Emperor and the Empress, and the royal family hadn’t stopped that.

But now that she was a member of Yun tribe, her name was a big question. Zhao Yuan Ji got a chance to argue, “Everyone knows that Yun tribe is prominent. Otherwise why would there be Noble Consort Shu and Mei Ren Yun here? Their names are no problem. However, Cheng Gui Yun, your name is not proper. Logically speaking, the family of the old minister like Duke Yi shouldn’t make such mistake when giving his niece a name. I don’t know if it is intentional.”

She meant that Yun tribe wanted Yun Fenghuang to be the new Empress.

“Zhao Yuan Ji seems to misunderstand this.” Noble Consort Shu explained with a smile, “Although the name Fenghuang is homophonic with phoenix, actually it stands for a wind-blown bamboo forest. It is said that the ancients recorded phoenix as noble and unsullied. It only rested on phoenix tree and ate Lianshi. Lianshi is the bamboo fruit. Even if the name Fenghuang is related to phoenix, it is just a prayer for serving Your Highness with her meals.”

It was taken for granted that the concubines in the big family should serve the legal wife of the family to eat. In the Imperial Harem, it was also a duty for concubines to serve meals for the Empress.

Even with Yun Fenghuang’s current grade, being able to serve drinks for the Empress would be a gift that allowed her to get close.

Noble Consort Shu resolved Zhao Yuan Ji’s interrogation in a few words, but the latter refused to give up. She handed the peeled orange to the Empress who sat in the middle of them attentively, and took out the silk spar from her sleeve and wiped her fingertips. She continued with a spurious smile, “Noble Consort Shu is really glib. However, even though Cheng Gui Yun is not intended to offend Your Highness, it is still a problem.”

“You are right.” Noble Consort Shu thought that it was not a big deal, and she nodded slightly. In her opinion, Yun Fenghuang should immediately agree to change her name, and even request the Empress or her to give her a new name.

As a result, however, Yun Fenghuang was silent for a moment, then raised her head, and said, “No offense. I don’t agree with you, My Lady Zhao Yuan.”

Noble Consort Shu was stunned. But before she was about to blame Yun Fenghuang, Zhao Yuan Ji had already turned her head suddenly, and her action was so rapid that a tassel decorated with agate and pearls on her head shook fiercely, refracting tiny light, which was reflected with the cold bright in Zhao Yuan Ji’s eyes. She looked more indifferent, “Really?”

After she spit out that, a sense of annoyance flashed in her eyes, because she felt that it was fool for her to condescend to response to Yun Fenghuang.

Her servants were tactful, and immediately blamed Yun Fenghuang, “How dare you, you little thing! Zhao Yuan Ji was talking to Noble Consort Shu. You are nothing but a little Cheng Gui. How dare you interrupt them?”