On The Self-Cultivation Of A Favored Concubine - Chapter 27

Lulu entered the room, tidied up the things, and was momentarily surprised to see the light red gauze curtain lying on the floor.

“Niangniang, why did taking a warm bath turn into such a mess?” Lulu carefully stepped over the pooled water on the floor and saw the disarray behind the gauze curtain.

Fortunately, the few peach blossoms had already vanished due to lack of spiritual energy to sustain them. Otherwise, Lulu would have been even more puzzled.

Liu Qinglan, wrapped in a small blanket, sat nearby. Her nose was red, and her expression was listless, having lost the mood to banter with Lulu.

Lulu summoned several palace maids to help clean and tidy the room. After checking the time, she said, “Niangniang, it’s getting late. You should rest.”

Seeing her Niangniang sitting quietly and properly on the edge of the bed, she felt there was something different about her than usual, but didn’t think too much of it, only assuming she was tired from playing in the water during the day and was simply too sleepy. She thoughtfully closed the doors and windows, blew out the candles, and only left after seeing her settled in for the night.

Liu Qinglan was preoccupied with the matter of the black mist. Although she felt physically exhausted, she forced herself to stay awake, planning to go find the Peach Blossom Fairy.

After everything became completely quiet, she crawled out of the small blanket, transformed into her original form, and expertly jumped out of the window, heading towards the nearby Imperial Kitchen.

A barrier was set up around the dense foliage of the peach tree. Liu Qinglan hadn’t noticed it before, but when she came over today, she vaguely sensed it.

“Peach Blossom Fairy?”

Liu Qinglan, with some worry, squeezed into the peach branches and found the Peach Blossom Fairy lying inside.

A peach petal landed on Liu Qinglan’s snow white paw, and a gentle, rosy aura diffused.

“That black mist is much stronger than before. Someone is deliberately nourishing it,” the Peach Blossom Fairy’s voice was faint, low, and carried a hint of weakness.

Liu Qinglan nudged her small, furry head closer to her and extended her pink cat tongue. “Are you hurt? Did that peach blossom whip use up all your spiritual energy?”

The Peach Blossom Fairy disdainfully pushed her cat head away. “I’m fine. It’s you, why is your nose so red and dry?”

Liu Qinglan sniffed. “Is it?”

But she couldn’t help sneezing.

The Peach Blossom Fairy sensed the spiritual energy on her body and smiled. “Have you been sticking to the Empress Niangniang every day lately? That’s good. This way you’ll have the power to protect yourself. You must focus on cultivation and not forget the skills for survival in the mountain forest.”

Liu Qinglan gently patted her with her paw. “I said I’d cover for you, so I definitely won’t forget. Here, I’ll pass some spiritual energy to you.”

This time the Peach Blossom Fairy did not refuse, as she had expended a great deal of effort to warn Liu Qinglan just now.

“Someone in this inner palace is nourishing the black mist, undoubtedly to harm people. You were pushed into the spotlight by the Emperor and receive the most attention, so you especially need to be careful. Fortunately, you are a demon, not an ordinary mortal girl, and finding a way to protect yourself is more than feasible,” the Peach Blossom Fairy said earnestly. “I’ve been here longer than you, following Little Taoxi. I see that the Empress Niangniang is kind-hearted and holds no malice towards you concubines. From now on, you should stick close to her, rub off more spiritual energy, strengthen your cultivation, and you can even protect her. If the position of Empress changes hands, your lives will likely become much harder.”

Liu Qinglan was feeling sleepy while listening. While passing spiritual energy, she pecked her head like a small chick, about to fall asleep at any moment. Dimly hearing the Peach Blossom Fairy telling her to stick to the beautiful Empress, she nodded vigorously, indicating she strongly agreed with the suggestion.

The Peach Blossom Fairy watched her nodding even in her confusion, feeling both annoyed and amused. “I think you caught a cold, which is why you’re so tired. You’d better go back quickly and sleep soundly. These matters can be discussed later, there’s no rush.”

Liu Qinglan genuinely felt too tired, her limbs weak, so she didn’t argue with her. After transferring enough spiritual energy, she stood up, ready to return to her sleeping quarters.

Just as she stood up, Liu Qinglan collapsed back down like a cat. Oh dear, why was she so weak? She hadn’t even used the Peach Blossom Makeup today!

Her soft limbs sprawled on the peach branches, trembling delicately. Liu Qinglan sniffed, wobbled and stood up again. She still had to hurry back, she couldn’t just lie here all night, or she might really be caught.

The Peach Blossom Fairy looked at her worriedly. “Your sickness is quite serious.”

“…”

Liu Qinglan stubbornly got up, insisting she was fine!

After expending a great deal of effort, Liu Qinglan finally returned to her sleeping room. She crawled back into the small blanket and wrapped herself up tightly.

But the truth proved that her sickness was indeed serious.

The next morning, Liu Qinglan failed to get out of bed.

She lay weakly on the bed, covered by the small blanket, and listlessly watched Lulu enter.

Lulu was carrying a wooden basin of water for washing up. She was surprised to see her Niangniang, who was usually up and actively moving around at this hour, still lying in bed. She hurried to the bedside and saw Liu Qinglan’s flushed face. “Niangniang? Did you catch a cold?”

She leaned over and felt Liu Qinglan’s forehead; it was indeed burning hot. Lulu immediately switched into her incessant chatter mode. “Didn’t I tell you not to play in the water? Look, you caught a cold. You shouldn’t go to Chenxin Palace to pay respects today. I’ll go invite the Imperial Physician to examine you. Oh, honestly, being sick is the worst suffering.”

Liu Qinglan looked at Lulu’s frantic activity with tearful eyes. She didn’t want to be sick either. And she was normally very healthy the number of times she’d been sick in the hundreds of years in the mountain forest was negligible, and she could always recover by just chewing some random herbs.

She thought about it. It probably had something to do with playing in the water yesterday, then fighting with the black mist, and then soaking in cold water feeling miserable. Liu Qinglan pitifully “meowed” internally, rolled over and curled up in the blanket, groaning weakly.

Lulu first placed a warm towel on Liu Qinglan’s forehead, then decided to go out and announce to the world: Our Niangniang is sick!

She mainly wanted to announce it to the Emperor.

This was such a good opportunity to show the Emperor’s affection for his favored concubine.

The Emperor had just returned from court. Hearing the eunuch report the news, he waved his hand. “Send an Imperial Physician to examine her, and also send over some medicinal herbs and tonics. Say they are from Us, and send them over with great fanfare.”

“Yes.” The young eunuch understood. His Majesty didn’t plan to visit personally; he would use these items as compensation.

Lulu looked at the continuously arriving gifts and rewards, but saw no sign of the Emperor himself, and felt a little disappointed. Speaking of which, aside from the few days after bringing Niangniang back from the mountain forest, the Emperor had visited a few times, but hadn’t come since. In fact, everyone in the palace was already used to it, so Lulu only felt bothered for a moment before moving on to other tasks, having adjusted her mentality very well.

Liu Qinglan was curled up in the blanket. Yesterday, she painfully lost the Empress’s robe she had painstakingly scavenged. Today, she couldn’t go to Chenxin Palace to see her. The thought that she might not see her for the next few days made her truly miss her… and the spiritual energy on her body~

In Chenxin Palace, the concubines all knew that Consort Yue, having just been promoted, was sick and couldn’t come to pay respects.

Consort Kang sat in her seat, admiring her newly dyed nails, thinking that this trick of feigning sickness to avoid paying respects was something she had long grown tired of. Why was Consort Yue still pulling this stunt?

Everyone silently assumed this was merely a display of the favored concubine’s arrogance, but they dared not point it out, as Liu Qinglan’s rank was now higher than theirs, and they could no longer openly mock her.

Xie Xuanzhao sat above, somewhat distracted. Her heart was now flying towards Qinglan Palace.

Yan Mo stood to the side, keenly aware of the Empress Niangniang’s thoughts. She stepped forward knowingly and said, “Niangniangs, it’s getting late. Please return to your respective palaces to rest. Today’s morning greetings end here.”

“Ah, it’s only Mao Shi (5-7 AM) now,” Consort Kang was not ready to leave. She looked up at the Empress Niangniang. “I wanted to spend more time with older sister.”

Xie Xuanzhao glanced at her and asked plainly, “Consort Kang, have you finished transcribing the Buddhist scriptures you mentioned before?”

“…”

Consort Kang, who had impulsively suggested transcribing the Buddhist scriptures for the Empress but had only worked on it intermittently, lowered her head guiltily. “Not yet. Alright, I’ll go back and continue transcribing.”

The concubines left Chenxin Palace one after another. Consort Kang looked at the Qinglan Palace, which was separated by only one wall, with mixed feelings, and sighed.

“Niangniang, Consort Yue really is sick. I plan to visit her later,” a voice suddenly came from behind.

Consort Kang turned around and saw the slender figure of Concubine Yu standing before her, head bowed.

Inside the screened sleeping chamber, Xie Xuanzhao held Xue Tuan and sat on the hibiscus couch, watching Yan Mo instruct, “Go to the inner room and prepare some precious medicinal herbs, and also prepare some other things. We’ll go to Qinglan Palace later.”

Yan Mo bowed and assented, taking the key to the inner room.

The inner room was connected to the secret chamber.

The younger sister heard the movement outside, flipped off the stone table, and walked out.

Yan Mo took a few packets of medicinal herbs from the sandalwood box and wrapped them up in a bundle.

“It seems what you said is true,” the younger sister said lightly. These medicinal herbs were specially prepared by the Xie family head for the eldest miss, and now the miss was going to give them to Consort Yue. In her memory, besides those close to her, Xie Xuanzhao had never been so generous to an outsider. This was treating Consort Yue as one of her own.

Yan Mo turned to see her and smiled, shaking her head. “See, in the end, I have to clean up your mess. But I can’t blame you; you stay in the secret chamber all day, and we didn’t explicitly tell you, so it’s normal that you don’t know.”

“…”

The younger sister pursed her lips, watching her busily prepare. She wanted to speak but hesitated, finally unable to help herself. “Has the Miss and that Consort Yue gotten this close?!”

Yan Mo held the bulging large bundle, thoughtfully. “Perhaps better than I imagined. Anyway, remember this: Consort Yue is already the Eldest Miss’s person.”

“Understood.” The younger sister returned to the secret chamber, holding her sword, leaving her older sister a cool silhouette.

Xie Xuanzhao finished tidying her hair and makeup in the mirror, then changed into a more comfortable palace dress. She didn’t intend to go to Qinglan Palace ostentatiously; it wasn’t the right time for the outside world to know that the relationship between the Empress and the newly favored concubine was actually very good.

When Yan Mo came out carrying a large package, Xie Xuanzhao glanced at it casually, then looked again. “!”

Yan Mo held the large package she had meticulously prepared as a matter of course. “Niangniang, I heard that Miss Qinglan suffered some grievance yesterday. We should show some consideration.”

Xie Xuanzhao automatically took Liu Qinglan’s gushing nosebleed from last night as the “grievance” in Yan Mo’s words. She thought for a moment. “Then bring more things over. Qinglan needs a good supplement.”

Yan Mo nodded with a serious expression.

In Qinglan Palace, the Imperial Physician had just finished his examination. Lulu personally took the prescription to fetch the medicinal herbs, planning to decoct the medicine herself. Lulu was always cautious about such things, afraid of being poisoned halfway.

Liu Qinglan was not used to being waited on by others, so she dismissed the palace maids, lying alone in the small blanket, rubbing her head against the water-soaked towel, whimpering softly.

Later, feeling restless, she got up, opened the cabinet beside her, and pulled out a round fan, a jade hairpin, and a portrait of a beautiful woman.

With no one around, she indulged her nature, simply transformed into her original form, and used her paws to hold and drag these items, rustlingly moving them onto the bed. Then she curled up the whole mass and lay on top contentedly, patting the portrait with her tail and gently kneading the small round fan with her paw. She found plenty of amusement by herself.

“Niangniang, the Empress is here to see you,” Lulu suddenly called from outside, lifting the door curtain. “Quickly tidy up; don’t look too haggard and be overshadowed.”

Liu Qinglan swiftly changed back into human form, pressing down on the items she had salvaged from the Empress, and in her haste, stuffed them all under the covers. She was both surprised and delighted. “Where? Where is Empress sister?”

Then she remembered what she had just involuntarily been doing. Her face, flushed from the cold and fever, turned even redder. She sat up wrapped in the blanket, only revealing her small head. “Lulu, quickly help me check. How do I look?”

Lulu lifted the door curtain, her eyes slightly widened as she looked at her Niangniang, whose eyes held a hint of a blush and whose face was flushed. Uh, very good, very seductive it made people want to peel off that small blanket she was wrapped in.

Lulu took a few steps closer. “Niangniang, why have you wrapped yourself up like a gift!” She was just missing a ribbon to be perfectly packaged for delivery.

“Am I? Am I?” Little Demon Liu was instead excited, and she tightened the blanket around herself. Then I’ll just sit here and wait for the Empress Niangniang to arrive.