Chapter 146 I Came Here for a Meal

Pan Yueqing supported her forehead and looked at the group of palace servants sent by the emperor who were kneeling in front of her door for no apparent reason. Her expression was not pleasant, and she asked coldly, "What are you doing?"

"Please, Miss, accept us!" The leading palace maid was dressed no differently from Ping Shang. However, she didn't look as arrogant as Ping Shang. Instead, she was crying pitifully. When she saw Pan Yueqing come out, she kowtowed deeply.

Pan Yueqing didn't think much about it: "No."

"We are second-class palace maids beside His Majesty. There is no reason for His Majesty's palace maids to be returned. If we servants are not accepted by a new master, we will only be punished and sent to the Department of Discipline. Then we will be skinned and have our tendons pulled out, and we won't even have a whole body when we die! Please have mercy, Miss. We will definitely not disturb your peace..."

Pan Yueqing lowered her eyes and looked at the pitiful people in front of her: "What's your name?"

Upon hearing this, the palace maid felt that she had grasped a glimmer of hope and kowtowed deeply to Pan Yueqing: "This servant is called Ping Shan."

Pan Yueqing looked at this palace maid. She knew very well that most of these people were deliberately left behind by Qi Tai. But she couldn't bear to see these lives lost. She let out a sigh: "Take the people behind you and serve Eunuch Wei."

She couldn't accept having someone else's spies by her side, but she also couldn't watch others die. In this regard, she really hadn't made any progress. At the moment, she tidied her sleeves and suddenly seemed to remember something. She turned her head and pointed at Ping Shan: "Wait a moment. You stay."

After more than a dozen palace maids all went to the west wing room to take care of the palace maids and eunuchs who were originally arranged to serve Pan Yueqing, she looked at Ping Shan who was kneeling in front of her with a calm gaze and asked, "Do you know Consort Shu?"

Ping Shan was a bit frightened: "Yes, I do!"

"What kind of person is she?" Pan Yueqing rested her chin in her hand, as if casually bringing up a topic. She didn't trust Ping Shan, but she wanted to know what Consort Shu was like in the eyes of those around the emperor, so that she could make a comprehensive judgment. She definitely couldn't be as presumptuous as she was with Empress Dowager Su before.

Ping Shan hesitated for a long time and didn't dare to answer. Pan Yueqing clicked her tongue and seemed impatient: "Useless thing. If you have a tongue but can't speak, I'll pull out your tongue." Of course, she was just intimidating. But she never expected that Ping Shang, who had been sharp-tongued in front of her just now, had already been dragged down by His Majesty the Emperor and had her tongue pulled out. These words were enough to scare Ping Shan out of her wits.

Then Ping Shan said: "Consort Shu is very kind. But there is one strange thing. In the past, His Majesty doted on her very much. For a while, Consort Shu almost monopolized all the favor in the harem. However..." Ping Shan hesitated and glanced at Pan Yueqing's expression. Only when she saw that the noble one showed no sign of displeasure did she dare to continue: "None of the children she conceived survived."

"Do you know the reason?" Pan Yueqing remained calm. She wasn't surprised by this because there weren't many children who survived in the inner quarters of the Pan Mansion either.

Ping Shan bit her lip: "This servant doesn't know. But the Imperial Physician-in-Chief said that Consort Shu has a constitution that makes her prone to miscarriages..."

"Let's go." Pan Yueqing nodded and said indifferently: "Come with me to Consort Shu's residence."

It turned out that Consort Shu was just about to take a nap. Over the years, she hadn't received the emperor's favor, and the people around her didn't want to serve a concubine who brought no benefits. So there were only two palace maids and a few eunuchs for cleaning left by her side. Now she was lying sideways on a beauty couch, fanning herself and holding a book. Just then, a little eunuch reported that a noble person had come.

Consort Shu raised her head in surprise. Her Lanyu Pavilion rarely had any visitors, and she was glad about that. Usually, only some thoughtless eunuchs would slightly embezzle the things allocated to her. But fortunately, it wasn't a big deal, and she didn't like to argue. There was no reason for newly promoted concubines to come to her place on purpose either.

She hadn't heard of any noble person coming.

Then, Pan Yueqing came in with a smile. When Consort Shu saw her greeting properly, she was a bit delighted and got up to welcome her: "Why are you here?"

"Aunt." Pan Yueqing looked at Consort Shu's smiling face and couldn't help but smile too. Then she turned sideways and motioned for Ping Shan to go out.

Consort Shu knew that there must be something to talk about. She pointed at the embroidered stool in front of the beauty couch and signaled the palace maid beside her to serve tea. After the tea and refreshments were served, she also dismissed the others and smiled at Pan Yueqing. Then she said with a sigh: "You really look so much like her. Your eyebrows and eyes are just like Lan'er's when she was young, but your expression is a bit like your father's."

Pan Yueqing sat on the embroidered stool, picked up the tea cup, and chuckled: "That's good. I've never seen my mother. Since everyone says I'm getting more and more like her, from now on, I'll just look in the mirror and pretend I've seen her!"

Consort Shu saw her joking like this and tapped her forehead, calling her naughty a few times. Then she put away her smile, picked up the tea cup, took a sip, and said indifferently: "What did you come to see me for?"

"To have a meal." Pan Yueqing showed her two little canine teeth and smiled.

"I don't have any delicate food here," Consort Shu slowly put down the tea cup in her hand, called out to the outside, and then the dishes were served. It was just a simple meal of four dishes and one soup. It really didn't look like the standard that a concubine in the harem should have. Pan Yueqing didn't show any disgust. Instead, she sat at the dining table and said to Consort Shu: "I'm tired of eating delicate food. I'm really fed up with being a canary. I don't like staying in this exquisite imperial palace."

"Isn't it good to stay here?" Consort Shu just glanced at Pan Yueqing and smiled faintly: "As far as I know, since your mother passed away, your father hasn't taken another wife. There is no mistress in your family who can make decisions. In the future, when it comes to your marriage, you'll still have to consult your old grandmother. It might be better to just comply with His Majesty's wishes."

Pan Yueqing nodded politely. When Consort Shu didn't seem to want to continue, she frowned and smiled: "If it's so good, why haven't you given birth to a child, Aunt?"

Consort Shu raised her eyes in surprise and then hid all the surprise in her eyes. She stirred the tea cup: "So you really came prepared. It's just that I have difficulty conceiving. There should be records of this in the Imperial Medical Academy. Come to think of it, I just don't have the luck to have children."

Pan Yueqing sighed: "Aunt, you don't have to lie to me. I originally believed you, but you shouldn't have let me sit close to this beauty couch. If I'm not mistaken, there should be musk beads placed in the pearwood of this beauty couch, right?" She put down the tea cup, closed her eyes, and got up to approach Consort Shu: "If I'm not wrong, the dye for your clothes should be made from saffron."

"So what?" Consort Shu didn't show much emotion and looked at Pan Yueqing and said calmly.

"If Aunt really hoped to give birth to a child, then with so many things in your room that can cause miscarriages, you should be furious. But your current reaction is just showing your true thoughts, isn't it?" Pan Yueqing sat back in her original position and looked at Consort Shu's expressionless face: "If a woman doesn't want to have a child with a man, it can only mean that she really hates that man." Consort Shu took a deep breath: "What on earth did you come here for?"