Xianfei and Meifei were both eagerly awaiting the Emperor’s punishment for the Empress, but nothing came of it. They only knew that the Emperor stayed at Zhaoyang Palace for dinner again.
That night, the porcelain in Xianfei’s palace was replaced with a new batch, and Meifei tore apart several of her own paintings.
The low-ranking concubines returned to their own palaces, nervously awaiting bad news, but instead received the good news of a raise in their stipends.
Huh???
What!!!
Long live the Empress, long live, long, long live!
In the following days, the Emperor still didn’t intervene, and the Empress’s garden was filled with laughter and joy all day long.
That evening, Xianfei couldn’t resist coming again to stir up trouble.
"What? The Empress has selected some musicians, playing music every night?" The Emperor frowned and stood up directly, "I will go and see."
The Emperor ignored the hesitant and worried face of Xianfei, and quickly walked out of the palace doors, heading towards Zhaoyang Palace. After a few steps, he turned around and asked the Chief Eunuch, "Did you know about this?"
"Your Majesty, I knew," the Chief Eunuch answered cautiously.
"You knew, why didn’t you report to me?" the Emperor asked angrily.
"Your Majesty, I reported it to you," the Chief Eunuch replied with an aggrieved expression.
"How did you report it?" The Emperor was confused. How does he not remember?
"The Empress also composed some tunes and invited Your Majesty to listen, but you said the memorials hadn’t been reviewed, so you wouldn’t go for now," the Chief Eunuch weakly replied.
Oh, the Emperor recalled. That did happen; he was busy at the time and didn’t pay attention to it. He was never really interested in such entertainments. The Emperor had many responsibilities; sometimes visiting the harem was just for relaxation. His main focus was always on state affairs. (In modern terms, the Emperor was a workaholic.)
"Then I’ll go and take a look now." The Emperor walked a few more steps, then stopped and turned to look at the Chief Eunuch, glancing at the Chief Eunuch’s puzzled gaze, and asked a question, "Are the musicians male or female?"
"They’re all female," the Chief Eunuch quickly replied, as he had inquired about this beforehand. He could sense that the Emperor seemed very pleased with this answer, and then he continued on to Zhaoyang Palace.
Upon reaching the entrance of Zhaoyang Palace, celestial music indeed flowed from within.
The Emperor once again halted the Palace Attendant’s announcement, quietly walking inside. The Chief Eunuch followed on tiptoe, suddenly bewildered as to why every visit to the Empress Palace felt like sneaking around.
The appearance of the Emperor seemed unsurprising to the Empress, who beckoned him over, and gestured for the musicians to continue playing.
The Chief Eunuch widened his eyes, astonished. The Empress was actually so bold? To not pay obeisance and even beckon the Emperor over? Such conduct was unthinkable in the past. Not only would former empresses never dare do this, but even if they did, the Emperor would undoubtedly be exceedingly furious.
Yet now, the Emperor walked over with a smile, sitting beside the Empress.
"Have you had dinner? At this hour you probably have, then would you like some fruit?" Tianmiao gestured to the various fruits on the table, all cut into small, pleasing pieces.
The Emperor used a silver pick to eat a peeled grape, and then widened his eyes. It was very sweet. This was even sweeter than what he had in his own palace, and crucially, it was refreshingly cool. Was it chilled with ice? It didn’t seem like it, if it was, it wouldn’t taste this good.
"These are grapes grown in the garden. If you like them, I’ll have someone pick some for you," the Empress explained, seeing his curiosity.