Noble Lady Yuan did not care about what Consort Li was thinking. She just looked around the parlor then said: "Younger sister really is something. Elder sister knows that you don't have much money on hand, but didn't elder sister send over ten thousand taels of banknotes on that day? Why don't you take it out and use it? Perhaps it's because younger sister has never taken care of a palace banquet, thus you don't have much experience. Speaking of, palace banquets really aren't done like this. "
Consort Li felt a little embarrassed, but Noble Lady Yuan continued: "Could it be that you're worried that you'll be tight on money after spending it all? Hah, you! If you run out of money, just tell elder sister about it. Even if elder sister has to sell everything, I will help you! It must be known that the two of us are sisters. "
"Hmph!" Consort Li finally spoke up, her tone filled with sarcasm: "That's right! When this One runs out of money, this One will ask for it from you because you have more money than this One. You have the support of your family, while this One does not. That's why I never dared to be extravagant. You also know that we are sisters, but this One just does not understand. We are both biological children, so why is it that the Liu family is able to wholeheartedly protect elder sister while completely ignoring a daughter like me? "
Noble Lady Yuan laughed, "Look at what younger sister is saying. Why is it that the family is not worried about younger sister? Every time that I write a letter to ask about younger sister, the family will always ask about younger sister in their replies. Mother even said that ever since younger sister entered the palace, you have not had any contact with the family. I don't know what you're thinking, but I fear that you feel that your family will be a burden to you, thus you don't dare go up and curry favor. "
Once these words came out, there was a fact that Consort Li had to admit. It was true that ever since she entered the palace, she had not had any contact with the family. In fact, when her father and mother had come to the palace to visit, she had deliberately avoided meeting them. It was not that she had done it on purpose. It was just that when she had just entered the palace, she had been timid and did not dare interact with her family. Later on, her personality slowly became even more withdrawn, and she did not want to see anyone. But no matter what, it was her fault. It was not right to blame her mother's family.
Noble Lady Yuan's words were clearly heard by everyone in the parlor. For a while, there were quite a few people that began to discuss Consort Li in private. Many of their words criticized her for being heartless, yet she was now blaming someone else. Even Zhu Kongshan understood at this moment why Consort Li had given her such a hard time. The problem really did lie with Noble Lady Yuan.
"Mr. Heng." Xuan Tiange moved closer to Feng Yu Heng's ear and said: "Did you know? The day before, Noble Lady Yuan had sent Consort Li a theatrical troupe, and she had encouraged Consort Li to invite the Empress to watch the play. Consort Li foolishly thought that her sister had good intentions, so she invited the Empress over. And guess what? That theatrical troupe actually performed a play of the head wife and concubine fighting, yet the head wife lost. Don't you think it's funny? "
Ren Xifeng smirked from hearing this, "In the imperial palace, the Empress is naturally the head wife. Although the imperial concubines have noble statuses, they are still just concubines. Performing that sort of play in front of the Empress, the Empress has been offended quite badly by Consort Li. "
"So Consort Li treated Noble Lady Yuan's people with this sort of attitude?" Feng Yu Heng nodded, "If it's like this, they should be given some face." She reached into her sleeve and dug around. The banknotes that she had prepared to give to Consort Li were still inside! "Although I don't like Consort Li, compared to Noble Lady Yuan … I am still happy to cause some trouble for the Eighth Prince's mother."
She curled up the corners of her lips and stood up, slowly walking toward Consort Li.
Xuan Tiange did not know how she was going to cause trouble, but when had Feng Yu Heng ever disappointed anyone? Among her imperial brothers, the one that Xuan Tiange disliked the most was her Eighth Brother. In fact, she disliked him even less than her Third Brother. The reason was very simple. Over two years ago, her Eighth Brother had brought up the matter of her going to Gu Shu for a political marriage with Emperor Tianwu, but it was rejected by Emperor Tianwu. But this matter still made its way into her ears. From that moment on, she hated her eighth brother. Even to this day, she could not let it go.
When Feng Yu Heng arrived in front of Consort Li, she happened to hear Noble Lady Yuan raise her voice and say: "That day, I sent over ten thousand taels in banknotes. I was thinking that younger sister was going to hold a banquet, and it could help with the emergency. As a matter of fact, I brought another ten thousand taels in banknotes today. I was worried that younger sister would spend all of the money from before on the banquet and would be short on cash. " While she spoke, she really did hand over a banknote to Consort Li. Staring straight at Consort Li, her eyes were filled with the words "ill intentions."
Someone present complained about the injustice: "Why is Noble Lady still giving money? How could today's banquet have cost ten thousand taels? I fear that not even ten taels would have been used. Since the money from before was not used, there's no need for Noble Lady to give this money today! " Consort Li was not presentable, causing the madams and young misses below to lose all respect. Even if she had the position of imperial concubine, at this moment, they felt that Consort Li was not even comparable to Noble Lady Yuan.
"Don't be unreasonable!" Noble Lady Yuan feigned anger, "How could you speak nonsense in front of Her Highness Consort Li? Why have you not quickly apologized! "
Being reprimanded by Noble Lady Yuan, the young miss that had just spoken stood up very unwillingly. Facing Consort Li, she bowed and said: "Would Her Highness please forgive me. This official's daughter spoke too quickly. It won't happen again."
Consort Li, however, snorted coldly and said to Noble Lady Yuan: "What she said is correct. Earlier, she said that it was a congratulatory gift. Since the congratulatory gift has already been given, there's no need to give me the banknotes today."
"How could that be fine. I specially brought them over. Younger sister, you …"
Before Noble Lady Yuan could finish speaking, Feng Yu Heng could not continue to wait. Gently clearing her throat, she said: "You two, Heng Heng will interject. Today is Her Highness Consort Li's banquet. Regardless of whether or not the banquet is appropriate, it's just to provide everyone with a chance to gather in the palace. It's just a formality. There's no need to focus on the details. " When she spoke, she looked at the young miss that was still kneeling and waiting for Consort Li to call her up. These words were clearly meant for her to hear. "This young miss looks unfamiliar. You should have never participated in a banquet in the past, right? That would mean that you're the daughter of a fourth rank official or lower. A lowly fourth rank official's daughter actually dares to act so impudently in Zhang Ning Palace. Imperial Concubine I really want to know which lord your father is? If I am fortunate enough to meet him at a later date, I must ask how exactly his family teaches their daughters. "
That girl was not afraid of Consort Li because her family had told her that Consort Li was easy to bully. They had also said that they were on the side of the Eighth Prince and Noble Lady Yuan. As for the reason that she was unable to hold back her words, it was because Noble Lady Yuan was sitting there, and she felt that she had someone to rely on. But who knew that Feng Yu Heng would suddenly appear.
She was not afraid of Consort Li, but that did not mean that she did not fear Feng Yu Heng. Now that she heard Feng Yu Heng say this, her legs could not help but tremble. She had been kneeling in a half-kneeling position, and her voice trembled as she spoke: "Princess, this official's daughter knows her wrongs. This official's daughter knows her wrongs."
Feng Yu Heng, however, did not pay any more attention to her. She just said to Consort Li: "When I came, I was only concerned with chatting with Imperial Concubine and forgot about the important matter." While saying this, she handed over the banknotes of one million taels of silver that she had prepared, "Imperial Concubine has been restored to the position of imperial concubine. Heng did not know what to give as a congratulatory gift, thus she simply asked for something light. Imperial Concubine, take care of this one million taels of silver. It's a bit of appreciation from me and His Ninth Highness. "
Once this "one million taels" was said, it shocked the madams and young misses below. Even Zhu Kongshan could not help but click her tongue.
One million taels! This was not a small amount. Royal Consort Yu's generosity was something that nobody expected. There were even some that began to guess why Royal Consort Yu would give such a large gift. But when they thought about it, the Sixth Prince was currently living in Ji 'an Prefecture. They had heard that he was working as a teacher there. Thinking about it, his relationship with Royal Consort Yu was quite good. Perhaps this money was also given to the Sixth Prince.
But regardless of who it was given to, the money ended up in Consort Li's hands. Consort Li was so happy that her face was blooming. Receiving it, she did not forget to tease Noble Lady Yuan: "You're so generous even though you're not related."
Noble Lady Yuan also had a bit of an awkward expression; however, she forcefully squeezed out: "How is it not related? Royal Consort Yu is His Ninth Highness's official princess. His Ninth Highness is His Highness the Sixth Prince's brother. "Although she said this, she had already cursed Feng Yu Heng a thousand times in her heart.
Her original intention today was not purely to tease Consort Li. Instead, she just wanted to have Consort Li see a reality. That was: Even if she had climbed back to the position of imperial concubine, she did not have any connections, and she did not have any money. If she wanted to gain a foothold in the palace, it was impossible to rely on just her position. She wanted to have Consort Li see the strength of her side. Regardless of whether it was inside or outside the palace, regardless of whether it was the Eighth Prince's side or hers, this was something that Consort Li could not compare to. She also wanted to have Consort Li understand the difference between the Sixth Prince and the Eighth Prince. In order to help her son obtain the throne, Consort Li had already fallen too far behind. She could not even catch up.
But who knew that Feng Yu Heng would actually support Consort Li. This ruined the situation that she had set up. For a while, the situation could not be suppressed. Instead, it became the group of people with the lowest status in the parlor.
Noble Lady Yuan had no place to put her face, and the madams and young misses below felt even more awkward. Seeing Consort Li pull Feng Yu Heng along for a long while, Noble Lady Yuan felt that she truly could not continue to remain here, thus she quickly found an excuse to leave.
With her leaving, Feng Yu Heng had no intention of continuing to deal with Consort Li, thus she returned to her own seat. Many people wanted to imitate Noble Lady Yuan and leave; however, Consort Li had become interested and even arranged for everyone to drink tea. She also smiled and said a few words to the young misses. This caused them to feel a little reluctant to leave, and they could not bring themselves to leave.
In truth, the young misses that had come today all had their own thoughts. There were even many that had not come purely for Zhu Kongshan. Instead, it was because they already had feelings for the Sixth Prince. They had come into the palace and prepared a gift for Imperial Concubine Li in hopes of receiving Imperial Concubine Li's favor, but there was nothing that could be done about the family standing on the eighth prince's side, which put both sides in a difficult position. At this time, seeing that Noble Lady Yuan had been defeated, their original thoughts began to stir, thus someone took the initiative to speak up and change the subject, saying: "In truth, this sort of palace banquet is a little better. It will make things less awkward, and we can speak with Her Highness Imperial Concubine Li at such a close distance. It's just like speaking with an elder at home. It's very intimate!"
"That's right, that's right!" These words were met with agreement from a small group of people, as someone continued to say: "I heard that in the past, everyone would sit very far away, and there would be singing and dancing in the middle. Not to mention how noisy it was, but it was also very awkward. Today, Zhang Ning Palace is different. Thinking about it, Consort Consort Li really is considerate."
Once this was said, Consort Li's mind became clear. That's right! Although she was a little unhappy today, she had Feng Yu Heng and Xuan Tiange to support her. There was also that ten thousand taels of banknote that had blinded Noble Lady Yuan. As long as she thought of Noble Lady Yuan's dejected appearance, she felt very happy!
She could not help but sigh at how good Feng Yu Heng was. Looking over, she saw that Feng Yu Heng was currently chatting with her friends about something. There was a smile on her face, and she looked both charming and pretty. How could she look like a young married woman? The more she looked, the more she felt that this girl was a good match for her son. She could not help but sigh: "If Feng and Heng Heng were to get married, how great would that be!"
Zuo quickly tugged at her sleeve in fear and lowered her voice, saying: "Consort, you absolutely must not say such things today!"
Consort Li also knew that she had misspoken and resentfully shut her mouth. Looking all around and seeing that nobody had noticed, she finally relaxed. But when she looked around, she saw that Feng Fendai, who had been sitting closest to the door, had stood up and was walking toward her with a smile …
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