If not abolished

Chapter 146: Visiting the Palace to Pay Respects

Concubine Wang was dressing up, and Yunqi said as she put on her pearl hairpin, "The Han Palace sent a message a few days ago that the Han Princess was seriously ill, so from now on, the matter of paying respects to the palace will be done by Concubine Guo in the palace."

"Concubine Guo, is she the younger sister of Concubine Guo of the Eastern Palace?" Concubine Wang had rarely seen this concubine. Hearing her last name Guo, she remembered that there was indeed a sister of Concubine Guo's family in the Prince of Han's Mansion.

"Yes, she is Concubine Guo's biological sister. Your Majesty has a good memory."

"It seems that the Princess of Han is seriously ill."

"I heard that the situation is quite serious. Concubine Guo has even taken charge of the affairs of the mansion."

"There is such a thing."

Seeing that the time was almost up, Concubine Wang went out.

Today was the day when the princesses and ladies of state came to the palace to pay respects. Some people who knew each other were telling jokes to each other. Concubine Guo sat there alone, not saying anything. She probably didn't know most of the people here, and it would be bad for her to go over rashly. As for the others, they had the same idea. They were not familiar with her. In the past, it was the princess of Han who came to the palace to pay respects, so they would go up and say a few words. Today, it was just a concubine, so naturally no one dared to approach her.

But there were still many people looking at her, and Concubine Guo naturally sat there obediently, smiling and not saying a word.

Fortunately, this kind of inner torment did not last too long. After the imperial concubine came out, no one could speak.

"Greetings to Her Majesty the Imperial Concubine." Everyone bowed.

"Be flat."

As before, Concubine Wang chatted with some ladies of the court. Concubine Guo didn't have a chance to speak at all. The Crown Princess was also with the Concubine the whole time, so no one paid any attention to her the whole time. Then she could only sit there, twisting her handkerchief, thinking that these people must be doing it on purpose and ignoring her.

This was obviously an injustice to the Imperial Concubine. If it was the Princess of Han who came today, the Imperial Concubine would have naturally spoken to her earlier, but today it was only a concubine who came, and the other ladies also had their ranks and imperial orders, so the Imperial Concubine was almost there, and suddenly said, "Concubine Guo, you have worked hard to come here on behalf of the Princess of Han today."

At first, Concubine Guo didn't realize that the Imperial Concubine was calling her. She was stunned for a moment, and it was only when the maid standing beside reminded her that she reacted and said, "Thank you for your concern, Imperial Concubine. This is what I should do."

"Is the Princess of Han feeling better? Should we send the palace physician to take a look?" the Imperial Concubine asked.

Concubine Guo stood up and said, "In reply to your Majesty, although the princess's illness came suddenly this time, it has improved. The reason why she asked me to come to the palace to pay respects on her behalf is because she is afraid that she will catch a cold and her illness will relapse."

"Well, that's right. If that's the case, then let Princess Han take good care of herself. Don't be anxious. Just be considerate when paying respects."

"Yes."

After coming out of Yikun Palace, Concubine Guo went to the Eastern Palace again. The Crown Princess had also just returned from Yikun Palace and didn't expect her to come.

"There were so many people here just now that I didn't have time to greet the Crown Princess. I came here specially to pay my respects to you." Concubine Guo said politely.

"You are so thoughtful. Hurry up and serve tea to the concubine." The Crown Princess said with a faint smile.

"Actually, I have one more thing to ask of you, but I don't know if it's according to the rules?" Concubine Guo spoke before she even sat down.

"Just speak frankly, Concubine." The Crown Princess thought to herself, it turns out that he has something to ask.

"I have never had the opportunity to enter the palace before. This time I finally got here, and I would like to know if the Crown Princess can allow me to meet my sister." Concubine Guo stated her request.

"Your sister, oh, it's Concubine Guo, right?" The Crown Princess immediately realized that they were sisters.

"Yes. So I want to..." Concubine Guo asked again because she was afraid that the Crown Princess would not agree.

"This is not a difficult task. I will have someone take you there."

"Thank you, Her Majesty the Crown Princess." Concubine Guo said happily.

"Yunjin, go tell Concubine Guo and ask her to get ready."

"Yes."

"Please sit down and have a cup of tea and wait for a while." The Crown Princess invited her to have tea.

"it is good."

After a while, Yun Jin personally took Concubine Guo to Concubine Guo's residence.

"Madam Concubine, this is it. Please go in and I will go back to report."

"Thank you, young lady, for this small gift." Concubine Guo said as she stuffed the thing into her hand.

"You are too polite, Your Majesty." Yun Jin naturally accepted it with a smile.

When Concubine Guo heard some noise outside the door, she stood up and prepared to go check. Sure enough, she saw her sister coming over. She walked quickly over and took her hand.

"You're finally here. I was shocked when I received the news. I didn't expect it to be true." Concubine Guo was also very happy to see her sister. She asked quickly, "Why did you suddenly come to the palace?"

"Sister, can you please wait for me to sit down and explain it to you properly?"

"Yes, yes, yes. Look, I'm so happy that I'm confused. Sit down and eat something." Concubine Guo hurriedly asked her to sit down, and then asked everyone to leave.

"This happened suddenly. A few days ago, the princess consort in the mansion suddenly became seriously ill, so the prince asked me to take charge of the mansion. Now it's time to pay respects every month, and the prince originally said that he would not go and just tell the palace. I thought I could have a chance to see my sister, so I begged the prince and came here." Concubine Guo briefly explained the whole process.

"So that's how it is. So you are doing well in the palace now?"

"No way, it's just that the princess is sick now. When she recovers, I will return everything to her." Concubine Guo said with a wry smile.

"That's better than me. Look at me. Although the prince usually dotes on me and I have a child, there is also a crown princess above me. I hope she will get sick so that I can feel it, but she is in good health."

"Hey, when will we sisters be able to make a breakthrough?"

"It's much easier for you to make a name for yourself than it is for me?" Concubine Guo said in her sister's ear.

Concubine Guo was surprised and asked, "What do you mean, sister?"

"As the saying goes, strike while she's ill. Now you're in charge of the mansion, it's easy to do whatever you want." Concubine Guo gave her advice.

This was a method that Concubine Guo had never thought of. She looked at her sister with wide eyes: "Isn't this too...what if someone finds out?" She was still a little scared. She just wanted to suppress the princess, not to the point of taking someone's life.

"If you think it's not okay, forget it. I just said it casually." Concubine Guo also knew that her sister was timid. In the backyard, she would at most get jealous of others. Not to mention killing people, I'm afraid she doesn't even have the intention to hurt others. "By the way, you came to see me specially. It's not as simple as just to see me, is there anything else?"

"Sister, you're overthinking it. I just came to see you. What could happen?" Concubine Guo shook her head and said.

"Are you really okay?" Concubine Guo asked again.

"No, eh, come to think of it, why didn't I see Zhan Kai? Come to think of it, I haven't seen him yet." Concubine Guo asked after looking around.

"Then you should stay a little longer and meet him when he comes back from get out of class. He is still attending morning classes in the main hall."

"So that's how it is. Isn't it that we have stayed too long? Will the Crown Princess tell us?" asked Concubine Guo.

"It's okay. I still have this power, sister. I just want to invite you to have a meal. There's no need to say anything." Concubine Guo assured her.

"It's because my sister is favored by the prince that she can do this."

"Your Highness the Crown Prince doesn't care about these things. If there is anything else, I have no part in it."

"How could that be? I think my sister is more favored than the Crown Princess."

"What's the use? She is still the Crown Princess, and her son is still His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. I just dote on her a little. His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is very clear about this. No one can shake the position of the Crown Princess and her son. Isn't it just for the Crown Princess to gain face in front of His Majesty and the Imperial Concubine? What's so great about that?"

"Don't be angry, sister. Zhanqi is still young. Maybe he will be successful when he grows up."

"I don't know when he will wait, so I often tell my father to let the children in our family study hard and contribute to the court, so that His Majesty and the prince will remember our family."

"Sister is very thoughtful."

After dinner, Concubine Guo and Zhan Kai played for a while and then prepared to leave the palace and go back.

"I've been out for long enough. It's time to go back." Concubine Guo said goodbye to her sister.

Concubine Guo said reluctantly: "After this separation, we sisters don't know when we will meet again. Maybe we will never have the chance to meet again. Take care of yourselves."

"Yes, I will. My sister is in the palace too."

"Well, I'll take you there."

The two sisters waved goodbye.

In the carriage, Concubine Guo looked at the palace wall for a long time.

"What are you looking at?"

"What didn't you see? I'm afraid you won't have the chance to come again and take a closer look." Concubine Guo said as she lowered the curtain.

"The palace is indeed nice, but the rules are very strict."

"Yes, if it wasn't for seeing my sister, why would I come here and suffer such injustice? Didn't you see that when I paid my respects this morning, none of the people paid any attention to me? Even the Imperial Concubine only spoke to me a few words later. Isn't she just an Imperial Concubine? If the Empress hadn't passed away, how could she have been able to sit there?"

"Your Majesty, be careful what you say."

"Okay, I get it. I hope the princess' illness lasts longer."

"Your Majesty is talking nonsense again." The maid beside her noticed that what she said was becoming more and more wrong.

Concubine Guo had no choice but to shut up, but in her heart she was thinking about what her sister had said to her. If the princess was gone, it was not impossible for her to be made the legitimate wife. However, there was already a prince in the mansion, and even if she gave birth to a son in the future... at least she would have someone to rely on... If she was always suppressed by the princess, her life would be the same as before. It would not be like now, when she was in charge of the entire mansion and could even pay respects to the palace. If she became the Princess of Han, those people today would have to look down on her and would never be left aside again.

The more she thought about it, the more determined she became. She really had to plan for her future. One had to fight for one's life. Even if one lost, the worst that could happen was that one's life was lost.