As for her, she had only given birth to a useless daughter after a long and painstaking pregnancy. This really annoyed her to death!
“Reporting to Your Highness. Fifteenth Princess’s wet nurse requests an audience. She said that the princess is suffering from an asthma attack again. Even breathing seems to be a bit difficult…”
Noble Consort Zheng’s complexion turned cold and she interrupted the eunuch’s report, berating, “What use is it to report to this consort? This consort isn’t a doctor! Are you all dead? You don’t know to send for a royal physician from the Royal Physician Building?”
After chasing the wet nurse off with her tirade, Noble Consort Zheng’s mood worsened, and she smacked the tabletop resentfully. “They’re all useless trash!”
This daughter had been an endless bundle of trouble ever since she was born prematurely. Her body was feeble and she easily got infected. The king had only seen this daughter a few times!
On the other hand, the sixteenth prince birthed by Noble Lady He was only half a year younger than Little Fifteenth, yet the king was very much fond of him.
Noble Consort Zheng felt even more miserable after making this comparison.
The old nanny sighed, lamenting how the fifteenth princess was quite pitiful. Even though she was born a noble, she wasn’t favored by her parents. She also had asthma at such a young age. She truly was an ill-starred child.
“Your Highness, do you want to check on Fifteenth Princess?” The old nanny asked Noble Consort Zheng cautiously.
Noble Consort Zheng stated coldly with indignant eyes and pursed lips, “This asthma has been a recurring problem, and even the royal physicians are powerless to cure it. This means that this illness can only be treated by nursing her health properly from day to day. This consort doesn’t have any solutions either! It’s not like she won’t wheeze nor cough if this consort goes to see her!”
The old nanny was stupefied and unable to reply. She nodded without saying anything else and retreated to the side.
Before long, a piece of news spread to Sophora Flower Palace. It said that when the king was returning from court, he encountered a royal maid who fainted from hunger on the side of the path, and he rescued her in passing.
After washing up, the 28-year-old royal maid looked lovely and pitiful. Her figure was voluptuous and her looks excellent. Her appearance was very sweet and pleasant, and even her voice was extremely charming. The king was enraptured on the spot and kept her as his own, bestowing her with the title of “Noble Lady”…
Upon hearing this, Noble Consort Zheng was left dumbstruck on the spot!
Royal maid? What kind of royal maid was so wanton and impudent? To dare seduce the king in broad daylight in front of other people?
It couldn’t be said that Noble Consort Zheng’s position in the palace allowed her to blot out the sky with a single hand, but at the very least, she could put those lowly b*tches intent on clambering up the ladder into their places. Who dared to play such cheap tricks behind her back?
She wouldn’t believe it if no one was behind this!
The king certainly had to play with his new beauty for a few days and would definitely not come to look for her. When Noble Consort Zheng realized this, her insides couldn’t help aching, and she kept feeling that nothing was going right at all.
However, more news spread to the Sophora Flower Palace at night, stating that Her Majesty the Queen especially mentioned to the king that Noble Lady He had laboriously performed a great merit by giving birth to the sixteenth prince.
With the sixteenth prince getting older and older, shouldn’t Noble Lady He’s standing also raise? So as to not depreciate the sixteenth prince’s status.
The king felt that the queen was benevolent and virtuous, having made an excellent point. On top of lavishing praises onto the queen, he also raised Noble Lady He’s title to “Zhaoyi”[1] on the spot.
From now on, Zhaoyi He was the most powerful person below the title of “Consort.” Apparently, this aggravated those women with the title of “Royal Concubine” to no end.
Noble Consort Zheng was so irritated that she didn’t even eat dinner. She cursed at the queen inwardly for being a busybody and felt like everyone was setting themselves against her!
So what if you gave birth to a prince! Who knew if he’d be able to grow up!
Meanwhile, Darling Qiao was totally oblivious to the queer and billowing developments in the royal capital.
She only felt that the two men in the Qin Estate were beyond annoying. They looked for her every day without anything better to do, making it so that she didn’t even have time to herself.
[1] Ranking in the “Royal Concubine” category above “Noble Lady” in the royal harem system.