mtlumby2d Chapter 876 The Legend of the Dark River 28
Chapter 876 The Legend of the Dark River 28
Old Fatty Orange offered a few more words of concern before leaving in high spirits.
*
A few days later, Li Chu's holiday ended, and she officially joined the greeting ceremony.
Yesterday, she sent Liu Zhu back to the Empress, saying that she was already in good health.
The moment the green sign was put up, Old Fatty Orange picked his own sign that very night.
The good news is that Fat Orange will entertain himself when he is serving the emperor.
Although she could do it herself, this was an extra layer of insurance for others, preventing them from being taken advantage of by Fat Orange.
Just as she was about to pay her respects after serving the emperor, Li Chu wanted to see if there were any acquaintances in the harem.
Because I haven't met Da Pang Ju Xing Hua Wei Yu yet, and because I'm not very enthusiastic, I haven't become a Dongguan Noblewoman yet.
Now she only sees two familiar faces.
Xiao Yunzi of Suiyuxuan is Mu Qingyang, and Caiyue, Shen Meizhuang's personal maid, is a woman from the Su family.
I haven't had a chance to meet the others yet, and I don't know their identities.
Rule six, one of which is that one must not be late in paying respects to the Empress.
Therefore, Li Chu asked Xiao Qi to be her alarm clock to wake her up in advance, because she felt that something unexpected was bound to happen at Liu Zhu's place.
Sure enough, it was almost dawn when no one came in.
Unlike before, when she didn't need to pay her respects, Huanbi would come in early to call her.
During this time, Li Chu was also busy.
She found the weaknesses of Huanbi and Cui Jinxi.
Having seen the plot, I roughly know what they care about.
Huanbi cares about her status as a young lady of the Zhen family.
As for Cui Jinxi, she wasn't really sure at first, but she tried mentioning Su Peisheng, and it really worked.
It seems that knowing the plot is very useful.
"My lady, today is your first time paying respects to Her Majesty the Empress since your recovery. Why don't you wear something brightly colored?"
Just as Li Chu closed her eyes and let Liu Zhu comb her hair.
Cui Jinxi came over carrying a red palace dress.
When Li Chu opened her eyes, she realized that this was not a red palace dress at all; it looked just like the clothing of a Qing Dynasty female zombie.
The palace dress, which should have been festive and vibrant, had faded to a dark red, with mottled gray edges and oxidized gold threads that had turned black. The entire dress had an eerie bluish-gray sheen.
This definitely wasn't worn by a living person.
Based on her status, she could simply shake her head and say, "Change to a light purple or silver-white one."
Upon hearing this, Cui Jinxi's eyes darkened, and she left somewhat hesitantly.
Although Li Chu has found the weaknesses of both her and Huanbi, they will no longer make noise in the middle of the night or transform into a person to squat outside the window.
But they will still dig a hole for themselves, just waiting for her to break the rules without realizing it.
However, the people from Liu Zhu and Sui Yu Xuan could already see them.
If she wore this red palace dress today, wouldn't she be violating rule fourteen?
After she finished speaking, she saw Huanbi about to insert a gorgeous hair ornament into her hair.
"Huanbi, change to a white jade hairpin."
Huanbi clearly didn't want to give up easily: "My lady, isn't this a bit too plain?"
"No, it's fine as it is. Don't forget that your mistress always prefers to dress simply."
The phoenix on that hairpin has black eyes; who would dare wear it?
Besides, the rules don't allow her to dress extravagantly.
At this moment, Cui Jinxi returned with a silver-white palace dress.
Li Chu looked at her head; it was a simple double bun, and she wore few head ornaments, all very understated.
With nothing wrong with her head, she changed into the silver-white palace dress.
If she were to go out, she would take Liu Zhu directly to Jingren Palace.
When Li Chu arrived, there was only one person who had arrived before her.
Upon seeing each other, one stared wide-eyed in surprise, while the other smiled slightly.
“Li…Wan Changzai? I am Xin Changzai.”
Bai Hehuai was about to say the words "Li Chu" when she stopped him with a look and he quickly changed his mind.
"May Xin be well." She guessed that coming to pay her respects would likely result in her meeting someone.
However, Bai Hehuai was still not used to her identity and tried to speak like her.
"Guan Chang is in Wan'an."
Since they are of equal rank, a simple greeting is sufficient.
After sitting down, Bai Hehuai took a sip of tea, looked at Li Chu, and then at the palace maids of Jingren Palace standing behind him.
"Sister Xin, why are you looking at me like this? Is there something wrong with me?"
As Li Chu spoke, she looked down and checked her clothes with a puzzled expression.
She was reminding Bai Hehuai not to make his gaze too obvious.
Given their second meeting, she shouldn't be acting like this, always looking at him with strange eyes.
Didn't you see? Did the palace maids next to her notice her?
Although I don't know what everyone's rules are, I imagine the last one should be similar.
This was the conclusion she drew by combining the information from Mu Qingyang and Su Li'an (the woman from the Su family who became Caiyue).
Bai Hehuai was also very clever; he instantly regained his calm expression.
She thought about what she had learned during this time, from everyone's conversations and from getting information out of her personal maid, and decided how to say it.
"It's nothing. I was just thinking that Consort Wan had been frightened and fell ill before. Now it seems that your complexion has recovered quite well."
Upon hearing this, Li Chu simply smiled and offered a polite reply.
With people watching, they couldn't say anything strange.
But Bai Hehuai had already made up his mind to find a suitable reason to visit Suiyuxuan.
One of her rules was that one could approach Zhen Huan, but it was not advisable to rush to her door before even meeting her.
They were afraid something bad might happen, but now that they saw it was Li Chu, everyone was naturally happy.
As the two were talking, more people arrived.
It was Consort Cao, Consort Li, and Consort Jing.
"Greetings to Consort Jing, Consort Li, and Noble Lady Cao."
Consort Jing is currently the highest-ranking among them, so naturally she is the one to speak: "No need for formalities, sisters, please rise."
When Bai Hehuai got up, he secretly winked at Mu Yumo, who had become Consort Cao, and then gestured for her to look at Li Chu.
Upon seeing Mu Yumo, Li Chu knew that her rule seven was true.
Moreover, the two of them must have met many times and communicated privately.
Mu Yumo smiled at Li Chu.
When they were paying their respects, everyone first brought up Li Chu and started to criticize her for being weak, useless, and unlucky.
She maintained Zhen Huan's sharp wit and spoke without batting an eye, leaving everyone speechless while trying her best not to offend anyone.
The Empress still maintained her kind and gentle demeanor, and her words, though seemingly harmless, were actually a subtle attempt to sow discord.
Finally, she also gave Li Chu some gifts under the pretext of nourishing his body and serving the emperor.
Li Chu thanked her directly, intending to put the item in the warehouse after returning home and not use it, as she remembered Rule Six.
After paying their respects, Li Chu left with Shen Meizhuang.
An Lingrong has not yet served the emperor, so there is no need for her to come and pay her respects.
Thinking back to the incident a few days ago, when she returned the jade intact to its rightful owner.