latelenovela Chapter 184 Jasmine's Favor
Chapter 184 Jasmine's Favor
Time flies, and three days have passed in the blink of an eye. On this morning, sunlight streamed into the room through the window. Su Nuannuan got up early, called Li Quan, and instructed him to go to the Imperial Household Department to hang up her green plaque.
Then, she carefully instructed Xiao Xizi, whom she had summoned to guard the palace gate, to keep a close eye on the Emperor's palanquin's movements. If the Emperor's palanquin was spotted approaching the palace gate, he was to immediately report to her.
Night fell quietly, and the first night passed peacefully without the Emperor's arrival. The second night was the same; still, the Emperor was nowhere to be seen. Su Nuannuan couldn't help but feel puzzled, wondering if the Emperor had truly changed his ways. Just as she was pondering this, the third night arrived.
That night, the moonlight was as clear as water, and the stars twinkled. Xiao Xizi, the gatekeeper, saw the emperor's carriage from afar and hurried in to report.
Su Nuannuan quickly called over Jasmine, who was all dressed up, to help her relax and sing her a little tune.
"My beloved concubine truly has a refined and leisurely lifestyle," the Emperor said with a smile as he entered.
Upon seeing this, Su Nuannuan quickly stood up, respectfully bowed to the Emperor, and said in a sweet voice, "Your Majesty, I pay my respects."
Then, she gently reprimanded Li Quan, who followed the emperor in, saying, "The emperor has arrived. Why didn't you announce his arrival? You caused me to fail to come out and greet him in time. If you have neglected the emperor because of this, can you bear the responsibility?"
Upon hearing this, Li Quan trembled with fear and immediately knelt down to kowtow and beg for forgiveness. At this moment, the Emperor chuckled and explained, "Never mind, never mind. I heard someone singing a little tune here and found it quite interesting. On a whim, I wanted to see who it was, so I didn't send anyone to announce it."
Upon hearing this, Su Nuannuan gently patted her chest, took a breath, then turned to Jasmine standing to the side and smiled slightly, softly calling out, "Jasmine, come quickly and pay your respects to the Emperor."
Upon hearing this, Jasmine obediently stepped forward, bowed gracefully, and said in a sweet voice, "This servant Jasmine greets Your Majesty."
"Your Majesty, look, this is the person who is good at singing folk songs. If Your Majesty likes to listen, why not bring her back to the palace and have her sing for you? What do you think?" Su Nuannuan suggested to the emperor in a sweet and coquettish voice.
The Emperor glanced casually at Jasmine standing to the side, a faint smile playing on his lips: "How could I possibly take away what my beloved concubine loves!"
Su Nuannuan quickly replied, "Oh dear, everything I have belongs to Your Majesty, so how can you talk about 'stealing' it?"
"In that case, why don't we have Jasmine sing a couple more songs?" After saying that, Su Nuannuan looked at the Emperor with expectant eyes.
The Emperor smiled and nodded in agreement. Su Nuannuan then turned to look at Jasmine and gave her a meaningful look. Jasmine instantly understood, took a deep breath, tried to calm her nervousness, and began to sing a melodious tune.
Sitting to the side, Su Nuannuan secretly glanced at the Emperor, who was engrossed in the tune. Seeing his blissful and captivated expression, she couldn't help but feel disdain in her heart: "Hmph, he keeps saying he doesn't want it, but he's still so engrossed in it. He really wants it but doesn't want it."
Just then, without warning, Su Nuannuan suddenly sneezed loudly. "Achoo—" This loud sneeze was like a thunderclap, instantly shattering the original peaceful and harmonious atmosphere, and abruptly interrupting Jasmine's little tune.
Realizing she had caused trouble, Su Nuannuan turned pale and hurriedly stood up. She quickly walked to the Emperor and knelt down to beg for forgiveness: "Your Majesty, please forgive me. I have inadvertently disturbed Your Majesty. Please punish me."
Seeing this, the Emperor quickly reached out to help Su Nuannuan up and asked with concern, "My beloved consort, please rise. Are you feeling unwell? Should we summon the imperial physician to examine you?"
"Your Majesty, my health is truly failing me. I may have caught a chill again. I am afraid I will be unable to serve Your Majesty tonight. I beg Your Majesty's forgiveness."
"But this has truly disturbed Your Majesty's enjoyment." Su Nuannuan said, bowing slightly with an apologetic expression.
The Emperor sat on the small couch and remained silent for a long while before slowly saying, "Since my beloved concubine is unwell, I will not force her to continue."
"Miss Jasmine sings such beautiful tunes; why not have her come back to the palace with me and sing a few more songs for me?"
"Thank you for your understanding, Your Majesty. This arrangement is excellent." Su Nuannuan quickly replied, then turned to look at Jasmine beside her and whispered, "Jasmine, hurry up and catch up with His Majesty. Don't neglect His Majesty's presence. Be sure to give a good performance of your best piece."
Upon hearing this, Jasmine quickly curtsied and then hurried to the Emperor's side, leaving Su Nuannuan's palace with him.
After the Emperor and Jasmine had walked away, Su Nuannuan finally let out a long sigh of relief. She thought to herself, "That's good. I shouldn't need to serve the Emperor again for a while. I can rest and recuperate for a while."
The next day, just as she got up, Yaoqin reported that the Emperor had bestowed upon Jasmine the title of Consort Jasmine, and that the Empress herself had arranged for her to reside in Qingli Pavilion, with two maids specially assigned to serve her. Upon hearing this news, Su Nuannuan couldn't help but smile slightly, thinking that Jasmine was indeed a fortunate person.
The location of Qingli Pavilion was neither close to nor far from where the Emperor resided. However, she was the only mistress in Qingli Pavilion.
Before the many new brides even entered the palace, the Empress secretly pondered: She must take good care of this Lady Mo, no matter what, and absolutely cannot allow her to encounter any misfortune. Otherwise, if anything were to happen to Lady Mo, the Empress feared that Consort Zhuang would seize the opportunity to send the Emperor to her own palace.
For the Empress, serving the Emperor was only required on the first and fifteenth of each month, as well as on some important festivals. As for having the Emperor stay in her palace every night, that was out of the question. After all, she didn't have that much energy to serve the Emperor.
Meanwhile, when Consort Jia learned that her second-class maid, Jasmine, had been promoted to the rank of Consort by the Emperor, becoming her equal, and was allowed to live alone in Qingli Pavilion, she was furious.
She was so angry that she threw a tantrum in her room, smashing and breaking things incessantly, frightening the palace maids who served her into not daring to utter a sound.