Peasant Woman's Decreed Life as a Wife

Chapter 1492: Chapter 1489: Deng Jieyu Looks for Trouble

Being quite familiar with the palace, she arrived at the Imperial Garden within fifteen minutes.

The end of October had already brought a chill to the Imperial Garden. Flowers had withered, and only the winter plum blossoms stood beautiful on their branches.

The evergreen trees added a touch of vibrancy to the otherwise gloomy atmosphere.

Looking down from the high pavilion, the bare branches were more evident, showing the desolation unique to autumn and winter.

Li Chun’er headed straight to the Lotus Pond.

The lotus flowers in the pond had already withered, but the lotus leaves still retained some life, with water droplets swaying on them.

“Chu Ziluo, look, that lotus lantern was released by me years ago and it hasn’t sunk yet.” Li Chun’er boasted with a proud smile on her face.

Following the direction of the voice, Chu Ziluo saw that there were indeed many exquisite lotus lanterns in the Lotus Pond.

Li Chun’er, chattering away, took the initiative to explain: “Normally, the lotus lanterns in the Lotus Pond are retrieved every year, but I pleaded with the Dowager Empress, so they were allowed to stay.”

Chu Ziluo realized that Li Chun’er had come to show off.

“I heard your mother entered the palace today to treat the Dowager Empress?” Li Chun’er asked. She wasn’t completely ignorant and refrained from using overly familiar terms during the whole time she was showing off, addressing the Dowager Empress formally now.

Chu Ziluo gave a shy smile: “Mother is not a doctor; she just brought some medical books into the palace.”

“If she was just delivering medical books, why couldn’t she have just let the palace attendants bring them in? Why did she have to come herself?”

Noticing the disrespect in the tone towards her mother, Chu Ziluo frowned slightly, feeling a further sense of estrangement from Li Chun’er. Keeping her expression distant, she replied formally, “This maiden does not know either.”

“Hmpf, boring.” Li Chun’er picked a leaf and tossed it into the Lotus Pond.

Chu Ziluo just smiled, not responding.

As she had tasks to do, she occasionally picked a few plum blossoms together with the palace lady.

At this moment.

A reprimanding voice rang out.

“Who are you, to dare to touch the Dowager Empress’s plum blossoms!”

Chu Ziluo was startled, withdrew her hand, and instinctively turned towards the source of the voice. She saw a group of palace maids approaching aggressively, followed by two mistress-like figures.

Li Chun’er was already in a bad mood. She considered herself to have a close relationship with the Dowager Empress, who usually doted on her. In the palace, as long as someone was of noble birth, they would not dare to trouble her excessively.

But today, with the Dowager Empress showing such kindness to Chu Ziluo, she felt as if her own affection had been stolen. That’s why she deliberately found a reason to call out Chu Ziluo, aiming to embarrass her.

Yet, Chu Ziluo was like a piece of wood, unmoved by her provocations, no matter how she tried to probe for information, getting nothing.

Just as she was thinking about how to embarrass Chu Ziluo, she ended up getting reprimanded.

With her proud nature, she could hardly endure it, and she turned to face the newcomers.

She didn’t even need to speak, as the palace maid beside her immediately acknowledged: “This servant greets Consort Jieyu and Concubine Tan.”

“The servants are assisting Miss Li from the Duke Qing’s family and Miss Chu from the Vice Minister’s family in picking plum blossoms for the Dowager Empress.”

Upon hearing it was Consort Jieyu, Li Chun’er still remained unmoved. Consort Jieyu was insignificant to her; she didn’t even take Imperial Concubine Qi Zhao Yi who had been demoted seriously, given that she was the legitimate granddaughter of the Empress Dowager’s biological sister.

When Consort Jieyu and Concubine Tan approached, Chu Ziluo bowed in greeting, displaying an extremely demure attitude. The innocence on her face clearly showed that she was still quite young.

However, Consort Jieyu’s gaze immediately fixed on her.