Dongling Yuanyong looked at You Kouyi's real and fake coquettishness, and he subconsciously felt disgusted. At the same time, Ximen Yourong's strict and orderly behavior also flashed in his mind.
From a male and female perspective, he could be said to be indifferent to You Kouyi, but he found her coquettish behavior with ulterior motives "interesting".
As for Ximen Yourong, her unflattering calmness and submissiveness always made him want to get angry, but why did he dislike her alone...?
You Kouyi saw that Dongling Yuanyong was deep in thought, as if she had completely forgotten her existence. The smile on her face froze, but only for a moment, she immediately returned to normal and called softly:
"Your Majesty, is this concubine too frank, which offends Your Majesty?"
Dongling Yuanyong came back to his senses and looked at her. He smiled lightly and said:
"The noble concubine is overly worried. It is better for a woman to be frank than to hide."
Dongling Yuanyong seemed to have something to say, but also seemed to just say it casually. He looked at You Kouyi and changed the topic before waiting for her to reply:
"The imperial concubine just said she didn't sleep all night. Why is that?"
"Well...because last night, His Majesty only sent an order to come later, and I dare not wait for His Majesty, so..."
You Kouyi seemed a little aggrieved, Dongling Yuanyong comforted him and said:
"How could I have ever given such an ambiguous order to mislead the imperial concubine..." As he spoke, he looked at Eunuch Cao and accused:
"It is an ancestral rule for the emperor and the empress to stay together for three days after their wedding. Naturally, I could only be with the queen last night. Even if I care about the imperial concubine, I cannot ignore the ancestral rules. But how did you convey my will to me, Eunuch Cao?
Did the noble concubine wait all night?"
Dongling Yuanyong burned his "anger" on Eunuch Cao. Eunuch Cao silently did not defend anything. He knelt down and apologized:
"This old slave must have become deaf and did not understand His Majesty's wishes carefully. Please forgive me."
"The person you are asking for mercy from is the imperial concubine, not a widower. Whether it is mercy or punishment, the imperial concubine has the final say."
Dongling Yuanyong scolded Eunuch Cao with a cold face, and his words gave You Kouyi enough face.
Eunuch Cao, who was interested, knelt down to You Kouyi and begged for mercy:
"This old slave is fatuous. Please forgive me, my concubine."
"This... Eunuch Cao, please get up." You Kouyi looked a little embarrassed. She looked at Dongling Yuanyong and said:
"Your Majesty, Eunuch Cao must have made an unintentional mistake. Your Majesty must not be angry. Besides, I am willing to wait for Your Majesty, but I am also responsible for it. Speaking of which, I have to thank Eunuch Cao for his unintentional mistake.
Otherwise, I will definitely have faded my wedding dress and removed my makeup. In that case, I will not have the opportunity to face His Majesty in private as a bride. For me, I am very satisfied to see His Majesty like this.
.”
What You Kouyi said was not all false politeness. She was indeed glad that she was still wearing a wedding dress at this time.
This was the time when she was most beautifully dressed as a married woman. Except for the fact that she was not wearing the Queen's phoenix crown on her head, everything about her body was exquisite. Her wedding dress was even more exquisite than Ximen Yourong's.
Not to mention expensive accessories.
She wanted her bride's appearance to fall into Dongling Yuanyong's eyes, so that her outfit would not be in vain.
The only thing that made her unwilling was that the wedding night with Dongling Yuanyong did not belong to her.
But now that the matter has come to this, she can only secretly swallow her unwillingness. Anyway, the days are long, and she doesn’t believe that Ximen Yourong, who is helpless and guilty, can overshadow her!
Dongling Yuanyong looked at You Kouyi with a smile, and praised her decent and generous words:
"The imperial concubine is tolerant, generous and sensible. Compared to the queen, she is much more sensible."
Dongling Yuanyong suddenly changed the subject, seemingly casually directing the topic to Ximen Yourong, but his eyes were observing You Kouyi's expression more carefully.
You Kouyi was naturally stunned for a moment, and she said doubtfully:
"Is your Majesty not having a good rest in the Queen's Palace?"
"It's not that I'm unhappy, it's just that the queen is not like the noble concubine who guards the door for the widow with such affection. She...is so bold and reckless...ha!"
Dongling Yuanyong "complained" about Ximen Yourong's wantonness, but his face showed doting.
The look on his face made You Kouyi sensitively aware of something unusual. It was something unusual that made her surprised and jealous!
Dongling Yuanyong casually glanced at You Kouyi, who was always smiling slightly. He stood up and said with a little regret:
"My concubine, you are new to the palace, so I should spend more time with you. But I have many things to do, and you haven't slept all night, so let the palace servants take good care of you first and get some sleep first. I will come to see you when I have time."
Knowing that Dongling Yuanyong was about to leave, You Kouyi also stood up and said respectfully:
"I, my concubine, obey your Majesty's holy will!"
"Have a good rest!" Dongling Yuanyong said and turned around and left!
After watching Dongling Yuanyong leave, You Kouyi's smile faded, and then she ordered in a cold voice:
"Manzhi, remove makeup!"
Manzhi cleverly helped You Kouyi sit in front of the bronze mirror and removed her makeup while looking at You Kouyi whose face had turned dark again in the mirror and asked softly:
"Mother, Your Majesty is here, why don't you take the opportunity to stay with him for a while. He stayed in the "Lengyue Palace" all night, but he left without even having time to come to our cup of tea. Isn't this a clear show of favoring one over the other? Outside.
People look at her, and she is still a little shorter."
"The queen is inherently more noble than the concubine. Isn't it natural that I should be shorter?"
Although You Kouyi's face was cold, her tone of voice was steady and unfluctuated as she spoke, as if she was really willing to be at the bottom, but Manzhi knew that was not the case, so she said cleverly:
"Compared with the empress, Ximen Yourong, who is carrying a death sentence, is nothing at all. She..."
"How shameless, how many pounds do you weigh? Queen, are you free to comment?"
You Kouyi suddenly shouted angrily, and her anger shook the branches.
"I know my mistake!"
Manzhi has been with You Kouyi for more than a day or two, and Manzhi is used to You Kouyi's high status in the You Mansion.
Because of her noble status, talent and beauty, almost no one around You Kouyi can compare with her.
Therefore, she has not been jealous of anyone for a long time, because there is almost nothing she can't get.
Naturally, Yu Kouyi, who wants wind to get wind and rain to get rain, doesn't have much chance to make her angry.
Therefore, her sudden rebuke just now surprised Manzhi. But Manzhi is a slave in a powerful family after all, and acting according to circumstances is the most basic skill.
Especially since she was serving by You Kouyi's side. If she wasn't calm and clever enough, how could she be kept by You Kouyi's side for a long time?
But after all, You Kouyi is the legitimate daughter of a powerful person, and now she is an indescribably noble concubine. Manzhi knows that even if You Kouyi trusts her and uses her seriously, that does not mean that she can make mistakes without being harshly punished!
As soon as You Kouyi's anger passed, she quickly calmed down, and secretly told Manzhi:
"I am new to the palace. No matter what I need to know, I will not be in a hurry. Therefore, if the opportunity is not available, I will not meet the palace people from other places that I should not see, so as not to cause trouble."
Manzhi looked at You Kouyi who was combing her long hair with a jade comb. She immediately understood what You Kouyi's order was referring to, because there was an informant placed by them in the palace.
You Kouyi cannot let people know that she has arrangements in the palace, otherwise her situation will become very passive if she is not careful!
This palace was different from what she had imagined, and Dongling Yuanyong was even more elusive than she expected.
And that Ximen Yourong, what kind of person is she? Has she really been favored by Dongling Yuanyong?
However, Dongling Yuanyong deliberately mentioned that he would abide by the ancestral rules and sleep with the queen for three consecutive days, which was nothing more than a hint to her that he would not consummate the marriage with her within three days.
Also, the order she received from him last night to "come back later" was definitely not a miscommunication from Eunuch Cao.
Who doesn’t know that Eunuch Cao has been serving people around him since Dongling Yuanyong was born? How could he get Dongling Yuanyong’s order wrong?
In other words, Dongling Yuanyong clearly did not intend to come to her "Xiangyun Palace" from the beginning last night, but he deliberately let people convey his wrong order of "coming later".
Early this morning, he came and left even more hurriedly. Did he do this to test something, or was he just going through the motions?
After an unsatisfactory wedding night, You Kouyi couldn't help but think of what her father, You Zhongru, said to her before she married into the palace yesterday:
"Remember, entering the palace as a noble concubine does not mean that you will easily win the emperor's heart. He named you a noble concubine just because we, the You family, have contributed to him! However, with Ximen's experience, the emperor will definitely take a warning.
And our You family may have become his taboo. Therefore, he may be able to give you a certain amount of honor, but he may not be willing to give you his heart. Therefore, to win the emperor's heart, you may have to go the wrong way.
It won’t be that smooth.”
You Kouyi understood You Zhongru's instructions. Although she was a woman, she had seen many of You Zhongru's calculations in official circles since she was a child.
The complex integration of political power has never been the same since ancient times.
Therefore, after a short conversation with Dongling Yuanyong, You Kouyi vaguely understood the meaning of her father's instructions.
Dongling Yuanyong seems to be giving preferential treatment to Youshi in everything now, but that doesn't mean he is willing to watch Youshi become the next "Ximenshi".
If Dongling Yuanyong is secretly guarding against You, it means that Dongling Yuanyong will not easily open his heart and accept her as his woman.
In this case, what should she do to make Dongling Yuanyong willing to come to her side instead of just going through the motions to deal with her...?
With clear thoughts, You Kouyi lay in bed unable to sleep at all, because many unspeakable desires occupied her thoughts!
Her mind flashed back and forth about how to have Dongling Yuanyong's heart, how to hold on to the glory of the You family, and how to hold on to the glory of the You family, and also about another person who might block her path...Ximen Yourong!
But she has never had a head-to-head confrontation with Ximen Yourong. She doesn't know if Ximen Yourong is worth her attention and precautions!?
In other words, one day, if she wants to push Ximen Yourong out of the position of queen so that she can take her place, will Ximen Yourong be able to fight back at that time?