Long Yang stayed in the imperial study that night and the next. On the third day, the Virtuous Consort, Pure Consort, and Prudence Consort walked into the Grand Phoenix Palace light-heartedly to greet Lu Liangwei.
Lu Liangwei had made arrangements for a small medicinal room to be set up next to her bedroom. At the time of their arrival, she was in the medicinal room working on her medicinal materials.
Her father and big brother were about to head into the battlefield, and she wanted to concoct some medicine for them.
“Miss, the Virtuous Consort and the other concubines are here,” Zhu Yu entered to inform her.
Lu Liangwei gave a pause. She initially planned to cook up some excuse to make them leave, but she gave this further thought and decided to place down the things in her hands, and went outside.
The Virtuous Consort and the others were already seated in the main hall.
All three of them were in good moods today. They even felt that the tea served to them at Grand Phoenix Palace was especially fragrant.
They enjoyed the tea slowly and did not mind at all that Lu Liangwei was late to greet them.
“Greetings to the Empress!”
All three of them immediately stood up to curtsy at Lu Liangwei when they saw her enter.
Lu Liangwei took the main seat and airily lifted her hand. “You may rise. Do be seated.”
It was only then that all three concubines straightened up slowly and took their seats one by one.
Zhu Yu prepared Lu Liangwei a cup of tea and placed it in her hand. Lu Liangwei took the cup and had a sip to moisten her throat before saying, “The weather is quite fine today. Why didn’t the three of you enjoy a walk in the imperial garden?”
The Pure Consort replied with a smile on her face, “No matter how beautiful the scenery is at the imperial garden, it can never compare to the view of Grand Phoenix Palace. The three of us are actually using the excuse of greeting the Empress for an opportunity to visit the Grand Phoenix Palace to admire the scenery here properly.”
The Virtuous Consort and the Prudence Consort gave each other a look at this point. They smiled at each other meaningfully and quickly turned away.
His Majesty had not stayed over at Grand Phoenix Palace for quite a number of days, and the news of this had spread all over the Palace.
In private, Lu Liangwei had become the b.u.t.t of the joke in everyone’s mouth.
Everyone now concluded that His Majesty had married Lu Liangwei because he wanted to make use of the Grand Duke.
The Grand Duke had military power in his hands after all, and he had his ways of training his men. Moreover, every soldier in the Lu Family Troops had been trained to be brave and skillful in battle under his leaders.h.i.+p.
His Majesty needed to use the Grand Duke for his conquest of Danjue, which was why he had married Lu Liangwei.
Besides the first two days after the wedding, His Majesty had stayed away from Grand Phoenix Palace. He had been staying at Hidden Dragon Palace ever since.
If His Majesty actually adored Lu Liangwei, he would not have been tired of her after just two nights.
Everyone had been guessing in private that His Majesty’s loving actions toward Lu Liangwei had been just a show for Lu Hetian.
Lu Liangwei was not stupid. She immediately understood the hidden meaning behind the Pure Consort’s words.
She smiled. Their statement about Grand Phoenix Palace having a better view, was clearly just about them coming here to witness her humiliation.
“If the Pure Consort feels that the view at the Grand Phoenix Palace is better than the imperial garden, I’ll give you special permission to stay in the Grand Phoenix Palace instead of having to come here to greet me every day. There are plenty of side halls available here at the Grand Phoenix Palace anyway. It would be more convenient for you to admire the scenery, and there would be no need for you to be constantly moving about.”
The look on the Pure Consort’s face changed slightly when she heard this. She gave a dry laugh. “The Empress’ care for me might be too much. I usually chat a lot and can be pretty loud. If I stayed at Grand Phoenix Palace, wouldn’t I just be disturbing Your Highness’ peace and quiet?”
Was the Empress kidding? If the Pure Consort actually moved into one of the side halls at Grand Phoenix Palace, she might end up being Lu Liangwei’s maidservant.
The Pure Consort would be crazy not to stay in her own Pure Jade Palace and choose to move here and serve Lu Liangwei.
Lu Liangwei’s expression suddenly darkened. “Since the Pure Consort thinks that you are loud and chatty, you should shut your mouth. To prevent you from committing the fault of gossiping about the Seven Grounds of Divorce, I’m sentencing you to be silent for a month.”
The Pure Consort looked extremely upset when she heard this. She refused to accept this as she said, “Your Highness, this is a crime I’m not able to shoulder. If you are determined to give me such a sentence, shouldn’t you ask for permission from His Majesty?”