Chapter 1968: Outright Fainted
After Attendant Zhou sat down, the other concubines took time to speak. They each said a few words to entertain or flatter their empress.
Ning Shu drank tea and listened to them speak. It was obvious that some of the concubines disliked each other. When they talked to each other, there was a needle hidden in the cotton. To Ning Shu, it felt like watching a play.
“Alright, all of you should head back,” Ning Shu said. She hadn’t eaten breakfast this morning. She was starving to death!
“Yes.” The concubine curtsied and filtered out of the Palace of Prolonged Autumn.
As they did, they saw Zhao Xu at the entrance. As soon as they noticed him, the concubines’ eyes instantly lit up, like starving wolves seeing fresh meat.
Since the assassination incident, Zhao Xu rarely entered the harem.
While the other concubines prepared to salute Zhao Xu with their most enchanting posture, Attendant Zhou’s eyes rolled back. She fainted, falling to the ground with a thud.
“What’s wrong, Attendant?” the maid next to Attendant Zhou shouted.
Zhao Xu raised his eyebrows. He stepped towards Attendant Zhou and bent down slightly. After closely examining her face, his eyes sweeping across every inch, he spoke to the eunuch beside him. “Send Attendant Zhou back to the Moonlight Palace.”
He then walked past Attendant Zhou and left.
While the other concubines were originally angry at seeing that Attendant Zhou had attracted Zhao Xu’s attention this way, he ultimately ignored her and walked off.
The concubines covered their mouths with their handkerchiefs and laughed. They broke into smaller groups and started chatting as they walked, occasionally looking back at the unconscious Attendant Zhou as she was carried away.
Attendant Zhou felt very wronged. This time, she had fainted for real. In order to avoid being caught faking, she had the favored concubine system make her faint.
Zhao Xu walked into the room and asked Ning Shu, “Why did Attendant Zhou come to greet you and faint at the door?”
“She fainted?” Ning Shu looked confused. “This subject wife told her to rest. She said she was fine earlier so why did she faint?”
“Don’t worry about her.” Zhao Xu sat down. “We asked the imperial hospital to prescribe some nourishing medicine for the concubines. We’re not young anymore, and we still have no children. The ministers are starting to have opinions, so please help keep an eye on the situation.”
“This subject wife will do her best.” Jesus. She really felt like an old mother! She had to look after every trivial thing in the inner palace, down to what people drank and ate. What a fate!
Zhao Xu took Ning Shu’s hands into his. “We are lucky to have an empress like you.”
Ning Shu really wanted to pull her hands away and slapped Zhao Xu’s face. Every time he wanted someone to do something for him, he would say something disgusting and sensational.
Could he just not!? Ning Shu despised this tendency of his.
She lowered her head. “It’s what this subject wife should do.”
After Zhao Xu ordered Ning Shu to prepare nourishing decoctions for the concubines, he headed to the Palace of Moonlight’s Jade Court.
Ning Shu was stunned when she heard Qiu Ling say that Zhao Xu went to find Attendant Zhou.
Was Attendant Zhou well enough to attend to the emperor now?
She really didn’t know what Zhao Xu was thinking.
Ning Shu was surprised, but Attendant Zhou was ecstatic. She believed it was her fainting that caught Zhao Xu’s attention.
It was almost two months since she had last seen him and she could finally attend to Zhao Xu.
As the two dined, Attendant Zhou kept getting food for him.
After being punished several times, Attendant Zhou was now very afraid of the system’s punishment mode. And since she wanted something from Zhao Xu, her behavior became increasingly ingratiating.
Zhao Xu raised his brows and asked, “How are you healing?”
“I’m almost better.” Attendant Zhou smiled brightly. The expression enhanced her extraordinary beauty and Zhao Xu’s eyes lit up.
Editor: Shark
Translator: Kaho