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Seeing that the Emperor was busy, Sun Kui prepared to leave. Just then, the Emperor looked up from the morials and instructed Sun Kui, "She likes to read gazetteers, find so more and send them to her."
Sun Kui was slightly startled, then respectfully said, "Yes, Your Majesty."
After giving the instruction, the Emperor lowered his head to continue reading the morials.
Sun Kui hesitated, then cautiously asked, "Your Majesty, so brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones were recently tributed. Should a set be sent to Liang Zhaoyi?"
The Emperor, without looking up, said, "Then send her a set."
Sun Kui thought, indeed. He hesitated again and asked, "Your Majesty, a lot of good fabric was recently tributed. Should we select so for Liang Zhaoyi?"
"Fabric?" The Emperor picked up the vermillion pen and wrote "I know" on the morial he had just finished reading, then put down the pen without rushing to pick up the next one, and asked, "What kind of fabric?"
"Fine fabrics like brocade, damask, silk, and gauze from Jiangnan," Sun Kui replied.
"She likes plain colors, select so plain fabrics for her," the Emperor added, "and pick a few brightly colored fabrics for the tenth prince."
"Yes, Your Majesty," Sun Kui asked again, "Your Majesty, do you have any other instructions?"
The Emperor thought for a mont and said, "That’s all."
"I take my leave," Sun Kui withdrew from the Imperial Study. As he reached the door, he slightly furrowed his brows, appearing pensive.
His apprentice saw his expression and approached with concern, "Master, what’s the matter?"
Sun Kui ca to himself and asked his apprentice, "Do you think Liang Zhaoyi is favored?"
"Liang Zhaoyi?" The apprentice was suddenly asked and for a mont didn’t recall who Liang Zhaoyi was. After a while, he rembered there was a lady nad Liang Zhaoyi in the harem. "She is not favored, Master, why do you ask?"
"The Emperor just instructed ..." Sun Kui recounted the Emperor’s recent instructions to his apprentice, who listened with his mouth agape, looking surprised.
"The Emperor actually rembers that Liang Zhaoyi likes to read and what kinds of books she likes." The apprentice was shocked, "The Emperor even rembers that Liang Zhaoyi likes plain-colored fabrics, how is that possible?" The apprentice often went to the harem to deliver gifts from the Emperor. Every ti the Emperor bestowed gifts, it was very casual, often leaving it to the master to choose. Only when bestowing gifts to Noble Princess Consort Rong did the Emperor specify what to give. None of the other consorts, including the Empress, enjoyed the honor of the Emperor personally choosing gifts.
"I’ll go select the items, and you deliver them to Kunde Hall early tomorrow morning."
"Master, about Liang Zhaoyi..." The apprentice raised an eyebrow, the implication clear.
Sun Kui sternly said, "No need to go out of the way to please her, keep things as they were."
"Understood, Master." The apprentice said, a relieved expression on his face, "It’s fortunate that I always listened to you and never slighted Liang Zhaoyi."
He sighed, "I didn’t expect Liang Zhaoyi to be so capable, to have the Emperor know her likes and dislikes."
"A person whom the Emperor favors every month is not simple." Sun Kui had noticed this point earlier on. He rembered that when Liang Zhaoyi first entered the palace, the Emperor called for her three or four tis a month.
Three or four tis a month seems few, but it’s actually quite a lot. In the harem, the most favored consort was Noble Princess Consort Rong, who would attend to the Emperor seven or eight tis a month. Other consorts, including the Empress, sotis only saw the Emperor twice a month, once a month, or sotis not at all.
At that ti, besides Noble Princess Consort Rong, Liang Zhaoyi attended to the Emperor the most. When everyone, including himself, thought Liang Zhaoyi would beco the second Noble Princess Consort Rong, the Emperor suddenly stopped calling for Liang Zhaoyi to attend. But by the end of each month, the Emperor would always spend the night at Kunde Hall. No matter how busy he was, this never changed.
The Emperor wasn’t indulgent with won, and rarely visited the harem. Sotis, due to being busy, he didn’t see a single consort, not even Noble Princess Consort Rong, but at the end of the month, he would still go to Kunde Hall.
There were tis when the Emperor only went to Kunde Hall in a month, and didn’t visit the halls of other consorts. The Emperor usually spent only a single night at Kunde Hall, rarely two or three consecutive nights.
At that ti, he realized Liang Zhaoyi was not simple. He always felt there might be so agreent between the Emperor and Liang Zhaoyi, and later he thought the Emperor acted for the sake of the tenth prince. However, the Emperor did not particularly favor the tenth prince.
Nor did the Emperor specially favor Liang Zhaoyi; the gifts given to her were not special, nor did they exceed her rank.
Sun Kui always found the Emperor’s attitude towards Liang Zhaoyi peculiar. To say she was favored, she wasn’t really. But to say she wasn’t favored, the Emperor visited Kunde Hall every month.
Previously, when the Emperor bestowed things to Liang Zhaoyi, there were no special instructions. But today, the Emperor specifically instructed what to give her. Although the latter few items were a result of his own inquiry, the Emperor rembered Liang Zhaoyi’s preferences.
The Emperor, with so many matters to handle, didn’t usually pay attention to these things. Even the preferences of Noble Princess Consort Rong were unknown to the Emperor at first. It was only after Noble Princess frequently expressed her likes in front of the Emperor that he rembered.
Even if Liang Zhaoyi often expressed her likes to the Emperor, it’s unlikely he would rember, given his personality.
Moreover, Liang Zhaoyi was peculiar. To say she sought favor, she never proactively did anything to please the Emperor. Unlike other consorts, such as Noble Princess Consort Rong and the Empress, who would often make snacks and soups to personally deliver to Chenguang Hall. They would also often make clothes and footwear for the Emperor.
Noble Princess Consort Rong, to please the Emperor, even learned to dance specially. Although the Empress did not learn to dance for the Emperor, she learned new lodies especially for him.
Other consorts, let alone, tried every day to win the Emperor’s favor. But Liang Zhaoyi had done nothing in particular for the Emperor.
That’s not entirely true, whenever the Emperor ca to Kunde Hall, it was Liang Zhaoyi who would personally cook. Liang Zhaoyi had also made clothes and footwear for the Emperor, but she never flaunted it. Only when the Emperor stayed overnight at Kunde Hall, would Liang Zhaoyi give the clothes and footwear she made to him.
If it weren’t for his service in helping the Emperor change clothes, he wouldn’t have known that the Emperor’s undergarnts were made by Liang Zhaoyi.
Sun Kui suddenly rembered that the clothes and footwear Liang Zhaoyi gave to the Emperor, he often wore.
The clothes made by Noble Princess Consort Rong and the Empress for the Emperor, he wore once or twice and then never again. But the clothes Liang Zhaoyi made, the Emperor wore often.
He previously asked the Emperor if Liang Zhaoyi’s clothes were better, and the Emperor said Liang Zhaoyi’s clothes were comfortable to wear. He had carefully compared them and found that Liang Zhaoyi’s clothes were no better than those made by the Imperial Mansion Commander. Furthermore, the materials used by Liang Zhaoyi weren’t as good as those of Noble Princess Consort Rong and the Empress.
Actually, Liang Zhaoyi’s skills weren’t better than those of Noble Princess Consort Rong and the Empress either. Noble Princess Consort Rong grew up with the Emperor and reportedly often made clothes for him before she ca of age. The Empress, before entering the palace, learned needlework from the best embroideress in the capital, and her skills were excellent.
The clothing made by Noble Princess Consort Rong and the Empress wasn’t inferior to Liang Zhaoyi’s work, but the Emperor favored wearing Liang Zhaoyi’s creations.
Along this journey, Sun Kui recalled many things he hadn’t noticed before. He suddenly realized that Liang Zhaoyi held so place in the Emperor’s heart.
Speaking of Liang Zhaoyi, in the harem, her appearance wasn’t outstanding, she was too quiet in temperant, had no notable talents, and her family had no power or influence. Compared to other consorts in the harem, Liang Zhaoyi was too ordinary. Yet, Liang Zhaoyi gave off a very comfortable feeling.
Noble Princess Consort Rong and the Empress were respectful to him because he was the eunuch attending to the Emperor. However, he could sense that in the eyes of the Empress, he was just a eunuch. In the eyes of Noble Princess Consort Rong, he was rely a servant. In their eyes, he wasn’t even human. But in Liang Zhaoyi’s eyes, he was human.
Liang Zhaoyi was always gentle with the eunuchs and palace maids, never treating them as less than human. He always thought Liang Zhaoyi was too gentle and kind, worried that in the perilous palace, her gentleness and kindness were excessive, even fatal, and would make it impossible for her to survive there.
He used to think Liang Zhaoyi would quickly lose favor, and soon after, disappear from the palace. But to his surprise, Liang Zhaoyi soon beca pregnant with a royal child, and later gave birth to the tenth prince. With a child, Liang Zhaoyi’s rank was elevated. From then on, Liang Zhaoyi lived well in the palace.
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