Panxia couldn't help but snap, "That's easy for you to say." Aunt Wang was infuriated, and the both of them got into a large argument. This only made Second-Class Female Attendant Bu sadder.
Thankfully, their argument soon came to an abrupt end. Because of the empress's death, anyone who disturbed the peace in the palace would be punished severely. Aunt Wang knew her limits, and didn't explode at Panxia like she would usually have.
Afterwards, when they were alone together, Panxia complained to Lanqi, "What even goes through the mind of that old hag, anyway? When our mistress rises up to a higher rank, she would never tolerate Aunt Wang's awful behavior like she does now. Our mistress might just get someone to beat her up and send her straight to the torture chambers!"
Lanqi had always been a tolerant person, so she replied, "Don't say that so loudly. We'll get our revenge on Aunt Wang before our mistress even gets promoted. Aunt Wang has been in the palace for a long time—try not to get on her bad side. Just ignore her and curry our mistress's favor."
Panxia laughed at this. "No wonder Second-Class Female Attendant Bu likes having you around. Your mild temper is quite rare in the palace." Lanqi had heard this from a lot of people, even Aunt Wang. Before she entered the palace, she noted that tolerance was key to surviving within these tall walls. She would continue ignoring Aunt Wang—serving a mistress as kind as Second-Class Female Attendant Fu was good enough for her.
The fifth month of the year flew by. The palace mourned the empress for a whole twenty-seven days, after which the first soft beams of summer sunlight seemed to shine down upon the Forbidden City. Following that, the days got happier and longer, and a veil of sadness seemed to have lifted from the palaces.
One day, the Princes' Palace reported that the eldest prince had fallen ill from a cold. The empress dowager requested that the grand empress dowager set out a decree to allow Noble Lady Hui (favor) to visit her son. In turn, Noble Lady Hui asked that Noble Lady Rong be allowed to visit together with her.
Noble Lady Rong had lost three sons in a row. Now, her sole surviving daughter was the love of her life. However, she couldn't meet her most of the time. Besides, the empress had just passed away a few weeks ago. Second-Class Female Attendant Bu had given birth on her daughter's birthday, which only made Noble Lady Rong miss her daughter even more.
She was so thankful to Noble Lady Hui for pleading on her behalf that she nearly cried. Both ladies went to visit their children at the Princes' Palace. When they came out, Noble Lady Rong invited Noble Lady Hui to have some tea at her palace. While they were making their way back, they bumped into Noble Lady An (Harmony), and all three of them continued back together.
As they sipped their tea in Noble Lady Hui's palace, Noble Lady An asked, "How is Eldest Prince doing?" Noble Lady Hui looked rather anxious as she replied, "He's alright for now, but I feel very worried about his condition. He keeps on crying for the late empress. I'm afraid he feels rather melancholy. On the other hand, the princess seems to be doing fine! She's only a few months old, but her head's rounding out well."
Noble Lady Rong refilled their teacups and recalled, "Thinking about it, Second-Class Female Attendant Bu deserves our pity. She gave birth to a daughter, but no one in the palace paid her any attention at all."
However, Noble Lady An said, "Having a daughter is much better than having a prince. It would have been a real tragedy if she had given birth to a prince! With Second Prince around, he would be practically nothing."
She regretted saying that the moment the words left her mouth. Noble Lady Hui's adopted son, Eldest Prince, had used to be the most important child in the imperial palace. After the Second Prince had been born to the empress, Eldest Prince had lost his spot instantly. The concubines were careful never to speak of this, but Noble Lady An had accidentally let her words slip from her mouth.
Thankfully, Noble Lady Hui was a rather understanding person. All she wanted was for her son to grow up healthily—she had no wish of seeing him vie for the throne. She smiled and took another sip of tea. Noble Lady Rong said, "These few days have been pretty rough for Consort Zhao (Brilliance). She has been attending to the grand empress dowager and the empress dowager nonstop, and she still has to manage the affairs of the harem. I heard that she sent for the doctor yesterday night—could she be ill?"
Noble Lady Hui was surprised. "Why didn't you say that earlier? We should've gone to visit her. Everyone's going to think we were idling about as Consort Zhao fell ill from overwork!" Quickly, they put aside the tea and made their way to the Palace of Earthly Honor.
Consort Zhao had just taken her medicine. She was attired simply as she sat on her bed and read through the accounts that the Imperial Household Department had sent over. Since they had known each other for many years, she couldn't care less about her casual attire. She told the maid to let them in.