While some were unable to sleep out of worry for their son, some others were unable to sleep because of the happiness and excitement.
Of course, at this moment, the happiest person in the Imperial Palace is Imperial Noble Consort Xi.
Empress and Imperial Noble Consort Xi, these two people have always been at odds with each other.
Now that Imperial Noble Consort Xi found out that the Empress's son is sick, she naturally felt happy. She was so happy that she even forgot all the unhappiness caused by Consort Yuan earlier.
After tossing and turning in bed the whole night, she finally could not hold back anymore and woke up early in the morning.
She especially dressed up grandly, wearing a bright red coloured dress with golden peonies embroidered on it and a golden hairpin which had phoenix carved on it. Behind her, there were tens of palace maids who were also dressed in brand new clothes in orderly fashion carrying boxes in their hands.
This was the exact scene that Jiang Yunyao saw when she came out of Cun Shan Palace to pay respects to the Empress.
Seeing this scene, even though her face did not change, Jiang Yunyao's heart thumped in her chest violently.
She immediately turned around and went back to her courtyard.
Originally, Jiang Yunyao wanted to see the Empress looking sad and anxious for her child. She was preparing to watch a good show in Jingyang Palace.
But seeing Imperial Noble Consort Xi's extravagant demeaner, Jiang Yunyao was afraid that she would be the implicated by Imperial Noble Consort Xi and become a sacrificial lamb for the Empress to vent her anger.
Jiang Yunyao instructed He Shiyi to go to Jingyang Palace and inform the Empress that she had a cold and is afraid of infecting the other Royal Consorts so she would not be going to pay respects to the Empress.
Anyway, it did not matter whether she really had a cold. It wasn't like the Empress would personally come to check if she had a cold for real or was faking it.
With her son being so sick, how could the Empress be in the mood to care for anything else? All her energy was spent on her son, and she had no time to think of anything else. If it wasn't because she had to discuss the upcoming new year banquet with Royal Consorts, the Empress would have suspended the greetings a long time ago.
The same goes for the Emperor too. Among all his sons, the Emperor loves this legitimate son the most. It was to be expected that the Emperor would not be visiting the harem for the time being.
So, Jiang Yunyao could say whatever she wanted and no one would care. Just that the chance of being intimate with the Emperor was gone just like that.
After the Fifth Prince was cured, who knew if the Emperor would still remember her then?
What a pity.
***
At the same time, in Jingyang Palace, the first one to arrive was He Shiyi.
After respectfully conveying Jiang Yunyao's words to the Empress, she politely stood to a side to watch and report important matters to Jiang Yunyao after going back.
After waiting for a while, the Royal Consorts started arriving one by one, all dressed plainly and each one speaking consoling words and expressing their sadness.
But who knew how true their words were?
However, even after all the Royal Consorts have arrived, there was no sign of Imperial Noble Consort Xi.
The crowd began to discuss it, each person offering their thoughts, and criticizing Imperial Noble Consort Xi for her impudence.
As for the Empress, she was already tired because of the Fifth Prince. Even though she was unwilling to take half a step away from the Fifth Prince, the Empress had to come to discuss the New Year banquet with other Royal Consorts.
She just wanted to get done with it as soon as possible and go back to her son but Imperial Noble Consort Xi did not even arrive yet. It was already a great disrespect for the consorts to arrive late for the audience.
She, as the Empress, already has enough trouble dealing with her daughter's marriage and son's health and now Imperial Noble Consort Xi was provoking her like this.
No matter how magnanimously she acted in the outside, it was impossible for her not to feel any anger on the inside.
But later, when Imperial Noble Consort Xi arrived leisurely, she perfunctorily greeted the Empress and took her seat. The discontent on the empress's face grew even more when she saw how Imperial Noble Consort Xi was dressed.
Today, all the Royal Consorts were dressed very plainly as they were afraid that the Empress would get angry and blame them if they dressed up. They did not want the Empress to think that they were celebrating her misfortune.
But, what was this Imperial Noble Consort Xi doing?
She especially wore a bright red dress, which was only suitable to be worn during celebrations. The dress even had golden peonies on it!
And behind her, there were tens of servants carrying various boxes covered with cloth.
Then, they heard Imperial Noble Consort Xi say to servants, "Come, distribute all the gifts to everyone."
At that time, all the Royal Consorts only hand one thought in their minds, 'Is this woman crazy?'
Imperial Noble Consort Xi dared to give gifts, but none of them dared to accept them at the moment.
Everyone in the hall watched as the Empress's expression grew darker and darker and she finally snapped at Imperial Noble Consort Xi.
The Empress slammed the box presented by the maidservant onto the ground, "Imperial Noble Consort Xi, what is the meaning of this?"
Seeing the Empress anger, all the Royal Consorts directly knelt on the ground, asking the Empress to calm down.
When Imperial Noble Consort Xi saw this, she merely rolled her eyes and covered her nose with a handkerchief, yawning lazily, and said, "Empress, this concubine is very happy today and want to share my happiness with my sisters by giving gifts. Is there anything wrong with it?"
Hearing this, the Empress was so angry that she laughed. "Fifth Prince is very ill and you have the leisure to celebrate? Imperial Noble Consort Xi, you are heartless!"
Hearing the Empress's words, Noble Consort Jia tried to calm her down, "Your Highness the Empress, don't get mad. Everyone knows that Imperial Noble Consort Xi is jealous of your good fortune. She is trying to seek pleasure by rubbing salt in your wounds and celebrating your misfortune."
Imperial Consort Shu immediately chimed in, saying, "Noble Consort Jia is absolutely right, Your Highness. A petty person will not enjoy for long. After the Fifth Prince recovers from his illness, who would dare to mock you then!"
Watching the few people in front of her making a ruckus, Imperial Noble Consort Xi just smiled coldly. Playing with the jade bracelet on her wrist leisurely, she asked the Empress, "Empress, this concubine didn't know that your son was very ill. This concubine heard someone say that he had a cold and assumed that it would be cured after a few days. Who would have thought that it would become so serious? Since his condition is so serious, it is inappropriate for this concubine to celebrate."
Imperial Noble Consort Xi wanted to order her maids to take everything back, but before she could give the order, she heard the Empress order her servants, "Men, take all the trash and throw it out immediately!"
Instead of getting angry, Imperial Noble Consort Xi gently stroked her hair and tilted her head, seeming to smile yet not smile as she looked at the Empress on the phoenix throne.
After a few seconds, she suddenly exclaimed, as if she just remembered something. "Oh, right! Imperial Consort Shu, a few days ago, this palace heard that First Prince had a cold and could not attend classes with his brothers. Is he alright now?"
Puzzled, Imperial Consort Shu replied, "Your Highness, First Prince is recovered completely and he is attending classes again."
Imperial Noble Consort Xi nodded her head. "It's great that he recovered so quickly. First Prince is indeed strong. Imperial Consort Shu, you have raised him well."
The confused Imperial Consort Shu: "Thank you, Your Highness."
Imperial Consort Chun insinuated, "Yes, First Prince is indeed strong. It is a good thing that he recovered quickly. But, Imperial Consort Chun, you must not pressure him to study hard, lest he falls sick again."
Smiling, Imperial Consort Shu replied, "Imperial Consort Chun, Jinrui (Personal name of First Prince) is my only child. This Palace would never force him to do something he doesn't like to do."
Imperial Concubine Yu chimed in, "The First Prince is blessed by the heavens. Just that, this concubine feels sorry for Your Highness the Empress. First, you were worried for First Prince. Now that the First Prince is finally recovered, the Fifth Prince fell ill instead, toiling Your Highness the Empress. It is such a pity."
Imperial Consort Shu's smile instantly froze at these words and the Empress face darkened by a few shades.
Imperial Noble Consort Xi glanced at the Empress lazily then said, "A child's good fortune depends on the parent's deeds. The Fifth Prince, as the Emperor and the Empress's only son, will naturally be alright. The good deeds done by the Empress, this concubine is sure they will help her son in recovering. Empress, won't you agree?"
The Empress, with a pale face, just glared at her silently and all the Royal Consorts kept their mouths shut too, just silently glancing at the two.
Imperial Noble Consort Xi glanced at the Empress disdainfully, then lazily bowed to the Empress and said, "The Empress Dowager has invited this concubine to share lunch with her, afraid of being late and delaying the time, so I'll take my leave first."
After saying that, she left without waiting for the Empress to dismiss her.
Even though she left so arrogantly, no one dared to say anything. The Empress also had no energy left to deal with the Royal Consorts and directly dismissed them.