Phoenix Reborn: the Prime Minister’s Scheming Daughter - Chapter 376

For the next few days, a carriage was sent to pick Shen Ninghua up at Royal Prince Yi Mansion on time every day. After Shen Ninghua and Qing Que entered the palace, they went directly to Changqiu Palace’s side hall that Noble Consort Li had prepared for the lessons. Lin Feiran waited inside early and learned from Shen Ninghua every day. She was very focused on learning.

Every day, Noble Concubine Li would send some pastries over during their break time. Only after examining the pastries and confirming that there was no problem would Shen Ninghua eat some. Four hours later, Noble Consort Li would have people send her and Lin Feiran back to their respective residences.

On this day, just as Shen Ninghua and Qing Que arrived at the palace gate, it was raining. Qing Que held an umbrella and helped Shen Ninghua get out of the carriage. “Master, it seems that the rain will be heavy. Should we send people to tell Noble Consort Li that we are not going to the palace today?”

Shen Ninghua nodded. “Yes, it will troublesome if it rains heavily. It is indeed unsuitable to enter the palace in this weather. Let’s go back.”

Just as she finished speaking, she heard a shout. “Princess Zhaohua, please wait a moment… Greetings, Your Highness.” Nurse Wei, who came running with an umbrella in her hand, smiled and said, “Seeing that the weather is not good today, Her Grace has already ordered me to wait here and give an umbrella to Your Highness. Her Grace is afraid that you will be drenched. Your Highness, please enter the palace.”

Shen Ninghua frowned. “I will not enter the palace in such heavy rain. Please enter the palace and inform Her Grace about my absence today. I will enter the palace tomorrow to apologize personally.”

Nurse Wei looked troubled. “But Her Grace has waited for Your Highness early in the morning when she heard about the bad weather. Miss Lin has also arrived and was waiting at Changqiu Palace. How should I report this?”

Seeing that Shen Ninghua was frowning more and more, Nurse Wei quickly knelt down. “I beg Your Highness for mercy. If I tell the truth, Noble Consort will definitely scold me for letting you go back in such heavy rain. I’ll probably be punished severely because of this.”

Shen Ninghua glanced at Nurse Wei’s face and felt that her expression was particularly hypocritical. “Let’s go.”

Qing Que hurriedly held the umbrella and followed Shen Ninghua, completely ignoring Nurse Wei. Nurse Wei, who was ignored, did not mind. She got up from the ground, wiped away the tears on her face, and a trace of viciousness flashed in her eyes. It was nothing to be bullied and neglected now. These high and mighty masters would end up in a more miserable state when they got into trouble!

Although Qing Que protected her all the way, the rain was getting heavier and heavier. When they arrived at Changqiu Palace’s door, most of Shen Ninghua’s skirt was wet.

Hearing that Shen Ninghua had arrived, Noble Consort Li hurriedly led her people out to welcome her. “Oh, it’s so cold. You’ll catch a cold. Maids, bring clean clothes and blankets over and prepare hot water. Ninghua, come in and change your wet clothes. I don’t know how to explain it to Royal Prince Yi if you are sick.”

Shen Ninghua’s expression was indifferent, and she couldn’t be bothered with the wet dress. “It’s raining so heavily. I thought of informing Your Grace that I wouldn’t enter the palace today, but I didn’t expect to see Nurse Wei send an umbrella to me because of your instruction, so I figured that I should personally inform you. Your Grace, thank you for your arrangement, but you don’t have to do so. I’ll go back to the mansion and get changed. My lesson with Miss Lin today will be canceled.”

“No way!” Noble Consort Li stepped forward and held Shen Ninghua’s hand. “Don’t distance yourself from me, child. Look at you, you’re all wet and drenched. The rain is so heavy. What if you catch a cold when you return? The people will say that I cause you to be sick. Ninghua, do you that it is not safe to stay with me? Or are you afraid that I will harm you? ”

“Oh no, you misunderstand. I did not think that way.”

Noble Consort Li looked at her with a reproachful look and said with a smile, “Good then. Hurry up and change out of your wet clothes.” As she spoke, she directly pushed Shen Ninghua into the inner room before the latter could say anything.

Qing Que wanted to follow Shen Ninghua in, but Nurse Wei stopped her. “Miss Qing Que, your clothes are also wet. I will take you to change. Don’t worry, there are many people waiting on Her Highness. Nothing will happen.”

Qing Que ignored Nurse Wei’s attempts to stop her. She pushed Nurse Wei away without leaving a trace. By the time Nurse Wei tried to stop her, Qing Que had already followed Shen Ninghua into the inner room. Nurse Wei’s face darkened. She wanted to go forward and say something, but she saw Noble Consort Li shake her head at her.

Nurse Wei hurriedly walked over with a terrified expression on her face. “Your Grace…”

“Qing Que is the one with the best martial arts skills among the people around Shen Ninghua. It seems that she is also guarding against us when she enters the palace.” Noble Consort Li stroked the long golden nail armor in her hand, her eyes filled with hatred. “Alright, let’s act according to the situation. How’s the Second Prince doing?”

“The palace maid on Noble Consort Qi’s side is one of our people. I have already informed her, and she has also spread the news. She will definitely not disappoint Your Grace.”

“Good.” Noble Consort Li nodded and let out a long sigh. Finally, one problem was solved.

Shen Ninghua entered the inner room and dismissed all the palace maids inside. “All of you are dismissed. Qing Que will serve me.”

“Uh…” The palace maids were a little hesitant. “We…”

Shen Ninghua’s expression turned cold. “Get out!”

“Yes.” Seeing that Shen Ninghua was angry, the palace maids quickly filed out.

Qing Que whispered, “Master, Changqiu Palace appears particularly strange today. You must be careful.”

Shen Ninghua glanced at the clothes on the side and picked them up to carefully examine them. She did not find any problems. “Just play it by ear.” Noble Consort Li was obviously up to no good as she insisted on keeping her in the palace. She could only play safe and counter every trick cautiously.

“Yes.”

Shen Ninghua changed her clothes and came out. Noble Consort Li greeted her with a smile, “You are really good-looking. No matter what you wear, you always look so pretty and gorgeous. At your young age, wearing such clothes makes you look beautiful to the extreme.”

Shen Ninghua changed into a white dress. The sleeves of the dress were embroidered with large and beautiful red peonies. The neckline was inlaid with gold threads, and colorful butterflies fluttered about. The entire dress was extremely beautiful. Someone with a mediocre appearance and weak aura would probably be outshined by the dress. However, Shen Ninghua looked extremely beautiful when she wore it.

Although Noble Consort Li hated Shen Ninghua very much, she had to admit that Shen Ninghua was indeed beautiful to the point of making people jealous!

“Your Grace, thank you for your dress.”

“No need to thank me. I can’t wear this dress now. It’s good that you can fit into it.”

Shen Ninghua smiled. When she noticed that Lin Feiran was not around, she asked, “Nurse Wei said that Miss Lin also came to the palace. Where is she?”

“When she entered the palace, she didn’t get wet, and I asked her to rest today, but she insisted on going to the side hall to practice the rules. I think she’s still practicing at this time. She always talked about you during our meetings. She said that she only realized that there was always someone who was better than her after she saw your etiquette, and that she paled in comparison.”

Hearing these flattering words, Shen Ninghua simply smiled. “She’s too humble. Since she is in the side hall, I will also go to the side hall to take a look. If she wants to study, I will definitely teach her.”

Nurse Wei hurriedly said, “Your Highness, Miss Qing Que’s dress is still wet. I will take her to change.”

Before Shen Ninghua could speak, Qing Que politely refused, “Thank you, Nurse Wei. I am fine. It isn’t that bad. We, the martial artists, are not so meticulous and particular about things like food and clothes. If you want me to change clothes, please bring me a set of the palace maid’s clothes. I naturally have a way to change my clothes.”

Nurse Wei was furious and hated this stubborn girl very much. She glanced at Noble Consort Li who was silent at the side and could only agree, “O-Okay. I’ll go down and find them for you.”

A smile flashed across her eyebrows quickly. Shen Ninghua said, “Your Grace, please ask Nurse Wei to send the clothes directly to the side hall. Qing Que and I will go to the side hall first. Excuse us.”

Although it was called a side hall, Changqiu Palace was the second-largest palace after Chunxi Palace, so its side hall was separated from the main hall by two walls. Because most of the time, several concubines might live in the same palace, and it would be inconvenient when their residences were close to each other.

When Shen Ninghua came to the side hall, Lin Feiran was practicing the rules of drinking tea. When she saw Shen Ninghua, she hurriedly stood up and bowed naturally. “Greetings, Princess Zhaohua.”

“Greetings, Miss Lin.”

Shen Ninghua continued the lecture from the previous syllabus. The rain had no sign of stopping four hours later. Lin Feiran took the handkerchief handed over by the palace maid and wiped her hands. “Your Highness, it looks like the rain will fall for an entire day. I’m afraid it won’t stop even at night.”

Shen Ninghua looked at the dense rain outside. Occasionally, there were also some rice-like ice crystals in the rain. “Time’s up. I’ll go to the main hall and inform Her Grace. I’ll be going back now.”

Lin Feiran was surprised. “It’s raining so heavily. Do Your Highness still want to go back?”

“Of course. I have two children to tend to at home, and I’m worried about them after leaving them at home all day. Excuse me.” After saying that, she motioned for Qing Que to walk out.

Just as she arrived at the corridor of the main hall, she saw a group of palace people waiting outside. Shen Ninghua could not help but frown. From the looks of it, she presumed that Father Emperor was at Noble Consort Li’s place.

Sure enough, just as she walked to the door, Nurse Wei welcomed her with a face full of smiles. “Greetings, Princess Zhaohua. The Emperor is currently talking to Her Grace in the palace. He heard that you are also here and ordered me to invite you and Miss Lin over for dinner.”

Shen Ninghua nodded. “Thank you, Nurse Wei.”

“Greetings, Father Emperor.”

Baili Qingcang was drinking tea when he saw Shen Ninghua’s actions. He quickly instructed her to get up. “Get up. Noble Consort just told me about you. It has been hard on you for this period of time. When the one-month deadline arrives and Noble Consort does not prepare a generous gift to thank you, I will definitely help you seek justice!”

Noble Consort Li covered her mouth and chuckled, “Oh, Your Majesty. Since you’ve said that, I’ll definitely prepare a generous gift for Ninghua even if I have to empty out Changqiu Palace.”

Shen Ninghua smiled and remained silent. After Noble Consort Li’s birthday, she converted all the gifts she got for silver and sent the silver to the national treasury, saying that she could contribute her portion to the victims of the northwest drought. This action impressed Baili Qingcang a little.