Chongfei Manual

Chapter 108

The palace banquet hadn't started yet. The women from noble families were gathered in Rong Hua Hall's side chamber.

Only Wu Rong's emperor and prince had come to the banquet. Since there weren't any women from Wu Rong in the side chamber, the atmosphere was fairly cordial and harmonious here.

Wei Luo had heard that Empress Chen and Noble Consort Ning would both be attending the palace banquet. This was the first time that Wei Luo saw Noble Consort Ning. Although Wei Luo frequently came to the palace, she only talked with Zhao Liuli and Empress Chen. Other than seeing Zhao Lin Lang a few times, she never came into any contact with people on Noble Consort Ning's side.

In the center of the side chamber, next to the red sandalwood couch, there was a woman wearing a short-sleeve moon white top and a colorful silk skirt with golden embroidery. Her hair was arranged in a ling yun hairstyle with a white jade fan-shaped accessory that was connected to rubies and sapphires. In all details, she was richly and gorgeously adorned. She was probably fifth prince Zhao Zhang and Princess Lin Lang's mother, Noble Consort Ning.

In contrast, although Empress Chen's style of dress wasn't as showy as Noble Consort Ning's, she had a different type of beauty that was dignified and magnanimous. Empress Chen was wearing a deep blue-green robe embroidered with phoenixes and peony flowers. Her hair was arranged in a qing hairstyle with crystal and jasper hairpins. She was only wearing a small amount of makeup.

Empress Chen was currently lazily leaning against a large pillow embroidered with flowers. Her simplistic elegance was delightful. Empress Chen was naturally attractive. In terms of natural appearance, she was even more excellent than Noble Consort Ning. However, she didn't like to mess with cosmetics and gauzy silk fabrics. This was the only reason why her appearance wasn't as brightly vivid as Noble Consort Ning.

However, this was the difference between a legal wife and a concubine. The legal wife was in charge of the general situation. A concubine needed to dress herself up gorgeously to curry favor. Wei Luo couldn't help thinking that if she were Emperor Chong Zhen, she would definitely prefer Empress Chen. Empress Chen could go to battlefields and formal occasions. She was superior to a concubine that only knew how to make herself pretty.

Wei Luo walked to Empress Chen, saluted, and said with a smiling face, "This subject greets Her Majesty." Then, she paused, looked at Noble Consort Ning, and said, "Greetings Noble Consort Ning."

Empress Chen was very happy to see her. She called her to come closer, "Ah Luo, come here. Let this empress look at you. How come your face looks thinner? Have you not been eating well?"

Now that Empress Chen thought about it, this was the first time she saw Wei Luo after she got engaged to Zhao Jie.

Empress Chen had finally arranged her son's lifetime event. She felt very grateful towards Wei Luo for resolving this matter that had greatly burdened her heart. Her attitude was also much more intimate than before. The rest of the young ladies were also standing nearby, but right after seeing Wei Luo, Empress Chen only called Wei Luo forward to chat with her.

Empress Chen carefully looked over Wei Luo's small face and asked in concern, "Are you too tired from preparing for the wedding or your dowry? If there's anything you're missing, don't hesitate to ask this empress. This empress will have Chang Sheng prepare...." She paused, suddenly laughed, and said, "I'm being silly. How could Chang Sheng need this empress to remind him? He's already started preparing everything himself."

Wei Luo hadn't expected that Empress Chen would say these words in public. The smile on her face froze and she became embarrassed. Faced with Noble Consort Ning and Zhao Liuli's ambiguous gazes, she flatly denied, "No...Your Majesty, thank you for your concern..."