The Emperor’s Beloved Ugly Girl

36. Imperial Consort Shu

Translator: Iris Guo

“You meant Imperial Consort Shu?” asked Zhong Mingzheng while turning his face.

“Very perceptive.” Imperial Concubine Zhao snorted, hinting he was right.

“Not really. I just heard that Prince II Zhong Ming’e also came to the palace today. Perhaps Imperial Consort Shu asked him to celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival together, so I figured that she must have invited father too.” said Zhong Mingzheng with a smile. He held his mother’s hand and continued: “However, father comes here for you, so obviously he doesn’t take them seriously.”

“I just despise that shabby bitch! Anyway, she’s from a poor and humble family. Tut-tut! She keeps bragging about cooking for His Majesty herself, and she gets kitchen smell all over her body. I find it hard to believe that His Majesty will like that smell!” said Imperial Concubine Zhao with disdain, “Speaking of Zhong Ming’e, he is her son for real, and they are exactly the same. As a Prince, he is thin and weak like a little chicken with a sallow face. Besides, he walks like a girl. I can’t see any royal manners from him.”

“I agree, and I despise him most. He is a sickly kid, but he is so scheming and always feigns a miserable look in front of father.” said Zhong Mingzheng. Suddenly, he remembered something and asked: “By the way, mother, has my brother’s seasonal acne healed yet?”

Seasonal acne was a skin disease that easily infected people in spring. It didn’t harm the human body, and the infected person’s pulse condition was still normal. There would be four or five pustules of the size of a broad bean on the face, which didn’t hurt or tickle. It would heal by itself in half a year, but the scarring varied from individual to individual. There was no cure, and the acne was highly infectious, so normally the infected person would just recuperate in a quiet place for half a year.

Zhong Mingrong, Prince IV, got seasonal acne and had been resting in the side chamber of the Yanxi Palace.

“He’s better now. The doctor checked him yesterday and said he had to wait for another two or three months.” said Imperial Concubine Zhao. She couldn’t help smiling when mentioning her youngest son. Apparently, she had always indulged him.

“He must be very happy after resting for nearly half a year,” smiled Zhong Mingzheng, “I bet his swordsmanship must have improved a lot.”

“What’s the use of learning that fancy trick?” Although Imperial Concubine Zhao seemed to be complaining, she couldn’t help smiling softly, “I hope he could be as excellent as Zhong Ming’e, who is smart and good at study. Your father has always adored him. By the way, you are only three years younger than Zhong Ming’e, but why you did so much worse?”

When Zhong Mingzheng was about to answer her, Head Eunuch of the Yanxi Palace entered the hall and walked towards them. He looked pale and almost bent to the ground. Then, he fell with a flop on the floor: “My Lady, please show mercy!”

Imperial Concubine Zhao’s face suddenly turned pale. She asked: “Did His Majesty go to the Zhongcui Palace?”

The Zhongcui Palace was where Imperial Consort Shu lived.

“No… No… His Majesty just…” said the eunuch with a terrified look, “He just came to the Jingren Palace.”

Hardly had his voice faded away when he was kicked to the ground. Immediately, all eunuchs and maids in the hall got scared, knelt, and begged: “My Lady, please show mercy!”