The sky gradually darkened and Emperor Lin walked out of the gates of the Mingyue Palace contentedly after making a bit of small talk.
Xiao Lan and the two children sent him off by the door. When Emperor Lin’s entourage disappeared at the intersection, Qingyan and Yunyou couldn’t hide their excitement and whispered, “Congratulations, Honourable Lady!”
After his visit today, everyone knew that Xiao Lan was going to be favoured once again.
She only smiled faintly before grasping the hands of both her children as they walked into the residence.
The next day, the news about Emperor Lin spending an entire afternoon in the Mingyue Palace, to the extent where he even stayed behind for dinner, had spread throughout the palace. Even though they knew that the Fifth Princess was favoured long ago, the Emperor was always reluctant to visit the Mingyue Palace. Everyone was aware that he minded the presence of that foolish son, hence there were private conversations that discussed how the Emperor wouldn’t set foot into the Mingyue Palace as long as the stupid son was there.
Unexpectedly, the Emperor’s actions not only became a figurative slap to their faces, but he even turned over Xiao Lan’s plate within two days.
With her plate being turned over, the symbol of her regaining the Imperial favour was as obvious as the afternoon sun.
After Imperial Concubine Mei heard about the incident, she smashed yet another set of teacups. However, she was still under probation and wasn’t even allowed to step outside beyond her palace gates. The palace staff in her palace had decreased exponentially as well, leaving only two or three servants behind and a huge gap in manpower.
Her father had sent her a letter not long ago, asking her to understand His Majesty’s character. As of now, any actions she might take would be deemed unnecessary as His Majesty was still angry. Hence, she had to calm down and plan things out beforehand. He stated that after the flood in the Southern River was taken care of, he would return and think of a way to help her by using the pretext of ‘contributing his services in the disaster’.
So besides being angry and anxious, she couldn’t do anything in her current state but rely on Consort Hui.
However, Consort Hui had always been cautious. For many years, she stood behind the others and never stepped forward on her own accord. The only reason as to why she made a move towards Xiao Lan that year was simply because she was favoured and even pregnant with the Emperor’s child. This meant that if Xiao Lan gave birth to a prince, Consort Hui’s status in the harem would be threatened.
Currently, as Xiao Lan just received the perks of her refavourism recently, according to her personality, Consort Hui probably wouldn’t make a move this quickly.
The hostile forces stood still whereas the neutrals continued to spectate from the sidelines. Only Consort Xian, who had been friends with Xiao Lan all along, came to congratulate her. Xiao Lan didn’t enjoy socialising before, so there was no one to help her when she was framed and wronged. However, her current situation was much better than what it was before.
The situation in the Dynasty’s Court was always closely related to what was going on in the harem.
For example, after Imperial Concubine Mei’s fall in status, the standing of her maternal family’s faction in court also plummeted greatly. Emperor Lin also demoted one of the Liu family’s children due to a merely trivial matter. The court officials who used to butter good relationships with the Liu family now didn’t seem as enthusiastic and eager now.
In the past, the Xiao family also reaped a few perks due to Xiao Lan being doted on, but these benefits were retracted the moment she fell out of favour. The Xiao family also gave up on Xiao Lan long ago, going as far as to arrange her younger cousin to enter the palace in attempts to obtain the Emperor’s favour.
It was a shame that her cousin wasn’t really up for it as she did not get to meet Emperor Lin more than three times since the first day she arrived in the palace. As a Pure Lady, her title was even lower than Xiao Lan’s.