nucmednet Chapter 110 Whom Am I Looking At?
Chapter 110 Whom Am I Looking At?
The next night, just as Qing'an got home from school, she heard the butler's voice outside the door: "Young Miss."
Ye Qing'an got up and went out. The butler stood in the courtyard, holding an invitation in his hand.
Ye Qing'an seemed somewhat surprised: "What is this? An invitation? For me?"
She had only been back at the Ye residence for a little over a month, and rarely went out, so she hardly recognized any of the noble ladies and young women in Wangjing.
Who would send her an invitation?
"Yes, it was sent from the palace. In half a month, it will be Consort Lan's birthday. Consort Lan has invited you to the palace to celebrate with her."
Ye Qing'an was taken aback. She had conveyed the message through Xu Mo, but she never expected that Consort Lan would invite her to her birthday banquet.
Ye Qing'an was silent for a moment: "Consort Lan, how was your birthday celebrated in previous years?"
"Consort Lan is a low-key and easy-going person. Every year on her birthday, she would invite some familiar people to lunch and watch a play at noon. In the evening, she would celebrate with His Majesty and other concubines in the palace. Every year at noon, fewer than ten people would be summoned to the palace by Consort Lan to celebrate together."
The steward was also somewhat surprised. He looked at Ye Qing'an several times. Although he knew that Ye Qing'an had saved Consort Lan before, he never expected that she would be so favored by Consort Lan.
Fearing that Ye Qing'an might not understand the importance of this matter, the steward pondered for a moment before adding in a low voice, "In the past two years, due to some incidents involving Consort Lan, even fewer people have been invited to the palace; most of them are her relatives, sisters, and nephews."
Ye Qing'an nodded thoughtfully: "What kind of birthday gift should I give to Consort Lan?"
The steward had naturally thought of this as well, and simply bowed in response: "This old servant thinks that we can prepare two gifts, one to be sent on behalf of the Ye family, and one just on behalf of the young lady. If the young lady has anything she wants to send, she can just tell this old servant, and this old servant will go and purchase it."
"If Miss has no idea, this old servant can prepare a list of suitable items, and Miss can choose from them."
Ye Qing'an thought for a moment: "Consort Lan has seen all sorts of rare and unusual things in the palace. The gifts she sent over before were all priceless."
"If it's just something bought randomly, it doesn't seem very sincere. Let me think, it would be best if I made something myself and sent it over. It may not be expensive, but it's still a token of my appreciation."
"Alright." The butler replied with a smile. In any case, the Ye family would be giving another congratulatory gift anyway, so it wouldn't be a loss of face for Ye Qing'an to give her one. "Whatever the young lady wants to do or needs, she can tell this old servant."
Ye Qing'an replied, "Okay."
The steward bowed and was about to leave when he seemed to remember something: "By the way, on the day of Consort Lan's birthday, although it was only Consort Lan and the ladies and young ladies who were on good terms with her outside the palace who celebrated together, according to custom, the Emperor also went over."
The steward lowered his eyes and said, "Does the young lady need a tutor to come and teach her the etiquette for meeting the Emperor?"
Ye Qing'an raised an eyebrow, but shook her head: "I don't think so. My maid, Wei, has always served my mother. She should know all about these etiquette details."
"Ah, right." The steward nodded and smiled. "It was this old servant who was confused. This old servant had forgotten about Granny Wei."
The butler smiled and withdrew.
Wei Mama, who had been standing to the side listening to the whole thing, immediately stepped forward, her face beaming with joy: "Consort Lan has invited Miss to her birthday banquet? This is an immense favor..."
Granny Wei looked around before lowering her voice: "Miss, this is an excellent opportunity, you must seize it."
Ye Qing'an raised an eyebrow, seemingly puzzled: "What opportunity?"
"Although Consort Lan was neglected by His Majesty for a period of time because of Prince Duan's affair, she has always been greatly favored by the Emperor. Moreover, Consort Lan has more than just Prince Duan as a son..."
"Furthermore, Consort Lan's maternal family is definitely among the top in Wangjing City. It would be no harm for Miss to get to know them better. If you could win Consort Lan's favor, that would be even better."
Ye Qing'an smiled, a slight smirk playing on her lips: "Who is Consort Lan?"
Granny Wei was somewhat surprised: "That is the Imperial Concubine. Although she is not as powerful as the Empress, she is still considered to be second only to the Empress."
"That's right." Ye Qing'an lowered her eyes and looked at the invitation in her hand: "Given Consort Lan's status, do you think there will be few people trying to curry favor with her?"
"Furthermore, I spent a few days with Consort Lan, and she doesn't like people who deliberately try to curry favor with her. If I were the kind of person who tries every means to please her, I would be no different from anyone else, and I'm afraid this invitation wouldn't even reach me."
Granny Wei frowned, as if that was indeed the case.
But Granny Wei was still somewhat unwilling to give up: "The people in this mansion are the most fond of flattering the powerful and belittling the weak. Although Miss's life seems to be much better than before, there are still quite a few people secretly gossiping about her, and there are still those things that happened before..."
"If Miss can win the favor of Consort Lan and also associate with some noble families in the city, then no one will dare to look down on Miss or bully her anymore."
Ye Qing'an turned to look at Granny Wei: "I understand what you mean, Granny. I know what I'm doing, so please don't worry."
"It's best for those of us in the courtyard to know about the invitation to Consort Lan's birthday celebration. Don't go around spreading it around. Even with just one invitation, there are still many uncertainties."
Granny Wei quickly replied, "Yes, Miss, don't worry, I know what I'm doing."
Ye Qing'an entered the room with the invitation. Eleven had been waiting for her inside and had overheard the conversation outside. Upon seeing Ye Qing'an enter, he quickly asked, "Did Consort Lan invite you to the palace?"
"Yes," Ye Qing'an laughed, "Will you go with Mother then?"
Eleven thought for a moment: "I actually quite like Consort Lan. I think she's very kind to me. But I don't know why, sometimes I feel that when she looks at me, she sometimes stares blankly, as if she's looking at someone through me."
"But she is really good to me. I can tell the difference between genuine kindness and fake kindness."
Ye Qing'an couldn't help but laugh: "Little brat, you're thinking quite a lot. What do you mean by 'looking at someone through your eyes'?"
“I just feel that sometimes she’s looking at me, but it’s not like she’s really looking at me. It’s like she’s missing someone.”
Eleven waved his hand: "Oh dear, it's hard to explain this feeling."
After Eleven finished speaking, she sighed again: "But didn't the steward say that the Emperor might go? I'm afraid I don't know the rules and might offend the Emperor, which would implicate my mother."