Chapter 450: Chapter 450: Never Too Old to Desire

Concubine Xian said, “Though, by tradition, a consort over the age of forty is no longer called for the Emperor’s bed. But the Emperor is not a man of fickleness and ungratefulness. From time to time, he will visit the rooms of the consorts who have given him children. Especially ones like us, who still have connections in our birth families, we have to appear important to sustain the morale of the court.”

“The last time the Emperor visited us here was over a month ago, and even then, his stay was brief. As for spending the night…it must have been seven or eight years since that last happened.”

Concubine Xian nodded silently.

Though she appeared serene, she, as a woman, had not aged to the extent of completely losing a woman’s desires.

She too had desires.

However, her man was the Emperor, the man to whom over a hundred consorts belonged.

He had countless women at his disposal. His affections were not infinite and could not be shared equally.

Young and tender consorts entered the palace in droves, like the constant regrowth of leeks.

For an older woman like her, whose beauty was fading, if it weren’t for the support of her son, the Prince, she would have long been forgotten and cast aside.

The occasional thought of her from the Emperor, a fleeting visit, was already a cause for gratitude.

How could she dare to hope that the Emperor would stay the night?

As for these matters, she had long resigned herself to them, treating her life as if she were a devotee, severing desires.

However, some desires can be relinquished, but others cannot.

For the sake of her future, she did not wish to sit and wait for death. She wanted to make one more effort.

“The next time the Emperor comes here, I will always be able to find a way to make him stay,” she murmured to herself.

Seeing that her determination was unshakable, Nanny Cha knew further dissuasion was pointless and went to carry out the task.

Other than taking medication to maintain her health and doing her best to retain her beauty and make herself more attractive, Concubine Xian also thought of many other ways.

It was the time of spring blossoms, and she ordered her servants to pick flower petals from the Imperial Garden daily.

She even imported a great number of flower petals from outside the palace.

It took manpower and wealth to do this, and it was impossible to keep it completely quiet.

Since moving into the East Palace and sorting out the affairs, she has been quite at leisure.

The Prince of Yu, however, was very busy, almost invisible from morning till evening.

Jiang Ning took pleasure in the relaxation, not bothered to deal with him.

With nothing else to do and well fed, apart from playing with her two children, Jiang Ning ambled about the backyards of the Imperial Palace, where she saw eunuchs several times, wheeling carts full of rose petals into the palace.

Huge fresh bunches of roses were in water buckets, their petals still glistening with dewdrops.

Though covered by a layer of cloth, much of it was still partially visible.

“Are the roses in bloom at this time of the year?” Jiang Ning asked Huang Ying.

After pondering, Huang Ying replied, “This servant remembers that many of the ladies in the palace love using rose petals for their bath and cleansing. If we talk about roses, they should bloom around April, but for them to be used widely in the palace, it would probably be around May.”

Jiang Ning stopped an eunuch who was pushing a cart and asked, “Where are these roses being delivered to? Could it be for the Empress?”

The eunuch looked at her.

These days, Jiang Ning had been making herself acquainted in the palace, and dozens of concubines had started recognizing her, and even the eunuchs and palace ladies knew her.

Seeing that she was the new Princess Consort, the eunuch promptly paid his respects, “This servant greets the Princess Consort.”

“I exempt you from the formalities,” Jiang Ning casually picked up a rose and sniffed it, then asked, “this rose?”

“This…”

“Is this some secret? Just some flowers. Can’t our ladies in the palace even use these?” Jiang Ning said with a smile.

The eunuch heard this and thought, indeed.

In previous years around this time, the palace would also procure many flowers..