The Grand Princess

TGP Chapter 33: Consort Rou

“This humble official, Su Ronghua, and his younger brother greets Your Highness.”
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Li Rong received a response from Pei Wenxuan the next day. Li Rong took a look at the wedding robes he marked as his choice. After thinking about it, she pulled out the designs for the other set of wedding robes and handed it to Jing Lan: “Tell the Ministry of Rites that I chose the one with the phoenix embroidery.”

Jing Lan was stunned and couldn’t help but say, “Didn’t Pei gongzi choose the one with the peony embroidery?”

“Actually, either of them will do,” Li Rong said as she washed her hands, “I’m just using it as a process of elimination.”

Hearing this, the maids around them all bowed their heads to hide the laughs that escaped. After they joked around for a bit, Li Rong estimated that it should be time. Her Mother Empress should be up, so she went to Wei Yang Palace to pay her respects as usual.

Under normal circumstances, she would have to go and pay her respects to the Empress every day. It was just that during this time, she had been investigating the case, then imprisoned, so she had not seen her mother in a long time. She accepted the handkerchief offered to her off to the side and wiped her hands dry, then she turned and led people to Wei Yang Palace.

As soon as she arrived at the doors of Wei Yang Palace, she heard the sound of women’s laughter coming from inside. Li Rong smiled. She entered through the doors and saw that nearly all the concubines in the harem were present. Her mother, Shangguan Yue, was seated above on her throne, laughing with the people around her.

“What kind of interesting things are Your Majesty and Your Graces discussing to be laughing so heartily?” Li Rong asked with a smile as she walked in before facing the Empress’s throne and paying her respects: “Greeting Mother Empress.”

Afterwards, she turned and saluted the four imperial concubines sitting above: “Greeting Your Graces.”

“It turns out our little Ping Le has come,” A soft voice rang out just as Li Rong straightened up. Li Rong looked up to see Consort Rou looking at her with a smile, “Quickly have a seat.”

The word “Rou” was taken from her own name, Xiao Rou.[1] She came from an ordinary family and entered the palace as a maid at a young age. She was arranged to serve by Li Ming’s side ever since she was young because of her quick-wittedness. It was said that in the years when Li Ming was still a prince, his life was not going very smoothly, and Xiao Rou spent those years of her youth in the Cold Palace with him, so Li Ming had always had a special affection for Xiao Rou. Later on, when Li Ming became the Crown Prince, the Empress at that time arranged for Xiao Rou to be married to a minister. However, not long after she married, Li Ming became Emperor. A few years later, that minister passed away from illness in his residence. Xiao Rou shaved her head to become a Buddhist nun, but she later ran into Li Ming at the temple. After that fleeting spring breeze encounter,[2] she returned to the Palace. Since then, she never failed to be honored and favored for decades.

[1] Rou/Consort Rou (róu/róu fēi) — ‘róu’ can mean to soothe or calm when used as a verb, but in general, it means soft, tender, or gentle.

Consort Rou (Róu fēi) can also translate to Gentle Consort, a title for one of the four imperial concubines in the Jin-Tang Dynasties, hence why it was pointed out that the ‘róu’ in her title is taken from her name.

[2] A fleeting spring breeze encounter — a short-lived, one-time affair like that of a fleeting spring breeze, beautiful and savored in retrospect.

Further Context
To have this kind of ability, her appearance naturally had to be outstanding. Although she was approaching fifty, she still looked after herself with excellent care, and her charms aged gracefully. She was not inferior to the Empress who was seven years younger than her in any way either.