An Lingrong's Rebirth: The Lock of Qingqiu

The Queen Mother sat on a couch in the deep palace, her face pale, her eyes full of helplessness and fatigue. She knew her situation well, and she also knew that her affair with Longkodo could no longer continue. She sighed deeply, beckoned to Aunt Zhuxi, and whispered: "Go tell Longkodo that we can't elope, the plan has failed. The Emperor knows about our affairs, and he wants to kill Longkodo even more."

After hearing this, Aunt Zhuxi had a blank expression on her face. She was used to not showing her emotions, just like a prop that was executing orders. As long as the Queen Mother issued an order, she would obey unconditionally. Aunt Zhuxi carefully left Shoukang Palace, and her calm expression changed. Her eyes began to become turbulent. She did not expect that the Queen Mother would actually elope with Longkodo. The Queen Mother, who was superior to others, actually made a mistake.

When Longkodo heard the news, he was heartbroken. He originally thought that the queen mother could lend him a helping hand, help him live a free and easy life, and help him become the man with the most power in the world, but the queen mother escaped at the last minute.

Longkodo knew that he was surrounded by enemies and had nowhere to escape. He sighed deeply, his heart filled with despair and helplessness. He knew that he had to come up with a solution as soon as possible, otherwise, he would only end up dead.

He began to think about how to get out of this predicament. He began to secretly contact some reliable people and prepare for a counterattack.

In the palace, not only the Queen Mother, but also the Emperor, Jingpin, Duanfei, Wanpin, Huipin, An Lingrong and others were silently paying attention to Longkodo's every move. Longkodo was a very cunning man, and he would definitely not surrender. Longkodo's forces in the court also began to stir, and from time to time someone went to visit Longkodo in prison to provide him with help and information.

This former important official of the imperial court was now mired in corruption. He knew that his crimes were too serious to escape the punishment of the law, so he came up with a plan to find an unrelated person to take the blame in order to save his own life.

Longkodo entrusted Aunt Zhuxi to tell the Queen Mother that he urgently needed to find a scapegoat to exonerate himself. Even if the Emperor wanted to sentence him to death, as long as he could clear himself of the charges, not even the Emperor could do anything to him!

Longkodo asked Aunt Zhuxi to convey the message to the empress dowager, and the empress dowager helped him look everywhere. Finally, they found an unknown man named Zhang Fusan. He came from a poor family, and in order to make a living, he accepted Longkodo's money and agreed to take the blame for him. Longkodo was secretly delighted, thinking that he could escape this way.

However, his crime was soon discovered by the imperial censors, who reported it to the emperor, who flew into a rage and decided to question Longkodo himself.

Longkodo was speechless when facing the emperor's questioning, and could only bow his head and confess his guilt. He admitted his crime of corruption and confessed that he had found someone to take the blame. When the emperor interrogated Longkodo, he also ordered the empress dowager to listen. After hearing this, the empress dowager was so angry that she trembled all over.

Seeing this, Longkodo knew that the situation was irreversible and could only beg the Queen Mother to spare his life. He knelt in front of the Queen Mother, weeping and confessing that he had embarked on this road of no return because of his momentary confusion.

Although the Queen Mother was extremely angry, she couldn't help but feel a little pity when she saw Longkodo's pitiful appearance. She thought that Longkodo had made great contributions to the court, but now he ended up like this, and she couldn't help but feel a little sorry.

When the Queen Mother was hesitant, the Emperor learned about it. He personally came to the Queen Mother and advised her not to plead for Longkodo. However, the Queen Mother still wanted to save Longkodo's life. She said that although Longkodo had committed a serious crime, he should be given a chance to reform because of his past contributions.

The Queen Mother told the Queen how Longkodo had worked hard to support the Emperor to ascend the throne. They should not demolish the bridge after crossing it now. The Emperor’s throne is now secure, so he should not kick away the man who planted the trees!

The emperor remained silent. The queen mother took a deep breath and said to Longkodo: "Although you have committed a serious crime, I will spare your life for your past contributions. However, you must resign your official position and never set foot in the court again."

After hearing this, Longkodo kowtowed as if he had been pardoned. He knew that he was lucky to escape death. The emperor actually acquiesced. Perhaps he really wanted to give Longkodo a chance to reform, or perhaps the empress dowager's words aroused his memories. As long as Longkodo resigned from his official position, never appeared in the court again, and lived a secluded life in the countryside, the emperor would probably forgive him.

The unknown man Zhang Fusan who was brought in to take the blame was also exiled to the frontier by the court because of his crime. He accepted money from Longkodo but still ended up being exiled.

Everything seemed to have calmed down. The Empress Dowager and the Emperor continued to run the government with loving motherly love and filial piety, working tirelessly for the prosperity and stability of the Qing Dynasty.

As soon as the matter of Longkodo was settled, the supreme emperor in the palace began to pursue the elixir of life more fanatically. He would mention this matter every day in the court. He just wanted to live longer and use the magic elixir to keep himself young and enjoy the empire for a long time. Among the many pharmacists who participated in making the elixir of life, An Lingrong became more and more important.

An Lingrong, an unknown concubine in the palace, was appointed by the emperor to be responsible for the development of the elixir of life because of her deep research on herbs and superb mastery of medical skills. This task is both an honor and a huge pressure for her. She was entrusted with important tasks step by step by the emperor, until today, she is responsible for the operation of the elixir of life in the entire Alchemy Pavilion. When she is not in the Imperial Pharmacy, An Lingrong is almost immersed in the alchemy room every day, sitting in the medicine furnace room, either reading ancient books or studying the properties and effects of various herbs, trying to find the secret to immortality. She worked day and night, regardless of her physical fatigue, just wanting to complete the emperor's instructions as soon as possible.

It was another sunny day. After countless sleepless days, the Alchemy Pavilion finally had a small victory. An Lingrong unexpectedly discovered that the mixture of several herbs produced magical effects. With her keen insight, she felt that it should be successful this time. She carefully put the elixir into a crystal clear green bottle and asked the emperor to start testing the medicine.

The emperor looked at the pill, which was very different from the usual ones, with a glimmer of surprise in his eyes. He swallowed it down eagerly. Suddenly, a warm current rushed through his body, warming his limbs and making his face rosy. The emperor excitedly grabbed An Lingrong's hand and said repeatedly, "Li Ronghua, this time is different from usual. This time the medicine is particularly warm and nourishing. I feel that the blood vessels in my body are unblocked."

The success of this drug research also made An Lingrong's status in the palace rise again and again, and she became the object of everyone's envy.

The emperor promoted An Lingrong from the fourth rank "Ronghua" to the second rank "Fei", and called her "Li Fei". From then on, An Lingrong was on equal footing with Concubine Duan, Concubine Kang and other concubines of the older generation.

The emperor was so happy that he promoted Concubine Wan and Concubine Hui from the fifth rank "Concubine" to the second rank "Zhaoyi". From then on, when he saw Concubine Wan, he called her Wan Zhaoyi, and when he saw Concubine Hui, he called her Hui Zhaoyi.