The Queen has arrived: An Lingrong does not want to fight in the palace after her rebirth

Inside the Yanqing Palace.

Imperial Concubine Xi held An Lingrong's hand and said angrily, "You look so distant with me. You keep calling me Imperial Concubine, and I don't know how to say hello to you."

An Lingrong smiled very modestly:

"It is precisely because Sister Xi is now the Imperial Concubine that I must behave myself and observe etiquette, lest others say that I am relying on Sister Xi's love and being frivolous and arrogant, and that if I cause trouble for Sister Xi, wouldn't that be Lingrong's fault?"

Concubine Xi was particularly pleased with An Lingrong's sensibleness in choosing to visit when the Fourth Prince was not around, and her smile became even more cordial: "You are just too cautious. You should be the same as before when you are here. You don't have to be restrained about anything."

Although she said it nicely, An Lingrong understood that their status was different now. In the past, they were evenly matched in terms of means, but now it was obvious that Concubine Xi was more powerful, and she still needed her help, so she could not be ambiguous in her attitude, so she softened her attitude:

"Lingrong said that she feels most at ease here with Sister Xi. She came here today because she really has something to ask Sister."

Concubine Xi smiled even more generously: "You can say whatever you want."

An Lingrong then straightened her expression and told what had happened: "Sister Xi, do you still remember the symptoms that Empress Chunyuan had when she had a difficult delivery?"

Concubine Xi did not answer immediately, but asked: "Did you notice anything?"

An Lingrong looked up at her obviously suspicious expression and said more directly:

"Has Sister Xi never doubted anything in all these years?"

Imperial Concubine Xi's eyes flashed, and then she smiled and said, "I am not the only one who has doubts, but I am curious. These are all old stories. Where did you find out?"

She didn't mention the other people behind the words, but An Lingrong understood. She wasn't the only one who had suspicions about Chun Yuan's death. However, since there was no clear evidence, the matter was left unresolved. An Lingrong had no choice but to come up with another explanation:

"Lingrong has been watching the Queen's actions for these years, and she has doubts in her heart. Her first wife has been reduced to a concubine, and Honghui has been turned from the eldest son of the legitimate wife into the eldest son of a concubine. When her son died, her eldest sister was pregnant. How could she not feel hatred in her heart?"

"It's only natural for a woman who lost her youngest son to do something when faced with her elder sister who took everything from her."

Hearing this, Concubine Xi sighed:

"Even a later comer like you can see it clearly. Our emperor never imagined that there would be such a big hidden danger back then."

An Lingrong didn't want to say that the emperor was too ruthless and too conceited, which caused the tragedies in the harem, so she just changed her statement:

"Men are broad-minded, and these pains of women are just trivial matters to them."

Concubine Xi sighed, but immediately changed the subject:

"You'd better think about it carefully. If you are not absolutely sure and forcefully reveal the tragedy of the past, not only will you provoke a crazy counterattack from the Queen, but you will also be in trouble for the Emperor."

An Lingrong understood her sigh even more. If the matter was beneficial, she would give it a push. If it was a negative trend, she, Concubine Xi, would not get involved at all.

An Lingrong understood her current position. After all, the Fourth Prince had just gained favor in front of the Emperor. The more calm and measured Concubine Xi was in the harem, the further the Fourth Prince could go.

Understanding is one thing, but I still feel a little cold in my heart. I haven't reached the highest position yet, but I can't wait to protect myself. When that day comes, I will have to live by relying on others.

However, the more difficult it is, the more you have to do it. Only after you do it can you negotiate with Concubine Xi. An Lingrong had a smile in her eyes and a resolute voice:

"Sister Xi, you have seen that the Queen has been acting more and more vicious in recent years. From the very beginning, Concubine Yi to Concubine Ming, they all left in an unclear manner. The Fourth Prince has been in danger many times, and even you have suffered. If you don't fight back, I am worried that Lingrong will be the next victim. So Lingrong wants to fight hard and pull out the Queen's poisonous tooth, so that Lingrong can live with peace of mind and rely on Sister Xi."

This attitude is like putting herself in the shoes of a knife again. If it succeeds, the harem will be the world of Concubine Xi, and if it fails, she will be the only one to be held accountable.

After this second vote, Concubine Xi was somewhat moved:

"My dear sister, you must be extremely careful during this difficult time. I will help you deal with it, but I also hope you understand that I will always put Fourth Prince first in everything I do. Some things should not be overdone."

An Lingrong held her hand and comforted her:

"Sister Xi, don't worry. Lingrong has someone to help her. Sister Xi, please protect yourself first."

Hearing this, Imperial Concubine Xi heaved a sigh of relief. If she were to confront the Empress now, it would only make the Emperor suspect that she was holding the child hostage and had improper thoughts. She recalled with a little guilt:

"At that time, Empress Chunyuan suffered from severe morning sickness. The Empress had studied medicine since she was young and was proficient in taking care of women. The Emperor arranged for the Empress to help take care of Chunyuan's body."

"Under the care of the Queen, Chun Yuan's morning sickness gradually improved, and her complexion became better and better. Every time the imperial physician felt her pulse, he said that the fetal movement was strong. However, when the Queen gave birth in October, she had a difficult labor. She gave birth to a boy in one day and one night. The child was held in her belly for too long, and died as soon as he was born."

She paused for a moment, as if she was thinking carefully about what happened that day:

"And Queen Chunyuan had already suffered from a difficult labor and hemorrhage. After hearing that her child had died, she became even more heartbroken. She left behind her last words and passed away."

An Lingrong asked, "Was there anything abnormal after the child was born?"

Imperial Concubine Xi lamented, "There were purple scars all over her body. The imperial physician diagnosed that Empress Chunyuan was frightened and over-thinking after seeing Concubine Jin's miscarriage, which led to a difficult labor."

An Lingrong said confidently: "There are two types of purple scars: one is caused by the baby being squeezed too much in the birth canal, and the other is caused by poison in the fetus."

Concubine Xi nodded in agreement: "At that time, the Queen Chunyuan's food and daily life were all taken care of by the Queen, so she had the most opportunity to make some changes."

But she also pointed out the most difficult part: "But even so, after so many years, all the evidence has disappeared. How are you going to break it?"

An Lingrong kept it a secret:

"Sister Xi, the answer to the mystery revealed at the last minute is the most interesting. You might as well wait a few more days."

In Yonghe Palace, An Lingrong was busy planning a strike to overthrow the Queen, while in Qianqiu Pavilion in the Imperial Garden, Cao Qinmo had already run into Jianqiu.

Her livelihood skill in the palace is to be good at observing people's words and expressions and understanding people's hearts. When Zhen Huan first returned to the palace, she resented the Queen for supporting her, but after observing for a few months, she found that the two of them were not in harmony with each other. In recent days, she even found that the Queen was using Concubine Qi to torture Zhen Huan.

In other words, the Queen disliked Zhen Huan, but Zhen Huan did not make any obvious mistakes, so the Queen could not control her using palace rules and had to use such underhanded tricks to vent her anger.

Isn't this just like a sleepy man meeting a pillow? The affectionate words "How can I give you a gift of separation? I have my own jade pot of ice" on the Tonghua Terrace show that Zhen Huan and Prince Guo already had a private relationship.

A powerful prince and a concubine in the deep palace, this private relationship is not simple and there is a lot to be said about it.

In order to make the article more realistic, Cao Qinmo went back and forth to Tonghuatai many times, and finally saw the evening primroses blooming freely on the stone steps.

She quietly moved the flower to another pot and kept it in a warm place. Later, she brought it back to the palace and had people take good care of it. Although it was early winter, the evening primrose bloomed beautifully.

Now, she told all this to Jianqiu, hoping to use the Queen's hand to bring Zhen Huan to eternal damnation.

Jianqiu was overjoyed, as she knew a little about the Queen's thoughts. On the night when the Emperor had a high fever and was unconscious, if it had not been for Prince Guo, the Queen might have succeeded.

Afterwards, the Queen bore a grudge against Prince Guo and wanted to get rid of this thorn in her side, but she had no chance. Now, what Cao Qinmo said gave the Queen room to maneuver.

Jianqiu excitedly reported the news to the queen.

The Queen would not be led by Cao Qinmo, she sneered:

"What a cunning person she is. She actually dared to use me as a knife. Tell her that the emperor is ill and I cannot be distracted at all. I cannot help her achieve her wish. But if she has any tricks, she can use them. I will help her then."

Cao Qinmo was disappointed after receiving the reply, but she did not dare to force the Queen. After all, with her status as the Queen, she could have a say in Wen Yi's marriage in the future.

Jianqiu saw that she looked embarrassed, so she said something to provoke her:

"When I came, I saw Concubine Wan went to the Yangxin Palace again. Our queens all sighed at Concubine Wan's extraordinary resilience. It has only been a few months since she coaxed the emperor to let her accompany him every day. Maybe after a while, she will be pregnant with a dragon offspring again. When that happens, the whole palace will have to congratulate her. Concubine Shen, what do you think, is what I said right?"

Cao Qinmo gritted her teeth and said, "She must be capable, otherwise she wouldn't be able to return to the palace again."

Seeing that she had taken the bait, Jianqiu smiled and said, "Our queen also said that the more capable a person is, the harder it is to serve him. Take Prince Guo for example. He likes cleanliness by nature and cannot tolerate any dirt."

Cao Qinmo's eyes lit up, and something seemed to emerge in her mind, but she couldn't grasp the key points for a moment.

Seeing her clever yet dazed look, Jianqiu couldn't help but say:

"In a few days, it will be the Winter Solstice family dinner."

Cao Qinmo's heart began to beat wildly. She understood the Queen's hint. If Prince Guo and Zhen Huan could be alone together at the family dinner, Zhen Huan would have no way to defend herself.

But how can we lure out Prince Guo? In a flash, Cao Qinmo thought of a way, and she lowered her head and said a few words to Jianqiu.

Jian Qiu felt that it was feasible: "Whether it will succeed or not is up to the Queen to decide. Concubine Shen, please wait for the news from this servant."

The idea was brought back. After thinking about it for a while, the queen said with an intriguing smile:

"Let Guarjia Wenyuan lend a helping hand to Concubine Shen."

The next day, early in the morning in Yongshou Palace, Concubine Qi went crazy. She first shouted loudly in her palace that she had lost a gourd-head flower inlaid with emerald and coral, and ordered all the palace servants in the room to help her find it.

After struggling for a while, he ran to the entrance of Zhen Huan's bedroom and cursed loudly:

"You shameless vixen, you raised a bunch of thieves. They took advantage of my absence and ran into my room to steal things."

"Fox Meizi, quickly hand over the thieves, otherwise I will report them to the Queen and have them all arrested and tortured in the Ministry of Punishment."

Inside the room, Jingxi and Liuzhu were helping Zhen Huan change her clothes. Upon hearing this, both of them looked very unhappy.

Liu Zhu said angrily, "Master, she is getting more and more outrageous. Why don't you tell the emperor that if she keeps going like this, when will it end?"

Zhen Huan knew that if she wanted to intervene, someone would have done it long ago. Besides, Zhen Huan's attention had been on An Lingrong these days. She was waiting for the day when An Lingrong would take action, so she did not respond to Qi Concubine's provocations as usual:

"She has only these tricks. I have already said that she is just a mad dog barking at the sun. There is no need to bother with her. I will close the door later. You two will follow me to the Yangxin Palace."

The reason why she took the two of them away was because she was afraid that Concubine Qi would really make a mistake and ask the Ministry of Punishment to come. Not many of the other new palace servants who came to her were loyal to her, so she didn't need to waste her energy on them. She just needed to protect Jinxi and Liuzhu.

Seeing that there was no movement in Zhen Huan's room, Concubine Qi scolded even more vigorously:

"Why, you dare not speak now that I have caught you? The hair flower I lost was a reward from the Emperor. I must have been short-sighted and secretly exchanged it for money. Now you want to hand over the thief, I will pretend that nothing happened. If the people from the Ministry of Punishment come, it won't be so easy to talk to you."

"I know what's going on. Like master, like servant. His family must have fallen on hard times, so he wants to take over the palace. He wants to share the spoils with his master and servant, so he doesn't dare to say anything."

Liu Zhu couldn't hold back any longer and was about to fight back, but he heard a loud shout from the yard:

"Madam Qi, I found it. Your hairpin fell under the pillow. Look."

"Pa" was the crisp sound of a slap, accompanied by a curse: "I taught you not to be careful when doing things. If you do it again, I will peel off your skin."

When she heard that the hair flower had been found, Zhen Huan wanted to change her mind and let Liu Zhu stay to guard it.

However, after hearing the palace maid's low pleas for mercy and seeing Liu Zhu's angry eyes, Zhen Huan thought about it and decided to take Liu Zhu out:

"She is still angry today and is going to make trouble. Liuzhu, please follow me and hide out."

Accompanied by the two, Zhen Huan went to the Palace of Tranquil Longevity.

The palace servants who stayed in the main hall of Yongshou Palace were also doing their respective duties.

A quarter of an hour later, Concubine Qi started to make a fuss again: "Where is my cat's eye necklace? You bastards, did you steal it?"

There was a sound of people kneeling and begging for mercy in the side hall. After venting her anger, Concubine Qi got nothing in return, so she came to the main hall angrily with her personal maid.

The palace maids in the palace tried to stop them, and Concubine Qi raised her eyebrows:

"Move aside. I want to go in and see if you have hidden my collar."

Seeing that the palace maid was still kneeling and refusing to move away, Concubine Qi said sarcastically:

"Why, are you afraid that I might steal Foxy's things? I don't want them. She is the daughter of a criminal, and the things she can use are all shabby. I am afraid that it will bring bad luck to her."

The palace maids remained unmoved, and Concubine Qi became even more arrogant:

"Don't even mention that your master isn't here. Even if she were here, what can she do to me? Who of you will try to stop me? I will throw you into the Ministry of Punishment and say that you stole my things. You can no longer stay in the palace."

The palace maids looked at each other in bewilderment. The master they were serving now was really a weak person. He did not have any of the aura of the favorite concubine in the past. He was bullied by a concubine, but he did not fight back at all. If they really tried to stop him today, with Concubine Qi's arrogant temper, they would be in trouble. They had to lower their heads and make way.

Concubine Qi took her maid to walk around Zhen Huan's room and came out empty-handed:

"Look carefully, I don't have anything from your master in my hand. If you dare to slander me, I will not forgive you."

Despite this intimidation, the palace maids in Yongshou Palace did not notice that the maid who followed Concubine Qi in seemed to have a plumper figure. What's more hateful is that for fear that Zhen Huan would come back and punish them, several people chose to remain silent about the matter.

After returning to the side hall, Concubine Qi asked her maid to take off the Manchu dress that was wrapped around her waist.

The Manchu dress was prominently embroidered with evening primrose flowers.