An Lingrong's Rebirth: Red

Inside the Old Summer Palace.

Liu Zhu was tied up, blindfolded and thrown into the stable, with a cloth stuffed in her mouth. She could only whimper to attract attention.

But in order not to alert the enemy, Zhen Huan asked her to come secretly. As a result, now that she was caught, no one could return to the palace to report the news.

I don’t know how many days have passed. Apart from a palace maid coming to feed me some food and water, no one else has come.

Liu Zhu was very puzzled. What on earth did the man want to do by locking him up like this without asking any questions or beating or scolding him?

Could this harm the young lady, or Concubine Hui?

Soon, there was a noise at the door, and a man walked over quickly, took the rag from Liuzhu's mouth and started feeding her water.

The palace maid didn't say a word, but just pinched her mouth and poured water into her mouth. Liu Zhu didn't even have a chance to utter a complete sentence.

Just after swallowing a mouthful of porridge, another spoonful was poured into his mouth. Although the porridge was not hot, it was almost like torture.

After finishing a bowl of porridge with great difficulty, Liu Zhu just said the word "you" when his mouth was blocked again.

Liu Zhu could only whine and whine, begging the palace maid to be kind enough to let her say a word.

But the maid pretended not to hear anything and slammed the door shut.

The maid left the stable carrying food, and just as she had walked a short distance, she ran into someone head-on.

There seemed to be a frost on the man's face. He ignored the palace maid's greeting and walked straight towards the stable.

"Lan Yi," the maid said hastily, fearing that she would find Liu Zhu locked up in the stable, "How is the little red horse from a few days ago? Our young lady is still asking about it."

Ye Lanyi stopped and was a little displeased when she heard about the horse. "If it wasn't for Concubine Hui who insisted on taking the Fourth Prince on a horse, how could it have been injured? It's just a false sympathy."

The maid sighed helplessly. She took out a bottle of medicine from the food box and handed it to Ye Lanyi. "This bottle of medicine was specially requested by the young lady. Miss Lanyi, give it to the little red horse. It will be cured in a few days."

Ye Lanyi didn't want to take it at first, but when she heard that it was effective for Xiao Ma's injury, she hesitated for a while and finally reached out to take it.

But she didn't feel like thanking him, so she took the bottle and planned to continue to the stable.

"Lan Yi, let me go with you to see the horse. I also need to give the young master a reply."

Ye Lan Yi just said "whatever" and left first, as if she was hiding from a ghost.

Because this palace maid had been following Ye Lanyi, Liu Zhu was not discovered and saved, and could only wait helplessly until the day she was released.

On the other side, Shen Meizhuang received a letter from Concubine Tian. The letter contained only a few words, saying that it was found that the Imperial Observatory was bribed by Concubine Zhen, and then she revealed that the royal heir was causing the Purple Star to flicker.

In fact, Shen Meizhuang had found out all these things a long time ago. She put the letter into her dressing box and hesitated whether to use Concubine Tian to wash away her and the royal heir's ominous reputation.

No matter what, she couldn't stay in the Old Summer Palace forever.

There is only one Fourth Prince in this garden. I can't put my hope on him and get him the status of a foster mother for me.

An unfavored prince cannot bring any help to his family or himself. Even if the emperor has no children now, it will be difficult for the Fourth Prince to ascend to the throne.

Zhen Huan, you really did yourself a disastrous harm.

Shen Meizhuang felt sad when she thought about her past with Zhen Huan.

She trusted Zhen Huan so much, but was backstabbed by her best sister and even had her child aborted.

She had become an ominous person in the emperor's heart. Not to mention becoming a concubine or a noble concubine, even a concubine was a luxury.

"Young Master..." Cai Xing saw that her master looked really bad, and couldn't help but call her.

"It's okay, don't worry about me." Shen Meizhuang's face was pale, and she forced a smile, "Pick out the gifts that Concubine Zhen sent that can be used and send them to the Fourth Prince."

Cai Xing nodded slightly, and threw aside the medicinal herbs and other things that Liu Zhu sent without even looking at them.

It seems that she has really become estranged from Zhen Changzai and no longer cares about the so-called sisterhood.

In fact, in Caixing's opinion, the relationship between Zhen Changzai and her young mistress was a little too good.

After all, the two families were not close to each other in the past, and the two people could only see each other a few times a year. They could only communicate through letters.

Now, although Zhen Chang has hurt the young lady again and again, the young lady has easily forgiven her and even shared the fertility-aiding recipe that the family had worked so hard to obtain.

If the young master had not been harmed this time, I'm afraid he would still be so eager to be nice to Zhen Changzai that no one could persuade him to change his mind.

"As for the fabrics..."

"Give the Fourth Prince what he can use, and if he can't use it... just keep it in the warehouse."

Shen Meizhuang originally wanted to give it to these maids, but when she thought that some of the materials were not appropriate for the maids to wear, and that it would be too disrespectful to Zhen Huan, she gave up the idea of ​​humiliating them.

Keep it, out of sight, out of mind. Besides, these materials are very precious, and it would be good to give them to other concubines in the future.

"There is one more thing," Cai Xing bit her lip and hesitated for a long time before speaking, "Mrs. Zhen sent someone to the Old Summer Palace again, saying... they want to find Liu Zhu."

"Liu Zhu?" Shen Meizhuang was quite puzzled. Liu Zhu should have left here long ago, so why was Zhen Huan looking for her again?

"It is said that Liu Zhu has never returned to the palace, so Concubine Zhen thought of sending someone to ask if she is a guest at Bitong Academy."

"Guest?" Shen Meizhuang raised her voice, "I'm afraid she thinks I detained Liu Zhu. Could it be that she thinks I will use Liu Zhu to harm her?!

Or are you afraid that I will torture Liu Zhu and make her tell the truth that my master bribed the Imperial Observatory and the monks to frame me for being pregnant!"

Cai Xing was a little scared by Shen Meizhuang's angry look. She stood beside Shen Meizhuang carefully and said, "My lady, please forgive me for making you unhappy. The truth must be revealed. Neither you nor the Shen family can bear such ominous rumors."

Who in the Shen family would dare to approach a daughter who was unlucky and might even bring disaster to the Emperor? And how could the men and women in the family marry as before?

Shen Meizhuang was so angry at Zhen Huan because she had figured this out. She couldn't understand why Zhen Huan chose this one when there were 10,000 ways to abort her baby.

"I know." Shen Meizhuang suppressed her anger a little. She thought quickly and guessed that someone might have known that Concubine Tian had sent her this letter and deliberately withheld Liu Zhu.

"Send someone to check. Liu Zhu is not a playful person. After delivering the gift, he will find the shortest way to leave Yuanmingyuan and return to the palace.

Go along the road closest to the gate of Bitong Academy and ask everyone one by one. Someone will eventually see where Liu Zhu went."

"Yes, my lady." Cai Xing walked quickly. After all, Liu Zhu knew a lot. Once she was caught, she would find a way to make her tell her everything that Zhen Changzai had done. Then the injustice of her lady would be cleared.

But Shen Meizhuang had obviously miscalculated. Caixing asked along the way, but no palace servant saw where Liuzhu had gone.

After all, there are few masters in the Old Summer Palace now, and most of the palace people are lazy, so Liu Zhu disappeared suddenly like a ghost.

Helplessly, Cai Xing could only ask people to expand the scope and ask in every palace, but they still couldn't find any trace of Liu Zhu until late at night.

She returned to Bitong Academy exhausted. In order not to worry her mistress, she washed her face thoroughly with cold water before going to the inner hall to reply.

“My lady, I have checked most of the places, but no one has seen where Miss Liu Zhu went.

But the guards at the garden gate only saw Miss Liu Zhu enter the garden, but never saw her come out.

"Go and have a rest. You must be tired after walking for most of the day." Shen Meizhuang felt really sorry for the maid who followed her into the palace. She held Caixing's hand and patted it again and again. After a while, she let out a long sigh.

Cai Xing did not leave. She poured Shen Meizhuang her favorite drink, Biluochun, and persuaded her again.

"My lady, don't be too sad. This garden is so picturesque. It will be good even if you stay here forever."

These words were meant to be a step back in order to advance. Cai Xing was the person who knew Shen Meizhuang best. Continuously forcing her would only provoke rebellion, and she would be even more unwilling to clear herself of the charges.

She always thought that the emperor should believe in her and love her, but she didn't know that she was full of dirt and no one could trust her at all.

"It would be fine if it was just me," Shen Meizhuang looked at the tea she loved to drink, but she had no intention of tasting it. "I can't drag the entire Shen family down with me for my noble character."

"That……"

"We still have to find Liu Zhu. Once we find her, we'll find a way to make her tell the truth. Let Concubine Tian write her back and tell her that I agree to cooperate with her."

Cai Xing didn't expect that her young lady would be willing to cooperate with Concubine Tian. After all, the young lady and Concubine Tian had no friendship, so how could she believe it so easily?

"Lady Tian, ​​will she..."

“She is using me. Her child was killed by Zhen Changzai, so naturally she wants revenge.

Moreover, we have also found out that it was indeed Zhen Changzai who bribed the Imperial Observatory.

And that bowl of pregnancy-preserving medicine actually contained a sufficient amount of safflower.”

Shen Meizhuang took out a pen and ink and quickly wrote a reply letter, "Has the person who came to Yongshou Palace to deliver the letter left?"

"Not yet. I guess he wants to wait for Liu Zhu and then return to the palace together."

"Avoid that person when sending this letter and send it as quickly as possible." Shen Meizhuang looked exhausted. She was in poor health and it took her a long time to take medicine before she recovered.

But he couldn't stay up too long, so he gave instructions and went to sleep.

Caixing did not dare to delay, and took advantage of the night to avoid people. As soon as she walked out of the inner hall and turned a corner, she ran into Fuling.

"It's so late, why are you in such a hurry, Sister Caixing? Are you hungry?"

"I think you are hungry. You are still awake so late." Cai Xing responded with a smile. Now that the young lady trusts Fuling very much, she naturally does the same. "There is a letter to be sent back to the palace. I have to hurry to do it."

"Then sister, go quickly and don't delay the young lady's important matter." Fuling urged Caixing and even pulled her for a few steps.

Caixing also knew that this was not a trivial matter. Seeing Fuling urging her, she quickly ran out the door.

After Fuling waited for Caixing to go out, she also left and ran to the stable to bring Liuzhu out.

Although the ropes on Liuzhu's legs were untied, her hands were still not untied. She was pushed by Fuling and could only stagger along.

In order to let Caixing find Liuzhu, Fuling brought her to the vicinity of Bitong Academy.

She held Liu Zhu down, and when she vaguely saw Cai Xing's figure, she quietly let go of her hand and pushed Liu Zhu out.

Liu Zhu only felt that someone had let her go. She tried to struggle and found that no one was holding her, so she started running.

She was blindfolded, so even though she was running, she was only staggering at a fast pace.

Soon, she bumped into someone head-on and fell to the ground.

"Liu, Liu Zhu?" Cai Xing was very surprised. This dusty man turned out to be the Liu Zhu whom she had been looking for.

When Liu Zhu heard the familiar voice, he didn't even wait to remember who it was, and started begging for help.

It’s a pity that Caixing didn’t help her take the rag out of her mouth. Instead, she just pulled her back to Bitong Academy.

Liu Zhu wanted to struggle, but because he had no strength, he could only be dragged to the woodshed and locked up.

Although Shen Meizhuang had not woken up at this time, Caixing had already called the nanny sent by the Shen family to interrogate Liu Zhu with her, intending to find out everything that Zhen Huan had done.

A day later, Concubine Tian received two letters one after another.

One letter was from Shen Meizhuang, expressing her willingness to form an alliance with Shen Meizhuang to expose all the dirty deeds done by Zhen Huan.

The other letter was from Fuling. She had already found a way to hand Liu Zhu over to Concubine Hui, and everything was going according to plan.

Concubine Tian took the two letters and went directly to Chengqian Palace to find Lingrong.

Lingrong was drinking medicine at that time. She slammed the two letters on the table, her face full of surprise, "How did you calculate that? Liuzhu is now in the hands of Concubine Hui, and she is really trying to interrogate Liuzhu."

Ling Rong frowned and drank the bowl of bitter medicine. She had no mood to answer Concubine Tian's words. It was not until she ate some candied fruit that her color returned to normal.

"I didn't expect this," Ling Rong shook her head. She picked up the two letters and looked at them carefully. "This Fuling is really smart. When she locked up Liu Zhu, she really didn't say a word."

"This is not your idea. Although I don't know what you are going to do, she will definitely listen if you give her the order."

Concubine Tian had special trust in her subordinates. Even though Fuling was only bribed temporarily, she treated him equally and did not doubt Fuling's ability at all.

Maybe it's because fools have good luck, she really met a smart person like Fuling.

"Liu Zhu was blindfolded, so as long as Fuling doesn't speak, Liu Zhu won't know who kidnapped her.

Even if she was released later, people would only think that it was Shen Meizhuang who ordered her to be locked up.

By then, regardless of whether Ms. Hui cooperates with you or not, the relationship between the two of them will have reached an irreparable point."

Ling Rong folded the two pieces of letter paper and pushed them back in front of Concubine Tian, ​​"Given Concubine Zhen's personality, she will definitely find a way to take the initiative.

At that time, Concubine Hui will have no choice but to cooperate with you and expose the fact that Concubine Zhen bribed the Imperial Observatory to maliciously frame you."