An Lingrong's Rebirth: Red

Concubine Tian has never been able to compete with Zhen Huan in verbal battles, but now that she is in a high position and has great power, she is not shy about distorting right and wrong.

"Why? Do you think you have been respectful and have done everything right?"

"I dare not say that I have made no mistakes, but I bowed to Your Majesty with utmost respect and there was nothing wrong with it. Please take a closer look, Your Majesty."

Even though Zhen Huan was unhappy in her heart, she still looked humble on the surface. She knelt slightly and saluted. Since Concubine Tian didn't ask her to stand up, she really didn't move at all.

"Respectful? You say that, but you don't really mean it."

Concubine Tian's words were a bit shameless. Concubine Jing frowned and immediately spoke to smooth things over, "Concubine Wan has just recovered. Even if Sister Tian wants to see how she recovers, she should use a gentler method."

Seeing that Imperial Concubine Jing had spoken, Imperial Concubine Tian had no choice but to stop. She glanced at Zhen Huan with dissatisfaction and said, "Alright, you have just recovered from a serious illness, so don't be so formal. If I tire you out, I'm afraid there will be trouble again."

Zhen Huan just said yes and did not mock the sarcasm in Concubine Tian's words. She came today to announce her return to everyone, not to argue with Concubine Tian and make everyone laugh at her.

Soon, other people came one after another. Those who were familiar with Zhen Huan were a little shocked when they saw her, but they soon calmed down.

Concubine Qi and Concubine Hai, who had never seen Zhen Huan, were whispering to each other, discussing who this Concubine Wan was.

"Just now everyone greeted each other and found out that this person is Wan Changzai.

She is now in good health, and the sisters in the palace should visit her more often so that she won't be too lonely."

Concubine Jing smiled and introduced herself again, but she only mentioned her rank and title, and did not mention her family and name. Concubine Qi started asking, which made everyone fall into embarrassment.

Zhen Huan was particularly embarrassed. She could not admit that her surname was Zhen, let alone say that her father was Zhen Yuandao.

"The noble family of Qi is the Guarjia clan, which is extremely noble. A girl raised by such a noble family is truly noble and elegant, making people forget the mundane world when they see her."

Concubine Qi was naturally very proud of being praised like this. She looked at Zhen Huan with a delicate and arrogant look, and said, "My beauty is naturally top-notch, and I don't need you to praise me. You are a nameless commoner, and you are not worthy of discussing my Guaerjia clan."

Hai Changzai sat aside and echoed, whispering with Concubine Qi. From time to time, she could be heard saying "How could she be worthy of it", which made Concubine Qi smile happily.

In the past, these words were all about herself, but now they were all about Zhen Huan. Ling Rong was not happy at all, and she did not feel any empathy for Zhen Huan.

After all, he was the one with a poor family background, and Zhen Huan was not. She just got herself into her current situation; she was not born that way.

Therefore, Zhen Huan's inherent pride was still there, and she would not be hurt at all by the remarks made by Concubine Qi and others. She just smiled slightly and sighed helplessly.

"Don't pay attention to them. That noble lady Qi likes to show off her family background. No matter how high her family background is, isn't she still suppressed by the Fucha family?"

Concubine Xin smiled and comforted Zhen Huan with a few words. Seeing her response, she couldn't wait to ask about Zhen Huan's health.

"Sister Xin, I have almost recovered. I will visit you at Chuxiu Palace in a few days and we can have a good chat."

Concubine Xin agreed hurriedly. She was very happy that Zhen Huan could come over, but when she thought about living in the same palace with Concubine Qi, she couldn't help but remind Zhen Huan.

"Noble Lady Qi lives with me in Chuxiu Palace. You should stay away from her because of her temper."

Zhen Huan smiled and nodded. She did not take Concubine Qi seriously. She was just a weakling who could only show off her power by relying on her family background.

"Don't worry, sister. I will be careful and not to anger Lady Qi."

"I haven't seen you for a long time. You seem to be much softer now. You seem to be gentle on the outside but strong on the inside."

"Thank you for the compliment, sister." Zhen Huan was still smiling. When she saw Concubine Qi protecting her belly from time to time, she had some plans in her mind.

She pretended to be clueless and asked, "Sister, is Concubine Qi pregnant? I saw that she had to protect her belly from time to time, and her waist seemed to be a little uncomfortable."

"Noble Lady Qi is pregnant?!" Noble Lady Xin was quite surprised, and her voice was a little out of control. She was unaware and her eyes immediately looked at Noble Lady Qi.

Everyone heard it, and all looked at Concubine Qi. The hall was silent and filled with an uneasy atmosphere.

"Mr. Xin, what are you talking about?"

Concubine Qi is not even three months pregnant yet, and she doesn't want to tell anyone that she is pregnant. Her eyebrows are raised, and she immediately becomes angry, "You don't think your sister was bullied, so you want to take revenge for her, and make up some eye-catching words to focus all the sisters' attention on me."

"Why, I noticed that you are not as slim as before recently, and I think you might be pregnant. Is it a bad guess?"

Concubine Xin had not surpassed Concubine Qi before, and she was already very angry. Now Concubine Qi started to throw dirty water on her again. How could she possibly bear it?

"Which sister in this palace doesn't want to be pregnant? Why do you think I'm taking revenge on you by saying you're pregnant?

Your Majesty, please judge for us, what did I say that was wrong?"

Concubine Jing naturally heard the quarrel between the two people clearly. She nodded and did not continue to stand by and watch. "Concubine Xin is just guessing. She hopes that you are pregnant and it is a blessing. Why is Concubine Qi so excited?"

Concubine Jing did not blindly reprimand Concubine Qi. She showed a gentle smile and said, "Have you felt any discomfort recently? If so, remember to tell me as soon as possible and ask the imperial physician to diagnose you. Don't be foolish and not know that you are pregnant, which will cause irreparable harm."

"I know my own body very well, but I have eaten more recently and have gained some weight."

Concubine Qi didn't want everyone to know that she was pregnant, so she hurriedly found an excuse and deliberately told the maid not to serve meal today.

"It's just that you have a plump figure. You don't have to skip lunch!" Concubine Xin covered her lips but deliberately laughed out loud, making Concubine Qi's face even gloomier.

"It's not nice to comment on someone's appearance in front of all the sisters, Concubine Xin."

Seeing that Concubine Qi was too angry to speak, Concubine Hai had to speak. It seemed that Concubine Hai was a storyteller and her articulateness was also very clever. "If Concubine Qi had not felt bad about being ridiculed, why would she have chosen such an extreme method?"

Hearing someone speaking for her, Concubine Qi's expression looked much better. She snorted, deliberately covered her face, and pretended to be crying sadly.

Ling Rong watched coldly. Now Hai Changzai and Gao Da Ying only followed the lead of Qi Guiren. Qi Guiren, Cao Qinmo and Chun Da Ying had not completely drawn a line between themselves and the Empress. On the surface, they still had some connection with her.

Concubine Xin directly attached herself to Zhen Huan, protecting her openly and secretly, while Zhen Huan took the initiative to approach Concubine Jing, seemingly seeking shelter.

As for Concubine Tian and Xia Dongchun, they are on the same side as me. Cao Qinmo is also my ally in secret, and Concubine Jing is also on good terms with me.

It seems that there are various forces intertwined in the palace now, and it is difficult to tell them apart.

Now that the Queen is "dead in name only", many people must have had some thoughts. I wonder if Zhen Huan came back for the position of Queen. Otherwise, with her noble character, she would definitely not be willing to continue to curry favor with the Emperor.

Lingrong didn't feel anything about the position of the queen. After all, she didn't like the emperor and had no interest in becoming a real husband and wife with him.

What's more, the position of empress has always been held by Manchu women. Unless the emperor promotes her, Ling Rong can only be a noble concubine or a royal noble concubine.

As for Zhen Huan, could it be that the Emperor wants to raise her status as the daughter of Nianhulu?

Because Zhen Huan reappeared, Ling Rong's mind was once again on her, and she began to think about who would become the queen.

However, the Queen of Jingren Palace will definitely not sit still and wait for death. She should be thinking of ways to come out and restore her status as Queen as soon as possible.

It’s a pity that the Queen doesn’t have anyone familiar to serve her now. Even if she has countless plans, they can’t be spread out of Jingren Palace.

The Queen Mother wanted to send someone to visit her, but was stopped by the Emperor. No matter how the Queen Mother tried to persuade him with emotion or reason, the Emperor would never allow the Queen Mother to visit.

Lingrong wanted to send someone to Jingren Palace to quietly kill the queen, but Xiaochizi searched for a long time and couldn't find any way, so the matter ended up in nothing.

But she still remembered what the Queen had done to Lingrong. She even selected a punishment for the Queen and was just waiting for the day when the new Emperor ascended the throne.

Thinking of this, Lingrong ordered Zhaoshui to send some clothes to the Fifth Prince. Among the older princes, Lingrong was most familiar with the Fifth Prince, so naturally she planned to place her hopes on him.

However, the Fifth Prince still has a mother, and what Lingrong has to do next is to make the Fifth Prince without a mother.

It may sound cruel to get rid of a person, but Lingrong had countless people's blood on her hands in her past and present lives. She couldn't even feel the slightest bit of guilt towards Concubine Yu, whom she had never even met.

It was indeed a bit troublesome outside the palace. Lingrong thought that a sudden and silent death was the best option, so she planned to use some of the Qiansi that had been used on the Queen Mother on Concubine Yu.

However, it took Qiansi a long time to kill someone. Lingrong had been paying attention to the news outside the palace, and before she knew it, the day to go to the Old Summer Palace had arrived.

For various reasons, I haven't been to the Old Summer Palace in the past two years. Now that I'm revisiting the place, it's easy to feel that time flies and I'm getting a little old.

Fortunately, there was the lively Youning. Before Lingrong had time to feel sad about the passing of time, she was dragged by Youning to wander around the yard. The little child seemed to be incapable of getting tired and was unwilling to rest in Shuimu Mingse for a moment.

This time, the Fifth Prince and the Third Prince also came along. The Emperor seemed to intend to release the Third Prince's biological mother, and even brought the confined Li Changzai along.

Only Concubine Yu is still living outside the palace. The Fifth Prince went to her for permission several times, but was rejected by the Emperor every time on the grounds that she was unwell.

Seeing that other princes were able to serve their mothers, the Fifth Prince was particularly angry, but he had to pretend to be good in the hope that the Emperor would soften his heart and allow him to see his mother.

In the entire Old Summer Palace, only the Fourth Prince and the Fifth Prince had similar experiences, so they gradually became familiar with each other. They often rode horses and learned archery together. Occasionally, they would talk about how painful and helpless they were without their mother by their side, completely forgetting about their Third Brother.

The Third Prince tried many times to establish good relations with his two younger brothers, but they both refused to pay attention to him. Some even tried to show off their knowledge in front of the Emperor in order to outdo the Third Prince, the eldest son.

The emperor was very pleased to see that two of his three older sons were very outstanding. However, he had never liked the fourth prince and often felt uncomfortable. He felt that he liked this son just as much as he liked his unbearable mother.

"Father, I want to go to the horse farm with my fourth brother today. Do you have time to teach me a thing or two?"

After the emperor finished asking about the homework, the fifth prince took the initiative to bring up the matter of horse riding, but he deliberately did not mention the third prince, which made the emperor frown.

"Where's Hongshi? Not coming with us?"

Hong Zhou hesitated for a moment, then immediately explained, "I invited my third brother yesterday, but he didn't agree. I thought he was busy with his studies, so I didn't invite him again today."

He turned to look at the Third Prince and smiled brightly, "Third Brother, do you want to go with me today?"

The Third Prince frowned. He had just been reprimanded by the Emperor because of his schoolwork. The Emperor even said that he was not working hard enough and was not as good as his two younger brothers.

The Third Prince was already unhappy about being overshadowed by his two younger brothers, and when he heard Hong Zhou making excuses like this, he became even angrier.

He was not good at hiding his thoughts, and his face was as dark as the bottom of a pot. "I won't go. I have an article to write today and I can't delay."

Hong Zhou and Hong Li sighed at the same time, and looked at each other helplessly, "Father Emperor, look..."

The emperor looked at Hongshi with disappointment. Even if he was not good at studying, he should have some talent for riding. So he immediately ordered Hongshi to go to the stable with him.

"Father, your son..."

The Third Prince wanted to refuse, but the Emperor had already stood up, and his two younger brothers happily followed him out. Helplessly, he could only follow, thinking about how to avoid embarrassing himself too much.

But the Third Prince was not diligent in his studies and his riding skills were naturally not very good. Before they even arrived at the stables, he began to back off, fearing that he would be scolded by the Emperor again.