An Lingrong's Rebirth: Red

Around midnight, the gates of Yanxi Palace were opened, and Xia Dongchun was escorted back to Yixingxuan after serving the emperor. The eunuchs and maids competed to show off, wanting to make a good impression on this concubine. After all, anyone with a little bit of brains knew that someone who was favored by the emperor on the day of entering the palace was definitely not an ordinary person.

Xia Dongchun was no longer as arrogant as she was during the day. No one could hear her voice from beginning to end. Only her personal maid Mingyu was busy coming in and out, but she did not stop until the end of the hour of Hai and went to rest quietly.

Fortunately, Lingrong had a good sleep in the afternoon. When she got up and dressed up the next day, she looked the best in the entire Ledao Hall, without even a hint of fatigue from staying up late.

"Look at the dark circles under your eyes. Go down and take your turns to rest." Ling Rong ate the porridge and side dishes in front of her, took a bite of the egg custard and put it down.

"Today, the Manchu army flags entered the palace. I heard that two of them are also living in our Yanxi Palace. One of them is even a noble lady. I have to go and pay a visit to her." Then he changed the subject, "Zhao Shui, prepare the handkerchief I embroidered a few days ago."

"Yes, young lady." Zhao Shui responded and put down the chopsticks that were used to serve Ling Rong food. "Young lady, do you want to go see Concubine Xia?"

Ling Rong looked up at Zhao Shui. She didn't expect this girl to be so calculating, but she still shook her head. "Pay your respects to the master first, then go, so as not to give people a reason to talk."

But just waiting was boring, so Ling Rong took some books given by Miss Liu Rongrong and read the poems bit by bit. Coincidentally, the second poem was the origin of Miss Liu's name.

"The peach trees are bright and the willow trees are luxuriant, the spring scenery is all over the south of the Yangtze River."

Even though Lingrong did not understand poetry, she understood the charm of it instantly. But if she were to say it, it would probably be words like "the peach blossoms are blooming brilliantly and the willow trees are growing lushly."

But there is still a long time, and she has plenty of time to watch it slowly.

Time passed quickly without anyone disturbing her. Noblewoman Fucha and Concubine Chun entered the Yanx Palace, and soon a large number of rewards followed. Lingrong received the small reward from the Queen in front of the door, and counted the silver in the treasury. She couldn't help but envy Xia Dongchun, whose house was always crowded with people.

Because of her stunning success yesterday, all the concubines except the newlyweds and Concubine Duan who lived in a remote corner sent gifts, which seemed to be more generous than those given by Concubine Fucha, the main concubine.

Xia Dongchun was standing aside, looking pretty. When she saw the gift from Lingrong, she curled her lips in disdain, said something to Mingyu, and walked to Lingrong with a shaky step.

"What do you like? In addition to the gifts from the Empress, I can give you one or two. This will prevent others from seeing you looking so poor and making the Yanxi Palace laugh."

What? Lingrong couldn't help wondering, Xia Dongchun was not right. Thinking back, although her words were still so unpleasant, she was actually thinking about her.

From seeing her standing aside to comfort him awkwardly, to coming to give her a reward, all of this inevitably made Lingrong feel a chill, she couldn't accept such mocking care.

I don’t know if Xia Dongchun is crazy. Even if he wants to win people over, he shouldn’t be so harsh with his words.

"What are you looking at? You are not attracted by the hairpin on my head, are you?" Xia Dongchun touched the hairpin and pressed it again with a painful look on his face. "This one won't do. It was given to me by my mother. Don't even think about it."

"...No, Concubine Xia, I just thought this hairpin was very gorgeous and couldn't help but take a few more glances at it." Lingrong bowed again and waved her hand for Zhaoshui to bring a handkerchief.

"According to etiquette, Lingrong should pay her respects to Noblewoman Fucha and Concubine Xia in turn. However, since Concubine Xia came first, give this gift to Concubine Xia." Lingrong handed over the handkerchief embroidered with forsythia.

Xia Dongchun took it and looked at it for a while. "I've seen yellow forsythia before, but why is the other side red? There is no such thing as a red forsythia."

"Lingrong saw it by chance and embroidered it." This double-sided embroidery of different colors took five full days to embroider. If she hadn't just entered the palace and didn't have much money, she wouldn't have bothered to embroider it to give to someone. "Does Concubine Xia not like it?"

"Why, you still want to go back?" Xia Dongchun pulled the handkerchief and stood sideways, "Let me ask you, is it given to everyone else or just to me?"

She wanted to have the only gift of her own. Lingrong gritted her teeth secretly. It would be a waste to give such a good thing to someone who didn't know its value.

"Lingrong still has to go to Noble Lady Fucha, so I thought I'd give her one too..."

"That won't work," Xia Dongchun said hastily, "Noble Lady Fucha is a famous Manchu family, she won't look down upon your little things. Just pay her a visit, but there's no need to bring any gifts, it will only make people laugh at you."

Ling Rong blinked in confusion. It was proper to pay respect and give gifts, but why did Xia Dongchun say...

"She is a noble lady, and you agreed to pay her a visit to show respect. Giving gifts, do you think it's visiting relatives and friends? Is it really..." Xia Dongchun suddenly stopped talking and swallowed the words "small family". "Remember, this handkerchief is a thank you gift for teaching you." Seeing Lingrong nodded obediently, he hurried back to Yixingxuan.

At this time, the gift-giving in various palaces was nearing the end, and Noble Lady Fucha's place in the main hall had been tidied up. As expected of a girl from a big family, she could handle such a crowded and noisy scene so easily.

Thinking that Noble Lady Fucha still needed rest, Lingrong went back to read poetry for a long time before taking Zhaoshui to pay a visit to Noble Lady Fucha.

"It's rare that everyone in the Yanxi Palace knows how to be polite," Noble Lady Fucha blew on the teacup, sipped it twice, and then continued to lecture, "Don't be like that ignorant and coquettish woman. Anything that happens in the Yanxi Palace is embarrassing for me. What happened yesterday is known to everyone in the palace. I wonder how An Ying feels about it."

"I will be self-disciplined and respectful, and will never embarrass you." Ling Rong knelt a little deeper. She knew very well that none of the women in the palace were easy to deal with, so she could only be careful to show her loyalty. "Your Highness is beautiful, and no one in the Yanxi Palace can surpass you."

Noblewoman Fucha put down the cup heavily, raised her slender white fingers, stared at her nails, and then turned her gaze to Lingrong who was still bowing. Her tone was full of mockery, "It sounds like An Da Ying is very capable. Don't use this ability in the wrong place. Humph, get up, Sang'er, come and see the reward."

"I know."

Lingrong's legs had been numb from squatting for a long time, and she had to be supported by Zhaoshui to barely stand. Who would have thought that Concubine Hua's trick was used by Noble Lady Fucha first? I really don't know if these young ladies from noble families attended the same school, as their methods of torturing people are exactly the same.

Ling Rong accepted the reward in person, and was shaking with anger on the way back to Le Dao Tang. She unconsciously clenched her handkerchief and pulled it. In her next life, she naturally didn't have to be afraid of this idiot who was scared crazy by Zhen Huan's story, but she would never forget this humiliation. In the future, she must get it all back to relieve her hatred.

But just like with Xia Dongchun, not only can he not touch her now, he even has to think carefully about how to use her to climb higher.

The walls of the Forbidden City were too deep, and she was suffocated at the bottom. Especially since she had once reached a high position, the days of being inferior to others seemed particularly difficult to endure.

"Zhao Shui, do you regret accompanying me to this deep palace?"

"My lord, I have no regrets. Although I have not been serving you since I was a child, my loyalty to you is no less than that of others."

Ling Rong nodded, her face hidden in the dim moonlight. She no longer trusted anyone, even though she had bought this girl.

Everyone will become her chess piece, and it depends on whether she can win this game of life.

After the audience came to an end, Lingrong rested peacefully in Ledao Hall for two days. She took Zhaoshui to check everywhere, but there was no harmful objects such as musk. Presumably, the Queen thought that she was easy to control because of her humble family background, so she did not put any effort into her.

However, it is not certain about Xia Dongchun and Noble Lady Fucha. Once their relationship eases a little, she might go and take a look and there might be new discoveries.

Finally, the day arrived for the newlyweds to pay their respects to the empress. Ling Rong got up early and waited for Noble Lady Fucha at the Chuihua Gate of the Yanx Palace. Chun Changzai and Xia Dongchun went to the empress's Jingren Palace to pay their respects.

Fortunately, these young ladies from noble families knew a lot about the rules, and did not let Lingrong wait too long before leaving the house one after another. Noble Lady Fucha saw that the three of them were waiting obediently, and her smile became more sincere.

When they hurried over, several people were already standing in front of the gate of Jingren Palace. Noble Lady Borjigit, Noble Lady Shen, and Concubine Wan were standing together. Noble Lady Fucha didn't think much about it and stood behind with Concubine Chun.

Lingrong was the last one to agree. According to the rules, she could not stand in the row with Noble Lady Fucha and the others, so she stood at the back with Xia Dongchun.

Noblewoman Borjigit, who was standing in front, heard the voice, turned around and looked at a few people. His gaze paused on Noblewoman Fucha, and he narrowed his eyes and gave an ambiguous smile.

Noble Lady Fucha looked back with some confusion, and when her sight fell on Zhen Huan and Shen Meiyu in front of her, she immediately understood.

An Lingrong saw it all, and she tilted her head to look thoughtfully at Xia Dongchun, who was dressed gorgeously, wondering if this greeting would be lively.