An Lingrong's Rebirth: Red

A sedan chair was carried into the main gate of Prince Guo's mansion. When the sedan chair landed, the person inside did not say a word until Prince Guo asked her to get down. Then the person stretched out a hand, and let Prince Guo lead the way, and slowly walked down.

The person who came down was wearing a red wedding dress and a bright red veil covering her face. Although Prince Guo could not see the person's face, he could not hide the smile on his face anyway.

He took out the jade bracelet his mother had given him and deftly helped the man put it on. The man also tied the purse he had embroidered around Prince Guo's waist.

"Huan'er, I can finally marry you."

Prince Guo spoke excitedly. He took Zhen Huan's hand and led her over the brazier into the main hall. The whole main hall was deserted. Zhen Huan, who was under the veil, could not hear any sound. She lowered her eyes and could only see Prince Guo's feet walking towards her.

"Your Majesty, you and I don't have to get married."

"But marrying you is my lifelong wish, but if you don't want to, I won't force you."

Prince Guo carefully lifted a corner of the veil. Without Zhen Huan's permission, he naturally did not dare to lift it further.

“Your Majesty, I know you want to rescue me from Ningguta and give me a new identity.

But you already have a wife, and I, the daughter of the Zhen family, do not want to be a concubine."

Prince Guo's fingers were trembling. He blinked and forced himself to calm down. "Jingxian... I didn't want to marry her, but the emperor and the queen mother forced me to marry her, and Jingxian had a reputation of not wanting to marry anyone else, so I had to marry her."

"But you..." Zhen Huan stared at the sachet she had embroidered for Prince Guo, her fingers clenched involuntarily, "You already have a child."

"Huan'er, please listen to my explanation."

Prince Guo suddenly became anxious. He did not dare to put down the veil in his hand, and his eyes turned around anxiously, "That's because I missed you drinking, and finally she dressed up as you, which made me lose my mind, so I had physical contact with her.

But I never thought that just that one time, she would have my child.

Huan'er, please believe me, I never wanted to have a real relationship with her. Everything was planned, and that's why what happened today happened.

Please believe me. Even if you don't want to marry me and be my wife, I am willing to change my name for you and live in seclusion with you. Even if we are just brother and sister, it is fine."

Prince Guo was nervous. He dared not lift the veil nor urge Zhen Huan. But Zhen Huan remained silent. No one knew whether she was thinking or just letting her mind go and lamenting her fate.

"Are you really willing to live in poverty with me in hiding your identity?"

"I am willing."

"Are you really willing to give up your wealth, your wife, children and concubines, and live under the same roof with someone who doesn't want to marry you, and spend the whole day with you in languor?"

"If that person is you, I am willing." Prince Guo did not hesitate for too long. He immediately raised three fingers and swore, "I swear, everything I said is true. If I tell a lie, I will be struck by five thunders, and I will never be a human being for the rest of my life, and I will be tortured in the eighteen levels of hell."

"Stop talking. I believe you." Zhen Huan raised her hand to stop Prince Guo from continuing to say those oaths. She held up her veil and lifted it up directly.

She looked towards Prince Guo with her beautiful eyes, which were full of autumn water in the blink of an eye, causing Prince Guo to freeze in place.

However, Zhen Huan's appearance was just her normal state. If her voice had not been destroyed, the situation would have been very different.

However, her slightly hoarse voice, as if she had cried, made Prince Guo feel even more pity for her as soon as she opened her mouth.

"Your Majesty, I put on this red veil because I am in love with you and am willing to give myself to you. But I took off the veil myself because I am the daughter of Zhen and I cannot have an affair with someone without a matchmaker.

In order to welcome me, no one else is in Prince Guo’s mansion today. I have already felt the prince’s sincerity.

After drinking this wedding wine, even if Yunli and Zhen Huan get married, no matter where I am in the future, I will always think of the prince.

But I cannot enter the Prince Guo's mansion as a concubine, so please send me back to my residence and bring Huanbi to pick me up in a few days."

Zhen Huan nodded slightly, raised her wine glass, took Prince Guo's arm, and drank the wine in one gulp.

Prince Guo followed Zhen Huan's actions in a daze and drank the wine as well. He only took some action when Zhen Huan changed out of her wedding dress and returned to the main hall.

"Huan'er, you are the only wife in my heart..."

"Yunli, after we've drunk the wedding wine, I'll call you by your name in private. What matters between you and me is the connection of souls, you should understand that."

Prince Guo nodded. He held Zhen Huan's hand and personally helped her into the sedan chair. The sedan chair was ordinary and did not look like one for a wedding ceremony from the outside, but the interior was decorated extremely well, with every bit of red.

"Yunli, has everything been arranged in Ningguta?"

"Everything has been arranged. I sent someone to find a female corpse in the mass grave and have her wear your clothes. No one will notice anything wrong."

"That's good," Zhen Huan sat firmly, she looked up at Prince Guo, "I'll go accompany mother first, after a few days, you can talk to Huanbi and Jingxian, and then bring me back to stay for a while.

But before that, it would be better to solve my identity problem, otherwise it would only become troublesome.

After all, the Forbidden City is under the Emperor’s feet, and I don’t want the Emperor to know that I’m still alive.”

"Don't worry, we're already processing it. You'll get your new identity in a few days. Have you thought of a name?"

Zhen Huan nodded, she looked up at Prince Guo and smiled gently, "The past is dark and cannot be retrieved, but the future is bright and brilliant, so I will give you the character Xi, Zhen Xi."

If Ling Rong was present, she would know that what Zhen Huan said was what the emperor said in his previous life, and when Zhen Huan said it today, it was like an irreversible fate.

She hoped for a bright future, but her true identity destined her to be a sewer rat that cannot stand the light of day.

However, Lingrong and the Emperor, who were far away in the palace, were still unaware of these things. Lingrong was busy investigating the "truth" of the Empress Dowager's death, and the people below had been investigating it all day long.

"My lady, as you said, we have temporarily withdrawn.

They will set out again tomorrow morning. Although they are a step slower than the emperor's men, they will also be able to confirm whether the body is Miss Zhen's."

Zhaoshui massaged Lingrong's shoulders and glanced at the thick account book. "Your Majesty, there has been some movement from Concubine Tian recently. She sent people to Jingren Palace. I wonder what means she will use against the Empress."

"She has no other abilities, but she has many little tricks to torture people. She bit us with a ghost cat, made us hungry and poor, and cut off the Queen's charcoal supply."

Ling Rong patted the water's hand and signaled her to take a break. "No matter how many little tricks she plays, we must deliver what we are supposed to deliver, without missing a single thing, so as to avoid giving people a reason to question my ability."

"Don't worry, madam. Everyone in the palace, whether favored or not, will receive the full amount, not a single cent less.

But I don’t know if anyone will deduct money from me after I get to the palaces and halls.”

Ling Rong nodded and said, "We don't need to care about the others, let them do whatever they want. This will also give Concubine Tian an opportunity, so that she will have time to deal with the Queen.

Even if her actions are exposed in the future, it will not implicate us."

"Your Majesty, Concubine Tian will soon be in trouble. I wonder if you can take the position of Imperial Concubine before she falls."

"No," Lingrong was very sure of this. She knew the emperor best. He kept the queen alive because she still had a role to play. "If I'm not mistaken, the queen's death means the death of Concubine Tian."

Zhaoshui didn't understand what Lingrong meant. She blinked and said, "Madam, you mean..."

“What Lord Fucha and Concubine Tian did was no different from what the Empress did.

The Queen interfered in government affairs, and Concubine Tian also interfered in government affairs, but one was for the Third Prince, and the other was for the Fifth Prince.

The Emperor only dealt with the Queen and had not yet taken action against Concubine Tian. His purpose was to encourage Concubine Tian to take action so that he could reap the benefits and also keep Fucha in his hands.

Don't worry, in two days Concubine Tian will be restored to Concubine Tian."

"If you want to destroy someone, you must first make him crazy?"

"You guessed right." Ling Rong nodded, "By the way, remember to go to the imperial kitchen later and ask symbolically.

The Emperor didn't want us to find out who did it, he just wanted our help and made everyone in the harem feel insecure.

After checking the imperial kitchen, he went to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and found all the palace servants who served the Empress Dowager in Shoukang Palace, and checked them one by one.

As for who was involved at the time, you should be very familiar with it.”

"I understand everything. Do we need to move Concubine Tian's people?" Zhaoshui said.

"We should take action when necessary. After all, Concubine Tian was the most concerned about the Empress Dowager at that time. It would be good to investigate and help her "clear the suspicion."

"I understand, Your Majesty, don't worry. I will start working on it in the next few days. I will ask Xiao Xiazi to come along and let Your Majesty know the progress."

"You are very careful in your work. I am very relieved." Ling Rong smiled happily, but soon the smile faded. "I don't know how Ling Lang is doing in finding medicine."

"Since Her Majesty learned that the Emperor took that medicine, she notified the Young Master to check it out. Unfortunately, the medicine is not easy to obtain, and the Young Master has never been able to report back any good news."

Zhaoshui also sighed along with Lingrong. The medicine used by the emperor was not good, and they had no way to find a better one. They could only hope for some miracle outside the palace.

It’s a pity that Ling Lang tried every possible way, but all he got was some groundless information.

The so-called miracle medicine they got was either cinnabar or ginseng powder, and it had no real effect.

However, during the investigation, they met He Anming. He was indeed out looking for medicine for the emperor as Ling Rong guessed, but he was a doctor himself, so it was much easier for him to find medicine than Ling Lang.

Ling Lang only wrote up to this point in the letter. Ling Rong read it over and over again, but couldn't get any more information, so she had to put it down.

"Burn it."

Lingrong pinched her brows and watched Zhaoshui throw the letter into the charcoal fire and burn it.

"In about half a month, the weather should be getting warmer, and the Queen's days in the palace will not be too difficult."

When Lingrong looked at the charcoal fire, she thought of the Queen again. She sent people there, not to torture the Queen.

She just needed a pair of eyes to see how much the Queen could suffer at the hands of her beloved Emperor.

Jingren Palace, Buddhist Hall.

The queen knelt before the Buddha, but she closed her eyes and did not recite even a single word of the scripture seriously.

But she couldn't get up either, because the nanny sent by the emperor was standing outside the door, staring inside through the windy window paper without blinking.

The queen felt terrified, but she could not move at all. She could choose not to recite the scriptures, but she had to kneel before the Buddha.

This was the emperor's punishment for her. Although the queen did not think she had done anything wrong, she had lost all her power and could not even give orders to an old maid in the palace.

"Empress, we have stopped chanting for an incense stick. If the Empress Dowager knew about this, she must be missing your voice.

If you are thirsty, I will ask someone to bring tea to the Queen. However, it is icy and snowy here, so the tea will be cold by the time it is served.

Your Majesty, why don't you look at the corner and see a bucket of water there? Use a ladle to scoop some water and use it."

The queen ignored her and kept her eyes closed, treating the maid as a noisy fly.

But the nanny was unreasonable. She wouldn't stop until she heard the queen's response, so she patted the window frame to shake off the dust.

"Empress? Empress? You haven't spoken for so long, but you fainted? Empress, Empress!"

"I am meditating in front of the Buddha, how can you make such a noise?"

"I am worried about the Queen. After all, you are the master of the six palaces. If something bad happens to you, I will have a hard time explaining myself."

The nanny deliberately knocked on the window twice, as if she would not stop until the queen recited the scriptures.

But who is the queen? How could a servant force her to do something she doesn't want to do? So she just closed her eyes and ignored all the voices.

It’s a pity that the nanny was not a good-tempered person. Before the queen replied, she strode in and stood behind the queen like a ghost, with her shadow covering the entire queen.

"Empress, why do you need my help? You know every word in this scripture." The nanny suddenly reached out, grabbed the Empress' hair, and pressed her face against the scripture.

"Isn't this too far? Can't you see clearly, Your Majesty?" The nanny freed one hand and pressed the scripture on the Queen's face. She rubbed it hard with her palm until the Queen's nose bled and even the scripture was wrinkled.

"You are too careless when you read the sutra, Queen. Look at it, it is wrinkled, dirty, and stained with blood from your nose. If the Buddha knew about it, how could he forgive you?"