An Lingrong's Rebirth: Red

Lingrong didn't know how much distance she had walked that day. When she arrived at Hua Fei's Xinghuachun Pavilion, her legs were trembling a little and felt so heavy that they seemed not her own.

She touched the incense pill in her purse, hoping that it would be effective as He Anming said and could neutralize the joyful incense that was burning throughout the palace from Concubine Hua.

When Lingrong squatted down to salute, she felt her calves aching as if they were going to ascend to heaven, but she could only fake a smile to remain calm, not daring to let Concubine Hua notice anything wrong.

But Concubine Hua had connections in the harem and naturally knew that Lingrong was flying around like a butterfly, so she simply didn't call out and squinted her eyes to enjoy Songzhi massaging the acupoints on her head.

"Noble Lady An has been very busy the whole day. She saw Noble Lady Shen meet the Emperor, and then went to see Concubine Jing." Concubine Hua spoke in a light tone, but told Lingrong without any reservation, "Everything you do is under my nose, so don't try to do anything tricky."

"I just sent some lotus leaf tea to Concubine Shen and Concubine Jing. If Your Majesty likes it..."

"I don't like this lotus leaf tea, and I don't like people playing dumb and deceiving me. Lady An has forgotten the pain of losing her child and is running around for a vicious woman."

Concubine Shen is on good terms with Zhen Huan, and Concubine Jing is the head of Shen Meizhuang's palace, with the power to assist in managing the six palaces. It is reasonable for Concubine Hua to mistakenly think that she is trying to overturn Zhen Huan's case.

But how could he truly care about Zhen Huan? In this situation, if he didn't add insult to injury, he would already be considered a "good person".

"Your Majesty, you are joking. My relationship with Lady Zhen is extremely bad. How could I run around for her?" Ling Rong was extremely tired from squatting. She glanced at Concubine Hua's closed eyes, wondering whether she should just stand up.

"I have an opportunity for you to have a good discussion with Zhen Da Ying. Are you willing?"

Ling Rong's heart trembled, and she felt that a huge blame was about to be hung on her back. She thought quickly about how to deal with it, "What does Concubine Hua mean?"

"How about she make you lose your child? Why don't you let her suffer the same fate?"

Ask Zhen Huan to pray for blessings? Ling Rong pursed her lips. This was indeed a good way to take revenge, but she really didn't have the courage to go to Yongshou Palace and issue this order.

I am just a noble lady and have no power in the palace. How can I have the qualifications to punish concubines? Do I really think the empress is made of clay?

Zhen Huan asked herself to kowtow and pray for blessings because she relied on the emperor's favor. She had nothing, so even if she wanted to reciprocate, she could not choose this method.

"Your Highness, you are joking. How dare I ask Zhen to pray for blessings?" Ling Rong was a little unsteady in her squatting position. The strong fragrance of Huan Yi incense made her dizzy. She didn't care whether Concubine Hua would be angry or not. "Your Highness, can I answer while standing?"

Sure enough, Concubine Hua rolled her eyes in displeasure, and after a while she said, "Get up."

"Sit down, you are as useless as Shen Meizhuang, unable to bear the reprimand."

"I'm sorry to trouble Your Majesty." Lingrong just smiled. She didn't dare to argue with Concubine Hua, otherwise she would be the one in trouble. Zhen Huan, who was punished to kneel under the scorching sun in her previous life, was the best lesson for her.

"Such a good opportunity is right in front of you, but you really don't want to do it." Hua Fei still didn't give up. She had finally made Zhen Huan unlucky, so she couldn't give her a chance to be reinstated. "If you don't do something, you will be the one who will be unlucky."

How could Lingrong not hear that Concubine Hua was threatening her, but if she got on board Concubine Hua's pirate ship, it would be difficult to get off.

After all, the fate of the Nian family was doomed. Concubine Hua was the one who sold the official position, and Nian Gengyao was arrogant because of his achievements. The emperor had long been ready to kill him. The incident with Nian Xi was just the beginning. The Nian family, including Concubine Hua, had long lost favor.

If she really stood on the same side as Concubine Hua, she was afraid that when Concubine Hua fell from power, her ending would not be much better than Cao Qinmo's.

I absolutely cannot agree to it. Ling Rong made up her mind secretly. She shook her head, just like when she first entered the palace, humble and timid, "I am not favored, and I don't have much power. I really dare not make it difficult for Zhen to agree."

Concubine Hua was so angry that she threw the teacup on the table to the ground. Songzhi called her "Empress" in panic, held Concubine Hua's fingers and looked at them over and over again, then called a little maid to sweep up the broken porcelain pieces.

Lingrong had known that Concubine Hua would be like this. Although she was not frightened by the broken teacup, she still put on a pitiful expression. She rubbed her eyes with a handkerchief and did not dare to say a word.

This made Concubine Hua very angry. She clenched her fists and wondered whether she should call Songzhi over to give this ignorant concubine a few slaps to wake her up.

Songzhi looked at Concubine Hua's face and knew that she was extremely angry. She half-knelt down, pinched Concubine Hua's calf, and coaxed her in a soft voice.

"Your Majesty, Lady An's father is only a county magistrate. If it weren't for the beauty pageant, I'm afraid he wouldn't have seen such a god-like figure like Your Majesty. Naturally, he dared not approach her and was very careful."

Ling Rong nodded hurriedly and simply followed Song Zhi's words, "I have never seen the world. I have been bullied by my father's concubines in the backyard since I was a child. If I resist, the means will be even more vicious. I am really afraid and dare not resist."

It would have been better if Lingrong didn't say anything. Once she did, Hua Fei became even more angry. She had never seen such a cowardly person. How could he be bullied like this and not dare to resist?

With me supporting her, why wouldn't she dare?

"You are a small family, you are really useless." Hua Fei gnashed her teeth and scolded, "Reply to your Shuimu Mingse, copy the palace rules a hundred times!"

Lingrong replied "yes" and quickly left under Hua Fei's increasingly angry gaze.

Concubine Hua's behavior made Lingrong even more certain that it was Concubine Hua who leaked the affair between Zhen Huan and Prince Guo.

But the Emperor valued his reputation the most and refused to admit that Zhen Huan and Prince Guo were really having an affair. He could only shut the palace servants' mouths and tell them not to talk nonsense.

Concubine Hua, with Cao Qinmo, is truly a fierce tiger. Although no one knows how they knew about the relationship between Zhen Huan and Prince Guo, they are much smarter than Guaerjia in her previous life.

After all, that fool still thought that Zhen Huan’s adulterer was Wen Shichu.

"My lady, what is Concubine Hua doing..."

"We all forgot that Concubine Hua's love for the Emperor is so deep." Lingrong looked back at the door of the Xinghuachun Pavilion. Her life would not be easy anyway, so there was really no need for her to have any "pity" for Concubine Hua.

"Zhen's life must be saved. Without her, what's the point of living in the harem?"

Lingrong really couldn't walk anymore, she half leaned on Zhaoshui, and the group walked and stopped, dragging on for a long time before finally returning to Shuimu Mingse.

Zhaoshui and Xiaochizi also followed for the whole day. Lingrong rewarded them with a lot of silver and told them to go down and have a good rest. Then she collapsed directly on the reclining chair, not wanting to move a finger.

The evening breeze was a little chilly tonight, and Ling Rong lazily blew it for a long time until she almost fell asleep.

It was Aunt Fang Jing who came in with water and helped Ling Rong take off her shoes and socks and soak her feet in the water.

"This is the medicinal material I got from the Ministry of Internal Affairs. It would be best to make a medicinal bath." Fang Jing massaged Ling Rong's calf, her tone very calmly, "Someone has sprinkled medicine on the hydrangea in the young master's room. If it comes into contact with her for a long time, I'm afraid that the young master will suffer from insomnia and dreaminess and will not be able to sleep at night."

Ling Rong's heart sank. She had been very careful now and had screened everyone in the palace several times, but someone still managed to send dirty things in.

"Who is responsible for taking care of the flowers and plants in our palace?"

"Xinyu, the maid who tended the flowers and plants, was left in Chengqian Palace. After arriving at Shuimu Mingse, I arranged for Baoque to take charge.

The young lady doesn't like strangers to approach the palace, and the little maids assigned to serve her from Yuanmingyuan are only doing rough work outside the palace."

Ling Rong hummed. She didn't really trust either Fang Jing or Bao Que, but Fang Jing had already collected the powder that was sprinkled on the flowers.

This powder is only a thin paper bag in the palm of your hand, but it can do a lot of things.

"I think Aunt Fangjing has checked it out. Did she find anything in Baoque's room?"

Aunt Fang Jing added some hot water for Ling Rong. Her face turned red from the heat and sweat kept rolling down her cheeks.

"I didn't find anything. It seems that the young lady needs to ask someone to investigate at the Ministry of Internal Affairs."

Ling Rong just hummed. She held the package in her hand and fiddled with the neatly folded corners with her fingers.

She did bribe a few palace maids in the Imperial Household Department, especially those in the flower room. Normally, they could not receive much reward, so it was particularly easy to bribe them.

"Auntie, go find Dong Da from the flower room and ask who got the bunch of hydrangeas."

Aunt Fang Jing still had a calm look on her face. She would just do whatever her master told her to do without asking any extra questions.

As time went by, Ling Rong felt exhausted both physically and mentally. A traitor who betrayed his master had appeared in this palace, and the sleepiness that had just arisen in her disappeared completely. She was afraid that it would be like in her previous life, and her throat would be damaged by the poison without knowing how.

"Luckily, Aunt Fang Jing knows some medical skills, otherwise I would be haunted by nightmares and I wouldn't know what the problem is."

Lingrong had previously promised Zhaoshui that she would learn some medical skills from Aunt Fangjing. Now the opportunity was perfect, so Lingrong spoke without hesitation, "Ask Zhaoshui to learn some in the future. She often goes out with me, and knowing some medical skills would make me feel more at ease."

Aunt Fang Jing agreed readily. She wiped the water droplets off Ling Rong and walked out steadily carrying the basin of water.

Lingrong looked at her back and wondered who had poisoned her palace. She had only been favored by the emperor for a few days, and yet she was being targeted again.

If it was musk, it might have been done by the queen. What is the purpose of this medicine that causes insomnia and nightmares?

Could it be that she wanted to scare herself in her sleep so that she would punch and kick the emperor, and then he would not dare to favor her again?

It would be better to give this thing to Zhen Huan. After all, the emperor loves her so much, right?

Or send her to Concubine Hua's palace. It's not surprising that the general's sister knows some fighting skills.

Ling Rong was so absorbed in her thoughts that she forgot she was still lying in the reclining chair and fell asleep in a daze.

Although covered with a quilt by Aunt Fangjing, Lingrong still fell ill. She kept sneezing in the hot summer and her whole body was burning with fever even under the quilt.

Her whole body ached and felt weak, perhaps because she had run around too much yesterday. She collapsed in the reclining chair and couldn't even get up.

In the end, it took Zhaoshui and Baoque working together to carry her back to bed.

After checking Lingrong's pulse, the imperial physician found that she had caught a cold due to the heat, so he prescribed a lot of bitter medicine, and told her to boil it with water every day, and asked Lingrong to take it on time.

Now, let alone competing for favor, even if Concubine Hua asked me to write the palace rules a hundred times, I couldn't do it. I don't know how angry Concubine Hua would be when she found out.

Ling Rong was lying on the bed, as if she had returned to that cold winter night with a fever. She vaguely saw a little child sitting on a piece of silvery white snow and rolling a snowball.

The small snowball became bigger and bigger. The child pinched a few more pieces of mud and added eyes and a mouth to the snowball.

The wind was blowing very hard, and Ling Rong could only see snowflakes in the sky. The child's figure became more and more blurred, and was finally submerged by the wind and snow and disappeared in the vast land.

For some unknown reason, Ling Rong knelt in the snow and cried inconsolably. She clenched her frozen palms and slammed them hard on the ground.

The snow that was fluttering in the sky suddenly stopped. In an instant, the spring breeze melted the snow, and the silver-white color turned into soft green grass.

The child appeared again. She finally built the snowman and ran towards Ling Rong happily.

Ling Rong opened her arms and hugged the child tightly. She stroked the child's hair with shaking hands. When she wanted to speak, she found that she had completely lost her voice and could not make a sound.

The child rubbed against her arms again and again, and finally raised his head after a while, and gently kissed Ling Rong on the cheek, "I found you."

As soon as the words fell, Ling Rong suddenly woke up. She sat up with a whoosh, clutching the quilt and gasping for breath.

"Zhao Shui..." Ling Rong felt that her throat was aching as if it was cut by a knife, just as if her throat had been made hoarse by poison in her previous life.

She held her chest in panic and called Zhaoshui's name quickly over and over again.

Fortunately, Zhaoshui heard Lingrong's cry and hurriedly ran in with a cup of warm water. She handed the water to Lingrong and comforted her that it was just a heat cold that caused her throat to swell and ache, and she would be back to normal after she recovered in a few days.

Ling Rong looked at the bowl of water and reached out to take it doubtfully. She told herself in her heart that Zhao Shui was the maid she had picked herself and was the only person she could trust in the palace.

Lingrong calmed down and finally lowered her head to drink the bowl of warm water. It still hurt like hell when she swallowed the water. Lingrong frowned and even began to wonder if there was some kind of mute drug in the bowl of water.

"I have made pear soup for you. According to the doctor's instructions, I have not added sugar. You will feel better if you drink some later."

Zhaoshui took the bowl from Lingrong's hand. Apart from worry, Lingrong did not see any suspicious look on her face.

"How long have I slept?"

"The young lady has slept all night, but the high fever has not subsided. This frightened me. Imperial Physician Zhang Mi has been keeping watch all night under the order of the Queen, and he did not dare to leave."