The Apo Master dressed up as Concubine Ling and killed the Ruyi sisters

Today was truly an exciting day. First, the concubines learned that Li Changzai and three others were serving the Emperor, and were given a good beating by the Empress.

I also heard that the Empress disregarded propriety and the Emperor's reputation, and openly quarreled with Li Yujin in Li Changzai's palace, and even forced the Emperor to drink sobering soup.

Just when the emperor was furious, the queen was pregnant with a dragon fetus.

But before the Queen could feel proud for long, the Emperor, disregarding the Queen's face, punished Rong Pei, the head maid of the Queen, on the spot.

All these things happened made it difficult for the people in the harem to figure out what the emperor's attitude was towards the queen.

The Queen is pregnant. Is the Emperor happy or unhappy?

The Empress's pregnancy alarmed the harem. After Concubine Jia learned about it, she no longer hid it and immediately sent Li Xin to report to the Emperor that she was pregnant.

Rong Pei was beaten with thirty boards, and after being carried back to Yikun Palace, she recovered in her room. Because of Ruyi's favor, Rong Pei still acted like a boss in Yikun Palace.

Today, Ruyi felt wronged in front of the emperor, and she thought it was because Lingzhi did not inform her in time, so she asked Lingzhi to serve Rongpei who was punished with a cane.

Rong Pei even felt that she was being tortured because of Lingzhi. Even though she was beaten and could only lie on the bed, she still beat and scolded Lingzhi, torturing her terribly.

Ruyi couldn't figure out the emperor's attitude towards her. Concubine Jia in the palace was pregnant again, and a rift arose between Ruyi and Li Yu. In the short term, she could no longer learn the emperor's intentions through Li Yu.

In order to consolidate her position and protect her unborn child, Ruyi set up a banquet in the palace in the name of celebrating the pregnancy of two concubines in the palace and invited the emperor's concubines and other ladies from outside the palace to watch a play.

The emperor was naturally happy to do so. When Yan Wan heard that Ruyi wanted to treat everyone to a play, she couldn't help but have some guesses in her mind.

On the day of the play, the Emperor, the Empress Dowager and the two pregnant concubines each selected a play.

Soon the two plays were over and it was time for Ruyi's turn to perform.

Ruyi looked at the two people in costumes on the stage, talking to each other by the wall, and was inspired to say, "We looked at each other from afar on the wall and on horseback, and my heart was broken as soon as I saw you. Your Majesty, what a beautiful relationship, and it is so similar to us."

The emperor remembered that when he and Ruyi first watched the play "Horse on the Wall", they were still young boys and girls, and they were still confused about the love story between Master Pei and Miss Li in the play.

But Ruyi, who was still called Qingying at that time, loved this play very much. So, this play "The Wall" immediately became the love work between the two of them.

When Ruyi had nothing to do, she would often recite that line of poetry to him.

In the past, the emperor felt moved when he heard this, but today, the emperor turned his head and looked at Ruyi, who was wearing an luxurious and complicated headdress, a dark court robe, and a fine jade bracelet on her wrist.

Not only were her hands wearing ancient armor, but there were also several rings on each hand, making Ruyi's already slender hands look even thicker and shorter.

Even if Ruyi took good care of herself, she no longer had the youthful beauty of her youth. Not to mention that she couldn't compare to Yanwan, who looked like her but was younger and more beautiful, even Jiafei, who was also older and pregnant, looked more beautiful than Ruyi.

The emperor smiled faintly and said nothing.

Concubine Jia was born into the Yu family. Although she had come to the Qing Dynasty to serve the emperor for more than ten years, her mind was all on how to win favor, and she didn't know much about these poems and plays.

When choosing the play just now, Concubine Jia only picked a familiar play in order to please the Emperor and the Empress Dowager.

Hearing Ruyi's tone of voice so affectionate, I thought that this incident had some special meaning to the emperor.

Now, Concubine Jia understood the real purpose of Ruyi's drama, which was simply to evoke the emperor's feelings from his youth.

Concubine Jia said, "I don't understand opera, and I don't know what the meaning of this play is. Why don't you explain it to me, Your Majesty?"

Yan Wan and Yi Huan were sitting behind the emperor, watching the wall horse on the stage, and asked Yi Huan softly, "Sister Yi Huan, what does the Queen's poem mean?"

Yihuan was well-read and naturally knew that the Queen and Concubine Jia were the protagonists today. Yihuan did not take the initiative to talk to the Emperor, but was focused on talking to her sisters and disciples.

Yihuan explained softly: "That line comes from Bai Juyi's "Drawing the Silver Bottle from the Bottom of the Well to Stop Lust"

Yan Wan was surprised, "Ah, why is the name of this poem so strange? It doesn't sound like a good word."

Yi Huan nodded and said softly, "Yes, this poem is to warn women not to indulge in love, to trust men's words casually, and to entrust themselves to men!"

Yan Wan nodded in realization, but then she felt something was strange. "If that's the case, why would the Queen's tone be so admiring?"

Yi Huan whispered: "I am playing with green plums leaning against the short wall, and you are riding a white horse beside the weeping willows... I want to tell the foolish girls of humble families, be careful not to give yourself to others lightly!"

The more Yan Wan listened, the more she felt something was wrong, and she said to Yi Huan, "Isn't this just saying that eloping is detrimental to a woman's reputation, that women will not be respected by others, and that they will not have a good ending?"

Yihuan nodded, "Your understanding is correct."

Yan Wan smacked her lips and said, "Why would the Queen like such a play? Does she think she is Miss Li in the play?"

Ruyi was so absorbed in the love between herself and the emperor, which had been between them since childhood, that she did not notice what Yanwan Yihuan was saying behind her.

Although the emperor didn't hear it clearly, he knew Bai Juyi's poem and could naturally guess what the two were talking about.

After hearing what Yan Wan said, the emperor suddenly felt that this scene was so glaring.

After much difficulty, the banquet was finally over. Today was the first day of the new year, and the emperor was to stay in the Yikun Palace as per custom.

The emperor and Ruyi returned to Yikun Palace together, and Ruyi was still savoring the moment.

Ruyi was pregnant and the emperor was tired, so he lay down on the bed to rest after taking a bath.

Ruyi came over and recalled the past: "Your Majesty, I still remember when we first met and played together since we were young. Those happy and youthful years seem like they were just yesterday."

The emperor was already tired, and he said a few perfunctorily, "Ruyi, now I am the emperor and you are the queen. You can't just look back on the past, but look forward. You can't be tired, rest early."

When Ruyi heard that the emperor cared about her, she felt that her previous indifferent attitude towards her was just overthinking.

Ruyi was touched and said, "Your Majesty still remembers our vows. We looked at each other from afar on the wall and horseback. When I saw you, my heart was broken..."

The emperor now gets a headache whenever he hears this poem, as if in Ruyi's eyes, he is just like Pei Shaojun who did not give Ruyi a legitimate status and abandoned her in the end.

The emperor endured it again and again, but he could no longer bear it and opened his eyes and said, "Ruyi, you are not Miss Li, and I am not Pei Shaojun. Don't recite this poem to me again!"

Ruyi was stunned, but the emperor no longer paid any attention to her.

Ruyi thought about it. In the opera, Pei Shaojun once abandoned Li Qianjin, but the emperor said that he was not Pei Shaojun. Was this the emperor's way of assuring her that he would always love her and treat her as his beloved wife?

Thinking of this, Ruyi felt warm in her heart.

Seeing that the emperor had already fallen asleep, she gazed at his sleeping face lovingly, and silently said, "From the top of the wall and on the horse, I look at you from afar. As soon as I see you, my heart breaks!"