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

Concubine Jia originally wanted to find a wife of noble birth for Yongsheng to help him become the crown prince, but the emperor had already seen through her thoughts and left in anger.

The ministers who had been friends with the Fourth Prince in the past, and the ladies of the imperial family who had come to the palace to pay homage to Concubine Jia, avoided her and her son as much as possible after seeing that they had lost power.

Jia Fei and her son fell out of favor, Yong Xuan became disabled, and she no longer had the prestige she once had in the palace. But on Ruyi's side, Ying Guiren gave birth to the sixth princess soon after, and Ruyi was pregnant again, so she was very happy.

The day for distributing monthly salary in the palace arrived again. Li Xin and a little palace maid named Zhenzhu went to the Ministry of Internal Affairs to collect the monthly salary.

There were many people in the palace who were flattering the powerful and bullying the weak. Qixiang Palace had fallen out of favor, so the people in the Ministry of Internal Affairs could not help but put on airs. Fortunately, Concubine Jia usually took care of things, and apart from saying a few sour words, she didn't make things too difficult for Li Xin.

Lingzhi from Yiku Palace and Chunchan from Yongshou Palace arrived one after another. Li Xin saw these two sworn enemies in the palace and was afraid that she would be humiliated by them, so she hid in a corner and waited for them to leave.

Chunchan greeted her, "Sister Lingzhi? Sister Lingzhi is already thirty years old, why haven't you left the palace yet?"

When this was mentioned, Lingzhi felt upset and sighed, "I'm already thirty-five! It looks like I'll never be able to leave the palace in this lifetime!"

Chunchan comforted him, "It's okay if you don't leave the palace. I don't plan to leave the palace either."

Lingzhi didn't think so. "You volunteered to stay in the palace to serve Empress Ling Fei, and you are also the head aunt of Yongshou Palace. Empress Ling Fei trusts you and treats you so well. Staying in the palace is much better than leaving the palace to marry. But what about me?"

Chunchan said: "Sister Lingzhi is also a senior maidservant beside the Empress. How can I, a concubine's head maidservant, compare with the senior maidservant beside the Empress?"

At this point, Lingzhi's face was full of bitterness. Chunchan asked tentatively: "But Aunt Rongpei still embarrasses you like that?"

Lingzhi nodded, "When she was punished several times, I happened to be by her side, and she thought it was because I was unlucky for her! She beat and scolded me in Yikun Palace, and the Queen Mother ignored me and refused to let me leave the palace! When will this day end?"

Chunchan felt sorry for Lingzhi, "She was caned and slapped once, both because she said something wrong and was punished by the Emperor. She was chased and bitten by a dog in Qixiang Palace because of her arrogant attitude, and her elder sister was also frightened because of her. How dare she blame her elder sister?!"

Lingzhi's life in Yikun Palace was really miserable. Although the maids and eunuchs in Yikun Palace were beaten and scolded just like her, her life was particularly difficult because of Rong Pei's inexplicable hostility towards her.

Moreover, Rong Pei seemed to have clairvoyance and super hearing in Yikun Palace. She could tell who was saying what behind their back. Lingzhi was so scared that she dared not say a word in Yikun Palace, which almost drove her crazy.

Rong Pei would not come in person for such a small matter as collecting the monthly salary. This gave Lingzhi a chance to go out and take a breath. She happened to meet Chunchan, and after a few words, she could not help but complain to Chunchan.

Lingzhi looked around and saw no Yikun Palace or people on good terms with Yikun Palace, so she pulled Chunchan and walked to the corner.

"After Concubine Ling left that day, the Empress and Concubine Yu looked very unhappy. Concubine Yu had originally wanted her to start with her and have all the concubines swear allegiance to the Empress and the 12th Prince, and swear that they had no intention of usurping the throne! But Concubine Ling refused to accept the offer, and instead made Concubine Yu and Concubine Ying look like clowns."

Chunchan asked hurriedly: "The Queen has always disliked our master. Has the Queen said that she would punish our master? Our master has no children yet, so it is not our master's turn to swear an oath!"

Lingzhi said, "Although the Empress is unhappy, she didn't say she would harm Concubine Ling. I only heard Concubine Yu's analysis that Concubine Shu's tenth prince is not to be worried about. Concubine Chun's two princes are also not favored. Although Concubine Jia has three princes, now Concubine Jia has fallen out of favor, the eighth prince has a broken leg, and the eleventh prince is still young, so there is no possibility."

Chunchan said, "Our master had a feud with Concubine Jia. We are of course happy that Concubine Jia has fallen out of favor, but it is so pitiful that the Eighth Prince broke his leg out of nowhere. A good person was ruined by an accident."

Seeing Chunchan's regretful expression, Lingzhi quietly told Chunchan, "It was not an accident at all! The Emperor and the Empress sent Eunuch Sanbao and Lord Ling to investigate. Lord Ling found a silver needle on the saddle of the horse that the Eighth Prince rode. It was obvious that someone had tampered with it!"

Chunchan was startled and asked hurriedly, "Silver needle? Did you find out who did it?"

Lingzhi said: "After Lord Ling found out, he was afraid that this matter would implicate Concubine Yu and the Fifth Prince, and then implicate the Empress. So he secretly took the saddle out of the palace and destroyed it. He reported to the Emperor that it was just an accident!"

Chunchan was shocked. "Isn't this the crime of deceiving the emperor? Lord Ling is just a small imperial guard. How dare he?!"

Lingzhi said, "Don't forget, Lord Ling is the Empress's savior. It was the Empress who promoted Lord Ling to be the imperial guard several times. Lord Ling is naturally loyal to the Empress! Well, it's getting late and I have to go. This matter is between you and me, don't let it out!"

Chunchan nodded and walked towards Yongshou Palace.

Li Xin came out from the corner and hurried back to Qixiang Palace to tell Concubine Jia the news. On the way, she passed by a corridor and heard the sound of quarreling.

Li Xin didn't want to pay attention to it, but the voice sounded familiar, as if it was Ye Xin from the Yanxi Palace. So she hid aside and peeked like she did before.

A young man shouted in dissatisfaction: "Why is there only so little money? Are you treating me like a beggar?"

Ye Xin said: "This is half of the master's monthly salary. I have already given it to you. Please get out now!"

The man was even more dissatisfied after listening to half of the story. "I am your aunt's nephew, the only male child in Koriyet! How can your aunt be so stingy to only give me this little?"

Ye Xin said with a headache: "Master Zhaqi, our master is only a concubine, and you often come to ask for money. It's good enough to give you these!"

Zha Qicai didn't believe Ye Xin's words, "Little girl, don't think that the young master doesn't know what's going on in the palace just because he's outside. Everyone knows that the current queen and my aunt are like sisters. I heard that the queen uses the finest silk to wipe her body after bathing."

"Such extravagance, just giving some to aunt can be exchanged for a lot of silver! If aunt really loves me, her nephew, and asks the queen for money, it will be enough for me to eat, drink and have fun for several years!"

"Forget it, Young Master won't talk to you anymore. Young Master will go to Yanxi Palace to ask for the money in person!"

Ye Xin was shocked and hurriedly stopped Zhaqi, "Outside men cannot enter the harem, Master Zhaqi, you can't go! This will implicate our master!"

Li Xin ignored the argument between the two people behind her and walked quickly towards Qixiang Palace.