An Lingrong after rebirth

"Before Cui Jinxi could speak, Su Peisheng said: The emperor is waiting for your reply in person, so hurry over first!"

Cui Jin nodded helplessly and followed Su Peisheng forward. "I pay my respects to His Majesty. Is there something wrong with Wanpin? My queen couldn't find any clues about what happened to the emperor last night, so she specially asked me to come and report it."

The emperor nodded, Su Peisheng will go to the Yanxi Palace first, and you will follow. Cui Jinxi was stunned and subconsciously wanted to refuse, but she held back.

"The emperor stood up again, and Cui Jinxi followed behind him, regretting that she didn't come up with a reason to refuse immediately."

"But now that things have come to this, there is no point in regretting. After the group entered the Yanxi Palace, Cui Jinxi was left outside the door and could not go in for the time being."

"The emperor led Su Peisheng in, followed by a group of eunuchs holding gifts. An Lingrong was sitting on the bed. When she saw the emperor come in, she spoke first, saying, "I am not feeling well and cannot get up to pay my respects to the emperor. Please forgive me."

The emperor strode forward and sat down beside the bed. "You just gave birth and are weak. Why bother with such empty formalities?" He waved his hand and Su Peisheng came forward with a gift list in his hand.

"After responding to the greeting, he began to read. After half an incense stick of time, he stopped. An Lingrong looked at what the eunuchs behind Su Peisheng were holding."

"I laughed. Your Majesty, how could I have deserved to cause Your Majesty so much trouble?"

"Of course you deserve it." The emperor said, motioning Qiufang to come forward, accept the gift, and take it away. Suddenly the palace became quiet, and the emperor reached out and held An Lingrong's hand.

"I have discussed this with the Queen Mother. Your giving birth to twins, a boy and a girl, is an unprecedented happy event. I want to announce this to the whole country and spread the good news."

"An Lingrong was stunned after hearing this, and subconsciously said: Your Majesty, I am a humble concubine, how can I be favored by Your Majesty Gao Zhao Tianxia?"

Rong'er, don't belittle yourself. I said, "You are worthy, and the Queen Mother has already agreed, so why should you worry? An Lingrong moved her lips, and Zong nodded under the Emperor's motionless gaze, "Yes, I thank the Emperor for his grace."

The emperor nodded in satisfaction. What about the children?

"Your Majesty, the two little ones are still sleeping. Sister Mei is worried that I won't get enough rest, so she took them to Yonghe Palace."

"Rong'er and Mei'er entered the palace on the same day, and their relationship has remained the same for years. If all the concubines in the harem were like you two, I wouldn't have so many worries."

An Lingrong smiled after hearing this, "Who among the sisters in the harem doesn't love the emperor? For the emperor, it is normal to be a little dirty occasionally. Why should the emperor worry about it?"

"Rong'er is really good at talking," the emperor replied with a smile, and then continued: "Just now on the way here, I met someone from Wanpin's side, who said he had something to report."

"I thought this matter has something to do with you, so I asked her to come along. You might as well listen along!"

"It's related to me? Your Majesty, what is it?"

"The emperor saw An Lingrong's puzzled expression and thought that perhaps the people under him didn't want these little things to upset An Lingrong, so they didn't tell her."

Then he said directly, "Last night, when the people around you went to the Suiyu Pavilion to invite me, they had some dirty talk with the eunuch guarding the gate of Suiyu Pavilion. It happened that you were there to listen."

"Without waiting for An Lingrong's response, he signaled Su Peisheng to let Cui Jinxi in."

An Lingrong didn't know what to say when she saw this. She had fainted last night after giving birth to a child.

"It has only been a short while since I woke up. There are so many people coming to see the child. The people below really haven't had time to say anything to me."

However, she was still suspicious of the emperor's words that her people had something dirty to do with the eunuchs guarding the gate of Suiyuxuan!

"Lian'er and the others are not the kind of people who bully others by taking advantage of their power, and Zhen Huan is not the kind of person who would do anything about these things. I'm afraid the key to this matter cannot be explained in just a few words!"

"Forget it. I'll just listen to what Cui Jinxiruo said. After calming down a little, An Lingrong leaned back, pretending to be tired, and lowered her head slightly."

A moment later, Cui Jinxi followed Su Peisheng into the room and knelt down, "I pay my respects to His Majesty and to Consort Shu!"

"You said Wanpin asked you to go back to what happened last night? Can you find out what happened?"

"In reply to the emperor, after the emperor left last night, my queen had the eunuch guarding the gate interrogated overnight. But who knew that little Li Zi could not be found after a thorough search."

"It was not until dawn today that Little Li returned to Suiyuxuan, and the Queen summoned Little Li to question him immediately. But Little Li didn't say a word, and I don't know who ordered him to do so."

The queen knew that this matter must have a result, so she thought of asking me to report back to the emperor and the queen and send little Li Zi to the Ministry of Punishment, but who knew that this would end up happening.

"Little Li suddenly vomited blood and died in front of the queen."

"My queen was also frightened by this, and she has not recovered yet. However, she knows that this matter is important, so she immediately asked this servant to come and report."

"70% of Cui Jinxi's words are true and 30% are false. It is obvious that Zhen Huan and Cui Jinxi had thought about this matter a long time ago. How can we explain this matter so that people will believe it more?"

"After all, the person who died in Suiyuxuan was poisoned. Who would go to find out the truth just for a servant? Concubine Shu, it's okay, isn't it?"

The emperor was silent for a moment...Dead?

Yes, my queen didn’t expect that Leo would suddenly behave like this, but he disappeared for a whole night and then suddenly behaved like this when he came back.

"My queen suspects that there must be someone behind Little Li, so please be merciful, Your Majesty, and thoroughly investigate this matter and give the queen an explanation."

"An Lingrong, who was standing by, was not surprised when she heard Cui Jinxi's words. Although she didn't know what happened before, now that she knew, she would not think Zhen Huan was such a short-sighted person."

"The person behind the attack is always related to the Queen. Why should I worry about it? After all, my mother and son are both safe now. The Emperor always hopes for peace in the harem, so he will definitely not worry about it."

"Sure enough, the emperor was silent for a moment again, nodded and said, "I know about this matter, you can go down first!"

Yes, I’ll take my leave!

"After Cui Jinxi left, An Lingrong was too lazy to listen to the emperor's insincere words, so she reached out and pulled the other party. Your Majesty, although I don't have much contact with Wanpin, she is your favorite."

"She is not someone with evil intentions. I believe she did not do this on purpose. Your Majesty does not need to worry about it."

An Lingrong's words added a little smile to the emperor's face, "Why doesn't she doubt Zhen Huan? Because she is the one you favor."

"The emperor is wise and will not favor a person with a vicious heart." These words seemed to be meant to clarify things for Zhen Huan, but in fact they were praising the emperor.

Naturally, he smiled, "Rong'er is sensible, I will listen to you on this matter."

Yes!

"An Lingrong responded, but a few other thoughts arose in her mind. Your Majesty, I have something to tell you. I wonder if I should tell you or not?"

"Rong'er, if you have something to say, just tell me straight away. An Lingrong lowered her head slightly, held the emperor's hand tightly, and acted very nervous."

"Your Majesty, I was born in humble circumstances, but now I have been in the palace for a short time and have already been promoted to the position of concubine. I am not talented, and now I am summoned to the throne by Gao because of my two children. I am really terrified."

"I dare to ask, can you keep it simple in this matter of conferring the title of consort?"

The emperor raised his head and looked at An Lingrong steadily. "Rong'er is Zhao'er's biological mother. Now she has given birth to twins. She is also the concubine I personally conferred upon her. How can she be humble?"

"I will have the Ministry of Internal Affairs arrange the ceremony for the conferment of the title of Consort after you are out of confinement. I will have everyone in the harem watch. Rong'er is not a humble person. The title of Consort Shu is legitimate."

"An Lingrong raised her head, her eyes also filled with tears, Your Majesty..."

"Rong'er Yuezhong, don't cry. It's bad for your eyes. Take good care of yourself. You have to watch the children grow up safely with me in the future."

Okay, I’ll obey your command!

"After she finished speaking, An Lingrong wiped her eyes with a handkerchief, and a smile appeared on her lips. After a pause, she spoke again: Your Majesty, you have been busy with government affairs these days, and I am afraid that you have not seen Zhao'er and Jun'er much. They have been talking about your Majesty every day."

"It's you and Mei'er who taught them well. These two children are good kids. I'll have dinner with them in two days."

"Your Majesty is busy with government affairs, so there is no need to have a meal. As long as they see the Emperor, the children are happy. Your Majesty, I wonder how happy the children have been playing with the Third Prince in recent days."

Hongshi?

"Yes, last year when the Emperor was in the garden, Concubine Qi often brought the Third Prince here. Since then, the children have become very familiar with each other."

Although Hongshi was not proficient in poetry and literature, he was an honest child.

"That's right. Even as a mother like me, I often feel annoyed when I see Hong Zhao like that. I wish he would just shut up and not speak any more."

But the Third Prince was different. He stayed with the two children and never got angry no matter how they made a fuss or what they said!

"It is just as the emperor said. The Third Prince is really an honest child." An Lingrong praised without hesitation, making the emperor smile slightly.

"When talking about Hongshi, people always say that he is not good at studying and has no ambition to make progress. But An Lingrong saw his good qualities, which made the emperor feel a little relieved."

"Who would object to others praising their children's merits? Among the concubines like An Lingrong who entered the palace, only Hongshi was raised by the emperor."

There is still some difference from others. Even if he does not have high hopes, it does not mean that he does not care at all. After An Lingrong said this, she quietly observed the emperor's expression.

"Seeing the smile on his face, he continued, "The Third Prince is so kind, it shows that Concubine Qi taught him well."

"An Lingrong's words made the emperor pause, but no one knew what he was thinking about, and the smile on his face immediately froze. An Lingrong didn't care, and looked like she couldn't stand the emperor's true thoughts."

"Your Majesty, do you remember that Concubine Qi was demoted because of Concubine Ding's incident? Is Rong'er's memory worse than mine?"

"Seeing that the Emperor still had the heart to joke, An Lingrong became even bolder. The Emperor is used to making fun of his concubine."

"She said with a smile, saying that it was said that Concubine Ding was harmed by Concubine Qi, but I still think that since she raised such a kind child like the Third Prince, how could she do such a horrible thing?"

"Speaking of this, seeing a trace of deep thought on the emperor's face, An Lingrong struck while the iron was hot and asked: Is there anything unspeakable about this matter?"

"Rong'er thinks so too? The emperor looked up at An Lingrong with a hint of doubt in his eyes. An Lingrong nodded with a look of affirmation on her face."

"Your Majesty, Sister Qi sent something to Concubine Ding. Although I discovered it, who made that thing?"

"Perhaps someone is forcing Sister Qipin to keep quiet, but we don't know anything about this!"

"Although I believe that there is absolutely no such evil in the harem, who can really tell right from wrong?"

But I am willing to believe that Concubine Qi is definitely not such a bad person.

"The emperor was silent for a long time, and finally nodded. Rong'er has some truth in what he said. I will have someone investigate this matter thoroughly."

"Eunuch Su is the chief steward. If he is asked to investigate these matters, it will be easy for him to solve them."

"An Lingrong was smiling, but the emperor could see the bruises on her eyes clearly. Little did he know that An Lingrong was letting him see them on purpose."

"I raised my hand to cover my mouth and yawned slightly, then smiled. Your Majesty, please don't blame me. I am disrespectful and I beg Your Majesty to forgive me."

"Why bother with such trivial matters? Thank you, Your Majesty!"

"An Lingrong responded with a smile, and then said: Your Majesty, the Third Prince is growing up, and he is now the oldest prince in the palace. If Sister Qi is still in this position, I am afraid that we will not have much respect for the Third Prince..."

"The Emperor only now realized the purpose of An Lingrong's going through so much trouble, and said with a smile: You are so soft-hearted, you said so much just to let me restore Concubine Qi's position as a concubine?"

An Lingrong lowered her head slightly: "Your Majesty, Wen Lin was raised by me. I have no right to forgive Concubine Qi, who openly harmed her, on behalf of her mother."

"Firstly, I feel sorry for Third Prince. Secondly, I always feel that this matter is not as simple as it seems. Even if it is not for Concubine Qi, it is only for Third Prince, this good boy, to live a happier life."

"I have to bow my head to what I said today. I know I have no right to say these things. Please don't blame me, Your Majesty."

"Rong'er said all this for the children. I will not blame you. The emperor held An Lingrong's hand."

"Don't worry, I will let Su Peisheng investigate this matter carefully and will definitely not wrongly accuse anyone. Your Majesty is wise and wise. I thank you very much."

"An Lingrong's face was full of smiles. Does she care about the status of Concubine Qi? Does she care whether the Third Prince is happy? This is just a bonus."

Let the emperor investigate it himself. It would be a pleasant surprise if he could find any trace of the queen's handiwork.

...............

Although An Lingrong was well taken care of during pregnancy, she was having twins after all, so she still had to take good care of herself during the confinement period.

"That day, when the emperor returned from the Yanxi Palace, he issued an edict that An Lingrong was in poor health and was exempted from visits from the harem."

The Yanx Palace finally became completely quiet. Normally, no one else was allowed to enter except Shen Meizhuang and the emperor.

Just three days later, the imperial edict from the Yangxin Palace was once again transmitted to the Yanx Palace.

"By the order of the Empress Dowager, I confer the title of Consort Shu on the Empress Dowager, who is virtuous, wise, and gentle. She has made contributions in nurturing the heir to the throne. I decree that the Empress Dowager confer the title of Consort Shu on the Empress Dowager, and I decree this!"