In order to eat, I signed a contract with the system

Baojuan, who was standing by, saw An Lingrong's painful expression and hurried forward to support An Lingrong's shaky body, saying distressedly, "My lady, let's go back."

"Don't stay here any longer."

After An Lingrong returned to the west side hall, she held the hot tea that Baojuan had just poured in her hand and took a sip. The warm tea flowed down her throat to her chest, briefly dispelling the coldness in An Lingrong's heart. The bitter taste of tea in her mouth suddenly brought An Lingrong back to her senses from her trance.

"Baojuan, do you think Sister Zhen really wants to help me?"

She didn't want to ask Zhen Huan if she could help her, because it was obvious that Zhen Huan could, but she just didn't help her, so An Lingrong wanted to know whether Zhen Huan really wanted to help her.

But it was obvious that she already had the answer to this question. Baojuan did not answer directly, but brought up something else: "My lady, there is only one emperor, and he only favors you so much. To put it bluntly, in the palace, my lady, Concubine Wan, and Concubine Hui are all concubines of the emperor, and they all live on the emperor's favor. Only the queen does not need it."

"Even if Lady Wan doesn't want to help the young lady win favor, it's not wrong."

"However, if you want to sleep with me, you can go to the Empress. As the Emperor's wife, the Empress is your mistress. She has always been virtuous and kind. I'm sure she knows your predicament and will help you sleep with me."

Although Baojuan was the Queen's person, she was still afraid of Nian Shilan's power and did not dare to say that Concubine Hua was also the Emperor's concubine and had to rely on the Emperor's favor to live.

But she didn't mention it but An Lingrong remembered it unexpectedly. Before entering the palace, when Aunt Fangruo went to the Zhen Mansion to teach, she mentioned that according to the rules in the palace, only the emperor, the empress and the queen mother can be called masters, and the other concubines, including Concubine Hua, are just mistresses, and it is not wrong to politely call them "Niangniang".

But after entering the palace, An Lingrong found that the situation in the palace was not exactly as Fang Ruo said. Although the queen was the master, her life was not as glorious as that of the "young master" Hua Guifei. Although Hua Guifei's position was lower than that of the queen, she held the power of the palace and had a strong family background. In many cases, her words were more effective in the eyes of the emperor than those of the queen.

The position of the Queen seems honorable, but in fact she is suppressed by Concubine Hua in every way. Even the hosting of this palace banquet was handed over to the Queen by Concubine Hua after she took the initiative to "give way".

Although An Lingrong did not go to ask for peace during this period, she heard Zhen Huan and Shen Meiyu mention Concubine Hua when she went to Chengqian Palace. From the sourness that Zhen Huan and Shen Meiyu unconsciously revealed when they mentioned Concubine Hua, An Lingrong suddenly realized that perhaps it would be a good choice for her to ask Concubine Hua for help.

In this life, after Zhen Huan and Shen Meiyu entered the palace, they were freed from the hardships of Nian Shilan, and they were favored too easily, which made them ignore the difficulties in the palace and indulge in the vanity brought by the emperor's favor.

As time went on, the arrogant Shen Meizhuang became even more arrogant, and the proud Zhen Huan became even more proud. The two arrogant good sisters lost their vigilance against others and began to compete with each other.

However, An Lingrong's "help" who prepared for a rainy day turned out to be a burden when everything was going well for Zhen Huan. There was no need to help and no reward, but if she didn't help, all the previous efforts would have been wasted.

It was precisely because of Zhen Huan's thoughts that An Lingrong in this life noticed it. Not only did she realize the intention behind Zhen Huan's previous help, but she also saw clearly her true position in Zhen Huan's heart. It was no longer like in her previous life, where she thought she was a good sister but ended up getting hurt.

On the day of the palace banquet, Nian Shilan caught everyone's attention with her dazzling beauty as soon as she appeared. Even though her face looked tired and perfunctory, she could not resist the admiring gazes of those who loved beauty.

The emperor at the top of the table could no longer let go of anyone else when he saw Nian Shilan. He accompanied the queen in a drama of harmony between the emperor and the queen without paying attention the whole time, and all the rest of his attention and concern were given to Nian Shilan.

The Queen was almost going crazy with jealousy. She knew very well that if she continued like this, she would really lose her status in front of the royal family. In order to prevent the Emperor from going to Concubine Hua on such a day, she had to think of a way.

Zhen Huan and Shen Meizhuang had the same rank, so they sat together. Seeing that the Emperor never even glanced at her from beginning to end, Zhen Huan couldn't help feeling a little sad. People in the palace always said that she was favored, but she and her sister Meizhuang together were not as favored as Concubine Hua alone.

But no one else would mention Concubine Hua, as if it was normal for her to be favored. The emperor spent at least half of his time in Yikun Palace every month, but no one in the palace would ever say that Concubine Hua was favored alone. However, whenever the emperor summoned her more than once, she would inevitably be bullied by others when paying her respects.

Zhen Huan was just feeling bitter because she found that she could never compare to Concubine Hua, when she heard Shen Meizhuang beside her sighing, "The Emperor looks at Concubine Hua differently."

"Huan'er, I don't want to fight with you anymore."

During this period of time, Shen Meizhuang was indeed competing secretly with Zhen Huan. After all, she and Zhen Huan entered the palace together, and now they live in Chengqian Palace together, with the same status. If Zhen Huan was promoted to concubine first, the position of the head of Chengqian Palace would become Zhen Huan. How could she be willing to accept this?

But the more she tried to win favor, the more powerless Shen Meizhuang felt. The emperor was indeed good to her, but every time she saw Concubine Hua, Shen Meizhuang would clearly realize that the emperor's kindness to her was like treating kittens and puppies. It seemed nice, but in fact there was not much affection.

The longer time passed, the more sober Shen Meizhuang became. Now looking at the emperor's attitude towards Concubine Hua, Shen Meizhuang suddenly became discouraged and no longer had the energy to compete for favor.

But Shen Meizhuang can be sober, but Zhen Huan can't. She values ​​'uniqueness' and affection more than Shen Meizhuang, and she believes that the emperor treats her differently, so she is so heartbroken when she sees the emperor looking at Concubine Hua.

"Sister Mei, you..."

"During this period, we have been unwilling to admit defeat for the sake of our own pride. If we continue like this, sooner or later, the sisterhood between us will be completely worn away by this pride."

"Now that I've seen the way the Emperor looks at Concubine Hua, I finally understand that what we've been fighting about is just a joke for other people to have in their spare time."

"It's so boring."

After hearing what Shen Meizhuang said, Zhen Huan felt as if a stone was blocking her chest. She raised her head to look at the Emperor, only to see Concubine Hua leaving the table and the Emperor wanting to follow her but being rejected.

Zhen Huan took a deep breath, held back her tears, and said to Shen Meizhuang, "Sister Mei, I'm going to go out and sober up."

When the Empress saw that the Emperor could not sit still and wanted to leave after Nian Shilan left, she quickly hinted to Jianqiu to put out red plums. The Emperor was depressed because Nian Shilan refused to leave with him. He was drinking wine out of boredom. Just as he turned around, he saw a bottle of red plums placed not far away.

"Have the red plum blossoms bloomed?" the emperor asked the queen.

"It blooms in defiance of the frost," the queen replied.

"Shilan is not here. I will go to Yime Garden to take a look." Now that his living lover Shilan is not around, as the queen had planned, the emperor finally remembered his deceased lover Chunyuan.