I don't want to be the favorite concubine of this palace anymore

When Li Wenxu heard that Li Rui actually asked for this medicine, he was a little surprised and his face changed slightly. Why did Ruier also ask for this medicine?

Just yesterday the Queen asked for this newly presented tribute of purple vine, saying that it was for her mother, the wife of the Duke of Anguo.

This miraculous medicine has the effect of strengthening the body and replenishing the essence. As long as the person is not on the verge of death, taking it will turn danger into safety. It can even prolong life. The wife of the Duke of Anguo is old and I heard that her health has indeed been poor.

So the emperor gave the medicine to the queen without much thought.

Unexpectedly, Li Rui came to him today to ask for the same medicine. This made the emperor a little embarrassed.

"Rui'er, it's not that father doesn't want to give it to you. This herb was sent to the palace yesterday and your mother asked for it."

Li Rui didn't expect the queen to act so quickly, and his expression changed.

"Father, do you know who the Queen asked for the medicine for?"

"I heard it was for the wife of Duke Anguo. You know she is old and in poor health. So father gave the medicine to her without thinking too much."

Li Rui stood up in disappointment, bowed to the emperor again, and prepared to leave.

Li Wenxu was reluctant to leave and wanted to keep him for dinner, but in the end he just said, "Since you have entered the palace, go see Concubine Li."

Li Rui nodded in obedience, and then left the imperial study.

But in her heart she was thinking that the only mother in his heart was the deceased Concubine Rong, and no one else was qualified to be her mother.

However, Concubine Li became his nominal mother. He was raised in Concubine Li's palace from the age of 7, and did not leave the palace to set up his own house until he was 16 years old.

In this era where filial piety is more important than anything else, Concubine Li raised him, so he is Concubine Li's son, so he must respect her.

After he left the palace, he would only send gifts to Concubine Li during festivals, but he seldom visited her in person.

As for why, Concubine Li herself knew it very well. She pretended to be nice to him in front of others, but behind his back she often denied him food or humiliated him with words.

Because Li Rui's mother was once the most favored concubine in the harem and stole her favor, she was jealous. Unexpectedly, after Concubine Rong died, her son fell into her hands.

How could she not take the opportunity to vent her dissatisfaction.

But she didn't dare to go too far, because the emperor was very concerned about Li Rui and she still needed to use Li Rui to win his favor.

Until Li Rui was 16 years old and asked the emperor to grant him a marriage with the legitimate daughter of Anyang Marquis, she felt that Li Rui was about to slip out of her control, so she forced her niece Xu Wanying into Rui Wang Mansion as a concubine.

She had to place someone of her own beside him to feel at ease. However, she didn't know that her niece was only in name only when she entered the Rui Wang Mansion.

He couldn’t even enter Lingfeng Pavilion where Li Rui lived.

Li Rui arrived at Concubine Li's palace, greeted her and left. Concubine Li knew that he would no longer cooperate with her in playing the role of loving mother and filial son.

He didn't even leave any food for him and just let him go.

After returning to Prince Rui's Mansion, Li Rui called Jianying and Jianfeng into the study room to make some arrangements.

At night, Li Rui, wearing night clothes and covering his face, quietly left the Prince Rui's Mansion with a few personal guards.

After running on the roofs for a while, they finally arrived at a mansion in the west of the imperial capital. This was the Mansion of Duke Anguo.

Li Rui stood on the roof and saw that most of the lights in the houses below had been turned off. With a wave of his hand, several of his men dispersed and quietly sneaked in.

Yesterday's plan was to let them go in first to check out the situation and find the storehouse of the Duke of Anguo's Mansion or the location of the Duke's wife's bedroom.

If you can't find it, create some trouble to divert attention and then continue looking.

Li Rui walked to the roof of a house with lights on. He lay on the roof and lifted up a tile. He looked down and saw a man and a woman sitting at a tea table talking. He recognized the man as Wen Jin, the eldest son of Duke Anguo.

This man was the Queen's brother. He heard the woman say worriedly, "Master, why did the Queen spread the word that the miraculous medicine was in our house?"

Wen Jin said proudly: "The Queen naturally has her own intentions. You don't have to worry. I have already arranged everything. No one can guess that the herb is actually in the Prince's mansion."

When Li Rui heard this, his heart skipped a beat. He was in a trap. He quickly got up and took out the bone flute and started to play it, but it was too late.

Suddenly, many men in black appeared around the yard. He only brought 10 personal guards with him today. Although they were all skilled, they were not at an advantage in terms of numbers.

He could hear the sound of fighting in the yard. His heart sank for a moment. These brothers had been with him through thick and thin and were loyal to him.

Fortunately, he also made another preparation. He took out a tinder, lit it and threw it into a room in the opposite direction. Soon, the flames jumped up. There were cries for help from inside.

He quickly played another rhythm with the bone flute, and soon a group of ghost-faced men gathered around.

One of them bowed to him and said, "What do you want, Master?"

"An Yi, you take the Anbu in and rescue all the palace guards inside. No matter the lives of others."

"An Er, you take the Shadow Department and come with me to the Prince's Mansion."

An Yi led the Anbu into the Anguo Mansion and quickly turned the situation around.

The Anguogong Mansion was in chaos at the moment, with people trying to put out the fire, fighting, and crying.

Li Rui secretly hated that the Queen, who usually looked dignified and generous, was actually the most vicious and vindictive person. She actually used such a vicious trick to catch the turtle in the jar.

At the beginning, Li Rui was almost named the crown prince, and the queen hated Li Rui, who was born to Concubine Rong.

Li Rui knew that he had been being tripped up openly and covertly over the years, but because he was poisoned, he could only hide his strength and look for a way to detoxify first.

But the queen obviously didn't intend to let him go, even though he was poisoned. In this case, Li Rui didn't intend to be polite.

Now it seems that the Queen must have known that he was poisoned, otherwise she would not have gone to such great lengths to sabotage his attempts to get the antidote.

Li Rui had always suspected that the queen might have poisoned him. He was still so young at that time, and the harem was the queen's territory.

Li Rui brought An Er and a group of people from the Shadow Department to the Prince's Mansion.

The Prince's Mansion was not far from the Imperial Palace. Li Rui had been there before and roughly knew where the mansion was. He ordered An Er and several others to follow him, and then took them to the location of the Prince's Mansion warehouse.

The lock on the warehouse was quickly broken, and several people slipped in. An Er, who was very experienced, took out a night pearl, and the room instantly became much brighter.

I saw that it was a large warehouse, filled with a wide variety of jewellery, gold and jade, and various valuable ornaments.

But I didn't see any medicinal herbs, so I continued walking inside and saw some antiques, calligraphy and paintings on a shelf.

An Er shook his head at Li Rui, obviously he didn't find the herb. An Er and his team knew what the master was looking for. They were still responsible for investigating this matter.

Li Rui was unwilling to accept this. Since he knew the thing was in the Prince's Mansion, how could it be gone?

He continued walking forward until he was near the wall. He knocked on the wall and suddenly felt that the sound was wrong, as if it was empty. An Er also came over and knocked, and nodded to him.

The two of them had a tacit understanding and began to look for a mechanism nearby.

Suddenly Li Rui saw a large vase on the ground. He walked over and tried to move it, but the vase did not move at all.

He moved the vase to the side again, and it moved. Then he saw the wall suddenly turn, revealing a small door.

Li Rui and An Er looked at each other and nodded, signaling the others to stay upstairs to support them.

The two men took the night pearl and entered the dark room in the basement.