After Hua Fei was reborn, she became the white moonlight of Pangju

Chapter 96: Did you hear any sound?

Hearing what Concubine Hua said, the Queen's eyes twitched slightly.

"The Emperor does sympathize with me, but Doctor Liu and I are already five generations apart, so we are not that close relatives. Besides, if a prince breaks the law, he is punished the same as a commoner, not to mention that Doctor Liu is just an imperial physician."

Hua Fei smiled sweetly, "The Queen is worthy of being the Queen, her demeanor is different, I am ashamed to be inferior to her."

The emperor smiled stiffly and was silent for a moment before she spoke again: "It's almost the end of the year and the weather is getting colder. Although we should be frugal as usual, we can't be too frugal with charcoal. Each palace should reduce the amount by one third according to the quota in previous years."

Hearing this, all the concubines present looked unhappy.

It was a very cold day and they had to rely on charcoal fire for heating. The amount used was reduced compared to previous years, so they were really struggling to get by. So, none of them said a word, using silence to protest against the Queen's decision.

The Queen looked at Concubine Hua and smiled slightly, "What do you think, Concubine Hua?"

This problem is nothing more than directly throwing the hot potato to Concubine Hua.

If Concubine Hua agreed to the Queen's decision, she would offend all the concubines present; if she did not agree, she would offend the Queen.

In short, no matter how you answer, it will be a thankless task.

Hua Fei held the handkerchief, covered her mouth and smiled, "Since the Queen is following the Emperor's wishes, I think the Queen can make the decision."

The Queen curled her lips slightly, "Since Concubine Hua also feels the same way, I'm sure everyone will have no objection, so let's do it this way."

Hua Fei stood up and curtseyed to the Queen, "The Queen is frugal and simple, which is a virtue of human beings. I should emulate it."

When the concubines heard what Concubine Hua said, they could only stand up together and praise the Queen.

After leaving Jingren Palace, An Lingrong looked unhappy. She lived in Yanxi Palace with Noble Lady Fucha, who usually looked down on her as a concubine from the Han Army Banner, and now that she was pregnant, it was even more so.

A few days later, the weather was so cold that blood would freeze. Because Concubine Qi had the Third Prince by her side, she was fined her salary. Charcoal and other things were still paid as usual, but she lost her money. She was also confined to her house for a month. She was angry after all.

"This Concubine Hua is quite clever. She actually managed to turn the tables. Not only did she clear her name, but she also made Shen Meizhuang a noble lady again!"

Concubine Qi sat on the chair, becoming angrier and more unwilling the more she thought about it.

The Third Prince next to him thought it was because of his poor academic performance, so he said, "Mother, although Fourth Brother has been admitted to the palace, the Emperor rarely sees him. Fourth Brother started late, so he will definitely not be able to catch up with me."

Concubine Qi said unhappily, "Doesn't the emperor hate the Fourth Prince the most? Why did he suddenly bring him back? The father and son really have a deep affection for each other."

After saying these last few words, Concubine Qi herself did not believe it. If the emperor really loved the Fourth Prince, he would have raised him by his side since he was born. Why did he abandon him in the Old Summer Palace for so many years?

When Concubine Qi thought of the day when the Fourth Prince and the Third Prince were reciting in the Yangxin Palace and Concubine Hua was also present, a certain line in her brain suddenly moved slightly.

Could it be that the Fourth Prince's return to the palace was the work of Concubine Hua?

Concubine Qi shook her head. The Fourth Prince was not favored. What could Concubine Hua do now that she had brought the Fourth Prince with her?

..........

When the day came to distribute charcoal, An Lingrong felt that the hard times were finally over.

As soon as she heard that someone from the Ministry of Internal Affairs had come to deliver charcoal, she asked Baojuan to go over and take a look, and also to get the portion that belonged to their Mingse Residence.

As soon as Baojuan went out, she came back crying.

An Lingrong took a look and saw that the basket in Baojuan's hand contained only a few handfuls of low-quality charcoal. She frowned and asked, "Why is this so little? Is this a month's allotment?"

Baojuan said with red eyes: "Noble Lady Fucha said that she is pregnant and has a cold body, so she needs more charcoal fire, so she directly deducted your share!"

Baojuan cried for a few times, then asked with a sob, "My dear, how are we going to survive this winter?"

An Lingrong twisted the handkerchief in her hand and said viciously, "What can I do? My words are not taken seriously!"

Baojuan wiped her tears and said, "My lady, I heard that Concubine Shen has been restored to her position and is as favored as Concubine Wan. How about you go and ask them for help?"

It would have been fine if Zhen Huan and Shen Meizhuang were not mentioned, but once they were mentioned, An Lingrong's face became even uglier.

"My two sisters are so favored now. If I go to look for them now, won't I just cause trouble for them? I'd better not go!"

"My lady, how are we going to survive the next few months?" Baojuan said with a sad face.

An Lingrong didn't know what to do, so she kept her face dark and said nothing.

After Shen Meizhuang was restored to her status as a noble lady, the empress dowager specially asked the emperor to go and see her.

Since entering the palace, Shen Meizhuang has been cautious and prudent, not seeking great wealth and honor, but just wanting to live a peaceful life. Therefore, she carefully tried to please the emperor and the empress dowager. Fortunately, her dignified and steady temperament also attracted the empress dowager's favor, and thus won the emperor's favor.

The emperor knew that she liked chrysanthemums, so he ordered dozens of jars of chrysanthemums to be brought in and filled the courtyard. He also named her residence Cunju Hall. She naively believed that the emperor truly loved and trusted her.

But later, the emperor, faced with a bowl of contraceptive soup and a puppet he had gotten from nowhere, demoted her to a concubine and confined her to her house. No matter how she explained, the emperor just didn't believe her.

At that moment, Shen Meizhuang realized that the emperor had never trusted her from the beginning to the end. To the emperor, she was just one of the many concubines, and the emperor didn't care whether she was there or not.

The emperor reprimanded and sentenced Shen Meizhuang in front of many concubines, and hardly gave her any chance to defend herself. The proud Shen Meizhuang was completely disappointed with the emperor.

"It's cold today, don't catch a cold." As soon as the emperor entered the room and sat down, he wanted to hold Shen Meizhuang's hand.

Shen Meizhuang subconsciously retracted her hand and casually made a pot of tea for the emperor.

"It's cold, Your Majesty, please have some tea."

The smile on the emperor's face froze slightly. He took the tea from Shen Meizhuang, drank it all in one gulp, and placed the teacup heavily on the table.

"I see that there are some things you haven't figured out yet, so think about it carefully!"

After saying this, the emperor turned away.

Shen Meizhuang did not stand up to see her off.

It was a dark night outside and snowing heavily. The emperor was walking in the snow angrily. Su Peisheng quickly asked someone to hold an umbrella for him.

"Your Majesty, please slow down!" Su Peisheng exclaimed as he followed behind the emperor.

The emperor walked with big strides and did not sit in a sedan chair.

"Let's go enjoy the plum blossoms."

"It's late at night and it's cold. Your Majesty, you should go back and rest early!"

The emperor stopped suddenly and asked, "Su Peisheng, did you hear any sound?"