The Queen has arrived: An Lingrong does not want to fight in the palace after her rebirth

An Lingrong thought for a long time, but could not find a safe opportunity for the Fourth Prince to meet the Emperor.

Finally, she made up her mind and decided to take the simplest approach.

At this moment, An Lingrong was kneeling on the ground nervously. The wound on her ankle that had just been bandaged was very painful, and cold sweat was dripping down her face.

She hurt herself so that the Fourth Prince could enter Wufu Hall openly. As for the emperor's coming, it was related to the fragrance on her body during the day. The fragrance of cold plums and neem flowers can make people recall the scent of their mother deep in their memories. This is the emperor's favorite scent. She had used flower dew to blend such a scent when she served him in the emperor's bed before, and the effect is even more obvious now with the spices.

She remembered it clearly. The Chinese Valentine's Day was just a few days away, and after that the Emperor started to move against Prince Dun. In her previous life, she followed the Queen's orders and followed Zhen Huan to Penglai Island. When she returned to Beijing, everything had already been settled. She didn't know what happened in between, but she thought that the Emperor must have been very busy during that time, and it was not a good time for them to meet, so he set up a plan to pretend that everything was a coincidence to facilitate the meeting between father and son.

She knelt on the ground with her head bowed very low. She could not see the emperor's expression, but she could feel his gaze piercing through her whole body. The emperor's invisible pressure made her so nervous that her palms sweated. She wondered what kind of wrath of the emperor she would have to endure next.

The Emperor stood in the middle of the room with a very cold face, looking down at the people kneeling on the ground. Today he had just mentioned to Zhen Huan the rudeness of the Eighth Prince, and then An Lingrong reminded him of his carelessness back then. He had a hard time in those years because of this stain, fearing that all his efforts would be rejected by the Emperor's father because of this. He could only redouble his efforts and take on all the hard and tiring work that no one in the court was doing, in order to eliminate the Emperor's dislike for him.

It was difficult for him to have children, so he doted on all his sons and daughters. However, he did not know how to face this unexpected child. Every time he thought of him, he had to recall over and over again the mocking faces of those people, the means of kicking him when he was down, the days of being neglected, and all the glory he almost lost. He had no choice but to raise this child in the Old Summer Palace, out of sight, out of mind.

Today, An Lingrong was so bold that the emperor was both angry and furious. He was angry that he was the emperor, but was still entangled in old matters. He was angry that An Lingrong acted rashly and threw the problem that he least wanted to face in front of him.

The emperor glanced at the Fourth Prince's clothes, which were faded and obviously too short after being washed. He was still a prince after all. If he punished An Lingrong harshly, the servants under him would probably deprive him of even more.

But he was so angry that he couldn't bear not to punish An Lingrong.

The Fourth Prince knelt on the ground devoutly. During previous grand celebrations in the palace, he had seen the Emperor from afar several times. He also saw the Emperor's care and love for his Third and Fifth Brothers. At that time, he felt lost and wondered if the Emperor had forgotten him. He did not ask for much, he just wanted to see the Emperor alone once and listen to his lectures.

He asked many people for help, and others avoided him as if he were the plague. Only Concubine Wen helped him without hesitation. Not only did she secretly subsidize him with daily clothes and money, but she also planned today's meeting with great care. He was both happy and afraid. He was happy that his long-cherished wish had finally come true, but he was afraid that if the emperor got angry, what would he do if he implicated Concubine Wen? But Concubine Wen only said: All parents in the world are kind-hearted, so he just needs to trust the emperor.

But now he had been kneeling for a long time and did not hear a word from the Emperor. The Fourth Prince became worried again. When he had already anticipated countless bad situations in his mind, the Emperor's faint voice finally came from above his head. The voice was so light that it seemed to be lost in the wind. The Fourth Prince hurriedly held his breath and listened.

"An, you deliberately made friends with the prince, what was your intention?" She was actually asking for an accusation, and the Fourth Prince was frightened out of his wits.

An Lingrong listened to the emperor's tone, which was indistinguishable from his joy and anger, and her heart became tense. It depended on what the emperor thought about today's incident. At the lightest, it was the concubine's daily behavior of caring about the prince. At the worst, it was that she had evil intentions and intended to use the prince to seek power. She kowtowed three times on the ground, and then slowly explained:

"Your Majesty, I dare not associate with the prince. Today's incident has its reasons. Please allow me to report back."

The emperor was spinning the beads in his hand, making a rustling sound. Upon hearing what was said, he just said "hmm" lightly, motioning An Lingrong to continue.

At this moment, not a single word could be wrong. An Lingrong said carefully:

"I came back from the Palace of Diligent Administration today. I was so playful that I chased butterflies in the garden. I ran too fast and sprained my ankle at the bend by the lake. I was so playful that I sent my entourage far away. Therefore, I was the only one around me when I fell. I had to call for help. It happened that the Fourth Prince was nearby. He found someone to send me back. I was grateful for his kindness and wanted to invite him to dinner to express my gratitude. I was wrong in my inconsiderateness. I didn't realize that this action would bring trouble to the prince. I hope Your Majesty will punish me."

After saying that, he started knocking his head on the ground again, and soon his forehead became red and swollen.

The Emperor naturally did not believe An Lingrong's evasion of the main point. He had come across An Lingrong talking with the Fourth Prince two years ago. He hid himself at the time just to see what An Lingrong would say. Fortunately, she only spoke the truth, so he tolerated it.

Su Peisheng had already reported to him that the Fourth Prince was asking people everywhere in the garden to pay him a visit alone, but he had been ignoring them. One reason was that he really didn't want to see the child, and the other was that he wanted to see who would jump out.

He was very conflicted. After all, the child was his blood. He could be unhappy, but his subordinates could not treat him badly. But when someone really jumped out, he became suspicious, wondering if he had taken sides early because he saw that he had few offspring. He had experienced the chaos of brothers fighting for the throne, so naturally he didn't want to have such scheming people in his harem.

The Emperor's scrutinizing gaze never left An Lingrong until he saw blood on her forehead. Then he turned his gaze away and said to the Fourth Prince:

"Stop first, Hongli. I want to ask you, why did you appear by the lake at that time?"

Seeing that the Emperor still remembered his name, the Fourth Prince felt at ease with the Emperor's voice. He was excited and said respectfully, "Your Majesty, I was reciting Zuo Zhuan, Duke Xi's 24th Year, nearby."

The Fourth Prince had a lot to say in his mind. He had already memorized the entire article by heart and thought it would be nice if the Emperor could ask him a few questions.

But the emperor ignored his little thoughts and said, "Learning is for yourself, not for others to see. What can you learn by jumping around?"

The Fourth Prince was not disappointed by this reprimand. Instead, he was very happy. His father was teaching him the truth. He kowtowed and said, "Thank you for your teachings. I will keep it in mind and study hard."

The Emperor did not respond to the Fourth Prince's eager words, but instead turned his deep gaze to An Lingrong.