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

The clock in the Hall of Mental Cultivation was ticking. Under the dim candlelight, the emperor was reviewing memorials with a frown.

It is Xiao Xia Zi's turn on duty today. He is tense and ready to respond to the emperor's call at any time.

After the death of the Imperial Noble Consort, he thought he would be assigned to guard the mausoleum, but the Emperor kept him aside for questioning. The Emperor asked him to think carefully about whether anything unusual had happened during the time he served the Imperial Noble Consort.

He recalled bitterly at that time. He first said that during the period when Nian Gengyao was impeached, Concubine Cao advised the Imperial Concubine to let Nian Gengyao privately investigate the matter of Zhen Yuandao and Huanbi. It was only because the Nian family fell that the investigation came to nothing.

Since the matter concerned state affairs, he, a eunuch, did not dare to get involved and did not report it to his master at that time.

After telling this story, the emperor did not punish him, but only asked him to think about whether there was anything special happening recently, even if it happened to him.

Later he said hesitantly that the night before the Imperial Concubine caught a cold, he slept very deeply for some reason, and when he was cleaning the outer room the next day, he found a small lump of dried mud on the carpet.

He would always remember that after he said this, the emperor's face turned cold enough to scrape off frost. Just standing there made him feel terrified. He was so frightened that he even slowed down his breathing, fearing that the emperor would order his death the next moment. But the emperor just smashed the teacup next to him to the ground.

Later, the emperor issued an edict to retain all the furnishings in the Yiku Palace and let Xiao Dongzi be in charge of taking care of it. Suxi, who had instigated the imperial concubine to go to the opera that day, was beaten to death with sticks. Lingzhi went to guard the imperial concubine's body, and he was transferred back to the imperial court.

Obviously the emperor did not punish Xiao Xiazi, but Xiao Xiazi was still afraid. The look on the emperor's face when he smashed the bowl was like a brand in his mind forever. Afterwards, his master asked him indirectly what the emperor said to him when he left him alone that day. Xiao Xiazi confused the past with eight parts true and two parts false.

Xiao Xiazi planned to take those two things into the coffin and would not tell anyone about them no matter who asked.

"What time is it?"

Hearing the emperor's question, Xiao Xiazi answered without hesitation: "It's 2:00 pm, what does the emperor want?"

"Go to Shoukang Palace."

After Noble Consort Dunsu passed away, the Empress Dowager forced herself to help with palace affairs for a few days despite her illness. After everything was settled, she fell ill again.

Throughout the twelfth lunar month, apart from being busy with his duties in the front court, the emperor was most concerned about the empress dowager. Even when Concubine Wan was seriously injured, the emperor did not visit her once.

It snowed again today. Xiao Xia Zi did not dare to be negligent. She busied herself preparing all the warm items before respectfully inviting the emperor to set off.

His efficiency and thoughtfulness were noticed by the emperor, who praised him: "You are somewhat like your master."

With the emperor's approval, Xiao Xiazi did not dare to be frivolous and said modestly: "I am far from being as good as you are, my master. I will work hard to live up to your kindness."

The emperor sat on the imperial sedan chair and said, "Let's go. Don't let the Empress wait anxiously."

Xiao Xiazi followed closely behind.

Inside Shoukang Palace, the emperor could hear the joyful atmosphere before he even entered the hall.

The emperor stepped into the hall and saw the empress dowager surrounded by the palace servants of Shoukang Palace at the table. She seemed to be admiring some rare objects and kept praising them. Seeing this, the emperor smiled and said:

"The Queen Mother is in good spirits. Is there anything to be happy about today?"

The Queen Mother was indeed in a good mood today. She turned around and waved to the Emperor: "Your Majesty, come and take a look and you will know."

A Suzhou embroidery of the Buddha of Immortality and Wisdom, on a silk cloth about four feet square, shows a solemn and majestic Buddha of Immortality and Wisdom sitting in the Vajra double-lotus posture on a lotus moon wheel, with red lotus and green leaves, a crown of celestial clothes, jeweled tassels, a longevity vase, surrounded by auspicious clouds, and offerings of fresh flowers... The embroidery is lifelike, especially the compassion and wisdom between the eyes, which inspires respect when looking at it.

What’s even more amazing is that no matter from which angle you can see the peaceful and pleasant smile on the Buddha’s face, which can make people feel joy and compassion from the bottom of their hearts.

The emperor was more and more satisfied as he looked at it. He could not help but stroke the lotus platform and praised it:

"Where did the Queen Mother find someone with such extraordinary embroidery skills? What's even more rare is that she has a peaceful and pious heart. She can embroider the solemnity and charity of the Buddha of Eternal Life and Wisdom to perfection. It can be said that her craftsmanship is beyond imagination."

As the empress dowager, there were naturally many people who took advantage of her belief in Buddhism and gave her countless rare treasures for worshiping the Bodhisattva. But one of them was willing to spend several months embroidering a Buddha statue for her to pray for longevity and wisdom. She was the only one in the harem who did this. The empress dowager did not believe that the emperor could not see her embroidery skills, and she just wanted to use her to praise him.

The Queen Mother glanced at the Emperor's haggard features and followed his lead.

"Your Majesty is shortsighted. This work was done by Concubine Wen. This child is honest. He heard that I have been in poor health, so he wanted to use this Buddha to pray for my longevity."

"When I saw her eyes were red and there were deep needle marks on her hands, I knew she was serious."

The emperor had an expression of sudden enlightenment: "So it was Concubine Wen. My son said that this embroidery looked familiar. She is a junior, so it is her duty to be filial to the Empress Dowager."

The Queen Mother smiled and said gently, "This Buddha is very much to my liking. I plan to enshrine it in the small Buddhist temple in the East Warm Pavilion."

The emperor nodded in agreement and also made a suggestion: "The embroidery is good, but the framing is a bit too artificial. Why not let my son frame it for the Empress Dowager herself?"

"Okay, let me see what kind of flowers you can frame."

......

Since Nian Shilan's death, the Emperor and the Queen Mother had not spoken to each other in such a friendly manner for a long time, and for a while, the mother and son seemed to get along well with each other.

In Yonghe Palace, An Lingrong was coughing softly again. Rendong hurriedly handed her the medicine.

"My lady, I see that the Queen Mother really likes the Buddha statue. Your hard work is worthwhile. But you must stop working so hard in the future. Otherwise, when will your health be better?"

An Lingrong drank the medicine in one gulp, then picked up the cup and drank a sip of water to suppress the bitter taste in her mouth. She smiled flatteringly, "Good honeysuckle, this is just one time. From now on, I will listen to you obediently, recuperate peacefully and not worry about anything else."

An Lingrong had originally planned to present the Buddha of Eternal Wisdom on the Empress Dowager's birthday in March, so she was not in a hurry to embroider it. However, after the funeral of the Imperial Noble Consort, she received the news that the Empress Dowager's condition had worsened. She thought that instead of being in the limelight on her birthday and being hated by others, she might as well make the Empress Dowager remember her kindness now. Therefore, she worked overnight. After she finished the embroidery this morning, the Ministry of Internal Affairs framed it, and she went to Shoukang Palace.

Sure enough, this gift touched the empress dowager's heart. After she left Shoukang Palace, she saw the emperor's carriage at the corner of the long street. She estimated that the emperor might be satisfied with this gift.

Why not kill two birds with one stone? It would be worth it no matter how much bitter medicine she has to endure to get two people.

But she wouldn't say this to Honeysuckle, to avoid her nagging again.

Rendong brought out the bowl of medicine. She also went to the small kitchen to check on how An Lingrong's medicinal meal was going.

Looking at Rendong's busy figure, An Lingrong couldn't help but wonder what Zhen Huan and the Queen were doing now?