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

Like countless ordinary evenings, the emperor was still reviewing memorials in the Yangxin Palace after drinking the medicine.

When the news from the clan government arrived, his hand that was writing the red-ink comment paused and he asked in a hoarse voice:

"Why not?"

Su Peisheng replied carefully: "I asked him clearly. He was fine in the morning. He said he had no appetite at lunch and wanted to sleep for a while. He never woke up after sleeping."

"So, he is a lucky person. He passed away without any pain or illness."

Su Peisheng did not dare to respond to the emperor's sarcastic tone. After all, everyone in the court knew how the Eighth Master and his party had tried to trip up the emperor. He just waited quietly for orders.

The emperor thought for a moment, and then said in a hoarse voice: "What should we do with the funeral? Let the clan office submit a proposal."

Su Peisheng understood that this meant that there was no need to make a big deal about it, and it would be enough to save face. After all, he was a criminal who was stripped of his title and imprisoned.

In the harem, An Lingrong was worriedly asking Rendong: "Why did you fall ill in Zhili? Did you see a doctor?"

Honeysuckle followed anxiously: "After checking, it turned out that the cold came too quickly. The doctor asked him to rest for a few days."

Zhang Mi's grandson was ill, so An Lingrong didn't want to force him to leave: "No matter how urgent it is, it shouldn't be in these few days. Let him recover before coming back. Besides, where is Xiao Dongzi? No one has found him, right?"

Honeysuckle had already screened the servants carefully and successfully attracted the Queen's attention, so she made a promise:

"Don't worry, Madam. I will be watching him day and night. If anything happens to him, I will pay with my life."

An Lingrong added one more word of advice: "That's good. There are still a few days left. Please work harder."

In the previous dynasty, the people who were most hit by the death of Yunsi were the old Manchu nobles who had been holding out for a while. After all, this gentleman was known for his generosity. When he was in charge of the Ministry of Revenue, any department in the court could borrow silver from the Ministry for two weeks if they had a deficit. Unlike the current emperor, he was busy collecting debts as soon as he came to power, making their lives difficult in recent years, and they couldn't help but complain about the emperor.

It was extremely beneficial to the emperor, who had long wanted to rectify the increasingly extravagant lifestyle of the Eight Banners, but had been unable to act due to the secret obstruction of the nobles.

Now that Lao Ba is dead, these people have lost their backbone and are like a pile of loose sand. He can carry out drastic reorganization and use this opportunity to eliminate a wave of undisciplined people and replace them with his own people.

People in the former dynasty became nervous again, and the winter solstice arrived amidst the panic of some people.

Inside the Qianqing Palace, the royal family banquet started as scheduled.

Because the emperor's health has not recovered and the current political situation is unclear, the royal family members who attended the family banquet wanted to take this opportunity to express their loyalty to the emperor, so as not to be suspected of being involved in the Eighth Prince's clique.

Led by the fifth prince Heng, the sixteenth prince Zhuang and the seventeenth prince Guo, and followed by a group of princes, beile, beizi, and dukes, they all praised the emperor's new policies as a benevolent policy that would benefit future generations and ensure the safety of the Qing Dynasty for eternity. Precisely because the country cannot do without him, they all sincerely wished the emperor a speedy recovery so that he could lead the Qing Dynasty to continue its splendor.

Although the praises had a purpose, they made the emperor feel as if he had drunk fine aged wine. He felt tipsy unconsciously and was very satisfied with his brothers' tactfulness. At the same time, he was more pleased with his control over people's hearts and was more determined to continue with the reform.

The Queen was delighted with all the excitement tonight. The more lively the atmosphere was, the more favorable it would be for Cao Qinmo tonight. She looked around and saw Yunli being forced to drink by Prince Heng and Prince Zhuang, with a slight drunkenness already appearing on his fair face. She knew the time had come.

She nodded slightly to Cao Qinmo, who understood, left the table, picked up the wine glass and walked towards Zhen Huan.

Today's banquet was not set up with a long table, but a small table for each person, with a one-foot distance between the tables, which was both convenient and able to take care of all around. So Cao Qinmo walked around the table and came to Zhen Huan, smiling:

"Empress Wan, today is the family dinner, we should open our hearts. I have had many misunderstandings with you in the past, and I have always wanted to settle our grievances over a glass of wine, but it was just a coincidence that I never had the chance. Now that you have been blessed again, I can be sisters with you again. This glass of wine is offered to you, and I hope you get what you wish for."

Zhen Huan was confused about Cao Qinmo's intention and hesitated, so she didn't raise her glass.

An Lingrong's table was next to Zhen Huan. She was surprised to see Cao Qinmo toasting Zhen Huan alone. Cao Qinmo was too purposeful. Seeing that Zhen Huan didn't respond, she was afraid that there was another trick, so she said angrily:

"Sister Cao, you are so estranged from me now that you even left me alone to toast Concubine Wan. I won't allow that."

Cao Qinmo didn't get angry when she heard An Lingrong's words of secretly protecting Zhen Huan. She just turned around, bowed slightly to An Lingrong, and then said with a flattering smile:

"My Lady Concubine Wen, I am not very good at speaking but I am not very good at thinking. I really don't know how to express my feelings. I can only offer you this glass of wine and ask you to forgive my unintentional mistake."

Without waiting for An Lingrong to respond, he quickly raised the glass and drank it all, then turned the glass upside down to indicate that there was no more wine left:

"Empress Wen, I beg for mercy. Please let me offer a glass of wine to Empress Wan as punishment for my verbal offense to Empress Wan."

At this time, the other female relatives had already looked over. An Lingrong had not yet expressed her opinion, but Xinpin, who was sitting below Zhen Huan, saw that there was something interesting to watch and had already joked with a smile:

"Shenpin, we are so happy tonight, we should be intimate together. You and I have been together for many years, is it possible that I can't ask you for a glass of wine?"

Cao Qinmo acted very smooth at this time: "Oh my, Madam Concubine Wen, I have figured it out. All the sisters want to make me drunk tonight, so that you can make fun of me."

An Lingrong just smiled and said nothing, Xinpin had already stood up from her seat and said excitedly:

"Why, is Sister Shen scared?"

As he asked, he prepared to leave his seat and move forward.

Cao Qinmo was so anxious that she smiled and apologized: "Sister Xin, please sit down. I will come over and have a drink with you. But if I get drunk later, you have to help me."

While talking and laughing, he twisted his body and said to Zhen Huan quickly:

"Sister Wan Fei, I would like to borrow your wine pot to offer to you."

As he said this, he reached for the wine jug on Zhen Huan's desk.

Her actions were consistent with her words and her movements were incredibly fast. Zhen Huan's hands were quicker than her brain and she also reached out to pass the wine jug to her.

Unexpectedly, Cao Qinmo's body suddenly tilted and she fell forward. Zhen Huan was so anxious that she leaned back and quickly withdrew her hand, trying to support Cao Qinmo. Jing Xi, who was standing behind, also stepped forward quickly to support Cao Qinmo.

However, this move was originally intended by Cao Qinmo, so how could she stop? When An Lingrong came out to obstruct her, she was still thinking about whether to change her method. Unexpectedly, she met Xinpin, who liked to butt in on everything. This made her happy, and she immediately went along with her, which led to this deliberate deviation.

Just as An Lingrong and Bao Yuan came forward to help, Cao Qinmo had already leaned on Zhen Huan. She didn't hurt her, but her hairpin got caught on Zhen Huan's light pink cheongsam embroidered with purple flowers and birds.

Cao Qinmo tilted her head back in a hurry, and the silky and delicate Suzhou embroidery was instantly caught by the ostentatious headdress on her head. With the help of several people, the gold ornaments and silk threads became tighter and tighter, and the silk threads were about to become a ball.

Cao Qinmo then remembered to use her other hand to straighten her hairpin, but her other hand had already held the wine jug when her body fell. In a hurry, she picked up the wine jug and poured the whole jug of wine on Zhen Huan.

Amid the gasps of the crowd, only Cao Qinmo's sincere apology was heard:

"My Lady Wan, I sprained my ankle, and in my haste I ruined your clothes. The Emperor has just rewarded me with two batches of Shu brocade. If you don't mind, I will have the knitting department come to your palace tomorrow to take measurements and make clothes for you. This is my apology. Please forgive my unintentional mistake."

The movements of the female members had already attracted the attention of the clan members. Prince Heng was a rough and unruly person who always admired Manchu customs and never recognized the Confucian culture respected by the Han people. Therefore, he did not like Zhen Huan, a concubine famous for her talent, and believed that talent in a woman was pretentious.

What's more, Zhen Huan's reputation among the clan members was not good in the past two years, which also led to Prince Heng's preconceived notion about her.

He took advantage of his drunkenness and spoke directly:

"Royal brother, your concubine is too ignorant. The happy time of brothers has been disturbed by such a sudden incident. Royal brother, please have a good talk with her."

Prince Heng's voice was so loud that the whole hall could hear it. Only then did Zhen Huan untie the tangled silk thread from her hairpin. Upon hearing the words, she knelt down hurriedly, not explaining anything and just pleading guilty:

"Your Majesty, please forgive me. I was disrespectful."

Cao Qinmo also followed suit:

"Your Majesty, Rong Bing, this is all my fault. It was my misbehavior that implicated Concubine Wan. If Your Majesty wants to punish me, then punish me."

The emperor has always known the character of Prince Heng, and he did not take his words to heart. Seeing Zhen Huan and Cao Qinmo looking like they had gotten into trouble, he said nonchalantly:

"It's not a big deal, please leave first."

Zhen Huan felt relieved: "Thank you, Your Majesty. I will go change my clothes first."

Cao Qinmo looked as if she had made a mistake and said to Zhen Huan:

"Sister Wan Fei, I feel bad about this. Why don't I accompany you to change clothes?"

Zhen Huan is now extremely wary of Cao Qinmo. She doesn't believe that what happened tonight was an accident. If Cao Qinmo continues to stay by her side, she might have some tricks waiting for her. Therefore, she politely refuses:

"Princess Wen Yi is still here. I think Concubine Shen can't leave. I'll be back soon."

Cao Qinmo was about to pretend to accompany her, but Zhen Huan had already rushed to pay her respects to the Emperor and Empress at the head of the table, and quickly left with Jin Xi.

Cao Qinmo was left with a look of regret.

From the time Cao Qinmo toasted to the time Zhen Huan temporarily left, the Queen remained silent, which made An Lingrong feel that something was wrong. She turned her gaze to Cao Qinmo, intending to find out the deal between her and the Queen.

But Cao Qinmo's eyes were calm, and he was not afraid of her looking at him. He smiled at her generously, then sat back down calmly.

Where An Lingrong couldn't see, Prince Guo's eyes followed Zhen Huan.

His brief abnormality was seen clearly by the Queen at the top.