The Legend of the Concubine in the Harem

Purple-red Huaying.

It is the name of a wine.

It is said to be the finest wine in the palace of Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty.

Its color is deep red with a hint of purple, its fragrance is strong and its taste is sweet. Wine vessels made of white jade are most suitable for it.

During the prosperous period, this wine was still a favorite at royal banquets. A pot of purple-red Huaying would be served at every festive occasion. The late emperor especially liked the taste of this wine. Even in his later years when he was weak, he would always find an opportunity to drink a glass.

As the favorite concubine of the late emperor at that time, Huisu was naturally very familiar with this kind of wine.

of course.

As the princess of the royal palace, the daughter-in-law hired by the late emperor, and the current queen, she is also very familiar with this kind of wine.

"The Queen Mother wants to see me?" The Queen stood beside Ms. Huisu's bed.

The servants who had served her were quickly arrested and taken away, leaving only the drowsy Meng Ronghua leaning weakly against the bedpost - she felt her chest becoming more and more stuffy and she was almost unable to breathe.

Lay Buddhist Huisu also gradually developed her symptoms, but she was more sober: "...the younger generation of the clan was instigated by others and committed a serious mistake. It was because I did not discipline them strictly. The Meng family knew nothing about what Meng Ronghua did... Your Majesty has always been a kind person. Can you, in consideration of my confession of guilt and Meng Ronghua's punishment, leave some bloodline for the Meng family?"

The queen's face was very cold and her tone was different from usual. "How Meng Ronghua is sentenced is not something I can influence."

"Your Majesty can give advice!" Huisu coughed violently a few times, "The Emperor...His Majesty has always respected you the most and is willing to listen to your advice, right?!"

"My entire Meng family, hundreds of people... were wiped out in one night. How much blood would be shed, how many innocent souls would be lost... Too much killing would be very detrimental to the reputation of Your Majesty and Your Majesty!"

“Even if our dynasty wants to execute an entire clan, we will not kill children under the age of seven. As for the others... could it be that His Majesty, I, or Concubine Xie forced you to exchange the royal bloodline?!” the Queen said sternly.

"You have done something wrong that has implicated your people. You have committed a serious crime. If there are any wronged souls, they should come looking for you! This heavy sin of killing should also fall on the source that caused them to be killed!"

"As for reputation, haha, I never care about reputation. If you think you can use reputation to force me to confine myself in my cocoon, you are wrong."

The queen's eyes revealed a deep disgust that was extremely hard to find in her: "If you had never had the intention to do evil from the beginning, how could you have implicated your family?"

"When you did it, you didn't think about the consequences of your actions. Now, you want to force me to plead for you and other evildoers?"

The Queen figured it out in a very short time that Meng Ronghua and her nephew had fallen into the trap set by the Emperor.

But that doesn't prove that they are innocent. They just failed in the fight because of a poor plan. Just imagine - if Huisu and Meng Ronghua had never had any evil thoughts towards Xie Cairen and the little princess from the beginning, how could the emperor have set up a trap and captured evidence of their treason?

Even if they had regretted it halfway and stopped in time, they would never have ended up in their current situation.

The Queen didn't know that today's events were actually all arranged by Xie Yuzhen. Although the Emperor gave him a lot of help, it was indeed unfair to put all the blame on him.

The reason why she never suspected Xie Yuzhen was not only because Xie Yuzhen behaved well in front of her on weekdays, but also because the queen never thought too badly of others, especially the concubines who were also women like her.

Her rebuke made Huisu silent for a long time, and then she gritted her teeth and said, "You are right, we should blame ourselves...it is just that the winner is the king and the loser is the enemy. It was because I was not careful enough and trusted this idiot, so you caught me and turned the tables on me."

She raised her head, with a hint of sarcasm on her once beautiful and now well-maintained face: "If only I could be as careful as you were back then, hiding the evidence and finding the most suitable person to take the blame... hehe... what a pity..."

"Yuan worked diligently all her life and finally got the position of imperial concubine. Her son was about to take the throne, but she made a mistake in choosing you... ahem..."

Lay Buddhist Huisu propped himself up and sat up, his face gradually losing color. "I thought you were not brought up by a father, and were raised by a group of women in a barren and barbaric place like the North. You must be an ignorant person who is easy to suppress. Oh, if I had known you were such a capable person, I would have given you to my son."

"When I arrived in the capital, the prince that Your Majesty gave birth to had already died," the queen said coldly.

Ms. Huisu started coughing again. She took a deep breath but still felt suffocated. "So what? I'll marry you in the afterlife and let you be buried alive with me! Cough, cough, cough, His Majesty dotes on me so much! And you're just a princess from a ruined royal family. His Majesty will definitely grant my wish!"

Her emotions were somewhat out of control, and she almost shouted out these words. As soon as Huisu finished speaking, she heard a "gulp". She looked up and saw Meng Ronghua rolling on the ground with his head drooping. His eyes were closed as if he was asleep, but his chest was no longer rising and falling.

She is dead.

Ms. Huisu understood that she did not have much time left. If she could not use that incident to threaten the Queen and ask her to keep her bloodline alive... then Meng Ronghua's death, and her own impending death, all these acts of begging for mercy with death would be worthless.

"Empress!" Huisu gasped, "Aren't you afraid of that at all?"

"As a clan wife, as the queen, offering sacrifices to the heavens, offering sacrifices to the ancestors... ahem... kneeling in front of the Lu family's ancestral tablets, didn't you feel guilty or afraid at all?!"

She tried to use the most intimidating look to make the queen panic, but the queen's expression was as if frozen. She glanced at Meng Ronghua's body with regret, and then met Huisu's bloodshot eyes: "I have never felt guilty, nor am I afraid, Madam Dowager. Since you dare to threaten me with this matter, I believe you have a backup plan."

"Yes." Huisu laughed miserably. "Madam, do you want to make this deal with me? If this matter really gets out, what good will it be for you?"

"If the matter gets out, it will just be another chapter in the miscellaneous records of unofficial history. Did you forget, Madam Dowager, that I said I don't care about my reputation, and I really don't care." The Queen looked at Hui Su, whose face was gloomy. "If the matter gets out, I'm afraid that all the children under the age of seven in the Meng family will not be able to stay. Do you really want to do that?"

Hui Su suddenly spat out dirty blood, which fell on her clothes, stained black: "The emperor is unwilling to forgive the Meng family. Even if they are alive, they will be slaves for generations!"

"It would be better for you to die with me, and go to the underworld... to regain the kingdom for my son..."

Ms. Huisu kept muttering "son" intermittently, then her whole body went limp and she died.

The queen closed her eyes in pain, her mind went completely blank for a moment, and she fainted amid Yun Rong's screams.