The Legend of the Concubine in the Harem

"......Aunt, when can we go to visit our elder sister?" The girl in a light blue dress stopped a passing nanny and asked.

"Young ladies, please call me Xiangzhu." Nanny Xiangzhu had a kind face. She had served Empress Dowager Hu for many years and spoke very tactfully. "The virtuous concubine has not woken up yet. The Changrui Palace is full of imperial doctors. The Empress Dowager is afraid that the young ladies will rush over and get bumped by outsiders, so she asked the young ladies to rest in the Cining Palace for a while."

Nanny Xiangzhu smiled and said in a gentle voice, "Empress Li has already rushed to Changrui Palace this morning to take care of Empress Xianfei. Please wait patiently, young ladies."

After saying that, Nanny Xiangzhu put down what she was holding and turned to leave.

The young girl in blue who had just spoken was the sixth daughter of the Duke of Yingguo's mansion, named Deng Qingjin. She took a look at the thing taken from the palace maid and lost interest. Instead, she sat back next to her two sisters in a somewhat restless manner.

The other two girls.

The one wearing light blue clothes is the fourth girl, Deng Qingsui, and the one on her right, wearing crescent-white clothes, is the fifth girl, Deng Qinglan.

"Fourth sister, fifth sister, why aren't you in a hurry at all?" Deng Qingjin asked, stroking a braid of hair hanging on her shoulder.

Deng Qinglan glanced at Deng Qingsui and said, "Why should we be so anxious? What's going on outside depends on our father and brothers. We girls are just accompanying someone in this palace."

Among the three sisters, she was the most beautiful. She wore a crescent-white dress that was almost pure white. The hem and cuffs of her skirt were embroidered with dense patterns with silver thread. She also wore a full set of pearl jewelry. She had no makeup on her face, only a light layer of red rouge applied on her lipstick. She looked quite sad and resentful, and it was obvious that she had dressed up very carefully.

The other two girls were not as pretty as her, and their clothes were ordinary and not outstanding.

"You..." Sixth Miss Deng Qingjin pulled the corner of her mouth indignantly and lowered her voice, "In my opinion, some people are too ambitious and hope that if something happens to the queen... be careful not to fall to your death!"

Her words were harsh, and Deng Qingsui frowned and rebuked, "Big sister is still ill, why don't you two just pray for her? Why do you have to start a quarrel here?"

The sisters looked at each other.

The youngest, Deng Qingjin, was the first to look away. She snorted, turned away and refused to pay any more attention to them.

Deng Qinglan curled her lips sarcastically when she saw this: "Fourth sister is always a bit domineering when it comes to disciplining and scolding us sisters. What Xiaoliu said is actually not wrong. If the queen goes... who else can be the bride of the Duke of Ying's mansion but you?"

"Fifth sister, you are worrying too much. I am ordinary-looking, how can I be lucky enough to marry into the royal family?" Deng Qingsui's eyebrows were filled with anger. "You'd better be content and don't mess up the arrangements of the mansion."

"What has been arranged in the mansion? Isn't it always you, the fourth sister, who is informed? My sixth sister and I were sent here in the dark, without any plans for ourselves. Could it be that we will die like... without even knowing the truth, and without even a memorial tablet left?"

"You!" Deng Qingsui's face was even more furious. She gritted her teeth and finally endured it. "What if I don't tell you? No matter what is arranged, the elders are doing it for the good of us sisters."

Although the three of them deliberately avoided the palace maids when they were arguing, the content of their argument soon reached the ears of Empress Dowager Hu.

The seemingly kind and benevolent old lady shook her head after hearing this and said, "This family is not united, no wonder the emperor was so easily deceived."

Madam Xiangzhu continued, "They should be blamed for having thoughts that they shouldn't have as ministers. Your Majesty's use of the Duke of Ying is a sign of your trust and grace to them, but they are not only ungrateful, but they are also trying to secretly manipulate the throne...Alas, the Concubine Xian usually looks dignified and polite, who would have thought that she would do so many unforgivable things in secret?"

As she spoke, she replaced a new cup of tea for the Queen Mother: "If the old Duke were still alive, perhaps this wouldn't have happened."

"People's hearts are fickle." The old Duke mentioned by Empress Dowager Hu is the father of the current Duke of England, the grandfather of Concubine Deng, and a strong supporter of the former emperor when he seized the throne.

He was a veteran minister who had served three dynasties and attached great importance to social ethics. When the crown prince born to Empress Dowager Hu was alive, he wholeheartedly supported the crown prince's succession to the throne. After Empress Dowager Hu got over the pain of losing her son and turned to raising the emperor who had recently lost his mother, the old duke followed suit and strongly supported the prince who was formally adopted by the empress.

It is precisely for this reason that the Emperor has always trusted and favored the Duke of Yingguo's Mansion. Unfortunately, no matter how deep the trust is, after the passage of time and the conflict between human desires, it is now about to come to a dead end.

Empress Dowager Hu sighed and said, "I left the palace for many years just to live a happy life. Deng took advantage of the situation and did so many things in secret. If it weren't for the fact that the Empress values ​​the offspring of concubines and is very strict about this, I'm afraid the Emperor would end up with no offspring like the last Emperor."

As she spoke, she showed reluctance: "Looking at what the emperor found, it turned out that even Zhiniang (Concubine Song Shu) was harmed by her, which is why her health declined so quickly... Alas!"

"Sometimes I really don't understand what the emperor is thinking. He dotes on her, but he doesn't care about her body and only cares about his own happiness... Maybe most men in this world are the same. In the end, my mother and I have let Zhiniang down. She won't be at peace even if she leaves."

Nanny Xiangzhu stepped forward and advised: "Your Highness, why do you have to say such depressing words? Your Highness the Imperial Concubine has always been sensible. Besides, isn't this also revenge for her? Your Highness, please relax. The First and Third Princes are still waiting for your care."

Empress Dowager Hu smiled bitterly and put down her teacup: "Everyone in the world says that they have a clear conscience, but how many people really have a clear conscience? They are just saying nice things to deceive themselves."

Without waiting for Madam Xiangzhu to persuade her again, she said, "Find a time to ask the Fifth Young Lady to come out and meet me alone. She is quite stubborn and is the most dissatisfied with the Fourth Young Lady. This is a good opportunity to make a breakthrough. Also, please ask the people in Chonghua Palace to take good care of Li Zi and A Peng. They just lost their mother and nothing can happen to them again."

Another half hour passed.

The three sisters who had been waiting in the Cining Palace finally got the chance to visit their eldest sister.

Deng Qingsui slowly stood up, but saw the fifth sister who hurried back with a look of joy in her eyes. A sense of uneasiness suddenly emerged: "Where have you been?"

"Going to the toilet." Deng Qinglan asked, "You want to take care of this too?"

In the past, in the Duke of England's mansion, although the three girls were apparently treated equally in terms of education and living, only Deng Qinglan and Deng Qingjin knew that in fact the most precious things in the mansion were all given to Deng Qingsui. Deng Qingsui was also the most valued by the elders. No matter whether it was needlework or poetry and books, if the two of them surpassed her in any way, the elders would take turns preaching and scolding them.

Saying this is not compassionate enough to sisters who cannot keep up with their studies due to frailty and illness.

When she was young, she did not understand why this happened. But as she grew older, Deng Qinglan realized that the whole family had to pamper Deng Qingsui, but the pampering could not be too obvious, so they could only ask Deng Qingsui's two younger sisters to stay with her in the most clumsy way, creating an environment for her where there were people more incompetent than her and whom she could discipline as an older sister, so that she could feel at ease and think that the whole family were good people who pampered and respected her.

But...why?

Deng Qinglan refused to accept.

She knew that Deng Qingjin was also unwilling to accept it, but she just didn't dare to think or do it on her own.