The Legend of the Concubine in the Harem

"...The late emperor died suddenly, or...in such an undignified way. I can only comfort Concubine Ning and her sisters first, and then call my mother and His Majesty to discuss how to deal with this matter." The queen's voice became softer and softer, and fatigue slowly entangled her again.

The reason why Princess Rong Huan was not notified first was because at that time the princess's family was not on the side of the emperor and Empress Dowager Hu.

Princess Rong Huan and the late emperor are biological sisters from the same mother, and they are more than ten years apart in age. The late emperor has always doted on this sister. Except for the fact that the princess's marriage did not go as she wished, all other matters were decided according to the princess's wishes.

Therefore, although the princess later complained that the late emperor acted too absurdly and caused her to be unable to distinguish between the two children, she thought that it was just raising an extra daughter for her brother, so she only blamed the long-dead Minister Yi for his impure intentions. After Minister Yi died, the princess picked a child from the Yi family and adopted him under the name of Minister Yi, thereby continuing to hold on to the family for the late emperor.

However, compared to the adopted son, the eldest princess still values ​​the two girls who are related to her by blood more.

After the Emperor, Empress and Empress Dowager Hu had finished their discussion, Princess Rong Huan was called over.

Princess Rong Huan did not believe at first that the late emperor would do such a cruel thing to his own niece or daughter. She thought that the emperor and others had murdered the late emperor, but wanted to put the blame on his own two daughters.

But after seeing the death of the late emperor and the appearance of the two girls, and listening to her daughters' crying, Princess Rong Huan's heart began to waver uncontrollably - Concubine Ning had just become pregnant, and was kicked by the late emperor, and had been bleeding profusely. Although the imperial physician was secretly summoned to draw her blood, she only held on until her mother came, and then fainted due to excessive blood loss.

The insulted girl cried to her mother and then tried to commit suicide by banging her head against the wall. Fortunately, she was stopped, but her life could not be saved.

"......After the princess learned about everything, she immediately changed her position." The queen said, "Her power all came from her brother, the late emperor. After the late emperor died, she couldn't snatch the concubine's son from prison to take the throne. The crown prince was the most legitimate successor. Moreover, the late emperor died at the hands of Ning Fei. She took out all the arrangements of the late emperor and traded with us in exchange for the life of Ning Fei and her sisters."

"The princess is a decisive person." Xie Yuzhen nodded.

Most of the princesses in this dynasty loved to wield power, and the closeness of their relationship with the emperor was the most important basis. The daughter raised by Princess Rong Huan killed the late emperor. If she did not immediately make her position clear and sided with the emperor, the emperor could still use this crime to execute her entire mansion, and also implicate the Yi family, which also belonged to the late emperor's sphere of influence, and the husband's families of her two daughters.

Apart from the loss of the previous emperor's reputation and face, the emperor did not suffer any major losses. Instead, he gained a lot. If the queen had not been the first to discover the matter and concealed it, the emperor would have been happy to be a "filial son".

It was indeed the best choice for Princess Rong Huan at that time to hand over her own intelligence and then take her own forces to join the new king.

"But something unexpected happened. Concubine Yuan, who was already under house arrest at that time, colluded with a favored eunuch of the late emperor. Taking advantage of the crowded banquet, she escaped from her palace and wanted to see the late emperor."

But the late emperor had already died by then, and his death was tragic. How could Concubine Yuan be asked to go and see him?

Moreover, if it was only Concubine Yuan who asked for an audience, it would have been easy to get rid of her, but she rushed to the palace banquet first, made a scene regardless of her life or death, and even pulled together several court officials and their wives who had stood on her side to strengthen their momentum and force the late emperor to receive her.

"If the late emperor doesn't show up, it will arouse suspicion. The princess suggested that we find someone with a similar body shape to the late emperor, dress up as him and sit behind the gauze curtain. She told them to stand a little further away so they can only see a silhouette. She also said that the late emperor had just taken an elixir and must not be exposed to the wind. There are also taboos when taking an elixir, so he can't see outsiders for the time being."

The eldest princess was very familiar with the late emperor's tone of voice and some of his little habits. Although the late emperor had distanced himself from Empress Dowager Hu and Lu Yesheng, who was appointed crown prince, he had always been close to his sister. It would be the least likely to arouse suspicion for her to convey messages between the "late emperor" and Concubine Yuan.

The emperor, who had not yet figured out how to deal with the sudden death of the previous emperor, did not want to be accused of patricide. The empress and Empress Dowager Hu felt sorry for the two girls and pleaded for them, so he nodded in agreement.

Therefore, Concubine Yuan and some court officials and their families were taken to a palace with hastily set up partitions. The person who pretended to be the late emperor was a confidant of Empress Dowager Hu. After doing this, he committed suicide. Before his death, he only asked Empress Dowager Hu to take care of his family.

At first, with the help of the eldest princess, Concubine Yuan was able to easily fool the emperor into imprisonment and herself into falling out of favor. But later, Concubine Yuan insisted on asking the late emperor to drink another glass of wine she offered, saying that as long as the late emperor drank this glass, she would be at peace and would not make trouble anymore.

Princess Rong Huan then said that the late emperor had just taken the elixir, and she drank it on his behalf.

"...The princess didn't have to drink that glass of wine." The queen couldn't help but sigh again, "Perhaps she wanted to give more to gain more say for herself, princess... We knew that the glass of wine might be problematic, but we still watched her drink it..."

There is poison in the wine.

The blood seals the throat.

Although the princess only wet her lips slightly, she vomited blood and fell to the ground after a few breaths.

The "former emperor" hiding behind the gauze curtain was "shocked and angry" and "had blood reflux" and fainted. Empress Dowager Hu quickly asked the palace servants to carry him into the inner room, and ordered people to completely seal off the entire palace. With the help of the emperor who secretly mobilized troops, the situation was quickly controlled.

Not long after the news of the eldest princess' death was announced, the late emperor naturally passed away as well.

Then the emperor ascended the throne and accused all the officials who had once attached themselves to Concubine Yuan and her son of treason. The princes in prison were demoted to commoners and then sentenced to death. Concubine Yuan was also given a white silk silk.

The entire Yi family and the husband's families of the two girls had also supported Concubine Yuan and her son at the suggestion of the late emperor, so they were also punished together. However, before the punishment, Concubine Ning's sisters were asked to break off all ties with their husband's families and were rescued.

At that time, Empress Dowager Hu and the Emperor were each busy cleaning up the former dynasty and the harem. Although the Empress was also assisting, she was much more idle than the other two. So she took the initiative to take over the task of taking care of Concubine Ning's sisters and arranging the funeral of the eldest princess.

However, before she could finish what she was doing, bad news arrived.

After learning that her mother had died of poisoning, the humiliated girl suffered a mental breakdown. Late at night when no one was around, she drove away the palace servants who served her and hanged herself on the bed.

She did not struggle or make a sound, as if the painful suffocation was the only peace she could find.

"It was not until later that I learned that one of the sisters might be the late emperor's biological daughter. The eldest princess did not hide the fact, and even the late emperor knew it..."