The Legend of the Concubine in the Harem

"Who are you?" Lu Weiyuan wasn't sure if he had seen this person before, but he felt that she looked strangely familiar.

The woman leaned her oil-paper umbrella against the door's doorstep and said, "I am a guest from Luochuan, just a passerby."

"Luochuan guest?" Lu Weiyuan smiled, "A passerby won't judge others' behavior casually."

"That may be because I don't want to be just a passerby, but I really don't know how to approach you." Luo Chuanke looked apologetic and sighed, "I really don't have many friends. It's rare that I meet someone I want to be friends with at first sight, but I don't know how to start the conversation. Alas..."

"If I have offended you, please forgive me. If you feel unhappy, just tell me to do something."

The more Lu Weiyuan looked at this semi-stranger, the more interesting she seemed to him: "Oh?"

She carefully observed the woman's appearance, and after thinking for a while, she said, "I'm not angry. You are an interesting person. I am always more patient and tolerant towards interesting people like you. Come sit down and have a meal together, my friend."

"Okay, friend." Luo Chuanke didn't feel embarrassed at all. He walked straight to the only empty seat at the table where several people were sitting and sat down, just in time to meet Lu Weiyuan's eyes.

In this situation, no matter how knowledgeable Bai Queci was, she couldn't help but cast a puzzled and pleading look at Hu Ziyi who was sitting opposite her. However, Hu Ziyi just looked at her with empty eyes and shook his head gently.

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The sky is getting darker.

Under the same rain curtain.

Concubine Xu was still concerned about palace affairs. She walked from the corridor where she was hiding from the rain to a nearby palace, asked a group of female officials with less important files to rest there first, and then took two female officials with her, got enough umbrellas, and continued to move towards Shouning Palace.

As soon as she was welcomed in by a female official holding an umbrella, she saw Xie Yuzhen sitting on her favorite chaise longue with her long hair half-dry and half-wet. "It's raining so hard, what's the matter that requires you to come here in person?"

Xie Yuzhen frowned and glanced at the hem of Concubine Xu's skirt that was wet with water. Seeing that she seemed to be hesitant to speak, he raised his hand to stop Concubine Xu from speaking and said, "It's not too late to change your clothes first. I will be leaving Beijing soon. You have to take care of all the affairs in the palace. Don't be willful. How can you help me when I'm sick?"

Concubine Xu pinched her skirt and shook it gently, with a hint of coquettishness. She said, "How can I be so delicate? But since my sister said so, I must choose the best one to wear today."

"Pick whatever you want, no matter whose you want, our A Yuan must not be short." Xie Yuzhen had the files brought by Concubine Xu placed on a small table at hand. He glanced through them casually and saw Concubine Xu coming back quickly after changing her clothes.

As soon as she came back, Concubine Xu took off the clogs she had just put on and sat on the same couch with Xie Yuzhen: "Sister, it's raining so hard, I don't know if Yuanjun can find a place to shelter. She went out in such a hurry that she forgot to bring many things with her."

"She's a living person with a smart brain." Xie Yuzhen never worried about Lu Weiyuan's ability to survive. He only occasionally worried that the guys his precious daughter met were too mentally and physically fragile. "And you also know that she will never mistreat herself."

Taking a soft pillow from his hand and giving it to Concubine Xu, Xie Yuzhen asked her again, "Why are you looking for me in such a hurry?"

"It's about the Red Sun Sect monster in Heyi Tower some time ago."

Concubine Xu said, "The clues that Yongjia Marquis's mansion found were all lost in the cronies of the man who was expelled from the house by Kangnan Marquis. We also failed to find anything in the other clue we were looking for. Just now, news came from outside that the nanny who had handled the actor's brother and sister, as well as the clerk, had all died in the past few days."

Xie Yuzhen put away his lazy attitude and said, "It seems that someone in the capital has finally made a decision."

It was obvious that Concubine Xu knew about the person she was talking about, so she did not continue the conversation. Instead, she brought up another seemingly unrelated matter: "Sister, have you seen the evaluation and transfer order for the county magistrate of Tanghe County, Tongzhou this year?"

Xie Yuzhen nodded and waited for her to continue.

"The magistrate of Tanghe County had three sons and only one daughter with his wives and concubines. When his father was still alive, he arranged marriages for his children with the family of Chen County Earl."

"The county magistrate of Tanghe County received an excellent grade in this year's assessment and will soon go to the capital to report on his work. However, his only daughter went to the capital ahead of time, and it is said that it was also for this marriage."

"But..." Concubine Xu's expression changed slightly, "The Chen County Earl's family didn't seem to want to fulfill the agreement and never accepted the young lady's invitation. Moreover, it just so happened that the young lady died suddenly and inexplicably not long ago. The nanny who accompanied her to the capital had nowhere to turn to. With nowhere else to turn, His Highness Rong Le's chief secretary happened to know about this matter, and he said that they had to wait for the magistrate of Tanghe County to come to the capital before resolving the matter."

"No wonder she waited until now to make a decision." Xie Yuzhen raised his eyebrows, without much surprise in his words. "I think that on the day when Yuanjun and her sisters went out, she made arrangements in advance, so she stopped Yuanjun on the road. I don't know if that person saw her first and made her change her mind; or she had already discovered that there was a rat in her house, and after catching it, she suddenly changed her original mind and chose to cooperate with the Red Sun Sect."

"Sister, it looks like the Hongyang people have set their sights on Yuanjun." Concubine Xu's tone was filled with worry.

Xie Yuzhen waved his hand and said, "It's okay. Yuanjun can handle it. By the way, did Baohui send someone to the cold palace to see Shen again today?"

"Yes." Concubine Xu nodded. "Her mental state is getting worse. I never thought that the two of them would get along well... But is it really okay for them to have such private interactions like this?"

"I'm not afraid of them colluding, I just..." Xie Yuzhen's eyes suddenly froze for a moment, and then he laughed, "I just want to learn from the queen, to be more tolerant and kind, but I just can't learn it."

"After all, they are different people. If they really want to do something that is detrimental to you and me, they will only seek their own death."