The Legend of the Concubine in the Harem

Liu Hong was hoping that her daughter Liu Shuyi would come down from the sky and save her from the dire straits, but she didn't know that the place she was looking for was extremely remote, and the Queen blocked all the news at the first opportunity. Now Liu Shuyi was still wondering why her mother had not been seen for so long, and had no idea that the Jingjun Marquis's Mansion was in great danger.

"Why is it that not only is my mother missing, but even that little...even Liu Xiaoyi has disappeared?" Liu Shuyi was also dressed up today. Behind her was a large group of palace servants, not only those who served her, but most of them were the maids and nurses who took care of the Fourth Princess.

The emperor had few children in his early years. Even though the situation has reversed now, he still attaches great importance to his children. Even though Liu Shuyi had angered him before, he often asked someone to bring the fourth princess to personally inquire about her daily life.

Originally, the emperor went to Yanzhang Palace in person to visit his daughter. In fact, he also wanted Liu Shuyi to repent and admit her mistakes. However, Liu Shuyi failed to understand. Instead, she thought that the emperor valued offspring. As long as the fourth princess had any illness, the emperor would definitely come to Yanzhang Palace again, so that she could regain the emperor's favor.

However, her trick was too obvious, and the emperor saw through it after a few times. At the beginning, she could still behave like a mother who was worried about her child, but after tasting the sweetness a few times, she ignored her daughter's illness and seduced a man into her own room - how could a mother be like this?

Liu Shuyi was immediately scolded by the emperor. From then on, the emperor never visited his daughter in Yanzhang Palace again. Instead, he asked someone to take his daughter to Zichen Palace to be recuperated for a while. Liu Shuyi was so scared that she thought the emperor wanted to take her daughter away completely. Only then did she change her ways and never dared to let the fourth princess get sick easily again.

It’s a pity that she repented a little too late. The fourth princess was such a young child that she was tortured by her own mother and eventually became weak.

When they were about to reach the Ruilin Hall where the banquet was to be held, Liu Shuyi took her daughter from the nanny's arms and said, "Baohui will be able to see her grandmother soon. Do you still remember her? The last time she came, she gave Baohui a gold necklace."

The fourth princess, Lu Baohui, was only five years old. She looked a little thin due to her frequent illnesses, and her face was not very rosy. She had put on thick clothes with rabbit fur collars early on. When she heard her mother asking her, she did not answer, but nodded obediently.

Aunt Jia, who had been serving the Fourth Princess, could not help but say, "Madam, the sun is about to set, and it is windy outside. I am afraid that the little princess cannot bear it. Let's carry her into the palace first."

Liu Shuyi touched her daughter's thick clothes and said nonchalantly, "She is well dressed. Besides, standing outside waiting for His Majesty and the Queen to come, won't it make Baohui look more filial?"

"But..." Nanny Jia was the fourth princess's wet nurse. She entered the palace after she gave birth to a child. Compared with Liu Shuyi, her biological mother, she took care of the fourth princess more and had secretly loved the little princess as her own.

It’s a pity that she was a slave selected to enter the palace, how could she be the master’s boss?

If Liu Shuyi wanted the little princess to act up, she could only hug the fourth princess and cry secretly.

"Are you the master or am I the master?" Liu Shuyi stared. She had long been fed up with her daughter being close to the wet nurse. If the Fourth Princess hadn't been so attached to Nanny Jia, she would have replaced this tactless woman long ago. "I'm the Fourth Princess's biological mother. How could I not know if she can handle it?"

The fourth princess was weak and was slower than her brothers and sisters in learning other things. She was too young to know what to do when her mother lost her temper. She only knew to be good and not to upset Liu Shuyi. Although she was ignorant, she knew how uncomfortable it felt to be sick. She didn't want to be sick, so she had to follow the instructions of her wet nurse and be obedient so that her mother would not let her get sick.

The night breeze was chilly, and the fourth princess couldn't help shrinking her head, and then curled her frozen fingertips into her sleeves. Liu Shuyi hugged her and saw her daughter shivering. She frowned and began to blame Aunt Jia again: "How do you usually teach your little princess? You teach her to be so petty."

After that, Liu Shuyi pressed her daughter's spine and told her to stand up straight. She then pulled the fourth princess's hands out of her sleeves and told her to fold them over her belly, revealing the bracelets on her wrists: "This will make your posture look better, and it will also help your father see the bracelet he gave you last time. He hasn't summoned you for a long time..."

Liu Shuyi was talking to herself when she saw the Emperor's supporter coming towards her from afar. She was immediately delighted and was about to go forward to greet him, but then she saw the Empress and the Emperor walking side by side, talking and laughing, in great harmony.

This scene hurt Liu Shuyi's eyes.

It was precisely because she mocked the empress for being a concubine's daughter and unfit to be the mother of the country that she has been neglected by the emperor until now.

Afterwards, she did not reflect on her mistakes at all, nor did she resent the angry emperor. Instead, she hated the queen even more.

Liu Shuyi couldn't help but pause for a moment. During this moment of hesitation, a beautiful woman in equally gorgeous attire walked out from the flowers on the side path. Concubine Song walked past Liu Shuyi leisurely without even glancing at her. She led the eldest and third princes forward to pay her respects, "Your Majesty, I pay my respects to you."

"Your son greets His Majesty, Father, and Your Majesty." The eldest prince Lu Yunkang and the third prince Lu Ningguang are only one year apart in age. Standing together, wearing the same color prince's attire, they look like twin brothers.

Liu Shuyi watched the emperor talking cordially with the two princes and Concubine Song from behind. Her eyes burned red with jealousy. Not wanting to be left behind, she held her daughter and walked forward: "I pay my respects to your majesty and the two ladies."

The fourth princess opened her eyes wide and called softly, "Father."

The emperor saw his daughter's pale face and said dissatisfiedly: "Why don't you bring Baohui inside? It's so cold outside."

Liu Shuyi hadn't been able to talk to the emperor for a long time, and she was a little happy. She said softly, "How could she be so delicate? Besides, she is wearing thick clothes."

"Shuyi, you are not right. There is no child who is not spoiled. Even the brothers Yunkang and Ningguang are almost seven or eight years old, and I am still worried that they will catch a cold in the night wind." Concubine Song Shu has been favored for many years and has two sons. In the harem, she has never given face to anyone except the empress dowager.

"They both miss their father and mother, and they must come to greet us personally. I also told them to wait in the flower hall first, for fear that they would catch a cold and fall ill again."

Concubine Song Shu was born as a lady-in-waiting. She had taken contraceptive medicine for several years and had a cold body. Although she gave birth to two princes in succession, the princes' health was not as good as their mother's. She worried a lot about the health of her two sons. She only needed to take a glance to see that the fourth princess had caught a cold and would definitely fall ill when she returned.

Although she disliked Liu Shuyi, the Fourth Princess was the Emperor's child after all, so Concubine Song reached out and gently touched the Fourth Princess's cheek. Liu Shuyi was startled and quickly stepped back with her daughter in her arms: "What is Concubine Shu doing?"

Concubine Song Shu ignored her and turned to look at the emperor: "Your Majesty, the fourth princess's face has been blown cold."