The Legend of the Concubine in the Harem

Princess Cheng An tried to calm herself down. She looked at the maid and nodded: "What's the matter?"

This maidservant came to serve after she opened her mansion. She had a clean background and had been working as a maid in a wealthy family in Beijing since she was seven or eight years old. Later, her father became seriously ill and the family wealth was exhausted, so she sold herself and eventually ended up in Princess Cheng'an's mansion.

It would be difficult for a maid with such a background to serve Princess Cheng'an in such a short time. The maid first won the favor of the young master and was noticed by Princess Cheng'an. Later, she found that the maid was proper and steady in her work. Although she did not like everything, she could always scratch her itch at the most appropriate time.

So after Princess Cheng'an had investigated her background, she transferred the person over directly.

And this maidservant is indeed ambitious. After a few years, she has gained the trust of Princess Cheng'an.

"Your Highness, yesterday, you asked a little maid to deliver something to His Highness Jinxiang. After the little maid came back, she became a little absent-minded. I just saw her and wanted to ask her if she was feeling unwell. But when she saw me, she acted like a mouse seeing a cat. It was really suspicious, but I thought that this was in the palace, and there were many people around, so I didn't interrogate her carefully..."

Princess Cheng'an felt uncomfortable when she thought of Prince Jinxiang. She let out a long breath and said, "She is just a little girl... Maybe, maybe my second brother's old illness has come back again."

She said this to herself for a few words, and her heart ached more and more. After staring at the water stains on the ground for a long time, Princess Cheng An slowly spoke, lowering her voice: "Go and take that little girl to the back. The assassination happened not long ago, and the emperor is sick again. This is a critical moment, and we can't neglect it."

The various behaviors of Prince Jinxiang on the day he was assassinated flashed through her mind again.

I couldn't help but raise my hand to cover my heart - this brother is really too hopeless!

Why could such an incompetent person be...my mother's biological son?

Princess Cheng'an's eyes darkened.

Yes.

indeed.

Precisely because he is his mother's biological child, he can place himself under the protection of his mother without any worries. No matter how useless, incompetent, or outrageous he is... his mother will not give up on him.

And what about yourself?

Princess Cheng'an couldn't help but ask herself.

To be fair, there was nothing wrong with Concubine Deng's treatment of her. In some ways, she even cared more about her than her biological son, Prince Jinxiang. Princess Cheng'an was indeed grateful to her adoptive mother for her care and upbringing. Especially after she became a mother, she understood more that careful teaching and strict attitude are precisely because of the expectations for a child.

Sometimes, blindly doting on someone is actually a sign of not caring about them.

When she was a girl, she had been secretly delighted by this, but she suddenly became angry and jealous because of the carefree life of Prince Jinxiang.

She herself had figured this out long ago, but she still felt uneasy because no matter how strict or doting she was, she could not erase the blood relationship between Concubine Deng and Prince Jinxiang. And no matter how well she did, she would never be the child that her mother loved unconditionally!

Princess Cheng'an knew it very well.

Concubine Deng raised me so carefully, in fact, she also wanted me to assist the Prince of Jinxiang in the future.

But she didn't wait until she grew up...

Princess Cheng'an closed her eyes in pain.

She didn't like Prince Jinxiang very much, but she just didn't want to let go of her younger brother easily. Whenever the idea of ​​no longer caring about Prince Jinxiang came to her mind, the gentle face of her adoptive mother would always appear in her dreams. That face was full of sadness and reproach, waking her up in the middle of the night, and she would taste the sadness of losing her mother again and again.

But the Prince of Jinxiang is really...really too much!

He spends the whole day flirting with other women and never does any serious work. He only makes friends with bad people outside. Not only does he have constant conflicts with his sister, but he also doesn't get along well with his wife, the princess. Fortunately, Princess Cheng'an took the trouble to find a daughter of a wealthy family for him, but he treats her like that!

Counting all the ridiculous things that Prince Jinxiang had done in her mind, Princess Cheng'an felt a deep fatigue weighing heavily on her.

She was really scared, afraid that the assassination in the palace was done by Prince Jinxiang.

But he couldn't help feeling a little excited, and thus he had some expectations for his younger brother who had always acted stupid and useless, and he was just hiding his talents under a low profile.

Her adoptive mother, his biological mother, died in such an unclear manner and lost her reputation... Princess Cheng'an investigated several times and could only come to that superficial conclusion. Therefore, she was more convinced that her adoptive mother's death must not be the result of an ordinary palace struggle, and it was even more impossible to be an accident as the emperor and others announced to the outside world.

If it was really an accident, then why did the Duke of England and the Duke's son also die of sudden illnesses one after another?

Everyone knew that there was a hidden story in this matter, but no one dared to investigate it or go into it deeply. Even the children and relatives who should not have let Concubine Deng down the most remained silent.

The resentment of Princess Cheng'an, the adopted daughter, seemed like a joke.

But if...if the Prince of Jinxiang is not as incompetent as he appears, but has already noticed something...

Princess Cheng'an had a strange sense of absurdity in her heart. On the one hand, she didn't quite believe that Prince Jinxiang had the brains to do that. On the other hand, she really hoped that her brother could be more capable and not always hide behind his sister and wait for ready-made things while always blaming his sister for treating him too favorably.

If this assassination was indeed the work of Prince Jinxiang, and if the maid's strange behavior was because she accidentally overheard the relevant inside story... this might be an opportunity for me to speak openly with Prince Jinxiang, ask him what he really wants to do and what he is doing, and see if there is anything I can do to help remedy the situation.

such.

I think I can do my best to honor my mother.

Lu Yanzhen, who was almost suffocated by the sense of responsibility for the mother and son, thought so. If the Prince of Jinxiang could be established, could he let go and rest for a while?

She ordered the maid to look for the little servant.

The confidant nanny who had been waiting nearby came forward and poured another cup of tea for Princess Cheng'an: "Your Highness, in a few days, it will be... the anniversary of the death of the queen. This year we are in the temporary palace, should we ask the queen for permission and follow the example of previous years to worship the queen in the palace?"

Princess Cheng An frowned: "My mother's death anniversary hasn't come yet..."

She was halfway through her words when her heart skipped a beat.

Yes.

That day was not Concubine Deng’s death anniversary, but the day her biological mother brought her into this world.