An Lingrong's Rebirth: Red

Night, Qionghua Island, Dongpo.

Prince Guo and Zhen Changzai were talking in the shadows, while Huanbi was standing far away, helping them to be on guard against passers-by.

"Zhen Changzai, Xiao Wang..."

"Your Majesty, it is really inappropriate for a man and a woman like you and I to meet here at this late hour."

Zhen Huan bowed slightly. She no longer had any feelings for Prince Guo, and her vague admiration for him had all disappeared because of the fact that he got married.

"You and I are both honest and open, so why should we be afraid of the gossip of the people?"

"Your Majesty is not afraid, but I am."

How could Zhen Huan forget that because of Prince Guo, her path to recovery was repeatedly blocked.

Not only did she still hold the position of a maid, but the Queen also had a hold over her, causing Shen Meizhuang to become estranged from her sisters.

If there hadn't been this Prince Guo, none of these things would have happened.

"That's right. If it weren't for me, you wouldn't have fallen out of favor and become Concubine Zhen from Concubine Wan."

Prince Guo sighed. He didn't actually feel that he had done anything wrong. He even felt a bit resentful that Zhen Huan had tarnished his deep friendship.

"But when we are friends, we behave politely. When we appreciate poetry, lyrics, and music, we never overstep our boundaries. We are not in a dirty relationship."

Zhen Huan glanced at Prince Guo and finally sat down at the stone chessboard table nearby.

The polished chess piece was round and smooth, and Zhen Huan held it in her hand and slowly placed the piece down.

Prince Guo also took the opportunity to sit opposite and play chess with Zhen Huan using the black pieces.

The two were silent for a while, with only the occasional sound of chess pieces falling.

In the distance, Huanbi was bitten by mosquitoes. She slapped them and looked in the direction of Zhen Huan and the others.

However, from her perspective, she could only see the handsome Prince Guo. Huanbi was so absorbed in watching that she didn't even notice the mosquito landing on her face.

It was not until the side of her face became so itchy that she couldn't help but reach out to scratch it that Huanbi realized it belatedly and waved her hand to drive away the mosquito beside her.

Fortunately, many of the trees, flowers and plants where Zhen Huan and Prince Guo live have the ability to repel mosquitoes, so they are not as pitiful as Huanbi.

"Do you...really want to distance yourself from me like this?"

"Your Majesty, I have entered the imperial family. Even though I am your confidant, I have to abide by religious etiquette."

"...Once you enter the mansion of a marquis, it's like entering a deep sea." Prince Guo sighed deeply, and he dropped his last move. "It would be nice if there was a place where only you and I were free from etiquette and rules."

Zhen Huan also placed the white piece. The game between the two was not over yet, but neither of them was in the mood to continue.

"This whole world belongs to the king, so how can there be such a free place?

Everything is just an illusion as described by the prince."

"How could it be," Prince Guo's eyes were burning, he looked directly at Zhen Huan without any hesitation, "The rise and fall of the world all depends on your heart. And I am not you, I only care about one person."

"I wish to win the heart of one person, and stay with him till we are old." Zhen Huan murmured to herself. Once upon a time, what she pursued was to be with one person for the rest of her life. It was a pity that now she had entered the deep palace, there was no turning back.

Therefore, when faced with Prince Guo's sincere confession, she was only slightly touched.

"As long as you are willing, I can help you leave the palace."

"Leave the palace?" When Zhen Huan heard these two words, her eyes only lit up for a moment, then quickly dimmed. "It's easy to say, but it's difficult to do."

Prince Guo shook his head. He clenched the fan in his hand and spoke with joy. "As long as you want, I have a way. The question is... do you want to leave?"

Zhen Huan fell silent again. She really didn't want to fight in the deep palace, but her enemies were still alive and well in the palace. She was unwilling to let go of her hatred and leave the palace like this.

Moreover, her feelings towards the emperor are very complicated. On the one hand, she hates his distrust and indifference, but on the other hand, she is moved by his favoritism and indulgence.

Prince Guo is a good man, young and charming, but he already has a wife. So what is the difference between her being in his inner palace and being in the emperor's harem?

Furthermore, if she and he left the palace, they would not even have a legitimate identity and would have to live in the dark for the rest of their lives, not daring to serve their parents.

It’s better not to have such freedom.

"Your Highness, you are joking. I am already the Emperor's concubine," Zhen Huan finally refused Prince Guo. "Besides, Your Highness already has a family. If I leave the palace with Your Highness, what will it mean?"

"In my heart, you are my only wife." Prince Guo wanted to reach out and grab Zhen Huan's arm, but he slowly let it go. He said excitedly, staring at Zhen Huan, "I was forced to be with that Meng, but for your honor, I... never refused."

"Your Highness, Miss Meng has been in love with you since she was a child. Moreover, your family background, appearance and talent are all excellent, which can be said to be a perfect match."

"But she is not you. She and I are just a pair of resentful lovers."

Prince Guo didn't want to mention Meng Jingxian. He even felt that if it weren't for her so-called love, he wouldn't have gotten married so early.

"My Lord," Zhen Huan heard Prince Guo's repeated confessions, and after the excitement in her heart, she felt endless disappointment, "If you want to talk about it, you and I are uncle and sister-in-law, we shouldn't..."

"You didn't care about these religious etiquettes before, which shows how devastating this harem is."

Prince Guo became more and more excited. He fanned himself and accidentally knocked the chess pieces on the table to the ground. "There shouldn't be so many rules in this world. You and I were born free. These rules were only set by those pedantic people.

You and I know very well how harmful these rules are. If you are willing, we can travel around together and we will no longer be bound by these rules. "

"The origin of floating clouds is uncertain, and they are as free as floating clouds."

Now that my father was favored by the emperor, the entire Zhen family could rise to prominence without relying on my favor. On the other hand, I had been busy in the palace for more than a year, but I was still a concubine, and even became a pawn in the hands of the empress.

Zhen Huan stared at the chess pieces scattered on the ground, and for a moment, she actually felt that it was a blessing to jump out of the chessboard and pursue her own freedom.

"I know your worries. The palace is your cage, and the palace is mine." Prince Guo stopped trying to persuade Zhen Huan and went to pick up the chess piece on the ground. "What I'm after is just a lifelong companion."

Suddenly a breeze blew, and the leaves rustled. Huanbi finally drove away the mosquitoes around her. When she looked up again, Zhen Changzai was already standing in front of her.

"Little Master..."

"We've been away for too long, let's go back." Without waiting for Huanbi to ask more questions, Zhen Huan went down the stairs first. Huanbi had no choice but to follow quickly, and the two returned to the banquet together.

Lingrong had been paying attention to Zhen Huan. When she came back quietly with Huanbi, Lingrong was naturally the first to notice.

But soon, Concubine Fu, who had also gone out, walked in slowly. She glanced at Zhen Huan intentionally, and then sat in the seat next to Zhen Huan.

Seeing Fu Chang's inquiring eyes, Ling Rong couldn't help but suspect that Zhen Huan had done something appalling outside.

It was a pity that the people she sent out had not returned yet. Ling Rong could only sit at the banquet table and continue eating out of curiosity.

Fortunately, after the emperor had a meal with his relatives and concubines for a while, he took several princes to the official banquet outside, leaving only the female relatives to gather together, chatting and drinking in groups of three or four.

The Queen was busy building closer relationships with her relatives today, so naturally she had no energy to please Lingrong and her daughter.

Apart from the incident caused by Prince Dun, the Hundred Days Banquet was relatively peaceful.

But it was obvious that Fu Changzai did not want the banquet to end peacefully.

She took advantage of the Queen's rest to move closer to her and talked about something in a low voice.

Lingrong only saw the Queen's eyes drifting towards Zhen Huan, which were exactly the same as those of Concubine Fu.

"What's going on?" Xia Dongchun suddenly stood beside Ling Rong and looked towards the Queen with curiosity. "I saw that both the Queen and Fu Changzai were staring at Zhen Changzai. Could it be that Zhen Changzai was...?"

"Just now, Concubine Zhen left the table for a long time, and Concubine Fu also followed her out. Maybe they discovered some unknown secret." Ling Rong pulled Xia Dongchun's arm and motioned for her to sit next to her.

"What secrets could Concubine Zhen have? Either she has secretly killed someone's child, or she has secretly had an affair with someone."

Xia Dongchun saw through everything. She had disliked Zhen Huan since the selection. Although she didn't wish her bad luck now, she couldn't think of anything good when she mentioned her.

"Prince Guo also went out just now and has not returned yet."

Xia Dongchun raised his chin and pointed to Prince Guo's seat. "I guess he met with Concubine Zhen. In order to avoid arousing suspicion, he simply went to the official banquet outside."

Unexpectedly, Xia Dongchun still had some brains. Ling Rong smiled and gave her a thumbs up, "Our Xia Changzai is very clear-sighted. She is truly a god."

"of course."

Xia Dongchun was very proud. She had observed Zhen Huan and Prince Guo for a long time, and she guessed how easy it was to do these things.

"Then why don't you guess again, Concubine Xia? If it is really that, what will the Queen do?"

"Of course, tie up these two wild lovers and wait for the emperor's decision."

Ling Rong shook her head and pointed at the beryl crystal necklace in Xia Dongchun's hand. "I bet that the Queen will not send it. If Concubine Xia loses, can you give me the crystal necklace?"

Xia Dongchun touched the crystal necklace in his hand and looked at Lingrong with a pouty mouth, "I got this from Concubine Tian some time ago. You greedy devil, you want to steal it too."

Lingrong took Youning and held her in her arms, and touched the longevity lock on her neck with her fingers, causing Youning to raise her little hand to block it repeatedly.

"Okay, okay, let's make this bet." Seeing that An Lingrong didn't say anything, Xia Dongchun had to agree. She stared at the Queen, hoping that the Queen would quickly give the order to capture Zhen Huan.

It was a pity that she guessed wrong. The Queen sent Fu Changzai away with a few words and did not give any orders.

In this way, even if Xia Dongchun lost, she clenched her wrist and refused to hand it over to Lingrong no matter what.

"No, I won't be considered defeated until the banquet is over. The Queen must be worried that there are people from outside the palace present."

"Okay, let's wait a little longer."

Ling Rong was not determined to get the crystal necklace, she just wanted to arouse Xia Dongchun's interest.

"But it is possible that this is not the case. Why don't you send someone to check it out, Xia Changzai?"

"That's fine, but I don't know anyone in the North Sea."

Xia Dongchun sighed with regret. She originally didn't care what Zhen Huan did outside, but now she wished she could know immediately.

But soon, her attention was attracted by the dance in the middle of the hall. She picked up the cakes on Ling Rong's table and watched with great joy.

After a long time, people got tired of watching the song and dance.

Youning was too young and had even fallen asleep. Lingrong was worried that she would be woken up, so she asked Zhaoshui, Fangjing and others to take her downstairs to rest.

When I was leaving, I happened to meet the emperor and several princes coming back.

It turned out that because they had to attend court the next day, the officials entertained the emperor for a while and then left one after another.

However, the emperor was not satisfied, so he took Prince Yi and others back to the family banquet.

"Your Majesty, I have asked someone to prepare some hangover soup. Let's drink some with you princes."

When the Queen saw the Emperor's flushed face, she knew he had drunk too much.

In addition to serving sobering soup, the queen also used the "rules of the ancestors" to advise the emperor not to drink excessively, so as not to harm his health and delay state affairs.

The emperor was originally happy, but was annoyed by these words of consolation. However, at least he did not show a bad face in front of everyone. He just drank the sobering soup in silence.

"If you can't drink much, use less, so as to avoid making mistakes like what happened in the Old Summer Palace."

Prince Dun returned to the family banquet at some point. He picked up a wine jug and drank from it without caring about his image.

Except for some new concubines who entered the palace, most people present knew that the emperor favored the fourth prince's biological mother in the Old Summer Palace because of drinking.

The emperor disliked the maid because of her ugly appearance. Moreover, her existence was a constant reminder of his mistakes. Therefore, not only did the emperor not bring the maid into his palace, but even after he ascended the throne, he refused to bring the fourth prince born by her into the palace to be raised.

The two of them were the stains on his life, and the emperor only wished he could cleanse them completely.

Prince Dun had already been reprimanded by the Emperor today because of his arguments with Nian Gengyao and Nian Shilan. Now he even dared to bring up the old matter again, angering the Emperor again.

"Sister-in-law, it seems we need to give Tenth Brother an extra bowl of the sobering soup." Finally, it was Prince Yi who spoke up to ease the atmosphere at the banquet.

"Of course. I've prepared plenty of sobering soup." The Queen signaled the maid to bring the sobering soup to Prince Dun's table.

Prince Guo knew Prince Dun's temper, so he took the initiative to take the sobering soup and personally served it to Prince Dun.

"Tenth brother, use some of this." Prince Guo smiled and passed the bowl of sobering soup forward.

Prince Dun not only did not take it, but also glanced at Prince Guo with disdain. He shook the wine glass in his hand and said, "Yunli, I went out to sober up just now, and I seemed to see you in Dongpo.

It was dark at night, and there were no servants following you. What were you doing?"