An Lingrong's Rebirth: Red

There are three days left until New Year's Eve. Everyone in the palace is in a joyous mood. The Empress has also stopped paying respects every day and only said that she will discuss it after the Lantern Festival. She asked all the concubines to take charge of the dusting tasks in each palace.

Lingrong was happy and at ease without having to face the empress and the concubines of the palaces. The dusting of the Yanxi Palace was arranged by the highest-ranking noble lady Fucha. She felt that Lingrong, who came from a poor family, had no ability to manage household affairs, so she directly ordered her to clean the Ledao Hall.

Not having to do anything is a good thing. After Ling Rong arranged her affairs in the palace, she focused on copying books. The one hundred poems were easy to copy, but the calligraphy was really difficult to practice. Ling Rong's handwriting was like her personality, which could only be said to be acceptable. In the eyes of calligraphy masters like the Empress and the Emperor, they could only barely say that it was not ugly.

She copied at the table for the whole afternoon. Even Zhaoshui changed her bedding for her without disturbing her. When she finally felt tired and planned to go out for a walk and rest, she found that the whole Ledao Hall had been tidy and spotless. Zhaoshui, Baojuan and other little girls were sitting under the corridor to rest. Xiaochizi was even more unpresentable. She just sat against the wall, holding a grass root in her mouth, listening to Baojuan's gossip with a smile on her face.

Lingrong also came over curiously and leaned against the window frame to listen, only then she realized that they were talking about Huanbi.

"Pei'er from Suiyuxuan said that Huanbi was only reprimanded by Wan Guiren when she returned home. She even served Wan Guiren dinner that night. She was not punished at all."

"Sister Baojuan, I remember Huanbi was the personal maid of Lady Wan, brought from the mansion. Maybe she couldn't bear to scold me." Baoque held up her chin, "If I made a mistake, the young master would definitely not have the heart to scold me. Our young master has the best temper."

"Stupid Baoque, if you make the same mistake as Huanbi, the lady will definitely scold you. Scolding you or even punishing you is really good for you," Zhaoshui poked Baoque's forehead with a smile, and Baojuan beside him nodded in response, "Noble Shen is too kind to care, but she talks about concubines recklessly and uses the title of the crown prince. I really don't know how many heads she will lose."

"Yes," Baojuan took over the conversation, "Pei'er has been in the palace for many years, so she was surprised by this. She also told me that Concubine Wan often gave Huanbi expensive clothes and jewelry. According to the regulations, Huanbi is just a palace maid, and even if she becomes an official, she cannot wear them."

"I remember Xiao Chengzi said that there was an elderly aunt in the palace of Wan Guiren, named... Forget it, why didn't that aunt remind her." Xiao Chizi, who was sitting nearby, also joined in. He brought a handful of melon seeds from somewhere, and while peeling the shells, he listened to the girls chatting with great interest.

"Then I don't know. You can ask Pearl next time. She's a big mouth and can't keep secrets."

"Then I'll ask Xiao Chengzi about it. His brother is Xiao Yunzi of Sui Yuxuan. He might know a lot of things, but he's been sick recently. I guess he was busy dusting the silver room on New Year's Eve and was exhausted."

"Silverware Room, Xiao Chengzi is working in the Sizhiku?"

"Yes, Sister Zhaoshui." Xiaochizi responded, "Do you know him?"

Zhaoshui shook her head. When she looked up, she saw Lingrong leaning against the window frame to enjoy the breeze. "My lady, it's easy to get sick if you enjoy the cold wind like this."

"It's okay, you guys can have fun." Lingrong waved her hand, but Zhaoshui still ran into the house and brought a bowl of fish soup simmering on charcoal fire to the table.

"My lady, please do Xiao Chengzi a favor. He works in the Sizhiku, under the jurisdiction of the imperial steward Su. Xiao Xiazi is the apprentice of Eunuch Su. I, your servant..."

"No need. Your little master, I can't leave this square palace, but you can." Ling Rong stirred the fish soup with a spoon, and the porcelain spoon hit the bowl wall from time to time, making a sound. "Don't use your feelings to do things, otherwise you will regret it. As for Xiao Chengzi, don't worry, someone will save him."

"Yes, young lady." Zhaoshui nodded his head and replied, "Baojuan has already contacted the maids in Xianfu Palace. According to your instructions, she just talked about what Pei'er said. The words of Caixing and Caiyue in Xianfu Palace who stood up for Concubine Shen were also inadvertently revealed to Pei'er by Baojuan."

"Well done, tell Xiao Chizi to help Xiao Chengzi more. The money doesn't need to be much, just double Xiao Chengzi's monthly allowance." Ling Rong felt sick of the soup after only two sips. "The house is clean, everyone will get a red envelope, let's have a good New Year together."

"Thank you, young lady." Zhaoshui smiled happily, even the movement of clearing the dishes was full of joy, finally showing some of the cuteness of a little girl.

The rumor slowly spread from Xianfu Palace and Suiyuxuan, and within two days it blew back to Yanxi Palace. Sang'er and Mingyu were whispering to each other under a crabapple tree. The two little girls thought their voices were very low, but they didn't know that Lingrong had heard it all.

Now the rumor has become more and more bizarre. It says that Concubine Wan of Suiyuxuan is unable to sleep with the emperor because of her pregnancy, so she wants to recommend Huanbi to secure her favor. She also secretly gives Huanbi a recipe to help her get pregnant, hoping that she can get pregnant before Concubine Shen.

It was also said that Concubine Shen wanted to ask Concubine Wan for a pregnancy-aiding prescription, but Concubine Wan was unwilling to give it, which led to the conflict when they were paying their respects to the Queen.

The rumor was so vivid that even Lingrong, the rumor promoter, enjoyed it. However, the rumor was not strong enough. If Noble Lady Fucha and Xia Dongchun could get involved, it would be more interesting. Especially Noble Lady Fucha. If she could spread some plausible rumors in the Imperial Hospital, I wonder if the "Empress Xi's affair" in this life would come sooner.

Rumors, as they spread, would change their meaning among some palace maids or eunuchs, and no one could find the real source. Even if the emperor ordered a thorough investigation, Ling Rong was not worried that the emperor would suspect her based on those clues.

However, it was already close to New Year's Eve, so it was better not to spread these rumors too much. Ling Rong thought to herself that the reason why she asked Baojuan to do it was because she thought it would not hurt to waste this chess piece, not to mention that Baojuan was too well-informed. She could not help but suspect that Baojuan was a hidden chess piece placed by the Queen in Le Dao Tang.

It would be even better if he really is the Queen's man, so he can be used more effectively.

Maybe it was because of the noise of the two girls chatting that disturbed her, but Xia Dongchun slammed the curtain of Yixingxuan in annoyance and scolded Mingyu angrily.

Seeing Ling Rong watching the fun from the side, he seemed to be even angrier, "You really are from the countryside, you like to listen to those vulgar rumors."

"Rumors are a good knife. Xia Changzai should listen to them occasionally and see if this knife is stabbing your heart."

Ling Rong seemed to smile. Xia Dongchun had used her tricks to sleep with the emperor on the first day she entered the palace. Nothing happened at first. But later, rumors about Xia Dongchun began to spread, from the initial seduction of the emperor to the later spying on the emperor's whereabouts. If it weren't for the bigger incident between Zhen Huan and Shen Meizhuang, which gave the palace maids and eunuchs who loved to spread gossip the most new topics, I'm afraid she would still not be able to escape the slander of rumors.

But you can't avoid the fifteenth day if you can't avoid the first day. A few days ago, the empress dowager called her to Shoukang Palace to pick up Buddha beans. She had to chant Buddha's name every time she picked one. It was tortured to the point of pain in her knees and dry cough in her throat. The emperor was reluctant to come to see Xia Dongchun for the sake of the empress dowager's face. Since he couldn't continue to sleep with her, he was now less favored than Lingrong.

"We live in the same palace, Concubine Xia, there's no need to be unhappy. I even gave you a handkerchief," Ling Rong deliberately leaned forward to look at Xia Dongchun from head to toe, "You're using it, which shows that you really like it."