An Lingrong's Rebirth: Red

The same time Xiao Chizi mentioned the Queen Mother, Ling Rong thought of what she did when she sent Ye Lan'yi out of the palace.

But when he heard that the Queen Mother only asked him to go, he guessed that the Queen Mother could only find some clues at most, and could not be completely sure that he was the one who did it.

Otherwise, as a concubine of such a humble family background, she would not be worthy of the empress dowager's careful treatment.

"Okay, then I'll go to Shoukang Palace, and when Concubine Xia gets tired of playing with Youning, you can personally send her back to Yanxi Palace.

If she asks me where I've been, I'll just tell her the truth."

"I understand, young master." Xiao Chizi nodded repeatedly, "Leave this matter to Zhaoshui. I will take you to the gate of Shoukang Palace and wait for you to come back together."

Ling Rong thought for a while and finally said "OK".

After all, she went out alone, and if someone took the opportunity to frame her for something murderous, it would be hard to explain.

With Xiao Chizi by his side, even if something happens, there will be someone to speak for him.

"Then let's go. The Queen Mother cannot be neglected."

Xiao Chizi nodded, and walked in front obediently with an umbrella. The wind and snow were light at the moment, so it was actually no problem not holding an umbrella.

But Lingrong still asked Xiao Chizi to hold an umbrella. After all, a red umbrella is the most conspicuous when walking in the snow and can be easily seen by others along the way.

If something really happens, everyone on the road will become a witness because of this red umbrella.

Of course, this was just a precaution. After living a new life, Ling Rong understood that if you think more about everything, you will never make mistakes.

Soon, they arrived at Shoukang Palace. Xiao Chizi, holding an umbrella, was a little hesitant about whether to go in with them and find a sheltered place to wait.

"My lady, I will be waiting in the side room," Xiao Chizi did not want his master to worry, so he took the initiative to speak, "After all, the Queen Mother invited you alone, so I will not follow you."

Ling Rong nodded, but did not leave immediately. Instead, she took Xiao Chizi to the side room to settle him down, and then went to knock on the door of the main hall alone.

Perhaps it was the Queen Mother's intentional order. After Lingrong knocked on the door three times and stood there waiting for a long time, Zhuxi finally lifted the door curtain and invited Lingrong in.

Ling Rong knew that Zhu Xi was the Queen Mother's confidant, and did not show any dissatisfaction towards her. "Aunt Zhu Xi, the Queen Mother summoned me here. Can I meet the Queen Mother now?"

"Miss Shengpin, you came at an untimely time. The Queen Mother just went to the East Warm Pavilion to worship Buddha. I'm afraid it will take half an hour to finish."

Zhuxi lifted the door curtain again and pointed to the direction of the East Warm Pavilion for Lingrong, "My Lady Shengpin, do you want to go and accompany the Empress Dowager?

Apart from the Empress, there are no other concubines accompanying the Empress Dowager to worship Buddha."

Zhu Xi seemed to be asking, but in fact he was asking Ling Rong to leave directly.

Lingrong had no choice but to agree and went out to the East Warm Pavilion to meet the Empress Dowager.

But she also knew that she would have to wait at the door of the East Warm Pavilion until the Empress Dowager finished her worship and came out to see her.

But Lingrong was not a fool. She did not knock on the door as she would do when entering the main hall. Instead, she opened the door and lifted the curtain and walked in.

Anyway, the Buddhist temple where the Queen Mother worshipped Buddha was located deeper inside the temple, so she wouldn’t immediately know that I wasn’t standing guard outside the door.

However, the maid guarding the door was very surprised. Just as she was about to ask, Ling Rong stopped her on the grounds that she did not want to disturb the empress dowager from worshiping Buddha.

"I know that the Queen Mother doesn't like to be disturbed when she is worshiping Buddha.

So I will just wait here at the door, and you don't have to be embarrassed about it."

The young palace maid nodded and then shook her head. The Queen Mother had ordered her not to let Concubine Sheng in. Now that Lingrong had entered the warm room by herself, the young palace maid didn't know what to do.

She could only bite the bullet and ask Lingrong to go out and wait.

"The Queen Mother is a very kind person. How could she let me wait in the snow?"

Ling Rong held the hand warmer in her hand, her feet rooted to the ground and she did not move at all. No matter how the little palace maid tried to persuade her, she refused to leave.

"Madam Shengpin, please don't embarrass me..."

"Difficult? You mean, the Queen Mother wants me to wait outside the door for half an hour and not enter the East Warm Pavilion early?"

Lingrong smiled with her eyebrows curved, and with just a few words, she was about to put the blame on the empress dowager for being harsh on the concubines.

The little palace maid didn't dare to nod. She could only shake her head desperately and said that the Empress Dowager had not given such an order.

“Since there are no orders, why can’t I come in?

Could it be that you are overstepping your authority and want to teach me a lesson?"

"I dare not." The little maid hurriedly bowed and apologized, "I didn't mean that, it's just... just..."

"Then there will be no problem for me to wait in this warm room."

Lingrong returned to her gentle self. She didn't mind making the empress dowager think she was spoiled by her favor.

After all, even if I stood outside the door obediently for half an hour, the Queen Mother would not be nice to me at all.

The young palace maid didn't dare to persuade her anymore, but she was still fidgeting. She was afraid that before Lingrong entered the room, she had received an order from the Empress Dowager, not allowing Lingrong to set foot in the warm room.

After all, if anyone else encountered this little palace maid who refused to compromise, they could only stand guard outside the door and would not dare to embarrass the palace maid around the Empress Dowager in Shoukang Palace and make the Empress Dowager angry.

But Lingrong had already guessed that the Queen Mother had found out a lot of things, so she would not make a fuss about this little thing to please the Queen Mother.

However, there were no tables or chairs in the warm room, so Lingrong could only stand with the little palace maid and wait for the Empress Dowager to finish her worship of Buddha.

It was not until the heater in my hand gradually lost its temperature and my knees began to ache that some sounds were heard from the Buddhist hall.

The door curtain of the warm room was also lifted, and Zhu Xi came in after shaking off the snowflakes on his body. He saw Ling Rong inside the door at a glance.

"Mistress Shengpin is waiting here," Zhuxi looked at Lingrong meaningfully, then raised his hand and asked her to walk to the Buddhist hall. "Half an hour has passed. I will take you to see the Empress Dowager."

"Then thank you, Aunt Zhuxi." After Lingrong handed the heater in her hand to the little palace maid beside her, she followed Zhuxi to the Buddhist temple to meet the Queen Mother.

After passing through another door, Ling Rong finally saw the empress dowager sitting on the upper throne with her eyes closed.

Lingrong still maintained a decent smile. She immediately knelt down and saluted without any hesitation.

"I pay my respects to the Empress Dowager. May the Empress Dowager be blessed with good health."

The Queen Mother seemed to have not heard it, and did not even look at Ling Rong, "Zhu Xi, tell Fei Yun to go to Foshan and kneel down. She is not allowed to get up for less than half an hour."

"Yes, Your Majesty." Zhu Xi didn't dare to ask more questions. He just responded and walked out.

After the door was closed, the Queen Mother cast her eyes on Ling Rong, "Shengpin, do you know why I asked Feiyun to kneel?"

Ling Rong nodded silently. She knew of course that Fei Yun had done something wrong. She just let herself in.

But Lingrong had no intention of pleading for Feiyun. After all, even if Feiyun wanted to blame someone, she should blame the empress dowager who punished her, not herself who was also punished by the empress dowager.

"You were so sharp-tongued outside the door, but now you are silent. Are you thinking that I am old and easy to bully?"

"I dare not." Lingrong still refused to explain more. She knew it very well that the more she said, the more mistakes she would make.

"I think you are very brave."

The Queen Mother placed the teacup in her hand on the table. The sound was not loud, but it sounded like thunder to her ears.

If it were in the past, Ling Rong would have been so frightened that her body would have gone limp, but now that she has lived her life again, she is not that afraid.

I don’t know if it’s because he was reborn or because he had attacked the empress dowager before.

In short, in Lingrong's eyes, the empress dowager in front of her was just an old woman in her twilight years. If she was forced into a corner, she would just kill the empress dowager with medicine.

"Let me ask you, is Xiao Yunzi yours?"

"In reply to the Queen Mother, Xiao Yunzi is not my concubine's.

In the past, he served Concubine Xu, but later Concubine Xu's murder of Concubine Hui and the child was exposed, and he rushed back to the palace from the Old Summer Palace with injuries all over his body.

Xiao Chizi from the concubine's palace met him and helped him a little, after which Xiao Yunzi was sent back to the Imperial Household Department.

I heard that he is now on duty in the silverware room, so I don’t know much else.”

"You said you didn't know." The Queen Mother repeated Ling Rong's words, "My people are not fools. We can find out that he had a lot of contact with you."

“He seems to have a good relationship with Xiaochi, so the two of them have a lot of contact.

After all, Xiao Yunzi is no longer a member of Yongshou Palace, so I did not hinder them from making friends.

But Xiao Yunzi is definitely not my concubine's, please understand, Your Majesty."

Ling Rong raised her head and looked at the Queen Mother without a trace of fear, "But did Xiao Yunzi do something wrong to make the Queen Mother unhappy?"

"I am unhappy because of you, not Xiao Yunzi."

Ling Rong immediately bowed her head and admitted her mistake, "Since I gave birth to Youning, I have put all my thoughts on the child.

It is true that I seldom follow the Empress to Shoukang Palace to serve the Queen Mother. This is my fault.

If this displeases the Queen Mother, I am willing to serve her every day, and I only ask for your forgiveness."

The Queen Mother moved her lips, seeming to be a little annoyed.

After all, Lingrong has been playing dumb and refused to admit her relationship with Xiao Yunzi.

But the Queen Mother's attitude was still unclear, and Lingrong also confirmed that the Queen Mother had not found any useful evidence.

"I have given you enough opportunities, but you refused to cherish them." The Queen Mother was still testing, trying to force Lingrong to admit her master-servant relationship with Xiao Yunzi in this way.

“If it wasn’t me who made the Queen Mother angry, then it would have been Xiao Yunzi.

But I really don't know what it is, the Queen Mother might as well tell her clearly, or bring little Yunzi here so that I can confront him."

"A few months ago, I suddenly became seriously ill for unknown reasons. I felt as if there were tiny threads moving through my limbs and bones, and I couldn't sleep well day or night.

I thought it was the unbearable summer weather, but later I sent someone to investigate and found out that it was a poison called Qiansi. "

The Queen Mother observed Lingrong's expression as she spoke, but Lingrong had already prepared herself countless times in her heart, and would not show any sign of wrongness at this moment.

"But that's not what the Imperial Observatory said."

Ling Rong took the initiative to mention the Imperial Observatory, which surprised the Empress Dowager. "The Imperial Observatory said that it was because Ye Ying was punished... that caused the Empress Dowager to be bedridden.

If she was really poisoned, then someone was deliberately trying to murder the Queen Mother, which is a capital crime punishable by the death of all nine generations of her family."

"You also know it's a capital crime."

"Of course I know it's a capital crime, but..." Ling Rong seemed to have just realized it and was about to kowtow and apologize, "Does the Empress Dowager suspect that I did it? I respect the Empress Dowager the most, how could I do such a treasonous thing!"

Lingrong kowtowed quickly. Seeing the empress dowager's suspicious eyes sweeping over her, Lingrong kowtowed repeatedly to apologize.

"No matter what the Queen Mother has found out, I am willing to confront her one by one.

Even in front of the Emperor and the people of the world, I dare to swear that I have never tried to murder the Empress Dowager!"

The Queen Mother had no evidence to begin with, and now she tried again and again, but was blocked by Lingrong with curses and kowtowing.

But the empress dowager instinctively felt that this matter was closely related to Ling Rong, so she simply threw the testimony from the Imperial Observatory to the ground.

"I checked the Imperial Observatory and they said someone deliberately ordered to link my illness to Ye Lanyi."

Unexpectedly, the Imperial Observatory turned against the government so quickly and actually informed the Empress Dowager of the matter.

Ling Rong was thinking in her heart, but she didn't intend to confess it so frankly. "Since the Imperial Observatory told the truth, the Empress Dowager must have also learned from the Imperial Observatory who was behind the scenes."

"Even now, you still refuse to admit it. Do you think that since you have Princess Youning, I won't punish you?"

"Your Majesty the Queen Mother means that the Imperial Observatory has identified me as the real culprit behind the incident?"

Seeing that Lingrong was not afraid but questioned angrily, the empress dowager couldn't help but feel confused and began to wonder if Shengpin had been wronged.

But even though there is no clear evidence now, Xiao Yunzi and Ye Lanyi are indeed inseparable from Concubine Sheng.

It is still unclear whether Ye Lanyi is really dead or has escaped from the palace alive, but it will be correct for Xiao Yunzi to meet Shengpin in private.

They even wanted to confuse the public and throw dirty water on the Queen.

If I hadn't sent someone to follow Xiao Yunzi for a month, I'm afraid I would have really been deceived.

But despite the many tests and intimidations today, Concubine Sheng didn't reveal a single clue.

If it was her, then this woman is definitely as scheming as the queen. She was so bold to plot against me, and she was able to clean up the evidence so cleanly. I'm afraid even the queen would fall into her hands.

The Queen Mother weighed the matter in her mind, and a look of inquiry appeared in her eyes.

Lingrong's heart tightened, wondering if she had given herself away somewhere and been discovered by the Empress Dowager.

So, the next moment, the Queen Mother shouted, "Alright, if your knees are not good, don't kneel any more."

Lingrong knew that she had passed this hurdle and she finally felt a little relieved. However, the Queen Mother's next words instantly made her heart tighten again.

"I haven't seen Youning for a long time. Concubine Sheng will send Youning to Shoukang Palace to stay for a few days tomorrow."