An Lingrong's Rebirth: Red

After everything was packed up, Lingrong went to Jingren Palace with Zhaoshui. On the way, she met Concubine Jing. They looked at each other and sighed.

Without saying anything more, he entered Jingren Palace in silence.

At this time, no one else had arrived at Jingren Palace yet. Only the Emperor and the Empress were sitting on the upper seats. Both of them had serious looks on their faces, as if they were afraid that others would not know how sad they were because of Nian Shilan's passing.

Fortunately, Lingrong had already put on a sad expression, and with her plain clothes, she really looked like she was mourning for Nian Shilan.

"Your Highness, Your Majesty, Your Majesty, Your Majesty."

"Get up." The emperor did not hesitate and called directly, "Have you heard about Concubine Hua?"

Hua Fei?

Lingrong was a little surprised that the emperor called her that. It seemed that after knowing that Nian Shilan had passed away, the emperor even restored her position.

"I heard about it." Ling Rong and Concubine Jing nodded together, "The whole palace was discussing it early in the morning, but Concubine Hua was recuperating in Yikun Palace and would not go out easily. How did she end up near the Thousand Carp Pond?"

"She was mentally handicapped, she definitely didn't go there alone," the emperor's face showed a hint of sadness when he mentioned Hua Fei's death, "When she was rescued, she didn't have shoes or socks on her feet. I wonder how much she suffered in this icy and snowy weather."

"Where's Songzhi? Where are the other servants? I remember that in order to let Concubine Hua rest in peace, the emperor sent guards to guard the palace gate. Didn't they see Concubine Hua leave?"

Concubine Jing knew almost nothing about Concubine Hua. She asked several questions in a row, and the Emperor didn't know where to start answering.

"When Songzhi was found, she had hanged herself. The coroner is now examining her body, and it is still unknown when she died." The Queen took over the conversation. Her tone was soft and weak, and she looked sadder than anyone else for the death of Concubine Hua. "As for the guards at the door, they insisted that they did not see anyone running out of the main gate."

"But Hua Fei is a weak woman, and her mind is a little damaged. If she doesn't go out through the main gate, where else can she go?" Jing Guifei was puzzled. "The walls of the palace are high. Hua Fei will definitely not be able to climb out by herself."

"Yes, the emperor and I don't believe it either, so we have sent people to investigate. I think we will know the answer soon."

Upon seeing this, Concubine Jing stopped asking any more questions. She nodded, turned her back with a sad face, and wiped her eyes.

"Don't be too sad, sister." The queen didn't mean to stop. "When you were in the mansion, you were in Hua Fei's room. The two of you had a good relationship. Now that she is gone, I'm afraid you are the saddest."

Concubine Jing paused as she was wiping her tears. She had been bullied by Concubine Hua many times when she was in the mansion. Whenever the Emperor stayed overnight at her place, Concubine Hua would find a reason to punish her the next day.

In order to avoid Concubine Hua's edge, Concubine Jing never dared to actively compete for favor when she was in the mansion. She only dared to show her face in front of the emperor when the emperor remembered her.

Because of this, even though her age was almost the same as Concubine Hua, Concubine Jing dressed herself like she was the same age as the Queen.

Now that Concubine Hua has passed away, she does feel a little sad, but at the same time, she also feels a hint of barely perceptible joy.

"On the one hand, I feel sad that things have changed and people have changed. On the other hand, I am worried that Concubine Hua was murdered and cannot rest in peace," Concubine Jing really followed the Queen's instructions and did not realize that the Queen wanted to bring up her past entanglement with Concubine Hua in order to make the Emperor suspect Concubine Jing.

"Don't worry, the emperor and I will find out the truth. If you get any clues, please inform me in time." The queen glanced at the emperor, and seeing that he still had no intention of speaking, she continued to ask Concubine Jing and Ling Rong to report on the various affairs and expenses in the palace in the past few days.

As expected, Suiyuxuan spent an exceptionally high amount on charcoal, but Concubine Chun's monthly allowance was not enough, so the Ministry of Internal Affairs made up for this part of the gap.

"Princess Sheng, do you know anything about this charcoal fire?"

"Your Highness, I know about this matter," Ling Rong stood up and bowed, and then told the story of the charcoal fire used in Sui Yu Xuan. "Seventh Prince is weak and has a high fever due to the cold weather. Concubine Chun is worried that the child will get sick again, so she keeps asking for charcoal fire.

At first, I tried to persuade Concubine Chun many times that children should not be in an overheated environment for a long time. I even brought the imperial physician to explain it to her. Unfortunately, Concubine Chun insisted on her own opinion and still let her use the charcoal fire.

But the Ministry of Internal Affairs cannot take this money. I plan to deduct this part from my monthly allowance when I settle accounts at the end of the month. This can be regarded as my contribution to Concubine Chun and her son."

"Let me pay for this money. You have two children in the palace, don't let them suffer." The emperor suddenly spoke up and took the responsibility of paying for the money. "For the remaining months, I will pay for it. Concubine Chun is worried about her children. Although this is not a good thing to do, it is understandable."

The Queen responded with a "yes", and Lingrong also nodded and returned to her seat.

Soon, concubines from various palaces came one after another. Concubine Chun came last. Her eyes were red, as if she had just cried.

Concubine Qi felt very strange. She quietly approached Concubine Chun who had just sat down and asked her if she was crying like this because of Nian Shilan.

"It's not because of Concubine Hua, it's because of Honghui. He has been feeling unwell for the past two days and has a cough. I am very worried, so I couldn't help crying."

Hearing that it was for the child, Concubine Qi felt quite jealous. She said "oh" and reluctantly comforted him, saying that everything would be fine.

"Mrs. Chun, I heard that you have spent a lot on charcoal in the past two months, but the Seventh Prince is not feeling well again?"

The Queen did not question the amount of charcoal used, but instead expressed her concern for the Seventh Prince. Concubine Chun's heart skipped a beat and she said, "The Seventh Prince is fine, he just has a cough."

"I'm afraid it's caused by excessive internal heat. Remember to ask the imperial physician to take a look. Don't be afraid to see a doctor. Got it?"

The Queen comforted Concubine Chun, but Concubine Chun was no longer as grateful to the Queen as before. After all, it was the Queen's "credit" that caused the Seventh Prince's current condition.

But until now, Concubine Chun has not turned against the Empress. She is really tolerant.

“I called all the concubines here today to tell you that if you have any news about Concubine Hua falling into the water, you must tell me and the emperor in time.

From today onwards, the daily greetings will resume. Sisters from all palaces, please do not forget the time to pay your respects."

After Concubine Hua fell into the water, the Queen's headache healed quickly. She took back all the power in the palace and only left some trivial matters to Concubine Jing and Ling Rong.

Lingrong did not have any complaints about this matter. After all, the power to assist in managing the six palaces was given by the emperor, and the queen had no right to take back this power.

Even though she now only has some boring trivial tasks to deal with, the palace maids in the harem still have to give her some face and let her live more comfortably than before.

The most important thing is that she can still place her own people in various joints of the palace. Even if the queen now takes back the power, these people will still be hers.

But the Queen was able to regain power so smoothly, probably because the Emperor believed that she had nothing to do with Nian Shilan's fall into the water.

In other words, at this moment, the emperor suspects everyone except the queen.

It seems that when no one knew, the emperor and the queen had reached some kind of agreement, allowing the most noble people in the world to return to being one as husband and wife.

After leaving Jingren Palace, Lingrong called Concubine Tian and made up an excuse, "Concubine Tian, ​​we haven't seen each other for a long time. Let's go to Chengqian Palace and sit for a while."

This excuse is really terrible. We just met two days ago. Concubine Tian muttered in her heart, "Huai Ke has indeed not seen You Ning for a long time. It's time to let the two little guys meet again."

Concubine Tian found a relatively reliable reason and took the opportunity of taking Huai Ke to find You Ning to meet Ling Rong in Chengqian Palace.

"Actually, you don't need to give those reasons. Lady Qi and the others won't believe them."

Ling Rong pushed the brewed tea in front of Concubine Tian and asked, "Have you dealt with the tail end of Concubine Hua's matter?"

"Of course I've taken care of it. Xiao Dezi didn't even leave a footprint. I don't believe anyone can find out that I did it."

"But Concubine Hua didn't look like she ran away alone, and the emperor already suspected someone was plotting to murder her.

You'd better tell Xiao Dezi to be careful these days. It would be better to find an excuse for him being seriously ill and tell him to have a good rest.

Have the two guards from Yikun Palace been arranged?"

"Is there any need for you to remind me of this?" Concubine Tian said confidently, "I have given them enough silver, and their families have been arranged. They will not betray me no matter what.

Moreover, Xiao Dezi was trained by our Fucha family. Even if the truth is revealed, he will take all the blame. "

"That's better," Lingrong asked worriedly, "How did Songzhi die?"

"Xiao Dezi strangled her to death, and then hung her on the beam to make it look like she had hanged herself. No one should be able to find out, right?"

"Don't be too optimistic. Everyone in the palace is carefully selected. Especially since strangulation and hanging are completely different, it's impossible for the coroner to fail to find out.

Are there any scars left on Xiao Dezi's body? Take care of them in advance, so they don't become evidence of his murder of Songzhi."

"He has done this many times, and he knows it better than you and me." Concubine Tian still looked indifferent, "Even the powder on Songzhi's face didn't get on him at all.

What's more, he went out before dawn, so no one saw him.

Even if the emperor knew that someone deliberately murdered Concubine Hua, so what? He would not suspect me at all. "

Ling Rong shook her head. There is no such thing as a foolproof plan in the world. Concubine Tian has completely overlooked one person. "You may have forgotten that Jixiang knows about this matter.

Aren't you afraid that she will sell you out?"

“This is indeed a problem, but what evidence does Jixiang have?

She wouldn't rush to the Emperor and the Empress and say that I helped them kill Concubine Hua in order to find evidence from her that the Empress murdered Empress Chunyuan."

Before taking action, Concubine Tian had already thought of all these things, so no matter what questions Lingrong raised, she had a way to deal with them.

Instead, it made Lingrong worried and all her efforts were in vain.

"It's good that you have thought of all this. I was just reminding you. Now it seems that I worried for nothing."

"You have reminded me of something. We should immediately send someone to find Jixiang and get evidence of what the queen did back then."

Once Concubine Tian had an idea, she could no longer sit still. She said goodbye to Ling Rong and went to arrange personnel on her own.

Zhaoshui came over at the right time to clean up the tea set, "Your Majesty, Li Chang replied to the message there, saying that she did know something about Queen Chunyuan. When Queen Chunyuan was in the palace, she had a very good relationship with Concubine Duan, and the two of them often played the pipa together.

Because of this, the emperor often went to sit in Concubine Duan's room.

But what is strange is that the emperor often went to Concubine Duan's room but she never got pregnant.

Logically speaking, the emperor was in good health at that time, and many concubines in the palace became pregnant one after another, except Concubine Duan, who had no news of pregnancy yet.

Later, when Empress Chunyuan became pregnant, the two of them interacted less frequently and did not often sit together to play the pipa.

The Emperor was concerned about Queen Chunyuan all day long, so he rarely visited other people's rooms."

Seeing Lingrong nodding and listening attentively, Zhaoshui put down the tea set for the time being, walked to Lingrong, massaged her shoulders and told her the rest of the news.

"Later, Empress Chunyuan had a difficult labor and finally gave birth to a boy, but both mother and son passed away one after another.

At that time, Concubine Duan was in a very unstable mood and suspected all day long that it was the current queen who murdered her. But suddenly one day, she stopped investigating and her relationship with the queen eased a lot.

It was not until Nian Shilan entered the palace that the relationship between Concubine Duan and the Queen became bad, and she completely became one with Nian Shilan.

Madam, this is all the news that Li Changzai knows, please see..."

Ling Rong frowned thoughtfully. She quickly recalled Zhao Shui's words twice and finally found the problem. "Zhao Shui, you said that Concubine Duan had never been pregnant before Nian Shilan entered the palace. Could this matter be related to Queen Chunyuan?"

"But aren't they very good sisters?" Zhaoshui didn't quite believe it. "I don't think it was Queen Chunyuan who did it."

“I think it’s very likely Queen Chunyuan’s doing.

There were also military generals in Concubine Duan's family. At that time, they were a very powerful help to the prince who was trying to seize the throne.

So the emperor had to favor her, but in order to prevent her from giving birth to a boy, he developed an ambition that he shouldn't have.

So he conspired with Queen Chunyuan to try to end her chance of having children early on."

The more Ling Rong thought about it, the more she felt that her guess was right. "It was precisely because she found out that her inability to get pregnant was related to Queen Chunyuan that Concubine Duan stopped investigating the truth behind Queen Chunyuan's death.

But unexpectedly, fate played a trick on her and her chance of having children was completely destroyed by Nian Shilan.

That’s why Jixiang wanted Concubine Tian to kill Nian Shilan to avenge Concubine Duan.”