An Lingrong's Rebirth: Red

Su Peisheng went to Ledao Hall. Since the emperor never woke up, Lingrong could only kneel and wait for the result of the palace search.

Zhen Huan was still crying because she thought of her lost child. Although her face was haggard, she still looked graceful and elegant, and even had a bit of the romantic demeanor of the sickly Xishi.

The emperor's mind and eyes were filled with her at this moment, and he had no time to care about the other person in the palace.

"Wanwan, I will definitely seek justice for our child. The imperial physician also said that crying too much during the confinement period will hurt the eyes and even cause root diseases."

Lingrong knelt there straight, without any thoughts of hiding anything. Since the two of them were willing to act out the affectionate relationship between husband and concubine, then she would just be the one watching the show.

Anyway, it was the Queen and Concubine Hua who were feeling headache and jealous, and it had nothing to do with her, An Lingrong.

Instead of kneeling here feeling jealous or sad, it is better to think about how to resolve the situation if musk is really found.

Now everyone in the palace knows that Cai Yue took musk. Since no clues can be found from the Imperial Hospital, they can only find the flaws in the procurement of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

In order to earn some money, Ling Rong secretly contacted people outside the palace through Ruan Hesheng of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Even if it was eventually found out that she did not buy musk, she could not escape the crime of private transactions.

The plot of Zhen Huan losing her child was truly ingenious. Ling Rong could not have thought of anyone else except the Queen.

After a long time, Su Peisheng finally rushed back. Ling Rong was surprisingly calm at this time. She even had time to think about whether to drag Fu Cha Guiren into the water.

"Your Majesty, Lady Wan, I found a bag of musk in the basket of silver charcoal in Ledao Hall. I sent some of it to the Imperial Hospital, and the Imperial Physician said it was definitely musk deer."

Hearing that musk was found in Le Dao Tang, Zhen Huan finally stopped crying. She wiped the tears from her face and said, "Can An promise to explain why there is musk in Le Dao Tang?"

"Musk is expensive. If you want to buy it from outside the palace, the money you have to spend will be several times more. In addition, this thing is quite harmful," Ling Rong glanced at the package in Su Peisheng's hand and covered her nose with a handkerchief. "If a little concubine like me who has no family power wants to buy it, such a big bag of musk may drain my money."

"An Yingda knows so much about the price of musk, and even the people in the Ministry of Internal Affairs have made connections. It must not be as difficult as An Yingda said to transport a few bags of musk."

"I did bribe Ruan Hesheng in order to send the embroidered handkerchiefs to the Duyan Pavilion outside the palace in exchange for some silver. Every time I entered the palace, it was only silver. You can call Ruan Hesheng to confront him about this matter."

Lingrong answered neither humbly nor arrogantly, which made the emperor look at her a few times. Although she wanted to win the emperor's sympathy, if she looked at the emperor at this time, it would only arouse Zhen Huan's disgust, making the situation even more dangerous.

"Your Majesty, Concubine Wan, An agreed. Ruan Hesheng has confessed. It was indeed only silver that entered the palace, and he was greedy and took a lot of it." Su Peisheng cupped his hands and recited Ruan Hesheng's testimony.

"But this musk cannot be fake, and there is no guarantee that Ruan Hesheng is telling the truth." Zhen Huan did not believe this. She was smart and suddenly remembered something. "With An's position, she cannot use silver charcoal."

"Mrs. Wan is right. This silver charcoal was given by Mrs. Shen."

Zhen Huan was choked. She had wanted to use the charcoal fire to find out who was behind the scenes, but she didn't expect that after going around in circles, she would end up back with Shen Meizhuang.

"Charcoal fire is often used, and this large amount of musk is hidden in it. The eunuchs and palace maids in Ledao Hall can all see it. If I really want to harm someone, how could I hide it in such a conspicuous place?" Ling Rong's mind was very clear at this time. The pain in her knees made her very uncomfortable, and her tone was inevitably a little unhappy. "When doing bad things, you should always do it behind people's backs. What do you think, Lady Wan?"

Zhen Huan was immediately tempted to refute this, but she found that An Lingrong was right. No one would put such an important thing in public. Unless... "It is possible to do the opposite."

"There is no evidence, I don't recognize it."

"Your Majesty, this matter..."

The emperor patted Zhen Huan's hand and said, "Su Peisheng, can you ask the palace maids of Ledao Hall?"

"Your Majesty, I have asked, but no one knows who put it there. The silver charcoal was placed in the corridor, and anyone could have put it there."

In fact, Lingrong did have a suspect in her mind - that was Baojuan, but she didn't dare to say it directly. She could only use the cover of her clothes and make a gesture to the water.

Zhaoshui saw the gesture and immediately kowtowed, "Your Majesty, Lady Wan, after the young lady entered the palace, she asked Baojuan to take care of some daily chores. After winter came, she also took care of adding charcoal. If she gets close to the charcoal, it will be the least likely to arouse suspicion."

"Interrogate him thoroughly. If he doesn't confess, throw him into the Ministry of Punishment." The emperor gave the order calmly, his words full of indifference.

Su Peisheng was destined to be a hard-working man, so he could only bow his head and agree. He then hurried out of the palace and interrogated Baojuan again.

Ling Rong had been kneeling for a long time. She frowned uncomfortably, but Zhen Huan caught her, "Are you dissatisfied? The emperor and this lady have lost their child, so it is not excessive to investigate."

"To answer the question, Lady Wan, I have not done so. I have just been feeling unwell recently, so..."

"Mrs. An went to Xianfu Palace today to chat with Concubine Jing. She looked rosy and didn't seem to be in any condition." Zhen Huan did not give Ling Rong the opportunity to make excuses. This little concubine gained the emperor's favor for a few days by learning to recite poems from her. She also took advantage of her miscarriage to seduce the emperor to Ledao Hall.

He has contradicted me again and again today, and even showed a look of dissatisfaction after just a few questions. If I don't teach him a lesson, it will be difficult to get rid of the hatred in my heart.

More importantly, there was Musk in her palace, and it was very likely that she was the real murderer who killed her child. This woman was very scheming, and she pretended to have a good relationship with Sister Mei, but she put Musk into Changxi Hall, suppressing both her and Sister Mei, the two new favorites of the emperor. It was really a good calculation.

Zhen Huan also knew that relying on An Lingrong was not enough to achieve all these, but she now believed that An Lingrong was the thug of a "big shot" in the palace, so she didn't care whether An Lingrong was wrongly accused.

"Lady Wan, I've just been kneeling for too long and my knees are a little sore..." Lingrong remembered that the emperor was still there, so she had to swallow her subsequent words and didn't dare to complain about kneeling anymore.

"An promised, the heir to the throne is the master. Even though he was harmed by someone, you will not be allowed to look down on him in the slightest." Zhen Huan put her hands on the emperor's arm, "I just feel sorry for the child. I just wanted to find out the conspiracy for him, but I have to be humiliated like this."

"Wanwan is right. My child is my master. Promising An is disrespectful to my master. Wanwan is the mother of the royal heir, so you should seek justice for the child."

Lingrong stood there in a daze. She even forgot the unbearable pain in her knee. The emperor was indeed extremely heartless. In order to please his favorite concubine, he didn't mind using others as a scapegoat. In fact, because he was the emperor, no matter what the punishment was, Lingrong could only thank him obediently.

"I have heard that there is a most pious way of praying in this world, which is to kowtow, prostrate yourself on the ground, and praise once for each gesture. If you do this, you will gain great merit." Zhen Huan opened her red lips slightly, but the words she uttered were colder than the winter day. "This will show An Ying's piety and pray for the deceased child. It is a sincere and kind thing. Are you willing to do this?"

Ling Rong knew that this was the most revered way of worshipping Buddha, and it was the way many people of faith worshipped Buddha, but people performed this ritual out of faith and sincerity, and never used it as a punishment. She couldn't help but glance at the emperor, hoping that the emperor, who believed in gods and Buddhas the most, would stop her, but she never expected that the emperor would slowly nod his head.

Lingrong closed her eyes and sighed in her heart, but she also knew that the emperor would not reject Zhen Huan's proposal. Instead of making a fuss and annoying others, it is better to obey.

After all, thunder, lightning, rain and dew are all grace from the emperor, so how could she, An Lingrong, refuse it?

After kneeling for an unknown amount of time, Su Peisheng finally came back after interrogating Baojuan. As soon as he entered the Suiyuxuan, he immediately spoke, "Your Majesty, Lady Wan, Baojuan has admitted that she was the one who put the musk in there. She originally refused to reveal the mastermind, but after I threatened her with the Ministry of Punishment, she immediately told the truth."

"Okay, Eunuch Su, don't keep us in suspense." When Zhen Huan heard that the mastermind behind the scenes had been found out, a smile appeared on her face. She urged Su Peisheng to tell her who the mastermind was, but she didn't expect that the answer made her lose all her strength, and her smile froze on the corners of her mouth.

"Baojuan confessed that it was Concubine Shen who gave it to Lady An when she was delivering the silver charcoal. She had actually hidden it under the basket a long time ago, but An promised to only use some of the silver charcoal when the Emperor came, so it has not been used up until now."

Lingrong really didn't expect that the mastermind behind the scenes had calculated to this extent. Even Baojuan's excuse had been arranged for her. She didn't even need to go to the Ministry of Punishment to put the blame of harming someone's offspring back on Shen Meizhuang.

Even with such witnesses, Zhen Huan still didn't believe it. She always thought that Sister Mei, who grew up with her, would never harm her.

"Your Majesty, Sister Mei has a kind heart and will definitely not harm me. This servant must have framed her."

Zhen Huan looked excited, but the Emperor's expression did not change much. Ling Rong knelt below, looking at the two of them, and felt extremely happy in her heart.

Shen Meizhuang, whom both of them believed, was nailed to the pillar of shame for harming her "sister" by new evidence. How could people not feel refreshed?

But neither the Emperor nor Zhen Huan was willing to admit that they had misjudged Shen Meizhuang. Faced with all the evidence, they tried every means to find new evidence to overturn Shen Meizhuang's case.

At this point, it is no longer a matter of Shen Meizhuang proving her innocence, but a battle between the Emperor and Zhen Huan and the people behind the scenes. I just don't know if the Queen can win this round.

"Baojuan has infiltrated the Ministry of Punishment. An agreed to put her under house arrest. We will discuss the matter again after we find out the truth."

The emperor did not want to discuss the matter any further at this point, so he quickly gave an order, shook his beads impatiently, and waved everyone away.

Lingrong and Zhaoshui, who had been kneeling for a long time, helped each other to stand up. Their legs were numb and they could only limp out of the main hall step by step. But before they reached the main gate, Huanbi chased out from behind and shouted at An Lingrong and her servant to stop.

"An promised to stay," Huanbi squatted slightly and saluted. She stood on the high steps and looked down at the master and servant, holding a dim lamp to illuminate the darkness. When she saw that both of them turned to look at her, Huanbi walked downstairs slowly and put the flickering lantern into Zhaoshui's hand.

"Our young master said that the roads are slippery at night, and it would be safer to have a lamp, so she asked the servant to bring it over."

"Thank Concubine Wan for me." Lingrong responded and was about to turn around and leave, but Huanbi called her again with an inexplicable joy on her face.

"An agrees. The emperor and the young lady are afraid that An will not know how to kowtow, so they specially asked this servant to come out and explain to An."

An Ling tolerated the anger. She glanced at Huanbi unhappily and replied through gritted teeth, "Once we leave Suiyuxuan, I will kowtow and pray for the heir to the throne. Please thank Lady Wan for reminding me."

But Huanbi took a step forward and stood in front, holding her head high and refusing to let the master and servant leave, as if she would stop them from leaving unless Lingrong knelt down and prayed immediately.

"Get out of the way!" Lingrong was stern for once. Zhaoshui pushed Huanbi hard, then helped Lingrong around Huanbi and out of Shuiyuxuan.

But Huanbi was more aggressive and followed closely behind, "An promised to remember that you must put your elbows, knees and forehead on the ground to pray most sincerely."

Lingrong turned a deaf ear to them, Zhaoshui turned back angrily and glared at Huanbi. The two finally reached the door, Huanbi behind them had not left yet, she was determined to see Lingrong kneel down and pray for the young master.

Standing at the entrance of Suiyuxuan, Lingrong faced the cold wind for a long while, she clenched her fists and unclenched them, and finally knelt down slowly. Zhaoshui beside her also knelt down, but was ordered by Lingrong to stand up.

"Zhaoshui, I know you are loyal, but you don't have to accompany me on this matter. I am enough on my own."

Zhaoshui had no choice but to get up obediently. She knew that Suiyuxuan was far away from the Yanx Palace. Lingrong had always been weak, and it was almost impossible for her to return to the Yanx Palace by bowing her head every step. She had to be alert at all times so that she could carry the young lady back as soon as possible.

Ling Rong clasped her hands together, closed her eyes and silently recited a few verses of scripture before kneeling down, touching the rough ground with her hands, and touching the ground with her forehead and entire body. With each step and bow, the resentment in her heart disappeared, and only the whistling wind and the sound of her breathing reflected in the water remained in her ears.

Heavy snow fell without anyone noticing. Ling Rong knelt devoutly under the gaze of many palace servants, but she was not kneeling for Zhen Huan's child, but for herself who died in her previous life and the child that was destined not to be born.

It was unknown how far they had walked, but Ling Rong's palms were already bleeding, and even her forehead was covered in blood mixed with sand. She had lost consciousness due to the cold wind.

The pain in her knee had faded away, and instead an unreal warmth was spreading. Lingrong exhaled a breath of foul air, and chaotic sounds began to appear in her ears, just like the night when she was sent back to the Yanxi Palace after serving in the imperial bedchamber.

Her stomach began to ache violently, and she used up all her strength every time she kowtowed, but the pain continued to stimulate her, preventing her from fainting. By the time Zhaoshui discovered the bloodstains on the snow, Lingrong had already knelt down mechanically, and then fell straight down without any warning, with her forehead hitting the ground heavily.

"Little Master!"