An Lingrong's Rebirth: Red

In response to Cao Qinmo's invitation, the Queen Mother and her entourage followed him out of the hall without hesitation.

Now that spring has come and flowers are blooming, the branches are turning green, and the soft branches of the willow trees are swaying in the breeze, making people feel relaxed and happy just by looking at the scenery.

Cao Qinmo asked someone to present a small drum, and personally stepped forward with both hands to present it to the Empress Dowager, "Empress Dowager, you only need to strike this drum with your own hands, and you will be able to see the birthday gift that the Empress has prepared for you."

The Queen Mother did not feel bored. When Zhuxi handed the drumstick to her, she started to strike it. The sound of stringed instruments arose all around her, and a flock of birds flew out from behind the lush green trees, singing along with the music. A few white feathers fell as they flapped their wings.

After circling in the space for a circle, the birds flew towards the Queen Mother. Zhuxi subconsciously stood in front of the Queen Mother to prevent the birds from colliding with her.

Concubine Jing and Ling Rong also came over to block it. Ling Rong unnoticeably took out the newly developed ointment from her sleeve and, taking the opportunity to protect the empress dowager, smeared it on her clothes.

Everyone's attention was attracted by the flock of birds, and no one noticed Ling Rong's little action.

Before the birds noticed the fragrance, they just circled around the Queen Mother's head one after another, acting like a hundred birds paying homage to the phoenix.

But as the fragrance of the Queen Mother spread, some birds began to behave abnormally. They broke away from the circling formation, flew around in the air chirping, and finally rushed straight towards the Queen Mother.

Fortunately, Zhuxi was prepared. She shot down the bird that was rushing towards her, but she didn't expect that more birds would rush towards her.

Maybe because of Lingrong, who also had spices on her body, two dragons flew over to her, but they were all blocked one by one by Zhaoshui who followed her.

As the fragrance spread, the birds began to swoop down towards the Empress Dowager in groups. Concubine Jing, Lingrong, Zhuxi and others who were surrounding the Empress Dowager were all more or less pounced on by the birds.

The Queen Mother's condition was the worst. Because of the effect of the ointment, most of the birds flew towards her. Everyone could only protect the Queen Mother while retreating back to the hall.

But they were a group of women in shabby clothes, supporting the empress dowager and dodging birds, so they obviously didn't walk that fast.

Fortunately, the emperor was also there. When he saw that something was not right, he rushed forward despite Su Peisheng's attempt to stop her, supported the empress dowager's arm, and personally helped her into the palace.

The rest of the eunuchs and guards were responsible for staying behind to drive away the birds.

It was not until everyone hid in the hall that the birds, which could no longer smell the fragrance, slowly left and finally let the group of people go.

It was just that because of the panic just now, the empress dowager's hair was a little messy, and several hairpins were also crooked and almost fell to the ground.

Concubine Jing and Ling Rong tilted their hair styles, and in order not to damage the reputation of the royal family, they immediately apologized to the emperor and went to change their clothes and wash up again.

The Queen Mother rested for a while and then stood up to tidy up her appearance. At this moment, a parrot flew in from somewhere and landed on the Queen Mother's desk.

The Queen Mother was startled. Just as Zhuxi was about to take action, she heard the parrot speak in human language, "A hundred birds pay homage to the phoenix. Long live the Queen Mother. A hundred birds pay homage to the phoenix. Long live the Queen Mother."

The parrot said it three or five times in a row. You can tell by the time someone taught it to do so.

But then, the parrot also smelled the fragrance of the Queen Mother, and the bird looked at her blankly.

The Queen Mother had a feeling something was wrong. Just as she was about to move, the parrot flew in front of her at lightning speed, still speaking, "Queen Mother! Queen Mother!"

"Protect the Queen Mother! Someone come and protect the Queen Mother!"

I don't know who shouted, but for a moment, there was a commotion in the banquet hall again.

Zhuxi opened his arms to block the Queen Mother, and Xiaoxiazi waved his whisk, trying to drive away the parrot.

Unexpectedly, the parrot was not afraid of people at all. It even ignored Xiao Xiazi who wanted to hit it, and found a very tricky angle to rush to the Queen Mother.

Fortunately, Xiao Xiazi was quick and agile. The whisk he was waving around actually entangled the parrot's feet, forcing it to flap its wings and no longer think of offending the Queen Mother.

Fearing that the parrot might break free from its restraints, Xiao Xiazi did not care about being injured and simply retracted his whisk and held the parrot in his arms.

Although the parrot was captured, the empress dowager was still very worried about the presence of the bird in the house. The emperor was also worried, so he asked people to check every corner carefully. Then he sent Su Peisheng and Zhu Xi to help the empress dowager go to the side hall to change her clothes and hair accessories.

After the empress dowager left, a heated discussion broke out in the banquet hall. Concubine Tian and several other concubines whispered to each other, discussing whether today's "Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix" was a blessing or a curse.

"The Empress arranged this scene of a hundred birds paying homage to the phoenix. Her purpose is definitely not to put the Queen Mother to death." Concubine Tian was so outspoken that she even dared to say the word "death" at the Queen Mother's birthday banquet.

Xia Dongchun was smart. She immediately pinched Concubine Tian subtly and told her to watch her mouth and stop talking nonsense.

Fortunately, Concubine Tian only discussed this with Xia Dongchun and did not let others hear it.

Concubine Chun, who was sitting next to her, asked in confusion, "Concubine Tian, ​​what did you just say?"

"I wonder if today's Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix was designed this way, or did something unexpected happen?"

"How could it be designed like this?" Concubine Chun looked at Concubine Tian with an expression of looking at a fool, "These birds bumped into the Queen Mother and made the whole birthday banquet a mess.

Someone must have known in advance that the Queen Mother was going to use these birds to celebrate the Queen Mother's birthday, and I don't know how they managed to disrupt the Queen Mother's plan."

"Who else could have known about this plan in advance?" Concubine Tian glanced at Cao Qinmo who was sitting next to her, and brought it up intentionally, "Besides Concubine Cao, it's Concubine Chun who is on good terms with the Empress.

So only the two of you knew about this plan in advance. You are not the one who is crying thief here, are you, Concubine Chun?"

"You are slandering me right here, Concubine Tian. If you don't have any evidence, I will report you to the Emperor!"

Concubine Tian shut up in dismay, but she still asked back, "Besides you, only Concubine Cao has a very harmonious relationship with the Queen.

You have cleared yourself of suspicion, so aren't you suspecting Concubine Cao?"

"I have never doubted Concubine Cao," Concubine Chun blinked her eyes and showed a very innocent smile, "Sister Cao was here to present a birthday gift to the Empress Dowager on behalf of the Queen. If it was really her doing, it would be too bold.

So, I don't doubt Sister Cao. But Sister Tian, ​​have you found any clues?"

"I'm just speculating based on the current situation. You're asking for clues everywhere. You can't be guilty, right?"

"Me? Guilty?!" Concubine Tian almost couldn't hold back her temper. She was the only one who suspected others, and no one dared to question her face to face. "Where did you get the evidence to speculate that it was me?"

"Hmm..." Concubine Chun seemed to be thinking deeply, "Yanxi Palace is so close to Jingren Palace, it should be very convenient for Han to hear the Queen's movements.

It is not impossible that they knew that the Queen wanted to use birds to celebrate her birthday, so they used some method to control these birds. "

It must be said that what Concubine Chun said actually made some sense. Xia Dongchun nodded secretly in her heart, but still supported Concubine Tian, ​​"In this way, Concubine Chun has the best relationship with the Queen.

It's not impossible to know the Queen's plan and calculate it, right?"

The three of them made random guesses and attacked each other without any evidence, and their voices became louder and louder, causing everyone around them to look over curiously. Even the emperor, who was busy chatting with the princes, glanced over.

Seeing that the emperor was also looking at them, the three of them shut up, sat upright in their chairs, and even picked up their teacups and took a sip of tea, pretending that nothing had happened.

The emperor glanced around with an angry look before retracting it. He was concerned about Prince Yi's health at the moment and pretended that nothing had happened.

But Prince Dun would never miss this good opportunity to mock the emperor. He wiped the wine stains from the corners of his mouth with one hand and said, "This is indeed a good omen, but the queen is using this auspicious sign to murder the queen mother. This is really unfilial."

Regardless of whether the emperor wanted to depose the queen at this time, he could not allow Prince Dun to slander her like this. He narrowed his eyes slightly and said, "Birds are just a group of beasts. If they really understand human nature and everything, they would not do inappropriate things and say inappropriate words in such a solemn occasion.

Lao Shi, do you think it is necessary to keep a bird like this?"

The emperor was talking about the bird, actually he was referring to Prince Dun. This man's repeated provocations had already exhausted the emperor's patience. He had already decided to kill him, and it depended on whether Prince Dun would be afraid and shut his trouble-making mouth.

Prince Dun was naturally not afraid. He felt that his life was hopeless after failing to seize the throne. His daughter was taken into the palace by the emperor on the pretext of something, so that they would never see each other again in this life.

At this moment, he would rather be beheaded in public by Yinzhen than show weakness and bow his head.

"Is it necessary to keep it? Your Majesty, the Emperor above all others, do you still need to ask me?

It's not that he's too old and confused to even know what to do with a bird, is it? "

"Tenth brother!" Prince Guo called Prince Dun in a low voice, trying to persuade him not to get angry with the emperor and bring about a fatal disaster. "Today is the Queen Mother's birthday banquet, you should restrain yourself. Is it that the wine is not strong enough, or the delicacies on this jade plate are not delicious enough?"

"Wine?" Prince Dun squinted at Prince Guo. He threw the jug of wine on the table again, spilling a lot of it. "You like drinking so much because that beauty called Zhen Huan is not here. Do you want to drink to drown your sorrows?"

Prince Dun was obviously drunk. Anyone who spoke to him would be criticized by him, "You and that Zhen..."

Before he could finish his sentence, Prince Guo interrupted him and poured a cup of tea for Prince Dun. "Tenth brother! You drank too much wine and are already drunk. You should drink some tea to sober up!"

The Emperor had long known about the affair between Prince Guo and Zhen Huan. Coupled with Cai Ping's assassination, the Emperor had tortured Prince Guo repeatedly, forcing him to reveal all the hidden thorns in the palace.

But unexpectedly, there was a secret between Prince Guo and Zhen, and it was even seen by the Tenth Prince.

The emperor no longer wanted to know this secret, but he was very concerned about whether the affair between Prince Guo and Zhen Huan was known to everyone.

The old man in front of him, who couldn't stand seeing him doing well, knew it clearly. The mocking look he gave him was really disgusting.

"Seventeenth Brother, we brothers fight for the throne and for the people of the world," Prince Dun said without hesitation, grabbing Prince Guo by the collar. Their faces were so close that the smell of alcohol from Prince Dun's mouth sprayed onto Prince Guo's face, "but you, on the other hand, fought for a fickle woman.

This woman is your fourth brother's concubine. Hahahaha, look at what you have done. You have really brought shame to the Aisin-Gioro clan!"

Prince Dun laughed wildly. He felt Prince Guo's struggle and immediately let go of his hand and threw him aside. "You are not worthy of calling me the tenth brother. I will only feel ashamed!"

Prince Guo avoided the gazes of his brothers while adjusting his robe. When he looked up, he saw the emperor staring at him, and a trace of shame welled up in his heart, "Your Majesty, I have nothing to do with the Zhen family, you know that.

I'm afraid that Brother Ten has confused Huanbi with Zhen Shi, after all, they do look somewhat alike."

Prince Guo knew that the emperor didn't believe him, but he said this to save face for himself and the emperor in front of everyone. He knew that the emperor would not turn hostile immediately, but would continue to agree with what he said.

"Huanbi does look like Zhen. It is normal for strangers to make mistakes." Sure enough, the emperor did not reveal their affair, but instead tried to save his own face.

Everyone pretended not to hear and laughed it off to change the subject, talking about the gifts they had presented to the Empress Dowager.

"The Queen Mother has arrived."

Fortunately, this awkward atmosphere did not last long, and the Queen Mother and her party had already dressed up again and returned to the banquet.

As soon as Lingrong came in, she saw the emperor chatting with Prince Yi and others. She was curious about what everyone had discussed when they left the table just now, so she sat next to Concubine Tian and asked her what had happened at the table.

Concubine Tian had good ears and heard everything that had just happened clearly. She resisted the urge to add fuel to the fire and told Lingrong the whole story, which immediately changed Lingrong's opinion of Prince Dun and made her think that he was truly a man of true character.

However, he was afraid that by publicly revealing the "secret" that the emperor did not want others to know, he would anger the emperor and would be even more unlucky in the future.

Now that the Queen Mother has returned, the birthday banquet has started again. Fortunately, no strange birds have flown over, allowing the birthday banquet to be held smoothly.

After the birthday banquet was over, Lingrong found out that Cao Qinmo was called to Shoukang Palace. It seemed that the Queen Mother was very angry and wanted to find out who was behind this plot.

Ling Rong took advantage of the fact that no one suspected her and dug a deep pit in the backyard of Chengqian Palace. She melted the ointment into water and buried it deep under the ground.

Zhaoshui even took the opportunity to sow some seeds, hoping to plant a bunch of poppies when summer officially begins.