An Lingrong's Rebirth: Red

Lingrong still remembered the dream, but after chatting with Zhaoshui for a while, she no longer remembered what happened in the dream.

All she could remember was that she was in the snow and wind, and she must have dreamed about praying for blessings in winter.

According to the imperial physician's pulse diagnosis, Lingrong is now fine as her fever has subsided. If she takes medicine regularly in the next few days, she will soon be back to normal.

Ling Rong didn't want Zhang Mi to stay too long. Although the old doctor was highly skilled, she couldn't be completely trusted.

After all, this man's secret master is the Queen. Lingrong knows the Queen's methods best, and she drugged him without anyone noticing. If she doesn't investigate to the end, she will never find out that it was the Queen's work.

After the old doctor left, Lingrong asked Zhaoshui to push aside the curtain and drank several cups of warm water.

Although his thirst was temporarily quenched, his throat hurt as if he was swallowing a knife. His face twisted in pain every time he swallowed, which was not much different from the torturous torture method.

Lingrong collapsed on the bed. Since she was already sick, she decided to delay reading Concubine Hua's hundred palace rules. If she was urged by the other party, she would ask Songzhi to come and take a look in person. How could she write in her current state?

I don’t know if it’s because of her illness, but Lingrong developed a mentality of giving up everything. She closed her eyes and stopped thinking about anything. She didn’t care whether it was Zhen Huan or Shen Meiyu, whether it was the Queen or Concubine Hua, she just let them fight.

Lingrong didn't eat anything and fell asleep again on the bed. During this time, Jingpin and Shen Meizhuang both came to see her, but they left in a hurry before Lingrong woke up.

Xia Dongchun did not leave. He sat in the Shuimu Mingse Palace, enjoying the breeze from the fan and the grapes brought by Zhao Shui, eating them one by one with great pleasure.

When she heard that Lingrong had woken up, she stood up slowly and was led by Zhaoshui to the main hall of Fenglexuan. She walked straight into the inner room without any hesitation, stood beside Lingrong's bed and pulled open the curtain.

Ling Rong was startled by her. Just as she was about to sit up, she saw Xia Dongchun sitting down.

Mingyu, who was behind her, called out to her in a panic, "You haven't even bowed to Noble An yet, my lady!"

Xia Dongchun acted as if he hadn't heard anything. He glanced at Ling Rong and said, "You're already so sick, how can you still be polite?"

"Mingyu, no need to be so polite." Lingrong waved her hand, and after a while she spoke in a hoarse voice, "Why is Concubine Xia here?"

"I heard that you were sick, so I checked to see if you were dying." Xia Dongchun seldom wandered around the Lingrong Palace, so she was very surprised to see the decorations of Shuimu Mingse.

The furnishings in this palace were far better than those when Ling Rong was a concubine. There were even some items that she had never seen before. It was obvious that she had received more than what a noble should have received.

Xia Dongchun nodded with satisfaction. Good, at least he could have some money now, so he wouldn't have to be stingy and calculating all day and lose face.

"Ahem, Concubine Xia really has a mouth like that, ahem..." Ling Rong had a hard time finishing a sentence. She was coughing so hard that she seemed to have a high fever again.

Seeing Ling Rong coughing terribly, Xia Dongchun quickly reached out and lifted her up from the couch, patting her back violently with his palms.

"Cough cough cough, wait... wait a moment." Ling Rong felt like her head was churning from the slapping. She felt dizzy and quickly called for a stop, leaning on the railing beside the couch and breathing slowly.

Zhao Shui hurried forward and handed Ling Rong warm water to rinse her mouth. After a lot of effort, she finally got over the cough.

Xia Dongchun realized it belatedly and covered her lips with a handkerchief. She stepped back several steps and stood still, talking to Ling Rong from a distance. "Why is your illness so serious? How does the imperial physician treat the disease?"

"Replying to Concubine Xia, our young master's illness has been examined by the Imperial Hospital's Director, Imperial Physician Zhang Mi. It seems that there is no serious problem. If she takes medicine regularly, she will be cured in a few days."

"You look so weak. When you recover, come with me to the horse farm on the south side of Zaoyuan to run a horse and exercise. Well, I don't know if the emperor will agree..."

Xia Dongchun's voice became lower and lower, but the words had already been spoken. She was determined to get the emperor's consent.

Lingrong had never ridden a horse before, but even though she was ill at the time, she still agreed, hoping to do something she had never done in her previous life.

"I came here for something today," Xia Dongchun quietly walked to Ling Rong's couch, "Noble Lady Tian has been torturing Zhen Huan these past few days, and her methods have become more and more excessive. She somehow learned that Zhen Huan is afraid of cats, so she caught one and threw it into Yongshou Palace.

I don't know if the cat was afraid of people or what, but as soon as it entered Yongshou Palace, it ran around wildly and scratched Zhen Huan's arm.

Zhen Huan ordered Xiao Yinzi and the others to catch the cat, beat it to death with sticks, and then throw it out from the high wall of Yongshou Palace.

The patrolling guards also found a blood-stained letter on the outer wall of Yongshou Palace, which warned Concubine Tian not to punish concubines at will just because the emperor was not in the palace.

Even though she is now confined to Yongshou Palace, it does not mean that she, a noble lady, can take over the authority to punish the concubines."

Xia Dongchun's description was vivid and Lingrong listened attentively. However, when she heard Zhen Huan's tough letter, she shook her head and laughed out loud.

"Although Zhen Da Ying was under house arrest, she was still very sharp-eyed and could guess that the person who did it was Concubine Tian.

You already know all about this, and I'm sure the Emperor has heard about it, too."

Xia Dongchun hummed, and looked at Ling Rong with a smile, "The emperor issued an order to reprimand the head aunt of Zhen Ying's palace, saying that she failed to protect her master and should be punished.

He did not ask a word about Zhen's promise, but instead asked Su Peisheng to reward Concubine Tian. "

Ling Rong has always known that the emperor is very heartless. Now that Zhen Huan has touched his bottom line, he will naturally not show any mercy.

But she obviously underestimated the emperor's feelings for Zhen Huan. It was through Xia Dongchun that she learned that the emperor had replaced the guards in Yongshou Palace.

He also instructed the Ministry of Internal Affairs to deliver food to Zhen Huan strictly according to the promised portion and to never allow any rotten food to appear.

The emperor is really tolerant. Lingrong really can't understand why these two people love each other so deeply when they have never experienced any troubles in their lives.

Could it be that the Emperor had interrogated Zhen Huan in private? He was persuaded by Zhen Huan's eloquent words and fell in love with this woman with a poetic and literary temperament again.

"It seems that the emperor really likes Zhen Da Ying." Ling Rong coughed a few more times before speaking in a hoarse voice, "But if this happens, Concubine Tian can't do anything anymore."

"Like?" Xia Dongchun rolled her eyes, not knowing whether she was disdainful of Zhen Huan or the emperor's love. "Take good care of yourself, the emperor will like you too, right?"

"It's the same with Concubine Xia. The Emperor must like you in his heart."

Xia Dongchun still covered her nose with a handkerchief, as if she was worried about catching a cold from Lingrong. "Of course, my beauty is beyond comparison with those vulgar people."

Ling Rong really didn't have the energy to argue with Xia Dongchun, so she smiled slightly and let her walk out on her own.

During the days of recuperation, Concubine Hua became quiet instead. After all, the emperor's orders were the direction of the harem.

Seeing how shameless Zhen Huan was, yet she still received special treatment from the Emperor, even Concubine Hua, who often boasted of being favored, began to feel suspicious.

After Lingrong recovered completely, she heard a new rumor spreading in the palace, saying that Concubine Zhen must have used some sorcery to confuse Prince Guo and the emperor.

She wanted Prince Guo to be completely devoted to her and asked the Emperor not to punish her in order to correct the atmosphere in the harem.

Using palace maids to spread rumors is not new, but involving the emperor in gossiping is the first time. I don't know who is so bold as to do such a thing.

Concubine Hua is still the most likely person to do this. After all, if the Queen wanted to do this, she would simply find the Imperial Observatory and use the words of observing the stars at night to frame Zhen Huan.

Instead of just finding a few little girls to spread rumors like they are doing now. After all, since it involves the emperor and the prince, how many of them would have the courage to spread it? Even if they were bribed with a lot of money, they could only find one or two people.

This is also why these two rumors were not heard until Lingrong recovered from her illness.

Jingpin has been very busy these days. When the Queen heard these rumors, she hurriedly arranged for Jingpin to investigate immediately. After screening one batch of palace maids after another, she finally found a few palace maids who were serving in the garden.

With the idea of ​​killing a chicken to scare the monkeys, the queen severely punished these palace servants, but unfortunately, she did not find out who was behind the incident.

"Your Majesty, Concubine Hua has learned her lesson and didn't leave any traces." Jianqiu combed the Queen's hair and pinned her favorite peony flower on her head.

The Queen held the blossoming peony, looked at herself in the mirror as she aged, and slowly put away the smile on her face, "If it weren't for Cao Qinmo, Concubine Hua would be just a toothless tiger."

"Your Majesty, this Concubine Zhen fell too quickly. I wanted her to compete with Concubine Hua."

"Why are you in such a hurry?" The Queen plucked the peony and threw it back into the tray filled with peonies. "Look at the Emperor's attitude. He won't abolish her so easily."

Jianqiu didn't quite understand why the Queen was so sure. In her opinion, the mistake Zhen Huan made was no small matter. She was causing chaos in the palace and it would not be an exaggeration to just kill her.

"We can't just focus on this one thing. Do you still remember the incident when the eldest son of the Nian family fell into the water during a boat race?" The queen asked in a light tone. Jianqiu looked up in confusion and did not pay attention to the meaning of the queen's words.

"If you want to eliminate a serious threat, you must have a knife that suits your needs.

Zhen promised to give Prince Guo and the Zhen family to her, and maybe the Shen family as well. How could the emperor not keep her? "

After hearing what the Queen said, Jianqiu finally understood the twists and turns behind it. She thought it was just a dispute in the harem, and never imagined that it had such an intricate connection with the affairs of the previous dynasty.

And that's not all. The emperor was most jealous of Prince Guo because he was favored by the late emperor. If Prince Yi hadn't said that Prince Guo could be used, I'm afraid the emperor would not have kept this younger brother.

I'm afraid the emperor's real intention is to take the opportunity to eliminate the Nian family and deal with Prince Guo at the same time.

The queen thought for a long time but did not tell Jianqiu what was in her heart. She looked at the peony flowers on the tray for a long time before she told Jianqiu to send some new fabrics to Shuimu Mingse.

"Then Lady An has been ill for a long time, it's time to comfort her."

"Yes, I will talk to Baoque again to see what Lady An has been doing recently."

Jianqiu bowed and retreated with the peonies. She picked out some fashionable materials from the warehouse and took the two little maids to Lingrong's Shuimu Mingse.

Now Lingrong has just recovered and finally has some strength to embroider in the palace.

She liked embroidery, but was always worried that her eyes would be damaged like her mother's, so she often stopped for a few days and did not do any needlework.

She was just embroidering two new handkerchiefs for herself when she heard Baoque come in to report that Aunt Jianqiu from the Empress's office wanted to see her.

Ling Rong realized almost instantly that Jianqiu might have come to test her. It now seemed that the powder on the hydrangea might have been sprinkled there by the Queen.

"Please come in." Ling Rong rubbed her eyes hurriedly, trying to make herself look less energetic.

Jianqiu came in quickly, holding a few pieces of Xizi-colored fabrics, and respectfully presented them to Lingrong with both hands.

"Ahem, the Queen is so kind that she even thought of giving me this summer fabric." Ling Rong pretended to be still coughing and hurriedly thanked the Queen, "When I feel better, I will definitely thank the Queen."

"The Queen has instructed that you should take good care of yourself. I will do the thank you for your kindness."

Jianqiu really knows how to act and speak. She bowed and greeted respectfully, and there was nothing wrong with her.

"Zhaoshui, bring some tea money for Aunt Jianqiu." Lingrong looked back at Jianqiu with a smile, "It's been very hot these days, and it's not easy to walk outside. I've suffered from the heat."

"Then I thank you, young lady," Jianqiu took the purse and held it in her hand, "Why is your young lady still coughing, but the imperial physician's medicine is not effective?"

Ling Rong shook her head. She recalled Aunt Fang Jing's words and decided to test Jian Qiu. "I haven't been sleeping well these days. I have nightmares all night long."

She supported her head with one hand, frowned and sighed in pain, and secretly looked at Jianqiu's expression through the cover of her arm.

But Jianqiu had been in the palace for many years, so she naturally developed the ability to hide her emotions. She showed some concern on her face, "Maybe it's caused by a heat cold? If the young lady is really unbearable, it's better to ask the imperial physician to take a look."

Ling Rong's expression was still unbearable. She sighed deeply, thanked Jianqiu for his concern, and asked Zhaoshui to prepare some more silver before sending Jianqiu out.

Of course, preparing the money was just an excuse. Lingrong called Zhaoshui over and quietly told her to follow Jianqiu from behind to see if she had any contact with the palace maids in Shuimu Mingse.

Zhaoshui has been out for a long time and hasn't come back yet, so I don't know if he really found anything.

Lingrong was embroidering while waiting. After about a cup of tea, she finally went back to Fenglexuan, wiping the sweat off her face.

"My lady, Jianqiu did not come into contact with anyone in the palace, but when she passed by the Natural Painting, she saw the tall palace maid in Jingpin Palace."