Legend of Zhen Huan: Zhen Huan is reborn

118 Qian Mingshi Poetry Collection

After a meticulous renovation, Sui Yu Xuan now looks brand new and is more elegant and comfortable than before.

Yinzhen originally intended to let Zhen Huan move to the more luxurious Yongshou Palace to show his favor, but Zhen Huan declined again and insisted on staying in Suiyuxuan. This indifference and tranquility made Yinzhen feel deeply relieved.

At the same time, the changes outside the palace quietly affected Zhen Huan.

In the court, Guaerjia Emin groundlessly accused Zhen Huan's father Zhen Yuandao of secretly keeping Qian Mingshi's banned books. This made Yinzhen suspicious and he frowned. His attitude towards Zhen Huan also became more subtle and defensive.

However, Zhen Huan was not an ordinary person. She had long been familiar with the affairs of the world. Although she was shocked by this sudden change, she was not panicked.

She knew very well that only by preparing ahead could she avoid danger.

So she quickly wrote a letter and sent it secretly to the Zhen family, telling her father Zhen Yuandao the whole story and asking him to be careful so as not to fall into the trap of others.

(Jingren Palace)

"When your father mentioned this matter to the emperor, did the emperor have any special response?" Yixiu asked in a deep voice, with a hint of worry in her eyes.

"I specially sent someone to ask father in detail. According to father, after he reported all the matters, the emperor did not say much and his expression was unpredictable." Guarjia Wenyuan reported truthfully, revealing a bit of uneasiness in her words.

"Not even a hint of displeasure or anger?" Yixiu asked further, trying to capture the emperor's true attitude from the details.

"Father said that the emperor's expression at the time was as calm as water, and it was difficult to tell what he was thinking inside." Guarjia Wenyuan confirmed again, unable to hide his anxiety in his tone.

Upon hearing this, Yixiu's face became even more solemn. After a moment's silence, she slowly said, "Regarding the matter of Nian Gengyao, the emperor hates the most that meritorious officials take advantage of his favor and become arrogant. He hates those who sympathize with their political enemies even more. Nian Gengyao and Yun? both met a miserable end because they sympathized with Yunsi and Yunlu. What's more, meritorious officials who have just gained power have ulterior motives."

"But the emperor did not directly blame Zhen Yuandao and Concubine Xi, which seems unreasonable." Wen Yuan looked puzzled and tried to analyze the emperor's actions.

Yixiu sighed softly, with a hint of worry in her eyes: "This is exactly what I am most worried about. I have been with the emperor for decades, and I am most familiar with his temperament except for the empress dowager. The emperor's move makes me worry whether he has changed his style of doing things for Concubine Xi. If so, the situation in the future will be even more complicated and unpredictable."

Wen Yuan was also uneasy when she heard this. She knew very well that the Queen was afraid of Concubine Xi, so she asked more worriedly: "Concubine Xi is about to be promoted to Imperial Concubine. For you, Queen, isn't this..."

Yixiu shook her head slightly, with a bitter smile on her lips: "Yes, you have won this honor at such a young age. I am afraid that my position as the queen will be uneasy. I am old and ugly. Who knows who will be the master of the harem in the future?"

(Smashed Jade Pavilion)

When Yinzhen walked into the inner room, he saw Zhen Huan holding a letter from home, with a focused and slightly worried expression.

"What are you looking at? Why are you so fascinated?" he asked softly, with a hint of tenderness and curiosity in his tone.

Zhen Huan looked up upon hearing the voice, and hurriedly stood up to salute, and replied respectfully, "Your Majesty, I am reading a letter from my mother, which mentioned that my father has been unwell recently. Although he insisted on attending court despite being ill, he had to rest early after returning home every day. He has been seeking medical treatment for many days, but his condition has not improved. I am very worried about my father and am afraid that he is ill."

Upon hearing this, Yinzhen frowned slightly and couldn't help but feel suspicious.

All this seemed too coincidental. Zhen Yuandao fell ill, and it happened that Guwalgiya Emin attacked him in the court.

He knew very well that although the harem and the former dynasty were separated by palace walls, one move could often affect the entire body, so he couldn't help but give more consideration to Guaerjia Emin's words.

"How could this be?" Yinzhen repeated, his tone becoming more serious and profound.

He secretly wondered if someone was behind this, intending to use this opportunity to harm the Zhen family.

Seeing Yinzhen's solemn expression, Zhen Huan's heart tightened, but she tried to stay calm and continued, "I know that Your Majesty is very busy, and I don't want to bother Your Majesty with such a small matter, but my father is my closest relative, and I really can't be at ease. I beg Your Majesty to understand my filial piety. If there is a chance, can you send someone to visit the Zhen Mansion to comfort my concubine and my family."

Upon hearing this, Yinzhen nodded and had already made up his mind.

He comforted her, "Don't worry, Huanhuan. I will send someone to the Zhen Mansion to investigate the situation. If necessary, I will send a royal doctor to treat the patient."

Zhen Huan looked at Yin Zhen gratefully, feeling a little relieved, "Thank you, Your Majesty."

Zhen Huan smiled, gently handed the teacup in her hand to Yinzhen, and said gently: "Your Majesty, have a cup of tea to warm yourself up. The weather is getting colder, don't catch a cold."

Her concern was so evident that Yinzhen's expression eased a little.

Yinzhen took the teacup, took a sip, and then took out a collection of poems from his sleeve. His tone was calm but with a hint of subtle meaning: "I got a collection of poems, which I find quite interesting, so I brought it here for you to have a look."

He did not directly state the origin or purpose of the collection of poems, but simply threw out this sentence lightly.

Zhen Huan took the collection of poems, her mind was as clear as a mirror, but she still maintained a gentle smile on her face.

She flipped through the pages casually. "Qian Mingshi? Who is this poet? I don't think I've ever heard of him."

Yinzhen did not answer directly, but just said softly: "Just read the poem, don't pay too much attention to the author."

Upon hearing this, Zhen Huan began to read the works in the poetry collection more carefully.

However, after she carefully savored a few poems, she frowned slightly: "This...is not a good poem. The style is bland and the artistic conception is a bit shallow, which is difficult to resonate with."

Yinzhen nodded slightly, with a hint of amusement in his eyes: "You said this poem is not good, and it is indeed difficult to find outside. Then, who would go out of their way to find it and keep it as a treasure?"

Zhen Huan pondered for a moment and replied, "I guess that maybe this collection of poems was sold together with other books, or maybe someone really collected them because they liked the style of a certain poet. After all, everyone has different tastes in literature."

There was a hint of reminiscence in her words, and she continued, "I remember when I was young, I went to Qipan Street with my father. There, booksellers would often bundle some hard-to-sell books with popular poetry collections for promotion. My mother often blamed my father for this, saying that he was always deceived by the vendors' sweet talk."

Speaking of this, Zhen Huan seemed to remember something interesting, and the corners of her mouth rose unconsciously.

She turned her attention to the last few pages of the collection and whispered, "Your Majesty, look, there is still a piece stuck together at the end of the book. It is obvious that it was not carefully separated when it was bound. With such details, it is no wonder that it is not regarded as a treasure."

Upon hearing this, Yinzhen took the collection of poems and examined it carefully. As Zhen Huan had said, he found that there were several places where the pages were stuck together.

The gloom on his face was reduced a little, as if this small flaw was some kind of good medicine.

"It seems that this collection of poems is just an ordinary thing as you said." Yinzhen chuckled, and his tone no longer had the previous seriousness and depth.

Zhen Huan was surprised when she heard this. She gently put down the teacup in her hand, turned her eyes to Yinzhen, and asked curiously: "What's wrong with the emperor? Is there something special about this collection of poems?"

Yinzhen frowned, with a hint of dissatisfaction and anger in his tone: "I flipped through a few pages and found that these poems are full of flattering words, praising those evil people. Such poems that confuse right and wrong are really against the character and integrity of literati. I think that the people who wrote the poems either don't know right from wrong or have ulterior motives. They should be severely punished, dismissed from their posts and sent back to their hometowns as a warning."

Zhen Huan shook her head slightly, with a hint of apology on her face: "I didn't look carefully enough just now, and I just thought these poems were ordinary and nothing special. I didn't expect that there was such a deep meaning hidden in them."

Yinzhen sighed and explained, "The person who wrote the poem was praising Yun."

Zhen Huan frowned when she heard this and asked, "Are these poems written now? Is there anyone who still doesn't repent and continues to sing his praises?"

Yinzhen shook his head and said in a heavy tone: "It was written in the past. But so what? The crimes committed by Yun? cannot be covered up by a few poems. These poems are nothing but evidence of his abetting the tyrant."

Zhen Huan pondered for a moment and said slowly: "I think this person may have truly admired Yun?'s talent or character, but now that Yun? has done such a bad thing, these poems have lost their value. It is better to destroy them all to avoid polluting your ears and prevent them from spreading in the world and misleading others."

Upon hearing this, Yinzhen nodded, with a hint of approval in his eyes.

He was well aware of Zhen Huan's intelligence and understanding, and he admired her decisiveness and resolve in this matter.

He said softly: "Huanhuan is right. How do you think I should deal with the person who hid the poem?"

After hearing this, Zhen Huan pondered for a moment and said slowly, "Your Majesty, I think that the treatment of the person who hid the poems should be determined according to the circumstances. If this person really wanted to collect these poems for his own pleasure, then his behavior undoubtedly encouraged evil spirits and he should be severely punished to serve as a warning to others. However, if he was framed and innocently implicated, then Your Majesty should also take this into consideration when punishing him and should not generalize."

She paused and continued, "However, no matter what the situation is, I think that this person's imprudence is obvious. As an official or scholar in the court, he should distinguish right from wrong and stay away from treacherous people. He should not hide such poems in his own mansion. Therefore, even if he was framed, when punishing him, the emperor might as well remind him to be more cautious in the future to avoid falling into the trap of others again."

After listening to Zhen Huan's words, Yinzhen nodded, with a hint of approval in his eyes.

After hesitating for a moment, he said, "What Huanhuan said is absolutely right. I will investigate this matter carefully and make a fair decision based on the actual situation."

Zhen Huan smiled slightly, she knew that her words had worked.

She snuggled up to Yinzhen and felt relieved.