Legend of Zhen Huan: Zhen Huan is reborn

199 I am not her

(Yongshou Palace)

"Your Majesty, Jingren Palace has sent a mutton-fat white jade ring, which looks like a pair with the one the emperor gave you before." Jinxi said.

Zhen Huan glanced at the item and immediately thought of Chun Yuan. This thing might have originally belonged to her.

Zhen Huan snorted disdainfully, "Since the Queen has sent such a precious gift, we should go and thank her properly, otherwise people will say that I am taking advantage of my pregnancy and not taking her seriously."

"It's just nap time now, the Queen might have already rested." Jinxi reminded.

"Hehe, she heard that I'm pregnant again. Do you think she can still sleep? Even if she falls asleep, can she sleep soundly?" After saying this, Zhen Huan stood up and walked to the dressing table.

She was dressed quite simply, with only a rose hairpin given to her by Yinzhen in her hair.

Today she was wearing a light pink cheongsam dress embroidered with a pattern of albizzia trees.

(Jingren Palace)

As soon as she stepped into Jingren Palace, Jianqiu seemed to have got the upper hand and had already gone out to wait for Zhen Huan's arrival.

"Greetings to Her Majesty the Imperial Concubine. Best wishes to Her Majesty the Imperial Concubine." Jianqiu said with a smile.

Zhen Huan chuckled softly, the volume just right, just enough to be heard in the palace: "I have met Aunt Jianqiu frequently these past few days, and I have truly experienced what it means to be rude first and respectful later. The attitudes are very different."

Jianqiu was slightly embarrassed, but soon recovered and replied in a neither humble nor arrogant manner: "I always act according to people. Your Highness was in trouble that day, and I had no choice. I hope Your Highness will be magnanimous and not hold it against me."

Entering the hall, Yi Zhengzhen was sitting upright on the couch, her blue Manchu dress making her look even more beautiful.

Yixiu glanced at Zhen Huan and said, "One should act and speak according to the person. Concubine Xi's words and deeds are of great benefit to Jianqiu. This is a rare opportunity. She should put her knowledge into practice so as not to waste Concubine Xi's daily teachings."

"Your Majesty, you are too kind." Zhen Huan responded with a smile, "Jian Qiu serves the Queen every day, so she is naturally the most influenced by the Queen. How can you talk about my teachings? I dare not belittle myself or claim any merit."

Yixiu's eyes slowly swept over Zhen Huan's belly, and she said softly, "Noble Concubine Xi is pregnant. Why don't you take a nap at this time, but go out for a walk instead? You should take care of your body first."

"Thank you for your concern, Queen. I thought that since Your Majesty has bestowed such a precious gift, I should come to greet You and express my gratitude. As Your Majesty is the master of the Central Palace, how can I lose my manners and cause other concubines in the palace to follow suit?" Zhen Huan looked directly at the Queen and smiled slightly.

Yixiu was half lying on the couch, leaning against a silk cushion filled with chrysanthemum leaves and corn. The slightest movement made a rustling sound.

She smiled gently: "The words of Concubine Xi are becoming more and more full of Zen. Perhaps only a person with a deep mind can say such words. I don't understand why. Could it be that Concubine Xi is pregnant and her words are a little trance because of joy?"

"Your Majesty is wise. Since you are willing to treat my words as a joke, I will just treat them as a joke to make you laugh." Zhen Huan picked up the peeled pomegranate seeds on the agate plate and tasted a few. "Your Majesty has no children and has always regarded the Third Prince as her only hope. Therefore, she spared no effort to become his only mother and even arranged for a girl from your family to be his principal wife. All of this is just to make it possible for the Third Prince to ascend the throne one day, and you can naturally become the only empress dowager. Even the future position of empress will still belong to you, Ulanara, to ensure that power will never fall into the hands of others."

"Noble Concubine Xi is too modest. I am ashamed that I am not as smart and blessed as her. How did my sister completely distance herself from the miscarriage of Concubine Mei in front of the Emperor that day? Although I have served the Emperor for many years with my sister, I have never seen Noble Concubine Xi be so eloquent." Yixiu responded.

"It is my blessing that the Queen can be so understanding. It turns out that my clever words and eloquence can comfort Her Majesty and save Her Majesty from worrying about the loss of Concubine Mei's child. It's a pity that Her Majesty's years of painstaking planning are wasted. I am also glad that I have not been calculated by the treacherous people. After thinking about it, except for being grateful for the Queen's blessing, there is no one to thank. I also feel distressed for Her Majesty. After planning for so long, I am afraid that Her Majesty has lost this "deal". "Zhen Huan slowly exhaled, "But then again, Her Majesty and the Third Prince are not blood relatives after all, so there is no mother-son connection. Her Majesty is too strict with him and not kind enough. Although she has made comprehensive arrangements for him, I don't know if the Third Prince really has feelings for Her Majesty."

Yixiu gently adjusted the pearl earrings beside her ears. "I am not a businessman and do not understand the ways of business, so I do not know what is a loss or a gain. But Concubine Xi should understand that one should not get carried away by a moment of success. Things in the palace are as unpredictable as the weather. For example, it was stormy last night, but fortunately the clouds have cleared and the moon is shining today, but not every day will have such good weather and such good luck."

She smiled meaningfully, her posture upright, her aura undiminished, "Besides, although the Third Prince is not my biological son, he is now nominally my son. Even if there is no Third Prince, there are still the Fourth Prince, the Fifth Prince, the Sixth Prince, and at worst the Seventh Prince, the Eighth Prince, and the Ninth Prince. They are all my children, and I will treat them all equally and teach them carefully, Concubine Xi, don't you agree?"

Zhen Huan smiled slightly and bowed, "The Queen is right. So how can I sleep peacefully without seeing the Queen? As Her Majesty said, there is a long time to come. So I will take my leave today and come to pay my respects to Her Majesty later." Zhen Huan bowed and was about to leave.

I had only taken a few steps when a deep voice suddenly came from behind me: "Wanwan."

The voice was extremely cold, as if it contained endless resentment, all concentrated in these two words.

Although it was noon, Zhen Huan still shuddered at the cold tone of the voice.

She knew that Yixiu might not be calling her, but she couldn't help but stop and hesitate.

Yixiu's smile was as sharp as a sword, chilling and pressing. She said word by word, "For so many years, did you think he was calling you 'Wan Wan'?"

Zhen Huan didn't move at all, she just lowered her eyelids and looked at the dense embroidery of albizzia flowers on the hem of her skirt.

The stitches were so dense that it made people feel suffocated. They were tightened thread by thread until their hearts became numb and cold.

Zhen Huan turned around, suddenly raised her head, stared at Yi Xiu, and the corners of her mouth formed an extremely sweet and gentle smile, and she slowly said: "I know."

Yixiu sneered slightly: "You really do know."

"It's not me, nor is it you. There has never been anyone else in this harem, only her. It's the same in his heart, and it will always be like this." Zhen Huan's voice was not loud, but it was enough for Yixiu to hear all her words in this hall filled with the fragrance of melons and fruits.

Yixiu shuddered and said calmly, "I am different from you. I am the queen, the mother of the world!"

"So what if she's the queen? So what if she's the mother of the world? All the women in this palace are fighting, using their minds, their time, and even their lives. No one is exempt. Do you think we will win? Wrong. Everyone will always lose. There's no chance of winning. No matter how hard you fight, you can beat the living but not the dead. We can never beat the dead Chun Yuan in our lifetime. The only rival in this harem has always been Chun Yuan." The sad smile on Zhen Huan's lips froze stiffly, like a flower withered in the autumn wind. "In fact, the queen understands this principle better than me. Why bother to deceive yourself again?"

Yixiu seemed to have all the strength drained from her body. Her body went limp and she fell heavily into her seat.

Zhen Huan stared at Yi Xiu, her eyes were like frost and snow, as if they were going to freeze me completely.

“Am I like her?” she asked.

Zhen Huan and Yi Xiu, the two most prominent women in the entire Qing harem, stared at each other for a long time.

Then, Yixiu shook her head and said, "You two don't look alike, but when you stand there, people will think it's her for no reason."

Zhen Huan smiled sadly: "But, I am not her."

Yixiu nodded slightly, and the pair of jade bracelets on her wrists sparkled with a cool chill in the sunlight.

She showed a trace of fatigue, then turned her back to Zhen Huan, "I also need to rest. If I don't get a good night's sleep every night, how can I have the energy to look at Concubine Xi's beautiful smile every day?"

(Yongshou Palace)

In the next few days, Yinzhen rewarded Zhen Huan with countless rare treasures, and sent Su Peisheng to ask about Zhen Huan's well-being seven or eight times in one day.

Zhen Huan just responded indifferently and didn't pay much attention to him.

Su Peisheng was so tired that he pounded his waist and bowed to Zhen Huan, saying, "Your Majesty, please think that you are worried about me! I have other things to do. I can't stand being ordered around by the Emperor seven or eight times a day."

After saying this, even Jinxi couldn't help but feel distressed.

Zhen Huan just scooped up the milk bird's nest in the bowl and slowly ate it before saying, "You can go back and tell the emperor about this yourself. I don't like seeing you look so sad seven or eight times a day."

"How dare I!" Su Peisheng begged for mercy, "The Queen avoided the Emperor and refused to see him. Every time the Emperor saw me, he would ask me many questions."

"Then you can go and tell the emperor that there is no need to give me so many things. I don't like any of them, so just return them all." After saying that, Zhen Huan refused to say anything more.