Chapter 337 Conspiracy

Meanwhile, Zhu Zhenzhen and Tang Qianran returned to the East Palace together. Both of them were furious and blamed each other.

"I'm going to find the Crown Prince, and you're going to find the Crown Prince too, Zhu Zhenzhen, do you really have to go against me?" Tang Qianran said angrily.

Zhu Zhenzhen said calmly, "If you can find him, why can't I? Is the Crown Prince yours alone?"

"He..." Tang Qianran paused, unsure how to respond. Her eyes were filled with helplessness. "Even if the Crown Prince belongs to both of us, I won't argue with you."

Zhu Zhenzhen also gave up. That's right, His Highness the Crown Prince doesn't belong to them, but to the Crown Princess. Ever since the Empress stopped managing the affairs of the Eastern Palace, the Crown Prince has been favoring the Crown Princess every night.

At this moment, Tang Qianran suddenly said, "Why don't we join forces?"

Zhu Zhenzhen looked at her and remained silent.

Tang Qianran said, "I've thought about it. What's the point of us fighting to the death here? It will only result in mutual destruction, and neither of us will benefit. In total, we only have three concubines in the palace. Not counting those who went to the Cold Palace, Song Qing is pregnant now. The Crown Princess is protecting her belly like it's her own eyeball, and she's been promoted to concubine. What's even more infuriating is that ten more concubines have moved into our East Palace."

"Didn't you hear those concubines gossiping? They're saying we're out of favor and might have to live in the Eastern Palace forever."

Tang Qianran became angrier as she spoke. If it weren't for the new concubines entering the Eastern Palace, she wouldn't have resorted to the same trick to see the Crown Prince again. But Zhu Zhenzhen followed suit and was determined to ruin her plans.

Zhu Zhenzhen also fell into deep thought. Why did the Emperor suddenly faint? Eunuch Wuxin told them not to talk nonsense, but what was the Emperor's health like?

If the Emperor falls seriously ill, will His Highness the Crown Prince ascend the throne? They were among the first batch of concubines to enter the palace. She said, "Alright, I agree to cooperate."

The two agreed that from now on they would never undermine each other again and would help each other to gain the Crown Prince's favor.

After a period of planning by the two, the Crown Prince finally sent someone to invite Consort Tang to have dinner together in Chengguang Palace. That night, Consort Tang did indeed stay in Chengguang Palace.

Zhu Zhenzhen is of the same rank as her, and she has also shown her face before the Crown Prince, but the Crown Prince has not chosen her for so long.

She grew increasingly anxious. Even the new people who had entered her palace had met the Crown Prince, so Zhu Zhenzhen ran to Consort Gao's room again.

Gao Liangyuan's given name was Qingtong. The Gao family was of high status, and she had never gone to the main house to pay her respects since she moved into Yuling Palace, as she felt it was unnecessary.

When Gao Qingtong saw Zhu Liangdi arrive, she said calmly, "Qingtong greets Zhu Liangdi." She also gave her a perfunctory curtsy before sitting back down.

She was the first of the newly arrived concubines to be summoned by the Crown Prince. Knowing that Zhu Liangdi had suffered a miscarriage and that the Crown Prince had not summoned her to his bedchamber since, Consort Gao assumed that Zhu Zhenzhen had fallen out of favor.

Zhu Zhenzhen saw that she was arrogant and domineering. She was just the daughter of a fourth-rank official. What was she so arrogant about?

She suppressed her anger and smiled, "Is Consort Gao settling in well since moving into the palace? Now that we're living in Yuling Palace, we're practically sisters. If there's anything you don't understand, just ask me."

"I'm not used to anything, I'm quite used to everything." Gao Qingtong didn't know why she suddenly came. She had been living in Yuling Palace for more than two months, and Zhu Zhenzhen hadn't greeted her at all, so she didn't bother to be friendly. Her father had said that once she entered the palace, all she needed to do was curry favor with the Crown Princess; no one else mattered. Her family had already found out that the Crown Prince doted on the Crown Princess, and if she wanted to live peacefully in the Eastern Palace, she just needed to avoid offending the Crown Princess.

Gao Qingtong is arrogant, just like Zhu Zhenzhen, who is equally arrogant.

Zhu Zhenzhen tried to be friendly but was met with indifference, but she tolerated it.

She said gently, "Consort Gao knows that there are two other concubines in our Eastern Palace, right?"

Gao Qingtong overheard that two concubines had been banished to the Cold Palace, but she didn't know what had happened. She heard that one of them was pregnant. What had happened to them?

Zhu Zhenzhen ordered Meixiang to go out and guard the door, then closed it again. Gao Qingtong was curious but did not stop her.

Zhu Zhenzhen remained silent, which made Gao Qingtong anxious. "Why?" She had already inquired about the Crown Princess when she entered the palace. The Crown Prince favored the Crown Princess, so as long as she didn't offend her, everything would be fine.

Zhu Zhenzhen seemed to see through her thoughts, "Do you think you'll be safe just because you don't offend the Crown Princess? That Concubine Ye and Consort Su both came from outside the palace with the Crown Prince. They used to be very popular with him. Wouldn't it be easy for the Crown Princess to suppress them? Even if you don't provoke others, others will provoke you. Just like me back then, I didn't provoke anyone, but I didn't even know I was pregnant, and the child was lost inexplicably."

Her eyes were red and she looked very sad. Gao Qingtong was also moved by her appearance and comforted her, "Don't be sad, Zhu Liangdi. You will definitely have children again after you recover."

“Yes, that’s what I think too, but for so long, the Crown Prince only goes to the Crown Princess’s Chenxi Palace every day and never summons me.” She added, “I know why.”

"What's the reason?" Gao Qingtong asked.

“When I first entered the palace, I was just like you. I thought that as long as I didn’t offend the Crown Princess, I would be fine. I rarely spoke to anyone. I thought that as long as the Crown Prince liked me and treated me well, I would not care about anything else. I never expected that my non-competitive nature would be my downfall.” Zhu Zhenzhen became more and more aggrieved as she spoke. “Now His Highness the Crown Prince also dislikes me. I have lost favor after only one year in the palace.”

Gao Qingtong had also thought that as long as she didn't compete or fight for anything and wasn't greedy, she could live a peaceful life in the palace. But now it seemed that even not competing or fighting for anything wasn't easy.

Zhu Liangdi is so pitiful.

Could it be that the Crown Princess secretly manipulated her miscarriage?

"I'm just kindly reminding you that you've already served the emperor and could become pregnant at any time. Be careful with the tonics and supplements that the Crown Princess has sent." She seemed to be doing this for Gao Qingtong's own good.

After saying that, she got up to leave, but Gao Qingtong stopped her. "Sister Zhu, thank you. I will need your guidance in the future."

"His Highness the Crown Prince doesn't like me at all anymore, so I have nothing to advise you on. I'm just afraid that the new concubines who have entered the palace will suffer the same fate as me." A tear fell from Zhu Zhenzhen's eye, making her look pitiful.

Gao Qingtong wasn't as pretty as Zhu Zhenzhen, but the Crown Prince favored her. She didn't know that the Crown Prince only chose his favorites based on who was beneficial to him and his governance of the court.

Another reason is for the sake of imperial offspring. The imperial family needs women in the harem to give birth to imperial offspring from different maternal clans in order to balance the court, consolidate imperial power, and even cultivate suitable successors for the Xie family's empire. The crown prince only treats dealing with them as a job, and those who can give birth to imperial offspring will be given respect and status.