"Our Lord is best at deceiving himself and others."
In the quiet and solemn Cining Palace, a cold laugh sounded from behind the gauze curtain.
The palace maids who were pounding their legs and rubbing their shoulders seemed to be deaf to the ridicule. They continued to work tirelessly, carefully serving the woman who was lying on the chaise longue, with her hair full of silver hair but still beautiful.
It was as if the person who was sneering and mocking was not the almighty emperor of the Dayong Dynasty.
"Xiulian." The woman waved her hand and sent away the maid who was massaging her shoulders and legs.
Soon, there were only women left in the huge bedroom, along with a nanny of similar age sitting next to the chaise longue.
"Your Majesty, I'm here." The nanny lowered her head slightly, looking very respectful.
"Has the guy in Qionghua Palace come up with anything new recently?"
"We just sent a batch of gauze yesterday... I heard that Xue from the Jinyang Marquis's Mansion cut two new clothes for that person, it seems..." When the nanny said this, her cheeks couldn't help but blush. Facing the burning gaze of the elegant but majestic man on the couch, she continued with a stiff face: "It seems quite explicit. The emperor had no intention of staying in the harem because of the war in the north gate, but he still stayed in the Qionghua Palace last night."
"Oh, these are just some unpresentable things."
"hehe."
There were consecutive sneers. The first one came from the two people in Qionghua Palace, while the second one came from the person that others dared not laugh at. The sarcasm on the woman's lips deepened, and her eyes were full of disdain.
"As the king of a country, he indulged himself in women and lingered in the harem during the border war."
"In the face of natural disasters, they still have to collect grain taxes, forcing the people to live in misery."
"How can such a person be an emperor?"
"You should give up your throne to my Nan'er!"
Mammy lowered her head even lower. These outrageous words were spoken by the person on the couch, but they, the slaves and servants, could not listen to them. If you are not careful, you may be guilty of beheading.
Seeing her cautious look, the woman on the couch glared at her with annoyance, "You are just too timid. But it is because of your cautious nature that I feel at ease to entrust so many things to you."
"Thanks to your protection over the years, I have been able to live such a peaceful life. It is my honor to be valued by you."
"Okay, I know everything. Just bear with it for a while. When Nan'er takes this position, everything will be fine."
The graceful woman leaning on the chaise longue is none other than the current empress dowager.
When she mentioned Emperor Xiaoming, there was only disdain and ridicule in her eyes, but when she mentioned "Nan'er", her eyes were full of kindness.
She got up from the couch, walked to the window, looked up to the north, and murmured.
"Nan'er has already started to take action. I will make this road smoother for him."
After looking at it for a long time, she withdrew her gaze, turned around and ordered: "Let the people in Pingzhou prepare. It's time to let the people know what kind of tyrant the ruler sitting on the throne is who doesn't care about their lives!"
"Also, keep a close eye on the Qionghua Palace. If there are any more items like firearms, regardless of whether they succeed or not, copy down the formula first. As for the things that are not presentable, there is no need to report them to me."
…
In the Qionghua Palace not far away.
The two people who had just been mentioned by the Queen Mother and the Nanny were now sitting and kneeling, facing each other in the same room.
The person sitting was naturally the mistress of Qionghua Palace, Concubine Ling, and the one kneeling in front of her was Xue Linglong, who had been brought into the palace by her not long ago.
Concubine Ling took a sip of tea while the palace maid beside her fed her fruit one bite at a time. She didn't even glance at the person kneeling in front of her.
Even though the person kneeling below was already staggering, he did not say a word to ask him to stand up.
Damn it!
Xue Linglong quietly moved her knees. She had been kneeling here since dark, and her knees had long been numb. She didn't know if her knees would be broken if she continued kneeling like this.
This vicious woman was just taking her out on her on purpose!
Xue Linglong cursed non-stop in her heart but did not dare to show it on her face. During the time she lived in Qionghua Palace, she deeply felt the cruelty of this era. Compared to Concubine Ling's methods of torture, the methods used by the former wife of Marquis Jinyang, Qin, and the eunuch beside the second prince in the Ling family's villa were simply not good enough.
If you don't do things according to Concubine Ling's wishes, Concubine Ling really has a thousand ways to make her life a living hell!
Thinking of the cool and slippery touch in the secret room, and the smell of rust that filled her nose as soon as she closed her eyes, Xue Linglong shuddered.
He no longer dared to move quietly and knelt even more respectfully.
Seeing her like this, Concubine Ling finally set her eyes on her.
With a cold snort, he began to rebuke, "Xue, you are so bold."
The sound is not loud, nor fierce. Just one sentence made Xue Linglong, who was kneeling there, shiver uncontrollably.
Xue Linglong kowtowed twice and said, "Your Majesty, please calm down. Your Majesty, please calm down. It's all Linglong's fault for not doing a good job. Linglong will never dare to do it again."
"Don't dare? I think you dare very much!"
Concubine Ling smashed the teacup in her hand onto Xue Linglong's cheek with a "bang".
The scalding hot tea spilled all over Xue Linglong's head and face, but she didn't dare to express any dissatisfaction, and she couldn't even avoid it.
"The northern barbarians are invading, and the border is in a tight supply of food and grass. Yet you have bewitched me at this critical moment and done something that seduces the emperor. I think you did it on purpose, to make me a target of criticism and be called a demon concubine who brings disaster to the country and the people!"
Concubine Ling kept cursing.
She smashed the things on the desk one by one.
Xue Linglong endured it silently, but kept cursing in her heart.
She was locked up in the deep palace by Concubine Ling, so how could she know what was happening outside? Not to mention what’s happening far away at the border!
She vaguely remembered the times of the battles in her dream, but she didn't remember any major battles at that time, and she didn't know that the battle at Beiguan happened to start on the day when she was cutting those sexy clothes for Concubine Ling...
She didn't want Concubine Ling to be criticized and called a witch concubine.
It is obvious that Concubine Ling is a wicked concubine who brings disaster to the country and the people!
Those things that made people blush were clearly made by her under the instruction of Concubine Ling. Wasn't her purpose to divert Emperor Xiaoming's attention away from those young concubines who had just been taken into the harem?
She was just following orders, why should she be blamed for everything that went wrong?
Xue Linglong dug her fingertips deep into her palms and for the first time in her heart she truly regretted her decision.
If she had known that this would happen, perhaps... perhaps she should not have used the Second Prince as a stepping stone to leave the Marquis of Jinyang's Mansion.
No matter how unbearable Shen Feng was, he was at least somewhat sincere towards her.
No matter how vicious Qin was, she would not torture someone to a point where his life was worse than death.
When the moon was high in the sky, Xue Linglong, who had finally been let go by Concubine Ling, returned to her bedroom, picked up her needle and thread, and fiddled on the bed in the dark for a long time.
He told about Cui Tao, the only maid who followed him into the palace.
"Tomorrow I will ask you to leave the palace on the pretext that I left something in the other courtyard. Find a chance to deliver this piece of cloth to the prince. Be careful not to let others find out."
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