136 Fire
◎There's no water in the water tanks in front of the palace◎
"Your Majesty, let me think about it," He Qiong said, as if he had been enlightened today. "I am not unaware of the situation in the court. Right now, we old ministers are like a mantis trying to stop a chariot. We are useless."
Hearing a satisfactory answer, Rong Qianyu finally smiled with relief. "Then Lord He better hurry up. The princes and princesses are growing up, and time is running out."
"Mother, mother, I'm sleepy!" Suddenly, Yu'er ran in from outside. Seeing the adults talking, the child politely bowed to He Qiong. "Yu'er, greetings, Master He."
"Master He, how are you feeling? Are you feeling better?" The child had no ulterior motives and asked without any ulterior motives.
He Qiong stroked his little face and said, "Thank you for your concern, Your Highness. I will definitely take care of myself."
"My Queen Mother said we should be kind." He was not much taller than the table. He brought over a footstool, stepped on it, and poured He Qiong a cup of tea. "Master He is older, and the younger generation should love and respect him. Master He, have some tea."
He Qiong was flattered and didn't dare to take the tea for a moment, "Did the Empress teach you this?"
Yu'er placed the tea on the table and spoke eloquently, "This is what the younger generation should do. The younger generation should behave like younger generations and respect the elders. The same applies to the monarch and his subjects. If you can't be a benevolent monarch yourself, how can any subject be willing to assist you?"
After saying this, He Qiong took the tea and took a sip. Rong Qianyu had prepared well today, so there seemed to be no reason to refuse. "The eldest prince is intelligent, even more so than Your Majesty."
"Master He will have to teach me more in the future," Rong Qianyu shouted outside as boxes of gifts were brought in front of her. "Master He, please take care of yourself. I'll take my leave now."
"I'll see you off..." He Qiong held his wife back, not letting her get up. "I'm not feeling well, so I'm sorry I can't see you off."
Madam He was very puzzled. "Old man, why are you talking so sarcastic?"
"Don't you understand what the Queen means?"
The old lady said, "I think there's nothing wrong with what you said. Why did you become an official? Is it for fame and fortune?"
"That being said, she is the queen, and behind her is the little prince. It is not a good thing for the master to be young and the mother to be strong."
"You've seen over the past few years that the Queen is not that kind of person."
"She's trying to win me over. Your Majesty's health is deteriorating from the elixirs he's taking. I'm afraid the capital is going to be in chaos."
This was a frightening statement. "No way," said the old lady.
Rong Qianyu and the others boarded the carriage, and Yu'er finally couldn't help but speak: "Mother, why do we have to come to see Lord He? Isn't he a minister of our father's?"
"Lord He He is an old minister. Such a loyal minister has spent his entire life working for the country. Now that he is ill, shouldn't we come and see him? We can't let such a minister feel disheartened."
"Yes, we can't let him down!"
"Did your Majesty disappoint Lord He, so he came to see him?" Although Yu'er didn't quite understand, he asked the question seriously.
"Your Majesty has his own ideas, which differ from Lord He's. There will always be disagreements. But a monarch must be able to distinguish right from wrong, who is honest advice that hurts the ear, and who is flattering. You must be able to distinguish clearly and know people well and appoint them to the right positions. You cannot be led by bad people by the nose. If you do that, not only will the sincere ministers be disheartened, but the people of the world will also be disheartened."
Yan'er was older than them, so she took everything in. "When people's hearts are broken, they will riot. That's what the book says."
"Water can carry a boat, but it can also capsize it. Therefore, we must all be upright and clear-headed people who can distinguish right from wrong."
When it comes to educating children, Rong Qianyu can be considered a very competent mother. She is very close to each of her children and teaches them by example. All of them are well-educated and well-mannered.
Fu Hua is a playboy, but these children are well-behaved and cute. Even An'er doesn't cry or make a fuss, which is not like Cui Rumei's temperament at all.
Arriving at the palace gate, she suddenly saw Yuanqing, who hurried over and said, "Your Majesty, something bad has happened! There's a fire in Consort Liu's palace!"
"What!"
Liu Chunyan has been staying indoors frequently recently, and Yu'er is often taken care of by Rong Qianyu. Some sharp-eyed people noticed some sparks and felt something was wrong.
When we arrived near Liu Chunyan's bedroom, we could already feel the rolling heat waves.
Flames shot up into the sky near the palace, and the cries of the palace maids inside were heard one after another. The quiet night was illuminated by the red light of the fire, and it was scorching hot as soon as you got close to it.
Rong Qianyu and Yu'er rushed over after hearing the news. They didn't even have time to change their clothes. Seeing the fire, they couldn't help but scold in anger, "How could this happen? How could there be a fire? Quickly save Liu Zhaoyi!"
She is known to everyone in the palace for her good temper. She has always been upright and gentle and polite to others. There is a reason why she is seen losing her composure today.
The maid cried until her face turned black. She said, "My lady, there is no water in the water tanks in front of the palace!"
"What?" Rong Qianyu demanded, "Who did this?"
"Yes...it's Concubine Ke. She said she wanted to see the lotus flowers, so she moved many unused water tanks in the palace to her own palace."
"Cui Rumei."
Hearing her name wasn't surprising, but what was surprising was the coincidence that she was not around. This way, no one would be suspected. Taking the water from the water tank wasn't a big deal, as palace servants would usually refill it. It was just a gap, so who could be blamed for the accident?
A maid who wasn't serving nearby reported, "The palace has been in disrepair for a long time. The recent dry weather is probably just a coincidence. We will definitely do our best to put out the fire!"
A young palace maid rushed into the crowd to rescue people, but was stopped by the old maid. "Are you crazy? Why are you going in?! Don't go in! The fire is too big. Don't go in!"
"Is there anyone else in there?" Rong Qianyu.
"They're basically here to put out the fire. All the servants are out, including Empress Zhaoyi..."
The young maid was covered in dust and dirt, looking like she had just been rescued. There were even burn marks on the corners of her clothes. "Your Majesty, help me! Your Majesty, help me! My mistress is in the palace. Please save her!"
She lay on the ground, seemingly injured, dragging her legs and pulling hard at Rong Qianyu's robe, just begging him to save her master once.
"Fei Xu?" Rong Qianyu recognized her, "Where is Liu Zhaoyi?"
Rong Qianyu was about to ask when the burly old maid pulled her away and pointed at the little palace maid's nose and scolded her, "What are you arguing about? Life and death are determined by fate, and wealth and honor are determined by God. Your master is unlucky, so does she need the Empress to go in and save her?"
Feixu cried so hard that her eyes were filled with tears, and she didn't care about her own injuries. She almost fainted several times.
"What did you say?" Rong Qianyu glanced at her, and the old lady immediately fell silent and shut up without saying anything more.
She knew she had said something wrong and tried to make amends by saying, "I made a mistake."
Rong Qianyu has always been an extremely gentle person, and this time was no exception. She took the initiative to squat down and wipe the tears of the little palace maid. Her bright eyes with tear marks were particularly moving.
She helped the man up and asked softly, "Don't worry. Tell me clearly where Concubine Liu is so we can find someone to put out the fire."
Feixu was choked with sobs and was unable to speak for several times. After taking several breaths, she finally stammered out a complete sentence, "My queen was framed, she can't get out!"
When Rong Qianyu heard that Liu Chunyan couldn't get out, she became alarmed. No wonder she had recently asked Yu'er to follow her. Suddenly, she turned around and accused the nanny, "There's someone in there, and you didn't go to save them, but are now talking nonsense. If anything happens to Liu Zhaoyi, I will kill you and bury you with her!!"
The old woman knelt on the ground and begged for mercy. She had never seen him lose his temper so much before. "I am stupid. I really didn't know there was someone else inside!"
"Your Majesty, you must save my master, please save Zhuzi. I just went out of the palace to get something for her and I didn't expect a fire to happen. Please have mercy on her and seek justice for her!" Rong Qianyu took off her outer robe while listening to her and poured a bucket of water on herself.
From a distance, the fire looked like a swirling evil spirit. The thick smoke and heat made it impossible to open one's eyes, mixed with the wanton whistling sound.
She didn't care about anything else and quickly covered herself with a wet quilt and rushed in.
"Your Majesty, you can't do that! You can't do that!" Rong Pan grabbed the quilt covering Rong Qianyu's body and slid to his knees in front of her. "Your Majesty is the mother of a country, how dare I harm your body? Your Majesty, no matter how urgent it is, you must take care of yourself. If something happens to you again, what will the princes do?"
The palace maids and eunuchs outside also rushed forward to stop her. She wanted to break down the door and rush in, but the palace in front of her had been burned beyond recognition.
Liu Chunyan...
Liu Chunyan's face was covered in ash, her hair untied, and she was trapped in the room blocked by the flames. She yelled at the top of her lungs, "Cui Rumei, you have such a hateful heart! My mother and I have always been humble and submissive, yet you still want to kill us all!"
The palace people were talking about it.
"Empress, Cui Rumei has ulterior motives. You must be on guard! Her brothers are corrupt and have fabricated lies. Now that she's pregnant, there's no place for us mother and child..."
"mother!!!"
Yu'er ran towards her. The child stumbled and was almost unconscious from the black smoke when he came to her.
Rong Qianyu hugged Yu'er tightly. Yu'er buried himself in her arms, crying at the top of his lungs, "Mom, come out!!!"
The child witnessed his mother die in front of his eyes at a very young age. Such a tragic scene will haunt him for the rest of his life and become a shadow that he will never be able to let go of.
"Cui Rumei, you've hurt me like this, you'll die a miserable death, a miserable death!!"
Suddenly, the roof beams gave way, and a blackened beam pinned her right in the middle, completely engulfed in flames.
Rong Qianyu watched Liu Chunyan die in front of her, walked over and picked up Yu'er, and secretly made up her mind. She must kill her.
"My Lady...what should I do?"
"Come here..." The eunuchs rushed forward.
Rong Qianyu pointed at the old woman who was blocking the fire and said, "Drag her down and sentence her to death."
"Go tell His Majesty to ask the Ministry of Works to repair the palace, and have the Ministry of Rites arrange the posthumous title and funeral rites. This must be thoroughly investigated, thoroughly investigated!"
"Also, if even one word of what Concubine Liu said today gets out tomorrow, I will kill you."
Rong Panyuanqing helped her up, "What about Concubine Ke?"
"Cui must die."
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