"Your Majesty, I, your concubine..."
"Get away first!"
Xie Yanci tried his best to control himself, lowered his voice and waved his hand, asking Concubine Jin to retreat to the woods.
This action once again hurt her self-esteem.
"Your Majesty and Jia Wanrong have something to say, why do you have to make me stand so far away? I am right here, I just don't want to listen."
"It's not what you think. Be obedient and go over first!"
Imperial Concubine Jin blinked her misty eyes in grievance, "Your Majesty, do you still remember that you promised me that you would go to Chengqian Palace tonight to have dinner with me and watch the night-blooming cereus? I have been waiting for you for a long time and came here specially, but I didn't expect..."
"Now is not the time to be jealous!" The emperor's patience was clearly running out. Seeing the river lanterns already strung together with thin ropes and the incense stick next to them about to burn out, he said, "Hurry over!"
Wei Shuyi stood up and saluted towards Concubine Jin: "Your Highness, we are performing the final ritual for Zhaohua. It is best if you do not attend. This is the order of Taoist Yu."
"He's just an ordinary commoner who luckily entered the palace, so he can say nonsense?!" Concubine Jin had indeed misunderstood. She became even more heartbroken and shouted at Xie Yanci, "It's fine if others don't trust me, but does the emperor also think that Princess Zhaohua's death is related to me?! Is that why he wants to drive me away as far as possible?!"
"Nonsense! Yang Mingrui! Take the imperial concubine out now!"
At this time, Xie Yanci had already bent down to pick up the river lantern, and solemnly placed the other string into Wei Shuyi's hands.
In the eyes of Concubine Jin, this was another layer of irony!
She rushed over regardless, determined to make her words clear: "Your Majesty, I am not that kind of person. You cannot be deceived by that treacherous villain! Jia Wanrong already has a grudge against me, she must..."
"Your Highness, please make way for me. I need to go over and release the river lanterns. It would be terrible if I miss the time."
"you?!"
Concubine Jin felt that Wei Shuyi was deliberately humiliating her, and she moved a step angrily, waving her long sleeves, which were accidentally ignited by the flame of the white candle!
She flapped her sleeves in panic, completely forgetting her current situation, fearing that she would be burned.
Wei Shuyi realized that the opportunity had come, and taking advantage of the opportunity to pass by her, he pretended to be knocked down by her and fell on his back into the water!
"Girl!" "Master!"
The palace maids immediately shouted loudly, trying to reach out and grab Wei Shuyi's wrist and pull it.
However, she quietly stepped onto the stone wall, allowing herself to drift away quickly, and pretended to struggle, causing chaos for a while!
Qian Wei finally helped Concubine Jin put out the fire, and then she saw the emperor jump into the water right under her nose and swim towards Wei Shuyi!
"Your Majesty, the Emperor, the Emperor..."
"Someone come! Someone come quickly! Protect the emperor!"
…
The outcome of tonight's prayers was not a good one.
Concubine Jin's intrusion completely broke the "rules" set by Taoist Yu.
After Xie Yanci rescued Wei Shuyi to the shore, he completely ignored the clean coat handed to him by Concubine Jin, carried her directly into the sedan chair, and headed straight for the Palace of Eternal Life!
"My lord, have I gotten into trouble?"
Qian Wei struggled to respond, "The Emperor's expression was terrifying just now, and I didn't dare to look at him any longer. The most urgent thing is to find someone who knows the details of the situation, right?"
Concubine Jin looked at her burnt sleeves and couldn't help shedding tears: "I didn't mean to cause trouble. If it weren't for that woman..."
"Don't worry, Your Majesty! Let's go back to the palace first!"
In the main hall of Chengqian Palace, Concubine Jin patiently listened to the whole story and her expression suddenly became worried.
"So, there can't be a third person at the ceremony? I'm not the little princess's relative, so how could I disrupt the ceremony? No wonder the emperor keeps asking me to leave..."
"Your Majesty, the current situation is not favorable to you. Who knows what Jia Wanrong will whisper to the Emperor when she regains consciousness," Qian Wei suggested. "How about we prepare some tablets and ask the Imperial Master's disciples to perform a pretense of praying for Princess Zhaohua's soul? Then, when the time comes, the Emperor will see your good intentions and won't blame you."
"Yes, you're right!"
Concubine Jin did not hesitate and immediately nodded in agreement.
——“Ahem…”
Wei Shuyi choked on water and is still coughing.
Actually, it’s not that serious.
She deliberately pretended to be weak, and then muttered to herself half-truthfully: "Ahem...it's because mother wasn't well prepared...Ahem! Zhaohua, don't blame me..."
Xie Yanci heard this and felt bad.
Everything had been arranged, with servants guarding the imperial garden, so no concubine dared to break in.
Except... Concubine Jin.
He originally thought that the gentle and elegant woman would be waiting patiently in Chengqian Palace, after all, someone from the imperial court had been sent to inform her.
Unexpectedly, she was so anxious that she came here in person and caused such a farce!
"Yao'er, I was wrong." He hugged Wei Shuyi with self-blame, "As early as when the imperial concubine said the first word, I should have asked the guards to forcibly take her away. It was she who disturbed the ritual for Zhaohua!"
She pretended to wipe away her tears: "It's also my fault. If I hadn't hit the Imperial Concubine in the mourning hall, she wouldn't have thought that every word and every action of mine was directed at her. The Imperial Concubine is a good person. Before we had any conflicts, she treated me very well."
"What time is it now? Are you still trying to plead for the Imperial Concubine? I'll deal with the matter objectively. This time, she's wrong!"
After Xie Yanci finished speaking, he still felt unsatisfied.
"Yang Mingrui!" "The servant is here."
"Propagate my oral order. The Imperial Concubine has failed in her moral conduct and is to be confined to her room for seven days to reflect on her mistakes. She must also copy a few volumes of scriptures on behalf of Princess Zhaohua to make amends!"
This was the first time the emperor ordered the punishment of Concubine Jin.
Eunuch Yang listened in surprise and went to convey the order.
Seeing this, Wei Shuyi asked in a mournful tone, "Your Majesty, you said that a gentleman's word is as good as gold. You promised the Imperial Concubine to go see the Epiphyllum tonight, aren't you going to do it?"
"No." "Isn't this a broken promise?" "No."
Xie Yanci explained in a muffled voice, "In my mind, blood relatives are ultimately more important than concubines. The noble concubine disrupted Zhaohua's ritual, and I gave her face by not punishing her severely. Besides, she is under house arrest now, so it is only right that I don't go to see her."
Seems, sounds reasonable?
She leaned in the emperor's arms, reciting Zhaohua's past in a sad voice, but she didn't feel so sad in her heart.
After all, the so-called blessings were all lies that she begged Yu Pei to tell.
The carefully prepared blessing for his daughter was held at Sang Yuxuan a few days ago. Everything met Yu Pei's requirements and no one interfered.
After performing such a drama tonight, she was really tired.
Xie Yanci coaxed her to sleep, then quietly ran to the incense table in the hall and knelt down devoutly.
"Zhaohua, forgive your father. Don't worry, your father will take care of it for you!"
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