Chapter 34: The Crown Prince's throne was gone

The rain was not heavy this time, and Rupin didn't have anything important to do. Seeing that Youyou really wanted to go, she nodded and said, "Okay, let's go see the flowers."

Ji Jinyou was anxious, so he let go of Rupin's hand and struggled desperately with his two short legs.

It was rare to see a little girl walking so fast, Rupin smiled and said, "Slow down, it's raining and the ground is slippery."

Ji Jinyou didn't listen either, and ran ahead vigorously.

The three-year-old girl had short, fat legs. She looked round, but when she really ran, she was very fast. Rupin and Jinxing walked in a hurry, and finally they had to jog to catch up with her.

Rupin thought about what the imperial physician had told her before, that the little girl needed to move more, so she did not stop her. She only told her to be careful with her feet. She and Jin Xing followed closely on the left and right of the little girl, holding an umbrella over her head to protect her from the rain.

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Yesterday evening, the person who was sent to the eldest prince's mansion to inquire about the news came back and reported that the eldest prince's wife's mother had already arrived at the mansion and followed the eldest prince's wife closely, but the eldest prince had not yet found any clues.

The Queen was worried about the eldest prince's wife and the child. She tossed and turned last night and went to bed very late.

I wanted to sleep a little longer in the morning, but the concubines came to Fengyi Palace to pay their respects as usual.

She didn't want to see him, but as the master of the Central Palace, if she felt unwell, it would inevitably attract attention from all sides.

Not to mention that the concubines would rush to show their courtesy, the princes and princesses would also come to ask about the emperor's well-being and attend to his illness, and even His Majesty would have to come to inquire about his health, which might even alarm the Empress Dowager who worshipped Buddha all year round.

The queen felt upset when she thought of that scene. After thinking it over again and again, she had no choice but to stand up and deal with it.

There were a room full of beautiful girls dressed up in fancy clothes. You said something and I laughed, and the queen was given a headache by the noise.

And thinking of the people in this room, almost all of whom died in the end, while they were still scheming and fighting each other, she felt indescribably upset.

After everyone left, Nanny Zheng and Dangui both advised the queen to have a good sleep, but she was not sleepy anymore.

I originally wanted to have a cup of tea and then deal with the palace affairs, but after drinking two cups, I still couldn't calm down, so I took Dangui and Nanny Zheng out for a walk.

She wanted to be quiet, so she walked ahead with an umbrella, leaving Dangui and Nanny Zheng to follow at a distance.

When the queen came to a cluster of blooming gardenias, she stopped and looked at the pure white flowers. Thinking of the incident with the jasmine flowers, she became more and more annoyed.

Suddenly, she didn't know why she was alive and what the meaning of her life was.

Is it to marry such a heartless man, give birth to children for him, take care of his backyard, and win over the women in his backyard?

Over the years, she asked herself whether she was a qualified queen.

In order to consolidate her position as queen, she also took ruthless action against those concubines who plotted against her.

But she had never taken the initiative to frame anyone, let alone harm any child, and she even issued a death order that anyone who harmed the royal heir would be severely punished.

So, over the years, except for a few who died of illness, all the children who were born, more than twenty princes and princesses in total, were alive and well.

But she tried so hard to maintain the stability and peace of the harem, but in the end, they all died?

Then what was the point of her trying so hard to be a magnanimous and tolerant queen and to maintain this superficial false harmony over the years?

She didn't know when it started, but she only remembered that she was a queen and almost forgot who she was.

If Tong Tong could give her a definite answer, she would be able to take precautions and come up with a plan to deal with the situation. However, the information Tong Tong gave her was limited, and his answers were haphazard, which made her anxious.

At the moment, she was most worried about the eldest prince's wife. She wanted to stay by her son and daughter-in-law's side and protect the birth of her first grandson, but she couldn't even leave the palace at will.

At this moment, she was extremely envious of ordinary people, because at least the whole family could get together often and be reunited.

She lives in the palace, seemingly enjoying all the glory, wealth and supreme respect, but she has to share her husband with so many women and take care of so many children who are not hers.

She wanted to protect her children and grandchildren, but she couldn't do it, and she felt frustrated when she thought about it.

The queen was upset and stood there for a long time, staring at the gardenia in front of her.

At this moment, a sweet laugh came from outside the Moon Gate in front.

The queen frowned and looked up, but saw no one.

Then, that extremely happy voice came again: "Mammy, do you think Lingdang looks good wearing this flower?"

The Queen recognized Concubine Hui's voice, frowned, raised her umbrella, turned around and left.

She didn't want to see anyone at the moment, especially Concubine Hui, who was only good at flattering her and had to give her false compliments whenever she saw her.

But before she could take a few steps, a black cat suddenly jumped out from the Moon Gate and bumped into her with a thud.

The queen was startled and screamed, her foot slipped and her body tilted to the side, almost falling.

The umbrella in his hand fell out, and he staggered a few times before standing up, but still sprained his ankle and his face turned pale with pain.

"Your Majesty!" Dangui and Madam Zheng were both startled. They ran over and supported the empress who was barely holding one foot up. "Your Majesty, are you okay?"

"Ring." Upon hearing the noise, Concubine Hui ran out of the Moon Gate with the help of her personal maid. When she saw that it was the Empress, she was stunned and even forgot to greet her.

She thought it was a concubine, but she didn't expect it to be the empress. Usually the empress would be busy with palace affairs at this time, so why is she here today?

Lingdang bumped into the queen, which is no small matter. How will the queen punish her?

Seeing that the Empress' face was pale and she dared not touch the ground, and Concubine Hui was still standing there stupidly, Dangui immediately straightened her face and said, "Concubine Hui, your cat bumped into the Empress and caused her to sprain her ankle."

Concubine Hui came to her senses immediately and knelt down: "I deserve to die, please forgive me, Your Majesty."

The queen was already upset, and the severe pain in her feet made her mood even worse. She wanted to scold him, but just as she was about to open her mouth, she thought of what Tong Tong said yesterday and her face changed immediately.

Could it be that the high-ranking concubine that Tong Tong mentioned, who had a conflict with Concubine Hui and caused Concubine Hui to lose her child, was she?

Thinking of this, the queen swallowed the words that were about to come out of her mouth and said, "Get up."

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your forgiveness." After Concubine Hui kowtowed, she stood up with the help of the nanny.

The queen heaved a sigh of relief when she saw that she was safe and sound, but she didn't show any guilt at all. She was unhappy, "You are pregnant with the dragon heir now, it's important to keep the baby safe. Don't keep the cat, or it might accidentally bump into you someday."

After saying this, she turned around, held Dangui's hand and limped forward, "Madame Zheng, I remember that Noble Yue and Noble Fang like to keep cats and dogs. Catch the cat and send it to the Jade Palace."

"Yes, I will take people to catch it and send it to the two nobles." Madam Zheng responded, and called the two eunuchs standing in the distance to chase the black cat together.

Seeing this, Concubine Hui's face suddenly changed. She knelt down again in a hurry, saying anxiously, "Your Majesty, I know I was wrong. Please let me keep the bell."

The nanny beside her also knelt down and kowtowed, helping to intercede: "Yes, Your Majesty, Lingdang was raised by your majesty from a kitten. We have a deep affection for her. Please have mercy on her."

Dangui snorted in her heart. She thought, if Concubine Hui had just heard that the Empress had sprained her ankle and was so anxious and concerned, things wouldn't have ended up like this.

The queen stopped walking, turned around, and said coldly: "I will not take back what I said, you can get up now."

Concubine Hui refused and looked at the empress with tears in her eyes: "Your Majesty, Lingdang made a mistake because I failed to discipline her. Please punish me, but don't take Lingdang away from me."

"Robbery?" The queen sneered, "So, one of my feet is not as valuable as your cat?"

These words were particularly serious. The nanny behind Concubine Hui was startled and secretly pulled her sleeve, whispering: "Your Highness, the Empress doesn't blame you. Get up quickly. The child is important."

Concubine Hui felt extremely aggrieved and refused to get up.

When she brought Lingdang home to raise, Lingdang was still a kitten who had just been weaned. On the nights when His Majesty didn't come to her place, she would hold Lingdang in her arms to sleep. Lingdang had been with her for so long that in her heart, Lingdang was like her own child.

But now Lingdang was going to be taken away and given away just because she bumped into the queen. She was unwilling and reluctant to let her go.

Maybe if she knelt down, the Queen would agree to return the bell to her because she was pregnant. After all, the Queen, like His Majesty, has always valued the Dragon Heir.

The Empress was already feeling depressed, and when she saw that Concubine Hui, who was always the best at changing her attitude according to the situation, actually followed the example of Concubine Sun and even dared to force her to kneel, she immediately became angry.

But reason forced her to calm down, and she repeated: "I told you to get up."

Concubine Hui wanted to get her cat back, so she became stubborn and knelt down again, saying, "Your Majesty, please spare Lingdang. I am willing to kneel here to forgive his sins."

She has always been in good health, so there shouldn't be any problem with just kneeling for a while.

The Queen looked at Concubine Hui's wet hair and immediately became furious.

One or two of them, they think she is kind and don't take her words seriously, right?

At this moment, the queen didn't want to care about anything else. She just wanted to vent her anger and said in a cold voice: "Since you like kneeling so much, then kneel down."

Concubine Hui was stunned, but now that the argument had come to this point, she didn't want to give up her little cat, so she also got stubborn and agreed, and just knelt there.

Just at this time, the rain began to fall heavily, dripping down on Concubine Hui and quickly soaking her clothes.

The Queen did not leave either. She just stood not far away, pushed the umbrella away from Dangui's hand, and got wet in the rain as well.

Dangui looked anxious and quickly raised the umbrella above the empress's head again.

The queen pushed it away again: "Take it away, my words are useless to you, right?"

Dan Gui was terrified and knelt down and kowtowed: "My queen, please take care of yourself."

But sometimes when people get emotional, they just don't care about anything and don't want to consider reason or what is appropriate or not. They just want to be willful for once.

In just a few days, the Queen learned from Tong Tong about Sun Cairen, that Xiao Qi would not live past the age of nineteen, that the eldest prince's wife had lost her child, and that His Majesty had neglected her for a concubine and that she had died of depression. But she had been trying her best to save the situation and wanted everyone to survive.

Everyone only saw her calm and steady side, but no one saw her tossing and turning in sleep at night and sighing.

These days, her nerves were like a string of a violin, always taut and unable to relax for a moment, but to the outside world, she still had to appear calm and at ease.

Why? Why does she have to be so tired?

Since this Concubine Hui is so ignorant and doesn't know how to take care of herself and protect her children, she doesn't want to care about it anymore. There are already enough children in the harem, so many that there is almost no place to live, and one more Concubine Hui is not a big deal.

She wanted to see, when Concubine Hui's child was gone and that heartless man came, which one would he support first, which one would he blame, and which one would he favor.

Concubine Hui has always been good at observing people's words and expressions and flattering people, but for the sake of a little cat, she showed her backbone for the first time in her life.

The Queen has always been magnanimous, but she was in a bad mood today. All the things were pressing on her at once and she couldn't take it anymore, so she just went for it without caring about anything.

When Ji Jin ran over with his two short legs, he saw the Empress and Concubine Hui, one standing and the other kneeling, both being caught in the rain. Judging from the way their clothes were wet, it was obvious that they had been drenched for quite some time.

Rupin was shocked when she saw the tense scene ahead. She quickly reached out to pull the little girl and whispered, "Youyou, come back quickly. Let's not go."

But the little girl who seemed clumsy in the past twisted her chubby little body and moved flexibly. She easily dodged Rupin's hand and Jinxing's hand and rushed towards the empress quickly.

The little girl was like a little cannonball, her two little feet clacking on the wet blue brick road. She quickly ran to the queen's side, put her arms around her legs, and looked up at her with her little head tilted up: "My queen, it's raining, let's go back."

The queen did not expect the little girl to come over. She reached out to Dangui who was kneeling on the ground. Dangui immediately stood up and handed the umbrella in her hand to her.

The queen held up an umbrella to shield Xiaojiu from the rain and asked concernedly, "Why did you come here when it's raining so hard?"

Xiaojiu pointed at Rupin who was standing not far away and didn't dare to come forward: "Youyou and mother are here to see Huahua."

Then he grabbed the empress's hand and pulled her out, "Your Majesty, go back. Don't get wet in the rain. You'll get sick if you get wet."

The queen felt warm at the sound of the little girl's caring words in her childish voice. Tears welled up in her eyes instantly and flowed down her face along with the rain.

The Queen turned around and waved to Concubine Ru, who quickly stepped forward and bowed to greet her.

The queen asked her to get up and said softly, "It's raining today, take Xiaojiu back quickly, give her a hot bath, change her clothes, and give her a bowl of hot soup."

Rupin was the most fearful person. She knew something big was going to happen when she saw this scene. She would never get involved, nor did she want Youyou to interfere. She quickly responded respectfully, took a step forward, and reached out to hug Youyou.

But Youyou was not willing to leave because her business was not yet done. She hugged the empress's legs and went to the other side, playing hide-and-seek with Rupin.

Youyou was small and could hide around the Empress, but Rupin didn't dare to do that. She stood aside, feeling embarrassed and anxious, and kept saying, "This child, why is he so naughty today? Please don't blame me, Your Majesty."

How could the Queen blame me? "It's okay."

Ji Jinyou tugged at the queen's sleeve, "Your Majesty, go back."

The queen held her chubby little hand and said, "Xiaojiu, go back with your mother first. Your mother still has some things to do, so you can come back later."

Ji Jinyou was extremely anxious: [What should I do? The Empress refuses to go back. If she doesn't go back, Concubine Hui won't get up. Will the child be gone?]

When Concubine Hui heard this, she suddenly raised her head and looked at the little girl in front of her who was hugging the empress's thigh, her eyes filled with surprise.

What, her child is going to die?

System: [Yes, that's what the plot says. The Queen went to pay her respects to the Queen Mother. When she passed by Yu Garden, she was hit by Concubine Hui's cat and sprained her ankle. The Queen thought that Concubine Hui was pregnant and didn't want to bother with her.]

[But Hui Fei did not show any remorse, which made the Queen so angry that she wanted to give her cat away. Hui Fei knelt down in anger, hoping to force the Queen to give the cat back.]

[The Queen asked Concubine Hui to stand up several times, but she refused. She thought that the Queen always valued the heir to the throne and would definitely compromise and return the cat to her. As a result, the Queen also got angry and simply made her kneel down. ]

[In the end, Concubine Hui's child died and was sterilized. The old emperor lost interest in the empress because of this, and the eldest prince's soon-to-be crown prince position was also lost. In the end, no one benefited from the incident.]

The queen was stunned. Because of her impulsiveness and anger, the eldest prince's position as heir apparent was gone?

Ji Jinyou glanced at the kneeling Concubine Hui and saw that her neck was stiff, her eyes were wide open, and her mouth was open into a circle, she looked like a complete fool.

Ji Jinyou was extremely anxious, and complained in her heart: [Kneel down, kneel down, the child is gone, and you will never be able to have children again. ]

She raised her head and looked at the empress again. She saw that the empress didn't know what she was thinking. She didn't say anything about going back, nor did she ask Concubine Hui to get up. She just stood there in a daze.

Ji Jinyou stamped his feet anxiously: [Punish him, punish him. Concubine Hui has lost her child, and His Majesty has lost heart to the Queen and has also given up on the eldest prince. Both sides suffer.]