Chapter 41 She Even Caught the Emperor
The next day, when Yueli woke up, she found that it was Shisu who was serving her.
She rubbed her eyes and sat up: "Where's Lianqiao?"
Zi Su helped her up and hung up the bed curtain: "The medicine the imperial physician prescribed for you last time has run out. Sister Lian Qiao went to the Imperial Hospital to get the medicine early this morning."
Lian Qiao doesn't trust others to handle medicine, so she always does it herself.
Yueli washed up and had breakfast. Almost an hour had passed, but Lianqiao still hadn't returned.
She couldn't sit still any longer: "Little Lizi!"
Xiao Lizi rushed in and knelt on the ground without waiting for Yueli to ask, "Master, Lian Qiao was punished by Concubine Jin in the Imperial Garden..."
Yueli stood up suddenly, it was Concubine Jin again!
She hasn't been held accountable for the last incident at the enclosure, yet she still dares to touch Lian Qiao.
Yueli called a few strong eunuchs and asked Xiaolizi to lead them towards the imperial garden.
Zhuoyu Palace was not far from the Imperial Garden. As soon as she approached the area, Yueli saw a group of people gathered around the pavilion in front of her, and Lianqiao was kneeling on the cobblestones outside the pavilion, her body shaky.
Concubine Jin was playing with the eldest prince in the pavilion. When she heard hurried footsteps, she raised her eyes calmly.
Yueli looked very unhappy. She walked over without bowing to Concubine Jin and directly helped Lianqiao up.
Lianqiao was a little unsteady on her feet, so Zisu quickly let her lean on her arms: "Sister Lianqiao, are you okay?"
"Yu Ronghua, what are you doing?" Concubine Jin put down the orange she had peeled for the eldest prince and wiped her hands casually with a handkerchief.
"I would like to ask what Concubine Jin is going to do? When did my servants offend Concubine Jin?"
"She didn't offend me, she offended the Crown Prince." Concubine Jin slowly stood up and walked out of the pavilion. "This lowly servant was so blind that she almost hurt the Crown Prince. I will only punish her by making her kneel for two hours. If this gets to the Empress Dowager and the Empress, and she's accused of plotting to murder the Crown Prince, kneeling alone won't solve the problem."
She punished a servant who offended the royal heir, and even if the matter was brought to the attention of His Majesty, she would still be right.
"Why, Yu Ronghua is going to protect this dog slave?"
Yue Li showed no fear at all. She raised her chin slightly and said, "I will protect her. What do you want, Your Majesty?"
Clash with the royal heir?
She even offended the emperor before, but nothing happened to her.
"Yu Ronghua, you are so presumptuous!" Concubine Jin's expression changed slightly, and her eyes suddenly turned cold. "You are disrespectful to your superiors and so bold. I should punish you as well."
Yue Li's lips curled up in a hint of sarcasm: "Empress Jin and Concubine Zheng have always been very close. Could it be that you have forgotten what Concubine Zheng looked like last time?"
Concubine Jin suddenly clenched her fists. Last time, Concubine Zheng had just pushed her, and He Yanchen ordered her to be beaten. It took several months for her hands to heal.
"Your Majesty, I'm afraid it's not enough to punish me here." Yue Li slowly took two steps forward and approached her. "Why don't we go to Linde Hall and see who should be punished in front of Your Majesty?"
"You!" Concubine Jin rarely experienced what it felt like to be furious.
She said without thinking, "Come here, take that slave girl to Qiongyu Palace. I want to see today whether I can punish a slave girl or not!"
The palace maids around Concubine Jin looked at each other silently, then stepped forward hesitantly to take Lian Qiao away.
Yueli specially brought a few burly eunuchs with her. Unlike the people in Qiongyu Palace, they were not as cautious and attacked directly, and the two sides started fighting.
Concubine Jin gnashed her teeth as she watched. How presumptuous! She had never met such a shameless person before.
Yueli glanced at Qinxin who was standing beside her. She asked Lianqiao, "Was she the one who pinched you last time?"
Lian Qiao nodded: "In the enclosure, she was the one who stopped me from going to see His Majesty..."
Yue Li's new and old grudges all surged into her heart, and she slapped Qin Xin.
Qin Xin was caught off guard and was stunned.
This slap seemed to hit Concubine Jin in the face, leaving her completely humiliated.
"How dare you hit my people!" Concubine Jin raised her hand and wanted to hit back, but Yueli grabbed her wrist. However, Concubine Jin was very strong and it hurt Yueli's hand.
Just hit her, why is she afraid?
"What are you doing?"
A scolding sounded, and a group of people who were fighting turned around and saw the queen with a sullen face and He Yanchen who was silent.
The palace maids from both sides knelt on the ground. Yue Li turned around with a look of being about to cry.
The Queen frowned in a headache. Someone had just come to report that Concubine Jin and Yu Ronghua had a fight in the Imperial Garden. She thought that the palace people were exaggerating, but she didn't expect that they really did fight.
"Do you think the palace is a vegetable market? What are you making a fuss about?"
He Yanchen and the Queen entered the pavilion, and Concubine Jin knelt down with a thud: "Your Majesty, please, Queen, make this decision for me!"
"Yu Ronghua's maid offended the eldest prince. I just wanted to punish her by making her kneel, but who would have thought that Yu Ronghua would dare to attack me!"
Lian Qiao also broke free from Zi Su and knelt on the ground: "Your Majesty, Queen, I didn't bump into the eldest prince. I went to the Imperial Hospital to get medicine for my master. When I passed by the Imperial Garden, the eldest prince was playing in the grass. I didn't know there was someone in the grass, but when the eldest prince ran out, I immediately dodged..."
Qin Xin covered her face and knelt beside her: "Nonsense, I clearly saw you bump into the eldest prince."
The queen glanced at the eldest prince, who seemed frightened. His small body huddled in his wet nurse's arms, not daring to say a word.
"Cheng'er, did this palace maid bump into you?" asked the queen.
The eldest prince shook his head: "Your Highness...Your Highness doesn't know..."
Concubine Jin wiped the corners of her eyes with a handkerchief and said, "Cheng'er has always been timid. He must be frightened. As a mother, how can I not think about him?"
Yue Li stood aside with her head lowered and her face submissive, not saying a word. She even sniffed deliberately when He Yanchen looked over, looking so pitiful.
"come over."
A man's deep voice sounded, Yueli looked up in a daze and met his black eyes.
Are you calling her?
Yueli took a small tentative step forward, and seeing that he was still looking at her, she was sure that he was calling her.
She quickly trotted to his side.
Concubine Jin's face turned pale instantly.
Human hearts are inherently biased, not to mention He Yanchen's heart, which has long been biased beyond measure.
"Your Majesty..." Yue Li grabbed his sleeve, "I am also angry. Last time in the enclosure, Concubine Jin's palace servants bullied Lian Qiao. This time they bullied Lian Qiao again. I am so angry..."
She did not argue about what happened today. After all, if He Yanchen did not favor her, it would be rebellion. If He Yanchen favored her, then someone would cover her up no matter what she did.
"If I can't even protect my own people, why did Your Majesty allow me to enter the palace? You should have let me fend for myself in Chunfeng Pavilion!"
"Nonsense." He Yanchen scolded her, but there was no anger in his eyes.
Yes, he brought Yueli into the palace and gave her a position and favor, but not to let others humiliate her.
He Yanchen recalled his childhood when the empress dowager was just a small concubine. She was of low rank and not favored, so he himself was not taken seriously either.
In the upper study, he was often bullied by the children of the favorite concubines, and even the children of some high-ranking officials and nobles could order him around.
He told his mother when he returned to the palace, but his mother just patted his head and told him to be patient.
"It's my fault that I've let you suffer... Look, your clothes are all torn. I'll mend them for you myself..."
He Yanchen sneered.
He didn't want this kind of useless emotion.
What he wanted was to be like Yue Li protecting Lian Qiao today. Even if her status was lower, at least she dared to do it.
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