Chapter 776: Concubine Zhao Gui
The travel notes at hand had disappeared, and the phoenix crown that seemed a bit oppressive on his head fell into Xiao Yan's hands. Tang Ning felt relieved and became more sober.
"I fell asleep?" she murmured. "What time is it? Have all the courtiers left?"
"not yet."
Xiao Yan put the phoenix crown aside and continued to take the remaining pearl hairpins from her head.
"The palace banquet is still going on and someone is in charge. If I stay there, those people in the court won't dare to indulge in drinking and entertainment. It would be better for me to just leave and let the noble concubine stay there to take care of it."
The noble concubine that Xiao Yan mentioned was the former noble consort Zhao.
After the deposed emperor was imprisoned, the new emperor ascended the throne. The concubines in the deposed emperor's harem who had children were moved to Xilin Garden for upbringing, or were taken back to their respective residences with the children of the founding emperors. The concubines who did not have children were all sent to Qingmiao Temple for training.
Concubine Zhao should have been sent out of the palace, and Xiao Yan had privately promised to let her "fake her death" and change her identity so that she could live freely away from the palace, but she refused and insisted on staying in the palace in seclusion in Xilin Garden.
Xiao Yan could only specially confer the title of Noble Consort on her. Now, except for the Grand Empress Dowager and Tang Ning, she is the most honorable person in the entire palace.
The Grand Empress Dowager is seriously ill and unable to get up, so the Emperor and Empress' wedding tonight will be presided over by Concubine Zhao Gui. Xiao Yan is very confident in her.
When Tang Ning heard Xiao Yan mention the Noble Concubine, she was startled for a moment and whispered, "I heard that the Noble Concubine was ill a few days ago. Why is she suddenly hosting a palace banquet? Can she handle it?"
Xiao Yan said softly, "She's not seriously injured..."
Tang Ning was surprised: "Then what?"
Xiao Yan: "She did it because of Min Heng."
Tang Ning was puzzled for a moment when he heard the word "Min Heng". Then he met Xiao Yan's dark eyes. After a while, he seemed to remember something and said, "Is that Min Heng the person my brother mentioned before?"
Xiao Yan said "hmm".
Concubine Zhao's original surname was Xu, and her life experience was extremely difficult.
Her biological mother was the daughter of a doctor. After she came of age, she married the son of her childhood sweetheart. They loved each other very much after marriage and gave birth to a daughter the following year.
Mrs. Xu was gentle and kind with a very good temperament, and Mr. Xu was even more gentle and loving to his wife and daughter. The three of them lived a very happy life. However, because they were kind-hearted for a moment, they saved someone they shouldn't have saved. Mrs. Xu's outstanding appearance attracted the attention of others, and as a result, the whole family suffered disaster and died tragically.
The disaster came too suddenly. The bandits looted the Xu family, plundered their property and killed anyone they saw. Mrs. Xu and her young daughter managed to escape, but they were chased and killed. When they were about to die, the man who had been saved by the Xu couple came to save them like a god.
The man not only led people to strangle the bandits, but also took the mother and daughter back home and took good care of them in the pretext of repaying the favor of saving his life.
The man was handsome and dressed in noble attire. He claimed to be the son of a merchant in Beijing. Although his family was well-off, he had never married. He treated the mother and daughter tenderly and was very considerate of them. He even treated the young daughter of the Xu family as if she were his own flesh and blood.
He developed romantic feelings for Mrs. Xu, but he always kept his distance and never overstepped the line.
Mrs. Xu loved her late husband so much that she never wanted to remarry. The man never forced her and took care of the mother and daughter for more than two years. Later, they had physical contact by accident. The man sincerely proposed to her and vowed never to take concubines and to treat Xu's daughter as his own flesh and blood. Only then did Mrs. Xu agree to marry him.
After the two got married and worshipped heaven and earth, they gave birth to a boy a year later. The young Miss Xu was grateful to her stepfather for saving her in times of danger and taking care of her when she was down and out. Although she never changed her surname, she always regarded the man as her own father.
But it was not until her brother was five years old that an arrogant and domineering woman suddenly came to their door. She then learned that her "father", who claimed that he did not like others to get married, had already had a family more than ten years ago.
He was not the son of a merchant at all, but the high and mighty Marquis Yongqin.
He was never the loyal man who fell in love with his savior at first sight. He had more than ten wives and concubines in his house, and even more than five legitimate and illegitimate sons.
Mrs. Xu went from being the legitimate wife who had gone through the formalities of marriage and worshipped heaven and earth to being a mistress who was hated by everyone and seduced a nobleman and was secretly kept outside. Her children also became the children of mistresses who were despised and could not be seen in public.
People are harsh on women, and when the wife of Marquis Yongqin came to their house, she dragged her mother out and let them beat and scold her. She tore her clothes and humiliated her in the street. Mrs. Xu, unable to bear it, hit herself against a pillar and died on the spot.
Afterwards, the Xu siblings were forcibly taken back to the Yongqin Marquis Mansion. The brother only lived for three days before he "slipped" and drowned. The young but beautiful Miss Xu became the daughter of a bitch who was hated by everyone.
The "father" who once made a solemn vow to her mother and loved her in every way seemed to have shed his former disguise overnight. He lost his kindness and gentleness. After losing the novelty of Madam Xu's appearance, he turned into the aloof Marquis Yongqin.
He turned a blind eye to the death of Mrs. Xu and her son, and watched coldly as Miss Xu was tortured.
When Miss Xu wanted to avenge her brother and was discovered and caught by the Marquis's wife, the Marquis Yongqin asked him how he would deal with her. He just said indifferently, "It's up to you," and walked away, leaving the young girl almost beaten to death.
Later, Miss Xu realized that the man was never a savior, but the culprit who brought all their nightmares.
He had coveted her mother's beauty as early as when she was rescued by her parents. During his recuperation at the Xu family, he became even more greedy for the Xu couple's generous and lavish spending.
He coveted the Xu family's wealth and wanted to seize someone else's wife, so he ordered his confidants to pretend to be bandits and rob the Xu family, and then transformed himself into a glamorous savior, all in order to cover up what he had done and make her mother fall in love with him to satisfy his selfish desires.
The entire Xu family died because of him, and her father and grandmother also died at his hands.
That man treated the entire Xu family as his playthings and her mother as his prey. He destroyed the Xu family and enjoyed the "gratitude" of the mother and daughter with great pleasure.
He watched them thinking they had met their true love and looking forward to a bright future, but he secretly regarded them as a huge joke. Even the marquis's wife knew of their existence early on and treated Madam Xu as a prostitute serving her husband outside and never took her seriously.
Until the younger brother grew up, the Marquis' wife and the Marquis had an argument over some things. In order to let the Marquis know that she was still in charge of the mansion, the Marquis' wife came to the house and pretended to discover them suddenly. She kept calling her mother "concubine" and forced her mother to death.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com