The queen was full of energy when she set out, and seemed ready to discipline all the concubines, but she fell ill when she was halfway through the journey.
Concubine Xian was busy tending to the Queen's illness and trying her best to please her.
The four ladies, Zhao, Qian, Sun and Li, had no confidence to challenge the three concubines, so they slipped away quietly and ran to the treasure pavilion of the palace to pick out clothes, jewelry, rouge, hairpins and rings, etc.
The three concubines Yi Jinrou argued endlessly, and began to compare their own backgrounds.
The first to speak was Concubine Jin: "My mother's family is very wealthy. I entered the palace earlier than the three of you."
Concubine Rou was unwilling to be outdone: "I didn't know that a small family like the Wei family dared to call themselves wealthy."
Concubine Yi added fuel to the fire: "Concubine Jin, do you dare to take out a hundred thousand taels of silver notes and throw them against Concubine Rou? Let's see who is better, the two of you."
"Why should I compete with her? I don't want to waste my time talking to you."
In terms of financial resources, Concubine Jin was no match for Concubine Rou, so she had to leave the stage in disgrace.
As soon as Concubine Jin left, Concubine Rou and Concubine Yi started competing again.
The two of them entered the mansion at a similar time and had similar family backgrounds. In terms of age, Concubine Yi was only half a month older than Concubine Rou.
"The elder sister is the elder and the younger sister is the younger. The younger sister should do the elder sister a favor."
"Sister is the elder, and I am the younger. The elder should take care of the younger. I would be disrespectful to refuse the Xunfeng Palace next to the Emperor's bedroom."
Concubine Yi stepped forward to stop Concubine Rou, "Stop, do you have permission to leave?"
"Sister Yifei, what you said is ridiculous. My feet are on my body. If I want to leave, can Sister Yifei order someone to hold my legs down?"
"Even if Sister Yifei wants to hold my legs down, there are others who will do it for me."
Concubine Yi had a bad feeling and asked, "What do you mean by that?"
Concubine Rou covered her mouth and smiled, the smile on her face was bright and sunny.
Concubine Yi looked around and asked, "Where is your maid Shuanglu?"
"Shuanglu has gone to Xunfeng Palace to make the bed for me."
"You are so kind, Concubine Rou, you are really brave."
"Sister Yifei, next time you see something you like, remember to grab it first."
"No matter how incompetent I am, I don't need your instruction. I advise you to take care of yourself."
Wen Qin carefully supported Concubine Yi, feeling very unwilling, "Your Majesty, should we fight again?"
"No need. The reason I had an argument with Concubine Rou was to make her mistakenly believe that Xunfeng Palace was a good place to live."
"The Emperor only has Concubine Xiang in his heart. No matter how close she is to him, she can never enter his heart."
"Send some people to keep an eye on Concubine Rou. Just wait and see, Concubine Rou is about to make a mistake."
Concubine Jin chose the palace on the east side. The location was remote and there was no scenery to enjoy in the courtyard. There was only a tall soapberry tree behind the house, whose trunk blocked out the sky and extended out of the wall.
It was winter, the tree trunks looked black, the leaves had all fallen off, and there was no trace of green.
Concubine Jin had a maid named Ahui who was good at climbing trees.
At this moment, she used her hands and feet to climb up the tree. She stood on the trunk, turned over and jumped, landing on the ground.
Ahui climbed over the wall and left the palace with a mission, which was to buy aphrodisiac powder. The two concubines, Jinrou, formed a brief alliance and decided to drug the emperor.
Then they pushed the criminal onto Concubine Yi. Aqiu was anxious because if Concubine Yi was caught, Wen Qin would definitely not survive. So she secretly ran to inform Wen Qin.
Wen Qin took her to see Concubine Yi, who had a cold look in her eyes.
"Empress Rou is willful, and Empress Jin is selfish. They have no grudge against me, yet they came up with such a vicious plan to harm me."
Concubine Yi stood up and bowed, expressing her gratitude for Aqiu's righteous act.
Wen Qin also knelt down and thanked Aqiu for saving her life.
Concubine Rou and Concubine Jin acted in secret. If Aqiu had not taken the initiative to inform her, it would have been difficult for Concubine Yi to defend herself, and she might have been in trouble because of this matter.
"I also heard the two ladies say..."
"say what?"
"The two ladies said that if the drugging doesn't work, they'll put someone in the empress's room."
Concubine Yi's face was as pale as a snow-white, as if half her soul had been taken away. Her hands trembled as she spoke, "I understand. You go down first."
After Aqiu left, Concubine Yi closed the door and spoke in a low voice with Wenqin.
"Master, how should we deal with this next?"
"The enemy is in the open, I am in the dark. We can't just sit there and wait for death. Concubine Rou and Concubine Jin want to stir up trouble, so I will make it bigger and see how they end it."
"Send two trusted confidants to keep an eye on the Queen's movements. Do not use any spices, food, rouge, powder, etc. from the temporary palace. Only use the old items brought from the former palace."
"Don't worry, Madam. I will be very careful."
"Don't be on guard, just be careful. If they see that we are on guard, Miss Qiu will be in danger."
Wen Qin went down to check one by one. Concubine Yi was so anxious that she couldn't sleep and got dark circles under her eyes in just one night.
The concubines in the harem serve their masters with their beauty, so they pay special attention to maintenance. Concubine Yi's dressing table is filled with bottles and jars, pearl powder, rejuvenating cream, hair care cream, hand cream, neatly stacked.
She applied a layer of nourishing lotion on her face and lay quietly, wondering what was going on in her mind.
After dark, a small figure crawled in from the dog hole.
The black cloth bag was opened, revealing a white porcelain bottle inside, which contained what Concubine Jin needed.
"How effective is the medicine?"
"Even the toughest man can't resist its effects."
"Ahui, go down and claim your reward."
"Thank you, my lady."
As Ah Hui turned around, she heard a muffled groan, and then she rolled down the stairs and died in an instant.
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