Mountain and River Festival 286. The Concubine is in Trouble

As soon as Concubine Liu Guifei returned to her palace, she found that her palace, which was supposed to be empty, was full of people. From the Queen Mother to the concubines of high status in the palace, they were all present. Sitting next to the Queen Mother was Li, who was called Empress Li by the palace people because of the relationship with the Tenth Prince and enjoyed the treatment of the Queen. Sitting on the left hand side of the Queen Mother was Concubine Zheng Xian, the biological mother of the Sixth Prince. As soon as she stepped into the palace, Concubine Zheng Xian glared at her fiercely, and her not-so-young face was full of schadenfreude. Concubine Liu Guifei frowned slightly, and had a vague bad feeling in her heart.

"Empress Dowager, what's your meaning in bringing so many people into my palace?" Staring at the Empress Dowager, Concubine Liu raised her chin proudly.

The Queen Mother sneered and said, "I still have to ask you, the emperor's body is still warm, and you, as a concubine, are not in the palace to observe mourning. Where have you been?"

Concubine Zheng Xian, who was standing next to her, stared at Concubine Liu Gui, her eyes rolled and she exclaimed in surprise: "Queen Mother, Concubine Gui seems to be injured. Look... even her clothes are torn." Everyone's eyes immediately focused on Concubine Liu Gui, who gathered her cloak and her face darkened. She should have changed her clothes before returning, but she had already broken up with the Prime Minister's Mansion. With Concubine Liu Gui's arrogance, she naturally couldn't return to the Prime Minister's Mansion, and Prince Li's Mansion would not provide her with any clothes. Concubine Liu Gui naturally looked down on the clothes worn by the poor and maids, so she just put on her cloak to cover the blood on her body and returned. But she didn't expect to be blocked in the main hall.

A smirk flashed across the queen mother's old face, and she said coldly, "Where did you go and what did you do? Tell the truth now!"

Everyone present looked at Concubine Liu with a strange look on their faces. These women have lived in the deep palace for half their lives, and it has become their instinct to flatter the red and trample the white. They naturally hold a grudge against Concubine Liu, who has been favored and monopolized by the emperor for more than ten years. If Mo Jingqi was still favored by Concubine Liu, no one would dare to say anything. But once Concubine Liu fell into poverty, there would definitely be many more people who would take advantage of her. A woman whose husband was still in mourning quietly ran out of the palace and came back with bloodstains and torn clothes. Everyone had a picture in their mind.

Concubine Liu glanced at these women with disdain. She certainly knew what they were thinking. She sneered and looked up at the Queen Mother and said, "What I do is none of your business."

"You bastard!" the Queen Mother shouted angrily, "I am the mother of the late Emperor and the grandmother of the new Emperor. Do you think I can control you? It was you, a bastard, who caused the discord between the late Emperor and Li'er, and caused the relationship between us to weaken. Do you think anyone can support you now? The late Emperor's body is still warm, and you, a bastard, are unwilling to be lonely and run to Prince Ding's mansion. You are really... really shameless! You have brought shame to my royal family!"

The Queen Mother cursed and stared at Concubine Liu with hatred in her eyes. If Mo Jingqi had not favored Concubine Liu and even contradicted her, how could she turn to train her younger son? Wasn't it because she was afraid that her eldest son would be deceived by this bastard in the future and she would have no place to stand in this palace? If it weren't for this bastard, how could they, mother, son and brother, have ended up like this?

Concubine Liu Guifei raised a hint of cold sarcasm on her lips, "You are a bad parent, can you blame me for it?"

"You bastard... If I don't teach you a lesson today, you won't know what you are!" The Queen Mother sneered. Concubine Liu's eyes flickered, "You dare to touch me!" The Queen Mother laughed and said, "Try and see if I dare! Come on, drag this shameless bastard away and give him thirty strokes of the cane! Let everyone see that this is the fate of shameless people. In addition, demote Concubine Liu to a noble lady!"

"You dare! Someone come!" Concubine Liu shouted. The confidant who was originally guarding her palace did not respond, and the Queen Mother smiled smugly at her. The eunuchs guarding outside the palace had already come in and wanted to take her away. Concubine Liu struggled and said, "Old woman! If you dare to touch me, I will not let you go!"

The Queen Mother didn't take her threat seriously at all. "The Liu family has given up on you. What can you do to stop me? Besides... do you think I'm still afraid of the Liu family now?" Concubine Liu was startled. Seeing the Queen Mother's confident look, she didn't look like she was in the past few days. She knew that the Queen Mother might have got some bargaining chips. If not, she wouldn't dare to be so rude to her. "You dare to touch me..."

"Drag him away! Beat him!" said the Queen Mother.

Soon, the sound of banging boards came from outside the palace, which was particularly clear in the empty palace. The timid concubines in the palace had already turned pale. The queen mother drank tea peacefully, listening to the sound of hitting flesh outside, with a hint of pleasure in her eyes.

"Empress Dowager... is it..." Li's face turned pale, and she looked at the Empress Dowager with trembling eyes and said hesitantly. The Empress Dowager said calmly: "You will be the Empress Dowager in the future, so learn more and see more. Some people don't know the height of the world and their own surnames if they don't teach them a lesson." Li moved her lips, and finally nodded in a low voice, "Yes, Empress Dowager."

The Queen Mother then nodded with satisfaction.

Concubine Liu Guifei was already covered in wounds, and she fainted before the 30th board was struck. The Queen Mother had long held a grudge against Concubine Liu Guifei, so how could she let her off so easily? Without blinking an eye, she ordered people to splash water on her to wake her up and continue beating her. After the 30th board was struck, Concubine Liu Guifei had already fainted from the pain several times and wished she could die. After the last board fell, Concubine Liu Guifei finally fell into darkness again.

In Zhangde Palace, the Queen Mother waved her servants away and walked into the bedroom alone. At this time, in the magnificent bedroom sat a palace maid who looked ordinary and could not be recognized among the crowd. The palace maid was neither surprised nor stood up when she saw the Queen Mother coming in. She smiled and said, "I already know what happened just now. I'm sure the prince will be very satisfied."

The Queen Mother lowered her eyes, looking cautious, not like a mother of a country. She asked in a low voice, "So... Prince Ding's promise?"

The maid smiled and said, "Don't worry, Queen Mother. Although our prince has some grudges against Mo Jingqi, everyone has their own responsibilities and will definitely not make things difficult for the Queen Mother. As long as the Queen Mother does what the prince has ordered, not only can the issue of burial alive be resolved, but even the power that originally belonged to the Queen Mother in the palace can be handed over to the Queen Mother. By then... the Queen Mother can completely control the entire palace. What will the Queen Mother be afraid of then?" Although she had an ordinary appearance, the maid's expression and words were very convincing. In particular, the power in the hands of Queen Hua had always been coveted by the Queen Mother, and it was naturally great to be able to get it easily now.

"Don't worry, Prince Ding. I will treat Concubine Liu well. Even if Li'er wants to save her, I can make her die quietly!" At this point, the Queen Mother's eyes flashed with murderous intent. She didn't understand why her own son refused to save his mother, but went to help a worthless person who had nothing to do with her. Could it be that Concubine Liu was really a fox spirit, who had seduced her eldest son, but now wanted to seduce her youngest son.

The palace maid smiled and said, "I hope the Queen Mother can do it. Also, the Queen's matter..."

"After the new emperor ascends the throne, I will have someone announce that the queen died of depression because of the death of the previous emperor." The queen mother promised. The palace maid smiled even more satisfied, and stood up and said, "In this case, I will not bother the queen mother. In addition, our prince asked me to remind the queen mother. If the queen mother wants to live a stable life, she must protect the new emperor. After all... Prince Li is an adult, and he probably doesn't like being told what to do, just like the previous emperor."

If it was before, the Queen Mother might still waver, but after experiencing her son's ruthlessness, the Queen Mother knew that Mo Xiuyao was right. She nodded and said, "What should I do?"

"Then I'll take my leave." The palace maid bowed politely to the empress dowager and turned to leave.

In the bedroom, the Queen Mother stared at the exquisite pure carved flower incense burner on the table in a daze. After a long while, she sneered. Even if she cooperated with Mo Xiuyao, what would it matter? She just wanted to survive, live a noble and comfortable life! For this, she was willing to do anything!

In the cold palace, Concubine Liu woke up from her coma. The pain all over her body made her groan. She was still wearing the tattered clothes covered with blood when she came back, and there were no more attentive and careful palace maids and eunuchs around her. She forced herself to get up despite the pain, only to find that she was not in the elegant and clean palace, but in a small room full of dust, old and desolate. The half-open room took away the bad luck that might have been in the room, but the slightly cool wind also made her shiver with cold. She was woken up by the cold.

It was already three o'clock in the morning, and the cold wind made her shudder. She moved her body to get out of bed, but fell back onto the bed because of the pain behind her. The hem of her clothes was covered with more than just blood. Most of her clothes were covered with blood, dyeing the original snow-white color into dark red, which was chilling to the sight. Thinking of the humiliation she had suffered in front of everyone during the day, Concubine Liu Guifei's fingers that were tightly grasping the mattress under her broke with a sound, and she didn't even feel the blood marks on her palms. The beautiful face was twisted and distorted, how dare she! How dare that old woman do this to her!

And those bastards! Those bastards who took advantage of others' misfortunes! She wanted them all to die miserably!

Creak... The old, dilapidated door made a slight sound. Concubine Liu looked up and saw a teenage girl looking at her in panic. Seeing her miserable appearance lying on the bed, tears immediately flowed down her eyes, "Mother... Mother, what happened to you?" The girl quickly stepped into the room, walked to Concubine Liu, and saw her covered in blood, but she dared not move.

Looking at her panic-stricken daughter, Concubine Liu narrowed her eyes slightly and asked calmly, "Where is this place? Why are you here?"

Princess Zhenning sobbed and said, "This is Qiuliang Palace. The Royal Grandmother did not allow Zhenning and her brothers to visit mother, so Zhenning came now... Mother, you must be hungry..." Princess Zhenning carefully took out a piece of silk wrapped in something from her sleeve and opened it. There were several exquisite snacks inside and she placed them in front of Concubine Liu.

"Pah!" Concubine Liu raised her hand and threw the snacks to the ground. She looked at Princess Zhenning coldly and said, "Idiot! What's the use of these broken things? Tell your grandfather and brother to come to the palace and rescue me immediately! Also, don't call that old witch grandma!"

Princess Zhenning was stunned, with a flash of hurt in her eyes. She slowly lowered her head and whispered, "Grandpa... Grandpa and my brother refused to enter the palace. Grandpa said... Mother offended someone she shouldn't have offended, the Liu family. The Liu family can't bring disaster to the family because of Mother. My brother... My brother refused to come to see Mother, and he wouldn't let my second brother come..." She had been staying in the palace, not knowing what had happened to Mother, and why Grandpa and my brother refused to pay attention to her. But she couldn't persuade Grandpa and my brother, so she went through most of the palace in the middle of the night to see her quietly. But Mother...

Concubine Liu Guifei's face turned ashen, and her weird distortion made her look like a fierce ghost under the dim candlelight in the middle of the night, causing Princess Zhenning to take a few steps back in shock.

"Mother... Mother, who did you offend? Tell your daughter that she will ask Grandpa and Uncle Li for help, and she will ask the Empress Dowager for help..."

Concubine Liu lay on the bed and closed her eyes. Who did she offend? A name flashed through her mind. Now in the capital, besides Mo Jingli, there is only one person who dares to treat her like this. Mo Jingli will not touch her for the time being, so it can only be... Thinking of the possibility she guessed, Concubine Liu felt a twinge of pain in her heart. Just because she scolded Ye Li, he treated her like this. He even supported the Queen Mother. If there was no one behind her, the old witch who had almost torn her face with King Li would never dare to treat her like this!

Mo Xiuyao! You are so cruel...

"Mother..."

Concubine Liu Gui took a breath, lowered her eyes and said calmly: "Mother is in a bad mood, please pick up the snacks and give them to me."

Princess Zhenning was stunned for a moment, then quickly picked up a few relatively clean snacks and handed them to Concubine Liu Guifei. She also took out an apple from her sleeve and handed it to her, saying, "Mother, please eat slowly. I will bring you more tomorrow. Zhenning will go find grandpa and brother again, and make sure they rescue you as soon as possible."

"Mother knows that you are a good child." Concubine Liu Gui said lightly.

It was the first time in her life that she heard praise from her mother. Princess Zhenning's pretty face showed a shy smile. "Well... I'll be leaving first. Mother, you should have a good rest. Zhenning will come to see you tomorrow."

"Bring some medicine." Concubine Liu Guifei reminded, feeling somewhat unhappy with her daughter's stupidity. She knew that she was injured but only brought some useless snacks.

"Yes! I understand." Princess Zhenning glanced at the wounds on Concubine Liu Guifei's body with some annoyance. She was too nervous and had never gone out alone late at night. That's why she forgot to bring medicine for her mother. She should hurry back and try again, as her mother seemed to be seriously injured.

In the quiet and dark palace, a 13- or 14-year-old girl carefully shuttled through the path. The magnificent pavilions and towers in the daytime and the beautiful and unique rockery, rocks, flowers and plants all became as scary as ghosts in the night. Finally, the girl, who returned to the palace where she lived, breathed a sigh of relief. However, she was frightened by a hand that suddenly stretched out from behind and patted her shoulder, and she almost screamed.

"It's me!" The boy's voice was still clear and bright like a teenager, yet as steady as an adult.

Hearing the familiar voice, Princess Zhenning quickly covered her mouth, patted her throbbing heart, turned to look at her brother and said, "Xiao'er, why are you here?" The visitor was Mo Xiaoyun, the eldest son born to Concubine Liu Gui, who was demoted from the position of Crown Prince to the King of Qin. The King of Qin frowned and looked at his sister, then said solemnly, "You went to see her!"

Princess Zhenning was a little afraid of the brother she had raised. She twirled her clothes and said uneasily, "Xiao'er, that's our biological mother."

Mo Xiaoyun snorted and said, "Dearest child? When did she consider us her own children? Do you know what your situation is like in the palace? If you get yourself and your younger brother into trouble because of her..." The King of Qin still cares a lot about this sister who has taken care of him since he was a child. Concubine Liu Guifei has been very indifferent to Qingsheng and his children since they were young. Most of the time, it was Princess Zhenning, who was two years older, who took care of them. Now that he has been named the King of Qin, he can only live outside the palace, and his eight-year-old brother in the palace has to be taken care of by Zhenning.

"Is it...is it really impossible to save her?" Princess Zhenning asked carefully.

Mo Xiaoyun sneered, "Do you know what she did?"

"What?" Princess Zhenning was stunned. Subconsciously, she did not think that her mother would do anything unforgivable.

Mo Xiaoyun said coldly: "She went to Prince Ding's mansion to threaten Prince Ding to marry her as his consort, and also insulted Princess Ding. If she really married Prince Ding, whether as a concubine or a side concubine, what would happen to us? Have you ever thought about it?" Mo Xiaoyun, who was taught by Prime Minister Liu since childhood, was not stupid. Thinking of how his mother hurried out of the palace when Prince Ding just returned to Beijing, and then his father promoted several princes and concubines in succession, he knew that Concubine Liu's idea was probably not something that came up after his father passed away.

He didn't believe it at first, but when he saw with his own eyes that his beautiful and proud mother was thrown out of the Dingwang Mansion in a shabby state and still refused to give up, his heart was completely cold. Grandpa was right, his mother never took him and his brother seriously. For his own sake and for his sister and brother, he could no longer have anything to do with her.

"How...how could this be?" Princess Zhenning's eyes widened in shock. She had lived in the palace since she was a child, and all she learned were the rules for women taught by the palace maids. She memorized the rules for women, and no matter which one, her mother's behavior was undoubtedly despised by the world.

Mo Xiaoyun looked at her and said, "Understand? If you understand, then don't go to see her again."

"But...if she doesn't go, she will..." She will die...No matter how naive Princess Zhenning is, she still lives in the big melting pot of the imperial palace. She naturally knows what will happen to a woman who is banished to the cold palace, not to mention that her mother is seriously injured.

Under her brother's firm gaze, Princess Zhenning finally lowered her head and said in a voice as low as a mosquito, "I understand..."

Seeing her agree, Mo Xiaoyun's expression eased. Knowing that his sister was upset, he said in a deep voice: "Sister, I am doing this for our own good. Rather than letting her cause countless troubles outside, it is better to keep her in the cold palace. Do you want others to know that we have another... mother concubine?"

Mo Xiaoyun didn't finish his words, but Princess Zhenning understood what he was going to say. Princess Zhenning nodded and said, "I understand."

"That's good, sister, go to bed early. I'm leaving the palace." Mo Xiaoyun said softly, "Take good care of my younger brother and don't let him mess around."

"I understand." Princess Zhenning nodded, and with some concern, she pulled Mo Xiaoyun and asked, "Why are you leaving the palace at this time?" It was already four o'clock in the morning, and the palace gate had been locked. Mo Xiaoyun smiled and said, "Since I can get in, I can naturally get out. Don't worry. Take care, sister."

After watching her brother leave, Princess Zhenning turned around and entered the palace. She didn't even see a single maid on her way in. Because they were not valued by their biological mother, their maids and eunuchs were not very careful. Now that Concubine Liu was in trouble, these people simply took it easy. It was precisely because of this that Princess Zhenning was not discovered for such a long time.

Princess Zhenning returned to her room, found the medicine she had kept for backup, gritted her teeth, and turned around to leave.

She also didn't want people to know that she had a shameless mother. She was not an ignorant girl who knew nothing. She naturally knew what would happen to her and her two siblings if Concubine Liu really succeeded and entered Prince Ding's mansion. Especially for her... a princess who was about to come of age. Her mother couldn't take them to Prince Ding's mansion, and they, as princes and princesses, couldn't go to Prince Ding's mansion either. But even so... she couldn't let her mother die because of her untreatable injuries.

After delivering the medicine... let's go back. Princess Zhenning thought silently in her heart.

"...I'm afraid he won't survive..." A faint voice reached Princess Zhenning's ears. Princess Zhenning was startled and quickly hid behind the flowers and trees on the roadside. It was the end of the month, and the crescent moon was dim and hidden in the shade of the trees without leaving any trace. A pair of night patrol eunuchs came slowly from not far away. Perhaps it was easy to fall asleep at night, so the two eunuchs chatted as they walked.

"Of course. Even though he was the most favored person in the palace before, now that the late emperor has passed away, he has offended the Empress Dowager. I heard that a message was passed down from the Zhangde Palace that he must be executed..."

"Pfft... Don't say such nonsense. If it gets out..."

"Eunuch Feng of Zhangde Palace is my godfather. How could the words he spread be false?"

"That's true...Eunuch Feng is a powerful figure in front of the Queen Mother. I heard that Zhangde Palace is going to make a comeback."

"That's right... I heard that person offended Prince Ding. Sigh... Have you heard about that?"

The companion beside him smiled knowingly, "How could I not have heard about it? I'm afraid it has spread all over the imperial city. But for the sake of the royal family's reputation, we dare not spread it casually. Everyone knows that Prince Ding is devoted to the princess and has not even had a concubine for so many years. This matter..."

"I always thought he was cold as ice, but I never thought..." The following words were a little unbearable to hear. Fortunately, the two eunuchs gradually walked away.

Under the dim moonlight, the pretty girl looked at the deserted path with a pale face and trembled slightly.