Chapter 160 An Lingrong 101
On the same day, Zhang Tingyu of the previous dynasty reported that autumn floods had occurred in the south, breaking down dikes and leaving hundreds of thousands of people displaced and homeless. The two reports made the emperor even more upset.
He hurriedly comforted Concubine Ning with a few words and rushed back to the Yangxin Palace. He stayed brightly lit all night before he managed to deal with these matters.
After finally finishing the court session and about to take a break, Su Peisheng came in with a bitter face: "Your Majesty, the Empress invites you to Xianfu Palace."
"Xianfu Palace? What's wrong with Concubine Jing?" The emperor felt annoyed for a moment, but still asked while suppressing his temper.
"It is said that Princess Longyue has a high fever and her condition is not good."
"Longyue is sick? How is Concubine Jing taking care of him?" After all, he is his own child. Besides, the Queen specially invited him over, so he is afraid that the situation is really not good.
The emperor frowned, but ordered the palace servants to take care of it for him and then went to Xianfu Palace.
As soon as he entered, he saw the Empress, the Imperial Concubine, and all the famous people in the palace had arrived. They were so crowded that the room was completely blocked. "What are you all doing here? Except for the Empress and the Imperial Concubine..."
The emperor looked at Huipin, whose eyes were gleaming with tears, and Duanfei, who looked worried, and paused, "Duanfei and Huipin remain, everyone else, please leave."
Lingrong glanced at the emperor's dark face and turned to look outside the door.
The emperor, who was about to go over, also saw someone peeking outside and immediately shouted angrily, "Who is sneaking around there? Come out."
The man hurried in and knelt on the ground. It was Baojuan from Lingrong Palace.
When he saw that it was from Lingrong Palace, the emperor said nothing and softened his tone: "I remember that you are the maidservant beside the imperial concubine. What were you doing just now?"
"Your Majesty, Princess Yong'an and the Seventh Prince have woken up and are crying because they can't see the Empress. Aunt He sent this servant to look for our Empress."
"Then you should go back and see the child first. After things are done here, I will go see Yong'an as well."
Lingrong then slowly stood up, bowed, and left with Baojuan. When she returned in the sedan chair, she saw Concubine Xiang standing outside her palace gate, as if she was about to go in.
"Your Highness has returned." Xiangpin also saw her and took two or three steps over to greet her. She also offered her hand and supported Baojuan. "I heard yesterday that Your Highness no longer needed to attend to her sickness and had been planning to come and see her. I thought you might need a good rest, so I waited until today. I didn't expect that Your Highness was not here. I almost missed you."
"Longyue is ill, so I went to Xianfu Palace just now."
"Is the illness really serious?"
"The imperial physician doesn't think it's good." Lingrong and she entered the room and sat opposite each other. Xiangpin's eyes turned and she asked with a smile, "I wonder if Concubine Jing's little princess has been brought up?"
Ling Rong naturally understood what she meant and said meaningfully, "The little princess is lucky. She is healthy and there is nothing wrong with her."
"That's good. Otherwise, if both children were sick, wouldn't it be so worrying?" Concubine Xiang patted her chest, as if she was truly relieved. "After all, Princess Longyue has many people thinking about her, but the little princess only has Concubine Jing, her biological mother, who cares for her."
"Mischievous." Ling Rong shook her head and stopped talking about this with her.
Inside the Xianfu Palace, things developed just as Concubine Xiang had guessed.
Before, the Queen often said that Concubine Jing was not devoted to Longyue. The Emperor did not take it seriously at that time, but now, seeing his pitiful daughter lying on the bed, he felt dissatisfied with Concubine Jing.
"Why does Longyue have a high fever when someone is watching her every day?" The emperor touched his daughter's little face and looked at her adoptive mother.
Concubine Jing knelt down quickly and said, "I don't know either. I've come to check on her every day, and Longyue was fine yesterday."
The emperor frowned, obviously not satisfied with her answer, but still let her get up first.
The Concubine Duan beside her also gently advised: "Your Majesty, why should you be angry? Children are always prone to illness, and it is inevitable that Concubine Jing will not be able to take care of them."
As he spoke, he seemed to remember something and turned to look at Concubine Jing with a worried look on his face: "By the way, is the little princess okay? She is younger and can't withstand these illnesses."
"Thank you for your concern, Princess Duan. Moyaqi is doing well."
The Empress flicked her handkerchief aside. After hearing what Concubine Jing said, she glanced at Concubine Hui beside her and smiled at the Emperor, "It's clear that Concubine Jing is still very attentive to the children. In fact, it's really hard for her to take care of two princesses alone. It's understandable that she made some mistakes. Your Majesty, please don't punish Concubine Jing."
"If she really cared about Longyue, she wouldn't have let her catch a cold." The emperor had already guessed what was going on after hearing what Concubine Duan and the empress said, and his face gradually darkened.
"Otherwise, how come Moyaqi is still young but has no illness or disaster, while Longyue has been plagued by disasters since she followed Concubine Jing, and now she has such a serious illness."
Concubine Jing could only kneel on the ground again. This time, she felt wronged and frightened by the emperor's accusations. She thought she treated Longyue and Moyaqi equally, and even favored Longyue because she had been separated from her mother at a young age and had a biological daughter for her.
She had never expected the Emperor to conclude she was a biased mother based on just a few words from others: "Your Majesty, I absolutely do not have such feelings. I am also a mother. How could I not be sad to see my child sick?"
The emperor was too lazy to listen to her. He was already upset, and now he was even more impatient: "Don't say anything. After all, you already have a daughter. Whether it's intentional or not, there are no shortage of childless concubines in the palace who are willing to be her mother."
As the emperor was speaking, he happened to see Concubine Duan staring at the child intently, and she didn't even pay attention to what he said.
"I think Concubine Duan is very good. From now on, Longyue will be handed over to Concubine Duan for upbringing."
Concubine Duan seemed to have just noticed his words at this moment. She glanced at the emperor in surprise, and when she saw him nod, she became both happy and excited.
"I obey your order." After performing the ceremony, Concubine Duan looked at Concubine Jing apologetically, not knowing what to say. In the end, she took the child away in silence.
Huipin wanted to stop it, but the emperor was unwilling to find a mother with children for the princess, so she could only watch Huan'er's daughter being taken away by that woman with ulterior motives.
A fleeting smile flashed across the Queen's eyes. She certainly wasn't trying to help Concubine Duan, but was simply taking advantage of the situation to create a feud between them. She knew Concubine Duan's methods, but she didn't know how Concubine Hui would get the child back.
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