Chapter 75 An Lingrong 16
On New Year's Eve, the emperor naturally went to the Empress' Jingren Palace. Before Yinzhen could figure out how to comfort the little girl, she threw herself onto her aunt in the palace like a young swallow:
"Aunt He, let's go."
The girl, who was already drunk like a cat, had obviously forgotten how she usually behaved in front of outsiders. The servants beside her were fine, but after all, they followed the emperor and vaguely sensed the true nature of this master. However, Prince Guo who was standing next to her felt curious.
I feel that this young lady has a somewhat willful and unrestrained character. I just don't know whether she is a true celebrity or just another disguise to please the emperor.
Seeing that she seemed eager to slip away, Yinzhen felt unhappy, but because Prince Guo was present, he had to hold back his anger.
Su Peisheng, who was considerate of the emperor's wishes, immediately scolded Xiao Jinzi and his group who had come from behind: "How can you take care of the master? You actually let the noble come here on his own. If anything goes wrong, can you bear the consequences?"
Lingrong listened to this and felt that Su Peisheng was indeed the most caring concubine by the emperor's side. No wonder he had been favored by the old man for decades.
His words neither hurt An Lingrong's reputation nor failed to meet the emperor's wishes: he could slightly reprimand An Lingrong's servants in the palace and teach her a small lesson, but he could not damage his reputation in front of outsiders, especially his brothers.
While satisfying the needs of his masters, he also commendably did not completely ignore the plight of his servants, but left some room for discussion. If An Lingrong wanted to protect the servants around her, she could naturally wait until she sobered up and pleaded with the emperor, after all, she had come "on her own."
How can a servant be more stubborn than his master?
An Lingrong couldn't help but sigh that the Qing Dynasty was really not a place for ordinary people to stay. Everyone in the world had to flatter the emperor sitting on the dragon throne, and people like the emperor's attendants were so cautious that they still felt it was not enough.
Despite her thoughts, Lingrong did not disappoint Eunuch Su's kindness. Seeing her servants kneeling down, she blinked in a daze.
In the eyes of other people who were unaware of the situation, this expressionless look seemed like Concubine An was showing disrespect to the Emperor in public.
But Yinzhen had already gotten used to the other person's special emotional expressions these days. What others saw as cold and frosty, he saw as five parts bewilderment, three parts helplessness, and two parts pitiful grievance.
"Forget it. After all, he is from your own palace. When you sober up, punish him yourself."
After saying that, she stuffed the hand warmer that Su Peisheng handed over with both hands into Lingrong's hands and said, "Hurry up and help your young lady go back." Seeing that the palace maid named Qing who often followed Lingrong was also there, she reminded her, "Don't let her go back to sleep like this. If you look at her, just tell her that I said that I will not visit her again until she finishes two bowls of ginger soup."
After Biqing received the order, the group of people surrounded Lingrong and left in a mighty manner.
As soon as she entered her Heyi Courtyard, An Lingrong relaxed and collapsed onto the couch. Before she could close her eyes and indulge in her nighttime reunion with Zhou Gong, she saw Ziyuan, who had prepared a full bowl of ginger soup, present it to her.
Lingrong knew she was in the wrong, so she could only drink half a bowl listlessly. Before she could finish the rest, Biqing couldn't help herself and quickly took the remaining half bowl of ginger tea from Lingrong's hand. Smiling, she said to Ziyuan, "The emperor said that the master should drink two bowls of ginger soup to warm himself up. I think this is enough."
Ziyuan naturally had no intention of letting her master drink it all; she was merely using it as a subtle way to express her concern. God knows, she and Biqing had only had two glasses of wine at that table, and when they returned, they found the room completely empty.
The two of them were so frightened that they woke up from their drunken stupor and searched the entire palace, even alarming Aunt He and Feng Sanman. While they were busy, it was the careful little Youzi who discovered Lingrong's handwriting on the paper.
The two maids were both literate, and they barely recognized the few words on the paper before they knew where their young master had gone.
After being anxious and flustered all night, Ziyuan could only dare to give a gentle advice using the ginger soup.
Lingrong understood her good intentions and naturally did not argue with her. Moreover, she had received an unexpected surprise during this outing.
Lingrong thought of He Ronglu, who had been following her respectfully and had not left even after arriving at Heyi Hall, and knew that she was implicitly expressing her feelings to her.
Although it is still difficult to distinguish between loyalty and evil, having such an aunt who has been working in the palace for many years will definitely bring her a lot of help.
…………
After they all left, Lingrong turned over and walked to a red candle, and took out the small portrait from her nightgown. It looked lifelike under the light, and it was indeed about 60% similar to Zhen Huan.
If she had not been quick, she would have fallen into the hands of Prince Guo and become a handle that he could accidentally use against her.
In fact, it was Zhen Huan's own business which man she loved, and Ling Rong didn't want to interfere. In fact, letting Zhen Huan go to Ganlu Temple to "enlightenment in Longchang" would be beneficial to their side.
A favorite concubine who has returned as king, is pregnant with twins, a boy and a girl, and has no intention of having her son compete for the throne.
Lingrong felt that such a teammate was absolutely perfect for her.
It's a pity that such a perfect Zhen Huan has a lover who only holds her back.
Thinking of how Prince Guo later jumped up and down in front of the emperor, as if he was afraid that the emperor didn't know that he was cuckolded by his beloved woman, and afraid that he couldn't let the emperor suspect the identity of the child, she couldn't help but feel a headache.
Zhen Huan is such a good ally, it is worth Ling Rong's effort. Besides, helping Zhen Huan is a small matter, deliberately going to the Plum Garden to seduce the emperor is the main event.
The timing was perfect. Although he didn't want to be Chun Yuan's replacement, he couldn't deny that the New Year's Eve banquet in the Plum Garden was when the emperor was at his most vulnerable.
Besides, she had all the reasons to go.
It was originally agreed that some plum blossoms would be planted in her palace, but the Queen persuaded them to go back on the grounds that it was not appropriate to carry out large-scale construction at the end of the year.
Although the queen's words were nice, citing ancestral rules and traditional taboos, others might think she had good intentions for the emperor. Even Yinzhen, although annoyed that Yixiu rejected his request, agreed with the queen's statement.
But An Lingrong has the plot and memory, so how could she be deceived by her disguised face?
She, Ulanara Yixiu, was clearly jealous of the emperor's favor.
This queen may seem ruthless, but in reality she is a hopeless love-sick person. In this twisted society, even though she knows that it was the emperor who caused her tragic life, she only hates and frames women who are more vulnerable than herself.
No matter what the emperor thought about this chance encounter in Yime Garden, Yixiu would definitely believe that she had done it on purpose.
The night that should have been hers alone with her husband, she could only watch the emperor yearn for his bitterly hated sister. She thought this was shameful enough, but then she learned that the emperor had stumbled upon her, a favored woman, in the Plum Garden.
Presumably, the affection between her and the emperor in the Mei Garden had reached the ears of the empress who was in charge of the overall planning, right?
Lingrong touched the hand warmer with dragon pattern that Yinzhen had just handed to her.
Yixiu...this must be a very uncomfortable feeling.
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