Chapter 156 An Lingrong 97
Concubine Xiang brought her daughter into the gate of Chengqian Palace and passed through the colorful garden. As soon as they reached the corridor, they felt a cool breeze and the slight summer heat immediately dissipated.
The little girl uttered a soft "wow" before following her mother down the corridor into the main hall. The other palace maids held their breath, intently moving without making a sound.
"Your Majesty has finally woken up from her nap. I've brought Wen Yite to pay my respects to you."
Baojuan, who was waiting outside, bowed respectfully and, upon hearing her question, quickly raised the beaded curtain. "The Queen has awakened and has specifically instructed us to come in if you come."
As he said this, he led them in.
As soon as Xiangpin entered, she bowed and saluted: "Greetings to the Imperial Concubine." Wen Yi beside her also followed her example.
"Hurry up and get up." Wen Yi looked up and saw her favorite imperial concubine smiling at her gently. She immediately threw herself into Ling Rong's arms with a smile: "Imperial concubine, Wen Yi missed you so much~"
"Didn't you just meet little Wen Yi yesterday? You miss her so soon?" Ling Rong held Wen Yi in her arms and motioned Xiangpin to sit down as well.
"I miss them every day~ I also miss my sixth brother, Tuo Tuo, and Mang Mang very much!" Wen Yi counted all four of them, mother and son from Cheng Qian Palace, making Ling Rong laugh. "Go and see if the siblings are awake. If they are, bring them here."
As he spoke, he explained to Wen Yi, "Your sixth brother has begun to learn to read now, so he won't even see me very often. How about just playing with your brothers and sisters for a while today?"
"Okay, Wen Yi will take good care of them." Wen Yi nodded obediently. After the two children were brought in, she patiently accompanied them to play outside. After a while, she heard the children's giggling.
After Lingrong and the others had left, she leaned back on the couch, holding a round Su embroidery fan with a white jade handle in her hand, fanning herself intermittently: "It's so hot today, do you still have enough ice in your palace?"
"Thanks to the Empress, the allowances sent by the Imperial Household Department are all sufficient." Xiangpin smiled and complimented, then explained her purpose: "But of course it's not as cool as in the garden."
"The Empress Dowager's illness has been dragging on and showing no improvement, and the Emperor is quite upset. After all, the Emperor is a filial son, how can he abandon his own mother and run away to enjoy himself?" Ling Rong's words were emotionless, as if she was just stating a fact.
Upon hearing this, Concubine Xiang couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. There was really nothing good to stay in the Forbidden City in midsummer. Wen Yi was young and afraid of heat, so staying in the palace with ice was naturally not as comfortable as in the Old Summer Palace. Besides, the place there was spacious, the scenery was beautiful, and it was not as restrictive as in the palace.
"However, there are many children in the palace this year, and it's even hotter than in previous years. I heard that the Empress Dowager made a special trip to persuade the Emperor that this year, only the concubines with children, plus Concubine Qi and Concubine Chun, can accompany the Emperor to the Old Summer Palace to escape the summer heat."
Xiangpin's eyes immediately lit up surprisingly: "Then the Queen..."
"When the Emperor goes to the Old Summer Palace alone, he naturally has to leave the Empress to take care of the Empress Dowager. No one else has the status and dignity to do so." Lingrong smiled faintly, thinking of how the Empress had tried to fight with her in the past six months, and Lingrong took the opportunity to help many concubines get pregnant.
She helped Concubine Xin, Concubine Chun, Concubine Jing, Concubine Xiang, and even Concubine Jin and Concubine Qi, her enemies, and provided them with several side-effect-free prescriptions for pregnancy through various means.
The ending was tragic. Concubine Jing, who gave birth to a daughter with the help of Concubine Lingrong and Concubine Duan, all the others, including the scheming Concubine Xiang, were defeated by the cloth given by the Queen. But she wanted to have the best of both worlds, so she kept it a secret until she miscarried.
Fortunately, although she was greedy, she was not stupid. After she completely understood that the Queen was completely unreliable, she had calmed down a bit in recent days. However, Lingrong only regarded her as a tool to relieve her boredom. Seeing that she had become attentive again, she just pretended not to know.
This move was a clear blow to the Empress. For the first time, Lingrong discovered how easy it was to deal with the Empress. With so many concubines suffering miscarriages in the palace, even if the Emperor didn't doubt the Empress, he would still be dissatisfied with her.
Especially after the emperor gave Concubine Jing's baby to Concubine Duan and Lingrong, and she gave birth to a girl safely, the empress was exempted from paying respects to the emperor. She suffered from headaches every day and could not get out of bed.
The Empress Dowager didn't care about her behavior after she had warned her many times to no avail, and even agreed when the Emperor wanted to keep the Empress in the Forbidden City.
As soon as Concubine Xiang heard Lingrong's words, she knew that the Empress would definitely have a "good time" recently. Thinking of her unborn baby, Cao Qinmo hated the Empress: "It would be great if the Empress could take care of the Empress Dowager. We, the clumsy concubines, can never be as caring as the Empress Dowager's niece."
"Oh, by the way, yesterday I took Wen Yi to the Imperial Garden to catch butterflies, and I happened to see Concubine Jin and Concubine Qi arguing. I don't know what they said, but they almost came to blows."
"The two of them haven't been getting along for a day or two. The Queen is always worried about them."
"I think so too, but Concubine Qi seems to blame Concubine Jin for the miscarriage." Concubine Xiang took the grapes handed to her by Lingrong, peeled them carefully, and fed them to Lingrong on a handkerchief.
Ling Rong paused fanning herself, and a smile appeared on her face as she ate her grapes: "What was Concubine Jin's reaction?"
"Jinpin ignored her, bowed to me and left." Xiangpin wanted to peel some more, but Lingrong waved her hand, indicating that she should eat it herself.
"She actually bowed to you?"
"Yes, and they behave very properly." Xiangpin said this and looked at Lingrong meaningfully.
"It's really strange. After so many years of suffering in the palace, she actually has a brain one day." Lingrong put the fan on the table casually. Seeing the children running in, she and Cao Qinmo stopped talking at the same time and just smiled and chatted about rouge and powder.
Not long after Cao Qinmo returned to her palace, she saw Rong Lu and a group of servants bringing her a lot of things. One of the baskets was the grapes she had just eaten in Chengqian Palace.
On the day they set out for the Old Summer Palace, no one noticed that there was another concubine named Jinpin on the list.
This time, Lingrong was placed in the Natural Painting with her two children. When Hongyao turned six, the emperor sent him to the depths of the cave to accompany the third prince.
With the help of Lingrong, Concubine Xiang moved into the nearby Bitong Academy with her daughter.
Concubine Jing took her two daughters and Concubine Chun to Shangxia Tianguang; Concubine Qi took Concubine Xin and Concubine Jin from her palace and lived together in Yingshui Lanxiang, which was farther away; Concubine Zhen went to Fanying Pavilion.
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