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At this moment, Hongyu's sedan chair had arrived at Putuo Temple. Seeing Feicui pick up her veil, she shook her head and refused. Today, she wanted the world to see her, Zhang Hongyu, praying for the people, so that she could ascend to the throne of Empress as soon as possible.
She stepped out of the sedan chair and looked up to see Bao Qianqiu walking towards her. She couldn't help but feel angry that she was a step behind Bao Qianqiu, but under the watchful eyes of everyone, she still remembered her manners and greeted Bao Qianqiu in advance, "Greetings, Consort Qiu."
"Is Consort Yu well?" Bao Qianqiu said, taking out a money bag and handing it to Hongyu, instructing her, "This is silver donated by Miss Chenyu to the people of Jiangnan. I hope Consort Yu will pass it on to His Majesty."
Hongyu asked in confusion, "Why didn't Consort Qiu personally hand it over to the Emperor?"
“I…I plan to visit an old friend, but I’m afraid that returning to the palace too late will delay the matter, so I’m asking Consort Yu for help.”
Hongyu nodded in agreement, handed the money pouch to Emerald beside her, and then headed towards Putuo Temple.
Unexpectedly, they hadn't gone far when they saw Chen Yu being slowly walked over, supported by Cuiwei and Jiu'er.
Good heavens! It's only been a month since I last saw her, how come Shen Yu has become so thin, just a skeleton? Her once smooth oval face is now withered and dull, and her once delicate white hands are now skin and bones with distinct joints.
Hongyu was taken aback and quickly went to greet her, asking, "Is Sister ill?"
Shen Yu lowered her eyes and remained silent. At this moment, Hong Yu was a demon who pursued power in her heart, whom she loathed to the extreme and did not want to look at Hong Yu again.
Hongyu, however, was watching Chenyu, waiting for her reply.
Upon seeing this, Cuiwei quickly replied, "Noble Consort Yu, please don't worry. My young lady has just had a poor appetite recently, but she is not ill. As long as she rests well for a while, she will definitely recover."
Before Cuiwei could finish speaking, Chenyu pulled her along, signaling them to continue. The three of them walked to the roadside and saw Prince Jing getting off his carriage.
Prince Jing had not seen Chen Yu for a month. He came not to find Chen Yu, but to find Bao Qianqiu.
Early in the morning, Bao Qianqiu's personal maid delivered a wooden box to Prince Jing's residence. When Prince Jing opened it, he found it filled with silver notes and a letter.
In the letter, Bao Qianqiu instructed Prince Jing to use the silver notes for disaster relief and urged him to take good care of Shen Yu in the future, hoping that Prince Jing and Shen Yu could get together.
King Jing feared this was a farewell letter, so he rushed to the palace to see Bao Qianqiu. The palace guards said Bao Qianqiu had gone to Putuo Temple to offer incense, so he followed him there. As soon as he got off the carriage, he encountered Chen Yu.
At this moment, Shen Yu was exhausted and, panting heavily, bowed to him, saying, "Shen Yu greets Prince Jing."
King Jing stared wide-eyed at Chen Yu. He had visited her many times over the past month, but she had always avoided him.
Unexpectedly, Shen Yu had become so thin and frail. His eyes reddened, and remembering Shen Yu's stubborn and strong-willed personality, he abandoned his nonchalant attitude and asked with a forced smile, "Shen Yu, have you seen Consort Qiu?"
Shen Yu nodded, "Sister Qianqiu has already left."
Where to go?
"Aren't we going back to the palace?"
"Impossible! I didn't see Consort Qiu's carriage on my way here. Oh no, something terrible has happened! I'm afraid something has happened to Consort Qiu!"
Hearing Prince Jing's startled reaction, Hongyu, who had been listening nearby, hurried over. She thought to herself, if Bao Qianqiu were to get into trouble, wouldn't she lose a formidable rival and directly ascend to the throne as Empress?
She walked up to Prince Jing and said directly, "Just now, Consort Qiu told me that she is not returning to the palace, but is going to see an old friend."
An old friend? Prince Jing shook his head firmly, “No, she gave me a letter and told me some very important things.”
Hearing this, Chen Yu panicked. No wonder Bao Qianqiu said to go to Prince Jing if she encountered difficulties in the future; it turned out that she was really making arrangements for her death.
Chen Yu hurriedly pulled Cuiwei and Jiu'er away, "Quickly go find Consort Qiu and inquire along the way where her carriage is going?"
The group arrived at the nunnery west of Putuo Temple and, sure enough, saw Bao Qianqiu's carriage parked outside.
Seeing this, Chen Yu broke free from Cuiwei and Jiu'er's support and staggered towards the nunnery. Cuiwei and Jiu'er followed, and Prince Jing and Hongyu also jogged after her.
The five people ran into the nunnery and saw a familiar nun standing in the courtyard, bowing and saying, "Benefactor, you are weak, please don't worry."
Shen Yu steadied herself against the wooden door, watching as the once magnificent Consort Qiu, adorned in splendid robes and a golden hairpin, transformed in the blink of an eye into a nun in plain clothes and a cloth hat. Tears streamed down her face, and she choked back sobs, unable to speak.
"Sister...why is this? Didn't you want Chen Yu to have frequent contact with you?"
Bao Qianqiu's eyes were also wet with tears. Ever since the Prince of Xiang recommended her to enter the palace, she had been thinking about escaping, but she was afraid of implicating the Bao family, so she obeyed the Prince of Xiang's arrangement and entered the palace as a concubine.
King Xiang hoped that she could suppress Hongyu, become the queen, manage the harem, assist the king, and bring benefits to the people; the Bao family also hoped that she would ascend to the position of queen and bring glory to the Bao family.
But she disliked power and even more so, strife. Now that a disaster had struck Jiangnan, she thought she could use this opportunity to escape.
The former Imperial Concubine Qiu is now a nun in a nunnery.
Hongyu was overjoyed; if there hadn't been other people around, she would have burst into laughter.
She stepped forward to help Chen Yu up and comforted her, "Consort Qiu has already become a nun. There's no going back now. Sister, don't be sad. Take care of yourself."
Chen Yu suddenly broke free from Hong Yu, but due to her weakness, she staggered and fell to the ground.
Bao Qianqiu took a step forward to help Chen Yu up, but then stood there blankly, saying in a deep voice:
"The former Consort Qiu has donated all her wealth to become a nun, with the Dharma name Nianxin. From now on, Nianxin will pray for the Emperor and the people of the world every day in this nunnery, and will never set foot in the secular world again for the rest of her life."
These words delighted Hongyu, but Chenyu was filled with grief. With the help of Cuiwei and Jiu'er, she stood up and walked towards Bao Qianqiu.
Bao Qianqiu stepped back, lowered his head to avoid Chen Yu's gaze, and said coldly, "Nianxin has other important matters to attend to and cannot accompany me. Farewell."
After saying this, Bao Qianqiu turned and left.
And so, Bao Qianqiu became a nun, and Hongyu's formidable rival was gone.
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It was dark when Hongyu returned to the palace. Carrying her money bag, she couldn't hide her joy and ran briskly towards the Ziji Palace.
Unexpectedly, Eunuch Cai, who had never stopped her before, stepped forward and blocked her way. "Consort Yu, the Emperor has decreed that you may not appear before him without being summoned."
Hongyu looked at Ziji Palace with suspicion. The palace was dimly lit. The emperor could not discuss important matters with his ministers in the dark. Could it be that the emperor was favoring his concubines?
At this moment, a tall and imposing man walked over. As the man approached, the smell of alcohol became increasingly strong. Hongyu covered her nose and looked over. It turned out to be the Ancient Locust King of the Guli tribe.
King Gu Huai grinned, “Miss Hongyu was imprisoned back then, but now she is a high-ranking imperial concubine. I admire her greatly.”
Hongyu asked in confusion, "What is the purpose of the Ancient Locust King's trip here?"
I have always been thinking of Miss Hongyu, so I thought of continuing to form a marriage alliance with the royal family.
I didn't come empty-handed; I brought not only gold and silver jewelry, but also my sister, Gulnaffee, who has already been summoned to the palace by the Emperor.
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