Chapter 212: Growing Flowers
"How did you know this?" the Queen looked at Xu Qingyan in astonishment.
Back then, when she was still unmarried, her father did want to marry her to a nearly 60-year-old cabinet scholar to secure a good future for her younger brother. From childhood to adulthood, after her mother passed away, her life in the Fang family was not bad, because her father had very few daughters and only two legitimate daughters. However, the daughters born by this stepmother, who was a concubine, were always flawed and of average appearance, so it was difficult for them to find a good husband for her.
Back then, her younger sister was jealous of her and instigated her stepmother to persuade her father to marry her to an old man. Her father was neither good nor bad to her. She felt that they were related by blood. She had been educated in the Four Books and Five Classics since she was a child and believed that children should obey their fathers. She did not dare to complain about her father. When she learned that she had to marry a man older than her father, she was devastated, but she soon compromised.
However, what she didn't expect was that at a party, she saw the cabinet scholar, who was not only old but also very ugly. She felt extremely uncomfortable at the time.
So, she left the crowd and went to sit by the lake to meditate. But she didn't expect that her younger sister would bring a group of women to laugh at her, and one of the women accidentally revealed that the cabinet scholar was a pervert who let the servants in his family sleep with his concubines. She was angry and scared, and she wanted to commit suicide for a moment, so she jumped into the lake. But no one expected that she would be saved by the emperor, who was still the King of Rui at that time.
At that time, Prince Rui was not favored. After all, he was still a prince. After saving her, he asked the emperor for a marriage, and she became the Princess of Rui. After she became the Princess, her father felt that she was more valuable and began to treat her better. Over the years, she almost forgot about it. How did the Crown Prince know about it?
"We can find out your background, so how can we not find out these things? Queen, if you don't believe it, why don't you do a parent-child verification with your father?" Xu Qingyan looked at the Queen seriously and said.
The Queen's eyes trembled. They looked so confident. Could it be that what they said was true? In an instant, she was shaken. If this was true, she would never recognize the thief as her father. On the contrary, she would avenge her mother.
So, she did not reject Xu Qingyan's suggestion, and found a royal physician she trusted, asking him to use their method to test her blood relationship with Master Fang.
When the result came out, the queen's face turned pale, and she gritted her teeth and said, "So... this is all true! I have been deceived for so many years!"
Pei Jingchuan and Prince Qin finally breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that if this was the case, the Queen would no longer interfere with the Emperor's handling of the Fang family.
However, they did not expect that the Queen would take the initiative to say to them: "Prince Qin, Young Master Pei, thank you very much! I will not interfere with the Emperor's decision anymore. However, I still want to meet with the Fang family alone, is it okay to say something?"
"This..." Prince Qin and Pei Jingchuan looked at each other. In fact, they were a little worried that the Queen would do something irrational in anger.
After all, the emperor's decree was that the Fang family would be executed at noon in front of the entire city's citizens in three days.
"Don't worry, I won't kill them first. Since the emperor has already ordered their execution, there is no need for me to do anything unnecessary. I will spare their lives." The queen saw the embarrassment of the King of Qin and the others, and explained aloud, but there was still a trace of hatred in her eyes.
Pei Jingchuan and the others naturally agreed, but they still sent people to watch in secret just in case. After a long time, the Fang family's painful howls were heard in the prison.
Three days later, in front of the people of the whole city, Fang Jia was executed at noon.
Because she was always busy with the Fang family's affairs, Concubine Chun never had a chance to see the emperor. After the Fang family was executed, the emperor felt relieved all over.
That night, the eunuch in charge of delivering the name tags to the harem brought the name tags of the concubines. He had received Concubine Chun's gold bracelet in advance, and tonight he deliberately placed Concubine Chun's name tag in the most conspicuous position.
When the emperor was about to turn over the cards, he saw the words "Concubine Chun" at a glance. Then he remembered that he had not favored Concubine Chun for at least three months. He also thought that Concubine Chun and Prince Yu had been much more honest recently. Suddenly, he was not so disgusted with Concubine Chun anymore, and asked casually, "What has Concubine Chun been busy with recently?"
The eunuch who was carrying the tray had his eyes brightened, and he said seriously, "Your Majesty, Concubine Chun has recently taken a liking to flower cultivation, and has grown a lot of fresh flowers in her palace. Her flowers are especially well-groomed, and you can smell them from afar. They are much more fragrant than other places, and attract a lot of butterflies every day."
"Really?" The emperor became interested upon hearing this, picked up Concubine Chun's nameplate and said with a smile: "Tonight, I will go to Concubine Chun's palace."
"Yes! Your Majesty." said the eunuch happily.
"Your Highness!" Concubine Chun bowed to the emperor tenderly, feeling a little uneasy.
Today, her makeup was light and elegant, and her clothes were a pale apricot color that was not eye-catching. She had maintained herself well over the years. She was almost forty years old, but now she looked like a young girl in her twenties. Her aura was not as noble as before, which made the emperor feel a little pity for her.
"Please stand up, my beloved concubine! I heard that you have fallen in love with growing flowers in this palace these days. Why don't you take me to see the flowers you grow?" The emperor said as he helped Concubine Chun stand up.
At this moment, the courtyard was brightly lit. Concubine Chun took the emperor to the courtyard, and saw all kinds of enchanting and beautiful flowers blooming in the lush courtyard. Under the backdrop of the lights and moonlight, it looked even more touching.
"My dear, you take good care of the flowers!" the emperor praised sincerely.
Concubine Chun smiled and said, "Your Majesty, I have learned a dance recently and would like to dance it for Your Majesty alone. I wonder if Your Majesty would be willing to show me the dance?"
"Oh? It seems like I haven't seen my beloved concubine dance for many years." The emperor looked at Concubine Chun with some surprise.
He was really a little tired from being busy with government affairs these days, and wanted to relax by appreciating the dance. He was especially pleased when Concubine Chun said that she wanted to dance for him alone.
The emperor dismissed the palace maids and sat on a chair, admiring Concubine Chun dancing in front of him. Concubine Chun was wearing a long silk dress, which outlined her figure very well. Now she danced gently, which made her body look very soft. The dim light fell on Concubine Chun, adding a hazy beauty. She danced gently, and raised a shy and beautiful smile from time to time. The emperor was more and more attracted to her.
Suddenly, the emperor could not help but stride forward, picked up Concubine Chun and walked into the house.
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