After the Fourth Prince left, the Empress collapsed to the ground, powerless. She was not happy that the Fourth Prince did not blame her; instead, she burst into tears, crying out in anguish, "Hui'er, Hui'er, if you were still here, how could your mother have ended up like this! Hui'er, take your mother with you!"
Lingxiu quickly advised, "Your Majesty, please don't cry. Be careful not to hurt yourself. If you cry like this, the eldest prince won't be at peace in the afterlife."
The Empress said, "What good would it do if I cried myself sick? I'm only living for the Ulanara family now, but has anyone in the Ulanara family ever truly cared about me? To them, I'm just an Empress they can rely on."
Lingxiu said, "Your Majesty, please don't say that. I know you are heartbroken, but only you can save the Ulanara family now."
Upon hearing this, the Empress couldn't help but chuckle, looking both terrifying and pitiful.
The Prefect of the Capital sent his trusted subordinate Cui Jian to Hongshi's residence. The guards reported to the Princess Consort Shuzhen that someone from the Prefectural Government had arrived. Princess Consort Shuzhen thought that there was some news about Hongshi and hurriedly said, "Let him in quickly."
After Cui Jian entered, he bowed to Shuzhen and said, "This humble official, Cui Jian, greets Your Highness."
Shuzhen politely said, "No need for formalities." Then she pointed to the seat next to her and said, "Please sit down, sir. Did you come here today to tell me about the Prince?"
Cui Jian waved his hand and said, "I will not sit down. I have come to your residence today on the orders of Prefect Li Wan of Jingzhao Prefecture to see someone. I would like to ask that Your Highness please allow her to come out and meet me."
Shuzhen asked in confusion, "Who is it? Does this lady know?"
Cui Jian said, "It was a woman named Ruan Meiying, who was said to be a concubine that Prince Beile brought back from Kaifeng."
"Oh, it's her! Then Lord Cui will have to wait a moment. Someone, bring Lord Cui some tea!" Of course, Consort Shuzhen didn't understand why the Prefect of the Capital wanted to see Ruan Meiying, but she dared not refuse to call Ruan Meiying out. So, Shuzhen had someone bring tea for the visitor.
While the maid was pouring tea, Shuzhen instructed her trusted maid to quickly go to the woodshed and bring Ruan Meiying out. The Fujin gave her trusted maid a wink, and the latter understood that the Fujin wanted her to take Ruan Meiying to wash up and change her clothes first.
The princess then asked, "I wonder why Lord Cui wants to see her?"
Cui Jian knew the importance of Ruan Meiying, and he was afraid that if he told the truth, Shuzhen would not hand Ruan Meiying over to her, so he could only vaguely say, "This is what Lord Li ordered, and I am sorry that I cannot tell you."
Shuzhen was displeased, but she couldn't say anything.
When her trusted maid, Grape, arrived at the woodshed and saw that Ruan Meiying had indeed been injured, she quickly said to the old woman guarding her, "Take her out quickly to take a bath and change her clothes. The Princess Consort wants to see her."
When Ruan Meiying heard that it was the Fujin who wanted to see her, she thought that the Fujin had come up with some way to torture her again, so she struggled to prevent anyone from getting close. In the end, Putao simply had the nanny tie her up temporarily. After she was cleaned up, the maid Putao led her to the Fujin's main room.
To show her closeness, the Fujin (principal wife) took Ruan Meiying's hand and said, "Sister, you've finally arrived! The Prefect of the Capital has sent someone to see you."
After saying this, she brought Ruan Meiying to Cui Jian and said, "Lord Cui, this is Ruan Meiying."
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