Chapter 12 Everyone Wants to Conquer Me 12
The Empress Dowager looked at her, her expression unreadable: "She really is sharp-tongued."
Hu Yao: "Thank you for your praise, Empress Dowager."
The Empress Dowager's face immediately turned ugly.
It seems they never expected that the emperor's women would be so difficult to deal with.
He tried to teach her a lesson but ended up losing the battle.
Hui Chang sneered, "You're only doing this because your cousin the emperor dotes on you, aren't you? But in the palace, favor can vanish the very next day."
"Let's see how long you can be so smug."
Hui Chang's expression was as if she could tear a piece of flesh from her body; even a merchant's wife could climb on top of her.
It's really frustrating.
"The most important thing in this palace is the Emperor's favor, and I'm sure the Empress Dowager knows this better than anyone else."
That's outrageous! Absolutely outrageous!
They were as lawless as emperors.
This was the Empress Dowager's idea.
The Empress Dowager's face turned ashen: "I am exhausted. Since Consort Jin is the Emperor's most favored concubine, then she shall pray for my well-being by copying and reciting scriptures on behalf of the Emperor."
"To show your sincerity, please copy it in my Buddhist shrine."
Hui Chang smiled when she heard the Empress Dowager's words.
Let you go crazy.
So what if you have the emperor backing you up?
The Empress Dowager is the Emperor's mother, so you still have to behave yourself, right?
"Yes." Consort Jin squatted down.
After entering the Buddhist hall, the nanny blew out a pair of candles. Seeing that Consort Jin was looking over, she said, "Her Majesty the Empress Dowager was afraid that the candles would dazzle Consort Jin's eyes, so she asked me to extinguish a pair of candles."
Consort Jin said nothing.
Looking up at the Buddha statue in front of me, I put my hands together and bowed in devout worship.
The nanny waited until she finished bowing before having a servant bring over a low table.
Consort Jin's maid frowned: "How are we supposed to make copies of this, Her Highness?"
The old woman said, "Since it is to pray for the Empress Dowager, we must kneel and copy it to show Consort Jin's sincerity."
"You agree, Your Majesty."
The old nanny lowered her head, her eyes filled with disdain.
Those whom their masters dislike, their servants naturally dislike as well.
"The old woman is right." Consort Jin smiled insincerely, her eyes filled with coldness.
"Then this servant will take her leave. Your maid should also stay outside so as not to disturb your peace." Actually, she was afraid that Consort Jin would have her maid help with the writing, so she immediately dismissed the idea.
The old woman said, "The Buddhist scriptures on the table are all to be copied. The Empress Dowager will check the Empress's intentions."
The maid wanted to say something, but seeing the lady's expression, she had no choice but to shut up.
As they left, they kept turning back to check on each other.
With the door closed, the light in the Buddhist hall dimmed even further.
Consort Jin did not look at the scriptures beside her.
Instead, she knelt on the prayer mat and thanked God for giving her a second chance.
She never imagined she could live without having to depend on other people's opinions.
Time flies.
When the Empress Dowager got up to eat, she completely forgot about the person in the Buddhist hall. Perhaps she remembered, but didn't take it to heart. It was clear that she wanted to teach her a lesson.
"Your Majesty, that person is still in the Buddhist hall," the nanny reminded her, noticing how late it was.
"Ignore her. I have to deflate her arrogance and let her know that the emperor is not the only one who makes the decisions in this palace."
The old woman lowered her head and dared not speak.
After all, the emperor is the Son of Heaven, and he should indeed be the one to call the shots in the palace.
Consort Jin was idly resting under the candlelight when she heard a noise coming from the window and got up.
They quietly opened the window a crack and found a guard standing there.
Lin Er, expressionless, brought in two sets of quilts. Consort Jin accepted them, saying, "This is..."
"The Emperor sent me to deliver this. He also asked me to convey a message that I can leave the palace tomorrow."
Consort Jin nodded: "Okay."
After everyone left, Consort Jin spread a soft quilt on the ground, and prepared another quilt to cover herself with when she rested so as not to catch a cold.
She hadn't expected the Emperor to be so thoughtful.
The next morning.
Ji Huaizhi did not attend court, but came directly to pay his respects to the Empress Dowager.
When the Empress Dowager received the news, she stood up with a dark face and was helped out by her nanny: "The Emperor is here so early in the morning for your concubine Jin? This is utterly absurd!"
"Shouldn't you be in court at this time?"
“I was really worried about Consort Jin, who was in the Buddhist hall all night.” Ji Huaizhi said in a calm tone, “Sure enough, the servants just said that Consort Jin caught a chill last night and needs to rest and recuperate in the palace.”
The Empress Dowager didn't believe it; it was just an excuse he made up.
"Her health is poor; it's because she's unlucky."
"For the sake of a woman, you disregard my health and come to question me? For this alone, I can order her death!"
Ji Huaizhi watched her step forward.
The Empress Dowager was intimidated by his expression: "Emperor!"
“Hui Changzai, be beaten to death.” Ji Huaizhi said these five words with a cold look in his eyes.
The Empress Dowager opened her mouth and took a step back, her eyes wide with disbelief: "Emperor!"
Ji Huaizhi looked at her with cold eyes: "Since the Empress Dowager has been unwell recently, she should stay in the palace to rest and recuperate. Without my decree, no one except the imperial physicians is allowed to enter or leave."
The Empress Dowager's mouth gaped slightly in surprise at the Emperor's decree, seemingly not expecting him to place her under house arrest.
The Empress Dowager pointed a trembling finger at him: "Emperor...you...you scoundrel!"
"presumptuous!"
Everyone present knelt on the ground in fear.
The Empress Dowager was so startled she almost lost her balance, her face filled with panic as she looked around:
"Emperor! The Ji family's empire will be destroyed in your hands!"
"If the late emperor knew how absurd you were, he would definitely..." She didn't finish her sentence, but simply closed her eyes.
"Empress Dowager, this is just a lesson. I just want to tell you that I cannot move my people at will, but I can take the life of your people at any time."
"Someone come here, the Empress Dowager is tired." Ji Huaizhi said, then turned and left.
Those in the Empress Dowager's palace only saw the black and gold dragon robe disappear through the doorway.
The old nanny rose and quickly helped the Empress Dowager up: "Your Majesty the Empress Dowager!"
The Empress Dowager clutched her chest, her legs trembling: "You scoundrel! You scoundrel!"
"Your Majesty, do you see this? This is the emperor you chose, do you see this?" The Empress Dowager cried out in anguish, "You say he is intelligent, but you cannot see his cruelty."
The Empress Dowager closed her eyes in sorrow; she and the Emperor were at odds.
Aside from the face she was entitled to, the emperor gave her nothing else.
He disliked himself and his son.
Just because the seventh son was in poor health, and his son was the legitimate heir, the emperor regarded him as an omen of misfortune.
"My son, how bitter your mother's suffering is!"
"My little Qi."
The old nanny supported the Empress, who was weeping, saying, "Your Majesty, please don't be sad. Take good care of yourself."
"I know you are in pain, but there is a way. Think about it, the late emperor had more than one son. Please wait a little longer."
The Empress Dowager suddenly lost her strength: "The Ji family are indeed all madmen."
"This is all retribution." The Empress Dowager laughed and cried at the same time. "I haven't seen the Seventh Prince for so long."
Ji Huaizhi was radiating a chill, and everyone knew the Emperor was in a bad mood.
No one dared to offend him.
"Long live the Emperor! Long live the Emperor!"
Hearing the noise, Chen Duojin thought to himself that it was good to have a little thing to coax the emperor.
When Consort Jin fell ill, she closed the palace gates and refused to see anyone, saying that she was very ill, which surprised everyone.
He wondered if she had been secretly executed by the Emperor.
But then the emperor's decree came down.
Consort Jin was promoted to Imperial Concubine Jin, and at the same time, Noble Lady Lan was also promoted to Consort Lan.
After that, she was frequently summoned to the Qianqing Palace.
Before long, the palace had more vegetables from other seasons and vegetables that it had never seen before.
To everyone's surprise, some understood, while others were simply astonished.
Life in the palace was dull and boring; the emperor rarely visited the inner palace.
The plum blossoms in the winter snow were beautiful, and the other people in the harem began to rise in rank, and the number of people in the palace became less and less.
The concubines who did not receive a promotion lived quietly in the palace.
After Consort Lin's confinement was lifted, she did not go to the Emperor's presence to cause trouble. Even though her father kept writing to her, urging her to conceive a son soon, she did not take the initiative to go to the Emperor.
She didn't want to curry favor.
Even though all the women in the harem were getting promoted, she still didn't want to go.
Perhaps he was frightened by the emperor that time, so he chose to protect himself.
Knowing that his eldest daughter would be of no use, the prime minister brought another beautiful daughter with him to the New Year's Day banquet.
He didn't want to give up.
As long as the emperor has a child, they can use the pretext of "purging corrupt officials and restoring order to the country" to force the emperor to step down completely.
On the day of the New Year's Day banquet.
All civil and military officials paid their respects to Ji Huaizhi with great ceremony, kneeling three times and kowtowing nine times, shouting "Long live the Emperor!"
After the ceremony, Ji Huaizhi watched the dance that Fang Nan had arranged and drank wine listlessly.
The dance attracted a lot of attention because of its novelty. Although the dance was not solemn, it was still quite eye-catching.
Dance finished.
Ji Huaizhi raised his wine cup in celebration, casually saying a few words before telling the court officials to go home and be with their families instead of staying in the palace.
The Prime Minister was surprised that the New Year's banquet was so simple. He stood up, cupped his hands, and said, "Your Majesty, this is not in accordance with the rules."
"There's never been a tradition to end the New Year's Day banquet early."
His youngest daughter has not yet appeared before the emperor.
Ji Huaizhi: "Then, Your Excellency the Prime Minister, please stay here and perform a music and dance."
"I am tired."
Everyone stood up, feeling that the emperor was becoming more and more capricious in his actions.
Before the Prime Minister could say anything more, Ji Huaizhi glanced at him and asked, "Prime Minister, haven't you had enough 'rest' yet?"
The Prime Minister dared not speak: "Respectfully seeing His Majesty off."
Someone came forward to advise the prime minister: "His Majesty is acting erratically now. Although he has toned it down compared to before, he still doesn't blink an eye when it comes to beheading people."
"Fortunately, the Emperor is currently dealing with state affairs, so let's just turn a blind eye to some things."
“We older folks have also experienced turmoil. I plan to tell the Emperor after the New Year that I want to retire and return to my hometown. I can no longer fight the court intrigues.”
The prime minister glanced at the person who spoke, gave a heavy snort, and turned away.
She didn't see her daughter, Consort Lin, at today's New Year's Day banquet; it seems she has truly been rejected.
I didn't attend any of these events.
Although the emperor is now handling state affairs and is not as eccentric as before, all the officials could die at his hands at any time.
This feeling is unpleasant.
That's why the Prime Minister felt that the Emperor was not worthy of his position.
The more he thought about this, the more complicated things became for the prime minister.
Good news followed after the New Year. First, it was said that the women's army, which no one else had ever thought much of, had broken through the enemy's defenses and won a great victory.
They fought a protracted war with the enemy and even destroyed their supplies.
Finally, the enemy was too hungry to fight.
But a few days later, Ji Huaizhi received another letter from the front lines.
Despite the great victory, they fell into the enemy's trap, and two-thirds of the soldiers in the camp contracted the plague.
Despite the harsh weather and environment at the front, he wasn't worried about food supplies, as Lu Haitang was there for him.
Most importantly, there is Consort Ling.
But now that Ji Huaizhi has received this letter, he knows that Consort Ling has not taken out the item.
Frontline~
He Jiaojiao is not delicate at all. She speaks in a sweet and coquettish way, but she is ruthless on the battlefield and is both brave and resourceful.
The enemy's vanguard was also a ruthless character. Seeing no hope of victory, he came up with a treacherous plan and threw several corpses into He Jiaojiao's ranks.
The people below didn't care because they saw that they were throwing away corpses.
I thought they just wanted to have a deterrent effect.
But unexpectedly, an outbreak of the epidemic occurred in the military camp just a few days later.
Everyone started having fever, vomiting, weakness, and diarrhea.
The military doctor said it was an epidemic.
However, the military camp lacked medicine, and everyone was at a loss.
Further investigation revealed that the person who threw the body over from the other side was carrying a virus.
The military doctors were at a loss.
Lu Haitang asked Ling to agree, but Ling pretended to be stupid.
The military camp was bitterly cold.
Although we won this battle, so many people contracted the epidemic, and everyone knew it would be difficult to return to Beijing alive. Morale was low, and everyone felt terrible.
After the war, I thought I could go back and reunite with my family, but I never expected that I wouldn't be able to get out of this place.
Ling Guiren felt uneasy as she listened to the cold wind outside. She closed her eyes tightly, covered her ears, and kept saying sorry to herself.
Lu Haitang led the sobbing He Jiaojiao into Ling Guiren's tent.
She had privately advised Consort Ling countless times.
Let them get medicine to save these people.
If all these people die, she dares to say that the three of them, who are from out of town, will not have an easy time back in the capital.
She came again this time.
This was the last time she came to persuade her.
If they still refused, she was really going to let Lin Yi take action.
“You can’t ignore this. We’re all in the same boat. You think you have a trump card that you’ve hidden well, but the emperor already knows about it. You can’t just stand by and do nothing.”
He Jiaojiao, dressed in armor, was crying on the other side; she was only worried about her soldiers.
Consort Ling had known about Lu Haitang's special ability for a long time.
The food we ate in the military camp during this period was no different from a pre-prepared meal.
She wasn't as naive as Lu Haitang and the others. Although she was a foolish college student, she understood that once she took these things out, she would be in danger.
She will become the emperor's medical treasury.
In ancient times, the most scarce resources were food and medicine.
She and Lu Haitang will only become the emperor's blood donation bags.
The emperor's threat before she left frightened her, so she didn't plan to return to the capital this time.
She wanted to take the opportunity to escape, but she didn't expect that Lin Yi and Lin Er were too cautious, and she couldn't find a chance to escape at all.
"I don't know what you're talking about. Although I'm a medical student, there's nothing I can do," Ling Guiren said, repeating the same statement.
Lu Haitang's expression turned serious: "You do."
“Consort Ling, I have already revealed my trump card. I may not be as smart or cautious as you, but if I hadn’t revealed it back then, I probably wouldn’t be here talking to you.”
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