In the front hall, three beauties in palace dresses sat together drinking tea.
Zhuang Xiaomeng looked at the veil on Xu Shuyi's face and asked with concern, "Sister Liang Fei, the rash on your face hasn't healed yet?"
Xu Shuyi shook his head, his eyes filled with melancholy.
A few years ago, she suddenly developed rashes on her face, which were very scary. The imperial physician said that it was rashes caused by eating food she shouldn't have eaten.
The only thing she can't eat is peanuts. She has always been very careful and has checked all the foods but can't find out what is wrong. It has been several months and the rubella has not improved.
She had suspected Concubine De and Concubine Xian because she was in the emperor's favor at that time, but unfortunately she could not find any evidence.
Xu Qingrou comforted softly and tenderly, placing her hand on Xu Shuyi's.
"Don't worry, sister Liang Fei. I have a bottle of Jade Face Cream bestowed by the Emperor. I'll have the maid bring it to you later."
"Thank you for your concern, Concubine De." Xu Shuyi stiffly moved her hand away. "There's no need for the Jade Cream. The imperial physician said I can't put anything on my face, including the Jade Cream."
"That's a shame."
The three of them chatted idly and drank two pots of tea, but Hua Ling still didn't come out.
"This Concubine Ning is so arrogant that she doesn't even give face to Concubine De."
Xu Qingrou was not fooled and took a sip of the tea.
"Maybe he's tired of serving. I heard from the eunuchs in charge that he called for water eight times last night..."
Eight times!
Xu Shuyi and Zhuang Xiaomeng's expressions changed.
They were not as well-informed as Xu Qingrou. They only knew that they had been busy until very late and didn't even know it was eight times.
Both of them were jealous. What had Wen Qinning done to deserve this?
"I want to see what kind of vixen has such great abilities."
Zhuang Xiaomeng was jealous. Every time the emperor came to her palace, he came and went in a hurry as if he was completing a mission. If it weren't for the marks on his body, she would have suspected that he was having a wet dream.
She had found out that the emperor treated other women the same way, and had always thought that the emperor had strong self-control and was not interested in sex, but it turned out that he was not interested in her!
"Oh! Your Majesty, the virtuous concubine has such a bad temper, but what is she dissatisfied with Your Majesty's behavior?"
Zhuang Xiaomeng turned around suddenly.
"Are you Wen Qinning?" She almost bit her tongue as the words came out of her mouth.
"Your Majesty, the Virtuous Consort, are truly forgetful." Hua Ling walked up to her and allowed her to examine him. "We met not long ago at a palace banquet. You said then that I danced with the whip beautifully."
Zhuang Xiaomeng naturally remembered that during that time, Wen Qinning beat her cousin with a whip, and she was so angry that she made a few sarcastic remarks.
For some reason, she always felt that Wen Qinning was very different today, but she couldn't put her finger on why.
"Are you really Wen Qinning?"
Zhuang Xiaomeng asked again, which made Chunyu, who was serving her, feel startled.
Her father was Fang Yunheng's retainer, and she inherited his true skills and knew the little tricks to beautify her appearance. Logically, she shouldn't have seen through it so quickly.
Hua Ling met Zhuang Xiaomeng's gaze without flinching, and smiled faintly: "If I'm not Wen Qinning, then who could it be?"
Zhuang Xiaomeng was speechless, then muttered, "You're not particularly beautiful, why would His Majesty fall for you?"
Hua Ling shot back, "Are you questioning your majesty's judgment?"
Zhuang Xiaomeng was annoyed: "I'm talking about you, don't always bring up His Majesty. Flowers don't bloom forever, they only bloom for one day. Do you think His Majesty can love you forever?"
"Don't worry about that," Hua Ling said coldly. "Thunder, rain, and dew are all gifts from heaven. This isn't something you or I should worry about. I'm not a stubborn person. If that day ever comes, I won't force it."
"What a blessing! Thunder and rain are all blessings from heaven." Xu Shuyi said, "The two ladies and I came here today. First, we want to meet the new sister, and second, we received news from the previous dynasty that His Majesty wants to fill the harem, and the new sister will be arriving this afternoon. I wanted to ask Concubine Ning what your plans are."
Hua Ling found a place to sit down and said, "I don't have any plans, I'll just go with the flow."
Xu Shuyi smiled: "Sister Ning Fei, you don't know yet, right? His Majesty said whoever gives birth to a prince first will be the queen. Sister Ning Fei, are you really not tempted?"
Hua Ling showed a surprised look and straightened up: "What are your plans?"
Xu Shuyi glanced at the palace servants who were serving her, and Hua Ling waved her hand in cooperation to let them go.
"Those who came this afternoon are all from the Regent's lineage. We can use some tactics to eliminate some of them, then put the blame on others and instigate internal strife among them. This will benefit His Majesty as well as us. If His Majesty finds out, he won't pursue the matter."
Xu Shuyi is worthy of being the wisest among the four concubines. She saw through Xuanyuan Mo's intention at a glance and planned to take advantage of the situation to eliminate potential threats and please the emperor.
But Xuanyuan Mo is very cunning. He will not pursue the matter in the short term, but once they take action, he will have a handle in his hand, and it is not certain whether he will settle the score later.
Hua Ling asked, "Shall we form an alliance, the four of us?"
"Yes." Xu Shuyi nodded. "After discussing it, we all agreed that His Majesty has deep feelings for you and will not doubt you, so you go in the first round."
Zhuang Xiaomeng's eyes sparkled. "Left Censor-in-Chief's daughter, Tu Cha, has asthma and is allergic to pollen. She's been carefully cared for. Have someone replace Wen Xin's sachet with pollen and lure the two together. I know there's a maid in the laundry department who knows a crossbow. Try to bribe her to break the sachet. Once the pollen spills out, Tu Cha will surely die."
Do everything yourself? Hua Ling raised an eyebrow: "You misunderstood. I did not agree to form an alliance with you."
"You!" Xu Shuyi and Zhuang Xiaomeng were furious. "Are you kidding us?"
Even Concubine De Xu Qingrou, who had been silent all this time, frowned, half persuading and half warning.
"Concubine Ning, think carefully. The harem is either an ally or an enemy. If you don't ally with us, we won't lend a hand if you encounter problems in the future."
Hua Ling leaned lazily on the back of the chair.
"I'm not stupid. Concubine Liang's words, 'Your Majesty won't blame me,' are just speculation now. Yet, you want me to take the risk of losing His Majesty's favor. How can this be justified?"
Xu Qingrou said, "I think this risk is worth taking. We helped His Majesty, and His Majesty won't blame us at all."
Hua Ling twitched the corner of her mouth and said, "You can talk back and forth without any consequences, but you want me to test you and then you can hide behind me and reap the benefits. I won't agree."
Xu Shuyi's eyes flickered slightly. She was 80% confident in her guess, but the remaining 20% still involved great risks, so she was anxious to get Concubine Ning to join the army and let her test it out.
Unexpectedly, Concubine Ning was not naive and saw through their plan at a glance.
"If you don't want to do it all yourself, Concubine Xian will be responsible for replacing the sachet."
Zhuang Xiaomeng exploded: "Why?"
"See, you all know the risks of doing this." Hua Ling sneered, "Coincidentally, I don't dare to do what you don't dare to do either."
The three were speechless and the discussion reached a deadlock.
Hua Ling stood up and chased them away: "You guys go away, I won't tell anyone about what happened just now."
…………
Fang Yunheng was leisurely sipping tea in the palace. He slowly opened the secret letter sent by Chunyu, and then sprayed out the tea.
"Eight times, is that true?"
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