Chapter 634 Adultery
Meanwhile, Shang Hong secretly slipped into Chaoyang Palace during a break from his palace patrol.
Helan Yanran was terrified by what happened tonight. When she suddenly saw Shang Hong running over, her heart nearly jumped out of her chest. "Lord Shang, let's go quickly! The Emperor and Empress have returned. We can't see each other anymore."
She thought that after she had made things clear with him during the day, they would stop their previous absurd behavior.
Shang Hong took out the kite that her palace had hung on the wall. "Since Your Majesty is so resolute, what's the point of keeping them? Even if the Emperor wants to dismiss me from my post, Shang Hong will not abandon Lan'er."
Helan Yanran was moved to tears. The deep palace was desolate. She was too lonely and too afraid. She also regretted it. She could not hurt him.
"Having an affair with a concubine in the harem is a capital offense. Lord Shang has a bright future ahead of him, and you can't let me ruin it. Please leave! I beg you. Last time, Shu Yan saw the kite in my hand, and she seemed to have discovered something. I'm very scared."
"She can never threaten Lan'er, Lan'er, don't worry!"
A fierce glint flashed in Shang Hong's eyes. Shu Ronghua had been punished by the Emperor today. If he could take this opportunity to get rid of her and make her disappear from the palace without anyone noticing, he would be able to do so.
Helan Yanran and Shuyan's palaces were right next to each other. One day, Shuyan suddenly discovered that Helan Yanran was using kites to express her feelings. Shuyan was very clever and did not make a fuss.
Shang Hong held her in his arms. At this moment, He Lan Yanran suddenly felt chest tightness and wanted to vomit due to her emotional excitement.
She pushed Shang Hong away from the spittoon and began vomiting violently.
Shang Hong was stunned: "Lan'er, you..."
He stared at Helan Yanran's belly and exclaimed excitedly, "You have a child?" He knew the child was his, because it was her first time with him, and the emperor had never favored her in all the years she had been in the palace.
Helan Yanran said, "I don't want this child. He will harm us. Sir, please pretend you don't know anything. I have decided to abort this child."
"No, you can't abort the child. He's our child. How can you really bear to abort him?"
"Of course I'm reluctant, but what else can I do if I don't abort it? We have no way out, and both our families will be implicated."
"I'll think of a way, don't worry, I'll definitely find a way, Lan'er, I really like you, I want to marry you and be my wife, I will treat you well for the rest of my life."
He Lan Yanran was persuaded by him. She knew that she would never win the emperor's favor if she stayed in the deep palace for the rest of her life, so she might as well find a man who liked her. However, she was the emperor's concubine, and they had committed a capital crime.
Just then, Shu Yan arrived at the palace gate with a swollen face. The palace maids saw her and hurriedly reported, "Empress Shu Ronghua is here again."
Helan Yanran was terrified and quickly told Shang Hong to go out and hide. She then said to the palace maid, "I'm going to sleep and won't see any guests. Let Shu Ronghua go back. We can talk about it tomorrow. It's too late today."
Shang Hong said, "Such a big thing happened in the palace tonight, and she suddenly came to see you in the middle of the night. Is there something you need? Have someone bring her in!"
A moment later, a palace maid led Shu Yan over. Only He Lan Yanran was around. She asked, "Is there something you need, Your Highness Ronghua, to come so late?"
Shu Yan's face was still swollen from the beating, but she took out her most presentable jewelry and said, "This is for Consort Lan. I hope you like it."
He Lan Yanran was a little confused. Thinking that there was still a man hiding in the room, she said calmly, "What does Shu Ronghua mean? You can't accept a reward without merit."
Shu Yan said, "I sincerely want to befriend Consort Lan. Our palaces are the closest to each other, and we are usually busy with our own things. Thinking about it, we concubines are really pitiful. If we are not careful, people will say it is all our fault and that we have offended..." She did not say the words "Empress".
Helan Yanran remained silent. She knew that Shu Yan was referring to the Empress. Today, Shu Yan had publicly slandered the Empress and was later punished by the Emperor. She deserved her fate.
Seeing that she didn't speak, Shu Yan looked at the various kites in the room and said, "I also like kites. Consort Lan often flies kites in the Imperial Garden, right? They are quite unique! I heard that Your Highness made them all yourself."
Shu Yan would never have guessed that the person who shared feelings with He Lan Yanran was Shang Hong, the commander of the Imperial Guards, because Lord Shang's selfless and conscientious image had already won people's hearts.
Furthermore, the fact that Shang Hong had an affair with the woman who died in the Zhu family is still fresh in everyone's mind. How could Helan Yanran possibly like Shang Hong? Therefore, Shu Yan guessed that it was another man.
He Lan Yanran's fingers, hidden in her sleeve, twisted in her handkerchief. Her heart was pounding. As soon as Shu Yan left, she ordered all the kites to be burned. At the time, she was really bored in the palace. Staying in the deep palace for too long would drive her crazy. She couldn't bear to burn them.
She said, "If Shu Ronghua likes them, I'll give you a few, or if you like any style, I can make you a new one."
"Are you really willing to do that?" she asked.
"Ah!" Helan Yanran was stunned, then smiled and said, "What's there to be reluctant about? It's just a kite. If Ronghua likes it, I'll give it to you."
Shu Yan wasn't there to ask for the kite; her real purpose was to find someone to help her. "I know that Consort Lan is not favored by the Emperor. She was favored by him several times, but you have never conceived. I think there's something fishy about this. It's even possible that the Empress is behind it all to prevent Consort Lan from having an heir."
Helan Yanran didn't know how to answer the question. She became more and more nervous. "How could I blame the Empress? It's my own fault for not being able to conceive. It's my problem."
“We were all selected through a rigorous process when we entered the palace. We all know why we entered the palace. How could it be because we are not healthy?”
"How did Zhang Jingjing and Pan Nianru get pregnant? It was because they climbed into the Emperor's bed while the Empress was in confinement." She sneered. "Unfortunately, they didn't live long and ended up dying along with their unborn children."
Shu Yan was very jealous of the emperor's favor, because she had tried many times but never succeeded. She was even humiliated by the emperor, and even the empress disliked her.
She knew why: her father had always been looked down upon by the Empress Jiang's brother, who had always tried to suppress him. However, her father was also an old official in the court, and even if he had great power, he would still be wary of him.
Now she's been slapped in public, her face is badly injured, and she's lost all face. She's not happy about it.
Helan Yanran was a concubine who had gained the Emperor's favor, but she secretly used a kite to send messages to her lover. She thought they could cooperate because she had something on him that she could use against him.
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