Concubine Yuan entered the palace earlier than Concubine Li and was a few years older. Although they were sisters, Concubine Li did not have a deep memory of her past in the Liu Mansion. In addition, Concubine Yuan entered the palace earlier, so she did not have much impression of her sister. [Mop's fastest and most complete free update]
However, Concubine Li could not remember, but Concubine Yuan could recall many things, including Concubine Li's love of listening to operas. She said to Concubine Li, "I still remember that when I was about to enter the palace, my family held a banquet and invited an opera troupe. After the last opera was sung, the troupe received rewards and was about to leave, but you cried and didn't want them to leave. You wanted to listen to the opera for a few more days, and you were punished by your father for this. Later, a stage was set up in the palace. I can see that you are happy, but how can we listen to as many operas as we want in the palace, let alone the past twenty years. Forget it, let's not talk about these. The third gift that my sister mentioned is a small opera troupe. I talked about it with the Eighth Prince the day before yesterday. The Eighth Prince specially found a troupe from the south and sent it to the palace. Isn't there a small stage in Changning Palace? Sister, take these few days and listen to enough in your own palace!"
Concubine Li really loves to listen to operas. She can still remember the few times when her family invited an opera troupe when she was a child, and she could never get enough of it. The gift from Concubine Yuan today really touched her heart. Not only was there money, but there was also an opera to listen to. She didn't care that it was the Eighth Prince who helped to select the troupe, and quickly asked the servants to prepare. At the same time, she also invited Concubine Yuan again: "I am going to hold a small banquet in the palace the day after tomorrow, and you must come, sister."
Yuan Guiren naturally agreed, and sat for a while. Seeing that the stage had been set up, she said goodbye. Concubine Li invited her to listen together, but she left with an excuse, saying that she would not stay. But before leaving, she reminded Concubine Li: "Sister, you might as well invite more sisters in the palace. The banquet will be the day after tomorrow, so it can be lively in the next two days. Of course, don't forget to invite the Empress. After all, Changning Palace is so close to Jingci Palace. If you sing here, the Empress will definitely be able to hear it. It would be bad if you don't invite her."
Concubine Li also thought this was reasonable, so she sent a few palace maids to invite other concubines, while she went to invite the queen herself.
The Queen originally had no intention of interfering with Concubine Li's affairs, but then she changed her mind and felt that it was the Emperor who advocated the restoration of Concubine Li's position as a concubine, and that the Emperor had arranged for her to live in Changning Palace. Although she had already analyzed that the Emperor was doing this to anger Concubine Yuan, she was the Queen and had to stand on the Emperor's side no matter what. Since the Emperor wanted to act, she would sing along! So she accepted the invitation and only told Concubine Li to go first and she would go later.
On the other side of Yuan Guiren's side who had returned to Cunshan Palace, her maid Yuexiu asked her, "The master is really too good to Concubine Li. Even if it was for the Eighth Prince, he wouldn't even arrange a troupe. It's too thoughtful. It's not that I don't want to see you sisters get back together, but I'm afraid that the master will feel wronged."
Upon hearing this, Concubine Yuan laughed sinisterly, "She is not wronged. She just wants to have some fun. I will help her. I have to make her understand that even if she lives in Changning Palace and has the title of concubine, she cannot do whatever she wants in the harem. Moreover, I have to make the old queen understand that some people who have climbed up to the top are not on the same page with her."
Yuexiu naturally didn't understand what Yuan Guiren meant, but after noon that day, the queen, who was sitting under the stage of Changning Terrace, understood. Ever since the queen sat down, the play on the stage had changed, and it turned out to be a play about a concubine fighting against the mistress. It was said that the mistress of a wealthy family was not favored, and the master favored the concubine and praised her to the sky. The mistress was unwilling to accept this and tried every means to persecute and squeeze the concubine, but in the end she still failed, which made the master even more annoyed.
Many people came to other plays. The concubines in the harem were bored every day. Maybe the small palace banquet of Concubine Li did not arouse their interest, but listening to plays made them eager to go. So when the invitation was made, many masters of the palace came in sedan chairs.
At this moment, everyone was embarrassed by the performance. Except for the confused Concubine Li, who was still listening with great interest, everyone else secretly looked towards the Queen. The Queen looked extremely bad, staring at the performer on the stage with anger in her eyes. Her hands, which were originally resting on the chair, were now tightly clasped. Even the maid Fangyi standing behind her had a gloomy face and even glared at Concubine Li.
The mistress and the concubine, in the palace, wouldn’t that be the empress and a group of concubines? Is this Concubine Li crazy?
A young maid quietly reminded her master: "Let's go back, lest the queen gets angry and you get into trouble too."
This sentence reminded many people. In front of the queen, all of them were concubines, and no matter what position they held, their status was not as high as the queen's. If they continued to sit here, it would mean that they were supporting Concubine Li, and supporting Concubine Li would obviously offend the queen.
Although Concubine Li was suddenly reinstated and moved to Changning Palace, people did not think that Concubine Li's favor could intervene when the relationship between the emperor and Concubine Yun had obviously improved. None of them were stupid, and they all understood that this was a fight deliberately provoked by the emperor. But no matter who was fighting with whom, it had nothing to do with them. They stayed in the harem honestly, and there was no need to wade into this muddy water.
So someone stood up and asked the servants to quietly tell the palace servants in Changning Palace, and then found an excuse to go back. When one person left, the second one followed, and in a short while, more than half of the people in the small theater left. But at this time, Concubine Li was completely unaware of this and was still immersed in the play.
But the maid Zuo'er standing behind her was alert. She had not paid much attention to the opera. After all, as a servant, she had to pay attention to the needs of her master at all times. She could not be so engrossed in the opera that she ignored her master. That would be a big mistake. So until now, she still did not understand what was being sung in the opera.
But seeing these concubines leaving one by one, she felt a little panicked and thought something was wrong. She went out to ask around and found that a maid from another palace who was familiar to her secretly told her about the play. Zuo'er then became alarmed.
When she returned, she listened carefully to the rest of the play. The more she listened, the more frightened she became, and the colder her back became. It was not until the Queen snorted angrily and got up and left that she realized something was going to happen. So she quickly pulled Concubine Li's sleeve, trying to call her back from the play.
Unfortunately, Concubine Li was so immersed in the play that she didn't understand what Zuo'er meant. She didn't even turn her head and just said, "No more drama."
Zuo Er had no other choice but to run out to see the Queen off, only to hear the Queen say, "Go back and tell your master that if you want to live peacefully in Changning Palace, you should know who you really are and don't forget your roots."
Zuo Er was so scared that he knelt on the ground and kowtowed repeatedly until the queen left, then he sat down limply on the ground. But a thought suddenly popped up in his mind - "Oh no, I was tricked by Concubine Yuan!"
But the Queen didn't care who arranged the troupe or who asked her to sing the play. She only knew that Concubine Li had invited her, and the content of the play made her very unhappy. Fangyi knew what the Queen was angry about, and she was angry too, but she felt that it was not something that someone like Concubine Li would do deliberately, so she couldn't help but remind her: "In your opinion, is there something fishy here?"
The Queen snorted coldly, "It would be strange if there is no one. Didn't you hear that Concubine Yuan went to Changning Palace this afternoon? Concubine Li has rarely interacted with people for so many years, and she just left Jingsi Palace. How could she have the ability to invite a troupe from outside? But the day before yesterday, the palace servants from Cunshan Palace came to ask me for permission. It was Concubine Yuan who wanted to invite a troupe to perform in the palace. I think Concubine Yuan specially arranged this play for me to watch."
"She is threatening the queen." Fang Yi sighed softly, "This time the emperor has reinstated Concubine Li. I'm afraid Concubine Yuan will be so upset that she won't be able to sleep."
"Don't think too much of Concubine Li." The Queen obviously took Concubine Li into account. "Only a fool can be used like this. Concubine Li is weak-willed, but she is not stupid. She has her own little calculations. Today's drama must have been arranged by Concubine Yuan at the beginning, but Concubine Li may go along with it and pretend to be ignorant and sing along with the drama."
Fang Yi was slightly startled, and then she thought about Concubine Li, and remembered that she had made voodoo dolls to harm people many years ago. She couldn't help but believe the Queen's statement a little.
At this time in Changning Palace, after the Queen left in anger, the remaining people who did not notice at first and then felt embarrassed to leave could no longer sit still and stood up and left one after another. Only when there were no outsiders in the theater did Concubine Li raise her hand and withdraw the actors who were still singing professionally.
Zuo Er returned to her side. Seeing her like this, he couldn't help but sigh, "Your Majesty, why are you doing this? Concubine Yuan is using this kind of play to harm you. You should just ask them not to sing it. Why do you insist on letting them sing it when you know it's going to cause trouble?"
Concubine Li's facial expression was distorted at this time. She stared at the stage, her teeth almost broken. It took her a long time to speak, and then she said: "Where are the sisters? Even if she is my relative, she would like me to die! But I just want to live well, live for her and everyone else to see! I want to let them know that I don't care about even the queen now! One day, my Feng'er will inherit the throne, and then the whole world will belong to us mother and son! The old lady, don't think I don't know who the queen is on her side. Didn't someone pass on the message yesterday, saying that the queen went to ask the emperor to take credit for the eighth prince. But I didn't expect the emperor to give the credit to me! Zuo'er, tell me, why is this?"
Zuo'er had no idea why, so she wanted to persuade Concubine Li not to be so extreme, but Concubine Li said, "That's because my Feng'er helped the princess! My Feng'er made a contribution, so the emperor sympathized with me. It has nothing to do with that Zhu Kongshan!"
The news that the Queen walked out of Changning Palace in anger soon reached Cunshan Palace. Concubine Yuan smiled and said, "If she offends the Queen, it will be difficult for her to gain a foothold even as a concubine. In this harem, she can only live a good life by relying on me, her sister."
In the harem, everyone had their own thoughts and careful calculations. At this time, in the Prince Yu's Mansion, someone had been lying in bed all day and couldn't get up until dinner time...
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