Chapter 63 Counterfeits
"Counterfeits are just counterfeits after all. I am not in a hurry, and Sister Liang Fei doesn't need to be in a hurry either."
After Jiang Xinyue sent Liang Fei away with a smile, she quickly calculated in her mind.
Ye Baolin is... the Empress's person!
The last time the Empress urged her to give birth, she cleverly used the palace cold to avoid it, and the Empress gave up the idea of using her belly to bear a child.
How long has it been?
She can't wait to push out another concubine.
If she guessed correctly, this concubine was the new baby-making machine she found.
Is she so anxious because she herself...can't give birth?
Jiang Xinyue, who accidentally guessed a big secret, tapped her fingers rhythmically on the table.
"How disgusting."
Xi Que spoke frankly and put the heater in Jiang Xinyue's hand to warm her up: "Ye Baolin entered the palace on the same day as you, the queen. When she was in Chuxiu Palace, she lived with us. People in the same room bullied her, and we helped her."
I didn't expect that she would use imitations of her former benefactor to gain favor.
What a disgusting person!
"The emperor doesn't favor her because she looks like me. Don't show any flaws in front of the emperor in the future. Our emperor doesn't like to play stand-in jokes. Besides, with me as a pearl in front of him, how could the emperor be interested in a concubine who is inferior to me in every way?"
Would people who can afford the original use high-end imitations?
"Empress, Empress!"
Jiang Chuan walked in from outside: "I heard that the emperor dealt with a group of palace maids in Chuxiu Palace this morning. It is said that they were all those who played tricks when Ye Baolin was in power."
Jiang Xinyue knew that Emperor Xuanwu would not favor a concubine who was willing to imitate others for no reason.
He was just using this incident to place his confidants in various palaces.
Chuxiu Palace was previously managed by Empress Dowager Wu, and the concubines sent to the palace were also selected by Empress Dowager Wu before being confirmed by her.
The harem of the Emperor of Dayan is like a sieve, leaking everywhere, and full of Empress Dowager Wu's people.
He wants to solve it fundamentally.
Especially...
I heard that Empress Dowager Wu summoned Empress Zhu yesterday, and the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law had a very unhappy quarrel, which also alarmed the emperor.
In addition to the Empress Dowager, Emperor Xuanwu and Empress Zhu, there were also Concubine Shu and Concubine Rong.
Empress Zhu arranged Ye Baolin to intercept Concubine Rong, probably because she was wronged in Kunning Palace and wanted to retaliate against the Empress Dowager's party.
Jiang Xinyue couldn't think of anything else that could make Empress Zhu serious, except Empress Dowager Wu competing for her palace power.
Concubine Shu and Concubine Rong were pushed to the front by the Empress Dowager to compete with Empress Zhu.
Roll them up!
Roll them all up, and she can develop another wave of obscene things.
"Empress, Empress!"
Xiao Xuanzi ran in again: "Something bad has happened. Just now, the Emperor personally ordered the people from the Ministry of Internal Affairs to cut down all the crabapple trees in the Yu Garden, and also Ye Baolin. The Emperor forbade her to kneel. When I came back, Concubine Li was making a fuss!"
Xi Que opened her mouth wide, and simply couldn't believe it. The crabapple tree that had caused her master so much trouble was actually cut down?
But didn't the master say that the Emperor didn't really like Ye Baolin? What was going on?
Her brain was not enough, and she was almost exhausted but couldn't figure out the reason.
Thinking of the night when she was bleeding, the emperor rubbed her belly and comforted her: "Don't be afraid, Yue'er, I won't let anyone bully you in the future."
So, that piece of crabapple was actually to avenge her kneeling punishment, right?
Unexpectedly, just by plotting against Su, the emperor could empathize with her and transfer all the forbearance, grievances, and concessions in his youth to himself, creating an effect of one plus one greater than two.
Concubine Li was a pleasant surprise.
Ye Baolin was unlucky. She
wanted to imitate her, but was used by the emperor and became a ready-made target to help Jiang Xinyue avenge.
But she would not say these words to Xi Que and Shuangjiang. At this moment, she was just a silly girl who was heartbroken by her beloved.
At night, the Jingshifang held the green card as usual to turn over the cards for Emperor Xuanwu.
There were a few fine scratches on his neck. It was at noon when Concubine Li and the emperor quarreled. Ye Baolin came forward to persuade them to reconcile. Concubine Li was angry and slapped him. Ye Baolin dodged subconsciously, and the slap landed on the emperor's neck.
When the dragon body was injured, Yu Linjun drew his sword and put it on Concubine Li's neck. As long as Emperor Xuanwu gave an order, Concubine Li would be accused of assassination and executed.
In the end, the emperor softened his heart and did not allow Yu Linjun to hurt Concubine Li. He only asked Wang Dequan to send the frightened Concubine back to Changxin Palace. Without the emperor's permission, she was not allowed to leave the palace.
The right hand that flipped the card hesitated for a long time between the names of Concubine Shu and Ye Baolin. Finally, Emperor Xuanwu sighed and flipped Concubine Shu.
In fact, he wanted to see Zhen Zhaoyi more. He didn't know if she understood his good intentions? Would she be angry that he was helping other concubines to vent their anger? He
had a quarrel with Concubine Li Gui today and was injured. He really didn't want to bother to coax her anymore.
Besides, Zhen Zhaoyi had her period, so the green cards were all removed.
The air in the palace was oppressive, making it difficult to breathe.
He stood up and walked to the gate of Chengqian Palace. The people from Jingshifang were about to come out from behind him to inform the lighting of Jingren Palace. Then he heard the emperor say, "What is that?"
There were scattered stars twinkling in the dark sky. The not-so-bright night was lit up by a few flying paper lanterns, and some words could be vaguely seen on them.
"It seems to be a prayer lantern."
Wang Dequan also looked up and said, "I heard that there is a legend among the people that as long as you write your wishes on the prayer lantern and let the lantern fly to the sky, the prayer fairies in the sky will report those wishes to the gods and the gods, and the wishes of the people who ask for it will all come true."
"Nonsense."
Where do gods come from in the world?
"Oh! A lamp fell down."
The dim light flashed and fell right at the entrance of Chengqian Palace. Wang Dequan saw that the emperor had been looking at the lamp and picked it up with interest.
"I love Yelang, and I wish you all the best."
The signature is: Obsessed person.
After Wang Dequan saw the words clearly, he felt the heavy love of the person who made the wish.
It was a concubine in the harem who had admired the emperor for a long time. She didn't dare to express her love to the emperor in person, so she prayed to the heaven, hoping that the person she loved would be more satisfied than everything goes well.
The meaning of "everything goes well" is to hope that everything can be a little better than what you expect.
She didn't even reveal her name. She really just wanted the emperor to be well, and just wanted the gods in the sky to remember the people who were blessed, and didn't want the gods to pay attention to who the person who prayed was.
"Heh!"
Emperor Xuanwu chuckled: "Wang Dequan, who do you think this dog-crawling handwriting looks like?"
Dog-crawling handwriting?
Wang Dequan suddenly remembered an old story. The emperor once said that the handwriting of Empress Zhen Zhaoyi was not even as good as ghost painting, and it was just barely readable.
"This... this is..."
Emperor Xuanwu said to the eunuch in the Jingshifang behind him with a faint smile: "No need to go to Jingren Palace, I will go to Hexi Palace tonight to accompany Zhen Zhaoyi."
"But..."