Chapter 419: Queen's Pressure
The news of Cheng Huan's serious illness, swept by the steamy wind of midsummer, spread to every corner of the palace overnight.
The next morning, Zhao Hua stopped the six palaces from paying respects.
When she finished breakfast with the children and rushed to Yonghe Palace, she found that most of the concubines in the harem had already arrived.
Ning Wanshuang has been domineering in the harem for many years, and many concubines have been humiliated by her.
Now that everyone has learned that the eldest prince is in critical condition, I don't know how many people are pretending to be concerned, but in fact they are just here to watch the fun.
Therefore, Ning Wanshuang refused to even open the door of the main hall, and let them stand in the courtyard under the rising sun.
When Zhaohua entered, the concubines all faced the main hall door and had their backs to the palace door.
Therefore, no one noticed her arrival.
Therefore, Zhaohua could hear Concubine Yun pulling Concubine Ru and talking in a neither loud nor low voice.
"Oh my, Babaer snatched the child that he was going to raise, is this the end of his life? Seeing how much the imperial concubine cares about the eldest prince, if this child really dies, wouldn't the imperial concubine be very upset?"
Ru Guiren, who usually chatters endlessly, is silent now.
But Concubine Yun kept talking like she was addicted. "Alas, you have become so silent now? Didn't you hate Concubine Gui the most in the past? Now she is like this, who knows if it is not retribution for her behavior?"
"Empress Yun, please say less." Ru Guiren frowned impatiently and whispered, "Even if the concubine has many faults, Cheng Huan has not offended us..."
Yun Fei rolled her eyes at her and was about to continue speaking.
But someone in the crowd called out,
"May the Queen be well and safe."
She then turned around reluctantly and her eyes met Zhaohua's.
Zhao Hua looked at her expressionlessly. Although he said nothing, the oppressive feeling he emanated from her still frightened Concubine Yun and she knelt down hurriedly, and along with the others, she greeted Zhao Hua and said:
"May the Queen be blessed with good health."
Zhao Hua walked towards her slowly, and when he stood in front of her, he smiled faintly and said:
"Princess Yun is in a good mood today."
"Princess Yun?" Concubine Yun didn't understand what Zhao Hua meant and asked in confusion, "What does the Queen mean?"
"Oh? Don't you understand?" Zhao Hua raised his eyebrows lightly, the smile on his face slowly faded, and he said solemnly:
"Noble Lady Dong is really confused. Come here, Noble Lady Dong cursed the heir to the throne. She was sent back to Changchun Palace for house arrest. The imperial decree that made her a concubine and her imperial robes were also taken back. From now on, there will be no more Concubine Yun in this palace. There will only be Noble Lady Dong."
Hearing this, Concubine Yun felt as if she had been slapped in the face.
She was hit so hard that she felt dizzy and couldn't come to her senses for a long time.
Only when the palace servants came to take her away did she scream in fear:
"Who dares to touch me!?"
She was filled with arrogance and roared at Zhao Hua.
"I have been one of the four concubines since the Emperor ascended the throne. I have served the Emperor for many years without any fault! How can the Empress be so arrogant and demote me just like that?"
Concubine Ying looked on coldly from the side and said casually at the right time,
"The Empress is in charge of the six palaces. She has the right to punish concubines who have made mistakes. To promote a concubine, she needs the Emperor's imperial decree or oral order. But to demote a concubine, the Empress has the right to 'execute first and report later.'"
"I am talking to the Queen, what does it have to do with you, a Hu girl!" Concubine Yun looked back and glared at Concubine Ying fiercely, then said, "I am not wrong! The Queen wants to demote me based on her one-sided statement, I will not accept it!"
"You don't accept it?"
Zhao Hua approached Yun Fei step by step. She was originally half a head taller than Yun Fei. When they looked at each other, she naturally lowered her eyes and looked at her, smiling coldly:
"I am the legal wife and you are my concubine. Originally, I didn't need a reason to punish you. But since you refuse to obey, I have to make things clear while everyone is here, so that others won't think that I am really as tyrannical as you say."
He said with a serious expression and a steady voice:
"I have already told you about your father's occupation of Jizhou and his reign. But she also wanted to give you a chance to reform, so she didn't tell the emperor.
Now this opportunity has been given to you by me and the Imperial Concubine, but you do not know what it means to be content. Therefore, I will have no choice but to report all the mess of your mother's family to the Emperor..." [Chapter 53]
Having said this, Zhaohua suddenly stopped talking.
She watched Yun Fei's face turn visibly pale. After a long silence, she emphasized her tone and said word by word:
"Wait until the emperor has thoroughly investigated and see if you can still keep your position as a nobleman before you challenge me again."
After hearing what Zhao Hua said, Concubine Yun seemed as if her spirit was sucked away, and her body instantly went limp like mud.
She could never have expected that Ning Wanshuang would actually tell Zhaohua about her mother's family occupying land and claiming to be king!
After all, if the Ning family had not covered up this matter, it would have been exposed long ago, and Ning Wanshuang had used this incident to threaten her several times.
Although the Ning family father and son are dead, once this matter is exposed, Xiao Jingheng will definitely have an opinion about Ning Wanshuang.
Concubine Yun was shocked and also felt very strange.
Doesn’t Ning Wanshuang value her friendship with Xiao Jingheng the most?
Why did she...
During this tense moment, Concubine Yun could not think about many things.
She suddenly knelt in front of Zhao Hua, changing her previous strong attitude and begging for mercy miserably.
"Empress... The Imperial Concubine has been very difficult for you in the past. What I said just now was just to vent your anger. Why do you have to kill me?"
Zhao Hua, however, didn't even bother to look at her, and said in a cold tone:
"No one wants to kill you, it's just that you can't tolerate yourself. Come, take her away."
Xiao Fuzi responded and immediately led his men to surround him.
After all, Lady Dong was the master, so he couldn't just do it, so he said respectfully:
"Empress Yun...hiss, no, I should call you Concubine Dong now. Concubine Dong, please come in."
He waved the whip towards the palace gate, but Concubine Dong ignored him and rushed towards Zhaohua like a madman, trying to get involved.
Xiao Fuzi hurried forward to pull her away, but she even started pushing and shoving Xiao Fuzi.
"Get away! Don't touch me! You...ah!"
'Pop'
Before she could finish her rant, a slap with full force landed on her face.
Lady Dong covered her red cheeks and looked carefully, only to see the person who slapped her...
It's actually spruce?
Yunshan met Concubine Dong's surprised look and shouted angrily before she could speak:
"If Lady Dong dares to act insolently again and frightens the Empress, don't blame me for asking someone to carry you back to Changchun Palace! The Empress is already giving you the respect you deserve by letting you walk back by yourself. I'm asking you, do you not want this respect?"
After receiving this slap, Concubine Dong finally understood the situation.
If the situation continues like this, it will be even more difficult to resolve when Xiao Jingheng arrives.
So she could only keep silent and followed Xiao Fuzi's people obediently.
After she left, the concubines looked at each other, not daring to breathe, all of them were frightened by Zhao Hua's extremely oppressive aura.
Seeing Zhaohua slowly walking to the front of the crowd, he looked back at the concubines one by one.
After a while, he gathered his full momentum and said in a deep voice:
"Cheng Huan is the emperor's eldest son. If I hear anyone dare to talk about the emperor's heir behind his back again in the future, then the fate of Concubine Dong today will be an example of what will happen to those who are so unruly tomorrow."
"You guys, do you understand?"
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