Chapter 150 Chapter 150
[Chapter 150]
Shoukang Palace
Aunt Jingqiao saw that the inner hall was quiet, and asked the palace maid who had just served. She learned that the emperor left after sitting for only two minutes, and she came to a conclusion in her mind.
Walking into the inner hall, the Queen Mother was lying on the bed with a tired look on her face:
"How about Songshuang?"
Aunt Jing Qiao wiped away the tears from her eyes, stepped forward and said, "De Fei went to Chaoxi Palace in person, but Xian Fei still did not leave the palace, and the Second Prince did not care."
The Queen Mother wiped her tears with a handkerchief and sighed silently, "If I hadn't thought that the Ming family would prosper for a hundred years if they could produce an empress, but the emperor was too stubborn and had his own ideas. It was I who harmed Song Shuang."
Aunt Jingqiao knelt down in front of the Queen Mother and said, "Don't say that, Queen Mother. The Concubine Xian also agreed to it herself."
The Queen Mother raised her lips, but there was no joy in her expression. "She agreed because she thought the Emperor would pamper her and take her to heart. Otherwise, Song Shuang would have been able to find a husband that satisfied her. She would not have to suffer in this deep palace for half her life, and would have to stay with me in Putuo Mountain forever."
Aunt Jingqiao listened to the Queen Mother's words and realized that she had made up her mind. Now thinking about it, this was not a bad idea.
At least the Queen Mother can take good care of her illness and no longer worry about the Ming family's affairs. Ever since the Queen Mother entered the palace, she has been planning for the Ming family every day, but the people of the Ming family are not up to the task and now they have implicated the Queen Mother.
The Queen Mother patted Jingqiao's hand and said calmly, "Help me up. I want to write a letter to the Emperor."
Aunt Jingqiao nodded, helped the empress dowager sit on the couch, put the low table down, and personally ground ink for the empress dowager.
The Empress Dowager was not used to copying scriptures all the time, so she was not used to writing letters all of a sudden.
When she picked up the pen, she paused for a long while. The ink on the tip of the pen dripped slowly and spread on the rice paper. The empress dowager suddenly came to her senses, but it was too late to react. She had to change another piece of paper.
Every word and sentence on the gold-sprinkled rice paper is the Empress Dowager's plea.
The fact that Jingqiao was not avoided was also the Queen Mother's tacit permission for her to watch.
There was nothing in the beginning, only the words of the Queen Mother pleading with the Emperor not to anger the Ming family again, but in the end...
Aunt Jingqiao stopped what she was doing and called out anxiously, "Empress Dowager!"
The Queen Mother raised her eyes slightly, and wrote down this last thing with her pen neatly.
"I owe Song Shuang too much. I don't want her to spend the rest of her life with me in Putuo Mountain. Giving her another identity and letting her leave the palace to choose a husband who is good to her is the only way I can think of to make her happier."
After putting it into the envelope, Aunt Jingqiao's hands trembled slightly but she didn't dare to take it. She could only ask in a low voice, "Has the Queen Mother made up her mind?"
After sending Concubine Xian out of the palace, if we really want to help the Ming family in the future, I'm afraid we won't be able to find another person.
The Queen Mother clenched her fists and kept coughing, "Send it over."
Aunt Jingqiao was silent for a long time and put the letter into her sleeve.
When they were about to go to Zichen Palace, Aunt Jingqiao turned around and asked, "Should we talk to Concubine Xian about this?"
The Queen Mother thought for a moment, then shook her head, "This matter should not be made public."
Her Song Shuang was a good girl. Unlike her, she should not have entered the palace. She had to send Song Shuang out of the palace properly and not ruin her reputation.
Aunt Jingqiao took the letter to the Zichen Palace. Wei Maoyuan did not dare to stop her and quickly took Aunt Jingqiao into the inner hall.
…
Linxuan Palace
Ruan Yun had not yet left for Shoukang Palace. When she heard that the emperor had left, she sat back on the couch.
Her right eyelid was twitching violently. She rubbed her forehead and asked, "What happened today?"
Ying Ning put down the blood swallow in her hand and said, "Maybe you didn't sleep well last night?"
Ruan Yun frowned and asked, "Is Shoukang Palace okay?"
Ying Ning nodded and said, "I don't see anything wrong. Aunt Jing Qiao is in front of Yu now."
Ruan Yun frowned, thinking about what the emperor said a few days ago, and sighed softly.
I just hope that the Empress Dowager's trip to Mount Putuo goes smoothly, otherwise the Emperor will be impeached by all the officials.
Ruan Yun waved his hand and said, "In that case, I won't go for now."
"Hey." Ying Ning carefully placed the blood swallow next to the queen's hand, "My queen, don't think about these troubles. It's best to be happy."
Ruan Yun picked up the bowls and cups, holding the white porcelain spoon with her fingertips but not moving, "How can I not think too much? The Empress's illness has not been cured, and the Queen Mother is now with the Emperor... Concubine Xian is also having problems. I am so overwhelmed that I can't breathe."
Ying Ning said softly: "The Queen wants you to..."
Before she finished speaking, Ruan Yun covered Ying Ning's lips with her hands, "I hope the queen can really live a hundred years."
She knew that the deep palace was not a place where the empress did not want to stay, but she did not want to see the empress, such a good person, disappear like this.
Ying Ning advised, "Don't worry, Your Majesty. The Empress is blessed by heaven. Now the Empress is seeing that she is much better than before."
Ruan Jun knew exactly what was going on. She understood that Yingning wanted to make her happy, so she didn't say much.
"Does it take so long to name the prince?" Ruan Jun was puzzled and looked at Ying Ning again.
Ying Ning took the cream for the Empress and said, "It's too early to name the prince, and we're worried that he won't be able to control it. Besides, the Emperor values the Third Prince, so the Ministry of Rites is extremely cautious."
Ruan Yun didn't think about anything else, but she still felt lost. She looked at the sky outside and said, "I heard that the eldest prince was named by the emperor himself."
Only three months after the second prince was born, the emperor had already chosen the name submitted by the Ministry of Rites.
The eldest prince is the emperor's first child, so the meaning of this child is naturally different. Although he was in the Qian residence at the time, Ruan Yun couldn't help feeling lost.
Ying Ning said in a gentle voice: "The Emperor has not told Your Majesty yet. I think he wants to give the best name to the Third Prince. Don't worry, Your Majesty. There will be a final decision at the first birthday banquet."
Three months is not a long time, and it passed in the blink of an eye.
Ruan Yun had just applied the cream on the back of her hand and had not said anything when Chun Qing came in hurriedly from outside. His hurried and impatient look was unlike his usual self.
Ruan Yun stood up quickly. Before she could even ask, Chun Qing said anxiously, "Shen Chongyi is gone!"
…
The Ministry of Punishment saved Shen Chongyi for quite some time, but Shen Chongyi refused to give in.
No matter how much punishment she received, everyone would say that Concubine Shu deserved it.
On the night when Concubine Shu was stabbed, Shen Chongyi mentioned the Empress Dowager, but for some reason, she didn't say anything.
It's like a person who suddenly regains consciousness and becomes so clear-headed that no one can find fault with him.
When Wei Maoyuan received the news, the emperor was still sitting at the top reading the letter sent by the empress dowager.
His brows were indifferent, he glanced at the papers on the table, and said nothing.
Wei Maoyuan entered the palace trembling with fear, knelt before the emperor, and said, "Your Majesty, the Ministry of Punishment has sent news that Shen Chongyi... has passed away."
Yan Shiyu's cold eyes instantly fell on Wei Maoyuan, and he tapped the table without saying a word.
Wei Maoyuan knelt down and replied, "The people from the Ministry of Punishment said that the food was just delivered, but it was untouched. The palace maids inside hurried in to check and found that... Shen Chongyi had already died."
After saying this, Wei Maoyuan waited for a long time for the emperor to speak. He raised his head in fear, but found that the emperor's eyes were still on him. Wei Maoyuan's forehead was sweating:
"The palace maids said that there were marks of strangulation on Shen Chongyi's neck, but there were no signs of struggle."
Wei Maoyuan didn't dare to raise his head again. He kept his head down and didn't dare to move his eyes.
Yan Shiyu sneered, "Does the palace maid in the Ministry of Punishment know what she is thinking?"
There were more beads of sweat on Wei Maoyuan's temples, his lips were tightly closed, and he couldn't utter a word.
"All palace ladies involved in the incident will be beaten to death." Wei Maoyuan's heart sank and he quickly accepted the order.
Yan Shiyu rubbed his brows and thought of Shen Chongyi's last words. He placed his hand next to the empress dowager's letter, but his eyes fell on the paper for practicing calligraphy sent by the eldest prince.
At the very bottom, there are two words written by Concubine De.
…
Ruan Yun hurried to the Ministry of Punishment. Wei Maoyuan had already led his men there. Seeing that it was Ruan Yun, he knelt down and said, "Your Highness, be well. This place is filled with the smell of blood. How did you get here?"
Ruan Yun did not embarrass Wei Maoyuan, but asked: "Did the eunuch follow the emperor's order?"
Wei Maoyuan had served the emperor for many years, so he knew what to say and what not to say: "When the emperor heard about this, he ordered me to deal with it. Your Majesty is a precious person, and your appearance here has seriously soiled your skirt."
Before asking the emperor how he did it, since Shen Chongyi was strangled to death and she did not resist, someone must have taken advantage of the situation and said something to Shen Chongyi that made her lose the will to live.
It's not difficult to find this person.
Suddenly, there were screams of palace maids inside, and the sound of clubs hitting people also made a chilling sound that made people's hair stand on end.
Ruan Yun clutched her skirt tightly and raised her feet to go in.
Wei Maoyuan stood up and knelt in front of the Imperial Concubine, saying, "Your Highness, please don't go in. If you get sick from the rush of blood and anger, the Emperor will be furious."
Ruan Yun couldn't explain how she felt. Seeing Wei Maoyuan begging on the ground, she spoke for a long time and said, "I won't make it difficult for you."
She stepped back and sat on the ceremonial staff.
Yingning and Tingxu both looked towards the Ministry of Punishment. Those palace maids were directly beaten to death. Was it because the emperor didn't want rumors to spread, or did he have other thoughts?
Looking at Ruan Yun who was sitting on the ceremonial staff, Tingxu couldn't help but say, "Your Majesty, fishing will be available in Taiye Lake after the spring. Why don't I go and prepare some things for you? Your Majesty, can you take the Third Prince to go fishing?"
Ruan Jun wanted to reply to Ting Xu's words, but her throat seemed to be blocked by the wind and she couldn't utter a word.
After returning to Linxuan Palace, Ruan Yun had just stepped into the inner hall and had not yet said that she would bring Dongdong over when she heard a low laugh from inside.
She recognized the voice and paused slightly before walking in.
Just as he was about to bow, Yan Shiyu walked out holding Dongdong.
As soon as he saw Ruan Yun, Dongdong couldn't help clapping his hands and said, "Hold... hold."
Ruan Jun didn't want to show her bad mood in front of Dongdong, so she raised her arms and hugged Dongdong.
Sitting on the couch, Ruan Yun looked at the emperor with her eyes full of smiles, "How come the emperor is free today?"
Yan Shiyu did not respond to Ruan Yun's words, but instead said, "Xiaoxiao is finally willing to look at me?"
Ruan Yun's red lips moved slightly, "Your Majesty is a living person, how can I not see it?"
He held Ruan Yun's neck with his arms and kept sniffing at A Niang's neck.
Although I can't speak much, I know how to express my dislike.
He wrinkled his nose and said, "It stinks."
Ruan Yun's eyebrows immediately wrinkled, and she tapped her moving forehead and said, "How dare you say my mother stinks!"
But she immediately remembered where she had been, and Ruan Jun handed the movement to the wet nurse, signaling her to take the baby down.
Yan Shiyu waited until the inner hall was empty, then grabbed Ruan Yun's arm and pulled her closer to him, "Are you upset?"
Ruan Yun pushed the emperor's chest, unwilling to say more to him at this time, and said in a muffled voice: "The emperor's words are the imperial decree. Who dares to disobey? I dare not."
This made Yan Shiyu laugh. He pinched her earrings and said, "Don't you dare now?"
Ruan Jun opened her red lips and was about to speak, but Yan Shiyu held her lips again, licking her upper jaw. His tongue hooked the soft flesh there and swept it back and forth, causing Ruan Jun to soften involuntarily.
She originally wanted to vent her anger with the emperor, but before she could vent her anger, the emperor kissed her again.
Yan Shiyu hooked Ruan Yun and licked all the tea fragrance in his mouth.
Ruan Jun still had some consciousness, but the person in front of her was the emperor, so she dared not do anything.
I could only push the emperor's chest and said aggrievedly: "The emperor doesn't want to investigate, but now he is trying to make fun of me."
Yan Shiyu looked at Ruan Jun with heavy eyes. How could he not know that she was unhappy? He knew that she would appear in Linxuan Palace at this moment.
With his big hand clasped behind Ruan Yun's head, Yan Shiyu said in a low voice:
"Trust me."
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