Chapter 158 Chapter 158
[Chapter 158]
His hand suddenly tightened, and the tip of the needle could no longer be hidden and was about to pierce into his palm.
Ying Ning reacted very quickly and immediately took the belt out of Ruan Yun's hand, "My queen, be careful."
Ruan Yun's eyelashes fluttered fiercely, "Did Eunuch Wei come to tell you?"
Ying Ning shook her head. "No, Aunt Ran Xia came over. The Empress went to Shoukang Palace first, and then to Zichen Palace. Aunt Ran Xia also said that the Queen Mother wanted to see you."
Ruan Yun understood that the emperor must have agreed to this matter.
She looked at the belt in Yingning's hand and immediately felt bored.
"Let's go to Shoukang Palace."
Ying Ning looked at the look in the Empress' eyes, not knowing what to do with the belt in her hand, and could only say, "Recently, Empress Defei has been going to Shoukang Palace all the time."
Ruan Yun understood Ying Ning's meaning. The selection of beauties must have been instigated by Concubine De.
She took a step forward and suddenly thought of something, "Does Concubine De have any sisters who are waiting to get married?"
Ying Ning's eyes showed some hesitation, "I don't understand, Your Majesty wants to use this beauty pageant to expose Concubine De's true colors?"
Ruan Yun looked gloomy, "The selection process is difficult. I haven't seen any action in a while."
…
Shoukang Palace
The Queen Mother looked at Ruan Jun in silence and did not let her stand up. She was used to being dominated by Yan Shiyu in the past, so her emotions did not fluctuate at all.
"Get up."
After a long while, the Queen Mother let Ruan Yun stand up. She had been squatting for too long, so Ruan Yun had to support herself with one hand on her knees and Ying Ning supported her with the other hand before she could stand up.
"Thank you, Queen Mother." Ruan Jun forced a smile and looked at the Queen Mother with her watery eyes.
When the Queen Mother saw her like this, she thought of an old friend and frowned, "I heard you were ill. Are you feeling better now?"
Ruan Yun covered her lips with a handkerchief and said, "I have been taking the medicine prescribed by the imperial physician and I feel much better now."
The Queen Mother tapped her knees, "There are not many concubines in the harem who can serve the Emperor, and even fewer who have children. The Emperor has no intention of entering the harem. When the time comes to select concubines, the Queen is not in good health. Since you are helping the Queen to manage the six palaces, you will be in charge of this matter."
Ruan Yun pulled at her skirt and said with a look of grievance, "How can a concubine influence the emperor's thoughts?"
The Queen Mother scolded her fiercely, "You are the Imperial Concubine and the biological mother of the Third Prince, yet you don't even have the tolerance to tolerate others like this! The Emperor doted on you in the past, and I saw that the Emperor liked you, so I didn't say much, but what have you done!"
Ruan Yun's eyebrows moved slightly. During the time she was ill, rumors were rife in the harem, most of which said that she did not take good care of the Third Prince and had angered the Emperor.
They didn't know the reason behind it, and they didn't know that the execution of Ji Juebai in the previous dynasty was related to that night.
But when Ruan Yun heard that the Ji family had exterminated all nine generations of the clan, the hatred in her heart had not yet dissipated.
She bit her lip, stubbornly holding back her tears, and knelt before the Queen Mother, "I will follow your instructions."
Seeing her like this, the Queen Mother didn't know what to say, and said in a cold voice: "The list of concubines will be prepared and sent to you by the Ministry of Eunuchs. For the women in the harem, we don't ask for beauty, but we ask for virtue, kindness, and not jealous, and to give birth to children for the royal family."
Before Ruan Yun could respond to the Queen Mother's words, a voice suddenly came from behind her, "I am late today, and the Queen Mother has already used up all the medicine."
Concubine De walked slowly to Ruan Yun's side and said, "Greetings, Concubine."
Ruan Yun was helped to stand up by Ying Ning. When she raised her head again, the redness in her eyes was gone. "Sister De Fei, please stand up."
The Queen Mother felt much better when she saw Concubine De. "How is Concubine Xian today?"
Concubine De glanced at Ruan Yun calmly and sighed, "It's still the same as before. Maybe she was frightened that night and refused to leave the palace."
Ruan Yun was about to leave, but when she heard Concubine De's words, she paused slightly.
Defei stopped talking for a moment, and the Queen Mother also noticed Ruan Yun's actions, "If there is nothing else, Concubine Ying, you should return to the palace first."
Ruan Yun bowed and took her leave. Aunt Jingqiao opened the curtains for her. Ruan Yun smiled gently at Aunt Jingqiao and walked out of Shoukang Palace.
The corners of her eyes were still flushed, and Ruan Jun's heart moved, "The emperor asked the Yulin Army to investigate the assassination of Dongdong, but there is still no conclusion. This is strange. Could it be that the assassin disappeared out of thin air?"
Ying Ning looked around and saw that no one was around, so she said, "Your Majesty, do you mean that the Emperor has already figured out who it is?"
Ruan Yun closed her eyes, "Why is Concubine Xian unwilling to leave the palace? The Queen Mother is ill now, why would the Emperor force her to go to Mount Putuo? She just feels guilty."
Defei's tricks are so useful that she never gets tired of them. Once she gets the benefits from them once, she will continue to use them.
"You said earlier that the maidservant serving Concubine Xian had been replaced. Ask Chunqing to go to the Ministry of Internal Affairs to ask what the previous person had done wrong."
Ying Ning's eyes moved quickly, "Yes, I will go right away."
Ruan Yun looked up at the sky as she walked. The wealth and splendor of this palace had blinded countless people and eventually swallowed up their hearts.
…
Purple Palace
Little Muzi was on duty when he saw a maid bowing her head and heading towards the side hall. He said rudely, "How dare you! Is Zichen Palace also the place you should go?"
Then he asked, "Which palace are you from? Do you know the rules?"
The palace maid clutched her skirt with her delicate hands and blinked her eyelashes fiercely in fear.
Xiao Muzi couldn't see her face clearly, but he knew she was a good-looking palace maid. "Raise your head. I'm talking to you. Are you dumb?"
The maid slowly raised her head, and her beautiful face appeared in Xiao Muzi's eyes, shocking Xiao Muzi so much that he knelt down, "Your Highness... Your Highness."
Ruan Yun seemed a little uncomfortable as she hadn't worn a palace maid's dress for a long time.
A part of her fair neck was exposed, with very simple earrings hanging on her earlobes. Her hair was tied up with a jade silver pin. The wind blew her black hair and covered her red earrings.
Ruan Yun said softly, "Eunuch, please get up."
Little Muzi was so flustered, "My lady, what are you doing?"
Ruan Yun looked innocent, "The Third Prince is here. I came to see him. Is there anything wrong?"
Little Muzi kept complaining in his heart, thinking that the Third Prince was fine, but why was the Royal Concubine wearing a palace maid's dress and dressed like this?
Seeing that Xiao Muzi was so confused, Tingxu grabbed Xiao Muzi and said unhappily, "Just pretend you didn't see what happened today."
Little Muzi watched Ruan Yun go inside, panicking, "How can I pretend I didn't see this?"
Tingxu angrily swept him with a handkerchief, "Why is your master not here at this time?"
When little Mu Zi heard Ting Xu's words, he was startled and instantly understood what his master meant.
The dinner time had passed, and there was no trace of the emperor or anyone else in the side hall.
Looking at the side hall filled with moving toys, Ruan Jun's eyes revealed a hint of tenderness.
As I walked inside, the sound of water gradually increased.
She walked towards the bathing room with very light steps, and saw the edge of the pool. The dragon head was raised high and spitting out hot water. In the mist, the emperor's bare back was exposed, with some old wounds on it.
Ruan Jun took off her shoes and socks and walked towards the pond. Although her movements were very gentle, she still managed to startle Yan Shiyu who was in the pond.
With his arms naturally placed on the edge of the pond, Yan Shiyu heard the noise behind him, frowned, and shouted sharply: "Get out!"
But the man did not leave. Instead, he picked up the handkerchief and wiped his back.
My trembling fingertips touched the scars and they immediately started to itch.
Yan Shiyu stood up, held the hand of the person behind him, and moved his wrist slightly, and the person knelt down in pain.
A muffled groan came into his ears, and Yan Shiyu's brows relaxed a little, and he turned around slowly.
Ruan Yun knelt beside the pond, her skirt was completely wet and stuck to her white legs.
The indigo palace dress looked very ordinary on her, but it made her look charming.
Yan Shiyu's throat moved and he said, "Who allowed you to come in?"
He shouted to the outside: "Wei Maoyuan!"
When Ruan Yun heard the emperor's voice, a tear shone from her almond-shaped eyes pitifully, and when it fell, it happened to catch the emperor's eyes.
Seeing the emperor only wearing his underwear and about to leave, Ruan Jun turned around and hugged the emperor without hesitation, "Your Majesty, are you going to leave me here alone?"
Her clothes were wet, and her fair body was half exposed and half covered in Yan Shiyu's eyes.
Wei Maoyuan was about to go inside when Yan Shiyu glared at him and said, "Get out!"
Wei Maoyuan had no idea what was going on inside, so he crawled away.
Ruan Jun's hand was still timidly pulling at Yan Shiyu's clothes. Just one glance at her made Yan Shiyu instantly remember how she looked when he first met her.
He said coldly, "What are you doing here?"
It was naturally uncomfortable to have her dress wet. Ruan Jun moved uncomfortably, and the moment she raised her head, the vulnerability of her neck was fully exposed in Yan Shiyu's eyes.
Ruan Yun said in a sweet voice: "Dongdong is still in Zichen Palace."
Yan Shiyu sneered, "I thought you had forgotten it all these days."
As soon as these words were spoken, Ruan Yun's hands suddenly loosened a little, and the cunning look in her eyes just now instantly turned into timid hands. Her onion-like fingertips loosened and tightened, turning white from being held by her.
Yan Shiyu felt a little regretful after he finished speaking. Dongdong was born by this woman at the cost of her life, so how could she not want Dongdong?
He glanced at Ruan Yun and found that she didn't make any other moves. In the end, he stopped talking and walked out of the bath room.
The image in my mind was of Ruan Yun just now. She had just recovered from a serious illness, and her originally round face had become thin again.
Ruan Jun walked out of the bedroom and met the emperor's dark eyes directly.
She held up her skirt, which was wet in a large area and stuck to her body, feeling extremely uncomfortable.
Standing in front of the emperor, her almond eyes were wet. In the corner of her eyes, she saw the list of concubines handed over by the short man, "Does the emperor have any concubines he likes?"
She turned her head away, so as not to look at the list of concubines.
In that case, she would go to Fengyi Palace and listen to the people selected by the Empress, and then send them to Zichen Palace.
Yan Shiyu's dark eyes suddenly turned cold, "Get out!"
Ruan Jun did not leave, but lowered her head, a smile appeared on the corner of her lips, "Dongdong is the child that I gave birth to at great pains. I know that the emperor is angry with me. I dare not ask for the emperor's forgiveness. I only hope that when the emperor chooses another mother for Dongdong, he must choose one who is good to him."
Yan Shiyu suddenly swept the list to the ground, "Is this your explanation to me?"
The list fell lightly on Ruan Yun's body and then fell to the ground.
Seeing the tears welling up in her eyes, Yan Shiyu clenched his hands into fists, but ultimately did not make any other moves.
"I and Ji Juebai have known each other before, but we have never had any private feelings, let alone friendship. Since I entered the palace, everything I have obtained has been given to me by the emperor. In this life, I will only give birth to children for the emperor, not for anyone else."
After she finished speaking, she wiped the tears from her face, picked up the directory and put it back on the stool.
The icy fingertips slid across the back of Yan Shiyu's hand, not knowing whether it was intentional or not.
The tingling sensation spread throughout his body. Yan Shiyu's finger bones moved slightly, but he restrained himself.
"I have no talent or virtue, and I don't want to watch the emperor constantly accept new people into the palace. I have no strength to select the names and send them to the emperor. I can't do this."
After saying this, she didn't care about her wet dress and walked out of Zichen Palace.
Wei Maoyuan was stunned when he saw the imperial concubine coming out with tears on her face. Before he could say anything, he heard the emperor's angry shout, "Wei Maoyuan!"
As they hurried in, the list of concubines was thrown at Wei Maoyuan, "Where is the third prince?"
Wei Maoyuan knelt down and said, "The nurse took the third prince out to play."
Yan Shiyu asked him, "Has the Concubine met the Third Prince?"
When talking about this, Wei Maoyuan couldn't help feeling guilty, "Slave, I only saw the noble concubine coming to the side hall."
Yan Shiyu pressed his fingertips on the table, "If you dare to let her in again, I will chop off your head!"
…
The palace selection was soon concluded, and the Empress handed the matter over to Ji Zhaoyi.
I heard that the emperor went to Chuxiu Palace and left after staying there for less than a quarter of an hour.
Ruan Jun looked at the script in her hand, not in the least bit anxious.
If the emperor didn't go, she would be truly worried.
Ting Xu placed the blood swallow in front of Ruan Yun with a sad face, "Madam, the green card for the concubine will be put up tonight."
Ruan Yun glanced at her and said, "I wonder who will be the first among these newcomers."
Ting Xu stamped her feet, "The queen is not in a hurry."
Ruan Yun chuckled, "I haven't been to the Purple Palace these days. The emperor has been in a bad mood recently. Why should I go there now and ask for trouble?"
Wait a little longer, it won’t be far away.
"Has the Ministry of Eunuchs delivered the music score I requested?"
Ting Xu nodded, looked at the many cuts on Ruan Yun's fingertips, and nodded, "It's delivered."
Ruan Yun glanced at her and said, "Go and find out whose card the emperor turned over tonight."
Tingxu walked out very quickly. Even when Yingning spoke to her, she was in no mood to respond.
Ying Ning placed the support in front of Ruan Yun and asked, "Madam, look, is it the same as that night?"
Ruan Yun touched her skirt and said, "Today is my birthday."
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