Chapter 118 Everyone Protects the Concubine

Outside the wind died down, the leaves on the trees didn't stir, and they said nothing.

You could hear a pin drop in the hall.

Shen Meizhuang was the first to break the silence, "You have little contact with the Royal Concubine. She once lost a child."

"You told me about that."

"Then I told you that the child of the Concubine Noble in her previous life was sent away by the Emperor himself?"

Zhen Huan's eyes widened and she covered her lips with a handkerchief. "How could such a thing happen?"

"Every time I think of this, I feel a chill down my spine. My father was also a military commander. If he had fought on the battlefield, used his life to protect the Qing Dynasty and established merit, and I was favored by my family and was pregnant with the heir, how would my ending be different from hers?"

Shen Meizhuang's consideration for others is something that Zhen Huan cannot understand.

"I never understood why we would risk our lives to have an affair with someone..."

Shen Meizhuang stood up slowly, "Now that I think about it, he is definitely not worth it for us to risk our lives to have a child with him."

"In my previous life, I was framed and had a fake pregnancy to win his favor. He abandoned me and put me under house arrest. If it weren't for the Shen family, I would not have gotten out of the cage alive."

"The person who framed me is certainly hateful, but is it possible that he is so smart that he can't see it at all?"

"It's just that after weighing the pros and cons, I was abandoned and I was promoted to a high position, and then kicked down to fulfill his reputation."

"Infatuation is just a lie. I have seen with a cold eye that the women in the harem are the empresses. To him, there is no difference in essence between them."

Zhen Huan naturally understood this, "Sister, what are you going to do?"

Shen Meizhuang turned around and said, "Fighting for favor."

"Fighting for favor?"

"Eight out of ten times when His Majesty comes to the harem, he goes to see Concubine Hua Gui. But she is not in good health right now, so I think..."

"I see."

Shen Meizhuang came forward and held Zhen Huan's hand. "I know that after you learned about the substitute, you are tired of the emperor. If you don't want to, you don't have to force yourself."

What she meant by "reluctantly" was not only to fight for the emperor's favor, but also to give up the position of queen mother.

"How can this be considered as forcing myself? Even if I don't want to, as his concubine, I still have to serve him."

Zhen Huan understood what Mei Zhuang meant, "As for the Fourth Prince, I remember you said that."

"In her heart, Concubine Hua Gui commented on the new emperor, saying that she was just as suspicious as her father, the Emperor. 'Even Zhen Huan finds it hard to deal with her, so I don't want this wild child.'"

"I know myself. If I hadn't been trapped by false love and forced by reality in my previous life, I would never have made enemies and sought a high position. I don't want to be alone in the harem."

Zhen Huan pulled Shen Meizhuang to sit down, and then leaned on her, "In this life, I just hope that my family will be safe and sound, and that I can stay with my sister in this harem until old age."

Both of them are action-oriented and they do what they say.

They estimated the time and place of the emperor's walk and went to the lake.

One plays the zither under the weeping willows, and the other dances in the light and shadow.

It is the song "Amazing Dance".

The water lotus flowers in midsummer sway in the wind. Zhen Huan, in her plain dress, is even more beautiful than the water lotus flowers.

Who arranged this accidental encounter so carefully?

The emperor seemed to see Chun Yuan again.

"Wan Wan?"

"Your Majesty, please forgive me."

The music of the zither stopped, the dancing stopped, Zhen Huan and Shen Meizhuang bowed in fear and apologized in unison.

"I didn't know the emperor was coming, and I'm sorry I failed to greet him from far away."

The emperor's eyes fell on Zhen Huan, unwilling to move away.

"I was reviewing memorials in the palace when I faintly heard the sound of a zither, so I came over to take a look. Who would have known that it was you two playing the zither and dancing here?"

Upon hearing this, Shen Meizhuang immediately said, "I am guilty. I came here with my sister Wan because the lotus breeze was fragrant here. I didn't want to disturb the emperor."

"Your piano playing is very good. It is not disturbing, but very pleasing."

The emperor shook his Buddhist beads and said, "Everyone, get up."

He extended his hand in front of Zhen Huan.

If you truly love someone, you must truly consider the other person. If you can't protect your loved one, why make yourself a target of criticism?

It's really disgusting to do things sincerely for yourself!

When Zhen Huan saw this hand, she did not feel happy about being favored. Instead, she was glad that it was Sister Mei who was by her side. If it was someone else, she would probably feel unhappy.

Shen Meizhuang saw the emperor's lustful look and was afraid that she would be turned down, so she found an excuse and left tactfully.

That night, Zhen Huan slept with the emperor as expected.

At the end of the month, Yinfeng Palace.

Songzhi presented a cup of tea to her own queen. More than a month ago, the queen complained about not sleeping well at night and always having headaches. All the Longjing and Biluochun teas in the palace were replaced with longan and red date tea and tranquilizing soup.

Or it's just plain water.

"I heard that except for Hanying, Hanrui and Xiaolezi, all the people from Siyi Academy were arranged by Eunuch Su himself."

There were several books on the table, the top one being a collection of jewellery pictures, all sent by the Imperial Household Department.

Nian Shilan flipped through the clothing album and looked up and asked, "Does the Queen know?"

“You should know.”

"It's enough for her to know."

Nian Shilan continued to look through the picture album, choosing the style of autumn clothes.

Zhou Ninghai came in and said that the Jingshifang had delivered this month's records. She pushed the album aside and opened it casually.

"The Emperor has come to the harem thirteen times this month!"

Nian Shilan was surprised, but couldn't help but sneer, "He really is still strong as he gets older."

Zhou Ninghai: “…” Is this something I can say?

Song Zhi carefully corrected it, "The Emperor is in his prime..."

"Huh~ It's already winter, where is the spring and autumn?"

Songzhi opened her mouth and decided to say less so as not to lead to more rebellious words, which would be her own fault.

The emperor came to the harem thirteen times this month. Apart from seeing the empress on the first and fifteenth days of the month, he saw Sun Miaoqing once before Wen Yi's birthday and came to Nian Shilan on the moonlit night of the sixteenth day.

There are nine times left, twice with An Lingrong, twice with Shen Meizhuang, and five times with Zhen Huan.

The exclusive favor that belonged to Zhen Huan finally came.

Songzhi looked at her own queen over the past year and found that she didn't seem to care much about the emperor's favor, but now she was staring at the files, reading them intently.

His face seemed thoughtful.

She tried a little and said:

"I heard that in order to win the emperor's favor, the noble lady wore a plain long dress and went to Jiuzhou Qingyan to dance for most of the day, which softened the emperor's heart."

Nian Shilan couldn't help but sigh, the heroine is the heroine, even if the emperor has resentment in his heart, as long as she takes action, the emperor's heart will always be willing to side with her.

She closed the notebook, picked up the teacup beside her, pinched the lid, scraped the red dates in the cup, took a sip, and said calmly:

"That's her ability. Others can break their legs and bleed, but they won't get a single eye in the eyes of justice."

As long as her master doesn't care, Songzhi will feel at ease and nothing else matters.

Nian Shilan smiled, put the lid on the cup, and asked, "How many red dates do you think are floating in this cup?"

Songzhi glanced at the cup lid, shook her head and said she didn't know.

Nian Shilan opened the lid of the cup and asked, "What now?"

Songzhi stretched her head and took a look. "My Lady, one."

"When autumn comes and the weather gets cooler, the imperial carriage will set off to return to the palace." The palace is the most dangerous place, "This date must stay in the Old Summer Palace forever!"

Nian Shilan loosened his grip, and the cup lid fell with a crisp sound, splashing a few drops of tea.

She said this "forever" meaningfully and with a long-lost cruelty.

Even though Songzhi was so smart and good at observing people's words and expressions, she couldn't understand for a moment, was the date the empress was talking about referring to Sun?

Or is it someone else?

Nian Shilan looked at the water surface that sometimes appeared above the cup lid. She knew that the water must be surging violently under the cup lid.

After a while, she ordered:

"Songzhi, go get me some paper and pen. I want to write a letter to my brother."