Chapter 207: Retirement in Cining Palace

“My queen…”

An Lingrong looked at the Royal Consort's expression and felt a little worried.

"You all get out."

There was no emotion in Nian Shilan's voice. "I want to be alone with the emperor for a while."

"But the Emperor has already..." An Lingrong bravely held the Imperial Concubine's hand, "Your Majesty, he is not worth your sadness."

Not sad, not upset.

Nian Shilan shook her head, unable to explain her current mood.

She patted An Lingrong's hand.

"My lady, let's go out first." Songzhi raised her hand to guide.

The two men walked out, looking back every few steps.

Outside the palace.

Knowing that the emperor was not able to come, the concubines were already waiting outside. Shen Meizhuang was whispering to Concubine Jing:

"...I don't want to see him. If it weren't for the fact that he is the emperor, I would have let his hair down, stripped him of his clothes, and thrown him outside the Zhengyang Gate, so that he could walk back to the Yangxin Palace in front of the people."

Everyone is able to hear the Royal Concubine's inner thoughts, and they all know some unknown aspects of each other's past lives, so naturally their feelings are stronger than in their previous lives.

I am becoming less and less careful when speaking.

Concubine Jing's face shrank as usual, as if Shen Meizhuang had said something that shouldn't have been said or she had heard something that she shouldn't have heard.

But in fact, it sounds very exciting and I am even eager to try it.

Concubine Li, Concubine Cao, and Concubine Xin gathered together and spoke more directly and harshly.

When the queen came over, she gave her eyes and everyone immediately calmed down and saluted respectfully.

Even if it was fake crying, everyone started to act like it.

The palace door opened, and the empress left Jianqiu at the door and walked in two steps at a time.

As soon as she entered, she took Nian Shilan in her arms and said nothing else, only one sentence:

"It's all in the past."

[I don't love him anymore, but I'm not very happy when he dies.]

The Queen patted her on the back and repeated, "I know, I know."

"He was once someone you truly loved and devoted yourself to. The reason you are unhappy is that the person you loved deeply in the past has completely left you. It has nothing to do with the person in front of you."

"After eight hundred times of reincarnation that I could not interfere with, I finally got my revenge myself. There is no need to be too happy. I just need to let it go and feel relieved in the future."

To some extent, the Queen and Nian Shilan shared the same suffering. They both loved the Emperor deeply, so the Queen was not just saying these words to her.

It's also for myself.

Neither she nor he regretted it, whether they loved him in the past or plotted against him later.

A country cannot be without a ruler for a day.

The emperor had three sons. The third prince was incompetent, the fifth prince was weak, and although the sixth prince was young, he had followed the emperor in and out of the study and even the Military Affairs Office many times at such a young age.

In the middle of last year, he was directly conferred the title of prince.

Therefore, even though Hong Zhao had not been officially appointed as the crown prince, all officials had already recognized that he would succeed to the throne.

As soon as the news of the emperor's death spread, Nian Gengyao led the troops to guard the palace, and Prince Yi, holding the emperor's will, welcomed the new emperor to the throne.

All the ministers followed his advice.

The branches are green, the whole city is filled with white banners, to see off the late emperor respectfully.

"kneel--"

"One bow——"

"Kowtowing again—"

"Three kowtows—"

"Xing——"

When the late emperor was alive, he had already taken into consideration that Hongzhao was too young to rule the country immediately after he succeeded to the throne. In addition to appointing several regents headed by Prince Yi, he also left a secret decree, following the example of his ancestors, Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang and Empress Dowager Xiaoduan, and decided that the two Empress Dowagers would rule the country from behind the curtain in order to achieve a balance between internal and external affairs.

When the new emperor ascended the throne, he conferred the titles of Empress Dowager and Holy Mother Empress Dowager on his stepmother and biological mother respectively, and posthumously conferred the title of Empress Chunyuan as Empress Dowager Xiaochun.

The Qi family made great contributions in assisting the new emperor, and Concubine Duan Qi was promoted to Concubine Duan Gui, and then to Concubine Dowager Duan Gui.

Concubine Jing of the Feng clan was promoted to Concubine Jing; Concubine Cao of the Cao clan was promoted to Concubine Xiang and then to Concubine Xiang; Concubine Xi of the Niuhulu clan was promoted to Concubine Xi and then to Concubine Xi; Concubine Li of the Fei clan was promoted to Concubine Li.

Concubine Wan Zhen was promoted to Concubine Wan; noble lady Hui Shen was promoted to Concubine Hui and then to Concubine Hui; noble lady Tian An was promoted to Concubine Tian and then to Concubine Tian; noble lady Xin Lu was promoted to Concubine Xin and then to Concubine Xin.

…

According to the rules, all the concubines of the previous emperor were moved to the Cining Palace for care. As the new emperor was young, the two Empress Dowagers ruled the country from behind the curtain and still ruled in their original palaces. When the emperor took power, they would all be moved to the Shoukang Palace.

The Third Prince did not do anything wrong after all. When the new emperor ascended the throne, he was made a prince. The concubine Li, who had been under house arrest in the Zibi Mountain House, was also pardoned and promoted to Li Taipin, living in the Prince's Mansion with her son.

Nowadays, the Cining Palace is where the concubines and imperial concubines live together, and it is extremely lively.

When the weather is fine, we sit together in the courtyard in the sun and chat about the past and present. If it is cloudy or rainy, we make an appointment to make tea, play chess and do needlework.

Important people are either by your side or within your reach; in short, they are always there.

Money, leisure and companionship.

This is probably the most beautiful thing in ordinary life.

Perhaps the older we get, the more we like to be lively.

After all, Cining Palace was not within the scope of the Six Eastern and Western Palaces, and the rules were not that strict. Within a few days after the death of the previous emperor, the atmosphere in this palace changed.

They spent less time reading and embroidering, and more time playing mahjong and mahjong together.

Chun'er's position was low and her monthly salary was meager, so she could hardly satisfy her appetite. She would go to one room to eat or that room to drink all day long. She was not good at needlework or chess, so her life was boring.

Now that she has learned the card game and has become a popular figure in the Cining Palace, there is no shortage of positions that she cannot fill.

Nian Shilan also wanted to go out and play, but she was always restrained by Yixiu. When Hongzhao was around, she had to act properly.

My waist really hurts.