Xue Panrou didn't know how she had fallen to this point. It seemed...every moment she pushed Xue Zhiyi into the water, her life had taken an irreversible turn for the worse. First, she was confined to her house again and again, and then, a group of people rushed into the Xue residence and detained all the members of their family.
Then, she entered such a dark place, and was transformed from a noble lady into a lowly slave who could be bullied by anyone.
She curled up and cried uncontrollably.
She became the kind of person she despised the most...
But Xue Panrou didn't think it was retribution for her. She just thought it must be Xue Zhiyi. It must be Xue Zhiyi who did it! That bitch must have been possessed by some filthy thing and came to their house to take their lives!
The people surrounding her were still beating, scolding and mocking her, and a few who had nothing to do with it just stood by and watched her being humiliated.
Xue Panrou then remembered that when she was first demoted to the palace, there were a few people who took the initiative to talk to her, but she was the one who scolded those people as lowly and vulgar, saying they were not worthy of associating with her. After a few times, no one sympathized with her anymore.
She was mad with hatred. When she thought about Xue Hanshu, who had been stepped on by her all her life, still living in the Zhao family and enjoying a life of luxury, she wanted to kill Xue Hanshu.
It was Xue Zhiyi who harmed her, but it was also Xue Hanshu who robbed her of her marriage and destiny, which led her to this situation!
At this moment, someone shouted angrily, "What are you doing? How dare you act so presumptuously in the palace? You don't want to live anymore!"
The visitor was also dressed as a palace maid, but judging from her attire, she looked very different from the servants in the palace. She was adorned with more jewels and precious stones than many young ladies from official families. She looked like a senior palace maid in some mistress's palace.
Several people wilted in an instant, looked at each other, and quickly lowered their brows and eyes.
Someone brave enough said, "Sister, Panrou was not careful just now..."
"Shut up!" the senior maid shouted. "No matter what she did wrong, she will be punished. How can you abuse her power and punish her?"
The servants finally shut up.
The head maid only looked at them coldly and said, "Alright, everyone, please leave."
The few people stopped talking, just picked up the manure buckets and walked away in a line.
Looking at the person on the ground, the senior palace maid covered her nose with a handkerchief.
Xue Panrou struggled and slowly sat up. She looked up at the person who came, but the glaring sunlight made it difficult for her to see the person's face clearly.
She said with a nasal voice: "Who... are you?"
The man said with a half-smile, "Of course I'm here to save you, Xue Panrou. Do you still want to live such a humiliating life?"
Hearing this, Xue Panrou's breathing stagnated. She hurriedly stood up, kowtowed, and cried bitterly: "Please! Please save me! I can't rot here! I beg you!"
…
Outside the door of Changsheng Palace.
Although Concubine Wu Lifei was not young, she was still graceful and elegant. She only smiled slightly and glanced at the people around her. The palace maid stuffed the silver into Peng Hui's hand and said, "This is for the eunuch to have tea."
But Peng Hui politely declined, "Empress Li, Concubine An is serving in the palace right now. How dare I disturb her?"
Concubine Li was unhappy, but she didn't show it on her face. She just said, "I didn't mean to disturb Your Majesty. I just wanted to remember your hard work and personally made a bowl of soup. I wanted you to help me pass it up. You won't even do me this favor?"
Peng Hui simply wiped the sweat off her face and said, "Your Majesty, His Majesty has given an order and does not wish to be disturbed. Otherwise, I would have held your soup in my hands and kneeled down to serve it to Your Majesty. I would have been willing to do so."
Concubine Wu Life then became a little anxious. Everyone knew that the emperor favored An Zhaoyi. In addition to handling state affairs every day, he also had An Zhaoyi serving by his side.
Originally, there was a pregnant Concubine Song who shared the emperor's favor. But now that Concubine Song had displeased the emperor, the emperor had already moved her to the palace and confined her to recuperate and wait for the birth of her baby. He never summoned her again.
In this harem, An Zhaoyi is almost the only one favored.
Concubine Wu Lifei wanted to say something, but she knew that Peng Hui had no say in this matter, so she could only leave.
When he was in the Imperial Garden, he was stopped by Concubine Ge.
As a foreigner, Concubine Wu Lifei came here from a long distance to marry into a foreign government. She was usually very friendly and smiled at everyone she met.
She bowed and said, "Greetings, Imperial Concubine."
The Imperial Concubine only smiled and said, "Looking at the direction Concubine Li was heading, it seems she came from the Hall of Eternal Life. Has His Majesty summoned my sister?"
Looking at Concubine Ge's expression, there was nothing wrong. It seemed that they really just met by chance and chatted with each other for a few minutes.
She smiled bitterly and said, "Your Majesty's favorite person right now, I know that. How can His Majesty have time to see me? You are teasing me."
Speaking of this, the imperial concubine sighed slowly: "Yes, Your Majesty has not set foot in Cuiwei Palace for some time."
Concubine Ge was favored in the past, and Concubine Li was also favored in the past. However, no matter how favored they were, they could not resist the emperor's greed for young bodies and faces. He always lingered between new people, but did not favor any one of them in particular.
The emperor treated these senior concubines the same way, except that he seldom summoned them to sleep with him. Even so, he still visited them from time to time.
However, things were different after An Zhaoyi appeared, especially recently. No one knew what kind of seductive tricks An Zhaoyi used to make the emperor spend the whole day with her and not ask about the harem for a long time.
Seeing the inadvertent loneliness in Concubine Wu Life's eyes, Concubine Ge pretended to be open-minded and said, "Actually, at our age, we have children and honors. It doesn't matter who His Majesty favors or who he summons to sleep with him."
Hearing this, Concubine Wu Life felt even more bitter. If it were any other day, she would certainly think so, but now, she had a reason to see the emperor.
In front of Concubine Ge, she did not want to reveal her thoughts, and just smiled and said, "Sister is right."
But Concubine Ge seemed to have just noticed the strangeness on Concubine Li's face and asked, "Sister, are you worried about something?"
Concubine Li suddenly realized and shook her head: "Your Highness, you are joking. I just didn't sleep well last night and I am a little tired."
Seeing this, the imperial concubine pretended to be confused and said, "I know that you have served His Majesty for more than twenty years, but now it is difficult for you to even meet him. You must be feeling uncomfortable."
After saying this, he sighed deeply, "You should just be more open-minded. His Majesty's temporary favor won't affect our honor or disgrace. The children have already left the palace and gone to their respective homes. As long as they behave themselves and don't make mistakes, His Majesty won't treat them harshly, right?"
It would have been fine if she hadn't mentioned it, but once she mentioned it, the look of anxiety on Concubine Li's face became even more intense.
Concubine Ge finally realized this and said, "It was my own fault. I was destined not to have a daughter, and I forgot that Pingzhang's child is now of marriageable age. There can be no mistakes in the selection of a consort, otherwise it will ruin the princess's life. Now I am afraid that Your Majesty will be misled by beauty and not even pay attention to the princess's choice of a husband."
This was exactly what Concubine Wu Life was most worried about. She had wanted to whisper some words in the emperor's ear before the Northern Di delegation arrived, so that he would love his daughter and not send Ruxuan to Northern Di.
But now, I can't even see her, let alone say a few words for Ruxuan.
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