The Flirtatious Prince and His Savage Concubine

The two sides were arguing and there was no substantial evidence. Emperor Nan Zheng did not know what to do. It was just a pity that Lingxi was so badly injured. If he could not give an explanation, it would be too miserable.

After thinking it over again and again, Emperor Nan Zheng decided to go along with Lu Lingxi and said, "Since you both have your own stories, and no one has any substantial evidence to prove whether it was the Queen who deliberately knocked over the teacup, or Lingxi who dragged the Queen. Let's put this matter aside for now."

Then the Emperor of Nanzheng faced Queen Gu and changed the subject: "But, Queen, regardless of whether you misunderstood the Crown Princess or not, even if it was really the Crown Princess who confined Su Yun and demoted her, there is no need for you to reprimand her, right? She is also the mistress of a mansion. If you make her kneel in front of everyone, how can she still have dignity in the future? How can she manage the backyard of the Crown Prince's mansion?"

Queen Gu was dissatisfied. "I am the Crown Princess's mother-in-law. She calls me 'Mother Queen', but I don't even have the right to restrain and discipline her? Just because I am not the Crown Prince's relative..."

Queen Qu Qi tapped the table three times, interrupting Queen Gu's next words: "Queen, be careful with your words! I have warned you many times not to apply the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law relationship of ordinary people to you and the Crown Princess. The royal family has its own rules. The Crown Princess will manage the affairs of the Crown Prince's Mansion and the Crown Prince will also inquire about it. The status of the concubine is different. The Crown Prince will submit memorials to the emperor for promotion and demotion. The Imperial Clan Bureau will investigate and supervise. You don't need to worry about it. You just need to take care of my harem. If you are allowed to inquire about the affairs of the Crown Prince's Mansion and the backyard, whether it is the backyard of Prince Qi, the backyard of Xiaoqi, the son-in-law of Xiaoba, or even the backyards of other princes and marquises, you should be in charge of it? If there are dirty things, it is your responsibility and you should be held accountable, right?"

Queen Gu lowered her head and said, "That's not what I meant."

Emperor Nan Zheng: "You know what you think about Lingxi today, and I know it too."

Queen Gu quickly admitted her mistake: "I really have no other intentions, I just thought wrongly for a moment, and I will never interfere in the internal affairs of the Crown Prince's Mansion again."

Emperor Nan Zheng snorted coldly, "Humph! You have repeatedly disregarded the rules of our ancestors and acted according to your own selfish desires. It must be because you haven't read the family precepts for a long time. From today on, you will be confined to your house. Copy the family precepts of our ancestors ten times every day to deepen your memory. Stop when you have memorized them by heart and no longer disobey them. During the period when you copy the family precepts, the palace affairs will be handed over to Concubine Guo and Concubine Xian to take care of them."

The confinement was not specified for a certain period, and her power was also divided. The next step might be to abolish her position as queen. Queen Gu realized the seriousness of the problem at this time. Her face turned pale, cold sweat dripped down her forehead, her hands trembled and tightly grasped the corners of her clothes, and she looked panic-stricken and uneasy. She staggered forward a few steps, fell to her knees with a plop, and her knees hit the hard ground heavily, making a dull sound.

"Your Majesty, I really know I was wrong!" Queen Gu cried, tears welling up in her eyes, ready to fall at any moment. She lowered her head, not daring to look directly into the majestic gaze of the Emperor of the Southern Expedition, her body trembling slightly, as fragile and helpless as a leaf falling in the wind.

"Your Majesty, it was all because of my confusion and greed that I committed such a big mistake. Please forgive me, Your Majesty!" Queen Gu pleaded with tears in her voice. She kept hitting her head against the ground and her forehead soon became red and swollen, but she seemed to feel no pain at all. She just kept asking Emperor Nanzheng to forgive her.

Emperor Nanzheng looked at the pitiful appearance of Queen Gu, but he showed no mercy: "This is not your first offense. Last time you burned Lingxi's hand, and this time you hurt her forehead and knees. If you don't punish her, won't you kill Lingxi next time? I really don't understand. Lingxi is a junior, and she has no impact on your palace power and favor. Why do you target her everywhere? Or are you targeting the prince? The entire prince's mansion?"

Hearing that the Emperor of Nanzheng had made this clear, Queen Gu was shocked, but she did not show it on her face, and quickly organized her words in her mind to deal with this situation. She raised her head slightly, looked at the emperor with a firm gaze, opened her red lips slightly, and said with a slightly aggrieved tone: "Your Majesty, how could you misunderstand me like this? Over the years, I have treated the prince with all my heart and soul, and always treated him as my own flesh and blood. Whether it is food, daily life or clothing expenses, every detail I will personally ask about, and I dare not slack off. It can even be said that I care about the prince more than my own child Ye'er! How could I target him? I am just used to asking about all matters related to the prince, and I forgot that he has a family and a wife, and it is the wife who should ask about everything about him in the future. I am just not used to letting go for a while, and I definitely have no other intentions." As she said this, Queen Gu's eyes were slightly red, as if she had suffered a great injustice.

Emperor Nan Zheng no longer wanted to argue with Queen Gu, so he said, "After you finish copying the family precepts, you may get used to it. Someone, please take the Queen away."

Soon someone came and helped Queen Gu up from the ground and took her away.

Emperor Nan Zheng looked at the wounded and miserable Lu Lingxi and said to Nan Wangyu, "Prince, Lingxi is seriously injured..."

"Ugh... ugh..."

Before Emperor Nan Zheng could finish his words, he was interrupted by the sound of Concubine Guo retching.

Seeing that everyone was looking at her, Concubine Guo quickly explained, "I have been feeling uncomfortable since a while ago when I smelled the blood. I can't help it now. I'm sorry."

Emperor Nanzheng came forward and hugged Princess Leping, and asked with concern: "What's wrong with you?"

The nanny beside Concubine Guo patted her back to help her calm down, while replying to Emperor Nan Zheng: "It seems our queen is pregnant again."

The Southern Emperor was overjoyed and asked, "Really? Leping is only seven months old, and you're pregnant again?"

Although this was her fourth child, Concubine Guo was still a little embarrassed to say it in front of so many people. She lowered her head and shyly replied, "Almost 100 percent. Ugh... Ugh..."

Seeing Concubine Guo retching again, Emperor Nanzheng turned around and said to the Crown Prince with some dissatisfaction: "The Crown Princess is so seriously injured, why don't you send her back to the Crown Prince's Mansion to recuperate in bed instead of staying here to wait for lunch?"

Before Nan Wangyu could reply, Lu Lingxi pouted and said, "Father, you are disgusted with your daughter-in-law."

Emperor Nan Zheng was helpless and said with a smile: "Child, your father is clearly concerned about your health, how can it be said that he dislikes you? If you don't want to leave the palace, then you can stay in the palace forever, and it will be convenient for the imperial physician to take care of you."

Living in the palace means she has even less freedom, and she has to be on guard against Queen Gu finding time to cause trouble for her. This is not what she wants, so Lu Lingxi had to surrender immediately: "No, no, thank you for your kindness, father. I will not stay in the palace to cause trouble for you. I will ask the imperial physician to prescribe medicine and send it to the prince's mansion."

Seeing that Nan Wangyu didn't move, Lu Lingxi pulled his sleeve and whispered, "Why don't you carry me away? Are you really waiting to have lunch in the palace?"

Nan Wangyu first bowed to Emperor Nan Zheng and took his leave, then he bent down and picked up Lu Lingxi and left Yanchun Palace.

After they left, the Southern Emperor said to Concubine Guo, "The smell of blood is still very strong here. I will accompany you back to your palace and ask the imperial physician to take your pulse carefully. Someone, prepare a sedan chair for Concubine Guo."

After Emperor Nan Zheng sent Concubine Guo back to her Weiyang Palace, he immediately called Dr. Li, the imperial physician who had previously helped Concubine Guo with her pregnancy, to take her pulse and confirm that she was indeed pregnant again, but the pregnancy was still early, so she needed to take good care of the fetus and not overwork.

The Southern Expedition Emperor was overjoyed. He held Concubine Guo's hand and said happily, "My beloved concubine is truly a great contributor to our Southern Expedition Kingdom. You are my lucky star. How should I reward you? Your position..."

Concubine Guo was not as overly happy as the Emperor Nanzheng. Before he could say anything about raising her position, she calmly comforted him, "Your Majesty, my position is already high enough. If I move up, I will be the Imperial Concubine, the same position as the Vice Empress. To be honest, you are pushing me into the danger of the Empress. I just want to stay quietly in my own palace, take good care of the baby in my belly, and protect Xiaoqi and Leping."

Emperor Nancheng pondered for a moment and said, "You are right. I was just too happy just now. The baby in your belly is the most important thing. You can't be too tired now, and I shouldn't let you be too prominent. I will ignore you for a while, but I will send people to secretly protect you and the children at all times. Don't worry and don't think too much."

Concubine Guo nodded obediently.

Afterwards, the sound of cups breaking could be heard in Weiyang Palace, and the Southern Zheng Emperor roared: "Don't think you can be arrogant just because you are pregnant with the emperor's heir! Can you dream of the position of Imperial Concubine?"

After that, the Emperor of the Southern Expedition left in anger. Not only did Concubine Guo fail to be promoted to Imperial Concubine, she also lost the power to assist in managing the six palaces that she had just been promised.