Drunk Bamboo

After coming out of the palace, Xie Yuzhu did not return to the palace, but went directly to Anhe Restaurant to wait for Gu Suiyi.

She asked Lao Liu to go back first and told the nanny that she would not be returning home for lunch.

Before lunch time, Chang An brought her snacks and tea and arranged a private room for her. Fearing that she would be bored, he brought her some storybooks to entertain her.

Xie Yuzhu asked for some pen, ink and paper and started drawing. Baiguo didn't dare to disturb her. He ate some snacks and read a storybook nearby.

Baiguo has a straightforward personality, but he also has a very good eye. Even if he has something on his mind, he won't keep it in his heart and feel depressed.

When she is not needed, she just does her job well, just like at this moment, Xie Yuzhu is sorting out her thoughts, and she wants to help, but even if she can't, she can sit back and read a book and eat snacks with peace of mind.

Xie Yuzhu wrote the names of the princes and the confirmed forces behind them on the paper.

Thinking of King Wen Hua Qinming's confident expression just now, I always feel uneasy.

Could it be that after the Loushan case, he had another plan to deal with the prince or Hua Qinfeng?

That calm face really makes people suspicious.

Hua Qinfeng should be back soon, and he still has a few assassins alive, so King Wen doesn't seem afraid.

Xie Yuzhu had been in Zhongdu for only half a year, and had met the Imperial Concubine only a handful of times. She knew even less about King Wen. What the outside world described and what she had seen in person were sometimes similar and sometimes not. The Emperor's mind was even more unpredictable, which was really troublesome.

She scratched her hair and put down her pen.

Bai Guo saw her sigh and seemed to have thought it through, so he leaned over and asked softly:

"Princess, is there anything I can help you with?"

Xie Yuzhu looked at Baiguo and his eyes suddenly lit up.

She is a good talker and has been in the palace for many years, so she must know a lot.

Although Yun Ling has been in the palace since she was a child, she is cautious in what she says and does. She would not ask too many questions out of curiosity.

Xie Yuzhu waved to Bai Guo: "You have been in the palace for many years, what do you think of the Imperial Concubine? What about Prince Wen?"

Bai Guo's eyes flickered, and he leaned closer to her and said, "Princess, you don't believe the news from Changfeng Tower either?"

Xie Yuzhu did not deny what Changfeng Tower had done, but looked at Bai Guo with a smile, wanting to know more from her.

"Most outsiders know the information that Changfeng Tower has gathered, so it can be used as a reference, but I need the real feeling more."

"The prince has always disliked us discussing matters in the palace, especially those important figures." Bai Guo hesitated for a while, probably because he didn't dare to say anything bad about those important figures in the palace.

"I won't let anyone else know." Xie Yuzhu promised.

Bai Guo put down the cake in his hand, moved his chair towards Xie Yuzhu, and said in a low voice with a gossipy look on his face:

"To be honest, I don't like the Imperial Concubine, nor do I like Prince Wen. Although they didn't provoke us when we were in the palace."

"Because they want to harm the prince?"

Baiguo shook his head and then nodded.

There seems to be another hidden story.

This aroused Xie Yuzhu's curiosity even more, and she waited patiently for her next words.

"People outside say that the Imperial Concubine has a kind heart. She has blocked swords for His Majesty, protected the people from disasters, and even prayed for the well-being of the entire Rao Kingdom. She is a living Bodhisattva."

"I heard from the prince that he once blocked a sword for His Majesty, but how come he also blocked disasters for the people?" Xie Yuzhu asked.

"I hadn't entered the palace at that time. I only heard about it from the old maids in the palace later. Ten years ago, a great plague broke out in Zhongdu. Many people were infected, but there was no medicine to cure them. Even the imperial doctors in the palace were helpless. They could only watch people die day by day, but there was nothing they could do. This lasted for a whole month."

"It was during that plague that Consort Shu died. Your Majesty, the Empress, and Prince Wen were all infected, and people were in a panic. The whole of Zhongdu was immersed in the darkness of death. Just when people were in despair, Consort Huang left the palace and knelt in Daci Temple for three days and three nights. Perhaps she moved the Buddha, and after leaving the temple, she met a miracle doctor, Gao Fengyu who is now in the palace. His prescription cured the plague in Zhongdu."

Bai Guo's expression changed from sadness to indifference, and then he lowered his head, unwilling to mention those horrific scenes again.

Xie Yuzhu could imagine how terrible the plague was back then. He could only watch his family members die tragically, but could do nothing.

Such despair is extremely painful.

Bai Guo did not experience it personally, but just hearing the stories told by those involved was enough to make him feel sad, let alone Hua Qinfeng who was involved in it.

Hua Qinfeng was only thirteen years old at that time. How did he survive in the cold and terrifying palace?

Xie Yuzhu didn't dare to think about it.

After asking this question, he didn't dare let Baiguo think about it again, and he didn't dare mention it in front of Hua Qinfeng to arouse his grief.

Xie Yuzhu poured some tea and asked Baiguo to take a sip to calm down.

"If there is such a great doctor, why didn't he take out the prescription earlier, but only told her when she appeared in front of the Imperial Concubine?"

Bai Guo quickly recovered his color and continued, "I heard from the common people who were present at the time that Gao Fengyu was very poor at that time. He fainted from hunger in front of the Imperial Noble Consort. The Imperial Noble Consort saved him. To thank her, he said that he was a doctor and might be able to try to make a prescription for the plague. The Imperial Noble Consort took him back to the palace, and a few days later, she made a good medicine and solved the problem of the plague."

After a pause, he looked regretful:

"But our Concubine Shu passed away before she even received the prescription..."

"The dead are gone." Xie Yuzhu comforted.

If Concubine Shu had not passed away during the plague that year, Hua Qinfeng would not have suffered so much over the years, would not have been disliked by the emperor, and would not have been targeted by court officials.

He was also loved by his mother and lived a life of ease and comfort in the palace.

Perhaps, his character is still so direct, but with the protection and teachings of his mother, he will not be so entangled in family relationships and dare not face those so-called relatives in the palace.

"From then on, Concubine Ji became the Imperial Noble Concubine, the protector of the people, and the itinerant doctor Gao Yin became Gao Fengyu, in charge of the entire Shang Pharmacy. The Imperial Noble Concubine and her son were more favored by the emperor, but our prince lost his mother and was not loved by the emperor. He was helpless and lived in the Empress's palace for half a year before leaving for the western frontier."

"It was then that the prince saved me and later brought me back to Zhongdu and into the palace to follow Nanny Bai."

Bai Guo said this with gratitude in his eyes.

She treated Hua Qinfeng like a brother and a benefactor.

Treating your brother means showing your true nature, being fearless and speaking frankly.

For a benefactor, I will protect him until death and never let outsiders hurt him in the slightest.

"Then why don't you like the Imperial Concubine?" Xie Yuzhu retracted her gaze and asked directly.

Baiguo ate the cakes bit by bit, frowned, and said:

"Princess, don't you think that the Imperial Concubine looks calm and peaceful, but her eyes are very cold, like a cold-blooded snake, which is really creepy. Prince Wen and the Imperial Concubine are very similar, and they also have this feeling. They are obviously smiling, but you can't feel their kindness at all. Instead, there is a kind of disgusting hypocrisy."

Is she the only one who thinks so?

Everyone said that the Imperial Concubine was a living Bodhisattva, but every time she saw the Imperial Concubine in the palace, she trembled with fear.

I was young and timid at that time, and my legs went weak with fear. Even now when I see her, I dare not look at her for even a second, let alone stay with her for long.

Bai Guo couldn't help but shudder, and said in fear: "The Imperial Concubine is even more cruel. In the middle of winter, in the snow, she made Prince Wen kneel and refused to give him food."

Xie Yuzhu was surprised: "Prince Wen was born weak. The prince said that he was born with this weakness. How could the imperial concubine bear to let him kneel? And, suffer from cold and hunger?"

"I saw it with my own eyes, I didn't lie to the princess. I had just entered the palace at that time, only eight or nine years old, and was very curious about the palace. I accidentally got lost in a dense forest, and somehow entered the back garden where the imperial concubine was. I saw the thin Prince Wen kneeling in the snow, wearing a thin long gown. I vaguely heard the palace maid pleading cautiously, saying that she had been kneeling for a whole day and had not even had breakfast."

Bai Guo seemed to have opened up his conversation, and he kept talking:

"But the Imperial Concubine said nothing until Prince Wen fainted and was carried into the house."

"Then, His Majesty came. Fu'an Palace was suddenly full of people, all in a hurry, and I blended into the crowd and walked out of Fu'an Palace safely. Afterwards, the nanny found me and said that I was lucky and could not mention this matter to anyone. Thinking about it now, I am also a little scared."

After Baiguo finished speaking, he picked up the warm tea and took a sip to warm himself up.

Xie Yuzhu's face gradually turned ugly, and he lowered his eyes and said coldly:

"Is the Imperial Concubine using Prince Wen's illness to attract His Majesty's love?"

King Wen might be weak, but he was treated with great care in the palace, so he would not be as frail as he is now.

It's too cruel for the imperial concubine to make a fuss about her own son's life.

Even a tiger won't eat its own cubs, but she killed her own cub with her own hands!

King Wen actually endured it like this, relying on this half-buried body to fight the crown prince, what's the point? Fight for the imperial concubine?