The Three-Life Stone

Dongxue looked at everyone with curiosity and sat down tentatively.

As soon as Dongxue got in, the carriage started moving. She tried to open her eyes as wide as possible and listen as loudly as possible so as not to miss any useful clues, but no one intended to say anything.

Now the little prince was fascinated by the Luban lock, and the little princess was fascinated by the porcelain doll and rag doll. Concubine An had no need to say anything to her little maid. After sitting for a while, Dongxue may have been too tense and felt a little sleepy. Concubine An looked at the girl and smiled slightly with a silly look: "You are the Queen's personal maid, right? The Queen specially left you in the palace to look after the Palace Master. She must have her intentions. Don't be nervous, go to sleep, and you will know everything after a good sleep."

It's not that Concubine An isn't sleepy, but her mood is too complicated and she can't sleep. She doesn't know why the Queen Mother faked her death and left the palace, nor does she know whether all this was directed and acted by the Queen Mother herself. It seems as if she has never really known Hua Xiaoyao.

The sky was tinged with dawn, and the carriage arrived at a place called Taohuajian. There were people waiting here. Xiaohong, Xiaolan and Xiaozi took over the luggage of several people. After everyone got off, the carriage drove away. Dongxue suddenly realized what was going on, but she just thought of it as a revisit to an old place and didn't think of anything else.

Being able to return to this place again, Dongxue felt a touch of sadness in her heart. The past few years have passed. She had a pretty good life in the palace. The Queen had her own children, but many things were not as enjoyable as being outside. She wondered if the Queen would have lived longer if she had not entered the palace but was nourished by the fresh breeze every day and was free and easy.

The group walked up the mountain. The two children were in a daze, one lying on Concubine An's back, and the other on Dongxue's back. They had to walk for a while and stop for a while. It took them an hour and a half to walk a distance that should take half an hour.

Arriving at the bamboo house, Dongxue felt that the place had become much more. There were pavilions built with bamboo next to it, and a bigger bamboo house was expanded next to the original bamboo house. From time to time, the sound of piano could be heard from the pavilion. It was a familiar tune, a melody that only she and the girl knew. She didn't care about being tired and rushed up with Lin Xuan on her back.

Lin Xuan and Lin Yue woke up not long after they climbed the mountain, but everyone thought they were too small, so they were carried for a while and walked for a while and rested for a while. Finally, in order to reach the destination earlier, they were carried on others' backs. Lin Xuan only felt that he was sitting on a horse, and the wind blew and he arrived at the attic.

A familiar figure was playing the piano in the attic. It was my mother.

Hua Xiaoyao quickly ran over and hugged the crying little boy into her arms: "My little darling, it's okay, mommy is here."

"Wow - wow - has mother turned into a fairy? This is because of my sincerity... which touched the Buddha... so... so... the Buddha asked me to come and see you?" Even though Lin Xuan was taught that a prince should be responsible, not cry easily, and must be brave, he was only a two-year-old child after all, and the one in trouble was his dearest mother, so he naturally couldn't help feeling sad.

"Mom." A very childish voice came over. Unlike Lin Xuan, Lin Yue was smiling widely, and was happy to see each other again.

Standing behind Lin Yue was An Nan, who was crying. For a moment, Hua Xiaoyao felt a little helpless and even wondered if she was too selfish and made those who really liked her sad.

Dongxue silently watched Hua Xiaoyao and her son reunite and hug each other tightly. She was excited, thrilled, and confused. She cried and laughed.

"You must be tired, come and have breakfast. The meat for these steamed buns with three delicacies was bought at the market this morning, and the fish and shrimp were caught in the mountain river. There is also this Mangmang Yulu drink, pumpkin cakes, pumpkin soup, and steamed eggs with minced meat. We all worked together early in the morning. I know you are coming now, so I warmed them up in the pot. Let's eat together."

"Lunch is being prepared. Chicken stewed with wild mushrooms, steamed sea bass, and three fresh delicacies stew..."

Hua Xiaoyao tried to divert everyone's attention with food. The children happily pulled Hua Xiaoyao to eat with them. Hua Xiaoyao was interrupted and accompanied the two children to the stone table. She did not forget to say to the two adults: "Don't just stand there, come and eat together.

After dinner, the two children were taken away by the maid to play. An Nan looked at Hua Xiaoyao and choked up and said, "Sister, don't you plan to talk to your younger sister?"

Hua Xiaoyao looked up at An Nan and Dong Xue, whose eyes were red. In contrast, An Nan was calm and Dong Xue was happy, no matter what reason Hua Xiaoyao gave.

Hua Xiaoyao had the things removed and replaced them with tea. She prepared her words and took a sip of tea before speaking out: "Leaving the palace was my original intention, not my later intention."

"Then why did you choose this path in the end? The emperor loves you so much that he is willing to accompany you to play this drama even though you want to leave the palace. It must be good for you to stay in the harem."

Hua Xiaoyao looked a little depressed but then she cheered up: "I originally thought that life in the harem was difficult. Since I entered the palace, I knew that one day I would leave the palace. However, after getting to know you and giving birth to children, I felt that such a life was not bad. I thought it was too simple."

Hua Xiaoyao was lost in her memories. This time An Nan did not interrupt her but just waited quietly. After a moment, Hua Xiaoyao continued: "Someone tampered with my diet, hoping that I would die from postpartum weakness."

"what?"

"what?"

Dongxue and An Nan's faces changed at the same time. The harem had been peaceful since Jiang left, yet someone actually poisoned the Empress.

Not to mention that the queen treated the concubines well, even though she was the emperor's favorite, who would dare to do that? An Nan thought of Su Zhaoyi, whose death was too strange. Not to mention whether witchcraft was useful or not, after the queen's death, shouldn't she have been dealt with in time? Why wait for people to find out?

In addition, why did her face show panic, mockery and disbelief when her sister Duanmu caught her using witchcraft to commit crimes? It is very likely that this person was the one who poisoned her, and then it was found out by Imperial Concubine Duanmu. However, she did not dare to publicize it, and could only use the name of witchcraft to clear the Empress's grievances. This does not make sense. If the Empress could have found out earlier, wouldn't it have been better to take more precautions? Why did she have to leave the palace?

"I have thought about whether it would be better if the person who poisoned was caught. Maybe I look down on those methods or don't want to get involved. Many sisters have long been dissatisfied with the fact that the emperor stayed in my palace. If you say that he treats everyone equally, you can actually notice that the emperor is not very interested in these things. He is most concerned about family and national affairs. Even if the emperor can disperse his favor, those people may not be satisfied with this."

Hua Xiaoyao took a sip of tea, An Nan blushed but still listened carefully, Dongxue listened and watched the vivid Hua Xiaoyao in a daze, fearing that it was all a dream.

"I don't want to be a burden to him because of my uniqueness. The affairs of the harem should be handled by me, but I get a headache just thinking about myself getting so overwhelmed by these things that I become unlike myself, or if I fail to handle them well and cause trouble for him. He saw through the situation before me and understood me. After he found out about the poisoning, we decided to take advantage of him."

An Nan frowned and asked, "And Sister Duanmu, when Jiang was here, Sister Duanmu took good care of us. After Sister entered the palace, you and I became like sworn sisters. With the two of us supporting Sister, we will definitely be able to protect Sister and the child."

Hua Xiaoyao smiled and said, "She has come this far not only because she is not aggressive, but also because she knows the emperor's temperament and the temperaments of the sisters. She is smart. How do you know that she didn't notice the person who poisoned her? But what did she do?"

An Nan's brows were almost twisted into a "川" shape: "She waits and sees what happens..."

"If she had been intentional, she would have definitely given that person some advice or warned him, instead of just waiting for things to develop. If she not only noticed that the man was killing without being seen, but also noticed that I was using a trick against him, then she must be unfathomable. How could such a person always be willing to be inferior to others?"

An Nan's face looked very ugly, as if her three views had been overturned. She only thought that this person was good, and everyone thought that this person was good, which showed that this person had high emotional intelligence. Everyone thought that Hua Xiaoyao was good because she was simple and had good intentions towards everyone, but she didn't know how to deal with these trivial matters. At first, the emperor was happy that Duanmu Zhi was good to Hua Xiaoyao, and Duanmu Zhi was willing to follow the emperor's wishes and indulge her. Later, Hua Xiaoyao, because of her son's status as a mother, naturally surpassed her.

But Hua Xiaoyao was so good to her, why was Duanmu Zhi still not satisfied? Even if Hua Xiaoyao was not there, she could not be the queen. If she just wanted to be in charge of the harem, Hua Xiaoyao asking her to assist her was equivalent to her being the most important person in the harem besides Hua Xiaoyao. Why would she put this above their feelings? An Nan was puzzled.

Hua Xiaoyao, however, felt that this was the normal form of the harem. She was not as aggressive as Jiang, nor as deep-minded as Duanmu. If one of them had different thoughts, even if the emperor wanted to protect them, even if she was cautious and even if she avoided them all, it would be so tiring to live in suspicion.

Hua Xiaoyao couldn't ask Lin Mo to disband the harem. It was unrealistic. If the sisters remarried, their lives might not be easy. Even if the emperor's women were married off to sleep with by someone else, it would be enough to write a book with spit. Moreover, some people in the harem were involved with the court. Even if her suggestion would make Lin Mo embarrassed, he would still agree. He would definitely have to spend energy to clean up the mess. These were things Hua Xiaoyao didn't want to see.

Now that Lin Mo has done so much for Hua Xiaoyao, Hua Xiaoyao is already very satisfied. For the only child she cares about, Lin Xuan, supported by Duanmu Zhi, will definitely give him the best and won't let him suffer any loss. She must know that she will not have children, so she will treat Lin Xuan as her own son or even closer than her own son.

As for An Nan, he is straightforward, expresses his joy easily, is quite intelligent, and is protected by Duanmu Zhi. Lin Xuan, who is raised by Duanmu Zhi, is the biological brother of Lin Yue, who is raised by An Nan. For this reason alone, Duanmu Zhi will protect Lin Yue and build a good relationship with An Nan.