The Legend of the Concubine in the Harem

"Hehe..." Xu Baolin seemed not to notice the rage on Meng Ronghua's face, and his tone became more and more sarcastic, "What's wrong, Sister Meng, why are you holding me so hard?"

Meng Ronghua froze for a moment, and realized that he had grabbed Xu Baolin's wrist without knowing when. He also didn't know since when, his well-maintained nails had pinched the thin white wrist deeply, drawing blood...and Xu Baolin.

She was still smiling.

It seems like I can't feel the pain.

They stood at the edge of the high palace wall, face to face, holding hands and talking and laughing. To outsiders, it looked like two women were huddled together and talking privately.

Nanny Ji Lan felt something was wrong, but they didn't bring many palace servants with them when they came out to pay their respects. Meng Ronghua wanted to take a walk and didn't want too many people to follow her. Also, there were some things that were not easy for other palace servants to know, so she sent them back first. Only her personal maid Xinxia and Nanny Ji Lan stayed with her.

Xu Baolin came prepared and brought enough people with him. After paying his respects, he went directly to Shouning Palace to cooperate with Xie Yuzhen in deceiving the emperor. When he left, he also asked a few palace maids from Shouning Palace to escort him.

The palace maids led by Shuangyi separated Xinxia and Nanny Ji Lan from the two concubines. Even though Nanny Ji Lan had doubts in her heart, she could not get rid of these palace maids for a while, and reminded Meng Ronghua not to fall into the trap of others.

In her opinion, this little master of hers was somewhat ignorant of the ways of the world. Perhaps it was because her parents spoiled her too much at home, so that she had never suffered any grievances. She did not know what was considered thoughtful, and did whatever she wanted to do and said whatever she wanted to say. She was straightforward and had no idea of ​​restraint.

If she had such a temper outside the palace, she would have her parents' support, allowing her to be a good girl to the whole family and do whatever she wants; but when she was in the palace, it was extremely inappropriate, as it made her seem arrogant and a little ignorant.

However, she must have been taught well before entering the palace, so that she could barely pretend to be polite and well-mannered, and know how to restrain her true thoughts. It was just because her mind was too simple, her pampered nature would be revealed from time to time.

Xie Yuzhen had only spoken to Meng Ronghua a few times, but she already knew that this was a person who could not stand provocation, so when Xu Baolin mentioned to her that Meng Ronghua seemed to have become much more obedient and restrained recently, Xie Yuzhen began to wonder if someone had given her some advice behind her back.

As for Meng Ronghua, who takes pride in her birth and looks down on everyone, anyone who can make her obedient and actively correct herself must be someone who is superior to Meng Ronghua in status and has a relatively close relationship with her.

Xie Yuzhen initially suspected Concubine Deng.

Although this lady usually behaved very gentle and virtuous, she still quietly dug a big trap for Meng Ronghua when he slept with her for the first time. This shows that she is not a really good person. Of course, it cannot be ruled out that Meng Ronghua was too noisy and ended up in Changrui Palace. Concubine Deng was afraid that she would cause trouble again, so she suppressed her in advance.

However, after the incident of being late for the greeting, Meng Ronghua slowly came to her senses and realized that she was not very close to Concubine Deng. If Concubine Deng wanted her to be obedient... the possibility was not high.

Then there is.

Xie Ruizhen got some information from the Yulin Guard through the eunuch named Wang who came to tell him the good news several times. For some reason, Eunuch Wang seemed very happy to do things for Xie Ruizhen. Xie Ruizhen was short of manpower, so he had to be on guard while slowly establishing a not-so-close connection with him that he could withdraw from at any time.

Through eunuch Wang, Xie Yuzhen learned not long ago that the owl that attacked him and the emperor on the palace road on the day when Wang Xuanshi had a miscarriage was a species unique to the north, and that the ancestors of the Meng family were a wealthy family that once dominated the north - but were later defeated by the founding emperor of the Great Sheng Dynasty, who brought his army and local militia who revolted. The Meng family that survived and moved to the capital today is actually just the remaining branches of the Meng family in the north.

After learning about this, Xie Yuzhen immediately sent a message outside the palace to ask Jun Yuexin if there were any other noteworthy people in Meng Ronghua's family besides her father and brother who served in the court.

Before hooking up with the emperor, Xie Yuzhen had no connections and no qualifications to know what was going on in the royal inner court. Jun Yuexin was the daughter of a general, but she had long been away from the circle of power. However, although her mother, Madam Ye, was a widow, her biological mother was once the princess of the Lu family. After she got married, she wandered outside with General Jun for many years and never really cut off contact with her family.

Not long after, Jun Yuexin's letter came in. The letter was specially crafted with three layers. The top layer contained some casual chats and greetings, and the bottom layer contained all kinds of gossip and secret words between the sisters. The information that Xie Yuzhen needed was written on the thin letter paper that was best hidden in the middle.

During the reign of the previous emperor, the Meng family had a concubine named Defei. When Defei was in favor, the previous emperor was already not young. However, Defei still gave birth to a prince for him, who was only a few months older than the current emperor.

Although the emperor's favor was not much compared to the emperor's youngest son, he was still valued. The Meng family was good at managing their reputation, so the prince became famous at a young age. Then, because a beautiful concubine given to him by the son of the imperial concubine offered him a cup of poisoned wine, the prince, who was praised as a god, easily lost his life.

Then the emperor pursued the matter of the imperial concubine's son killing his brothers and forced the imperial concubine to ask to become a nun. However, the late emperor might have had some considerations and only reprimanded her. He then put the blame of poisoning the prince on the beautiful concubine and executed her and her three clans.

This incident caused quite a stir at the time. Perhaps the late emperor was really old and had become more stubborn, thinking he was not wrong. However, he did not persist for long as he fell ill and died. The imperial concubine's son committed suicide in prison, and the imperial concubine herself was hanged in front of the mourning hall.

After the death of the previous emperor, the concubines who had children were taken out of the palace by their children to be raised in luxury, while those who did not have children all became nuns.

The positions and surnames that once belonged to them were taken into the underground palace, and the daily records of their lives as concubines were also locked away in the Shanggong Bureau. More than ten years passed, and the concubines of the Beigong passed away, and not many people knew about it except their natal family members.

Although the natal family also needs to mourn for the deceased concubine, as the family of ministers, they are not qualified to organize the funeral ceremonies for the royal concubines. Those concubines without children are regarded as people without descendants. Their funeral ceremonies have already been held when the previous emperor passed away. This is also to allow the concubines to enjoy the incense offered by the royal family together with the previous emperor after their death.

But as a concubine, Xie Yuzhen couldn't help feeling depressed and breathless when she saw this. She patted her chest to comfort herself, thinking that she would be the empress dowager and the mother of the empress in the future, so there was no need to be afraid of this.

Then he put aside all emotions and locked onto the late emperor's virtuous concubine, Meng!