The Legend of the Concubine in the Harem

The emperor was somewhat fond of Concubine Zhang.

I like her weakness and helplessness, yet her cleverness of using the power of others to play tricks on others.

But all these faint likes turned into annoyance at this moment - since he could use a missing palace maid Bai Shuang to pull out the Meng family who had been laying out plans in the harem for many years bit by bit, and even gave them to Xie Yuzhen to practice his tricks, how could he not find out that Concubine Zhang and the nanny beside Ms. Huisu had had contact with each other?

Although it was not known what Xie Yuzhen had done specifically to cause Concubine Zhang to be ignored by Meng, the emperor was unwilling to believe that she knew nothing about what happened today.

"Take this maid away for interrogation," the emperor said. "If she can survive, she will be sent to the palace to do hard labor. If she can't survive, please ask the empress to assign Zhang a more stable one."

The Queen frowned and agreed - it seemed that the Emperor was really angry. His implication was that if Pei'er didn't die, Concubine Zhang would have a personal maid who would be punished in the Ye Ting... This was a huge slap in the face.

Although the Queen had a kind heart, she was not blind to right and wrong. She would show her kindness in everything and was even willing to go against the Emperor for this. Moreover, the Queen herself could not stand Concubine Zhang's behavior of jumping around and causing trouble even though she was pregnant. Besides, she was the one who was at fault in today's matter, so she did not plead for her.

In the end, only Meng Ronghua's errand eunuch was left.

Zhao Er's face was also very pale, but he was still calm: "Your Majesty, I have an urgent matter to report, so I rushed all the way to Shouning Palace to ask for an audience. I have no ill intentions."

"Oh?" The emperor was very curious about how Meng would respond if she was caught with such a big handle.

Zhao Er looked sad: "My master, Meng Ronghua, has been visiting the Queen Mother of Beigong Qingxiu recently, and she did the same today..."

"For so many years, the Concubine Dowager has been fasting, chanting Buddhist scriptures, and worshipping the Buddha, eating simple meals. When Madam Ronghua saw this, she ordered people to prepare nourishing soups and medicines for the Concubine Dowager. It was the same today."

"The Dowager likes quietness. She went to sleep after drinking the medicine and didn't ask the palace maids to keep watch in the inner room. Only the old palace maid would go in at dawn to wake the Dowager. But when the old palace maid went to wake the Dowager today, she found that she was bleeding from all seven orifices. I think she was poisoned and her life was in danger!"

As he spoke, he kowtowed repeatedly: "Before I came out, the imperial physician had already gone to the North Palace for treatment. Madam Ronghua knew that the Dowager was not a mortal, so even if something happened, the Shanggong Bureau should handle the funeral. But Madam Ronghua felt sorry for her aunt, so she took the risk of asking me to come here and ask Your Majesty to make the decision."

"Since the concubine took poison... Such a big thing should have been known to me." The emperor did not seem moved by the scene described by Zhao Er. "To allow poison to be mixed in the nourishing soup, I think the Imperial Kitchen and the Shanggong Bureau are also very wrong."

"It is my fault for not governing the country well..." The queen was about to stand up and apologize, but the emperor raised his hand and pushed her back.

The emperor wore a half-smile on his face: "I don't know how many generations those people with ulterior motives have been operating in the palace. Their roots are so deep and hidden that even I can hardly detect them. How can I blame the queen?"

A series of events happened, and the empress was not too stupid. She had already realized that the emperor had planned today's events. And from what she said, Meng... seemed to have done more than just these things. She immediately hid her fatigue again and said solemnly: "It's time to check the Shanggong Bureau... Since your majesty ascended the throne, Naruhito took the lead and also banned the practice of men from the civilian population being castrated to enter the palace, and only recruited eunuchs from criminal slaves."

"Most of the women in the palace are selected from good families and serve until they are 25 years old before they can leave the palace. If they hold an official position, they will stay in the palace almost all their lives and only leave the palace to recuperate in their twilight years." The queen sat on the chair and bowed slightly. "I would like to ask Your Majesty to show more benevolence and allow the palace maids and female officials who have served for a long time to leave the palace and return home to reunite with their families."

"Good." The emperor was very satisfied with the queen's reaction. People of his age have the subconscious idea that family disgrace should not be made public, and this is especially true for royal family members.

Although the emperor was arbitrary and often acted erratically, he still cared about his reputation in general.

Letting the palace maids leave the palace and return home has always been a benevolent policy since ancient times. He wanted to purge the palace maids, but all matters in the inner palace were under the power of the empress. Previously, because he wanted to interfere in the palace affairs of the Lizheng Hall, he aroused the empress's opposition. Now he wanted to be more cautious and clean up the pests. The empress knew him very well and reacted immediately. She replaced the emperor's original intention of eliminating dissidents with a benevolent policy of loving the people and pitying the palace maids as suggested by herself, the empress.

It really hit the most itchy spot in the emperor's heart at that moment.

"Sage Zitong, I am so lucky to have you as my virtuous queen and Xianming as my concubine."

"Your Majesty, your words are too kind. I am only doing my job. How can I deserve your Majesty's praise?" The Queen smiled calmly in her heart.

The couple praised each other leisurely, but Zhao Er, who was kneeling below, became more and more nervous.

North Palace.

Ms. Huisu was wearing coarse cloth and curled up in bed with a frown on her face. There were still traces of congealed blood on her eyes, mouth and nose.

Meng Ronghua knelt beside her bed, his expression worried and full of regret.

Let’s go back in time a little bit.

Ms. Huisu targeted Xie Ruzhen only because she was favored and pregnant. She emphasized to her niece many times the importance of a favored concubine, but deep down she still didn't take Xie Ruzhen, a young talent of humble origin, seriously, otherwise she wouldn't have said that Meng Ronghua was not allowed to interfere, but then handed the manpower over to her.

Obviously she had underestimated Xie Yuzhen and also underestimated the audacity of her niece.

By the time Ms. Huisu realized what Meng Ronghua had done, Xinxia had already brought the baby boy in from outside the palace and handed him over to Doctor Zhou.

She hurriedly summoned Meng Ronghua to Beigong, but this stupid niece took credit for it by saying that she had kept it a secret from her aunt because she wanted to give Ms. Huisu a surprise and let her see her family's methods so that she should not treat herself as a naive child anymore.

Huisu slapped Meng Ronghua on the spot: "Idiot!"

"Confusing the royal bloodline is a crime punishable by death for the entire clan! Do you have a grudge against me, your father, your mother, and your entire family?!"

Meng Ronghua covered his face, feeling unwilling: "But I did it. If something goes wrong, it should be Xie Cairen and Xu Baolin's family..."

"Idiot! Idiot!" Huisu gave her another slap in the face with great sorrow. "The palace is so strictly restricted that even though I have been running the palace for decades, I only dare to make more arrangements and use covert tactics, and I dare not break the restrictions... You sent Xinxia out and asked her to bring a child back. It's obvious that someone has already noticed your actions and set a trap for you!"