The little dark guard who travels between two lives

The Third Prince looked at the Fourth Prince and wanted to slap his own naughty child again, but he looked at his mother and the Crown Prince and didn't dare to do it. Yu Shen looked at the Fourth Prince who always approached Xin He, secretly hoping that the Third Prince would hit him again.

Xin He praised the Fourth Prince for his good vision: "Fourth Prince, you are right, but it is not wrong to say this to our own people. We should be more modest to outsiders and not say this."

The fourth prince immediately felt that his sister Xin Er was not only chivalrous, but also humble and polite. His pair of dark eyes immediately radiated even more admiration. Ji Wanran and the two ladies couldn't help laughing.

Seeing that the Crown Prince and the others were sitting here in a reserved manner, the Queen Mother asked the Crown Prince and several other princes to take Xin He and Yu Shen for a walk in the Imperial Garden. She and Concubine Shu could also have some private conversations with Ji Wanran about the private matters between sisters in the boudoir.

Xin He and the Fourth Prince disappeared as soon as they entered the Imperial Garden. The Crown Prince ordered a few young palace maids and eunuchs to follow the two fat boys to prevent them from getting into trouble. The Crown Prince led his two younger brothers and Yu Shen to slowly pace in the garden.

Xinhe stayed at home with her mother for a while. Today, when she entered the Imperial Garden, she felt that everything was fun. She ran happily in the garden with the Fourth Prince, smelling the fragrance of the flowers and running onto the small bridge to see the koi under the water. The Fourth Prince followed closely, doing whatever Xinhe did. The two little fat boys had a great time.

As Xin He ran, he asked the Fourth Prince, "Fourth Prince, why didn't you see the Second Prince?" The Fourth Prince didn't seem to think it was strange that the Second Prince didn't come with them. The little fat man replied nonchalantly, "Second brother, he's often not with us. He likes to go to Mother and Concubine Xi's palace."

The Empress doesn't come here very often, so it's normal for her to like to go to her mother's palace, but it's very intriguing that she likes to go to the Imperial Concubine's palace. Is the Second Prince so sure that there are benefits to following the Imperial Concubine? Does he really not take the Empress seriously?

Although the Queen had no children, she raised the Crown Prince and the Emperor respected her very much. Could a favorite concubine shake the Queen's position? How could someone dare to ignore the Queen?

Xinhe said angrily, "You're blind!" The Fourth Prince was busy helping the little girl pick flowers and didn't hear what Xinhe said.

Xin He then asked the Fourth Prince: "Does Concubine Xi also like to go to the Imperial Concubine's Palace?" The Fourth Prince scratched his head: "Concubine Xi is in poor health and doesn't leave the palace often. She only goes to greet her mother occasionally."

As he was talking, Xin He saw the Second Prince and a woman in palace dress walking over from the other side of the bridge. The Fourth Prince saw them and called out, "Empress Xi, Second Brother."

The woman in palace dress was indeed in poor health. She looked frail and coughed twice before she spoke: "Second Prince, this is Miss Xinhe, right?"

Xinhe bowed to Xipin and said, "Hello, Xipin. I am Xinhe from the Qin family." Xipin looked at the young lady from the Qin family. She was a chubby girl, dressed in low-key yet luxurious clothes. It was obvious that she was born in the palace. It was said that the queen loved this child very much and rewarded her with a lot of jewelry and clothes from the palace. Even the emperor liked this child and allowed her to study with the princes, which was an honor that even princesses did not have.

Although Concubine Xi was physically weak, her appearance was unique. Her beauty was not the gorgeous and dazzling beauty of Concubine Shen, but the delicate and timeless beauty of a southern woman. It was no wonder that she, who was of humble origin, was favored by the emperor among the many concubines in the palace. Concubine Xi was also a blessed person. She gave birth to the second prince right after the first queen. Unfortunately, when the child was born, the first queen died of dystocia. The emperor was in grief, holding the prince in his arms and was heartbroken. This grief did not even help the emperor to get out of the sadness of the second prince who was born half a year later. Therefore, the birth of the second prince did not cause any splash in the harem, and even Concubine Xi was not promoted to the position of concubine because of giving birth to the prince. This resulted in the situation that among the four princes, only the mother of the second prince was always a concubine.

Xin He looked at the delicate and beautiful Xi Bin, staring at her with her big black eyes and asked her: "Madam Xi Bin, are you going to pay your respects to the Empress?" Xi Bin's face froze: "Ah, yes, my mother and I are going to pay our respects to the Empress. Miss Xin He, do you want to come with us?"

Xin He shook her head. "I have already paid my respects. The Queen asked us to come out and play for a while. Your Majesty, don't worry about me. Just go and pay your respects to the Queen. This is the first time I have seen Concubine Xi pay her respects to the Queen. Xin Er will not delay Your Majesty."

Concubine Xi's expression became even uglier, and even the Second Prince's expression beside her darkened: "Miss Qin, what do you mean by this?" A little girl actually accused Concubine Xi of being disrespectful to the Queen?

Xin He's dark eyes widened even more: "I didn't mean anything. I know that Concubine Xi is not in good health. It's a rare opportunity today that Concubine Xi is in better health. I can go to pay my respects to the Queen. I'm happy for the Queen and Concubine Xi."

The second prince stared at Xin He's eyes, and the little girl did not avoid his gaze. She looked calm, blinking her big eyes, with a sincere face. The fourth prince hurriedly explained to his second brother: "Yes, second brother, I told Xin Er that Concubine Xi was not in good health. The Queen also knew about it, and Concubine Xi would not blame her for not paying respects."

The second prince stared at his brother who had done the finishing blow, his face gloomy. Xinhe smiled broadly at the fourth prince, who was encouraged and praised by his sister Xiner, and was so happy that he puffed up his belly. If he had a tail behind him, it would definitely be shaking happily at this moment.

Concubine Xi coughed twice in embarrassment. She looked at Xinhe carefully and said meaningfully: "Miss Qin is indeed smart. No wonder the Queen likes her so much. Second Prince, let's go." She took the Second Prince to the Queen's Kunning Palace.

After leaving the two annoying fat guys, the second prince was still indignant: "Mother, that stinky girl clearly had something else in her words, and I don't know who instigated her?" Concubine Xi glanced at him and coughed twice: "Jinglin, mother has told you many times that you should be nicer to the girl from the Qin family and don't make enemies in the palace."

The second prince was still a little unconvinced: "I am a prince, why should I please the daughter of a minister?" Concubine Xi looked at the high palace wall with a frown and sighed: "Jinglin, it's all because my mother doesn't have a strong maternal family to give us strong support. We are not favored, so we have to rely on Concubine Shen. But we can't offend the Queen at the moment. Even though Empress Dowager Shen is here, the Queen is not easy to bully. That girl is the Queen's treasure, we can't offend her!"

The second prince recalled what Concubine Xi had told him, that at the moment his mother was holding her newborn baby but no one cared about her, and she received no reward. Both mother and child were like invisible objects in the palace.

He stopped and looked at the figures of the prince and Yu Shen talking in the pavilion by the lake in the distance. It was the prince who was the calamity star that not only killed his mother, but also caused them to lose favor with the emperor.

No wonder the prince is always so close to Shen, a star of misfortune cherishes a star of misfortune! Seeing her son's hateful eyes looking into the distance, Xibin pulled the second prince up and reminded him, "Jinglin, remember not to show your emotions on your face, just think about it in your heart. We can only be patient now, and believe in mother, we will always have a chance. Let's go, we have to pay our respects to the queen."

In the pavilion by the lake, the Crown Prince was talking to Yu Shen: "The Queen Mother has given an order. From now on, you can return to the Yu Mansion to take care of Master Yu." The Second Prince couldn't help but say: "Your grandmother is really disrespectful to her. Don't pay attention to her. This time, with the Queen Mother's order, no one in the mansion dares to stop you."

Yu Shen bowed his hands to thank the Crown Prince and the Third Prince. He could not blame his own grandmother, so Yu Shen smiled and said to the Crown Prince: "Sister Xin'er once told me that the best way to fight back against those who don't care about us and don't cherish us is to ignore them, and then they won't hurt us."

The prince repeated "ignore him, neglect him" silently again, and then laughed: "Little girl is really interesting! That makes sense." The prince looked up and saw Xin He playing something with the fourth prince by the small pond. The two fat kids were having fun, and their laughter filled the imperial garden with life. The prince smiled at Yu Shen: "Sister Xin is really smart, and she is a wise person."

At this time, the two little balls chased each other and ran towards the pavilion where the prince and the others were. The two fat balls each held a branch of fragrant wintersweet in their hands. After entering the pavilion, they shouted that they wanted to go back and give the flowers to the Queen and their mother.

The prince was afraid that the two little ones would freeze if they stayed outside for too long, so he took them back to Kunning Palace. Xinhe entered Kunning Palace but found that Concubine Xi and the Second Prince were not there. She laughed in her heart: "Sure enough, they just came to pay their respects and leave. They don't want to stay any longer. They are not close to the Empress, but only to the Emperor's favorite concubine. It's too obvious."

Xin He handed the plum branch in her hand to Zi Yuan: "Aunt Zi Yuan, you must put this plum branch in the queen's bedroom! This way, the queen can smell the fragrance of flowers every day and sleep sweetly. Maybe she will dream of Xin Er!" The fourth prince also handed his flower to Zi Yuan: "Aunt, aunt, there is me too! The queen mother must also dream of me! I am with sister Xin Er."

The third prince still felt itchy and wanted to slap the little fat boy. He was so useless. He followed the little girl around all day long, just like a parrot. They were two complete sycophants. The prince just smiled and said nothing, watching the two fat boys playing together. The queen reached out and hugged the two fat boys into her arms, smiling happily: "Okay, I will definitely dream about you two babies tonight."

Seeing that it was getting late, Ji Wanran stood up and asked the Empress and Consort Shu to leave the palace. The Empress gave Ji Wanran some more instructions and told Ziyuan to take some supplements from the palace and send Ji Wanran and the other two out of the palace.

Xin He followed her mother and Yu Shen to the palace gate. Zi Yuan followed them with a little maid holding supplements. Xin He walked to Zi Yuan and asked quietly, "Aunt Zi Yuan, did Concubine Xi and the Second Prince come to pay respects to the Queen just now?" Zi Yuan nodded and replied, "Indeed, they came to pay respects. They sat for a while and then left."

Xin He asked her, "Don't Concubine Xi and the Second Prince come to pay respects to the Empress often? Isn't the Empress angry?" Zi Yuan smiled and looked down at the worried fat girl, "The Empress doesn't care about this. She is a kind person. She said that the concubines in the harem are not easy. She never treats them harshly and never asks for their respect or greetings. She said it's called letting fate take its course."

The little girl nodded: "The queen is a very good person!" If it were a queen who was very strict and focused on rules, a concubine like Xibin who was only trying to climb up the social ladder would have been dealt with long ago. The little girl told Ziyuan seriously: "Then please take more effort, Aunt Ziyuan, to take good care of the queen. I will also come to the palace often to pay my respects to the queen. I will make sure that the queen is not so lonely."

Zi Yuan almost cried when she heard the little girl's explanation. Zi Yuan had been living with the Queen since she was a child. The Queen had sacrificed too much for the deceased Queen, the hungry Crown Prince, and the glory of her family.

But no one ever asked how the Empress was doing, and some even thought that the Empress was able to sit on the throne of Empress because of the influence of the previous Empress and the Crown Prince. Everyone with a discerning eye could see that the Emperor respected the Empress but did not favor her, so the favored Concubine Shen coveted the position of Empress, and concubines like Concubine Xi did not take the Empress seriously. Ziyuan felt sorry for the Empress, but the Empress never cared about it.

Zi Yuan suppressed her sobs and bowed to Xin He: "Thank you, Miss, for caring about our queen. I will listen to you and take good care of her. Miss Xin He should also come to the palace often to see the queen. The queen will be very happy." The little girl nodded happily: "Yes, yes."

As they walked and talked, they were about to approach the palace gate when they saw Concubine Xi and Concubine Shen walking towards them. Concubine Shen was wearing a palace dress made of Sichuan brocade and her hair was covered with pearls and jade, which made Concubine Shen look even more radiant. Concubine Shen's extreme beauty was compared with the exquisite beauty of Concubine Xi beside her, which made Concubine Xi look dull.

Concubine Shen did not expect to meet Ji Wanran here. When she looked up and saw Ji Wanran, she was stunned for a moment, and then her eyes were full of disgust and hatred. Ji Wanran saw Concubine Shen and Concubine Xi, and saluted them without changing her expression: "I, your servant, greet the Concubine and Concubine Xi!" Xinhe and Yu Shen Ziyuan also saluted.

Concubine Shen looked at Ji Wanran, who was squatting to salute, with a haughty look, and did not ask her to stand up. Concubine Xi looked at Concubine Shen's face, and said with a smile: "Madam Qin is a person who is respected by the Queen, so please stand up quickly. I heard that Madam Qin is pregnant, so I dare not trouble Madam Qin."

Xin He gritted her teeth secretly. This Concubine Xi looked weak, but her words were extremely provocative. Sure enough, when Concubine Shen heard that Madam Qin was the one who had the face of the Queen, her face was already very ugly. When she heard Concubine Xi said that Ji Wanran was pregnant, Concubine Shen's eyes became even sharper and she cast them at Ji Wanran, wishing she could drill a hole in Ji Wanran's body.