Crossing the Palace Fighting Fox Harem

When Ji Anni was kneeling in the Renhe Hall, Lai De secretly came to talk to her and called her "Annie" several times. Later, they met again in the orchard, and Ji Anni learned from Lai De the two taboos in the harem that could not be mentioned.

And now, unexpectedly, they met by chance again outside the Imperial Household Department.

Ji Anni was a little afraid of those guards with devil faces, but after seeing Lai De, she became bolder. She strode forward and walked straight to Lai De and said, "Lai De, I have something to do in the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Can you help me report it?"

"Empress?" Before Lai De could see where Ji Anni came from, she had finished speaking.

When the other guards heard Lai De calling "Empress", they all focused their attention on Ji Anni.

From their looks, Ji Anni saw that they all seemed to know her. It seemed that just as Lai De had said before, she was already somewhat famous in the harem. Although being famous was a good thing, Ji Anni always wanted to sigh. Because her fame was gained through painful blood and tears.

"Your Highness." Lai De quickly recovered from his surprise and asked with great experience, "Which lord does Your Highness want to see?"

"Hmm..." This question stumped Ji Anni. She didn't know what officials there were in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, so she waved her hand and said casually, "Then let's meet the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs."

This was the only official position related to the Imperial Household Department that Ji Anni knew of.

Lai De was embarrassed when he heard this, and whispered: "My queen, it's getting late now, the steward has already returned home."

"What should we do? Who else is there in the Ministry of Internal Affairs? Just find someone who can take charge and report it."

Lai De replied, "The Imperial Household Department has seven departments: Finance, Treasury, Guards, Concubines, Rites, Works, and Punishments. The officials are responsible for their respective duties. If your Majesty doesn't tell me what the matter is, I don't know which official to ask for help."

It turns out that the Ministry of Internal Affairs is so troublesome. Ji Anni said bluntly: "Then please help me find the adult who manages the concubines' brand names."

"So the queen is looking for Lord Yan..." Lai De said apologetically, "Your Majesty, you came at an inopportune time. Lord Yan went to the Queen Mother's Palace and seems to have not returned yet."

"The Queen Mother's Palace?" Ji Anni repeated in a low voice. She understood everything in an instant. She laughed dryly and said, "I knew it. This is indeed another trick played by the Queen Mother."

"Why don't you go to the Empress Dowager's palace and ask?" Lai De suggested.

"No need." Ji Anni didn't even think about it. "I'm afraid that when I find the Queen Mother's Palace, I'll find nothing. They didn't even want to give me the name tag. They just wanted to see me running around in the palace and playing in circles."

Yan Niang was once the confidant of the Queen Mother. She was probably involved in this matter. I guess the busy and busy appearance just now was also deliberately performed for Ji Anni to see. Yan Niang was also the benefactor who took in Zhao Ji. How could she forget the old friendship so quickly? Ji Anni still remembered that when she just decided to follow Yun Zhen into the palace, she went to say goodbye to Yan Niang.

"My queen, what happened? Is there something wrong with the Concubine brand?" Lai De asked with concern. He seemed to have become a fan of Ji Anni. Now that his idol was in trouble, how could he not help and care?

Unfortunately, Ji Anni had no intention of discussing with him. She just waved her hand and said, "Forget it. You can't help anyway. Just pretend I've never been here." After that, she turned around and walked a few steps. Suddenly, as if she remembered something, she turned back and asked Lai De, "Lai De, have you been here all day? Have you seen a palace maid named Die'er or Hua Rong come here?"

Lai De frowned and said, "There are so many maids in the palace, and I only know the most famous ones. I know Hua Rong who serves Princess Tianning, but as for Die Er, well..." He laughed apologetically and continued, "But I have been standing here for three days, three hours each, and I haven't seen any maids come. As for whether there were maids here at other times, I'm not sure, how about I ask for you, Your Majesty?"

"No need." In fact, there was no need to ask. Ji Anni could more or less guess that the disappearance of the brand-name products this time must have been the work of the Queen Mother and Concubine An.

Rather than tracking down the whereabouts of the brand name, Ji Annie is now concerned about another issue - she has long felt that Hua Rong is not simple, but it was not until today that she found out that Hua Rong is also very famous in the harem, and even Lai De, a young guard, has heard of her name.

Remembering that Hua Rong would be her personal maid from tonight, Ji Anni wanted to know more about the glorious deeds of this little maid whose words and deeds were very extraordinary. So Ji Anni pulled Lai De to a corner and asked, "Lai De, hurry up and tell me, how did you know Hua Rong?"

"Your Highness, what's so strange about this? Not only me, but everyone in the palace knows her."

"Is she that famous?" Ji Anni was a little surprised. Even though Hua Rong was Princess Tianning's maid, she seemed to be unknown in her daily life. She spoke and acted quietly, and she didn't seem like a famous person.

"My queen, this is a long story, you'd better not ask. My queen, can I ask you why you're asking about her?" Lai De looked like he wanted to tell her but was afraid to, which aroused Ji Anni's curiosity. Hua Rong's story must be very interesting.

Ji Anni said, "She will be my maid tomorrow, so of course I want to get to know her better. Lai De, don't keep me in suspense, tell me quickly? Anyway, you have told me all the two taboos about Baogui Concubine in the harem, are you afraid to tell me the story of Hua Rong?"

"Oh, Madam... please don't embarrass me." Lai De immediately pulled a bitter face, looked around, and after making sure it was safe, he lowered his voice and said, "Well, since Hua Rong will be Madam's maid tomorrow, then Madam, you must know about this matter. Madam... Hua Rong, this little palace maid..."

Lai De dragged out the last syllable of this sentence for so long that Ji Anni pricked up her ears, as if she had an antenna connected to her ears.

But when Ji Anni listened attentively, she heard Lai De say, "She... is too extraordinary."

"I know she is not simple." Ji Anni stared anxiously.

"My lady, do you know who her father is?"

"I've heard of him. He seems to be a university scholar from Wenhua Academy. His name is Xi Jinde, right?"

"Yes. Then, my lady, do you know how her father died?"

"It seems that some bad things about the An family were recorded in the history books, and people knew about it, so they executed their entire clan."

These were all told to Ji Anni by Hua Rong herself. Even though she was so beautiful, she could not escape death. If it were not for Princess Tian Ning's plea, she would have been beheaded along with the three clans of the Xi family.