The Virtuous Concubine

Ma Lu, who returned to Yonghe Palace, had never expected that Bai Fu would rush over to her the moment she saw her return, and said in a low voice, "Your Majesty, the imperial physician Rong said he has something important to report, and has been waiting in the flower hall for a long time."

The Flower Hall was the place where Malu entertained guests and received imperial orders. Logically, today was indeed the day to check Ping An's pulse, but since I had gone to the Yikun Palace, Rong Ji had missed a trip. He could have come another day. Why was he so anxious today? It was already dark.

Malu immediately realized that the matter might be complicated, so he went straight to the flower hall without even changing his clothes.

Most of the time, Rong Ji and her met every three days to check on her health. Naturally, she always wore gentle and beautiful home clothes. Today, when he saw her dressed so solemnly and gorgeously, Rong Ji was slightly startled at first, then he restrained his expression and bowed respectfully, saying, "Greetings to the Queen."

Malu raised his hand, motioning him to stand up, frowned and asked, "Doctor Rong, why are you in such a hurry?"

Rong Ji looked around and whispered, "My Lady..."

Malu naturally understood and sent everyone away.

The hall was silent for a moment, with only the rustling of the breeze through the branches outside the window. Rong Ji then knelt forward, approached Malu, and looked at her greedily.

There seemed to be a thousand words in that look, but he didn't know where to start. Malu felt a little strange when he was stared at like that. He coughed lightly and said, "Tell me, what's wrong?"

Rong Ji asked her to sit down, then knelt beside her chair, and then carefully took out a thick, soft pillow from the medicine box and gently placed it under her wrist.

While Rong Ji was searching for the silk handkerchief, he said, "Two days ago, the Fourth Prince asked me to check on the Prince's..."

Malu used her free hand to take the handkerchief away and examined it carefully: "Hmm... there is no embroidery. It seems that it is not a gift from your lover."

As he said this, he casually threw it aside, and gently hooked Rong Ji's hand with the hand that was taking his pulse, and his index finger kept tracing Rong Ji's palm.

Rong Ji had no choice but to let her do whatever she wanted.

Itchy, he thought.

Rong Ji simply stopped taking the pulse and continued kneeling, maintaining the posture of taking the pulse. But his hands had taken over and he began to caress Malu's wrist, as if it was the finest jade in the world, delicate and smooth, making him unable to let go.

Malu grumbled, her face flushed, but she did not withdraw her hand. She just lowered her eyes slightly, with a faint smile on her lips. At this time, the atmosphere in the flower hall became more and more ambiguous, and even the air seemed to become sticky.

The hall was very bright on all four sides. One side was a flower wall, and the rest was covered with thick red silk threads that formed a curtain. The outside was also covered with a layer of purple gauze. With the two overlapping, people outside could only see shadows inside and it was difficult to see clearly.

There were also large golden dragon and phoenix patterns on the gauze, which covered more and more areas. Only when the wind blew, the gauze threads were occasionally blown up, revealing some of the scenes inside, which was even more elegant.

When people outside looked over, they would only think that the imperial physician inside was carefully checking the pulse of the imperial concubine.

However, how could they know the undercurrents in the flower hall? Malu tilted her head slightly, her eyes were a little confused. Rong Ji lowered his eyes, not daring to look at her, but his heart was beating like a deer.

Seeing that he was somewhat infatuated, Malu only knew how to pinch her wrist, which was somewhat funny. She gently kicked him through her skirt and said, "Then what? What dirty things were found during the inspection?"

Rong Ji finally woke up from his dream and quickly let go of his hand. He looked a little flustered and said, "Don't blame me, Madam. I was distracted for a moment. I didn't find anything serious with the Fourth Prince, but the Fourth Prince... There seems to be something wrong with the Fourth Prince."

Ma Lu frowned slightly and asked, "What's wrong with the Fourth Prince? How is it wrong?"

Rong Ji naturally knew that the relationship between the two should not be separated by estrangement. The Fourth Prince was his sister's child, so he was naturally closer to her than he, an outsider who only had a deep love for her.

But the reward from the Fourth Prince that day and the words he said really frightened him. He hoped that he was just thinking too much, but deep down he was more afraid that his worst guess would become a reality.

Therefore, even if there was a risk of being misunderstood by Malu as trying to sow discord, he was determined to tell her about this.

Seeing his serious expression, Ma Lu asked, "What did the Fourth Prince say to make you so worried?"

Rong Ji hesitated for a moment, then slowly said, "Your Majesty, that day the Fourth Prince first rewarded me with a hundred taels of gold, and then said that you were weak after giving birth to the twins, and needed to be well nourished. At the time, I just thought that the Fourth Prince was concerned about your health, but thinking back on it, I always felt that there was something more behind it."

Malu heard him say this, her eyes were full of doubts: "Just these words, why do you feel there is something wrong?"

Rong Ji continued, "Your Majesty, when the Fourth Prince said this, his eyes and tone... didn't seem to be pure concern, but more like he was giving me an order. Besides, how could he, a child, think of such considerations? Moreover, this one hundred taels of gold is too much of a reward, which really makes me panic. But in addition to panic, I can't help but... I can't help but think too much."

Ma Lu was silent for a moment, and then said: "What you said makes sense, but I still need to think carefully about what the Fourth Prince means."

Then she pulled him up, looked outside, quickly bit his lips, and comforted him: "Don't be so scared, I believe in your judgment, this is definitely not normal."

Rong Ji's face flushed and his heart pounded at her sudden action. He wanted to hold her in his arms and whisper in her ear. But he quickly calmed down and said, "My queen, this matter is not simple. The fourth prince is still young, and there must be someone behind it. If the truth is not found out, it will be bad for you, my queen."

Malu smiled and shook his head: "Don't worry, I will be careful. No matter who is trying to do this, I won't let them succeed."

Although Malu and Rong Ji both realized that something was wrong at this moment, they were more inclined to believe that someone might have instigated discord, which led to the Fourth Prince acting in this way.

After explaining this matter, Rong Ji knew that he could not stay for long, so he prepared to leave reluctantly. Before leaving, he took out a stack of banknotes and handed them to Malu, saying, "Your Majesty, this is the reward money that the Fourth Prince gave me. I exchanged it for banknotes, and also my... my regular silver. You can do whatever you want with it."

Malu looked at the banknotes and didn't know whether to laugh or cry: "What do I need these for? Everything I eat and drink comes from the palace, so I won't be wronged. Since he gave it to you, you should accept it."

Rong Ji was adamant and refused to go until Bai Fu outside reminded him that it was getting late. Ma Lu then hastily tore open Rong Ji's clothes, roughly stuffed the banknotes into his arms, and shouted outside: "Bai Fu, help me send Doctor Rong off."

Rong Ji had no choice but to look at her affectionately and said, "Take care, your majesty. I'll take my leave." After that, he hurriedly left with Bai Fu.