The Virtuous Concubine

Empress Niuhulu was very considerate. Seeing that Malu was already seven months pregnant, she exempted her from paying respects and allowed her to take good care of the baby. Malu was grateful, as she could finally sleep until she woke up naturally!

She remained very honest, spending every day quietly in her palace, taking care of her body and looking forward to the upcoming birth of her child.

The people in Yonghe Palace also started to move at full speed.

In the Qing Dynasty, when a prince was born, he was usually served by 40 people, including 8 nannies and 8 wet nurses, as well as a master who was responsible for needlework, laundry, lighting, cooking and other matters.

When the prince was weaned, the wet nurses would be removed and replaced by a group of eunuchs.

The eunuchs were not only the prince's servants, but also his enlightenment teachers. They were responsible for teaching the princes about daily living, diet, speech, manners, sitting posture and various royal etiquette.

Malu had to personally inspect and select all of these before he could feel at ease. After selecting the people, he also had to prepare a place for them to live in the Yonghe Palace.

Before Malu gave birth, she had to arrange a clean and quiet delivery room, which had to be thoroughly cleaned and disinfected, and equipped with all the necessary instruments and medicines for delivery.

The preparation of the imperial physician and the midwife was also of top priority. Although Lin An and Zheng were experienced, they were not particularly good at pediatrics, so another imperial physician specializing in newborns was needed. In addition, several experienced maids were arranged to take care of Malu's diet, daily life and postpartum recovery.

The side hall of Yonghe Palace suddenly seemed a little crowded. Everyone was busy preparing everything carefully, and at the same time, they did not dare to disturb Malu's rest. Everyone understood that Malu's health and the health of the upcoming prince were the most important tasks.

However, one day, Ma Lu was sitting in the courtyard of Yonghe Palace basking in the sun when she suddenly saw a palace maid running towards her in a hurry, her face panicked. Ma Lu looked and saw that it was Zhang Jia Jingyi whom she had not seen for a long time. She hurriedly asked, "What happened?"

Jingyi bowed first: "Greetings to the noble lady Wuya."

Seeing that everyone nearby was Malu's confidant, he whispered, "Sister Dachun has recently been murdered by Concubine An, and the situation is very bad."

Malu's face changed, and her heart tightened: "Dachun? What happened to her?"

Jingyi said with lingering fear: "When I saw Dachun in the cafeteria two days ago, I felt that she looked inappropriate. She trembled when I touched her during the meal."

"I found an excuse to talk to Dachun alone, but I didn't expect to see that her body was covered with tiny needle holes. The tiny needle holes were connected into a dense scab, which was very scary."

"She couldn't hide it anymore, so she told me that Concubine An suspected her of betrayal and often abused her. Sister Dachun's body was covered with scars. From what I saw, she had difficulty walking."

Malu's heart was in turmoil when she heard this. Jingyi's description was so vivid that she almost vomited.

She took a deep breath and said firmly, "I understand. Don't tell anyone yet. I will find a chance to rescue Dachun."

Malu knew that this was probably caused by him. Dachun was Anpin's servant, what could she betray? ! It was nothing more than being too close to him and catching Anpin's eye.

Anpin's favorability towards him is as low as 0, and she can't do anything to him, so she can only abuse Dachun to vent her anger.

Malu couldn't help but think of Zhang Changzai who had disappeared in the harem. Like Anpin, she only dared to swing her knife at the weak. In the harem, the strong survived and the weak became victims. This ruthless struggle made Malu feel bitter.

She must rescue Dachun, not only because of their friendship, but also to protect her unborn child. Malu knows that if she does not take action, Dachun will die.

What happens after Dachun dies? Who will be her punching bag?

If being favored is a "sin", then after all the scapegoats have died, Concubine An will sooner or later take action against her.

In this case, either use the Dachun incident to suppress her, or find a way to prevent Concubine An from abusing or hurting anyone again.

Jingyi came and left in a hurry. The palace rules were strict, and Concubine An was the main concubine. She was really taking a huge risk to talk to Malu about this matter, and she couldn't stay here for too long.

Malu didn't have time to say a few more words to her to remind her that she might also be in danger.

After Jingyi left, Malu stood up and thought about how to rescue Dachun. She knew that if she wanted to save people, she had to act cleverly and not confront them head-on, otherwise it would only make the situation more complicated.

But before doing these things, she needs to understand what Dachun is thinking. If Dachun still decides to be loyal to Anpin, then she really can't do anything.

She could only help those who wanted to save themselves. After realizing this, she used some tricks through Aunt Liu.

That day, Dachun was in the cafeteria, enduring the pain in his body and preparing to eat something.

She was now living a life worse than death, but she didn't want to die. She didn't know what was holding her up, she had learned how to act extremely painful when Concubine An hadn't done much harm to her.

Only in this way would Anpin stop earlier. But she also knew that this was not a long-term solution, because Anpin's threshold of "pleasure" from abusing her would become higher and higher.

But she walked slowly and moved slowly, so when she ate, there was nothing to eat. Fortunately, a little palace maid next to her felt sorry for her and gave her a relatively soft and warm bun.

Dachun thanked her and took a bite, almost wanting to hold back tears. But when she took the second bite, she realized something was wrong.

There seemed to be something in here? Could it be that Concubine An wanted to poison her to death?

But it would be fine if the poison was mixed into the steamed buns, why is there some solid material in it?

She stopped eating, and wrapped the steamed bun with a handkerchief as if she was cherishing it very much, then walked hunched over towards the Yanxi Palace.

She walked and thought all the way. After returning to her residence, she quickly closed the door and carefully opened the steamed bun. Sure enough, there was a small piece of paper hidden inside. Dachun's heartbeat accelerated, and he quickly unfolded the note and found that it said: "Save? Apply powder."

Dachun's eyes lit up, as if he saw the hope of life.

With tears in her eyes, she swallowed the steamed bun and the note together, one mouthful at a time, then pretended nothing had happened and lay back on her bed to catch her breath.

A few days later, when Concubine An learned that the emperor had gone to Yonghe Palace again, she called Dachun over to vent her anger. Dachun, who was usually very taciturn, suddenly spoke up: "Your Majesty, I really don't know what you want to know about Concubine Wuya——"

After saying this, Dachun burst into tears and gnashed her teeth as she said, "It's all because of Wuya! She caused me to suffer so much and made the queen doubt my loyalty..."

Anpin felt that she had finally woken up Dachun, the stinking stone in the toilet! She thought complacently that there was no iron tree that would not bloom under the whip.

"Dachun, you finally got it." Anpin sneered, "If you can tell me some useful information, I will forgive you."

Dachun suppressed her disgust and nausea and continued to cry, "My queen, I don't know much. I just lived with Wu Ya for half a year when she was training with me in the imperial kitchen. I really only know some trivial matters of her daily life..."

The more she said this, the brighter Anpin's eyes became, as if she was crazy: "That's what I want to hear! Say it now!"

Dachun was glad that his strategy worked, so he continued to pretend to be helpless and said, "Your Majesty, Wuya is used to getting up early every morning and likes to take a walk. She prefers mung bean cakes, especially the kind with mint in the imperial kitchen. She prepares a pot of jasmine tea every day..."

Concubine An listened with great interest, interrupting from time to time to ask some details. Dachun answered one by one, but in his heart he was thinking about his next move.