Long Live the Empress

Passing through a winding corridor, there is a noble courtyard named Ruyi Garden, which is located on the west side of the Prime Minister's Mansion. It is where only the wife of the main wife can live. At this moment, under the golden osmanthus tree in the yard, Aunt Su was lying on the Huanghuali rocking chair with her eyes squinting, and two little maids were kneeling at the foot of the chair and gently massaging her legs.

Yue Jinghong, who was only fourteen years old, had already grown into a beautiful girl. She repeated Yue Yuyan's words to Aunt Su, "Aunt, what do you think Yue Jing meant by asking me to attend the eldest princess' birthday banquet on her behalf? Does she have any other intentions?"

Although Aunt Su is nearly thirty years old, she looks like a girl in her twenties. Not only is she fair-skinned and beautiful, but she also understands men's minds, so she has always held Yue Hanwen tightly in her hands.

She looked at her daughter who had just grown up, feeling extremely proud. "Jinghong, you just need to go back and practice your music, chess, calligraphy and painting, and memorize the prince's preferences! You shouldn't worry about anything else!"

Yue Jinghong blushed and shyly said yes. "Aunt, do you think you will go that day?"

Aunt Su looked confident, "If it weren't for the eldest princess who saved the day, who knows who would rule the country now. Although the eldest princess no longer cares about state affairs, her importance in the emperor's heart is unmatched, so the princes will definitely go to congratulate her! My daughter is so beautiful, she deserves to be the most noble man in the world!"

Yue Jinghong felt shy and happy, but then her face fell, "Aunt, it is said that although the prince is handsome, he is weak. I am afraid...what will my daughter do then?"

Aunt Su glanced at Yue Jinghong and sighed. Although her daughter was beautiful, she was still young and there were things she couldn't understand. "As long as you marry him, even if the prince only ascends the throne for one day, you will be the queen and the queen dowager! No matter who ascends the throne in the future, whoever becomes queen will be inferior to you!"

"But my daughter is a widow..."

"Well, tomorrow I will ask your father to marry you to a strong general, and you can be the wife of a third-rank general!" Aunt Su suddenly changed her expression and stared at Yue Jinghong with a sneer. Her daughter has read too many storybooks. Does she think those love stories can be trusted? Only power is the most reliable!

Yue Jinghong was so frightened that she immediately knelt on the ground. Although she was a concubine's daughter, her heart was high. How could she be willing to be the wife of a mere third-rank general? "Auntie, I was wrong. I will listen to you. Please don't marry me to those rough men! That day... that day I will definitely find a way to please the prince!"

Aunt Su did not let her stand up. She turned to Zhenzhu and shouted, "Who gave those booklets to the Second Miss?"

Zhenzhu knelt on the ground and looked at Yue Jinghong, who was also trembling with fear at this time and dared not say anything. "Reply, reply Auntie, it's... Yingluo..."

Yingluo and Zhenzhu were both maids serving Yue Jinghong. They were closely related to what happened, so now they had no choice but to give Yingluo away.

Aunt Su grabbed Yingluo's chin and snorted coldly, "Since you, a bitch, always think about those bad things, then I will grant your wish. Come, send this bitch to Yongle Lane, don't waste this face in vain..."

Yingluo collapsed to the ground in fear. That was clearly the book that Zhenzhu had found. Why did they wrongly accuse her? If she was just beaten with a stick, she would have endured it. But now they wanted to send her to Yongle Lane, which was a prostitute alley that served low-class people. Even beggars on the street were customers there. She didn't want to...

Just as she was about to speak, Yingluo was covered with her mouth by two servants and dragged away. Only the maids were left kneeling in fear.

"Jinghong, you must remember that you are the daughter of the Prime Minister's Mansion, what do you want!"

.........................................................

Two days later, Yue Jinghao was already well again. She was writing down names one by one on a piece of paper when Manju came in angrily. "Miss, do you know what's being spread out there? They say that you didn't want to marry the prince, so you committed suicide! I really want to rip their mouths off!"

Yue Jinghao lowered her head and sneered. Aunt Su was always using such clumsy tricks to deal with her. It was a pity that she thought Aunt Su was a kind person in her previous life... How stupid she was!

"There's no need to be angry. She's only reaping the consequences of her actions."

"But Miss, what if the prince wants to blame you for this?"

Yue Jinghao continued writing names without caring, "Manju, go check how many of my mother's old servants are left and ask them to come see me at midnight."

In her previous life, she listened to Aunt Su's instigation and drove away all her mother's people, so that she had to rely on Aunt Su for everything and lived under her control all the time. Now the only person she could use was Manju, which was really not enough...

Manou had advised Yue Jing many times before, but she had always refused. Now that she heard the young lady take the initiative to ask for these people, she immediately went to look for them happily.

Yue Jinghao looked at the name on the paper, and scenes from her past life came to her mind...

At midnight, three servants came to her room, bowed and greeted her, and then waited for Yue Jinghao's instructions.

"Miss, those old servants were sold or killed by Madam Su. Only these three are left..." Manjushri's voice was choked with sobs. In the past, Madam had at least 10 to 20 servants, but now...

Yue Jinghao's hands tightly grasped the back of the chair. No wonder when she occasionally mentioned those old servants in her previous life, Aunt Su said that she was of noble status and those people were not worthy of serving her. It turned out that those people were long gone.

"My name is Hong. I am the lady's dowry. I know a little bit of martial arts and am now chopping wood in the backyard." Hong was nearly forty years old. Yue Jinghao remembered that her mother used to trust her very much and always let her serve her closely.

"I am Qin, a servant girl, and also one of Madam's dowry. Now I am... pouring night incense..." Nanny Qin's voice gradually became smaller, and she didn't know where to put her embarrassed hands.

"This old servant is Zheng De'an. My lady's name was Lao Zheng when she was alive. I am a servant from my lady's family. Now I feed horses in the stable." His face was haggard and his hands were cracked without a single spot left.

Yue Jinghao looked at the old servants around her mother, who were all tortured by Aunt Su. Her eyes immediately turned red. She stood up and bowed to the three of them. "It was because I didn't know people well before that I made you suffer so much. I hope Aunt Zheng and Uncle will forgive me..."

When the three saw their master actually bowed to them, they immediately knelt on the ground in panic, "Miss, you are really embarrassing us old slaves. We are all your servants, and you are our master. As long as you live well, we will be able to see you even if we die..."

Manju was also in tears at this time. With these loyal servants, the young lady's life would be better in the future. "Young lady, the servants all understand. Young lady, please sit down quickly. You will scare them like this!"

Yue Jinghao then stood up and sat down, "Just bear with it for a few more days, I will let you return to me, and after you go back, everything will be as usual, don't let anyone see anything."

The three of them knelt down to thank him and then left.

Yue Jinghao looked at their backs as they left and murmured, "I was really hopelessly stupid before. I didn't keep the things my mother left me..."

Three days later, Yue Jinghao's injuries were basically unnoticeable. She felt suffocated and took Manju to the garden for a walk. Halfway through the walk, Yue Jinghao whispered to Manju for a while and gave her an envelope. Manju quickly ran back to Jinyuyuan (Yue Jinghao's yard).

Half an hour later, Manju came back and handed a jade pendant to Yue Jinghao, saying angrily, "Miss, Xiaoju from the yard actually put a man's jade pendant under your pillow. What a traitor!"

What do you mean by betraying your own family? The whole courtyard is full of Aunt Su's eyes and ears. If she makes any move, Aunt Su will know immediately. In her previous life, she was falsely accused of having an affair with a servant and was driven to a nunnery by Yue Hanwen. When she was sent back, Yue Jinghong had already been engaged to the prince.

"Have you put the letter away?" Yue Jinghao clutched the jade pendant with a cold look in her eyes. All the misery in her previous life started from this jade pendant. Let her present life start from here as well!

"Put it away so no one will find it."

"Please keep this jade pendant. It is worth a lot of money!" Yue Jinghao gave the jade pendant to Agate and sat in the garden to watch the fish. The small fish had no ability to protect themselves and were quickly swallowed by the big fish. Even fish are like this, the strong prey on the weak, let alone humans?