Don't be a salted fish, the daily life of the concubine in the palace

When Aunt Zhao saw Concubine Lan, her eyes instantly turned red. She pulled Xie Fanghua, choked up as she bowed and greeted her, tears as big as beans rolling down her cheeks.

Lanpin was full of doubts and invited the two men into the house.

Send the servants away.

Aunt Zhao held Lanpin's hand, looked her up and down, and said with a sob: "Fanglan, look at you, you have lost weight again. My good child, you have suffered in the palace."

Aunt Zhao's nose was sore, and every word she spoke was full of concern for Concubine Lan.

Lanpin didn't bother to reminisce with Aunt Zhao, and asked anxiously: "Aunt, please tell me why my mother didn't come?"

Aunt Zhao's eyes were red and her voice was tearful. She said, "Fanglan, your mother caught a cold two years ago and has been bedridden ever since. The master asked the imperial physician to treat her, but it was ineffective...Now, your mother is so sick that she can't get out of bed."

Lanbin's head was buzzing.

Mother is sick?

She said, "Aunt, why didn't you and father tell me earlier!"

Seeing this, Xie Fanghua hurried forward and embraced Lanpin, her voice tearful: "Sister, it's not that father and mother deliberately hid it from you. It's because the eldest lady was afraid that you would worry, so she didn't allow father to tell anyone."

Concubine Lan was filled with grief and sat back in her chair in a daze, as if she had fallen into an icy cave.

She was looking forward to seeing her mother as soon as possible.

Who could have imagined that my mother would be seriously ill and bedridden, unable to be cured by any medicine.

Aunt Zhao sat next to Concubine Lan and babbled, "Your father has been very busy lately. You are not favored in the palace, and you have not given birth to an heir. The old-fashioned elders in the family put pressure on your father every day... Hey, your father hasn't had a good night's sleep for more than half a year, and his hair has turned a lot whiter."

Lanpin lowered her head and wiped her tears, feeling very sad.

She felt that she was really useless.

Her father doted on her and loved her since she was a child. Even if she wanted the moon in the sky, her father would do everything he could to get it for her. Concubine Lan hated herself for not living up to the emperor's love. She finally got pregnant but had a miscarriage. After many years in the palace, she was still a concubine, which made her father worry until his hair turned white.

"Aunt, who does the family elders want to send into the palace?" Lanpin wiped away her tears and asked curiously.

Aunt Zhao sighed: "Who else could it be? It can only be Fanghua."

Lanpin was not surprised to get this answer.

Lanpin raised her eyes and looked at her sister Xie Fanghua who was sitting beside her. When Lanpin entered the palace, Xie Fanghua had not yet reached the age of marriage and her appearance had not yet grown.

It has been almost four years now, and Xie Fanghua is as beautiful as a flower bud about to bloom in spring, pure and elegant.

Xie Fanghua's eyes turned red with grievance. She held Lanpin's hand and said in a hoarse voice, "Sister, Fanghua doesn't want to enter the palace. I would rather marry an ordinary man and live a carefree life than step into the deep palace... But my father is running out of options."

Xie Fanghua's eyes were full of grievance, as if she really didn't want to enter the palace.

Lanpin felt a dull pain in her heart.

Xie Fanghua was her half-sister, and the two had a very good relationship since childhood. Xie Fanghua always relied on Lanpin, chasing her everywhere, calling her "sister" all the time, very intimately.

Lanpin couldn't bear to see her sister suffer in the palace, so she told Xie Fanghua: "Life in the palace is not easy. You are eighteen this year, and I will ask the Royal Concubine Chen to choose a good marriage for you."

The tears in Xie Fanghua's eyes got stuck in the corners.

I just casually said "I don't want to enter the palace", but Concubine Lan actually took it seriously!

Aunt Zhao rolled her eyes, pretending to be helpless, and sighed deeply: "The daughter of the Xie family has been pampered by the family since she was a child, and the family's future is on her shoulders. How can she destroy the entire family for her own selfishness? Fanglan, Concubine Chen is not the same as us. She would like to stop Fanghua from entering the palace."

Lanpin thought about it carefully and realized that it was true.

Concubine Chen's favor continues to grow. She would never allow a beautiful newcomer to enter the palace and take away the emperor's favor.

Concubine Lan was frowning, her mind was in a mess, and she had no idea what to do next.

The atmosphere in the room was depressing.

Lanpin's personal maid came in with tea and snacks. She served tea to Aunt Zhao and Xie Fanghua, and looked at them with her shrewd eyes, then slowly lowered her eyebrows.

Time flies, and the time to visit the imperial concubines is coming to an end. Aunt Zhao reluctantly stood up and held Lanpin's hand: "Lady Lanpin, don't worry, I will take good care of your mother. People in the palace are treacherous, you must be careful in everything."

Xie Fanghua also acted as if he was reluctant to leave.

Lanpin felt sour in her heart.

She personally escorted Aunt Zhao and Xie Fanghua out of the palace. Lanpin stood under the eaves of Huayang Palace, watching the two figures go farther and farther away. In a trance, Lanpin thought of her childhood memories, when she took her younger sister to catch butterflies in the garden, and Aunt Zhao carefully wiped the sweat off the two girls, her eyes full of love.

Lanpin also thought of the time when she had a high fever when she was a child, and it was Aunt Zhao who stayed by her bedside all night and personally boiled and fed her medicine.

In Lanpin's heart, Aunt Zhao was almost like her biological mother. The whole Xie family knew that the mistress and the concubine got along well.

The mistress of the Xie family was virtuous and the concubines of the Xie family were obedient and law-abiding, which made other families envious.

As the autumn wind blew, Concubine Lan secretly wiped her tears, feeling grief-stricken. She walked back to the palace in a daze, hating herself for being useless and causing her father and mother to worry too much and become ill.

"Master." Tong'er, the personal maid, closed the door of the inner hall and whispered, "Master, please don't be sad for now."

Lanpin wiped away her tears: "What's wrong?"

Tong'er has been with Concubine Lan since she was a child, and she is very smart. She lowered her voice and said, "Master, I feel something is wrong. Have you noticed the green jade bamboo bracelet on Aunt Zhao's wrist?"

Lanpin looked bewildered: "Never."

She was so busy being sad that she had no time to observe Aunt Zhao's dress and appearance.

Tong'er said patiently, "When I was in the Xie Mansion, I once went to the Madam's storeroom to get medicinal herbs. I saw a green jade bamboo bracelet in the box. The old maid told me that this bracelet was Madam's dowry and was extremely expensive. Madam never wanted to wear it - but now, this bracelet appears in Aunt Zhao's hand."

Concubine Lan was stunned.

I vaguely remembered that my mother did have an expensive green jade bamboo bracelet. It was said that this green jade bamboo bracelet was made by my uncle who personally went to Yuzhou to select a piece of precious jade and had a craftsman carve it into the shape of a jade bamboo and gave it to my sister Wu as a dowry.

My mother also said that this green jade bamboo bracelet should be kept and given to my granddaughter when Concubine Lan gives birth to a daughter in the future.

Lanpin vaguely sensed something was wrong: "Could it be that mother gave it to Aunt Zhao?"

Tong'er shook her head: "Madam does treat Aunt Zhao well, but she doesn't treat them like a real sister. This bracelet might have been taken out from the storehouse by Aunt Zhao while Madam was seriously ill - and the head of the family might have even contributed to this."

Lanpin almost tore the handkerchief in her hand.

Her father dotes on her in every way, Aunt Zhao has been law-abiding for many years, and her sister is very caring towards her... Concubine Lan is not willing to doubt her family.