Story of Yanxi Palace: Fu Ying's banner will never fall

Hong Zhou turned his head with difficulty, his eyes fell on the palace maid, and he asked sternly: "You are not...?!"

However, the palace maid kept her head down and did not dare to look up at Hong Zhou.

Hong Zhou was so angry that he was shaking all over. He grabbed the palace maid's arm, pulled her over with force, and forced her to face him.

"Zhiheng, it's you! How dare you tease me!" His eyes were filled with resentment and disappointment.

Zhiheng was so frightened that her face turned pale, her whole body went limp, and she collapsed to the ground.

She was terrified and explained incoherently: "Your Majesty, I dare not, I..." However, no matter what she said, she could not cover up the truth.

Zhiheng recalled what happened on the fifth day of the first lunar month, when she accidentally heard some gossip about the palace maid's success in marrying off a rich and powerful man.

From then on, she made up her mind that if Aman was still unwilling to accept the Prince, then she would put on Aman's clothes and go to see the Prince on Aman's behalf.

Wei Yingluo asked Qingyun and others to talk about this gossip deliberately, with the purpose of letting Zhiheng hear it.

She secretly thought in her heart that she had to "thank" Er Qing this time. After all, her affairs would definitely make Zhi Heng more excited.

It was the fifth day of the first lunar month. Qingyun and the "gossip group" she led quietly walked into the corridor next to Zhiheng who was washing clothes.

Qingyun glanced at Zhiheng from time to time, and then began to talk.

"Hey, have you heard? The Queen's maid actually climbed onto the Emperor's dragon bed, and suddenly became the master from a maid. Now she lives in Chuxiu Palace~" One of the maids lowered her voice and said mysteriously.

"Is this true? She's so lucky." Another palace maid widened her eyes in surprise.

"Yes, that's Chuxiu Palace. How many people want to go in and see the world, but they never have the chance." Another palace maid echoed.

"That's right, but I heard that because of this incident, the emperor has ordered that palace maids are no longer allowed to enter the Palace of Tranquil Longevity. Alas, it's such a pity." A palace maid sighed regretfully.

"What a pity! Look at your face. How could the emperor possibly like you?" The maid next to her curled her lips in disdain.

"Hey? What's wrong with my face? If I'm not worthy of the emperor, then how can I be worthy of a prince? This should be possible, right?" The maid who was being talked about retorted unconvinced.

"Don't think about it. Where are you going to see the prince?"

"You probably don't know this, but in a few days, on the tenth day of the first lunar month, the emperor will host a banquet for his relatives, and all the princes and ministers will go..."

Several maids were standing together and chatting, chattering. Although their voices were not loud, they still reached Zhiheng's ears who was standing next to them.

At this moment, Aunt Zhang suddenly came over and scolded loudly: "Stop chatting and get back to work! Watch your tongues when you talk too much."

Everyone dispersed, not daring to say anything more.

However, Zhiheng, who pretended not to hear anything, remembered their conversation deeply in her heart.

She thought, if she could have such an opportunity, maybe she could soar to the sky? If she could win the favor of the prince, maybe she wouldn't have to be a humble maid anymore...

Thinking of this, Zhiheng couldn't help but feel a sense of anticipation and desire in her heart.

So, she decided to take a risk and planned a "switch".

At this moment, Hong Zhou was looking at his repeated failures, and now he was even being schemed against by this little palace maid, and his heart was burning with anger.

He stretched out his hand and slapped Zhiheng fiercely, looking at her viciously: "Bitch, you dare to plot against me!"

Zhiheng covered her face with her hands, her eyes full of tears, and said aggrievedly: "My Lord, you misunderstood. I have no choice..."

The emperor looked at the two men, each more excited than the other, and began to blame each other. He was immediately furious: "Enough! How long are you going to make trouble?"

Hong Zhou then realized that his brother was right here. He turned around in panic and said to the emperor with a face full of grievance:

"My dear brother, this slave girl set a trap for me to fall into. I was framed!"

When the emperor heard this, he was immediately furious and angrily questioned Hong Zhou:

"Hmph, Hong Zhou! Do you think I'm a fool? You're wearing a guard's uniform and doing such a shameful thing in the imperial garden. Can the girl force you to do it?"

After saying this, the emperor slammed the table again to express his anger.

Hong Zhou was so frightened that his face turned pale and he was shaking all over. He explained in a panic, "Brother Emperor... your humble servant..." However, he stuttered and couldn't utter a complete sentence for a long time.

The emperor looked at Zhiheng's face carefully, and suddenly he said with sudden enlightenment:

"I finally remembered that this maid was the one from the embroidery workshop who was caught in the Yangxin Palace when you were having a secret meeting that day! How dare you deceive me? You are so bold! Don't you even want your own life?"

After hearing this, Hong Zhou secretly groaned in his heart, thinking that this was bad and he absolutely could not put all the responsibility on Zhiheng alone, otherwise the consequences would be disastrous.

If one wants to appease the emperor's anger, the only way is to admit that the two are truly in love and that they just recognized the wrong person because they were too scared.

Hong Zhou looked at the emperor with horror, kowtowed and said, "Brother, it is all my fault. I did fall in love with this palace maid... and I was too scared just now, so I refused... Please spare my life!"

The emperor's eyes were filled with disappointment. He angrily asked, "Hong Zhou, how dare you deceive me?"

The emperor threw the teacup to the ground with a loud bang.

When Concubine Gao saw the emperor was so angry, she smiled smugly. She said softly, "Your Majesty, please calm down and don't get yourself hurt by being angry."

Hong Zhou's eyes widened, cold sweat broke out on his forehead. He continued to kowtow and beg for mercy, "Brother Emperor, I know I was wrong, I really know I was wrong..."

The emperor sat in a chair, lowered his head and thought, but did not speak.

Concubine Gao chuckled and said, "Prince Heqin, in my opinion, the maid you want today is probably not this one, right?"

Hong Zhou was stunned. His expression was somewhat awkward and he was unable to answer for a moment.

At this time, everyone understood the truth of the matter.

The emperor frowned slightly, sneered, and said, "Humph, I didn't know that this Forbidden City has become the place where you choose concubines. Take him down and give him thirty lashes. Roll away to the clan house and reflect on your mistakes."

When Hong Zhou heard this, his face turned pale as paper in an instant. He quickly pleaded, "Brother Emperor, I know I was wrong. I really know I was wrong..."

However, the emperor had no mercy and had him dragged away.