This palace comes back in this life, only to be Nian Shilan

***

"I dare not." Concubine Qi immediately withdrew her gaze from the Queen.

He seemed to be very afraid of the queen.

"I am only reminding Your Majesty that although the maid is young and fresh to the Emperor's eyes, she may not be able to hold His Majesty's heart for long."

"But today, the Empress Dowager can see that the Emperor and I have a long-standing relationship. I have a special place in his heart. What's more, I have the Third Prince. How can I not be better than that palace maid?"

Concubine Qi timidly stated her bargaining chips and asked the queen to weigh them.

It is both a bargaining chip and a threat. To be able to speak so cowardly, Concubine Qi is truly the best in the harem.

An Lingrong: Sister Qi Fei, you really got hard for a moment, just for a moment.

Concubine Qi: You are almost there, crying with tears and snot, let alone our eldest brother and second brother.

"Hmph, now for the sake of the Third Prince, you are willing to use your brain." How could the Queen not hear the threat in Concubine Qi's words.

But now, the harem is unstable and the emperor is in his prime, so it is not the time to become an enemy of Concubine Qi.

"I am the biological mother of the Third Prince, and Your Majesty is his legal mother. No matter how much we do, isn't it all for the Third Prince's sake?" Concubine Qi smiled ingratiatingly at the Queen as usual.

Forget it, it’s all for the children.

The queen waved her hand and asked the two to retreat.

Before they left, the Queen warned: "If it happens again, she will definitely wipe out the roots."

After An Lingrong and Concubine Qi left, Jianqiu went up to them and said indignantly, "They two teamed up to betray Your Majesty, are you going to let it go so easily?"

The queen closed her eyes helplessly. She was indeed careless about the An Lingrong incident. Although she had taken advantage of the An Bihuai incident to control An Lingrong, it was also a double-edged sword.

An Lingrong was short of money to support her parents' family, which was something she had not expected.

"Why? Has Concubine An given a lot of rewards recently? I remember that her monthly allowance has doubled compared to when she was a concubine. Why is she still so short of money?"

"I think An Bihuai's stroke and paralysis are difficult to treat, and the medicine he takes is really expensive. And in this harem, except for the queen who holds a high position, the people below dare not ask for money. The other concubines all give rewards to the subordinates more or less."

In fact, even a maid-in-charge like Jianqiu, who was favored by the Queen, sometimes had to give a tip or two, and the amount of money couldn't be small.

Otherwise, how can I save my face?

The human relationships in the harem have always been like this.

The Queen Mother certainly didn't understand, she just never involved herself in it.

You won’t feel the pain unless the board hits you.

"I never thought that even though the emperor cracked down on corrupt officials in the previous dynasty, the bad practices in the harem are still so prevalent. I will definitely take the time to punish them!" The queen slammed her jade hand on the table, and Jianqiu just heard a sound.

The Queen Mother will not take any action on these things. She wants to maintain her image as a virtuous queen and win over the hearts of the people.

Besides, isn't the Empress herself greedy? She is greedy too. Last time when Concubine Hui was confined to the palace during her pregnancy, her father Shen Zishan, from his post, brought a pair of elegant double mandarin duck inkstones into the palace through the Ministry of Internal Affairs, which were worth a fortune, but the Empress accepted them anyway.

He took the money but didn't do anything. Not only did he not do anything, but he also sent a lot of delicacies to him to raise him... Ahem, he shouldn't have bothered his master. He had his own ideas.

In short, when the water is too clear, there will be no fish. It is normal for An Guiren to be tempted by money.

The Queen plausibly blamed the incident on the unhealthy practices in the harem, in an attempt to save some face. Jianqiu could only continue her efforts:

"Your Majesty, it seems that Concubine Qi and you are no longer on the same page."

"Hmph, you should have been able to see at the banquet today that this game cannot be accomplished by the strength of Concubine Qi and Noble Lady An alone." The Queen's mood calmed down a lot.

"What does your Majesty mean? Concubine Qi and Concubine Hua? But haven't they been at odds since they left the palace?" Jianqiu said.

"People all over the world come and go for profit. As long as there are common interests, enemies can become friends. Moreover, I have indeed touched Concubine Qi's bottom line this time. It is no wonder that Concubine Qi would fight back.

If Concubine Hua were to make a move on Concubine Qi's Third Prince, do you think Concubine Qi would still be on the same page with Nian Shilan?" The Queen was very confident.

"Your Majesty, are you saying that the Nian family also has their eyes on the Third Prince?"

"I'm afraid the Nian family, seeing that Nian Shilan can't give birth, is thinking of another way."

"In that case, if we send the Third Prince back, won't we..." Jianqiu was a little anxious.

"The Nian family wants to support the Third Prince, but it depends on whether he has the destiny!"

The queen emphasized the last word "life" so much that Jianqiu was frightened.

This pair of emperor and empress are both difficult to deal with.

Thinking about these years, Concubine Hua couldn't give birth, the Empress couldn't give birth either, and the ladies in the other palaces were in danger of death if they got pregnant. Jianqiu sometimes suspected that the Qing Dynasty was about to perish.

"Your Majesty, in fact, it's not just the Third Prince, there's also the Fourth Prince. In fact, the Fourth Prince is not bad either..." Jianqiu thought about her future retirement prospects and felt that she shouldn't put all her eggs in one basket.

"I have said it many times that the Fourth Prince's biological mother is disliked by the Emperor. If I raise the Fourth Prince, the Emperor will dislike me even more in the future. Don't you still think that Jingren Palace is not quiet enough?" The Queen placed the teacup heavily on the table, and the tea accidentally spilled out, wetting the Queen's fingers.

"I know I was wrong." Jianqiu stepped forward and tried to wipe the water marks for the queen with a handkerchief, but the queen impatiently pulled the handkerchief over.

In fact, Jianqiu didn't mean to adopt the Fourth Prince in a high-profile manner. The Empress could just quietly send him more food and show her care for him on a daily basis, and also send him clothes that suit the season all year round. The Fourth Prince would then seem to be a grateful child.

I heard that Concubine Jing sent him a plate of mung bean cakes, and he even wrote a group of poems to express his gratitude.

Just based on this cleverness, he is much better than the dull-witted Third Prince.

It's all about raising fish anyway, so if you raise one more fish now, you might be able to harvest the entire pond in the future.

Speaking of which, the Fourth Prince had the opportunity to return to the Forbidden City only with the help of the Third Prince. From this point of view, Concubine Qi did have some favors for the Fourth Prince.

Jianqiu thought about this in his mind and wondered why his queen couldn't figure this out.

It is always said that helping someone in need is better than icing on the cake. The opportunity to help someone in need is right in front of us, but the master just doesn't see it.

"By the way, how is Lingxiang?" asked the queen.

"According to Her Majesty's instructions, all meals were delivered as usual, and the pregnancy-maintaining medicine was also placed in the food box. Ling's pulse could not be taken, but the little palace maid who delivered meals every day said that she was in good spirits."

"That's good. I agreed to let her give birth to the child before dying. This is already the greatest favor she has ever received. After betraying Concubine Hua, I was able to save her life. She must be grateful~"

"It is her greatest blessing that the Empress can let her give birth to a prince." Jianqiu actually felt that it would be better to rely on the Fourth Prince than on the baby in Lingxiang's belly.

Both of them were palace maids who gave birth to children, but the Fourth Prince's mother was just ugly, while Ling Xiang was a sinner.

Why did the Queen only fall for the son of this sinner?