The Prince Consort's Beloved

The fog was thick, and there seemed to be only a vast expanse of white between the sky and the earth. The figures of pedestrians were looming in the fog.

On the palace road, Li Yuanrou was wearing a plain dress, no makeup, and no pearl hairpins, and was accompanied by Daya and Qingluan.

It has been three days since Li Yuanrou learned the bad news about her mother. She was in a coma for three days and was unable to see her mother for the last time.

Two blurry figures turned out from the side path, walked hurriedly towards the front, and soon disappeared. Only the sound of two women talking remained.

"Your Majesty only drank a small glass of wine that day, and thanks to timely rescue, he was able to save his life, but now he is bedridden and coughing up blood."

"What about King Yun? How is King Yun?"

"Prince Yun is not so lucky. He drank too much and was not treated in time. He is still unconscious. I think he is in grave danger."

The man who was asking the question continued, "I heard that the fire burned like crazy, the flames shot up to the sky, and half the sky was dyed red. Someone saw the Queen Mother dancing in the fire. Is that true?"

"Of course it's fake. The fire was so big that it would hurt like hell if it burned my body. Who can dance in the fire? If it were you, could you do it?"

The person questioning him denied it repeatedly: "No, no, I can only cry and scream... I heard that the Queen Mother burned herself to death, probably because she accidentally harmed Prince Yun and Your Majesty, so she didn't want to live. But I also heard that the poisoned wine that Your Majesty and Prince Yun drank was originally prepared by the Queen Mother for herself. Why would the Queen Mother prepare poisoned wine when she was fine... Now that Your Majesty can't attend court, Prince Yun can't take charge of government affairs, and the Queen Mother is soft-hearted and can't make decisions, will the palace be in chaos, will the court be in chaos?"

"Why do you have so many questions? This is not something we little palace maids should worry about. We just need to do our job well. Besides, I just came from the Changsheng Palace. Those ministers were in the palace reporting to the emperor, just like they were attending court."

Li Yuanrou pricked up her ears and listened. What the two palace maids said was even more detailed than the information she had asked Qingzhou to find out.

Daya whispered: "These palace maids are really becoming more and more unruly..."

The voices of the two palace maids gradually faded away: "Alas, it's pitiful that our Majesty has vomited blood and can't rest, and it's even more pitiful that our Empress is crying her eyes out..."

The sound turned into another palace passage and could no longer be heard.

Li Yuanrou followed closely, and Daya hurriedly advised: "Princess, please walk slowly, be careful of the baby in your belly."

Li Yuanrou paused and slowed down her pace. Xiaotian said that her pregnancy was unstable and asked her to stay in bed and rest. She insisted on going to the palace, as she would feel uneasy if she didn't come in person.

She pulled her cloak closer; this winter seemed even colder than last year.

She looked at the hazy sky, not knowing whether it was because of the bad weather or her eyesight, but everything she saw was gray.

Li Yuanrou breathed a sigh of relief. None of her three children kept vigil for her. On the second day after her death, Yuan Qi ordered that she be hastily buried in the imperial mausoleum.

A mocking voice came towards him: "Hey, isn't this our second princess? Why do you look so sick? Is she heartbroken because her husband abandoned her?"

Daya rebuked in a deep voice: "How dare you ridicule the princess? Don't you want to live?"

Li Yuanrou paused and raised her hand to stop Daya who was about to go forward to find out what was going on.

She squinted her slightly reddish myopic eyes to focus her vision, and a woman in gorgeous clothes came into her sight.

Li Chun walked closer, held his head high, stretched out his hand and pretended to adjust the glittering pearl hairpin on his head, looking at Li Yuanrou arrogantly.

Li Yuanrou's face was as cold as frost.

I was wondering who it was, but it turned out to be Li Chun, the little Karami. With his new outfit and sarcastic tone, he did look a bit like a palace fighter, but that's all, no more.

Li Yuanrou snorted coldly: "This princess is fine, you don't need to worry about it."

Li Chun clicked his tongue twice: "From my point of view, the princess doesn't look too well."

She laughed lightly and said to herself, "That's right. How could a prince from an enemy country really fall in love with you? It's just an act."

Daya was about to step forward with an angry look on her face, but Li Yuanrou stopped her again and waved her away.

It would be fine if it was someone else, but as for Li Chun, haha, she felt a special sense of accomplishment every time she met Li Chun, so of course she had to do it herself.

Li Yuanrou raised her eyebrows: "Whether the prince consort is in love or not, this princess knows it very well in her heart, and there is no need for an outsider like you to interfere. But you, who were once so devoted to this princess's prince consort, how come you changed your mind so quickly?"

Li Chun looked calm when she heard that. She covered her mouth with her hands and chuckled, but there was no smile in her eyes: "Princess, what are you talking about? I was young and inexperienced before, and I loved Xiao Luobai for a while, but now I have let it go. But Princess, why are you still obsessed with Xiao Luobai?"

She suddenly acted exaggeratedly: "Oh no no no, it's not Xiao Luobai, it's Helian Luobai."

Li Chun took another step forward, looked Li Yuanrou up and down, and said in a sarcastic tone: "Look at my memory. Now that the princess is pregnant, she will naturally not forget the father of this evil child in her belly."

Li Yuanrou narrowed her eyes slightly, with a dangerous look in her eyes: "Bastard?"

Li Chun crossed his arms over his chest, looking proud: "Isn't it?"

Li Yuanrou's eyes flashed, and she ordered in a deep voice: "Daya, slap your face!"

The furious Daya next to him suddenly had a glimmer of excitement in her eyes: "Yes, Princess!"

Daya stepped forward in response, and Li Chun was startled: "What are you doing?"

The two maids accompanying Li Chun stepped forward to block Daya.

Qingluan took two steps forward and kicked the two troublesome maids to the ground one by one.

Daya rolled up her sleeves: "What? Of course I'm going to slap you."

As she spoke, she slapped him twice.

Li Chun, a small-bodied girl, screamed and fell to the ground. She covered her face and angrily said to Daya, "How dare you, a lowly slave, hit me?"

Li Yuanrou looked calm and said calmly: "Daya, she has a dirty mouth, give her a few more slaps."

Daya responded, and instantly swung her arms left and right like Rong Mama, accompanied by Li Chun's screams.

A trace of contempt flashed through Li Yuanrou's cold eyes: "Lowly slave? Daya is my personal maid, and her actions and words represent me. Are you saying that I am lowly? Are you mocking the lowly bloodline of my Li family?"

Li Yuanrou suddenly sneered, "Bastard? You should know that no matter whose child this princess is pregnant with, the child will have the surname Li and be of Li's bloodline. How can I allow you to insult me? If you dare to speak nonsense again, watch your tongue."

After a few slaps, Li Chun's cheeks were swollen. She shouted with anger in her eyes: "Li Yuanrou, you dare to hit me! I am the concubine appointed by His Majesty himself!"

Li Yuanrou sneered, looking down at her, and said disdainfully: "You also know that you are a concubine. What is a concubine? A concubine! If you were the queen, I would still be polite to you, but you are just a concubine, hehe..."

Her face turned cold, and her voice was filled with unquestionable majesty: "With your current status, you dare to challenge this princess."

Li Chun's eyes were filled with tears, and his pair of resentful eyes stared at Li Yuanrou fiercely.