Harem Daily Life

After seeing off Concubine Hui, the Queen Mother stood at the window, looking out in a daze.

Eunuch Qin hesitated for a long time before stepping forward to advise: "Queen Dowager, Concubine Shu's temperament may have changed drastically because of the loss of the Third Prince. Queen Dowager, please don't be too sad."

The Queen Mother sighed, "That peach tree was planted by Shu Fei and I when she first entered the palace. Over the years, everyone has seen my partiality to her, and even the Emperor has been more tolerant of her. But she actually poisoned my eldest grandson and used Prince Yong to frame the Queen..."

The Queen Mother raised her hand and pointed at the peach tree: "Go, cut down the tree, it's an eyesore."

Eunuch Qin replied "Yes" and went back to find someone to cut down the tree.

The peach trees were all cut down and their roots were pulled out. The palace servants then planted a dwarf pine tree in its place and leveled the soil around it.

When Eunuch Qin brought people to summon Concubine Shu, she was still racking her brains to think of how to dethrone the queen. Eunuch Qin politely asked her to go to Changchun Palace, and her heart skipped a beat, and she was a little worried.

"I wonder why the Queen Mother summoned me?" Shu Fei thought she had a good relationship with Eunuch Qin, so she asked with a fluke mentality.

Eunuch Qin just smiled and said: "You will know when Concubine Shu goes there. Please hurry up, the Queen Mother is waiting."

Shu Fei had no choice but to take Fu Xin with her, but Eunuch Qin also called Zi Ling along. The two personal maids beside Shu Fei were all called away, and the three of them felt depressed along the way.

In the side hall of Changchun Palace, when Shu Fei arrived, before she could even salute, the Empress Dowager stopped her and said, "Don't salute. You are doing these superficial things, and it seems that you are respectful to me, but in fact you are stabbing me in the back. I can't stand it."

Upon hearing this, Concubine Shu knelt down hurriedly and said, "I don't know what I did wrong to annoy the Queen Mother. I hope the Queen Mother will forgive me."

The Queen Mother waved her hand, and everyone in Changchun Palace, except Eunuch Qin, left the hall.

"There are no outsiders here now. Tell me, why do you want to harm the eldest prince? He is the emperor's eldest son and my eldest grandson. How could you do that to him? What else would you not dare to do?" The empress dowager spoke in a stern tone, her eyes blazing with fire as she looked at Shu Fei.

Shu Fei bit her lip and shook her head, saying, "I did not harm the eldest prince. Please, Queen Mother, please look carefully!"

The Queen Mother was extremely disappointed. "At this point, you still refuse to admit it? Haha, I originally thought that if you just admitted it, I would spare your life for the sake of the eldest prince's life. I didn't expect you to be so stubborn. Come, give you ten strokes of the cane. If you still refuse to admit it, add another ten strokes."

"Please forgive me, Queen Dowager. Please calm down!" Zi Ling stepped forward and blocked Shu Fei's way. "She really didn't murder the eldest prince. Please don't punish her, Queen Dowager."

The Queen Mother looked at Zi Ling who was kneeling on the ground to protect her master and said, "I have not yet made any decision on the two of you. As the first-class maids beside Concubine Shu, you did not even know how to dissuade her. You are useless and stupid! You even dared to gossip in Prince Yong's mansion. Your crime is unforgivable. Come, drag her away and beat her with 20 sticks."

The palace servants at the door came in immediately and dragged Zi Ling and Fu Xin out to be beaten with a stick, while Shu Fei was carried out by Eunuch Qin himself.

From the yard came the sound of beatings, mixed with the screams of three people.

Shu Fei gritted her teeth and held on at first, but as the board fell again and again, the piercing pain made her unable to bear it any longer, and she shouted at the top of her lungs: "Queen Dowager, please spare me, Aunt, please spare me, I confess, I confess everything!"

Eunuch Qin raised his hand to signal a pause, but after waiting for a long time, there was no instruction from the Queen Mother to stop. Eunuch Qin could only sigh and have his men continue playing until they reached the number the Queen Mother had specified.

Fuxin and Ziling also begged for mercy, but it was of no avail. Both of them were beaten with twenty sticks. They were in so much pain that tears were streaming down their faces and their whole bodies were shaking.

When the beating was over, the three of them no longer had the strength to shout, and only faint hums were left.

Eunuch Qin ordered his men to carry the three people into the side hall. The Queen Mother said expressionlessly, "If you don't want to be beaten to death today, then tell me everything you did. Since you are also named Shu, I will spare your life."

Shu Fei's whole body was filled with pain, and she said with trembling lips: "I hate the eldest prince... for pushing... pushing Kang Er into the water... and poisoning... I will never... dare to do it again... I beg you, aunt... to forgive me!"

The Queen Mother glanced at Zi Ling and Fu Xin and asked, "What did you two do at her command?"

Zi Ling trembled and said, "Give the eldest prince...drug...set up Prince Yong...meet privately...the queen."

Fu Xin also hurriedly pleaded guilty: "I planted... Li Yu... to make him betray us... slandered... the queen... poisoned Rong Cairen..."

The Queen Mother's eyes flashed with coldness. The three people's words were pieced together to make everything clear. But she didn't expect that Rong Cairen's death was actually related to her, Shu Fei.

"Shu Fei, Shu Fei, you are so brave! You are plotting to murder concubines and princes. Do you want to send the Shu family to their doom?"

Shu Fei pleaded, "Your Majesty, I am only seeking... revenge for Kang Er... Please, Queen Mother, save me!"

The Queen Mother was so angry that she almost passed out. If Shu Fei wasn't from the Shu family, she would have given her white silk!

"Pass on my order, Shu Fei will be demoted to a talented lady and confined to Yongning Palace from today onwards. Fu Xin and Zi Ling will be beaten to death."

Shu Fei looked at the Queen Mother in disbelief. She had not expected the Queen Mother's punishment to be so severe! She looked at her two maids and pleaded, "Please Queen Mother... forgive me, don't... don't kill them!"

Fuxin and Ziling were both Shu family's servants. She had accompanied them when they first entered the palace. They had been together for many years, and Concubine Shu could not bear to see them die.

Seeing Shu Fei begging desperately, the Queen Mother showed no mercy. In the end, Fu Xin and Zi Ling were dragged up by the palace servants and sent out for execution.

Shu Fei was anxious, and at the critical moment, she shouted: "I know the whereabouts of Master Shang!"

The Queen Mother was startled, her eyes fixed on Shu Fei, and she raised her hand. Eunuch Qin quickly asked people to put Fu Xin and Zi Ling down.

Although Eunuch Qin did not know who Master Shang was, he had guessed from the Queen Mother's expression that this person must be no simple person, otherwise the Queen Mother would not have stopped beating the two maids as soon as she heard his name.

The Queen Mother walked towards Shu Fei step by step, stood in front of her, squatted down, pinched Shu Fei's chin with one hand, and said coldly: "I really underestimated you before. Tell me, how much do you know?"

Shu Fei felt a chill spread throughout her limbs, and the empress dowager in front of her seemed like a different person, looking at her with a coldness she had never seen before.

"Your Highness, I just heard that there is such a person. He seems to have gone to Xia Country."

The Queen Mother snorted coldly, stood up and clapped her hands, and said coldly: "Send them all back to Yongning Palace and put them all under house arrest."

When they heard that his life was saved, Fuxin and Ziling both breathed a sigh of relief, but they had both been beaten with twenty sticks, and it would not be easy to recover.

After the few people were taken away, Eunuch Qin looked at the lonely empress dowager, feeling torn between whether to persuade her or not.

"What are you standing there for? Go to Changle Palace and get rid of the people there. Bring the twins over for me to see."

Eunuch Qin: “…”

Is the Queen Mother regaining her vitality?

As if she had heard Eunuch Qin's thoughts, the Queen Mother rolled her eyes at him and said, "I am always full of energy."