The Self-cultivation of a Salted Fish Concubine

Qiuyue, another senior maid in Xiachiyuan, spoke timidly.

"My princess, Qiuyu has always been in charge of the lotus flowers in Guanyue Pond."

"The master ordered a search for anyone suspected of poisoning. I found a packet of powdered medicine under Qiuyu's bed. She simply claimed it was given to her by Chen, the steward of the flower room. To prove her innocence... she hit herself against the wall and died."

Several maids with the surname Qiu were all first-class maids around Fang Yuaner.

Qiuyue and Qiuyu have a good relationship, and today she is responsible for searching Qiuyu's room.

After the drug powder was found, Qiuyu cried out in injustice and cried extremely sadly.

In the end, he even crashed into the wall in front of Qiuyue, covered in blood.

Qiuyue was so frightened by the collision that she was in a trance.

The princess's clear voice was filled with coldness. "He just died like that?"

"Are you biting Manager Chen again?"

When the princess mentioned Manager Chen this time, she was full of sarcasm and laughed out loud in front of King Jing, "Your Highness, Concubine Ning really hates me."

Fang Yuan'er didn't know the inside story, and when she first heard it, she thought it was the princess who had attacked her.

But after thinking about it, he felt something was wrong, and his eyes fell on King Jing's face.

"Your Majesty, what does this have to do with Concubine Ning?"

King Jing's face was extremely gloomy. He only asked Qiuyue, "Is this all the information you found?"

Qiuyue nodded, shaking, "Qiuyu was the only suspect. She was gone before we could question her."

The princess was too lazy to waste time, "Your Highness, it seems that the people around Concubine Ning haven't vomited everything."

"I'm not good at interrogation. Why don't you let Jing Wu do it?"

Jing Wu was King Jing's man. He had always been working in the front yard and was particularly good at interrogation.

King Jing's eyes were as dark as ink, revealing a chilling coldness.

"Then let Jing Wu handle it."

After saying that, he glanced at the imperial physician beside him and said, "Now that the poison has been found, is it possible that Concubine Fang and her unborn child are safe?"

Fang Yuaner was a little surprised.

She didn't expect that King Jing would still care about her and the baby in her belly at this time.

The imperial physician wiped the sweat from his forehead and said hesitantly, "Your Highness, I don't recognize this poison. I'm also not sure if it's related to Concubine Fang's vomiting during pregnancy..."

King Jing said coldly, "What use is there to you then?"

The princess stepped forward to comfort him, "Your Highness, this poison is extremely rare. It's normal that the imperial physician has never come into contact with it."

"The most important thing now is Concubine Fang and the child."

King Jing asked the princess, "Is there an empty yard nearby? Let's arrange for Concubine Fang to move out and rest for a few days."

The water in Guanyue Pond has been poisoned, so it must be completely replaced, which is not something you can do in a short time.

The princess nodded and said, "There's a Shengyang Courtyard not far away. Although it's not big, it's enough for a few days."

King Jing also nodded and said, "You can make the arrangements."

In Fang Yuaner's case, she has to move out of Xiachiyuan temporarily.

But now she is so weak that she needs time to rest. After all this trouble, she doesn't know whether she can keep the baby in her belly.

King Jing had actually prepared himself mentally for the possibility of not being able to keep the throne.

Fang Yuan'er had a lot to say, but she knew what to do and didn't say anything.

King Jing left Xiachiyuan first.

The princess said to Tinghe beside her, "You stay in Xiachi Courtyard and help Concubine Fang move to the courtyard."

"If anything happens, report it immediately."

Ting He bowed and replied, "Yes."

The princess left Tinghe to help move the yard, but the real reason was to let Fang Yuaner know who harmed her.

The move of Xia Chiyuan caused quite a stir.

Everyone in the backyard was watching and heard a lot of information.

Fang Yuaner first moved into Shengyang Courtyard and learned about Xie Run's murder from Tinghe.

She clutched the brocade beneath her, "Ning, that bitch!"

"Only Ning Yanyan, this vicious woman, could have murdered two pregnant concubines at the same time!"

If Fang Yuan'er wasn't in good health right now, she would have rushed to Lanxiang Garden and given Ning Shiqi a good beating!

Ting He was relieved when she saw that Concubine Fang did not stubbornly doubt her own princess.

Ting He felt sorry for his own princess as she was involved in such a bad thing.

……

A heavy and dull creaking sound was heard.

The gate of Lanxiang Garden was slowly pushed open.

Concubine Ning leaned back on the chair in the main room, unable to open her eyes because of the sudden burst of white light.

Against the light, she saw a tall and broad figure.

She was very familiar with this figure.

Concubine Ning raised her hand and touched forward vaguely, as if she wanted to grasp the figure in her hand, but in the end she touched nothing.

Just like her whole life.

"Your Highness..." Concubine Ning's voice was a little hoarse, but it contained infinite tenderness: "Are you here to see me off for the last time?"

King Jing's eyes were dark and he looked at her coldly.

Although she had been imprisoned in Lanxiangyuan for only two months, Concubine Ning had aged a lot.

Probably because she guessed that she would not survive, Concubine Ning had no scruples and spoke very boldly.

"I married the prince when I was sixteen. In the blink of an eye, seven years have passed."

"In the past seven years, I gave birth to Jue'er and Ying'er, and I've been favored and out of favor. Now I've ended up like this... I certainly made mistakes, but are you completely innocent, Your Highness?!"

Ning Shiqi's eyes, which were full of tenderness, were gradually covered with hatred.

"My Ying'er just died, and the people in the palace are pregnant one after another. How can I watch them give birth to children one after another and take my Ying'er's place?"

"Fang and Xie both deserve to die! And that bitch An! If the princess hadn't protected her, I would have taken her life!"

The concubine Ning at this moment is no longer the innocent girl she was seven years ago.

Her face became ferocious and her heart became vicious.

It seemed as if it had been transformed beyond recognition by these seven years, like a monster.

When mentioning the princess, Concubine Ning almost vomited venom.

"Princess, you bitch!"

"It was she who refused to allow Your Highness to appoint Jue'er as the Crown Prince, which led to Jue'er's awkward position in the palace."

"Jue'er is your only son!"

"It's ridiculous that she can't have children... It's karma, it's all karma!"

As Concubine Ning was cursing, she started to laugh, and tears of laughter quietly fell down.

King Jing just looked at her quietly, his eyes as dark as ink were like sharp blades that could pierce Concubine Ning's heart.

His voice was cold and sharp, like frost and snow in December.

Ruthlessness and indifference to the extreme.

"You do deserve to die."

"Ying'er died young because of your harsh treatment of servants! It was also because of your favoritism and neglect!"

Ning Shiqie felt a pain in her heart, as if a dagger had pierced her heart, tearing apart the veil of self-deception.

"Ying'er is my son. He has his own place, and no one can take it away from him."

"You are jealous and are using Ying'er as an excuse to murder my heir to satisfy your selfish desires."

King Jing's eyes were filled with cold disgust. "Even now, you're still using Ying'er as an excuse! Do you really want Ying'er to be contaminated by your filth in the underworld?"

Concubine Ning only felt a fishy taste in her throat.

She shouted angrily, "Ying'er was killed by that bitch Fang Yuan'er, that damned wet nurse, and Mother Liu..."

From beginning to end, she was unwilling to admit that she had anything to do with her young son's death.

King Jing watched coldly as she blamed this and that, just to shift the blame for her son's death onto others. The last bit of kindness in his heart completely disappeared.

There was no trace of anger in his voice, and it was unusually calm.

"Back then, it was this prince who was unwilling to make Jue'er the crown prince. It had nothing to do with the princess."

Concubine Ning widened her eyes, seemingly in disbelief.

King Jing, however, had no intention of explaining. He simply asked coldly, "You said the princess's childlessness was retribution, then what about the loss of your own child?"

"You've harmed so many people, where's your retribution?"

Concubine Ning was suddenly filled with fear and began to tremble unconsciously.

She seemed to have just realized something.

She also has a son.

The only son of King Jing.

If Juer was completely rejected by King Jing because of her, she would never rest in peace.

Concubine Ning fell off the chair, knelt down and crawled to the feet of King Jing, no longer having the courage to risk her life.

She said with tears in her eyes: "Your Majesty, Jue'er is your only son!"

"Even if I have done a thousand wrongs, I am willing to accept the punishment. I only ask that Your Highness consider Jue'er..."

King Jing lowered his eyes and looked at her for a long time without saying a word.

After an unknown amount of time, King Jing suddenly spoke up: "Do you still remember Ying'er's birthday?"

Concubine Ning, with tears on her face, froze in place.

Her lips moved, but she couldn't utter a word for a long time.

Maybe I really forgot, or maybe I remember but can't say it.

King Jing's heart sank. He pulled his leg away expressionlessly and turned to leave Lanxiang Garden.

When she fell to the ground, Concubine Ning saw the orchids blooming in the courtyard through the crack of the door that was about to close.

She vaguely recalled those years.

When she first became pregnant with Jue'er, the prince was very happy and said he would reward her.

She was young at that time, quite favored by King Jing, and was pregnant, so she naturally became arrogant because of her favor.

"This Orchid Courtyard is named Orchid, so it should be planted with orchids all over the yard to live up to the name."

"I love orchids the most, so I beg Your Highness to reward me with a yard full of orchids."

Later, King Jing searched for orchids all over the world for her.

The news spread throughout the capital, and King Jing was impeached by the censor.

Even so, pots of precious orchids were still shipped from all over the world to Lanxiangyuan.

From then on, the Lanxiang Courtyard was always filled with the fragrance of orchids.

The flowers bloom all year round, living up to the beautiful name of Lanxiangyuan.

After Concubine Ning was confined to her house, no fresh orchids were delivered to the greenhouse, and the courtyard became overgrown with weeds because no one took care of it.

However, the orchids planted in earlier years are still growing freely, revealing a bit of vitality and wildness.

Concubine Ning thought, if these orchids had not been brought into the palace and grown in the wild, they would have had their own place, right?