The Self-cultivation of a Salted Fish Concubine

Xie Run: "As long as you don't commit crimes or do anything that harms others, I will protect you and keep you safe from now on."

Xie Run said softly, "Even if there were more, I wouldn't be able to afford it."

Concubine Lu knelt on the ground and kowtowed three times to Xie Run seriously.

Her eyes were red as she said, "Although I am stupid, I would never dare to harm anyone!"

"Juzi risked her life to seek your protection for me. How could I dare to betray her love for me?"

Xie Run felt a little pity for her when he saw her like this.

"You have a deep affection for oranges."

Concubine Lu lowered her head, fearing that her tears would burst out.

After a while, she spoke in a hoarse voice, "One winter, I was struck by a cold and was so sick that I couldn't get up. She was the one who took care of my mother for me."

"She even helped with my mother's funeral."

"I will never be able to repay this kindness in my lifetime."

Xie Run understood a little, "So when her mother fell ill, you always helped take care of her. Even after you became a concubine, you tried every means to transfer her to your side to take care of her."

"You two support each other and are loyal and righteous. But Juzi betrayed you twice, and your reputation is really not good..."

After hearing this, Concubine Lu suddenly raised her head and asked a question.

"Thank you, Concubine Shu, do you think that slaves must be loyal to their masters for life? No matter what their masters are like?"

"A slave's desire to become a master is wishful thinking and a betrayal of the master."

Xie Run was stunned.

What Concubine Lu said would be considered a typical act of treason in ancient times.

After a slave sells himself, his life belongs to his master, so he naturally has to be loyal to his master for the rest of his life.

There is no need to ask this question.

It is even more outrageous for a slave to want to become a master.

Concubine Lu’s idea is really bold.

Xie Run was stunned for a moment, then suddenly smiled faintly.

She shook her head. "Of course not!"

"Even the ancients said that a wise minister would choose a good master to serve. As a slave, who wouldn't want to follow a good master?"

Xie Run said: "It doesn't make sense that if the master is weak and incompetent, the slaves have to follow her and suffer hardships and be bullied for the rest of their lives."

"If someone is unwilling to endure hardships, then he is disloyal? If that's the case, how many people in the Man Palace are truly loyal?"

Tears glistened in Concubine Lu's eyes as she looked at Xie Run with excitement.

Concubine Lu didn't expect that Xie Run could really understand her!

Xie Run continued, "As for slaves who want to become masters..."

"A concubine wants to become a concubine, a concubine wants to become a side concubine, and then there's the next level up. Who doesn't want to go one step further?"

"Why is it that my desire to become a concubine is considered wishful thinking?"

"It's just that the word 'betrayal' is too heavy to describe someone like that." Xie Run sighed, "But if you think about it carefully, if you don't want to be a slave for the rest of your life, it seems there's no better way out."

At this moment, Concubine Lu felt as if her heart was hit.

Besides being astonished, he was also extremely excited, and even his body was shaking slightly.

There are actually people who can put themselves in her shoes and understand her situation, her helplessness and her necessity.

Tears fell like beads from a broken string, silently but heavily.

Concubine Lu seemed to be laughing and crying, "Thank you so much for your understanding, Concubine. At that time... I really had no other choice!"

There was no way around this sentence, it fully expressed her grievance and helplessness at being misunderstood and despised by others.

Xie Run couldn't help but be infected and his mood was slightly moved.

"Although I haven't had much contact with you, I know you are not stupid."

"You are in the palace. As long as you don't have any intention of harming others, the princess will allow you to live the rest of your life in peace."

Concubine Lu lowered her eyes, but her tone was very calm.

"Thank you for your kind words of advice, Concubine Shu. I know what is right and wrong, and I would never dare to harm anyone."

"The princes and princesses in this palace can see clearly. The more you cause trouble, the faster you will die."

Xie Run was also slightly surprised.

But when I think about it carefully, it seems to be true.

When Ning Shiqie was a concubine, she had two sons and was in the best of times.

But ever since he had the intention to harm others, he made one mistake after another, and finally he was reduced to a state where he almost didn't even have a coffin.

The same goes for Han's concubine.

She holds the connections of Ning Shiqie and has a lot of plans in her mind. If she hadn't been so impatient for success and come up with all kinds of means to harm others, how could she have ended up like this?

If Concubine Han plans slowly, no one will have a better life than her in the future.

For a moment, Xie Run and Concubine Lu looked at each other, feeling a little sad.

Concubine Lu cried and her makeup was a little smudged.

Dan Tao fetched a basin of water for her to wash her face and then put on makeup again.

After talking a lot, her spirits and energy improved a lot.

Luzhi and Hongxi took out Dahongpao and Laojunmei.

Xie Run didn't dare drink too much tea, he just smelled the fragrance of the tea. When the charcoal stove in the room was heated, the fragrance filled the room.

Concubine Lu took a sip of tea, the fragrance filled the air and lingered in her mouth.

She suddenly said, "I never felt that Concubine An was indebted to me."

When she said this, she straightened her neck and showed a bit of stubbornness.

Xie Run listened with a smile, waiting for her next words.

Concubine Lu said calmly, "I didn't grow up with Concubine An. I was just assigned by the princess to serve Concubine An."

"This servant has also been loyal and unwavering."

"She was bullied, and I sought justice for her. She had a hard time, and I did everything I could to help her."

Speaking of the past, Concubine Lu was left with only a cold feeling, "But she was too incompetent."

This sentence fully reveals Concubine Lu's dissatisfaction and anger towards Concubine An, as well as her disappointment and disgust.

"When someone hit her on the left cheek, she eagerly turned her right cheek to the other side, just trying to keep the peace."

"The people around her protected her, but when she encountered trouble, she just hid and pushed the servants on top."

Xie Run sighed, "Master and servant have different statuses. I'm afraid you were bullied a lot when you were her servant."

Concubine Lu looked up at Xie Run in surprise, then smiled self-deprecatingly.

"It seems that everyone in the palace knows it."

"It's only because I was born a maid and became a concubine in the palace that you are determined to use the incident of me climbing into the bed to look down on me."

"This way, I'm inferior to them for no reason."

After talking with Xie Run for a few words, Concubine Lu had a more thorough understanding of the people and things in the backyard of the palace.

Concubine Lu: "I am not afraid of being bullied, I just can't stand being bullied by my own people."

The steam rising from the teacup stung Concubine Lu's eyes.

Her memory was pulled back to the past, "Back then, she and Concubine Liu entered the mansion at the same time, and they were originally the same person."

"That Concubine Liu is even worse than her. She's just the daughter of a pig butcher, yet she was bullied by Concubine Liu and dared not say a word."

"I sought justice for her, and Concubine Liu held a grudge against me. She forced me to lie on the ice in winter and imitate the act of lying on the ice to catch carp."

"It's the coldest time of the year, and the cold wind alone makes one's bones tremble. If something unexpected happens, I'm afraid I'll be dead."

Xie Run was stunned. "We are all concubines. Concubine Liu has no control over Concubine An's people. If Concubine An doesn't respond, I'm afraid this matter won't be accomplished."

Concubine Lu laughed sarcastically, "She said at the time, 'Concubine Liu was just joking and wouldn't really hurt my life. Let me go and come back soon, at least let her vent her anger first.'"

Not to mention Concubine Lu herself, even Xie Run, an audience member, felt chilled at this moment.

Xie Run now understood why Concubine Lu disliked Concubine An for being too incompetent.

Is this more than just incompetence?

It is another kind of cold-bloodedness, which can be accepted by the world just by putting on the shell of cowardice.