An Lingrong's Rebirth: I will not offend others unless they offend me

As soon as she returned to the familiar Yonghe Palace, An Lingrong breathed a sigh of relief.

It’s better to feel safe in your own territory.

Hongzhan was arranged to live in the bright east side hall, with Haba Ma and Koudai Ma living together. The two wet nurses added by the emperor temporarily lived in the small room. The four of them worked in pairs to take care of the sixth prince.

They left the palace for several months out of concern for the safety of their two masters.

Xiao Linzi led the palace servants to clean Yonghe Palace again, paying special attention to the blooming flowers and plants as well as the corners that are usually not noticed.

After the formalities were completed, Baoque and Baoli checked the rooms that their master often visited.

Bao Ge returned to the small kitchen and informed the kitchen and the Ministry of Internal Affairs in advance to resume the supply of food.

An Lingrong carefully examined the inner room and found nothing unusual with the dressing box, screen, curtains and quilt.

But before going to bed, she habitually put the small box into the porcelain pillow, but it didn't go in!

It turned out that there was something in the empty porcelain pillow.

After lighting the lamp, she stood up the porcelain pillow, and a small cloth doll with a distorted face fell to the ground.

Looking at the doll with needles all over its body, An Lingrong broke out in a cold sweat.

With trembling hands, she turned over the doll, whose gender she couldn't tell, and sure enough, she saw a piece of paper with her birth date written on the back.

Since ancient times, the royal family has been wary of witchcraft. No matter how high one's status, anyone involved in witchcraft would not only be unable to escape, but would also bring disaster to their entire family.

The practice of piercing a paper doll with a voodoo figurine is a method of using yazhao (pronounced ya here, yazhao means “to suppress”).

Using witchcraft to frame her shows the desire of the person behind the scenes to kill her.

An Lingrong silently put the little doll with needles in it into the medicine cabinet and calmly blew out the white candle.

The Yonghe Palace was quiet in the early morning, and the magpie was calling softly outside.

"My lady, it's time to leave the bedroom."

"My lady, it's time to leave the bedroom."

......

An Lingrong moved when she called for the fifth time.

"Okay, get ready to wash up."

After collecting the cloth doll last night, she dreamed of the "Witchcraft Disaster" during the reign of Emperor Wu of Han, which was briefly mentioned in the miscellaneous notes.

Once the queen and the crown prince both fell victim to witchcraft, not to mention her and Hongzhan who were still not fully grown.

An Lingrong had finished cleaning up and Bao Ge had already brought the snacks to the table.

"Your Majesty, I have made some sweet osmanthus wine. Would you like to try it?"

"Okay, thank you Baoge."

The two osmanthus trees in the palace have not been weakened by repeated transplanting, and are still full of golden color.

Before leaving the palace, Bao Ge asked people to help pick osmanthus flowers, so there was a lot of stock.

When passing by an osmanthus tree without a single flower left while paying her respects, An Lingrong suddenly spoke.

"Osmanthus trees are lush and dense, and their blossoms easily attract insects. They might bite the Sixth Prince, so we'll move these two trees to the back hall."

Things that make you feel depressed must be removed eventually.

Last night, the Emperor stayed at the Empress's place. Apart from Concubine Hua's sarcastic remarks as usual, there was no quarrel between the others.

Only Concubine Qi mentioned with concern that the Third Prince was not feeling well and seemed to be ill.

The smile on the queen's face instantly turned into deep worry.

"Jianqiu, quickly go to the Imperial Hospital and ask Dean Zhang to have Third Prince take a look."

"Sister Qi Fei, the Emperor is blessed with great fortune and will definitely protect the Third Prince. Don't worry too much."

An Lingrong was listening to their conversation with her ears perked up, but the Queen suddenly called her name.

"Sister Shufei, the emperor has few children. You must take good care of the Sixth Prince for me."

As the emperor's wife, there is nothing wrong with the queen caring about the children of other concubines.

But An Lingrong felt that there was something else behind her words, and that she had bad intentions.

"I will follow the Empress' instructions and take good care of the Sixth Prince."

The queen nodded with a smile, glanced at everyone, stroked her bulging belly, and encouraged the sisters in the harem to have children for the royal family as soon as possible.

After returning to Yonghe Palace, the first thing An Lingrong did was to take off her heavy headdress and wash off her makeup.

Imperial Physician Wei had advised that the Sixth Prince was still young, and that people close to him should try not to carry perfume.

After visiting the sleeping Hongzhan, An Lingrong walked around the Yonghe Palace a few times. Seeing that the weather was fine, she asked Baoque and the others to take out the Sixth Prince's small belongings from the warehouse in the East Side Hall and air them out.

With nothing to do, she placed the things on the mat one by one with her own hands.

One of the rattles with many small marks on it caught An Lingrong's attention, and she took it in her hand calmly.

"Giving a used toy to the Sixth Prince shows how thoughtful the gift-giver is."

Baoque was a little surprised. Any wealthy family would not let their children use old things, let alone the royal family.

She thought so, so she asked respectfully.

"My lady, they only gave me an old rattle. How can you say they were kind?"

"Bao Que, look at this rattle. It's covered in marks, yet it's clean and tidy. It's a treasure that its owner has played with often. It's a cherished possession that someone would give up. How can it not be considered thoughtful to part with something you love?"

Inadvertently glancing at a bright yellow piece of clothing at the gate, she smiled and said.

"Besides, our Sixth Prince is still young, so he doesn't have to worry about hurting his hands when holding the rattle."

"I am ashamed..."

The emperor looked gently at the simple woman who was busy drying things in the yard and gave soft instructions.

"Su Peisheng, let's go."

"It is Hongzhan's blessing to have a mother like Concubine Shu."

There was a clear sense of lightness in the emperor's words, and Su Peisheng, who walked a little stiffly, smiled and continued.

"Your Majesty, the Sixth Prince was born into an imperial family, which is his greatest blessing."

The emperor smiled and said nothing, then walked towards the prince's residence.

As soon as the court was over, he heard Concubine Qi crying and asking for a meeting, saying that the palace maids who took care of the third prince were not diligent, which led to the prince's illness, and asked him to punish them severely.

From this perspective, Shufei, who was a new mother, was indeed far superior to Qifei and deserved the word "Shu".

"Su Peisheng, Concubine Shu is very understanding and has suggested that the ceremony of conferring the title of consort should be kept simple. Remember to inform the Queen and ask her to arrange it as soon as possible."

"The slave obeys the order."

The emperor has given the order, so Su Peisheng dare not delay.

More than an hour later, Jingren Palace received a notice from the emperor.

"Jianqiu, what do you think the emperor thinks?"

"She stayed here with me, thinking of the noble lady Wan who was feigning illness. She sent the knot of love to Suiyuxuan in front of me."

"Now, despite my big belly, you are urging me to organize the ceremony for the conferment of the title of Consort Shu."

Jianqiu knew that what the emperor did was not right, but the emperor was still the emperor after all.

She rubbed the young lady's head with moderate strength and whispered comforting words.

"Your Majesty, you have been in charge of the harem for many years. Whether it is Yonghe Palace or Suiyuxuan, nothing can escape your control."

"Your Majesty, the dragon fetus is the most important thing. The rest are mine servants and Jiang Fuhai."

Concubine Shu is like a grasshopper in autumn, she can't jump for long.

The medicine at Suiyuxuan has been used continuously, and even though Concubine Ren Wan has all the means, it is impossible for her to get pregnant.

Serving the king with beauty is not a long-term solution after all.

Jianqiu prayed to the gods and Buddhas day and night, and she was willing to sacrifice the rest of her life in exchange for the queen giving birth to the little prince safely.