Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace: Fawning

Yuyan quickly fell behind the team due to exhaustion.

Ruyi was surrounded by people and walked beside Hongli. Her exquisite makeup could not hide the pride in her eyes.

Seeing this, Yuyan gnashed her teeth, her heart burning with jealousy. She said sourly, "I don't know what tricks the Imperial Concubine used. Even a high-ranking monk like Master Anji rushed to curry favor with her."

Zhenshu gently fanned Yuyan, her tone filled with undisguised disgust, "My lady, there's no need to be angry. Perhaps the Imperial Concubine is doing something dirty behind your back."

When Yuyan heard this, her already gloomy face became even uglier, her eyes flickered, and it was unknown what she was thinking.

The Anhua Hall was filled with the smoke of incense. Master Anji sat cross-legged on a cushion, muttering to himself and praying for the Qing Dynasty.

Ruyi led all the concubines to kneel in front of the Buddha statue, kowtow devoutly, and pray silently in their hearts.

A few hours later.

Li Yu stepped forward and whispered a few words in Hongli's ear.

Hongli stood up, his face heavy with worry, and said, "Master Anji, I have important matters to attend to, so I'll return to the Yangxin Palace first." He turned to look at Ruyi, "Ruyi, you are now the head of the six palaces. Please entertain Master Anji well for me."

"Your Majesty, I respectfully bid you farewell." Ruyi stood up and responded, but because she had been kneeling for too long, her legs and feet were numb, and she staggered and almost fell.

Fortunately, Master Anji was quick to reach out and hold Ruyi's hand, and asked with concern: "My Royal Highness, be careful."

Ruyi glanced at Master Anji gratefully and said softly, "Thank you, Master."

Hongli saw the whole scene and was very displeased by the physical intimacy between the two. He looked at Ruyi and said lightly, "Royal Concubine, please be more careful."

After saying that, he left Anhua Palace without looking back.

Ruyi was immersed in joy and therefore did not notice anything unusual about Hongli.

The night was as dark as ink, and fireflies were dancing in the courtyard of Yongshou Palace, just like stars in the night sky, which was beautiful beyond words.

Lan Cui reached out to catch the fireflies that flew past her, and asked in confusion, "My lady, will Concubine Cheng's method work? Will the Emperor really come to our palace?"

Yan Wan was wearing a light blue palace dress and standing among the fireflies. She looked like a fairy descending from heaven, so beautiful that it was beyond words.

With a smile on her lips, she said, "I believe in Concubine Cheng."

"The young lady and Concubine Cheng are so nice." Yanwan has a true friend in the palace, and Lan Cui is happy for her from the bottom of her heart.

At this time, Wang Chan ran into Yongshou Palace in a panic, "My lady, the emperor... the emperor is really coming this way."

Yan Wan immediately ordered Wang Chan to extinguish the candles, and the entire Yongshou Palace fell into darkness in an instant. Hongli was attracted by the unique scene of Yongshou Palace and immediately asked the eunuch to stop the sedan chair. As soon as he stepped into Yongshou Palace, he saw Yan Wan dancing gracefully among the fireflies. He was quickly attracted by Yan Wan's graceful figure. He clapped his hands and stepped forward, "I didn't know your ladyship was good at dancing."

Seeing the emperor approaching, Yongshou Palace immediately knelt down and said, "I am a damned concubine. I didn't know your majesty was coming." Yan Wan lowered her head and said slowly, "There are still many things that the emperor doesn't know."

Hongli stepped forward to help Yanwan up and gently scratched the tip of her nose. "Are you blaming me, your Highness?"

Yan Wan smiled shyly, "I dare not. The wine and food are ready in the room. Your Majesty, would you like to stay and have dinner with me?"

Hongli put his arm around Yanwan's waist, and his fingertips stroked her face back and forth.

Seeing that Hongli showed no intention of leaving, Li Yu hurried forward to remind him, "Your Majesty, didn't you promise the Imperial Concubine that you would go to the Yikun Palace to have dinner with her today?"

Hongli glanced at Li Yu and said calmly, "Go to Yikun Palace and tell the Imperial Noble Consort that I will be staying in Yongshou Palace tonight and will not be accompanying her."

After saying that, Hongli took Yanwan's hand and walked into the hall.

That night, Yanwan enjoyed the pleasure under the dragon bed.

Li Yu went to Yiku Palace to deliver the message. He told Ruyi how Hongli was attracted by Yan Wan and stayed in Yongshou Palace.

惢心 put some food into Ruyi's bowl, and her words seemed to show some disdain for Yanwan's behavior. She said, "Your Excellency is so frivolous and vulgar. How could she have charmed the Emperor with such tricks?"

Ruyi raised her armored fingers, picked up her chopsticks, and stuffed the food into her mouth. She said contemptuously, "Noble Consort Ling will do anything to climb the social ladder. Even if we were to tell us about her schemes, we wouldn't do them. She used fireflies to attract the Emperor's attention, which is enough to prove her low character."

She turned to look at Li Yu and said, "Li Yu, I know what happened today. Please go back to serve the emperor first."

"Yes, the slave will leave."

惢心 went out to see her off.

Ruyi's true nature was revealed when she saw that no one was in the room. Her face turned pale, and she threw her chopsticks on the table. She said angrily, "You despicable thing! You dared to snatch the emperor from me by relying on your resemblance to me? Tomorrow, I will punish you severely."

Just as Ruyi was thinking about how to punish Yanwan, a burst of hurried footsteps came from outside the door, breaking the tranquility of Yikun Palace.

Sanbao rushed in in a panic and said in fear, "My lady, this is bad. There are assassins in our palace."

Ruyi was startled and asked quickly, "What's going on?"

Sanbao said tremblingly, "Just now, when I was preparing hot water and passing through the yard, I saw a figure in white clothes wandering around the yard stealthily. Just as I was about to call for help, the figure ran away..."

Ruyi felt a chill in her heart when she heard this. She forced herself to calm down and asked, "Can you see who it is?"

Sanbao shook his head. "It was too dark, I couldn't see clearly. I only saw someone in white, but...but the patrolling guards have already chased after him."

White clothes?

Would an assassin wear white clothes to commit a crime at night?

Ruyi frowned, "Sanbao, you and惢心 go and see if there's anything valuable missing from the Yikun Palace."

"Yes." Just as Sanbao was about to leave, Ruyi suddenly called out, "Wait, Sanbao, take some guards to Yongshou Palace to protect the emperor. I'm afraid the assassin is targeting the emperor."

An ominous premonition came to her mind, and Ruyi's heartbeat suddenly accelerated.

"I obey your command." When Sanbao left, Rong Xin just walked in. When she heard that an assassin had entered the Yikun Palace, she was extremely nervous and immediately ran to Ruyi's side, "My lady, are you okay?"

Ruyi shook her head and said, "I'm fine. Where's Li Yu?"

"Eunuch Li Yu was afraid that the assassin was targeting the emperor, so he hurried back to Yongshou Palace to serve."

Ruyi nodded.

When Hongli heard that an assassin had entered the palace, he was terrified and immediately asked Li Yu to call Ling Yunche to strengthen the inspection of the palace and the harem.

But after several days, apart from the people in Yikun Palace who had seen the assassin, no trace of Ling Yunche was found. Hongli was furious and called Ling Yunche to the imperial court and scolded him, and then drove him out of the Yangxin Palace.

Ling Yunche was feeling depressed, so he took two jars of wine and went to find Zhao Jiuxiao to drink with him.

The two of them sat in a small room next to the cold palace, drinking glass after glass of wine until Zhao Jiuxiao was a little confused. He held the wine jar and chewed peanuts. Suddenly, he leaned close to Ling Yunche's ear and burped. Ling Yunche was also a little drunk. With a red face, he punched Zhao Jiuxiao in the chest, "Brother, you are drunk."

Zhao Jiuxiao didn't take it seriously and waved his hand, saying, "Brother, I know you're feeling pained. The woman you loved the most ended up being the emperor's woman, but it's all in the past. One must always look forward..."

Ling Yunche looked up and smiled, Lan Qi's words that day still echoing in his ears.

He always wanted to find an opportunity to ask Ruyi, but because of his low status, he had no chance to get close to Ruyi.

Zhao Jiuxiao said, "Do you still remember the Empress Xian who was banished to the cold palace by the emperor? She should be the Imperial Noble Consort now, right?"

Ling Yunche nodded, "What happened to her?"

Zhao Jiuxiao shook his head, trying to stay awake. After making sure no one was around, he spoke, "I heard from Lan Cui that the assassin who broke into Yikun Palace that day was none other than Master Anji from Anhua Palace."

Ling Yunche slammed his palm on the table and shouted loudly: "What nonsense! How could the Imperial Concubine be such a person? That Lan Cui is someone close to the noble lady. Stay away from her."

Hearing someone say bad things about Lan Cui, Zhao Jiuxiao's face immediately darkened and he frowned, "I know you're still angry about the noble Ling abandoning you. Lan Cui is the woman I love, and I won't let you say a bad word about her. Otherwise, don't blame me for not recognizing you as my brother."

Zhao Jiuxiao described the affair between Ruyi and Anji in vivid detail. Ling Yunche clenched his fists, not knowing what to say for a moment.

The news of the imperial concubine's affair with the monk soon reached the emperor's ears. Once the seeds of suspicion were planted, they would only take root.