The Legend of Zhen Huan: Rebirth of Ling Rong

"Sister, I heard that Concubine Duan lives here. She has been bedridden for many years. Why don't we go see her?" I suddenly said.

"Lingrong, this is not appropriate. We are not familiar with Concubine Duan, so it would not be a good idea to go there rashly." The elder sister was a little worried.

"It's okay, we're just going to take a look. If Concubine Duan isn't here, we'll come back."

Then we went to visit Concubine Duan. The one who opened the door was Jixiang, the palace maid who appeared beside Concubine Duan last time. We explained our purpose.

"The queen is feeling unwell and has taken medicine and gone to bed. My lady, please go back. Tomorrow I will tell the queen that the two ladies have visited her."

"That's fine, then let your queen have a good rest."

Then I took my sister back to the banquet, and as soon as we sat down, Concubine Cao said anxiously that Princess Wen Yi had vomited again.

The emperor was very worried when he heard this and immediately rushed to see the princess. The princess cried even harder, so the emperor immediately summoned the imperial physician to see her.

After examination by the imperial physician, the princess's water chestnut soup was found to be faulty. Although not poisonous, it had been adulterated with tapioca starch. Because the baby's stomach was delicate, she suffered from abdominal pain, diarrhea, and incessant crying.

Concubine Hua couldn't help but speak up: "Investigate which palace has received cassava flour recently. Bring here everyone who has come into contact with cassava flour and interrogate them thoroughly."

The Imperial Kitchen's head steward replied, "Four days ago, only Suiyuxuan came to collect the cassava flour. Apart from him, no one else came."

Concubine Hua ordered someone to bring two palace maids, and they said that they saw Concubine Wan enter the Qingliang Palace.

Cao Qinmo burst into tears and immediately admitted her mistake: "Because of the last incident in Qinzheng Palace, my sister said the wrong thing, but it's not Wen Yi's fault."

The emperor realized the seriousness of the problem. It was obvious that this was a setup. So he asked, "Lady Wan, have you been there?"

"Your Majesty, I was just passing by and did not go in."

"But did anyone see you not go in?"

"Your Majesty, my sister and I were together at the time. We were just passing by and did not go in."

"Isn't it possible that Lady An fabricated this to exonerate Lady Wan? Besides, you two are together every day, so it's possible that you did it together."

Then the palace maids accompanying you are of course more suspicious. Slaves will naturally speak on the side of whoever they belong to. How can this be believed?

Concubine Hua is indeed powerful. Even if I went with her, I would not be able to explain myself clearly now. She is deliberately framing me.

Jixiang was perceptive and noticed something was wrong here. After asking around, he found out that it was about Princess Wen Yi.

He went back and told Concubine Duan. After thinking about it, Concubine Duan decided to come and take a look.

"I was with my two sisters at the time, so I can testify." Concubine Duan spoke as soon as she entered the room.

At that time, the two sisters seemed to be drunk, so I invited them to my palace to rest for a while. After we chatted for a while, they left.

"Why didn't you mention this matter just now?" The emperor was puzzled.

"Your Majesty, Concubine Duan has been in poor health, so we concealed this matter because we didn't want the Emperor and Empress to worry." I stepped forward to explain.

"Concubine Duan, you didn't do this on purpose, did you?" Concubine Hua obviously didn't believe it.

"I've only met these two sisters twice, so we can't say we're close. Besides, I don't like to meddle in other people's affairs. But when I ran into them today, I couldn't bear to see them wrongly accused."

"The matter is very clear. I will ask again, did you see them enter Qingliang Palace?" At this time, the queen's eyes were sharp and would not tolerate any offense.

"I didn't see it." The palace maid didn't dare to say anything more.

The emperor ordered the imperial physician to take good care of Princess Wen Yi and then let everyone go.

"Your Majesty, what should we do with those two palace maids?" The Queen asked for the Emperor's opinion.

"The Queen has the final say."

"Jianqiu, have someone take him away and give him eighty slaps on the face."

"Yes, madam!"

Concubine Duan caught up with Concubine Wan and started chatting.

"Thank you for your help tonight, Madam."

Concubine Duan took Zhen Huan's hand and said as they walked: "I have my own reasons for helping you."

"Poor Princess Wen Yi, she suffered so much at such a young age."

"Although Princess Wen Yi is frail, she is a daughter of a wealthy family and is blessed by the gods and Buddhas."

"The children in this palace may seem noble, but they are actually full of misfortunes!" Concubine Duan said this and walked away on her own.

After Wen Yi was brought back to the palace, she continued to cry.

Concubine Hua was angry, so she asked Concubine Cao to take her out and comfort her.

Just as Concubine Cao was about to thank Concubine Hua, Concubine Hua said, "Put her back after you've coaxed her into submission."

Concubine Cao suddenly felt desperate and felt sorry for her Wen Yi.

The Empress consulted the Emperor and was told that Xiao Tang from the Imperial Kitchen had confessed his guilt. This had happened because of a momentary oversight that had led to the mixing up of two materials.

The emperor knew that this was a deliberate act, and they had found a scapegoat so quickly. However, he was now wary of Nian Gengyao's power, so he had no choice but to give up.

He only told the Queen: "I have received a letter that the battle in the northwest has been successful. It is time to wait for the reward. This matter ends here."

"What about Xiao Tang?"

"Kill with a stick!"

Concubine Cao brought a plate of lotus seeds with the core removed to see the emperor. After tasting it, the emperor thought the taste was acceptable, but it lost its flavor because the lotus core was missing.

"The heart of the lotus seed is the most bitter, and others cannot understand it, so it is removed."

The emperor felt sorry for Wen Yi suffering with Concubine Hua, so he specially approved Concubine Cao to take the princess back.

"It's your own child, take him home and raise him yourself!"

Concubine Cao smiled happily and went back to take Wen Yi away.

"Lingrong, tell me, why would Concubine Duan help us? We are not familiar with her. We only met her at the palace banquet."

"Sister, Concubine Duan has her reasons for doing this. If she wants something, she will definitely ask for it. Let's not speculate too much."

Sister Mei, on the other hand, was now pregnant and naturally the enemy of everyone in the harem. Besides Concubine Hua, the Empress also had ulterior motives. The only remaining option was the Empress Dowager to protect her and the child.

"Sister, why don't we go and see Sister Mei? She must be bored staying in the palace alone." I suggested.

"We've been busy these past few days and haven't visited her yet, so why not go see her now?"

"Jinxi, you come with me later. Huanbi and Liuzhu will stay behind to look after them."

"Yes, I'll go tell them right away." Jin Xi went out.

"Sister, why don't you take Huanbi with you? You usually take her with you when you go out. You are inseparable. Why don't you take Huanbi with you today?"

Huanbi has been acting strangely lately, and I'm a little worried about her. Mei Jie is pregnant now, so I have to be more careful.

We can’t let those with ulterior motives take advantage of the opportunity and cause Sister Mei to suffer the same fate as last time.

"You've always been cautious. Isn't this something I learned from you?"