Ping Zhao Lu

The atmosphere in the Cining Palace was solemn and depressing.

With the full treatment of the imperial physician, Wei Fu, who had been in a coma, finally slowly opened her eyes.

At this moment, she was extremely weak and could only lie limply on the couch. She turned her head with difficulty and looked around in confusion.

Then she saw a haggard-looking woman sitting not far away. Wei Fu's heart tightened.

Her originally pale and weak face instantly became aggrieved, her lips trembling slightly as she called out softly, "Mother..."

Mrs. Jiang, who was worried, was overjoyed when she suddenly heard the voice of her little daughter.

She stood up suddenly and walked quickly to Wei Fu in two steps.

Then, she pulled her daughter's slender, cold hands with a distressed look on her face, her voice choking with excitement: "Buddha bless you! My Fu'er has finally woken up. If anything had happened to you, I wouldn't want to live anymore..."

When she was moved, Mrs. Jiang couldn't help but pick up the embroidered handkerchief in her hand and gently wipe the tears from the corners of her eyes.

Seeing her mother so sad, Wei Fu felt very uncomfortable.

Thinking back to her current miserable state, she felt a surge of frustration and anger in her heart.

So, she endured the discomfort and said to her mother indignantly, "Mother, I will never marry that Shaoqing! Although my father doesn't hold an important position in our family, my brother is very capable. After winning the battle this time, it's only a matter of time before he returns to the capital to receive rewards. Besides, you are the Empress Dowager's biological sister! No matter how bad it is, I will never marry someone so lowly!"

Madam Jiang shook her head helplessly and said, "It was the Empress Dowager who proposed this marriage. Mother can't do anything about it. Fu'er, the Zhuang family is a noble family after all. You won't be looked down upon if you marry into their family. With the Empress Dowager's support, you will definitely be no less than those noble ladies in Zhaojing City!"

"No, I won't!" Wei Fu resisted fiercely. "I'm going to marry my cousin, the emperor. The position of empress should be mine. Who the hell is Xu Zhouye? A bitch! How dare he let his palace guards beat me like this!"

The more Wei Fu thought about it, the angrier she became. The ambition rising in her heart grew stronger. She held Madam Jiang's hand and pleaded, "Mother, how could the Emperor keep such a vicious and cruel person? Besides, can a man give birth to a child? He will definitely not be able to keep the position of Empress! Mother, please ask my aunt to let me enter the palace, even if it means being a concubine. I am willing to do that. Once I become the Emperor's, I will naturally be able to become Empress as well."

"This..." Madam Jiang's face was bitter, and she hesitated to speak, "The person who ordered you to be beaten this time was not the Queen, but the Emperor."

Upon hearing this, Wei Fu was shocked.

"How, how is it possible! How could he be the emperor's cousin!"

If that were true, how could she still have the face to be the emperor's concubine!

"Don't even think about entering the palace. It's not that easy to get by in the palace. Do you think those concubines are vegetarians? Just listen to your mother and aunt. There's nothing wrong with Zhuang Yan. He holds an important position at such a young age. He's in the Imperial Prison, where all officials are tried publicly. If you can establish contact with him, he can probably get some concessions from your future husband in the future, right?"

Mrs. Jiang said earnestly.

"I……"

Wei Fu was unwilling and very conflicted.

Seeing that there was hope of success, Madam Jiang quickly added fuel to the fire, "Although the Emperor's concubine is nice, she is still a concubine after all. To put it bluntly, she is a servant. The concubines in the harem are no pushovers. The Empress can handle them, but it's not just because of the support of the Duke of Guo and the Marquis of Dongping. If she doesn't have any cunning, how can she gain a foothold in the harem?"

"Mother heard that the empress, on the second day after taking office, asserted her authority in front of the other concubines, greatly angering your aunt and even having the emperor banish his sworn brother to Qianling Mausoleum. How could mother let you enter the palace with such a cunning person?"

Hearing this, Wei Fu's dissatisfaction gradually receded, but the unwillingness in her heart was still driving her. She refuted stubbornly, "That's because they are useless. If it were me, I would definitely be able to..."

Before she could finish her words, she was interrupted by Madam Jiang, "How can a concubine have the same status as a principal wife? Besides, Zhuang Yan is a capable man. He might even be promoted to the position of Imperial Court Justice. By then, you'll be the Imperial Court Justice's wife. Your sister Wei Rong will naturally look up to you!"

When Wei Fu heard that she could beat Wei Rong, she felt extremely relieved. She agreed without thinking, "I understand. Fu'er will follow mother's arrangements."

*

That night, Fengluan Palace.

Xu Zhouye leaned lazily on the couch, peeling lychees in his hands, his eyes fixed on a yellowed ancient book placed beside him. He read it with relish, looking particularly relaxed and comfortable.

Suddenly, as if remembering something, he said to Qinghe without even looking up, "Father sent me a lot of lychees. I can't finish them all by myself. Ask Su Ming to take some to the Imperial Study and Weiyang Palace, and distribute the rest to the servants in Fengluan Palace."

Qinghe, however, looked as if he wanted to say something but hesitated.

Seeing that the other person was taking a long time to respond, Xu Zhouye couldn't help but ask in confusion, "What's wrong?" As he spoke, he slowly put down the lychee in his hand and looked up at Qinghe.

Qing He sighed softly, then whispered, "Eunuch Su was injured and is recuperating in his room."

Upon hearing the news, Xu Zhouye's heart sank suddenly and a look of astonishment appeared on his face.

He stood up suddenly and asked anxiously, "What's going on?"

Qing He replied indignantly, “I only learned about this not long ago.

I heard from the palace servants that yesterday, Wei Fu, the eldest daughter of the Wei family, for some unknown reason, relied on the palace order of the Empress Dowager and stormed into our prince's palace in a threatening manner, saying that she must see your highness.

At that time, Eunuch Su tried to persuade her kindly, but Miss Wei refused to listen and insisted on forcing her way in.

Eunuch Su had no choice but to stop them, but Miss Wei actually kicked Eunuch Su directly.

Eunuch Su immediately fell to the ground. If the emperor had not ordered Miss Wei to be severely beaten, she would have continued to torture Eunuch Su. Poor Eunuch Su, he still has unbearable abdominal pain!

Xu Zhouye became angrier as he listened, "Can we ask the imperial physician to take a look?"

"Your Highness, since the injured one is a eunuch, I, as a servant, am not qualified to call in the imperial physician unless the master agrees." Qinghe knelt down, "However, I dared to take the initiative to use your Highness's name to call in the imperial physician for Eunuch Su... I hope Your Highness will punish me!"

Seeing this, Xu Zhouye quickly helped the man up and said, "I don't blame you. You did a great job. Take me to see Su Ming first."

"Thank you, Your Highness!" Qing He said gratefully, "I will take Your Highness there right away."

……

Not long after, the two of them arrived at Su Ming's recuperation place.

At this time, Su Ming was lying quietly on the couch, one hand covering his stomach, his face slightly pale.

When he saw that the queen had come to visit him in person, he was shocked and even spoke incoherently in panic, "Your Highness... Your Highness..." He struggled to get up from the couch and salute.

Xu Zhouye was quick-witted and quickly reached out to hold Su Ming's shoulder, stopping him. "No need to be polite. What did the imperial physician say?"

Su Ming nodded with a touched look on his face, then lowered his voice and replied, "Thank you for your concern, Your Highness. It's just some superficial injuries. The imperial physician said that fortunately, there's no damage to the root cause. As long as I apply ointment to the wound on time every day, it will heal soon."

Hearing this, Xu Zhouye's tense heart finally relaxed. He breathed a long sigh of relief and said slowly, "That's good. In that case, you won't have to work for the next few days. Make sure you rest well and recuperate. As for Wei Fu... I will definitely not let her go easily. I will definitely avenge this anger for you."