Dressing as Ziwei makes the Qing Dynasty more powerful

Concubine Ling's eyes widened, her face filled with disbelief, and she let out a sharp, frantic cry: "Impossible! How could she be so powerful? She must be faking it. It must be that Fu Kang'an who conspired with her to create this deception. That vixen, like her mother, only knows how to seduce men."

Like a madman, she searched everywhere for something to vent her anger, but was shocked to find that the house was empty, not even a vase. She stood there, her eyes filled with confusion and shock, muttering to herself, "Where are the vases in the house? Where are the porcelain?"

La Mei, standing nearby, bowed her head and replied in a low voice, "Your Majesty, since you smashed everything last time, the Imperial Household Department has only sent a few, and I took it upon myself to place them in the main hall." Her tone betrayed a hint of helplessness and apology. After all, the Yanxi Palace needed some decorations to enhance its appearance; visitors couldn't afford to see the poverty within. Although Concubine Ling was currently under house arrest, she would one day be freed.

Upon hearing this, Concubine Ling let out a cold smile, her eyes gleaming with anger. She knew full well what the Imperial Household Department's actions signified—they were discriminating against her. Once upon a time, any precious treasure or exquisite item would be immediately sent to the Yanxi Palace; now, even a few ordinary pieces of porcelain were reluctant to be given to her. This feeling of being slighted made her feel deeply humiliated, and her anger burned even more fiercely.

"Lamei, the emperor should have left court by now. Take the things I've written these days and the purse that Dongxue has just sewn and give them to the emperor."

When La Mei thought of those things, the corners of her mouth twitched. If she gave the emperor those things whose words could not be clearly seen, would he really not be angry?

However, she did not dare to disobey Concubine Ling's decision, so she could only pack up and carefully leave the Yanx Palace, avoiding the crowd along the way, and finally arrived outside the imperial study.

"Stop, what are you doing here?" Li Yu stopped her. The people in the Yanx Palace were really bold. They dared to run outside even though they were under house arrest.

La Mei took out the things and said, "Butler, this box contains something that the Emperor asked Concubine Ling to copy. You don't know how much energy Concubine Ling put into copying this. Her hands are so worn out from writing that they still can't use them. How about you please deliver it to the Emperor? Concubine Ling will definitely thank you."

Li Yu took the box and said, "Okay, I'll deliver it. You can leave now."

La Mei nodded, and after repeated instructions with concern, she left reluctantly under Li Yu's impatient gaze.

Seeing the man walking away, Li Yu looked at the box in his hand, and after hesitating for a long time, he knocked on the door of the imperial study.

"How's the investigation going at the Zhan Gan Office?" Qianlong asked while reviewing memorials when he saw him come in.

Li Yu replied respectfully, "Your Majesty, the news from Zhan Gan is that it will take some time to be sorted out and sent over." After saying that, Li Yu opened the box in his hand. When he saw the purse on the top, he couldn't help but sneer in his heart. It was indeed the same old trick again.

Afterwards, he reported to Qianlong: "Your Majesty, this was sent by La Mei from the Yanx Palace. It is said that it is the female precepts that Concubine Ling was punished to copy a hundred times." Upon hearing this, Qianlong remembered that there was such an incident before. He took the box and picked up the familiar purse inside. He recognized it as Concubine Ling's work at a glance.

After setting the purse aside, he unfolded the papers inside. However, the contents left him stunned. "This... is this Concubine Ling's handwriting? How come it's even uglier than Xiaoyanzi's? Didn't she say that Empress Xiaoxian taught her calligraphy every day when she was alive?" He flipped through the pages in disbelief. Suddenly, when he saw one, he frowned, pointed at the red mark on it, and asked, "What is this?"

He took it to his nose and sniffed it. A faint smell of blood lingered at his nose. It was the smell of blood. He was startled and quickly flipped through the next dozen pages. Sure enough, there were dried bloodstains on every page.

He couldn't help but think of the scene when Concubine Ling was writing, imagining that her fingers were injured while writing, but she still insisted on continuing. This tenacity and persistence made Qianlong feel distressed. After all, she was the woman he had doted on for a long time, and her gentleness and delicacy had always deeply attracted him.

"Li Yu, go to the Yanxi Palace later to see how she is doing," Qianlong ordered, his tone tinged with concern. Li Yu responded, but his heart was filled with doubts. Could it be that Concubine Ling was really going to make a comeback?

Qianlong did not notice Li Yu's thoughts and said impatiently: "You idiot, what are you thinking about? Go and see if the news from Zhan Gan has been delivered." Li Yu nodded hurriedly and left in a hurry.

A moment later, Li Yu entered with a memorial and respectfully presented it to Qianlong: "Your Majesty, this is the information compiled by the Zangan Office." Qianlong took the memorial and looked at the thick stack of papers, frowning. His harem had always been peaceful and tranquil. Why was there so much to sort out? Could it be that the Zangan Office had taken the initiative to investigate other insignificant matters?

When he opened the letter, the tiny handwriting inside gave him a bad feeling.

As he read page after page, he became more and more shocked. So many things had happened in the harem, and their methods left him dumbfounded.

Especially Concubine Ling. Since she became favored, she not only found various excuses to stop him from going to other people's palaces, but also gave safflower to low-ranking concubines more than once, causing some of them to have miscarriages, some to be infertile for life, and some to lose their lives directly. The deaths of Xiaoxian and several princes also seemed to be related to her.

It can be said that none of the women in the harem are innocent, and they all have more or less done shady things. There are exceptions, such as Xiaoxian and the current Nara family, whose hands are clean and they have not intentionally hurt anyone.

Qianlong didn't know how he finished reading this thick memorial. Suddenly, he thought of Concubine Nian of the previous dynasty. She was very favored when she entered the palace. The emperor only favored her and allowed her to run rampant in the palace. His mother suffered a lot at that time. Fortunately, he was raised by the emperor's side since he was a child, so he didn't fall into the hands of that woman.

But after he became emperor, how could he be so naive to think that there was no intrigue in his harem?

And he actually hated Xian'er for so many years. In the entire harem, only she and Xiaoxian were truly devoted to him. Thinking of this, he sighed and decided not to let Xian'er suffer any more grievances in the future.