Reborn as a concubine's daughter and entering a noble family: Xie Lang, don't be too seduc

Hawthorne looked up at the sky and couldn't help but sigh...

It seems like one problem after another is being solved.

Turning around, I saw Xie Lin standing there, a thin mist in his eyes, as if he were also considering the same thing.

There was one thing that Huo Sanghua couldn't understand: Logically speaking, she grew up in Consort Qi's palace and rarely had the opportunity to see His Majesty. How could it be that after only a few encounters, His Majesty was so fond of her?

She's not smart, but she's not stupid either.

If you still don't understand His Majesty's various hints by now, then all those years of growing up in the palace and learning about human nature have been wasted.

There are so many women in the palace, and when it comes to beauties... they are all stunning beauties. She considers herself to have some looks, but compared to the myriad beauties in the palace, she is not considered outstanding.

She thought that getting married out of the palace would give her peace and quiet, but unexpectedly, Eunuch Cai came with gifts from His Majesty and Consort Qi, and asked her to come to the palace to express her gratitude.

Consort Qi? What a joke! Consort Qi probably doesn't even know about this.

Eh?

Wouldn't it be better if Consort Qi found out?

Consort Qi is no longer young, and her biggest worry is that she will fall out of favor due to her advanced age. If Consort Qi knew that His Majesty had instructed her to enter the palace to "express her gratitude," wouldn't she try every means to stop him?

Having figured this out, Hawthorne breathed a sigh of relief, putting her mind at ease.

So the question now is—

How should we deliver this message to Consort Qi?

Her gaze involuntarily turned to Granny Guo standing to the side.

At this moment, Granny Guo was also astonished by the gifts sent from the palace, her face filled with worry and a solemn expression. She seemed to be reassessing just who Huo Sanghua was, that he could warrant the most favored eunuch Cai... personally making this trip!

Could it be that the rumors circulating in the palace earlier were actually true?!

It’s hard to say. It’s really hard to say.

Then, she slightly raised her eyes and saw that Huo Sanghua was looking at her, and she couldn't help but shudder.

He thought to himself, "How could a stupid little girl like her have any sense?"

Granny Guo subtly put on a smiling face, "Why is the Second Madam looking at this old servant like that?"

"Does Granny Guo also feel this is inappropriate?" Huo Sanghua asked.

"How could that be? This is His Majesty and the Empress's heartfelt gift to the Second Madam..." Granny Guo said in a high-sounding tone, afraid of offending the person in front of her because of this matter.

“But I don’t think it’s appropriate,” Huo Sanghua interrupted Guo Mama, speaking to herself. “These things… are too precious. I grew up in the Empress’s palace and never saw His Majesty treat her with such care. Now that I’ve married out of the palace, even if I wanted to, I don’t know where to begin to express my unwavering loyalty to the Empress.”

Granny Guo gasped, scrutinizing Huo Sanghua's reaction.

She understood. "This old servant understands, Second Madam, rest assured, Her Majesty will surely know of Second Madam's loyalty."

After saying this, he took his leave.

Huo Sanghua turned to look at Xie Lin.

Xie Lin had heard every word of her conversation with Granny Guo, and couldn't help but curl the corners of his mouth into a smile, opening his mouth but making no sound.

Judging from his lip movements, he clearly cursed – “Little fox.”

She raised an eyebrow at Xie Lin, indicating that everything was still under control and she wasn't worried.

What happened next was exactly as she had predicted.

Granny Guo delivered the news of His Majesty's reward to the palace. After learning of this, Consort Qi remained silent and did not reveal to anyone that she was aware of His Majesty's actions.

Then, one night, he suddenly felt a chill and went mad in front of His Majesty, even though he had been sleeping soundly just moments before.

They insisted that the palace was haunted and that they had seen General Huo's ghost...

In less than two days, the news spread throughout Shengjing.

Even the storytellers in the teahouses had prepared their own scripts, recounting the tales with such vivid detail, as if they had witnessed them firsthand...

"...The words had barely left her lips when she was startled to see a figure in heavy armor standing behind a curtain. Consort Qi was terrified, her face paling, and the sword she was wielding fell to the ground with a clang. General Huo's shadow flickered in and out of sight behind the curtain. Consort Qi cried out, 'Why do you want to harm me?' His Majesty was stunned, for he only heard Consort Qi talking to herself, sometimes in her own voice, sometimes in another, rough voice, like a man's. She said, 'I have devoted my life to the country, and you dare to bully my daughter...'"

It is said that later, the entire Yaohua Palace was in turmoil before they were able to subdue the almost insane Consort Qi.

When dawn broke, Consort Qi woke up and had completely forgotten everything that had happened the night before. She didn't even remember seeing General Huo.

But this also caused him to fall seriously ill.

His Majesty felt sorry for Consort Qi and from that day on, he stayed by her side every step of the way except when attending court.

He stayed in Yaohua Palace every night, much to the envy of the other concubines in the harem.

Naturally... he no longer had the chance to provoke people he shouldn't have, but the storytellers had no idea about this.

The "love story" between His Majesty and Consort Qi was widely known. For the first two days, the whole of Shengjing was envious of Consort Qi for being so favored by His Majesty. But starting from the third day, the wind seemed to suddenly change.

The streets and alleys were abuzz with discussion about why General Huo's ghost would seek out His Majesty and Consort Qi, even accusing them of bullying their orphaned daughter.

As a result, a public opinion storm quickly spread among the people...

Lu Ming had specially invited Xie Shu to enjoy tea. They had just settled into a private room in the teahouse when they heard the storyteller about to recount events from years past—

"...Speaking of the Huo family, it's quite a story," the storyteller said, lowering his voice slightly as he spoke to the audience. "Did you know that General Huo was somewhat connected to the maternal family of Empress Wang of the previous dynasty? General Huo lost his father at a young age, and Empress Wang's father took him in and taught him all his skills, which enabled him to lead troops into battle and accumulate numerous merits. However, in the battle where our emperor defeated the previous dynasty, it was thanks to General Huo's assistance that the situation was turned around, and defeat was averted..."

An audience member asked, "Does that mean General Huo betrayed Empress Wang's maternal clan and switched his support to His Majesty today?"

"No, no," the storyteller said, stroking his sparse beard. "It was Emperor Ai of the previous dynasty who betrayed General Wang first, chilling the hearts of all the generals of the previous dynasty and causing widespread resentment both inside and outside the court. Emperor Ai favored treacherous officials and allowed them to wreak havoc on the government. General Wang, the father of Empress Wang, spoke frankly and accepted advice, but was severely beaten in front of many people by that incompetent Emperor Ai, causing him to suffer a fatal injury from his anger... ...With the death of General Wang, those who had previously held back their anger out of respect for the old general rose up in rebellion, which led to General Huo's betrayal and his assistance to the current emperor in defeating the previous dynasty!"

But they rebelled for the greater good of the world, overthrowing the previous emperor Ai and establishing a new dynasty.

General Huo, who helped the current emperor ascend the throne and seize power, ultimately suffered the fate of losing his entire family, leaving only an orphaned daughter alive...

I thought that now that the emperor has brought the orphan of the Huo family back to the palace, he would take good care of him.

Who would have thought that General Huo's ghost would appear in the world and accuse His Majesty of bullying the Huo family's orphaned daughter.

"I wonder what Young Master Xie thinks about this matter?" Lu Ming looked up at Xie Shu meaningfully and handed him the tea.