Chapter 37: Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace
The glory of the Ulanara family, from Empress Dowager Chengbi to the two queens Rouze and Yixiu, there were irreconcilable conflicts between them, but they would stand on the united front for the sake of the family.
In order to continue the glory of the Ulanara family, Yixiu brought her beautiful niece Qingying into the palace to be educated, hoping that she could cultivate a childhood sweetheart relationship with the third prince whom she favored the most.
But Qingying looked down on the stupid Third Prince, and instead developed a "brotherly" relationship with the Fourth Prince.
In order to avoid being chosen by the Third Prince, she ate a lot of beans, farted in public, and embarrassed Yixiu in front of everyone.
Although she married the Fourth Prince Hongli as a concubine, she never thought of seeking anything for Ulanara. After Hongli ascended the throne, she took the initiative to distance herself from Jingren Palace and only knew Yongshou Palace but not Jingren Palace.
Yixiu placed all his hopes for maintaining the glory of the Ulanara family on Qingying and was willing to die for her. Unexpectedly, Qingying still considered herself noble and not only did she not consider the family, she also cut her hair willfully and trampled on the glory of the Ulanara family.
Yixiu was almost mad with anger!
When Zhang Shan arrived, Concubine Xi, Niohuru Zhen Huan, had already returned to the palace. Fortunately, the bowl of mung bean soup had not yet been served to the Fourth Prince's table.
"Jianqiu, how many years have you been with me?"
"I have been with you since I was twelve years old. It has been thirty years now."
"Time flies so fast!"
"Jianqiu, if I want you to die, are you willing?"
Jianqiu knelt on the ground and said, "I am willing."
When Jianqiu thought Zhang Shan would let her harm Zhen Huan, Zhang Shan pulled her up and said, "Okay, I know you are the most loyal. I have been dreaming about my sister for a while, and I am a little worried. Please investigate again. Who else knows about my sister's death?"
"She is like a knife on my neck now. I am really scared. Will you help me deal with the person who might hold this knife in the future?"
"Don't worry, Madam. I will definitely deal with the person who knows this matter."
"Okay, only I and you know about this. The more people who know about it, the closer I will be to death!"
After watching Jianqiu leave, Zhang Shan called An Lingrong. The mother and son in front of her had pretty faces and a pitiful demeanor, but she was meticulous, smart and sensitive. It was she who discovered the truth about Rouze's death in the previous life and provided the conditions for Zhen Huan to move to the original owner.
"You entered the palace with Concubine Xi. Now Concubine Xi and Concubine Hui are both pregnant. You have also served the emperor for many years. Why are you not pregnant too?"
"It is my incompetence that has prevented the Queen from sharing her worries."
"It's not that you're incompetent, it's just that you lack a bit of luck. In this palace, only concubines who have given birth to children have a place in the emperor's heart. As long as you are successful, your family will also benefit from it."
Zhang Shan knew that with An Lingrong's intelligence, she must have known that the original owner did not like concubines to have children. In order to please the original owner, she had taken a lot of contraceptive pills over the years.
Now Zhang Shan has implicitly agreed that An Lingrong can have a child. An Lingrong will definitely take good care of herself and get pregnant with a royal heir as soon as possible.
"Okay, go back now. Let the imperial physician take good care of you and hope you can get pregnant with a dragon heir soon."
"Thank you, Her Majesty. I bow to you in respect." Although she knew that the Queen might let her confront Zhen Huan, it was hard for An Lingrong not to be moved.
As long as the queen agrees to let her have the baby, the child can be born.
Soon, Jianqiu came back. All the people who knew about what happened that year had been investigated. Most of them were people around the original owner. As for the doctors outside and the eunuchs who boiled medicine, they had all been dealt with.
"My lady, Huichun and the others..."
"What do you want to say?"
"Empress Xi has just returned to the palace, don't make any big moves!"
"Empress Xi assists in the management of the six palaces, so it is normal for some mistakes to occur."
"I understand, Madam, don't worry."
The Empress had a headache again and stayed indoors. Even the management of Jingren Palace became lax. Zhen Huan was still considering whether to place a few people in Jingren Palace when she learned that an epidemic had broken out in the palace and many palace maids and eunuchs had died.
The emperor thought about how Shen Meizhuang had not been able to escape the epidemic back then, and he looked at Zhen Huan and Shen Meizhuang with something unusual in his eyes.
"The emperor is suspicious. He obviously doubts you and me. The queen's move of cutting off an arm will hurt 800 enemies and herself 1,000. It is really not smart." Shen Meizhuang stroked her bulging belly, her eyes full of disdain.
Although Zhen Huan felt that there were some things that were indescribable and strange, she couldn't figure out why.
Here, Ulanara selected a young girl and brought her into the palace for Zhang Shan to see. "Your Majesty, this is my daughter Qingying."
"Qingying pays respect to Her Majesty the Queen. May Her Majesty be blessed with good health and long life."
"Yes, she is a smart one, and looks like her sister in her old days."
“Qingying doesn’t dare to compare herself with Aunt Chunyuan.”
At this time, Jianqiu came in and said that the stage had been set up and invited Zhang Shan to take a seat.
Qingying didn't see Zhang Shan taking her there, so she had to follow Madam Ulanara, "Mother, does my aunt dislike me?"
"You are the Queen's only niece. How could she not like you? Don't think too much."
"it is good."
Qingying was feeling bored when she saw the Fourth Prince in the corner. She suddenly felt like a deer was beating around in her heart and her face turned red.
"Mother, which brother is that over there?"
"Oh, he is the Fourth Prince who just came back from the Old Summer Palace. He is registered under the name of Concubine Xi. You usually don't have much contact with him..."
Qingying couldn't listen at all and was secretly looking at the Fourth Prince the whole time.
After the song "On the Wall on Horseback" ended, Qingying hurriedly followed the Fourth Prince as he left. The two met in the garden and discussed the opera they had just performed, and became familiar with each other.
After the Qianqiu Banquet, Qingying did not receive any indication from Zhang Shan that she wanted to stay in the palace, so she could only return home disappointed.
Although the Fourth Prince is very curious about Qingying, Qingying is obviously not favored by the Queen, and there are no capable men in her family. It would be great if such a beautiful woman could become his concubine.
At night, Zhen Huan was startled by a cat and gave birth to a pair of twins, a boy and a girl, prematurely. The emperor was very happy and promoted Zhen Huan to Noble Consort Xi.
"Why does Huipin look so bad? Doctor Liu, come and take a look at Huipin. Don't be scared. It will be bad if the fetus is disturbed."
"Your Majesty, I am fine. You don't need to look."
Shen Meizhuang's resistance was unusual, which made the emperor feel unusual. "Check Huipin's pulse!"
Shen Meizhuang’s face turned pale.
The imperial physician examined her for a long time, then knelt on the ground and said, "Your Majesty, Huipin is more than six months pregnant, and the fetus is stable, and there is nothing wrong."
"Nothing wrong?"
"Someone, call the head of the Imperial Hospital."
"Your Majesty..." Shen Meizhuang collapsed on the ground.
Not long after, the head of the Imperial Medical Bureau came and also diagnosed that Shen Meizhuang was pregnant with a baby of six months.
The emperor pinched Shen Meizhuang's face and said, "The history records that you slept with the emperor in February. Whose child is this?"
"If you don't say it, someone will." Then, the emperor locked Shen Meizhuang in Cunju Hall and took away the palace maids and eunuchs around her.
When Zhen Huan woke up, Shen Meiyu had been drugged, Wen Shichu was first castrated and then executed, and the nine clans of the Shen and Wen families were exiled to Ningguta by the emperor.
"Sister Mei!"
Zhen Huan spat out a mouthful of blood and fainted from grief.
Because of Shen Meizhuang's incident, the emperor began to doubt Zhen Huan's pregnancy. After several investigations, he discovered the suspicious points. Following the line of Lingyun Peak, he found evidence of a secret exchange between Zhen Huan and Prince Guo, the red statue, and the two marriage certificates...
The emperor could not swallow this loss. It just so happened that Prince Guo had not returned yet, so he did not need to come back.
Prince Guo died on the battlefield, and Zhen Huan was heartbroken because of the successive deaths of her sister, lover, and twin children. She was bedridden and died soon after.
An Lingrong realized that she was of no use at all, Shen Meiyu and Zhen Huan had already died, so she immediately took the birth control pill. If she really got pregnant, she would be the next to die.
After Zhen Huan's death, the emperor became addicted to elixirs, and Concubine Ning secretly gave him a large dose of medicine. The emperor died soon after.
After the emperor's death, Hongli ascended the throne, Zhang Shan became the empress dowager, and brought Qingying's youngest sister to her side to teach her.
Qingying had been married five years ago. Although the Ulanara family was a royal family, they had few connections in the court, and the family she married into was just an ordinary one.
Without the pampering of the original owner, Qingying was just an ordinary Qingying. Like most women, she schemed for the favor of her husband.
In the fifteenth year of Qianlong's reign, Zhang Shan passed away at the age of seventy.
Zhang Shan's niece was resilient and brave under her education. She became Hongli's successor and gave birth to the twelfth prince Yongji. When Hongli was most suspicious, she killed him with a knife.
Yongqi ascended the throne and continued the glory of the Ulanara family.