boyutpedia Chapter 168: Begging for mercy to lift the ban
Chapter 168: Begging for mercy to lift the ban
Until the next day, there was no news of any commotion in the palace, so Xia Dongchun knew that Zhen Huan had also chosen to remain silent for the time being and wait for the right opportunity.
However, this matter cannot be rushed. The Nian family is now in a powerful position, and a head-on confrontation will be useless. Besides, Concubine Chun has no substantial evidence. Even if she tells the emperor, it will probably only cause him trouble.
In addition to the Nian family, Prince Dun's family has been in the limelight recently. The emperor conferred titles on his two children and posthumously conferred titles on Prince Dun's biological mother, Consort Wenxi. In the eyes of many people, Prince Dun is currently a favorite of the emperor.
But Xia Dongchun saw it clearly. Yun Ling had told her that in the previous life, the emperor first conferred titles on Prince Dun's two children, and then posthumously conferred titles on their biological mother, giving Prince Dun enough face. However, not long after, he sent Prince Guo to lead people to surround Prince Dun's mansion, capture Prince Dun, and detain him in the clan house. Prince Dun's wife and two children were also demoted to commoners.
After Prince Dun, it was Nian Gengyao's turn.
So Xia Dongchun is not worried at all now. These things in the previous dynasty are not something she can control alone. She just needs to take care of herself and her daughter.
However, there has been good news coming out of the palace recently.
——Concubine Chun is pregnant.
After this news came out, some were happy while others were sad.
This time, the empress dowager specifically summoned the empress to Shoukang Palace to talk, and in her words she also warned the empress not to do anything again.
The queen agreed respectfully on the surface, but it was hard to say what she was thinking in her heart.
Anyway, the Queen Mother is ill all the time, so even if she wants to, she's probably powerless most of the time.
Because of the previous incidents, this time Zhen Huan recommended Wen Shichu to Yinzhen to help Concubine Chun with her pregnancy. And because of Wen Shichu's ability in treating epidemics, Yinzhen readily agreed.
An Lingrong was still under house arrest, but after hearing about this, she had a gloomy face and didn't speak for a long time. Now everyone in the palace was living better than her. She was already under house arrest and couldn't see the emperor. Now that Concubine Chun was pregnant, the emperor would miss her even less. If this continued, how could she have any hope of regaining his favor?
She is now suffering from house arrest, so even if she wants to do something, she doesn't know where to start. She can't even leave her room, so she is in a bad mood.
Baoying saw this and advised her, "My lady, don't worry. The Queen has no one around her. She will definitely find a way to help you out after a while. If Fucha agrees, that would be really miserable. It would be no different from living in the cold palace."
These words did comfort An Lingrong, because Fu Cha had troubled her before, and his family background and status were better than hers, but what about now? Although Fu Cha still lived in the Yanxi Palace, the emperor had ordered that Fu Cha could not step out of the house, which was no different from being in the cold palace. She could only endure the days until her death.
In addition, Xia Dongchun is the mistress of Yanxi Palace, and An Lingrong doesn't believe that Xia Dongchun will miss the opportunity to torture Fu Cha.
If Xia Dongchun knew what An Lingrong was thinking, she would probably laugh and say that she was really wrong.
Why would Xia Dongchun need to personally make it difficult for Fu Cha to agree? Who in this palace doesn't flatter the powerful and bully the weak? Even without Xia Dongchun's intervention, the servants below would not let Fu Cha agree to an easy deal.
The same is true for An Lingrong. Everyone knows why she was confined, so in order to show off in front of Xia Dongchun, other palace maids and eunuchs in Yanxi Palace would embarrass An Lingrong without being told. Xia Dongchun did not take the initiative to tell them, but she did not stop them either.
Baoying was right. After the Queen learned that Concubine Chun was pregnant, she knew that she should find a way to rescue An Lingrong.
Now that Yinzhen has come to the harem, the places he goes to most often are the Yiku Palace and the Suiyuxuan, followed by the Yanx Palace. Concubine Chun is pregnant again, and nothing is developing in a direction that satisfies the Queen. She now has only one Concubine Qi under her command, and she is not very useful, so naturally she is anxious to save An Lingrong.
That day, Yinzhen was having dinner in Jingren Palace, and while talking, the Queen mentioned the matter of An Lingrong.
But she didn't mention it directly, instead she talked about something else first: "Your Majesty, Concubine Chun is pregnant, everything needs to be taken care of. I have already asked the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Imperial Kitchen to be careful about everything and make sure that Concubine Chun's baby is born safely."
"The queen is virtuous." Yinzhen took a handkerchief and wiped his mouth, praising her, but he didn't really mean it, and it seemed more like a perfunctory remark.
Seeing that Yinzhen seemed to be in a good mood, the queen continued, "It's just that there are not many concubines in the harem. Now that Concubine Chun is pregnant, there will be one less person to serve the emperor."
Yinzhen thought that the queen wanted to select a few more beauties from outside the palace, and frowned disapprovingly: "If we select from outside the palace, it will be too troublesome and too costly."
"Yes, I think so too." The Queen followed his words and said, "But the Emperor is the Son of Heaven, and he cannot be without servants around him. I think that the lesson given to An Ying is enough. Why not... let An Ying come out and let her sing a song for the Emperor to relieve his boredom? After all, what happened that day was all caused by Baojuan. An Ying can only be regarded as a lax ruler. Now that she has been under house arrest for nearly three months, it is time for her to reflect on herself."
Yinzhen remained silent. In his eyes, An Lingrong was just a little toy used to entertain himself, whose singing voice sounded a bit like Chun Yuan's. Although the Queen pleaded for mercy last time, saying that it was her lax rule that caused the servants under her to have evil thoughts and practice witchcraft in the palace, Yinzhen still had some grudges in his heart.
How could the Queen not see what he meant? But the most important thing now was to get An Lingrong out of the palace. It didn't matter whether she was favored again or not. She had to be released from house arrest first. Only after the house arrest was lifted would there be a chance for her to be favored again. If she was not released from house arrest, she would be completely forgotten by Yinzhen.
So the Queen continued to persuade her: "I think we should release An from her house arrest and let her apologize to Concubine Zhao. After all, it was her servants who did something wrong."
Seeing that the queen was determined to persuade him, Yinzhen was too lazy to bother with the matter anymore. To him, a small confinement in the harem was a trivial matter and not worth worrying about, so he nodded perfunctorily: "Then let's do as the queen says."
After saying that, he stood up and said, "I have something else to do. I will come to accompany you another day."
“Your Majesty…” The Queen stood up and tried to persuade him to stay, but Yinzhen had already strode to the door, so the Queen had no choice but to give up and said, “Your Majesty, I respectfully send you off.”
After leaving Jingren Palace, Yinzhen thought for a moment and said, "Let's go see Concubine Hua."
Su Peisheng followed his words: "Go to Yikun Palace!"