Kunning Palace

  "How dare they do this while I'm still alive? I am the empress after all," the empress exclaimed, shocked and pale upon receiving the news.

  Jinmumu had no choice, the person has already been sent into the palace. "Your Majesty, this is unavoidable, now that the person has entered the palace, Your Majesty must make a decision as soon as possible."

  "Hmph, my good father probably forgot about me, his daughter, long ago. Did he forget that he has his current status because of me? It's mutual exploitation - he helped her ascend to the throne and she let him sit stably in the prime minister's position."

  "Alright, you're right. Everyone has already entered the palace. No matter what, I, the empress, cannot let others see me make a fool of myself. I am still the empress after all, they can't possibly manipulate me."

  "Mother, don't worry, even if the fourth miss enters the palace, doesn't she still have to rely on you? She's just a grasshopper in your hand, and you can do whatever you want with her."

  It has come to this, the queen naturally knows that it is useless to entangle other things now, and handling the current affairs is the most important thing. It's just a pity that she missed the opportunity and didn't take precautions early on.

  As expected, the empress dowager would not easily forgive her, but she thought that by doing so, she could make her yield, and she refused to let her have her way.

  "You go and bring her up first, I want to see her before we talk."

  Yu Fu's slender figure was clad in a cloud-patterned brocade with a hundred flowers and butterflies dancing on the fabric, her waist was narrow and delicate as she took dainty steps, her pale wrist peeking out from beneath the light gauze, a pair of long and narrow phoenix eyes sparkled with a bewitching charm, her hair was styled in a simple yet elegant manner with only a few exquisite jade pins holding it in place, adorned with tiny tassels, a few strands of loose hair fell across her chest, exuding an enchanting freshness that perfectly complemented her beauty.

  Pingping Tingting walked in and curtsied, "Your humble servant greets Your Majesty the Empress."

  The queen felt a twinge of jealousy for an instant, but then thought of something and smiled faintly, offering a slight assist. "Get up, no need to be overly polite."

  Such an attitude was not expected by Yu Fu Yan, she was a concubine daughter of the Prime Minister's mansion, when the Empress got married, she was still young and not close to her elder sister, fortunately, her aunt was favored, so her days were not very bad.

  Later when she grew up a bit, her father found out that she was beautiful and after discussing with her aunt, he focused on cultivating her. She knew in her heart that all these came at a price, but she was willing.

  A daughter of a humble family has only two paths to take: either marry into a small household as the legitimate wife, which is basically impossible, or be sent to a high-ranking official or noble as a concubine.

  But the capital's officials and nobles have never been lacking, and she is not outstanding among them. The only thing she can do is to let her father discover her value, with her natural good looks, plus her later efforts to learn piano, chess, calligraphy and painting, which are quite profound.

  So she was sent into the palace by her father today.

  When she first heard the news, she was overjoyed. A few years ago, when she followed her stepmother into the palace, she had the good fortune to catch a glimpse of the emperor from afar. At that time, she had already set her heart on him, who was the most powerful person in the world and had a dignified appearance. She envied her older sister's good luck.

  After returning to the mansion, her aunt told her that her elder sister was infertile and she might be sent to the palace to represent the prime minister's family. From then on, she studied even harder and finally waited for this opportunity.

  Concealing one's inner thoughts, "Your Majesty, Father"

  "Call me Sister, I was married when you were still so young, now you've grown up to be so big," the Empress smiled and interrupted her, saying.

  Yu Fu Yin is not a fool, she knows the Empress Dowager must have some scheme against her, but as long as she can achieve her goal, she doesn't care about the means, success is all that matters.

  "Yes, elder sister," Yu Fu said with a smile, "Father heard that you are unwell and asked me to come take care of you so that you can recover soon."

  The empress did not explicitly state it, but rather casually said, "I know, you can stay in the Kun Ning Palace for now."

  "Yes, little sister knows."

  "There are many rules in the palace, I'm sure you also know what to do and have a plan in mind. If something happens, even though I am the empress, I may not be able to protect you. There are too many unavoidable things," the empress advised sincerely, seemingly truly considering her well-being.

  Yu Fu suppressed the sarcasm in her heart, showing gratitude on her face, with a hint of fear in her eyes, "Yes, thank you elder sister for your teachings, younger sister will remember."

  "Hmm, you go down first," the queen waved her hand.

  Yu Fu bowed and followed the palace maid out.

  "Girl, why have you changed your mind again?" Jin Moumou asked in puzzlement, seeing that the person had already walked far away.

  The queen withdrew her gaze, "But don't you think she looks good? Since the result is just to have a child, and her child has been born. If something happens to her, Yu's family will naturally be at Yu's house."

  Jinmumu thought for a moment and understood the Empress's meaning. Since the Empress had already reached this point, the Emperor would definitely not touch her, so the child would not come from the Empress's belly.

  Yu Fuwen is a member of the Yu family, and since his mother has passed away, it's likely that the child will be adopted by the Empress Dowager. She can treat him as her own son, even if they later discover that Yu Fuwen's death was suspicious. The Prime Minister will continue to support the Empress Dowager because she is the one who is truly a member of the Yu family.

  As for the empress dowager, whether or not Emperor would favor Shangguan Wan'er over Yu Fei'er, even if Shangguan Wan'er had a child of her own, the chances of that child ascending to the throne would still be much lower than those of Yu Fei'er's child.

  The only thing to fear now is that the Empress Dowager, in her rage, will disregard the deal with the Yu family and hand over all the evidence to the Emperor. She will be deposed and won't make it until Yu Fu'en's child is born, so she must speed up her actions.

  If that night had been successful, the one with children now would be her, and these problems wouldn't exist. Even if her father really did commit treason, she would have been able to escape punishment because of giving birth to an imperial heir, unfortunately it was all ruined by a single mistake.

  "I want to write a letter to Father, you send someone to deliver it tonight," she had to persuade her father to help her stabilize the Empress Dowager.

  I believe her father will also help her, the things she did, her father was supporting her at first, if the matter is exposed, it would not be good for the Prime Minister's mansion, and may even lead to the extermination of the entire family.

  She still can't figure out what her father used to persuade the empress dowager, or if the empress dowager had something on him.

  It would be better if she knew too.

  Su Jingxiu stayed in Zuiyunwu to "nurse" her injury every day, and finally on this day, the imperial physician determined that her body had recovered more than half, and it was suitable for her to go out and take a walk, which would be beneficial to her health.

  "Master, the scars on your body have all faded," Ling Yao said with a smile after helping her apply the last layer of medicine.

  Su Jing smiled and said, "Isn't that good?"

  These past ten or more days, she first had the three previous medicinal baths, and then there were the daily medicinal meals. She's now basically reached the point where seeing a bowl makes her want to flee. No matter how good the flavor is, those nourishing dishes with added medicinal ingredients are always easy to get tired of eating, especially for someone as picky as her.

  "Today is the first day of the month," Su Jing suddenly asked, recalling something.

  Yao thought for a moment, nodded, and her expression was complex. "It's the first month, Master. Previously, the Emperor even sent someone to say that tonight..."

  Su Jing let out a cold laugh, "Look at you, what are you afraid of? There's still the Emperor to rely on, and if all else fails, there's your master. When the Emperor arrives, we'll naturally open the door to welcome him. Do you think your master is a benevolent one?"

  "The master" heard Yao's urgent words and stomped his foot, "The slave is not worried about himself, the slave is..."

  "Good, Yao, I know you're worried about me. You've been following me since childhood, so you should have some understanding of what kind of person I am. When the Emperor arrives, no matter what, I will not push him away. Can't you see that from this incident?"

  "I understand," Yau nodded solemnly, "it was I who was mistaken."

  She only knew that the emperor stayed overnight at Zuiyun Pavilion on New Year's Eve, but she didn't think about the harm this would bring. Even if outsiders didn't know, the people of Zuiyun Pavilion did, and one day it would spread outside, and others would still be how they were.

  Moreover, if the Emperor is "pushed" out by the master, he must be displeased in his heart. If there is a rift with the master, it would be even more unprofitable. Compared to the Empress's resentment towards the master, these disadvantages are obviously even more disadvantageous.

  Anyway, as the master said before, the master and the concubines in the harem had already formed a grudge against each other. Whether she was favored or not, they would fight to the death, and now that they were already resentful, what's the difference if there's more?

  "Master, the orchids in the garden are blooming, would you like to take a look?" Daiman said excitedly as he walked in.

  "Wait, didn't the Emperor send someone to deliver a few pots of crane orchids yesterday?" Hearing this, Yao Li wanted to refuse, as every time something happened in the Imperial Flower Garden, it was always too much.

  Su Jing also unwillingly went to the Yu Hua Garden in her subconscious, so she shook her head, "Forget it, it's cold outside, Ben Niang will just stay in the house."

  "Master, the imperial physician said that it would be beneficial for you to move around more, otherwise..." Yu heard her out, but she refused and was unwilling.

  Su Jing couldn't help but laugh and cry at the same time, "You've said it all."

  "Never mind, let's just go out for a walk then. Isn't there a Lotus Lake near Guan Yu Temple? Let's go there."

  Su Jing had not been to Lianhu Lake for a long time, or rather, the number of times she came was originally not many. The lake surface without lotus flowers and leaves looked very empty, with clear water that could see the bottom, where many ornamental goldfish were raised.

  "Master, it seems to be Du Cairen over there," Dai Man suddenly spoke up.

  Su Jing was originally holding fish food to feed the fish, and upon hearing this, she threw away the remaining fish food in her hand, glanced in that direction, and slowly wiped her hands with a handkerchief.

  "The concubine gives greetings to Lady Jin," and made a bow.

  Su Jing waved her hand and said, "Du Cai Ren, no need for excessive courtesy."

  After a moment of silence, Su Jing said with no interest, "Ben Pei still wants to stroll around other places, Du Cai Ren has something to do and will go first."

  Du Wan struggled for a few seconds and then shook her head, "If Zhen Niang doesn't mind, let the servant girl attend to you."

  Palace Concubine (Yi) / 33 / 33265

  Gong Shu