The Virtuous Concubine of the Qing Dynasty

Chapter 31 Replacement (1)

Although Jiaorong knew that Qiu Jie wouldn't intend to threaten maliciously, her pupils trembled and she looked at Qiu Jie in disbelief: "Missing?"

"Yes, I only found out about these inside stories after inquiring with the old nuns in the palace. The palace servants who served the second elder brother in the Qianqing Palace will replace a batch every month, and they have never repeated it. The replaced people have gone. Well, no one knows where the new replacement came from." Qiu Jie stared straight at Jiaorong, as if she was really worried about her.

"These...does the emperor know?" Jiao Rong slowly frowned, and gradually had a deep thought.She has always felt that it is strange that the emperor transferred her to serve the second elder brother. Is it possible that the emperor thought that she was not pleasing to the eye, so he wanted to deal with her in a different way?
Qiu Jie shook her head, "I don't know about this, but what is certain is that it is definitely not a safe job to work next to the second elder brother."

Jiaorong returned to the Palace of Yanxi Palace that day, Qiu Jie's words kept replaying in her mind.Is it really dangerous to work next to the second elder brother?What if she is also forced to change when the time limit is up?What will be the method, assassination?Logically speaking, it shouldn't be. If it is really a long-term assassination replacement, there will be a lot of noise, and it is impossible for no one to notice.

Jiaorong thought hard for a long time, but she couldn't come up with a definite answer.She shook her head, and silently went to the backyard to wash clothes.

This month, Jiaorong's life was very ordinary and rich. With the emperor's acquiescence, Fulu came to deliver some food to Jiaorong every now and then, and the emperor met him for the same reason. He found all kinds of excuses that Yinrong couldn't eat and rewarded Jiaorong.

Sometimes when Jiaorong is sweeping the yard of the Yanxi Palace, she will bump into Yougui who is just returning to the palace, but no matter how Jiaorong pays her respects, Yougui always turns a blind eye.

The days are going on without a hitch, and it will soon be May.The anniversary of the death of the former empress was coming soon, and all the concubines and maidservants in the palace changed into light and elegant clothes, and they no longer blatantly ate delicacies from mountains and seas, but replaced them with lighter vegetarian food.

Some time ago, Jiaorong and Qiu Jie met again in Qianqing Palace, and the two talked about the recent situation. Qiujie deliberately told Jiaorong about the emperor's deep love for the former empress that she had inquired about.When Empress Renxiao passed away last year, the emperor was so sad that he even got seriously ill because of it.

The anniversary of Empress Renxiao's death is approaching, and the emperor has not stepped into the harem for a long time. He spent the whole day in the Hall of Mental Cultivation correcting memorials, and he was too busy to return to the Palace of Heavenly Purity to rest until very late.The heavy atmosphere in the palace gradually became thicker, and Jiaorong came to serve Yinreng every day, and she could feel that the child's state was quite different from usual.

It's just that Yinfeng didn't become sad, but he was more angry than before, and his eyes gradually brightened.

On the morning of the third day of May, the emperor and all his concubines went to the Buddhist hall to worship and chant sutras for the deceased queens.Because Yinreng was still young, he didn't go with the crowd, so Jiaorong delivered the breakfast to Qianqing Palace on time.

But today Jiaorong felt that Yinfeng was a little strange.No matter how she talks to Yinreng on weekdays, Yinreng never pays attention to her, and even seldom looks at her.But today, ever since Jiaorong entered Yinfeng's bedroom, Yinfeng has been staring at Jiaorong intently.

Jiaorong was puzzled by the child's powerful eyes.Yinfeng's gaze was full of scrutiny and other weirder emotions, so Jiaorong couldn't help reaching out and touching his face, thinking that there was something: "Second elder brother, is there any problem with the servant?"

Yinfeng still stared at Jiaorong closely, and after a long time, he asked, "Who are you?"

Jiaorong didn't know why, so she could only reply: "This servant is a court lady called by the emperor to accompany you to have dinner, and her name is Jiaorong."

The corners of Yinreng's brows were slightly frowned, as if there was something he couldn't understand, his eyes dimmed, and he said without beginning or end: "Today is already the third day of May."

"Yes, Second Elder Brother, is there any question?" Jiaorong didn't understand what Yinrong wanted to express, so she could only ask sentence by sentence.

Yinreng looked Jiaorong from top to bottom, but in the end he still didn't answer, he obediently walked to the wooden stool by the dining table, and asked the eunuch to serve him food.

Jiao Rong looked at the eunuch's face, she was very embarrassed, and she could be sure that this was not the eunuch who served Yinreng before.Jiaorong thought of Yinreng's weird eyes just now, and belatedly thought, could it be that all the palace servants serving Yinreng in Qianqing Palace should have been replaced today, but she is still there, so Yinreng feels strange?

Thinking of this, Jiaorong couldn't help but feel a little chill down his back.Could it be because she is a member of Yanxi Palace that she was spared from this difficulty?

Jiao Rong tried her best to calm herself down, she pursed her lips, thinking calmly.She would return to the Palace of Yanxi Palace every day after delivering the dinner, if some Qing palace officials missed her, it could only be at night.

If the replacement of the palace servants next to Second Elder Brother was intentional, then there is a high probability that she will not be able to escape.If he wanted to replace her by force, then the person who attacked her tonight should go to Yanxi Palace.Then... she can't go back to the palace tonight.

Jiaorong bit her lip and looked at Yinfeng again.The child ate food obediently, without the weird expression just now, and became as quiet and sensible as usual.

If she doesn't find out what's going on around her second elder brother, it may be difficult for Jiaorong to live a stable life for a while, and it's hard to say when she will be kidnapped and killed.She is just an ordinary court lady, if she doesn't use her brains more, it may be difficult for her to survive under the mysterious forces of the second elder brother.

Thinking about it, Jiaorong's eyes sank slightly, and she secretly made a plan.

Tonight, after delivering dinner to the second elder brother, Jiaorong didn't go back directly to the Palace of Yanxi Palace, but sneaked into the utility room where the palace people of the Qianqing Palace stored cleaning tools.This place is simple and dirty, and it is the only place in Qianqing Palace that is not guarded by guards. In order to find out the situation of the second elder brother, Jiao Rong insisted on hiding in this utility room for several hours.

Yanxi Palace has been treating Jiaorong as a transparent person during this time.Yougui naturally didn't want to take care of Jiaorong, and ordinary court ladies knew that Jiaorong was handpicked by the emperor to come to the imperial court, so they didn't dare to have much contact with her.

As a result, Jiaorong never returned to Yanxi Palace today, and no one paid attention to it.Yizhu searched everywhere before going to bed, but found nothing.Since Jiaorong left, Yizhu has taken her former position beside Yougui, and is much busier than before. She is already very tired at night, and has no energy to continue looking for Jiaorong, so she has to go to the ear room with doubts.

The night sky tonight is extremely dark, and the bright moon is tightly covered by black clouds, not revealing a ray of light.

(End of this chapter)