Traveling through the harem: the favorite concubine

Chapter 21

Chen Yuanxiang returned to the East Palace and lay down on the bed with a dejected expression.

She never dreamed that she was a fool, and her aunt treated herself as a fool. Shouldn't she... She should also thank her good aunt for not exposing her, and even covering it up for her...

"My lady, everything has been packed!"

Lan Zhen walked to the bed and told Chen Yuanxiang with a normal expression.

However, Chen Yuanxiang sat up "suddenly", and looked at Lan Zhen sharply. She couldn't hide her anger, feeling betrayed: "When did you become an aunt? Why did you betray me!"

Chen Yuanxiang gritted her teeth. Lan Zhen was the maid she followed when she was not married. She came to her since she was a child. She never dreamed that she would be the queen's man and betray herself.

Faced with the questioning, Lan Zhen remained calm and replied calmly: "The slaves have always been members of the Chen family, and have never betrayed the empress! The slaves and the empress are all for the sake of the empress."

"You..." Chen Yuanxiang was so angry that she wished she could slap Lan Zhen on the face.

"Lan Zhen, you step back first, I have something to say to your mother." Seeing this, Liu Gongren quickly asked Lan Zhen to retreat, then walked to Chen Yuanxiang's side, and said softly: "Your Majesty, don't be so angry because of this slave."

After Liu Gongren said this, he couldn't help but sigh in his heart. Lan Zhen was also considered as a child she had grown up with since she was a child. With a bit of naivety and innocence, she also treated him like a child, who would have expected that they were all pretending.Now, there is no need to pretend, she is more calm and shrewd than the old woman who has lived for more than 40 years.Although she also has a feeling of being cheated, she knows that since Lan Zhen is someone the queen trusts, the princess must not shame her at this time.

"Your Majesty, calm down, don't look at the monk's face, at least look at the Buddha's face, the empress can look at it now!"

Chen Yuanxiang bit her lower lip tightly, unable to hide her grief and indignation.

"Isn't it just a little palace lady, I don't believe that I deal with it, the queen will blame me for it!"

"Your Majesty, you also said that you are a member of the little palace. Now there is no news from His Highness, and people in the East Palace are in a state of panic. The empress ordered you to guard the East Palace. You..." The people of Liu Palace didn't know how to persuade them. Have a priority!

"Nurse, stop talking, I know it all, go down, I'm tired, I need to have a good rest!"

Chen Yuanxiang spoke calmly.

Liu Gongren opened his mouth, but seeing Chen Yuanxiang's expressionless face, he also knew that the persuasion at this time was not very effective.She helped Chen Yuanxiang lie down on the bed slowly, and then lowered the bed curtain.

Chen Yuanxiang didn't close his eyes, they kept them open, staring at the bed curtain as if wandering.

"How could I not know!" Chen Yuanxiang suppressed the unwillingness and grievance in his heart.Her queen's aunt didn't take her niece seriously at all. If she wasn't the only unmarried girl of the Chen family who could occupy the position of crown princess, how could her aunt be so kind and willing to protect her.

In the eyes of my aunt, she is just a stupid pawn that is easy to control. If she dares to deal with Lan Zhen, she will challenge her authority. Aunt will not want a pawn that refuses to obey.

But, she really doesn't want to be controlled by her aunt, she wants to be a real princess, just like she thought before, she still wants to be the most noble woman in the future, she wants to be a queen, she wants to be a queen as majestic as her aunt .

She couldn't help but reached out and touched her belly, why couldn't she get pregnant, if she got pregnant, would she be able to escape from her aunt's control, and would the prince treat her well.

Chen Yuanxiang buried her head deeply in the quilt.

However, the crown prince was imprisoned, and the East Palace was in danger...

She knew that at this time, if she wanted to win the prince's heart, there was a way, as long as she begged to accompany the prince, a friend in adversity can see the truth...

However, she immediately vetoed this decision. She told herself that it wasn't that she was afraid of being imprisoned by the prince for the rest of her life, let alone living a hard life with him. She just...she just felt that the prince might not be moved by it.

Moreover, my aunt said that she should guard the East Palace well. She is the crown princess, and the prince is gone, so she should guard the East Palace well.

Chen Yuanxiang persuaded herself to suppress that terrible thought, she couldn't imagine the possible consequences of her impulsiveness.

In the early morning of the next day, Chen Yuanxiang summoned all the women in the East Palace, from Emperor Liang to concubines, as well as the leaders of the palace servants, to his bedroom and gave them a lecture.

Ruyi stood in the middle, in a very inconspicuous position. Hearing Chen Yuanxiang's calm voice, she sensitively felt that something was wrong with the Crown Princess. She couldn't tell what she felt, was she too calm?Too majestic?It seems not.

But thinking about it, now that the prince is banned, it doesn't seem so strange that the princess has changed.

Moreover, after Chen Yuanxiang finished the training, no matter who was up and down, there were rewards to receive.This reward is naturally contemptuous to the masters at the top of the food chain in the East Palace, but it is extremely effective in appeasement.

At least after such a combination of kindness and power, on the surface, the East Palace has regained its former calm, and people coming and going in the palace are orderly.

But everyone knows that this phenomenon is only short-term. Now it is like a calm but turbulent water surface. Once there is any bad news, this calm phenomenon will be broken immediately.

Ruyi has become more and more afraid to leave the house these days, and even Shaoyao and Qiangwei go to get meals and other necessities, Ruyi also confesses to go early and return early.

In this troubled time, she was unwilling to cause trouble, and hoped that the peace could last for a while longer.

However, three days later, there was another bad news in the East Palace. The prince who was originally imprisoned at the entrance of the East Alley contracted a serious illness.

"Mother..." Chen Yuanxiang knelt on the ground trembling all over, she couldn't believe it, "How could your highness be infected with..."

She didn't want to say those two horrible words.

The queen closed her eyes tightly, and said calmly: "The imperial doctor has already diagnosed it, and it is the epidemic."

"No, no!" Chen Yuanxiang didn't want to hear or believe it.

"Calm down." The queen opened her eyes and looked at Chen Yuanxiang, who was bewildered, and said coldly, "The more you are at this time, the more calm you are."

"Mother, I don't believe it!" Chen Yuanxiang shook his head and said, "The prince is the emperor's son. If the prince is really infected with the epidemic, how could the emperor still imprison the prince?"

If Chen Yuanxiang was hit hard by the news of the epidemic, it was far from enough. The emperor has not changed his mind to imprison the prince yet.

For the prince who has lost his sacred heart, even if the emperor has not spoken to deprive him of the title of the prince, it is only a matter of time.

In fact, the empress was at a loss at this time. When the emperor came over, she also begged for mercy, and also wanted to use this matter to release the prince, but the emperor ignored her plea, and just said before leaving: "I let people Moved him to the best courtyard at the entrance of the East Lane, and left the imperial physician to take care of him, so you can pick a few more people from the East Palace and send them to the courtyard!"

The queen and the emperor have been husband and wife for many years, so they naturally heard the emperor's implication. The prince may not be able to turn over.

At this time, the queen was depressed, but secretly rejoiced that she not only had one son, but also had another grown-up son.Thinking of this, the queen gradually regained her energy. She looked at her niece and said, "It is a fact that the prince is sick. Now the prince is short of care, you..."

"I'm not going! I'm not going!"

Before the queen finished speaking, Chen Yuanxiang opened his eyes wide in horror, and looked at the queen in resistance.

"Queen, if I don't go, I don't want to die!"

"Snapped"

A cup fell to the ground, and the queen looked at Chen Yuanxiang angrily, and angrily reprimanded: "What is it like, no one will let you go! You can't get on the table!"

"Mother..." Chen Yuanxiang was scolded, but she didn't feel any grievance or unwillingness. At this moment, she only had the joy of remaining alive after the catastrophe. She looked at the queen asking for proof, "Mother, don't I have to go, right? I..."

The queen closed her eyes, and said in a calm tone: "You are the princess, and now there is no male master in the East Palace. Naturally, you, the hostess, are needed to preside over matters in the East Palace. Remember, you want to accompany the prince, but you can't. , not unwilling to go!"

No matter how cruel the queen was, she would never really let her niece go to die, she slowly said: "Your majesty and I both know what you have in mind, but you also need to understand the overall situation, the person who takes care of the prince, you go back and pick and choose! "

"Empress mother, son-in-law knows!"

The princess wiped away the tears from her face, kowtowed respectfully, but she had already decided on the candidate in her heart.But before she left the Jiaofang Palace, the queen reminded her in a cold voice: "Ye Liangdi is of noble birth, so she certainly doesn't know how to take care of others. You should choose those who know how to take care of the prince."

"Mother..."

Chen Yuanxiang was a little unwilling, and wanted to fight for a few words.

But the queen suddenly opened her eyes, looked at Chen Yuanxiang from a distance with an expressionless face, and sneered: "Xiang'er, if I were you, I wouldn't even give you a [-]% chance that my rival would threaten me."

Chen Yuanxiang looked thoughtfully at the Queen's gaze.

When the order from the Crown Princess came down, Ruyi was sitting on the couch embroidering. She was embroidering one stitch at a time, and she was embroidering the pattern she embroidered when the Crown Prince came to her room last. Embroidered a petal.

She has not been in the mood to practice calligraphy these days, she is impatient, and the unknown future makes her a little at a loss. Most of the time, she is in a daze with embroidery needles. She has been in this era for 14 years, and she has been working hard to To survive, the matter of not entering the palace, life is difficult, and three meals a day, she just wants not to be starved to death, not to be sold.After entering the palace, she was cautious and humble, begging for perfection and wanting to leave the palace safely, and now, as a concubine in the East Palace, she dare not fight for favor or lose favor, trying to strike a balance between the two, to please and flatter the prince Concubine, don't provoke the young master, on the contrary, in the past few days, when the crown prince was imprisoned and the East Palace was in turmoil, she unexpectedly found some stability.

All of a sudden, without the pressure of urging her to survive, she began to think wildly in her mind, thinking more and more about the past and the future.

She even thought a bit selfishly, if the prince was locked up like this, it would be a good thing for her, and if everyone failed to win the goal, they would naturally calm down.

But this idea, even she herself felt naive.

When she heard the order from the princess to summon her, she calmly changed her clothes, combed her hair and went to meet Li Baolin.

Xiang Zhi Yuan is not close to the palace of the Crown Princess, when Ru Yi and the others arrived, most of the young masters and concubines were already seated in the hall.

Ruyi had already inquired about it when she came, and this time the Crown Princess summoned all the prince's women in the East Palace, even the concubines who didn't even have a status.

When they arrived, the Crown Princess was already sitting at the head, waiting with serious expressions, before Ruyi and the others saluted and greeted them, the Crown Princess waved her hand indifferently and let them sit down.

Even concubines have seats.

The hall, which had always been empty, was rarely crowded at this time.

After Ruyi sat down for less than half a cup of tea, all the people in the Eastern Palace came, including some women who Ruyi had never seen before, and some women who seemed to be unwell and had been saying that they were not sick also came out.

Chen Yuanxiang put down the teacup that had been in his hand all the time, glanced at the people below, and said, "Just now my mother passed me on, everyone must have heard about it!"

Chen Yuanxiang paused, but did not continue, but Ye Liangdi asked eagerly: "Sister Crown Princess, is it true that Your Highness is suffering from a serious illness?"

"It's true!" Chen Yuanxiang didn't play sloppy, and said in a heavy voice, "The queen mother just told me that the imperial doctor has diagnosed it, and it's the epidemic!"

Chen Yuanxiang's words were like a bomb, and the other people sitting in the hall were so scared that they couldn't recover for a while, and then they were completely rude and asked eagerly: "Sister Crown Princess, will you It can't be a mistake!"

"how come……"

Even a little emotional, just covered the handkerchief and cried bitterly.

Chen Yuanxiang didn't pay attention to these behaviors of the people below, but just increased the volume, and continued on his own: "The emperor is merciful, and has moved the prince to a courtyard at the entrance of the east alley to recuperate. The queen mother's intention is to bring the prince who is the best around the prince. Send the person who needs it to take care of it, and choose three of you to take care of His Highness."

As soon as Chen Yuanxiang finished speaking, everyone shrunk their bodies subconsciously, and the hall was silent. They were only afraid that making a little noise would make the princess notice them.

Ruyi is no exception, I hope this unlucky candidate does not choose her.

Infectious diseases in ancient times are not scary, and epidemic disease is one of the four major infectious diseases in ancient times, and its harmfulness has been heard by Ruyi when she was still in modern times.The famous Emperor Yongzheng once contracted this disease.

If it is said that in modern times, this is just a term that you hear, and you have never experienced it personally, or with the advanced medical technology in modern times, this disease is not considered a serious disease at all.

But in ancient times, she has seen the horror of ancient epidemics with her own eyes. Before she entered the palace, she had seen a villager beat a person who had an epidemic to death, and then burned it.Just because if one person's disease affects one household, one household's disease affects one village or town.

If the crown prince is sick, there may be someone to take care of him, but if the people who are selected to take care of them are infected with the disease, they will really be left to fend for themselves.

Chen Yuanxiang, who was sitting at the top, looked at the calmness of the people below, opened the corner of his mouth ironically, and thought in his heart: Why don't you act like this when you are fighting for favor on weekdays.

She turned her eyes to Ye Liangdi, but she was surprised to see Ye Liangdi calmly drinking the tea cup.Seeing her looking at her, Ye Liangdi showed a smile, that smile seemed to say, will you let me take care of the prince?

Indeed, when Ye Liangdi heard that the crown prince needed someone to take care of him, she also panicked, but after a while, she realized that this person was absolutely impossible to be her.And even if Chen Yuanxiang had no brains and wanted to send her there, she was not a lump of mud that Chen Yuanxiang would knead.

Chen Yuanxiang had nothing to hide under Ye Liangdi's gaze, as if all the thoughts in his heart had been revealed.

She turned her eyes away in embarrassment, but still sat upright and said: "I heard that the crown prince is ill. I once thought about taking care of the crown prince myself, but the queen mother didn't allow me to take care of the East Palace. So I can only entrust this matter to you. Ladies and gentlemen."

After saying this, she looked at Mu Liangdi, and said, "Sister Mu, the queen mother and I have thought about it carefully, you are always gentle and considerate, and you are the best at caring for others, so this time you need to take care of His Highness." Please take the lead."

Mu Liangdi's face was pale, and her body was almost limp.

If the prince is infected with the epidemic, if it is normal, she is still afraid. What's more, when the prince is still imprisoned, even if he takes good care of the prince, it is not a good thing. Maybe she will be imprisoned with the prince.

She opened her mouth, wanting to find an excuse to evade, but Chen Yuanxiang didn't give her a chance at all, and then looked at the oldest woman in the East Palace who was almost hidden from the world, He Baolin.

"Sister He, you are the oldest and have been with His Highness the longest, so you will definitely be able to take good care of His Highness."

He Baolin's usual flat complexion instantly cracked.

In the end, Chen Yuanxiang's gaze skipped Ruyi and returned to Yu Baolin.

"Sister Yu, you've always been smart, and His Highness loves you..." Before Chen Yuanxiang finished speaking, Yu Baolin suddenly rolled his eyes and passed out.

"Sister Yu!"

Chen Yuanxiang gritted his teeth and shouted, but saw the maid beside Yu Baolin stepped forward to support Yu Baolin, stuffed a pill into Yu Baolin's mouth, and then said: "Madam, my Baolin has always been weak, and the recent solar term Change, if it wasn't for the call from the empress today, my Baolin would hardly be able to get out of bed."

Chen Yuanxiang was about to get angry, but saw Yu Baolin wake up faintly, with an angry look on his face: "Sister, my sister is not healthy, and my sister really wants to take care of His Highness, but I am afraid of causing trouble to His Highness!"

After saying that, he covered his handkerchief and began to cry.

No matter how fake this scene looked, Chen Yuanxiang was also angry and funny.She chose these three people, naturally after careful consideration.Mu Liangdi bears the name of the son of a criminal minister, even if she serves His Highness well, she will rarely have a chance to stand up in this life; He Baolin is older than the prince, and has long been old and decrepit, so he can't make trouble at all; and Yu Baolin , although he is a little clever, but simple-minded, impulsive, and has no city.Even if these three people take good care of the prince, the prince will not be a threat to himself if he lifts the confinement in the future.

Who knew that Yu Baolin would come out like this.

But Chen Yuanxiang didn't pay much attention to it. Yu Baolin was only a candidate in the first place, and she didn't have to. At this time, it's not a bad idea to sell favors to her.

With a smile on her lips, she said, "Since Yu Baolin is not feeling well, let's find someone else!"

"Thank you for your understanding!" Yu Baolin was secretly happy when he heard the words. With the support of the maid, he knelt on the ground and kowtowed to Chen Yuanxiang. How is sister Chen?"

(End of this chapter)