Time flies by slowly like running water. In the blink of an eye, it is already the seventh day of December. The night is as thick as ink. After this night, the fate of more than a hundred beautiful girls in Zhongcui Palace will be settled. They will leave or stay, or they will fly up the branches and change.
Phoenix still returns to his original form; the truth will soon be revealed.
Tomorrow is the draft ceremony. As the steward of Zhongcui Palace, Hongling has too many things to do. She almost never stops from morning to night. She finally manages to arrange everything properly. When she has time to sit down and rest,
Someone came to report that Eunuch Lin from Jingren Palace had arrived and wanted to see her by name.
Eunuch Lin? Isn't that Concubine Rong's confidant? Why is he here so late?
Lin Quan did not answer her doubts, but said that on the order of the imperial concubine Rong, Niu Hulu Lingruo, the daughter of Xuanxiu, came to Jingren Palace to see her.
Ling Ruo was also confused. Concubine Rong was the most noble woman in the harem. How could she know that she was a little beautiful girl and wanted to see her because she was so high and mighty? Could it be that... thinking of what Qiu Ci once said, she was vaguely confused.
Had a bad premonition.
It was already three o'clock at night, but Jingren Palace was still brightly lit, more brilliant and dazzling than during the day, making people slightly dazzled. Ling Ruo followed Lin Quan to the main hall, crossed the knee-high vermilion threshold, quietly raised his head and glanced, only to see the main hall.
At the top sit two graceful women surrounded by pearls and emerald green. One of them must be Concubine Rong, the principal of this place, and the other is unknown.
Just when she was hesitating how to greet the gift, someone suddenly kicked her leg. She bent her knees and involuntarily fell to her knees on the extremely hard and cold gold bricks.
"What a brave bitch, you still don't kneel down when you meet the master of the imperial concubine and the master of the concubine Yi." Lin Quan scolded, then turned around with a smile on his face and bowed: "Master, Niu Hulu Lingruo is here."
"Raise your head." Concubine Rong ignored him and only stared at Ling Ruo, who was kneeling with her head bowed. Her eyes were extremely complicated. She wanted to see with her own eyes whether this woman really looked like her as Shi said.
Queen Xiaochengren.
Ling Ruo raised her head in fear. When that face was unreservedly exposed in the candlelight, Concubine Yi was shocked and took a breath of air. How could it be? How could it look so like her?
When Empress Xiaochengren passed away, Concubine Yi had just entered the palace. Although she had only met her a few times, and it had been thirty years, she would never forget such an outstanding person as Empress Xiaochengren if she only met her once.
.
Sure enough... Concubine Rong suddenly curled up her hands, and there was a dull pain in her palms due to her newly trimmed fingernails, but this was far worse than the pain of having her memory uncovered. In the ninth year of Kangxi's reign, she was lucky enough to be blessed by the emperor within a few days of entering the palace.
When she was selected as a noblewoman, everyone thought she would rise to prominence. However, they didn't want to offend the queen by saying a few words. The emperor never set foot on her again and ignored her for seven years.
...The seven best years of a woman's life were gone like this. Even her only son died early because the imperial doctor refused to come for diagnosis and treatment. By the time she finally took the opportunity to recover, she was already in her twenties, and she had endured so many years.
It was only after giving birth to a son and a daughter that I reached my current status. I hated Empress Xiao Chengren with all my heart. But now when I first saw Ling Ruo, if I hadn't had the sense to restrain myself, I would have wanted to skin her and remove her bones right away.
Therefore, she knew that what Concubine Yi had done today was not good, and that Concubine Yi was using her to remove the obstacles for Guo Luoluo Muyue's entry into the palace, but she was still willing to accept it.
"Sister...how...she..." The excessive surprise made Concubine Yi incoherent. She finally calmed down, but her heart was still turbulent. She wanted to take a sip of tea to calm down, but because of her shaking hands, it spilled all over her body. She didn't know it in advance.
Ling Ruo is like Queen Xiaochengren.
"Is it unexpected?" Concubine Rong glanced at her lightly, stood up from the vase under the long window, held a plum blossom at the tip of her nose and sniffed it. The refreshing fragrance made her head clearer.
Turning around, the sound of flower pot-soled shoes stepping on gold bricks stopped in front of Ling Ruo. She looked down at the face that disgusted her. After a long time, she finally spoke, "Niu Hulu Ling Ruo, you
Can you know the crime?"
Ling Ruo shook her head blankly. Based on her intuition, she felt that this seemingly kind lady did not like her.
Concubine Rong closed her eyes, trying hard to hide the disgust in her eyes, and said coldly: "As a beautiful girl, you have a private life with another person and do things that are sloppy. Do you know that this is a capital crime that implicates the nine clans?!"
Concubine Rong's voice was not loud, but it sounded like thunder in Ling Ruo's ears. It made her dizzy and she hurriedly denied, "I didn't!"
Before she finished speaking, she was slapped hard on the face, knocking her unconscious on the spot, and the sound of Lin Quan's sharp tip, like a razor blade scraping against an iron pot, could be heard in her ears, "What a courageous little prodigal hooves, in front of the noble concubine's master."
If you dare to call yourself 'I', you really are living impatiently."
Concubine Yi had already regained her composure. After hearing this, she stood up with a smile and said, "A person like this who doesn't understand dignity should be taught a lesson to prevent her from doing it again in the future."
Lin Quan agreed but did not dare to take action immediately. He only asked his master what he meant with his eyes. Concubine Rong looked coldly at the face with blood oozing from the corner of the mouth, pleasure flashed through her eyes quickly, and said in a cold voice: "Master Yi has spoken.
, then let her have a long memory."
Lin Quan agreed, grinned ferociously, grabbed Ling Ruo's hair, and ignored her pleas for mercy. He slapped her ears left and right and slapped her ears a dozen times before stopping.
After he finished the beating, Ling Ruo's hair was scattered, her face was disfigured, both corners of her mouth were cracked, her face was swollen, and there were finger marks and bruises everywhere.
"Do you know you are wrong?" she asked, aloof like an inviolable goddess.
"Reply to the imperial concubine, I know I was wrong, and I will never do it again next time." Ling Ruo gritted her teeth and replied, every word she said would cause pain in her heart due to the pain on her face.
The cold and sharp gilt armor lightly scratched Ling Ruo's face without any force, but the indescribable coldness made her body tremble uncontrollably.
She didn't understand, she had never seen her before, why Concubine Rong was so hostile to her. Even if it was because of Minister Shi, it shouldn't be so obvious.
"Who are you, Xu Rongyuan?" There was a hint of coldness in the silent voice.
Hearing these three words suddenly from Concubine Rong's mouth, Ling Ruo's heart sank suddenly. This was definitely not a good thing. "The Xu family and the slave's family are family friends, so the slave and Xu Rongyuan have known each other since childhood." There was nothing in that pair of shoes.
Under the gaze of warm eyes, she did not dare to lie,
"Is it as simple as just knowing each other since childhood?" Concubine Rong sneered, and with a slight force of her hand, she left a red mark on her face. She hated it, she wished she could ruin this face now.
"Yes." Ling Ruo felt the pain and couldn't help but shrink back. But in this palace, in this Jingren Palace, where could she escape to? People are swordsmen, I am fish and meat. Life or death is not up to her.
select.
"You still dare to lie. It seems that you won't shed tears until you see the coffin." He clamped Ling Ruo's chin with his fingers, forcing her to look into his eyes, and said word by word: "Come here, let me continue to slap her."
mouth until she tells the truth!"
"Your Majesty, your Majesty, I really don't know anything, and I would never dare to hide anything." Ling Ruo quickly defended, fearing that it would be too late.
"Niu Hulu Lingruo, you don't have to hold on anymore." Concubine Yi, who had not spoken for a long time, stroked the auspicious brocade pattern embroidered with silver thread on her sleeves, stood up and said lightly: "The ambiguity between you and Xu Rongyuan is between me and the imperial concubine.
Your Majesty already knows it. You have made a private arrangement with him for the rest of your life without being drafted, and you have also committed unethical behavior. You should be punished for your crime!"
"I...servant, no!" Ling Ruo quickly changed her words and said urgently: "Yes, slave and Rong Yuan do know each other, but it is out of love and not out of etiquette. There is absolutely no wrongdoing. I hope you two ladies can tell me."
"Then you admit to having an affair with him?" Concubine Rong asked expressionlessly. Without waiting for Ling Ruo's answer, she turned her attention to Concubine Yi, "How should a beautiful girl be convicted of having an affair without being drafted?
"
"According to the laws of the Qing Dynasty, in addition to the execution of a beautiful woman, her family must also be punished. Men over the age of fourteen are sent to the army and women are slaves." Concubine Yi spoke clearly and could not have said it more clearly.