In the Buddhist hall of the apse of Ci'an Palace, the strong smell of sandalwood coils between the black pillars and green curtains, and the room is silent, so that the sound of burning incense and falling embers can be heard almost suspiciously.

For example, the aunt saw the palace maid wearing a blue jacket and blue brocade skirt coming up the stairs with her eyes down, her steps were slightly flustered, and she looked at the queen who was holding beads with her eyes closed in front of the Buddha, and was concentrating on chanting the Buddhist scriptures, and hurriedly waved her hand at the palace maid, and went out with a light step, bypassing the corridor before asking: "But has the Third Highness returned to the palace?" ”

"Yes, but His Highness is still in the imperial study." The palace maid said: "Today, Concubine Li summoned Princess Fu into the palace, and somehow, she actually punished the princess for kneeling in front of the hall, and it was already half an hour at this time. ”

Such as the aunt frowned, since the first month, Li Concubine did not know what evil fire, frequently summoned Princess Fu into the palace, put on the prestige of "mother-in-law", the Queen Mother was afraid that the princess would be wronged, and repeatedly asked, Princess Fu only said that Li Concubine was concerned about King Fu, without half a complaint, what is the reason for this today?

Because she knew that the Queen Mother was very concerned about this matter, her aunt did not dare to hide it, and reflexively re-entered the Buddhist hall.

The Queen Mother seemed to know that she had gone out, she had stopped silently, clasped her hands together, and bowed to the end, only to be helped up by her aunt, and heard that Concubine Li punished Yichen to kneel in front of the hall, and snorted coldly: "Since she has Liulang, can she still pay attention to Erlang's goodness?" Even the matter of the side concubine was entrusted to the queen, and this son put on the prestige of 'mother', but Chen'er was wronged, so she made it difficult, you sent someone to invite Chen'er to Ci'an Palace, and said that I want to talk to her. ”

If the aunt responded, she still let the palace maid who had just sent the message go on this trip, and when she saw that the queen mother went to the side hall, she was busy preparing charcoal basins and hot tea.

It didn't take long for Yichen to follow the palace maid to Ci'an Palace, but what made Aunt Ru frown was that Concubine Li accompanied her like a shadow, as if nothing had happened, her eyebrows fluttered, and she was quite colorful.

Because King Fu was originally educated by Li Concubine for a while, and what was written on the genealogy jade plate was also the son of Li Concubine, and he was called Li Concubine's mother, Yi Chen, as a daughter-in-law, was punished by the "mother-in-law" to kneel, and even the queen was not good at interfering, although the Queen Mother was an elder, it was not easy to "blame" Li Concubine on the surface.

Li Concubine didn't care about it because of this.

Yichen didn't complain about anything, and followed behind Concubine Li, still polite.

Aunt Ru was distressed, secretly helped Yichen, took two steps behind and asked, "The princess is fine, right?" ”

"Aunt Lao is concerned." Yichen's smile was a little reluctant in the end.

It was only at this time that Aunt Ru noticed that the palace maid who followed behind, seemed to be overjoyed, looking forward to the brilliance, but it was the Qiong Yi that was used by Concubine Li's side, and she was usually cautious, but today she was a little forgetful, and she followed into the side hall.

"Mother, stay here." Aunt Ru glanced at Qiongyi, ignored it, and only said to Concubine Li: "Rong Nu and maid are all right." ”

Concubine Li raised her eyebrows: "What, didn't the Queen Mother summon the concubine?" ”

"The Queen Mother summoned Princess Fu." For example, the aunt replied steadily, she is the palace maid in charge of Ci'an Palace, and she is very important to the queen mother, and even the queen has to be polite to her, so she will not take Concubine Li in her eyes.

"Princess, please." Aunt Ru also ignored Concubine Li's resentment and gave in slightly.

Yichen felt a little embarrassed, knowing that Concubine Li would "hate" her more and more, but this was in Ci'an Palace, so she naturally had to follow the rules and couldn't say it lightly, and she had to "hang" Concubine Li outside, and with Aunt Ru's signal, she went to the warm hall on the east side.

But there was already a palace maid who brought Concubine Li's uninvited in, and the Queen Mother was holding back her anger, not waiting for her aunt to speak, that is: "Let her wait first, this is Ci'an Palace, who does the mourning family want to see, but with freedom, she still knows the palace rules and etiquette?" ”

Yichen's footsteps were sluggish, and when he looked at the Queen Mother, he was a little hesitant.

When the queen mother saw her aunt go out, she waved away the palace maid again, so she asked Yijing to step forward and gave her a brocade pier to sit on the bottom: "I know that your child is a steady and polite person, although there are grievances in my heart, I also forbear it...... There is no one else at the moment, can you tell me, what is the reason for these days that makes Concubine Li so concerned? Today, she found some reason to let a prince and princess kneel in front of the hall. ”

Yichen saw that the Queen Mother was really angry, and he was worried again, he couldn't tell what to say, but he didn't dare to be as perfunctory as the previous few times, and thought for a while before he stood up and said, "Niang Niang is angry...... The mother concubine originally listened to some gossip, out of concern for the concubine...... Because the prince does not accept side concubines, the nobles seem to have some discussions, and the mother concubine knows that the concubine is not so unvirtuous, so she persuades her to take the initiative to take a concubine for the prince, but the prince is stubborn...... The mother concubine was also worried about the power of the concubine alone, and in charge of family affairs, she was negligent to the prince, so she said that she wanted to give the concubine a helper, but the concubine was afraid that the prince would not like it, and she hesitated, so the mother and concubine punished the concubine. ”

It's just inexplicable!

The Queen Mother rubbed her eyebrows - Concubine Li didn't care about the matter of King Fu's concubine at first, but at this time, she was afraid that there was something strange in it, and she didn't know who was instigating trouble in front of her!

When he wanted to ask carefully, he also knew Yichen's difficulties, so he pressed it and let Concubine Li in.

When she heard the queen mother's call, Li Concubine sneered at Aunt Ru, stroked the gorgeous golden silk begonia embroidered skirt on her body, straightened the placket of the silver thread hook flower, and said to Qiongyi while gracefully going inside: "It is your happy event, and with me, I will ask for a reward from my mother." ”

According to the ceremony, the concubines met the queen mother, and the palace maids around them had to wait outside the palace, but since the concubine had already spoken, it was not easy to stop the aunt, so she was happy to promise by Qiongyi, and stepped into the warm hall with a happy pace.

Arrogant and impudent –

If my aunt was secretly worried, she still waited quietly outside the hall.

In the warm hall, the Queen Mother had already called Yichen to come closer, and was opening a picture scroll to appreciate it, commenting on the artistic conception of pen and ink, and not looking at the blessings of Concubine Li's flowers, let alone ignoring the Qiong Yi who was worried and looking forward to it.

Or Yichen reminded: "Niangniang, the mother concubine has arrived." ”

The Queen Mother raised her eyelids and sat lazily.

Yichen hurriedly went to the next head, standing beside Concubine Li, Qiongyi couldn't hear the joy and anger in the queen mother's voice, and she didn't dare to raise her eyes to look, so she had to take a step back slightly, standing behind Yichen.

"What are the rumors of the nobles that make you pay attention to Erlang?" The Queen Mother held up the teacup and still didn't look at Concubine Li.

Concubine Li glanced at Yichen, and her heart shone - what if Ren is the daughter of the princess of Weiguo, in the end, if she marries the prince, she can't escape the etiquette, no matter how much the queen mother loves her, she can't hurt her own grandson, right? This topic starts here, and then it gets easier.

said sweetly: "I don't know which people are red-eyed, so they talk about Ah Chen, what is relying on the power of the Guogong Mansion, and the love of the Queen Mother, how jealous and unvirtuous, I can't allow the concubine of the Fu Wang to enter the palace, but the concubine wants to come, in the end, the words are terrifying, and there is also a reason that the etiquette is not wasted......"

"Since you know that it is some rumors and slanderous words, you should investigate the person who spread the words, why did you punish Qichen'er instead?" The Queen Mother put the tea cup on the table, and then looked at Concubine Li: "The mourning family is small and looks at Chen'er, how her temperament is clear, Erlang is unwilling to accept the concubine, it is his own will, begging in front of the mourning family and the queen, even the saint ignores it, Concubine Li, you know the truth of etiquette and law better than us." ”

As soon as she heard this, Concubine Li couldn't sit still, hurriedly got up, and complained about Yichen for a while, and thought that this daughter-in-law was a stuffy gourd, honest and honest, and even dared to sue in front of the Queen Mother, and hurriedly said: "It's the concubine who is impatient, originally because she mentioned it today, she wanted to add a helper to Ah Chen, so as to block the words of those ill-intentioned people...... The Qiongyi next to the concubine is the most safe to use, although the concubine can't leave her, but in the end she is old enough, and it is not good to delay her life...... Niangniang, Ah Chen wants to be in charge of all the affairs of the palace, there will always be some negligence on the part of a person, if there are many people around him, so as not to take care of one or the other, the concubine also knows that because of Liulang's young age, he has taken some poor care of Erlang in those years, so he called me a concubine, and he should always plan for him. ”

This is right, although it shows that it is unreasonable on the surface, but in the end it is a little strong - as the nominal mother of King Fu, it is reasonable to care about her son's family affairs, and the queen mother, as a grandmother, is not good for her granddaughter-in-law, but ignores her grandson, as a prince, why only one wife?

Concubine Li had already made up her mind, and she would not be convinced.

The Queen Mother raised her eyebrows, glanced at Qiongyi, and didn't even see her appearance clearly, so she withdrew her gaze: "If you can do this, you won't lose Erlang to call you a concubine." ”

When Concubine Li heard this, she was overjoyed again, and was about to let Qiongyi kowtow to thank the Queen Mother for her grace, but she heard the Queen Mother say again: "Only you add a helper to Ah Chen, from now on she will be the slave of the palace, I don't know what the background of this palace maid is?" ”

Slaves? Concubine Li was shocked, and her joy immediately turned into unwillingness: "Qiongyi was originally the daughter of the concubine's nurse...... Niangniang, Erlang is a prince in the end, it is not good to have only one concubine, the meaning of the concubine is to make Qiongyi a side concubine, and it is good to block the mouths of those people. ”

"Concubine Li, how many years have you been in the palace?"

Li Concubine: ......

"In vain, you opened your mouth and closed your mouth and did not deviate from the etiquette law, the mourning family asked you, a palace maid born as a slave and maidservant, is also qualified to be the prince's side concubine? Even if the mourning family is confused for a while, for the sake of your face, the Ministry of Rites and the Zongren Mansion will not agree, where is your idea in the royal system? The mourning family understands your 'mother' heart, and Chen'er is also a good child who knows how to be polite and modest, and will not disobey your kindness, this palace maid is given by you, and she is allowed a future, as long as she assists the princess well, if she is a fate in the future, she will have an heir, and then talk about the position. ”

The Empress Dowager also has difficulties, firstly, it is not good to stop Concubine Li from giving the palace people on the bright side, but it really seems that she ignores her grandson and "promotes" Yichen is not virtuous, and secondly, she also takes into account those gossips, and just uses Qiongyi to block those gossips, as for whether Qiongyi has a "fate", whether she will make mistakes and be blamed in the future, it depends on how Yichen is.

Yichen is also the daughter-in-law of the royal family in the end, if such a palace person who has no place is not "arranged" well, the future will not be smooth.

Let's say that Yichen, originally refused to include Qiongyi in the palace as a side concubine today, also because she felt that this matter was too ridiculous, not because she was jealous, but she couldn't say that Concubine Li ignored the etiquette, so she had to propose to discuss with King Fu first, but Concubine Li got angry, scolded her for being unvirtuous and unfilial, and was punished for kneeling, and later worried that the Queen Mother would punish Concubine Li for this matter, and it would be even more difficult to get along with this "mother concubine" in the future.

Wei Lifei's purpose of making things difficult for Yichen was frustrated, and she also folded a cronie to go to the palace as a slave in vain, and almost didn't smooth out the back tooth groove, but the queen mother's disposal was fair and reasonable, and she didn't dare to question it anymore, only after returning to her palace, she couldn't help but scold: "The queen mother is really partial." ”

Instead, Qiong Yi persuaded on the side: "Niangniang is doing her best for the slave maid, and the slave and maid are inscribed within the five, but the slave and maid are from a humble background and dare not think about the position, but Niangniang can rest assured, according to this, the slave and maid also have a chance, and will definitely assist Niangniang in planning." Instead, he happily packed up the softness, went to the palace bureau to hand over the formalities, and followed Yichen back to King Fu's mansion.

Concubine Li still has a right arm, called Xueyi, which is also a word of relief: "Niangniang is at ease, it doesn't matter whether King Fu has a side concubine or not, and Qiong Yi is born like that, Princess Fu is very delicate and pretty, and she will be favored in the future, you just want to add some difficulties to the princess, don't let her go so smoothly, after this experience, even the queen mother is relieved, the princess must know that what she relies on is not very secure, and she will not listen to your instructions in the future, and the marriage of His Royal Highness is also promising." ”

Concubine Li thought about it, and sure enough, this is the truth, if Qiongyi is favored by King Fu, Yichen will not be able to rely on her as a "mother concubine" in the future, where do you dare not be unreasonable, and match the marriage between Su Wuniang and the sixth prince.

Immediately he rejoiced again, unaware that he had fallen for someone else's calculations.