In truth, the imperial concubines in the palace were not ugly. After all, they had only been able to enter the palace after many rounds of selection, and their appearances were very good. But this sort of beauty depended on who it was compared to. Compared to Feng Zhaolian's face, the difference was too great. Using the words heaven and earth would not even be enough to describe it. It was no wonder that when Feng Zhaolian said those malicious words, these people could not even retort.
The Empress looked at these people coldly then looked into the lake a few times. Only when she saw that the eunuch who had entered the water had already pulled Zirui over to the shore did she calm down a little. She then looked down at Concubine Mei and coldly asked: "Who gave you the right to maliciously play tricks on a guest that the Emperor invited into the palace? Do you know that this child is Royal Consort Yu's younger brother? That is a relative of the imperial family. Where exactly did you get the courage? "
Concubine Xiang and Noble Lady Liu did not dare make a sound, but Concubine Mei was a little braver, saying: "It was the Feng family's young master who took the initiative to go down and fish it up. It was not this concubine's group that maliciously played tricks. I hope that Your Highness the Empress will investigate this."
"It's clearly … …" Yue Rong spoke halfway and looked at Concubine Mei. She suddenly recalled what Imperial Concubine De had said to her before coming. Right now, this imperial palace belongs to the Eighth Prince. The inner palace belongs to Consort Yuanshu. Remember, if you can hide, hide. If you can't hide, try to get on their good side. You absolutely must not oppose them. That would harm the Feng family's young master. Yue Rong thought of this and suddenly changed the topic. She softened her voice and said to the Empress: "It was young master Feng who took the initiative to help Noble Lady Qi fish up the golden hairpin. I wonder if he found anything."
The Empress glanced at Yue Rong and did not find it strange. She did not continue to scheme with Concubine Mei and the others. Walking over to Zirui's side, she ordered the people at her side: "Summon an imperial physician to Jingtsu Temple. Call a sedan to send the Feng family's young master back to Jingtsu Temple." After she finished speaking, she bent down again and took the initiative to take a hairpin from Feng Zirui's hand. After looking at it for a while, she said, "It's quite pretty. This consort will keep it. If there's nothing else, you can go back. It's so cold, what's there to stroll about in the garden? "
After saying this, he turned around and left. Feng Zhaolian immediately went forward and picked up Zirui. He then increased his pace, overtaking the Empress and heading out so that he could receive the sedan as soon as possible.
Concubine Mei and the others were dumbfounded and shouted, "Noble Lady Qi is still in the lake!"
However, no one paid attention to her. It was as though Noble Lady Qi had never appeared. The empress and her entourage quickly left the garden and walked further and further away, leaving them to stare at the lake. They watched as Noble Lady Qi disappeared.
Concubine Xiang shuddered and said faintly, "This is definitely hopeless, right?"
"What else?" Concubine Mei asked, "Who do you think can go down and save her?" After saying that, she asked the maid beside her, "Do any of you know how to swim?"
The maids shook their heads, "This servant does not know how to swim."
"Then that's it." Concubine Mei said, "There's no need to be afraid. It's just someone dying. It's a very normal thing. The inner palace has been peaceful for over 20 years. It's about time for someone to die. Moreover, it was the Empress who kicked her into the lake. We will not care about anything else. We just need to tell her Highness Consort Yuanshu about what happened today. There's no need to fear that no one will support Noble Lady Qi. Let's go! "
With just a few words, even fewer people paid attention to the person who had fallen into the water. Only Noble Lady Qi's palace maid remained kneeling on the shore and crying.
In the imperial physicians' area, it was Sun Qi who had received the job. He had brought his assistant, Xu Mao, over to examine Zirui. These people had all been sent into the palace by Feng Yu Heng, but their hearts were completely different. One had set a trap for Feng Yu Heng during the matter with Concubine Liu, and the other was Wang Lin's cousin. They had always been on the same side as Feng Yu Heng. Of course, Feng Yu Heng did not speak of these things to outsiders. For the Empress, these were just two normal imperial physicians from the imperial physicians' area.
Although Feng Zirui had been submerged in the lake for a long time, there were no major problems. He had been warmed up and given some ginger soup. At this time, he was already showing signs of improvement. Sun Qi wrote a few prescriptions for warming up the body before leaving with Xu Mao. But right before leaving Jingtsu Temple, he turned around and glanced at the Empress. And this gaze met the Empress' gaze, causing the Empress' heart to skip a beat. She wanted to stop him and ask about the situation; however, Sun Qi had already left the inner hall with Xu Mao. Yet Sun Qi still said to her: "What is it? Has the imperial physicians of the palace completely leaned toward Consort Yuanshu's side? "
The Empress was dazed for a moment and felt that she had been too sensitive. Feng Zhao Lian was right. That Sun Qi was definitely one of Consort Yuanshu's people. Coming to Jingtsu Temple was just to show off to her on behalf of Consort Yuanshu. That was why he gave her that warning look. It had nothing to do with anything else.
She was comforting herself, but aside from comforting herself, what else could she do? Turning back to look at Feng Zirui, who had already woken up in bed, she shook her head and said: "If this was in the past, who in the palace would dare to bully Princess Ji 'an's younger brother? Even the Emperor would need to protect you as well as Feiyu. Unfortunately, the world has changed. Not to mention you, but even this One no longer has the power and confidence that an Empress should have. " As she spoke, she reached out to touch the child's wet hair and continued: "Your elder sister must already be thinking of a way outside the palace. Just endure a little longer. This One does not believe that Consort Yuanshu can continue to be arrogant."
Feng Zhao Lian sat to the side and said with a bit of disappointment: "In the end, you are the Empress. Didn't the Emperor not say that he would give your position of Empress to Consort Yuanshu? Then you should act like an Empress! With Consort Yuanshu's conduct, shouldn't she be disciplined? The head of the imperial harem disciplining the concubines, that should be right, right? "
"I can't." The Empress spoke the truth, "I can't even protect myself. Who else can I discipline?"
Feng Zirui was a little anxious from hearing the words of the two. He really feared that they would start arguing because of him, thus he quickly got up to thank the Empress for her grace; however, he was pushed back down by the Empress: "Don't be polite with this One. Your body has not recovered yet. Just lie down! As this One sees it, you're still a child, yet you have to suffer this. What a pity! This One is unable to protect you right now. That's why you still need to be a little smarter. In the future, avoid going to places like the imperial garden if you can. " After saying this, she coldly glanced at the kneeling Yue Rong and said: "You're one of Imperial Concubine Shi De's people, right? Since your master sent you out, you should take good care of young master Feng. You have been in the palace for a long time and should know where you can and cannot go. This One does not want to see today's matter a second time. Do you understand? "
Yue Rong quickly kowtowed, "This servant knows her wrongs. In the future, this servant will definitely take good care of young master. Would Your Highness the Empress please forgive this servant."
After she said this, Feng Zhao Lian's temper flared once more, "You act quite like an Empress in front of Imperial Concubine Shi De's servant. Why is it that you can't act tough in front of Consort Yuanshu? If I knew earlier that you were so fragile, I would have just kicked those four people into the river to drown. "
"Hmph!" The Empress snorted coldly, "You've had your fill, and you're quite carefree; however, you don't know what sort of storm Noble Lady Qi's life will cause in the inner palace. Do you think that Consort Yuanshu will just let it go like this? Isn't this debt still going to be placed on this One's head? "
"What of it?" Feng Zhao Lian curled his lips into a smile, "Let me ask you. With things as they are, are you still afraid that she will cause trouble? Are you still afraid that someone will come to settle the debt with you? Won't the debt in his Majesty's heart need to be settled sooner or later? "
The Empress sighed and did not say anything else. Feng Zhao Lian was right. Right now, she did not have anything to fear. Her life was already in his hands. Keeping her was just for the sake of fishing. Since the fish had not taken the bait, there was nobody that could touch her position in the inner palace. As for the future, once the fish took the bait, no matter how careful she was, it would be pointless. Thinking like this, she felt at ease, thus she nodded and said: "That's true." She then said to her personal maid, Fang Yi: "Today, this One does not see that Concubine Mei is anything good. Go and pass on this One's imperial decree. Concubine Mei will be demoted to Jie Yu and will be moved out of the main hall of the palace. She will be moved to a side hall!"
Zirui's illness was not that serious. The Empress did not dare give him the medicine sent by the imperial physicians. She just had someone boil some ginger soup in Jingtsu Temple and had him drink it. It was only when the sky turned dark that he was sent back in a sedan chair.
Zirui felt very guilty about today's matters, mainly towards Yue Rong. Only when he returned to his own room did he say to Yue Rong: "Elder sister Yue Rong, I'm sorry. It was all my fault for implicating you. It was me that had to go out. This is unrelated to you, but you still took all the responsibility on yourself in front of her Highness the Empress. Zirui feels very apologetic." As he spoke, he looked at Yue Rong's swollen face that had been slapped by Concubine Mei's palace maid. He thought to himself that he had to be more alert tonight. If elder sister came, it would be best if he could see her and help Yue Rong get some medicine for her face.
Feng Yu Heng entered the palace at midnight as usual. She hid in Feng Zirui's room and silently watched this child. She had not heard about the matters in the palace, but she felt that something was wrong with this little fellow tonight. Otherwise, why would he be sitting on the bed and not sleeping? His large eyes were looking around, as if he was looking for someone.
Not long after, Yue Rong pushed open the door and came in. She said helplessly: "This servant saw that the candlelight in the room had not been blown, so this servant knew that Young Master must not be sleeping. What's wrong? Why can't you sleep? "
Feng Zirui did not hide it from her: "I want to wait for my elder sister. If she comes to the palace to see me, I can ask for some medicine for elder sister Yue Rong. Your face is getting more and more swollen. This won't do. My elder sister's medicine is very effective. It doesn't hurt nor is it bitter. Even the Imperial Academy of Medicine can't compare to it. "
Hearing Zirui's words, Feng Yu Heng finally noticed the side of Yue Rong's face when she turned around. Sure enough, it was red and swollen, and there was a bloody scar at the corner of her lips. She could not help but feel puzzled, and the space between her brows furrowed tightly. And at this time, Zirui and Yue Rong began to talk about what had happened during the day. Over and over again, Feng Yu Heng was able to clearly understand what had happened.
It turned out that someone had bullied her younger brother in the palace!
Feng Zhaolian had kicked one into the lake and drowned, un, this was very good. The Empress had demoted the other, un, this was also not bad. She, Feng Yu Heng, would remember these two favours, but she did not feel very satisfied with demoting Zirui. After all, Zirui and Yue Rong had both revealed that Concubine Mei was the mastermind. It was her who had forced Zirui to jump into the lake. Of course, there were still two other people. She should not let them off so easily.
She concealed her figure and reappeared at the side of the table. She gently placed a bottle of medicine for swelling, a pack of medicine for warming the body and a medicine for preventing colds on the table. Only then did she conceal herself and leave.
The three that are still alive, I, Feng Yu Heng, will personally give you your retribution!
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