First Concubine

Chapter 101: Desire in the Palace (2)

 Princess? A trace of astonishment flashed through Princess Taj's eyes, and she began to look at Bingbing seriously. I have to say that this woman is really beautiful. Her skin is as white as jade, her eyes are big, very bright, and her eyelashes are long and slightly curled. It's thick, the nose is small, and the lips are also small, making people want to rush up and take a bite. Princess Taj tilted her head and said, "Can an ugly woman like you be the crown prince? Then can I be the queen?"

"You..." Bingbing gasped in anger, it's so disgusting!

The third princess's lungs were about to burst with anger, and all her sanity was gone. Thinking of the whip Bingbing received for her, she felt that she could no longer let Bingbing suffer: "Isn't your Mobei a defeated country? You have What qualifications do you have to scream in the palace of Dazhou? We can defeat you once, but we can also defeat you a second or third time! You Mobei barbarian, I want to show my father and chop off your head! "

 Princess Taj's eyes sharpened: "Do you dare?"

The third princess puffed up her chest: "Do you think I dare?"

Bingbing grabbed the third princess's arm and whispered: "Third sister, please calm down. The noise at my daughter's house should not involve the court and the national war. We just ignore this kind of person."

Bingbing pulled the aggrieved third princess and turned around to leave.

Princess Taj looked at their backs and showed a sarcastic sneer. When they walked out of the imperial garden and reached the lakeside of Taiye Pond, Princess Taj took out a slingshot and two pebbles from her purse and aimed at the two of them. He pulled hard with his foot and the stone popped out!

"ah-"

 Plop!

The imperial concubine took Shui Linglong to the study. The imperial concubine was a person who loved reading. Unlike other women who only used the study room as a decoration, her study room was truly filled with poetry and paintings. As soon as you enter the door, you can see the emperor's personal cursive calligraphy hanging on the wall opposite. Below is a desk with two miniature inkstone viewing screens, one of which is the rising sun going to the sea and the wild geese flying south. On the left side of the room is a bookshelf that is as tall as one person. There are five rows in total. From top to bottom, there are political, historical, common sense and women's books. The last row is more miscellaneous, including novels and medical books.

Shui Linglong's eyes showed a deep look of amazement: "Compared with those flashy study rooms, this place is unique."

 “Haha…” The imperial concubine laughed out loud, “Anyway, there’s nothing you say that I don’t like to hear!”

The imperial concubine opened the drawer of the desk and took out a "Picture of Love and Lotus": "His Royal Highness, take a look."

In fact, Shui Linglong didn't know much about calligraphy and painting. In her opinion, this picture was nothing more than - the lotus leaves are green, the lotus is pink, the sky is blue, the little birds are black, and the old man fishing on the side can't see clearly. of. But Shui Linglong still pretended to admire it: "It's really a good picture. I can smell the lotus."

The imperial concubine was not annoyed by Shui Linglong's perfunctory behavior. She just smiled and put down this picture and picked up another one. Shui Linglong blinked. Why did she feel that she was delaying time on purpose?

"Mother! It's not good! It's not good!" Eunuch Deng rushed in with an anxious look on his face. He was sweating profusely and panting, "There is water in the front yard and I can't get out!"

Shui Linglong’s first reaction was - the imperial concubine planned to burn her to death!

Yunli was checking the seventh prince's homework in the inner hall when he suddenly heard the conversation of the palace maids, saying that there was a leak in Guiyi Palace. The imperial concubine and Shui Linglong were trapped in the study and could not get out. He immediately left the seventh prince and went to Guiyi Palace. .

 "Crown Princess! Crown Princess, wake up!"

“Sister-in-law! Sister-in-law, don’t scare me! I am the third sister, please answer me!”

Yue'e and the third princess knelt by the Taiye pool, and kept calling for Bingbing, who was rescued by the palace maid but was unconscious. The third princess was confused. She didn't know why a good person suddenly fell into the water, and she and Yue E didn't know how to swim, and several palace servants who could swim had just been seriously injured by Princess Taj. She finally called the nearby Sasao palace maid to save Bingbing, but she drowned in the water for too long, and Bingbing fainted...

“Sister-in-law!” The third princess was so anxious that she burst into tears. “Go and call the imperial doctor quickly! Call me brother!”

Yue'e received the order, lifted up her skirt and rushed towards Weiyang Palace like flying.

The place where the water leaked out of Guiyi Palace was in the front yard of the side hall. A whole row of houses were burned beyond recognition. The fire continued. The sky was frighteningly gloomy, but not a drop of rain fell. The maids and eunuchs rushed around, carrying buckets and basins to pour water in front of them.

When Yunli arrived at Guiyi Palace, the imperial guards had not yet arrived, and he saw a group of palace servants who were not very effective at all doing some ineffective rescue work.

　　Everyone noticed him and stopped to salute him: "See His Highness the Crown Prince!"

The prince glanced coldly: "Where is the prince's concubine?"

 “In...in the study!” a bold palace official reported with a trembling voice.

 Such a big fire!

Yunli was so anxious that he grabbed the barrel from the nearest **** and poured water over his head. Then he threw the barrel away and rushed into the blazing fire...

"Sister-in-law! Sister-in-law, nothing can happen to you! Sister-in-law..." The third princess cried while pressing Bingbing's chest, but her strength was not strong and the method was not necessary. She pressed many times but could not get out the accumulated water in Bingbing's body...

 Brother, where have you been? Do you know that your sister-in-law is about to die?

 The scorching temperature was like a huge steam furnace, burning Yunli's whole body with pain. He endured the discomfort and rushed through the hall.

"Linglong! Linglong - where are you? I heard you answer me!" Every time Yunli kicked open a door, there was a puff of smoke coming towards his face. He shouted Shui Linglong's name at the top of his lungs, but there was no one. In response to him, an ominous premonition filled his heart. He pressed his chest. Did something happen to Linglong?

By the Taiye Pond, Bingbing's body was getting colder and colder, and her face was getting paler. The third princess buried her head in her chest and suddenly burst into tears with a cry of "Ah!"

 There is no heartbeat...

The imperial concubine's expression became solemn: "We can't go in front, let's go through the back door!"

Eunuch Deng said with a mournful face: "Mother, the back door of our palace was blocked eight hundred years ago!"

The imperial concubine's pupils shrank, as if she was engaged in a battle between heaven and man. When she looked at Shui Linglong, her eyes were filled with complex expressions: "By following the secret path, can the imperial concubine promise me not to spread this secret? Otherwise, I'll leave you alone in the fire!"

Shui Linglong said: "I will keep my mouth shut."

“Well, follow me!” The imperial concubine took Shui Linglong’s hand. The switch next to the bookcase showed a narrow door behind the desk, and the four of them entered the secret passage. A trace of joy flashed in the eyes of the imperial concubine. She walked in front without letting Shui Linglong see it.

Shui Linglong followed the imperial concubine, constantly making calculations in her mind. She originally thought that the imperial concubine was going to burn her to death, but her second reaction was that the imperial concubine had won her trust and captured her gratitude at the cost of destroying the palace and exposing the secret passage. But soon, Shui Linglong had a third guess in her mind. If that was the case, the imperial concubine's move would be too poisonous!

In Weiyang Palace, Bingbing was lying on a soft big bed. Yue'e and the palace maid had put her into dry clothes, but she was still unconscious because of her weakness.

“Master Zhang, how is the condition of the Crown Princess?” It was the Queen who asked the question. She did not expect that Bingbing almost lost her life when she accompanied the third princess to the Imperial Garden.

 Zhang Yuanjian handed over the blessing and said: "If I return to the empress, the third princess was rescued in time, the princess is not seriously injured, and..."

 “And what?” the queen said without anger but with authority.

Judge Zhang knelt down on the ground, and the queen's eyebrows jumped. Unexpectedly, Judge Zhang said happily: "Congratulations, the Crown Princess is one month pregnant!"

"Ah? Really? You didn't make a mistake in your diagnosis, right?" The third princess had been crying beside her. After hearing what Zhang Yuan said, she was so happy that she immediately stopped crying and stared at Zhang Yuan with tears in her eyes, " Check again!"

Judge Zhang frowned and made another diagnosis according to the instructions of the third princess: "The third princess said that it is indeed a happy pulse. It's just that she fell into the water today and moved the fetus, so she must be taken good care of."

The worry in the Queen's eyes finally dissipated a little, and she smiled warmly: "It will be decided by the Labor Court."

Zhang Yuanjing once again blessed Fu Shen: "Wei Chen will go and prepare medicine for the princess now, and will send it with the prescription later."

The queen smiled and nodded, and Eunuch Zhang sent Zhang Yuanpuan to the Imperial Medical Office to get medicine.

As soon as the people left, the queen's smile faded, she looked at the third princess and said, "Do you know you are wrong?"

The third princess bit her lip reluctantly, but did not dare to look at the queen's gentle but sharp eyes: "What did I do wrong?"

The queen used her right hand to straighten the phoenix totem on the wide sleeve of her left arm, and said slowly: "Swear what you said to Princess Taj again in front of me."

 The third princess's heart skipped a beat and her head dropped even lower.

When she was seven years old, she broke her father's inkstone. She lied and said it was Li Chang who did it. Her father believed it and so did her mother. Afterward, she was rewarded for her meritorious service in reporting Li Chang and gave her a Western bird. The Persian cat who entered the palace, God knows she is most afraid of furry things...

When she was ten years old, she dressed up as a young **** and slipped out of the palace. When her elder brother forced her back, she lied to her father that she was sneaking out of the palace to buy him a birthday gift. His father did not punish her, and her mother did not punish her either. She only said Her filial piety can be seen from the sun and the moon. Huici Nunnery is in need of such a filial person to pray for her father and Dazhou, so her father happily sent her to live in a nunnery where chickens can't lay eggs and birds can't poop. moon…

"She hit me first. I was so angry that I just said a few harsh words."

The queen laughed: "It turns out that 'Nanmanzi' and 'beheading' are just 'nothing more'. Yunyao, you really impress me."

The third princess's heart beat: "She made rude remarks..."

The queen nodded, her smile unchanged: "Since she did something wrong, you can't get back the situation with her. Your father and I are elders, so it's not easy to bully a junior. So, let Guo Yan do it." She argued and sought justice for you."

The third princess shook her head: "No, Queen Mother! Guo Yan is Mobei's enemy, and Princess Taj will take the opportunity to make things difficult for her!"

The queen waved her hand: "Okay, this matter is settled, please kneel down."

 The third princess suddenly knelt on the ground: "I...I'm going to apologize to Princess Taj! You...don't embarrass Guo Yan..."

After the third princess left, the queen pressed her temples: "Where is the prince? Didn't he stay in the inner hall to check the seventh prince's homework? Where did he go?" If Yue'e hadn't come to find someone, she wouldn't have known when the prince would be here. Never Yang Palace disappeared.

 Eunuch Zhang was blessed and sighed secretly in his heart, saying: "The palace in Guiyi is flooded, and the prince...went to put out the fire."

"Absurd." The queen leaned back in her chair, not knowing what she thought of, her eyes turned cold, "Who else is in Guiyi Palace?"

 Eunuch Zhang knew that he could no longer hide it, so he simply said bluntly: "The Crown Princess of Zhenbei Palace."

 The queen's smile suddenly froze at the corners of her lips!

The dark environment makes people uneasy, and they feel that time passes slowly. Shui Linglong feels her pulse and estimates the time of walking. It has been almost a quarter of an hour so far. The wall is not polished smooth and the ground is dusty. It seems that the imperial concubine does not use this passage very often. Shui Linglong touched the soil and stones on the wall and initially estimated that this tunnel was at least thirty to fifty years old, which meant that it was not dug by this imperial concubine.

As if feeling Shui Linglong's doubts, the imperial concubine said softly: "Guiyi Palace was originally called Chaoyang Palace, which was the former residence of Queen Zhuang Min. After the death of Empress Zhuang Min, Chaoyang Palace remained vacant for many years. It wasn't until I became the imperial concubine that Long Live the Lord changed it. Chaoyang Palace is Guiyi Palace. I accidentally hit the switch in the study room and just discovered this secret passage. "

After walking for another half-quarter of an hour, Eunuch Deng suddenly raised his hand and touched something. Before Shui Linglong could see it clearly, she heard the sound of stones rubbing against the ground. Then, a dazzling light hit her, and she instinctively squinted. He squinted his eyes, and when he came back to his senses, the sound of flowing water on a small bridge rang in his ears.

“Finally we’re out.” The imperial concubine stepped out of the secret passage and showed a knowing smile.

Shui Linglong also walked out of the secret passage, and the stone door closed automatically. From the outside, it looked like a rockery. No wonder no one noticed it.

 “Mother! Slow down!”

 The imperial concubine's eyes flashed, "Who?" Who is speaking in the distance?

Xiao Anzi supported Concubine De, who was striding forward, with cold sweat breaking out on her forehead, fearing that she might accidentally bump into someone she shouldn't bump into along the way!

“How can I be slow? I just think these legs can’t walk fast!” Concubine De said with a frown.

The imperial concubine quietly breathed a sigh of relief. It turned out to be Concubine De. Judging from her eagerness and concentration, she probably didn't notice them coming out of the secret passage. She said to Concubine De, "Where are you going, sister De Concubine, in such a hurry?" Huh? The Queen’s palace is not in this direction!”

Concubine De and Xiao Anzi were startled when they heard this and looked towards the concubine. When they saw Shui Linglong standing next to the concubine intact, their eyes widened!

The stone in Concubine De's heart fell to the ground. She took three steps and two steps at a time to reach Shui Linglong. The breeze blew gently, and a gentle fragrance of lily of the valley came into her nostrils. Concubine De's eyes lit up, she held back her joy, and tried to speak as normally as possible. : "I heard that there was a breach in Guiyi Palace. I hope you are safe."

“Oh, I just escaped over the wall.” The imperial concubine stroked the golden hairpin on her head, with a hint of arrogance in her smile, “Sister De Fei hasn’t said where you are going yet?” Quickly change the subject!

Concubine De's smile faded, and her voice became colder: "I don't think the concubine has the right to ask where I am going!"

The imperial concubine seemed to be smiling but not smiling: "My sister, Concubine De, took a leave of absence from the Empress this morning. I thought my sister had some serious illness. Seeing how vigorous and vigorous you were just now, I might have thought that you were pretending to be ill on purpose and didn't want to see me." Where is our newly married Crown Princess!"

Xiao Anzi sighed to himself, look, meeting someone you shouldn't meet is indeed risky!

Concubine De twitched her lips and said, "I have felt much better after drinking the imperial doctor's medicine this morning. It happened that the Eleventh Prince wanted to eat flat peaches, so I went to the peach orchard in front to pick some for him. After picking, I planned to go to pay my respects to the Queen. However, the imperial concubine's sister escaped from the flames by climbing over the wall, and even after walking so far, she didn't even know that the palace people were upset, and they might have thought that you were deliberately causing trouble for the palace and causing trouble for the queen!"

The imperial concubine's smile was unnatural: "The Guiyi palace was accidentally breached for no reason. I am responsible for the oversight, and I was planning to apologize to the queen myself!"

Concubine De took advantage of the opportunity and said: "Since I am asking for forgiveness, my sister, please go quickly!"

Then she looked at Shui Linglong and said, "I felt uneasy because I couldn't give the Crown Princess a meeting gift before. In this case, the Crown Princess will go with me to the peach garden, pick peaches, and then return to Chengde Palace with me to pick one myself." The greeting gift is a token of my gratitude.”

The imperial concubine is not Shui Linglong, so naturally she cannot be Shui Linglong’s boss. Besides, there is no need for her to pester Shui Linglong now, because...

The imperial concubine smiled: "Okay, I'll leave first. See you later."

 Concubine De took Shui Linglong to Pantaoyuan. As soon as she entered, Concubine De took Shui Linglong's hand and asked, "Where is the jade pendant?"

Shui Linglong became wary: "What jade pendant?"

Seeing the vigilant look on her face, Concubine De couldn't help but feel slightly dazed: "There are two half-moon shaped jade pendants, and together they look like a full moon! Xiao Anzi saw you fall out just now!" She thought about it carefully along the way. Again, maybe Shui Linglong just picked up the jade pendant by chance, which doesn't mean anything, but what about the lily of the valley incense that only that person knows how to prepare?

Shui Linglong looked at Concubine De, then at Xiao Anzi, and suddenly remembered that the second jade pendant was picked up by the third princess in the north main room of Guanju Palace, and that Concubine De and Xiao Anzi had indeed entered that room at that time. Could it be that...this jade pendant belongs to both of them?

In this case, the Mobei concubine who secretly colluded with the King of Zhenbei is the Concubine De?

Shui Linglong made some mental calculations and then took out the jade pendant from her purse, handed it to Concubine De, pointed to the piece given to her by the painting, and said: "This is given to me by a maid from our Shangshu Mansion. I helped After asking her for help, she gave me this jade pendant and told me that her hometown was not in the capital. Unfortunately, she died before she could tell me where her hometown was." When she said this, she kept paying attention to De. Concubine De's expression, as expected, when Concubine De heard the word "hometown", a trace of panic flashed in her eyes, and she became more and more sure of her guess. Concubine De was a member of the Mobei royal family who had contacts with King Zhenbei. .

Xiao Anzi's heart was shocked, she's dead...my sister is dead...

 (End of this chapter)