“Is this what you meant when you said everything had been arranged successfully?!” After listening to the subordinate’s report, Ning Fei summoned the palace maid who was given charge of the errand: “You took Ben Gong’s money, but are you actually working for Chen Wang?!”

She spent five hundred taels, a full five hundred taels in total! And this was the result?!

“This slave also doesn’t know what’s going on. It was fine for the first few days but the female customers of the teahouse suddenly began liking the story of the outwardly overbearing yet inwardly gentle prince…” The palace maid’s voice got lower and lower: “That female storyteller said that she ought to tell stories that her customers like. And since they didn’t want her to continue telling the original content of the huaben, she changed her narrative.”

“If she doesn’t want to, just offer her more silver.” Ning Fei suppressed her anger with great difficulty: “If she is still unwilling, look for other people. Does Ben Gong need to teach you these things?”

“Niangniang…” The palace maid faltered: “The womenfolk of the capital no longer like the stories of gentle and dignified men. They have begun preferring stories about overbearing princes or defiant noblemen.”

Ever since the tale of the ‘overbearing and evil prince with a gentle heart’ became popular, countless storytellers followed suit and began making up such stories. No one liked to listen to those old typical stories of scholars and Young Misses or fox spirits and generals now.

“Are these people crazy?” Ning Fei couldn’t help but question, “What exactly is there to like about a prince like Yun DuQing?”

Seeing that Ning Fei was furious, the palace maid tried to console her quickly: “Niangniang, the one they like is not Chen Wang, but a fictitious character.”

Just… many women have surprisingly begun to equate Chen Wang with the overbearing prince of the story.

However, she did not dare to tell anything about this to the raging Ning Fei for fear of being punished by her.

“Get lost!” Ning Fei kicked her just above her lower abdomen: “Useless!”

The palace maid covered her belly: “Niangniang, please quell your anger. This slave will withdraw immediately.”

After she staggered out of the bedchamber, a young palace maid reached out to assist her: “Bai Shao gugu, are you okay?”

“I’m fine.” The palace maid endured the sharp, stabbing pain in her lower abdomen and pushed away the other palace maid’s hand. Cold sweat dripped down her forehead as she added: “Niangniang is not in a good mood today. Be prudent when you all serve her.”

The young palace maid’s expression changed; she looked at Bai Shao with concern. But the latter just covered her lower abdomen and walked slowly to the door and tumbled as she crossed the threshold.

“Gugu.” The little girl didn’t dare to make a loud sound. She hastily ran over to Bai Shao’s side: “I’ll assist you back.”

“Don’t make trouble.” Bai Shao said in a weak voice, gasping for breath, “Do you want to die?”

“Niangniang is in a bad mood, How can you be allowed to leave without permission?” Bai Shao stood up holding the door frame: “I’m alright, so go back quickly.”

The entire LanXu Palace knew that Ning Fei niangniang hated it when the palace servants were disrespectful to her. According to rumors, before she entered the current Emperor’s prince residence, Ning Fei was often treated coldly and bullied by the servants for being a concubine’s daughter and also due to the humble identity of her birth mother. Therefore, after he ascended the throne, she did not like disobedient servants.

However, this was only something that was only secretly exchanged between the servants of LanXu Palace and no one dared to investigate whether it was true or not. Besides, their niangniang had been very close to the people of the marquis family; it didn’t really seem like she had been treated badly.

“Bai Shao gugu.” A young eunuch chased after her: “Niangniang instructed you to inquire when the Department of the Palace will deliver the new tea. His Highness’ wedding is near at hand, so she said that everything in the Palace needs to be replaced.”

“I understand.” Bai Shao removed the hand from her belly: “I’ll go there and ask now.”

Looking at the deathly pale Bai Shao, the young eunuch opened his mouth to speak but didn’t dare. Finally, he whispered: “Gugu, please take care of your body.”

“Ming guniang, over there is the Imperial Storehouse of the Department of the Palace which is usually responsible for the living and every other expense of the harem’s imperial concubines.” XiangJuan pointed to a small building not far away: “After His Majesty ascended the throne, he was worried that the eunuchs responsible for it would embezzle those funds so he set it up.”

During the reign of the former Emperor, the unfavored imperial concubines often ate leftovers and drank cold water and rotten tea. Their lives were worse than those of the servants.

XiangJuan glanced at JiuZhu, noticing that Ming guniang seemed curious about everything; it was as if there was nothing in the world that she couldn’t find joy in. These days, niangniang would summon her into the Palace often, and the two would huddle together to appreciate paintings and chat. From time to time, they would also give some small suggestions to the imperial concubines copying the scriptures. In short, the two got along very happily.

The only ones who were not very happy were probably those concubines who still ‘persist’-ed in copying the scriptures with a sincere heart.

Worried that the little guniang would be bored after entering the Palace, niangniang asked her to accompany Ming guniang around the Palace. Now, except for His Majesty and the other niangniangs’ bedchambers, the two of them had wandered in every nook and cranny of the entire Imperial Palace.

The next time Ming guniang enters the palace, I really don’t know where else to take her.

“XiangJuan gugu.” JiuZhu pulled XiangJuan’s sleeve: “I’ll go ahead and take a look.”

“What’s wrong?” XiangJuan looked at JiuZhu in confusion and saw her walk over to a plum tree.

All curled up, Bai Shao was leaning against the tree trunk with her back soaked in a cold sweat. She half-opened her eyes weakly, looking up at the gray sky. The sharp, stabbing pain in her lower abdomen reminded her that she was still alive.

The abdominal pain seemed to spread all over her body; the endless pain clamoring to burst open her brain.

“Are you okay?”

With great effort, she managed to open her eyes wide to look at the girl before her.

The girl was wearing a red cloak. The buyao dangling by the side of her temples was shining so brightly that even the gray sky seemed to light up.

“XiangJuan gugu, she looks as if she’s about to faint.”

Before Bai Shao passed out, she saw the girl take off her cloak and put it over her.

…………

“Your Majesty.” Liu ZhongBao handed a secret letter to Emperor LongFeng: “The mastermind behind the plan to send the embroidered picture to the Guifei niangniang on the day of her birthday banquet has been found out.”

Emperor LongFeng opened the secret letter, read the name clearly written inside, and put it on the table gently: “Liu ZhongBao, how many years has it been since Zhen ascended the throne?”

“Your Majesty, this year is the thirteenth year of LongFeng.”

“I remember. That year, when DuQing had not even turned eight years old, he and Zhen were locked in a dark room together.” He sighed: “In the blink of an eye, so many years have passed since that time.”

“Set out for QingFeng Pavilion.”

The air in QingFeng Pavilion was filled with an unpleasant smell of medicine. Covered fully with a quilt, a woman lay on the bed coughing grievously.

Hearing the sound of footsteps, she struggled to lift the muslin canopy. At first, she was overjoyed but then became frenetic.

She tried her best to get up before finally plopping back on the bed weakly.

“Lie down.” Emperor LongFeng didn’t get close to the bed. He just looked at this haggard woman with no joy or anger in his eyes.

“Did Your Majesty come here to see me or to seek justice for that woman Su MeiDai?” She suddenly coughed a few times: “We knew each other from a young age but in the end, I cannot even compare to a merchant girl. How ridiculous.”

“Your Majesty!” She looked at Emperor LongFeng unwillingly: “Could it be that apart from Su MeiDai and Yun DuQing, the other women and children in the entire harem all mean nothing to you?”

“Since the foundation of this dynasty, no Emperor has treated the imperial concubines more generously than Zhen.” Emperor LongFeng sighed: “Yang-shi, you shouldn’t have pulled your tricks on Zhen’s beloved concubine.”

“Beloved concubine? Hahahahaha, beloved concubine?” Yang-shi asked harshly, “Only Su MeiDai counts as your woman?”

Looking at the hatred for Su Guifei in Yang-shi’s eyes, Emperor LongFeng stated, “Zhen is already aware of what happened in the 30th year of the previous Emperor’s reign.”

Yang-shi was stunned. After a long time, she laughed: “So that’s how it is, that’s how it is…”

Silence fell upon the room. A long struggle later, she sat up and glanced around the absolutely empty room, laughing until tears flowed down her face and mumbling to herself: “Your Majesty is right, you are indeed a benevolent monarch.”

That year, when Emperor LongFeng was placed under house arrest in his prince residence, the women of his backyard chose to betray their man for the glory and honor of their own families.

Later on, the plan failed and the then prince ascended the throne. Originally, she had assumed that this matter would forever remain a secret he would never know.

But she was mistaken. In this Imperial City, how could there possibly be secrets that would never be known?

“Hahahaha…”

Yang-shi burst into laughter, her face soaked with tears. Usually, the other women of the harem sat themselves high on a pedestal and jeered at her. Little did they know that their every action and conduct had already been discovered by His Majesty.

How funny ah, they were all so stupid!

When JiuZhu woke up in the morning, she discovered that none of the red lanterns hanging in the corridor at home were in sight.

“Sister ChunFen, why have all the lanterns been changed?” JiuZhu looked up at the blue lantern, feeling somewhat apprehensive.

“Imperial Concubine Yang niangniang of the Palace has passed away due to an illness. Master is a third-rank high official of the Ministry of Rites so it is inappropriate to hang red lanterns in the residence for nine days.” ChunFen draped a white cloak over JiuZhu’s shoulders: “Madam may take you to the Palace to offer condolences later. You should follow her closely.”

JiuZhu was stunned, it was not surprising that Sister ChunFen purposely picked out a white dress and silver hairpin for her today.

“Who is Imperial Concubine Yang niangniang?”

ChunFen lowered her voice: “She is the daughter of a former official who, along with his son, conspired with a rebel prince to force the late Emperor to abdicate more than ten years ago. After His Majesty ascended the throne, he took pity on her for being unaware of their plans and did not punish her……”

“JiuZhu.” Shen-shi walked into the yard and beckoned JiuZhu.

JiuZhu trotted in front of Shen-shi: “Mother, are we going to the Palace now?”

“ChunFen has already told you?”

JiuZhu nodded.

Shen-shi looked closely at her daughter’s whole body to confirm if everything was in place or not before leading her out.

Wearing white clothes, as Chen Wang was walking on the palace path, he discovered that some palace maids were looking at him with somewhat strange expressions.

He dodged the palace maid who slipped and almost fell into his arms and asked FuGui doubtfully: “What’s wrong with this palace maid? How can she serve in the Palace if she can’t even walk properly?”

FuGui looked at the fallen and confused palace maid and thought to himself, this palace maid probably also heard the bizarre story of «The Overbearing Prince’s Good-looking Palace Maid», right?

Chen Wang didn’t even look at the young palace maid who was lying on the ground with eyes full of tears. He said to the two eunuchs impatiently, “Hurry up and assist her back. If somebody sees, they will it was Ben Wang who pushed her down.”

Hardly had these words left his mouth when he heard JiuZhu’s voice calling out to him from behind.

“Your Highness!”

JiuZhu trotted over to Chen Wang. Noticing the palace maid kneeling on the ground, she looked at Chen Wang with a face full of doubts: “Your Highness?”

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