Taichang Ming Dynasty

Chapter 91 The Demonic Flower of the West Warm Pavilion
The witty and intelligent Li Zhulan saw through this. She provided the Crown Prince with meticulous care and spiritual comfort. The other concubines were obedient to the Crown Prince, yet deep down they maintained a distance and a wary eye. Li Zhulan, alone, was unrestrained, daring to tease and mock the Crown Prince while also listening to his complaints and offering comfort.

Li Zhulan, both concubine and friend, enjoyed a level of favor unmatched by other concubines. Though intelligent, she was not immune to common misconceptions, and this unique favor led her to become arrogant. She was merely a concubine, practically the lowest-ranking among the concubines, yet she could exploit the crown prince's exclusive favor to abuse and abuse the higher-ranking concubines at will.

In the 41st year of the Wanli reign, Crown Princess Guo died of illness, and there was no one in the Eastern Palace who could restrain her. Moreover, Li Zhulan's ambition began to swell.

Guo died of illness in the 41st year of his reign, and the emperor passed away in the 48th year, without the crown prince remarrying. According to Ming custom, if Guo had no heirs, after the crown prince ascended the throne, his eldest son, Zhu Youxiao, would be the next crown prince. At that time, Zhu Youxiao's mother, Consort Wang, would have gained status through her son and become the de facto mistress of the harem.

In order to avoid this, Li Zhulan began to think of ways to alienate the relationship between the prince and Wang.

Wang gave birth to the crown prince's eldest son Zhu Youxiao and second son Zhu You, but Wang never won the crown prince's favor. Therefore, under Li Zhulan's years of pillow talk, Wang was overwhelmed.

After Wang's complete fall from grace, Li Zhulan became even more unscrupulous, harassing her daily. Finally, in the 47th year of the Wanli reign, she tortured Wang to death. Furthermore, she even gained custody of the eldest son, becoming Zhu Youxiao's "adoptive mother."

It can be said that Li Zhulan's path was more stable than that of the Wanli Emperor's favorite concubine, Zheng. On the one hand, she won the exclusive favor of her husband, and on the other hand, she firmly held the future heir of the empire in her hands.

The Zheng family had been a precedent. Li Zhulan knew that even if her son Zhu Youmo had not died in the 43rd year of the Wanli reign, it would have been impossible to depose the eldest son and enthronize the youngest son. Her husband was a living example.

So her plan was to adopt the child.

Both Crown Princess Guo and her biological mother Wang had passed away. As long as she could become Zhu Youxiao's stepmother, I think foreign officials would not stop her from becoming queen.

But her wishful thinking was ultimately shattered. On August 11, her husband, who had just ascended the throne, became extremely haggard due to excessive indulgence in sexual activities.

Upon hearing the news, Li Zhulan's first reaction was worry. Having spent more than ten years with the Crown Prince, it would be a lie to say that she had no feelings for him at all.

But at the same time, she was a very rational woman. Li Zhulan knew very well that the adoption could only take place while Zhu Youxiao was still a prince. If her husband died and the eldest prince ascended the throne according to the will, she would be left with nothing.

So, on the day the tragic news broke, Li Zhulan, filled with worry for her husband and anxiety about the future, went to the Qianqing Palace to see him. She teased Zhu Changluo as usual, ready to offer gentle words of comfort if he showed any signs of anger. But she hadn't expected the first of her flurry of attacks to provoke Zhu Changluo's wrath. Not only did he chase her out, he also had Wang An beat her up. For a moment, she couldn't understand Zhu Changluo's reaction.

This blow was undoubtedly heavy for Li Zhulan, but compared with what happened afterwards, the pain in her butt was nothing big.

A few days later, the emperor, who had recovered a little, came to the West Warm Pavilion, but he did not come to look for her. Instead, he took the eldest prince away.

For a concubine deep in the secluded palace, falling out of favor meant losing everything. Li Zhulan never thought it would happen to her. But with the facts before her, she had no choice but to believe it.

After a serious illness, Zhu Changluo was a different person. She knew clearly that if she wanted to regain favor, she had to change herself. But even if she wanted to change, she didn't know where to start. Because since then, Zhu Changluo has never come to the West Warm Pavilion again.
Since the first day of the winter month, God has been dusting Beijing with snow every few days, so eunuchs are sweeping snow in every street in the imperial palace.

Seeing the royal father and son, accompanied by a group of high-ranking eunuchs, approaching, the eunuchs sweeping the snow on the road immediately put down their brooms and shovels and knelt in the snow. This action immediately triggered a chain reaction, and all the eunuchs and palace maids on duty near and far also knelt down.

No one would ask them to get up, but they would not stay kneeling forever. As long as the emperor's majestic figure completely disappeared from their sight, they could pat the snow and stand up on their own.

"The Emperor has arrived!" the eunuch announced loudly. This left Li Zhulan, who was sitting in a daze at her dressing table, momentarily at a loss for what to do. A feeling of relief, like a long drought finally ending, spread from her heart throughout her body.

She quickly stood up, straightened her collar and hair, and walked quickly to the door.

When Li Zhulan arrived at the door and saw the emperor and his two sons, she was a little stunned, but still knelt down and said, "Your humble concubine Li Zhulan pays her respects to the emperor!" Li Zhulan's attitude was very humble, which surprised Zhu Changluo a little.

"Get up." Zhu Changluo said.

"Your humble concubine thanks the emperor." Li Zhulan's voice suddenly choked, and when she stood up, there was a glimmer of crystal in the corner of her eyes.

Zhu Changluo raised his eyebrows when he saw Li Zhulan's tearful expression, but he kept a cold face and acted businesslike. "Where is Huiti?"

".Let the palace maid take her out for a walk. She should be back soon." Li Zhulan's heart tightened.

"Wang An, go." Before Zhu Changluo finished speaking, he heard a crisp child's voice coming from behind: "Emperor Daddy!"

Zhu Changluo turned around and found a little girl as pink as porcelain looking at him with her big watery eyes.

"Emperor Father?" Zhu Changluo's expression didn't have time to adjust, and he looked a little scary.

Zhu Huiti took a step back, and her back bumped into the arms of the fifth prince Zhu Youjian.

Zhu Changluo blinked, walked to the two children, and then stretched out his left and right hands at the same time and patted them gently on the head.

"Zhu Youjian, you are shorter than your sister." Zhu Changluo said with a smile.

"Father!" Zhu Youjian looked Zhu Huiti up and down and said unconvincedly, "How could that be?"

"Zhu Youxiao, what do you think?" Zhu Changluo turned and asked the eldest brother of the two children.

"Royal brother." Zhu Youjian cast a pleading look at Zhu Youxiao.

"Your Majesty, my eighth sister is indeed taller than my fourth brother." Zhu Youxiao pretended not to see it.

"My Royal Brother is the best." Zhu Huiti ran to Zhu Youxiao and said happily, "My Royal Brother hasn't been home for a long time. I miss you so much."

"I am also the emperor's brother!" Zhu Youjian was unconvinced.

"Hmph! Short brother." Zhu Huiti snorted proudly at Zhu Youjian, then ran to Zhu Changluo and took his hand. "Ti'er misses Daddy the Emperor too. The last time Daddy the Emperor came, Ti'er went out to play. Daddy the Emperor, please don't be angry with Ti'er, okay?"

"Why does Ti'er feel that Emperor Daddy is angry?"

"Because the Emperor hasn't been here for a long time."

Zhu Changluo was stunned, but he couldn't explain.

(End of this chapter)