Long Harem Road

Chapter 19

"Zhu Zhaoyuan caused the eldest prince to fall into the water, thinking of his unintentional mistake, he was demoted to the seventh-rank Baolin, and he was banned for three months to pray for the eldest prince!" Regardless of Zhu Zhaoyuan's shout, Zhao Zhen glanced at the crowd coldly, staring at the crying Zhu Zhaoyuan and sternly road.

Zhu Zhaoyuan knelt on the ground, looked at the emperor in disbelief, and stopped shouting. Although she knew that she would be punished, she still couldn't accept it. The emperor who was thinking about it didn't even give her a word of explanation, so she directly condemned her. .

"The empress took Zhu Zhaoyuan and the people around the eldest prince back for review. They must be thoroughly investigated. I want to see whether this incident was a coincidence or someone with a heart!" After punishing Zhu Zhaoyuan, the emperor stood up and took the eunuchs to Concubine Liu went to the palace.

"All the younger sisters are gone, everyone has been troubled by today's affairs. The palace will investigate the case in the near future, so the greetings for the next few days will be skipped. Come back!" The queen said solemnly to the concubines.

"Yes!" Everyone had seen enough excitement, and each took the palace servants back to the palace.

On the way back to Cuiluxuan, Baozhu winks at Huanxi, Huanxi nods and exits the team.

Half an hour after Baozhu returned to Cuiluxuan, Huanxi returned mysteriously.

"Master!", Huanxi returned to the inner room, dismissed the little maid who was serving, only Huanxi was left, and then went forward to report.

"What news did you get?" Baozhu asked lazily while lying on the soft couch.

"Returning to the master, the servant has been confirmed, Xiao Ningzi has surrendered to Concubine Ma as planned, and has discussed with Concubine Ma in detail for nearly an hour.

After he left from Concubine Ma, he went directly to the Imperial Garden, where he met Ruyue, the eldest palace maid next to Zhu Zhaoyuan, just before the eldest prince's accident. "Happy reported the news from Zhicao truthfully.

"Well, it seems that Concubine Ma must have contributed to this matter, but how did she do it?" After hearing the report, Baozhu was inevitably a little puzzled and muttered.

"Huanxi, how much news do you have about the eldest prince? Why did he appear in the imperial garden?" Baozhu couldn't figure out Zhu Baolin's behavior, turned to Huanxi and said, she didn't believe that all this was just a coincidence.

"Returning to the master, the First Prince likes his puppy Wangwang very much. It was a gift he chose on the First Prince's birthday a few months ago. Recently, he has been going to the open space near the lotus pond every evening to play with the puppy."

"It seems that the person responsible for the layout should have carefully studied the habits of the First Prince. Then what about Zhu Baolin, how did she get to the lotus pond? Did someone lure her on purpose or did she just go there to admire the flowers unintentionally?"

Baozhu was puzzled, she was very clear that this was not a simple coincidence, and she was sure that the person behind the scenes must be Concubine Ma.

Baozhu carefully recalled the situation at that time, suddenly there was a flash of light, as if she had caught something, she pondered for a while and said:

"Do you remember that the puppy headed straight for Zhu Baolin at that time, and seemed to have spotted her?"

"Yes, the master said so, and the servants also remembered it, and even bypassed the eunuch blocking in front!", Huanxi also pondered.

"Well, I suspect that Xiao Ningzi played tricks on Ruyue and even Zhu Zhaoyuan, because Zhu Zhaoyuan stayed with Ruyue at that time, and the two of them were in the same direction. It seems that only Xiao Ningzi knows!"

"Master, what should we do, wait and see what happens?" Seeing that Baozhu had been contemplating, Huanxi continued.

"No, I believe Concubine Liu must be more interested in knowing who is behind the scenes and wants to hurt the eldest prince. You should find a way to pass the news to Concubine Liu and the empress. Just say that before the accident, the eunuch Xiao Ningzi next to Concubine Ma had a relationship with Zhu Ru Yue from Baolin's side had contacted her.

Concubine Liu will definitely seize the clues and start with Xiao Ningzi. As for the Empress, she will not miss a chance to bring down a concubine who has an heir. It depends on which of the two of them gets Xiao Ningzi first.

Go ahead, I'm afraid it will be too late when the queen asks the news. At that time, I am afraid that Xiao Ningzi will not be able to say it if he wants to! ", Baozhu closed her eyes, even though Xiao Ningzi had tried to harm her, she still couldn't accept that a fresh life was about to disappear.

"Yes, servant girl will do it now!", Huanxi retreated out, seeing that Baozhu was a little tired, Huanxi also quietly exited the inner room.

That night, the eldest prince had a high fever, and the emperor stayed in Huaqing Palace to accompany him until the early morning of the next day.

In the afternoon of the next day, Xiao Ningzi, the eunuch of Zhongcui Palace, bumped into the empress guard of honor in the imperial garden, and was shot to death on the spot.

Concubine Zhong Cuigong let out a long sigh of relief, Xiao Ningzi was always a hidden danger to her.

Concubine Liu's smile did not change, but there was a hint of ruthlessness in her eyes, she took good care of the eldest prince with her clothes unknit, and did not step out of Huaqing Palace.

Baozhu smiled slightly after hearing this, Concubine Liu is not simple, because her own son didn't act rashly, it seems that no one can survive in this harem.

For three consecutive days, the eldest prince's high fever kept recurring, and the imperial doctors changed batch after batch. The result was nothing more than that the eldest prince was frightened at a young age and needed intensive care, and his life was not in danger.

In just three days, the originally fair and lively Eldest Prince's complexion turned yellow and he lost a whole circle of weight.

Concubine Liu was even more puzzled by her clothes, her face was pale, she stayed by the eldest prince's side all the time, she seemed to be a few years older but she never made any other movements.

The emperor visited Huaqing Palace during lunch break every day, and then went back to Qianqing Palace to rest. After all, his only son was seriously ill, and Zhao Zhen was not scumbag to play sports with his concubines at this time.

Everyone in the harem hibernates, secretly guessing who is the unlucky successor to Zhu Baolin, Concubine Ma thinks and thinks for the past few days, and finds that there is no flaw left, so she waits with peace of mind.

A few more days passed in the panic of everyone, the eldest prince's fever had subsided, but he looked very weak and timid at the same time, he stuck to Concubine Liu's arms all day and refused to leave, even the emperor couldn't bear to see him. Can't help but frown.

After the heavy rain, the weather became hot again. Since Baozhu didn't have to go to bed to say hello, Baozhu's life became more and more comfortable these days. Apart from learning information, she would just lie on the soft couch and read a book, while thinking about the emperor's Christmas gift.

"Master, Sister Dongmei who is next to the empress is here!" Joyfully entered the inner room and said, looking at the contented master.

"Okay, come in!", Baozhu got up and changed her clothes happily.

"Slave Dongmei, please greet Ji Jieyu!"

As expected of the person next to the empress, his words and deeds are indeed outstanding, and no one can fault him, "Come on, what orders does the empress have?"

"Back to Ji Jieyu, my lord, please come to Kunning Palace in an hour!" Dongmei replied.

"Well, I will definitely arrive on time. This money is considered as money for running errands for you. If it's a hot day, I'll let you know!" Baozhu winked, and joyfully handed over a purse.

"Thank you for the reward, the maidservant will leave now!" Seeing that Ji Jieyu was acquainted, Dongmei hurriedly left without asking any further questions.

Baozhu winked at Huanxi, and Huanxi would pull Dongmei forward intentionally, "I will send my sister Dongmei off."

After a while, Huanhuan came back angrily, "Master, that Dongmei is too difficult to deal with, and I haven't got any news!"

Baozhu burst out laughing, "You, how can you, a little girl, fool the people around the empress? We are just doing normal things. If we are really calm, it will cause the empress to fear."

"Okay, Xuanren comes in to make up, and go to Kunning Palace!"

Baozhu arrived at the Kunning Palace according to the time. She, a newcomer, does not need to be active in this kind of thing. At the gate of the Kunning Palace, she ran into Zhang Jieyu who came at the same time. The two looked at each other and smiled, and entered the palace together. .

After entering the palace, Baozhufang discovered that the emperor was also sitting at the head, presumably to show his respect for the only son, "Get up, the queen is in charge of today's affairs, I want to see if anyone dares to murder the prince!" Like a black pot, he said sharply.

"Since everyone is here, Your Majesty, the courtiers and concubines will start?" The queen turned to the emperor and asked.

"Yeah!" Zhao Zhen nodded with a dark face, and then sat and drank tea.

"I don't want to waste any more time. The purpose of calling all the sisters here today is because of the incident of the eldest prince falling into the water a few days ago. It is related to the emperor's heir and has a lot to do with it. Please come and listen to me, so as to make a warning to others!" , the queen glanced at the crowd below, and said in a bad tone.

"Bring everyone up!"

After a while, the maids and eunuchs who had been beaten beyond recognition and covered in bruises were brought up. The concubines seemed to have already thought about their ending, and their eyes did not fluctuate.

Baozhu sighed slightly, this is the supremacy of imperial power, the life of a servant is probably worse than that of a pet.

"Okay, let's talk first!" The queen pointed to a little eunuch on the far side, and said indifferently.

"Slave Little Six is ​​the eunuch next to the First Prince. In recent months, the First Prince has often played with Wangwang in the open space behind the lotus pond, and the servants have been following behind;
On that day, Wangwang suddenly ran crazily towards the edge of the lotus pond, which was in the direction of Zhu Baolin, and the eldest prince also followed.The servants did not dare to pass the eldest prince, so they followed behind him.I beg your empress to spare your life, the servants did not harm the First Prince! "

The little six sons kowtowed on the ground with a "bang bang", and the eldest prince's eunuchs and court ladies also shouted for grievances. The empress frowned, "Come here, it's not good to protect him, give me thirty big boards, and send them back to the Shang Palace Bureau."

The people around the First Prince were dragged down, Ruyue and others who were kneeling next to him were even more frightened and trembling, Ruhua took a step forward and cried, "Your Majesty, this servant has been wronged, please forgive me!"

The empress didn't change her face, "Please explain Zhu Baolin's every move that day carefully, maybe I can spare your life!"

Ruhua kowtowed desperately, "Yes, yes, all the servants said. Someone came to Ruyue that day, Zhu Baolin thought that Concubine Ma was going to kill her, so he hurriedly took the servants to the lotus pond.

When they got to the pool, the eldest prince and his dog ran over. The slaves had been following Zhu Baolin to protect him. They didn't know how the eldest prince fell into the water! "

Concubine Ma heard that she wanted to harm Zhu Baolin, she immediately stood up and knelt down, "I beg your majesty, empress empress, to be clear, the concubine stayed in Zhongcui Palace that day, and did not frame Zhu Baolin!"

(End of this chapter)