Lian Erye in the Red Mansion

Upon returning to Changchun Palace, Consort Li angrily swept all the cups, saucers, and teacups off the table.

She hates it.

She had prepared for this day for so long, even going so far as to put aside her dignity and grovel to please that vile woman for so long!

We finally got this opportunity, but it all fell through in the end!

Over the years, she had considered countless schemes to harm the Empress Dowager, but because the Empress Dowager had the Emperor Emeritus's trust and favor, she was unable to cause any effective damage to her.

She then realized that the only way to get rid of the Empress Dowager was to make her lose the Emperor Emeritus's trust and favor, or to wait until the Emperor Emeritus passed away.

With the Emperor Emeritus gone, she didn't know if she would live to see that day again.

Therefore, the only choice left for her was the former.

Heaven rewards those who persevere, and she finally saw an opportunity.

Ever since the affair between Jia Lian and Princess Zhaoyang became a hot topic, especially after Jia Lian escorted Princess Zhaoyang back to the capital from beyond the Great Wall, Consort Li noticed that a man frequently appeared in Weiyang Palace.

A young and handsome foreign minister!

A plan immediately came to her mind.

The Emperor Emeritus and the Empress Dowager were an older man and a younger woman. If the Emperor Emeritus were to suspect that the Empress Dowager was not loyal to him, it would undoubtedly be the easiest and most effective way to make the Empress Dowager lose the Emperor Emeritus's trust and favor!

In fact, she had considered using the palace guards to tarnish the Empress Dowager's reputation before, but she was afraid the guards wouldn't have the guts, and she also felt it wouldn't be convincing enough.

But if it were Jia Lian, it would make much more sense.

After all, Jia Lian was well-known, and many people knew that he had saved the Empress Dowager's life, and the Empress Dowager clearly had a good impression of Jia Lian.

Otherwise, why would she be so eager to marry her precious grandniece off to him?

With these prerequisites in place, she immediately finalized her plan.

First, he pretended to repent and took the initiative to befriend the Empress Dowager in order to lower her guard.

Then, at a suitable time, use your own informant, who has been planted by the Empress Dowager's side, to falsely convey the Empress Dowager's imperial decree and lure Jia Lian to the Forbidden City, where he will be in a room with the Empress Dowager. Ideally, he will be caught red-handed by the Emperor Emeritus!

The plan is perfect.

Today she also successfully drugged the Empress Dowager and sent her to the Phoenix Pavilion.

She was perfectly clear-headed.

Once Jia Lian is successfully tricked into going to the Phoenix Pavilion, regardless of his reaction, the fact that the two are having a "secret meeting" is already established.

Even if Jia Lian realized it was a conspiracy immediately and wanted to leave, it was no use.

Outside the Phoenix Pavilion, she had already arranged enough people to capture Jia Lian immediately!

Of course, it would be even better if the notoriously amorous Jia Lian saw the Empress Dowager, disheveled and stunningly beautiful, in the Phoenix Pavilion and couldn't resist having a passionate and unrestrained sexual encounter with her.

The only difficulty is how to make sure the retired emperor personally witnesses it!

After all, the retired emperor had long disliked her, and if she had seized all the evidence, he probably wouldn't have believed it so easily.

If the retired emperor does not believe it and is determined to investigate thoroughly, he may discover flaws and suspicious circumstances.

Fortunately, she was prepared.

Knowing that the retired emperor had a fondness for valuable items in his later years, especially antiques and calligraphy, she had asked her family to help her collect them long ago.

Finally, I acquired a world-famous painting, "A Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains".

What she secretly resented was that even though she knew the Emperor Emeritus would definitely like the painting, when she sent someone to inform him, he didn't react much, only telling her that since she had it, she should keep it well...

She had to go there herself, pleading and begging, saying that she had sincerely repented and asking the Emperor Emeritus for a chance to atone for her sins, before the Emperor Emeritus agreed to come today.

Everything was proceeding smoothly according to her plan.

She was certain that once the Emperor Emeritus arrived at the Phoenix Pavilion and saw the Empress Dowager and Jia Lian alone together in a room, the Empress Dowager would have no chance of survival.

Even if her plan wasn't perfect, no one would care about the minor details in the face of such a momentous matter as the Empress Dowager's loss of virtue and chastity.

As for Jia Lian, the life and death of an outsider was not even within her consideration.

But the fact is, her plan still failed, and failed inexplicably.

To this day, she still can't figure out where things went wrong, or why Princess Zhaoyang ended up there.

How did that vile Empress Dowager manage to escape right under her nose?

Her trusted old palace maid waited until she calmed down before daring to step forward and say in a low voice, "Your Majesty, now is not the time to be upset."

Many of the people we assigned to guard Fengluan Pavilion have disappeared. I suspect it was the Empress Dowager who did it.

"Our attempt to frame her has failed. If the Empress Dowager were to turn on the Emperor Emeritus and falsely accuse her, it would be disastrous for Her Majesty."

Consort Li had already suspected that the other party's clever avoidance of her trap might mean that her plan had been leaked.

Could it be that the Empress Dowager, like her, bribed the people around her?

While speculating about possible spies, Consort Li's heart trembled upon hearing this.

Yes, if things succeed, she will be the victor, and naturally she won't be afraid of her subordinates leaking information.

But not only did the plan fail, their own people also fell into the enemy's hands, so...

Without regard for anything else, he immediately ordered people to bring all those people back.

But no sooner had she given the order than eunuchs and maids returned crying, "Your Majesty, something terrible has happened! The Imperial Guards have surrounded our palace, saying they are acting on the orders of the Emperor Emeritus. Without his command, no one is allowed to enter or leave Changchun Palace!"

Consort Li felt a chill run down her spine, and a sense of lingering fear welled up in her heart.

……

Emperor Ningkang received news of what happened in the Imperial Garden somewhat late.

Because this matter was of great importance, the eunuchs below dared not report it without prior notice.

Only when the Imperial Guards surrounded Changchun Palace did the people of Daming Palace dare not hesitate any longer. Dai Quan reported all the information he had gathered to Emperor Ningkang.

In front of Changchun Palace.

The deputy commander of the Imperial Guard Battalion was personally on duty here. When he saw that bright yellow figure walking towards him, even this seven-foot-tall man couldn't help but tremble.

"The Emperor Emeritus has decreed that no one may enter or leave Changchun Palace without his decree."

She reluctantly stood in front of Emperor Ningkang. There was no other way; the higher-ups had specifically instructed that even Emperor Ningkang was not allowed to see Consort Li.

"Get out of the way."

"Your Majesty, please do not make things difficult for this humble general. I am only acting under orders..."

Suddenly, Emperor Ningkang drew the sword from the guard beside him. The deputy commander was terrified. His survival instinct made him kneel down without thinking and bury his head on the ground.

The cold touch on his neck made him shrink back. Realizing his head was still intact, he was relieved but had no doubt that if he had reacted any slower, his head would already be on the ground.

"Clang~"

The sound of a steel knife being thrown to the ground.

The deputy commander didn't dare to move until the footsteps in front of him completely stopped. Only then did he raise his head to wipe the cold sweat from his forehead, and then quickly grabbed one of his trusted confidants and made him pass the message back.

……

When Jia Lian left the palace, he was still filled with lingering fear.

Although he had always been very careful when walking around the palace, he still almost fell into a place of no return today.

Who could have imagined that Consort Li was so vicious and audacious, resorting to such despicable means to try and kill him and the Empress Dowager?

He had always considered himself to have never offended Consort Li. In fact, because she was the birth mother of Emperor Ningkang, he always treated her with utmost respect whenever they met.

The old woman even praised him for his youthful talent and told him to serve the emperor well.

result……

It can only be said that a woman whose mind is clouded by jealousy is completely unreasonable.

Perhaps her only target was the Empress Dowager. She considered herself, the descendant of a founding hero, a marquis of the current dynasty, and a minister favored by her son as utterly worthless.

I am nothing more than an insignificant tool.

Fortunately, the Empress Dowager and Zhaoyang were clever enough to have a complete solution. Otherwise, even if he had managed to escape today, he would have surely caused endless trouble.

I felt a little guilty.

It was clear that the Empress Dowager and Princess Zhaoyang were plotting against each other, yet he still harbored desires for the Empress Dowager's body even though he knew it was a conspiracy.

He couldn't even imagine what Princess Zhaoyang's thoughts and expressions would have been if he had actually done something to the Empress Dowager's body back then, even just reaching out to touch it, and Princess Zhaoyang had seen it.

Oh, right, I thought the Empress Dowager was asleep, but it turns out she was just pretending...

So it's very likely that he won't have a chance to succeed at all, and will have to get slapped first.

Damn, thank goodness.

……

Rongguo Mansion, Fengjie's courtyard.

Sister Feng was not feeling well today, so she did not go to the council hall. Instead, she sent the old women and servants in to report anything.

She now wields even more power.

Previously, Jia Zheng and Jia Lian would handle most of the external affairs. Now that Jia Zheng has gone to the south to serve as an educational official, Jia Lian is only responsible for the major policies of the family. As for the rest of the affairs of the mansion, both inside and outside, she has to take care of them all by herself.

If it weren't for the fact that her status was now vastly different from before, and that she had gathered a large group of capable officials under her command, she would have been exhausted long ago.

After finishing reading the last financial booklet, and seeing that there were no more people coming to reply outside, Sister Feng stretched and was about to get up.

Suddenly I stumbled, and my inner thigh felt a sharp pain.

"Grandma, what's wrong?" Ping'er and the other maids rushed forward to ask with concern.

"It's nothing. My legs just went numb from sitting for so long. I'll be fine after a rest."

As Sister Feng spoke, her eyes involuntarily drifted toward Qin Keqing, who was standing dutifully to the side.

Qin Keqing blinked, as if she had suddenly realized something, and her eyes suddenly lit up with a radiant light, as dazzling as spring flowers.

Seeing this, Sister Feng cursed inwardly, "That little vixen!" She thought to herself that if she were a man, she certainly wouldn't let her go either.

But it's fine, rather than letting her waste her time in the East Mansion, it's better to let her have a man.

Thinking about it, Sister Feng couldn't help but wonder if this was too lenient with Jia Lian and would make him take advantage of her in the future.

But then she remembered the eldest princess, whom she had only managed to win by sheer luck, and she became determined again.

Ping'er helped her into the inner room to rest.

Before long, Qin Keqing crept in furtively, and Feng Jie glared at her irritably.

"Is Second Madam feeling unwell?"

"How dare you say that, you little troublemaker..."

Sister Feng tapped Qin Keqing's forehead hard with her hand. Qin Keqing, now dressed entirely like Xiangling's maid, didn't look out of place at all.

Upon hearing Feng Jie's words, Qin Keqing knew her guess was correct. Her eyes darted around, and she said ingratiatingly, "Would you like me to rub it for Second Mistress?"

"Pooh!"

Sister Feng spat and pretended to tear her mouth off. Thus, the two, who appeared to be mistress and servant but were actually aunt and niece best friends, began to wrestle on the bed.

In an instant, Sister Feng was completely on top of Qin Keqing. Seeing that Qin Keqing had no intention of resisting anymore, she didn't continue to ravage her. She only scolded, "You naughty girl, where did you get those filthy things from? And, you even dared to bring them into my room..."

Qin Keqing lay completely sprawled on Feng Jie'er's bed, her attachment to it beyond words.

But she didn't want Sister Feng to see what she was thinking, so she put on a pitiful look and said, "How could I dare let anyone else handle this? I made it all myself."

"Um?"

Sister Feng was greatly surprised, and said in a low voice with suspicion and hesitation, "The rest is fine, but...that thing, how could you..."

She was amazed by Qin Keqing's exquisite craftsmanship.

Although Sister Feng's words were vague, Qin Keqing understood them perfectly.

"Hehe... Of course, he didn't know how at first, but he had nothing to do all day long in that mansion, so he just pondered and carved some wood and jade for fun."

One day, someone suddenly had a brilliant idea...

At first, the carving wasn't very satisfactory, until later, my second aunt took pity on me and had me serve her... Suddenly, I had an inspiration and copied what my second uncle had done. Last night, my second grandmother also saw it and thought, "Is there anything wrong with what I did?"

Looking at Qin Keqing's serious expression, it seemed that if she gave reasonable suggestions, the other party would have to go down and re-carve and modify it.

At that moment, Sister Feng felt her cheeks and ears burning. If the person beneath her wasn't her very close sister, she would definitely have called her a slut.

Even so, she still spat fiercely, rolled over and went into bed, pressed her face against the cool bedding, and after a long while said, "You...you shouldn't be so presumptuous. Although the old lady and the others don't come here often, my sisters-in-law and other family members do. If they saw your shameless things, what would they do?"

You'd better put it away right now... and don't take it out again!

Judging from Feng Jie's posture and her words, Qin Keqing knew that she was embarrassed.

Qin Keqing wanted to say that without Jia Lian's guidance, she would not have been able to create those things.

Since Jia Lian didn't care about her "licentiousness," and she had achieved great success with You Shi and Feng Jie, enjoying the pleasure it brought, she was naturally happy to continue this kind of thing.

Her life was destined to be unlike that of other women in the world from the moment she met Jia Rong and his son.

Now, she doesn't even care about having children; she just wants to live life according to her own wishes.

In her view, only Jia Lian was the only person in the world who could support her unconventional ideas.

Fortunately, Uncle Lian was surrounded by all sorts of women, and staying by his side was never boring.

So she turned over and hugged Feng Jie, saying with some resentment, "I took a great risk to bring these things here. Last night, judging from Second Aunt's expression, I thought I had brought her joy, but it turns out Second Aunt didn't like them at all..."

"Never mind, they already know."

Hearing Qin Keqing's words, Feng Jie felt even more ashamed. She secretly resented herself for indulging this little hussy last night, and also hated Qin Keqing for being so shameless.

She even thought that this girl must be pretending to be a woman. If she were a man, she would surely be the most lecherous man in the world!

He broke free from Qin Keqing's embrace, sat up, and pinched her hard. Just as he was about to give her another good talking to, he heard someone outside announce, "Second Master is back."

Feng Jie immediately forgot about Qin Keqing and got up from the bed.

Before she could even straighten her clothes, Jia Lian had already walked in.

She had initially greeted him with a smile, but upon seeing Jia Lian's somewhat somber expression, she became cautious. She stepped forward to help Jia Lian into the house, undressing him as she asked, "Is something the matter? You don't look well."

Jia Lian shook his head, not intending to discuss matters of the palace with Feng Jie for the time being.

He stared at Sister Feng, touching her face and saying, "Why is your face so red?"

Sister Feng was extremely embarrassed. Even though she couldn't see her own face, she could guess that she must look like she had just had an affair.

Therefore, he quickly pointed at Qin Keqing: "It's all because of this little hussy, she has no shame at all. You have no idea what nonsense she just said to me."

Upon hearing this, Jia Lian looked at Qin Keqing, who had an innocent expression, and seemed to understand something.

Although Qin Keqing was born with a charming and alluring appearance, she still adhered to the rules of etiquette and propriety.

However, ever since she came with him, under his indulgence, this gentle and delicate beauty has become increasingly unconventional in her thinking.

The most obvious manifestation of this is their openness in bed and their enthusiasm for developing different ways of playing with themselves.

Thus, Jia Lian concluded that this woman was naturally "skilled in charm (licentiousness)," but her nature had been sealed by etiquette and rules in the past, and now the seal was slowly being broken.

However, because of her beautiful face and her perpetually pitiful and endearing appearance, people are easily deceived and cannot see through her true nature.

For some reason, Jia Lian suddenly thought of the Empress Dowager.

Although this woman always appeared aloof and unapproachable in front of him.

But the fact that she could be the sole favorite of the retired emperor in his later years suggests that she must possess an irresistible charm that men could not resist, though she never showed it to him.

Or perhaps, the woman on that fragrant couch in the Luanfeng Pavilion today was the only one he saw who possessed a charming side.

With his mind wandering through a series of wild thoughts, Jia Lian suddenly said, "Oh, really? Since she bullied you, don't you want to bully her back?"

Upon hearing this, Sister Feng assumed that Jia Lian was lusting after her and was about to mock him. However, she remembered her secret advice to herself to be more "romantic".

So he forcibly swallowed back the words that were about to come out, and said with a smile, "Alright, but I wonder how Second Master plans to help me deal with her?"

Jia Lian glanced back at Feng Jie and suddenly felt that Feng Jie was somewhat different.

It seems that letting her spend more time with Qin Keqing was the right thing to do.

So he became even more determined, grabbed Qin Keqing who was pretending to be flustered, and carried her to the bed.

Then, Feng Jie, who was leisurely assisting from the side, saw Jia Lian remove Qin Keqing's maid's skirt, leaving her only in her inner garment, and arrange her on the couch in a seemingly alluring but actually quite proper pose:

The beauty lay on her back, her clothes half-open, revealing her snow-white arms and jade-like legs...

"Nothing special," Sister Feng thought to herself.

Jia Lian sat on the edge of the couch, his brows furrowed.

Suddenly remembering something, she pulled a silk handkerchief from inside the beauty's clothes and covered her jade-like face, which seemed to be filled with resentment and tears, and that she wanted to speak but could not.

In an instant, the scene changed, and in a daze, Jia Lian found himself back in the Forbidden City, entering the Phoenix Pavilion where the imperial concubines were temporarily staying.

Although Sister Feng didn't know what Jia Lian was up to, she could tell from his unusual look that he was about to do something bad.

Although she felt a slight pang of jealousy, considering her own discomfort, she decisively chose to retreat.

She drew the curtain closed and went outside, taking a few deep breaths of the fresh air.