Ruan Lang immediately jumped on his horse and followed closely beside the sedan.
He looked back at the beautiful Xiaoxiang Villa with its feasting and feasting, and the scenes that happened here suddenly came to his mind, making him have mixed feelings for a moment.
Hua Fangyi opened the curtains and looked at the retreating annex. She couldn't help but sigh: "I'm afraid I won't have free days anymore. I don't know what will be waiting for me in the red wall!"
Ruan Lang controlled the horse and lowered his voice and said: "Miss Fangyi, be careful after entering the palace! I bribed the chamberlain and arranged for you to stay far away from the emperor. You can endure there until His Highness King Yi comes back. You
It's safe!
However, if you accidentally encounter the emperor, you must be extremely careful. The emperor has a volatile temper, the queen is kind-hearted but evil-hearted, and Eunuch Shuangxi is a smiling tiger. You have to guard against these people!"
Hua Fangyi tilted her head and looked at him, smiling and said: "Master Ruan only comes to me so much, is it because of His Highness's request, or do you always care about me?"
Ruan Lang's eyes were a little panicked. He coughed a few times and then whispered: "He didn't know you were going to the palace, but he asked me to take care of you. Naturally, I can't live up to his instructions..."
Hua Fangyi looked up at the moon and said quietly: "With Lord Ruan's care, my life in the palace should not be too sad. However, as of now, no matter what is waiting for me ahead, I can't look back.
, we can only take one step at a time!"
Ruan Lang pondered for a moment and whispered: "Before entering the palace, you still have a chance to return. I will tell the emperor that the leader of the Lu Gang has left Shengjing, so that I can relieve you and King Yi."
Hua Fangyi glanced at him indifferently and said nonchalantly: "No, with the emperor's suspicious character, he will definitely not give up here. Curiosity will drive him to investigate everything about Miss Lu. Once Miss Lu's secret
If it is exposed, King Yi will be implicated, and I can't let him take the risk!"
As long as it involves King Yi, Ruan Lang knows that he cannot stop Hua Fangyi, so he can only sigh helplessly:
"Well, since you have made up your mind, I won't persuade you anymore. Anyway, I will accompany you to the palace every day. If you encounter any difficulties, just come to me and I will find a way to help you!"
Hua Fangyi sighed and said softly: "I wonder if Mr. Ruan can let me meet Yan Rong's son. I'm really worried about him leaving his parents at such a young age."
Ruan Lang thought for a while and then responded: "Okay, I will find a way for you to meet him."
"Thank you." Hua Fangyi looked at him and smiled slightly, then casually lowered the curtains because she didn't want Ruan Lang to see her embarrassment with tears streaming down her face.
——Win over——
On her first night in the palace, Hua Fangyi almost stayed up all night. The strange environment and strange people made her feel scared and panicked.
Fortunately, as soon as it got light in the morning, Ruan Lang bribed a palace maid and came over to inform her: Every afternoon, the wet nurse would hold the baby and bask in the sun in Qionghua Garden.
After hearing the news, Hua Fangyi's uneasy mood finally dissipated.
She crawled back into bed and took a nap. After noon, she simply ate something and then headed to Qionghua Garden under the guidance of the palace maid.
After a night of rain, the garden is green and shaded, with clear pool water, lush vegetation, criss-crossing branches, and scattered scattered shadows of the sun.
A nanny in her early thirties, wearing coarse clothes and looking friendly, was walking in the garden with a baby in her arms.
Hua Fangyi followed closely, stopped the two of them, and asked with a smile: "Is this child Qing'er?"
When the wet nurse saw the stranger approaching, she instinctively took a step back, and replied nervously and awkwardly: "Back to you... back to my wife, this child... is called Qing'er."
Hua Fangyi smiled slightly and said softly: "Don't be afraid, I am not the empress in this palace. I am just like this child. I seem to be imprisoned here by the emperor. Moreover, I am also Yan Rong's good friend. My name is
Hua Fangyi."
When the nanny heard that she was Yan Rong's friend, the look on her face was one of surprise and surprise, as if she was seeing a relative. Tears filled her eyes and she said excitedly: "Great, now Qing'er can be saved!"
Hua Fangyi was startled and asked hurriedly:
"What do you mean? Does someone want this child's life?"
The wet nurse wiped away her tears, as if holding back endless grievances, and said in a low voice: "This child's life is really hard. Not long after he was born, his mother died of illness, and his father had to go to war. What else could he do at such a young age?
At such an age that you don’t even know, you will be trapped here as a hostage.
This is the palace, and he is not a prince. He is a small hostage, so naturally no one takes him seriously. When the child cries in the middle of the night, the maids and father-in-law will come over and scold us for being too noisy.
They kept cheating on us when it came to food. I hadn’t slept well for several days and couldn’t get enough milk after eating well. I wanted to ask someone here for some milk, but no one answered me. This child has lost weight just a few days after he came here.
lock up……"
The nurse became more and more aggrieved as she spoke. After speaking, she simply turned away and quietly wiped away her tears.
Hua Fangyi frowned, feeling unhappy. She reached out to take the child and coaxed him softly.
This child looked very much like Yan Rong, with the same sharp eyebrows and starry eyes, but he seemed to have no energy, neither cried nor fussed, and was as quiet as a baby.
Hua Fangyi said distressedly: "Let's do this, you hold the child and live with me, and we will find a way to raise this child!"
The nanny wiped away her tears and asked with surprise and hesitation: "Is this... is this okay? Will they... make things difficult for us?"
Hua Fangyi knew that she was afraid of those eunuchs and maids, but she was not afraid, so she said coldly: "What are you afraid of? I will tell you when they come to find me!"
"Hey, okay! I don't have any ideas. Since the girl said so, I'll listen to you!" When the nanny heard this, she finally burst into tears and laughed, and the stone in her heart fell.
While the two were talking, two other people were walking slowly towards here from the other side of Qionghua Garden.
"Your Majesty, the imperial doctor is right. If you go out for a walk often, your complexion will indeed be much better." The person who said this was none other than the Queen's personal maid, Yuexiu.
She supported the queen and walked slowly among the shadows of green trees and flowers.
The queen looked extremely haggard, but at the age of forty, there were already silver threads on her temples and wrinkles accumulated at the corners of her eyes, as if she had aged a lot overnight.
Ever since the eldest prince was deposed and Liu Bingwen was demoted, her life had been very difficult. The emperor directed all his anger at her.
She was already narrow-minded and wanted to be strong. Now she had been ill for many days but had not recovered.
It had rained a few times in the past few days and the weather had become a little cooler. Only after Yuexiu's repeated persuasion did she leave Chenghuan Hall and go out for a walk.
Maybe it really was a headache. The queen kept pressing the corners of her eyes with a very sad expression: "Now that the eldest prince is under house arrest and Liu Shangshu has been demoted, what's the point of taking good care of himself? The emperor still won't come to see me, and even I will
He is not willing to listen to Gong’s explanation..."
Yuexiu was also anxious, but she could only persuade her softly: "Your Majesty, no matter what, you are the emperor's wife from a well-known family. The husband and wife always quarreled at the head of the bed and at the end of the bed. After a while, the emperor's anger subsided, and now
Everything has passed."
The queen who had gone through torture did not seem to be moved: "I have no extravagant expectations for the emperor anymore. Lord Shangshu is right, I only need to raise one more child now, firstly to keep my position as queen, and secondly to make the emperor
It's enough to have someone to rely on for the rest of your life..."
While talking, she gently put her hand on her lower abdomen. For some reason, she always felt a little pain there.
Yue Xiuxiang was surprised and opened her eyes wide: "But... since Xu Daocheng entered the palace, all the children born in the harem are girls, and now the status of the women in the harem is not low, so I am afraid that giving birth to a male heir will
The mother is more valuable than the child, and I am afraid that even the emperor would not entrust the child to you to raise."
The queen looked ahead blankly, gritted her teeth and said, "Then I will personally support another woman with no background and foundation like Yun Bin, and let her give her child to me to raise!"
Hearing what she said, Yuexiu nodded understandingly: "Your Majesty, I am wise, but at this moment, where can I find a woman who can please the Holy Emperor but also has a humble status?"
The queen suddenly stopped, pointed at Hua Fangyi not far away, and sneered: "How come the palace
Is there a newcomer again? As the master of the harem, I don’t even know it!”
Yuexiu looked in the direction of her finger and said quickly: "Don't be upset, Madam, that's not the newcomer. I heard that the woman had a close relationship with King Yi. The emperor was worried about King Yi going to relieve the disaster, so he sent the people around him to the rescue.
Imprisoned in the palace."
The Queen breathed a sigh of relief and immediately asked: "Do you know the background of that woman?".
Yuexiu had a look of disdain on her face and replied in a disdainful tone: "I heard that she is also a woman who lives in the world of society. The tavern where Yun Huan stayed before entering the palace was opened for her by King Yi!"
"A prostitute? Okay, I need a prostitute now!"
A proud smile suddenly appeared on the emperor's face: "It seems that God is not kind to me! I just need a woman who can charm your majesty and has a low status. God has sent her to me!"
Yuexiu was startled and exclaimed: "Is it possible that the empress has fallen in love with this woman? But she is from King Yi?"
"Ha." The queen said with a cold smile: "The fate of the woman who has entered this red wall is in the hands of the emperor. How can she make the decision? Even King Yi is helpless!"
Yuexiu stared closely at the back of Hua Fangyi in front of her, with a sinister smile on her face: "That's what the empress said! To be appreciated by the empress and favored by the emperor is a blessing that she has cultivated three times. How can she have it?"
The reason for rejection!"
"Well, you're right, let's go meet her." The queen smiled proudly, her face regained some of its energy in an instant, and even her body straightened up.
She adjusted her makeup, and with Yuexiu's support, she walked towards the unsuspecting Hua Fangyi.