Chapter Twenty

  Wang Yiniang came in from outside, stood under the peach tree in the courtyard for a moment before entering the inner room. Ruyi was lying straight on the bed, not eating or drinking anything, with her mouth closed. Wang Yiniang sat beside Ruyi's bed, dazed for a while, then fell into tears: "You haven't eaten or drunk since you returned from the palace, I know you're heartbroken, you blame me, but this is all fate!"

  When I was young, I thought that climbing into the old master's bed and becoming a concubine would bring wealth and glory. But now looking back, it would have been better to marry a decent and capable man and become a legitimate wife. That way, my daughter wouldn't be looked down upon by others.

  Ruyi suddenly sat up, the jasmine earrings on her ears swinging violently: "Auntie, I just can't accept it! As a daughter of Father, there's no reason why I should be inferior to my sister!"

  Ruyi's eyes flashed with a terrifying light, and Wang Yiniang even shrank back: "You... what is this..."

  Ru Yi lowered her eyes and stopped looking at Wang's wife. What could she say to her anyway? Could she still help her? She lay down again: "Don't worry about it, I know what to do."

  The child has grown up and is increasingly unwilling to look at her. It's probably resentment too, but what else can she do?

  The fabric bestowed by the emperor is indeed different, Li stroked the satin and listened to Yan's words beside her: "This color complements your skin tone, if you make a pear-blossom-patterned dress with it, it will add another layer of charm!"

  Mr. Li seemed delighted: "Yes, I think it's good too, and when it's done, I'll wear it."

  The wild goose girl smiled more sincerely: "It's also because Master looks good in it, others can't wear this color well!"

  The imperial concubine carefully examined the nail polish newly applied by the palace maid, still feeling it was not quite even and slightly furrowed her brow in dissatisfaction. The palace maid whispered in her ear: "Your clothes are already on, you really do look good."

  Hui Fei seemed to have heard a pleasant joke, and smiled: "Last time was coincidental, can she escape this time? Go tell Da Fu Jun to be careful, don't mess things up."

  Whenever it comes to Empress Dowager Huifeng, the tone is always unpleasant. The palace staff thought that their master must have been resentful of Empress Dowager Huifeng.

  Layers of shadows howled and shouted in her mind, the Grand Secretary Lord who had his head chopped off by her personally came to find her with his head in hand, she coldly smiled and killed him again with one slash, blood splattered everywhere, making it hard for her to breathe. When she woke up, she saw Xiao Yue standing beside her, holding a bowl of warm red bean soup, the Western-style clock struck, unexpectedly she had slept for almost an hour.

  A gentle voice came from outside, and Quan Pei's lazy eyebrows and eyes finally had a few smiles...

  The elder lady wore a small hairpin on her head, with a crimson gold flat pin on top, and a palace flower made of silk threads on the side of her temple. She was wearing a light green cheongsam at home, looking gentle and kind. With a warm smile, she showed concern as an elder: "......It's so hot during this time when you're doing your month, you need to be extra careful, can't get cold water on you, can't let the cold wind blow on you, don't think about temporary comfort and end up with postpartum illness, or you'll suffer later."

  Ruan Yu's hair was loosely tied up, with a strand hanging down by her ear, like a lazy water lily flower, charming and refreshing, yet somehow mysterious: "You're right."

  Dai Furen saw Quan Pei nodding in agreement with her words, and a relieved expression appeared on her face. She then whispered some intimate words to her: "Li Shi is just a gege, don't take it to heart, you already have an older brother, even if she has abilities, she can't surpass the heavens."

  As if they were two extremely close people, Quan Pei lowered her eyes, with a hint of a smile at the corner of her mouth: "What are you talking about?"

  Yan's daughter rushed in from outside: "Something's wrong with Fu Jin! Ge Ge has a stomachache and is bleeding!"

  The cold light in Taifu's eyes flashed by, and she turned to look at Quan Pei, her face revealing surprise: "This is actually......"

  Quan Pei covered her mouth with her hand and coughed lightly, the ruby red gemstone on her wrist reflected dazzling light. The high-ranking madam narrowed her eyes slightly and stood up: "I'll take my leave first, I don't want to disturb you!" As if she was a very considerate person.

  Just then, a eunuch from the Imperial Concubine's palace arrived and said to Da Furen: "We've finally found you, Consort Hui wants you to go over!"

  Xiao Yue had already entered the Li family's house, and suddenly a terrified voice came from the wing room: "It was Xiaorong, the young lady in front of Madame Fu, who put something in Master's medicine, it has nothing to do with me!"

  It just so happened that these things coincided, as if they couldn't be hidden anymore. Quan Pei leaned on the couch and said to the outside: "The slave is too hateful!"

  The outsider seemed to be in a hurry and out of breath, but Xiaoyue still saw a carefree and slightly bored expression between her master's eyebrows.

  Things went smoothly, and the newly promoted imperial concubine was shocked. Da Furen stood under the imperial concubine, wanting to speak but hesitating, and after a while said: "I heard it's like this, but...it's just hearsay, I don't know the truth."

  Tong Guifei glanced at Hui Fei, who was sitting beside her, and saw that Hui Fei's attention seemed to be focused on the pair of double-sided dark embroidery twelve-piece flower and bird screens. With a flash of her eyes, Hui Fei appeared to be nonchalant, but today's events were so coincidental, just as it happened that the palace maid from her palace had gone to find Da Fu Jun for Hui Fei. It was not difficult to say that she had no relation with Hui Fei, only that the more related she was, the more she had to muster up her spirit to deal with it, lest she be caught by Hui Fei and given a handle.

  The little girl in Li's house who was boiling medicine insisted that she saw Xiaorong put poison, and she only didn't dare to speak out of fear.

  Xiao Rong was brought forward and firmly denied any involvement, "I didn't harm Li Gege with the medicine, this is clearly a frame-up!"

  Xiao Yaotou opened her mouth and said: "Fu Jin likes to blend fragrances, and there's never a shortage of musk in the front, can't you find something usable?!"

  It's already obvious that the blame is pointing to Quan Pei, whether it's true or not. Even if this matter can't be investigated clearly, Quan Pei's reputation has been ruined. How can she still hold her head high as a noble lady in the future?

  "Let's go invite Fourth Mistress over."

  Weiwei still has a few days of postpartum confinement, but she has her own way of taking care of herself, and her body and figure have almost fully recovered.

  The eunuch who delivered the message arrived just as Quan Pei had finished her medicinal bath, changed into clean clothes, and was having her hair done by her maid. The eunuch's eyes and nose were not in their proper places, yet he still had the leisure to appreciate Quan Pei's beauty!

  Everyone came from the confinement period, thinking that they would see a disheveled Fourth Lady, but unexpectedly, this woman appeared so stunningly. The bright red pearls on her headdress were dazzling, and the narrow-sleeved cheongsam with cloud-patterned embroidery and colorful flowers flying like butterflies emitted a noble glow. Between her eyebrows and eyes was an unintentional smile, and every move exuded an elegant demeanor that seemed to be above everyone else. Clearly, she should have been the most disheveled one...

  Tong Guifei was the first time she had seen this fourth imperial concubine so closely, and hadn't expected her to have such a noble bearing.

  No matter what the truth is, Quan Pei hasn't even finished her confinement yet. The imperial concubine told Quan Pei to sit down, hesitated for a moment, and then solemnly said: "It's said that your maid gave Li Shi medicine, so Li Shi saw red, it wasn't supposed to be you who was called over, but if this matter isn't clarified, it will be a lifelong crime. Don't be afraid, I'm here, I'll definitely give you justice."

  Tong Guifei and Quan Pei have no grudges or grievances against each other, and it seems that she does not want to let Hui Fei benefit from this either, so it sounds very fair.

  It was unexpected that the woman in front of her suddenly smiled, as if she had seen a farce, with a playful and sarcastic look in her eyes: "Just talking about this matter, but no one thought to see if Li Shi is really seeing red or not? Or has it already become not so good, this way can also determine my crime name, after all, what makes you think I gave Li Shi medicine?"

  Huì Fēi's eyes widened as she stared at Quán Gāi, whose eyes were flowing with a shallow and bright smile, as if it was only when they went out to play that they had this kind of mood. Could it be that there really was a difference again?!

  All of Consort Tong's expressions were frozen on her face, she was only thinking about the motives of Consort Hui, but forgot to carefully verify whether the matter was true or not. Just because of this unsubstantiated rumor, she had called forth Princess Fuheng who had not yet given birth to the emperor's son, so where was her dignity?

  Time seemed to have stood still. In the imperial concubine Tong's palace, no one dared to speak up. Quan Pei spoke out towards the outside: "Let Doctor Zhang come in!"

  Li was indeed innocent and had done nothing wrong. The rumor about her seeing red was just a false alarm raised by that foolish maid who didn't know the severity of the situation, disturbing everyone's peace of mind.

  Tong Guifei had just taken the position of Guifei when such a big loophole appeared, and she turned to look at Hui Fei on the side with a cold smile. It was indeed a good move, as it was clear that Hui Fei was behind the scenes causing trouble, but in the end, Tong Guifei took all the blame, and Hui Fei didn't get implicated at all.

  But at this moment, none of these were the point, what she needed to do was comfort Quan Pei.

  "I was too muddled, only listening to Madame Wang's words, I thought it was true, and now that you've suffered such great injustice, it's all my fault for being neglectful!"

  This remark again shifted some of the blame onto Madame Wang, who had been standing there all along. With her eyes cast down, she seemed to be in a state of meditation, like an old monk, and showed no reaction at all to these words.

  Ruan Pei didn't argue with Guifei: "I understand what you're saying, this matter wasn't your fault to begin with, I knew that in my heart."

  Tong Guifei's eyes lit up, and the fourth Fu Jin was indeed a transparent person. She was still afraid that this matter would stick to her hands and couldn't be washed off.

  Quan Pei didn't want to be an enemy of Gui Fei: "Today's events were all misunderstandings, once we leave this door, everyone will forget and it won't matter." Tong Gui Fei almost felt grateful towards Quan Pei: "That's the truth!" She said as she looked at Hui Fei and Da Fu Jun, her eyes revealing a few strands of cold color: "Isn't that right?"

  Huī Fēi gazed at Quán Pèi with a complex look, who had been smiling from the beginning to the end. In her faint smile, it seemed like there were many things hidden. Was she still holding back some tricks? Suddenly, Huī Fēi felt uneasy.

  The Imperial Consort didn't want to say more to Consort Hui, and Consort Hui also didn't have the necessity to stay longer, so she took Da Furen and stood up to bid farewell. As they passed by Quan Pei's side, she gave this bright and beautiful woman a deep look, previously she had misjudged her.......

  Quan Pei sat under the noble consort's seat, fiddling with the pink ceramic peony tea bowl in her hand: "I didn't expect Consort Hui to take advantage of you."

  "The Empress's heart skipped a beat: 'Did you anticipate this from the very beginning?'"

  Wei Xiang smiled: "Nothing, it's just that I realized recently, but I don't know why she wants to target me and drag you into the water."

  The imperial concubine slightly lowered her eyes: "I'm actually quite shallow, she wanted to make things difficult for me, but I still fell for it?"

  Ruan Yu stretched out her slender fingers, shaking them slightly, revealing the snowy white wrist with a valuable biyu (jade) bracelet: "I have something here that can be used as leverage against Concubine Hui. If you're willing, you can have her in the palm of your hand."

  The queen's eyes gradually filled with a smile: "You're still sensible after all..."