The Self-cultivation of a Salted Fish Concubine

Chapter 309: 5 big boards each

"This morning in Fengyi Palace, Consort Wu was so arrogant in front of me, calling me Sister Ye all the time, and even asked me to give you my seat. Now that something's happened, why is she calling me Sister Ye again?"

"Isn't your expression changing too quickly?"

Wu Cairen said sadly, "I was too arrogant. Later, someone close to me reminded me, so I went to my sister to apologize. Didn't my sister accept it?"

Ye Cairen sneered, "How can I not agree? You keep belittling me, saying I'm not favored by the Emperor, that I'm dull and stupid... If I don't agree, who knows what you'll say."

"By the way, you also said that my skin is as dark as the wild boars newly raised on the farm, and the emperor would be disgusted at the sight of me, so how could he favor me?"

"I was confused at the time and didn't realize that you were deliberately using foul language to provoke me so that you could take the opportunity to fall into the water and frame me."

Wu Cairen immediately retorted, "When did I say these words? How could you, sister, fabricate lies in front of the Queen..."

The Queen then asked, "Then how did you start arguing?"

Ye Cairen looked at Wu Cairen coldly: "I want to see how you can make up another story."

Wu Cairen said pitifully, "It's because I can't speak. I mentioned that the emperor doesn't favor Sister Ye, probably because Sister Ye's skin color is not white enough, which affects her beauty. I also recommended several whitening methods to Sister Ye. Who would have thought that she would be so angry that she wanted to push me..."

Ye Cairen: "You're introducing me to a whitening method? You're clearly using it as an excuse to humiliate me! I'm not lying, please judge for yourself, Your Majesty!"

Ye Cairen saluted the queen, looking extremely angry.

The queen watched the two of them arguing for a long time and had an idea in her mind.

"Ye Cairen!"

Ye Cairen immediately straightened up and looked at the queen nervously with fear in her eyes: "I am here."

"You had an affair with Wu Cairen. Regardless of whether you pushed her into the water or not, it's ultimately your fault. I will fine you one month's salary and ground you for one month."

Ye Cairen was full of grievances and opened her mouth to explain several times, but when she met the queen's cold eyes, she dared not open her mouth.

The Queen did not say that she pushed Concubine Wu, but only said that she was responsible for the matter, and she had no way to defend herself.

On the other side, Wu Cairen, who was lying on the bed, was secretly happy and a little dissatisfied.

Since the Queen believed that Concubine Ye pushed her and wanted to harm her child, why did she only give such a light punishment?

Before Wu Cairen could say a few more words, she heard the Queen call out again, "Wu Cairen!"

Wu Cairen was stunned and responded quickly.

Then the Queen said slowly, "You knew you were pregnant, yet you still quarreled with others, nearly endangering the Emperor's offspring. You will also be fined one month's salary and confined for one month."

"This time, both of you will be given a light punishment, but if it happens again..." There was finally some change of emotion in the queen's eyes.

She glanced at the two of them coldly and said, "Let's demote each other."

Wu Cairen and Ye Cairen's faces turned pale in an instant.

Wu Cairen never thought that this matter could be blamed on her.

But the Queen punished her not for anything else, but because she failed to protect the Emperor's offspring. Now she was like Concubine Ye, unable to speak to defend herself.

After the quarrel between the two, neither of them gained anything.

As soon as the queen gave the order, both of them immediately became obedient and no one dared to cause trouble again.

After eating the melon, Lady Lu excitedly went to share it with Xie Run.

She was halfway there when she heard another piece of news, and she rushed to Showa Palace without stopping.

Xie Run is no longer in charge of things and lives a very leisurely life. He is watching Chunjuan leading people to replace the flowers and plants in Showa Palace.

Showa Palace was originally named Yonghua Palace, where the retired emperor's concubine Hefei lived. Later, Hefei died of illness. The retired emperor was heartbroken and closed the court for three days and completely closed the Yonghua Palace.

It is worth mentioning that after the emperor closed his court for three days, he fell in love with a beauty again.

This beauty is the former Concubine Rou and now the Empress Dowager.

During the period when the Queen Mother was in favor, she gave birth to Prince Su and Prince Jing. Later, she fell out of favor and lived in Rouyi Palace for many years.

The emperor changed the name of Yonghua Palace to Zhaohe Palace in response to Xie Run's title.

Xie Run was afraid that there were other reasons for Concubine He's death, and he was also afraid that the new palace was hiding something unknown, so he specifically asked Chunjuan to take people to replace the flowers and plants in the palace, and to take the opportunity of turning the soil to clean up the land of Showa Palace.

It’s true, the underground of Showa Palace is not clean at all.

Chunjuan and his men had only dug halfway when they found a lot of things.

These things were all wrapped in cloth. After being buried for a long time, the cloth was corroded and the things inside could be vaguely revealed.

However, Xie Runtong did not allow it to be opened, and only asked them to take the brazier and destroy it on the spot.

This matter later reached the ears of the emperor.

When the concubines in other courtyards of the palace heard this, they also feared that something was buried in the land of their own palaces, so they all turned the land over and searched under the pretext of planting flowers.

Even if they discovered something, they would deal with it secretly and would not use these things to cause trouble.

After all, Concubine Zhao Shu did this without the Emperor or Empress saying anything, which meant that they also agreed with it.

After digging a third of the way, Lady Lu ran to Xie Run breathlessly and said, "Sister Xie, I saw a great show at the Magnolia Pavilion today."

Xie Run walked over to the stone table and sat down. He asked Dan Tao to serve tea and said with a smile, "No hurry. Have some tea first and talk slowly."

Lady Lu waved her hand, "Wait until I finish speaking before you drink!"

She said with a smile on her face, "Talent Wu insisted that it was Talent Ye who wanted to harm her and deliberately pushed her into the water. Talent Ye also accused Talent Wu of wanting to use the child in her womb to frame her, deliberately provoking her to pull and then push her into the water."

"Because there were no other witnesses, the two of them started arguing with each other, crying and cursing. It was quite a scene."

"The Queen was the last person to receive fifty lashes of the cane. They were all fined one month's salary and confined to their homes for one month."

Xie Run didn't seem surprised to hear this. "I'm afraid both of them are unwilling to accept it?"

"Concubine Ye is fine, but Concubine Wu is full of dissatisfaction and surprise. She probably didn't expect the Queen to punish her as well. Not only did she not mention the conflict between her and Concubine Ye, but she also accused her of not protecting the heir well. She couldn't refute it."

Xie Run: "The Queen has always been like this. She punished them this way because she saw through their schemes and was too lazy to argue with them, so she simply gave them fifty lashes each."

"Isn't it?" Concubine Lu was also an old veteran in the palace, so she naturally knew the queen's style of doing things.

She added, "They were both initially unconvinced, but the Queen only said one sentence: 'If it happens again, I will demote you.' Their faces turned pale instantly, and they dared not say anything more."

Xie Run seemed to be able to imagine this scene.

The Queen is still efficient and effective.

Unexpectedly, Lady Lu remained silent, and added excitedly, "Originally, this matter was going to end here, but halfway through my journey, I heard news that the Empress Dowager had also sent people to the Magnolia Pavilion to give Concubine Ye, who hadn't left yet, a good scolding. She also cancelled Concubine Wu's punishment, saying only that the imperial heir in her womb was more important, and that she should take good care of the baby after the shock."

The Queen Mother's actions were a blatant slap in the face of the Queen.

The Queen had just handled the matter impartially, but the Empress Dowager canceled the punishment imposed on Concubine Wu and reprimanded Concubine Ye. Isn't this because she thinks the Queen didn't handle the matter well enough?

Xie Run listened and was silent for a long time. "The emperor's preferences are really consistent."

They are all brainless beauties.

From the Empress Dowager to Concubine Chen, they always acted as they pleased, so simply and straightforwardly that one had to believe that they had no brains.

"Originally, it was just a small matter. The Queen has already dealt with it, and the matter ended there. But with the Queen Mother making such a fuss, the Queen will definitely not suffer this loss. Now it all depends on the Emperor's opinion."

When the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law compete, the queen naturally has no advantage.

If you want to gain the upper hand in this arena, the emperor's opinion plays a decisive role.

Concubine Lu asked curiously, "Sister Xie, who do you think the emperor will help?"

Who will the emperor help?

Of course it’s the Queen.

After all, what the emperor wants is harmony among the six palaces, not chaos and scramble for favor and power all day long.

Xie Run glanced at her and said, "It all depends on what the emperor wants."

Lady Lu immediately understood what Xie Run meant.

On the other side, Concubine Wu was also somewhat flattered by the Queen Mother's sudden protection.

After the people from Magnolia Pavilion left, her maid applied medicine on her.

Yu Shan: "Master, it's a good thing that the Queen Mother gave the order, otherwise you would have suffered a lot of injustice today."

Wu Cairen's expression was not very good. "What do you know?!"

"The Queen Mother said she was helping me, but in fact, she was the one who was really harming me."

"She wanted to challenge the Queen, and she used me as a scapegoat..." Wu Cairen felt a little regretful. "If I had known, I wouldn't have chosen today to cause trouble."

She thought that the Queen Mother was going to promote Xian Zhaoyuan to compete with the Queen, and looked down on them, the lower class.

Who knew this would happen suddenly?

Although she was dissatisfied with the Queen's punishment, she could not stand the Queen Mother's sudden favor.

Yu Shan also said, "That's true. If anyone of you had spared the punishment today, I'm afraid the Queen would have held a grudge against you."

"The Queen is a noble woman in charge of the six palaces. It would be easy for her to mess with you."

After Yu Shan said this, Wu Cairen's face became a little gloomy.

Suddenly she let out a low cry and pulled her hand back.

"lighter!"

It turned out that Yu Shan accidentally hurt the wound while applying medicine to her.

Yu Shan said distressedly, "Master, even if you want to provoke Lady Ye, you should know when to stop. Why hurt yourself so badly?"

There was a long scratch on Wu Cairen's wrist, which looked a little scary against her snow-white skin.

Wu Cairen's eyes darkened slightly, and he gritted his teeth and said, "How could I be so seriously injured... That Ye Cairen is not a good person either!"

Yu Shan was startled, "Master, what's going on?"

The incident of falling into the water today was indeed caused by Wu Cairen.

It is one thing for Concubine Wu to frame Concubine Ye, but it is another thing to take the opportunity to suffer some grievances and gain sympathy, and to meet the emperor.

If the emperor saw that she had been wronged, it would be best if he could promote her.

Concubine Wu planned everything and had been deliberately provoking Concubine Ye since she went to Fengyi Palace.

Otherwise, how could she, who seemed gentle and well-behaved before, let Ye Cairen give up her seat in public in Fengyi Palace?

However, falling into the water was not Wu Cairen's intention.

She just wanted to pretend to have a conflict with Ye Cairen and use words to provoke Ye Cairen. The two of them started to pull each other, and then she fell to the ground and cried out that her stomach was uncomfortable.

Falling is controllable and not very dangerous, but falling into water may not be.

She had finally gotten pregnant with the dragon heir, and she didn't want to take the risk.

Wu Cairen raised her hand to cover her abdomen. "I'm afraid Ye Cairen saw through my plan and deliberately pulled me into the water."

"It happened so suddenly and she was so strong that I couldn't struggle at all."

Wu Cairen was also frightened the moment she fell into the water.

She didn't expect that Ye Cairen would really dare to harm her!

Wu Cairen's eyes were red. "This person is very scheming. She pretended to be harmless, but she was actually cruel and ruthless. When I fell into the water, she kept pulling me down and kicking me. It was obvious that she was trying to cause a miscarriage."

"If I hadn't held her tightly and refused to let go, she would have killed me in Wenchang Lake!"

Yushan was stunned: "What?!"

"How dare Ye Cairen be so bold?!"

Wu Cairen snorted coldly: "I didn't know she was so vicious before."

"Luckily, she didn't use too much force when she was doing it for me, otherwise I'm afraid the baby in my belly would be dead."

"The Emperor didn't come, and the Empress didn't believe I was dragged into the water by her... I can only suffer this loss in silence."

This is something Wu Cairen had never thought of.

Because she was the one who started the trouble, she gave Concubine Ye the opportunity to bite back. I'm afraid the Queen really believed her and wanted to frame Concubine Ye for falling into the water.

This time, Wu Cairen lost more than he gained.

Wu Cairen secretly regretted it, but Ye Cairen breathed a sigh of relief.

Ye Cairen was shivering and aggrieved like a drowned chicken when he was in the Magnolia Pavilion, but his expression changed instantly when he entered his own pavilion.

She changed her clothes and said with a smile, "Go get me a pot of wine and some snacks to go with it."

No one knows that Ye Cairen loves to have a drink and he also likes to eat various side dishes while drinking.

There was a reason why the emperor didn't favor her.

After entering the palace, she did not control her habit. She loved to have a drink after her nap every day until sunset, and occasionally she would get drunk.

It so happened that one time the emperor, who was still King Jing, wanted to visit her, so he took people directly to her yard without informing her in advance.

As a result, as soon as he entered, he saw Ye Cairen lying on a bamboo chair in the yard with half his clothes exposed, his eyes red, and he looked drunk.

When he saw King Jing coming in with his eunuch, he flirted with him and was very rude.

If you are someone who loves unique styles, you might consider it as a fun activity.

King Jing likes romance, but he also cares about his reputation.

Seeing Ye Cairen in dishevel, he whispered "ridiculous" and turned around to leave the yard with his men.

Since then, he never entered Ye Cairen's yard again.

Ye Cairen only found out about this after he sobered up and was completely shocked.

Although he did not receive any punishment from King Jing, he had guessed something when he had not seen King Jing coming out of the yard since then.

The maid Zhenzhen advised her, "Master, you just fell into the water. It's not good for you to drink cold wine. Be careful not to catch a cold."

"How about I have someone warm it up in a small stove before drinking it?"

Ye Cairen was in a good mood today, so she didn't care.

Zhenzhen, who was waiting on her, asked worriedly, "Master, Concubine Wu wanted to frame you with her own child, causing you to be punished innocently. Why are you still laughing?"

Zhenzhen was standing behind Ye Cairen at the time. She only knew that Wu Cairen suddenly pulled Ye Cairen, and the two of them suddenly fell into the water.

Therefore, he believed that Wu Cairen deliberately fell into the lake to frame his master.

"What do you know?" Ye Cairen glanced at Zhenzhen.