An Lingrong after rebirth

Chapter 171 Little Princess

Not long after she lay down, Qiu Fang hurried over and said, "Your Majesty, there is news from Qixiang Palace that Concubine Ding has launched an attack."

"An Lingrong frowned and sat up holding the child. It's only eight months, right? Yes, there are still about two months of pregnancy. I don't know if it's eight months yet!"

"It's been more than a month since I returned to the palace, and I haven't heard anything wrong with Concubine Ding's pregnancy. Why did she suddenly go into labor today?"

"An Lingrong was confused, but Qiufang couldn't give any useful information. Madam, the incident happened suddenly and I haven't found out anything yet."

Your Majesty, has the Queen gone?

"It's about the heir to the throne. The news has already spread, but the emperor is meeting with ministers right now and can't spare the time!"

"When I came back just now, there was already movement from the Empress. An Lingrong nodded and said, 'We shouldn't delay any longer, but it's not appropriate to bring Hong Zhao along for such a matter.'"

"You will personally send Hongzhao to Shoukang Palace and ask the Queen Mother to help take care of him. Yes, your Majesty, rest assured. I will do it immediately."

"Ok!"

"An Lingrong handed the child to Qiufang and continued, "Come with me to Yonghe Palace first. Concubine Ding has launched an attack. No one in the harem can escape and must go to guard it. There is no one to take care of the Seventh Prince!"

Yes!

"But before we got to Yonghe Palace, the master and servants, along with Hong Zhao, had just turned the corner of the palace road when they saw Shen Meizhuang hurrying in with her child."

When he came up to her, he hurriedly asked: Rong'er, has he also heard about Concubine Ding?

"An Lingrong nodded. Yes, my sister thought it would be difficult to take the children with her, so she wanted to have someone take them to Shoukang Palace to be taken care of by the Queen Mother."

"That's what I mean too."

"After Shen Meizhuang finished speaking, An Lingrong continued: The Queen has already left, so we should not delay any longer. Let Qiufang and Caiyue take the children to Shoukang Palace together!"

That’s fine, Caiyue.

"After a while, the two couples separated. An Lingrong and her partner hurried, but when they arrived at Qixiang Palace, they were still one step behind the Queen."

"They entered the palace one after another, and saw two people kneeling in front of the queen. One of them was Sang'er, the maidservant beside Concubine Ding."

"An Lingrong's mind quickly turned to several thoughts, but she did not delay in paying her respects. She knelt down with Shen Meizhuang and said, "Greetings to the Empress!"

Yixiu looked unhappy, and waved his hand after hearing it, "Get up!"

"Thank you, Madam!" He stood up and took two steps back. No one brought a chair, so he could only stand.

"The Queen then spoke up, Sang'er, what happened to your mistress? She was fine, why did she suddenly have a miscarriage?"

"Sang'er had a sad face, moved his knees and said: In reply to the Queen, today a young eunuch who was unfamiliar with her came to the palace, and as soon as he entered the palace, he said that my Queen's health was incurable."

"Once the baby is born, it will immediately... it will... Sang'er said this and suddenly he didn't dare to continue."

Yixiu, however, didn't have such good patience. She frowned. What would happen immediately? Just say it directly? Sang'er stopped crying, "Queen, that person said that my queen will die soon."

"presumptuous!"

"As soon as Sang'er finished speaking, Yixiu shouted angrily! Where is the messenger? Bring him up to me immediately!"

"My queen, my queen's voice weakened when she heard this, and she blushed on the spot. The servants were only concerned about my queen and didn't have time to catch the eunuch."

"I don't know where she has gone now. Yixiu frowned and was about to speak again when she heard shouts from the door, "Empress Hua has arrived, Empress Jing has arrived!"

"Unable to do so, Yixiu stopped talking. A moment later, a group of people came in one after another. Not only Hua Fei and Jing Fei, but almost all the other concubines in the palace had arrived."

"After paying respects to the Queen in turn, Jianqiu finally came out and had someone bring stools so that everyone could sit down. But just as they sat down, Concubine Hua sneered and spoke; before they even entered the room, they heard noises like an interrogation."

"Why did we stop when we came in? Yixiu looked very irritated. Dingpin had a miscarriage and was bewitched by others. My sister has been managing the harem for many years."

"As an experienced Taoist priest, I'm sure you have your own ideas about investigating the case. Why don't I leave it to you to investigate?"

"After hearing this, Concubine Hua was stunned, and then she understood immediately. The matter of Concubine Ding's miscarriage was probably another unsolved case. Otherwise, why would the Queen give up her power so easily?"

Hua Fei naturally didn't want to make a fuss, but she couldn't find anything! She chuckled and reached out to support the banner head. "Your Majesty, the Queen is joking. I dare not interfere."

"Yi Xiu also knows that if they want to find a young eunuch in the harem that Sang'er and others have never seen, it is undoubtedly like looking for a needle in a haystack. Even if it is difficult, the efforts made in public are indispensable."

"After a moment of silence, he spoke: Jianqiu, tell someone to conduct a thorough investigation of all the eunuchs and palace maids who came and went in Qixiang Palace today. I don't believe that a living person could just disappear from the face of the earth."

"Jianqiu bent her knees and said, "Yes, Madam, I will do it right away, but such things are doomed to be fruitless."

"Jianqiu came back in half a cup of tea. He said that he had sent someone to investigate. The hall immediately became quiet."

"Only in the delivery room, Concubine Ding cried out in pain from time to time, so everyone could feel some movement! Concubine Ding's fetal movement was caused by being frightened, so naturally the birth would not be smooth."

"Two hours have passed in the blink of an eye, and everyone is getting impatient. It would be fine if they could just wait, but now it's already past lunch time, and everyone is already dizzy with hunger!"

Others dared not speak, but Concubine Hua finally couldn't bear it any longer! "Empress, no matter how noble this dragon fetus is, it's not good to let all the concubines in the palace wait like this. I still have a lot of palace affairs to deal with!"

"Yi Xiu laughed. My sister is very busy with palace affairs, so naturally no one can compare to her. If you really can't spare the time, then go back first!"

"When Concubine Hua heard this, she immediately stood up and said, "Yes, I will take my leave first!" After Concubine Hua finished speaking, she stood up gracefully, threw her handkerchief, and turned to leave with Songzhi."

"But just as he reached the door, he paused and immediately took two steps back, Your Majesty!"

"As soon as he finished speaking, he saw the emperor walking towards him. When he passed by Concubine Hua, he paused. Was Concubine Hua leaving? Concubine Hua's expression froze. She didn't expect her luck to be so bad."

"She smiled awkwardly and said, 'Your Majesty, please forgive me. The people from the Ministry of Internal Affairs are still waiting for me in the Yikun Palace. . . . ' The emperor waved his hand and said, 'In that case, you can go back first!

"After these words were spoken, Concubine Hua froze in place, not knowing whether to leave or stay! Fortunately, Concubine Hua was lucky. As the atmosphere cooled, a scream from Concubine Ding suddenly came from the delivery room."

"Then, there was a weak cry of a baby! Before everyone had time to be happy, a middle-aged woman ran out of the delivery room in a hurry."

"As soon as she entered the main hall, she knelt before the Emperor and the Empress. Concubine Ding gave birth to a little princess... Yixiu's expression relaxed, and she immediately asked, "How is Concubine Ding?"

"The man clenched his fists and his voice began to tremble. 'Your Majesty, Concubine Ding was not in good health to begin with. She suffered heavy bleeding after giving birth to the princess and has passed away...passed away...'"

"what?"

"Yi Xiu seemed very surprised. She couldn't maintain her usual calm demeanor and stood up suddenly! But after a moment, she calmed down."

"After all, Concubine Ding's health has long been failing, so hearing this news now is not surprising at all! It's hard for the princess."

"With a sigh, Yixiu turned to look at the emperor, Your Majesty... the birth of the princess is a great joy, but the princess's mother died on the same day. It would not sound good if it got out."

"I don't know if this child will be able to live a good life as a real royal princess in the future! The emperor is obviously in a bad mood."

"She kept swinging the jade beads in her hand, and finally spoke after a long while; Concubine Ding has done a great deed in giving birth to a daughter, and her funeral shall be conducted according to the rules for a concubine, Princess..."

"At this point, the emperor was silent for a moment, and then he glanced at everyone present and said, "The princess will be left to Concubine Shu's care for the time being!"

"An Lingrong instinctively shrank back and didn't say anything, but she didn't expect the emperor to suddenly point to her. She paused, looking at the eyes focused on her, and knew that she couldn't refuse in front of so many people."

"You can only stand up and walk forward. Yes, I obey your command!"

"The princess is weak, I'm afraid Shupin will have to worry about it. Yixiu suddenly said this, which made An Lingrong frown!"

Thank you for your consideration, Queen. I will take good care of the princess. "Sixth Prince is well taken care of by you, so I naturally trust you."

"Yi Xiu laughed and said, "It's just that Shupin is in charge of the harem. She already has the Sixth Prince. Now there is another princess. I'm afraid it will be even more stressful."

"After An Lingrong heard this, her heart skipped a beat. So she was waiting for her here! If she wanted a child, she would give up the power of the imperial palace. So that's it."

"An Lingrong would do everything she could. She thanked Yixiu for her consideration and then said, "Your Majesty, the Queen is right. I didn't know how to take care of a child before. When Xiaoliu was born, I was very flustered for a while."

"But now Xiaoliu is already one year old, and has some experience. The palace affairs are not handled by me alone, and I don't have much to manage to begin with. Now I have the help of Concubine Xin."

It will be fine. Please rest assured, Your Majesty, I will not slack off in the slightest.

"An Lingrong can naturally ask the emperor to find a new foster mother for the little princess, but as I said before, the superiors will not like incompetent people to go."

"Looking around, there are not many people in the palace who are not qualified to support the princess. I can't pick anyone good!"

"So, I can't escape from this matter, Princess. If I insist on refusing, the Queen will inevitably succeed in her scheme to gain power in the palace."

"It's easier to get things done with power, so An Lingrong won't give up her power easily. The emperor is in a bad mood and doesn't want to say more!"

"After An Lingrong said this, he immediately waved his hands and said, "Okay, it's settled. Let Concubine Ding take care of her funeral!"

"The emperor naturally didn't want to stay any longer, so he stood up and walked away! As soon as the emperor left, Concubine Hua angrily threw her handkerchief and followed him away."

"Everyone looked at the Queen's expression and dared to speak for a moment. After a moment, Yixiu sighed softly and said, "Did you hear what the Emperor said?"

Shupin, take the princess back. I'll leave this place to Jingfei. After hearing this, the two of them stood up and said, "Yes, I obey your order!"

"With Concubine Ding passing away, the princess naturally cannot stay with her for a moment. Concubine Jing and An Lingrong were together. Before they even reached the delivery room, a nanny had already come forward carrying the princess."

"The little princess pays her respects to Concubine Jing and Concubine Shu!"

"An Lingrong glanced at the thin body in the swaddling blanket, sighed inwardly, took two steps forward, stretched out her hand and gently lifted the thin blanket. The little princess did not cry or make a fuss, but fell asleep peacefully."

"But the face doesn't look like that of a newborn baby. It's not yellow or red, but a little pale. I took off my armor and reached out to take the child from the nanny."

"I'm sure you all know the emperor's order. I will take the princess back to the Yanxi Palace. Here, Concubine Jing will take care of everything."

"Yes"!

"Seeing everyone agree, An Lingrong turned around and said hello to Concubine Jing before leading everyone out of Qixiang Palace. After stepping out of the palace gate, she turned around and looked up. The three words Qixiang Palace were shining in gold."

"It seems that it has never changed because of the fate of the people who lived there. Lipin and Dingpin have passed away one by one. No one knows who will live here in the future."

"I don't care what the fate of the people living here will be. An Lingrong's eyes flickered, she held the little princess tightly in her arms, turned around and said, "Let's go back to the palace."

……～………

"The death of Concubine Ding did not cause any waves in the harem. Although the emperor asked to bury her as a concubine, death is like the extinguishing of a light. Let alone following the rites for a concubine, what would happen even if she was buried as a noble concubine?"

"These are just for outsiders to see. After ten days, the princess's complexion has finally improved. Although she is asleep now, there is no sign of pain between her brows."

"It's clear how much An Lingrong is worried about. Just when the wet nurse had finished feeding the princess, an unexpected guest came to the Yanxi Palace. An Lingrong held the princess and turned to look at Qiufang in confusion. Who are you talking about?"

"Qiufang also has a strange look on her face. Madam, it's Madam Fucha, the mother of Concubine Ding, who is asking for an audience outside the palace gate."

After hearing this, An Lingrong subconsciously lowered her head to glance at the little princess in her arms. Was she here to see the princess?

"I noticed that Madam Fucha brought a lot of things with her, and she was also thanking you for taking care of the little princess. I guess she wanted to take this opportunity to see how the little princess is doing!"

"An Lingrong nodded. After all, she is the princess's grandmother. It is understandable that she wants to meet her. Qiufang, please come in!"

Yes!

"Qiufang responded and turned to leave, but An Lingrong suddenly spoke again for some reason, "Wait, does the Queen have any other instructions?"

"Please keep an eye on the things that Madam Fucha brought. If they are for the princess, you can keep them. If not, return them all to avoid being criticized."

"Don't worry, Madam!" Qiufang went downstairs in response, and came back in a short while later, followed by a middle-aged woman dressed elegantly and gracefully.

"An Lingrong sat there without moving, but she felt a little strange in her heart. It had only been a short time since Concubine Ding died, and this person in front of her was dressed like this?"

Really, there is no taboo at all? Before An Lingrong could think about it, the person came to An Lingrong, knelt down and said, "I, your humble servant, ask for Luo's help and pay my respects to Madam Shupin. May Madam Shupin live in peace and happiness!"

"Madam, please stand up! Although An Lingrong was puzzled by the other party's dress, she did not show it on her face. She smiled and raised her hand and continued, "Qiu Fang, please give Madam Fucha a seat."

Thank you, Madam! After asking Luo to bow again, he sat down according to Qiufang's instructions, "I wonder why Madam came to this palace today?"