It is true that it is not uncommon for aunts and nephews to be concubines. In order to stabilize their status in the palace, many concubines will select girls of suitable age from the family to enter the palace to help them.
But Concubine Mu is already the first person under the queen, and she has two generals from the Mu family, one old and one young, as her backers. Does she still need a niece to help her maintain her favor?
And her niece actually admired the emperor behind her back and did such a thing.
"Lan'er, if you do this, how will your aunt handle herself and face you in the future?"
Seeing that they had almost confirmed what Pei'er said, Mu Lan's mind went blank. She desperately said "I didn't", but it was just a weak defense.
At this moment, someone from the palace outside reported: "Your Majesty, Mrs. Mu is asking to see you."
Mu Lan's eyes lit up.
Her mother is here!
The emperor frowned, "Let her in."
Mrs. Mu walked in with cautious steps and greeted her with meticulous greetings.
Li Qingyi could see stiffness and panic in her.
Mrs. Mu spoke sincerely and in an urgent tone, "Your Majesty, Your Majesty, Lan'er has a pure mind, how could she do such a thing as murdering the palace concubine Long Si? There must be something fishy about this matter. Please take a closer look and clear Lan'er's innocence."
Li Qingyi only investigated the case as far as Linglong, and then Pei'er came out and confessed, and identified his master Mu Lan as the mastermind behind the scenes.
Mu Lan didn't admit it, and the emperor hadn't spoken yet. There was still room for refutation on the matter.
Li Qingyi stood in the corner with his eyes lowered, looking at his nose and heart. The next thing, how to judge the crime, was not her responsibility.
After listening to Mrs. Mu's words, Concubine Mu's doubts and shock when she faced Mu Lan disappeared and were replaced by a meaningful look, "After all, Lan'er didn't grow up beside me. Naturally, she doesn’t know much about her. Unfortunately, Ying’er, whom I have loved and doted on for more than ten years, has died. I thought Lan’er could take her place and accompany me, but it’s a pity…”
Mrs. Mu's teeth chattered with horror after hearing these words. When she looked at Concubine Mu, there was a kind of fear that could not be described in words.
Maybe others couldn't understand what Concubine Mu meant, but Li Qingyi knew the inside story and naturally understood what she meant.
Concubine Mu wanted to say.
I handed over Ying'er to you, but you failed to take good care of her and let her die without a burial place. She also wanted Mu Lan to get many benefits from me on her behalf. Do you think you can be disrespectful to me because you gave your son to me? His heart can be killed! What happened today is the lesson I give you!
Mrs. Mu’s face turned pale.
Naturally, she also knew the meaning of Concubine Mu's words.
Her son became the son of Concubine Mu and was likely to be honored as a great treasure in the future. However, despite all the glory, she felt resentful because she would always be a mother who could not see the light of day.
The person who is honored as the Queen Mother of the Holy Mother can only be Concubine Mu, not her.
This frustration had nowhere to vent, which made her dislike Mu Ying grow day by day, but she didn't dare to show it at all.
Mu Ying was unruly and willful and got into trouble all day long. She didn't bother to take care of him, so she used "doting" to cover it up.
She gave Mu Ying all the good things, except "maternal love".
A child who lacks maternal love is naturally lacking in temperament. She will do all kinds of things to attract her mother's attention. This is nature.
Mrs. Mu knew this but turned a blind eye, causing Mu Ying's temper to become worse and worse, even twisted.
A girl with distorted cognition met the fourth prince who became crazy under the pressure of fear. The two redeemed each other until they got out of hand. ..
However, in addition to the two parties involved in this "exchange" who were deeply affected, there was another person who was ignored.
This person is Mu Lan.
Mu Lan is only one year older than Mu Ying. Although Mrs. Mu loves her more, all the good things have belonged to Mu Ying since she was a child.
Such a cause-and-effect "preference" is incomprehensible to a young child.
What her eyes see, her ears
What Duo heard was the truth.
Even though her mother spends more time with her, her sister is always the one who is favored the most, and only the things she doesn't want get her turn.
Such a divided love never gave Mu Lan a sense of security.
Until Mu Ying died, the grievances that had accumulated in Mu Lan's body for many years suddenly changed into pleasure and became her motivation to chase the "unobtainable".
She didn't know that Mu Ying was Concubine Mu's biological daughter, and she only wanted to replace Mu Ying and become her "new favorite".
However, such behavior was simply a joke in the eyes of Concubine Mu, who had just lost her biological daughter.
Therefore, she used Liang Guiren's story to set a trap for Mu Lan, intending to teach the mother and daughter a lesson!
Li Qingyi couldn't help but sigh in his heart when he looked at Mrs. Mu and Mu Lan, who were supporting each other and looking miserable.
After she went through the case from beginning to end, she came to a conclusion.
A good and noble person is simply a man of his own doing.
Originally Concubine Mu didn't take her seriously, but somewhere she heard that she looked like Ruying. After getting pregnant, she was always suspicious and worried that someone would harm her, especially Concubine Mu who no one dared to offend. .
So she played a clever trick and paid a lot of money to ask someone from Qin Tianjian to divine for her, planning to leave the palace to avoid disaster.
But as a concubine, she naturally couldn't leave the palace at will, so she went to beg the queen.
Such an action is tantamount to surrendering to the queen.
Who is Concubine Mu? She has eyes all over the palace and the harem. How can Liang Guiren hide this little trick from her?
After learning about this, Concubine Mu was very angry. A small insect dared to scratch the tiger's itchy spot.
After thinking about it, she deliberately mentioned the noble man's overestimation of his abilities in front of Mu Lan.
Mu Lan was eager to replace Mu Ying, so she secretly kept this matter in mind.
She carefully checked everything around Liang Guiren, learned about Mr. Yu, and then bribed Linglong to implement her plan.
That's right, Mu Lan came up with the method of killing the noble people.
That's why she showed such an expression when she saw Liang Guiren's body.
She knew that Yushu would kill Liang Guiren under Linglong's guidance, but she didn't know that Liang Guiren would die so miserably.
But none of this matters.
What Mu Lan cares about is that if she does things so perfectly and seamlessly, she will definitely be praised and praised by Concubine Mu.
However, she never expected that Pei'er would expose all this to others, and then be misunderstood that she was interested in the emperor!
She never imagined that Pei'er had already been pinched by Concubine Mu, and she was just waiting for it to happen today!
Li Qingyi stood in the corner, watching the changing expressions of Concubine Mu, Mrs. Mu and Mu Ying, and his mood was beyond words.
How complex can the human heart be?
Mu Lan almost collapsed. She walked towards her mother's knees and cried sadly: "Mother, I...I didn't..."
Her defense always only consisted of three words: "I didn't."
Can she say that she does not love the emperor, but kills noble people just to express herself and to please Concubine Mu?
It's so ridiculous.
To put it into words, it would be better to say that she loves the emperor.
Mrs. Mu's eyes were red, she looked at Concubine Mu and implored weakly: "Mother, Lan'er has absolutely no such thoughts..."
Concubine Mu looked down at the mother and daughter, enjoying the pleasure of revenge.
Compared to death, sometimes living is torture.
It is not like she has never experienced the feeling of being restless day and night.
But from now on, she will only give this feeling to others.
After a long silence, Concubine Mu finally had enough of their embarrassment and turned to look at the emperor.
"Your Majesty, Lan'er has never been a noisy child. Maybe that girl Pei'er was bribed by others, and maybe she deliberately framed Lan'er. But Pei'er hit a pillar and died. There is no evidence to prove her death. You see..."
"Okay!" The emperor raised his eyelids and glanced at Mrs. Mu and Mu Lan, and said coldly: "Pei'er had a personal grudge with Mr. Liang Gui. He bribed Linglong to kill Mr. Liang, and Linglong borrowed a knife to kill someone. In the end, both mother and son of Mr. Liang died. The crime It is unforgivable. All those involved in this case will be punished with lingchi! Deal with it immediately!"
As soon as he said this, everyone understood what he meant.
The conclusion that Pei'er had a personal grudge against Liang Guiren and bribed Linglong to commit murder was completely within the expectations of Li Qingyi and Qin Zeng.
Doesn’t the emperor know what the Mu family is doing?
But now the Mu family can't be touched.
Therefore, Concubine Mu was always favored.
Her will can surpass almost everyone except the emperor and empress.
Besides, this matter is just for the Mu family to torment their own people, just to watch the fun, why take it seriously.
Perhaps, the only ones who could not take this matter seriously were Mrs. Mu and Mu Ying, mother and daughter.
The punishment of Ling Chi.
Hearing these four words, cold sweat broke out on Mu Lan's forehead, and her face turned pale, as if she was also a part of this Lingchi punishment.
Mrs. Mu hugged her tightly, and the mother and daughter barely maintained their manners and verbally thanked the emperor and Concubine Mu.
However, Concubine Mu would not let this matter go away easily.
She took a deep look at Mrs. Mu and said: "Actually, Lan'er is a smart and careful child, and I like her very much. Let her stay in Kunji Palace to accompany me, so that I won't go too far. I miss Yinger."
Mrs. Mu took a deep breath.
Concubine Mu wanted to catch her daughter in her hands.
But can she refuse to agree?
"yes……"
Mu Lan's whole body was shaking like a fallen leaf in the wind, and she didn't even have the courage to look at Concubine Mu.
Concubine Mu looked at her with pity and said to the palace attendants beside her: "Come here, help Lan'er down to rest."
"Yes, concubine."
The two maids held Mu Lan up, one on the left and the other on the right, and almost snatched her away from Mrs. Mu's arms. Mu Lan wanted to break free, but did not dare to say a word of disobedience.
Mrs. Mu's head was buzzing. She opened her mouth several times to speak, but no sound came out.
Concubine Mu lowered her eyes and stood up, "Your Majesty, we are running out of concubines, can you please retire now?"
The emperor waved his hand towards her, "You can go back."
Concubine Mu bowed and left. When she passed Mrs. Mu, she didn't even look at her.
Her eyes were on Li Qingyi.
"I have something to say to Miss Li. Miss Li will not reject me, right?"
Li Qingyi had known that such a thing would happen, but his heart still skipped a beat.
Although she didn't give the final answer, it was as obvious as lice on a bald head.
Since you are involved, there is no reason to treat it as if it never happened.
She knelt down and saluted, "My daughter dare not."
Concubine Mu raised her lips and walked out with a smile.
Li Qingyi followed her and glanced at Qin Zeng before going out, but Qin Zeng didn't give her any hint.
