The Imperial Palace of Nanling Kingdom, Qionghua Palace.
In the huge bedroom, the floor is paved with marble, and a huge pearl is inlaid in the center of the ceiling. The painted peonies on the beams echo the phoenixes carved on the gilded pilasters. Rosewood and glazed palace lanterns are hung on the four walls, and the crocodile silk silk curtains are embroidered with beads. Begonia flowers, the whole hall is filled with brilliance and beauty.
Behind the jasper bead curtain, a graceful and luxurious woman is half leaning on the red sandalwood couch. Her hair is tied up in a bun, her eyebrows are like smoked willows, her pink face is lined with sandalwood lips, she is as gorgeous as peony and as delicate as begonia. Her pair of phoenix eyes are naturally charming. However, it also implies majesty and aura of being in a high position; the palace clothes are covered with colorful embroidery with complicated patterns, and the whole body is surrounded by green beads, which complements the dazzling decoration of the palace.
A maid came from outside the door, bowed to the beauty on the couch through the jade curtain, and reported: "Madam, the person summoned by the Queen Mother has passed the Chonghua Gate, and is currently heading to Xianfu Palace. On the way."
The woman on the couch softly said "Hmm", the ending sound lingering and charming, then she raised her eyes and lightly opened her lips: "Did you see her appearance clearly? She is a beauty?"
"This slave is too far away to see his appearance clearly, but judging from his appearance, he is indeed quite handsome."
Hearing the words, the person on the bed raised an enchanting arc on his lips, and there was a faint coldness in his eyes, "It seems that if the Queen Mother does not pull me down, I will not be able to live in peace. Since I Since entering the palace, she has targeted me everywhere. If it weren't for the emperor and father supporting me, I might not be able to gain a foothold in this palace, and it would be even harder for me to have the momentum I have today."
The maid saw that she was slightly resentful and hurriedly flattered her: "Your Majesty is so beautiful that she overwhelms all other beauties as soon as she enters the palace. In recent years, the Emperor has only been willing to pamper your Majesty alone and is not even willing to go to the Empress. How can the Queen Mother not be in a hurry?" ?”
During the conversation, the identity of the beauty on the couch was revealed. She was Hua Qiong, the most beautiful concubine in the Sixth Palace and enjoying three thousand holy favors.
Hua Qiong was not moved by the maid's flattery. The smile on her lips gradually became colder, and a trace of resentment flashed in her eyes. "In order to consolidate the power of her mother's clan, the Queen Mother forcibly betrothed her niece to The emperor was forced to marry the queen, and he was naturally unhappy, so he rarely set foot in the queen's Fengqi Palace. As a result, the queen only gave birth to one princess in so many years. Now that the queen is old and beautiful, she knows that she can no longer inherit the throne. Favored, the Queen Mother changed her ways and found some young and beautiful women to enter the palace, hoping to cultivate new people to consolidate the power of the middle palace, in an attempt to make the emperor neglect me."
Speaking of this, she couldn't help but snorted, with a little anger in her eyes, and her words were full of sarcasm: "Huh, it's not that easy to bring down this palace. Over the years, the Queen Mother has recruited those who come into the palace to serve the emperor. Women, didn't the emperor always favor them once or twice and then throw them aside, then turn around and come back to this palace?"
"How can those women who are not on the stage be compared with the empress?" The maid smiled lightly, with a hint of contempt on her face, and complimented: "The empress' family is the mainstay of the country, and there are many talents in the family. All of them are great talents, and the empress has given birth to the sixth princess and the fourth prince for Your Majesty. Their hard work and merit are great. Is this a blessing for them? Besides, when it comes to appearance, who in the entire Nanling country can compare with us? Empress?"
The maid's words made Hua Qiong's face show a look of pride. She raised her jade finger and gently traced it along the rim of the seven-treasure glazed lamp on the table, and said in deep thought: "Beauty is indeed... Natural advantages can only last for a while, not for a lifetime. A beauty can grow old in a blink of an eye, and her youthful beauty can last forever. When I am old and beautiful, what can I do to keep the emperor's heart? "
The warm fingertips were soaked in the coldness of the glass cup, and a ray of coldness that could not be resolved spread out from the bottom of her eyes, "In this world, only rights are eternal."
The maid heard the meaning behind Hua Qiong's words. Linglong's thoughts changed and she echoed: "What the Queen said is absolutely true. If the fourth prince can sit on the throne of the Crown Prince, then the Queen can rest easy in the future."
Hearing this, Hua Qiong seemed to have thought of something, her phoenix eyes narrowed slightly, she suddenly closed her jade fingers, tightly held the seven treasures glazed lamp in her hand, and said coldly: "The Queen Mother, this old witch, is always against me. Knowing that the emperor loved the fourth prince the most and had long wanted to establish a crown prince, she actually joined forces with the people from the Qintian Prison to persuade the emperor, saying that the emperor was in his prime and it was not appropriate to establish a crown prince too early. As long as this old witch If the sun does not die, how easy will it be for my prince to sit on the throne of prince?"
Her voice was like an oriole's cry, but the hatred in her words was beyond words. When the maid saw this, she immediately comforted her: "Now that the middle palace is in decline, and there is no prince under her knees, it no longer poses a threat to the empress; and the concubines in the harem pass by. The fights over the years have ceased long ago, knowing that they are no match for the Empress. The new talents summoned by the Queen Mother are even less to be feared. It is indeed a bit of a fool's errand to expect them to compete with the Empress for her favor. Sooner or later, we will be the crown prince. It belongs to the fourth prince, so why should the empress worry?"
"Do you think the Queen Mother has gone to great lengths to cultivate these newcomers just to compete with me for favor?" Hua Qiong's eyes flashed, and she threw the seven-treasure glazed lamp in her hand to the ground. Her eyes rolled with anger, and her color suddenly changed. " She did this so that they could give birth to a prince after being favored, and then adopt the child to the middle palace. At that time, the queen would have the capital to compete with the four princes of the palace for the position of crown prince. These aunts and nephews are really fighting. You need a good abacus!"
The maid was startled, and quickly opened the jade curtain, took out her handkerchief and wiped away the remaining tea on her hands, then ordered someone to bring a new glass cup and poured her a new cup of tea.
After her anger calmed down a little, the maid comforted her softly: "Why do you have to be angry for these unworthy people? Don't you still know what Your Majesty has done to our Hua family and to Your Majesty over the years? Your Majesty, I rely so much on Mr. Zuo Xiang and dote on you, so what if someone else can give birth to a prince? Not to mention the fact that he is not the Queen’s direct child, even if he is the Queen’s direct child, what can he do to compete with the fourth prince for the throne?”
Hua Qiong's willow eyebrows were slightly frowned, and the coldness in her phoenix eyes flashed, showing a hint of annoyance, and said angrily: "Of course I understand this, but the more powerful my father becomes, the worse his reputation among the people becomes. Ever since Jiang Huailang was executed After that, many rumors spread. Everyone said that the Hua family was causing trouble to the country, that I was a demon concubine who was causing trouble to the country, and that my father was a treacherous minister. People in the family usually rely on me and my father to gain power, and they are used to pretending to be powerful, especially me. The incompetent brother of the palace has always known how to bring trouble to the palace. Last time, he dared to confront Prince Lu in public. He knew clearly that the most precious son of the Queen Mother was his son, but he didn't know how to restrain himself. Even the emperor was worried about this. There was quite a bit of criticism about the matter, and I didn’t come to see me for several days.”
