Dou Huiran is ill.
That night when I returned to my room, I was so angry that I couldn't eat. I only drank a bowl of lotus seed soup brought by the maid. During the night, I began to have fever and weakness, my voice became hoarse, and I couldn't scream. The maid on duty didn't even know that the princess was sick.
It wasn't until she opened the curtain in the morning and called three times in succession but heard no response from the princess that the maid suddenly felt something bad. She couldn't help but try her forehead and realized that she had a severe fever.
The maid hurriedly went out to ask someone to find the prince, but Rong Li had already brought someone into the palace. In desperation, she had to ask someone to go to the palace to ask for a doctor.
Dou Huiran was lying on the bed in a daze due to fever, and the scene when the man gave her flowers at the palace banquet seemed to reappear in front of her eyes. He was not married at that time, and she was not married. She thought he really liked her.
When the decree of marriage came down, she was filled with joy, imagining that after getting married, he would love her as much as the King of War cherished Princess Zhan.
But a few months after the marriage, he was so cold that he didn't look like her husband at all. At first, she was afraid and reflected on herself, thinking about what she had done that was not good enough.
But no matter how gentle and virtuous she was, he was always indifferent, as cold as a stranger.
Yes, they were like a pair of strangers who had just met each other, without any emotion at all. Rong Li's attitude towards her was so cold that she often wondered if someone was forcing them to get married.
A tear slipped from the corner of his eye. Dou Huiran suddenly wanted to go home, to the familiar home where his parents loved him.
…
In the Changxin Hall of the East Palace, Chu Yunfei finished his breakfast and looked after his son with his wet nurse for half an hour. After his son had eaten enough and fell asleep, he turned around and walked out of the side hall to look at Mo Yu who was waiting in the main hall.
Mo Yu went out for a night, not only to verify the truth or falsehood of what Dou Huiran said, but also to check the identity of the young man.
"That boy is a girl disguised as a boy."
"A woman disguised as a man?" Chu Yunfei walked to the window and sat down on the brocade couch. She was quite surprised when she heard this, "So there is indeed such a person?"
"Yes." Mo Yu nodded, "Furthermore, my subordinates checked the identity of the woman. She must have known the Seventh Prince for a long time. She used to be from the Jiaoshifang."
Chu Yunfei was shocked, Jiao Sifang?
The Priest's Square housed the palace's dancers and singers, and was considered a performer but not one's body. Of course, the women in the Priest's Square were paid on a monthly basis and were only responsible for performing songs and dances when there were banquets in the palace.
Most of the women in the prefecture are of low status, only a little taller than those in brothels, because they serve the royal family and do not have to fawn over ordinary men.
But even so, the dignitaries still did not regard them as human beings. A casual word from the master of the palace could make their lives worse than death.
There are also distinctions between high and low in the priest's office.
There are maids with graceful figures and outstanding looks in the palace who have been transferred to the priest's office. They have a relatively high status in the priest's office and have a certain degree of freedom, because their true identities are still palace maids. As long as they practice dance hard and do their jobs well, That’s it.
Even if you have a chance to be favored by a noble person, you can take her out as a concubine. You only need to register with the Ministry of Etiquette.
The daughters of guilty ministers who made mistakes and were sent there are the most despicable, but the daughters of guilty ministers who are branded are like slaves and prostitutes in the priest's office, and they are not allowed to leave the priest's square for life.
Chu Yunfei pondered for a moment, and roughly understood the reason why the woman disguised herself as a man. If she was just an ordinary singing and dancing girl in the priest's workshop, then Rongli could give her the status of a concubine, but the status of a concubine is still low. Life, death, honor and disgrace were completely in the hands of the mistress, and it would be easy for the princess to kill her at any time.
And if a woman disguises herself as a man and follows Rong Li, and can be with Rong Li almost twelve hours a day, it will be difficult for the princess to find trouble with her, and it may even be detrimental to her.
Chu Yunfei held her chin: "Has her identity been found out?"
"Not yet. The people in the Deanery are very tight-lipped. They seem to be a little wary of the woman's identity."
"I understand." Chu Yunfei said, "Is Prince An discussing matters in the front hall at this time?"
"yes."
"Go and bring that woman over and tell her that I want to see her."
"Yes." Mo Yu accepted the order and left.
However, when they arrived at the front hall, Mo Yu could not see the woman. She asked the guard outside, and the guard replied that the young man had been called in by His Highness the Crown Prince, who was asking questions.
Mo Yu waited outside for a while, but saw no one coming out. Then he turned back to Changxin Hall and told Chu Yunfei about the matter.
When Chu Yunfei heard Rong Cang asking questions, she already knew what was going on. Without saying anything else, she got up and went to the side hall.
Rong Cang is not someone who is easy to fool.
When he saw the young man walking in, he could tell at a glance that the young man was a girl. He narrowed his eyes slightly and looked around at the young man.
"I have no interest in asking about other people's emotional affairs, but since Princess Anjun is in front of the Crown Princess, I will ask a few more questions." Rong Cang glanced at Rong Li and immersed himself in piles of information, "You two What's going on? If you just want to take a concubine, just accept it openly. No matter whether you are the Queen or the Crown Princess, they will not interfere with your concubine. If you have other secrets, you can tell the truth. No need to Women disguise themselves as men and cover up.”
Compared with keeping a concubine, it is obviously worse for a prince to take his male favorite to bed openly. What real wife can bear this kind of thing?
Rong Li lowered his eyes: "There is indeed a secret behind this matter. I can't say it yet. I hope His Highness the Crown Prince will allow me to handle it myself."
Rong Cang frowned: "If you can handle it yourself, how could you let Princess An Jun find herself in front of the Crown Princess?"
Rong Li apologized: "This kind of thing will never happen again."
Rong Cang looked calm: "When can it be resolved?"
"A month at most."
One month.
Rong Cang nodded and agreed to the deadline, without asking who he wanted to solve or how he planned to solve it.
There seemed to be some unrest in the court. Rong Li secretly made frequent moves and quietly bribed most of the officials. Using his slight advantage in status and unusual means, he gradually emptied Dou Shangshu's power.
Dou Huiran took medicine for a few days and after her health improved, she finally took the car back home aggrievedly and told her mother all the grievances she had suffered in the past few days without hiding anything.
After hearing this, Mrs. Dou couldn't believe it: "How dare he do this to you?"
Rong Li was just an unpopular prince. He was barely crowned the king when he was in his twenties. He was powerless and relied on his father-in-law's power to work in the official department. Now he had finally managed to survive and dared to humiliate his own princess like this. ?
What on earth does he want to do?
Wasn't this marriage of his own free will?
Dou Huiran didn't speak, just cried.
She had just recovered from a serious illness, and her face was already pale. Coupled with the depression these days, she looked really haggard.
