Rebirth: Ruyi goes crazy in the harem

Chapter 218 Princess Roushu

After leaving the Cining Palace, Ruyi dismissed the sedan chair and walked slowly towards the Yikun Palace on foot.

On the empty long street, the emperor's carriage was parked in front.

Ruyi walked forward, her eyes full of grievance and bitterness, but she just suppressed her emotions and looked at the emperor straight in the face, as if she was silently concealing her silent pain under a calmness.

The emperor looked at Ruyi's intricate hair dotted with delicate kingfisher feather and pearl flowers, which fully demonstrated her majesty as the queen.

But the emperor naturally understood what she had endured behind this glory.

Ruyi's reluctance to speak was simply to save the emperor's face. Therefore, the more she forbeared at this time, the more the emperor felt sorry for her sensibleness.

“Ruyi, I’m sorry for wronging you.” The emperor stretched out his hand to adjust the edge of her inky black hair bun, which was a little loose and contained a red gold and jade phoenix hairpin with beads.

Ruyi pursed her lips stubbornly, "Your Majesty, Concubine Rou and Concubine Li were personally recommended by the Queen Mother.

The Empress should be happy that the two of them are sleeping with her, but why are you blaming me for my incompetence in public?"

The emperor took Ruyi's hand, as if to comfort her, as if helpless, and sighed, "As your mother grows older, she becomes more biased in her dealings. You don't have to worry about it."

“As a junior, I should respect my elders and be tolerant in everything, which is the virtue of a woman.

I keep these principles in mind at all times and never dare to forget them.

But I don’t understand. Although the Empress Dowager and my aunt are not on good terms, when I was a concubine, she never treated me like this.

Could it be that now that I am the Queen, the Empress is worried...”

Ruyi lowered her eyes and spoke words as soft as the wind, drifting slowly into the emperor's heart.

Although he only said half of it, the emperor understood the other half.

In the past, although Ruyi had the power to assist in managing the six palaces, she was not the master of the six palaces after all, so she was inevitably restricted in what she did.

But now Ruyi is the queen, in charge of the six palaces. The queen mother is worried that Ruyi's power will grow and suppress her own. So she uses her status as an elder to find a reason to suppress Ruyi.

As a junior, Ruyi has no choice but to be patient and obedient.

But in the emperor's mind, he had other thoughts and concerns about the empress dowager's strong desire for power.

The emperor looked sullen and said to himself, "Nianqin, who was once in a high position in the Military Affairs Council, has been executed, and the influence of the Empress Dowager has gradually declined in the court.

She actually shifted her target and now wants to interfere in everything in the harem, trying to be strong in everything and suppress you, the queen.

I have always respected and cared for the Empress Dowager, and treated her with great respect. But I never thought that my filial piety would allow her to have such power..."

The emperor's voice gradually became so faint that it was barely audible. Ruyi stopped listening carefully and just thought she was deaf.

Ruyi walked beside the emperor, watching his increasingly solemn expression calmly, and felt that it was time to give some advice to Imperial Physician Qi.

The emperor comforted Ruyi and stayed in Yikun Palace for several days.

Ruyi knew that the emperor was angry with the queen mother. The queen mother reprimanded Ruyi, but the emperor insisted on favoring Ruyi.

As for the sign of Yongshou Palace, the emperor removed it on the grounds that it was torn and damaged.

With the emperor's support, the concubines in the harem knew that even if the emperor had a new favorite, the one he cared about the most and who was the most unshakable would always be the queen.

Seeing the emperor's covert confrontation with her, the queen mother was naturally dissatisfied. But the emperor even withdrew the green card from the Yongshou Palace, so where could the queen mother find someone to persuade her?

The emperor and the queen mother were angry with each other, and Ruyi was a "victim" caught in the middle, in a dilemma. But as a "virtuous" daughter-in-law, she had to find a way to mediate.

It was hot in the summer, so the Yiku Palace offered many basins of ice. The cool air filled the palace, making people feel at ease.

The emperor had just woken up and was washing his face and rinsing his mouth with the help of Ruyi.

In the center of the hall stands a bronze tripod furnace with plum blossom patterns. In the furnace, agarwood is burning, and the aroma wafts in the air with a slight "crackling" sound from time to time.

In a calm and peaceful atmosphere, Ruyi straightened the emperor's clothes while carefully saying, "I know that the emperor has ignored Yongshou Palace for so long because he is standing up for me.

But I always feel anxious and don’t want to disturb the peace of the harem because of my own body.”

The emperor closed his eyes and consoled her, "Ruyi, you always think of others and would rather suffer for yourself. I feel really bad for you."

Ruyi smiled and said, "Your Majesty loves me, and I am happy. But as your legal wife, I cannot be jealous, I can only be generous.

I heard that the Queen Mother has been unwell recently. Would Your Majesty like to go and see her?"

"Don't go."

The emperor answered quickly, but felt something was wrong, so he added, "The weather is a bit hot now, and the Empress Dowager is old, so it's possible that she can't stand it for a while.

I will ask the Ministry of Internal Affairs to send more ice, and ask Qi Ruchang to check Ping An's pulse, I think it should be fine."

The emperor knew that Ruyi wanted to reconcile the conflict between him and the queen mother, but as the emperor, how could he bow his head so easily, even if that person was the queen mother, his adoptive mother.

Ruyi tidily tied the belt for the emperor and said slowly, "The emperor is very busy and may not be able to take care of it for the time being.

It’s just that the Empress Dowager doesn’t like me as her daughter-in-law, so I can’t go to the Cining Palace to bother her anymore.

However, I think that the Empress Dowager loves Princess Hengchu and Princess Hengti the most.

Princess Hengchu married far away, but Princess Hengti is still unmarried, at the prime of her youth. I, your humble servant, would like to ask Your Majesty to invite Princess Hengti to stay in the Cining Palace for a while.

With the eldest princess by her side, I believe the Empress Dowager will be kind-hearted and will definitely feel a lot of comfort.

If I can help the princess find a good family tomorrow, it will be perfect.”

The emperor nodded slightly, thought for a moment, and then bestowed upon Hengti the title of "Rou Shu" and set up a special Princess Mansion in the capital.

Although the marriage had not been granted, everyone could guess the emperor's attitude once the Princess's Mansion was established. It seemed that Hengti would definitely marry in the capital in the future, so there would be no need for a marriage alliance.

Hengti was kind and gentle to begin with, and she was grateful for Ruyi's sincerity after receiving her favor. She called her "Imperial sister-in-law" in a very respectful manner.

Ruyi never made things difficult for her. Fearing that the princess would get sunburned in the hot weather, Ruyi specially gave her a sedan chair with a green curtain and an ice basin in the middle, which was cool and light.

As soon as Hengti met the empress dowager in the Cining Palace, the mother and daughter showed their emotions and hugged each other with tears and smiles.

Hengti was treated kindly by Ruyi, and her words were slightly biased towards her.

The Queen Mother eventually softened her attitude and sent some rewards to the Yikun Palace, and the matter was apparently over.

But just because everyone appears to be harmonious on the surface doesn’t mean they can be harmonious in private.

As summer approached, the sun was blazing and the heat in the palace was rising. Even though the concubines were sitting in sedan chairs on the long street, they were still sweating profusely when they came to pay their respects to the Yikun Palace.