0p0 Chapter 457 Selection
Chapter 457 Selection
"Doctor He is also pitiful. He is caught between the emperor and Fu Cha, and he doesn't know who to listen to."
"Silly Zhaoshui, he has already decided who to listen to," Lingrong touched the edge of the wound on the back of her hand, feeling the slight pain, "otherwise why do you think the emperor still kept him alive? He Anming is Concubine Tian's man, the emperor actually knew it a long time ago."
"If that's the case, doesn't that mean the Emperor also knows about what he did with the imperial physician?"
"Don't worry, he's not a fool. If he told the emperor everything he had done, he would definitely die before us."
Ling Rong was not afraid that He Anming would tell all those things. If she guessed correctly, He Anming would have cleared himself of all blame long ago.
After all, the medicines he gave to Concubine Tian and himself were all brought in from outside the palace. He did not use any medicinal materials from the imperial pharmacy, so the emperor naturally could not find out.
In addition, the emperor did not obtain any useful information when investigating the people around Concubine Tian. With the death of Concubine Tian, all those secrets were taken to the grave.
“Now that he has returned to the palace, he must have brought back the medicine that the emperor needed.
I am also curious whether the emperor can recover and continue to sit firmly on the throne."
"Then... I will go to the Imperial Hospital and ask Dr. He to come over and ask Her Majesty to ask him carefully."
“Not for now. He has just returned, and the emperor will definitely ask him to go to the Yangxin Palace for questioning. In addition, given what Fucha did, the emperor will most likely send someone to monitor him.
We should not act rashly. In a few days, we can ask him to come over under the pretext of seeing a doctor, and then we can discuss it."
Zhaoshui saw that Lingrong had made arrangements, so he stopped asking about it. "Now that the Empress and Concubine Tian have passed away, Your Majesty is only one step away from that position."
"The emperor may not want me to take the throne," Ling Rong had no expectations for the emperor, and even felt that the emperor would choose Concubine Jing instead of herself, "but as long as I have power, I am not afraid that the emperor will choose someone else."
"But if the emperor chooses someone else, this power will have to be handed back sooner or later." Zhaoshui was not as optimistic about the current situation as Lingrong. She put away the medicine bottle and still wanted to persuade Lingrong a little more, "Your Majesty, we'd better make plans early, so as not to..."
“Some things…are not something we can plan ahead of time. After all, the final decision on who will be the queen is still made by the emperor.
Even if we do well, if the emperor feels that we are not suitable after weighing the pros and cons, I will not be the one to sit on the throne.
But you are right, we should prepare for everything in advance. Since we cannot be sure who the emperor will choose in the end, we should leave our people in every corner of the palace.
Prepare for the worst, that is the way out I leave for myself."
Lingrong has been doing these things. She has taken over the power of the six palaces for a long time. In the past, she used the title of female doctor to put female doctors around the concubines who were either favored or had high positions.
In recent times, he took advantage of the time when he held all the power to place people in several important places such as the Imperial Household Department and the Imperial Kitchen.
But this was not enough. Ling Rong always felt that she did not have enough people. In her previous life, she had few loyal servants, so in this life she tried her best to prepare for herself. She had people placed in every corner of the palace, even in the cold palace and around the emperor.
But these were not enough to make her feel at ease. As long as Lingrong did not see the emperor die, she would live in fear that the emperor would sentence her to death at any time.
Especially since the emperor had been acting more and more cruelly recently, Lingrong felt that the emperor knew he was about to die, and that was why he deliberately sent so many people to be buried with him.
After all, whether it was Concubine Tian or the Queen, although the Emperor had reasons to kill them, there was no need to kill them. However, the Emperor did it anyway, even though he knew that killing them would cause more trouble.
Lingrong didn't want to be buried with the emperor, so she had to disguise herself to make the emperor feel that it was better for her to be alive than dead.
On the day of Concubine Tian's funeral, the emperor took Huai Ke with him. Huai Ke was ignorant about matters of life and death, but when she saw Concubine Tian closing her eyes with no sign of life, she burst into tears and could not stop her tears no matter what.
The emperor showed no emotion. He just took a look and entrusted Huai Ke to Xia Dongchun, and left with the Fifth Prince who was planning to pay tribute to Concubine Tian.
Ling Rong looked at the two people's backs without any intention of stopping them. She turned to look at Huai Ke who was crying, and for a moment she didn't know what to say.
Xia Dongchun really liked Huai Ke. She held the little girl in her arms and coaxed her patiently, not showing any of the arrogance she had when she entered the palace.
"You are really different from before. It is hard for me to imagine that you, with your bad temper, can coax other people's children so seriously."
"What did Huai Ke do wrong?" Xia Dongchun glanced at Ling Rong. "I have a bad temper because those people did something wrong. If they did something wrong, they should be scolded and punished."
Xia Dongchun didn't care. As long as she felt something was wrong, she would speak up, "Why should we let them off when they are a bunch of blind people?"
Ling Rong did not comment. She leaned over and touched Huai Ke's cheek, then took out a piece of candy from her purse to make Huai Ke happy.
But the little girl felt very uncomfortable. Even though the taste was sweet in her mouth, her heart was still bitter. She turned her head and buried it in Xia Dongchun's arms, refusing to raise her head again no matter what.
"Okay, okay, stop teasing Huai Ke." Xia Dongchun took out a candy from Ling Rong's purse and put it into her mouth. "It's useless to tease her like this. After losing her mother, she won't be able to smile no matter how sweet it is."
Ling Rong hummed and took back all the candies in her hand. Xia Dongchun missed the candies the second time and glanced at Ling Rong again. She then hugged Huai Ke and continued to coax him.
Ling Rong looked at the somewhat shabby mourning hall and couldn't help but sigh. Because of the planned marriage, Concubine Tian's funeral was destined not to be too extravagant, and only a few people in the palace came to pay their respects.
Especially since Concubine Tian was arrogant, there were few people in the palace who were on good terms with her. After the emperor left, he took a few more people with him. Now, there were only Lingrong and Xia Dongchun in the mourning hall.
Ling Rong stared at the coffin for a long time before she stepped forward to light some incense and said, "Since he is dead, please protect your daughter so that she won't have to marry in such a faraway place like Gong Ding did.
Now that Concubine Xia is taking care of Huai Ke, you don't have to worry about her being bullied in the palace.
I have already discussed this with the Emperor. Since Concubine Xia is willing to take care of him, Huai Ke will be sent to her care for him.
If you don't want to, then you can tell Concubine Xia in your dream that I will help Huai Ke find a foster mother and will not let her down."
Lingrong inserted the incense into the incense burner, and smoke rose up. Lingrong waited for a long time, but nothing strange happened.
Sure enough, that day was just a dream. Ling Rong touched the wound on the back of her hand and sighed deeply.
“What a pity…”
"What a pity?" Xia Dongchun walked over holding Huai Ke. The little girl was tired of crying and lay drowsy on Xia Dongchun's shoulder, but still sobbed once or twice from time to time.
"It's a pity that there are no real ghosts in this world," Ling Rong sighed again. When she was alone, she would occasionally doubt whether the fact that she was alive was real. If there were really ghosts in this world, perhaps she would feel more at ease. "If there were really ghosts, Concubine Tian would be so angry when she saw how deserted her funeral was, that she would open the coffin lid."
Xia Dongchun listened to Ling Rong's words, turned around and looked at the quiet coffin, "That proves that she agreed to my raising Huai Ke, which is a good thing. I would also be worried if Huai Ke was sent to someone else."
"The Emperor has seen how you have taken care of Huai Ke these days, so he will naturally agree to let you raise Huai Ke.
Tianpin has no reason to refuse. If she doesn't appear in your dream tonight, you can just focus on raising Huai Ke."
"You said it so scary, I feel like this funeral hall is full of ghosts." Xia Dongchun also lit a stick of incense, bowed and then put it into the incense burner, "That's good, if you don't agree, then come to me in a dream, if you don't come to my dream, then it will be considered that you agree.
I will take good care of Huai Ke, and he will not be any worse than Hong Pei."
Both of them talked about the dream in front of Concubine Tian's spirit. Xia Dongchun didn't feel anything during the day, but at night he began to feel cold all over and became really scared.
"Mingyu, bring Huai Ke here. I'll take her to sleep with me. Her mother is being buried today, and she must be very sad."
"Yes, Your Majesty." Mingyu knew that Your Majesty was a little scared, so she quickly went to the side hall and brought Huai Ke over.
Huai Ke hadn't fallen asleep yet, his eyes were red and swollen. As soon as he saw Xia Dongchun, he threw himself into her arms.
While coaxing him, Xia Dongchun asked Mingyu to blow out the candle. She pointed at the moonlight coming in from the window and began to tell Huai Ke the story of how Concubine Tian became a fairy on the moon.
Before they knew it, the two fell asleep and slept soundly that night. Xia Dongchun did not see Concubine Tian in his dream.
Therefore, Xia Dongchun successfully adopted Huai Ke, and the emperor even gave her the title of Xian.
The title of "Xian" is not ordinary, but in fact the emperor simply thought that Xia Dongchun was willing to take the initiative to raise Huai Ke, and could be called virtuous, so he gave her this title.
As for whether it is attentive enough, it is a matter of opinion. Anyway, if people who don't know the truth hear it, they will think it is a great title.
From the jealous look on Concubine Qi's face when she came to pay her respects, you can tell that in her eyes this title is too good to be true.
"Your Highness is so lucky to have been given such a good title."
"The word 'virtuous' is not something that ordinary people can get," Concubine Chun spoke this time, blinking her eyes, "It proves that Concubine Xian is virtuous and can help the emperor solve problems. Such a title is well deserved."
Concubine Qi curled her lips in disdain. She did not forget to take this opportunity to provoke. She smiled and looked at Ling Rong, "Yes, it is indeed well-deserved. If you can assist in managing the six palaces, it will be even more well-deserved, isn't it, Concubine Sheng?"
Lingrong didn't say anything. She just looked at Concubine Qi calmly. Xia Dongchun wanted to speak, but Lingrong raised her hand to stop him.
The hall suddenly became quiet. Concubine Qi's eyes gradually weakened as she looked at Lingrong. She looked around awkwardly, trying to find someone who could speak for her to resolve the embarrassment.
It's a pity that Lingrong didn't say anything, so no one dared to say more. Xia Dongchun and Cao Qinmo, who were of high positions, were good friends with Lingrong, and Concubine Xin was at odds with Concubine Qi, so naturally no one paid attention to her at this time.
Concubine Qi opened her mouth and was about to say that she had said the wrong thing, but Lingrong interrupted her and brought up other things.
"Have you prepared the previous list? Concubine Tian's funeral has been handled properly, and it's time to put the matter of selecting wives for the Third and Fifth Princes on the agenda."
When this matter was mentioned, Concubine Qi felt even more ashamed. Her family had fallen into poverty, so how could she provide a list?
It was different for the others. Regardless of whether they could be selected or not, they picked women of appropriate age in the clan and handed them in. They compared them with the previous one and removed the duplicates. Only then were they all sorted out and the list was sent to Ling Rong.
Since the end of the greeting ceremony, Lingrong has been studying the list. Concubine Tian has died, and Fucha is missing from the newly added women.
"When the Empress was choosing a wife for the Third Prince, she chose a daughter of the Fucha family, the daughter of Fucha Li Rongbao, the governor of Chahar. Let's add her this time. She is a gentle woman and is a good match for Hong Zhou."
Zhaoshui brought paper and pen to Lingrong and registered the daughter of Li Rongbao.
"As for this Ulanara clan woman..." Ling Rong picked up the pen. Thinking of the Empress's appearance, she simply took the initiative and crossed out the Ulanara clan woman.
Lingrong didn't know that this woman from the Ulanara clan had entered Hongli's harem in her previous life and not only became the queen, but also caused quite a stir in the harem.
If she knew about this, she would probably laugh so hard that she would go to the tablet of the Queen and tell her about all the stupid things her niece had done.
"This daughter of Grand Secretary Gao Bin is a well-educated and well-mannered woman. And this one, Wu Zaku is not bad either. I heard that she is in love with Hong Zhou. Maybe Hong Zhou will like her too."
"In my opinion, all the daughters of these masters are good," Zhaoshui brought the teacup over and looked at the names on the paper, "but I don't know what the emperor thinks, and what the fifth prince thinks.
What I fear most is that these daughters have no right to refuse, and their lives are placed on this piece of paper, to be chosen by others."
"They have the right to refuse," Ling Rong looked at the name on the paper, sighed and put down the brush, "but for the sake of the family's honor, they often won't choose to refuse. After all, entering the harem will make the emperor more respectful to his mother's family.
Although you cannot participate in political affairs, as long as you are favored, you can bring honor and benefits to your mother's family. If it were you, would you give up?"