Fan Zhen's expression froze as he carefully observed the woman not far from him.
What kind of woman was she exactly? Her tenderness at this moment seemed so genuine.
Opening his mouth, he involuntarily spoke up, "After all, I've been by your side for so many years. Don't you have any affection for me at all?"
The Concubine Rui was taken aback. She didn't miss the pain in his eyes. For a moment, she felt as if she couldn't continue with this lie.
She turned her head awkwardly, pretending that nothing had happened.
"The past is over. This palace has already promised the Empress Dowager that I will never do anything immoral again. You'd better take the things and leave quickly."
Since things had come to this, Fan Zhen knew that it was meaningless to say more.
He casually picked up a few valuable rewards on the shelf and then left.
The Concubine Rui stared at the direction where he left and felt a pang in her heart.
"This is what this palace has finally obtained. It's a bargain for you."
While she was in a daze, the maid outside plucked up the courage to urge her.
"Your Highness, it's time to set off. The people of the Empress Dowager have come to urge several times. If you don't go, the Empress Dowager may be angry."
The Concubine Rui clenched her hands tightly. She didn't even notice that her fingernails had dug into the flesh. As long as that woman was still above her, she could continue to lord it over others. She was already impatient. She just hoped that Ziyi could act quickly. She didn't want to endure this kind of life any longer.
She quickly tidied up her appearance and left gracefully with the maids. Only then did the other maids dare to enter the palace to clean up.
...
When she walked into the Shoukang Palace, a cup was thrown at her. The Concubine Rui didn't have time to dodge. A wound was quickly cut on her forehead by the shards. Blood dripped down, leaving one gorgeous rose after another on the carpet.
She looked confused with innocent eyes.
"How dare you! Even at this point, you still dare to scheme against this palace. It seems that this palace has been too kind, which has given you the opportunity to take advantage of every loophole again and again."
The Concubine Rui lowered her head and knelt on the ground in a flurry.
"Sister doesn't know what Sister is talking about. Did Sister do something wrong again, which made Sister so angry? If so, Sister will apologize. But when Sister gets angry, please make it clear. Even if Sister is going to die, she should die in the clear."
She looked aggrieved and observed the surrounding situation at the same time. She didn't expect that this matter would cause such a stir and leave so many officials' wives in the harem.
Yes, she had planned it from the beginning. On the second day of the Hundred Flowers Banquet, all the officials' wives must enter the palace to dine with the Empress Dowager. This was a rule passed down from the ancestors and no one could break it.
She took advantage of this and staged such a scene in advance.
Shi Muyuan definitely wouldn't send the box to General Qin directly. She took the things in advance and then arranged for others to knock over the box when most of the officials' wives had refused. At that time, everyone could see what was inside.
"Humph, you still have the nerve to play dumb with this palace. Don't you know what you've done yourself? If you don't make this matter clear today, then you don't have to be a concubine anymore."
"Sister really doesn't know what she has done. If Sister intends to make things difficult for me, then Sister has nothing to say."
She knew that in order to maintain the reputation of the royal family and the harem, Shi Muyuan would never tell others about her affairs with General Qin and Fan Zhen. So today was an unsolvable situation. Anyway, there were so many people in the court watching. Not many people really wanted that person to be the Minister of War.
Sure enough, as soon as the Concubine Rui said this, someone beside her spoke up to help.
"What does that love letter have to do with the Concubine Rui? The Empress Dowager might as well explain it first."
Shi Muyuan glared directly at the lady who spoke, "When this palace is doing things here, when is it your turn to talk?"
That lady was the Lady Li who had chewed the fat behind others' backs last time and was finally slapped in the face by the Concubine Mo.
She had always harbored resentment in her heart. Finally, she had caught this opportunity today. How could she let the Empress Dowager escape easily?
"The words and deeds of the Empress Dowager represent the face of our Great Liang. If this matter can't be explained clearly today, I'm afraid the common people outside will doubt whether the royal family of the Great Liang can still be trusted. The current Empress Dowager actually exchanged love letters with others, and that person was still a general of the enemy country. No, a former general. The Emperor still intends to promote General Qin to be the Minister of War."
The Concubine Mo couldn't hold back her anger and stepped forward to slap Lady Li directly.
Lady Li was caught off guard and was slapped to the ground.
"What do you mean? You openly defied the Empress Dowager. It seems that you don't care about any rules at all. Just because of what you've just done, this palace can kill you ten times."
Lady Li wiped her tears on the ground aggrievedly, "This subject's wife is just telling the truth. Or does the Empress Dowager want to use tough measures to make us who have seen the truth shut up? But there are so many people who have seen the truth today. Do you think it's possible for the Empress Dowager?"
This really had a great impact in the circle of noble ladies. Almost at the same time, all the officials' wives who had opinions on the Empress Dowager and the Shi family took a step back, as if she really wanted to suppress people with power.
Shi Muyuan forced herself to calm down. She mustn't be led astray by these two people. Otherwise, it would cause serious consequences and it would be easy to make the country unstable if it got out.
She stepped forward to pull back the Concubine Mo and personally helped the person on the ground up.
"Lady Li's words are slandering this palace. This palace has never had such an intention. Besides, no one can bear to be suddenly splashed with dirty water. The Concubine Mo was just too impulsive just now. This palace knows that you won't care about it with her."
With the majesty of a natural superior, she shocked all these officials' wives. Coupled with what she had just said, it completely woke up most of them.
Everyone knew that the Concubine Mo and the Empress Dowager were as close as sisters. How dare they care about it?
Yes, since the Empress Dowager saw those things, she had been extremely angry until now and had never had any other reaction. It seemed that this love letter had nothing to do with her. Maybe she was really splashed with dirty water.